Whoopie!

After months of searching for a good block in which to use some of my contemporary Japanese fabrics, I think I found it today.  It feels great to be back in the sewing room.  We painted an adjacent room last month and all of its furniture ended up crammed in around my tables and stash for a couple of weeks.  Not conducive to getting much done.

 

Around the same time, I was again considering new shelving to replace these awful metal *garage* units on which I've stored my fabric forever.  I was always planning to replace them, but other things often took precedent...tuition, trips, a little more fabric...heh.  And we never lived near an Ikea, so options were limited, if not out of my price range.  After much consultation with online friends about their solutions to storage (Maryjo was most helpful), I bought a 2x4 Expedit unit to try out.  I initially thought it was going to be too deep, but after living with it for a couple of weeks, have decided that it's perfect and this weekend we'll be heading back to Ikea to get another 2x4 as well as a 4x4.  I may have my dream sewing room by the time Anita hosts her *share your space* challenge.

If you've grown up in Maine like I did (or Pennsylvania, apparently), just the thought of whoopie pies will start your mouth watering.  I made them frequently when the kids were little, using my mother's old handwritten recipe.  Nothing made the kids happier than to see me dropping spoonfuls of that chocolate cake batter on a cookie sheet.  This week, K forwarded us a link to a New York Times article about the new found popularity of whoopie pies at high-end bakeries around the country.  Somehow, I can't imagine much improvement over our Saran-wrapped originals.  After reading the article, I was tempted to whip up a batch...to, er, photograph for the blog, of course.  But I thought better of it, considering summer clothes are starting to seep into my consciousness.  However, within a few hours of receiving the link from K, up popped an email from Molly that started, "When I come home next month, do you think you could make some wh..." 

Comments

[carolyn]

those blocks are fun. have a sort of whirligig feel to them with the spikey edges

[littlem]

Oh my, wish my material was that organised!

[amy lobsiger]

I do love my expidit "wall." It is rather a mess right now, but underneath it's glorious. ahem. You know, I was just at our "upscale" bakery ordering birthday cookies (more about trying to support a local small business than being lazy...really), and they had a couple of flavors of whoopie pies. I confess, I have never had one. Please don't dissuade me from my perception that the filling is whippy and not creamy because I don't want to know what I'm missing. It is often better if I think I won't like a sweet treat...there are so few I don't like.

[Kristin L]

Those blocks take surprisingly well to you contemporary fabrics. Expedite will classy up your storage wonderfully. We've got a 4x4 that used to house all our magazines and media in the "Man Room." We no longer have a Man Room, but the bookcase is doing a great job housing baskets of Legos and Stuff in my son's room. One day I may have to steal it for my craft room.

[amy lobsiger]

Oh, forgot to mention that I love your block choice!

[lisa]

Love the blocks! Great use for your new fabric acquisitions.

Oh, and Trader Joe's has fabulous whoopie pies, chocolate and pumpkin, oh my.....drooling....

[MaryjoO]

hey, that Expedit looks great! So do your blocks, and folds and folds of fabric ... wow. All of mine are in tubs .... what do you about .... ummmm ... dust?

[Lazy Gal Tonya R]

your stacks of fabric are gorgeous, even on ratty old garage shelving. I do wish there was an IKEA closer to me now. love those new blocks. now keep working on them...

[Cindra]

Whoopie pie sounds like a great treat for grandkids! Yummm! Is it really just cake mix?
Love your blocks... they do showcase the fabrics perfectly. And your room looks great, too. Love the color!

[mimi k]

I need to get shelving for my studio move- but I want deep- 24"- for my bins of wool. I'm checking out Craigslist. And I am giving myself a month.

[Norma]

OMG, they're just so HUGE and calorie-laden, not to mention wheat-laden for me. But there's nothing like a good whoopie pie. And the other day -- now that I'm trying to give up Diet Coke/Pepsi, I've been treating myself in other ways, dontcha know -- I stopped at a local convenience store and they had a fresh batch just in. I chose chocolate, and it was worth the calories, but the maple ones looked amazingly tempting, too. :D

[tami]

My aunt was the one who made whoopie pies in our family. I LOVE the whoopie pies she made. Most that you buy have frosting in them, but what she made had like a cream filling. We have been having this discussion at work about how a whoopie pie should be filled. My aunt sent me her recipe and I have to make them to take and show everyone what whoopie pie filling should be.

[KathieB]

Love that quilt block--one more old-fashioned block that just sings when made up in contemporary fabrics. Fun! How big is the block?

[Nancy]

Please share that whoopie pie recipe!

[susan]

so funny! when we were down in brooklyn last month visiting friends, we experienced the joy of watching 50 people at a cocktail party eat whoopie pies for the first time.
to say the least, it was hilarious!
your new blocks look wonderful jan...
whoopie for spring~!

[Kristin]

Growing up in Massachusetts, whoopie pies are also a favorite childhood food. My kids have known about them for years even with their west coast upbringing. Nothing beats a whoopie pie and milk, mmmmm.