Just another long, wordy post!

Haven't posted for two weeks. 
So many things going on, and there hasn't been time for therapy quilting. Finally I just NEEDED to quilt. I grabbed a couple of wall hangings that I started quilting weeks ago and squeezed in a few minutes here and there over the past few days, in between real life. Today I finished the quilting--binding will have to wait.

This is my abbreviated version of Lisa Bongean's 10th Anniversary SAL.
If you want to see details of the quilting, you can enlarge the photos below.
   
I think I dragged my feet on the quilting because I spent too long looking at the one Linda Hrcka quilted. I wanted mine to look like hers. I finally decided that it just needed to be done. 
This will be small quilt finish #45 for this year! 

The next one up was what I had hoped to have finished for Thanksgiving (which obviously didn't happen). This is the Buttermilk Basin pattern, which I reduced so that there would be room to hang it.

I had tossed this aside in disgust last month because when I finally made time to sit down and work on it, the tension went haywire and I had to unpick everything I had quilted. After the unpicking I just couldn't face it again for a while. Now it will be finish #46.

                 
As before, you can click the photos above to see the quilting better, if you'd like. But I can tell you now that it isn't anything fancy.
Had some sweet surprises for my birthday. An incredible package from Doniene (Now it's just quiltsII blog) with a lovely card, two wonderful little quilts and an olive wood nativity. So fun to have those beautiful little creations from her, along with another nativity to add to my collection of them from around the world. 
You can see it all below, along with the "loot" Kris (Lavender quilts blog) brought me. It was fun to visit with her in my kitchen as I was prepping food for the holiday. Look at the pretty dishtowel, the great Primitive Gatherings patterns, the mulling spices, candy, threads, etc. These bloggers are such good friends and know me well. Thank you so much, my dears!!
 
I will admit that there used to be more candy with the "loot", but it keeps disappearing. Curious.
There is also a sweet card from friend Annie (no blog--but I "met" her through blogging). She always writes her cards with calligraphy, and it makes me feel so special. Thank you, Annie.

When I received my pincushion from Kevin in the swap Randy organized, I loved the hefty size he had made.  I make wimpy ones, by comparison.
So I played with bits of scraps left from the "Light in the Window"  I made recently. It is a true "make do" creation, and this baby is big. It could be a weapon in a pinch. Kind of looks like a brick, doesn't it?


I continued my "80 Minutes a Week" challenge by attempting yet another Gluten Free pie crust recipe--this is my 4th or 5th try.
I confess that I am a pie crust snob. Before my celiac diagnosis I had worked long and hard to master light, flaky, buttery pie crust.
This pie crust is not as perfectly flaky as those I used to make, but it is the best I have made without a gluten flour. This was a pear pie for our Thanksgiving dinner. I also made a pumpkin pie for our family birthday gathering. I feel like I can call this crust a success. Not what I am used to, but pretty good.

I'm not finished yet. (I promised something fun, remember? Of course not--it has been two weeks.) It has kind of been my habit to share something with my faithful followers around my birthday. This is a little late, but here goes!
                                                          

Just what is this heap of stuff, and why would anyone want it? Maybe no one does, but FYI, it is a little pack of 60 2 1/2" squares in purple, chrome and cheddar (not everyone's favorites, I know, but it's my blog and I love them).
Then we have a clamp on, rustic  looking pincushion holder, with a vintage jar lid for making a pincushion.


 
This photo shows you how you clamp the thing to your sewing machine table or the table beside your sewing chair. You can glue any kind of pincushion there that you would like. The shop where I bought them had a pincushion in one of the vintage jar lids. (which is why I included one), and it looked really good. You could even glue on a regular old tomato pincushion, if you wanted to (but you wouldn't, would you?).

 


Included is this little quiltlet, along with the hanger and hooks.
The color is really off on this photo because I took it at night. The flash on my camera went out on Thanksgiving Day, and ever since then I have to try and time my photo taking when there is plenty of natural light. This wasn't one of those times. 
I guess that about wraps it up, except I will add in a couple of bars of my herbal soap, too. 
So let me know in your comment if you are interested in this bundle of fabric and metal. I'll give it around a week.
Until then,
Janet O.

Drawing now closed.

A Giveaway, Cobblestones, and Recipes

I love this little quilt. It is on display, finished and framed, at the LQS. The pattern for this is from one of the two sets I just got in the mail on Monday. I haven't had much sewing time but I have managed to get everything cut for this quilt and ready to sew. I don't plan on framing mine--just quilting and binding.

So now for the giveaway. You are maybe thinking, "What, again already?" I know that went through my head. After all, since I had missed the 50 follower giveaway opportunity, and went with 75--it wasn't so long ago. In fact, the soap for those winners is still curing. Well, when I got home from a long day at the fairgrounds and a visit to my grandchildren Tuesday night, this is what I found when I did my blog check.

Woo-Hoo! The big 100 follower mark! I needed to celebrate that somehow. I have really enjoyed the exchanges I have had with so many of you. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. I have met so many gracious, kind, creative, inspiring, funny and giving quilters. This is how I want to say "Thanks!" Part one of the giveaway is the Lori Smith pattern set shown here. It includes the little quilt featured at the beginning of this post.
The other part of the giveaway is thanks to a link on Kathie Holland's blog "Inspired By Antique Quilts." She posted the link to a new line of fabric from the Collection For a Cause, named Comfort. I fell for it. Take a look at these fabrics!

So along with the pattern set, there goes a  charm pack of this fabric collection. Show how good a "follower" you are by following these directions to have a chance to win--just leave a comment on this post by midnight Monday and on Tuesday I will post a winner and runner-up. The runner-up will also receive a charm pack (but no pattern).

Can you just feel the cobblestones underfoot? No, huh?

Though, as I said earlier, it has been a busy week and I haven't been able to do very much sewing, I have put together a few of the cobblestone blocks for the Tree of Life quilt.

I'm not sure if these will surround the whole quilt, or just the sides and bottom, or if they will end up in the corners with something else filling the spaces between. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep this quilt from being square. I did decide that there needed to be another blue border between the Ocean Waves and the Cobblestones. Who knows where it will go from here?

By the way, at the county fair my pear pie won a blue ribbon. Let me know if you'd like the recipe and I will email it to you. I received it in a class taught by the executive pastry chef at the Deer Valley ski resort near Park City, Utah. It quickly became my new favorite pie. I had another entry in the baking department--Smurtles. This is a scrumptious bar cookie developed by Christine Boren of Provo, Utah. The link takes you to the recipe on the Nestle website. This cookie has an oatmeal crust on top and bottom with a layer of caramel and a layer of chocolate in between. Easy to make and sooooo good!  The Smurtles got a blue ribbon, too--and several recipe requests. Also, my Mom's quilt got a blue ribbon! I had planned on photographing some of the quilts, but they are all displayed in glass cases and I'd forgotten how hard it is to get good photos. Just know that the sweepstakes winning quilt was a beautifully made, machine quilted Dear Jane quilt in the traditional style. Very deserving.

So, don't forget to leave your comment, and until next time, from the little mountain valley where the county fair is in full swing,
Janet Olsen