November Pie Making Basket Quilt Block

 

This November Pie Making Basket block is part of my Wooly Basket Calendar Quilt.  The pattern is from the Starry Pines Pattern Company: http://starrypinespatterncompany.com/spindex2.html

I used wool for the hand-appliqued basket, cotton flannel for the background fabric, and black perle cotton for the embroidery. 

 

November

The bottoms of autumn

Wear diamonds of frost;

The tops of the trees rue

The leaves that they’ve lost.

Red squirrels, busy packing

Oak cupboards for weeks,

Still rattle the branches

With seeds in their cheeks.

Gray clouds go on promising

Winter’s first storm,

So we stay inside by

The stove to keep warm.

Home biscuits are baking,

The gravy is stirred,

Two pumpkin pies cool

By the thank-you bird.

 

by J. Patrick Lewis

Walnut Crunch Pumpkin Pie

1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell, unbaked

1-1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

¾ cup brown sugar, packed

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Combine walnuts and brown sugar in a small bowl.  Place ¾ cup of the nut-sugar mixture on bottom of pie shell.

3.  Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a medium bowl; mix well.  Pour into pie shell.

4.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 350 degrees; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack.

5.  Combine butter and remaining nut-sugar mixture; stir until moistened.  Sprinkle over cooled pie.  Broil about 5 inches from heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbly.  Cool before serving.

 

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

Aunt Jane of Kentucky "Milly Baker's Boy" and Peace and Plenty Quilt Block

In the Quilters' Book Club this month, we're reading Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall, written in 1898.  If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app, you can get it from Amazon.com here.  If you want to read it directly from your computer, you can do so here, courtesy of Project Gutenberg.  It's a public domain book so is available free in either format. 

This book consists of nine short stories.  The fifth short story is called "Milly Baker's Boy" and is only 36 pages long.  At the end of the story, Aunt Jane says:

"There's lots of satisfactory things in this world, child," she said, beaming at me over her spectacles with the smile of the optimist who is born, not made. "There's a satisfaction in roundin' off the toe of a stockin', like I'm doin' now, and knowin' that your work's goin' to keep somebody's feet warm next winter. There's a satisfaction in bakin' a nice, light batch o' bread for the children to eat up. There's a satisfaction in settin' on the porch in the cool o' the evenin' and thinkin' o' the good day's work behind you, and another good day that's comin' to-morrow. This world ain't a vale o' tears unless you make it so on purpose. But of all the satisfactions I ever experienced, the most satisfyin' is to see people git their just desserts right here in this world. . . And whenever I feel like doubtin' the justice o' the Lord, I think o' Milly Baker's boy, and how he got everything that belonged to him, and he didn't have to die and go to heaven to git it either."

You'll have to read the story to find out how Milly Baker's boy got everything that belonged to him!  And if you'd like to make the Peace and Plenty quilt block to go along with this story, you can find the pattern here.  My block consists of only two fabrics, so be careful of fabric placement if you want your block to look like mine.

We learned the kinds of things that Aunt Jane finds satisfaction in.  What kinds of things are satisfying to you?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Please reply in the comments sections below for a chance to win a copy of Jennifer Chiaverini's just-released book, An Elm Creek Quilts Companion, courtesy of Plume Books.  If you are reading this via email, you must click on the title of my blog post to be able to comment and read the comments of others.  

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.