And the winner of my Traveling Stash box is…
Number 10, from over at Boldgoods!!! Congrats to Nicole! What for my email!
If you aren’t familiar with Nicole’s blog, you should check it out. She always has some sweet eye candy to drool over. I’m especially loving her festive garland, right now!!
::: If you still want to put your name in the hat for the Traveling Stash box get to it! Details and entry here. You have until Saturday at 10:am! :::
Ahh, and finally a finish I can share!
I started this Christmas tree skirt, for my DIL, way back over the summer. Then it disappeared. I searched high and low for it, could not find it anyway, finally moved on to other projects. Thankfully, it turned up again, just a few weeks ago, all neatly folded, in with a stack of green fabrics. Apparently I had a spell of organization. Go figure.
I cut 8 – 45° triangles, 12″ wide at the base and roughly 15″ tall from fat quarters, scraps, just a variety of fabrics. I then slashed them randomly 3 or 4 times and inserted a 1″ piece of contrasting fabric. With 1/4 inch seam allowances, they ended up being 1/2″ wide, leaving the overall measurements, the same as when I started. I love this metallic fabric with dots! I can’t remember who made it, but I thought it looked a bit like Christmas tree balls! And I thought this was a worthy project to use a bit of this stash on.
I then trimmed them up again, making sure to keep the angles at 45°. I added borders, on all three sides, cut from 2 1/2″ stripes of a creamy, gold metallic Christmas fabric. For the base, I added a tree stump, pieced into the strip, from a bark looking fabric. I then batted and backed it, then free motion quilted it, to the best of my ability. I cut a slit and then a 6″ circle out of the center, tracing around a CD, added ties and bias bound it in a striped binding.
Now that it’s finished, shipped and received, how will I ever keep my bronze girl warm???
She gets SO cold this time of year!
Linking up with Amandajean over at crazymomquilts.
Also linking up with:
Same old, same old around here. Still plugging away, just not moving as fast as I would like. An ice pack, hanging on your side, will do that. Or something like that….
Anyway…
Tried my hand an using a single thread for embroidery and really like the delicacy of it.
One thing about hand quilting is that you spend a lot of time with your fabrics of choice. Sometimes, as I’m looking at 2 random colors, lying side by side, it makes me want to go shopping.
I have a pair of mint jeans, this exact color, it makes me want to go find me a caramel colored sweater to go with them!
If you are interested in the Traveling Stash box you can add your name to the hat on this post. You have until Saturday morning 10:00am. Good Luck!
As for finishes this week? Feels like getting a post written should be enough to call it good, LOL! But I did finally get my ice pack cover made that I’ve dreamed about making. And in perfect timing. Now it won’t smell like the freezer when I need it!
And after! Much nicer don’t you think?!
A layer of flannel and a layer of quilting weight fabric, stitched and turned to fit my ice pack which is one of those kind that doesn’t freeze hard, but is moldable. I love this kind, they are perfect to snuggle in bed with when it is warm. Or you have itchies, it stops them in a heartbeat, or even hot flashes, not that I know about those…. But especially good for bruised ribs coming from the seat belt, after an accident. Yup. That was Friday and that is also the reason I’ve not returned texts or calls. My phone is lost in it, locked up in the tow company’s lot until Monday. No real injuries, just soreness. I’m so thankful we are seat belt wearers. You just never know when someone is just going to pull out right in front of you. Can you say T-bone? And though the other driver wasn’t texting, we won’t talk about texting and driving, today. Way too much of that going around, too. Arrgh.
Arnica, anyone?
Linking up with Amandajean @ crazymomquilts
As for the travelling stash box I was to post about yesterday… It arrived just before Thanksgiving. Sorry for the delay of posting, but things happen…. Picture of the goods, coming soon!
I had so much fun fawning over all the goodies in it. I had such a hard time picking out which ones to keep.
Then I added some things to it.
~100 candy pieces, 2 1/2″ squares. Seems like everyone is making quilts using these!
~Leah Day’s guide to free motion quilting. If you haven’t read this it’s a winner. So many great pattern ideas. I had two of them, I won’t give up my copy on a bet!!
~Leah recommends these bobbin washers to help your bobbin thread flow smoother as you FMQ. I’ve used a few of them, they work great. I think there are 5 left in the package and you only need one! Well, unless you can’t keep up for them.
~Three Amy Butler fat quarters.
And some more.
~A hand full of zippers, great for bag making, buying them on sale, I have more than I could ever sew up!
~A spool of red and white gingham ribbon.
~ A handful of antique, metal, bag hardware. I bought a variety pack off Etsy and love it. Then again, I could never use them all! The only way to get what I needed felt like I was shopping at Costco.
With more to come, but I wanted to get this posted, straight away! And play with my ice pack!
Want to get in on the fun?
Here’s how to win your chance to dig through the Traveling Stash box:
1.) Due to quick turn around times, you must live in the U.S.
2.) Must be an active blogger
3.) Must be willing to replace what you take out with similar quality/quantity of items, hold a drawing and ship it back out in a timely manner.
That’s it! If you want to put your name in, here’s what you can do… Leave a comment telling me one of your favorite crafty Christmas gifts to give. For an extra entry, become a follower of my blog and leave a second comment telling me, you do!
I’ll use Mr. Random to draw a name next Saturday and will announce the winner then! The giveaway, or rather swap, will remain open until 10:00 am on Saturday, December 1.
Now back to my icepack. Good Luck!
This week I have been practicing hand embroidery skills. Mainly my initials and dates 😉 Over and over again! If you don’t know me in real life, then you might not know that that is how I finish off my projects.
Sorry I can’t show you all the newest new and improved skills yet, but too soon, I promise. Because that is when Christmas is, oh my!!
Mary Corbit’s Needle n’ Thread website is where I have been hanging out this past week. I’ve wanted to beef up my embroidery skills, for a while now, and I starting reading through her articles and see lots, and lots, of room for improvement! I love that she tells you what needle size works best for which stitch, too. I usually just rummage through my studio and feel lucky to find any needle, much less one that I can thread with embroidery thread! No wonder I’ve not been so happy with the results!! I also realize how important it is to use a ruler and fine line marking tool. Much better that the thick blue water soluble marker I’ve been using and use every day, of my life, for one thing or another!
And because it’s the day before Thanksgiving, it is off to the kitchen I go.
Today has been set aside to whip together the sides that we’ll be taking to Thanksgiving dinner at daughter’s house. You know the one who raised the centerpiece, this year 🙂 Mmmmm….. turkey!
My must have Thanksgiving dish would be the dressing. Some people call it stuffing, but since we aren’t stuffing the bird, we call it dressing! This is my recipe for southern style cornbread dressing. It is easily made gluten free (and even dairy free with appropriate substitutions) by using 1 package of Pamela’s Cornbread mix, according to the recipe of the bag, for southern cornbread and then your favorite GF bread. Works like a charm!
Cornbread Dressing
printer friendly version
2 boxes of Jiffy mix cornbread mix, prepared the night before, with eggs and milk as the package directs. Buttermilk is best but non dairy milks work fine, too. (large cast iron)
6 slices of bread, toasted and cubed
Crumble and combine these in a large bowl.
Soften in 3/4 stick butter:
1 1/2 c diced onion
1 3/4 c diced celery
add to the breads
then stir in around 48 oz chicken broth, it really depends on how dry your breads are. This is where I use the stock I made last week!
Season with poultry seasoning, dried sage, and pepper, at least a teaspoon of each.
Salt to taste before adding in 3 beaten eggs.
After sitting awhile broth should rise to the surface, if it doesn’t you haven’t added enough liquid, keep adding more.
Pour into a greased 9″ x 13″ pan.
Bake 375 30-40 minutes, until done.
This can be baked the day ahead and refrigerated. When the turkey comes out of the oven, to rest, pop this in, covered in foil, and bake for about 30 minutes or until heated through.
Enjoy!
P.S. the Post lady just came and dropped off my Traveling Stash box!!! I can’t wait to dig in and show you what is in it and what I might add to it for you to pull out and keep!! Check back (or subscribe!) I hope to have the giveaway sign up posted on Friday!
Linking up with Tuesdays at the Table and…
Have a fantabulus Thanksgiving everyone!!
Hard at work on several large projects that I can’t yet share. One is ready to go in the mail, so that is exciting! I can’t wait to share it!
The only sharable finish, this week, isn’t very impressive you may think. Everyone makes potholders. All the time. These poor potholders have been all over the house for two months waiting on me to get the thread and the potholders, in the same room, at the same time, to hand stitch the binding down. I bought this linen over the summer and wanted to play with it but didn’t have a plan. Ended up making potholders because of all the scraps that were still hanging around from my Tomorrow Morning quilt. I’m just finally glad to see them finished before fall is over. That was close…. Obviously this is an original prototype. I say obviously because I didn’t even notice the rough patch in the seam allowance until I added it to WordPress! Oh well, that’s what happen when you try something new. You get too excited, too soon. Even if it’s been months in the doing.. LOL!
Don’t forget about my upcoming Traveling Stash giveaway! I haven’t received it yet, but when I do I’ll be adding lots of goodies from my studio and shipping it off to someone! And it could be you!! Have a great weekend!!
Linking up with Amy over at Finish it Up Fridays, too. Maybe I’ll see you there?
It has been a lazy, though productive last several days around here. We watched several movies then proceeded to get caught up on our television recordings, so that means I got a lot of hand quilting on this queen-sized, scrap quilt done.
I am to the point where I should be tracking the percent left to go. I think I’m just past the half way point.
I love the way hand quilting shows up on plain, old-fashioned muslin. I’m not sure why I ever got away from it and recently found myself really struggling to figure out which one I should buy, since now they all have brands and different levels of quality stamped on the bolts. The brands and qualities suggested to me, by other hand quilters, was not available, locally. What was available, and that I really liked the feel of *and* that there was 9 yards of… was Roc-lon Permanent Press. It has a nice feel and it is not see through, but not a thick one, either. And I really, really like the price!! What a huge difference to quilt with this on the back as opposed to a Kona-ish fabric, which has backed so many of my more recent quilts!
With all your help I am further along with 
figuring out the mechanics of FMQ. My stitches look SO much better with a new needle that is labeled “quilting”. I think it is a #11, I was using a fairly new, universal, #14. My stitches are still not consistent, lots of panicky, sharp turns, but I did manage to quilt this project with no more eyelashing! Bound, washed and dried and my quilting looks even better!
As everyone else is, I am sure, I am working on other gifty items that I can not share 😦 I am ready to start quilting on my Starry, Starry Night quilt, too. I *think* I know what I’m doing to it.
Have you heard of the Traveling Stash boxes? They are these boxes filled with a collection of fabrics, patterns, thread and other quilty fun! When you receive a box you take out what you like, replace it with items from your own stash, hold a giveaway and then send it to the next lucky person. You can find all the rules and guidelines (including how to save on postage) here. I just recently ran across a post about them and started entering the giveaways, for all the different boxes, like a mad woman!
I just love surprises and it doesn’t look like there are very many people throwing their names in the hat for these. I am really thankful I didn’t win two in one week!
As soon as my box arrives, I’ll be posting a quick turn around giveaway. So this is your warning! If you think you might want in on it, you should subscribe not to miss the post!
On Friday, the winners of the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival were announced and yes, my name was right up there at the top!
Not for Hand Quilting, or as a Wall Hanging, and not even for the most beautiful photography, taken my our daughter Amanda.
But instead, my original quilt, Out of This World was given the Viewer’s Choice award!!
How about that?! I could not have been more flabbergasted!
All of the quilts were just amazing and offer so much inspiration and challenge for upcoming projects. Seriously. So many fabulous quilts….
Thank you for cheering me on, taking the time to vote and sharing your sweet comments! It means the world to me.
And thank you, Amanda. This quilt never looked so good. No wonder people wanted to vote for it!
And now, I *really* promise to quit talking about it!
XXOO
You realize it is less than two weeks away, right? Where has this year gone???
Thankfully, we will be guests this year. Daughter Krystal, and her husband D, that have the *huge* garden and the 24 turkeys running around their yard, have graciously insisted on hosting! How am I to argue with that idea? I think it is brilliant!!
But that doesn’t let us off the hook. We’ll be bringing some sides, but the first thing that must happen is to make stock. You can not make dressing, or gravy, for that matter with out homemade stock, can you??? Okay, I suppose you can, but this year that is the one thing I am on top of.
Perusing the grocery store yesterday, I just realized that they have turkey wings, backs, and all the different parts, cut up and at bargain prices, this week. Even the organic parts. I mean, how many people really want a turkey back? I realize many will be buying the breasts and even the drumsticks. Well, they have to get rid of the other parts somehow. Care for a turkey neck??? Okay, that doesn’t sound very appetizing.
But…. they make great stock. And at bargain prices, this week!!
Along with some onions, celery, carrots, parsnips, a head of garlic, whatever you have. Anything but potatoes and tomatoes. Add in some bay leaves, parsley, dill, peppercorns, thyme… Whatever sounds good and lots of it. Add water to barely cover. Now just a small splash of cider vinegar. This will help to leach the calcium, out of the bones, to make this an even healthier broth than usual. And we can all use that. Right?!
This is also a fine way to use up odd bits of chicken in the freezer or rotisserie carcasses. We always save those, in the freezer, for making stock. Simmer it all for several hours, half the day, or more, until you can no longer stand it. At this point the meat will not really be fit to eat. The flavor will be gone. It’s purpose has been served. Stock. Mighty fine stock. I do not add salt. I will wait until I use it to salt the final dish.
I then scoop out all the solids, as best I can, and strain it all through a fine strainer, letting it drain and then pressing the veggies with the back of a wooden spoon, to get all the golden juices out.
I then let this goodness cool, then pour into containers and refrigerate overnight. After it’s chilled the fat rises and will lift off the top.
I then scoop it up into Ziplocs to freeze. I say scoop because the gelatin from the bones gelatinizes the broth and it is definitely a scooping process!
I ended up with 10 12oz bags.
One step closer to being ready for Thanksgiving!
How about you? Are you getting ready??? Do you make your own stock?
On the sewing front, I read through all the suggestions you had for creating smoother free motion quilting. For one thing, I went out this morning and picked up fresh needles. Though that was a fresh needle, it was a 14. All I had in the house…… Now I have a variety!
Did you know that Joann’s fabric store has an app, with coupons, right there on your phone? I didn’t! I also didn’t have any of their coupons. I had one for 40% off from Hobby Lobby that I knew they would honor, but that was it. While waiting in the line, that was way too long, one of the friendly ladies, also waiting, asked if I knew about this app. And of course, I didn’t and quickly downloaded it, coming up with an additional 60% off and 40% off one item, coupons!! Great deal, since needles were not on sale this week and that is all I went in for! Cha-ching!! I should never complain about long lines again!
But yesterday, as I was reading all the suggestions and couldn’t get out, I threw together a quilt top that I had been thinking about for quite a while. Everyone else seems to have made a star quilt, except me! Well, I am now the proud owner of a baby sized, Starry, Starry Night finished quilt top! I hacked and whacked and even did a little math. Mostly I just made blocks and then added strips as needed to make them line up square! All from inventory, mostly from scraps, including the navy! It’s about 38″ square. Even have batting and backing for it, how about that?!!
So…. Now that I have *two* projects to quilt, I am off to try all the different suggestions for FMQ and hope to figure out something that works. Wish me luck!!
Linking up with Amanda Jean over at crazymomquilts for Finish it up Fridays!
Sewfrench 