We Will Never Forget

On September 11, 2001, beginning at about 8:45 in the morning, a series of terrorist attacks destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and severely damaged the Pentagon. 2,603 people lost their lives in the twin towers including firefighters, EMTs and law-enforcement officers who were working in the rescue efforts, 125 people lost their lives in the attack on the Pentagon, and 246 lives were lost on Flights 11, 175, 77, and 93. In all, 2,974 innocent people lost their lives. We remember and will never forget.

Quilt Jail

Here's another Dear Jane block, E-9 Quilt Jail, completed! I followed along with the instructions at Dear Baby Jane and it went together easily. Squaring up the block was a little more challenging...can you see my "oops"? I'll give you a hint, the borders aren't all the same width anymore! It's a good thing that there really isn't a quilt jail or I would be doing time for that one!

Just How Many Ways Can You Applique?

It seems that I have found myself in a search for the perfect way to applique...err that is, the perfect way for me to applique. When I first started on this Dear Jane journey I thought the fusible interfacing method was going to be just the ticket. It had worked well for me in the past with larger projects, but I soon found that trying to sew and turn the tiny DJ pieces was, let's say, a little more than frustrating, so I decided that I was going to have to find a different way to applique. Last night after some discussion at the Laurel Janes meeting I decided to try a modified freezer paper technique. With this kind of paper piecing you trace your pattern on the dull side of the freezer paper (no need to reverse the pattern), cut it out and iron it to the right side of the fabric, then trim the fabric a 1/4 to 1/8 inch all the way around the pattern. As you are sewing, you tuck the fabric under the applique piece using the edge of the freezer paper as a guide. Once you finish sewing the piece down the freezer paper peels right off! As you can see, it worked pretty well!

*Marcia Hohn at Quilters Cache has a wonderful applique lesson page outlining several standard methods as well as the technique that I just described here.

The Laurel Janes

Tonight is the monthly meeting of the Laurel Janes. I missed last month's meeting, so I have some catching up to do! I have an applique block, E-5 Five Dime, all ready to go and I am hoping that one of our resident applique experts will be on hand to give me a few pointers on needle turn applique.

*If you haven't already, make sure that you check out Anya's blog...she has some good pictures of the quilt exhibit posted too!

MLQG Exhibit 2008

Here are a few snapshots of the exhibit that I took last night before the gallery was filled with nearly 200 people! The reception was a wonderful kick off for the exhibit and I think all of the quilts were well received...I heard nothing but oohs and ahhs all evening long!

Those of you who can't make it to see the show in person, don't worry...I'll be posting a closer look at all of the quilts throughout the month.

Tonight's The Night!

Two years of planning will be celebrated tonight with the gala opening reception of the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's 2008 Exhibit! The reception will be held from 7 pm-9 pm this evening and will include refreshments, door prizes and of course, a beautiful display of quilts. The exhibit will be open September 6-28 from 2 pm until 5 pm daily with free admission. If you are in the area, please make it a point to visit the exhibit...you won't be disappointed!

That Didn't Take Long

Just one week of Kindergarten under her belt and Miss Two was sent home from school early with a fever. Of course Miss Three isn't to be out done by her older sister and decided a case of the sniffles would be good competition. A trip to the doctor for both sickies this afternoon revealed that Miss Two's fever is due to an ear infection and Miss Three's ailment is "just a virus". Needless to say, spending the day with two sick kids seriously cuts into blogging time, laundry time, lunch time and sewing time was totally nonexistent...now I'm just ready for bedtime!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cake-like pumpkin cookies are another family favorite...especially in the Fall! It never fails, when the leaves start changing and days start getting cooler my family starts asking for these cookies and I’m happy to oblige!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well; stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

Note: These cookies don’t “stack” well, so make sure to put a sheet of wax paper or plastic wrap between layers.

And So It Begins...

Today we began hanging the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild 2008 Exhibit. Everything was in disarray this morning and it was hard to envision just where the 100+ entries would all go! I won't show you a picture of how it looked when I left tonight, but I will tell you that the Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center looks very different this evening than it does in this photo and the gallery is now full of beautifully displayed entries! There are still a few things left to do throughout the week, but by Friday evening's Gala Opening Reception I can guarantee you that it will look FANTASTIC!