Applique Addicts Show and Tell

First I have a show and tell. I won this really great book from Thoughts from Taylorsouthback blog. It was published in 2001. What is so neat about this book as you can see from one of the pages is that it has a pieced block and a "sister" block done in applique. I think some of these blocks would look really great in our new fabrics that we see in shops now. Thanks so much Pat for picking my name!
Now for some applique. None from me yet but this weekend I did work on prepping some pieces. The Christmas goodies were done by Susie. She bought them as kits from a show. I don't know the patterns. Sorry!
Look here! Susan finished this fabulous top! WOW! I love the fabrics she used. This was a free BOM from Pat Sloan's blog.
Patti has finished all her blocks from the pattern called Honoring Emma by Lori Smith. I know it will look super when she gets the top put together.

After I make some spaghetti sauce I am off to my sewing room to work on prepping more pieces for my Hop To It blocks. I am behind four blocks.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Blogger's BOM

Are you participating in the Blogger's BOM hosted by Jackie? The newest block is out. It was created by Vicki. This is the second block so it is not to late to join.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

More Yard Work

Well, I am finally caught up in the yard. I found these fabulous mums at a farmers market the other day. Three for $10. What a deal. We planted hostas down this row where the mums now sit but the deer and the moles ate most of them. I have mums in the front yard so I think the deer don't like them. Hopefully the moles don't either. Oh, the critters you have to deal with when you live in the country.
Here are the first three beds that we have created in our new garden space. We just built the hoop houses last weekend.
Inside you can see some my little seedlings. I grew everything from seed during the late summer except for the cabbage. This is our first try at using the hoop house. It is toasty inside when I get up in the morning to open the ends. I think these seedlings are going to do very well. Having the hoop house over them will keep the deer from eating them too.
In the third bed I planted a bunch of garlic. I bought six different organic garlic varieties from someone at the farmers market. I had read in a magazine about planting them during the new moon which was yesterday. I filled up the whole bed and now they have a blanket of straw over them. Now patience comes into play because they won't be ready to pull until spring.
See all that wood? that is from the trees we cut down to make our new garden space. We will use it for firewood. My husband cuts and I stack. So I got that job done too. Lots more to cut and stack though.

I did do a little sewing yesterday. I got my Bloggers BOM done. I will show you later.

This morning I am off to hang out with the Applique Addicts. Maybe I will have some show and tell to share with you all.

Happy Birthday, Stephanie!!!

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Autumn Harvest

My housework is done, my sewing room is clean again and I have picked the last of some of our vegetables. I taught an applique class yesterday. Today I have things to do in the yard and then I hope to get back to some sewing. I have missed working on applique.
Some acorn squash came up in our compost pile so we decided to plant it. At the time we transplanted it we did not know what it was until after the flowers had bloomed. A very nice surprise.
See those potato peelers? That one on the bottom of the photo is old and apparently very dull. I bought a new OXO peeler, the black one and it would peel that squash easily.
I took out all the seeds so that I could mix them with some spices to roast. They were very good. I made some squash soup and I made Butternut Sausage and Penne. Minus the penne. My husband likes angel hair pasta. It was delicious with a garnish of fresh basil on top. I got the recipe from The Happier Homemaker.
Here are the last of the peppers. The green ones are supposed to be red but we had some thirty degree mornings and I didn't wan them to get ruined.
And speaking of basil. Did you know that you can cut some of the tops off, put them in water, and watch them make more roots? Pretty neat.
I just re-potted them and now I can have fresh basil all winter long.

I leave you with some beautiful fall photos from my yard. That is my driveway. You are looking down to the main street. Oh, don't you know it is fun in the winter!! We usually park our cars at the bottom when we hear snow is coming. We have a neighbor who has been so kind to clear it with his tractor when the snow gets deep. I usually stay put but my husband has to walk down it to get to work.
With Passion,

Carrie P.

Fabric

Here is the fabric that I bought for $5 a yard. The center fabrics are some of the first solids I have bought. Not sure what I will do with them yet but they sure are pretty.
I have been reading the Fat Quarter Jolly Jabber blog for three or four years now. This is the first time I have won a giveaway from their blog. I won a jelly roll of one of my favorite lines of fabric. Thanks Jolly Jabber.
I think it was last year that I had won a giveaway from Cheryl at Willowberry Designs. She was going to make these little tiny stuffed animals in a fabric that had I picked. Well, you know life happens and she did not make them. I had totally forgotten about the whole thing too. But the other day I got a package all the way from Australia and it was from Cheryl.
Look at all the things she sent me.
Thank you so much Cheryl for sending me all your great patterns.
With Passion,

Carrie P.

The Craft Show

The craft show has come and gone. It was fun for our first show. This is a photo of our table. My stuff is on the left side of the table and my daughter set of some tree limbs to hang her jewelry on. We did not sell as much as we hoped but we heard from others that it was the same for them too.
A few of the crafters I knew from my quilt guild. These were some of the tables set up by crafters. As you can see, lots of variety. The photo on the top right where the green quilt on the wall is hanging was set up by Salem Stitcher. The table on the top left was by ClassicCampbell. I bought one of her bucket liners last year. Gina and Colleen were also there but I didn't get a photos of their tables.
Westminster Fabrics sent Karen hundreds of bolts of fabric to sell during the craft show. $5.00 a yard!!! Can you believe it? Needless to say the money I made from selling crafts went to buying fabric. I will show it next post. It is dark now so I won't get a good photo. I watched women come by with armloads of fabric. I definitely did not buy armloads. It was hard to pass up such a good deal if you are a quilter.

And thanks for the "good luck" wishes. My daughter and I appreciated it a lot.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Flaunt!

This is where you will find me on Saturday. My daughter and I are sharing a table to sell our crafts. My daughter loves to make jewelry which she will be selling. I will be selling quilty/fabric crafts.
This is one of the items I will be selling at the show. This is a first for me. Maybe if you live near by you can attend. The address is at the bottom of the flyer. If you do, make sure you stop by to say hi.

So I will be busy catching up with getting everything ready. My sewing room is a mess and my house cleaning has gone by the wayside. You have probably noticed that I have not been posting much about my everyday quilting. I am behind on my Hop To It blocks because I have been getting ready for the show and of course, the garden plot has taken my time. If I don't post until next week you will know it is because I am cleaning the house and my sewing room.

I will definitely take some photos of the show and share with you later.

We are really excited about participating in the craft show. Wish us luck!

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Goodies from the Barn craft show

It was so much fun shopping in the barn. I bought this blank journal with the sweet strawberries on it from the Liberty Rose booth. The strawberry at the bottom is a book mark for the journal.
I think Sharon Stewart of Liberty Rose was one of ladies that helped form this craft show. She has a great booth. Go to her blog and you can see some really nice photos from the show. I just read on her blog that they will have the show next year. Make plans! lol
Of course, I had to buy some wool from another vendor. I also got the blue jar and a towel to embroider on one day.
This little bag of goodies was also from Sharon's booth.
Check out this cute little snowman. I bought a kit to make a pillow. It also included some chenille trim to add to the pillow when I get it made. Maybe I can get it done before this winter is over.
This I did not get from the show but I won it from Pat Sloan. She was having a blog hop to give away the Sullivans ruler with the sharpening edge on it. You can see a You tube video with Pat explaining the ruler here.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Barn Craft Show

This past Saturday my husband and I took a day trip to Raleigh, NC. I will warn you that the photos on this post are not the greatest. I took my camera. I made sure the batteries were charged and then I forgot to take the camera card out of the computer to put in the camera. So I took these pictures with my husband blackberry. The lens was a little dirty and I did not realize it.
Anyway, we went to a craft show at a farm. The show was in a big barn with lots of different vendors. Having the show in the barn made it really magical and fun. In the photo above you can see that there was wood shavings on the floor. It was a little dark in the barn so again the photos are not so good.
These quilts were hanging. There were also some ladies hand quilting a quilt in a frame.
Some of the lights hanging from the rafters which made it more magical in the barn.
Some stalls. Down in one of the stalls were some hens roosting in their coop. Not sure if they were laying eggs or not. All the other stalls were empty.
Outside the barn was this yard art for sale.
And here are some of the chickens outside looking for some goodies to eat.
We also took a stroll in the beautiful garden full of fascinating and different flowers. The weather was perfect and it was worth the drive. Tomorrow I will show you some of the goodies I bought.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Imagine My Shock and Surprise

when I got this stack of fat quarters in the mail from Free Spirit Fabrics.

I had entered a giveaway a while ago and got an email saying I was one of the winners of some fat quarters.
I thought I might get five or so, but I had no idea I would get this whole stack of Taza fabrics. What is so neat about it is that I am working on BOM from Linen Closet Quilts in some of the same fabric that I had found at a local quilt shop. Dawn just put up a new block. I have my applique ready to sew on the background. As soon as I do I will show you all how it looks.

I am pretty excited because I have never bought or owned a stack like this.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Autumn goodies

I received some special Autumn goodies. My husband surprised me with these Chrysanthemums. I like the variegated look of the petals. I have some mums planted in the front yard that are just about to bloom.
I also received a little surprise package in the mail which included the teeny tiny orange pumpkins, the polka dot fabric with the bright orange rick rack wrapped around it. Thanks for the sweet surprise, Stephanie.

I love surprises.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Thinking of Christmas!

(original pattern created by Allisa Jacobs for Better Homes and Gardens Craft Magazine - 2010)

With Passion,

Carrie P.

1500 followers

That is how many followers Jenny of Elefantz now has reading her blog.

Which I might add is a delightful blog to read. Jenny is a very talented quilter. I have been reading her blog since I started blogging and have done several of her patterns.

She is having a really nice giveaway so go check it out.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Yard Work

I don't have much to show you lately that I have been working on except for this piece of embroidery.
My husband I are still working on the area where we have our garden. In the evening when we would finish we would sit in our chairs to admire our work, enjoy the weather, and I would work on a little embroidery while my husband would read. The weather has been perfect.
I finally got the front yard done and also my Iris bed cleaned up too. I planted a few mini iris in the foreground.
And look what came in the mail. Our worms and the bed/container for them. The container actually stacks five to eight containers high. We should get some really nice compost for the garden with these guys at work.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I am off to help my husband chip up the tree branches.

With Passion,

Carrie P.