QuiltCam! The Halloween Edition!

No tricks!  Just treats! This little paper pieced kitty showed up in my inbox today -- and I thought it was SO CUTE!  No time for me to make any this year, but I saved the pattern for future reference.  You might want to make a few for cat lovers you know!  Click for the pattern HERE. Not to be outdone by a paper pieced kitty --- Sadie is all ready for her trick or treating as well!  OKAY, it's my fault.  She isn't happy with the situation at all, but it has gotten so cold so fast all she does is stay on her bed and shiver -- she doesn't even want to go outside.  So mama bought her a hoodie!

Poor girl, she doesn't know what to do with this thing on!

I've finished folding the fabric.  Big reveal in tomorrow's morning blog post.  I've worked hard at this many days in a row and it's finally getting to where I want things to be.  There is more stuff to move around, there always is --but that will come little by little.

Tomorrow I need to load up the van and get everything ready for heading out to a retreat in West Virginia on  Friday morning.

Tonight I need some machine time!  More Moth in the Window blocks tonight -- I'm persevering.

Come join me, bring a project and visit a while!

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Happy Halloween Everyone!

I didn’t forget what today is – but this morning’s mystery intro post made no mention of it because I have had a one track mind with getting the info out to you!

I have to share what came in the mail yesterday from Di in TN --- Isn’t this cute cute cute!? I opened the box to find two beady little eyes staring up at me.

I quickly unwrapped it to find this little guy!

ADORABLE!!!

I shot Di off a quick email thank you, and she replied saying that the leg part was actually a cupcake holder sold in sets of 4 at Joann’s.  Be watching for these to go on sale after Halloween is over – you are going to want to  run out and snatch these up!  Or if you have a coupon already, go get them.  TOO TOO TOO CUTE!  Thanks, again Di!

I got a phone call this morning about the retreat in West Virginia that starts on Friday --- we’ve had to move locations because Hawks Nest is still without power and is shut down.  That’s the bad thing.  The good part is, they’ve moved us to another state park in West Virginia that is closer to me – so my drive won’t be as long. 

Quilters are a tough lot!  Go ahead and change our location!  As long as we can plug in and still sew, we are good to go – so those coming, I look forward to seeing you there!  My project tomorrow is to kit up more blocks so I have projects to sew on while there.  Class will go from 9 to 4—but after that – it’s free time for me to sew too, and we are going to have a ball!

I don’t know if there will be wifi at this new park, or what the cell reception will be like ---but we’ll make do whatever happens.

More stash folding but the end is in sight --- it feels SO GOOD!

The Green Yellow Orange Rust cupboard!

I’ve started on browns/blacks/greys!

Who remembers this?!?

I bought a flat fold bundle in about 1984 or 1985  Still love this print –good old VIPs!

Anyone up for QuiltCam tonight?  I’ll be turning it on around 9pm Eastern.  Catch me then!

Find Yourself on EASY STREET!

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I am SO excited that it is finally “Mystery Time”!  I look forward to this time so much every year.  It is the one big thing I feel I can to do to thank you for all the friendship and support you have shown to me over the past year.  A way to pay it forward, my way to give something back.

Running a mystery is like pedaling yourself out into the middle of traffic, hoping you will survive!  Will you like this new quilt? I hope so!  Did you ever have that dream where you have had to stand on stage and sing to a huge crowd of people, but in your dream you couldn’t carry a tune to save your life?  If there are oversights or mistakes, I ask you to be patient with me because YOU are my testers!

First off – this mystery will NOT be as intense as the last two years have been.  You can rest a bit easier on that factor alone.  I’ve worked really hard the past couple of years and so have you.  I thought we needed a fun break that will still use up a lot of stash in a very fun and beautiful quilt.  And that is how we find ourselves on EASY STREET!

Easy Street will finish at 84” X 84” BEFORE Borders. It will measure 96" X 96" after borders.  Borders are optional.

I am unable to redesign the quilt to fit any other size you want it to be.  If you want a smaller quilt, simply make half the units for each step that we do.  You can then decide after the reveal how big you want your quilt to be.

Let’s get right to it and get you excited about the colors, shall we?

Remember, you can change the colors to suit your taste.  You can go modern, you can go 1930s, you can go civil war repros.  It will ALL WORK.  What you are going to need is 4 distinct colors and a background.  If you don’t have a stash to work from, a variety of Fat Quarters should be sufficient.  One of the fabrics below is my “constant” and you may want 1 piece of yardage for that.

3 yards of Limey Apple greens!

This is the color card I picked up from Lowes!  It’s Valspar  6008-8

Photos don’t always turn out accurate color-wise  so I thought it was fun to pull the cards.  My fabrics are in the shades of the center and right hand color – the left hand one is too light.

3 1/4 yards Cool Aqua and Turquoise!

Valspar Color Card # 5004-10

2 yards of Assorted Purples!

Valspar Color Card 4003-10

and

Valspar Color Card 404-10

I used blue-purples and red-purples but kept to the darker shades of purple.  These will play up against the green and the turquoise, so make sure they are not the light light shades or they may recede.  Stick to the far right side of the color cards!

2 yards “Winter Flannel” Gray!

((Yeah, I cut it up before I remembered to take a picture of the yardage..LOL!))

Valspar Color Card # 4007-1

It’s even called “Winter Flannel” on the far right of the card…perfect match!

The Gray is one piece of yardage I have had in the stash since 1990-something.  I have a LOT of gray in the stash, only I rarely use it.  This was the time.  This Gray is our “CONSTANT” you will can do this part scrappy if you want, but I found it calming to have this be the one consistent piece in the quilt center.

Backgrounds!

4  yards black-on-white prints

There is no Valspar card for the black-on-whites, but I’ve used a ton of these in every pattern I had in my stash.  I’ve been collecting them for years, and the more fun, the cuter, the better.  It’s time to sew some of this whacky stuff up!  I chose prints where there was more WHITE BACKGROUND showing than black busy-ness.  These can tend to be busy so choose designs with lots of airiness to them!

Borders are optional and yardage for those will be given later.

Now for some “OTHER” necessary stuff.

Our first clue will go live Friday, November 23rd.  Clues will be posted every Friday until completion.  Plan on 6 to 8 weeks.  I’m still working on how to break this down in a way that will fit into the holiday routine for everyone.

There are some specialty rulers that have become STANDARD for the way that I work in my quilts, especially mysteries.  We will be using the Easy Angle ruler and the Companion Angle ruler.  If you don’t have access to these, traditional rotary cutting measurements will be given.  It is your job to do what ever you have to do to get the units to measure the size given.  Seam allowance will be very important in this process.

It is your responsibility to PRINT EACH STEP as it is given. A "printer friendly version" link will be at the top of each post.  ((It's at the top of this post too!))

As with previous mysteries, this one will be retired and pulled from the website on June 1st, 2013 to appear in my next book.  I will be unable to provide you missing steps after this point.  That’s the way publishing runs!

The internet is a busy place, and there will be quilters posting pictures of their progress on their blogs---We will be doing a LINKY so that those with blogs can share their progress each Monday following the Friday clue.  I love seeing how everyone is progressing!   If you do not want the mystery “spoiled” for you – don’t go surfing!

My other suggestion is to keep up with each step as best as you can each week.  When the new clue is released stop the previous one wherever you are on it ---and start the next step.  This should keep you familiar with what is going on and you will have SOME of each step ready by the time the mystery is revealed.

And what’s my #1 rule?!

You Got It!

I’ll be posting our first clue on Friday, November 23rd!  Now GO SHOP YOUR STASH!

Tortilla Soup, Crock Pot Style!

I spent the entire evening working on the yardage and intro to our new mystery ---it’s ready to post in the morning! ((I’m so excited I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight!))

One of the other things I did today while moving and folding stash was to throw the fixings for Tortilla soup in the Crockpot.

It simmered all afternoon and boy is this sure yummy!  I served it with jalapeno biscuits –they were a mix that I got in Santa Fe, and found this week while cleaning out the pantry ---YUM!

And because I’ve had requests for the recipe from facebook friends I thought I’d post it here for everyone to share.

1 pound ground turkey –browned and set aside.
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2(14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 can black beans, rinsed
3 to 4 small corn tortillas

Generally I don’t like to cook from so many cans --- but in a pinch on a cold day, this comes together quickly!

Place browned ground turkey, tomatoes with juice, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in chicken broth, and season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir in corn and black beans. Cover and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, cut corn tortillas into narrow strips and drop into soup.  Garnish with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, or avocadoes. Makes 8 servings.

The best part is there will be leftovers tomorrow!

Slow Progress in the Yellow Zone!

It’s been a morning of interruptions ---good ones!

But I’m making lots slower progress than I hoped.

First off, I learned that I can not have the iron, the quilting machine, and the new infared quartz heater running at the same time on the same circuit.

BAM!  Just as I was replying to my friend Kim in NY that I was glad that HER power stayed on through Hurricane Sandy, MINE went off in the middle of the email.  DRAT!

The only light that stayed on down here was the storage closet ---and that’s where I ran a big extension cord across the basement for the iron earlier in the year so I could run the quilting machine AND have the iron on.  I’ve moved the infared heater to that outlet also, but not trusting to run the iron and the heater at the same time either.

Oh yellow! Oh Orange!!  And that lead to things like…wow…I remember this!  How long have I had this?  1982???

If you remember this fabric, then you have been around a LONG TIME!  It’s one of the first quilting fabrics I ever bought….and I still love it.  It looks “old fashioned” to me ---and I think that’s why I still like it, it will still play nice with other things.  Vintage looking fabric stays vintage.  Fabrics that look like 1930s fabrics will always look like 1930s fabrics and won’t become more dated looking either.  Same with civil war fabrics.

The things that my tastes change on are the “trendy” things.  Debbie Mumm Birdhouses come to mind--or giant sunflowers--you know the kind.  But since I basically play by color family in my scrap quilts –many of my fabrics are “timeless” and just read as the color they are and don’t shout out “out-dated!”

Still – this one has hung around a long time.  It’s not orange, it’s kind of rust – but not really, it’s more red than rust ---and it’s switched positions in cupboards from time to time. 

Note to self – must sew this up in something.  I’ve had it for nearly 30 years!!

This is as far as I’ve gone today.  There is still time this afternoon – the color that goes on top of here?  Green.  Loads of green on the living room floor upstairs --- which means I need to slog it all downstairs and start organizing it.

Yellow to gold to orange to rust.

And the folding continues!

There will not be QuiltCam tonight ---I’m working on the post for tomorrow morning that announces our yardage requirements and other details for our November Mystery!  Look for that post bright and early in the morning. 

Let the fun begin!

Lessons in Stash Folding!

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Last night on QuiltCam and on Facebook several asked how I do my stash folding and I thought it would be a good thing to share since I am deep up to my knees in it right now!  These are the purples and teal/turquoises.

Messy piles!

Actually, it’s not that bad..much of it just needs straightened and stacked a bit better. I haven’t done this in nearly 5 years --since we moved here ---and things get stuffed and crammed and out of order over time.

I know some use the “roll around a ruler” method….but I found that didn’t work with the sizes of shelves I had ---I needed something that was adjustable to any shelf depth.

I like very narrow stacks so I can simply slip my hand into the stack, remove part of the stack if what I need is buried down toward the bottom, lift what I need out, and replace the stack without disturbing it or the other stacks next to it.  The ruler method made the stacks shorter in depth and taller in height and would have taken up more shelf space.  I would need MORE cabinets to do it that way -- not a good thing!

So this is how I do it!

 

First, measure your shelf.  You need to know how deep it is so you know where to fold!  Mine are right at 15".

This is a 2 yard piece of yellow--- I grabbed it for photography purposes, and I think the fold lines will help clarify what I am doing.  I have the fabric folded in half so it measures 1 yard long.  This isn’t necessary – you can leave it in the 2 yard length, it just means more folding.  If I were folding a 6 yard piece, I’d definitely want it folded end to end first.

The selvages are together at the upper edge, just like the fabric comes off the bolt when you buy it, the fold towards me at the bottom of the picture. This way from fold to selvage it measures 22” tall.

Bring the bottom folded edge up to the selvages.  The fabric now measures about 11” tall.  There are 8 layers here.

Fold it once more, bringing the bottom of the piece up to the top fold.  It now measures about 5.5” tall, and there are 16 layers.

Remember the depth of your shelf?  Subtract about an inch.

I begin folding at the far right end by putting my finger at the 14” mark.

Here is the right end of the fabric flipped over my fingers where I placed them.  From here, you are going to continue the roll as far as you can go, maintaining the depth of your shelf minus that 1” or so….

This what I’ve got when I’m done rolling.

See how it fits??

I can fit 3 stacks across on my cabinet shelf.  There is a bit of a margin on the side where if I had a larger piece, say for a backing, I could stack that on its side to fill the space.

Close up of the reds!

I know it takes time to do this.  But I love how it fits.  Because I’ve done it to fit the depth of my shelf, there is no wasted space and everything is uniform.

And this is what I will be doing today ---yellows/oranges and greens are on the agenda for this morning!

QuiltCam ---The Hurricane Sandy Edition!

I wonder how many won't be able to tune in tonight because they are without power due to Hurricane Sandy?!  Thoughts and prayers for warmth and safety going out to those in the storm right now!
The design wall is up!  We simply just nailed the panels to the wall into the studs.  It didn't take much to put it there, and I love how it looks! The fleece blankets may not be as "sticky" with quilt blocks as cotton batting or flannel may be --but maybe the blocks I've put up are heavier with lots of seams and piecing.
But then even the 6" Jubilee Sow Along blocks didn't stick well to the old  flannel-tacked-to-the-wall design wall either -- they also had to be pinned or fell off with the swinging of the quilt room door -- or the turning on of the oscillating fan on the first hot day of summer. ;c) Whatever it is, it is no problem at all to just punch a pin in there to hold the blocks in place and that will stop them from flying off as we walk by. I DO love the gray color! I took some time to kit up some more Moth in the Window blocks.  I'm trying to really stay focused on just a few things at a time, and that is what I'll be sewing on tonight.  I plan to stick around for an hour and a half or so. Are you ready? Bring a project, come hang out!   Some have had problems with the feed, getting audio just fine but no video.  If this happens to you, check to make sure that your flash player is up to date.   Click the "pause" button on the viewer, and then click the arrow to restart the feed ---this sometimes works. Completely shut down and reboot your computer.  Try a different browser. I find that I have the best luck with Google Chrome. Leave a comment below while watching along -- I'll try to answer your questions and comments if you leave one! If you are not a registered Blogger user, you can use your google ID, your aol sign in, and several others.  If those don't work, leave a comment in my GUESTBOOK by clicking the blue button in the left hand side bar over there.  Those will show up in my email too. Wanna join me?
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Buried in the Stash!

Things are coming along in the newly carpeted basement space.

Here’s a shot at one corner where I’ve moved my Davis Treadle and have it displayed with a doll quilt from the mid 1800’s – yes---it’s hexies!

Refolding and reorganizing the stash cabinets is both a daunting and comforting task.  I’m petting old friends! ((Something one should never say in mixed company unless you are surrounded by Quilters!))  And then wondering why I didn’t use them yet – how long have I had this fabric anyway?

The one thing I am doing a bit different this time around is pulling all the pieces that are big enough for backings and am going to put them in one place together, instead of separating them by color. I’ve sorted pieces that are 1/2 yard into smaller stacks.

Goodness, this is a lot of fabric!

Neutrals and Pinks are next to the FQ drawers.

Blues and Reds!

That’s it so far.  I’ve got to run some errands this afternoon –including getting my hair trimmed, so I’ll be out and about for a bit and then back at it this afternoon.

For anyone asking – I bought these cabinets about 12 years ago when we were still living in Texas.  They came from Home Depot –in a flat box.  You have to assemble them yourself, or get your DH or son to do it :c)  I don’t know if they still sell them, but I’ve loved them.  I’m sure there is something else similar out there ----I know Ikea has great cabinets for storage that you can assemble fairly easily as well.

The one thing that I keep reminding myself is “It’s not good enough just to have space to store it – you need to USE IT!”

Oh, I’ll be making Happy Scrappy quilts for a good long time!

As far as QuiltCam goes – yes --- I think tonight will work!  Look for me about 9pm Eastern!

Design Wall in the Making!

The “OTHER” side of the basement is done!

This never felt like a living space to me….it was always just “storage”, unfinished, ugly, cold --- never cozy and inviting,  just a necessary overflow space for stuff that couldn’t fit in the studio side of the basement.

WHAT A HUGE difference!  The carpet is done.  New baseboards are all up.  There is a new door installed to DH’s lawn mower garage/workshop space.  my feet feel cushioned, the noise level is way down, and it feels COZY!  It feels like a living space ---

The two sets of industrial shelves have been installed and I have moved my sewing machine museum to those shelves.  Photos to come of that later. 

Today?  The Return of the Stash!  Anyone want to come help haul and fold?  I think I’ll be spending much of the day petting the fabric and putting it back where it goes.

The other day while searching for flannel sheets to use for my design wall, I came across these fleece blankets in a gray that I thought would do the job just as well and be cheaper – they were $10 a piece.  I bought two.

I know some have seamed sheets together or duct taped the foam insulation boards into one big piece..but there is no way this thing would come down the stairs in one piece…no where to lay out an 8 foot X 8 foot design wall to cover it --- so I’m doing it in two pieces which will be butted together.

I actually only have a 7.5 ft high basement wall, so my insulation boards had to be trimmed to fit.  I laid the fleece down and cut about a 3” margin and simply wrapped the boards using carpet tape to stick it to the backside of the boards.

It’s not pretty, but it will do the job!

Two design wall boards ready to be taken downstairs and mounted on the wall --- as soon as I do all the other things down there that I need to do to make room!

Do things stick?  Oh yes they do!  And I figure if it turns out that I’d rather have flannel after all ---it will be an easy fix,  having the wall space and the insulation boards on hand was the difficult part – covering them with batting or flannel or something else if this doesn’t work won’t be a problem…..only --- I think this is going to work just fine!

My thoughts and prayers are still with friends, family and those of you in the path of Hurricane Sandy ----hang on tight everyone, it looks like it’s a doozy, and the after effects past land fall look pretty extreme.

I’m hoping for QuiltCam time this evening, so look for me at 9pm Eastern --- those of you with power, that is!