I have the strangest diet.

Because of my inability to eat wheat and a lot of other grains I have to use substitutions that will seem strange to some people. Most flour substitutes are bland or they just aren’t that good for you.

I use a lot of Coconut flour, it is very high in fiber and has a lot of protein but it can be a bit difficult to learn to cook with. Because of the high fiber content you can’t just substitute it for regular flour.

You may know somebody who has Celiac or gluten
sensitivity. Share this recipe with them. They will thank you. Or eat these yourself and enjoy the high fiber, low carbohydrate treat all disguised in a chocolate goodie!

What do huckleberries have to do with this? Well, I have been distracted lately with huckleberry picking. The berries are only ripe for a very short time so it is pick them now or wait until next year. Even though I have a lot of projects to work on, the huckleberries must come first. At least that’s the story and I’m sticking to.

So with all of these delicious huckleberries around I needed to add them to my chocolate brownies and pretend that I am a classy chief in an expensive restaurant. And now I will present you with my creation. Enjoy!

Elisa’s Chocolate Coconut Espresso Brownies with Huckleberry Sauce

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour (sifted - it gets a lot of lumps)

6 T. cocoa

2 T. coconut oil (or butter if you can have dairy)

1 t. baking powder

2 t. vanilla

1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled

Mix all ingredients and put in a greased 8″ x 8″ square pan. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 358 degrees.

Huckleberry Sauce

Take about 1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries and place in a small pan. Add about 3/4 to 1 cup water and 1/4 cup honey (add more to make sweeter). Simmer on the stove for 15 minutes. Stir and smash most of the berries. I then use a fiber called glucomannan to thicken the sauce. I use 1 teaspoon. You could also use cornstarch as a thickener.

Let cool slightly.

When the brownies are done you can cut into squares and drizzle with the sauce. Add a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream if desired. Garnish with fresh berries.

Summer is so beautiful in Montana.
I know I have a list of quilts to complete,
and Market to plan for.
I know I have deadlines to make,
and a business to run.

But…..It is summer in Montana.
There are trails to hike,
Huckleberries to pick,
and photos of old barns to take.
Sweet ripe cherries to gorge on,
babies to squeeze,
and sunsets to watch.
Barbecues and sitting on the back porch that must be done during these few short weeks…….

Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila & Elin Waterston

What can I say - I LOVE this book!

It is so important to stay motivated and inspired. I have been distracted by all of the things of summer and I was finding it hard to become inspired with a new project. I went through my bookshelf and found this book.

First it has lessons. It takes awhile for your brain to begin to relax into the creative side so the lessons provide a way for you to shift gears from every day life into creative thinking. None of the lessons were too hard and most are things that I have done before but it gave me a small practical subject to work on.

Usually I walk around thinking; I should work on this, or maybe that. Or that project needs to be started and that one needs finishing. But if you are like me you can walk around thumbing through your fabric waiting for inspiration or motivation to kick in and then before you know it it is time to start dinner and you haven’t done a thing.

Well no more, I can begin in the homework assignments that consist of me completing a series of small quilts using a variety of techniques. So far I haven’t completely finished any of the assignments but they have gotten me started on a project that I need to do. Not just need to do, WANT to work on. That I consider a success!

Another nice feature of this book is the extensive list of online links to other quilt artists. I have only had a chance to visit a few of them but it definitely helps to put me in the creative mood.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have.

I frequently get asked about the brown paper on the backside of the templates. Why is it there? Should I leave it on? Should I peel it off? If so, how do I get it off?


A template starts out as a large sheet of acrylic which has brown paper on both sides of it. The acrylic sheet has to go through a machine which cuts out the shape of each template. The brown paper is needed as part of the manufacturing process.


After the shapes are cut, one side of the paper is peeled off (by hand) and then the logo or other markings can be applied.


The paper is left on the other side of the template because


1. It is cheaper to not have both sides peeled off.


2. I like having the paper on one side of my templates because it keeps them from sliding too much on my fabric.


You can decide to leave the paper on your templates or remove it. Removing it has its advantages in that it allows you to see through the template to the fabric if you want to fussy cut or you just like being able to see through it.


Removing the paper is as simple as just peeling it off. Don’t try using any liquids to remove the paper. The paper peels off, usually in one easy piece and does not leave a residue.


If you want to remove the paper, here is how.




Backside of template showing the paper.






Use your fingernail to pick at a corner of the template to get an edge started. Your fingernails don’t have to be very long to do this.

See the tiny edge that I got started. This took just seconds to get that little lip up.

Once that little edge is started I can begin to pull it back.





Keep pulling the paper back. You can see that once you get started it pulls very easily. This is not like those sticky tags that you find to things that leaves a residue.





Keep peeling back, don’t go too quickly.

Here is my template with the paper peeled completely off. See that was easy.

Here are a few still shows of the sewing process. The first is how your pieces should look when you start sewing. Your needle is in the down position and positioned to sew at 1/4″ from the edge of the fabric.




When I say “lift” this is the position of the top fabric. Not too low or too high. Be sure you are lifting and not stretching.





You will be lifting as you sew all the way around the block. Your right hand is used to guide the bottom fabric. Be careful not to stretch it or it will turn out longer than the top fabric. When you get to the end of the block the tweezers are used as shown to help you guide the last bit of the top piece as you sew to the end. The tweezers help so that you don’t sew over your fingers.

Zachary, our first grand baby, recently celebrated his first birthday.


I have seen other people go all ga, ga over their grandchildren and swore that I would be more sensible, show some restraint.


But then it happened to us. Little Zack has captured our hearts and we completely adore the little bugger.


We get the biggest kick just getting him to laugh.


Of course, he has many quilts to sit on and cuddle under.

Fan Dance I. Isn’t it beautiful!

It is hard to see but this quilt uses the 8″ Rainbow block template. The fan wedges are foundation pieced with only 4 pieces in each fan. Two of the pieces on the foundation fan are black like the background fabric so it gives the illusion that you are sewing a point. Once the 3 fan pieces are sewn together the Ranibow template shapes are used to cut out the arc and the background L shape.

Go to my patterns page to find this pattern.

We have the strangest bird outside our window. He keeps trying to get in our house!!!


This peculiar bird sits on the branch by my bathroom window and every few minutes he flies at the window, sometimes grabbing at the screen and hanging on before zooming to the branch again. He (or is it a she?) will do this for hours at at time. This bird also likes to start his pointless attempts before 6:00 in the morning!


After a week of this I was not feeling too friendly towards this obnoxious birdie.


Miss Kitty will perch on the bathroom counter waiting for the next fly by and then she jumps up at the inside of the window to catch the birdie. If the window pane didn’t stop her, that budgie would have been lunch a long time ago. But even with the cat positioned on the sill the funny bird will not be distracted from his goal.


A solution was needed, so I decided to write the bird a note and tape it to the window.BIRD Go Away! it said. It worked. The feathered foul will sit on his tree perch and look at the window but he no longer attempts to fly in.


For those of you who doubt that this worked, it is true. I don’t think that the bird can read but I do believe that the white paper taped in the window changes the appearance of the glass and he no longer sees whatever he saw that made him want to join us.


Miss Kitty misses the entertainment that the birdie provided but I am now able to sleep in past 6:00 AM.

Market in Portland was awesome!

Fan Dance pattern made its first debut. This pattern is made by paper piecing the fans and then using the 8″ Rainbow template to cut out the shapes. See the Fan Dance pattern and all of the rest of the new items at Elisa’s Backporch Design main site.

We had a chance to meet a lot of the quilt shop owners who stopped by and and placed an order or watched the demonstrations. Eating good food was another highlight of the trip. It has been awhile since I have had some great mexican food and I made sure to enjoy as much as I could while we were there.


During a quiet moment Don and Amanda had a bit of fun posing for the camera.