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And the winner…

17 December 2011, 11:13 pm

of my Blog-Hop Party Give-away is…

sandyquiltz says:

December 14, 2011 at 8:18 pm

Although I’ll make a quilt with just about any color combination, I confess to a particular fondness for the purple and green combination. Yummy. Thanks for the opportunity!
Sandy

Congratulations, Sandy.  Your Triangulations software is ordered and will be on its way to you within a couple of days.

By the way, there were 115 entries (comments).  The random number generator (witnessed by DH) chose number 99.  Thanks to all of you who entered.

–Sue

Filed under Quilting.
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Wednesday’s Puzzle

14 December 2011, 8:26 pm

I haven’t done a puzzle for a while, and I never know or can tell if anyone does them or not.

A recently discovered cousin (whom I haven’t yet met in person) told me recently how much she likes the puzzles, so I thought I should get back in the habit of posting them!  Here is  a handsome duck (from our recent trip to the Texas Gulf) waiting for you to put him back together again.  (Click anywhere on the puzzle to begin.)

Click to Mix and Solve

And if you’re looking for my Blog Hop Party give-away (which ends Saturday), click HERE to go to the give-away posting.  One entry per person, of course.   Thanks for stopping by!

–Sue

Filed under Wednesday's Puzzles.
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Holiday Dessert Recipe

13 December 2011, 6:00 am

I had this apple torte at a quilt retreat in Huntsville, Alabama, in September.  It was a memorable, beautiful and DELICIOUS dessert.  It is definitely one to consider in your holiday baking.  I’ll be making it today for a dessert buffet at our guild meeting tonight.

You can find the recipe at allrecipes.com.  Just click on the link.

And a reminder:  If you haven’t entered my Blog Hop Party give-away, you will need to click HERE to be magically transported to the give-away post.

–Sue

Filed under Quilting.
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Need a Gift Idea?

11 December 2011, 12:58 pm

I’ll confess right off the bat — I got this “recipe” from Judy Laquidara’s blog, Patchwork Times.  There are variations all over blogland, but here’s what I like:

Homemade Hand Cream #1

This makes a heavier cream, excellent for wintertime and WONDERFUL for your feet.

16 oz. baby lotion
8 oz. Vaseline
8 oz. Vitamin E Cream (can usually find at dollar stores)

Whip these three ingredients together with your electric mixer until well mixed.  Put into 1-cup wide-mouth canning jars (my new favorite way) or into travel-size plastic containers.

Tip:  To get the cream into small-necked containers, scoop the lotion into a large zipper-type bag and cut out a corner.  Roll the top of the bag down securely so it doesn’t open up on you when you’re squeezing the lotion out the corner opening.

Homemade Hand Cream #2

This makes a lighter-weight cream, still excellent.  The only difference is the amount of Vaseline.

16 oz. baby lotion
4 oz. Vaseline
8 oz. Vitamin E Cream

Whip these three ingredients together with your electric mixer until well mixed.  Put into 1-cup wide-mouth canning jars (my new favorite way) or into travel-size plastic containers.

And a REMINDER:  Click here if you haven’t entered my give-away.  (Comments must be on the original posting to be eligible to win the prize, so comments on this particular post are closed.)

–Sue

Filed under *** GIVE-AWAY ***.
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Give-Away Reminder / Squash Soup Recipe

10 December 2011, 8:22 am

REMINDER: I’m participating in the Blog Hop Party give-away hosted by Quilting Gallery.  Click HERE for my give-away post and a chance to enter the drawing.

SQUASH SOUP: I served a delicious butternut squash soup a while back.  It was so good, I made it again for Thanksgiving to have as a first course.  Yum!  It is a Food Network recipe by Alton Brown, and you can click HERE for his recipe.

SEWING: I’m working hard on a “secret” project to be revealed at our quilt guild next Tuesday.  Don’t you hate it when you can’t share???

I’m keeping comments closed on this posting to make sure no one mistakenly tries to enter the give-away here.  You have to go to the link in the “reminder” paragraph above to enter.

–Sue

Filed under Quilting.
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Blog Hop Party!!!

9 December 2011, 2:43 am

Quilting Gallery is celebrating their 4th birthday by hosting a Blog Hop Party!  Lots of quilting bloggers (230 from over 20 countries) have signed up to join the celebration by having a give-away on their blog.  Thanks go to Michele from the Quilter’s Gallery for organizing this event.

A bit about me:  I’m a knitter and a quilter in beautiful (but slightly chilly) Minnesota.  I also enjoy photography — especially taking pictures of quilts, birds, and bugs!  (I know, it’s weird…I can’t stand bugs and bees but I love taking their pictures.)

This is my favorite picture I took last summer.  This bee is showing us how to enjoy all the best that life has to offer — just dive in head first!

The Give-Away:

As a quilter, I’m always on the lookout for a product that makes me a faster quilter.  Or a better quilter.  Or APPEAR to be a better quilter!

I know there are many, many methods for making half-square triangles and quarter-square triangles (hour-glass blocks).  In the past, my favorite method has been purchasing the paper rolls.  Using the paper makes your blocks truly square and the right size.  Construction is so much easier when your components are the right size and shape!  Sometimes I would run out of a size, or I would need a slightly “odd” size paper.

This past year I started using Triangulations™ software.

Triangulations™ allows you to print the size blocks you need, using your regular printer and regular printer paper.  I shorten my stitch length (as you would using any paper technique).  To remove the paper, I crease the paper on the stitching line and it easily rips off.  I’m sold!  I’ve especially enjoyed using the Triangulations™ when making my Farmer’s Wife Sampler blocks, as you can print the exact size you need in 1/16″ increments.

(If you haven’t used half-square triangle paper on a roll or sheets before, here’s a Triangulations™ demonstration on YouTube.)

To Enter: Leave a comment here  sharing what your current favorite fabric colors are. (I’ve been very drawn to brown and red quilts lately.)

The Fine Print:

My give-away will end Saturday, 12/17, at noon CST.  Sorry, I will not be mailing internationally.  Only one entry per person.  Winner will be determined by an on-line random number generator.

After you’ve left a comment for me, be sure to CLICK HERE to hop on over to Quilting Gallery (starting Saturday December 10) for the list of other participating bloggers.

Good luck, and thank you for stopping by!

–Sue

 

Filed under *** GIVE-AWAY ***, Quilting.
115 Comments

Randomness

6 December 2011, 8:49 am
  • Heels and nylons are not a part of my normal life.  I wore them Sunday night to a party and my left knee still hurts!  Time to shop for a pair of dressy flats (I’m a Clarks and Sketchers kinda girl normally) and ditch my last pair of heels.
  • I have a new phone — a Droid (no, no — say it with me in a low, drawn-out voice…D R O I D…).  It does everything, although I’m still in Learning Mode.  I was taking a picture of the newly fallen snow, and wondered, “what’s this button for?”.  It reversed the camera so I could take a picture of myself.  I was so startled, I hit the shutter button.  The result:

  • Judging from the above picture, I need to get a professional haircut, go back to coloring my hair — and why am I looking over the tops of my glasses to take a picture when I have new bifocals?
  • It’s good to take care of your knees, and don’t examine the rest of yourself too closely.

–Sue

 

Filed under Miscellaneous.
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Give-Away Alert!!!

6 December 2011, 7:34 am

I’m participating in the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party celebrating Quilting Gallery’s 4th anniversary. The give-aways will be revealed Friday, December 9th, and run through December 16th.

I’ve been mulling over my choice of item to give away, and I can tell you that it’s one of my favorite “tools”, something most of you don’t have, and it’s something any quilter could use.  It’s also smaller than a bread box, non-edible, and doesn’t require feeding!

On Friday, 12/9, the Blog Hop Party button on the right-hand side of this page should be active and direct you to other participating blogs — lots of chances to win lots of prizes!

And it just doesn’t seem right to have a blog post without pictures, so here’s a shot of a snowy egret, taken in Port Aransas, Texas, in October:

Stop by tomorrow for a new favorite squash soup recipe!

–Sue

Filed under *** GIVE-AWAY ***, Texas.
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Making My Own Tree

5 December 2011, 12:50 pm

 

Sandi Irish has a very cool tree pattern out, using templates for easy cutting.  I am making the 7-foot version for our Christmas tree.  My progress thus far is shown above.   I have about 1/4 of the strips on at this point.

For Sandi’s pattern info, click HERE.  “Tall Pines” is about 2/3 of the way down, on the right-hand side.  For the pattern cover picture, click HERE.

–Sue

PS:  I am going to Judy Laquidara’s retreat in February!!!  (Happy Birthday to ME)

Anybody else is going?  It’s sure to be three days of laughter, sewing, and fun!

 

 

Filed under Monday's Design Wall.
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Paradise?

2 December 2011, 11:20 pm

My favorite place to visit in Port Aransas, TX, is Paradise Pond.  This year it’s a little harder to love.  The drought has reached Mustang Island, and it isn’t pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No sign of any water birds or night herons, but there are a lot of small song birds.  This also happened a couple of years ago, and it was amazing to me how quickly the pond became “paradise” again.

A photo from 2008:

Hopefully the much-needed rain is on the way.

–Sue

 

 

 

Filed under Texas.
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