Chicken Tortilla Soup and This 'n That

It's tax time.  Ugh.  Paperwork abounds.  It's boring but necessary.  Millions of us are singing the "paperwork for taxes blues".  Well, I don't want to whine about here, but it serves as my explaination for not having something a lot more fun to blog about!  I think I see the end of the calculator tape!!  I have a beautiful pile of fabrics chosen....just sitting there waiting for me to dive in to begin a new quilt.  My Bernina is calling my name.  Hopefully by tomorrow morning......

I do have a wonderful recipe to share with you.  My friend, Sandy, gave me a Crock Pot recipe for very easy Chicken Tortilla soup a few months ago.  It was delicious, but I wanted more veggies and spices, so I researched several other recipes, took what I liked, and gave the new concoction a whirl last night.  OMG!  I think I have a real winner here!  My husband said it was the best Chicken Tortilla soup he's ever had....and I think I agree!  Best of all, it's made in the Crock Pot and is a "dump it in - walk away" kind of recipe.  Click here for the recipe if you'd like to give it a try for yourself.

Oh.....and last call for anyone who would like to send me a photo of your Quilty License Plate!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit with me today!  Next time, I should have something a whole lot more fun to share with you!

Pam

(Side Note - if you click on the recipe link and see black lines, you will most likely need to update your Adobe Reader)

Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Show-n-Tell

 I'm completely in sewing and designing mode these days.  I feel the pressure of Spring Quilt Market bearing down on me already.  It will be here before I know it.  My to-do list is long and the days seem so short.  I have many fun things planned this spring and they have been ruminating in my mind for quite awhile now.  I think this phenomenon happens to all of us, no matter what we do for a living.  There's just always so much we want to do and so little time.  I think if you love the needle, then it's part of your life....this want (sometimes need) to make many projects.  So what if we'll never live long enough to complete them all!   It's a life of happiness with never a dull moment!  I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Presently, I'm getting ready to start another quilt, and I'm not quite ready to take pictures to share with you......so, I thought I'd share some wonderful quilts that are done, finished, quilted and bound. 

The Quilting Gathering ~ Journey Two

The Prairie Huswyfe ~ Journey Two

Prairie Huswyfe ~ Journey Two

Prairie Huswyfe ~ Journey Two

Elizabeth's Prairie Garden ~ Journey Three



Heartland Crossing ~ Journey One

Lockridge Mill ~ Journey Three



Scraps From Home ~ Journey One

Heartland Crossing ~ Journey One

 


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Don't forget to email me a photo of your Quilty License Plate!!

I'll be posting the photos very soon.

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Join Lynne Hagmeier and me as we cruise to Alaska on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!  Click here to find all of the details!

Little Red Schoolhouse

Ta Da!  Here's the finished schoolhouse quilt.  Just four blocks and some Flying Geese.  When paired with great fabric can really make a graphic statement.  Simple is good.  It was great fun to make and went together easily.  I decided to name it Little Red Schoolhouse.  We have a Little Red Schoolhouse petting zoo not too far from here, and its been there for as long as I can remember.  I do recall going there on a grammer school field trip - which was a very long time ago!  We'll just leave it at that!  The top is now at the quilter and I have no idea what designs she'll be doing.  When it's finished, I'll post another photo.  The pattern will be available soon.

Oh, and by the way.....for all of you Prairie Women out there.....this block will be featured in a Journey 4 quilt, so stay tuned!

New Blocks

Here are the four blocks for the new quilt I'm making.  Yup - just needs four blocks!  I love a schoolhouse block.  I designed this one to be very simple - no templates needed - no Y seams!  I think they're so cute in red, but would be lovely in any color.  Hhhmmmm.....perhaps blue?

I'll post a photo of the finished quilt as soon as it's done.  It is not part of the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club, but will be a new Vintage Stitches pattern.  I haven't decided on a name just yet.  Any suggestions??

Check back soon and enjoy your day!

Pam

New Year ~ New Project

Now that all of the Christmas decorations have been put away and the house is back to normal, it was time to start a new quilting project!  Do you feel the same way, too?  I have several "in the works", and chose to start with the one using The Cotton Club fabrics by Paula Barnes for Marcus Bros.

Aren't they just as yummy as can be?  Check back with me in a few days to see what I'm doing with them!!

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In my post about reading The Kitchen House, I asked if any of you could recommend other good historical fiction books.  I wanted to follow up with you with all of the great book recommendations you shared with me.  Thanks to everyone who commented, giving us more great reading material! 

The Change and Cherish series by Jane Kirkpatrick (http://www.jkbooks.com/)

Book 1 - A Clearing in the Wild

Book 2 - A Tendering in the Storm

Book 3 - A Mending at the Edge

Betsey Anne by Diana Buckley

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows

The Forgotten Garden, House at Riverton & The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

The Wagons West series by Dana Fuller Ross 

If you know of other historical fiction books you'd like to share, please comment or email me. 

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Don't forget to email me a photo of your Quilty License Plate!!

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Yesterday, Lynne and I talked with the folks at Quilting Connections, our quilt cruise travel agent, and they report that we have more than 40 quilters, girlfriends 

and husbands joining us!!   We're absolutely delighted!! 

Lynne and I are brainstorming ideas and have fun plans for you! 

It's not too late to sign up!  We'd all love to have you join us on this fun adventure.

And....we're planning more cruises for 2013!!

Join Lynne Hagmeier and me as we cruise to Alaska on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!  Click here to find all of the details!

Framing & Finishing Quilt Labels

Ready for more quilt label ideas? 

I really like framing my label with fabrics from the quilt top.  You can scrap them up, or just use one...the choice is yours.  Often, I make that choice after seeing what's left over.  I also take into consideration what fabric I'm using for my backing.  I definitely want the frame to stand out in contrast of the backing fabric.



Sew strips to the top and bottom, then the sides.  You can also sew them Log Cabin style, too.

I have an easy and precise method to turn the edges under, which gives the frame a fold and a nice finish, and keeps the corners nice and square.  At this point, you can sew the label by hand, or by machine.  I prefer to sew the label to the backing by machine. 

With this method, we don't have to piece the label into the backing, which is a lot more work!  It's easily sewn on top of the backing, and the folded finished edge looks great.  It will be quilted right into the quilt, too.  If you have finished quilts without a label, this technique works beautifully for that as well, because you can prepare the label, then hand stitch it to the backing.

All of the details about this technique are in the Heartspun Quilts Hints book, including the strip measurements for two different sized labels (large quilts and small quilts), the turning technique, label placement, and machine stitching hints and recommendations...all with step-by-step instructions and graphics.  To see a full description and/or purchase the Hints book, click here.  To purchase the heavy duty freezer paper, click here.

Here's a few photos of how the labels look once the quilt is finished.

You can certainly use the framing technique with a label you've created by hand as well.  The sky is the limit as to the creative things you can do with your label.  Add things like pieced units in between the label and the frame, signatures, and trace designs from other sources.



Most of my quilt labels are short and sweet, containing only the basic information about the quilt, but sometimes, your labels can be full of details and tell a story.  The label above was made for a quilt called Scattered Leaves, which was featured on the cover of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine (October 2009). (The quilt was originally named Waltzing Leaves, but was renamed for publication.)  When making this quilt, I enlisted the help of two of my best friends (and their fabric stash!).  We each made enough blocks for one quilt, and then exchanged blocks, which also gave us a wider variety of fabrics.  Always a good thing!  I wanted to tell the entire story on the label, and embellished it by tracing pumpkins and leaves in keeping with the fall colors and motif.  The label was featured in another issue of AP&Q as part of an article all about quilt labels (December 2009).

No matter what technique you use, it's important that each and every quilt has a provenance.  It's our opportunity to say to our future generations.....Remember Me! 

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Don't forget to email me a photo of your Quilty License Plate!!

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Join Lynne Hagmeier and me as we cruise to Alaska on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!  Click here to find all of the details!

A Word About Quilt Labels

If you own even one antique quilt, I'm sure you wish you knew all about who made it, where she lived, and what year was it created.  Was it made for someone special?  What inspired her fabric and pattern choices?  Oh, if only those quilts could talk!

It is our duty to be sure that our quilts can talk for us long after we're gone, by making sure we have attached a quilt label.  I know this is hardly breaking news to you, but so often, we just don't get around to seeing to that last detail.....right?

About five years ago, I made a commitment to attach a label to every quilt, which is especially important for the quilts I create for my pattern company.  Often, those quilts travel in a trunk show to shops all over the U.S., so it's important they have a label.  It's equally important that the label be quilted right into the quilt, making it nearly impossible to remove, not just sewn to the back after it's been quilted.  The only thing is......once the quilt top has been pieced, I just don't have it in me to piece a label into the back.  I know I should, but I just don't.  So...I came up with the following solution.

Here's an overview of how I create my labels.  Complete step-by-step instructions are available in my Hints Book. 

I create the label itself using my computer and ink jet printer.  (Do not do this if you have a laser printer!!)  It's very important to me to be able to create the label using fabric that matches the other fabrics in the quilt.  I don't care for the pre-made label fabric sheets you can buy for this purpose because they rarely match the quilt, and are rougher and thicker than the beautiful cottons we piece with.

I have a stash of assorted tone-on-tones just for labels.  The fabric needs preparation and freezer paper before going thru the printer (info in the Hints book).  I have used ordinary freezer paper, but of late, I prefer freezer paper sheets.  They are already 8.5 x 11 inches, and are much heavier that kitchen freezer paper, so they hold up better in the printer. 

Once the fabric is prepared, we're ready for the printer.

I create my label as a Word document.  Use assorted fonts and clip art to dress things up.  (This technique is not for photo transfer!)  If you're creating small labels, you can fit two on an 8.5 x 11 sheet.

Once you're happy with the label information, load the fabric in your printer, take a deep breath, and hit print!

You'll find lots more infomation about label fabric preparation, setting the ink, trimming your labels, etc, in the Heartspun Quilts Hints Book, which is loaded with lots of good hints, tips and tricks about everything quilting!  To see a full description and/or purchase the Hints book, click here.  To purchase the heavy duty freezer paper, click here.

My next post will give an overview of how I frame and finish my labels, with photos of several completed labels quilted into the backing, including one that was featured in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine!

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Don't forget to email me a photo of your Quilty License Plate!!

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Join Lynne Hagmeier and me as we cruise to Alaska on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!  Click here to find all of the details!

Welcome 2012!!

 

I sincerely hope that the New Year will bring good health, prosperity

and happiness to each and every one of you!

Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859

Quilty License Plates

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas holidays with your family and friends, and that Santa was good to you!  We had a great time.  Thank goodness no one was ill like last year!!  The weather was unseasonably warm, which unfortunately meant we didn't have a white Christmas, but that also meant that no one was driving in ice and snow either!

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Every now and then, I spot a car sporting a quilty personalized license plate.  Truth is, I (sort of) have one too.  If you have a quilty license plate (or know someone who does), I thought it would be fun to ask you to send me a photo of your quilty license plate, and I would feature them in an upcoming post.  Sound like fun?  If you are a quilter, pattern designer, long-arm quilter, or have a quilting related job, I'd love a photo of your quilty license plate, or one the has the name of your quilt company. 

Email your photo, and the state or country where you live, to pam@heartspunquilts.com.  I'll post them at the end of January for all to enjoy.  Please help me and spread the word to your friends! 

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a wondrous Christmas holiday! 

The Prayse of the Needle
To all dispersed sorts of arts and trades.
I write the needles prayse (that never fades).
So long as children shall be got or borne,
So long as garments shall me made or worne,
So long as hemp or flax, or sheep shall bear
Their linen woolen fleeces yeare by yeare,
So long as silk wormes, with exhausted spoile,
Of their own entrails for man's gaine shall toyle,
Yea till the world be quite dissolv'd and past,
So long at least, the needles' use shall last.

John Taylor  1620

Pam

A Little Something Merry for Me!

Do you have a place in your home where you put things so you know you can find them later?  A place that holds all kinds of treasures that you can't find?!!!  That special place is holding many of my favorite things hostage, or playing a wicked game on me, because I can't find things I've deposited in that special place!  Namely, a favorite Christmas tablerunner, that, for the life of me, I cannot find this season!!  I sure wish I knew where it was!  I've been looking for weeks.  It's not packed with all of the other Christmas stuff because I remember having the wise idea that (because I love it so much) I'd like to get it out first thing next year...meaning this year, and so I put it in the "special" place so I could get to it easily.  Hmmmm.  That will teach me.  I'll probably find in in July.

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I bought myself a little something for Christmas and thought I'd share it with you.

1862 Battle Hymn

The wonderful fabrics you see in the photo are from Barbara Brackman's newest fabric collection (for Moda) 1862 Battle Hymn.  I'm just loving the prints, the colors....well everything.  The photos show some of my favorites, and I'm itching to cut them up and work with them.  I bought a few charm packs so I can cut them into hexies and tumblers right away.  I thought that you might like to see them, too.  To see the entire line, which is due in quilt shops in January,  click here. 

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On another note, if you're like me, then you like to read about what life was like in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, both fiction and non-fiction.  I'm reading (actually listening) to a wonderful book of historic fiction called The Kitchen House, written by Kathleen Grissom.  It tells the tale of a little immigrant girl who became indentured while making the voyage to the United States, and was brought to a plantation to work in the kitchen house in 1790.  She is raised by the women who work at the plantation.  I won't give any more details away so as not to spoil it for you, but know that the book is full of rich detail about what life was like back then.  Word on the web is that this book will be made into a movie!

If you like historic fiction, then you may enjoy The Widow of the South, a fictional book about the true life Civil War battle that took place in Franklin, TN. 

I've been told that the Wagon's West series by Dana Fuller Ross, is also wonderful historic fiction, although I haven't yet had a chance to begin reading those.

Do you have any recommendations for historic fictional books?  I'd love to hear from you!

Almost Ready

The decorating is finally done, and we've been enjoying the house with twinkling lights, in all its red and green glory.  Our son, Ryan, has totally taken over decorating the outside of the house.  Did I mention his idol is Clark Griswald (of Christmas Vacation fame)?  If we let him have his way, our house would illuminate the entire neighborhood!

Our daughter, Nicki, has taken over the cookie making, and the house smells delicious every day.  She's becoming quite the baker.  I love to bake, and the problem is, I also love to eat it all.  It gives me great joy to see our kids enjoying the season, and taking over some of the jobs my husband and I no longer wish to do.  Passing the torch, if you will.  

I promised some pictures of the house all decked for the holidays....

These little red stacking tables are in our family room and I enjoy changing them with the seasons.  You may remember seeing them filled with wool strawberries over the summer.  The framed cross stitch piece, called Blessings be Thine, is one of my all-time favorites from Blackbird Designs.  I made the two snowmen on the floor, what seems like eons ago, when my kids were still little, and I was vending at craft shows.  You may not know this, but I made thousands of dolls like these over the ten years I did craft shows, and had a different pattern business featuring my original doll designs.  Seems like ancient history now.

I love collecting old dough bowls (this one's a reproduction) and filling them with all kinds of goodies.  I have three or four of them around the house.  There's just something warm and wonderful about filling these bowls!  Am I weird, or what? 

I love collecting the Jim Shore Christmas Santas.  This was a new acquisition in the after-Christmas sales last year. 

We have three Christmas trees in our house.  This is the largest (its not really that large, but the others are pencil trees, so ergo its the largest.)  I let my kids decorate this tree.  They forgot to dress the tree with garland this time.  Oh well....next year!

Question....am I the only one who buys wrapping paper that matches your home?  I think because the presents sit under the tree for weeks, that the paper should compliment your home decor.  I found really wonderful folk art style paper at Target this year.  They always have stuff I like.  Hhmmmm....I've got to move that bright blue gift bag to a different location....its messing with my color theme.  I know.....I'm anal about these things and  I'm totally OK with it!  Teehee!

Of course, Christmas quilts have a big presence in the house.  The gingerbread girl is another doll from my dollmaking days and is one of my favorites.  She is sitting on top of my quilt design called Small World.  The two quilts in the crocks are also my designs; Winter Retreat is on top, and No Place Like Home is in the foreground - both made with wonderful Kansas Troubles winter fabric collections.

I want to thank all of you whom offered advice on what to do with my quilt label.  I decided to add a footnote to the label that says pieced in 2008, and quilted in 2011.  That's its story, after all!  I know how busy everyone is this time of year, so I thank you for visiting! 

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Join Lynne Hagmeier and me as we cruise to Alaska on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!  Click here to find all of the details!

Odds and Ends and UFO's

I've been enjoying a kind of catch-up, purge, and clean phase amidst the Christmas decorating (which is still not complete) and shopping.  With the completion of Journey Three, I can allow myself a few weeks to do some things I have put on the back burner for a very long time.   Yes, very exciting things indeed, like tackle the piles of fabric that I pulled for possible inclusion in a future project, do battle with the enormous dust bunnies growing under my sewing machine table, and wrangle the various papers I have in a holding pattern waiting for file folders.....yes, exciting.  I just don't know why I waited so long to do this?!  It does feel pretty good to get things in order.  I'm an organizer at heart, and the rest of the house is maintained daily, but my studio....well....enough said.

Jingle All The Way by Renee Plains for Liberty Star patterns

This quilt went with me to the Mill Creek Settlement Retreat a few weeks ago as a UFO, and came home a UFO as well.  Sigh.  Initially, I cut fabric for four of these quilts, and made three right away, giving them to friends and family as Chistmas gifts......in 2008!  My blocks were sewn, but never put together.  That's what I did at Mill Creek.  I intended to finish the quilt there, but failed to notice that I didn't have my border fabric in the box, so back home it came, still a UFO.  The borders went on this week and it's finally finished.  Exhale!  While the quilt is red (smile), green, and black, you might be thinking Christmas quilt....but no....it doesn't have a Christmas print in there.  These are the colors of my family room, so it will be a fine addition to the cuddle quilts available to the family for the coming snowy Chicago winter. 

There is an interesting dilemma with this story....of good intentions...and real life.  When I made the three other quilts (in 2008), I made the backings for all four quilts (that's the good intentions part, thinking I would piece mine right away), and promptly put labels on all of them.  That means that the backing for my quilt has been ready long before the quilt top was completed (that's the real life gets in the way part).  Here's the dilemma....do I use the backing with the label, dated 2008?  Or, should I remove the label, replacing it with a 2011 date?  Or should I be creative and alter the 2008 label?  I thought perhaps I could add a c. - circa symbol?  Or should I add another label, and addendum, if you will, telling the world my woe begotten story?  Hhmmmm.  What do you think?  Who knew quilting could be so complicated??



Thimbleberries

 Another UFO that's even older is this Thimbleberries quilt.  I think I made this top in 2003....had it quilted in 2009, and its been waiting for binding since then.  Shameful!!  It now has its binding!  Yay!

Gee, that feels good.  Has this happened to you, too?  Oh, I hope so....I don't want to be the only one with quilts waiting for their binding for years!!

I addition to sewing a few UFO's, I've worked on several new quilts for special projects that are coming up in the spring.  In the evening, I've also been working on cutting more Tumblers for my on going work-in-progress (not UFO!) Tumbler quilt........and.......

Lots and lots more of these cuties!  Yes...I'm already working on Journey Four!  My Prairie Women's Sewing Circle class has been trading hexagons, thus increasing the scrappiness of our quilts.  For me, sharing our hexagons, and fabrics, like the Prairie Women did centuries ago, makes the quilt very special and meaningful! 

In the meantime, between cleaning and sewing, sorting and purging, I'll be celebrating the reason for the season.  Once I get everything all done and cleaned up, I'll share a few photos with you.  I'm not sure its all that great to look at, but I know how much I love seeing other people's homes decorated for the holidays, and am happy to share an idea or two. 

Thanks again for taking a few moments to visit with me, and don't forget to leave me a comment about my quilt label dilemma, if you're so inclined! 

Pam

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Join Lynne Hagmeier and me as we cruise to Alaska on The Great Girlfriend Get-Away!  Click here to find all of the details!

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere

Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  It seems the very moment you put the leftovers in the fridge, and say goodbye to your company, that preparations for Christmas begin!

We packed up the Thanksgiving decorations in record time this year, immediately hauling out the many boxes of Christmas decorations (I won't confess exactly how many!) to begin the holiday ritual of Decking our Halls.  A funny thing happens at our house during this time.  It kinda looks like we're moving.  Boxes are everywhere.  There are big empty spaces where nic nacs and quilts used to be.  Our little dog, Bella, wanders around looking a bit unsettled and confused.  She's not the only one.

Years ago, I organized our decorations in separate boxes, one (a-hem.....or more) for each room.  I try to tackle a room a day.  We also have our respective jobs to attend to, so.....sometimes it's a room every couple of days.  My focus isn't on getting it done in record time anymore, I really want to enjoy the ride, lingering over the things the kids made when they were little, or a Santa I made years ago while sewing with my friends. 

Then there's the discovery that while unpacking these boxes, I don't like some decorations anymore.  I want to pare down.  What to do with this stuff?  The kids want me to keep it...."we've had it for years, Mom.  It's part of my childhood!"  Sigh.  It was something that Great Aunt So and So gave to us.  I never liked it all that much!  I was only being nice when I displayed it all those years.  I don't display it anymore and can't get rid of it, so back in the box it goes.

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to Christmas shopping at the mall with my kids, who are now all grown up.  I might steer them in the direction of Santa, and see if they'd be willing to sit on his knee again.  Good memories and funny pictures.  My goal is to have the house decorated by Sunday.

So, what does all of this have to do with quilting?  Nothing...except it's what is keeping me from sewing and having something more interesting to talk about.  It's what we all do this time of year, and no doubt, some of you are doing it, too!  Are you making Christmas gifts this year?  Planning special get-togethers with friends?  What special traditions do you celebrate?  How is your shopping and decorating coming along?  Any advice on what to do with those old, unwanted decorations?

Hope you enjoy decking your halls!  Pam