Stitches from the Schoolhouse book review

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Hello all, this is Jillian. I am moda lissa’s daughter. I have drawn the winners for the past two days. My mom, baby brother and I have been on the road moving me to my new place in Florida. I am a little late on posting the winner. I let my mom sleep in after driving a uhaul and towing a car for the past 18 hours. So for today’s winner i have choosen, Glenda From Florida. Her comment was, The winner of the yesterday’s sweet water book is.
This looks like a great book–I love to make little things for the house, and for gifts. Thanks for the chance to win.

Leave a comment to have a chance at winning the next book. I will try and draw the winner on time tomorrow.

STITCHES FROM THE CLASSROOM
Projects Inspired by Classrooms of the Past
By Renee Plains
Published by Kansas City Star

This is a charming book based on the concept of the one room schoolhouse. I was drawn to this book because like Renee, the author,I collect turn of the century class photos. Each child in the pictures tells a story. The quilts in this book also tell a story creating heirlooms for tomorrow.

Swetwater’s Simple Home book review

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and the winner of yesterday’s book is:

Dirt Road Quilter:I would love to cook up the recipes in this book. I’ve got a stash of precuts that would certainly appreciate being let out of the closet! And after cooking for a crew of cowboys for 2 weeks, it would be nice to cook something that doesn’t require me to be in the kitchen! Thank you so very much for your generous gift-away! 🙂

Today’s feature is the wonderful new book by the talented gals at Sweetwater.
SIMPLE HOME
sew something handmade for every room- 35 projects
I want to make them all but I would really like to do this for my office. I don’t know that I could keep it so neat but at least the organizers would make it pretty!
Love it!

 
The rules are:

You must have a way for me to contact you via e-mail. This will be short and sweet. I will draw the name by 6:00 am tomorrow morning. (Thursday) A 24 hour giveaway.! Go for it and thanks for stopping by.

I am going to break my record for most daily blog posts. Of course this number is not very high to be able to break the record.

Fresh Fabric Treats Book Review

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Another good book. I saw this book on a shop hop last week, but, I was being good, and only getting stuff that was already on my list. I read lots of things about WWII. Both my grandfathers were in WWII, but they were both ‘old men’ by the time they served (one had even been in WWI). Was the comment left by cheryl2quilting who won yesterday’s MINICK and simpson book.

I love flipping through the pages of this book. It is not the newest book but it certainly has a lot of projects that are prefect for the upcoming gift-giving season. Yes Gift Giving and I am giving one away today.
 Fresh Fabric Treats published by Stash books and features 16 different “recipes” (That is code word for projects so the men in the household think we will be in the kitchen. Instead we are in the sewing room!)
 from a few of the talented “chefs” featured on the Moda Bake Shop.
This project is made by Kimberly Walus. I love the organizer tote that has bags inside made from fabric and clear vinyl to keep all your things in plain sight.
 

I said it was the beginning of gift giving season so go ahead, leave a comment, By now you know the drill. I must be able to reach you via e-mail and you must leave a comment before 6:00 in the morning. (Friday) A 24 hour gift- away.! Lack of sleep makes me think I am funny by making up new words. 

Good Luck!

 

The best part of this is that I am going to give this book away to some who leaves a random comment. You must have a way for me to contact you. This will be short and sweet. I will draw the name by 6:00 am tomorrow morning. (Friday) A 24 hour giveaway.! Go for it and thanks for stopping by.

Victory Girls Book Review

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Stitched with prayer is the winner of the carrie Nelson book from yesterday’s post.

Hey it’s me and I am making 2 posts in a row. Imagine that! Today I am sharing a brand new book published by Kansas City Star. The authors are good friends of mine and happen to be moda designers. Their style is classic and timeless. I think they are the female version of Ralph Lauren.
Victory Girls by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson

Patriotic quilt and hooked rugs from the WWII era.

An exerpt from the dedication page of this book.
Victory Girls is intended to serve as a testimonal to the women who supported World War II on the homefront through sacrifice, service and selfless dedication to the war effort.
-Incredible!
This is a giveaway for the Polly and Laurie Fan club. You know who you are.  
Tell me why you must have this book.
The rules are:
You must have a way for me to contact you via e-mail. This will be short and sweet. I will draw the name by 6:00 am tomorrow morning. (Thursday) A 24 hour giveaway.! Go for it and thanks for stopping by.

Another bite of schnibbles book review

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The greatest thing about my job is that I get to work on projects in advance of their release date to the world. The bad thing about that is sometimes I don’t have much to blog about. Of course, this is no excuse for my lack of posts. I am also lucky because I happen to have a neighbor across the hall from me that is kind enough to show me all the new books and patterns streaming in. So to win back my loyal readers and anyone else that is bored to death,  I am going to do a book review for the next several days starting with Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie’s. Carrie’s newest book from That Patchwork Place has hit the stands. Carrie is such a talented wordsmith. Every project has a creative name and an entire story to go along with it. The wealth of information this one woman retains in her brain is amazing.  Maybe she can come up with another word for amazing so all the dancers on dancing with the stars will have something else to say.
I would certainly want to be on her team during Trivia night.

Ruby by Bonnie and Camille  is shipping to stores now so I thought I would show you the quilt made from a previous line of their fabrics. This quilt was made by an associate of mine Debbie Outlaw. (remember the chocolate cake in my birthday post?)

 Not to brag but I also have a quilt in the book. (THANK YOU CARRIE!)
And I need to mention that Alicia Keys from Heirloom quilting did a super job quilting mine. Check out her work if you are looking for a machine quilter.
The best part of this is that I am going to give this book away to some who leaves a random comment. You must have a way for me to contact you. This will be short and sweet. I will draw the name by 6:00 am tomorrow morning. (Wednesday) A 24 hour giveaway.! Go for it and thanks for stopping by.

Gingham dog baby quilt

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baby quilt in progress…. It looks like it is finished but we are just waiting for the little boy to be born so I can add his name, date of birth, etc in the big empty grey area.
When I learned that Holly was having a boy and doing her nursery in dogs, I  thought of the patchwork dog pillows that you see in antique stores.
I knew I couldn’t tackle the box type pillow and all those set in seams, so I decided to make the quilt above.
This is a perfect project to make using any of your 2 1/2″ jelly roll scraps.
Block measures 14″ finished. Each print square is 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ cut. This block uses white as the background.
This block uses Grey as the background since Holly’s nursery is grey.
(grey dot is from Aneela’s group debuting at quilt market- in stores Feb.)
 If you are a grey junkie, you will want an entire bolt for yourself. I promise.
If you are interested in making some dog blocks, the above diagram shows the basic cutting and piecing directions for one block. All print blocks are cut 2 1/2″ square.

Here is a diagram of 3 blocks across, 4 blocks down with 2″ finished sashings.This diagram makes a quilt that is 50″ x 66″.
 hope you enjoyed this quick project!

50 and NOT COUNTING

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As if I could turn back the hands of time, I am posting backwards. I turned 50 before my son’s wedding but I couldn’t wait to post about the wedding….. SO the week before Grant and Misty’s big day, I had a big day as well. My 50th birthday..

I wanted to share a few pics from this momentous occasion!! I have the reputation at work not to show up on my birthday because I hate for anyone to make a fuss.(There is a long story about this I will save for another time) So they did a super whammy trick on me and had a party on a different day. The girls here were clever in creating a theme for my party. It had to be 50 of something…..

Chelair gave me a red and white crocheted doily her mother made. Inside it was 50 pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Of course this came in handy because the next week I was headed to Vegas. I am sad to report that I no longer have any of the coins, but will always treasure the red and white doily. Dollars, confetti, ribbons and “50 sucks” suckers were thrown in by some of my other “friends” here.

Susan, who had the brilliant idea of 50 of something, gave me 50 fat quarters from her stash all neatly pressed, folded and displayed in a paper trunk. She even found this treasure from a 1997 Deb Strain Christmas collection. Susan’s birthday is coming up. I will have to see if I can create something from these fat quarters and Re-Gift her.

 Cheryl and I share the love of Salsa and everything spicy. I received a colorful bowl full of enough ingredients to make salsa for the week. Delicious!!

 Outlaw snuck in 50 fortune cookies. I start each morning with a fortune cookie and a cup of coffee.

The first fortune I received said, “Treat yourself to something of quality. You deserve it.” I was so excited I ripped the fortune in half so I don’t think it counts. Did you know that you are supposed to add the words… IN BED to the end of your fortune. Read the above fortune and add In Bed. It makes every

fortune pretty funny.

And regardless of the fact that I was on my “Shedding for the Wedding diet”, Outlaw made one of her wonderful cakes. She has been so kind to let me share the recipe here. I gained 10 lbs.
Mississippi Mud/ Fudge Cake
4 eggs
1 c. butter(original says oleo)
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. pecans – chopped
1/3 c. cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
Melt butter & cocoa, add to other ingredients. Bake 350 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes in a floured and
greased pan. Time will depend on size of pan.
Spread 1 jar of marshmallow whip over cake while hot and top with icing.
Icing-
1/2 stick butter
1/3 c. cocoa
1/3 c. or more of milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
Melt butter. Add other ingredients. Have icing warm enough to pour over cake.

AND AS IF THAT WASN”T ENOUGH……
My tricky husband and family threw a small impromptu surprise party at our favorite burger joint. I thought we were headed there to watch the Dallas Cowboys opening day.
My husband thought I might have figured it out, but he said, ” I knew when you came downstairs dressed like that, that you didn’t know about the party.” And he let me go any way. After all I was in my lucky Emmit Smith t-shirt. My daughter and now daughter in law helped him pull off a wonderful evening. They even had everyone take their picture holding a “BIG 50”. Here are a few of the pics!

I will move forward with my blog posts now, thanks for letting me share the pics and catch up on a few of my posts. Thank you to all my family and friends for making me feel so special.

My first born bites the bullet

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My oldest son has found himself a good ol’Kansas gal. (I too am from Kansas)
Thought I would share some of the wonderful wedding pictures.
A special shout out to Camillle Roskelley for joining my whacky family in Vegas for this event and sharing her photography skills with us.

These two pictures are very iconic. The guys are making a toast, the girls are saying a prayer.

I have one daughter, now I have a daughter in law and guess what?
Her Grandmother is a quilter!
Thanks for letting me share a few of the pictures.

9-11 Peace Story Quilt

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Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of 9-11. We all remember exactly where we were when the first tower was hit. Barely time to catch our breath and the second tower was hit. We have all read the heart warming stories, dedications and remembrances for this solemn occasion. I came across an interesting story about an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, titled the 9-11 Peace Story Quilt. The exhibits runs from August 30th through January 22nd, 2012.
The 9-11 peace quilt was designed by Faith Ringhold, after receiving an e-mail from Grace Yun. Grace works with a nonprofit in New York helping children in under served neighborhoods. Grace and Faith met and went through all the posters drawn by children ages 11-19. The assignment was simple, create a poster for peace inspired by 9-11.

The 9/11 Peace Story Quilt contains three panels each measuring 72 by 50 inches. Some 50 NYC kids helped construct it with artist Faith Ringgold

No one knew how this simple project would soon take on a life of it’s own.
Here is an excerpt from an article written by Nicole Lyn Pesce for the NYDailyNews.com.

“They said to me, ‘Well, we went through the same thing, but that’s not really our story,” recalls Yun. So one afternoon in 2002, she handed out paper and markers to a roomful of kids ages 11 to 19, and asked them to create posters for peace inspired by 9/11.
Then they sat in a circle and shared their work.
“You could hear a feather drop,” Yun says. “Every one’s breath was held as you got to tell your story. Every story was different, yet every story was the same.”

To read the entire article, click here.
Faith put the art into a book. Book by Faith Ringhold, What will you do for Peace?

She pulled some of the images from the book to create 3 panels with 12 peace inspired quilt blocks. The children helped transfer the art on to cloth. Ringhold even invited many of the children to her home  and also meet at Lincoln Center to teach them to quilt.
“It is incredible to see these different stories motivated by one particular thing — in this case, peace — brought together forever in this work of art,” says Ringgold.

One of my sons birthday is on 9-11. He lives in New York. Maybe we can go see this exhibit together. Happy Birthday T-bone!