And Going, and Going...

My "just do it stsoopid," pile keeps getting smaller and smaller. Here are two more projects that I got finished. Please ignore me in the self portrait, I was just trying to see if a self portrait would turn out. I'll get a better one eventually. And the pillow is the second one I've made from that pattern I love it so much.

Homemade Apple Sauce

My Grandma came up last week from California and brought a bushel of her Beverly Hills apples from her orchard. Now, these apples are one reasons I would love to live in CA, they are that good. My sister has grandiose dreams of a huge green house so she can have 2 of these trees here in Heber. But wishing won't change our planting zone from the 3 that it is, so when she brings her apples up you enjoy them while they last. The family has 2 ways to use apples; apple cobbler, done my Grandma's way with handmade pie crust; or apple sauce. I opted for apple sauce. Now keep in mind that the sink in the picture above was actually full of apples and all of those apples filled my big pot.
It's so easy! Cut the apples into small, uniform pieced, add a 3-4 cups of water, a cup of sugar put the lid on the pot and let it simmer until it's broken down into apple sauce, stirring a lot. Most store bought apples are a little harder because you could wait 'til doomsday and they won't break down, so you need to use an immersion blender or put them in a blender to chop up the cooked apples.
This apple sauce is appropriate for every meal. When it's fresh and still warm in the pot I put ice cream on it and it's the most delicious desert you've ever had. In this case I didn't have any vanilla ice cream so I whipped some cream and it tasted just as good.

None of the pictures of my family eating their dessert turned out but I assure you everyone enjoyed this one.

Get It Done!

I felt so inspired to finish some projects this weekend that I got them all out and made a pile.

The reason for this extra enthusiasm is that I'm moving in 3 weeks. Yay! So finishing means being able to put these beautiful things in their places in my new home.

This awesome wall hanging was a class at Seasons of Home and it was a lot of fun with a really great teacher you might know from Riley Blake's online tutorials, Deonn Stott. It was fun and fast. The curves are done using half square triangles that you... well, just take her class. She's teaching it again on October 19 during the evening. Details are online and you can call the store if you're interested in signing up.

The next project I finished is one that wasn't even mine to begin with. I recently got a few antique quilts from a friend and I really felt the need to not only finish them but to use them. This was one of the prettiest and most colorful, she calls it the "bubble gum" quilt and it's so cute that I'm keeping the name. I think I'll have Natalia from Piece N Quilt stitch in the ditch to keep the antique style of the quilt.
The last border was only basted on with edges left to do mitered corners. So I got out Sandy Klop's "Quilts for all Seasons and Some For No Reason" which has really great instructions for most of the things you need to do with a quilt, and reread the instructions for the corners. I think they turned out pretty well although the previous border was quite off. It's very homey feeling though.

The last picture is my favorite print from this quilt.

And because my iPad wouldn't post this blog last night and I had to retype it tonight, this last project got finished. All I had to do for this antique quilt (from the same friend) was resew the binding on the back. It was a little difficult because the fabric is so pressed down it was hard to get my needle into the binding and the background fabric was kind of tough to get through. It's a really pretty bow tie summer quilt and it's going somewhere I can show it off.

It's been a really good few days for this quilter.

Christmas Roosters!

It's quilted and beautiful! I couldn't be happier with my finished quilt and for all of you who like it as well, it will be available online at Seasons of Home in 2 weeks. The pattern hasn't come in yet but the kits are all cut so as soon as the pattern is here, I'll put it online. Thanks so much for all the positive comments!

Natalia Bonner fromPiece N Quilt did the quilting and it is absolutely perfect. But then she's never gotten it wrong with any of my quilts. All of the roosters have feathery tails and wings. I love it!

Designing With Quilts

Quilts are great because there is always somewhere to put them. Here are a few inspiring pictures from Ann McEuen's house.

Christmas Chickens

French General for Moda came out with this great Christmas line, "Fa La La La La."

The colors are beautiful and for Christmas fabric it's really rather subtle. I think my Christmas Chickens quilt is cute enough to be a year round quilt.

Some Fun Pictures

My sister finished her awesome quilt! This was her first sewing project ever! She did such a good job but now she's going to put a border on it so it will fit her bed better. Amy Ellis' pattern from Modern Basics is such a great quilt for beginners and is beautiful and functional which makes a a perfect first project.

I use this quilt for my beginning quilting class and the quilt top is finished by the end of the fourth class! This months dates for beginning quilting are Aug. 16, 18, 23, 25 from 6-8 at Seasons of Home. It's $45 for the class, $23 for the book and $50 for the kit.


This is a beautiful quilt kit we have in the store and online. I just love it, but then I like anything done in Sew Cherry by Riley.

Beautiful flowers are so inspiring. I hope you find something to inspire you today.

P.S. Take a picture.