Boo!

 Don't be afraid!! You have 54 days until Christmas. The countdown is on. You better get busy if you have gifts you want to make.

 I finished one more pillow cover for my daughter-in-law for Christmas. I wanted to add a fun trim to the pillow. Something like spider webs. I found this eyelash yarn at Jo-Ann's. I hand stitched the yarn around the edge three times. I like how it turned out.

I am linking up to Quilting Daze. If you made a Christmas gift this month you can link up too.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Just Finished...

my flying geese row from Lori Holt's row along. I am so glad she showed us how to make the geese using a different technique. To hard to explain. You can see how she made these tiny 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" geese on her blog.

I had to show you this one. Looks like the bears are coming out of a cave. They better get back in because winter is on its way.

Some of you are already feeling winter. I hope you have made it safely through the hurricane. The north Carolina mountains are getting a lot of snow but I have not seen any here. (sad face)

I am now going to work on the "apple" row. I will show all the rows put together when I finish the apple row.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Sewing and Cooking!

Yesterday I was able to do some Slow Sunday Stitching. I am working on two Christmas gifts.

 This one is a pillow cover my daughter-in-law.

 I also got caught up on the block of the week by Dawn Heese. You can find these blocks on the Henry Glass Fabrics blog. The one for today is not up as I write this post.

 I decided today was a good day to make a big pot of vegetable soup because it is cold in North Carolina today. The hurricane is not really affecting our part of the state. (the Piedmont) Lots of wind and clouds. We could see a snowflake or two though from the cold front. That would be fun. It was really brisk when I went out to the garden to get some veggies for the soup. My hands were so cold by the time I got done picking.

 The peas were not added to the soup because I really like to eat them raw.

 Look at these beauties. There is nothing like a fresh carrot. I even used some of the tops in the soup. I added some potatoes that I grew and some butternut squash I bought from the farmer's market. I also added some frozen shredded zucchini which is not shown in the photo.

Look at all those yummy colorful veggies. This is before I put the liquid in the pot. I can't wait for dinner.

Today my plan is to catch up on two rows I have not done yet from Lori Holt's row along.

Stay safe if you are in the path of the hurricane and stay warm if you getting all that snow from the cold front.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Bonus Free Motion Quilting Challenge

SewCalGal had a bonus free motion tutorial in August by Susan Brubaker Knapp. Susan lives in North Carolina. She visited our guild several years ago. She is very talented and has written many books and patterns. The quilt with the pink border in my header is one of her patterns.

Let me tell you about this challenge. Susan wrote, " Go outside or inside your house and shoot everything you see with a strong obvious texture or pattern. Try to disengage your brain, don't think about what would be pretty or interesting. Don't overthink. Just shoot, shoot, shoot."

Here are some of the photos I took outside my house. It was fun just going around the yard taking photos of whatever caught my eye.

I picked one of the photos, traced the printed photo on tracing paper, then traced it onto my fabric. I quilted this in variegated thread and did lots and lots of circles. Here is my finished project.

 Here is the photo I decided to use. This is a circle of iron that once used to be the base of a glass table. It was my son's table and the glass got broke in a move. He was going to throw the iron part away and we told him we would take it. We now use it as the circle of our outdoor fire pit.

It was a fun challenge and I would like to try more of this type of quilting.

Here is another fun fall photo. Love those Carolina skies.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

October Free Motion Quilting Challenge

Time to do the free motion challenge for this month. This one was really fun. This challenge was presented by Terri Lucas. Her quilting is amazing. 

 First I had to draw a six inch square, write my name, and then fill in with different designs. I was supposed to use silk for the top layer but I didn't have any. I would like to try quilting on it sometime though. I was also supposed to use wool or bamboo batting. I did have some of that.

 Next I was also supposed to use some different thread. I don't have a whole lot of choices but I did use rayon, cotton, and polyester.

 So after I quilted my name in the middle of the square then I filled in the square using the different threads. One of the things I learned was to use edge of the foot as a gauge when doing cross hatching on a piece.

 My final piece is a little different from my drawing. Look at the nautilus shell I did. Pretty cool. It was one of Teri's designs.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Binding and Quilting

This week I decided to work on some free motion quilting and sew on binding. I just finished my little star quilt from Temecula Quilt Co. 

 I would have finished it sooner but I just couldn't figure out what to do in the border. When I mentioned my dilemma to Missie she sent me a picture from her IPad. So I practiced on paper first. Because the fabric is busy it is hard to see but

 here is a little bit of what I did. Thanks Missie!

I have all the binding sewn on my Hop To It quilt.  Wait for It.........!!!!

It is a queen size quilt so it will take much longer to sew on than the star quilt.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Hearts of Imagination/PIP

 These are just a few hearts...

 that are in this finished PIP!

 The hearts with the crocheted lace are actually little pockets.

This quilt top was finished in the spring of 2011. I was waiting on a long arm quilter to let me know she was ready for my quilt but things kept coming up that prevented her from doing the quilt for me.

So my friend, Laura, tells me that she would like to start a machine quilting business. She does not have a long arm but she does the quilting on her home machine. I told her I had a small quilt that she could do for me. She asked if I had any ideas of what I imagined for my quilt. I told her I would love some kind of lacy quilting design in the outside border to match the lace of the hearts. Look what she did!! It is just what I imagined but never could do it myself.

 I love the string of circles along the red border. I am tickled pink to have this quilt finished. If you have a quilt you might like Laura to quilt for you go to her blog. You will find her contact information on her sidebar.

Thank you Laura for making my quilt shine!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

(this was a free BOM from Crabapple Hill Designs, which is no longer available)

Slow Stitching Sunday

What do you do when you harvest over fifty pounds of sweet potatoes from the garden? You learn new recipes. Today Mr. P. and I went to our late church service and afterwards I made brunch. I had cooked some sweet potatoes last night. I mashed them so they would be ready to put in Sweet Potatoes biscuits. I don't claim to be an expert at making making biscuits. These did not rise as much as I had hoped but they were still very good. Mr. P. loves them. I made plain biscuits many, many years ago and they were like a rock so I have always stayed away from trying to make them.

 I also found a recipe for North Carolina Sweet Potato Frittata. This turned out to be pretty good too. Interesting combination for sure.

 So after brunch I  finished putting mulch on the garlic I planted yesterday and then took some time to do some Slow Stitching. I worked on this pattern from the Aurifil BOM. This one was designed by Amanda Woodward-Jennings. I am linking up to Kathy's Quilts.

 I spent the time on the patio and this is the view I have. I watch the birds as much as I stitch. I have been taking advantage of days like these spending them outdoors. Our weather has been perfect.

 I thought I would show you this late bloomer from the garden. Perfection!

I hope you have been able to have a slow relaxing Sunday.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

A new quilt for Mr. P.

I thought it was time for Mr. P. to have a new quilt. When I started quilting I took a class to learn how to make a reversible quilt as you go quilt. This is the quilt which is about 10 years old. Nothing wrong with it but I want to make him a new one.

 I participated in swap on Flickr. The swap was for 10 inch squares of masculine fabrics. I did this swap a couple months ago and the fabric sat waiting for the right pattern. The three fabrics on top are some I bought and added to that stack.

 I follow Dawn Heese's blog and she mentioned she was going to do a block a week from October 1 through December 17. The blocks are on Henry Glass Fabrics each Monday. They are promoting a new line of fabric that Dawn has created (Best Wishes) which is very pretty but I thought I would use my 10" squares.

So here is block number 1.

 Here is block number 2. Check out the nuts and bolts fabric in the center.

 And block number 3 that came out this past Monday.

 Of course, I won't have it finished by Christmas but Mr. P. has a birthday in February and I my plan is to give it to him then. It is a secret so don't tell!

 I thought I would show some fall photos just for fun. So pretty.

Have a great weekend. I will spending Saturday in the garden cleaning up the plants that have died. I will also be planting garlic. Sunday I hope to be able to do some Slow Stitching.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Lovin' Fall

I just love the colors of fall! I have some Chrysanthemums getting ready to bloom.

 Some of the trees in my area are starting to change colors.

A great new kit came in the mail. During the Leafs Me Happy block hop I stopped by The Raspberry Rabbits to see Michelle's block. When I saw the acorn above the squirrels I knew I had to get this kit. Oh, and look at the Valdani thread. I love working with this thread. I can't decide if I want to make it for myself or make a pillow for my daughter-in-law. Wait! I could make two at the same time. Yeah!

 During the 'leafs' hop I ask you all to share your favorite fall recipes and mentioned that Apple Walnut cake was one of my favorites to make. I thought I would share the recipe with you. I made one last Friday and will be making another one this Thursday. I have had this recipe forever and I don't remember where I found it but it is so good.

Apple Walnut Cake
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups chopped unpeeled apples
1 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
8 ounces softened cream cheese
3 Tablespoons softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs. Add oil and vanilla,  mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg; gradually add to sugar mixture, mixing well. The batter will be very thick. Stir in apples and walnuts. Pour and spread batter into a greased and floured 13 inch by 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until done.
For frosting  beat cream cheese, butter , and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Gradually add confectioners sugar until the frosting has reached a desired spreading consistency. Frost cooled cake. Enjoy!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Garden Steps

Life has been really busy lately but I did get this quilt top put together. This is Garden Steps designed by Clover and Violet. Each of the blocks has some embroidery in the middle. The designs are so sweet and I enjoyed making this quilt.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Workshop and Winner

Yesterday I went to a workshop that my guild hosted. I worked on an embroidery piece. I learned about a new product called Transfer Eze. See the black lines? You put this product through your printer on this washable sticky stuff. The sticky stuff is on a piece of paper that you peel off and press onto the fabric. You stitch on the black line through the sticky stuff. When you are done you put in a bowl of water and swish it around. It would be a great product to use if you were stitching that same design over and over again so you didn't have to trace it so many times. Even though I keep saying it is sticky stuff it is not hard to needle through. If you decide to try this product you have to have a certain type of printer, ink jet or laser, I don't remember which one. So check the package before you buy any to see what it recommends. Just a reminder too, if you use the Transfer Eze make sure to use colorfast thread.

 I also learned some more about hand piecing this bear paw block. Our instructor showed us how to sew those little pieces in succession.

 We worked on the lower pattern. My plan is to make the four bear paw blocks with one embroidery block in the center.

 One of the things that was unique about this hand piecing project was that you use a stamp and fabric ink for the pieces. No tracing of templates!

 Here is our instructor, Cindy Blackberg. She also gave the lecture to our guild.

Of course I had to buy something. I have always wanted to make an apple core quilt but sure didn't want to trace all those pieces so I bought the pattern,stamp and stamp pad. I also bought a graphite pencil which I can use to trace on patterns and it will wash out. I really enjoyed the workshop. I have some pieces already to sew which I will take Friday when I take my vehicle to my mechanic for some maintenance.

Today is the last day of the "Leafs" hop. I hope you have had a chance to see the blocks because there have been some really great creations. I guess you want to know who the winner is of my giveaway? Go down to the bottom of the post to find out. Drum roll, please!

Wednesday 10

Quilter in the Closet

Sew Much 2 Luv

Peanut's Patchwork

Quilting Lines

Mochawildchild

Ariane Quilts

Lily Patch Quilts

Cindy's Crafty Creations

Hill Valley Quilter

Count it *all* JOY!!!

Rose Creations

Grandmamastories

Sew We Quilt 

And the winner is.....................(drum roll) GPC. She likes to fix soups during Autumn. Caramel corn and apple pies are some of her favorites treats to eat in the fall.

Congrats to GPC. I am sending you an email.

With Passion,

Carrie P.