Tu-Na Quilts: A Cookbook Shelf for Emily

Emily, your block is finally finished! I hope you can use this shelf of cookbooks for your quilt. 

These food novelty prints traveled back from ND with me after the holidays in January.

Emily’s a librarian and a mom and a wife and a quilter who blogs at The Darling Dogwood.  She asked for this block in December. Yes, I realize it’s February. Artwork just can’t be rushed.

I’ve made several leaning books before but this one had to lean the opposite way than all the others I made. I got it right the second time.

When Emily asked for a shelf of books, I knew right away what I wanted to do. Yes, it became involved and grew and grew. You know that’s how it is with cookbooks; one just can’t have too many.

I had to add a strip of this wonderful fabric because everything is better with butter!

I added a mixer as my shelf extra. Sitting amongst the “cookbooks” it actually looks like a new mini version. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could actually own a mini KitchenAid that’s just the right size to whip up some cream for two people or even four. I don’t know about you but I need to whip at least a pint in my real KitchenAid so that the beater is effective or else it ends up just whipping up air.

Tu-Na Helper called this mixer a digital version since it was missing the lever but I think some things just have to be left to the imagination.

I trimmed this cute little mixer block down to 7 3/4″ x 8 1/2″ and set it on top of some “cookbooks.” After all, if you owned a mini KitchenAid, wouldn’t you store it on your cookbook shelf?

In the end, this block measured 13″ X 29″. Yes, it’s longer than she asked for in her tutorial here but on our Facebook page she said it could go longer if we wanted. And well, there’s no stopping Tu-Na from adding more books to the shelf, especially a cookbook shelf!

I just had to add some more books to the other side of the mixer for balance. I couldn’t resist adding the strip of selvage for a label on the cooky book. That selvage came from the fabric with the stick of butter. 

Tu-Na Helper thought I should add more labels to the books but I thought you could do that if you wanted to. His suggestion is The World of Pickles. I think I would have put Everything’s Better with Bacon, Betty’s Pies, and The Joy of Ice Cream. If I knew how to operate the embroidery alphabet on my new machine, I’d do it but that lesson comes next week. Since this block is so late I thought I shouldn’t wait another minute. I’ll get it in tomorrow’s mail and it’ll be on it’s way to you.

What I Learned Today:

1. This mixer block was fun but putzy. You can find the free pattern here and the pattern for leaning the books here.
2. I might have to sew up a mixer block for myself. But I sure don’t need another project right now. I just confessed that I suffer from MPD and DSD on my blog here. This block is just one of those blocks one has to make at least once but I’m not going to say I’ll never make another one. 

Question: Do you use cookbooks or are you prone to searching the internet for a recipe? I do both but I have a huge collection of cookbooks. I used to read them as books.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to read more about my journey or follow me, please visit my blog, Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats. Thank s for stopping by.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

Linking to:

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilt

Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She