AAQI September Quilt Auction Begins Tomorrow!

One To Get Ready...

I'm not usually one to label a quilt unless it's a gift or being donated to the AAQI, but this week I'm making and sewing on labels for a different reason.  These quilts are going to be entered in the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's 2012 Exhibit and need to be clearly labeled!  Quilts are to be dropped off at the venue on Saturday and hanging starts on Monday.  The Opening Reception is Friday, September 7, at 7:00 and then the exhibit is open daily (2:00 -5:00) through September 30 at the Gmeiner Art & Cultural Center in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

A Deal Too Good To Pass Up!

Look closer at those price tags...the original price on this book was $20.00 and it was marked down to just $2.00!  Even if I didn't think I would ever make a quilt from this book, I probably still would have purchased it just based on the mark-down price, but it is full of really cute patterns that are perfect for pre-cuts or scraps!  It was a deal too good to pass up!

Silent Sunday

Quilty Hugs

When one of our guild members is seriously ill we put together a hug quilt for her to let her know that she is loved and that we wish her well.  The blocks in this quilt were pieced and signed by various guild members, the top was assembled by another member and I did the quilting and binding.  In the year that I've held the Outreach Chairperson position for our guild, this is the first hug quilt that we have had to make.  I hope it is also the last, not because I didn't enjoy working on this quilt, but because I wish all of my guild sisters continued good health!

Peachy Cream Cheese Bars

 These bars were a hit at this year's guild picnic!  After all, what's not to love about peaches and cream cheese?

Peachy Cream Cheese Bars

1 package dry yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, divided
29 oz. can peach slices, drained
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9"x13” pan and set aside.  In a large bowl combine cake mix, butter and 1 egg; mix with fork just until crumbly.  Set aside 1 1/2 cups of crumbs for topping.  Press the remaining crumbs on bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes.  Cut peach slices into 1” pieces and spoon onto partially-baked crust. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla extract; beat with mixer until creamy.  Spread over top of peaches.  Sprinkle with reserved crumbs.  Bake 30 minutes.

Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.  Store leftovers in refrigerator.

A Few Facts

You can help change these statistics by supporting the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.  It is as simple as donating or purchasing a quilt!  Find all the details at www.alzquilts.org. 

Silent Sunday

Yarn Bobbins Explained

Thanks to everyone who took the time to explain that the plastic thingamajigs are actually yarn bobbins which are used for times when you are knitting with more than one color yarn. No wonder I didn't know what they are used for...I avoid having to knit with more than one color of yarn at all costs! Although, now that I know the secret of the yarn bobbin, maybe I will try knitting with two or more colors at some point!

Question Of The Day

These little plastic thingamajigs were found mixed in with some knitting needles and other knitting gadgets.  I assume that they are used for knitting or yarn in some way, but I'm not sure how.  Does anyone know what they are or how they are used?

Fleece!

It's hard to pass up a good sale, isn't it?  At a recent trip to Joann Fabrics I found fleece panels discounted more than 50% off, fleece on the bolt at 40% off and I had a coupon in my pocket for 25% off my total purchase on top of that!  Needless to say, I'll be able to crochet edgings on fleece blankets for quite awhile before I have to restock the fleece pile again!

Silent Sunday

It All Comes Out In The Wash

It's no secret that I find peace in my sewing room and thread is my therapy.  The other day I was in a particularly foul mood, so I retreated to my sewing room, turned up James Taylor, and started playing with a few scraps that I had left out on the cutting table.  While moving the scraps around I noticed an assortment of lights and darks that almost seemed to form a colorwash.  I liked the design enough to stitch it together and quilt it with a simple 3/4" grid.  After couple hours of stitching and singing along with Sweet Baby James, my bad mood had come out in the wash and the Alzhimer's Art Quilt Initiative got another quilt out of the deal too!

On The Needles

It seems like I did more knitting than anything else last summer and this summer I have barely done any knitting at all!  I thought it was time to change that with a small project to ease myself back into knitting again and it doesn't get much smaller than baby socks and a matching hat.  Not that I know of anyone who is having a baby, but it's always a good idea to have a couple extra baby gifts on hand!

Scrappy Stars Sew Along

When Terry announced that she was going to host a sew along I thought it would be fun to join in.  Then when I saw the pattern had a 6 1/2" nine patch in the center, I knew I had to join in!  I had a stack of aging nine patch blocks in the closet just waiting for the right project to come along and the Scrappy Stars Sew Along was perfect!  Even if you don't have a stack of nine patches to start off with, you can still join in!  The blocks are easy to make and we're only making two a month.  Easy peasy!  Visit Terry's Treasures to find out all the details or to join in.

Silent Sunday

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

The assignment for the latest Out of Line Quilters project?  Use a photo inspiration and any amount of yellow to make an art quilt.  Easy!  Maybe.  The idea for this quilt did come easy.  Being the Wizard of Oz fan that I am, when I heard yellow, I immediately thought of the yellow brick road.  The hard part came with how to put it all together and finish it.  As I said earlier this week, I'm not a big fan of fusible web, but with this quilt I really had no other choice than to do a lot of fusing.  Once the top was complete I had to decide on how to quilt it and that's where my real struggle came.  I had it stuck in my mind that this quilt needed pebble quilting, but I've never even tried to do pebble quilting and with a deadline looming, I had no time to learn or practice.  It was then that it hit me...I already had the stones in the quilt; what I needed was to quilt the paths taken!  Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

Fleece Backing

A friend gave me several yards of blue fleece with the thought that I could use it for backing quilts.  It was a lovely idea!  A fleece backing would make an incredibly warm and cozy quilt, but honestly the thought of putting stretchy fleece on the quilt frame terrified me, so I originally planned to tie the quilts with the fleece backing.  Then I saw a post at Keep Me In Quilts where Mary showed a quilt that she was quilting with a fleece backing, so I quizzed her about it.  Mary assured me that you can use fleece as a backing (with or without batting) with great results as long as you pay attention to how you load the fleece backing on the frame (pin the cut edge to the leaders and selvage edges to the sides) and are careful not to over tighten and stretch the fleece as you are quilting.  It sounded easy enough, so I gave it a try on a charity quilt.  As you can see, it came out beautifully!