Look What We Found

Wow, look at the treasures we found while looking for a pattern that we've lost.  We found these
2 1/2" strips and 5" strips.  Veronica says she remembered she was in a trade a lonnnnnnnnng time ago.  The instructions say "Summer 2000", so it's been a while since they did this exchange.  Now that's she's pulled it out, she's going to take it on her cruise in January and use them up.  So we'll see what she comes up with.  And no, we never found the pattern.
    

Here's a close up f the 5" strips.

Here are some 2 1/2" strips.

Check back to see what she makes.

Christmas Creations with APS

This might be the most important post I ever write ... it's about making Pralines. I don't know much about the other 48 states, but in Texas and Louisiana this is one of the food groups. This isn't my recipe either. Veronica's daughter-in-law posted it on her Facebook page earlier this month, hinting she'd like some. (Though she didn't want to have to wait until Christmas!!) Since Michelle's husband has his third of 4 finals tonight and we knew he wouldn't be home until 10 p.m., she thought she would try a test batch.

*** Note: The recipe was originally posted on I Love Texas Recipes Facebook page in December of 2013. 

It was quite simple ...

Ingredients:

Directions:

Michelle had a lot of fun, despite her 4-year-old having a momentary crisis at the "critical" stage (step 4). The whole process was fun, and except for needing a lot of pecans, she had most of the supplies in her "winter" pantry.

Here's a look at her adventure ...

So really the only thing she changed was using wax paper. There is very little that she uses wax paper for because most times you can substitute The Appliqué Pressing Sheet by Bear Thread Designs. While the craft sheet was originally created for fusible appliqué, its non-stick surface has also made it an interchangeable tool for other crafts and cooking.

The Appliqué Pressing Sheet comes in 3 sizes and you can special order a specific size as well. Since her parents' own the company she get leftovers, so as you can see, she has a roll of small pieces. These 3 pieces are slightly longer in width than a butter knife, so she had to us several. 

Michelle spooned the mixture onto the sheet and let them cool for about an hour for the first batch, because she had to make dinner. The second batch was plated after about 30 minutes and sent next door when the neighbor brought over Lil Monkey's (Veronica's grandson, not really a monkey), Christmas gifts they had been hiding there.

Both batches made 14 Pralines each. When it came time to plate them, they just slid right off. She liked that the sheet was sturdy enough so that she could lift it up and check to see if they had cooled all the way though.

Then, she wrapped the extras for her sister-in-law and put them in a container that I'm sure her sister-in-law will agree is too small! It only held 8, so I guess we'll put some on a holiday plate for her as well. Michelle is officially the favorite sister-in-law, at least for now, and I'm the favorite bear!

** Note: Is The Appliqué Pressing Sheet has been stored rolled, as above, lay it on the work surface with direction of roll facing downward. 

** Note: Once The Appliqué Pressing Sheet has been used with food, it cannot be used on craft projects. 

For more of Michelle's Kitchen Creations, visit The Teacup Collector's Cottage.

 

Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival

Well, the Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival is really shaping up.  We've got some great teachers lined up.  So far we've got Pam Clarke.  You can check out her Facebook page, Designs with Lines by Pam Clarke.  This silly old bear just typed in her name on the internet and all kinds of great stuff popped up.  Did you know she has stencils as well as books?    I'm gonna order some.

Here we are at another show.  She's snuggly, I can't wait to see her again!!!  I'm going to take her class, she'll have 3 different ones, on 3 different days.  What fun we'll have!!!  Come and join us and you'll be an expert machine quilter when you're done with her class.  I can't wait to sit at that machine and quilt to my hearts content.

Seriously, she is a great teacher, she's been teaching machine quilting for a long time.  

So put August 13-15, 2015 on your calendar.  We'll see you at the Ranch in Loveland, Colorado.  
        

Tennessee Waltz

Veronica will be teaching the Tennessee Waltz quilt at Cactus Quilts on Thursday in Texas City. There are still some spots available. Class starts at 10:30 a.m. and goes until 3:30 p.m.  We will be making our in scrappy colors, but you can do anything you want.  We're just there to learn and have fun doing it.  Come join us.

Dresden Plates

Wow, these are some oldies.  As Veronica was cleaning out a box of "stuff" that was under her sewing machine, she found these Dresden plates.  She figures they are about 25 years old.  She found a receipt in the bag of Paper Pieces that she made these Dresden plates with.  She swears she's going to take them on her family cruise later this month and get them done.  There are quite a few fabrics from her daughter's little dresses she used to make, and little shorts and rompers that were made for her children.  This should get the conversation flowing as these fabrics are examined and fondled and all the memories of her kids as babies flow.

What do you have that brings back the memories?  What's really great, is that all of the fabrics she used for her children's clothes were 100% cotton.  So she has plenty of scraps.  

That red with little blue and yellow flowers are from her maternity top.  That's really old fabric!!!

All That Glitter Isn't Gold

Note: The following post is a guest from Michelle at The Teacup Collector's Cottage. Michelle is participating in a variety of projects, one being the "I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas" project. This project, using the Grip-n-Press is part of that series of posts. You can visit The Teacup Collector's Cottage to follow a variety of projects from quilting to kids crafts. 

I wonder how long it will take me to write this post, because I literally have glitter everywhere on me ... hands, legs, face ... even my eyes! There's like this little glimmer when I look around, maybe its on my eyelash. Wow, that is annoying ...

Well, tonight (last night once this posts), I spent the afternoon and part of the evening making pretty, little glittery ornaments for my Pink Christmas tree. Once day, when we finally have a place for this second tree, it is going to be decked out in all sorts of shiny homemade ornaments. 

Last weekend, I braved the after Thanksgiving shopping madness (on Sunday) after my son's play date. It was a well thought out plan because I knew he'd be tired and sit in the cart and play with his LeaPad. I managed to get quite a few things onsale or with coupons. One of them was a variety of mismatched cardboard Christmas ornaments. 

Today, I decided to get started on decorating two shapes, the stars and a dreidel sort of shaped ornament. The plan was quite simple, I would use a paint brush to spread glue onto the ornaments and them sprinkle with glitter and let dry, then do the otherside. It wasn't so much the technique I was using, but the work-surface.

You see that brown matt laying under my supplies, that is a Grip-n-Press by Bear Thread Designs. They actually have a variety of work-surface protectors, but this one was the best choice for this project.

First, the bottom has a non-skid material on it which keeps it from moving around on my table. That is quite important with a curious 4-year-old wandering in and out of the kitchen while I worked. The top side is a non-stick surface. Since nothing sticks to the surface, I poured my glue right on top of it, like a paint palette. Once I'm finished, I can just wipe up any excess with a wet paper towel (or baby wipe) and lt it air dry. Even dried glue/paint/etc wipes right off! Love it!!

To make the ornaments, I just "painted" glue on a small section of the ornaments, then sprinkled glitter over it.

Wht a fun and quick project! The silver stars turned out better than I imagined, and the pink will have a second layer later since I got a really light colored and fine textured glitter. Its a baby pink and the brown cardboard shows through. 

Later, after they dry completely, I will cover with a resin or other protecting agent to make sure the glitter doesn't fall off.

Until our next cup of tea ...

And Here She Is-Our New Baby

Ok, so it's not a "real" baby.  But Veronica was sure excited to see her.

We've got a few more things to set up before we get quilting on her, but isn't she big and shiny and pretty.  It's those "friends" that made Veronica get her.  Thank You friends!!!

Wow, that's a long table!  One of Veronica's friends bought that lamp and another told her that there was another one of those at her house for this machine.  I guess she'll be "lit up" like a Christmas Tree!

We're going to ba having fun with this soon.  Stay tuned...I'm sure we'll have some "funnies" that go on.

New uses for Baby Mattresses

Last night Veronica was at her daughter's house trying to help her figure out what to do as a corner unit and they needed a design wall.  So up against the wall was a brand new baby mattress.  They looked at each other, giggled and began to pin the quilt top to the mattress.  Good thing it was a small wallhanging, otherwise no telling what these two would have used.

Here is a picture of the bottom of the quilt top.  Can you see the little sheep.  Good thing there was no baby on the mattress.

Quilting Machines

I had a very interesting conversation today with a dealer that sells longarm quilting machines.  He said that it usually takes a person a couple of years to decide which machine to buy.  Not to buy one, but which machine itself.  I told him that was not how Veronica bought her machine.  Her best friend bought one and Veronica came home and told her husband, "Honey, Mary bought a Gammill, I want one."  So guess what, he told her to call and order her machine, and she did.  She had that machine for 11 years and then sold it because she needed the space.  She has been looking off and on because she keeps making those tops and the pile is growing.  She thought she might get another Gammill, just because that's what she had.  Then one of her dear friends bought a machine and it was an Innova.  So she told her husband, "Honey, I want one."   Then she told him, no not really, I don't have anywhere to put it.  Then another friend told her she wanted...

This is trouble with friends, we love them, but we want what they have, especially if it's a great big bright shiny new longarm machine.  Well, guess what, she got one, no not a Gammill or the Innova, she got an artistic 18-8 DX.  She had never seen them, never heard of it, but that doggone Scott from Citrus Sew and Vac ordered it for her.  She just said, how much, here's my credit card number and that was that.  All because her really good friend said, you need it!  So here's the best part, the machine was put together in October...at another friends house (she doesn't live there), it's a long story, but has Veronica even seen it?  No, not at all.  She and her other friend Suzy have a date to go "look" at the machine on Thursday.  That Veronica and her friends.  We'll get pictures on Thursday  and show you that big, bright, shiny new longarm quilting machine.  What would you do without friends???????????????        
     

80 weight thread

Wow, I got some of this 80 weight thread from Wonderfil.  This is a soft polyester that is free of any chemical adhesive that ensures unhindered delivery of the thread.  This also avoids the build up of undesired residue, such as dried adhesive in both the bobbin case and machine.   The high tenacity works well even with a heavy top thread.  It has a matte finish so it blends well with your fabric. They have 36 colors.  If you buy the big pack, let's call it a snack pack, you get all 36 colors to try out and extra neutrals for a total of 40 bobbins.  You can also get 12 packs of several neutrals.  The 80 weight thread only comes in bobbins but with Andrew's new invention, you'll be able to use the 80 weight bobbin thread as a top thread.  I don't know if I can show you the invention yet as I have a prototype of it.  I'll show you as soon as he says I can.  Who's Andrew?  He's the owner of the company.      

Just a few pictures to tempt you.