It's a Mystery......

I've been a busy bee all week, doing all kinds of quilting and book work and errands with my mom so I have a few things saved up for next week's blogs.......However, last night was the Mystery Quilt and it was a full house so I wanted to get it posted as soon as possible....

The day started out crazy as usual!  First a trip to Costco to shop for dinner - then I had to go shopping (for all the stuff Costco doesn't have!  Ugh!)  Back to the store and my day really begins......

Firs, Jean stopped by to show off these gorgeous placemats she made for her sister and to get fabric to make many, many more for Christmas gifts for her daughters.....aren't they gorgeous!  The pattern is from a Quilt In A Day book, the name of which I have forgotten but will find out so we can order it in....

Before the Mystery Class started we were treated to some great Show & Share.  Claire and Lucy brought their finished quilts from the last Mystery.

Claire, if you remember, did the Monster Quilt and it came out fantastic....

She also wanted me to point out that there is a Scottish monster in his plaid kilt no less!

Lucy did two quilts with the fabric she had - for twin bunk beds - she added extra borders and one row to make the quilts a little bigger......hers, were an animal theme and they came out fabulous!

Before we got started with the clues we were busy admiring Heather's new machine - It's a Janome Horizon - Memory Craft 7700 and it is really state of the art.  It even has landing lights (lights above the LARGE opening).  It is really a gorgeous machine - Heather use it well (and I think she's going to name her!)!  Yes I am crazy but I figure with the amount of time I spend with my sewing machines, and I do talk to them quite often, they should have their own identities.......so in my very humble opinion they should have names!

As Barb will attest, I have a habit of leaving things pretty much to the last minute, like meal planning!  Although I know my customers have their favourites I like to change it up a bit when I can and last night was one of those nights.....

I made Pineapple Soy Sauce Chicken with Stir Fried Vegetables and Vegetable Pork Egg Rolls.  Barb made the rice (I can cook but I can't do rice and pasta without burning them - duh!).  It's a simple recipe - just marinate the chicken in Soy Sauce for a few hours - put it in the baking dish and put slices of pineapple on top and pour the juice from the can over it - bake at 375 until done - moist and tender every time and tasty too!  The egg rolls came from Costco - I think the name is Minh - they are in a purple box in the freezer section and they were delicious.  The stir fry vegetables also came from Costco - International I believe and they come with a very nice sauce packet.

Dessert was "to die for" and was half devoured by the time I got the picture.......Rocky Road Bars!

Nancy says I'm never allowed to make them again because she ate 3 the other day!  I think they were a hit!  There is no easier recipe in the world!

I was walking around Metro the other night and they have these touch screen computers in the store now with recipes and stuff!  That's where I found the recipe.....

1 package of Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chips, Walnuts and Miniature Marshmallows.  Grease a 13" x 9" pan, spread the cookie dough on the bottom, top with Chocolate Chips, Walnuts and Marshmallows (leave a 1/2" perimeter around the side of the pan so things don't stick).  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, cool, cut and serve!  I mean seriously - how easy is that and they taste like HEAVEN!

Okay - enough of that, back to business!  So last night's mystery quilt was revealed rather early as the pattern is an extremely obvious one.....

Most of the girls got quite a bit done, as usual and Lucy shared her completed centre top.......the feature fabric is M & M's - so cute!

Annadelle also got most of hers done and has decided to make two kid's quilts rather than one lap size......her feature fabric is Mickey Mouse

Karen, of course, is working on 3 quilts - this one uses Lavender Fields fabric which is a beautiful fabric of a Tuscan farmyard.  The other girls wouldn't let me photograph them until they were done so we'll have to wait and see what they look like.....

Now I can get back to working on my quilt designs, Sweet Tea (yes I know, still not quite done! But very close!), and a few other projects I have on the go.......not to mention the book work!

Off to quilt today!  Hope you are all having a great "long" weekend.  By the way I will be preparing the next newsletter over the next couple of weeks so if there are any classes on your "Wish Lists" feel free to e-mail us or call the store.....We've come up with quite a few on our own but we really do like the customer input!  Just wondering if anyone is interested in a Doll Making Class for a change - I have an opportunity to get a "Feature" teacher from "down under" and if there's enough interest we can certainly go ahead......let me know!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

A week?!?!....

Really, a whole week has gone by since I blogged!  It is amazing how quickly the days go!  I do have some pictures to share, of course, as always!  They are from Friday.

The first is from Barb's Paper piecing class on Friday afternoon, a couple of the girls actually got quite a bit done -

Then I was busy in the kitchen making a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for dessert and Barb made a wonderful Greek Macaroni Salad for dinner for Applique Club.....

Barb had gone outside for a break and called a bunch of us outside to see the sunset - I got a very blurry picture but Nancy's are probably much better, we took quite a few....would make a great landscape background (without the ugly building of course)! 

I've started a "quilting" journal which is different from a "quilt" journal.  My quilting journal is to record how much time I spend quilting and what I am working on whereas, my quilt journal is more the story behind the quilts I make along with copies of labels and pictures.  The quilting journal really has a dual purpose - it keeps me focused on the projects I am working on as well as making me aware of the amount of time I actually spend quilting.....I'm enjoying it and it really motivates me to work on something, anything, almost every day.....it's like a blog in a book - ha, ha!  (Actually, isn't that what we used to do before blogs!)

To keep you all posted, I am still quilting Sweet Tea (taking forever, but I want to do a good job - kinda overshot my completion date), I am still hand-quilting Ditch Flowers and I am about to put the last border on the Mystery Quilt for this Friday night.  In addition I am busy designing a quilt pattern and am working on the actual quilt......so I guess you could say I'm keeping busy, staying out of trouble!

Barb noticed the other day that our linoleum floor in the kitchen and classroom is a quilt pattern - duh!  Only took her nearly 4 years!  I'm kidding but she wanted to point it out so I took a picture for her!  LOL

Back to all my projects - it's been a productive day!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

What's coming up.....

First, before I forget, we were all lucky enough to be able to share Kathy's birthday on Monday!  It was great having her here for Sit & Sew and it worked out quite well seeing as we managed to surprise her with a cake.....

...and Barb managed to put the finishing touches on her Rag Quilt which really came out nice!  She used the homespuns and chose the turquoise blue with yellow.......

Just a reminder for those who have forgotten....Barb is teaching her Beginner Paper Piecing class on Friday from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M..  The patterns are from the Tea Time book and are really cute.  There are a few spaces left if you are interested.....and this Friday night is the Applique Club meeting (Rosemary this reminder is for you!).....so hope to see you all there!

I am still busily quilting Sweet Tea and hopefully will get to the label stage this evening, if I ever go home!  I have printed out the label -

It's about half the size of an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of paper and I used Printed Treasures Fabric Sheets for Inkjet Printers to print it on.  I designed it in Microsoft Word using Clip Art for the teacup and teapot.  My plan is to place it in the back left hand corner of the quilt before I complete the quilting so that it will be stitched into the back of the quilt.  The reason for this is so that it's extremely hard to remove and becomes an integral part of the actual quilt.  In addition when I sew on the binding, before I secure it by hand, I take a Pigma Pen and write in all of the information on the quilt label.  In the event that someone decides to abscond (nice word for steal) with the quilt, they would have to take out a portion of the quilting and replace the binding to hide the original label information.......This may seem like "overkill" but, when you spend the money, time and effort to produce a "handmade" quilt it seems to me you should be the one who gets the recognition!!!!

Once I'm ready to put the label on I will show you how I place it so that the quilting secures a portion of it.

Virginia asked for more information on the "orphanage" quilts that Gillian has been working on.  Gillian has made 32 (or more) quilts for an orphanage in Bangladesh.  This is in memory of a young woman who died tragically in a car accident leaving a young baby and husband behind.  This young woman had worked in the orphanage for a period of time and Gillian took it upon herself to make quilts for all the orphans in her memory.

I am going to put some borders on a quilt before I leave tonight and then I am going home to continue my "focus" project, which is getting Sweet Tea quilted.....  Trust me, with the amount of time I have spent quilting this quilt "sweet" is not the word I have been calling it......although, I must admit I am enjoying the quilting part!  It just seems to be taking so long and I am totally obsessed with getting it DONE!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

More.....

There's always more!  Where did this week go?!?  It's sure been a busy one, for me especially.....

Monday night (after driving back from Libby's) I taught my class, Tuesday night was Underground Railroad Club, Wednesday afternoon and evening I spent with my fellow guild member (Pieceful Night Quilters Guild) making placemats for charity.  Thursday night after I closed at 8:00 P.M. I went out for dinner with Elvie, Raili and Karen and last night was our monthly Friday night Sit & Sew.  So now that I've ascertained what I've been doing I understand why I have gotten absolutely NO quilting done and why Sweet Tea is LOUDLY calling to me.....tonight?!?  I sure hope so, I miss it!....not to mention there are a few projects lined up behind it.....

Last night was great!  Julia brought her promised Potato Salad and so I had to figure out what to serve with it!  My first choice was barbecued chicken pieces but Barb pointed out that the weather was going to be "iffy", that they were calling for thunderstorms....so I opted for deli.  Rich needed to book a doctor's appointment at Dundas and Islington and since the doctors' office wouldn't answer the phone, he decided to drive down there.  On the way back we were debating where to go for the deli meat and decided La Rose Bakery on La Rose was our best option, so off we went.  I got the meats, the cheeses, the buns/rolls and dessert, a lovely Bavarian Apple Cheesecake - one stop shopping!

Back to the store, groceries put away, off to my office I toddled!  Liz showed up about a half hour later and she had stopped to pick up dessert too!  So that was great, we would have plenty of the good stuff!

Here's the reason I'm telling you this story!  Guess where Liz stopped to pick up dessert!  Yup!  La Rose Bakery on La Rose (she hadn't been there for at least 3 years)  and guess what Liz picked up for dessert, a Bavarian Apple Cheesecake!  Great minds think alike!

As usual - everyone was working on their own projects!  Jill is doing this adorable baby quilt - what a great pattern and very unusual, not babyish, colours - it looks fantastic!

Theresa is working on her blocks from the 9 Days In May class that Carolyn taught a few weeks ago!  I just love this block - and what can be done with it - check out her bright colours.....

Suzi is working on these really pretty blocks - I can't wait to see the quilt come together.......

This quilt is Liz's and she was busy putting on binding, she actually bound two large quilts last night!  This one was a Take Away Mystery we offered last fall....

The quilting was done by Karen Power of Oakville and it is just gorgeous!  A beautiful, all over design!  Karen does absolutely phenomenal quilting - you'll see quite a bit of her work in the store.  I'll give you a closer look -

Liz didn't get around to binding this one last night, she actually brought 3 to do! But we at least got to see the finished product and more of Karen's great quilting.......This quilt is one of the Mystery Quilt Classes we did this year.....

...and here's a close up of Karen's quilting!

Of course, there was a lot more going on, Gillian was busy with her quilts for the orphanage and Julia was working on a fabulous new creation!  Annadel was also very busy on a mystery quilt I think!  Barb was also busy working on a rag quilt from those gorgeous pastel homespuns, but I'll wait until it's finished (almost) before I show you a pic!

Hopefully, this evening, if nothing comes up, I will be able to get back to my Sweet Tea!  I'm really excited about getting it done!  (Then I will give you my label tip)!

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Always something......

What's truly wonderful about owning a quilt store is that there is always something happening!  I can't believe it's Thursday already...where does the time go????

Tuesday was our "Underground Railroad Club" meeting (or Tuesday night Sit & Sew - since we don't all work on the UGRRC stuff...)  As a matter of fact, Fiona has just come back from the Vermont Quilt Show where she took a great class.....check this out!

The center is the photo and the fabrics are matched to extend it.......it is soooooo cool!  Fiona has agreed to teach it for us, possibly in the Fall!  

She's also working, just finishing, this adorable pattern she picked up at the show......Isn't he cool!

 

Of course since everyone was showing off their work I was required to run home and get Sweet Tea so they could see the quilting........It's almost done, the dark pink border, the teacups and the final green border are all that's left...if I get far enough tonight when I go home I will show you all a little trick I figured out for putting on a label tomorrow!

Wednesday Carolyn was in to teach her "Bag In a Day" class, we have renamed it - the "Bag in a Minute" because it really does do up very quickly.......here are a couple of the bags the girls made.....

Kathy did my recent (April 30th) Mystery Quilt and came up with a fabulous idea!  She made a gift for her travel firiend - the girl she travels with all over the world!  In the large focus squares she has added photos of all of their trips together.....this quilt is really turning out to be a winner!

....and Linda finished her Mystery Quilt and spent the afternoon admiring her handiwork along with deciding how and with what colour to quilt it......I think she was working on something else as well......

Now I can preen a little, one of my students in the Beginner Quiltmaking class brought in her finished quilt today and it is absolutely awesome!  (I even like the quilt I designed).....Andy did an great job!

Here's her quilting on the back!  She did a wonderful job!

Liz was in today for Sit & Sew and showed me her Sweet Tea quilt blocks.......

just a little different.....

You know what they say, best laid plans - well, not so much - I may not get much quilting done tonight as Karen and Raili came by with a friend from Montreal and we're going to head out to dinner at The Big Slice on St.Clair (near Dufferin)!  I'll give you my restaurant review tomorrow.......since I've never been there, but the girls do rave about it so we shall see!

Libby called tonight and she's back in the garden (I distracted her with quilting but now she's back doing what she has to do)!  She was sitting out on that gorgeous porch talking to me when Lorenso called her in for dinner......how I miss you guys! 

Off to dinner soon, so I'll just say,

Happy Quilting (in hopes I get some done tonight!)!

Jo-Ann

I'm back...!

I really didn't want to leave!  However, I'm sure both Libby and Lorenso are happy to have their home back to themselves for awhile.....

To continue from where I left off.....Lisa finally called us to dinner Saturday night at around 9:20 P.M..  Libby and I were ready to faint from hunger but it was worth waiting for.......a Chicken Greek Salad....

After dinner we all got back to the sewing machines.....and got alot done.  I think we headed to bed around 1:00 A.M.!  Lorenso had gone fishing with Libby's dad and wasn't due back until Sunday sometime.

By the time Lisa woke up Saturday morning (11:45 A.M. - barely made the morning!)  Libby and I had been up since 7:00 or 8:00 A.M. and I had gotten in a good 2 hours of quilting while Libby was busy doing more planting....I suddenly realized I was going to run out of thread and that just wouldn't do so we decided to head off the quilt stores.....

Since Lisa was heading home Saturday afternoon, she followed us as we set out for Ella's Quilts and Joy Quilts.  I will not divulge any pertinent information however, Libby has all the fabric for her Cosmic Twist Bargello and Lisa and I have some great quilts in mind from some magazines and patterns we "saw"?!?!  I did manage to snap a few photos of Joy Quilts this time.....oh yeah, and I did get all my thread!!!

Libby is still looking for stuff.......but she was very restrained!!!!

...and Lisa saw some things she might consider on her next trip!

Libby and I said our goodbyes to Lisa and headed back to the house for another night of quilting!  She managed to finish one of her quilt tops and showed me her "natural" design wall!  Hmmm - do you think in the olden days the women used to "pin" their blocks to the log cabin walls to design their quilts - what a concept!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day all around although we did some shopping and some quilting and Lorenso came back with lots of "fish tales" (no fish mind you!)  and I talked him into making Spaghetti Alla Olio again for dinner - actually I bribed him with goodies from Bulk Barn (one of our shopping stops!)....it was delicious again!

The last photo I have is of Lorenso installing the double gate to the backyard so I said to Libby - "You're closing the gate to make sure I don't come back too soon - ha, ha!"  I think we were both pretty sad to have the visit end!  I will tell you that there was a lot of creativity last night so you'll soon see the fruits of our labours in a couple of new patterns and kits.....

This morning I packed up to leave and thought I was ahead of the black clouds but they caught up with me around London and I had rain most of the way home......

It was great to get back to the store - I feel somewhat rested although the drive pretty much did me in for today!  I will go home and get a decent nights' sleep and a hot shower (not in that order)!...and be fresh for the morning......

Before I go - Liz brought in a quilt she made for a friend of her daughters as a wedding gift.....it is absolutely gorgeous!

In the event that you don't recognize the pattern, it was the pattern I taught at our last Mystery Quilt night!  This was not the quilt that Liz made that night - she reused the pattern and added a couple of borders. I have to assume she liked the pattern!  Thanks Liz, it makes me feel good to know that these patterns get used and reused!

That's it for tonight -

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann

Yes we are!

Quilting that is......I spent the morning and afternoon yesterday hand quilting my Ditch Flowers and then Lisa and I set up our work stations after dinner.......

I need to mention here that Libby has it made - Lorenso made dinner and it was absolutely fabulous!  Spaghetti Alla Olio and Salad, not to mention a fabulous wine - Private Reserve 2007 Meritage by Peller Estates.....and he aerated it which is absolutely the coolest thing!

We then proceeded out to the front porch to watch fire flies....when was the last time you did that?  I think for me it was when I was a kid and used to catch them in a glass jar with my friends after dinner on summer nights and my friends' mom would give us cheesecloth and string to keep them in the jars but not kill them....

Anyway I digress,  Libby wanted to show Lisa how cool the star on the front of the house looks at night in the lights so proceeded to back up into the "clay" soil which is prepped for the front garden and ended up on her ass.....we all almost fell from laughing so hard!  (That's the star on the left!)

Lisa and I quilted late into the night while Lorenso and Libby retired to the "inner sanctum" to sleep!  We only raided the kitchen twice, first cheese and crackers and then we each restrained ourselves and only had a single spoonful of Chapman's Rocky Road  Frozen Yogurt (mind you they were the biggest spoons we could find in the drawer) and it was delicious!

This morning we awoke to coffee and hung out on the front porch drinking it while Lorenso (yet again) prepared breakfast, pancakes and maple syrup.....I was so tired I needed to relax and it seems somebody thought that was a neat photo op!  and dared me to put it in the blog, so here I am slacking off again!  It seems there's a video of this somewhere!

Libby and I decided to go out this afternoon (I had a nap so I was rested) and find some much needed essentials - like fabric for instance!  Our first stop was Ella Quilts, a cute little store hidden off Tecumseh Road in Tecumseh......behind the satellite store......

Check it out........

So cute and compact.....Libby found something as you can see!

Our next stop was Joy Quilts just down the road where we found a great gift for Lisa - it was her birthday last week!  It's so cute that I'm not going to show it because I think I'm going to do the same thing in the store (it's a Cat Quilt from a panel and it is adorable!).  So keep your eye on the blog you may be seeing it soon!  Forgot to take pics while we were at Joy's, was too busy chatting and helping Libby pick fabrics for a quilt - next time!  Joy is just down the road from Ella's.....

Got home and found Lisa working away on her Tessalations from the Square Dance book - she took the class with Elaine about 4 years ago at Hobby Horse and has vowed to finish the quilt (this weekend no doubt)!  I also sat down to work on Sweet Tea and am getting closer to the end - 1 frame and 3 borders to go......quilting that is!

The girls gave me lots of space to spread out and Libby set her machine up across from Lisa - once I finish quilting and start my next project (yeah right!) we'll spread out more evenly.......

By the way Lisa is supposed to be making dinner!  We aren't eating until 10:00 P.M. at this rate......

During a short break I was taken upstairs to the "inner sanctum"!  All I can say is WOW again.....check out the view (I zoomed the first pic but the second one is exactly what you see from the upstairs!)  gorgeous huh!  That's Lake St. Clair.....

Then there's the sitting area....

The bedroom area......there's a saying above the bed that reads " Always kiss me goodnight"!  So apropo!

The bathroom, jacuzzi tub.....

.....walk in shower!

....and the piece de resistance, Libby's sewing area!  So much potential here!  Live upstairs, just go down for food every once in a while - I could live like this!  Just send fabric......

Libby showed off her blocks from Carolyn Flood's - 9 Days in May class - she did 20 blocks and it is going to be awesome!

Heres one close up.....

...and another.....

This is "little" Luna - hamming it up for the camera.....

and sitting like a good girl!

...and now dinner is ready and I am being pushed off the table so I will sign off knowing that I have kept up with the blog and can have the rest of the night (really - dinner at 9:10 P.M. )- to quilt my heart out, or watch fireflies or do whatever I want......

Happy Quilting!

Jo-Ann