Have you heard about Leah Day's new blog 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting? If you haven't seen this wonderful blog then you need to stop what you are doing right now finish reading this post and then go and see what Leah is doing for the quilting world! She's on a journey to post 365 different free motion quilt designs each day for the next year. Not only is she showing a different design every day, but she is also sharing instructions along with a video for each design! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to find Leah's blog. I have played with free motion quilting a little bit, but I am certainly not confident enough with free motion to actually use it on a quilt. Thanks to Leah's willingness to share her quilting knowledge and instructions, I may actually give free motion quilting a try! Leah is not only the author of 365 Days Of Free Motion Quilting, but she is also the owner of Day Style Designs Online, so be sure to stop by both sites and see all that this talented young quilter has to offer!
(Images are property of Leah Day and are used with permission.)
Here's a final look at the quilt that I have been helping a friend make for her daughter-in-law. (See the previous posts about this quilt HERE and HERE.) My friend chose to "quilt by check" and let Anya do the actual quilting on this quilt. The quilting doesn't show up that well in the photo, but it's a lovely meander that allows the design of the quilt to shine through. Yesterday we had a quick lesson in binding and once the handwork is done, the quilt will be finished and there will officially be a new quilter among our ranks!
I don't think it's any secret that I love all things quilt related and I especially love to see quilt blocks on barns! A friend of mine who has a farm near Knoxville, Tennessee recently became a part of the Appalachian Quilt Trail and she sent me this photo of their newly decorated barn. The block pattern is called "Mountain Variations" and is 8' wide by 8' high! It's a beautiful addition to the barn, isn't it?
The girls had these for the first time after school the other day and Miss One declared that they taste "just like Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzels". I'm not so sure that they taste like pretzels, but they are really good!
Snickerdoodle Blondies
1 1/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup butter, very soft 1 egg 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
Topping: 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or line a 9x9 inch pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in the four mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon in a small bowl. Evenly sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool before cutting.
Yesterday Anya and I made a trip to Coudersport for their community yard sale day with the hopes of finding a $5.00 Featherweight just like a friend of ours did several years back. Our luck wasn't quite that good, but I did find this wire egg basket that is going to make a fantastic scrap basket! It's huge and holds all my scraps with room to spare. The best part about it is that I can see what is on the bottom and even pull scraps through the sides, so maybe I won't have to dump it out the next time I'm looking for a certain color.
Have you seen all of the vintage sheet quilts that have been springing up across the quilting blogs lately? If not, then have a look at the ones at Pins & Thimbles, Cluck Cluck Sew and Crazy Mom Quilts. I'm sure that making quilts from old sheets goes against the grain of a lot of quilters, but I am intrigued by the idea. I like the whole reclaim, reuse and repurpose concept and plus, some of these old sheets are just plain pretty! Yesterday I was dropping a few things off at the local thrift shop and while I was there I noticed a display of sheets, so I thought I would have a look. What was I thinking? I walked out of the store with a bag full of sheets. It's not like I needed the fabric or another project, but I guess this means that I'm going to have to make a vintage sheet quilt at some point. Do you think I should put them in with my fabric stash or should I hide them in the linen closet?
I just received the following email from Ami Simms. I guess I'll be spending the rest of the evening searching for information about tree sloths! Do you have a few minutes to do a search for a good cause as well?
Out of the 42,000 charities listed on GoodSearch.com the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative was selected to be the Charity of the Day today, September 4th.
Please go to www.GoodSearch.com and select Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative as the charity you wish to support. Click "verify" and then search for something! Anything! Type in the name of your favorite quilt block, find a recipe to make something for dinner tonight, or find out how many toes a tree sloth has. Just search for something. For every search you make, AAQI gets a donation.
Keep us selected and every future search earns us a dontaion! This could be HUGE.
Please pass this on to anyone you can think of who wouldn't mind a quick search to help out.
Thank you! Ami Simms
(No, this is not a picture of a sloth in my backyard. The photo was located on Wikipedia via GoodSearch.com and is used with permission.)
This has absolutely nothing to do with stitching, cooking or anything else related to this blog, but I thought it would be something fun to try. (To be honest, I haven't spent any time at all in the sewing room since I got home from vacation and I'm struggling for a post idea!) For the next few Friday's I'm going to post about one of my favorite things (maybe quilt related, maybe not). Leave a comment telling me what your "Friday Favorite" is and if you want to play along on your blog, just post about this week's favorite and leave a link to your post in the comments section.
This week's Friday Favorite...
What is your all time favorite movie? You know, it's the one that you can recite every line word for word and watch over and over AND over!
I have several and can narrow the my list down to a few...Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Rio Bravo, but #1 always goes to The Wizard of Oz. I have such fond memories of watching that movie as a kid. I think because it was always such a big event at our house. My mom would mark the TV guide and we would look forward to seeing it all week long. It meant that we got to stay up late camped out in front of the TV with a bowl of jiffy pop popcorn (remember that?) and hiding under the blankets from the wicked witch and her evil flying monkeys. Those were the days!
Read about other bloggers favorite movies at the following sites...
Quite a while ago Deb from The Angel and the Pukeko sent me this redwork kit. I had told her how I admired her stitcheries and I think she was hoping to get me hooked on embroidery. The other day, after waiting quite a few boring minutes in the parking lot for the girls to get out of school, I remembered Deb saying that these small redwork projects are perfect take along projects. Ah ha! I came home and put this kit in the car, so I can work on it the next time I find myself waiting in the car. Stitching is a whole lot better than sitting in the car and doing nothing!
Have you heard about Leah Day's new blog 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting? If you haven't seen this wonderful blog then you need to 
tion quilting a little bit, but I am certainly not confident enough with free motion to actually use it on a quilt. Thanks to Leah's willingness to share her quilting knowledge and instructions, I may actually give free motion quilting a try!
