Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

 A made this swag for Hanna.  Someone sent the fabric to me and I just can't remember who but thank you!  It is so cute.

I hung my Apple Core for the month.

Here are some of our other decorations.

 Hanna decorated a little tree with our glass Halloween ornaments.  The nail stickers are from TJMax.

Whew - the swap is complete and they are all on their way to the swappers.

 Here is a setting that I'm playing with with my solids.

Here's a real treat!  Have you seen this cake at the store?  I was sceptical but you use fresh eggs and fresh butter.  Hooray!!  I added a TBs of Kahlua to the cake mix and it added a lot of richness.  (I happened to make this on a Friday - hence the Margaritas, lol).

Hanna and I had some Halloween fun at the zoo.

 the sunglasses really make it, huh?  ha ha

Hope you have a Happy Halloween filled with fun and lots of Chocolate.
xo

October Stuff

Happy Humpday!  Thank you for all your nice comments on my recently finished Alice Payne Quilt.

We had a little weekend getaway to the Adirondacks last weekend and I did a little early morning stitching in a real log cabin.

I almost look like this painting.

The drive up from CT was absolutely gorgeous!  the colors were at peak.  We had a wonderful visit with friends.

I'm working on a new applique project.  Here is the first block.

It was inspired by this oakleaf and reel quilt that Mary is working on during my recent visit.

I make freezer paper patterns that can be re-used.  The staples are key to getting a good cut.

Here is another quilt I saw on my trip.  This is Sheila's Sunflower quilt.  Isn't it fabulous?  

It was inspired by Jan's Antique quilt.  You can see Jan's post about it here.

Making new friends has been an unexpected and wonderful benefit of being a blogger.  I recently met Jackie from England who wrote me and suggested we meet for coffee during her US trip.

 I felt a little nervous about meeting a complete stranger, but Jacky and her husband were absolutely delightful!  I didn't even need to use my "fake eye appointment" for a quick getaway.    She brought me a sweet gift of this pincushion and needle keeper.

Isn't that clever?  Thank you Jacky!

Thank you, Wendy of Constant Quilter, for sending me this surprise Halloween Fabric.  It is by Moda and I've never seen it before.

Thank you, Rondi for a surprise package with this fabulous little quilt complete with toile' and HAND fan quilting.   I just love it.

Here is the back and the other fun Halloween goodies that she sent. Thank you Rondi for the wonderful surprise - Wow.

Swap Update:

I'm still waiting for some packages.  As soon as they are all received I'll be swapping and mailing out the swap.   

While you are waiting how about a new recipe?

A Copycat recipe for Panera's Squash Soup.  It's really good!  Here is a link to the recipe.   I cut the heavy cream and the cream cheese and added a little more brown sugar.  MMmmmm  autumn..........

Have a great week!

xo 

Alice Payne - Finale

Alice Payne Finished~

Finished size is 76" x 76"

Like Alice, I also used cheddar for the binding.  I really like how the fans in the corners turned out.

 I also used muslin on the back.  It is great for seeing all the hand quilting.  Still need a sleeve and label.

It was nearly 1 year to the day after completing the top, and about nine after starting the hand quilting.

I went to Illinois last week to visit my dear Mary who purchased the original (on right) in NYC in 1995 and gifted to me in 2013.  I felt it was important for her to see it first and in person.

We had an "Alice Payne Day" at The Piecemaker Applique' group.

Kathy S. made a replica of the original.   It is great - as is everything that Kathy does.  Here is her finished top.

The first version created was a group effort with 16 of us making one block each (I made the strawberry block).  We held a raffle for the blocks and Betty won and used green for the sashing.

Here is Susan's finished contemporary version.  Susan included her own bird design.  I love to see these personal touches.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks that I posted on instagram.

Luckily, all turned out just fine - no running and just the right amount of puckering.

Chicaoland was my home for over 40 years.  I know I'm back when I stroll through here:

A beautiful sky as I headed back east.

I have been welcomed back with a mailbox stuffed with wonderful broken dishes blocks!  Wee - it's been fun opening all the packages.  I'll be sending reminder emails this week to swappers - deadline is in 5 days and I'm waiting for about half of you.  eeeek

Thank you again for the encouragement on finishing Alice Payne.  I'm intending to work on a pattern this winter.

Have a great week!
xo

Meet Me at the Fair!

I posted this photo on Instagram from our local Agricultural Fair, The Durham Fair, with a promise for a blog post.  So here we go....

We go for the food and the animals but the food is always first.

 MMMmmm, deep fried oreos and a lime Rickey (fizzy sweet and tart drink).

the gold standard of any fair - hand dipped corndogs.

 The canning competition.

 I really like to admire the farm stand presentations.

Oh, My GOURD!

We fell for these puppies waiting for adoption.  Molly and Gus, 3 month lab mix.

We found our favorite Cows! Mama, Amber and her calf Darcy.

 They were too busy eating to catch up with us.

 A chocolate bunny, lol....

 Hanna and Llama

Oh my, the sheep were in an uproar!  Check out the one who is chewing the railing.

The Goats were so curious about the sheep.  It was the first night of the fair so they were all excited.

There was one big mama pig with her babies.

Here are a few photos from yesterday at the Big E Fair.  It was celebrating it's 100 Birthday and here was the cake (over 200 pounds of cake).

here is what 600 pounds of carved butter looks like:

We paid $3.00 to see 3 bears in a trailer.  Would you?

 the painting was nice, but I hated to see them in a small space.

 They were eating peanuts from their handler.

We saw Karen giving rides - again, I hate to see an Elephant here, but she was sweet.

I petted a pretty little donkey whom I would have loved to take home too!

Block Swap packages are arriving here and there is a tie with 8 packages from each group.  Great job everyone!

Thank you so much for your sweet notes of thanks and also for the little extras.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting the fair with us!