Friday, September 13, 2013

Ladies Diary Quilt

It was love at first sight when I first saw the Ladies Diary quilt hanging on the wall of Scrap Apple. I bought the kit and finally got it finished. It isn't exactly the same (no surprise there, since I have a hard time following a pattern exactly), but I think it is pretty close to the original pattern (I changed the center a little.) I even mitered the corners on the border, which I've never done before...they looked okay, thank goodness! I took a few quick photos before dropping it off yesterday to be quilted at Quilted Works. It is big...92" by 92"! I can't wait to get it back so I can take some better pics of it quilted.



Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Pin It - Day 3 Of Pincushions

I visited the Riley Blake Fabric Fest in Las Vegas today and saw this cute
pincushion sitting on the counter...now that's a BIG pincushion!
Plus, I got to meet Deonn from Quiltscapes...such a nice lady!

Madame Samm from SewWeQuilt.com got us in the mood to pin...
and Kristen from Meadowbrook is cheering us on...
Here's the whole schedule for the hop:

September 10

September 11
Just Let Me Quilt - This is me!

September 12 - TODAY!

September 13

September 16

You can see all the pincushions here:

My giveaway is HERE.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

I've Been Pinned!

Madame Samm from SewWeQuilt.com got us in the mood to pin...

Kristen from Meadowbrook is cheering us on...

And today is my day to share my pincushion creations.
I had such fun looking for ideas and creating my own pincushions.

I found a vintage-like clamp at Christmas Goose and just HAD to have it! After a little searching,
I found this cute bird pattern at Cheswick Company that would work perfectly with the clamp. 
(My bird didn't quite turn out like theirs, but close enough.) This was my first time sewing with
wool felt...loved it! It wasn't 100% wool, but it worked great for this cute bird. 

Their pattern had the heart underneath the wing...I thought it was too cute to hide.

I previously mentioned my visit to Superior Threads and my luck in meeting Annie from
byAnnie.com...she has a pattern that included this rolled up wool felt/felted wool pincushion.
(I'm learning the difference between wool felt and felted wool thanks to Annie.)

A shopping trip with my three-year-old Monkey Boy found us this cute soap dish. It is heavy and
works great to hold my pincushion. I filled it (and my other pincushions) with walnut shells
that I purchased at Quilt Taffy.com. My little flower and covered button look so cute on my mini quilt!

A sundae anyone?

I just love those clamps and this circus elephant perches nicely on it.
The elephant pattern is by Heather Bailey, Effie & Ollie.

Just in case you didn't know, the Wicked Blog Hop is coming and this guy is ready!

Enough of me, me, me...how about a giveaway?

Thearica at Pigtales and Quilts has a fun store, so I did a little 
shopping for my giveaway and came up with a package of goodies just for you.
Three patterns by Bunny Hill Designs will go to the first name chosen.

But, wait! There's more! 
This amazing package of threads from Thearica will go to the second name chosen.
Thanks, Thearica! You are just so nice!

The usual giveaway rules..blah, blah, blah
  1. Leave a little comment. 
  2. This one is important! Make sure I can contact you if you're a no-reply blogger. *If you don't get a reply from me, you're a no-reply blogger or something else is screwed-up.
  3. I'll mail it anywhere...yes, even to the other side of the world.
  4. Giveaway ends at 6 p.m. PST on September 17th. Entries after 6 p.m. PST on September 17th will not be included in the giveaway.

There's lots of other pincushions today..
check them out:


You can see all the pincushions here:

Saturday, September 7, 2013

"Nestle Toulouse" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I loved the episode on "Friends" where Phoebe's grandmother told her not to share the family's cookie recipe with anyone. Her grandmother told her she got the recipe from her French friend, "Nestle Toulouse." (If you never watched the show and you don't get the joke, they were actually Nestle Toll House cookies.) 

I made some of those "Nestle Toulouse" cookies tonight so my cookie jar wouldn't look empty sitting on my counter. It sounded logical to me AND they were so yummy!


Years ago I had someone I knew tell me that she never liked to share her family recipes, but if she did, she would change or leave out a portion of the recipe so they would never be as good as hers. Thankfully, Nestle's was willing to share their real recipe so I could have a full cookie jar and satisfy my sweet tooth.


P. S. I never did like that lady very much nor did I ever ask for one of her recipes.

Here's the recipe just in case you're feeling the need to have a little chocolate chip cookie:

2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour, soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture. Stir in chocolate morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes and remove to wire racks to cool.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Blog Hop Alert - WICKED!


Send Wicked Wendy an email at 
gracerose172 at gmail dot com
if you want to play along. You know you want to!

Tell her Creepy Carol sent you.

Be sure to check out all the details over at
  sewwequilt.com. 

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Wicked Batik Pincushions Are Coming!

Wait... 
I'm so confused!

This selling a house thing is driving me crazy...I've been boxing and cleaning forever!
I'm not sure if I'm coming or going, or if I already went, but I do know that there 
are some exciting blog hops coming our way that you won't want to miss.

There MIGHT be some wicked batik pincushions in the
Pin It Blog Hop
...you'll have to come back on September 10th to see.


I hear That Other Lady has been pricking her fingers with pins just trying to 
make more pincushions than me...not that she's competitive or anything.

I'm sure there will be some wicked-looking or far-out batik projects
beginning on September 25th

Bawahaha...(did I scare you?) No? Darn!
Then go see the scary video That Other Lady made to get us all
excited for the Halloween blog hop...sign-ups will be coming soon.

This guy is ready for them all!

Monday, September 2, 2013

It's National Sewing Month!

The whole month of September is National Sewing Month
thanks to President Ronald Reagan. 

Proclamation 4976 - National Sewing Month
September 24, 1982
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September, 1982, as National Sewing Month. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

So....what will you be sewing this month?

Does this mean we get to take the whole month off just to sew?

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Ghastlie Family Tree

I visited Quilted Works today and saw this amazing
Ghastlie Family Tree quilt: (sorry, awful quality of a phone photo)
The quilting is just beautiful on it!

Blog Hop Alert - Batiks!

Want to play with batiks?
Then head over to Sew We Quilt to hear the news.
Mary just needs an email from you saying:
"I Want To Twist"
Mary: quilter dot maw at sbcglobal dot net

Friday, August 30, 2013

Superior Thread And Fabric...Sweet Stuff!

I ventured out by myself today to visit a new-to-me store in Utah...Superior Threads. My mouth hung open and I had to try not to drool as I looked around. Seriously, it was awesome!

One part of the building had fabric. Lots and lots of fabric! I was so awestruck I didn't even take pictures of the fabric area, but I did pick-up just a little  some  a pile of fabric. The sales people were over-the-top helpful and nice. I also picked up a couple patterns and was lucky enough to meet the sweet lady who created them. Annie of byAnnie.com gave me some wonderful hints on wool felt. I'm SO going to try it! She also showed me a couple hints about a pattern of hers that I bought...I was so impressed!

Next stop was just around the corner (or down the elevator) at the thread warehouse. OH MY GOSH! I was really in thread heaven! There were rows and rows and rows, etc., etc., etc, of thread of every color and type imaginable.

Just a little of what I picked up...yes, there is purple in that pile!

I need to venture out like this more often!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hexie Hop Winner Is...

SHERRY 
from Quilts, Fabric, and Thread Tales
(She'll be receiving an email from me)

Congratulations and thanks for visiting my blog!

She won a gift certificate to Quilt Taffy.

Dresden Carnival In Rikstacket

C heck out the Summer 2026 R IKSTACKET quilt magazine that my friend, Britt-Inger, sent me  from Sweden. It was such a pleasure and an hono...