Alderwood Quilts

Flannel Snowman Quilt

2012-01-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

I wanted to show you the little snowman throw I made for my daughter in law. It's was a really super quick quilt- mostly strips. The checkerboards were pieced but the rest of the work is all done by the fabric. It took almost as long to bind it as it did to piece the top!

Here's a close-up, but it's difficult to see the quilting. I just did large swirls. Not quite stippling- just easy swirling all over.

Emily posing snuggled up with her new quilt. It's so nice to make a quilt for someone and have it so appreciated!

December Giveaway Winner- Be Colourful Pattern

2012-01-02T08:20:00.001-08:00

Sorry I forgot to do this yesterday. I was just having tooooo much fun putting decorations away and cleaning (NOT!).

I was really impressed with the number of people who genuinely hoped to win this giveaway. It just goes to show you how much people like Jacqueline de Jonge's patterns. I'm so sorry I don't have a few dozen of these to give away! Thank you all for entering, and especially to those of you who sent photos of Christmas quilts for me to share. I loved seeing your handiwork.

The trusty random number generator tells me that this pattern will be traveling across the border to B.C., Canada..... to live at Peg's house! Peg is an avid quilter and blogger. She has several blogs.... one of them being Pieces on my Mind. CONGRATS, PEG! I'll send you an email.

I'll post a January giveaway soon!

Amazing Christmas Lights!

2011-12-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

For your viewing pleasure.... this is NOT my house!

More Holiday Quilt Photos

2011-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

I have more Christmas quilt photos to show you.

This one was sent to me by Jofrid. She lives in Norway. Her blog is called Jofridsquilt and she has been a reader of my blog for a log time. The center star of this table topper/wall hanging is pieced and the hearts in the corner are hand embroidered.

Patti from Missouri sent this one. She said she used newspaper squares. She used the newspaper squares as a foundation and sewed the strips onto it. Then she trimmed them and took the paper off. Love it! Patti is a longtime reader and her blog is Osage Bluff Quilter.

I love this one from Tracy! She made this "Grinch" quilt for her friend's children, and included the Dr. Seuss book with the gift. I'm sure it will be treasured for many years, Tracy!

And finally- a shout out for a blog I follow-

Connie from Iowa blogs under Quilting By The River. She posted a tutorial for this cute mug rug today. She also has a tutorial for a cute snowflake design. The photo is hers. Check out her blog- it's a good read.

JUST IN CASE you've never heard of a mug rug... it's a tiny little quilt that's just the right size to hold a glass or mug and maybe a cookie or two. It's much smaller than a placemat. Think if it as a teenie tiny table cloth for your refreshments as you quilt. I especially like them for using up scraps, using an orphan block or a block that didn't come out right for some reason... or for a little way to test or practice a quilting stitch. Instead of risking a mistake on a big project, or wasting the time you put into the practice- it's a fun way to use your practice piece. They make super great gifts, too. AND... they're good gifts for both men and women to use next to a computer.

I'm really enjoying all of the pictures I'm getting, and I love hearing stories about how the quilts came to be (or why they are a gift). I can't wait to show you some of the things I'm making, but most are gifts and it's kind of hard to put things on the internet and keep them a secret! I'll show you pics of my holiday projects after they are opened by the recipients.

A Few More Christmas Quilts

2011-12-10T09:27:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more Christmas quilts sent to me by readers. This one is from my friend, Julie, in Oregon. She won the blocks through an online quilting group. She created the setting with EQ. Pretty, Julie!

And this one floored me! Hanging a quilt as a shower curtain never occurred to me! Hmmm.... now I have to think about this.....

Peg sent this one in. She said it was so big that she didn't know what else to do with it. I wonder if guests use the bathroom in her home and seem to take a little longer..... lol

Peg- did you line or quilt this? What treatment did you use? I would think it could be lightly quilted with a backing but no batting.

These ladies get an extra entry in my December blog giveaway for sending me a photo of a holiday project. Check the giveaway post for details. Good luck to all!

I'm decorating this weekend. Headed to the garage to dig out the decorations.... deep breath.... here goes.....

Henrietta Whiskers- Free Pattern!

2011-12-09T00:43:00.000-08:00

Henrietta Whiskers

You're smiling- aren't you? I generally make quilts with more of a contemporary flair, but this one just has something about it. I love applique and Henrietta is such an endearing little squirrel-- what can I say?

This pattern is available for FREE on one of my favorite blogs... Bunny Hill Designs. Its a series of.. I think... 8 or 9 patterns and was a BOM for 2011. DON'T DELAY! It will only be available as a FREE download through the end of the month. Once the calendar turns over to 2012, there will be a charge to purchase it. I've downloaded Bunny Hill's free BOM's for 3 years now. If you like embroidery, be sure to follow her blog- the designs are super cute! You can get there directly via the button on my sidebar over to your right, or just click on her blog link from this post.

Thanks so much to Bunny Hill Designs for such great patterns!

I'm speechless

2011-12-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

Yes... speechless.

This photo is from the Knit and Crochet Now site. Love them. But this.... well.... I'm speechless. I got a chuckle out of it- thought you might, too.

Some day this lady will have a big modeling career and she'll be on a talk show in a fancy dress with her hair just perfect... and the producers will have found this... and they'll show it... and she'll turn bright red and be... SPEECHLESS!

Seriously- Knit and Crochet now is a good show. They show you how to make normal stuff.

Holiday Quilts

2011-12-07T09:52:00.001-08:00

For the December giveaway, I'm offering an extra entry to readers who send me a photo of a holiday quilt. I'm interpreting this loosely- It can be a table runner or tote bag- anything you've made. And it doesn't have to be just Christmas- any holiday or celebration will work.

I've received photos of so many beautiful things! I just have to share them with you.

Janet, from the Yukon Territory in Canada, whose blog is Caribou Crossing Chronicles, sent me a photo of a beautiful table runner she made for a swap. Nice swap item, Janet! Your swap partner is a lucky lady!

Nancy from Missouri said she really had to hunt for this photo because she REALLY wants to win the pattern. Your quilt is SOOOOOO cute, Nancy! Good luck in the giveaway! Nancy's blog is With Thread in Hand.

This one is from Linda is California. Linda's blog is Stray Stitches. I love the colors, Linda!

This GORGEOUS Christmas Cactus was sent to me by the Needled Mom in southern California. She's a nurse and has 5 kids (and lots of GK's).... Needled Mom... nurse... needles.... get it? OK... back to the quilts. There are some other very pretty holiday things on her blog. I especially like her festive placemats.

Anna sent this. Her blog is QuiltMom's Journey. I just love the poinsettias, Anna!

Here's another one from Anna. The photo doesn't do it justice, I'm sure. Having just made a Double Wedding Ring quilt and working on another one... I have tons of respect to a quilter who makes one of these babies! Nice work, Anna!

Irene sent this photo. She scanned photos from trips that her son and daughter-in-law took and incorporated them into this quilt. She gave it to them for Christmas. The muted colors really make the photos stand out... and the travelers look really pleased with their quilt!

Bonnie from Florida sent these. Her blog is Here. She's working on 15 quilts for a nursing home! WOW!

Kathy from Ohio sent this photo of her pretty table topper. You can check out Kathy's Quilting Blog for more pretty things.

And I saved this beauty for last.... Barbara, who blogs at Cat Patches, sent this. I've had my eye on this pattern for quite a while. I first saw it in red, but I think it's amazing in blue! The embroidered snowmen are the cutest little guys! I had the pleasure of meeting Barbara recently when she came to one of our quilt guild meetings. I don't know what else to say about this quilt except WOW!!!

Thanks to all who took the time to send me pictures of your beautiful creations! You are all very talented and I am so pleased to have you reading along. Good luck to all of you in the giveaway.

You can enter the giveaway throughout the month of December, and I'd love to see your holiday quilts. (my email link is in the giveaway post).

December Giveaway- Christmas Jewel Pattern from Be Colourful

2011-12-02T09:11:00.001-08:00

For my giveaway for this month, one lucky reader will receive a Christmas Jewel pattern! Christmas Jewel was designed by Jacqueline de Jonge for her Be Colourful pattern collection. The "jewels" are paper pieced, which gives you amazing accuracy. This pattern retails for $19.95 (not your average pattern!).

I don't need to tell you that it can be made in any colors and would look equally stunning in non-holiday fabrics.

To see what it might look like in other colors, Jacqueline has a different pattern that she has titled, "Jewel".

The winner will be selected at random on January 1st, 2012. (WOW- that's the first time I typed 2012! Wasn't it just yesterday that the calendar turned to the year 2000?!?)

To enter- all you have to do is reply to THIS POST and let me know you want a chance. That's it! Your entered! I do need some way to contact you. I have started to reply to everyone who enters. So if you don't get a reply from me after entering, that means you are a "no-reply" blogger and I have no way to contact you should you be the lucky winner. I'm just sayin'. If you absolutely don't want your email on the internet, send me a private email to let me know how to contact you if you win.

Want more chances? For a second entry, be a follower of this blog.... AND... do a SECOND COMMENT to THIS POST and tell me you are a follower. You may think I should know that. I do. But I count the comments and put that number in the random number generator to pick a winner. If you don't do an extra comment, you don't have the second entry.

For a third entry- share the news! Tell your blog readers about it, do a Facebook post, tweet it, or take out a full page ad in the New York Times. I don't care how you share it-- just do something to spread the word and then come back here and post another comment to THIS POST to let me know.

For a 4th entry- send me a picture of a holiday quilt that you made. It can be ANY holiday- for any time of year, any culture.... anything! You can email me your pictures and the do a quick comment to THIS POST for the extra entry.

Good luck!

Karla Alexander Pattern WINNER!

2011-12-01T09:59:00.001-08:00

Congrats to 2 Girls and a Garden! You get to select any one of Karla Alexander's patterns on my website! I just took a peek at your blog- lots of interesting stuff on there- especially in gardening season. Now comes the hard part--- you have to pick one!

Thanks to all for entering. I'll be posting a December giveaway shortly.

Valley of the Kings

2011-11-30T22:25:00.001-08:00

We just added a new fabric collection today.... may I present.... Valley of the Kings from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

This stuff is stunning! If you like Asian fabrics, you'll like this.

We have it by the yard or in a fat quarter assortment.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I think this would make a great kaleidoscope quilt.... maybe one of the Quilt Moments patterns.

The background looks black in the photo, but it's actually a super deep purple.

All of these are prints with deep color saturation and metallic gold highlights.

I put this collection on the website today and sold 10 yards right off the bat.

I saw this on facebook.... gave me a good chuckle. I couldn't resist.

Jacqueline de Jonge on TQS!

2011-11-22T17:20:00.001-08:00

Alex Anderson, Jacqueline de Jong, and Ricky Tims

Those of you who are long time readers of this blog may recall that I have posted pictures of quilts made by Jacqueline de Jonge. Jacqueline's patterns are marketed through her company- Be Colourful. She is a gifted artist who hails from the Netherlands. A few of her patterns are traditional piecing, but for the most part, her designs are all paper pieced. I had the great pleasure of meeting Jacqueline and her brother, Harm, at quilt market a few years ago. She is a delightful person as well as a talented quilter. Her smile lights up a room! Harm is the business manager/ marketer, etc. This brother and sister make a great team. Outside of their contributions to the quilting world, Harm is a banker and Jacqueline is a nurse.

The Colourful Quilt

Jacqueline is appearing in this week's episode of The Quilt Show, which is an online quilt show and MUCH MORE. I have a membership in TQS and I love it! It's a complete quilting resource- weekly shows featuring an amazing array of quilt artists, blogs by both Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, educational videos, tutorials, a Block of the Month, a gallery of reader quilts, free patterns, and soooo much more. It's well worth the annual fee.

Curling Colours

I have to put in a quick plug here--- I carry ALL of the Be Colourful patterns on my website. I've been getting a lot of orders for them this week, but I have more on order and expect them very soon.

Elements of Nature

And I have to tell you a cute story about the time I met Jacqueline. With her increasing popularity, she has since had to accept help from long arm quilters, but at the time that I met her, she was still HAND quilting all of her own quilts (Yep- believe it or not!). She had several hanging in her booth and no kidding- they were jaw-dropping. I wanted to look at the back of one, and asked her if she would mind if I touched one to look at the back. I was expecting her to turn the corner for me, but that's not what happened. She gave me one of her big, warm smiles and said, "Of course! They're only quilts!".

Only quilts. Yea. Right. These things are works of art. The quilting world is a better place, thanks to Jacqueling de Jonge.

Joy

Some Recent Knitting Projects

2011-11-20T20:16:00.001-08:00

I'm still working on my 2 quilt tops (the ones from the Karla Alexander workshop). In the meantime, I thought I'd show you a few knitting projects I finished over the last few months.

This shawlette is called "Chadwick" and was designed by Stephen West. The yarns are 50-50 silk and merino wool. It's soooooo soft around my neck!

This is what it looked like when i was blocking it. To block a knitted piece, you wet it (I soak it in cool water with a few drops of a good wool wash). Then you work it into the desired shape (on towels or blocking boards) and then let it dry

I had the pleasure of meeting 2 of my knitting friends, Laura and Cindy, for a nice lunch and an afternoon of knitting together on Wednesday. It was so much fun! We met on a chat board on Ravelry. If you knit or crochet, you HAVE to check out Ravelry!

Here's another scarf/ shawlette I finished recently. It's called the "Seaside Shawlette" designed by Wendy Gaal. It was hard to stretch it out and get a good photo, so I bunched it up a bit for the photo.

This is a close up of the center. The yarn is merino wool, hand dyed (Knitters Brewing Company). It's a beautiful denim color.

And a fun scarf- the pattern is called "Molly". Another really soft wool- Liberty Wools. The ruffles are knitted in "short rows". I got a new pair of purple fleece gloves.... for those dreary winter days!

And OF COURSE.... socks! I still have my little sock knitting addiction going. This one is very special. The pattern is called "Totem" but Kerstin Bettig. The pattern is newly published. Before it was available for sale, Kerstin asked me to "test knit" the pattern. Pattern designers typically ask a few knitters to test the pattern and give them feedback. This is the only time I have ever test knit a pattern. I was honored! Now I need to make the second sock.

This is called "Leftovers Socks" by Wendy Gaal. It was make with multi orange, gray, and white leftover bits from other projects.

These are "Simply Twisted". The yarn actually has a little silver woven in it so it has a bit of sparkle!

And these are just a plain ol' pair of socks. The yarn is self-striping so it looks a lot fancier than it is. The yarn is a bamboo blend.

That's it for now!

More of Karla Alexanders' Designs

2011-11-15T19:13:00.001-08:00

Here's my progress on "Argyle".

This is sooooooo much fun! The curves are really easy-- I'm not kidding! The blocks are all made and I'm in the process of sewing them together. I'm going to do a navy blue border. And here's my big news... I only used one pin for each curved block! I'm the original "pin queen". My motto has always been, "If one pin will do... 7 pins are better!". But Karla challenged me to use her technique of sewing curves without lots of pins. WOO HOO! It works!

For my giveaway this month, I offered an extra entry to anyone who sends me a picture of a quilt they made using one of Karla's patterns or books. Here are a few REALLY pretty photos I've received:

This quilt is Wanda Hanson's "Crooked Squares". Wanda's blog, Exuberant Color, is one of my favorites. She has made more amazing quilts than you can shake a rotary cutter at! Thanks for sharing this one with us, Wanda!

Lisa Marie sent this photo. She used one of Karla's earlier books for her inspiration. The blocks were made using Karla's "stack the deck" method... cut.... and then reassembles after another shuffle. STUNNING, Lisa! I love the animal prints. Thanks for sharing and good luck in the pattern giveaway!

Does anyone else have a quilt they made using one of Karla Alexander's books or patterns? Send them to me and receive an extra entry in the giveaway this month.

Workshop with Karla Alexander

2011-11-10T07:28:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Karla Alexander of Saginaw Street Quilt Company. The workshop was sponsored by my guild, which does a wonderful job of scheduling creative instructors and inspirational classes.

Karla is an exceptional instructor. She had great visuals and samples prepared, and she showed us lots of examples of what she was describing. She knows that we quilters are "visual creatures".

I loved looking at all the samples she brought- and the many full sized quilts that are pictured in her books. They look great in the books, but they're SOOO much prettier in person!

This one is called, "Argyle". It's one of the quilts I chose to make. It was a 2 day workshop, focusing on different techniques each of the days. We were able to select a different quilt each day.

What amazed me is that we had a large list of options for each of the days. Karla was able to guide us each through our choices- keeping us all straight and remaining calm- keeping us all on task.

For the Saturday class, I chose to work on "Funky Curvy Rail". I selected a variety of green and black prints.

Karla taught us how to use free form cuts, or use one of her new rulers to cut waves, then stack and shuffle our "decks" of pieces. This gave us a good shuffling of colors for our scrappy quilts.

She also taught us how to sew the curves without a million pins! This was a big deal for me. I'm the original "pin queen". Do you see the little piece of foam tape beside the strips I'm stitching? It was used as a guide to keep our seams at 1/4 inch while feeding the curved pieces through. Worked like a charm!

Here's my progress so far. Fun, huh?!?

On Sunday, I opted to work on "Argyle". This is sooooo pretty! I just love how this quilt is turning out! And the curves are NOT difficult the way Karla taught us to work with them.

Obviously, we were all working with a lot of different pieces. Everyone has their own methods of keeping things straight. I was struck by the organization of one of my fellow guild members. Isn't she amazing? She has everything all lined up... all neat and tidy.....

And then there was my pile.

I want to share some photos of friends' quilts. They were all gorgeous!

Thanks for an educational, inspirational, and FUN weekend, Karla! Now, to finish my quilts!

Nanaimo Bars recipe

2011-11-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

I've had some requests for this recipe lately. I posted it a few years ago.... click here. These are absolutely killer decadent.... but worth it for a treat. No baking. The recipe originated in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, BC. YUM!

Edit:
Reader Diane wrote to tell me that Nanaimo is actually north of Victoria. She said that the traditional Nanaimo bar has walnuts in the base (not almonds). The custard powder she uses is Birds. I assume it's available in Canada but I haven't located it in the U.S. The recipe I posted was from the BC Tourism Bureau, so I guess there are different variations. I'll definitely try it with walnuts the next time I make them. Thanks for the info, Diane!

Another Edit:
Patty in Oregon said she found Bird's in the specialty food aisle of Fred Meyer. Thanks, Patty!

November Givaway- Free Pattern by Karla Alexander!

2011-11-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Argyle

For November, I'm giving away a pattern by Karla Alexander (Saginaw Street Quilt Company). I currently have 10 of Karla's patterns on my website. Pick which ever one you like! Here are just a few....

Windfall

Cups! Cups! Cups!

Feature Presentation

Great Pumpkin Harvest Table Runner

These are just a few of her patterns. You can select any one of Karla's patterns on my website. The winner will have a hard time choosing!

The winner will be selected at random on December 1, 2011. To be entered, simply leave a comment to THIS POST and just tell me you want to be in the drawing. That's it!

For a second entry, be a follower of this blog. It doesn't matter if you are a long time follower or if you have just joined us. But you MUST make as SECOND COMMENT to THIS POST and tell me that you are a follower.

For a third entry, tell others about the giveaway. You can blog about it, Facebook, tweet or whatever- just let others know. Come back here and leave another comment to THIS POST to let me know.

This month, there's a way to get a fourth entry--- send me a picture of a quilt that you have made from any one of Karla Alexander's patterns or books. I spent all of this past weekend in a workshop with Karla and I'll be posting photos of what we made. I'd love to add your photos!

Good luck!

Have You Seen This Bag???

2011-11-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

The bag in this photo was taken from the Sanguine Gryphon booth at Rhinebeck recently. It's hand knitted, embellished with beautiful beads and fabric-lined. Please contact Sanguine Gryphon if you know the whereabouts of the bag. People who steal ANYTHING.... especially hand made works.... are LOW! Let's get the word out in the knitting and sewing community and find this bag! You can see more photos on Ravelry- the pattern is called "Fulfillment". You can buy the pattern there, too, if you're interested.

The Winner is Laura!

2011-11-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Laura from Nacagdoches, Texas is the winner of the October giveaway. YEA, LAURA! Woo Hoo! (fireworks go off....)

Laura's blog is a fun read. check it out if you get a chance.

I'll look around in the shop today and see what I can use for a November giveaway.....

Zucchini Pie

2011-10-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

I know it's a little late to give you ideas for using a bumper crop of zucchini, but you might want to file this for next season.

Meat Loaf, Zucchini Pie and cherry tomatoes from my garden.

My friend, Sandy A. (Gotta put the initial in there 'cause I have 5 friends named Sandy!!!) was kind enough to feed me dinner one night when I was at her house on my way to a Scout meeting a few years ago. YUM! Her Zucchini Pie became a fast favorite in our house. Thanks, Sandy!

Yes- I took this photo of our dinner about 6 weeks ago, when zucchini and tomatoes were at their best.

Zucchini Crescent Pie

Line a 10 inch pie pan with 18-ounce can crescent roll dough. (This is what the recipe calls for, and it's fine, but you could also use a regular pie crust and pre- cook it a little)

Brush dough with about 2 teaspoons of mustard (yellow or brown- your choice). The recipe calls for 2 tsp but I generally use a little more. We like mustard.

4 Cups thinly sliced zucchini
1 Cup chopped onion
Saute in 1/4 - 1/2 cup margarine or butter for 10 minutes.

Combine:
1/2 cup chopped parsley or 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregoano
2 beaten eggs
8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella or muenster cheese
The already-sauteed zucchini/onion mixture

Pour the filling into the shell and bake in a pre-heated 375 deg f. oven for 18-20 minutes or until center is set.

Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

I also like a slice of this warmed up for breakfast. or with a side salad for lunch.

This seems like a good place to show you my new veggie garden. This is where all the zucchini and tomatoes came from! DH loves a project that involves his little tractor. The blue lounge chair is where I sat to watch him put in the posts. (yea- right!)

Last year, I planted a few things and the deer ate all of it! So this year, we got a few rolls of 8 ft deer fencing. It's the plastic stuff- they hate it on their noses, and they can jump most anything less than 7 or 8 ft.

The guys built me 5 raised beds, which we filled with nice, rich garden soil. There is quite a bit of space around them inside the fencing for me to plant other things. I didn't get much planted this summer because the fencing wasn't up until late June, and the lavender is harvested in July. But I had some nice tomatoes, peppers, onions and a few other things. Next year will be a different story! I planted blueberries, rhubarb and grapes last month and I'm planning for the spring!

Our apple tree was a happy camper this year. LOTS if big apples. We mostly use them for apple sauce and cider. And the deer clean up the windfalls.

I'm pretty new at vegetable gardening. I'm happy to hear any and all tips or recommended web sites!

Road Trip

2011-10-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did a rather long post on internet safety and email privacy. I expected people to yawn an move on. Not so! I got a lot of comments- looks like I hit some nerves!

I did promise a fun post today. Yesterday I said that people should post on blogs and FB about vacations AFTER they return (or tell that they are upcoming but not say WHEN they are going). It's just not safe to post to the world that your house will be empty!

So... following my own advise... here's a post about the trip DH and I took last week. Our oldest son and his lovely wife moved to Utah last January. They visited us here in August, but we had not yet been to see them. We opted to drive the 1600 mile round trip because we enjoy road trips and DH doesn't particularly enjoy airports and such.

I showed the quilt I made for my son yesterday, but I didn't mention that I named the quilt. "Road Trip".

The drive from the Portland area to the Salt Lake area is about 800 miles each way. I neglected to take many photos of the drive there, but the scenery was beautiful. I focused on visiting the kids, but never really thought about the fact that we would see the autumn foliage in some rugged mountain areas. How stunning! I especially like to see the colors of the deciduous trees contrasted by the deep green evergreen trees. We have a lot of that in the Northwest.

DH and I grew up in Philadelphia. While we love living in the Northwest, we do miss those Philly cheesesteaks! My DIL found this little place is Salt Lake City that serves amazing cheese steak sandwiches! It's called Moochies (I think I spelled that right). They even had Tasty Cakes!

This was taken on the deck of a friend's house. We had our dog. DS and DDIL have a dog. The friend has a dog. Friend's mom was away and her dog was at the friend's house. I tried to get a photo of the 4 dogs but all I managed to get was dog butts and people feet.

We went to visit the copper mine just outside the city. WOW! I never knew how much I didn't know about copper! It's hard to describe the massiveness of this operation. This tire gives you an idea of how large the trucks are that carry the material out of the pit to be processed. (Don't you know every guy who visits has to pose in front of the tire?)

This is the pit they are currently mining. I felt like I was gazing into the Grand Canyon!

Another shot of the mining operation- slightly to the side of the main pit. The rock is crushed and travels many miles to be processed. Then it is returned and taken to the top of the mountain and dumped over the side- creating a "new mountain". Amazing!

Another restaurant! We spend one day driving up to Park City. We started the morning at this cute diner, which was originally a railroad dining car- build onto in many directions to enlarge the restaurant. I had the most wonderful breakfast! It was an omelet with asparagus, tomatoes, onions, and Munster cheese. Accompanied by incredible potatoes and biscuits.

We visited the Olympic Village in Park City.

This is a luge course (I think). Looks a little different without the snow!

Cady gets gold, Paul and Wayne take silver and bronze!

Ski jumps sans snow.

View overlooking the valley from the ski jump area. Is this fall color just the most gorgeous picture?!? It almost didn't look real.

So where does a ski jumper jump when there isn't any snow? Into a pool of water, of course!

You can actually pay to do this- if you're crazy enough.

The next day took us to the Bonneville Salt Flats. This may look like snow, but it's SALT!

The sign is information about the speedway. Crazy people drive on this stuff. My son did it. It's long and flat and straight and people drive fast and grunt about it. Enough about that.

Here we are at a road stop. There had been some rain, which evidently sits on top of the salt.

Lots of salt.

More salt.

I was glad we went because it was amazing to see. But it was just salt. And more salt. And more salt. And you had to rinse off the tires and your shoes-- salt can do nasty things. And my lips tasted like salt from the air. Ick.

In the car--- long drive---- this is not a good picture of DIL Cady (sorry, Cady!) but I thought it was cute of their dog, Cooper. "Are we there, yet?"

Another restaurant! This was outside of the Mayan Adventure. It's like being in an Indiana Jones movie with dark rooms, rock walls, and cliff divers.

I took a lot of photos of the cliff divers, but didn't think you'd be interested in blurry blobs with dark backgrounds. Some things just don't photograph well. Fun night, though.

Farewell for now.... we'll be back! Thanks for a wonderful time, Paul and Cady- love you guys!!!

New Plan...

2011-10-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

OK-- new plan. If you comment and you're a no-reply commenter, and I want to reply, I'll do it in the comments box after the post. So if you want to be anonymous, just look for your comment and the ones following and see if I replied.

Be Safe on the Internet

2011-10-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of topics for this post. One is regarding the privacy of your email address and the other is regarding telling people about vacations.

No good pictures for this topic, so I'll post some pictures of a quilt I just finished for my son to keep you reading. I posted this quilt before when I made the top- but I just completed it and gave it to him.

Here's a picture of Paul holding up his quilt. It's intended to be a throw- for TV watching and such.

This photo shows the backing folded over a block. Paul has collected license plates since he was little. I just couldn't resist making a quilt for him with this fabric. The coordinating fabric used for the block backgrounds is a road map.

A few of the blocks....

And Jaeger seems to want to pose with every quilt I try to photograph on the floor. Maybe he just wants to try them out. :-)

OK-- that was the fun stuff. Now the boring stuff with no pictures.... but PULEEZE keep reading....

Let's start with email and no-reply bloggers. I have several email addresses. One is very private. My business email is plastered everywhere I can possibly plaster it. I also have one for junk. That's the one that I use for newsletters, when ordering online, for giveaways, etc. Let's have a little chat about blogging and your email address. I totally understand if you want to keep your email address off of blog replies.... especially if your email is the same as your work email or if you share it with your spouse or family. Good grief- it's a scary world out there on the internet! But you CAN play along on blogs and giveways and such things if you get a second email address. Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail... and the list goes on and on... all have FREE email. If you want to purchase online, enter contests, etc, but hold back because you want to maintain your privacy- consider getting an email address for these kinds of things.

Many of the contest entries I get- and just general comments on my posts are so kind and many ask for a reply. If you are a no-reply blogger (ie, you have stated that you don't want your email to show in your preferences) then I have no way to reply to you! It breaks my heart not to reply to some of you when I really, really want to respond! I think that a lot of people select that they don't want their email to show thinking that it will be actually printed. But what happens is that if I click on your name, I get "no-reply".

I TRY to reply to MOST of the comments made on my blog. If it's a little one or 2 word comment, or if it's a request to enter a giveaway, I MIGHT not get to replying. Sometimes I can get 150 comments overnight when I post a giveaway and it just isn't possible for me to send 150 emails right away. Right now- I am behind. But in general, if you post a comment I'll eventually reply to you privately in your email. If you regularly post comments (to me or anyone else) and never ever get any personal replies- you're probably a no-reply blogger. And chances are, many of you don't realize it.

Here's what you can do to find out. It's a little different if you are on blogspot or typepad or others. But you want to look for the words, privacy, or settings, or preferences. On blogspot, it has a question in the preferences that says, "Show E-Mail Address". Many people think, "Heck no--- don't show the world my email address!" and they leave that unclicked. That makes you a no-reply blogger. That's your choice. Just know that others won't be able to interact with you. If you click that you want the address to show, it won't end up on a bill board in Times Square. It just means that people will be able to reply to you. If this still bothers you, consider getting a separate email address. I have good anti-virus software to weed out the really bad guys. You really do need to invest in the antivirus stuff. And even though I don't try terribly hard to protect my personal email address, I get very little spam. Most of it ends up in my address that I use for online stuff like giveaways and online shopping.

If you get an email address for junk- just make sure you check it once in a while because there might be a note in there that you won a blog giveaway!!! I check my junk email about once a week.

Note- just having a junk mail folder in your regular email box isn't the same thing.

Another note- please, please, please, PLEASE don't mark legitimate advertisements or newsletters as "junk or spam" unless they really are bad guys. If you do that, the sender is marked as a spammer. I used to think that the spam box on my email was just a separate folder for junk. It's not. Here's how this works: I have a legitimate business and I send a newsletter to thousands of people about 10 times a year. People are only on that list if they ASK to be. (You can sign up for my newsletter on my website). I pay a newsletter service to manage the list (it's BIG). I pay for each address it goes to. They send out my newsletter, maintain the list, add and delete people as requested, etc. If you don't want to read my newsletters right away, that's cool. And if you don't want them any longer you can un-subscribe. That's fine, too. But if you mark my newsletter as SPAM, then I get a "black mark" against me with my service. Too many of them and my service marks me as being "naughty". It has other implications for me, too. Well... it's more complicated than that, but you get the idea. When you ask companies to send you their newsletter, they have to pay their services to send it to you... so don't call them spam. Just unsubscribe or read them later or create a folder for newsletters in your email and put them there. Okie dokie?

Second topic. Or does this make 3 topics? Vacations. It just blows me away that people post of facebook and blogs that they are leaving town. They say when they are leaving and when they are returning. Why don't they just leave a key under the mat with a red arrow pointing to it? And sometimes they say that there is a wedding or a funeral and they tell you the time and date. Why don't they just go onto Craig's List and tell people that everyone who has any business in their house will be at a wedding on Saturday afternoon so some bad guy is free to come in and grab whatever they want that day? "Hey, Mr. Bad Guy.... I'm going on vacation. I'll be gone for 2 weeks. That will give you plenty of time to rent a u-haul and back it up in my driveway and clean me out. I'll leave the key under the mat for you."

One time, I actually read a blog post where a mom was telling her readers that she is now allowing her adolescent daughter to be home alone after school. She told everyone that she gave the girl her own door key. She didn't give her address, but it wouldn't be terribly hard to figure it out because she was pretty open about other things, too. What was she thinking?!?!?!

OK- I know I'm being tacky here. I'm really not trying to make fun of you if you've done any of these things (lots of people do). But honestly- be careful! Post about your vacation when you return. And the people who read your tweets and FB updates will enjoy them just as much if you tell them about it after you return. I really like you guys and I would hate to read on your blog that you were robbed while on vacation.

SO guess what!?!?!? We JUST got BACK from vacation! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. :-)

Thanks for making it to the end of along and boring post. Can you tell that I'm passionate about these topics (especially posting about vacations!)? I promise a fun post tomorrow.

Waffles!

2011-10-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning and waffles.... just seen to go together. I thought I'd share a few waffle tips with you.

Here's a tip from my daughter-in-law, Cady. She and my son gave us the waffle iron. It's one of those cool ones that flip over and beep when it's done. Anyway- she uses regular pancake mix- no special recipe. (I like Bisquick) She adds a little vanilla and a shake of cinnamon to the batter. WOW! What a difference! Thanks for the tip, Cady!

I always make a big batch and freeze what we don't eat. They fit perfectly in this Tupperware container. I put little sandwich bags in between to keep them from sticking together. Just warm them however you warm any frozen waffles. You can just pop them in the toaster to warm them. I like to put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then lay them in a little pan (my omelet pan) until crisp. Be careful- flip them over once in a while and just warm them- they burn fast.

By the way- I warm leftover pizza the same way. A pizza shop owner taught me how to do this. I put the slice in the microwave just long enough to barely warm it. Then I put it in a frying pan to crisp up the bottom and warm it a little longer. The reason I put it in the microwave first is if you put it cold from the fridge in the frying pan, it's burned on the bottom by the time you get it warmed all the way through.

Time for me to go eat a waffle. I think I'll put some blueberries on it....

More pics of the Quilt Show

2011-10-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

I located more pictures from our recent guild quilt show! I already showed you my quilts in previous posts. Here are the other amazing winning quilts. Congrats to all--- the honors were well deserved. If only there were a hundred more ribbons to award! All of the 150 quilts were works of art!

The following pictures were "lifted" from the Westside Quilters' Guild website If you happen to live in the Portland, Oregon area, we'd love to have you join us! You can find meeting information and lots of other goodies on the website. I don't know who took these pics- but whoever you are- thanks!

Marcia Elliot was awarded second place Peoples' Choice for "Stars". I love the fabrics in this quilt! They look like they could have come from my personal stash!

Marcia also took a second ribbon. The Tuality Foundation awarded a ribbon to Marcia Elliot for Vineyard Stroll, her star sampler with grape detail.

Patty Dobbs took home TWO ribbons! The first was for her hand applique masterpiece. Patty recently taught a hand applique class to guild members and I learned a lot. She is truly an award winning hand applique artist!

Patty was also awarded a ribbon for "Worms". Isn't this one fun!?!?

Featured Quilt Artist Terry Grant, shown here, giving a ribbon for Ann Laffin's quilt of Bob the cat.

Jean Lasswell, shown here, gave the President's Award to Jean Noltensmeier for her postage stamp applique quilt, quilted by Shawn Priggel.

Featured Quilt Artist Mary Goodson awarded a ribbon to Jean Lasswell for her West Along the Tualatin Challenge Quilt, That's What I Like About Oregon. Show Chair Clara Mashek is seen here pinning the ribbon.

Antique Linen Quilts

2011-10-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

A while back, I did a post on an antique linen workshop I attended. Several of you have asked me how to contact Sue Moore, who designed the patterns we used in this workshop. Sue does not have a website and I'm not sure what her email address is. I do have her private phone number, but I am not comfortable with posting that on the internet. If you want to get in contact with her, please send me a private email and I'll get you connected. Here is MY email address (we're both Sue's so don't confuse us):
sue@alderwoodquilts.com

Westside Quilters' Guild 2011 Show

2011-10-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is more from our recent guild quilt show.

I didn't get many photos of the submitted quilts. I'm hoping that there are photos on the guild site so I can get them onto this blog or that I can refer you to look at. I'll see if I can do that tomorrow (fingers crossed).

In addition to my Double Wedding Ring, I submitted the large Asian wall hanging above. It was hard to stand back far enough to get a good photo, but you get the idea.

This is a picture of me standing in our booth. I had a lot of kits and patterns with me.... and some fun fat quarter assortments.

Unfortunately, we had "technical difficulties" with our sign. We have a nice "Alderwood Quilts" sign for vending. Ahhh... things never go exactly as planned, do they!?

Here are a few highlights of what I had at the show:

This beautiful quilt was made by my friend and fellow guild member, Bella Dvir. Bella is a gifted quilter and she generously allowed me to display her Strips n' Curves quilt. Sandy Pennington quilted this beauty for her. I used it as an example of what you can do using the Strips n' Curves books and templates by Louisa Smith.

I was thrilled that Susan Cranshaw sent me a trunk show of some of her quilts. These are some of her best selling patterns

This is one of the most frequently commented upon display I had. Susan added a 3-dimensional touch to this wall hanging. Her use of color and expert quilting is simply jaw-dropping!

Isn't this fun!?!? Susan combined 2 patterns- the Roadrunner and the Horned Toad, to create this wall hanging.

This is Susan's newest design. Hummingbirds are a favorite of mine. There just might be one of these on my sewing table one of these days. I just got a supply of these patterns and will be adding the Hummingbirds to my website soon.

This is a photo of a few samples I made for the show. The table runner is designed by Karla Alexander. I have the pattern as well as the kit on my website. This was so much fun to make! The background and border are very simple piecing. The pumpkins, leaves and crows are fusible appliques. (If you look closely- the crows have no beaks or feet- I ran out of time!).

The handbag is called the Veranda Tote. I also have it available as a pattern or as a kit. And there are some handy dandy acrylic inserts made to stiffen the base of fabric bags called bag-y-bottoms. All of this can be found in the handbags category on my website.

This is a wall hanging designed by Sheryl Mycroft of Random Threadz. It was a snap to make and is really eye-catching. The center tree piece is done by fusing the 2 trees on with fusible applique paper. Then you stitch lots of borders around the tree. The little diamond shapes are also fused on- with the exception of the shapes on the triangular flap, which are sewn in. I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but the triangle is stitched into that last border seam so it creates a flap. When I first saw the pattern, I thought it would be a nightmare to do the binding because of the shape... but not to worry- it's easy!. The final touch is to sew on the lovely black glass beads. The pattern, the beads, and the kit (which includes fabric, beads and pattern) are all on my website. You can even purchase the backing or extra fabric by the yard. Sheryl has a few other tree patterns and I am working on a different sample which will also be on the website soon. It will be in greens, browns and purples with some very interesting embellishments. I need to get busy with that sample.... but I think I'll put beaks and feet on the crows on the pumpkin table runner first!

It was a great show! The next one will be in 2 years. It takes the organizers a year to recover and another year to plan the next show! Kidding aside- I want to do a shout-out to Clara Mashek and her crew of dedicated and VERY hard working guild members who made this show possible. If I start naming them, I know I'll forget someone. So many people pitched in to help and about a dozen women worked very, very hard in recent months to make it all happen- all with Clara's leadership. I'll see if I can get photos of all of the winning quilts to show you in another post.

OK... now where did I put the beaks for the crows......

Double Wedding Ring Winner!

2011-10-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Westside Quilters' Guild in Hillsboro, Oregon (of which I am a member) had a wonderful show this past weekend. They had a great vendor area and over 150 amazing works of art (and of the heart) on display. I'm proud to announce (blush, blush) that my double wedding ring quilt won the first place viewers' choice ribbon! I never entered a quilt in a show before. I was totally blown away when I learned the news!

This is a view of the quilt hanging from the second floor railing. It's 105inches square- for a king size bed.

Here's a little life lesson learned. Several people told me that they didn't notice the quilt hanging up high over the vendor area. And someone made a negative comment about where it was hanging. I got sucked into the negative comments and was resigned to the fact that I had no chance of winning a ribbon. I couldn't have been more wrong! The lesson learned is to NOT allow yourself to get sucked into negative thinking. The ladies who hung the quilts placed each one where it could best be viewed.

So- when I heard that my quilt would be sporting that big ribbon, I almost fell over! When you win something or learn of any good news and it's a real surprise- it's just all that much sweeter. I'm not just saying this to be gracious- I REALLY mean it- there were so many absolutely jaw-dropping quilts at this show! To be selected as a favorite is truly humbling. I am honored and delighted, and I don't think that any recognition I ever receive in the future will ever mean more than this does.

I do most of my own quilting. I'm a very experienced piecer, but NOT a very experienced machine quilter! The way I look at it is that I will not become experienced unless I put in the hours and quilt a lot of quilts. So- that's what I do. I make exceptions, however, for quilts that are of heirloom quality. This quilt was just so special to me that I wanted it to be quilted by a professional. My friend, Sandy Pennington (Bella Rose Quilts) is a fantastic longarm quilter and she worked her magic on this for me. (I'm on the left- Sandy's on the right).

Here are some close-ups:

64 rings total. I cut the pieces with the Accuquilt GO! Die Cutter.

Sandy custom-quilted inside each "football shape", and quilted every one of the wedge shapes (over a thousand of them).

Pretty feathers between the rings (times 64)....

And where the rings intersect.

This is a view of the edge. I think the binding was the most difficult part for me. I made bias binding (about 500 inches of it). I made the binding a little thinner so it wouldn't bunch up so much where the outside arcs meet. I think I spent about 15 hrs on the binding alone. I estimate that I put a total of about 200- 250 hrs into the top. Sandy took a week to quilt it. And who knows how much fabric went into it!

And here is a photo of me with the newlyweds on their wedding day. Steve is my youngest, and the love of his life is Emily. I've named the quilt, "Happily Ever After", which is my heart's desire for this couple. I love them both very much.

Checking Back In With a Giveaway

2011-10-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that it's been 2 months since I wrote a blog post. Sheesh! I don't post for a while and come back and see that Blockspot has a whole new look. I like the new reader format. I really have missed blogging and reading blog posts. Looks like I have some catching up to do. I'm such a creature of habit! I love writing blog posts and generally post several times a week. But when I get busy and get off track- I get out of the habit and have trouble getting back to it. My quilt guild had a show this past weekend. Several of my friends teased me about missing my blog so I thought I'd shock them by posting tonight!

Looking back over the past 2 months, I've attended 2 quilt classes, been involved in a car accident, gone to the beach twice- each time with one of our sons and daughter in law, planted a veggie garden (DH built me a deer fence!), harvested our lavender field (2,000 bundles!), attended Sock Summit, visited the Mission Mill Museum in Salem, Oregon, and knitted and quilted a LOT. And then there was a wonderful quilt show this past weekend. I'll post the highlights of most of the above over the next few days, but let's get things going with a giveaway.

I'm giving away a Boondoggle Ruler and pattern set by Bella Nonna Quilts. Entering is easy!
For one entry, simply reply to THIS POST. That's all! Just comment and you're entered.

For a second entry, be a follower. It doesn't matter if you're a long time follower or if you just signed up today. For the second entry you have to do a SECOND COMMENT to THIS POST and just tell me you are a follower.

For a third entry, tell your friends about the giveaway- post it on your blog, tweet, post it on FB... whatever. But you need to do another comment on THIS POST to let me know.

I count the comments and put that number in the random number generator to select a winner, so you need to do a comment for each entry to make them count. I'll select a winner on NOVEMBER 1st. Good luck!

Lavender Winner!

2011-08-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

The winner is Corina, from Manitoba, Canada. Corina's blog is CW Quilts... Sometimes. I can't ship the fresh bundles to Canada, but Corina said in her post that if she won, she would have me send it to her friend in the U.S. Well, Corina, you are going to be a very popular friend! Send me an email with her name and address and I'll have it on its way to her.

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted! I've been absolutely swamped with harvesting, shipping, selling and processing our lavender. The harvest will be totally done in a few days and I'll be blogging regularly again. I've taken a lot of pictures of different things lately- lots to show you and share.

Congrats, Corina (and Corina's friend)!

July Giveaway- Fresh Bundle of Lavender

2011-07-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time won't be surprised by my July giveaway! As well as owning Alderwood Quilts, my husband and I also own Sunset Lavender farm. We'll start harvesting in about another week, and the harvest will run until the beginning of August. We sell fresh bundles at local Farmers' Markets and we ship all over the U.S. through the Alderwood Quilts website. Sadly, we can't ship the lavender internationally, because it is fresh and must arrive at their destination in a few days. Most of my giveaways are open to everyone. but I must restrict entries this month only to readers in the U.S. If you don't live in the U.S. but know someone who does- feel free to enter and I can send it to them if you win.

The winner will receive a fresh bundle of lavender, just like the one pictured above. For one entry, just post a comment to THIS POST and let me know you'd like a chance. For a second entry, if you are a follower (even if you just signed up) post a SECOND COMMENT TO THIS POST and tell me that you follow my blog. You can receive a third entry if you have a blog of your own and tell your readers about this giveaway. Post a THIRD COMMENT TO THIS POST and let me know that you mentioned the giveaway on your blog.

I'll let the random integer generator select a winner on August 1st. Please make sure you are not a "no comment" blogger- or that you somehow let me know how to contact you should you win.

The field is looking good.

The flower stems are growing taller each day and I'm starting to see a little purple on them. I expect to start cutting in about another week to 10 days.

If, by chance, you live in the Portland area (west side), you'll be able to find us at the following farmers' markets:

Tuesdays at Cannon Beach

Wednesdays at Tannisborn

Saturdays at Downtown Hillsboro

Sundays at Orenco

If you're interested in purchasing fresh lavender and would like us to mail you a bundle (or 2), you can order it through the website.

Good luck!

The Winner is.......

2011-07-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Talk about luck! The random number generator picked number one as the winner of the June giveaway! And lucky #1 is the Osage Bluff Quilter, who has been a follower of this blog for a long time. Send me a private email with your address and I'll send the mouse pad on it's way!

Thanks to all who send photos of Feathered Fan quilts. It's a quilt I'd really like to make one of these days. There's no way it will happen in the next few months, though!

I'll post a July giveaway sometime this weekend. Maybe I'll even get off my duff and do a few blog posts, too. :-)

Antique Linen Workshop

2011-06-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so fortunate to be a member of a vibrant, active guild with some of the most wonderful people you'd ever want to meet as fellow members. There are SO MANY benefits associated with membership in the Westside Quilters Guild. (We meet on the 3rd Mon evening of the month- see link for info) One thing I love is the many workshops and classes. I try to participate in most of the workshops. No matter what the topic or teacher, I ALWAYS learn something. And the icing on the cake is that I always come away from the day with a new friend, or having become better acquainted with an old friend. Our guild program chair works hard to make sure we have a wide variety of programs for guild speakers as well as for workshops.

Recently, we had an antique linens workshop with Sue Moore. Sue was the speaker at a guild meeting and was so well received that she was asked to do a workshop. She takes a pile of antique linens (kitchen towels, hankies, pillowcases, lacework, etc.) and creates wall hangings, throws, and fill size quilts with them. How special to take those linens from a hidden box or drawer and showcase them to be enjoyed.

Aside from the obvious benefits of showcasing the pretty pieces, it was an "aha moment" when she showed us how to cut pieces from stained or torn old pieces that might otherwise be tossed. It seems that Sue can take just about any old linen and find a spot in it that can be used to make a treasured heirloom. Sue works with her mom as a team. Sue dreams up the designs and her mom spends hours at the machine turning them into reality. They joke about arguing over the process, but I think it's fantastic for a mother and daughter to work together and create like this. They make me smile. :-)

So, in a nutshell (there's a lot more to this), you start with a pile of old linens.

Sue and her mom have published several patterns. Most people think you can just stick things together. While that is true (sort of), Sue has taken a lot of the pain out of doing that. It's harder than you think to place the linens together and not have them look like a pile of doo-doo stuck together with no rhyme or reason. The bulk of the workshop is teaching us what to put together and what fabric to use for sashing, etc. You don't want the fabric to overwhelm- just enhance- the antique pieces. I joked about using batiks and she didn't laugh. (my bad)

Sue has several templates/ grids to work with. The black outlines here are on paper. She then places plastic over the paper. We took one student's linens and worked together as Sue talked us through placement and all the considerations that come into play. She has an art background and we talked about color balance, shapes, etc.

When we finished with a layout, Sue un-pinned the plastic and gave it to the owner of those linens- then she put up another piece of plastic. Such fun!

Here is one my friend, Julie put together. She has some old gloves she wants to add. Isn't this precious? Note the spot on the right, just above the pink glove. It's a piece of fabric with 2 hankies in the corners. Note how the hankie design is pointed IN and just a little off center. This is a great way to showcase the hankies and is an example of one of the tips Sue taught us.

I didn't end up with a finished piece. Most of my linens are hankies. I am planning a quilt at some point, and I'm really glad I took this workshop to learn how to get started.

A few more tips....

2011-06-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

I love to read tips! It's fun to learn from others. I have a few more of my favorites for you today (why does it seem that most of my tips come from my kitchen?!?)

I like to purchase ground meat in larger (more cost effective) portions and freeze it. Since I'm only cooking for 2 most of the time, I freeze it in one-pound portions. I'm not always good at planning ahead for every-day meals, and I learned years ago that if I flatten it out before freezing, the defrosting is quicker. As an added bonus, it's easier to stack it in the freezer if it's all nice and flat. Just stick it in the freezer bags and flatten it out right in the bag.

This one's a little weird, but it has become a habit for me. In this example, I'm making cole slaw, but it works for other stuff, too.

I was at the end of the mayo jar. That means lots of scraping to get the last bit out, or getting out a rubber spatula. But this is easier....

Spoon a little of the slaw into the jar, put the lid back on and shake.

Open the lid and just pour out the contents. I generally repeat with more slaw and another shake.

Look at the empty jar! This is super quick and uses every last bit of the mayo.

This works with anything sturdy (it has to be something you can shake around).

Depending on how much slaw I'm making (DH loves slaw so I make it often in small portions) you can just spoon it back into the jar for storage in the fridge.

Custom Clock for Becky

2011-06-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Becky has been a good friend of mine for about 26 or 27 years. We have a lot in common, but our favorite thing to do together is paper crafting- rubber stamps, scrap booking, card making- fun stuff like that. She has a new stamp room and I was noticing last month that she didn't have a clock in there.

My friend, Tamara, gave me a custom clock that she made. She's done a lot of them and showed me how to do it. I got an inexpensive clock and took it apart. I took the boring background paper out and used it as a template to make a new background. I had 2 circle hole punches- close in size. I used the smaller one to punch out the numbers from the original backing. Then I used the slightly larger punch to punch circles out of plain green paper. I glued the numbers to the green circles. Then I stamped lots of flowers (because Becky loves flowers) in different colors all over the back, glued the numbers on, and reassembled the clock backing and hands.... pop the face cover back on and POOF! A new clock for Becky!

Becky hung it over her door, Pretty! Happy Birthday!

Wanna make one? Check out thrift shops for used clocks, or discount stores. They're not too hard to come by. The face usually comes off pretty easily. Then just pull the hands off (careful not to bend them) which should free them from the clock guts (in the back). You might want to look at the hands before you take them off- makes it a little easier to put them back. Make a new background, put it all back together, and pat yourself on the back.

Ideas for backings/ themes....
You can use pictures (wedding, baby, house, favorite place, quilt, newspaper, magazine page), you can type or stamp phrases, have people sign or autograph it, make holiday themes, hobby themes, sports players for fans, food for a kitchen,.... you get the idea.

Sock Blockers

2011-06-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

I laughed so hard my side hurt! If you haven't already done so, check out the comments to the last 2 posts. I don't know how my post about socks deteriorated to posts about Brad Pitt and George Cloony rubbing my feet or people thinking I hang my socks up, but there's no doubt that my readers have a sense of humor! The funniest came from Rosa in Canada when she commented on the post about "my sock problem". Rosa is a special lady and a long time reader and customer of mine.

In that post, I talked about my love of knitting socks and I posted several photos of socks. Rosa thought my "sock hangars" were entertaining.... to say the least. I thought I'd explain- just in case more of you think I'm nuts. I do NOT have a closet full of socks hanging up! These are "sock blockers" and I own ONE pair of them.

When you knit an item (socks or anything else) with natural fibers, it often enhances the look of the item when you "block" it. You first soak the item in cold water and some sort of wool wash that gently cleans the wool and evens out the stitches. After blocking, the stitches just seem to have a better look- nice and even. After soaking the item, you gently roll it in a towel to remove some of the moisture, then shape it and allow it to dry. If you make a lace scarf, or shawl, or a sweater, you lay it out in the exact shape you want it to end up- sometimes even pinning it into submission. Then you leave it alone until it's perfectly dry and it will remain in that shape. Socks can be laid out on a towel. But the easiest way to block socks into the perfect shape is to just pop them onto a pair of sock blockers and hang them up to dry. You end up with 2 socks that are the same size (assume you knitted them correctly). For socks, a lot of people just block them on real feet, but you really have to block shawls and sweaters and things like that.

Now- I realize that many of you have your jaw hanging right now- amazed that someone would hand wash and block socks every day. It really isn't that hard- and I don't do it all the time. If you use "superwash" yarn, the socks can be thrown in the washer. But if you use many natural fibers, the socks usually hold up longer if they are hand washed. If you go to all that trouble knitting them, you usually don't mind hand washing. Generally, I wash a pile of socks at one time and just lay them on a big towel on top of my dryer. It only takes me a few minutes every few weeks.

But the other handy use for sock blockers is for taking photos. They look nice and show the pattern well.

Rosa- you made my day. Your comment tickled my funny bone and gave me a big laugh. I can't get the vision out of my mind- you thinking that I have a closet full of socks hanging up. No- I don't hang my underwear up, either!

Have a great weekend, all. I'm off to work in the yard!

600 Followers, a Tip, and a Laugh!

2011-06-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

WOO HOO! 600 followers! That just blows me away! Welcome to all of you who are new. Feel free to click over on the tabs at the right to read some old posts that might interest you. And a special welcome to Shez- follower number 600! Thank you all for your kind words over the years, and for checking in from time to time to see what I've posted. I wish I could meet you all in person!

Now for the tip. I'm sure most of you will roll your eyes and sigh- you knew this one forever. But it just dawned on me about a month ago. So, I figure that if it never dawned on me, maybe a few of you out there might like to hear this...

To clean your sink stoppers and garbage disposal covers- just put them in the dishwasher. DUH! (She slaps herself on the forehead!) All these years, I'm taken a Brillo pad and scrubbed around the nooks and crannies in the drain stopper to clean it. Jeez! Why did it take me so long to think of this? Hmmm... what else can I put in the dishwasher to clean?

And now for the laugh:

Carolyn from Edmonton, aka The Vegetarian Hunter, took yesterday's post a little too seriously when I talked about my little "sock problem". Of course, I was joking (sort of). I am a little obsessed with making socks, but I love them all and wouldn't dream of parting with them. I figure if I have a lot of handmade socks, I won't wear any one pair very often and they won't get holes in them!

So, back to my story. Carolyn was trying to be genuinely helpful and suggested that I try selling them on Etsy. I replied to her that it takes me 30-40 hrs of little moments to make one pair. These aren't quickie patterns I've been knitting. They're very challenging (I like it that way). I knit for 20 minutes in the car, 10 minutes in a waiting room, 10 minutes waiting for something to cook, or even with my earbuds in while I'm on the phone. It all adds up- believe me! So I told Carolyn that 40 hrs of my time plus $25 average for a good skein of hand dyed yarn.... I would want at LEAST $600 a pair and that I didn't think people would be beating down my door to buy them for that price.

So then, Carolyn replied that they might sell if Brad Pitt was holding them in the picture. In my mind, I'm envisioning me in a comfy chair in some gorgeous outfit.... my hair and nails just done.... diamond earrings.... sporting a pair of matching hand knit socks with no shoes on.... my feet propped up and Brad Pitt on one side of me and George Cloony on the other side of me- each of them rubbing one of my feet. Oh- and one of my quilts would be under my feet.

Now THOSE socks would sell! (So would the quilt!)

Thanks for being a loyal reader, Carolyn. And thanks for the laugh. :-) Check out Carolyn's blog- it's a good one.

My little Sock Problem.....

2011-06-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

I have a problem. I love socks. I've always loved socks. When my kids were little, their dad used to take them shopping for me and they'd pick out some funny, goofy pair of socks and I always loved them. I wasn't acting- I really LOVED them! I still have the black ones with the fur cuffs that Paul gave me when he was about 10 and the pair with hot pink bikinis on them that Steve gave me when I started doing water aerobics about 6 or 8 years ago. They make me smile.

So now.... in addition to my quilting addiction.... I have developed another little problem. About a year and a half ago, I knitted my first pair of socks. It's been downhill ever since. In the last 18 months, I've made 21 pairs of socks, and I have 4 pair currently in some sort of partial completion. I can't stop myself! **sigh** I guess we all have our little problems and this isn't such a terrible problem to have. So here I sit.... on a warm summer day.... blogging in my bare feet....

Here are my last few pair that I haven't shown you yet:

I'm working my way through the book, "Knit.Sock.Love" by Cookie A. I've posted the first 2 before. This is the 3rd... called Thelonious. This was a challenging pattern but I LOVE them! The yarn is String Theory Caper Sock, color Sandy River.

This pattern is called, "Mona". I think this is my new favorite "go to" sock pattern. It was a quick knit and looks and fits great. This yarn was great, too. It's from Barking Dog Yarns.... hand dyed by Suzan O'Brien.

And my most recent sock from the book is called, "Rhombus". SHEESH! This one was a challenge! One word- Cables. The yarn is also from Barking Dog Yarns. Suzan calls this colorway "Robin's Hood". Now that they're finished, I LOVE these socks.

These were designed by Wendy Gaal of Knitters Brewing Company. This is one of her wonderful hand dyed colorways called Cosmopolitan. The pattern is called Family Jewels. It looks complicated, but it really wasn't too bad. She does videos on her Ravelry page to help knitters through the tough spots.

Here's the back. Pretty.

Wendy has a great summer Knit Along going right now on her Ravelry group. I'll show you a picture when I finish knitting it. It a commemorative sock for the 2011 Sock Summit event in Portland this summer. Yes. It's a convention for people who knit socks (and other things). Yes. There really are enough people in the world to have a major convention for people who knit socks. Really.

And another one designed by Wendy. These are called "Hang Ten" and the colorway is called "Sex on the Beach". All of Wendy's "Sock-aholic" yarns are named after cocktails. The Hang Ten socks have ocean waves and surfboard designs on it so I thought the colorway was a fun choice. I call these "Socks on the Beach". :-) Sex on the Beach is the name of a cocktail. This has not become an X-rated blog.

So there you have it. I'm addicted to sock knitting. I just cast on another pair last night. **sigh**

If you're a knitter on Ravery, my screen name is SueHauser. Creative- I know. Check out my profile on Rav and "friend" me.

New patterns from Be Colourful

2011-06-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

I got a shipment of patterns from Be Colourful today. The Be Colourful patterns are mostly advanced paper pieced patterns. Jacqueline de Jong is a Dutch designer with a love of very colorful quilts! I met her once and she is the most delightful person. When I met her, it was at a show and her quilts were on display. I asked her if I could touch one and look at the back (they were all hand quilted!!!). She replied, "Of course! They're only quilts!". Only quilts! Holy cow! These are masterpieces! She's very humble and has the most charming smile. I felt so fortunate to have been able to chat with her and see her quilts up so close (and TOUCH them!)

(Ignore the colored strip at the top and bottom of the photos- I lifted them from my website and was too lazy to get rid of the background color)

I carry all of Jacqueline's patterns (28 right now) and just got her 3 newest in stock. I'm so excited to have them!

This one is called Fly Away. It won a ribbon in Houston last month.

This one is called Sweet Melody. It's so bright and cheerful in the colors Jacqueline chose!

This one is called Misty Morning. I'm a sucker for any quilt with a "Mariners Compass" look. I also love the blue and yellow color combination.

This is my all-time favorite Be Colourful pattern. It's called Circle of Life. I really, really, really want to make this quilt someday! And just think of the delicious stash I'd have to collect to get the colors right. :-)

Now check this out! Fabric is magic, I tell you! This pattern is called Joy. It's done with lots of really bright, colorful batiks. (Amazing, huh!?!?)

Now scroll down to the next picture......

This one is called Joyful. It's the same quilt! See what I mean? Fabric is MAGICAL!

It's been a good day, but a long one. I think I'll put a movie on and do some knitting.

Another Feathered Star

2011-06-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

Shelly Rodgers from Walnut Creek, CA sent me this photo. She turned her 12 inch feathered star block into a pillow and put a flange around the whole thing, so effectively the pillow is about 18" square. You can read about it on her webpage . Thanks for sharing it with us, Shelly! Good to have you as a reader.

Update on the deer fence... 200 feet of 7 1/2 foot tall fencing purchased... need to get posts tomorrow.

Feathered Stars

2011-06-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

This month, I added an opportunity to get a 4th entry in the giveaway. I asked if anyone had made a feathered star and to send me a picture. What I am learning is that not too many people have made feathered stars. Hmmmm... maybe I need to do a FS tutorial. Maybe I should make one first. :-)

Here are the photos that have come in....
First, from Sarah Stevens in Sandwich, Il. Sarah send me this photo of her FS in progress. She says she wants every star to be different- even if just slightly. She's shooting for 13 feathered stars with Ohio Stars in between. This is going to be a gorgeous quilt, Sarah! Send me a pic when it's finished.

Her second one only has one feathered star in the center with Ohio Star and Snowball blocks to make the blue and while snowflake quilt. Beautiful, Sarah! And what a great way to try a Feathered Star without jumping into a huge project. Thanks so much for sharing your quilts with us, Sarah! It's great to have you reading along, too.

This next Feathered Star was made by DeAnn Oliekan. DeAnn took a class last year and made this block. She wants to add a few more borders and make this beautiful block into a wall hanging. This is really pretty, DeAnn... thanks so much for sharing it with us... and thanks for reading my blog!

Does anyone else have a finished OR in-progress Feathered Star? We'd love to see them! Send your photos to me HERE.

I'm going to ship orders this morning and then go out with DH to purchase materials for him to build a TALL deer fence around my veggie garden. I'm tired of finding deer prints next to rows of missing veggies! I keep telling the deer that they can share the apples on the apple tree, but leave the flowers and veggies alone- but they never listen. :-)

Have a great day!

Greyhound Rescue Fundraiser and some pretty quilts

2011-06-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a pretty quilt? And the quilting is wonderful. You can read more about it HERE. The quilt is being raffled to benefit greyhound rescue. Don't delay- the raffle ends on June 15th! These fine folks volunteer their time to find forever homes for these wonderful dogs. The volunteers do so much, but money still has to be raised to pay for food and vet services. This photo, and the link, are from my friend, Anne's blog. While you're there, click at the top on the blog title to read what she's been up to. Her latest quilt is a kit she got from my website. She and I are both working on the Celebration Quilt, which is a pattern from Quilt Moments. She bought the kit from my website, and we exchanged a few emails, then a phone call, and we discovered that we have a lot in common. I've made SO many friends through my website and through this blog. I just love it!

Here is Anne's Celebration Quilt. (Notice the batik geckos-- Anne lives in Arizona).

And here's her Cross Quilt. I just HAVE to make one of these!!!! What a great way to use up scraps.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the giveaway posts that they're glad I'm blogging again. Breaks are good, but I'm very glad to be back. And your kind words mean a lot.

I'm off to purchase some raffle tickets for the Greyhound Quilt.

June Giveaway- Mousepad!

2011-06-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

Several of my friends (you know who you are....) have shamed me into getting back into blogging. It's nice to know that I've been missed!

Let's start with a giveaway. For June, I'm giving away a cute little mouse pad with birds sitting on a feathered star quilt. (They're telling us to get off the computer and do some sewing!)

You can get up to 4 entries. For one entry, all you have to do is comment to THIS POST.

For a second entry, be a follower of this blog. It doesn't matter if you're a long time follower or if you just signed up today... just be a follower. Make a SECOND COMMENT to THIS POST and just tell me you're a follower.

For a third entry, if you have a blog of your own, tell your readers about the giveaway. Sidebar mention is nice, but it doesn't matter if it's a post or on the sidebar- wherever- just tell your readers about it and do a THIRD COMMENT to THIS POST and let me know about it.

This month, you have an option for a 4th entry. If you've ever made a feathered star quilt, send me a picture of it. I've always wanted to make a feathered star quilt. I need inspiration!

On July 1st, I'll use a random number generator to select a winner. Good luck!

Happy Mothers' Day!

2011-05-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

The Winner is Jackie!

2011-05-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

The winner of the First Choice Boxers giveaway is JACKIE! Jackie lives in Florida and her blog is called Jackie's Stitches. Jackie does all kinds of "stitching". She knits and quilts..... and now she's going to be sewing boxer shorts for some lucky guy in her life.

I'm a little behind on my blogging (understatement) and I have a new May Giveaway to post later this week. Stay tuned!

Congrats, Jackie!

April Giveaway- First Choice Boxers for Dad!

2011-04-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun giveaway for this month. Father's Day is coming up in June. If you win this giveaway, you will receive your winning in early May, which gives you about a month to make Dad a fun Father's Day gift.

The winner will receive the First Choice Boxers pattern (adult sizes small to XXL) as well as your choice of conversation fabric to make a pair. Heck- I think I'll even throw in the elastic for the waist band! You can see a closer image and description of the fabrics in the "Conversation Prints" category on my website.

To enter, you just have to comment to THIS POST and ask to be entered. That's all there is to it!

If you want a second entry, if you are a follower of this blog (new or long time reader) do a SECOND comment to THIS POST and tell me that you are a follower. It's important that you do a second comment because I count the total number of entries by counting the comments.

If you have a blog of your own, you can get a third entry by mentioning my giveaway on your blog and making an additional comment on this post. You can do a blog post or put it on your sidebar- whatever you like.

The winner will be announced on May 1st.

Just to be clear- you get the pattern and ONE of the fabric options. You have to make the boxers yourself. :-)

As a general rule, if you comment on any of my blog posts, I try to reply to you in a private message. But for general giveaway entries, I don't. If you see your comment at the end of this post- you're entered! If you are a "no-reply" blogger, I won't ever be able to reply, which can be a real problem if you win! Speaking of no-reply bloggers, I'll be doing a post on how to tell if you are... so stay tuned.

Good luck with the giveaway. This is a fun one!

Weekend Wonders Giveaway Winner- Congrats to Linda!

2011-04-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Weekend Wonders book is lucky number 38.... Linda! And that's no April fool joke, Linda! Linda's blog, Stray Stitches, has been on my reading list for quite some time. Her blog is a good read with lots of good information. Did you know that today is National Tatting Day? Who knew?

I've always wanted to learn how to tat. My grandmother made many beautiful pieces- many of which I now own. The problem is- I don't know what to do with them. I never learned because I never had the desire to have the finished product. My grandmother used to make edging for pillow cases and sometimes bookmarks... but I digress.

Back to the reason for this post- CONGRATS to Linda! And thanks to all who entered. And a great big "Welcome" to all of the new followers this month. It's great to have you reading along!

I'm going on another quilt retreat this weekend (lucky me!). I'll be posting pictures when I get back. And I'll put up a new giveaway for April next week. Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Peel a Potato without a peeler

2011-03-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

Remember MaryAnne from Gilligan's Island? Evidently, she knows more about how to peel potatoes than she does about how to get of a deserted island. :-)

Awesome Sloppy Joe's

2011-03-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

I came across this recipe a few years ago and haven't bought any packaged Sloppy Joe mixes since. They taste SOOO good, and I think they're cheaper, or at least around the same cost as purchasing the seasoning packets. Give it a try--- if you like sloppy joe's, you'll LOVE these!

1 pound ground beef
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 hamburger buns (we like onion buns)
shredded Parmesan cheese

Brown and drain fat from ground beef
While meat is browning, combine all remaining ingredients except buns and cheese.
After draining fat from meat, add the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. If mixture starts to dry out, add a little water.

Serve on rolls topped with Parmesan cheese. ENJOY!

Sewing & Stitchery Expo 2011

2011-03-09T23:32:00.000-08:00

I took a little trip to Puyallup, Washington last weekend. Every year, they have a sewing and stitchery expo- a smorgasbord of all things fiber. It's a few hours north of the Portland area and I try to attend most years. This year, I drove up with my friend, Jean. She was sweet enough to drive so I could knit in the car. :-) The show is held at the fairgrounds, and is a very nice facility.

They had about 200 vendors- quite a bit to get through in a day! Most were fabric and sewing related. A few sold yarn or beads. They also had classes and trunk shows and a few other events. I've taken classes in past years, but this year I just browsed through the marketplace.

One of my favorite vendors is always the Pendleton Wool Store. Pendleton wool is made in Pendleton, Oregon and has a history that goes back to the early days of settlement in the northwest. We have a few of their blankets and I treasure them. They also sell the wool by the yard. I just DROOLED over this coat! The little pin that matches is a flower made from a twisted zipper. Zippers were big at the show--- fashion zippers sewn into garments and zippers used to make jewelry.

Those of you who are familiar with my website know that I carry a lot of patterns and kits from Bigfork Bay Cotton Company. They use the fusible applique technique. Of course, I HAD to spend some time looking at samples from Bigfork and stop to chat with my sales rep who was helping in one of the booths. (Hi, Tracy!) Check out the elephant! His ears are 3 dimensional- flopping in the breeze. So cute!

This little guy has always been one of my favorites. I guess you have to like contemporary interpretations of dogs to appreciate this--- but this guy reminds me of my Golden Retriever (who is feeling better, by the way). The pattern name is Sundance. Anyway- I think he's a cutie.

I stopped to chat a bit with Lorraine Torrance. I carry some of her patterns. She only has a few quilt patterns. Most are by other designers that are published by her company. Lorraine's specialty is designing clothing patterns. She does gorgeous work.

I love the vest on the left. It's like a quilt that you wear, isn't it?

This is the Sunspots pattern. This sample looks so different from the pattern cover! I've seen it done by several quilters and I'm always amazed at how each quilter interprets this design.

This made me chuckle. I love feathers. The above sample was in a thread company booth. I wish I remembered the name of the thread (sorry!). Anyway- the embroidery designs are really cool and the threads really bring them to life. But what made me chuckle was remembering a shirt I used to own. It was a white shirt, and had a feather embroidered on the back shoulder. Everybody kept trying to pick it off! It looked like something was on my shirt. No more embroidered feathers on my shirts!

And finally.... no event at a fairgrounds is complete without funky farm animal art. I'm guessing this mosaic tile animal is supposed to be a cow.

March Giveaway

2011-03-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

The March giveaway is WEEKEND WONDERS.

This is a 16-page pattern booklet with instructions for 5 beginner-level quilts along with quilting basics. Great book for the new quilter or for an experienced quilter who is looking for a quick project that looks great.

To enter, all you have to do is COMMENT TO THIS BLOG POST and ask for a chance to win. It's that easy!
For a second entry, if you are a follower of this blog, post a SECOND COMMENT to THIS POST and let me know that you are a follower. It doesn't matter if you are a long-time follower or if you just signed up 2 minutes ago.
For a third entry, if you have a blog of your own, do a blog post about this giveaway, or put it on your sidebar... whatever you like. Just tell your readers about this giveaway somehow, and do a THIRD COMMENT to THIS POST and let me know that you told your readers about the giveaway.

I'll select a winner at random on April 1st. Good luck!

I try to reply to most comments to my blog posts. If you are only commenting to enter the giveaway, I probably won't send you a personal reply. If your comments show up at the end of this post, then you're entered. If you've made other comments to my blog posts and have never heard from me, it probably means that you are a "no reply" commenter. That means you have chosen to keep your email address private. That's fine, but it means I can't contact you to chat or to let you know if you have won. If you wish to remain anonymous, be sure to check back on April 1st or 2nd and see if you've won. If I can't connect with the winner, I'll have to draw another name.

While we're on this subject... I have a suggestion for those of you who want to keep your email private, but would like to comment and play along with various activities on the internet. Consider opening another email account.... a free one with yahoo or gmail, or hotmail... or many others. Keep that email address for receiving newsletters, entering contests, posting on blogs, etc. You can even use it when you order things online or for a facebook account. This keeps your personal email pretty clear of junk mail and keeps spam way down. You should check it from time to time to see if you've received any emails from actual people (like me!), but most of the email you really want will be in your clutter-free personal in-box.

I'm always sad when I receive a nice comment or a question from a reader and I can't reply. Often, the person doesn't even realize that I can't reply. Many people who show up as "no reply" don't know it.

While I'm on a roll here.....
In the past week, several people have asked me how to reply. I don't have one answer because everybody has different accounts and settings and what-have-you. But I think the most helpful thing for most people is to get a google ID. I think if you try to reply and don't have one, it will ask you if you want one. If you're having particular problems commenting, send me a private email and I'll see if I can help.

Good luck to all...

Glass Blowing

2011-03-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

This is another "catch up post". I still have a lot of things I never got around to blogging about. I'll pop them in here and there.

A few months ago, I spent some time on the Oregon Coast with my friends, Liz and Diane. Liz surprised us with the trip, and took us to a glass blowers in Lincoln City, Oregon. While Liz took these photos, Diane and I took turns working alongside a professional glass blower who helped us to make our own glass bowls. Can you believe it? I was a glass blower for a day! Well... sort of. I did it, but I was expertly guided every step of the way.

In case you're ever in the northwest and want to try this, the studio is called the Jennifer Sears Glass Art Studio. You can make all kinds of things- not just bowls. You should see their gallery--- WOW!

Here's where it all started. This is a pile of various shades of green glass pieces.

I have no idea what all this stuff is called, so if you know anything about glass blowing- forgive me and just chuckle as I try to describe this.

Here we are, dipping into the big oven full of molten glass for a starter "blob" of molten glass. (See... I told you I don't know what this stuff is called).

Now the blob of molten glass, which is pretty much colorless (I think) gets rolled in the green pieces.

I felt like I was rolling snickerdoodle dough in cinnamon sugar.... only the dough was a bazillion degrees and heavy.

We went through several rounds of heating and shaping, heating and shaping. The green glass is there.... it really is.... it's just really hot and looks orange.

Here I have a tool that sort of looks like tweezers and I'm taking bites out of the glass and twisting my wrist. This makes the green go all swirly. You'll see later.

Back into the oven. There's a stand that I am resting the rod onto as I keep rotating the glass. This is really work! The long metal rod is heavy enough, and there's a big chunk of glass waaaaaay on the other end that wants to drip to the floor if I don't keep rotating it.

Here the guy who actually knows what he's doing is shaping the glass in this rubber cup thing. I'm standing there with my big yellow gloves in awe of his skill.

Then he attached a long tube to the end of the rod that has the glass on it.and told me to gently blow into it.
I kept blowing into the tube and then I heard a POP. The glass blew a little hole at the end.

Then back into the oven.....

And now we take the tweezer thingies again and start opening up the hole.

Back into the oven.... open it up a little more.... back into the oven....

And now the real magic begins. I kept swirling it and opening it as the weight of the glass started to fold back onto itself and create ripples.

You can see that he is allowing it to cool and it's starting to look green.

Is this cool, or what?

To get it off the rod, he's using a sawing motion to cut the base. The highly specialized tool he's using is a kitchen knife. (I know what that's called)

I don't have a picture of it, but he turned it upside down on a towel, and popped the rod with a hammer (maybe it was a mallet) and the rod separated from the glass.

He took a small piece of molten glass and applied it to the base. He's using what looks like some kind of trowel to shape the foot of the bowl.

Then he put it right into an oven which was really hot, but not hot enough to melt the glass again. The bowl had to stay there overnight as the oven lowered temperature very slowly. This creates a stronger glass piece without hairline cracks. We had to come back the next afternoon to get our bowls.

Diane went through the same process and made a purple bowl. When we returned home, Liz took this picture of us in front of her dahlia garden.... nice backdrop for our colorful bowls!

I still can't believe I made a glass bowl!

Thanks, Liz and Diane. I had a memorable trip to the beach... and I have a bowl to remind me of it.

Learn to Knit Socks

2011-03-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that I'm completely addicted to knitting socks.I frequently get comments from readers that they wished they knew how to knit or that they would love to learn to knit socks. Well here's your chance!

If you don't know about Ravelry.com... you really need to! It's the most amazing resource for the knitting community! It has tons and tons of patterns (some free, some for purchase), lots of yarns and where to get them, links to stores, and best of all.... PEOPLE There are more chat boards than you can shake your needles at. One board is moderated by the owner of Knitters Brewing Company. Wendy Gaal and her friend, Kellie, hand dye the most wonderful yarn in every color imaginable. And they have regular KAL's (Knit- alongs). Most of her original designs are very challenging. But this month, they are doing a KAL to teach knitters how to make basic socks. There is the assumption that you know the basics of knitting and purling. But there's no doubt that new sock knitters will be successful with this KAL. The pattern has lots of pictures, and there will be videos on the chat board to show you some of the techniques. And if you get stuck, all you have to do is ask a question on the board and you'll have answers lickety split.

There is no charge and no purchase necessary. The pattern (photo above) will appear on the chat board mid March for free. But if you do order the kit, you will get a commemorative stitch marker, your choice of a bazillion colors of yarn, and the pattern already printed out. There are random prizes drawn from those who post a picture of a finished sock. If you use Knitters Brewing yarn, you are illegible for the grand prize. It's up to you- you can buy the kit or use yarn you have.

I've known these women for a while and they are really great. If you've always wanted to learn to knit socks, or if you tried with less-than-great results, think about playing along!

Oh- and they also have a pod cast and a blog called Yarn on Tap. Enjoy!

Lots of S's.... Socks, Snow and Sniffles

2011-03-02T01:33:00.000-08:00

I finished a pair of socks this week. The pattern is called Monkey and the designer is Cookie A.

I'm working my way through Cookie's new book called Knit.Sock.Love. The plan is to make one pair per month and finish all of the 19 patterns in the book in 19 months. I'll also be doing some other knitting along the way.

So far... 2 pair in 2 months. Let's see if I can keep up the pace! I'm casting on the third pair this week.

I love these socks. The yarn is "Punta Sock Hand Painted". That explains why there is a slight variation in the 2 socks. The die was slightly different as I went through the skein. It's very soft yarn and was very nice
to work with. Love the pattern, too!

We've had some late winter snow this week. This is the view looking out of my kitchen window. That's my quilt shop down the hill on the left. And the lavender field is out there but you can't see it because it's under snow. Pretty soon it will be waking up!

It was a heavy, wet snow... kept going between rain and snow. The snnow was so heavy that it took down several tree limbs out back. It was really creepy last night listening to the crack, snap of the limbs in the woods. One big one woke me up in the middle of the night. Ugh!

I've had a horrible cold that kept me down for most of the past week. I didn't feel like going down to the shop and sewing. I just filled orders, and came back up to the house, curled up with my blankie, my knitting, and my tissues. That is-- when I wasn't working on my taxes.

Even our dog, Jaeger, didn't feel well this week. We think he "pulled" a muscle in his back. It might be a disc but we're hoping for the pulled muscle diagnosis. He was suddenly unable to walk on Monday morning. His wonderful vet is giving him laser treatments (3 this week) which seem to be helping. He still limps, but he's doing much better.

I seem to be posting a lot of pathetic looking family dog pictures on this blog lately. Our grand-dog, Cooper, is doing better- his paw is healing. Sheesh!

I got some fabric to get started on my second double wedding ring quilt, and as I promised, I will do a very detailed tutorial for you. I think I might try to do a weekly post on the Wedding Ring quilt as I progress. Maybe that will keep me on track. I was rushing so much with the other one that I didn't take a lot of pictures of the process. I will do that with this second one. I also have some things in the works for the website- new kits and patterns and a few tutorials. Stay tuned! As soon as I get over this cold and find some energy, I'll get that sewing machine humming!

The February Giveaway Winner is Melissa!

2011-03-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

Melissa whose blog is called Ardea's Nest. is the winner this month. Congrats, Melissa! It's great to have you as a follower of my blog.

Judging from her blog, it looks like Melissa is never at a loss for projects. But now she has one more. I think there might soon be a new little daisy quilt on her project list. The pattern and daisy fabric will be on their way to you in a jiffy, Melissa! Be sure to check out Melissa's blog. There's a lot of great stuff on there- I signed up to follow, too!

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway. I'll have a new giveaway posted for March soon.

By the way- I just have a few yards of the daisy fabric left, and a few patterns. I matched up the daisies needed with the patterns and put them on my "Last Chance" (sale) category on the website.

We had a late winter snow storm over the past few days here in the pacific northwest. I surely will be happy when we see real daisies growing.

I Won!

2011-02-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

Is this cute, or what?

I recently entered a giveaway on Eileen's blog, Ladybird Lovelies. I don't enter giveaways too often, but I have been lucky and won a few over time. Eileen made this little "Possibles" bag. It's full of little pockets and hooks and has a nice handle and an easy hook and loop closure. And look what she put inside it for me....

Thanks so much, Eileen! It arrived on a snowy day- just the thing to perk up my day. You do beautiful work.

Why is the price of fabric going up?????

2011-02-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

This is a fairly long post with lots of words and no pictures. But it's important stuff. Be sure to click on the link that explains the reasons for fabric prices going up.

Most quilters have noticed that the price of quality fabric has been skyrocketing lately. At Alderwood Quilts, we are committed to selling high quality fabrics, even if that means increases. Sadly, increases are inevitable. Every shop is making their own decisions about how they market their products. I just wanted to give you some food for thought, as you decide where to shop and how to spend your fabric budget. Above all, please don't take out your frustration on the nice person cutting your fabric. Believe me- they dislike the increases even more than you do!

You may have heard that cotton prices are going up. If you'd like to understand more about it, here are some statements by some people who manage the top fabric manufacturers. This is a link intended for shop owners and is one of the best documents I've seen to explain the reason for the price increases.

I recently heard someone say that shop owners must be happy that the cost of fabric is on the rise because it means more profit per yard to us. WRONG! In the first place, we actually care about our customers and we're not happy when friends are in pain. But from a business standpoint, this is not working out to our favor. Higher wholesale costs mean that we have to spend more to maintain inventory. Customers often have a dollar amount they can spend (as opposed to just buying whatever they like). Assuming that a customer is going to spend the same amount that they always have, this means that she will be purchasing fewer yards of fabric per month. In order for the shop owner to have the same selection (number of bolts), she will be spending more for that inventory and getting fewer sales (purchases) with slightly higher profit per sale. At best, this adds up to a break even. At best. Please don't take this as me "whining". Being in business means challenges. That's the way it goes. Fabric retailers have to step up to the plate and be creative about how they market fabric. They need to step up the customer service. They need to maintain a good attitude. It's what it takes to stay in business. I'm just letting you know that we aren't raking in the money just because the price of fabric is going up. Believe me- we're just as upset as you are!

So waddaya do? Our budgets are pinched and prices are going up and we just LOVE to quilt! You love that new fabric but your wallet doesn't love it... what's a girl to do???
*Consider buying some fabric from a new collection as a focus fabric and using fabric from your stash to coordinate with it.
*Consider alternating projects... buy new fabric for one quilt and then use fabric from your stash for the next... alternating back and forth throughout the year.
*Why not swap with a friend- "shopping" at each others' stashes, and then fill in what you need by purchasing new fabric to go with it.
*Consider selling some of what you make, or selling your services as a quilter. If you don't feel that your skills are strong enough to quilt for pay, maybe you can do sewing repairs, sew on scout patches, buttons, do hems, etc. Ask around and let the word out that you will do small repairs for a reasonable fee. Then stash that money away to pay for new fabric.
*Consider purchasing kits. The fabric for kits is cut to the amount needed, with less leftover fabric than if you purchased yardage. The price of a kit is sometimes (not always) a tad bit higher to compensate the seller for cutting time. But it still generally more cost effective because of the efficient use of fabric. Of course, it means you aren't making your own fabric selection, but it may work for you sometimes.
*Keep your eyes open for sales at your local quilt shops and share the news of deals with your friends. Sign up to receive newsletters from your favorite local quilt shops and online shops so you will be notified of sales.

***Important*** Buy the best quality fabric you can afford. It's better to make one quilt with quality fabric than 3 quilts that are going to fade and fall apart. Your time is worth the cost of quality fabric. Send the fabric manufacturers the message that we don't want them to compromise on quality!

Please do consider all options for purchasing fabric. All fabric retailers- the large fabric and craft shops, the small independent local quilt shops... large and small online shops.. are feeling the pinch these days. Many local quilt shops have been closing in recent years, and I have to believe that the new price increases are going to cause even more to close down. That's very sad. I'm not telling you how or where to shop. But do consider that when you make a purchase, you are supporting THAT business and that business model. Do you want the large "big box" stores to grow bigger and have a great selection and always be there for you? Do you want the small local quilt shops with teachers and knowledgeable staff to assist you to stay in business? Maybe you want both? You vote with your dollars. Just as every vote counts in a political election, so does every purchase count (no matter what you're buying). There's a woman (the fab shop hop lady- the find-the-bunny shop hops) who says we should promote spending at regular portion of our quilting dollars at our local quilt shop. Even if you regularly shop with the big stores, spend a portion of your dollars at small independent stores if you want to see them stay in business.

I know-- it still stings. I wish I had better news for you, but the sad truth is that quality fabric is going up. (Don't shoot the messenger, please!)

Website Changes

2011-02-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'm a happy camper! My "web guy" is making some changes to the website. We met with him a few months ago and we're gradually phasing in some upgrades to make shopping on the Alderwood Quilts website easier and more inviting.

Since we've had the website up and running (3 years, now), we have loaded 10 products per page, and customers have had to "page forward" and back to view 10 products at a time. Now (YEA!) you can just scroll down to see all of the products in that category. This will make it easier to look up and down through the options to make your selections.

There are more upgrades coming, including a new look to the homepage. This is fun!

It's all fun and games until somebody ends up in a cone

2011-02-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

My grand-dog Cooper was running with a little too much gusto and split his nail. Lots of blood. Yuck. Most dogs make yellow snow, but Cooper made red snow. (Sorry). His mom and dad took him to the new vet (they just moved a few weeks ago). The vet used his magic potion to convince Cooper to take a little nap while he removed the nail. Then Cooper, with more energy than sense, thought he should continue running. His mom and dad have more sense than energy, and kept him confined to the house. Cooper was not happy. Cooper was bored. So he redirected his energy into licking it. And licking it and licking it and licking it. Infection. Back to vet. Antibiotics. Cone. Try convincing Cooper it's his own fault that he's wearing a cone.

Westside Quilters Guild Fall, 2010 Retreat

2011-02-15T21:39:00.000-08:00

This is a "catch up post". Our guild had a retreat last fall right around the time that I fell off the blog wagon. It was several months ago, but I thought you might like to see what my friends made. This was taken on the last day right before we cleaned up to go home. I'm on the top row- second from the right- bleary-eyed from sewing all weekend.

Our guild offers speakers at each monthly meeting, and several classes and workshops throughout the year. For our retreat, we have some little mini-demonstrations, but no real classes or instruction. It's simply a time for each of us to bring our own projects and spend the weekend in the company of friends, working on our quilts. It's something I look forward to. I get to sew all weekend, talk with friends while I'm sewing, and somebody else makes my meals. Doesn't get any better than that!

On Sunday before we left, we had a "show and tell" and shared what we made. My apologies to a few of the ladies- I managed to accidentally delete a few pictures. If you're not on here, it isn't because I didn't like your quilt. It's because I was camera-challenged that day. My bad.

Shirlene is always so focused. She has everything planned out and she's super organized. She just gets down to work and sticks with it. She always accomplishes a LOT. This is one of her "Lullaby Quilts" which is a charity sub group of our guild.

Shirlene also made this one for a baby shower she was going to the NEXT DAY!

Another one of Shirlene's quilts- a Schnibbles quilt called Roundabouts.

Cathie drafted this herself and made it from a Moda Jellyroll.

This is another one of Cathie's.... a batik Rail Fence. Close- up below.

Close-up of the Batik Rail Fence. The fabric selection is stunning!

Diane made some cute smaller projects. She made a welcome banner and a snowman square....

And a Fall wall hanging....

.... and a redwork snowman (which I LOVE). Ahem... Diane.... did I ever tell you that I collect snowmen?

Marla made an amazing tote bag. It's called the "Professional Tote". This thing is chock full of pockets.

Muriel's blue and orange tessellations. The picture doesn't do this one justice.

Jamie made this one for a friend, called Amish Boxes. Gorgeous!

Betty made this Log Cabin for her grandchild. Lucky kid!

Carolyn made this for her mother-in-law to use for her church raffle. She drafted it herself.

This is one that Carolyn has as a UFO for a long time. She was happy to finish it. It was from a McCall's magazine.

This is also Carolyn's.... super cute.

Jean is a real "cut up" (look closer at her head). Here are some blocks made to start a One Block Wonder.

Jean drafted this block and used it as a challenge for our guild's art quilt sub-group. It's called Jumpin' Java--- coffee cups blocks and the border is coffee label fabric.

Jeans Convergence quilt. Stunning!

Patty made these 2 quilts (above and below). Her sister got the blocks from a flea market. Some of the blocks are pieced and some are appliqued. Great find!

This one is so cool... a very bright art quilt. Love the parrots!

This one is mine. The flowers on the right and the koi in the circles along the bottom are fussy cut. Aside from mumbling to myself cutting out the flowers, it went together pretty fast. It's supposed to be a wall hanging but you need a huge wall to display it!

I made this for my son. The border is license plates and the background is a map. I don't have it quilted yet, but I'm going to use license plates for the backing.

Paula is just getting started here on an art quilt that she was commissioned to make. She's off to a good start!

Polly made this cute lady bug quilt.

.... And isn't this one eye-catching?

... And another one! She was on a roll!

Julie organizes our retreats. She does a fantastic job! We all appreciate her hard work. Thanks, Julie!

Julie designed this with EQ. She spent the weekend getting started on the blocks. Beautiful, Jullie!

Gail's handiwork. Pretty colors!

Bella was working on blocks for her Link to the 30's quilt. Nice block....

Look how many she got done!

And she worked on her Thimbleberries BOM.

Carol holding a block for her "Take 5" pattern.

And Carol with a pillowcase....

... And Carol with blocks for another quilt.

We have another retreat coming up in April. I can hardly wait!

Who's playing with her new AccuQuilt GO! ???

2011-02-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sure lots of people are! Do you remember Teresa, who won the GO! giveaway on this blog? She exercised impressive self control, and finished up the project she was working on before starting one with her GO! What can I say- she's an accountant. She probably has a tidy sewing area and knows where to find all of her patterns, too. But I like her, anyway. :-)

Teresa is starting on Bountiful Baskets and she says they are going together really fast. That's how it is with the GO! You still have to sew- the quilts don't make themselves. But cutting takes a lot of the time when making a quilt, and the GO! slices that time way down. We can't wait to see this when it's done, Teresa!

Teresa's blog... It's All Good.

And ME? Well.... I've gotten back to my blogging and now I'm getting back to quilting. I'm working on several projects right now (I'm sure I'd drive Teresa nuts). I haven't forgotten that I promised you a detailed tutorial on the Double Wedding Ring quilt. I was working so hard on the wedding quilt, right up to the last minute and didn't take as many photos as I would have liked. But the good news is that i am going to make another one- for my other son and his wife. They got married 2 1/2 years ago and I never made them a wedding quilt. I want to get working on it and spend some dedicated time each week so it can (hopefully) be done for their anniversary this summer. I'll blog about it as I go, and I won't be as rushed so you'll get plenty of detail.

The black and red DWR that I gave to my younger son and his wife for their wedding a few days after Christmas is actually not totally done. It looked done in the pictures, but the longarm quilter wanted to do a little more on it, so I gave it back to her after the wedding photos were taken. And of course, I don't have it bound yet. As soon as I get it back, I'll show you close ups of the quilting and show you how to make bias binding and bind a quilt with a scalloped edge. We'll be doing lots of DWR tutorials over the next 5 months or so.

Planned for this year with the GO! are a Dresden Plate, a Hexagon quilt, and a Chisel quilt, for starters. I'm going on a few quilt retreats this spring so I should be able to take a good bite out of my project list. My quilt guild has a "UFO Contest" going so I'll be doing a big push to finish things up for the next few months.

Speaking of retreats.... well.... I think I'll save that for tomorrow. :-)

6 Bittersweets

2011-02-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post- I thought I'd share with you one of my super favorite blogs. It's mostly food-related with great photos. The above photo is from today's post.... Brazo de Mercedes cake. It's an ice cream/ custard/ meringue creation that looks like it wouldn't last very long in my house. I lifted the photo from the 6 Bittersweets website, which I thought would be OK since I am not posting the recipe. But you can have the recipe (and lots more) if you go here.

If you like to cook, be forewarned.... toodling around on 6 Bittersweets can suck you in. You won't come up for air for hours!

Enjoy!

Back to Blogging- New Socks, Scrapbooking, and the Big Move

2011-02-06T22:28:00.000-08:00

I've been away from blogging for a few months. It's hard to believe it's been that long! I was busy in December making the wedding quilt, preparing for Christmas and the wedding, and enjoying lots of guests. We had several relatives in town for the wedding and it was a real treat to enjoy their presence. I opted to enjoy the moments and not spend time on the blog or Facebook for a while. Then- after it was all over- I was exhausted and decided to take it easy for a while. But I've been missing blogging- so I'm back to it!

I thought I'd just show you a few things today. These are my latest socks. The pattern is called Hedera, designed by Cookie A. Cookie is a sock guru! She is a prolific designer and her socks are wonderful. I joined a group on Ravelry of knitters who are working their way through Cookie's latest sock book- Knit.Sock.Love. The idea is to make a pair per month for 19 months to get through the whole book. Well.... we'll see. One down, 18 to go. The yarn I used is Malabrigo Sock. It's a beautiful hand-dyed wool blend.

This is my current sock project. The pattern is called Chirality, designed by Star Athena. The yarn is Sock-aholic, hand-dyed byWendy Gaal of Knitters Brewing Company. The red is actually a lightly variegated yarn- with many different close shades of red. It's really rich looking. The knitting technique is called mosaic knitting. It's done by alternating knit stitches and slip stitches. Each row is actually only done with one color yarn. The variations come by slipping the stitch from the different colored row beneath. I actually took this photo a while back- I'm farther along now.

Last weekend, I attended an all day marathon scrap booking day with a friend of mine, Tamara Sandwisch, who is a Close To My Heart consultant selling stamps and scrap booking supplies.
I've been wanting to organize my pictures and also help my kids with their photos and Tamara is encouraging me.

There were about 20 women at the event and it ran from 9 am to midnight. (That wasn't a typo!).
As you can see, it was held at a Christmas shop! Sleighbells, in Sherwood, Oregon, is a u-cut Christmas tree farm during the holidays and a Christmas store year- round. They also have this large room that they rent out for parties and events. What fun! We each got a large table to ourselves, in a room lined with Christmas Trees. It wasn't a class- we just chatted and worked on our own projects. For lunch and dinner, we brought food, went out- whatever we wanted. They are planning more of these days and I can hardly wait! If you're in the Portland (Westside) area, and might be interested in future dates, send me a private email. No purchase necessary and cost to attend is very reasonable.

And another big event for our family- our oldest son Paul, his wife, Cady, and my grand-dog, Cooper moved to Utah a few weeks ago. We miss them very much, but we are thrilled for them as they start new jobs and seek new adventures. And, hey, this means we get to take lots of road trips and explore all of the wonderful scenery and parks between Oregon and Utah! I'll be asking all of you to recommend quilt shops and yarn shops along the way!

When I took my little blog break, I started getting calls and emails from people asking me if I was ok. I was genuinely touched- surprised that my blog would be missed. Thank you guys (you know who you are).
After not blogging for several weeks, I wrote my first posts last night. WOW! So many wonderful readers (friends!) were right there, with many kind words welcoming me back. It gives me goose bumps, I tell you! You guys are awesome! I have lots of random photos that I took from events of the last few months. I'll share them with you over the next few weeks.

It's good to be back. :-)

Wedding Day!

2011-02-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

The newlyweds, Emily and Steve, with their wedding gift from Mom.

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Hauser

Paul and Cady- Steve's older brother and wife.

Mr. and Mrs. Hauser and Mr. and Mrs. Hauser!

I don't have the pictures back from the professional photographer yet. These were taken with my little camera by a friend. When I get more photos, I'll share some with you.

To say that the wedding day was memorable would be an understatement. To share such an event with our 2 sons and the women they love, our extended families and friends was a true gift. I'm so fortunate to have such a great husband, 2 wonderful sons, and now 2 daughters-in-law. Life is good.

February Giveaway

2011-02-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

This is a quick, fun project. The fabric does all the work!

The giveaway includes the Day Z Paw Z pattern and 9 daisies. Use your own colorful fabric to add a few half square triangles and some sashing and you'll have a cute little quilt in a jiffy.

I'll draw the winner on March 1, 2011 at random.

To enter, please comment to THIS POST. You may have up to 3 total entries. Please do a SEPARATE COMMENT TO THIS POST for each entry.

For one entry, just REPLY TO THIS POST and ask to be entered. That's in! Simple!

Followers of this blog may have a second entry. Whether you are already a follower, or if you are just now signing up to be a follower, do a SECOND COMMENT TO THIS POST and tell me that you are a follower.

If you have your own blog, mention this giveaway on your blog. A link is nice, sidebar pic is nice- whatever you want to do is up to you. Just mention it and do a THIRD COMMENT TO THIS POST letting me know that you have done so.

I try my best to reply to everyone who posts a comment on my blog. I don't always reply when you have entered for a giveaway, however. If your comments show up after this post- then you know you are entered.

If you are a "no reply" commenter- then I have no way of replying to your comments and no way to contact you if you win. It's been my experience that many people who are "no reply" posters don't realize it. If you win and I can't contact you, I will have to select another winner.

Good luck!

LAST ROW!!!

2010-12-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I haven't blogged much lately. This KING SIZE Double Wedding Ring quilt is taking longer than I anticipated. I'm not good at estimating how long a project will take. People who know me, know that I'm really, really, really not good at it. Good thing I'm not a contractor,. I'd do a bid to build a house in a week and another bid to replace a light bulb in 6 months. I thought I could get it done in a month, and it's taking me 2 months. A friend of mine did one of these in 6 weeks. I bow to her... the queen of quilts. More about her later- she's going to quilt this monstrosity for me.

I'm ALMOST done with the top. I thought you might like to see the progress. My grand-dog, Cooper was visiting and helped me take the pictures.

The quilt will consist of 9 rows of 9 rings and measure about 105 inches square.

"Cooper... get off the quilt!"

At the time that these photos were taken, I was starting the 8th row. Now, I am close to finishing the 9th row.

"Cooper... I SAID, get off the quilt!"

"I don't care how cute you are when you wag that little tail of yours..... get OFF the quilt!"

"That's it... stand right next to the quilt and get your head in the picture."

Obviously, it's not pressed and I just have it laying on the floor. I'll do better pics when the top is done, and lots more when it's quilted.

I promised you a detailed tutorial for this and it's coming! But the wedding is in 2 weeks, and I have out of town company coming and I still don't have the tree up. So I'm going to have to put the tutorial off until January. I'll be starting another one for my other son and his wife after the holidays, too. I can take a little more time with that one (they got married 2 years ago and I'm already late).

I hope to get this to my long arm quilter tomorrow. I'll see if she minds letting me take some pictures of that process. I'm so excited!!! I love this quilt ALMOST as much as I love the happy couple. :-)

What's for dinner?

2010-12-04T09:20:00.000-08:00

Swedish Meatballs!

I don't remember if I ever told you about the Simply Recipes blog before. It's my all time favorite food blog. You can get lost in the blog- saving and printing recipes. If you like to cook, I highly recommend that you take a peek and wander around this great blog.

The latest entry is Swedish Meatballs (photo from the Simply Recipes blog). I remember this dish as being pretty popular in the 60's and 70's when I was growing up in Philadelphia. My mom used to make them, although I'm not sure her recipe was as sophisticated as the one on Simply Recipes. I can close my eyes and "see" a big plate of wide egg noodles with these meatballs and lots of gravy over them... along with a green vegetable like beans, peas, or maybe cabbage. I'm thinking peas right now....

This recipe calls for a mixture of beef and pork for the meat. We use a lot of buffalo in place of regular beef. It's a lot lower in fat, cholesterol and calories. Plus- it's local since I live near a buffalo ranch. But the lower fat content makes it behave a little differently in recipes like these. I think I might try mixing buffalo with pork and see if the results are good. I'll let you know how it turns out!

A big thanks to Elise Bauer and all of her wonderful contributors on Simply Recipes for giving us such an amazing blog!

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

2010-11-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades

2010-11-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a weird one for you! My friend Nancy told me about this. It seems that Harbor Freight Tools sells a product for cutting carpet that takes blades that fit 45 mm rotary cutters. The blades are 2 for $1.99 (at least that's the price today).

I have no idea if the price will change or if they will always be available-- and I'm not sure if they are equivalent to the blades we get from quilt supply businesses. But they sure do look like they will work! If anyone has used them, or purchased from Harbor Freight, let me know. If they cut carpet, you wouldn't think they'd have trouble with cotton fabric. :-)

A couple of cute ideas from blogs I enjoy.....

2010-11-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

This is cute--- but it's cuter when you know that this is a family portrait. Heather at Small Fry and Co made this to reflect her family.... she has a photo of mom and dad and toddler and baby and this is the snow people version of that photo. I was thinking it would be super cute to make these people out of flannel and arrange them each year as the real family grows. If I had any extra time, I might try this! :-)

And Lynn at Nebraska Views made some really cute Christmas stockings--- and she has a super great tutorial on how she does it. Check it out!

Neither of these photos are mine- they are the work of Heather and Lynn.... check out their blogs for lots of inspiration!

I have a busy day today- lots of orders to fill, errands to run, and more sewing on the Double Wedding Ring quilt! I just thought I'd share the links to these creative bloggers. Happy Monday to all!

We had a Shower!

2010-11-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

I'm still working on the Double Wedding Ring! While you wait to see my progress, I thought I'd show you a couple of fun pictures. My baby boy, Steve, aka the grown man who towers over me, is getting married next month. The maid of honor hosted a shower last weekend. Her mom made this "wedding cake" out of towels. Isn't it adorable?

Sarah (on the left) is the maid of honor, and Emily (on the right) will be my daughter-in-law in a few short weeks. Emily is holding a bouquet that her cousin made with the ribbons from the shower gifts. Such happy smiles!

It was a lovely shower, with a house full of women who love Emily and wish her a lifetime of happiness.

2010-11-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

I posted this last Thanksgiving, but I think there are a lot of readers who may not have seen it.

STUFFING BALLS
Here’s my all time favorite Thanksgiving tip. We love stuffing and I generally make a big casserole dish of it. It’s not my personal preference to eat the stuffing that was cooked in the bird- a little too greasy for me- but that’s just me. Everybody likes the crispy crunchy top of the stuffing. So-- what I do these days is make “stuffing balls”. I use an ice cream scoop (any size- it’s your preference) to scoop out the stuffing onto a cookie sheet (I have a silpat sheet I line it with but you could use parchment or spray with Pam). I do this ahead of time, or assign it as a job to someone who “wants to help”. Close to serving time, I pop the tray in the oven to warm the stuffing and crisp them up. The balls look nice in the bowl and they’re always a hit- especially with new guests who haven’t seen them before. These freeze well, too. Great to make extra and have some in the freezer to bring out as a side dish when it’s not Thanksgiving. We like them with chicken or pork chops.

Fans of Alderwood Quilts

2010-11-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

I'm back on Facebook! I have a button on my sidebar- become a FAN!

Busy Day!

2010-11-16T20:33:00.000-08:00

I didn't get ANY sewing done today! I worked about 10 hrs in the shop. We got a fabric shipment, new patterns, I cut lots of Garden Patch Cats kits and filled lots of orders. Our newsletter went out yesterday announcing our shipping special for the holidays.

DH did this for our homepage with one of the pictures he took on our property last winter. They're predicting a stormy winter here-- we'll probably be looking like this soon!

I hope to do lots of sewing tomorrow--- wish me luck!

Progress on the DWR

2010-11-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

I can see light at the end of the tunnel!

I haven't been posting a lot lately because I've been SEWING!!!! Sewing, sewing, sewing! I had a goal to make this king size double wedding ring quilt in 4 weeks. I'm on week number 5 and it's looking like it will take me about 6 weeks. I'm doing 9 rings across and 9 rings down (that sounds less scary than 81 rings). Each ring is 11 inches across. I measure from any spot to the same spot on the next ring. I can't bring myself to call these things "blocks". I have all of my rings done and now I'm putting them together. In a "normal" quilt--- putting them together is usually the easy part. Not so with this thing! What I wouldn't give for a straight line right now.

I've taken some pictures of the process and I promise to do a very detailed tutorial complete with tips and pitfalls.... but that takes time and I'm going to do it after I get my top done. I'm on a deadline and... well.... you know how it goes.

Back to the sewing machine with me......

Quilting Calculator iPhone App

2010-11-10T21:46:00.000-08:00

I've been a bad blogger this week.... spending lots of time working on the Double Wedding Ring. I'll try to get some pics for you tomorrow. I'll do more of a tutorial on it soon but I'm really working hard right now just to get it done.

In the meantime- I have a little gift for those of you who have "fancy phones". I carry a lot of Robert Kaufman fabric. They sent me a newsletter today with this iPhone app. If you're lucky enough to be an iPhone owner, this is the app for you. Have fun!

New blogger and a giveaway

2010-11-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

I read a lot of blogs... really... a LOT of them! I'm sporadic about it. I'll go a week or 2 without looking and then I'll make a cup of tea and browse through my blog reading list for a while. It's like looking at a really good magazine-- only better.

I rarely post about other blogs. Jeez... I hardly have time to maintain my own! But this one caught my eye for several reasons.

I know that I have readers of ALL AGES from all over the world. But the quilting industry generally caters to quilters who are.... well.... we have a few gray hairs. Thankfully, that is starting to change. I'm always thrilled to see fresh, new fabrics and patterns that are aimed to please those who may not yet have found their first gray hair. :-) I want sewing and quilting to thrive for generations to come, and I want my own business to cater to quilters of all ages, so I love to follow blogs like this one, so I can stay fresh.

Shellie is a new follower of my blog and I just started following hers. She has designed this cute Swirly Girl skirt. And guess what? She's giving the pattern away, along with the fabric to make it! Check out her blog to enter her first giveaway, but don't delay because it ends on Nov 6th. Shellie is an amazing seamstress. She quilts, but she also does a lot of garment sewing. That's how I started (half a decade ago).

I just have to show you this. Can you believe it? It's a Halloween Poodle Skirt! I laugh every time I look at it! Shellie- you're VERY creative! If you watch the TV show, NCIS.... this looks like something the character, Abbey, would wear. :-)

All photos are from Shellie's blog.... Shellie Sews. None of it is my work nor are they my photos.

Slow Cooker Liners

2010-11-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note...
A lot of people have been asking me about the Slow Cooker Liners. There may be other manufacturers, but the ones I have are called "Slow Cooker Savers" by Regency Wraps, Inc of Dallas, Texas. My friend got them for me from Kitchen Kaboodle in Portland and readers have told me that they are available at WallMart and Statler's. I think they're pretty widely available- if you look around, you'll probably find them at many other stores.

Cleaning the Slow Cooker

2010-11-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, Diane, gave me a package of crock pot liners. I love making crock pot meals but hate cleaning up the crock pot, and I always wondered if these things worked. WOW!!!! They work! No melting or burning of the liners... and it lifted right out, leaving a perfectly clean crock pot. I made my Tarragon Chicken recipe last night. For the recipe... look HERE.

Easiest cleanup ever- Thanks, Diane!

Lucky Number 1342!!!

2010-11-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's gonna be a very happy Monday for Teresa! Teresa is the very, very lucky winner of the AccuQuilt GO! Giveaway!

I plugged the number 1408 (the number of entries) into the random number generator and it gave me number 1342. (If you're interested, you can find this tool at www.random.org)

Comment number 1342 belongs to Teresa, from Homer Glen, Il. She also has a blog and it's called, It's All Good, which is appropriately named because I'm sure that's how she'll be feeling when she reads this! She has some cute projects on her blog- you should check it out! I look forward to chatting with Teresa and getting to know her. Woo Hoo! Another new friend! One time, when my son was a little boy, he said, "Mommy- do you know everybody?" I said, "Not yet, Honey, but I'm working on it!"

The fine folks at AccuQuilt (and I really do mean that- they've been wonderful to work with) only asked me to do a tutorial to participate in their program. I'm pretty sure I've done that, but I have no intention of stopping here. I will be finishing the Double Wedding Ring quilt and showing you my experience with the GO! along the way. I will also be doing the Winding Ways, and Dresden Plate quilts with the GO! and I'll blog about them. The tutorials I do with the GO! projects will be of interest to you regardless of whether or not you own one of these wonderful machines, because once the shapes are cut, you still have to do some sewing! :-) The GO! just makes the cutting go lightening fast so you can get to the sewing part sooner. I'm sure Teresa will be doing some projects, too, and I'll be following along and will be sure to show her creations as well. (No pressure, Teresa.... HA!)

Thank you to all who have entered. I especially appreciate all of the new followers to this blog. I realize that many of you signed up to follow in order to get another entry in the contest, but I hope you find this blog interesting and that you'll stop by once in a while. I do a giveaway just about every month- not as good as this one, but still fun!

CONGRATULATIONS, TERESA!!!!!!

New Socks and New Friends

2010-10-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

I just finished a pair of socks for my DH. His birthday is Friday and I plan to make them one of his birthday gifts. He doesn't look at my blog very often, so I THINK it's safe to post a pic of them here. The pattern is Mr Pitt's Socks by Kaitlyn Falk Wong. The yarn is String Theory hand dyed Caper Sock- color Brina. They're sooooooo soft!

Clockwise from lower left- Carol, Sue, Wendy, Conney Jo, and Cindy.

I had a blast yesterday. I took a break from working on the Double Wedding Ring quilt and spent some time visiting yarn shops with some friends of mine from Ravelry. If you are a knitter (or if you like to crochet) and you don't know about Ravelry--- as soon as you finish reading this post, you HAVE to check out www.ravelry.com. On Ravelry, you will find patterns, projects, and lots of chat groups with every interest imaginable... for knitters. As most of my regular readers know, I'm a quilter- I own a quilt shop. But I also love to knit. I usually quilt when I can at home and during my work day, and I knit when I watch TV or when I'm a passenger in a car. You can get a lot of knitting done that way! Knitting is very portable and I often take it on vacation or any other time when I know I will have blocks of time like in doctors' waiting rooms, etc.

The above photo is a group of ladies who are on Ravelry- all from the Portland/ Vancouver general area. We all belong to a chat group on Ravelry of people who like patterns and yarn designed and dyed by Wendy Gaal, who is the owner of Knitters Brewing Company. There are almost 1500 people in this particular chat group As with most groups like this, there are probably 10% of the people (or less) who actively post. Anyway- several of us feel like we know each other from chatting and posting on the KBC group. Most of us have participated in "Knit Alongs" with other group members, too. By the way- we were all wearing socks that we knitted using yarn and patterns from Knitters Brewing Company.

A few weeks ago, Wendy announced that she and her DH were coming to Portland for a vacation. Well... the group was abuzz and several of us who live near Portland decided to get together and drag Wendy to a morning of yarn shopping.

HOW FUN it was to get to meet the people I have been chatting with for over a year online! I knew I would like them all, and I wasn't disappointed. I have new friends! We plan to get together again to knit.

Wendy Gaal, owner (Brewmistress) of Knitters Brewing Company. KBC sells luxury sock yarn and creative original patterns using sock weight yarn. Check out her Knitters Brewing Company website.

This is just too good not to show you. Conny Jo had recent surgery on her foot and this outing was the first big one for her since her surgery. See that big foot propped up? She knitted a cast cozy for her owie! Look at the color-work on that baby!

What a wonderful day had! (giggle)

Giveaway update

2010-10-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

We're getting close! The giveaway ends On October 31st at midnight PST (Oregon time). But I plan to be asleep, so I'll select the winner on the morning of November 1st. I will delete any names that come in after midnight, though. It will be a happy Monday for some lucky reader!

I'm blown away by all of the entries and all of my new followers. I hoe you will keep reading after the giveaway is over. I know I missed some, but I tried to click on most of your blogs. I've totally enjoyed peeking into your crafting lives! I'm very sad, though, that a LOT of those who have entered are "no reply" bloggers. Some of you have asked questions or made nice comments and I can't reply to you because I don't have contact information. I really do understand if you want to keep your email private, but I know that most of you don't know I can't contact you. Try clicking on your own name and see what happens! I try to reply to most comments. If you leave comments (other than the giveaway entry) and I never reply to you- that's a big clue that your profile has you set up as "no reply".

If the random number generator selects your name and I can't contact you, I'll announce it in a great big font on here and give you 24 hrs to contact me. After that, if I don't hear from you, I'll select another name. I'm just mentioning this again to remind you to check the blog on Nov 1st.... you never know! Remember- I once one a cruise when I bought ONE raffle ticket!

Even after the giveaway is over, I'll be doing lots of posts with projects using the GO! I have the fabric selected for a Dresden Plate, a Winding Ways and a Hexie quilt. I'll be showing you the GO! and how I use it, but all of these posts are useful even if you are using traditional cutting methods.

I wish I ha a hundred of these things to giveaway.... but I can hardly wait to announce the lucky winner!

Progress on the DWR, felting, a pattern link.

2010-10-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

I'm working, working, working! Actually, I've been busy in the shop. We've had a lot of orders this week. But I've been working every day on the Double Wedding Ring. I have the red arcs all done- with red squares on the ends of half of them. Now I'm working on the black and whites.

One thing I've noticed is that the cutting mats will have a lifetime. Unless I miss my guess, this one will be at the end of its lifetime by the time I've finished with this quilt. They aren't very expensive, but I expected them to last a little longer than this. If you have a GO!, what has your experience been with the lifespan of the mats?

It really is mind-boggling. I've been actively working on this for about 2 weeks, and I almost have all of the pieces cut, and more than half of them stitched... for a king size Double Wedding Ring quilt! That's incredible! Without the GO!, this never would have been possible. Next week all of these pieces will start to come together and I will finally be able to have the fun of placing the arcs and intertwining the colors. I can hardly wait!

I got a lot of comments on the felted entrelac bags the other day. Thank you for all of your kind words. (blush, blush). I'm usually pretty good about citing patterns and giving links but it slipped my mind this time. I'll go back and put it in that post, and also give it here. The pattern I used is a Skill-Builder pattern by Knitability.com.

I also have a few Booga Bags. The Booga Bag pattern is free and it's a great first felting project!

This one is pretty thick. I used 2 strands of Cascade 220 wool yarn when knitting this one. I used solid dark gray, light gray, and purple, alternating, for this. To blend the colors, I started with
2 strands of dark gray for the bottom.
Then one strand of dark gray and one strand of light gray for 2 rows
Then 2 strands of light gray for several rows
Then one strand of light gray and one strand of purple for 2 rows
Then 2 strands of purple for 2 rows
Then 1 strand of purple and one strand of dark gray for 2 rows
then 2 strands of dark gray for several rows
.You get the idea. Just keep using 2 of the same color, then one of the old and one of the new colors together for 2 rows.... then 2 of the new color. It blends the colors nicely.

This is just a little one in single stranded self striping Noro Kuryon. It's thinner and lighter.

I've loved this one for several years- it looks pretty good in this photo but it's far from new-looking these days. How do you like the little "spooky eyes" fabric under the booga bags? :-)

You can also take an old wool garment (sweaters are good), and felt them. Then cut them up and use the felted wool to work with. Resale shops are a great place to find old sweaters to felt. Look for sweaters that have holes or are ripped. They're cheap.

I lifted (with permission!) these photos from another blog. AMKreations is very creative and has a nice blog. She made this clutch by felting and old sweater and lining it with a pretty batik. There's a little felted wallet in there, too. I think I need one of these. :-)

I'd like to make a felted laptop cover one of these days. You can get creative with the sweaters and use the ribbing at the waist for the flap of the bag, and use the ribbing at the cuff for pockets. The possibilities are endless. Have you made any felted items? I'd love to see them!

Another thing I'd like to do someday is felt some old sweaters that belonged to my kids when they were little. I saved some of them... not all in great shape... for this purpose. It would be one of those "Mom things" to have a felted wallet or laptop case made from a sweater or blanket that my children used. (My babies are grown men now).

I once made some felted place mats but I don't have a picture. Just felt an old sweater, then cut place mats out of them. It's that simple. You can needle felt pretty designs on it if you like.

The last felting topic is needle felting. That's a whole different ball game! One of these days I'll do some needle felting and blog about it. Gotta clear some other projects off the list first!

I have a wonderful day planned tomorrow with friends.... I'll take my camera.....

Veranda Tote

2010-10-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is my new Veranda Tote bag. I LOVE this bag! A few weeks ago I told you that I took a few classes at a buyers market held by a quilting supply distributor. I showed you the "Diamonds are a Quilter's Best Friend" table runner that I made. I also took a class with Penny Surges to make this adorable tote bag. Penny (on the right) was kind enough to pose for a photo with me holding my finished bag.

I love meeting and taking classes from pattern designers. Penny is not only a sweet lady, but she is a very good teacher. She makes her students feel good about their work and she helps to make them successful. Penny is also the designer of the popular Bow Tucks Tote and the smaller version- the Mini Bow Tucks.

The front has 2 pockets with a cute little tailored ruffle.

And a closer-up----

This shot shows the back pocket and the stitching detail on the handle.

And the inside pockets. LOVE all these pockets! I put a plastic insert into the bottom (that's why it's shiny).

Here are a few of Penny's sample bags. There are 2 pockets in the front.

The sides can be single pieces of fabric, or they can be pieced, as is the one in the middle (above photo).
Hmm.... looks like we were blocking the fire exit. Good thing there wasn't a fire.

The photo above also has pieced sides. Aren't those handles cute? The handles are very sturdy. They are lined and stitched all the way down the length in 4 places.

In both of these samples (above and below) you can see the 2 front pockets and cute coordinating button closure. The back of the bag has one large pocket and the inside lining has large pockets all around.

The whole bag is stabilized with fusible fleece. I love working with this stuff- it's easy to apply and gives the bag nice structure. It's soft but not floppy.

I have the Veranda Tote pattern on my website, as well as fusible fleece by the yard. And best of all... it's a fat quarter friendly project. A nice coordinating pack of fat quarters is a good start for this bag.