Super Bowl Sunday

My day started sort of slow and relaxing. Middle daughter came home from school with a friend and we had a nice time visiting. Made some yummy food for breakfast. I tried a new recipe for hash browns. Of course I changed the recipe, just like I do when I quilt! These potatoes were more like oven fries. First I baked the potatoes and let them cool. Then I sliced them into wedges, rubbed a bit of olive oil on them and coated them with a mixture of bread crumbs ( the recipe called for flour), seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Then they baked for 30 minutes at about 350*. Yummo!

Then about noon, I decided to run to the grocery store for a few items. Oh My Goodness, it was busier than Christmas Eve! No Joke! There were lots of parties going on around here yesterday! My quick little trip to the store turned into about two hours! When I got home I quick called a friend to run to the local store to participate in the Super Bowl Sale before they closed. I found some good basics. The tea stained color will make a good background, the tan print will make a great backing and the grey will be the backing for a winter wonderland quilt I am making now. Nothing too exciting, but fun anyway!

Then I got some stitching prep done for my entertainment during the game. I did a little Valentine's stitching with wool for some pincushions. The stitching was finished in perfect timing as I finished up just as the game was over! It was easy enough to start and stop as we watched the commercials. Did you have a favorite? I liked the one where the boy went to the dance in his Dad's Audi and that gave him the courage to be confident and very gutsy. It was silly, but cute. I also liked the Jeep commercial about the troops.

While prepping the pin cushions, I also got the corners ready for the Little Woolie I have been working on. There will be more to them than just the pineapple. Can't wait to find more stitching time! Funny how the darker pineapple looks smaller in this pic, but it is the same size as the light colored pineapple!

I will spend most of my day getting ready for the Rather Bee Valentine's Party tomorrow night. That's the big sized small group I am in...about 21 if everyone shows up! I am excited to use my new addition to my kitchen island for the goodies most will bring to share. Last fall we added about 30" to the length and it has made all the difference in my happiness in this tiny kitchen compared to the last one I had in our Ohio home. I'll show some pics after the party tomorrow.

That's all my news! Have a great day and take care,

Missie

 

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Wools and Cottons...MMM Good!

Sometimes there isn't much better than wools and cottons. Looks luscious!

Can you believe these are cotton backgrounds? They look just like a man's suit or pants made from wool. The fat quarters I purchased are from the collection called Princeton from Northcott. Looks just like wool until you get up close. Feels a good as any other Northcott...like butter! Hee Hee!

 

This is my new Little Woolie I'm Workin' on. If it looks familiar, it's a take off from the Prim Pineapple Welcome Punchneedle mini quilt. A few stores have requested wool projects that look like the punched quilts. I love to appliqué with wool...it's soooo addicting because it's so simple!!

Take care,

Missie

 

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Quick Little Finish!

Punched, embroidered, quilted and bound! Quick little Mini Punchneedle Quilt! Now it's off to the darling store in Omaha, More Sew For You. They will be carrying the pattern for this little quilt, Primitive Pineapple Welcome. If you are ever in the area it is well worth stopping to shop this store. They had a great selection of beautiful fabrics and cool notions, lovely displays and very nice employees!

It is punched and embroidered with Valdani 3 strand and size 12 pearl cotton. The border has wool appliqué and it was so fun to make another one. I will need to get busy on more quilts in this series!

But first, I will prepare some Dear Jane so I can take them with me to sewing groups! Yeah!

Take care,

Missie

 

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A Warm Welcome is done!

Here it is...all finished. Quilted and bound! Whew. For a little quilt at 24" square, it sure was a challenge! but it's good to have a challenge now and then.

I hope you can see the quilting if you are able to zoom in on the picture. It is not perfect, but I am learning new things on my quilting machine each time I quilt another quilt. If you have ideas of something else I could have quilted into the border area, I would love to hear about them. I was stumped and all I could think of was feathers...
VOTE FOR THIS QUILT HERE FOR THE SCRAP QUILT CATEGORY IN THE 5th BLOGGERS FESTIVAL!!

This is the backside. Again, not perfect, but if I squint, it looks good! LOL. I may consider no sleeve on this one for displaying both sides.

If you notice, I finished the back side the same as the front for the binding. Since I was using the english paper piecing method, I wanted to bind it as I have seen antique quilts bound with this shape. It was difficult at first, but ended up getting easier as I went around.
I started by sewing on a matching color paper piece (thanks to Mary Helen for that color suggestion). I stitched two sides of the piece. This pic below is from my phone, so it is a bit blurry, but I think you can see the new paper piece I am stitching on to the border. 

Then after an entire side of pieces were sewn on, I flipped them to the backside of the quilt.

The backing fabric was trimmed and folded under so that no raw edges showed at the intersection area that is very narrow. (See that right under my thumb.) Then I pinned the piece in place at the point and the narrow intersection where both sides are touching.

The edges were stitched in place as shown above and I took an extra stitch at the narrow area as seen below.

I used wool batting and it was quite puffy until I gave it a good steamy press. Now that it is completed, I think I like the look. It's a different way to bind and I do have great appreciation for our grandmothers of the past who used this method to finish their quilts. This was a common way to finish a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Many times they would just fold the backing under instead of adding the colored piece like I did.
This quilt will hang in the Des Moines show the first weekend in October. I just got started on another quilt for the show! Yes, I am doing this at the last minute, but I do this every year to myself! I have posted Charmed Beginnings that I designed as a pattern for Blackberry Primitives. It looks quite different in cotton fabric this time around! The stems and grass are wool.

Now I am trying to decide on the border color...have to think on it for a while. Not too long though! It needs to be completed by Sept 21st!!
Thanks for stopping by today, take care,
Missie

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A Warm Welcome...

My small quilt for this year, A Warm Welcome, is coming right along! I figured out how I wanted to finish it, so got the little border on and now it's ready for quilting! It is a very simple border. I will show you how finishing the edges will work in a few days when the quilting is done...

I may decide to do this as the inner portion of a larger quilt...this would be a nice medallion center...hmmm, interesting thought! This one needs to be finished though, so a larger quilt will come later!  Come back soon for the finishing process..

Take care,

Missie

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First day of school today!

Where has the summer gone? Well actually, it's been so hot, I am glad it is coming to an end... Seems like the kids were just home from school and here it is, the first day of another school year!

Trisha is on the left and she's no longer in school (I couldn't cut her out of this cute pic!), but Melanie is off to start her junior year at college as of last week, and Katie starts her junior year of high school today. It was a sad affair looking for school supplies this year...6 spirals and 4 folders (total!)...no book bags, no fancy pencils, no cute pencil bags, etc... Boo hooo, my girls are growing up! Of course, I stopped aging years ago! LOL

Katie will have an exciting school year because she can now be just like all the rest of the kids and eat anything she wants with no worries...her milk allergy desensitization is going great. As I have said before, it is such a blessing! If any of you know someone who is severely allergic to milk, eggs, wheat or soy, this program is literally a life saver! Contact me if you have questions and I will be happy to steer you in the right direction. It is a rare program and not many are aware that this is an option to "cure" your child of these life threatening allergies. This has nothing to do with school except for the fact that she can buy whatever is available for lunch and I won't be packing any special lunches every day. A small part of a regular day at school that's a big deal for us!

Mel will be studying extra hard this year as she is now in the business school at her college. Her classes will be tougher, but I bet she will still find time to do her favorite activities and charities on campus as well as come home now and then to bake cupcakes...her favorite hobby!

I will miss them, but will be excited to get my days back to myself...quilting, appliqué, and day trading with no multiple interruptions throughout the day. You have seen these projects posted previously on the blog, but here is another view of my two current projects happening now. I can see the end of the tunnel on both of these coming soon!

 

Take care,

Missie

 

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Primitive Pinapple Welcome...A little treasure...

It's a good day today! I finished up two projects! Yes...they are mighty small, but it still feels good to finish up something that has a deadline! The little quilt pictured above is called A Little Warm Welcome. The colors are cozy and warm, rich and golden. You've seen the center in the works from previous posts, done in punchneedle embroidery. The border stars, twigs and larger sized leaves are wool and the berries and small leaves are embroidered. This quilt is 12" x 12" and fits on my little wire hanger perfectly! The pattern is available on my HERE if you like it!

If you have not tried Punchneedle, give it a try...it's very easy and quick and the reward is fast! You will be amazed how quickly you can see your progression. Because you can see such great detail so quickly, it really keeps you wanting to work on it. I love to put the punchneedle pieces in small quilts. There will be another one coming soon!

The other project I finished today is my project for the Think Christmas Blog Hop!! My day to present is Saturday, August 4th, so come back to see me then!! Lesley at The Cuddle Quilter is the Hostess and you can see all the participants listed on her blog.

See you Saturday...be sure to have your cuppa coffee in hand as you Think Christmas!

Take care,

Missie

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Des Moines Area Quilt Guild Show Quilt...stunning!

 

Is this quilt stunning or what?!? This is the show quilt for this year (the raffle quilt). Our quilt show is October 3-6 this year and the theme is...Welcome to the World of Quilting, the Welcoming Pineapple is the theme block. If any of you live anywhere near Des Moines, and you have not been to our show yet, you really should take a few days and come see it for yourself! Our guild teams up with AQS for their show and ours is right along side. So, roughly 400 quilts in our show and about that many in the AQS show. Two shows in one and many, many (200ish usually!) great vendors! You can find info on the Des Moines Area Quilt Guild website about our portion of the show, and the AQS site for their info. Let me know if you plan on being here!

Take care,

Missie

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Away at the Beach! Punchneedle was an easy project to take along!

 

Last week we went away for a visit to Orange Beach, Alabama. A beautiful place for sure! Here was the view from our balcony while I did a little stitching. The sound of the waves was very relaxing and when I'd had enough watching the waves roll in, I picked up my project.

 

For those of you who have not done punchneedle, this is how it looks as you begin punching the shapes. They are a bit messy, but as long as you stay within the lines, the shape will sharpen up nicely when you fill in around it. Notice the berries and pineapple shapes...before and after filling in a bit!

 

I am auditioning background colors for the blocks in this little punchneedle quilt. I don't think this is quite right, yet I do like the varigated look.

Here you can see I have added a bit of solid ivory around the star.

Punchneedle was a great little project to take along on my trip. I was able to check with TSA at the check in desk and they approved me taking the needle on board. It was flat and small in my carry on bag and I got quite a bit done when I felt I was being to idle with my hands. I took it to the poolside, worked on it on the balcony and at the airport. You know us quilters and stitchers can't be empty handed for long!

Have a great day!

 

Rainy Day Projects...

I am plugging away at quilting The Appliqué Group charity quilt. Today it's been hot and rainy so I am working on lots of little projects inside. The pebble quilting you see above makes my hands tired so I am only working on it in small spurts of time!

 

When my hands are resting from quilting, I am working in little bits on other projects. This is a new punchneedle design I have started. It will be another mini quilt with punchneedle in the center. I can't wait to get going with more colors!

Have a nice relaxing afternoon!

I LOVE English Paper Piecing!

G'Morning! Nothing more relaxing on a Saturday morning than sipping coffee and doing a little stitching!
This is my latest little English Paper Piecing project. I LOVE to work with this technique! You can take it with you very easily (Notice my little gold carry case-I've been dying to use it for something!), prep is easy and stitching the pieces together is easy! You may have seen my big fancy Anniversary Quilt to celebrate 25 years with my Hubs on my website. Hallbrookdesigns.com and on my blog profile page. Be sure to take a look at the website and read the description on both the Pattern page and the My Favorite Things page. The center hexies were done with the English Paper Piecing technique and that's how my obsession started...I am hooked!

You can see in this close up pic the basting stitches on two pieces...top left dark blue and top right dark purple. Using traditional basting stitches is the way most folks do this, but not me! I only used basting stitches on a few pieces because I was stitching in the car and needed a few more pieces and was in a bind without my trusty glue stick.
When I started on the hexies, I found I was just to lazy to baste those seams around the paper pieces! Yep...just too lazy! Actually, I couldn't do a good job on the basting.  I have taken several appliqué classes from many famous artists who use washable glues of all kinds on their quilts. I decided to try out glue sticks with my hexie pieces. LOVED how quick it was! I could prepare dozens of pieces in only a few minutes! This was for me! The other trick was that I accidentally printed the hexie pieces on photo paper instead of card stock. The photo paper worked perfect with the glue stick! The fabric pops right off when you are ready to remove the paper due to the slick paper finish. But it is important to wash out the glue before finishing the quilt. Sometimes we want to wash a quilt, but other times we like to leave the fabric unwashed...

For this project I am experimenting with purchased Paper Pieces (to save me cutting time) shown above as well as 404 Spray and Fix Repositional Adhesive (spray on repositional glue). This glue works like a sticky note glue. I am spraying it on in two thin coats and so far, it is working wonderfully! All you have to do is spray the paper, wait 45 seconds, repeat, and then place the unsticky side onto the back of your fabric piece. Fold the edges over onto the sticky paper and Voila!, the basting is done! I am having to spray again when I want to reuse the papers, but it is so easy, it is still quicker than the gluestick or basting with thread. The advantage of the spray glue over the glue stick is that it comes off the paper much easier and leaves no residue to wash out of the fabric... It's an option for some who want to use a different technique. 

***UPDATE- This has become a sticky mess and I have now developed a technique for Starch Basting EPP!  See the tab at the top of the page!!

I am just about done with the piecing on this project. This will be the center of the small quilt and then I will appliqué the borders...most likely a pineapple theme...will show you more soon! The finished project will be available as a pattern.

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