Design Wall Monday - 11/28/16

(Once again, pixler isn't working to edit my photos...when it feels like working I'll replace these large photos and remove this note)

Other than a killer sore throat (like lets not even thinking of eating or drinking or swallowing) on Thanksgiving day, I had an excellent long weekend. I can't say that I accomplished much but I had fun cleaning up the quilt lab, prepping cookie dough for cookie day and whipStitchin'.

This was where I spent a good deal of time. I'm putting the fillers on the sides and the quilt is just too big to handle in my lap, especially since a certain FlufferNutter would prefer to be occupying my lap instead of any quilt. The cats don't bother the table so I can leave it set up for the next time I have a few extra minutes. I've got both the filler pieces on the right side done. Tonight I'll start the left side.

Hexie Club is Friday night where we will reveal our UFO challenge projects so the pressure is on. There is still a lot to do to consider my project "finished" but since I still needed to make 6 out of 23 stars back when the challenge was thrown down in June/July and it's now it's almost in one piece with just the pieced borders to go, I'm considering this a win!

I decided to make Bonnie's Mystery Quilt this year! The colors are right up my alley so I'm all geared up to do another mystery. I'm not soooo geared up that I actually have fabrics pulled but the mystery uses my 3 favorite colors so it was a no brainer to join in. That and I love her mystery style of making all of each unit (4patch, 9patch, HST, etc) at once.

Can you guess how many 4patches I had done when I took this picture?

It just so happens that my 2" strip bin had a ton of neutrals already cut so it was easy to whip up 93 4patches. I'm making a smaller version of her quilt so this will be enough for now.

I also received 2 squishies recently!!!

LOVE the bowtie selvage!

Sharon surprised me with a box of selvages - my January honeyDo list includes playing with selvages.

She also included this great hexie fabric. Yes - the search for new hexie fabrics continues - if you find one at your LQS I would love to hear about it!

I also won this great pair of tea socks from a new to me tea blog: http://www.friendshiptea.net/. Thanks Linda!!! I've got them on today but I just couldn't finagle a decent photo.

Joining Design Wall Monday and Mystery Monday Link up #1

The last Birthday Party Post

I promise these are the last party pictures.

I neglected to get a prettier picture of the purple hexie sugar cubes so this will have to do. I made this dark purple batch and with the dark sugar that didn't fit in the mold, I added a little more sugar and a tiny bit more purple to get a light purple hexie as well. Each cube is about 1 teaspoon which is equal to 2 cubes bought in the grocery store.

This picture shows Michele on the left who is relatively new to quilting - she must have been concentrating because I can see her tongue in her cheek. LOL. In the back is Morgan who is new to quilting also and it was the first time using her new (purple!) sewing machine. Morgan is the daughter of The Quilter's Daughter owner Claudia, standing to her left. Cathy in the middle and Nadine in the back at the ironing board are both "old hands" who helped the newbies immensely.

To the right is another newbie, Kim, who had borrowed her mother's sewing machine for the day. She had such fun she made two more blocks the day after the party. I don't think her mom is getting her machine back anytime soon! Hey look - I finally got Nadine's face in a picture!

And this is the design that I am going to make with my blocks. I designed it before my copy of Ring Around the Hexies arrived so it is similar - I changed the main block and the borders (ok, I think I changed the borders...can't find a pic of the whole quilt online). I really don't completely understand copyright so I hope this was enough of a change to declare it my own design and post it online. I haven't picked a pieced hexie design yet for the rosettes but it will probably be something from the new book! 

Don't hold your breath on when I will finish this - Just 2 seconds ago I decided it would be fun to take to retreat next month but I am not sure what else I'll be bringing. Y'all know I'll get bored if I only work on 1 project. I suppose I could work on the project I started last year at retreat and you know there will be hexies also :)

Ackckck - I almost forgot - today is the very last day to enter both of my giveaways. You'll need to go back to this post and enter either the Hexie Linky Party or the Feline Friday Linky Party in order to be eligible for prizes. Good Luck!!!

Tea Tuesday!

Hey y'all - did you go link up for Friday's linky parties yet?
There are prizes but you have to be in it to win it!!

So what's a tea party with out tea foods? I asked each person coming to my party to bring* something tea related and told them to think scones and clotted cream, finger sandwiches or sweets. For anyone that needed I ideas I sent them to my board on the Evil Website.

As is usual, we had way too much food!  I think you'll be able to click on this picture if you want.

I  was worried there wouldn't be enough food so I made:
     chocochip** buttermilk scones (the best scone recipe I've found so far!)
     clotted cream
     roast beef on rye sandwiches
     petit fours with purple ganache and dark choco drizzle.
     I had to empty the drizzle container so I also made choco abstracts to decorate the table.
     I also put out nut and fruit cups. Don't use frozen fruit - I'm just saying.
   
Oh goodness I almost forgot to tell you what I used the hexie silicone mold for - I made purple hexie sugar cubes!!! Bad Sarah for not taking pictures - Come back tomorrow and I'll add one to this post.

Michele brought Chocolates from Sweet Sarah's (a local ice cream/tea/lunch/choco hotspot!)

Nadine made carrot cake bites.

Kim made shortbread thumbprint cookies with homemade cherry jam!

Cathy made pumpkin bread and cranberry sandwiches

Claudia and Gretchen made ham salad and egg salad sandwiches cut with my hexie cookie cutter and pineapple cookies.

We had 4 kinds of tea along with the sugar cubes, milk, honey and lemon slices.

Luckily Mom gave me an antique lemon server for my birthday!

So, now I've made myself hungry all over again! I can't wait to have another tea party!
What's your fav tea party recipe?


*Before you think *I'm* evil to ask people to bring food to my own party; the last time I had a tea party and made everything myself, my friends said next time that they would each love to bring something. This gave me the time to have fun with what I made and look forward to other people's tastes as well.

** Blogger wanted to spell check chocochip but the only option it gave was chocoholic which is pretty much the same thing!

Design Wall Monday - 1/13/14

I'm afraid you are going to be very disappointed with today's post because everything I worked on this weekend is a secret until this coming weekend.

The best I can do is show you just a smidgen of what I was working on.

Oh and wait until you see what I do with this!!

Quilt Tea Party

Some crazy night hours the last three days meant I crawled out of bed at the last possible moment this morning before work and it never dawned on me to take pictures for the blog...instead I'll "take" you to the tea party I attended last weekend.

Near my hometown is Silver Lake which is populated with summer (second) homes and a few year-round homes. One area around the lake is called The Silver Lake Institute and was started as a Methodist "cultural" center eons ago, similar to Chautauqua Institute. There are a lot of cottages in the area as well as Hoag Art Gallery and Epworth Hall. Epworth, built in 1892, is a 3 story building built into a hill. The main area is 2 stories and the upper floor has stadium style seating. In the recent past, there are summer church services and weekly concerts and presentations. This was the first time I had been upstairs in Epworth.

I went to the tea with Mom and 4 friends and we had a blast. We started at Hoag for a small quilt show and then moved to Epworth for the tea. Two local quilt stores had some wares for sale and the upper railings were layered with quilts, old and new.

Our table hostess Sharon (an adopted family member as my grandmother and a relative of hers came over as Aussie war brides) and my quilting friends Nadine and Noel.




Sarah, Michele and Mom

 Food was plentiful as was the hot and iced teas. The almond clotted cream on cranberry mini scones were probably my favorite. The cherry bing tea was to die for. It was a Celestial Tea and I plan to look for some in the grocery store.

A hostess was chosen from each table to bring the table settings. Center pieces of hydrangea blossoms and rolls of fabric strips were provided by the planning committee. Table numbers where inserted into spools of thread. Our table had glass plates shaped like apples but others had willow ware or even green depression glass. I wish I had thought to look at more table scapes.

Michele in front of an old Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt

These show you an overall shot from upstairs. You can see the stage to the right. Some of the 100 ladies at the tea had offered to tell 2 minute stories about their chosen quilts and they were seperated into categories of dreams, prayer, etc. The programs were made into fans and listed the speaker and name of their quilt.

I love the rafters - this is a summer only building as there is no insulation but also no AC on a warm summer day. I did find little bamboo fans at Pier 1 for my table mates, not knowing the programs would be fans as well.

I do believe this was a very successful sold out tea and at my table, we are waiting very impatiently, hoping there will be another next year!

PS - Don't forget to vote in the poll to your right!

My parents went to ...

Remember those t-shirts that say "My parents went to (fill in the city) and all I got was this t-shirt" ??

Well...my parents went to Australia and Hawaii and "all" I got was a boatload of gifts!!!! And since their luggage was delayed coming home I still haven't seen the books and things they bought themselves.

They also took lots of pictures for me (Australian lighthouses and Hawaiian quilts and such) which I have yet to see.

On the left is an iridescent purple bracelet of freshwater pearls and a foam plumeria hair clip from Waikiki. I mistakenly clipped the plumeria to my left side before Dad told me that meant I was married. You can bet I moved that sucker lickety-split! The cookie cutter includes a recipe for Kahlua spice cookies and Kahlua frosting - Yum!

I love the feel of tea towels and use them almost exclusively now a days. This black and white version of Aussie animals is very graphic and endearing. I hate to get it dirty from daily use...but don't want to "save" it in a drawer either.

I bet you are saying that this doesn't look very appetizing. OK the eggs and ham do but what is that purple thing??!! Trust me it WAS yummy. Mom & Dad went to a luau where they were served these rolls made with poi.  Not only was it purple, one of my fav colors, but it tastes like the Hawaiian bread sold in grocery stores. I tried nibbling but it didn't last long...

This bone chine tea cup/infuser is from Sydney. Mom said she had a hard time picking which design to get me but the lavender was a perfect choice and it's very delicate given it's size. I just picked some of mom's lavender flowers to make lemon/lavender tea cookies - both the plant and the cookies are a favorite of mine. Maybe it's time to start my own lavendar garden.

And if you have a new tea cup, you need some new tea!!!  The kiwi tea was from the New Zealand Airport (Just one of their many stop overs - why they needed 11 flight segments is beyond me!) and the rest are from Australia, altho a few say made in New Zealand. I've tried the kiwi twice and it's just divine. Today I am trying the Mi-Chai. The irish breakfast and Lan-choo are loose teas, the rest are bags. Mom sealed the boxes in a plastic bag for the flight home, opening the bag smelled like candy!

Thanks Mom & Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tea on Tuesday

Our Farmers' Market opened for the season this past weekend. One of the regular booths is a local woman who grows herbs and makes teas from them. This weekend I noticed she had a basket of tea strainers including the 3 olders ones pictured above. I have no idea how old they are but I loved them on sight and at only $2 each who could resist. I've been making tea for friends one cup at a time with the one good "sock" strainer that I have.

The larger strainer on the right could actually be used in a tea pot since it would hold 4 or more servings of loose tea.

The two smaller strainers have a hinge (think of the rounded end of a safety pin) and when you squeeze the top axis it opens the spoon. It has "Hong Kong" and "Stainless Steel Hong Kong" stamped on various parts.

And since I had new strainers I thought I should *finally* try the tea my friend brought me from Florida: Blood Orange Smoothie Tea. Delish! Why I am drinking hot tea when it's supposed to be 90F out is beyond me. I need to make iced tea some day and also the directions suggest cream for a latte or smoothie effect.

Tea for 63

In reality, I just get to participate in the fun part of this fundraiser for my local library: The American Girl Spring Tea.

Bev and family plan every detail of the event from the menu to the room decorations and then divies up the cooking duties. I didn't even have to do dishes this year :)  But I did get the fun "job" of serving cookies to little girls and their mothers/aunts/grandmothers. I got to meet their American Girl dollies and see all their smiles and best manners. How fun is that??!!

This year we had record attendance and had to turn away more away for lack of room. I have no idea how many years this tea has been going on but I have a feeling it will continue for some time as it's now family tradition.



Beatrix talks to the bunnies before reading aloud one of her tales
Biggie size the photo to see the veggies in McGregor's garden



This year's theme was a garden party with Beatrix Potter and a Beatrix even came to the party to share a little of her life and creating her book series with the girls (we are all "girls" at heart - aren't we?). After tea and a craft project, all the girls, dolls and parents were invited to have their pictures taken which were then mounted on hand made frames. Mom and I also had our pictures taken with our dolls - mine is Matilda and I've had her since I was 4! Mom has Cora, a porcelain doll named after her great-Aunt Cora who received the doll as a child in the late 1800s.

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of pictures because I was "working" so you'll need to trust me that the cookies, cupcakes, chicken salad on croissant and 3 kinds of tea were perfect for a spring tea. Each place setting has a real porcelain tea cup for punch or tea - all the tea cups were donated years ago from a private collection. 

The grand finale of the tea party are door prizes for everyone. The table behind Beatrix is covered in doll quilts (mine is on the right) and various tea or garden related items. The wall is covered in handmade doll clothes. The grand prize is a new American Girl doll. Any remaining doll clothes are then sold for $10 each - a bargain for the detail that is put in to them.

It was a grand spring day for a tea and I've been drinking my latest tea in my latest antique tea cup all week in commemoration. I really should make some scones...

Design Wall Monday and Squishies!!!!

First off - the design wall. I've been a busy hexie-a-holic and decided to lay out the diamonds I've finished so far to see what colors I need to add. I can't wait to see this with the black sashings added - the black just makes the colors pop.

I don't have much left to do, relatively speaking...I have another diamond almost done and 3 more kits made. I need to actually stitch 10 full and 12 partial diamonds, plus sashings. I think I will be pretty close to getting the top done by my goal of April 30th. The colored diamonds in this EQ7 rendition are what is done already...I still need to do the white areas.

Saturday I went to the PO expecting one squishie…but I found 3!!!

The Tortilla Stuffers were a freebie from General Mills that I had completely forgotten about. I have tried a beef flavor and while they are not the most authentic meal in the world, they make for quick meals and I’m excited about this garlic chili flavor. I can see quesadillas on the menu this week :)

This “Tea Deck” is a prize that I won a week or so ago from Angela at Tea With Friends. It’s a deck of 50 cards with recipes for tea foods and brewing different kinds of teas. There is a lot of info there that I can’t wait to peruse. Mom has already picked a few recipes for us to try out…

This last package is from Janet at Rogue Quilter for my selvage quilt(s). Look at the polk-a-dot fabrics...those little flower “dots” are adorable. Thanks Janet – It’s always fun to see what fabrics you are working with.

These three squishies reminded me of the other selvages I received last week. The 2 bags were from members of my guild, The Yorketown Quilters, and the loose selvages were from my co-worker Val.

I’ve been cutting up my 1930’s fabrics to use a pattern my friend Michelle at Daisy Hill Quilts sent me. I don’t think I’ve ever trimmed the selvages from this box full of fabrics and there are 145 fabrics to go thru! Yeh, I’m a loser and I counted them…

Swag tutorial coming tomorrow...cya then :)

Design Wall Monday

Can't say that this was my most productive (re quilts anyways) weekend so far this year and that's because I (a) was social and (b) took a long/deserved nap!!

Saturday morning I made blueberry ginger scones based on the latest Tea Time magazine. I would love to show you a photo but I didn't think of it until they were devoured :)  I hope to make another batch this coming weekend... I made the scones to take with my new Sevenberry Sangria Tea to Noel's house for a sew day! Amongst the chatter, I think we both got a lot done. And then...Noel served homemade Minestrone soup - perfect for a chilly day and I got to bring the leftovers home!

I knew we would have a middle-of-the-night rescue call because we had ice water rescue training Sunday morning - and we did have the call! Training went smoothly and my brother commented it was probably the best training he had ever had based on the poor condition of the ice. I would  have to guess there was only 2 to 3" of ice where we were training (and the firemen were falling thru the ice) but there were guys out ice fishing on the other side of the lake. No pictures of ice training this year - it was too cold and the whole training exercise kind a stopped when the Silver Springs VFD we were training with left for a structure fire.

After getting home and eating a yummy brunch of grits and sausage I was trying to do some computer work and just felt whooped so I decided to take a little nap on the couch. You know where this is going! I woke up almost 4 hours later. Guess I really needed that nap!!

I worked just a few more hours before another rescue call and then the weekend was practically over! Phew!

Remember the half square tri's I started working on last week? Well that project is coming along quite nicely. I had planned to make this a smallish quilt based on what I thought was half of the HSTs that I had paired up. I should never have assumed because now I think I'll be able to finagle a couch sized quilt out of these "leftovers!" I need to cut out some more sashing strips and cornerstones but I should know by this weekend exactly how big I can make it.

Squishy surprise!!!

We interrupt today's regularly scheduled UFO Thursday post to share a little surprise I received today!!

I don't get to pick up my mail super often - there is no delivery to my end of the street so I have a PO box that I only get to once or twice a week and only if I leave for work early enough. I almost didn't make it this morning but I was surprised to find a very pretty squishy in the little box.

Denise and I talk tea sometimes...especially when the newest Tea Time magazine comes out and I am biting at the bit to borrow the library's copy. Recently Denise shared that she was sipping pumpkin spice tea and I told her it sounded yummy.

Can you guess what was in my squishy??!! A golden package of Pumpkin Spice tea from Emma's Tea Room and a note card that is perfect because sewing IS my therapy. I can't wait to get home and brew some. This cool weather is perfect for sipping a cup of tea in my favorite teacup tonight :)

Thanks Denise!!!! You really made my day!

Library Tea Party

This past Saturday was the annual tea party fundraiser for the Cordelia A Greene Library. This year's theme was a Hawiian party based on the American Girl doll of the year. I wore my big flowered hat and Hawaiian shirt with the other workers and attendees dressed similarly.

I didn't get many pictures during the event since I was serving tea - it was so fun to see little girls all excited about a cup of peach tea. Almost 60 girls and their moms/grandmas/aunts/etc attended the tea and each place setting had a different tea cup. The tea cup collection had been donated to the library several years ago and I think their individuality just made the table setting perfect.

Every person who bought a ticket (adult or child) goes home with a door prize. Just look at all these doll dresses. Left overs were sold for $10 apiece and they didn't last long. You can see my donated wall hanging at the bottom of the photo. There was also a table with doll quilts/afghans, candles, purses and other goodies.

This photo shows the AG doll that was the grand prize to one lucky young lady. Ray is also practicing his snow cones which were a real treat. Check out the flip flop cake in the middle - we forgot to cut into it!

There was a photo booth set up for everyone. Photos were printed immediately and mounted onto cardstock and decorated with flip flop cutouts and information on the tea party. What a great memento!

Oh and lets not forget the treats - this was just a small sampling. The painted cookies and (stacked) bonnets on the left were some of the prettiest. There were enough cookies for everyone to take several home.

Can't wait to hear what the theme is for next year's tea and hopefully I won't forget until the last minute to make my doll quilt...