I Did It Again...

A little over a year ago I lost a needle while I was stitching a binding and unfortunately my granddaughter found it a few weeks later with her bare foot! (Read the full story HERE) I try to keep close track of my pins and needles, but every once in awhile one gets away from me and yesterday it happened again, only this time I didn't give up the search until the needle was found. I pretty much had to dismantle the sofa, but I found the needle plus 36 cents and a Barbie shoe! I'm not sure it was great pay for an hour's worth of work, but at least it's safe to go barefoot in the living room again!

Getting Closer

The Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's exhibit is getting closer...the gala opening is just one week from today! I have been hand stitching feverishly on my entries and I am happy to say that all of the bindings are finished. Now on to the hanging sleeves and labels...

It's Just Like Riding A Bike!

It has been so long since I have done any quilting with my Juki machine and Grace frame (June 6th according to my blog!) that I was afraid that I might have forgotten how to use it! Quilting must be just like riding a bike, because as soon as I turned on the power I was quilting again! Now to see if I still remember how to put on binding...

Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's Exhibit 2010

The lack of blog posts at Hanging On by a Needle and Thread is certainly not due to a lack of quilt related activity around my house. Two years ago I agreed to chair our guild's biennial exhibit and in just two short weeks all of the work is going to come to fruition, but there is still a lot that needs to be done between now and then...like finish my entries! As soon as the show opens I will have a lot of quilt related posts and photos to share and if you happen to be in the Wellsboro, PA area during the month of September be sure to stop by and see the exhibit!

For more information visit the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's website at www.mountainlaurelquiltguild.org

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

My grandma made the best sugar cookies, but her recipe makes close to a million cookies. Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it makes a LOT of cookies! I've always said that I was going to downsize the recipe, but never got around to it until just recently. This scaled down recipe made 2 dozen 3" cookies and they are just like grandma's (minus the raisin that she always added to the center of each cookie).

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour

In a large bowl cream the shortening and the sugar. Add the egg, vanilla, and milk. In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients with a wire whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl. Mix until well combined. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll the dough (half at a time) to 1/4" thick. With floured cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with sugar and if desired, add a raisin to the center of each cookie. Bake 8 minutes or until very light brown at the edges. Let stand on cookie sheets for two minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Barn Quilt vs. Poison Ivy

I spotted this barn quilt as we were traveling Route 6 just outside of Smethport, PA last weekend and begged my husband to stop so I could take a photo of it for "the blog". Yes, even my husband understands the importance of a good blog photo opportunity, so he quickly pulled over to the side of the road. I opened the Jeep door and noticed that he had parked in an enormous patch of poison ivy! I'm all for getting the perfect blog photo, but not at the expense of spending a week itching incessantly! I quickly closed the door and claimed that a photo from inside the Jeep would be just fine, so the barn quilt photo isn't exactly what I hoped to capture, but at least I'm not itching!

Proof

I have been hard at work quilting my challenge quilt for the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's upcoming exhibit, but all you get to see for now is this little bit of proof that I have been working on my entry. I'll share photos of the whole quilt after the exhibit opens in September.

Aunt Hazel's Bread & Butter Pickles

The problem with a lot of old recipes is that they are often short on details making them difficult to duplicate. For instance, this pickle recipe simply listed the ingredients and said "Bring to a boil & can." but fortunately that's about all it takes to make Aunt Hazel's famous Bread & Butter Pickles!

Aunt Hazel's Bread & Butter Pickles

1 quart sliced cucumbers
2 onions, sliced
1 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon mustard seed

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric and mustard seed in a stainless steel pot and bring to a boil. When sugar is completely dissolved, add cucumbers and onions and return to boiling. Pack into hot, sterilized jars leaving a 1/2 inch head space and secure lids. If desired, process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes or simply store in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

One Down...

I have one quilt finished and ready for my guild's upcoming exhibit! Naturally, it's the smallest of the three that I have to complete, but it's still a finish and an important one at that! This is actually an Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative quilt, but it will hang in the exhibit as part of the guild's AAQI Ties That Bind Competition before it is donated to Ami Simms. The one stipulation for this competition was that the quilt contain fabric from a necktie (and of course, all of the other AAQI rules also apply). The Ties That Bind quilts will be voted on by visitors to the exhibit and the maker of the quilt with the most votes will win a quilter’s gift basket. At the close of the exhibit all of the Ties That Bind quilts will be donated to AAQI to help raise money for Alzheimer’s research which makes AAQI the real winner of this competition!

A Little Practice

With my guild's upcoming exhibit just a month away, I have plenty of serious quilting to get done and no time to waste, but because it's been so long since I have actually done any sewing, I thought it would be a good idea to warm up on a practice quilt before tackling my exhibit quilts. These plaid squares are part of a very simple pattern that will go together quickly and eventually become a charity quilt...the perfect practice piece!