Month: December 2007

longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts

End of Year Report

Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

Before I deleted my old blog, which was hosted on another site, I kept a copy of one post.  That was my list of project goals for 2007. 

These three patterns were on the list.  I have yet to even start any of these.

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I completed two commissioned baby quilts,one commissioned queen size quilt, and two commissioned king size quilts.

Finishing Starry Log Cabin was on the list to be completed and I finished it.

Courthouse steps was on the list, it is now quilted, but needs binding.

My Storm At Sea quilt kit has been sewn into a top, but still needs quilting and finishing.

I started on the fall wallhanging, and it is now a WIP.

And I started on my two Eleanor Burns nine patch & stripe quilts, making those a WIP.

I also finished DS’s lap quilt, four other baby quilts that went up for sale at my friend’s boutique, several fleece blankets for customers, and quilted a few customer tops. 

I feel like I’m forgetting something, but that’s all I can come up with for now.  Not too bad, considering how limited my quilting time is.  Now to work on the list for 2008!

crafts · knitting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing

Sunday Report Time!

Wild Rose Quilter9 Comments

I cannot start this post with “I did not buy any new fabric”.  I did buy new fabric.  Yesterday, on a trip to Pampa, the LQS was having one of it’s two annual 40% off all fabric in the store sales.  I didn’t, however, start buying willie nillie, like a chicken with my head cut off.  I needed more neutrals in my stash, so I went straight to the neutral section and picked some out.  I also bought some thread.  I’m ok with this purchase…no feeling guilty at all. 

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Stash use and project progresses or completions were:

I finished this lap extra long lap quilt I made for my son, earlier this year, by making the binding and machine stitching it onto the quilt (which you can see in the second pic that I’m not that good at doing), and I added a very “professionally” done label 😉  Yes, that is sharpie written directly on the back of the quilt.  This is a use me/abuse me quilt.  I hope he wears it completely out one of these days.

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I finished the quilting (if you can call it that) on Greg’s quilt.  Prepare yourself, this may hurt your eyes…I give myself an “F” on the quilting.  I was completely uninspired when I began quilting this one…to borrow Carla’s term…my “artistic harmony” was nowhere to be found.  Anyway, done is good in this case.  One positive that came from it, is that I was finally starting to get good at the “swirly” border! I even successfully turned the corners with it.  Other than that, I really can’t say what I was thinking…

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And lastly, I started working on this Eleanor Burns project.  So far, I have used 10.5 yards from my stash! When I’m done, I will have not one, but two new king size quilts for my bed. You can also see part of my leaders & enders in the left bottom corner of the second photo.

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I think that wraps up the quilting portion of my Sunday Report. However, I have some other “stash enhancing” to report.  Though I did ok, I think, with the fabric purchasing at the quilt shop, Walmart is where I went a little stupid…lol.

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I’ve been wishing for something else to work on at night, when I’m not working on a binding, or when I need something a little more portable, so I’m giving knitting another whirl.  Yes, that’s right, I said another whirl.  Hopefully, this time, I will have something better to show for my efforts than this “beautiful” afghan I made in college 🙂  I do remember feeling quite proud of myself at the time.

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So, now that I’ve horrified you with crazy bad quilting and crazy wild knitting all in one post, I hope that won’t scare you from coming back to visit me again. With that, I conclude my Sunday report!

art · daily life · favorite things

Show and Tell Friday

Wild Rose Quilter15 Comments

Kelli, over at There Is No Place Like Home, hosts this neat Show and Tell Friday, every Friday.  I would like to participate this week by sharing a special piece of artwork.  A few years ago, I found this painting tucked away in my Mom’s closet. It didn’t even have a frame on it.  I asked where she got it.  She told me that it had been painted by her cousin, Mickie.  Mom didn’t really know what to do with it.  I wanted it! All my Mom’s family is from Oklahoma, and this picture so perfectly depicts a part of my family’s roots.  It brings back fond memories of visits to my grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ farms.  I thought that a simple barnwood frame was the perfect finishing touch.  I have it hanging on my bedroom wall, and I never get tired of seeing it.  I only wish my Mom’s cousin could have known how much this painting would mean to me, but she had already passed away from ovarian cancer when it came to live with me.  Thank you, Mickie, for this special piece of art.

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I think she did a wonderful job.  Thank you for stopping by to visit.  I hope you enjoyed  my Show and Tell Friday post.

Christmas · love of my life · machine quilting · quilting

Oh Santa Baby, I Love You!!

Wild Rose Quilter12 Comments

My husband made me cry…like a little girl…I got cooking pots! And a wok! From Pampered Chef!

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Ok, so if you are thinking “I would cry if I got cooking pots for Christmas, too”, and you mean that in a not so good way…let show you my old cooking pots.

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This is like Extreme Makeover Cookware edition.  I am 41 yrs. old and I have never had my very own, brand new to me, cookware.  Now I do.  My old ones are a hodgepodge of hand me downs from my Mom.  I made mention one day to my hubby, after looking at a Pampered Chef catalog, at my hairstylist’s shop, (he was having a book party) that they had some nice cook pots.  I said I’ve never had any nice cook pots.  He asked if I got any…I said no, they are expensive.  And that was the end of that conversation.  Well, DH called our hairstylist and told him that he needed to know about these cookpots I saw when I was at his shop.  Yep, I’m really, really proud of my cookpots.  And I’m really proud of him, too.

Santa Baby also got me this platter I fell in love with, at a local Christian bookstore. He said it’s the only chicken I’ll be getting this year…lol!

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My parents came this morning and just left about an hour ago.  In fact Mom just called to let me know they are almost back to their house.  We had a great time, and since I have DH’s Christmas present quilt still loaded on the longarm, I actually got to show them how it works.  They have seen it before, but I’ve never had anything on that I could actually quilt in front of them. 

Hmmm…maybe I should mention before Christmas next year, that I’ve never had a really nice mixer…. 😉

Christmas · family · food · quilting

Can You Stand More Domesticity??

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

I thought I’d share some of my favorite holiday dishes with you.  These are things I was able to prepare today, for our Christmas dinner tomorrow.

Pretzel Salad

Crush 2 cups of pretzels.

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Mix the pretzels with 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 & 1/2 sticks of melted butter.

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Pat out in 9×13 glass pan.

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Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Let cool thoroughly.

Mix 1 cup sugar, an 8 oz. package of cream cheese (softened), and 1 & 1/2 cups of Cool Whip. Spread over cooled pretzels.

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Heat two cups of pineapple juice, just to boiling, and dissolve a 6 oz. box of strawberry jello in hot juice.  Stir in two 10 oz. boxes of frozen strawberries.  Partially jell in fridge (this won’t take long – don’t forget about it!) and pour over other mixture.  Place back in fridge to set jello.  It’s delicious!

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I also made a quick cranberry salad.  It’s really good, too.

For it you will need:

1 small can crushed pineapple, one 3 oz. box strawberry jello,  1 cup boiling water, one can WHOLE cranberry sauce, 1/2 cup cold liquid (juice from pineapple can & water to make 1/2 cup) 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional).

Dissolve jello in hot water, stir in cranberry sauce & mix until melted. Add 1/2 C of additional juice.  Add remainng ingredients.  Chill until set.

Topping:

one 12 oz. pkg Dream Whip or already prepared Cool Whip one 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, 1 tsp sugar

Blend until creamy & spread over salad.

Before topping:

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After topping:

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The eggs are devilled. My family really loves these, so of course I made extra so they could have some today, too.

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I also made two pecan pies, and one Bisquick Impossible Buttermilk pie.

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I even squeezed in a little piecing while cooking.  I didn’t get any quilting done on DH’s courthouse steps today, though. 

I’m really looking forward to seeing Mom & Dad tomorrow, and having a nice day at home with family! Now I’m going to settle in and enjoy a nice quiet Christmas Eve with my sweetie.  May you & yours have a blessed & joyous Christmas!

Christmas · food · quilting

Enjoying My Vacation and Trying to be a Diva of Domesticity

Wild Rose Quilter9 Comments

Wow, two posts in one day.  I needed to post my stashbuster report, but I had so much more I wanted to share .  Since my holiday officially started on Saturday, here’s a peek at what I’ve been doing.  I don’t usually have all this extra time to do all these special little extras for my family.

Saturday, along with getting some quilting done, I dipped pretzels.  Not a difficult thing to do, but my family really likes these.  Plus, they are not chocolate, which I love, but can’t eat much of because of migraines.  So this is a Christmas treat that I try to do every year.  They look good as a holiday header, too, don’t ya think?

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Today, (hope you are sitting down, brace yourself) I made homemade bread! And I don’t even have a bread machine.  Go me! Here is the proof.

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Hmmmm…how do I make sure I have it rolled out to a rectangle that is 9″X12″? With my trusty Omnigrid ruler, of course! Isn’t that how any quilter would do it?

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Almost ready to go into the oven.

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And if that wasn’t a great enough feat in and of itself, I made meatballs, for spaghetti  & meatballs for supper. I’ll even show you the recipe for these.  Hopefully, you will be able to read it, by clicking on the image and enlarging it.  If you want to try these, and can’t read my Mom’s writing, let me know and I will clarify it for you. I got this recipe from my Mom, who got if from my Grandma, (my Daddy’s mom).  Other than that, I don’t know where it came from. But they are really good, and pretty darn easy, as you use the microwave. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the recipe.

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Before cooking.

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Partially cooked.

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Done.

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In the sauce.

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Ready to be enjoyed with a slice of garlic bread, made from the homemade bread! Yum!

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Then, after cleaning the kitchen from all that, I got a head start on Monday’s cooking, by mixing up some of my Grandma’s barbecue sauce recipe, so that I can cook Lil’ Smokies in the crockpot with the sauce, for Christmas Eve finger/snack food day.

Hope you are enjoying your Christmas holiday, too!

longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Sunday Stash Busting Report

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

I had a good week of stashbusting.

1.  I didn’t buy any fabric, even though there was another sale at Thousands of Bolts.

2. I made the binding for my Simply Leaves wallhanging, and got that fabric out of my stash.  I also attached said binding, and a label, thus completing that WIP.

3. I made the binding for a lap quilt I made for my son, earlier this year, as well as the binding for my New York Beauty wallhanging, which has been bindingless for quite some time.

4. I added the borders to the courthouse steps top.  The inner border was strips that I already had cut for it, a long time ago.  I used 3.5 yards of fabric, from my stash, for the outer border.  I used 8.5 yards of fabric, from my stash for the backing.  That quilt is currently loaded on the longarm, with quilting in progress.

5. I have continued to whittle away at the scrap pile, turning it into strips, and leaders/enders, some of which I’ve already started sewing. I usually remember the “leader”, but have a tendency to forget the “ender”.  I’m working on that. 

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Thus concludes another successful week of stashbusting.

Libby · longarm quilting · love of my life · machine quilting · nature · pets · photos · quilting · quilts

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

Wow, yesterday I had that gorgeous sunrise to enjoy, and today, this! Good thing the Princess of Serendipity is keeping Flat Stanley home til after the holidays 🙂  It was not foggy, that is just blowing snow making visibility very difficult.

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One of us was enjoying it! Yeehaw, says Libby as she dashes through the snow, at a high rate of speed!

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I’ll let this picture speak for itself!

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Ok, I’m ready to go back in now!

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I took all these early this morning.  It’s now almost 3:00 pm, and the sun is shining again!

In quilt news, I have the courthouse steps loaded on the longarm, but I decided to stop kidding myself.  No way that it is getting finished before Christmas.  I was making myself cranky by putting so much pressure on myself.  I told DH today, Merry Christmas! This is your gift! He said he loves it! I sure love him!