Sept. 2013 Potato Salad/Pasta with Pistachio Pesto

Fall is here and traditionally we seem to make and start more quilts when the weather turns a little cooler, so it was fun getting together sharing ideas this month, very motivating. We had show and tell, then Rachel and Corrie demonstrated the AccuQuilt. 

Afterwards Nancy served us a yummy lunch and the recipes are included in this post. Thanks a lot Nancy, for hosting our group this month. Next month our meeting will be at Corrie's.

Here's the show and tell:

Rachel used the Ghastlies fabric to make this Halloween quilt.

Corrie made this tumbler block quilt and used the AccuQuilt to cut the blocks. She also handquilted it using pearl cotton.

Corrie made these banners and used them at her retreat.

Sherry made this cute crib quilt for her daughter who is expecting a baby in October, Sherry's first grandbaby. Her daughter picked out all the colors and Sherry put flannel on the back.

Emily, who is new to our group, brought this quilt top made from the Swoon pattern from Camille Roskelley.

Nancy made this quilt using a Fig Tree pattern.

Diane made this baby quilt using all stash fabric. It does not have any batting and she put the binding on by machine and quilted it on her home machine.

These were embroidered by Daine.

This is a quilt Jeri's sister made for her. Jeri's sister was the featured quilter at the recent Reno quilt show. Her sister had 60 quilts displayed at the show.

Block applique detail.

Rachel brought some of the giveaways she received at Corrie's latest quilting retreat. Rachel, Susan and Maurene from our group attended the McCall retreat.

Corrie made these using chocolate molds.

Each person at the retreat received their personalized name tag.

At the end of the retreat, Corrie handed each participant a personalized going away box for the trip home. Rachel thought it was so cute, she couldn't eat anything in it and brought it to the meeting so we could see it.

Rachel made this quilt at the retreat. It's from a pattern she saw on Pinterest called Double Charming and it uses 3 charm packs (should probably be called Triple Charming,..)

The AccuQuilt-You can cut up to 8 pieces of fabric at a time.

Dies for the AccuQuilt

LUNCH

Warm potato salad

• 3 pounds baby red potatoes, cut in half 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar*
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled 

Can be served warm immediately, or reheated next day in a baking pan.

Pasta Salad with Pistachio Pesto 

Favorite pasta, grape tomatoes, halved, red onions, chopped yellow peppers, roasted pistachios, grated parmesan cheese, thinly sliced fresh basil.

Cook noodles, cool under running water and dress lightly with lemon vinaigrette dressing.  Add vegetables.  Add several tablespoons pesto.  Check for seasoning.   Add more dressing if needed.  Lastly, stir in pistachios and freshly grated parmesan cheese and thinly sliced basil.