Back Forty Revisited

My older sister Susan lives on what she and her husband call the Back Forty near Roslin.  I took my mom and drove to visit for a few days. We did have a great time as my sister is a quilter as well and it is always inspiring to see what she is up to. You should see her stash!…..wow!

We visited fun with Stitches Quilt Shop in Bellville and Susan had luck matching up fabric for a few quilt projects she has in the works. I did buy a couple of  meters of backing and some Thimbleberries charm packs that were on sale as I have scrap leftovers in my stash of the same line. I thought the charm packs would help the scraps go a bit further.

The store was originally closer in town in a strip plaza, but has moved to a renovated house that is quite lovely. They have a great selection of batiks and a great selection of children's prints as well.

All in all a good visit to the Back Forty!

Cabin in the City Jacket

This is my sample jacket for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. called Cabin in the City by Moonlight Designs. It is made using a sweatshirt as a base.
I liked the idea because you fit the sweatshirt to you before even starting the jacket so your jacket fits perfectly when complete.

The pattern has tiny log cabins down the front, and around the bottom of the jacket as well as the pockets and sleeves. I think there were 58 of these little guys in total….whew!
I just had to line the jacket in these fabulous fabric with little sewing machines all over it.

Apples of Gold Block 4

I have substituted the embroidery yet again for my little quilter saying.  A few flying geese, a couple of patchwork strips and another BOM done….I wish they all went this well!

Grommets Galore

This is a wonderful bag to make and even more wonderful to teach when you have students like I have.  My students Lynda, Barb,Elaine, Janet and Pat did a wonderful job finishing their bags and everyone of them was different.  Not the students…the bags.

The pattern was from Indigo Junction and was called Grids and Grommets. Nice job ladies!

The Changeup

I really love this Apples of Gold BOM offered by Val Laird. I love the scrappy look of the quilt and all the little pieces and blocks that make it up. What I was not totally in love with was the hand embroidery…I love hers……hate mine.  I admit freely…I can not embroider.  I haven’t been happy with the second block since it was done so I decided to change it up and I’m liking it alot more now. I had purchased a panel of these cute little quilter sayings while I was in Florida and decided they would look cute substituted for the embroidery. It took a little wrangling to get it to fit but did get them to work in.

I went back and changed month 2 as well……

Here’s the first section completed. Now I LOVE it.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Yum Yum in my Tum….This Cinnamon Swirl Bread is delicious and really easy to make. You can find the recipe here http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/08/homemade-cinnamon-bread/

I’m hooked on her lately…..Pioneer Woman…she even has a cooking show on TV now as well. I have learned a few things during my trials and tribulations of working with yeast. The best thing…that you can knead your dough in your Kitchenaid Mixer. The secret to kneading….the dough is done when it starts to climb your dough hook.

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Next trick…keeping the dough warm while it rises. I found that I have a warmer plate on top of my stove….so I turn it on and place my dough on it while it rises…..and rise it will!

Then you roll it out, fill it with the cinnamon sugar filling, roll it up, place in your loaf pan and let it rise again. Then you bake it.

You can smell all the goodness while it bakes and the whole house smells so yummy!

The leave it on the counter to be devoured.  That’s the best part.

Sulky BOM Month 4

The first 4 blocks are together and it looks pretty good. I have changed the design just a bit…it was suppose to say I love Sewing, but of course I love Quilting .  I did screw up my embroidery a bit and the Q is a little bit too spaced from the u but I’ll stick a few buttons around it and nobody will really notice  I hope…..  You can find the pattern here http://www.sulky-international.de/scripts/clsAIWeb.php?seite_id=200

Crazy Dogs BOM

This is Block 4 completed of Crazy Dogs BOM quilt. You can find the information here http://www.syverkstan.net/dogbom.htm

These little guys are adorable and each month that I complete one I chuckle at how cute each one is.  This poodle is the cat’s meow!

I did line my fabric with lightweight fusible fleece so that you would not see the underlying pieces, which sometimes happens with white fabric.  I just love the poufy feet fur.

Stashed Log Cabin

I had taught Eleanor Burns Log Cabin Class a while back at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Debbie was in my class and was making this amazing log cabin quilt from her stash!……Ya….her stash!…and it’s a king size!

She brought it to me to be longarm quilted for her daughter…what a lucky girl. We chose the pattern Taro and it looks wonderful quilted.

I wish I had an all over picture for you to view, however the quilt was so large and so heavy I had no room to get a good picture of it. You will have to trust me……..stunning!

Fresh Pickings

What a great group of ladies to teach a fun Saturday morning class to! Plus they ALL accomplished a fully completed apple pincushion!

Linda, Agnes, Emily, Cathy and Joanne all did amazing and the Fruits of Their Labour look so wonderful.

We lined the pieces with fusible interfacing which makes the pieces easier to work with, and we stuffed them with a mix of  ground walnut shells and fibrefill.

I know that all these ‘ pincushion prima donnas ‘ will be making more pincushion fruits for friends and family.  I saw the extra fabric they purchased!

Ready for Christmas

I’ve finished my Folded Circle Centerpiece by DJ Richards Designs. It was a fun class to teach at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. This was the demo piece I worked on while teaching the class. I find it helpful to demo as students work along side so that they can actually see the process before they work on their own pieces. I used left over scraps from my Christmas stash.

Here today, Gone tomorrow

My Lone Star quilt is back after getting framed and I absolutely love it. It turned out even better than I thought. I was so proud of it, I brought it out and showed my brother and his wife when they visited for dinner.

They oh’d and aw’d and seemed to really like it as well. I asked if they wanted it as they seemed really taken by it. I do love to give my work away to people who can appreciate the work and beauty of quilting.

Of course they said no and part of me thought…oh they must just be being nice by saying they liked it.

Up it went, back on the shelf in our bedroom…..actually with great relief as I really really love this piece.

Then the next day I got a call from my brother…he says….”MaryLynn and I really liked the Star Framed Quilt you showed us and we were wondering if we could buy it.”

Sooooooo….Here today, gone tomorrow.

  I would never think of selling it to my brother, I would much rather gift it. He kept insisting, and I finally said…”look your wedding anniversary is coming up in July, how be I wrap it up and give it to you for your anniversary. I would love for you to have it.  If you ever tire of it though…can you make sure you give it back.” He agreed.

Don’t think that’s gonna happen, but I can hope…..

I just need to enjoy it for the next few months.

My Secret Weapon

I have to use it sparingly as Pampered Chef doesn’t make it any more…not sure what I’ll do when I completely run out. I do have  one  more container stashed away.

I used this Sweet Apple Sprinkle on top of these amazing muffins  called Good Morning Muffins from Pioneer Woman. You can find the recipe here.  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/good-morning-muffins/

You just sprinkle it on top of each muffin before baking. They were  absolutely delicious.

Heap o’ Love

That’s how it starts…….cut 2.5 inch strips of fabric, then cross cut into 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 inch pieces, then toss them all like salad and you’ll have a heap o’ love to start a cool jacket made using a sweatshirt as a base. 

I’m well on my way to making a Cabin in the City Jacket by Moonlight Designs. It includes lots of little log cabin blocks…I think over 50 little 3X 3.5 inch babies. I cheated and used Eleanor Burns quick method to get them done …I’m so glad I learned that method…I’ll never make log cabins any other way now.

Here’s hoping I get the jacket completed shortly!

Dude Baby Bibs

Oh these are the cutest bibs for the little men in your life. These are samples for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and I hated to part with them. They make me laugh every time I look at them.

You can choose from Mr. Businessman, Mr. Cowboy and Mr. Formal.

The pattern is from Vanilla House Designs and I will be teaching  a class at the store on creating them.