Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween!

Story County is safe tonight!
Remember Max? He is all decked out, greeting trick or treaters in Chicago at Brook's front door.

It's a tradition - - -

An annual tradition of the Ladies of the Lake Quilt Retreat is the photo booth. And, by "booth" we mean a stool in front of the retreat quilt. Here are a few from the first group.










Monday, October 26, 2015

Pump up the Pumpkin!

Lonnie's Pumpkin Bars
4 eggs
2 C sugar
1 C cooking oil
2 C pumpkin (15 oz can)
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t sale
2 t cinnamon
Combine all and mix until moist. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Spread on greased 11" x 15" pan. Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and frost.
Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
12 T softened butter
1 T cream
1 t vanilla
4 C powdered sugar (or to consistency)
Mix and beat until creamy.

Pumpkin Latte
1 cup almond or coconut milk
1/2 cup coffee
1/4 cup pumpkin
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Makes about a mug and a half. Is a nice treat!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Friday, October 23, 2015

Not too shabby!

These are small wall hangings, 12" x 18" each. Shabby Fabrics has designed one for each month plus a few extras for special occasions. Each pattern features the 3 pinwheel blocks across the bottom edge.

Lonnie K. made these two for us. She is working up a snowman sample next. Aren't these just cute? I love them.

Little hard to see on our background but, notice the pumpkin hanger on the pumpkin quilt. A perfect coupling, don't you think?

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

October Quilt Circle of Friends

At our meeting this month, we were back in our circle in the shop with our focus on Show and Tell!
Deb S. started us off with this flannel Wonky Stars quilt. It will be a gift for a new step father coming into the family.

Deb also made this red, white and blue quilt below. Both of these patterns came from Missouri Star Quilts.


She used up a lot of left over pieces to make the back for her quilt.

Deb is making several of these quilts using the Sliced Layer Cake pattern, also from Missouri Star Quilts.

Then Nancy H. showed us this table runner gift she made. The pinwheels are folded to be dimensional.

Nancy is also just finishing the binding on this cute baby quilt featuring 1930s repro fabrics.

Theresa H. has been telling us about this class she took and now she has the quilt top done. Isn't this pretty?

and another fun back.

Some of the group members are working on a row quilt challenge featuring animal blocks. Margaret B. has these two done.

Trish S. made this quilt for a wedding gift. Study it a bit and you will notice the smaller strip has been cut and flipped upside down to create this fun little quilt.

Joyce S. shared this fun quilt. It's a technique she picked up at the Des Moines AQS show. We all aaawed over this fun stripe.

Marti K. shared this whole cloth quilt. Below are two close ups so you can better see the intricate machine quilting.



And another by Marti. This was a challenge quilt she made for a county fair. 

The challenge was to use a recognizable amount of this fabric on the front of the quilt.
This is the original design she created.This picture does not do it justice. The flowers are cut from the fabric, broiderie perse style. The small pink dots are actually crystals that have been fused on.
 
She couched all of this ribbon to create the border effect. The design, the colors, the craftsman ship and the machine quilting are all exquisite and she got a red ribbon!!! We all wonder how that could have happened.

Diane W. shared this quilt she made with her daughter for a charity. It's called a Liberated Log Cabin. She loved the technique and found it was indeed liberating.

Following Show and Tell, I laid out my progress on our Row Quilt challenge and talked about options. Since I was the picture taker of the evening, I did not get pictures of that! Oh well - - -

Lonnie K. provided refreshments - pumpkin bars and apple cider - Say hello to fall!

It's always a fun filled evening with my Quilt Circle of Friends!