From Whiskey Sour to Lemon Delight

Looking back, one of the reasons I was in such a grand funk this past winter and spring was the failure I experienced on a piece that I had taken almost a year to bring to fruition--and which I loved.  I had the perfect fabrics and I had executed it to the best of my ability.  It is the lenten rose.  My mother-in-law had loved Lenten Roses (which aren't a rose but bloom around the time of the Lenten season).  And when we bought the house where we are now living, there were large Lenten Rose plants in the yard.  I definitely heard a quilt calling my name.  And when I had completed the top, I was so happy--and I could hardly wait to start quilting it.  I decided to try a silk batting which I had never used before and I also decided to do some really tight running stitch quilting on the flower petals.  When all was said and done, it was a disaster.  No amount of blocking could take the resulting ripples away.  Simply put, I was devastated.  After a month--or more--I decided to cut the quilt apart and use the center as a covering for a walnut bench that had been my grandparents'.  It made my heart lighter to know that I was connecting my past with my present--just a bit.

 And MUCH later, I took the leftover parts of the quilt and made two small quilts which I call Resurrection I and Resurrection II.  I really like these two small pieces and now my heart is glad again.  The original piece is gone but, at the same time, it is still here.  I have since remade the quilt (called Lady in Waiting).  I don't like the fabrics as well but I feel as if it is a step in recovering balance--learning from my mistakes and moving forward.  I don't know if the silk batting was the culprit but I think that it was the combination of that and the type of stitch that I used (you may be able to see it in the small lower piece).  I changed both the batting and the stitching in my replacement piece and I'm hoping that someday I can dye a piece of fabric that I'll love as much as the Ricky Tims piece that is now gone.
So, I have moved from Whiskey Sour to Lemon Delight.  And here is a recipe for Lemon Delight--which is so good even though it leans heavily on modern food chemical technology (who said dessert had to be healthy?).

Lemon Delight
1 Cup Flour
1 Stick butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup nuts
1 cup powdered sugar
8-oz cream cheese
1 9 oz. cool whip
2 pkgs instant lemon pudding
3 cups milk
Toasted chopped pecans
For the crust, combine flour, butter and 1/2 cup chopped nuts.  Pat mixture into bottom of 8 x 12" pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Cool. For the 2nd layer, combine powered sugar and cream cheese and mix well.  Add 1/2 of the cool whip and spread over cooled crust.  For the 3rd layer, combine the pudding and milk together (with mixer) and pour over layers when mixture has thickened.  For the 4th layer, spread the remaining Cool Whip on top and sprinkle with toasted nuts.