HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Here it is!!!  All finished!!!

 Brandy quilted it and I got it bound on Monday and hung it on my wall 2 days before Halloween.

I love it, I had so much fun making this quilt.

I used tiny yellow buttons for all the bats eyes, all the backgrounds for the bats and the house blocks are all different fabrics.  I used a bell charm for my school bell.  I fussy cut an owl from fabric for the window of the barn.  I fussy cut pumpkins for the pumpkins next to the school.  I fussy cut ghosts for the windows of the door at the school.  I had black fabric that I used for the fence at the school, I think it looks like chain link.  I changed all the green to light green.  I fussy cut pumpkins for the pumpkins hanging from the tree and the black bird.  I used brick fabric for the chimney, pavement fabric for the sidewalks, fabric that looks like dirt in front of the barn, and I love the fabric on the side of the barn, it has spiders on it.  

The sashing fabric has spider webs on it.  

AND I sewed door handles on the school doors that are eyes from old fashioned hooks and eyes.

Check out www.quiltcompany.com to see how the designer made her quilt

 or to order the pattern and/or accessory fabric packet.

I made Apricot Jam in my crockpot today from dried apricots, 

check back for the recipe, I will post that next.

As promised here is my "Sew Spooky" quilt (not finished yet) so far.

If you are not familiar with this quilt check out www.quiltcompany.com to see the designers finished quilt, purchase the pattern and/or the Accessory Fabric Packet.

I still have 3 borders to do; pieced candy corn, candy corn fabric and applique bats.

When I started working on this quilt, I didn't like the darker green that the designer had used and I decided to change my quilt to a lighter green, I found some orange in my stash with cobwebs and decided to use that for the sashing, I knew I had brick and stone fabric for the paths and chimney.  When I was working on the barn the pattern said to use a owl button for the window, I found fabric in my stash with owls and fussy cut the window with the owl in it.  My brown fence fabric looks like wood.  And when I got to the school I found fabric in my stash that looked like a mesh fence and fussy cut the pumpkins from fabric and the windows in the door with ghosts and one of the cutest things in this quilt is the handles on the school door are from old fashioned hooks and eyes..  The quilt on the first block, door of barn, windows of school and witches house, "Ghoul School", "Haunted Barn" signs and the witches feet path are all from the Fabric Accessory Packet.

I'm not trying to sell this designers pattern, I just like to do scrappy quilts, and I like to share what I am working on with my friends.  I've had more fun working on this quilt.

 Please check back later to see the finished quilt. 

Happy Halloween Quilting!!!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!

The winner from my blog tour is Jeanenne Nielsen.  Please email me with your address so I can send you out your new book "Springtime in the Rockies"

My friend Jen Atkinson gave me some peaches the other day, so I made some Spicy Peach Honey.  My family loves this stuff, so I thought I would share this recipe.  I found this recipe in a very old cookbook over 30 years ago.  For you young people, before pectin was on the market, you would have to cook jam for about 20 minutes, it would be very hard for me to make this jam without scorching the pan. So I finally adapted this recipe to the slow cooker.  Now it cooks in the slow cooker all day, my house smells wonderful, and it never scorches. Here's the recipe:

Spicy Peach Honey

6 pounds Peaches
9 cups Sugar
1 Tblsp. Lemon Juice
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Cloves
(or if I have it I use 3 tsp. Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus)

Cook peaches in hot water for 1 minute, place in cold water and remove skins and pits, place in food processor and process until smooth.  Measure peaches (should be about 9 cups) place peaches and equal amount of sugar in large crockpot, add lemon juice and spices, stir well.  Cook on medium for 6 to 8 hours.  (Or boil in stockpot on stove for 20 minutes).  Pour hot mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, seal.  Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.  (I've even put the lids and rings on and turned upside down on the counter, on a towel, and they seal because its so hot, you could even try putting in freezer containers and putting in the freezer, I haven't tried that)  Makes 6 to 7 pints.

Here is the quilt I've been working on for a few weeks, on and off.    I found this pattern in the magazine "Quilt Sampler" Fall/Winter 2011.  The picture of the quilt is on the very last page, they call it Extra, Extra and the pattern is inside on Pattern Sheet 2.  I made this totally from scraps that I had, I love to make my quilts as scrappy as I can.  I used 23 different orange fabrics and 23 different black fabrics for the half square triangles. My quilter is on vacation this week, and I'm not sure how long it will take to get it quilted, so I've just posted the quilt unquilted.

My current project is the Halloween quilt called "Sew Spooky" from The Quilt Company. Just about every magazine on the market is advertising this quilt as a block of the month from different quilt stores.  I am making it very scrappy, I will post pictures as I get each block done, so check back to see how it is coming along.

Thank you to the two people who pointed out that I had the wrong quilt shop listed in my last blog.  I apologize to Quilters Haven. The picture of the quilt was taken at Quilters Haven not Elaines.

And Jeanenne Nielsen is the winner from my blog hop if she could please email me her address so I can send her the free book, Springtime in the Rockies.  Thanks for all your comments.  Still working on my orange and black quilt.  Hope to have it finished Monday.

My dear friends Mashelle Preston and Michelle Hansen & I went on the Pumpkin Parade Shop Hop here in Utah.  We drove from Spanish Fork to Logan, Utah and back, stopped in 7wonderful quilt shops on the way and had a wonderful day.  We bought fabric, patterns, magazines and books, tasted wonderful goodies, saw some old friends along the way, spent too much money, and wished we had more money to spend.  But, the best part was just getting away from home and spending the day with friends.  I love finding new recipes, so I want to share a couple of recipes that I tasted along the way.  The first one is:

Pumpkin Fudge from My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe in Logan, Utah

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tblsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 (12 oz.) pkg. white chocolate chips
1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir together first 6 ingredients in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.

Cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234 degrees (soft-ball stage), or for about 12 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, stir in remaining ingredients until well blended.  Pour into a greased aluminum foil lines 9-inch square pan.  Let stand for 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares.

Yummy!

Next recipe is from American Quilting for Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Mix the following in a bowl then set aside -
1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 cups oatmeal

In a mixing bowl, cream
1 cube butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Add -
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin

Add dry ingredients.  Mix by hand until barely blended.
Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips.

Place in small scoops onto a baking sheet that has parchment paper for best results.
Makes 50 small cookies.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Sorry, this is the only picture I took on the shop hop. (my daughter wasn't with me, with her camera)

This was a free pattern at Quilters Haven (in Bountiful, Utah) and they didn't have a picture with the pattern so I had to take a picture on my phone, its an orange, purple and black foundation paper pieced tabletopper, I also received  a free pattern for a Pumpkin Parade Pin Keeper, and several pumpkin tablerunners and tabletoppers.

I'm diffently in the mood for fall and pumpkins, I just wish it would cool off her in Utah, its still in the 80's which is very hot for us, this time of the year.  Check back later, I'm working on a black and orange table topper, I'll post pictures when I get it done.

This quilt was a block of the month pattern last year from American Quilting here in Utah.  My friend Brandy Mascher took the class and got about 2 1/2 rows done and paid me to finish it.  And she just quilted it and gave it to me to bind yesterday.  This was a fun quilt to work on, lots of different techniques, the applique' was my favorite part.  I'll miss this quilt, have to visit it at Brandy's house.

This is a pattern from Ribbon Candy Quilts (Summer Skinnies), Margie is a good friend of mine, love her patterns.  I got this ice cream fabric (the border) from Ebay.  I made 4 of these.  One for me, 3 for friends and family.  Just got these back from Brandy yesterday also.

I just had to share this cute little penguin also, actually finished him in July, found this border fabric on Ebay.  Pattern is also from Ribbon Candy Quilts (Winter Skinnies) but my daughter had the idea to add the scarf to our penguin. Brandy Mascher also quilted this skinny.

I wanted to share this baby quilt that I made for a friend at church. I got the pattern from ModaBakeShop.com, I think last year.  And I had leftover bug fabric from making my boys "bugs in a jar quilts" when they were little.  Glad to finally find a use for all that bug fabric.  If you look closer you can see writing on the white fabric.  All the girls in our Young Womens group signed their name on this quilt.  I just got this quilt back from my quilter, Brandy Mascher, yesterday.

Thanks for letting me share my quilts with you.