Super Weekend!

Our Super January Sale Ends today!  Sale fabric - $5 a yard. Sale Fat Quarters, $1.95 each or 10 for $15! 

Hearty Vegetable Beef Soup

I love all soups but this is one of my favorites. 

Start by cutting about 1# of round steak in bite size chunks and brown in a soup pot in about 1 T. Olive Oil. I sometimes use ground beef.

Next stir in 1/2 chopped onion and 1 C chopped carrots. Let those sweat for about 10 minutes. Add about 1 C rough chopped cabbage.

Then add a 28 oz size can of whole tomatoes. I like to give the tomatoes a rough chop before adding.

Now let the tomatoes tenderize the steak for about 15 minutes, cooking on low.

Finish it off by adding 1/4 t pepper, 1/2 t chili powder, 2 Bay Leaves, 2 T brown sugar, a small can of un-drained green beans , a small can of un-drained corn, a 32 oz box of beef bouillon and a can of tomato soup.

Simmer slowly for about 4 hours, and then add 2 peeled and chopped potatoes. Simmer another hour or until it thickens a bit.

Salt to taste. I like to wait for salt as bouillon can sometimes add enough salt flavor.

Sunday Sewday, Part II

This is part II of my Sunday Sewday. I made this quick pair of pajama pants from the new Stella Designs flannel. Really easy and really comfy!

Sunday Sewday!

I started my day doing a little cleaning. Garrison Keillor comes on the radio at noon though, so I try to be in the sewing room by then.

This is a super simple heart block. Quilt Circle of Friends recently used this block pattern for an exchange. 

Everyone used the same red to help keep the project blended. The other two colors we each used were selected from a word search game we played and everyone paired their colors with white.

Here's a holiday table topper I made with a few of the blocks.

And here is a table runner I designed using just two of the blocks.

Super Weekend in Adel

We will be closed, as always, on Super Bowl Sunday. However, we have our own Super Weekend planned for you!

Our Bargain Shelf has just been re-stocked AGAIN with lots of new selections. Regular price is $10.99 and up. Bargain Shelf price is $6 a yard but, through Saturday, shop the Bargain Shelves  at just $5 a yard. That is nearly 60% off! No minimum cuts this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Plus, we've added another basket full to our Clearance Fat Quarter selection - $1.95 each or 10 for $15.

More? Come in on Friday to say Happy Birthday to Lonnie and have a birthday cupcake!

Updated Newsletter

See the Spring 2015 Newsletter on the website now.

Strip Club is back!

Here it is - - - all done this time. This is our next Strip Club project, starting in March. This project will run for 6 months. For $18 a month, come in any time during the month to pick up pre-cut strips to build this entire Full size quilt, including binding.

Choose to do this quilt in Brights (shown above)

or Kansas Troubles prints

 or grey and yellow tones.

To make this into a Queen size quilt, just add a border.

Registration opens today.

Visit us in Adel! Tell us "Happy Local Quilt Shop Day" and receive 20% off one item. Saturday, January 24. Hours 10 am to 5 pm.

Announcing!!

We have just been authorized to release pictures of the new fabric designed specifically for the 2015 All Iowa Shop Hop!

We will start taking orders in April or May and fabric can go home with you June 1 or later.

What do you think of this?

Lots of new fabric coming in - - -

Cotton kids prints - not flannel.

This panel actually makes a soft book.

Fun farm fabric

New selection of civil war repro fabrics

Classic Red and Blacks

The two pieces on the right end just came in to join the rest of this elegant grouping.

and pink ribbons on a batik!

Quilt Circle Reminder

Tonight is our Quilt Circle of Friends Holiday Party at the Adel Library, 6 pm.

Bring:

• Exchange snowball blocks if missed November meeting
• 3 Heart blocks for gift exchange
• Salad to share
• 6 - 5" squares of Christmas fabric for game
• Archive Get Er Done Challenge Quilt

Sunday Sewday?

How about Friday, Saturday and Sunday Sewday? I was invited to join 6 other quilters for a weekend of stitching at a friends home. Here is just some of the progress:

 Jan was happy to put the final borders on this block of the month quilt by Bonnie Hunter that she started several years ago.

Nancy was making this darling cupcake quilt for a young lady going to culinary school.

 Abbie was very focused and productive this weekend. She finished this quilt top, a block of the month featuring Judy Rothermel fabrics.

 This is another block of the month she is working on. This one, from Hoop Girls, is all done on the embroidery machine.

Janet finished up this Jelly Roll quilt, started by her step-son.

She also whipped up this quilt top, a kit from Posh Fibers.

 Using some of the donated blocks from our Ladies of the Lake Quilt Retreat, Sue put together this comfort quilt.

Gloria, fairly new at quilting, worked hard on this quilt all weekend. When I left this evening, she was putting on the borders. Nice job!

I started the weekend with some catch-up, putting binding on two large quilts and finishing up a stack of exchange blocks. Then I moved on to these.

These small quilts, from the book Cozy Quilts, combine wool and cotton. We plan to feature them in a "small quilt of the month" program starting soon.

Special thanks to our hostess for converting her living room into a great sewing space. What a fun week-end get away!

New from French General - Petite Prints in dark reds and dark tans. Very pretty in person.

The Run Around Bag

Love this hobo style bag. Hangs easily from the shoulder and has inside pockets, of course! I added the ruched flower just for a little splash.

Another great magazine this way comes!

Mark your calendar!

Quilts and More Spring goes on sale 2/3/15 and will ship to quilt shops at the end of January. It's filled with all the inspiration you need from the top designers in the industry along with step-by-step instructions, how-to photos, diagrams and size charts to feed your creative souls. Here is a sneak peek at the Spring issue of Quilts and More. 

New Magazine!

New from the publishers of Block comes Mod Block. It should be in the shop by the first of February and, if it sells like Block, it will be out of the shop by the next day! Call to reserve your copy - $5.95 plus tax.

Holy Scrap!

This is a quilt I saw on Pinterest. It's called Holy Scrap!

Let's make this the year of the scrappy quilt. "Scrappy New Year!"

Every time you cut a fabric, cut one 2 1/2" strip and stitch it to another. Pay absolutely no attention to the color or style of fabric you add. Just cut a strip from whatever is on the cutting table and stitch it to the previous strip.

Make strip sets of 4 strips each and set aside until you have accumulated several.

I'll do the same and post an occasional pic. Then we will see where that takes us!

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you make a scrap quilt? One strip at a time.

Low Carbing Among Friends

Recipe courtesy George Stella’s “Real Food Real Easy” Cookbook

Prep Time 15 mins / Serves 4

Shopping List
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
2⁄3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons chunky salsa
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 avocados

1. Fold chicken, sour cream, salsa, cilantro, and lime juice together in a large bowl, shredding chicken with a fork until your desired consistency is reached.

2. Cover and refrigerate chicken salad for 30 minutes for the ingredients and flavors to mingle, or skip to the next step to serve immediately.

3. When you are ready to serve, slice the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pit. Use each half as a serving bowl for 1 person, stuffing chicken salad into the empty pit cavity and then mounding heaping spoonfuls over top of the entire surface of the avocado half. Serve garnished with fresh cilantro.

Variation | Give the salad more texture by adding 2 tablespoons of diced green bell pepper or a few teaspoons of diced jalapeño pepper, if you like spice. You can also serve topped with shredded Cheddar jack cheese and chopped bacon for even more great flavors!

calories:395 | fat: 15g |protein: 55g| fiber:3g |net carbs:3g

Open Sew This Week!!!!!!I

It's this week! Join us at the Adel Library Thursday and/or Friday - 10 am until the last stitch goes in!

Sunday Sewday!

Send me pictures of your Sunday Sewday!

I have 2 spots reserved for January long-arm quilting so, was motivated to finish up these two quilts.  

It's challenging to get a good picture of a large quilt in my sewing room but, it's just too cold to go outside for a photo shoot.

When these are back from The Threaded Quilting Studio, I will post better pics.

This bright full-size quilt will be our next Strip Club project, probably starting in March. Pick up pre-cut strips each month to build this quilt called Morse Code.  Choose to do yours in Brights (shown above), Kansas Troubles (darker country prints) or Grey with Yellow. 

This is a shop sample using flannel layer cakes (10" pre-cut squares). I had originally planned to use one of the leaf prints for the border but tried  plaid and really like it. It's a little bit unexpected and plaid seems to be a big in fashion this winter. Here's a great guy quilt for you!

New Fabrics

These two groupings above are all flannels. Nice quality from Timeless Treasures.

And this selection of elegant fabrics, also from Timeless Treasures. These are a must see. Even prettier in person.

Deal of the Month!!

Check out our Deal of the Month - on the website now!

Dear Friends - - - - -