Julian's quilt a Nine Patch Pizzazz

I just finished this quilt for my great grandson Julian, whom I have never met, but I hope to someday.

An easy & quilt to do, just pick 4 or 5 coordinating fabrics make a bunch of 9 patch blocks mix them up with a few solid blocks and taaadaaa you have a interesting quilt.



It is also called the potato chip quilt, because you can't make just one.



I always wanted to try the free motion circles, wow they were easy.




I quilted this quilt in two sections then put it together using the quilt as you go method,


then I added the borders and quilt them last, so easy to do that way.


IF YOU LOVE LOOKING AT QUILTS, don't we all, check out the Queensland Quilters quilt show from last week, those "down under" quilters make some spectacular quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Generous bloggers & I'm in the headlines

Helen is having a very generous give away at Hugs & Kisses.

Gail Pan is having a stitchery giveaway, I love her designs, don't you?


Pop over and throw your name in the hat.

Have you noticed I have entered the BlogHer Network world, I am very excited about this, I submitted my application several months ago.

I have now been accepted. After only advertising a few days, they chose one of my post to feature in their headlines today. "pumpkin bread, it's that time of year" am I famous yet?

Until next time, Happy Quilting!

A Pumkin and a couple give aways

Just a quick post this morning then I need to get outside and get a few more chores done before our weather turns ugly.

I found this cute pumpkin I want to make, Yes there is still time before Halloween, You can read the tutorial at Pieces of Time.

and a couple of links for give-aways to enter:

If you love homemade soap visit Dayln.
she makes goat milk soap and has the cutest web page too.

And Ang is having a drawing for a whole farm basket full of goodies.

Come back and see me soon.

Happy Quilting!

Quilting acronyms

I asked Sharyn at Kalama Quilts for permission to borrow her list of acronyms, she stated that I was welcome to them that she had not made them up, they were just aquired over time. If you haven't been to Sharyn's blog you must check it out, she has made some fabulous quilts.


BOM Block Of the Month
DSM Domestic Sewing Machine as in home sewing machine, not longarm
EQ Electric Quilt, marvelous software (also seen as EQ5 or EQ6)
FART Fabric Acquisition Road Trip
FLIMSY Finished top, not quilted
LA LongArmer, professional machine quilter
LQS Local Quilt Shop
PIGs Project In a Grocery Sack
SABLE Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy
SEX Stash Enhancing experience
STASH Special Treasure, All Secretly Hidden
TGIF Thank Goodness It’s Finished
UFO UnFinished Object
WHIMM Work Hidden In My Mind
WIP Work In Progress
WOMBAT Waste Of Material, Batting, And Time

I am going to add:
401-f Fabric for retirement
and
401-p Patterns for retirement

I am very glad I did both.

Do you have any to add please leave me note in comments.

Heck just leave me a comment even if you don't, I love comments.

Andrea at Welsh Quilter added
PHD Project half done.

Kerry added
WISP work in slow progress

Happy Quilting!

Pumpkin bread, it's that time of year

This is on my to-do list today, a recipe from eat better America,
I have made this before it is delicious, and a great treat for those of use that are watching those calories. It freezes well too.
Pumpkin Bread
50% less fat • 29% fewer calories • 50% more fiber
Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:2 hr 40 min
makes:2 loaves (12 slices each)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup fat-free (skim) milk
3/4 cup fat-free egg product
1/2 cup canola oil

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottoms only of two 9x5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves until well blended.
2. In medium bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, egg product and oil until well blended. Stir into flour mixture until well blended. Spoon batter evenly into pans.
3. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Decrease baking soda to 1 1/2 teaspoons.



Nutritional Information

1 Serving: Calories 190 (Calories from Fat 45); Total Fat 5g (Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 240mg; Total Carbohydrate 32g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 18g); Protein 3g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 60%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 4%; Iron 6% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
MyPyramid Servings 1 oz-equivalents Grains, 1 tsp Fats & Oils

Happy Quilting!

Making of a kitchen sink

I've had a couple emails asking if I was ok, I'm still here, I have just been busy finishing up a few projects and running around.


Thursday I went on a local shop hop with Mary visiting 5 shops here in the valley, I forgot my camera, so no photos to share from that.

Mary and I visited 5 shops, I had never been to 3 of them before. Yesterday I went to 3 more with Lucille. Fun stuff.

My kitchen sink is finished, thanks to Gypsy Quilter for the inspiration.

And a big Thanks to Bonnie at Quiltville for her method of using scraps and enders & leaders.


I made all the quilt blocks while I was working on sample quilts for the quilt shop, using the enders & leaders method.
I have had the top finished for awhile but I was dreading the challenge of quilting it on my Bernina. Then I happened to pop in a quilt shop when Sandy Moore was doing a demo on quilting larger quits in sections, then putting them together, kinda like "quilt as you go" only on a larger scale.

I came right home, took mine apart, dividing it in to 3 manageable sections. NOW it was do-able.



this made it easy to use up those smaller pieces of batting.



no large quilt back to make.



quilt as usual, then sew with right sides together, trim one side of the back, stitch the back together with a by hand with a blind stitch.


I love pieced backs, using this method I was able to use 4 different fabrics on the back.


Now I can see many unquilted quilts being finished in my future.


Now that Mary has closed the shop we find that we still want to get together with all the new friends we made there. Our first meeting of the "Sew n'Sews" was last week there was 8 of us there.
We were ask to bring something for show and tell, I was so busy yacking I only took a couple pictures.
Here I have a couple of quilts to show from that meeting.

Can you believe it,this is Betty's first quilt. She said she didn't know how to applique, so she made all the pieces, lined them, then stitch though from the back to tack them to the quilt. What an amazing job she did.




This is Linda's cat applique isn't it cute, I have it on my to do list.



Our weather here as been typical fall, with the leaves in my yard just beginning to turn. Cool mornings & sunny afternoons. I hear that is about to change.
Until next time.

Happy Quilting!

Autumn came to Idaho

I just finished my porch project in the nic of time. It turned very cold seems like it happened over night, Oh Ya, that's right, it did. One day it was nice with the doors and windows open, the next, brrrr, can't leave the house with out a jacket.

In addition to quilting I have been dealing with furnace issues. Actually not the furnace, it is fine thank goodness, but my thermostat quit working properly, I could set it at 55 as low as it would go, it would not shut off.

My sweet brother Gordon, sent me a very hi tech, programable thermostat to replace mine with. I had Nick come over to install it for me, turns out it was a very complicated install. After spending 4 hours and working until midnight on it we thought we had it figured out. Wrong, I got up the next morning to a very cold house with a temp of 40.. Make a long story short I ran over to Home Depot, bought a little cheap manual operated thermostat had it installed and all is well.

The quilt I have been working on is finished, I put it on my bed last night, it has been awhile since I made a quilt for my bed, it is scrappy and I love it.
I know you are looking for pictures, but I will have to post pictures tomorrow, hopefully.

I need to take my camera to the shop today, when I try to download or view photos it says I need to format my chip. So no new photos today, I will show you a few old ones though.
I took these photos when I was visiting my daughter this summer of a couple of quilts I didn't have pictures of in my album.

I made this signature quilt for my daughters 40th birthday. I had sent her friends a 3" X 5" piece of white fabric and ask them to write a message on it and sign. It was a fun project and a total surprise for her. center

Below is a Rooster applique I did about 10 years ago, dd, always had it hanging in her kitchen. She washed it and the red faded all over the background. so she returned it to me and ask me to fix it, I cut away the background with the intentions of appliqueing it to a new piece of fabric, it is the pile of "need to do" I should put it on top of the pile.


This is the quilt that is now hanging where the rooster belongs,

Happy Quilting!

A little of this and that

I have been working on a new quilting technique, well, it is new to me anyway. I will be sharing it with you in a few days, I am taking a lot of photos as I go, so I can share with you. Stay tuned.

In the mean time here are a few links you may find interesting, I did.

There is a giveaway going on over at Freda's Hive

And Melissa is have a giveaway party you may want to check out too, you click on the button on my sidebar.



At Quilting Weekly you will find a lot of new ideas, quilting links, and she is looking for guest writers and tutorials.



There is a Sweet Giveaway going on at Fabric. com with over a $1000. in prizes.

Ok enough surfing for me this morning, time to get to work.

Happy Quilting!

A birthday present for Sandra

Yesterday was my daughters birthday, we won't talk about age, but I don't know when my children's age caught up with mine.
Sandra is a Literary Agent, and works from her home office. She has created this great environment to work in, I don't know how she gets anything done, I would be staring out the window all day.
This is the view from her desk of her front yard,
with the window open you can hear the water bubbling in the stream.


This was a kit I made while working at the quilt shop, when I saw it I knew I had to make it for Sandra's office.
I only had the top done when the shop closed so it has been on the UFO list for awhile.

I woke up one morning last week and realized it was almost Sandra's birthday with the quilt unfinished.

With minimal quilting I was able to finish it in time to get it in the mail so it arrived on her birthday.

She called yesterday after recieving it to tell me she had the perfect place for it in her office. Happy Birthday Sandra.

Happy Quilting!

Ok, lets stop with the plastic bag!

Yesterday was garbage day in my neighborhood, the bags were everywhere as I drove to the store. I guess the garbage has a way of escaping when the garbage is dumped into the truck. The truck is enclosed so it must be while the can is being dumped, I can't blame these hard working men that pick up the cans and physically dump them in the truck. Yes they still do it by hand in my neighborhood, but I can blame the consumer.
Here is a link for making an free easy tote bag pattern anyone can make.
I especially hope you quilters are not using plastic, lets make our own and make a difference.

Happy Quilting!

Cherries and Crows quilted place mat tutorial

.

Begin by cutting the backing and batting, I use Therolamb, layer these together, pin in place.

Cut 5 strips the width of your fabric, I cut these 3" wide, sometimes it depends on the design in your fabric, especially if you choose to use a stripe. But no less than 2.5".

before sewing press under 1/4" on the outside edge. Using a 1/4" seam with right sides together, stitch around the edge, much like sewing on binding. Stopping to pivot at each corner.( One 45" strip will not go all the way around, just stop at a corner, backstitch and begin with a new strip butting up against the last strip.) If this is a little confusing, just sew 2 strips together end to end .





Press all the darts to one side, making sure the un sewn edge match evenly.

Stitch the dart on the pressed line, starting at the outer edge, stitch toward the point.

Trim and press open.

Clip outer corners, just to stitching.

Turn right side out, and press.

Measure and cut a piece to fit in the center, pin in place, then top stitch. I like to top stitch a couple times, and also a 1/4" from outer edge.

Whaooooo! you are done.

These make great gifts, wash like a dream and they re reversible.






Below is an example of a set I made for Marge.

Happy Quilting!

Email me or leave a comment if you would like the dimensions.