Happy Thanksgiving

I know a lot you like to knit and crochet so I thought I would show you this tablecloth that I now own. My mom gave it to me about 5 years ago. My grandmother made it at least 30 years ago. She made it for my mom's table and as you can see it does not fit my antique farm table. My mom always put a blue linen tablecloth underneath the crochet. I own the blue tablecloth too but I thought this year I would just put the crochet one on the table. I have not finished with the center piece because I am going to use some greenery from outside. Just something plain and simple.

My husband is off from work the rest of the week so we have lots of plans so I just want to take this time to wish you all a Beautiful and Blessed Thanksgiving Day.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.
—Psalm 9:1

With Passion, Carrie P.

Schnauzers

I know many of you have pets. Some of you have dogs, some have cats, and some have other kinds of animals. We have had cats. One time a long time ago we had four at a time. Now we have dogs. I think we will always have a dog in our house. They are such great companions. Our companions are Miniature Schnauzers. This is Charlotte who passed away two years ago. She was twelve years old. She was my buddy. If I was sewing binding on a quilt she would always come and lay on the part that would be laying on the floor. She was a lovable dog. She is missed.

Here is Cindi. She is twelve years old this year. She is quite different from Charlotte. She is not as lovable but still likes to be in the same room with me. She minds really well.
Last week I went to a store to check out all the decorations they have. This store has the most beautiful stuff. They change it all with each season. They have an upstairs that is full of Christmas ornaments. The Christmas section stays up all year. This store has thousands of ornaments made by Old World Christmas. I was checking out one tree that was full of dog ornaments and found this Schnauzer ornament. I was so excited because it was a Schnauzer with floppy ears. Most Schnauzer things have the dog with its ears cropped where they stand up straight. I think the floppy ears and the whiskers that a Schnauzer have make them such cute dogs.
I vote for a Miniature Schnauzer to move into the White House with the Obama girls. Schnauzers are hypoallergenic and they don't shed which I really like.

Of course I have to have some applique and here it is. Here is a book I own with some very cute patterns. In it a dog and cat quilt. I have not made this pattern but one day I will add the Schnauzer to a quilt. Don't you just love the purple version of a Schnauzer?


Check out Darcy Ashton's web site. She has some great animal applique books and she also has some free patterns.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Snow!

Look what I woke up to this morning in North Carolina. It is not very much snow but it is so nice to see. This is the view from my kitchen window.

This is the window in my sewing room. The sun is shining on the melting snow. It is so sparkly. You probably can't tell from the picture but it looks like the trees are wearing jewelery.

Yesterday was my beginner applique class. I have two students. One of them got her block done. They were so excited that they wanted to attempt two blocks this month. With them being true beginners I was just teaching one block a month especially at this time of year with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up soon.

Here is one of the UFOs that I was putting the binding on the other day. This pattern was from when I was in a Thimbleberries Club about eight or so years ago. I had it machine quilted by a local long arm quilter. She does some great work. It is hard to see on the front so Here is a small section of the back so you could see her work.

This wall hanging is going in the mail after Thanksgiving to a friend of mine who lives in Louisiana. She will be surprised.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Preparing for Class

Tomorrow I get to do something I love to do and that is teach a beginner applique class so today I am going to be getting ready. I am using the pattern from this Piece O' Cake book. Linda and Becky like to use needle turn and that is what this book shows. I recommend this book for beginners. This book has a lot of great ideas, tips, and pictures so you can see exactly what to do.
Here is my sample. I did the hand quilting too. With Passion, Carrie P.

Awesome Giveaway

Wow!! You should check out this giveaway. Lenna is trying to get the word out about her internet business. I guess word of mouth is the great way. I had seen this picture on some other blogs and I decided to join the crowd. It will be a nice Christmas present for someone.

With Passion, Carrie P.

This years Block of the Month

This morning I was in the mood to make and sew on binding. So that is what I have been doing today. I did a wall hanging and a large quilt. Both of them were UFO's but they were not on my list. I got them both last month from long arm quilters and they have been sitting so today was the day. I will show them when I get the binding stitched on.

I thought I would show you this years $5.00 BOM. The fabric is Shangri-la by Moda. I have one more block to make.You can see from the pictures that I have added some applique to some blocks. I will add applique to the rest of the blocks too. I go through my books and see what I like and will add it to a block.I also started machine quilting a row. The shop offered two color ways. The other one was batiks but I decided not to make that one. I am not sure of the first block with the white bias. I have not stitched it down yet. Any ideas from you all.? My daughter says that it needs something at the end of the bias. This is going back with the other UFOs until after Christmas.

Next year the shop is offering 3 color ways. Blue and white, red and white, and black and white. The shop will allow you to pick just two colors. I think I am going to do the red one and the black one.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Teaching

I am a teacher of hand applique. I love to share my passion with others. I teach at one of our local quilt shops. I have only been teaching several years and it is always great to have others get excited about applique too. I have a class of two women this Thursday.

I taught this quilt pattern when I first starting teaching. I like to teach lots of different techniques so that the student can find the one that they like. One class I even had a man come learn to applique. He and his wife quilt together.
I got one block of my number 9 UFO finished. The hand dyed wool is so pretty. I am using Aurifil 50% wool, 50% acryclic thread to stitch down the pieces. I am sorry I don't remember where I got the thread. I went to some of my favortie sites but can't seem to find it. Sue Spargo has a different brand of thread in lots of colors.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Busy Days

Yesterday and today have been busy days for me. I am sitting here writing this blog as I watch the Lawarence Welk show on pbs. Does anyone else like to watch it? We don't have cable TV by choice so our channels are limited. I just love the old music. It brings back a lot of memories. And those dancers! Those are the original dancing stars. My daughter gets a kick out of the costumes and hairdos.

Back to reality. My Fridays are usually spent cleaning house and washing clothes which I did but I decided to put all my summer clothes away and get out my winter clothes. I figured it was time since it going to get pretty cold next week. I also had to get ready for a workshop our guild was holding today.

I learned how to make a fat quarter bag. The pattern is from Fat Quarter Quilts by M'Liss Rae Hawley. There was 15 of us and as usual it was great fun to see every one's fabric choices. It takes 6 fat quarters and 2 yards for the lining and handles. It was a 4 hour workshop and most of us finished. I would have finished but my needle broke a half hour before we were to leave so I finished mine at home. I was great to finish something so quickly. These are great to carry your quilt in to a guild meeting for show and tell.

Yesterday I mentioned the Perfect Circles by Karen Kay Buckley. I had the privileged of taking a class with her a couple of years ago. She is a great teacher. I have this book. She shows you how to make dimensional flowers and bugs in this book.

I highly recommend taking classes from many different applique teachers if you have the opportunity. I have taken classes from five different teachers and I always learn something new. I can say that I felt like I got my moneys worth in each of those classes.

Check out the Nov. 12 entry on the Piece O' Cake blog on tranporting your applique pieces.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Preparation

Yesterday I took several hours and prepared some pieces for applique. Some of it is fabric and some is wool. I like to do this sometimes just so I am ready to applique.
I wanted to share a picture of these scissors with you. The blue handled one is from Clover and the other pair is Gingher. What is special about them is that the blades are serrated. Really tiny serrated blades.These are my favorite to cut out little applique pieces. The fabric does not slip as you cut.
I thought I would share my favorite way to make perfect circles. If you have not tried these you need to go to your local quilt shop and get these. They are templar circles from Karen Kay Buckley. There are four of each size. She also has produced larger circles too. No more cutting out cardboard circles which never ending up being perfect.
Trace the circle on the wrong side of the fabric. I also like to use a sandpaper board to trace on fabric. It holds the fabric in place really well.
With a knotted thread you will sew a running stitch midway through the seam allowance. It is sort of like a yo-yo except you don't turn over the seam allowance. Hopefully you can see some of the circles with the thread running through it. After I do that then take the circle and place it in the center of the fabric and pull the thread across the circle and hold it tightly. Then I take magic sizing and spray some in a small cup. It will turn into liquid in a few seconds. Take a paint brush and paint the seam allowance.
Take a hot iron (I like the Clover iron) and place on the edges to dry the sizing. Turn it over and iron the front side. Sometimes the sizing will get on the front. Let it cool and then pull out the circle and there you have a perfect circle.
As you can see from the photo above I sewed a lot of the edges on the circles. I did that while I was watching tv last night. With 4 templar circles I do one, let it cool, and work on the next one. Let it cool and do the next one. In no time they are done. They are perfect.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Goodies

I received my cottage blocks in the mail the other day. They are all so great. I don't have an idea on how to set the blocks yet and I know it won't be made into a quilt this year. I do know that there will be trees and snow. I will probably just keep them up on my design wall and admire them for a while. A BIG Thank you to Terri and Nanette for hosting this swap!

The same day I got the blocks I got another package from my blogging friend Stephanie. She is always making fantastic bags and she sent me one. Isn't it beautiful!? She also sent me the last cottage in the group.Here is another block finished for my tree skirt. I am working on the other two bird blocks.

Check out Pat Sloan's web site for a bunch of free patterns.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Guild meeting

The guild meeting last night was great fun. Our guest speaker was Karen Comstock. She had some great quilts. I am showing some of her applique quilts. She is a designer of her own patterns. They are so great. She brought a trunk show of some her quilts. You know it is always nicer to see them in person.

These little panels were such a neat idea. She even sells the little stands to mount the panels in them.

Last night those that are participating in the UFO challenge brought what they had done. It was fun to see. There were two people who finished their UFOs and I was one of them. We both earned 50 points. Each month the person with the most points can win a prize. Well, since there were two of us, our names were put in a drawing and I won.
This is what I won. It is wool on fabric. It is hard to read but it says dreams on it in blue. It also has little blue beads sewn on it . It was made by a former member. Here is what my UFO list looks like. Someone asked about the process so I wanted to show you how it works. I made my list of UFOs I wanted to work on and our leader picked a number and the first number was 4 and last night she picked the number 9. This is what number nine looks like so far. Not much done. One block. The finished size of the quilt is 18"x 24". All I have cut out are the background pieces. The background pieces are flannel and then the applique pieces are wool. See my stack of wool? Isn't it beautiful. I have been collecting it for several years now. Can't wait to get started on this one.
With Passion, Carrie P.

Finished

Yahoo!! I finished my UFO just in time for our guild meeting tonight. It turned out pretty well. It is my daughter's quilt now. She just wanted a small quilt. That is why there are no more borders added. This is the first time I have not really added bigger borders. I even put a label on it. What number on my UFO list will chosen tonight? I will let you know.

Last week I mentioned that I like using my crock pot. Look at this new cookbook I found. I had seen the ads in some quilting magazines but I did not want to pay $30.00 for it. I found it Sam's for $18.47. I tried my first recipe from it last week. Apple-Nut Bread Pudding on page 600. I actually halved the recipe and made it in a small crock pot. It was delicious but it is a desert you want to eat right away because the texture changes as it gets cool.



Here is another applique pattern from Barbara Dieges for you to make.


With Passion, Carrie P.

Another Cottage Idea

Here is another idea for laying out your cottage blocks for those of you in the exchange. For those of you that might just have house blocks lying around this is a great way to finally make a quilt. The lady who made the snowman quilt in yesterday's post made this quilt too. Check out the machine quilting on the trees.

I will be away from my computer until Monday. Have a great week-end.

With Passion, Carrie P.

More Show and Tell

It's a beautiful day in North Carolina. I think the leaves are at peak in our area and the sky is so blue today. It is glorious!

Our fabulous facilitator brought these little treasures for show and tell yesterday to our applique group. The ones in the picture frames are wool with antique buttons that she collects. Her mother did the embroidered pumpkin. It is going to be made into a pillow.





These were done by one of the ladies in the group. The pumpkin quilt is being used as a table topper. It is beautiful. The block is from a BOM that she is getting. Her applique is beautiful too.






The next picture is of a table runner that another lady has made. It is wool on fabric and she is in the process of hand quilting it.








This last picture is of a snow man that we all did last year. I will show you mine later when I bring out for winter.Here is a free block pattern you could do for a Christmas quilt. Just a little applique. http://www.quilttownusa.com/mom/block.htm With the new fabrics that we have I think it would make a beautiful quilt even though it is so simple.

With Passion, Carrie P.