Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild's Exhibit 2010

A Bit Of Backstitch

As much as I would like to be an embroiderer, I just am not, but sometimes a project comes along that I can't resist and I end up having to do a bit of backstitch. It's not the best work, but I think the finished project is going to be so cute that the bad stitches won't matter!

Getting Ready For Winter

It seems like there is always so much to be done this time of year to get ready for winter and this year is no exception. We have been working at putting a new roof on our house, plus I've been doing a bit of fall house cleaning and now that the sun has returned there are flower beds that need tending and leaves that need to be raked. Don't worry though, even with all that have to be done, I am still finding some time to do some things that I want to get done...like basting my Dear Jane, so it will be all ready for me to quilt once my chores are finished!

Speaking Of Cake...

Birthdays are nature’s way of telling us to eat more cake, so today I will be eating cake!

4 - Layer Cake Quilt

The pattern that I used for this charity quilt is called 4 - Layer Cake. I still haven't figured out why it's called a 4 layer cake because it only uses 1 layer cake to make a nice sized throw. For those of you who aren't familiar with layer cakes of the fabric variety, they consist of 40 - 10" squares from a collection of fabrics...very pretty and zero calories! I made my own layer cake from scratch for this quilt using scrap plaids, but even without the pre-cut layer cake it still went together very fast and easy!

Not Pumpkin Bread

Has anyone else noticed that it's darn near impossible to find a can of pumpkin on the grocery store shelf? Apparently poor weather conditions have created a pumpkin shortage! In my book, it's just not Fall without pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bars or pumpkin bread. What's a pumpkin lover to do? Replace the pumpkin with mashed sweet potatoes! I used mashed sweet potatoes in place of the canned pumpkin in my regular pumpkin bread recipe and it was impossible to tell the difference!

Not Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the four, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the sweet potatoes, oil, eggs and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until bread tests done.

Yo Mama's Big Fat Booties

I just love this slipper sock pattern! I'm not sure if it's because the socks knit up fast with worsted weight wool, because they fit so nicely and keep my feet toasty warm or just because I love the name of the pattern so much...Yo Mama's Big Fat Booties! Either way, this pattern makes a great pair of slipper socks!.

The Ladies of the Valley Quilt Guild's Show

The Ladies of the Valley Quilt Guild of Addison, NY held their annual quilt show this past Friday and Saturday. This guild was just formed in 2008 and has already grown to over 40 members and judging by the quilts that were on display, they are a group of very talented ladies! As you can see, gorgeous quilts covered almost every square inch of the Addison Town Hall. It was well worth the trip to see the quilts that they have been working on for the past year and I'm already looking forward to next year's show!

Kim Diehl Trunk Show

The pile of quilts in this photo are just a small representation of the quilts shown by Kim Diehl during a trunk show and lecture that I attended last Friday night. Kim showed quilt after quilt from all four of her books including quilts and projects from her new book, Simple Graces, that is due out in a couple of weeks. My first quilty love has always been country folk and seeing these quilts made my heart literally skip a beat! I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy this style of quilt. I think it's time to put away the bright colors and hand dyed fabrics for awhile and go back to my country colored roots!