Primitive Stitches Website is a Gold Mine!

http://www.primitive-stitches.com/index.php

Last year I discovered this little gold mine of a site and placed an order for a few stitcheries that I absolutely fell in love with. Actually I fell in love with all of them but had to restrain myself even though the prices are excellent! You just can't beat $1.99 for a great stitchery pattern or $3.00 for a homespun towel. She also has a FREE pattern of a small Christmas tree. Be sure to click on the patterns to see them stitched and finished. Rhonda's site is one of my favorites. She has a blog posting with tutorials about tea dying, making your own bread cloths, framing and how to stitch just to name a few.

This posting does come with a warning!! Grab yourself a cup....lots to look at.

New to You

I'm skipping out on watching Top Gear with the guys. Top Gear for those who don't know what I'm writing about is a show from England. Top Gear was watched faithfully by my crew the three years we lived in England on BBC. Oh my gosh, you should have heard the excitement here at the house when we discovered it was on television here! If there is ever anything you wanted to learn about cars from the British you'll want to check it out. It can be very humorous. But as I said, I'm skipping it this evening so I can post some "new to you." Thinking about quilting is much more fun than thinking about cars and how fast they can go.

The following pictures have been waiting to be posted to share. I have many. This little one was made by my friend Claire as a going away friendship quilt when I left England. It is a Lori Smith pattern and hangs in my quilt studio.

Here's another quilt in the quilt studio and also from my friend Claire. It is such a fun and cheery quilt that hangs in the quilt studio above the cutting table. It makes me smile to think of her every time I see it.

My only 30's fabric quilt is below. I had a few 30's fat quarters and Claire had a handful more. This pattern appeared in a magazine a few years back and I decided to use up those 30's prints just as the pattern. I convinced Claire to make it too. Claire and I each made two of these; one to keep and one for a gift. It is probably one of the only times we made two at the same time. (really need to do that more) Anyway, as we worked on them I learned for the first time that Claire doesn't even like butterflies. Just too funny because I'm not real keen on 30's until I see something abolutely adorable that somebody else has made! This quilt is also one you see upstairs in my home. My more colorful quilts upstairs and more antique, old-looking tea dyes in the main area. If you look back to my older post you can quickly see what I mean.

Easy & Fast Dinner for the Busy Quilter

Every post should have some fun eye-candy fabric or quilt right? At least, this is what I enjoyed when I first lurked in the blogging world. Because I don't have anything new to share and anything old I have is "new to you" I'm sharing a photo of a stitchery I made a few years back.

The past days have been spent "training/learning" on Gam. Actually I really don't have an official name for "him" yet. I'll have to give that some thought.

Who has time to cook when quilting?! My DH and son's belly beg to differ. The first question my son will ask upon walking in from school is "What's for dinner?" Of course, I'd much rather hear, "How was your day, mom?" One of my many quick and easy and inexpensive meals is Top Ramen Noodles w/Beef. It isn't gourmet but it fills the void. So for the busy quilter on a budget and so that you can purchase another fat quarter here is the recipe:

Top Ramen Noodles with Beef

1# ground beef, 3 pkgs Oriental Ramen Noodles, 2 c. frozen vegetable mixture (whatever kind you want), 1/4 t. ground ginger (I usually leave out), 3 c. water.

Brown beef into crumbles, pour off grease. Season beef with one season packet from packages of ramen noodles. Set beef to the side in a bowl. In the same pan - combine water, broke noodles, vegetables, ginger and remaining two packets of seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover; simmer for 3 to 7 minutes. Return beef to noodles and serve.

Gammill in the House!

We had a big delivery day on Saturday with the arrival of my new longarm. My quilt studio is above the garage. On the inside of the house I have impossible turns towards the steps to accomodate a 12' anything. Here is DH waiting for the next piece. It didn't take them long to get it in and setup. My longarm was delivered all the way from Vicksburg, MS. Kay is the shop owner who took very good care of my quilting needs while I lived overseas. Her husband delivers, sets-up and trains. Kay's website is here: http://www.stitch-n-frame.net/

Here is a small glimpse of Gammill and my practice muslin. I've been practicing and plan to have my first quilt top on next week.

Boxy Star Quilt Needs Border Help and Giveaway News

Isn't this the cutest bag for Fall? It can be yours but I'm hoping it will be mine! Go on over to http://justanotherhangup.blogspot.com/ to enter.

My 2 1/2 strip bin of scraps is nearly depleted. I've been feverishly working on a twin size Scrappy Boxy Stars quilt and now am trying to decide whether or not I should have a scrappy border or just go with a single print. The above photo is just a few quick random pieces of fabric I tossed down to see what a scrappy border may look like. In the photo below I selected two different fabrics out of my stash just to see what you all thought. I'd love to hear suggestions. I planned for a 4" finished border.

Donut Birthday Cake & Autumn Quilts

Today is my first born son's 19th birthday. We drove to his college campus on Saturday and spent the day with him. The cake he always request is donut cake. As you can see this is a bundt. I've made this cake since he was a little guy and the best way he could describe it was it looked like a donut so the name stuck. The recipe is super simple using yellow cake mix, orange jello, and orange extract. I will post the recipe if requested.

We all spent the day just looking around the area, shopping, eating etc. This was my first time in The Cheesecake Factory. OMG!! The menu (book) they brought had way too much choice that was overwhelming! I finally chose the Chicken Madeira and I will be going back! The food was absolutely delicious. I just wished I would have had room for cheesecake. If you have ever eaten at The Cheesecake Factory and have a favorite please let me know....that book aka menu was just a bit much and narrowing down choices would be helpful. LOL

These are my two favorite Autumn quilts. The one above is actually a Thimbleberries tablerunner pattern. "Toby" below is taken from an old magazine years ago. These are old to me but new to you!

Kind Words Make Me Feel Special

Just a few days ago I posted about my friend's new blog. Well, today I was just so tickled to find a posting about me and she even posted pictures of quilted gifts I've made her in the past. Please go take a look at my quilted gifts and be sure to mark her blog so that you won't miss her free upcoming mystery quilt!

http://quilting.kimberlyeinmo.com/?m=200809

http://www.kimberlyeinmo.com/ - Watch for October mystery quilt and she has a FREE pattern download called, "Easy Sawtooth Stars and Flying Geese" for you. Not only this...but be sure to check the schedule tab at the top of her site to see if your paths will cross at an upcoming quilt event!

More Sharing from Jo Day

Blogger is loading pictures at a snail's pace this evening so I'll keep the post to just these. Isn't this little wool pillow adorable? I want to say she called him, "Jasper."
This was a framed quilt that I made for my friend's birthday in August. She brought it in to share with the Jo group.

Then this morning I was reading http://www.kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/ she had a great idea of framing a holiday panel.

Jo Morton Club Day

Once a month I meet for Jo Morton Club at an all-too-cute shop called, "Plain and Simple" in Apex, NC. (near Raleigh) The shop owner Sharon did allow me to take some photos of her shop that I will share tomorrow along with some other great show & sharing of today. I only managed a few photos because my camera battery went dead! How frustrating is that?!

This is our next Jo assignment.

My Jo purchases.

Spectacular in reds and wool!

I'm loving this idea!

The shop's Jo revealed.

Here's mine.

Happy Birthday and Special Blog Award to Kimberly Einmo!

One of my dear friends, Kimberly Einmo is celebrating not only her birthday but also the launch of her new blog! Kimberly and I met in Germany courtesy of our husband's duty assignments. We both spent many days stitching and gabbing together. Back then Kimberly wasn't as well known in the quilt world as she is today. I was honored when she asked me to help make some quilt tops of her designs for her book called, "Quilt a Travel Souvenir". I made two tops called, "English Estate". The book is fitting of Kimberly as she loves not only quilting but traveling. One of the many things Kimberly is known for is her mystery quilts and according to her blog she will have one starting the end of September.

Here's to you Kimberly! Happy Birthday girlfriend!!

http://www.kimberlyeinmo.com/

Blog Award!

Thank you to Natalie from Tins and Treasures, for recognizing my blog as one of her favorites. Here is Natalie's link, so you can visit her blog. http://tinsandtreasures.blogspot.com/

Now it is my turn to pass the award to links I enjoy. A few blogs I love have already been honored by others....bummer for me!

Bonnie at Quiltville - http://www.quiltville.com/
San at Gypsy Quilter - http://gypsyquilterdesigns.blogspot.com/
Libby at A Simple Girl - http://simplylibby.blogspot.com/
Judy at Quilting with Ragdolls - http://ragdollquilting.blogspot.com/
Karen at My Yellow Farmhouse - http://yellowfarmhouse.typepad.com/
Sharon at Red Geranium Cottage - http://www.redgeraniumcottage.typepad.com/
Carole at Quilting Adventures - http://carole-quiltingadventures.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy these just as much as I do!

Chocolate Banana Muffin Day

A long time favorite are these Chocolate Banana Muffins. These are quick and easy to whip up on a Sunday morning. Chocolate Banana Muffin Recipe

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. baking powder

1 1/3 c. mashed bananas

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 egg

1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients first. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (Personal Note: I use regular size chocolate chips and use only about 1/2 c. if that)

Last week http://yellowfarmhouse.typepad.com/ posted about her Shepherd's pie. Coincidental and too weird as I had just went to the grocery store for my ingredients to make same recipe. The only thing I do differently is add one can of drained green beans to the meat mixture. You may find the recipe at Karen's site. If you haven't been to her site yet, your in for a treat! Be sure you go waaaay back in her post to last year around Oct/Nov to see her awesome holiday decor throughout her home. It is fantastic!

My entry rug has given me at least a good five years. It is finally deteriorating on the underside so I'm on the hunt for something new. This one was originally purchased at a Wal-Mart. I've been checking the Wal, JcPenneys, Kohl's, Dillard's and Belk's with no luck to find anything that I love as much as this simple little number.

Mail Order Country Decor

Several quilters that like the same sorts of quilts and decor I like have asked where they can find similiar items to decorate with. I must admit that most of my things are flea market finds from living overseas. But one of my favorite on-line shops is here: http://www.piperclassics.com/index.php

You may want to grab a cup for site viewing! They also have a mail order catalog.

http://www.thecountryhouse.com/ Here is another really good one!

http://www.tenderheart.com/ibeCZzpHome.jsp?site=THT An affordable fun one!

Some other places that I think are great for finding seasonal items are Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnns and even Target Stores. You must keep in mind that most of the really good stuff sells early in the season. Since it is seasonal it is NOT likely they have more in the back! I've seen Christmas items in the stores since beginning of August!

It never hurts if your unsure about a seasonal item to go ahead and make your purchase but hold on to the receipt and ask about the return policy! I can't even tell you how many times I've thought I'd go back for it and was disappointed.

If any of you know of some others please post a comment.

Old to me but NEW to you

I've been asked by some of you to share what I consider my older quilts because they are new to you. I figure I'd better otherwise there wouldn't be much "new to me" to show you. I've been in the quilt studio this past week working on my Jo quilt. I'm now in the process of stitching down binding and will show it soon. Actually, I've been working on more than the Jo project but showing it would ruin the holiday surprise for my friend Claire. I love the unveiling I see on blogs. It is like a surprise to me to wait for the participants to receive their packages from swaps and then the quilt revealed!

This is a simple two-color pinwheel quilt with prairie points into the borders. I want to say I whipped this one up in two days...quilting and binding. But then I stayed in the quilt studio as the painters took over my house for these two days. This next quilt I saw in a magazine a few years back and finally got around to making it this past Fall. You notice a theme here with the colors of these quilts? When we finally settled into this house after living in rentals due to military moves, I chose the colors I wanted. The one thing that always drove me crazy was decorating for the holidays with the dusty old blue couch, pink curtains and awful floral carpeting (rental in England), etc. The past 20 something years I scoured over county decorating books and made mental notes of what I liked best. The one thing that I really enjoyed seeing were the homes that were decorated for the holidays where the couch, curtains or whatever else did not stick out like a sore thumb. These quilts I can leave out year round and they blend perfectly during the holidays. So with that said, I decorate the main level of my home with a Kim Diehl sorta look, or Jo Morton, perhaps civil war....anything tea dyed looks great! The quilts I have upstairs are still loved just more colorful?The quilt on the right is the all-time favorite that went around a few years back called "Bulls Eye". This was an absolute fun quilt to make and even easier when you exchange blocks with friends to get a real good mix of fabrics. Then the quilt on the left was a free pattern from Quilter's Cache. I want to say the block was called, "Flies in the Barn."

That's it for tonight. Until next time!

Weekend Guest

In an earlier post I mentioned son #1 went away to college that is just a couple hours down the road. Guess who came home for a quick visit over the three day weekend? Oh, yes he did and bearing the gift of laundry. I was impressed that he remembered to take the sheets off of his bed to have them washed up too! The cute duffel bag hanging off the closet knob was made by our friend Ann as a graduation gift for him. Thanks Ann....it worked out perfectly!Son #1 has been with his girlfriend for a year now. She attends a college that is just about 1.5 miles away from him. They've both been hit pretty hard with studies and learning college life. Looky here...even a three day weekend isn't quite the weekend they had in mind! They spent countless hours studying.
Then the time came on Monday for them to head on back. Again, sad times to see them go but not near the "Soupy Sandwich."