Merry Christmas!

As you may or may not know I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints often called Mormons. Christmas time is a special time of reflection about my faith. I feel great gratitude for Jesus Christ and the peace knowing about him gives me. If you would like to know more about my faith you can click here:

 My Mormon.org Profile

I wish you a wonderful Holiday Season, may peace be with us all.

Christmas Quilt Ideas for Nieces, Nephews and Grandbabies

Sally brought me this yummy Minky fabric and snugly satin for making baby quilts. 

I went with stars and loops for baby boys...

And hearts and loops for baby girls...

All the quilts got the beautiful brown satin backing.

After I quilted them, she took them home and bound them with a cute fabric binding. This is a simple and effective way to create a hands on gift - even on a short time budget.

Here they are ready for pick up. Happy babies and Happy Sally. Thank you for letting me help you with this project Sally! 

Amy's Christmas Quilt

Amy brought me this darling Christmas quilt

I quilted Christmas Trees and loops.

And holly and loops.

Here is the back

It was so fun quilting your Christmas quilt. Thanks Amy!

30's Block Quilt

Jeannie brought me her darling 1930's quilt top. She asked me to custom quilt it for her.

Here are some of the blocks:

It's really fun to quilt each block a little differently. 

I love the little leaf shapes on this blocks border.

Using an arc can really enhance a block and add movement. 

Some blocks just want to be stitched in the ditch.

Some blocks want you to ignore the pieced lines. 

I really like how the echo quilting looks on this bock. It makes the curved piecing pop!

I love how the cherries and red stitching pop on his one too!

Thanks Jeannie for letting me quilt your quilt!

A Great Christmas Present Idea From The Quilting Closet

A couple of years ago my sister, Cindy, re-created an old quilt top she inherited from our Great Grandmother Jennie. The quilt top had some problems so, she took the blocks apart and added sashing and borders to the blocks that were still good. This is the finished and beautiful but smaller quilt.

I am the lucky new owner of an heirloom quilt.

 You might be able to do something similar with what you have hiding in a closet. 

Thanks Cindy!

Wonky Quilt Solution - Trapunto!

I received this treasured unfinished vintage quilt top for custom quilting. The top is hand pieced but has a little problem; there are too many pieces in the circles and the quilt top does not lay flat. This condition made it unquiltable. So, the top has been sitting in a box. Sad!

Usually a box is all that ever happens with quilts with this problem. I have good news! Often it can be quilted! For this quilt the solution was a method called Trapunto. 

The basic idea for Trapunto is you put extra batting under the part you want to puff out more. 

Click here for a tutorial on Trapunto.

So Trapunto is what I did. Here is a picture of the quilt on my quilting machine.

Then because other parts were not square and accurate, I pinned and pushed things into place. Here is the quilt on my machine all pushed into place.

Some places have more problems than others: This will not turn out perfectly, there is just no way. However, it will look good, especially after washing, and it will be out of the box and be able to be loved and appreciated in the way it was originally created to do. 

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

All of the last minute holiday preparations are coming together! Here is a recipe that my family uses for Pumpkin Pie. Don't forget the whipped cream, it is the best part! For a delicious pie crust recipe click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1, 29 oz can solid pack pumpkin

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp cloves

2, 12 oz cans evaporated milk

2, 9-inch unbaked pie shells

Preheat oven to 425°. Combine filling ingredients in the order given: pour into pie shells. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°. Bake an additional 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center come out clean. Cool; garnish with whipped cream if desired. Makes 2 9 inch pies. 

K, making leaf angels

Ideas For Whole Cloth Baby Quilts

Here are a few examples of free motion quilting for whole cloth baby quilts.

Airplanes and loops for a little boy

Flowers, hearts and loops for a little girl!

Ultimate Boysenberry Pie

Fall weather makes me want to hurry home and enjoy the company of family and friends!

Here is one of our favorite holiday pies, Boysenberry! It is especially delicious with this Pie Crust Recipe.

Ultimate Boysenberry Pie

2/3 to 1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

Dash salt

3 cups fresh or frozen boysenberries

Mix sugar and flour together. Add salt, sprinkle over fruit. Spread butter over bottom crust. Add fruit. Adjust top crust.  Bake at 400° for 40 to 50 minutes. Pie is ready when it breathes. If crust starts to brown too much, cover edges with foil. 

Registration for the Show is now OPEN!

 Ohh!! So exciting!! Registration for the Small Town Quilt Show opened just a few minutes ago!!! 

 You can register here to take my class, Modern Chevrons and sign up for other fun classes. I'll also be at the Opening Social, I'd love to meet you at the show!

Courthouse Steps Quilt

This courthouse Steps Quilt was created by Kathy. She brought it to me for some custom qulting

It has such a stately geometric pattern.

Here is the back, I just love how the Laurel Branch border and all over Swirly quilting look together!

Here a close up of the laurel branch border.

Great fabric!

Here is a close up of the back.

Thank you Kathy for letting me quilt your beautiful quilt!

Delicious Apple Pie Recipe for Thanksgiving

Grandmas’ Apple Pie

 
5 to 7 tart apples (4 cups)
¾ to 1-cup sugar (add less for sweet apples)
1 Tab lemon juice (if apples are not tart)
2 Tab flour
Dash salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 Tab butter or margarine

Pare apples and slice thin. Add sugar, flour, salt and spices to apples. Let sit while you prepare pastry. Spread butter on bottom crust. Put apples in. Adjust top crust. Bake at 400° for 50 minutes, until the pie breathes. ENJOY

For the perfect flaky crust click here for Elaine's recipe.

Summertime Fun

Well, the weather is definitely changing here in Utah. A few days ago while gathering pictures for new blog posts; I stumbled on these pictures from this summer. The pictures made me realize once again how fast time is passing.

 This thought leaves me feeling reflective and I realize once again how important it is to regularly make time to enjoy the people God has given us to love. H will be four and K will be two, and things will be so different!  I am so glad to have made these memories with them. And, even more grateful that we can and do take time to have fun together. I hope you are so blessed. 

There are so many people I wish I could spend more time with! To all of you I send my love!

Fall is in the air, It is Pie Season!

Our family has a strong pie making tradition, I thought I would share a few of our favorite recipes this month as we get closer to Thanksgiving. We like to use the flaky and delicious Pie Crust Recipe that my Mom, Elaine is famous for. Click here to see it.

Lemon Pie

1 ½ cups sugar
7 Tab. Cornstarch
Dash salt
1 ½ cups hot water
2 beaten eggs
2 Tab. butter
½ cup lemon juice


In a saucepan combine dry ingredients. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, set aside. Measure butter and lemon juice, set aside.  Slowly stir in water to avoid lumps. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Stir small amount of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return to the rest of mixture in the pan. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter and slowly stir in lemon juice. Pour into cooled, baked crust. Refrigerate.

Charity Event

I got busy and put together some simple quilt tops for charity.

My church's youth group tied the quilts.

With everyone helping the quilts were finished in no time. 

Everyone had fun!

And somewhere, someone is a little warmer and feels our love!

Lisa's Orphan Block Bag

I had a wonderful day quilting with my sister Lisa, she made this adorable cosmetics bag using the technique from my post: Orphan Block Bag.

The lovely Lisa

What a fun project, I just love how it turned out!

A Wedding Quilt for my Daughter

I made this quilt for my daughter Jen and her husband Matt for their wedding.

I quilted leaves and vines on the border with their names and the wedding date across the bottom.

I love how it turned out! Congratulations to the Weston's!

Cindy's Chevron Quilt

My sister, Cindy, came over to the studio recently and quilted this darling chevron quilt that she designed and made for her niece, who recently had a baby girl.

Cindy and I are developing a pattern based on this quilt. You might have seen my version in a past blog-post announcing my up coming opportunity to teach in Heber Utah this summer....

 I love how gorgeous, graphic and colorful it is. Thanks for sharing your beautiful quilt with us Cindy!

The course catalog is now available for the Quilt Show!

Here is the description for our Modern Chevron Class I'll be teaching next June!

You can view the entire Course Catalog here. So many fun offerings.

I am so excited to teach this class!

Registrations begins the end of October 2013.

For more information about the show and lodging in Heber Valley visit:

http://www.smalltownquiltshow.blogspot.com

Twilight Quilt

Jeannie Schaerrer brought me this dramatic and graphic quilt to quilt for her niece.

Her niece loves Stephanie Meyers Twilight books and the color scheme for this quilt is very vampire...

I love the bold graphic design of this quilt. 

Jeannie's great color placement choices created this great design.

This is the back. I love the backs too!

Jeannie chose the all over peacock feather quilting. So effective! I love the juxtaposition of the curvy quilting and the geometric piecing. Thank you Jeannie for letting me quilt your quilt!