Baby it's cold outside!

Winter has decided to come with a vengeance!  At least it's no longer below zero and the pipes are all defrosted!  And it's so pretty with the frost on the trees!  Ron and Tom have been busy plowing snow, the roads are good, and we've only had to close the shop on one day.  We get the same number of snow days as the kids at school!  If school is closed, so are we!  Otherwise, we're here! 

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  Ours was pretty quiet, since it was our year to "share" all the married cousins, Ross was commenting it was the smallest gathering ever!  My sisters and I did get to do some stitching; we made these great "Recycled wool notebook covers".  Pam shared a piece of Dad's army blanket with each of us, I shared lace out of our great grandma's embroidery basket and we each made a notebook cover to hold copies of all the poems our mom had written.  It's a wonderful keepsake!  The pattern and kit, including a piece of army blanket, are available at the barn.

The strikeoffs (fabric samples) for the plaids for our Christmas line, "Merry & Bright" arrived and I'd thought I'd give you a sneak peak.....All that paper are the prints that we haven't gotten samples for yet but I can't wait to see them too!  I'm also excited about the gift tags on the selvage of the word print-I thought it would be great for covered gift boxes and then you'll have a coordinating gift tag!

Ok, I think that's all for now!  Don't forget about the Henry Glass Designers Blog Hop!  It starts THIS Wednesday, Dec 1st! Oh, and as practice for the blog hop give-aways, would Sandi that commented "Forgot to say, I love the new photo of the Buggy Barn gals" please email me, identify yourself, because I do have more than one Sandi, and claim her prize!  Thanks to all you loyal followers that have stuck with me as I blunder through the blogging world!

Give Thanks

My mom always made the pie crusts for Thanksgiving pies and I would always fill and bake them.  This is our first year without her, but as I cut the shortening into the flour, and rolled out dough, I could hear her coaching!  I have a feeling that I didn't get them rolled out quite as thin as she would have, but like all good things, practice makes perfect! 

I love to make pumpkin pie with pumpkins from our garden; it's a little more work than opening a can but it's worth it!  First you have to cut, clean, and peel the pumpkin.  Then boil until soft.  Mash or run through a blender.  Measure 2 cup servings and freeze until your ready to make pie (or Patsy's cheesecake!) 

Here's my recipe:

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

2 cups cooked pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1/2 stick butter, melted & cooled slightly

3 eggs

1/2 cupbuttermilk

1T vanilla

1/2 t ginger

1/2 t nutmeg

1 t cinnamon

                                                        1/2 t lemon juice

Beat the eggs and sugar.  Add remaining ingredients and mix. Pour into a deep dish pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 min or until the knife comes out clean!  Yum!

I thought I'd share a table cloth I started using our 12" crazy stars down the center and eventually 4" stars for a drop (both from our Star Crossing book) but I keep thinking I'll get a bigger table (it's an annual Thanksgiving thing and then I get over it!)  I do want it to fit my future table, so who knows, it may never get done!  But it's sure gonna be cute.....if only in my mind!

I've got Needle Love's Crazy Pumpkin Quilt on the dessert table, my boys are home early (I think to eat rolls fresh out of the oven!) and we look forward to the family gathering.  I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!  Let's all count our blessings and we'll never be poor!

We've Been Going Crazy!

Pam & I  just had a marathon of Crazy Camps! When we teach a Crazy Camp, students can choose to make any of our "crazy" patterns, so, potentially everyone can be making a different pattern and things can get a little, well, crazy!  Really, it's great fun! We started here at home  with this delightful group of ladies on Thursday. 

Patsy fed us and it was delicious as usual.  Her pumpkin cheescake with maple pecan drizzle has become one of my favorites!

Then, on Saturday, it was off to sunny Florida where we taught at the West  Brower and Boccca Quilt Guilds.  The West Brower girls took us to the Bimini Boat Club in Fort Lauderdale, where we had a fabulous dinner, dining outside along the canal, sampling the local hog fish, and enjoying the atmosphere as dusk settled in!  It was such a treat!  This is our "Certifiably Crazy" Sherie McKenna from the West Brower guild and she came to the trunk show the next day after class with her Heart Crazy blocks all done! 

Next stop, Bocca!  Here are the girls from Bocca, and they, too, are "Positively Crazy"!  We had a great time and they all got lots done!  Again, we had more good food but, unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the Grill  but the key lime pie was fabulous!  What is it about quilters and their food?  Or is it just me?  Anyway, we had a great time and got to enjoy the sunshine before returning to the snow!  Thanks to both groups for the fun and hospitality!

Happy Veteran's Day!

This Veterans Day, I have my quilts of Valor waiting for notifcation of their recipients.  Quilts of Valor http://www.qovf.org/ presents quilts to our American armed services members touched by war.   Each quilt is presented in a pillow case and they have a great video clip on their web site showing how to make a pillowcase and finish the seams at the same time!  I hope you might rummage through your stash of quilts and fabric and consider donating a quilt or making a quilt for this worthy cause. 

In honor of Veterans Day, Pam & I have gathered a collection of red, white, & blue stars and striped fabrics that we will offer on sale today (and tomorrow since I'm late with this post!).  Fabrics shown will be 20% off!  Just call the shop 509-796-2188 and the girls will help you!  They'd be great for your Quilt of Valor quilt and/or pillowcase!

A Little Porch Time

I just finished my my first block of "A Little Porch Time" by Primitives by Lynda that we are doing as a block of the month at the shop.  Now it's off to Crazy Camp for the day!  It's a little frosty here (no snow yet!) so it's a good day to sit and stitch and put those pesky leaves right out of my mind!

We're appliqueing on UTube!

We've been trying since last fall when our first applique book, Folk Art Blooms, came out to get an instructional video up on UTube about the method we use to applique.  I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this up and running but apparently I talk too much and it had to be broken down into three parts.  It's really rather embarrassing seeing & listening to yourself but I hope you can pick up a hint here or there. Or, you can just have a good laugh; I know Pam did!  Please be kind as you watch; my son Ross is behind the camera, and we really are a bunch of amateurs!  If you decide to watch, the links I've added right under the quilt header will take you right to UTube.  Part 1 is mostly about the tools, moving on to the prep work in part 2, and ending with the actual applique in part three with tips for star points.  Hope it helps!  Happy Quilting!

Blog Hop

We are happy to announce that we will be participating in the Henry Glass Designers Holiday Project Parade, December 1-7, 2010!  There will be free patterns, inspiration, stories, individual blog giveaways, and one Grand Prize Giveaway! See the list to the right of participating designers.  So mark your calendar! You don't want to miss the fun!

ugh!

OK so, I'm home from Market, I've got a blog started before my Saturday deadline, the girls in the shop are busy finishing up the Farm Fresh block of the month kits (Yes! The new Three Cheers fabric arrived while we were gone-let's here it: hip hip hurray! I couldn't resist that!) and now it's time for me to get back to work but would you look at that pile of quilts stacked on my counter. 

Somewhere under there is the new patten I'm working on.  My son decided he needed more storage and "borrowed" my armoir that I had some of my quilts in.  I know I told him he could have it, but it's that whole "back to reality" thing that gets me down, because seriously, like my husband said last night, when I was asking his opionion of just where he thought I might store them, every other storage area is already full of quilts!  And since, so far it's just three of my favorite quilting friends talking/reading with me here, I can admit that I still haven't unpacked my suitcase....I hate doing that! Nor have I finished reorganizing my underwear drawer that I dumped in a laundry basket while  trying to find some clean undies to take to market! 

At least I get to drink out of my new coffee mug- aren't those just the cutest?  They are smaller than the old ones and just so very cute,  We used the new vendor that was at the quilt show.  Didn't she do a terrific job?  Enough already! Even though I put the "pro" in procrastination, I really must go and at least go stack those quilts in on the couch!

Home from Market

We just arrived home from Quilt Market in Houston.  We had fun, bought lots of great stuff for the shop, and came home with lots of ideas to implement (which I will share at a later date!)  But here it is at last!  "Farm Fresh" is fresh from the printer and I feel as if I've been through a long labor and delivery with this one...and yes, my fingers are still bleeding!  But thanks to friends Valerie, Gloria, and my sister Pam who helped stitch in the final moments! 

Quilt Show 2010

I've been wanting to share these photos of our quilt show this August.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with what we do, every year, the last weekend in August, my sister Pam and I have an outdoor quilt show.  It started 14 years ago after our first year in business as a way to say thank you to all of you who supported us in our endeavor to open a quilt shop in a location that has been descirbed by some as the middle of nowhere, the outback of beyond, or, in our opinion, the heart of God's country!  It use to be just our husbands and mother helping, and we'd  hang quilts on clotheslines up the lane and over the fence.  The quilts are always so pretty hanging outside, blowing in the breeze...now we've grown, added more clothesline, more buildings and fence, and thank goodness our kids and grandkids have grown, too, since they now get up in the predawn darkness to help hang quilts by the light of our high-beam headlights!  Thanks to all who share their quilts!   And remember, it's never too early to get started on your quilts for next year; our 15th anniversay!  Can you believe it?  So mark your calendar: August 27 & 28, 2011.  Happy Quilting!





Husband Tom hangin "Old Glory" at the peak
of the big barn.  We let him hang it the day
before when it's light out (that's why he's smiling!)







Zack helping hang quilts before sunrise!











Ross & Zack park cars



Pam's grandkids, Hayden, Cameron, & Stella sell treats!



The Buggy Barn looking it's best!