I had a chance to test out a few of the new Cutting Edge rulers by Sullivan's and Pat Sloan. They have a sharpening edge on one side, so it sharpens your blade while you cut. They are non-skid without having those little grippy feet, which is great, because I don't care for grippy feet on my ruler! Another great thing I like about them is that they are so straightforward...as in they don't have a zillion little hash marks per inch. Simple is good! My most favorite thing, which is probably really silly, is the size of this little one...it's 4.5" x 8.5". I've used it a ton already. I work with lots of little pieces and this is the perfect size for trimming off ends and odd bits. In fact, it's my new favorite tool! Being a left handed quilter, the cutting edge didn't get utilized a ton, maybe one cut out of every 10? But being a lefty in a right handed world...it's nothing that I can't handle. :)
Now, I'm not a gadget girl. In fact, I completed my first quilt using my friend's rotary cutting supplies. I wasn't sure if I would get really "into" quilting, (are you all laughing now?) so I didn't want to invest in the supplies until I made a quilt totally on my own. This is the little test quilt that I made. 
I cut it out using a cardboard template and scissors. It measures 30" square. I tied it with perle cotton and added buttons at each intersection. It's quite...humbling...to look at my color selections. Like Jackie, my tastes sure have changed! I guess that makes sense, though, because it was 10 years. I guess we all have to start somewhere, and I'm glad I have this reminder of where I started. (Although I must confess, I have thought about throwing out this old thing a few different times over the years.) After finishing this quilt, without the use of any rotary cutters or mats or rulers, I acquired some rotary cutting supplies and kept on quilting. (Like you couldn't have predicted that!) And I am so thankful to be quilting with useful tools like rulers, mats and rotary cutters!
Pat requested that we share a recipe, too. It just happens that over the weekend, I tried out a new to me recipe for pumpkin bars. Oh, my, are they dangerous! If you make these, make sure you have about 47 of your closest friends over to help you eat them, or you may be tempted to finish off the pan yourself. If you want to start by licking the frosting right off the top of your bar, by all means, go right ahead. My daughter does and she recommends it!
Pumpkin Bars
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar2 cups flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (15 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
3 oz cream cheese, softened (i used a little bit extra, because you can't go wrong with more cream cheese)
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the pumpkin, oil and eggs. Spread in a greased 10" x 15" baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges pull from the sides of the pan. Let cool. Combine cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl. Beat at medium high speed until smooth. Add the powered sugar, beating constantly until it is of spreading consistency. Spread over the cooled bars. Chill, covered, until serving time. Serves 48.
Yum!
Ok, now back to the rulers....
If you would like to win a complete set of the rulers, you must to leave a comment on ALL the featured blogs on their day. Make sure your comment is on the blog hop post, not just any post from that week.
Comments will be open on each stop of the blog tour through Sunday.
The schedule is below:
Mon Sept 27
Tues Sept 28
Wed Sept 29
Amanda Jean
Thur Sept 30
Fri Oct 1
Sat Oct 2
Good luck and happy commenting! :)
You can also purchase the rulers here.