Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Halloween Haunts Blog Hop

Halloween Haunts 2015


Welcome!   

It's my day to reveal my creation for the Halloween Haunts Blog Hop. I had so much fun participating in last year's hop, and when Marian invited me to join in the fun this year, I jumped at the chance.   Many thanks to Marian from Seams To Be Sew for organizing this fabulous hop and inviting me to participate!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and quilting is a passion of mine, so why not combine the two and have monsters do a quilting bee?

This was such a fun quilt to make. The hardest part was making the actual quilt background neutral enough to show off the busy hands.  After several attempts, I chose the black and orange fabrics and a very simple pattern.

For the monster participants I chose a witch, Frankenstein's monster, a ghost, and a skeleton.  Several family members and friends saw the quilt as it progressed and most of them liked the ghost best.  Because I'm nuts, I named them all -- Witch Hazel, Frankie, Gabby the Ghost, and Bony Bonnie.

Three of the monsters brought to the quilting bee their own special pincushions.  Gabby has her dead mouse, Frankie has a wacky bat, and Bonnie borrows pins from her voodoo doll.





Witch Hazel brought her own bottle.  And of course there had to a big fat hairy spider with black rick rack legs.





















 I used purple velvet to bind my quilt and I think it gives it the perfect creepy yet classy look.


So there you have it, my contribution to the Halloween Haunts Blog Hop.  I hope you are having a wonderful time visiting everybody's sites and seeing their fantastic creations. You can find the entire list of hoppers at Marian's site at Seams to be Sew.  The participants for today's revealing are listed below.


And don't forget to stop by Marian's at  Seams to be Sew and sign up for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop.
Fat Quarter Shop

Happy Haunting!!


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Thursday, October 15, 2015

Halloween Haunts

Halloween Haunts 2015
Halloween is nearly here and what better way to start it off  than with a blog hop?!?  The hop starts TOMORROW, October 16th, so mark your calendars and get ready to be happily haunted by all the clever stitchers out there!  The hop has 49 participants this year and will run from October 16th through October 28th.  My day will be October 21st.  I am SO excited to show you what I've created this year.

MORE GOOD NEWS!   The Fat Quarter Shop is giving away a $25.00 gift certificate for each day of the Halloween Haunts hop.  You can enter at any of the featured sites of the day. A winner will be announced daily at Seams To Be Sew, and it will be featured on any of the blogs that featured the giveaway entry for that featured day.


 A big THANK YOU to Marian at Seams To Be Sew for all her hard work in starting this hop and hosting it for all of us Halloween groupies. 
 
Hope to see you there!  

Here is the schedule for Halloween Haunts:





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Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Fall Ahead

14 more days until the first day of Autumn and I am ready!  We have had one hot summer here, and this week the temperatures are back in the 100s.  Today it was a hazy 101 degrees and tomorrow 104 degrees is predicted.  Swimming weather!

When the weather is this hot, it is desirable to stay indoors and keep cool.  In honor of cooler temps to come, I made a quick little rail fence and maple leaves quilt out of a fall-themed jelly roll I had on hand.  The overall size of this quilt, before adding the binding, is 40" x 56".  The finished rail fence block is 8" square, finished strips are 2" x 8".  The finished leaf block is made up of 2" squares with a 2" x 6" and a 2" x 8" strip added to make it an 8" square.  (If you are wanting to create your own autumn rail fence/leaf quilt, add 1/2" to these measurements for seams.) 


Now all I need to do is add the backing, do some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, sew the binding all around, and this will be the perfect quilt to snuggle under on those cool Autumn nights.  I may just wait until the temperature drops a bit before I finish this one.






 
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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Pretty Potted Pencil Holder

It's no secret, I am not the most organized person in the world.  I lose stuff all the time, especially my pens and pencils.  It is really annoying when I am writing or designing something in my sewing room and my pen disappears.  Then, of course,  there is a frantic search, upending everything to find it.

Out of necessity, I decided to make a pencil holder.  That way I would have access to more than one pen.  I could have used an empty jar or cup just as easily, but I had some terra cotta pots laying about and thought what a cute pencil holder it would make. 



This was a lot of fun to do, and made up fairly quickly.  I used acrylic paints in red, black, brown, and white.  Her cheeks and lips are the red and white paints mixed to the shade I wanted.  The end of the paintbrush was dabbed into white paint to make highlight dots.  I found some accessories in my button jar and embellished a scrap piece of ribbon.  I also found some dolly hair left over from another project and gave my "assistant" a lovely curl.  I have the matching plate that sits under the pot which will be perfect to hold other stuff I easily lose, like bobbins, thread, paperclips, etc.  The plate doesn't need to be painted, but I will glue the two pieces together for practicality. 

As I was making this one, I thought of several more designs I could do and may do more in the future, because afterall I don't just lose pens and pencils in my sewing room.
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Monday, September 7, 2015

Labor Day Chili

Happy Labor Day!  Yay!  No work today!  Hope everyone got to sleep in this morning.  I love designated lazy days, when you don't have anything specific planned and the whole day is ahead.

Oh yeah. I have to cook dinner.  (sigh)

In the spirit of the holiday, I think I will cook up a pot of my Taste of Honey Chili and later slap some burgers on the grill.  My chili recipe is my own concoction with a couple of surprise ingredients.  The brewed coffee makes for a heartier base than just water, and the honey and cinnamon add just a hint of sweetness.




Taste of Honey Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
  • 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (or 1 or 2 teaspoons minced garlic from jar)
  • 1 can (40-oz.) kidney, pinto or black beans, drained
  • 1 jar Picante Sauce (your choice:  Mild, Medium or Hot)
  • 1 can (4-oz.) diced green chiles
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 cup brewed coffee (left over from breakfast)
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

  1. Cook beef, onion, bell pepper and garlic in large skillet until beef is browned and onions are translucent; drain.  Transfer to large pot.
  2. To pot, stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook, stirring frequently, for 20 to 25 minutes.  After chili has cooled, pop it into the refrigerator for a few hours (even overnight) to let the flavors meld.

Suggested garnishes, if desired:
    Shredded cheese
    Diced tomatoes
    Sliced olives
    Chopped green onions
    Sour cream
 
It doesn't get much easier than this, and it's even better the second day.

So, what's cookin' at your house? 
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Something Wicked This Way Comes

By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Something wicked this way comes.
Save the date, you must succumb,
This wicked hop will be fun!
 Halloween Haunts 2015
Are you ready for Halloween?  I see pumpkins and scarecrows and costumes everywhere.  If you love Halloween and would like to participate in a fun blog hop featuring your spooky projects, then be sure to sign up for Halloween Haunts 2015. The fun will begin October 16, 2015 when participants will begin revealing their BOO-tiful creations.  Marian at Seams to be Sew is hosting this ghoulish hop, and you can find out all the details on her website.  

Don't be a scaredy cat!  Join in the fun!  Last day to sign up is September 12th.


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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

UFOs in my stash

 The other day while tearing through my stash, looking for red fabric, I came upon a UFO -- UnFinished Object.  It was not the answer to my search, but it was a pleasant surprise.  Why had I never finished it?  That got me thinking, how many other UFO's did I have stashed?  I dug deeper and was amazed by how many unfinished projects were stuffed in drawers.


There were no less than I lost count of how many discarded blocks I found that were perfectly suited to making potholders or pincushions.  And a couple of the abandoned quilts could be made into baby blankets by removing a row or two.  I found were, 

Not all of the UFO's I found were projects I would be interested in finishing for gift giving or personal use, but some of them would make nice little blankies for the animal shelter down the street.  Aren't dogs color blind?  They won't mind uneven stitching or what-were-you-thinking patterns. 
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