Don't forget the binding

Ohhhhhh.........

Look at all that hand work!

Beautiful applique, embroidery,

and quilting.

This quilt is in beautiful condition!

Minor stains, no holes.
Maybe made in the 1930's?

Wouldn't you love to know the history of this quilt?

And who the maker was.

If it only had a label.....

Unfortunately, it isn't mine.

My friend Kathie bought it for a steal!

She came over to ask my advise.

Notice how frayed the edges are?

The edges of the quilt had been

folded in and hand stitched.

No separate binding.

The major wear on any quilt is the edges.
That is why you want to apply a separate binding.

Binding protects the edges and can be easily replaced.

Kathie is going to trim the edges and apply a scrappy

binding in pastel 1930 reproductions.

I can't wait to see it!

Wouldn't it look lovely on my porch?

And now for our chocolate break.

Who would have thought saltines

could taste so good!

Trisha Yearwood's Sweet & Saltines

40 Saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
8 oz. chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven 425*.

Line a large jellyroll pan with foil and saltines.
In medium pan, melt butter and brown sugar together,

bring to a boil.

Boil 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour over crackers,

covering them evenly.

Put pan into the oven and watch closely.

Bake 4-5 minutes or just until bubbly.

Remove from oven and

pour chocolate chips over crackers.

When the chips melt a bit,

spread with a knife,covering crackers.

Put pan into freezer for 15-20 minutes or until completely cold.

They will form one big sheet.

Break up into pieces. Store in airtight container.

***************************
The corn dip was gone before I could get a picture!

Trisha Yearwood's Hot Corn Dip

2 11 oz cans Mexican corn, drained
2 4 1/2 oz cans chopped green chiles, drained
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonnaise

Preheat oven 350*. Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
In a medium bowl, mix the corn, chiles, cheeses,

and mayonnaise until fully combined.

Spread the mixture in the prepared casserole dish and

bake, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes,
or until bubbly around the edges.

Serve the dip warm from the oven with corn chips.

I also made the Baked Spaghetti.

Delicious!

Great for company!

Can you tell I love

Mrs. Garth Brook's cookbook!

Really, if you were Trisha, wouldn't you

want the world to call you

Mrs. Garth Brooks?????

Girlfriends

the wit & whimsy of Mary Engelbreit

A group of 40-year old girlfriends discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally, it was agreed upon that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the waiters there had tight pants and nice buns.

10 years later at 50 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the food there was very good and the wine selection was good also.

10 years later at 60 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they could eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean.

10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the restaurant was wheel chair accessible and they even had an elevator.

10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. Finally it was agreed that they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they had never been there before.

Isn't it the truth!

Our Sew Whats group worked on this charity project all year.

At each guild meeting we collected toiletries

from our general membership.

We also put a basic draw string bag pattern in the guild newsletter.

Each month ladies gave me a variety of "stuff" and colorful sewn bags.

The response was overwhelming!

At the October Sew Whats meeting

we separated the goodies and filled bags.

I'm happy to say that we filled a total of 124 bags.

We are donating them to the local

Women's Shelter and the Salvation Army.

We have at least 25 bags left which is a great start for next year.

Hopefully, another group from the guild will take on this worthy project.

The Sew Whats will be busy .....

We are designing, pieceing and quilting the 2010 raffle quilt!

Fabric, Friends & Food

I'm on the road heading to the Quilt Expo in Madison.

It is the highlight of Fall for me since moving to the area.

Hundreds of quilts on display. Eye candy for the quilter's soul.

Not to mention 140 vendors! Talk about temptation.

Each booth calling to me to stop and take a look.

While there are plenty of lectures and classes

being offered, I am not taking any.

Instead I'm heading for a weekend retreat!

A few of my Sew What sisters and I are

sewing Friday afternoon to Sunday without interruptions!

I am going to make the Oak Leaves & Reel quilt like the one pictured below.

If you remember, I quilted this for a shop sample last May.

All the applique is really a printed panel. So it should go together quickly.

I thought it was the perfect fall quilt to hang in my entry way to say "Welcome".

Beautiful, don't you think?

I wanted to share with you a tote bag I just love!

I filled it with a second set of notions and keep it ready to go just for classes

and retreats. That way I'm not having to pack up every time.

Cuz, of course, I'd always forget something.

I found this cute luggage tag last year at Expo.

Wonder what I'll find this time?

Don't worry, I'll share all my goodies.

Nancy's Notions Tote

Handy pockets are great for notions and tools on the go! Four zipper pockets. insert easily by hook and loop tape along center spine.

A balanced diet is having a cookie in each hand!

I baked chocolate chip cookies to take to retreat. They're always a hit.

Just for something a little different

I added a bag of Reese's peanut butter chips along with the chocolate chips.

Talk about good! Here's my favorite recipe.

Have a great weekend! See you next week.

Saturday "Magic" Quilt Class

You start with a checkerboard quilt of 5 1/2" squares and 3" border.

Then carefully mark cutting lines with a "magic template"

provided with the class.

You mark & cut squares apart, 4 at a time.

Then sew the squares into pinwheel blocks.

WHAT FUN! This is my "trust me" quilt half finished.

The class was held at Woodland Quilts in Whitewater, WI. A cute shop with lots of display samples to drool over. Cheryl has a variety of fabrics, books and the latest gadgets. Everyone seemed to find something they couldn't live without while shopping afterwards.

Kathi & Jean hold their checkerboard starter quilt. The quilts on the bottom row are the class samplers.

Pat & Peggy showing off their "before & afters".

Barb and Patti our mother-daughter team.

Maddy used Christmas fabrics for hers. Judy and Mary must of been hiding when I took the after pictures. I know both had a few rows of pinwheels when we finished. There should be plenty of show & tell at our September "Sew Whats" meeting!

Vintage Quilt Top..... 70 years later

What can I say....I love old quilt tops.

Just think about all the work Mariam put into making this top.

Cutting out each piece by hand.

Probably using cardboard from an old box.

Then hand stitching each 1 inch square.

If my math is correct, that's almost 6,000 pieces!

This top has a beautiful variety of 1930 fabrics.

I'm sure Mariam used whatever fabric she had on hand.

Not buying new yardage like we do today.

And you ask, how do I know her name?

I purchased this top at the Silent Auction held last

Saturday at the study group meeting.

I kept a watchful eye on the bidding. I wanted this top!

Lucky for me, there was a large selection of other stuff

that help distract the other bidders.

And as luck would have it, the lady sitting next to me at the meeting, donated the top. She included an index card with Mariam's sister's address on it and asked if I'd drop her a note.I also plan to send her a picture of the quilt when finished. How exciting to be able be finish what was started over 70 years ago!

The quilt below is a scrappy nine patch top that I found at a flea market.

Poor thing. No one wanted the quilt top. But me.

It was definitely a utility quilt.

But in perfect condition. No holes, rips or tears.

After quilting and washing it in

Vintage Textile Soak it's a wrinkled old treasure.

Our "Sew Whats" group is taking a quilt class this weekend. The trust me quilt. I will be sure to take lots of pictures. I love to see all the different color combinations. Have a safe weekend.

A Quilt Lover's Paradise

I spent two glorious days in Kalona Iowa. "Iowa's Best Kept Secret" as the brochure says. I was invited to attend the Iowa-Illinois Quilt Study Group meeting held there on Saturday. Two of my fellow guild members make the trip to Kalona twice a year. I felt so honored they asked me to join them. I mean both, Maretta and Beth, are professional quilt judges. Professional.

The drive was unbelievably beautiful. Of course, the usual four hour drive took us 8! We made 5 quilt shop stops. Luckily, we had a chauffeur, Dave, who kindly stopped with a smile. My favorite shop was The Pine Needles, in Marion IA. One of the largest shops I've ever seen. Be sure to check it out if your in the area. You won't be disappointed.

The Iowa-Illinois Quilt Study Group meeting was a quilt lover's dream. The room was filled with 60 members who had so much knowledge about all things fabric! They were dating fabrics as far back as the 1840's. The members "show & share" their treasured antique quilts. All were exceptional beauties. If your interested in the group contact

Marilyn Woodin, Curator of the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum.

Maretta, brought a quilt to show the group from our

local Milton House Museum.

The current exhibit at the Museum is antique Amish log cabin quilts.

They also had a display of hand crafted spool cabinets.

I will post those photos later in the week.

Life's A Stitch

Here are pictures from the retreat I attended on Friday.

Pat, owner of our local quilt shop, Life's A Stitch,

sponsors an all day...I mean allllll day.... 8 a.m. til 10:00 p.m. retreat.

It's pot luck for lunch then Pat provides dinner.

There's usually a waiting list to attend, so this month it's a 2 day affair.

I was only able to go on Friday but I'm sure they had fun Saturday without me!

A day sewing and laughing with quilting friends

is one of life's little pleasures.

Circle of Friends

We call ourselves the "Sew Whats".

We first met at the Guild sponsored

"New Members" workshop a year and a half ago.

I left that workshop with a list of 5 names.

I was determined to find a place for us to meet and start a new "circle".

Our first meeting was at the local library with 6 ladies. Then ten.

We quickly outgrew the library and Tamara welcomed us to

Materials Girls on Main Street Quilt Shop.

Then a few months ago we moved locations again.

We found the perfect place.

The large reception hall of a local church.

We have plenty of room to spread out.

Our group has grown to 20 quilters now.

We also have a full kitchen. Perfect for monthly pot lucks.

Did I mention we like to snack?

The photos above are of a friendship quilt we presented to one of our members. We each made and signed a block. They were then turned into a beautiful quilt thanks to a group of hardworking ladies.

Think where man's glory most begins and ends,

And say my glory was I had such friends.

William Butler Yeats