Here we go - retreat #1, day 1 - 2015!

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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!

The year was 1982 - - -

Happy Birthday, Willow Ruby!

Midnight Masquerade

It's in the house now. Cute panels and an assortment of "Howloween" fat quarters.

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?

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!

Zucchini Quiche

Quiche always reminds me of the time I came home and told my husband that I had been out to lunch with friends and had quiche. He responded, "Quiche?! Isn't that raw fish?"

ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing
1 1/4 pounds zucchini, thinly sliced
4 eggs
1 cup shredded Gruyere
1/2 cup half-and-half

directions

1. Grease 9-inch pie dish. In skillet, melt 3 tbsp. butter over medium-high; add zucchini. Cook, stirring, 3 minutes; drain in colander. In bowl, season remaining ingredients; whisk to combine. Spread half of zucchini in dish; top with egg mixture and remaining zucchini. Bake at 425 degrees until set, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.

See how they grow!

Olivia and Calvin, age 2 and Jackson age 4. Oh, and Willow and Seth -  age 30 something. 

Love this!

Reminder: We do not sell anything you "need". We only sell what you want because -- - - see #10.

Sunday Sewday

This is what I worked on last Sunday - - - - 

Jenny O made this cute holiday runner for a shop sample. It's a large one, about 30" x 55".  I machine quilted it and decided it needed a red rhinestone in the center of each block. It's back to Jenny now for binding. This is a pattern from Quilter By Night and we will have it in both pattern and kit. 

I also took a couple minutes to whip up this fun baby crib blanket from 2 yards of flannel. Julia bundled up several of these kits in a variety of fun, bright flannels. 

New Shop Sample

We are starting to feature a line of patterns from Shabby Fabrics. They are each 12" x 18" so perfect to change out each month.

There is at least one for each month. Lonnie made this adorable pumpkin for October. We have these in both patterns and kits. Isn't that the perfect display hanger?

Gift Certificate Drawing!

As part of the Row by Row Experience, we offered a drawing for $20 gift certificates for sharing your email address with us. It took a while to get all of the tickets together in one pot for drawing as we entered the addresses into our system but, we are ready to draw now and excited to post the winners!

Carol Piziali - Adel, IA

Beth Lemon - Dallas Center IA

Barbara Mezera

Jan Cummings - Ames IA

Arlene MacDonald - Green Bay, WI

Congratulations gals and once again - - - Thank you to all who visited us in Adel. We are already looking forward to Row by Row 2016!

Covered Bridge Festival!

What a perfect week-end for the Covered Bridge Festival in Winterset!  

While there, don't miss the quilt show sponsored by the local Covered Bridge Quilters at the Winterset Elementary school, very near the huge vintage car show.

We're open until 5 pm today so, swing by on your way to and from.

Both the festival and the quilt show continue through Sunday.

Search and Share

Someone left an anonymous message on the shop phone recently, asking if we know of anyone who has an old antique hand quilting frame, the kind with two boards on 4 posts, to sell.

If you have one of these to sell, call 319-321-5730. 

Big Announcement!

Announcing - - - Click here to hear all about the 2016 Row by Row Experience theme.

Show and Tell

This is a special request quilt. Judy's daughter gave her some pre-cut strips and asked for a Jelly Roll Race quilt. To make it the requested size, we had to add several more fabrics. Judy brought it back in to show me how it looked. Love it! Looks just like what her daughter wanted.

This is a fun picture because Judy ran out of thread on the last row so, you can see how a Jelly Roll Race quilt goes together. She will finish out stitching this row and then cut the quilt in half one last time to complete it.

Sunday Sewday!

This is the first in a series of small quilts from Shabby Chic. These measure 12" x 18". There is one for each month plus a few special features like this one in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

Lonnie is working on a couple fall samples now that you will see soon. All available in kit, of course!

This is a block pattern we have been playing with. I featured Moda's Chandelier charms here. This runner is also available in kit!

New Fabrics!

Civil War Prints from Barbara Brackman

Lovely selections of French provincial prints.

Fall from Hoffman and Moda

Towers of Halloween fat quarters, including this fun panel.

Bundles of Moda's Crackle prints. Great for the stash.

Vibrant Fall pre-cuts.

Just in today - New from Kansas Trouble - Sunflower Song.

Open Sew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Open Sew is this week at the Adel Library, Thursday and Friday. Door opens at 10 am and we stay until the last stitch is made.

Hope you can join us!

Farewell to our AQS Friends!

Thank you to all who visited us in Adel during Quiltweek. It was great to see you all on your annual pilgrimage. Hope to see you again soon!

T-Shirt Quilt Talk

Here are a couple notes that have floated in recently:

If you would like to make a T-Shirt quilt, take a look at the West Des Moines Community Education website. Sue Grant will be teaching a class on T-Shirt Quilts on October 7.

If you are looking for someone to make T-Shirt Quilt or a Memory Quilt for you, contact Beth Hromyak at beth.hromyak@gmail.com

We did it ladies!

This morning, A Cedar Falls area doctor called in to the Van and Bonnie show and offered our "Buy it Now" price for the Breast Cancer Awareness quilt.   $1,000!!!

There are a couple of gals on his staff that are dealing with a cancer diagnosis right now and he bought it to honor them.

The quilt will remain on display throughout the show so volunteers still need to babysit as scheduled.

Many hands do good work needs an upgrade - - - Many hands did GREAT work. Thank you again to all of the kind souls that helped make this happen.