Very pink quilt for Hope!

Finishing the binding of this all pink quilt.  I plan on trying to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research.  Looking for a creative way to raise the most funds. I hate when I give a quilt and it barely raises $50.00. I put at least 4 times that into the quilt to start with.  I find people are too cheap at silent auctions.

So, raffles usually raise the most money if you have good people selling the tickets. I would love comments on ideas to raise funds for this important cause.  the quilt is all pink and quilted with the words   hope and cure with ribbons.

Quilting Done

I finally got the quilting done on the "GSS" quilt.  Its bound and ready to be shipped to my sister.  As the New Year quickly approaches resolutions are being formed in my head.  I think mine will center around getting my UFO's under control.

So here it is in writing.  Quilt one quilt a week!

Cheers!

Work in Progress

This is a quilt from a swap on www.quiltingaroundtheworld.com  I decided to heavily quilt the darn thing with continuous curves, it now seems to go on continuously!  My Sis saw the pic and grabbed it up pretty quickly. I am happy to give it to her.  I would love get it done asap as I have lots of other things to quilt up. Have a great quilty day!~ Susan

Swapping Christmas Goodies

On the quilty forum www.quiltingaroundtheworld.com we had a fun swap of quilty Christmas goodies. We swapped 2 fats, a hand made ornament and chocolate!  Here's what arrived in my mailbox as you can see the Chocolate did not last long!  The ornament is a folded star ball.  We also swap quilt blocks all year round and enjoy lots of giggles in chat.

Sunday Breakfast Swedish Pancakes

My Granny’s Pancakes

Take the  time to gather the family for a traditional Swedish breakfast.  Don’t forget to make a great pot of coffee!  A slab of thick cut Bacon would be a welcomed accent too!

I place all the ingredients in a blender and mix on low in the following order;

4 eggs  blend on low then add,

3 cups milk

1.5 cups flour

2 tablespoons melted bultter

1/4 cup powder sugar

2 teaspoon pure vanilla

Blend well.

The pancakes are similar to crepes,  these take time to cook, so I keep them warm in the oven as I prepare them.  pour just in enough batter in hot pan to cover the base swirl the pan to do this once, brown and flip, they cook quick so don’t go any where:)  once the other side is light brown the pancake is done.  

You can serve with butter and pure maple syrup or sprinkle with powder sugar.  They are wonderful with jam too

My Granny Elin Tilly

How I am needleturning the first Border on CW Bride

Layout the traced pieces till I am pleased. Glue baste in place.

I am starting to see the Border take shape of the Civil War Bride Quilt. I have made the first 5 blocks of the top row, so I decided to make the left side border, then go back to the blocks.

Since these blocks are so organic I can, work on them in my lap without a lot of prep. I simply cut and go doing one section at a time building the border.  I cut out the image glue in place using Roxanne's Glue Baste ( the tiniest drop!).  I then needle turn the piece. My goal is too perfect my needle skills so it is just me and my needle.  I have no patience for freezer paper or all the other prep methods.  I also use a jelly roll white pen. They write very smoothly and so far has washed out of everything.

After the pieces are needleturned in place continue to next section.

I have been asked how I know where to place the pieces.  In this case I traced the stem and appliqued that first.  I place registration marks where I think things should go and make adjustments as I needleturn the pieces.

Granny's Swedish Sponge Cake and time

I came across this quote today and I have been sharing it across my my internet postings.

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

~Earl Nightingale 

I just love it!  So perfect for so many reasons.  Been working away on all my UFO's put a little dent in my list. Planning my attack on my New Years resolution to get caught up on all the UFO's and reduce the stash a bit. Those are some pretty hefty goals that will take some organization and some time management~see above quote~ 

As the Holidays approach I thought I would share Grannies Swedish Sponge cake recipe:

6 lg eggs Separated

1 and 1/4 cups sugar

1 and 1/2 cups flour shifted

1/3 cup water

1 and 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 and 1/2 tsp lemon or vanilla extracts (actually any flavor can be substituted)

Powder Sugar to shift over baked cake

In a large mixing bowl Beat yolks for at least one minute while adding sugar then mix in flour and water into the egg yolks. Next, add the extract put aside.  In a separate bowl beat egg whites till stiff then add baking powder and salt. Egg whites should be able to hold a peak. This is where a gentle hand comes in, gently fold the yolk mixture~ do not crush the whites. When mixed evenly pour into an un~greased tube pan and bake one hour at 350 or as I love when recipes say until done:) when you remove the cake from the oven you will want to cool it upside down. I usually find a bottle to place the tube on.  This keeps the cake light and fluffy while cooling.  After the cake has cooled invert on plate and shift powder sugar evenly over cake.

Enjoy, I am sure it will become a family favorite all year round~ Susan

My recent fun project a free Bom from www.p3designs.com I chose to do it mostly in Moda's Garden Party by Blackbird Designs. I am waiting for the last clue to be delivered in January. But so far its been the nicest mystery bom I have done. 

Those sneaky UFO's --Just like Tribbles!

It’s amazing how quilters can build a huge quilty to do list!  Mine is a little out of sorts right now so I think It’s time to address it just a little!  First I need to make a quilty list of things I want to get done, Trust me its far to long to list everything so I will try to break it into parts so I can reduce it a little and make some type of Dent! I think I will start with 12 projects and come up with a way to finish them. My quilty list in no particular order of importance: 

1. CWB ~  The Civil War Bride almost 4 blocks done
2. Birds of Feather ~ Working on Borders
3. Elizabeth Pride ~ Working on block 14 then the center and ready to finish in December.
4. Celebration ~ Old ufo need to applique and piecing the setting triangles
5. Lizzie May ~ Another BOM making the sawtooth blocks
6. Elegant Garden ~ All applique 15 blocks done
7. GSS ~ Putting the last rows on now should be ready to quilt soon, pictured below.
8. FWS ~ Farmers Wife Sampler Bom working on blocks 53-60
9. Hot Shakespear in the Park~ Hot Bright Pink batik quilt lots cut out 
10. My Pink Support quilt ~ Need to set it just so torn about how too.
11. Web sampler ~ Got 8 blocks made
12. The Patriots Quilts ~ Gifts for friends simple rail fence design 

Wow, six of those are major applique projects to pluck away at. I also not on the list are my tops to quilt~ I need to quilt one of those each week and fit binding in there too. What a pile! Oh my those darn Tribbles, where did they come from.

The Bride Block

I just finished my third block for the Civil War bride Quilt and so far each block is so much fun to do and so creative!   

I think its time to organize some of my quilt projects. I have so many wonderful works inn progress like this spectacular quilt I am just finishing up came from my on line quilt group www.quiltingaroundtheworld.com.  I have one more row of sawtooth stars to add.  This was a six month swap where each month we swapped out blocks. The great thing is even though we swapped out the same blocks our quilts are very individual!  

My first Post...well

I started and deleted this blog a few times. I am an avid appliquér I just love historical quilts.  Stitching in the seems of our fore quilters is an amazing journey.  I have learned so much patience and creativity from recreating their masterworks.  Quilts are so much more than blankets they are pieces of a quilters life.

Like most quilters I have so many projects in various stages.  I have collected a wonderful collection of fabric that will keep me stitching and creating for many years!  I have a love of sewing machines from vintage to a longarm machine which brings me a little bit of income.

The Civil War bride is my latest project.  Corliss from Threadbear of Autralia is my currant quilt designer.  She takes historical quilts that are epic and turns them into amazing pattern!  I have purchased three.  I am working on the Civil War Bride,  Her are the first two blocks completed plus the third block the bride in progress.