Wonderful Wednesday #4

Hello Everyone,

Today marks the LAST day of my 10 Year Anniversary (in business) celebration! Every Wednesday for a month, I have been giving you little specials in my online store for things like this...

and this...

But today, you have the opportunity for a SITE WIDE sale!! FOR TODAY ONLY you may take 20% off your entire purchase by using the code wonderful20 at checkout. Excluded are kits and books (everyday 20% off retail).

Thank you everyone for you support and kind thoughts!

Click here to start shopping....

P.S. Don't forget to enter The EDGE Ruler giveaway, by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

Wonderful Wednesday #4

I Have Been On The EDGE... For A Giveaway!

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Pat Sloan's Edge Ruler Blog Hop!! I have been so excited to post about her new rulers, but you will have to humor me just a little and take a look at a few things.

First and foremost... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!! I LOVE YOU!!

Now do you have a cup of tea or coffee? Go ahead and get one, I'll wait. So glad you are back!!

I wanted to share with you my very first finished quilt!! As luck may have it, I had a photo and scanned it to show you. I gave this away to my wonderful college roommate, so it is no longer in my possession.

This quilt is the Star Log Cabin and was done in a class in which we used Eleanor Burns' Quilt in A Day book! I was hooked. But look at those fabrics... calicoes mostly. Boy, have my tastes changed!

Prior to this quilt, I had taken a class and the teacher wanted to teach us the "old school" way, scissors and cardboard templates. What a turn off. Boy, I could have used one of these...

Yes, a rotary cutter and an EDGE ruler from Sullivan's and Pat Sloan. This ruler sharpens your rotary blade as you cut. Genius! You can see the diamond powder edge, just enlarge the photo. The best thing is they come in all different sizes and they are also NON-Skid too and it works like a charm. To learn more, just click here.

So I bet now that you have your coffee or tea you need something to go with that right?

MMMM.... yummy homemade granola cereal. It is delicious, here is the recipe for you:

Mom’s Own Cereal

compliments of Shirley Swenson my sister in law!

4 cups rolled oats

2 ½ cups wheat germ (20 oz. = 4 ½ cups)

1 tsp. cinnamon

2-3 Tbsp. brown or raw sugar

¾ cup honey

1/3 cup salad oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Chopped dates, raisins, dried cranberries and nuts about 3/4 cup each

Mix the oats, wheat germ, cinnamon, and sugar together. Add the honey and mix well (with your hands if necessary). Add the salad oil and vanilla, and mix again with your hands. Add the chopped dates, nuts, raisins, and any other toppings as desired. Spread in two baking pans (such as 9” x 13” pans), and bake in 325 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Serve with milk. Keeps well. Store in a Tupperware type container.

I promise you, you will love this cereal and the ruler!!

Now the info on the giveaway of a COMPLETE SET of these wonderful rulers!!

Isn't Pat cute? And that ruler that she is holding is NOT included in the prize... ahem, it is enlarged to show detail...

But here is what ONE lucky winner will receive.

WOW!! Who can't use a good set of rotary rulers? All you will need to do is place a comment on EACH one of the blogs that are on the blog hop. But make sure it is on the blog post for the rulers and that you have a way for us to contact you (e-mail). Everyone who has commented on EACH blog will be entered into the drawing and Pat will draw the winner on Monday, October 4.

You will be able to comment on EACH blog through Sunday night!! So make sure you visit everyone on the list below:

September 27

Pat Sloan - Pat Sloan's Blog

Kelly - I Have A Notion

September 28

Amy - Amy's Creative Side

Jackie (me) - Canton Village Quilt Works

September 29

Julie - Jaybird Quilts

AmandaJean - Crazy Mom Quilts

September 30

Monica - The Happy Zombie

Amy - Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts

Pam - Pam Kitty Morning

October 1

Carrie - La Vie En Rosie

Polly and Laurie - Minnick and Simpson

Cheryl - Naptime Quilter

October 2

Michele - The Quilting Gallery

Pat - Pat Sloan's Blog

And if that wasn't enough, I will be giving away a fat quarter bundle of 7 of Jill Gordon's Cottage Garden line from my online shop! Everyone who has entered a comment on this post will be entered in the draw and the winner will be announced next week.

Isn't it a beauty!! So, if you are excited, place a comment, blog about it, tweet it, Facebook it, follow it... shout from the roof tops... okay well, that is taking it too far. But enjoy and collect all the yummy recipes too!!

Until Next Time...

I Have Been On The EDGE... For A Giveaway!

Spikes, Smiles, and Other Silly Saturday Happenings!

Hello Everyone,

Remember this post, just a few days ago. Well, my heart just couldn't take it, neither could my mind. So all week, in preparation for my Saturday Sew A Thon with my friend Karen, I gathered and measured and with all my design senses at attention, I was ready to go!!!

Here is a peek into our absolutely fabulous day!!

I started with my arcs and spikes. These were all paper pieced according to the templates in Quilts With A Spin. Great book! And they were ALL done with scraps. Do you see a little Kaffe in there??

My Whirly Gig circle was not done from the book. The book called for reverse applique. If I can find a way to machine piece it, I will! I used the template, shown in the photo, to rotary cut them. But I did have to trim the circle smaller so the arcs would fit. The template was from the Sue Ross BOM, but I know that John Flynn has similar templates available, just click here.

Yay!! All four spikes segments completed! LOVE it!!

Karen was working on a Kim McClean pattern and chose to do hers in repros. Karen loves primitives and is also a very talented rug hooker!!

Here she is happily sewing away. Don't you just love the Sue Spargo block behind her?

Karen has two dogs who kept us company throughout the day, but little old Rocky here is definitely a fabric lover. Karen likes to spread all her fabric choices out on the floor, but she can't see them all, because Rocky jumps right on into his new soft bed!

Karen decides to take a break with Rocky. Whew! Sewing really can tire you out. See the brightly colored rug Karen hooked in the upper left corner... I love it! Now hold on for the BIG finish...

TA DA!! Yes, I was able to complete two blocks and start a third. You can see that each whirly gig will be a different bright color and my backgrounds are all different black and white fabrics.

And look at Karen's finishes for the day. She is truly an applique queen both needle turn and machine applique. Karen has them down pat. She also began prepping her next block.

So that was our Saturday... F. U. N!!

Tomorrow, don't forget to come back here for Pat Sloan's Ruler Blog Hop. You could be the lucky winner of this...

a COMPLETE SET of her new Cutting Edge rulers and possibly a prize from me too!

See you then!

Until Next Time...

Spikes, Smiles, and Other Silly Saturday Happenings!

Binding

Hello Everyone,

Even though I am a long arm quilter and love to quilt and piece all my quilts from beginning to end, the most favorite part for me is to sit down and bind my quilt by hand. I think it has something to do with the fact that the quilt is almost done. But more so, I find it relaxing and I can sit with my family too. How about you do you like it or not?

Anyway, this brings me to this particular quilt...

This quilt has been quilted for some time now, but has been waiting for binding to be applied. The reason it has been so long... I couldn't decide on what fabric to use for the binding.

So this is the fabric that I ended up choosing, it is an older Martha Negley fabric. But to tell you the truth, I am not sure that I am happy with my pick.

When I first chose it, it looked like the right color magenta and had just a little bit of yellow. But now that I am looking at it more closely, I am thinking that the color isn't strong enough. Maybe the eyes are starting to go??

I think it looks great against the backing. The backing is from the Sugar Snap line by Melissa Averinos called Kimono. But I am not so sure about the front of the quilt.

Anyway, I hope to complete the binding over the weekend and will then show you the entire quilt. Maybe once it is complete I will love it!

Regardless, this binding is staying on for now, as my friend Justine asked if I would put it in her church's quilt show in a couple of weeks.

Your thoughts and opinions are definitely welcome here!

Until Next Time...

Binding

Wonderful Wednesday #3

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Wonderful Wednesday #3!! This time I want to show you my friend Karen's quilt, (which is truly wonderful), that she brought over to me to do the quilting. No, it is not yet quilted. When it is, I will make sure I show it to you. I am thrilled with this quilt because it is one that I have actually been longing to do.

This serves as my inspiration for our ALL day sew-a-thon on Saturday, just Karen and I!! Yippee!! I am so excited. Anyway, check out this fabulous quilt...

Quilt skillfully made by my talented friend Karen.

All the swirls in the middle, purple, black and white are appliqued. So, of course in my version, I will be machine piecing! I will be using the templates from the Sue Ross BOM that I really never started... shhhhh don't tell anyone. So yes, I already have been giving this quilt (Karen's) some thought.

Karen used a mix of patterns from Piece O' Cake Designs to create this quilt.

The spikes are paper pieced from scraps. This I will do in the same manner. I will be using Karen K. Stone's book for this one. My friend Karen, did some gorgeous applique on the borders.

Mine will be minus the applique. I absolutely love applique, but it is something that I just don't have the time for right now. I hope that I will at some point in my life though. My border will be paper pieced as in Karen K. Stone's book. Love the look!

So yes, I will be starting a new project on Saturday with Karen and I am just way too excited!!

Something also to be excited about is that today is Wonderful Wednesday. You know what that means, something special in my shop is on SALE!! All patterns are 20% off!! Just use the code patterns20 at checkout to get the discount. Click here to look at all the glorious patterns.

Another thing to be excited about is my friend Pat Sloan! Well, her new rulers, but you should be excited about Pat too.

Anyway, stay tuned next week for a unique experience filled with recipes, fun stories, and wonderful rulers. But best of all one lucky person will walk away with a COMPLETE SET of Pat's new rulers. You heard that right a COMPLETE SET!!! How exciting is that??

There are several bloggers in on the hop, I am one of them. Later on this week, I will post the schedule. But Pat may have it posted today. So, stop by and say Hi to Pat and tell her I sent you.

Until Next Time...

Wonderful Wednesday #3

It's Got My Stamp of Approval

Hello Everyone,

Have you ever mentioned something to someone on the fly, not ever expecting anything in return?? Well, that exact thing happened to me!!

While in NYC last week visiting my friend Victoria, I had mentioned that if she ever were to come across postage stamp fabric, to let me know. I wanted to buy some to make a special gift for someone.

To my surprise, look what showed up in my mailbox from Victoria! Wonderful postage stamp fabric!! Thank you, V, you are a peach!! I know my friend will love what I cam going to make. It is perfect.

For those of you who listen to me babble, Episode 17 of my podcast is now available. You can listen from your computer by clicking here or if you like you can go to iTunes for the download. This episode is all about embellishing your quilts.

In other news, the ever popular All Together Now Quilt Kit is back in stock!! Click here for a little look!

Until Next Time...

It's Got My Stamp of Approval

Green and Pink

Hello Everyone,

I love the color pink and Stephanie loves green. So when I started on this swap project, I thought it would be nice to have something that both of us love in it.

So what could I be up too???

Wonderful strata made and loving it!

Scraps... so what could it be? Stay tuned for more sneak peeks.

In the meantime, checkout out the newest additions to my clearance section and also the NEW batiks that have been added!! I am so excited!!

Until Next Time...

Green and Pink

Quilting in NYC, Part 3 .... The Fabric

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the final chapter in my NYC adventure. Of course there was a little fabric shopping involved. I am sure that many of you are saying "What could Jackie possibly need when it comes to fabric, she owns her own shop?" There is always some fabric out there that a girl just has to have, right??

I have always loved silk dupioni and started a very small collection a few years ago. My trip to NYC gave me the chance to add. Just take a look at these jewels.

Gorgeous bright and iridescent colors sitting atop a black dupioni. Victoria took us through the garment district and let me tell you, you can get silk dupioni at wonderful prices. So I took advantage.

A closer look at these juicy colors. Victoria's perfect description for these.

Another view.

One thing you must know about silks, really any kind, is that they tend to ravel and fray quite a bit. So what I recommend is backing them with a very lightweight fusible interfacing before cutting into them and handling them over and over for piecing. This should eliminate some of the fraying.

However, my buddy Karen decided on the ride down that she was going to start a collection of all her stray threads. So on the way home, on the train, she took her scissors out and gave my silks a haircut and put them in her handy dandy zipper bag to add to her collection.

Of course, I had to add to my black and white stash too.

Speaking of adding to the stash, today is Wonderful Wednesday!! And as promised, for today only, you may take 15% off ALL Westminster Fabrics in my online shop. Just enter the discount code westminster15 at checkout. Click here to start shopping now.

There were 54 NEW Westminster Fabrics added to the shop yesterday!!!

Until Next Time...

Quilting in NYC, Part 3 .... The Fabric

Quilting in NYC, Part 2... The Sweets

Hello Everyone,

So here is the story... I have two types of radar, one is for fabric, the other is for sweets. As Karen and I were walking to Victoria's home in NYC, my sweets radar went off BIG time.

I spied this little shop that was not really in plain site. But I saw the window sign saying Crumbs Bake Shop. So, naturally, I veered off course and told Karen we had to go in. All I can say is WOW!! What a treat. Thelma, this post is for you and it is a definite thumbs up! Here is the virtual calorie tour.

One of the yummy displays of their sweet confections. Beautiful and mouth watering.

Victoria's Daughter received one of these lovely cupcakes with the purple flower on top.

Another yummy display.

So this is the biggest cupcake they make, the Colossal. And Colossal in every way, price, size and calorie count!

This photo I took for size comparison to their medium cupcake. Big isn't it?

Cupcakes weren't the only thing on the menu, they had brownies my personal favorite. So I had to have one. I debated a little bit between the fudge brownie on the right or the cookies and cream brownie right next to it. Guess which one I picked?? Yep, the cookies and cream. And with all the walking I did that day, I did not feel one iota of guilt, not one!!

This one we picked up to bring to Victoria. Turn your head away Victoria, don't look at the calorie count. I have to say, having that calorie count front and center is a real killjoy. I think that all eating establishments in NYC are required to have them upfront and personal. Dampens the mood a little.

Took one of these babies home for the teenage son.

These were just too pretty not to take a photo.

Here is the personal four pack my family ended up with... from top left is the Squiggle (that was mine and oh so divine!!) cream filling inside. Next to that was an apple cinnamon for the hubs. It was filled with real apple filling, just like an apple pie. Next was the cookie dough for teenage daughter.... all gone. And the cookies and cream also finished!!

A piece of advice if you want these, definitely cut them in half or quarters so you can enjoy them slowly with a nice cup of tea or coffee. And don't worry about what your thighs might look like afterwards, just enjoy!

By the way, they deliver! Just click here to go to their website.

Stay tuned for Part 3, NYC the ending. In the meantime, be sure to browse my shop, lots of new items arriving daily.

Until Next Time...

Quilting in NYC, Part 2... The Sweets