Primrose Night, Getting Ready for the Quilt Show and January 28th Quilt Celebration!

It was Primrose Night on Tuesday.  Every year, Larry Wilson sends primroses for all of us quilters.  Such a sweet tradition.  Thank you, Larry!

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The quilt show is ever on our minds now with only a month to go!  Donations of things to sell in the Country Store are pouring in....here are a couple that we looked at on Tuesday.  And Marla also brought houses made by her husband Dick.  They have lights in them, and are amazing.  You can see them there on the table.

Spring Applique Sampler

Sons of Norway Sampler

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And Joyce brought her "Affairs of the Heart" quilt to celebrate.  Such a beautiful piece!  She told us about the fabric she used for the border hearts, which she found at WalMart!

Beautiful work, Joyce!

We celebrated Connie Taylor's art of the same pattern last August.  The thing both of them said is that they were very glad to have them completed!  Here's Connie's again:

Happy Quilting!!

At long last.....

Maggie gave Boomer his Settlers of Catan quilt!  So we are now free to post her celebration picture and one of him with his quilt!

The story behind this one is that when Maggie got going on hexagons, she decided to use them to make a copy of a favorite game -- Settler of Catan.  She and her brother, Boomer, have enjoyed playing it for many years.  So, she found fabrics that closely represented the variety of tiles used in the game, sewed them all together, hand quilted it and also quilted into the "water" a ship and a sea monster, just as the games displays.
Boomer was delighted with it and they'll soon be playing the game on the quilt!

This was taken just after he opened it at his birthday party.

Beautiful work, Maggie!

January 21st Quilt Celebration!

Last night we celebrated my Sunbonnet Sue quilt, which is the one I was working on when I first came to In-Stitches over 2 years ago.  Here are some pictures of it with photos of my mom and her aunt, who pieced and appliqued the top in the 1930s.  I'm including the text from my label which tells the story of the quilt.

Sunbonnet Sue & Overall Sam

Helen Moe (December 8, 1895 – March, 1948) the maternal aunt of my mother, Winifred Brown Thompson (February 25, 1931 – February 28, 2005) made this quilt as a gift for her when Mom was about 7 years of age. It was treasured for years, both at home and at our family cabin in Pinecrest, California. After the sale of the cabin in the late 1970s, the quilt disappeared for several years, then resurfaced again in 2006 when I found it in my grandfather's barn. As can be imagined, it was in great need of cleaning and restoration.

When I took it apart, I discovered that the batting was a flannel sheet on which old woolen sweaters had been stitched after being taken apart. One of them had been my uncle's, another my mother's – very much a product of the Depression.

I soaked the top and backing in Oxi-Clean to remove dirt and stains, which worked beautifully. The original construction was tied, and had turned in edges with no binding. The tying had left holes in the top which I repaired with small pieces cut from the edges of the top and bottom borders. Some of the appliqued pieces had frayed and the buttonhole stitching had been lost, so I repaired as many of those as I could without replacing any of the original fabrics.

After the repair work was finished and the quilt reassembled, I hand-quilted around each figure and block, and then at the urging of many of my quilt group friends, cross-hatched the blocks and borders and used a twisted rope pattern between and around the outside of the blocks. The only things not original to the quilt are the cotton batting and the binding, which is a reproduction fabric close in color to the original 1930s green.

Truly, this has been a labor of love and will be treasured for years to come.

Top and back pieced and appliqued by

Helen Moe ~ Circa 1938 ~ Berkeley, California

Restored and hand-quilted by

Debbie MacInnis ~ 2011-2014 ~ Chehalis, Washington

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Thank you to all of you who have been so encouraging through these years, and for giving me good advice and suggestions throughout the process.  I'm pleased with the results!

"Retreat" Celebration!

We had a wonderful treat on Saturday with an unexpected celebration.  Geralyn brought her "Farmer's Wife" quilt to share.  It's been in the works for a couple of years, and boy, was it worth the wait!

Incredible, Geralyn!

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And we also had a fashion show with Maggie modeling Cynthia Taylor's mother's wedding gown from the 1940s.  It is made out of a silk parachute!

It will be displayed with other wedding dresses
in our "Wedding Ring Quilt" exhibit at the quilt show.
But it won't have Maggie in it!

January 14th Quilt Celebrations!

Are we getting ready for the quilt show, or what?!?

Joann shared these 3 bright and beautiful flower quilts.

Nice work, Joann!

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Joan brought this beauty, made for her sister Valerie.

"What Happens in Dallas, Stays in Dallas"

Another stunning Jacob's Quilt.

Beautiful, Joan!

Happy Quilting!!

"Almost" Roca Toffee Cookies

Here is the recipe for Sharon Hatch's cookies!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 sleeves saltine crackers
1 package Toll House chocolate chips
1 cup chopped cashews or walnuts

Directions:

• Heat butter and sugar on stove until bubbly and brown (caramelized).
• Lay saltines out on a buttered piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet.
• Quickly and evenly pour caramelized sugar over crackers, using a pastry brush to smooth.
• (Note: The cooler the sugar gets the harder it is to spread.)
• Place sugared crackers in overn at 360 degrees for 8-10 minutes until bubbly.
• Remove from oven and pour package of chocolate chips evenly over crackers.
• With a spatula, coat the crackers.
• The chocolate will easily spread after a few miinutes.
• Sprinkle chopped nuts over top and press down with wax paper and refrigerate.
• Break into squares and serve.

January 7th Quilt Celebrations!

Well, I'd say we were back with a vengeance tonight!!  What fun!  It was so good to see everyone again, and what a wonderful array of quilts to share!

Sharon started us off with her first appliqued quilt.  So wonderfully colorful!

And she also showed us a beaded piece of an Indian woman.  So lovely.

I'm sorry to not have gotten a close-up of it.

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Then Pat shared two of hers.

I regret I can't remember the name of this one,

but isn't it a fun one to just sit and contemplate the pattern?

Beautiful border treatment!

And then this is a tumbler made to

show off a pantograph pattern she purchased.

The colors are so comfortable.

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Carolann shared two with us, as well.

The first is from the $5 club at Quilter's Junction

and became a memorial quilt for Tony, her husband.

It is such a beautiful piece.

And then this one, which she calls Baptist Fan

because of the quilting pattern Barb used on it.

It's a wonderful nine-patch and rails, something I would like to do.  Someday.  :-)

Both are lovely, Carolann.

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Joan shared her Pavers with us, made for her 7 year old granddaughter.

Do I have that right?  The colors are great!

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Then Theresa shared two with us.

The first is her 2005 Shop Hop quilt, which she is giving to Linus.

It's so cheerful and pretty.  She hopes a young girl will get it.

And then this one depicts her young adult life in school

and her first oil company jobs.

I particularly liked the names of musical artists around the outside border.

I recognized a lot of them, too.

Fun ones, Theresa.

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And then Geralyn brought Virginia's quilt to show and to be passed to some of the last people who will contribute to the quilting.  Isn't it just lovely?

Geralyn, you've done a fabulous job of coordinating this!

Happy Quilting!!

December 17th Quilt Celebrations!

As you can see, I'm pretty well behind it here!  But here they are, at last......

June shared this darling table topper, done in red and brown this time.

I really like this pattern!

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Theresa shared several quilts.  She had two family quilts that she's been working on from the pile originating from her mother-in-law.  She's getting them done!

And a cute nine-patch!

And a Sister's donation revamp!

I like this and am so glad the sailboats went to another top!

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Then Susy shared her Cowboy outfits she's making for her grandkids.

Cute, cute!!

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Sharon brought this amazing creation which is photos of her husband's handmade kaleidoscope and actual pictures of images from inside.  It was a collaborative effort of Sharon piecing and her husband quilting.  Very cool!

Happy Quilting!!!