Material Girls Idaho

Wool Dyeing Tutorial

2012-02-08T19:35:00.015-07:00

Over the last few years we have had some great wool projects shown at our Material Girls meetings. I always wanted to try one but $30 a yard the wool was way out of my budget. Even when I found a bit on sale and thought about attempting a project I could never find the exact color I wanted.

All this changed when I discovered two things 1)Savers/DI/Goodwill and 2)Wilton Dyes. After my first trip to the DI for wool I was hooked; $5 for a 100% wool shirt, yes please! I went a little crazy but still had a problem because despite combing the racks I still couldn't find all the colors I wanted. Kool-Aid and Wilton Icing colors to the rescue! After a few hours reading up on other's dyeing experiences (mostly wool yarn) I decided to give it a try and surprisingly it worked FANTASTIC! I ran straight over to Rachel's house and next thing I knew we were up to our elbows in dye baths and had a rainbow of wool in beautiful colors.

A few months ago Rachel brought her beautiful rainbow of wool and we talked about the dyeing process, but I thought it might be helpful to do a little tutorial in case you are interested in trying it for yourself. The process is very simple and you can get great results using materials you probably have on hand, no special tools or dyes needed.

Materials:

Wool Fabric (100% wool will dye the best however Rachel has gotten some interesting results with wool blends. If you are going thrifting the best places to look for wool garments are in ladies coats, skirts and blazers and mens suit jackets)

Large dutch oven for dye bath

Clear or white glass or bowl for mixing colors

Spoon or knife for mixing color

White vinegar

Food Coloring (Wilton Icing Colors, Kool-Aid or plain food coloring)

Gloves (unless you want a green thumb :-)

Ok, lets get started....

1. Soak your wool in a sink or bowl of hot water for at least 10 minutes. This helps the color to distribute evenly later.

2. Fill your dutch oven with enough water to cover your wool once it's added. I usually just fill it about 5". The amount of water isn't as important as it is to have enough to soak your fabric and allow for a little movement of the dye solution. Add about 1/8 cup of white vinegar if you want a modeled look. Bring to a simmer.

3. While you wool is soaking and your water is heating mix your color in a white or clear bowl filled with about 1/2 cup of warm water. I like to use a clear or white bowl because it is easier to see what color you are making. Because there is no real "recipe" for mixing the colors this is nice. Depending on the intensity of color you want you will probably end up using about 1/2 teaspoon total dye (but don't quote me on it). Stir the dye until dissolved. You can test your color by dipping a paper towel in the solution. This is not exact but will at least give you an idea of what color you are concocting. I have found that unless you want a very vibrant color it is best to add a little brown to almost any color. If you are using Kool-Aid, purple works well to mute the colors a bit.

4. When you are happy with your color add it to the simmering water. If you have added vinegar already it will smell, sorry about that :-) Give the mixture a little stir to make sure any bits of color are all incorporated. Squeeze out your soaking wool and add it to the dye bath. Give that a little stir too to make sure all of the wool gets wet. It should start taking up the color immediately and if it has been sufficiently soaked prior to dyeing it should not float after a bit of stirring.

(this wool still needed a little stirring to sink in. Any floating like this will create more modeling in your fabric)

5. Allow the dye bath to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until one of two things happen A) you are happy with the color achieved (this could happen after 30 seconds so don't feel like it needs to stay in the bath if you like the color) or B) The dye bath is exhausted and all the color has been absorbed by your wool. The picture below shows the dye bath water in a clear cup after it has been exhausted.

Sometimes this takes 2 minutes and sometimes it never happens because I'm either too impatient to wait or the fabric is just done soaking up that color. The main thing is that you are happy with the color. If you're not, mix up some more dye and add it to the simmering water and play with the color until you are happy. No need to start over.

6. After the dyeing is complete turn off the heat and carefully remove the wool. I like to use tongs and put it into a bowl to transfer to the sink. Give your wool a cool rinse and when you can comfortably handle it squeeze out the excess water. There should be very little if any color rinsed away. Allow to drip dry or throw in the dryer.

Below are the completed pieces of wool dyed in this tutorial. Each is shown dyed as well as what it looked like originally. Don't be afraid to try dyeing colored and patterned pieces of fabric, sometimes they turn out the best!

Good Luck! Have fun thrifting and dyeing! Let me know if you have any questions!

Lori

Jan. 2012 mtg

2012-01-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

We have started the year off great with the following quilts from our show and tell. We also made the decision to have our Pizza Box Exchange quilts completed by July. That will be a fun month for our show and tell. We'll hang them all on a fence or clothesline and take a panoramic shot!

Thank you Sherry for hosting. Your home and food were warm and wonderful!

Mary's levi quilt

Mary's levi quilt, close up

Heather's scarf

Heather's baby quilt

Heather's bandana quilt

Susan's coasters and coaster holder

Susan's purse

Close up of coasters

Robyn's granddaughter quilt with ruffles

Robyn's baby quilt top

Susan's pillowcases

Nancy's snap pouches

Nancy's granddaughter's skirt

Embroidered label on Nancy's husband's Green House quilt

Green House quilt

Lenette's getting a jumpstart on Halloween

Halloween pillows

Monica's levi quilt

Kathi's tree skirt

Here are the recipes from Sherry:

Wild Rice Chicken Soup

5 2/3 c. water
3/4 c. wild rice
1 envelope Lipton noodle soup
2 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/3 c. onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. cubed cooked chicken
1 chicken bouillon cube

Combine first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 min.  Stir in veggies.  Simmer another 10 minutes.  Stir in chicken, soup, and bouillon.  Simmer another 8 minutes and serve.

Whole wheat bread -- Arlene McCauley

Proof 1/2 c. warm water, 3 T. yeast, 2 T. sugar.

12 c. whole wheat flour
2 T. salt
4 c. hot water
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey

Mix together in mixer and knead for 5 minutes.  Turn oven on to 250 degree and turn off when heated (while dough is mixing.)  Divide dough into 3 large loaf pans.  Place in oven for 25 minutes.  Leave pans in oven and turn on oven to 350 degrees and bake an additional 30 minutes.

Maple Butter Syrup

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. real maple syrup

Melt butter.  Add syrup and blend.  Store in refrigerator.  We use this like honey!

Christmas Luncheon 2011

2011-12-01T21:12:00.002-07:00

Diane's baby "tag" block

Diane's eyeglass holders

Diane's daughter gets published!

Susan's quilt

Susan's wool stitchery

Susan's quilt

Susan's quilt. Susan missed our meetings for a couple months and came back with some beautiful work!

Susan's quilt

Another Susan quilt

Susan's Santa dolls

Pattern for the Santa dolls

Rachel's bag

Rachel's embroidery quilt

Jeri's quilt using blocks from the pizza box exchange. She is the first one to complete her Pizza Box quilt!!

Back of Jeri's pizza box quilt

Sherry put together our donation quilt with our 9 1/2" fall color squares. We donate squares each month at our meetings. Each month is a different theme for our donations.

Becky's quilt

Mary's friendship quilt from a friendship block exchange we did in 2009

Close up. In person it looks like an antique.

Mary's t-shirt quilt for her son. He's a lucky son!

Corrie's peek-a-boo pouches

Carolanna's minky quilt

Close up - sooo soft!

Carolanna's quilt

One more from Carolanna

Cindy A's scrappy quilt

Nancy C.'s quilt

Another scrappy quilt by Nancy C.

Jeannie's pillow

Now for our "ugly" fabric creations. A couple months ago we each brought some "ugly" fabric in a brown paper bag, a piece of fabric we always seemed to pass over and never use from our stash. We each randomly picked brown paper bags and took them home. Our mission was to make something beautiful from something "ugly" and bring it back wrapped for its original owner at our Christmas meeting. Here are the results. They are all so creative!! You'll have a hard time finding the "ugly" fabric.

Then we had a wonderful luncheon. Tracey made us French dip sandwiches and others brought salads and desserts. We also had great door prizes this month-there was something for everyone! Thank you Tracey for hosting. We had a fun time.

October 2011

2011-10-26T21:00:00.006-06:00

Corrie's daughter gives a speech on Modern Quilting to our group. She was so polished and only 16 years old. She also had samples of quilting styles she was talking about. We learned a lot.

Corrie's Ghastlie's quilt

Ghastlie's Peek A Boo zipper bag

More ghastlies

Jeri's skirt

Sherry's Halloween quilt

Rachel's hand dyed wool

Rachel's Halloween quilt-Buggy Barn pattern

Rachel's quilt-minky on the back!

Rachel's Christmas embroidery quilt

Close up

Rachel's purse

Rachel's BSU quilt-she designed it!

Lori's Santa wall hanging

Lori's pocket Christmas advent wallhanging

Pocket

Rachel's homemade luggage tags

Linda's 20 minute tablerunner. Sew 1/3 yard fabric to 1/2 yard fabric and make a tube.

Second step shown above.

Finished table runner with buttons

Linda's Halloween wall quilt

Mary's sling bag she made in Carolanna's Super Saturday class

Gift given to Mary--lucky.

Close up

Mary's raw edge baby quilt

Another raw edge baby quilt by Mary

Carolanna's reversible sling bag

Blessing dress made by Carolanna for Heather's baby-beautiful.

Blessing bonnet (above) and bloomers (below)

Heather's reversible sling bag

Heather's baby's Halloween costume-angry bird

Cindy's minky quilt-so soft-minky on front and back! This was done with the quilt as you go method.

Nancy sewed all our donation squares into a twin size quilt. Thank You Nancy!

Nancy's flannel baby quilt with wool batting

Nancy's flannel baby blanket

The back-all three fabrics are flannel-no batting

Nancy's spool quilt for her quilt room

Nancy's spray bottle cozy

Nancy's featherweight cover

Diane's diamond baby size quilt

Diane's jelly roll quilt

Another Diane quilt-works in progress fini!

Diane's Halloween trick or treat bag. We each got a fun treat from the bag!

Lori's tip for turning fabric tubes for purse handles, etc. using pvc pipe and dowel

Our project today. We made design boards using Bee in my Bonnet's pattern

Door prize won by Sherry

Yummy lunch- Tortellini soup, rolls and cookies. Thank you Lenette for hosting. It was a great meeting!
Here are the recipes:
Best Dinner Rolls
4 1/2 to 5 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 pkg (1/4oz.) active dry yeast
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. whole milk
1/2 c. water
2 tsp. butter
2 eggs
1 egg lightly beaten
In a large bowl, combine 2 c. flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and butter to 120-130˚. Add to dry ingredients; beat on medium speed for 3 min. Add 2 eggs; beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 min. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 portions. Shape into balls, Divide the balls between two greased 13x9 baking pans.
Cover with a clean, lightweight towel and let rise until doubled, about 30 min. Brush with lightly beaten egg. Sprinkle rolls with toppings of your choice.
Bake at 375˚ for 10-15 min. or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks.

Tortellini Soup

1 lb. ground sausage (hot)

1 c. chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

5 c. beef broth

1 c. water

14 oz. can stewed tomatoes(chopped)

1 pkg. 3 cheese herbed Tortellini

2 T. parsley

1 c. sliced carrots

½ t. basil

½ t. oregano

1 14oz. can tomato sauce

1 ½ c. grated zucchini

freshly grated parmesan cheese

Brown the sausage with the onion and garlic-drain the fat. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the tortellini and zucchini. Simmer for 30 minutes. Just before serving, add the 3 remaining items. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Pumpkin Cookies with Caramel Frosting

(cookies)

2 3/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/4 tsp. course salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sitcks) unsalted butter, room temrature

2 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 c. canned solid-pack pumpkin (14ox)

3/4 c. evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375˚. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a bowl.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 min. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. add pumpkin, evaporated milk and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 min. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.

Transfer 1 1/2 c. batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2 inch rounds onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through until tops spring back, about 12 min. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 min. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

Caramel Frosting

1/2 c. margarine or butter

1 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. milk

2 c. powdered sugar

Heat margarine in 2-qt. saucepan until melted. Stir in brown sugar. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir over low heat 2 min. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, Gradually stir in powdered sugar. Place pan of frosting in bowl of cold water; beat until smooth and of spreading consistency. If frosting becomes too stiff, stir in additional milk, 1 tsp. at a time. Frosts two- 8 or 9 inch cake layers or one- 13x9 inch cake.

Sept 2011 Meeting

2011-09-28T18:27:00.003-06:00

Our meeting this month was at Jeri's home. We had withdrawals from our pizza box exchange. It felt odd not bringing our boxes with us. Jeanie brought hers for comfort though. :) Not only did we have our regular show and tell, but we also brought some quilts that would give ideas for possible settings for our pizza box squares. We needed to see some of these as they were very inspiring. We also each brought a piece of "ugly" fabric in a brown paper bag. Each of us picked up a bag to take home and we will have 2 months to make something beautiful out of someone else's "ugly" fabric. For our Christmas meeting, we will wrap up what we made from the "ugly" fabric and it will be the present for the original owner of the "ugly" fabric. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Thank you Jeri for a wonderful morning!!

Robyn's quilt. Idea for block setting.

Another quilt Robyn made for one of her Young Women

A bag Carolanna will be teaching at her Super Saturday. The flower she added is very cute but got washed out in the photo. :(

Tablerunner by Carolanna

Crazy quilt by Carolanna

Quilt by Carolanna and also an idea for our square settings

Close up of the cute flowers in the corners

Idea for settings from Nancy. We can set some on point and some square in the same quilt.

Another setting idea from Nancy's book

Cover of book also shows a great idea for settings

Monica's quilt

Lori's reversible apron

Other side of apron

Lori's Halloween advent calendar. Each number is a pocket.

Lori's raw edge quilt

Lori's quilt

Lori's quilt that shows an idea for block setting

Kathi's quilt with another idea for block settings

Jeri's quilt showing setting ideas

Another quilt from Jeri showing a setting idea

Jeri's blocks with a plain square between pieced squares-an idea for block setting

Lori's personalized labels for her quilts and handwork

Diane's Baby Boy Bullseye quilt

Diane's doll cradle quilt using several flannel scraps

Diane's picnic tablecloth, made from our previous friendship block exchange

Jeri's delicious lunch-peaches and grapes

Peach torte

blueberry muffins

chicken salad

August Mtg 2011

2011-09-01T08:34:00.002-06:00

Our August meeting was yesterday and although we had a smaller turnout, there were plenty of quilts to see, future plans to make and a delicious lunch. We finished our Pizza Box Exchange, all of us ending up with 16 blocks each to now make into a fun and memorable quilt. We voted to wait until January for our next monthly square project.

In the meantime though, we also decided to bring 9 1/2" squares of fabric as donations for local charities. Each month we'll have a theme for our fabric donations and if the combined number of squares equal 80, we'll have enough to make a twin quilt. Next month we will bring squares of fabric that look like civil war fabric, fabrics with muted tones. Nancy C. will let us know the fabric theme for each month.

We also decided to do something a little different this year for our Christmas gift exchange. Instead of bringing gifts, we will do an "Ugly Fabric-Brown Bag" project. Next month, each of us will bring a piece of our "ugliest" fabric hidden in a brown paper bag. Our name will be also inside the bag. The piece of fabric should be at least as big as a fat quarter. After putting all the bags in the center of the room, each of us will pick one bag (not our own), take it home and make something using that fabric as well as fabric from our stash. In December we will bring those projects back, wrapped as a Christmas present and given back to it's original ugly fabric owner.

Thank you Jeanie for hosting such a fun meeting. We love coming to your home!

Our breast cancer auction quilt for this year.

Our quilt label.

The quilting looks beautiful!

Rachel's purse.

Another purse made by Rachel.

Rachel finished several quilts.

Rachel was able to quilt all of these quilts this past month using Lori's machine while she was away.

Rachel's quilt using just 2 charm packs and background fabric.

Lenette's handmade blessing dress for her granddaughter.

The beautiful hand smocking will be treasured in her family for many generations.

Nancy's baby boy quilt.

Maurene's charity quilt. This is the project we all did when we met at her house a couple months earlier. The quilt turned out great.

Sherry's quilt.

Kathi's wallhanging.

Our wonderful summer lunch made by Jeanie. Here are her recipes:

Pineapple Coconut Bars
Makes 10 bars
Crust:
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter

Topping:
20-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1 T. soft butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. coconut
To prepare crust, combine flour and sugar and cut in shortening. Pat into 10 " pan. Bake for 15 min at 350 degrees.
Remove from oven and spread pineapple over top. Cream together butter, sugar and egg. Fold in coconut and spread over pineapple layer. Bake at 325 degrees for another 25-30 min.

Teriyaki Chicken Pasta Salad
6 oz. rotini or rotelle noodles
1/4 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. salad oil
1/3-1/2 c. white wine vinegar
3 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 c. cold shredded chicken
1/2 c. green onion
8 c. torn spinach leaves
1/2 c. parsley
Cook noodles, drain and rinse. In frying pan, combine sesame seeds and 1/4 c. oil. Cook until seeds are golden, let cool. Stir in remaining oil, teriyaki sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over cooked pasta. Add chicken. Chill 2 hours or 1 day ahead. To serve, add onion spinach and parsley. Toss lightly.

July 2011 Meeting

2011-07-28T16:54:00.011-06:00

Our meeting this month was at Diane's. Despite it being a big vacation month, we had a great turnout. I think there's a lot of us planning our vacations around our quilt meetings now :)

We have one more month for our pizza box exchanges. Each of us will have at least 16 blocks to work with. We need to start thinking of new ideas for a monthly exchange.

Special guests at our meeting were 2 young girls Diane has been teaching all summer to sew. They brought all their projects and shared them with us. They are 2 lucky girls to have Diane as their personal sewing tutor. After sew and tell, Diane showed us how to make fabric cards using all those little pieces of leftover scraps from our projects. They make great thank you/birthday/sympathy/whatever you wish cards with a personal touch.

Diane also laid out her inherited supply of embroidery floss. With the prices of floss going up, Diane has kindly opted to let us use her supply as our store. Thank you Diane and thank you for the fun lunch.

Here are the recipes:

Strawberry Lemonade

Juice of 5 Lemons
7 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar - can use Splenda
1 Quart Strawberries, puree

Mix well. Adjust to taste if needed.
Enjoy!

Benedictine and Bacon Sandwich
makes 3 to 5 sandwiches

1/2 cucumber, peeled, grated and drained of moisture (wrap in towel and squeeze gently)
English Cucumber is best
1 bunch green onions, including the greens parts, finely chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 T. Mayo
6-10 slices whole wheat or sourdough bread
9 strips bacon (or more), cooked
Lettuce Leaves for 3 to 5 sandwiches

Mix the cucumber, scallions, cream cheese and mayonaise in a medium bowl. Generously spread
the mixture on bread to make 3-5 sandwiches. Top the cream cheese with 3 slices of bacon and lettuce.
So as to not squish the cheese too much when slicing, cut the sandwiches in half diagonally. Slice the remaining slices of bread
likewise and place on top. Serve.

Cool Whip Candy aka Chocolate Meatballs

1 carton Cool Whip
1 Giant size Hershey Chocolate Bar
Chopped almonds or crushed graham crackers.
Thaw cool whip and melt chocolate bar.
Mix the two together when chocolate is not too hot and cool whip is not too cold.
Spoon onto chopped nuts or crackers crushed on a plate. By hand coat each ball,maintaining the shape.
Place in freezer or refrigerator. Enjoy!

Rachel's quilt.

Rachel's granddaughter's outfit. Rachel made the skirt and purse.

Maurene's charity quilt that we helped piece at our last meeting.

Jeanie's gift for her little kids in her Sunday School class.

Diane's summer students with their projects.

Each made a personal pillow.

They learned how to do embroidery.

They both made pin cushions.

They also made a four-patch block.

Carolanna's quilt.

Another Carolanna quilt.

Carolanna's cherry quilt.

Close-up of the cherry quilt.

Another of Carolanna's quilts. She caught up on all her unfinished quilt tops this month that needed quilting.

Mary's quilt.

Another raw edge quilt by Mary.

Kathi's blocks she received from her online bee group.

Diane's floss store.

Fabric scraps for the fabric cards.

Dessert (below)

June 2011

2011-06-29T14:42:00.012-06:00

We met this month at Maurene's. After a fun show and tell of our pizza box exchange blocks, we managed to swap boxes for one last time(or maybe second to the last) which proved to be a bit arduous, but quite lively. We actually made the swap work, everyone taking home a box that they hadn't done before. It's a small feat to make that happen.

To start off our show and tell, Lori showed us the cancer auction quilt top. She pieced it together for us and it looks beautiful. We can't wait to see it quilted.

After show and tell, Maurene had each of us bring a 10 inch and a 5 inch block of flannel. We sewed the smaller blocks onto the center of the large blocks leaving the small block with raw edges, then each block was cut across the middle vertically and also horizontally. Now the smaller cut blocks will be pieced back together with 3 other blocks of different colors to form a new colorful square. This will be a humanitarian charity quilt given away.

Maurene made a wonderful summer lunch of a pasta chicken salad, carrots, fresh watermelon, cherries picked straight from her tree and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Thank you Maurene!

Here's her recipe for the pasta salad:

3 CHICKEN BREASTS ,GRILLED

BOW TIE PASTA OR PENNE PASTA , I USED BOTH

1/4 LB. SUGAR SNAP PEA PODS [CUT IN STRIPS]

1 BUNCH GREEN ONIONS [CUT]

1 CAN MANDARIN ORANGES

1/2 CUP MAYO

1/2 CUP HONEY

1 TSP. MINCED GARLIC

1/2 TSP CELERY SEED

SALT AND PEPPER

BEST MADE THE DAY BEFORE SERVING. ADD MANDARIN JUST BEFORE SERVING. TOP WITH CHOW MAIN NOODLES OR CHOPPED ALMONDS.

Here's our show and tell:

Our cancer auction quilt top.

Lori's wedding quilt.

Rachel's quilt.

Rachel's charm pack quilt.

Jeanie's purse.

Susan's mosaics for her business by the same name. She has a booth in the upcoming art festival in Ketchum, Idaho in July.

Maurene's quilt.

Corrie's quilt.

Mary's baby blankets.

Cute edging on Mary's blankets.

Mary's quilt.

Mary's photo quilt.

Close up. She's going to hang it in her quilt room.

Mary was art mom for her son's class this year. This was the end-of-the-year gift the kids made for her.

Nancy's eco-friendly greenhouse quilt.

Robyn's quilt.

Nancy's scarves made from voile, a very soft light 100% cotton fabric.

Carolanna's baby quilt. Each center animal is appliqued.

Carolanna's quilt.

Diane's fabric cards. Her daughter made these and now we all want to make them.

Close up-sorry it got blurry because they are very cute in person.

Maurene's family antique quilt that she's repairing. Each of the severely damaged squares will be replaced with family photos. This quilt was made in the 1870's.

Lunch

Freshly picked cherries from Maurene's tree.

May 2011 Mtg

2011-05-25T16:58:00.016-06:00

We met at Carolanna's today and had a large group. Linda's daughter and Carolanna's sister also joined in with us. Our pizza boxes are getting full now. In fact, it's getting harder for everyone to find a box we haven't done yet. It seems like the blocks get cuter and cuter each month.We had a report from the past International Quilt Market that took place in Salt Lake City. Corrie of quilttaffy attended as well as Kathi who helped her sister's company, Apron Lady designs.

After show and tell, Carolanna demonstrated how to make fabric pinwheels out of charm squares. She had some really cute examples of different fabric choices. They're fast to make too, only took about 10 minutes.

After the meeting we had a great Mexican lunch prepared by Carolanna. Thank you so much Carolanna. Everything was wonderful! Here's a copy of her recipes:

Cilantro Ranch Dressing

1 package of Hidden Valley ® buttermilk ranch dressing. (prepare according to directions)
2 tomatillos (they look like green tomatoes, but they are NOT! You may substitute 3 Tbsp of prepared salsa verde)
cilantro (1/4 bunch)
2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup lime juice
1/8 tsp Tabasco

Peel tomatillos and cut into fourths. Clean and rinse cilantro and remove large stems. Pour prepared ranch dressing in a blender, and add cilantro leaves, tomatillos, garlic, lime juice and Tobasco. Blend until cilantro is finely chopped. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until dressing has thickened

(I did not use any tomatillos in mine)

Sweet Shredded Pork

4 lb pork roast
1 Cup of salsa
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup Root Beer
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pork roast, brown sugar, salsa, rootbeer in crock pot for several hours until it starts shredding when you poke at it. Make sure you check it often and stir it
so it doesn't burn on the sides.

Peach Salsa (Canning recipe)

6 cups chopped tomatoes
2 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped green pepper
10 cups chopped peaches ripe or unripened (I used ripe)
1 TBS canning salt
3 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cider vinegar
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I used a few chopped jalapenos)
2 tsp minced garlic

Add all in pot, stir often, bring to a boil. Let simmer for 5 min. Fill jars and process for 15 min.

And here's our show and tell:

Lori 's quilt.

Back of Lori's quilt.

Couldn't resist taking a shot of Carolanna's sister's sandals. :)

Nancy's quilt. Her husband did the quilting and did a phenomenal job.

Lenette made this little dress from a t-shirt. It's a Vanilla House pattern.

Lenette's quilt from Moda Bakeshop, Cabin in the Hills pattern.

Lenette's pincushion.

Cindy's quilt for her graduating senior.

These are dresses Jeri made from a Vanilla House pattern. Lucky little granddaughters who get to wear these this summer.

Back of the dress.

These are some online swap blocks Rachel made.

Rachel's quilt.

Maurene's quilt.

Carolanna's quilt.

Another Carolanna quilt.

Handwork by Diane.

A handbag made by Diane's daughter.

Mary's hot pad.

Nancy F.'s birthday table topper quilt.

Monica's quilt.

Diane's pincushion project from last month.

Diane's luggage tags.

April 2011

2011-04-27T16:20:00.013-06:00

Another wonderful meeting with great friends. We had a big turn out at Sherry's house yesterday. We exchanged our pizza boxes and showed our new blocks. We now have 12 completed squares in our boxes and we can start to see what our quilts will eventually look like. We also had a great show and tell as you can see below.

Afterwards, Sherry showed us how to make cute pin cushions starting with just 2 circles of fabric.

Then, of course, we had a tasty lunch with a pasta vegetable salad, fresh sliced strawberries, homemade french bread and a fun dessert. The recipes are at the end of the post.

Pin cushion project

Sherry's quilt

Sherry's General Conference pillow(made while watching the LDS General Conference)-she changed some of the words to include personal things for her family

Nancy C.'s sewing table scrap catcher/pin cushion

Mary's disappearing nine-patch

Some of our cancer auction quilt squares started coming in this month. They turned out great!

Carolanna's purse

Carolanna's puppy quilt-wool

Carolanna's quilt

Carolanna's owl quilt

Carolanna's quilt

Close up

Jeanie's "Romantic" quilt

Jeanie's quilt

Maurene's purse

Maurene's click-it clutches made with metal measuring tapes

Maurene's wild side quilt

Rachel's schnibble quilt

Rachel's bunnies

Rachel's quilt

Nancy's little girl's Easter dress, hand smocked

Nancy's selvage blocks-her mom Diane is sending her selvages and Nancy will be making a string quilt out of them

Nancy's cozy

Nancy's tablerunner

Diane's baby quilt

Robyn's apron

Robyn's quilt made for a graduating high school senior

Lori's online swap clutches

Lori's "Living Large" quilt

Lori's diamond quilt-front and back

Tortellini Salad

18 oz. cheese tortellini

1 lb. snap peas

1 lb. grape tomatoes

Small bunch of basil

Cook tortellini in boiling pot of water for 7 minutes. Blanch snap peas and cool in cold water, drain. Halve grape tomatoes. Thinly slice a small bunch of basil leaves. Combine all ingredients.

Dressing:

1 T. mlnced garlic

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. lemon juice

2 t. dijon mustard

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

1 t. soy sauce

1/2 t. dried basil

Combine all ingredients well. Pour over pasta mixture.

Note: You can make this a day ahead if needed. It keeps well and marinates the pasta.

French Bread

2 1/2 c. warm water

2 T. sugar

2 T. dry yeast

1 T. salt

2 T. oil

6 cups flour

1 egg, beaten

Sesame seeds or poppy seeds, if desired

Put all ingredients (except egg and seeds) into bread mixer (I use a Bosch). Mix for 4 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Mix again for 1 minute or so. Repeat this 5 times, which will take an hour. Place dough on floured counter. Divide in half. Roll each into a rectangle about 9 x 12 inches long. Roll up from the long side and pinch to seal. Arrange both loaves lengthwise on a large, well-greased jelly roll pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle with seeds, if desired. Use a sharp knife to gently make 3 diagonal gashes in the top of each loaf.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove to cooling racks and cover with a towel. Makes two loaves.

Note: I know this sounds time intensive. I put this in to mix first, while I'm busy in the kitchen doing other things--set my timer every 10 minutes and go with it!

Neiman Marcus Cake

1 chocolate cake mix

1 cube margarine

1 egg.

Blend and place in a well-greased 9 x 13 pan.

Topping:

1-8 oz. cream cheese

2 eggs

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

dash salt

Mix topping and pour over batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Note: I didn't have a chocolate cake mix on hand yesterday so I used brownie mix. Cake mix works better!

March 2011 Meeting

2011-03-23T16:55:00.024-06:00

What a fun, productive and tasty meeting we had this month at Rachel's home. We had a great turnout too with 18 in attendance. We all manage to squeeze in and love being able to meet in each other's homes. After giving our star blocks to Diane for the Just One Star project sponsored by Moda, we then took a peek into our pizza boxes to see our new blocks for the month and quickly exchanged them for a new box.

Next came show and tell.

Afterwards while enjoying a great lunch of open faced salmon sandwiches, salad and homemade cheesecake, Lori gave us a tutorial for the cancer charity auction quilts we will be making for this year. I've included pictures of the square we each will make and also a step by step instruction for the curved piecing we will be doing. Lori made it very easy for us as she had all the white pieces pre-cut along with several of the wedge pieces. Also her method of using glue instead of pins for the curved piecing will save us so much time and effort. Thank you Lori!!!

Flag of Valor, Just One Star quilt blocks

Susan's black and white and red quilt

Susan's quilt

Susan's quilt top

Rachel's Schnibble quilt

Rachel's string quilt made with blocks from Bee Scrappy flickr group

Jeri's fireman quilt

Jeri's fireman's quilt

Lori's 4-patch baby quilt

Lori's camera straps(available on Etsy)

Linda's baby quilt for Louise

Lenette's little girl's dress. Pattern from Quilt Expressions

Jeanie's dresden plate charger-1 of 12 (almost finished)

Jeanie's wool topper

Jeanie's purse

Close up

Jeanie's charm pack and layer cake quilt from the Objects of Desire" line. Machine quilted in St. George, Utah at Quilt-n-Sew (435)673-1993

Diane's crocheted fabric rug

Cancer quilt square

Lori's demo for cancer quilt block piecing:

Thank you Rachel for this wonderful lunch!! You always give 150% for our group! Here are the recipes:

Spinach, avacado and orange salad.

Soak 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion in cold water about 10 min.

Dressing: Whisk 1/4 c. orange juice, the juice of one lime, 1 T. honey, 2 tsp. dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Whisk in 3 T. olive oil. Drain the onion; Toss with spinach, 2 sliced avacados, 2 segmented oranges and the dressing and top with chopped toasted hazelnuts.

Sandwiches: mix chicken or tuna or salmon with mayo and spices of your choice. Put on english muffin, top with tomatoe and cheese and toast under broiler till cheese is melted.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

2 cups oreo's cookie crumbs

1 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 cup water

2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup half-and-half cream

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 1 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.

2. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with half-and-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.

4. In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust. Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9 inch cheesecake

Use water bath and make sure you make early enough to refrigerate for 24 hours. Can use seedless raspberry jam but it is heavy and sinks instead of floated in the cheesecake. Use in individual cupcake holders.

Can use blueberries, strawberries, cherries with milk chocolate or white.

Can make individually. Use cupcake liners then peel off.

February 2011 Mtg

2011-02-23T19:06:00.020-07:00

We met this month at Lori's and learned how to make cute pin head toppers out of Sculpey clay. After making our pin toppers, Lori placed them in the oven to bake while we had our show and tell and pizza box exchange. Afterwards Lori served us some scrumptious quiches, fresh sweet pineapple and broccoli raisin salad. Here are some pictures from our meeting:

Getting to work on our pin head toppers. We started out slowly, then we couldn't stop coming up with ideas. Lots of fun-thanks, Lori!

Pin head topper

More toppers

Some more of our pin head toppers

Sherry's quilt

Sherry's Christmas quilt

Jeri's tablecloth quilt

Kathi's grommet purse

Large opening for grommet purse

Nancy's charity quilt top

Rachel's easy pattern skirt

More of Rachel's skirts

Rachel wearing one of her quick and easy skirts. She promises to teach us all how to make them.

Rachel's apron

Rachel's small travel purses

Dish towels from Lori's swap partner

Lori's tablerunner

Lori's scrap basket

Lori's wall hanging

Lori's FLickr swap blocks

Lori's swap partner has a hedgehog for a pet, so she made this cute little square for her

Lori's blocks from her Flickr group, Bee Scrappy

Carolanna's husband's quilt

Carolanna's husband requested this design and even the machine quilting

Carolanna's baby quilt-she's helping a friend design a whole nursery

Close up

Quiche-mushroom, bacon and asparagus

Fresh pineapple and broccoli/raisin salad

January 2011 meeting

2011-01-26T14:53:00.010-07:00

Nancy C.'s tablerunner.

Nancy C.'s quilt
Nancy C.'s quilt
A pillow for Nancy F. from her mother.
Nancy F.'s tree skirt
Diane's raw edge squares quilt

Another raw edge quilt by DianeMaurene's husband's mother's quilt. Maurene hand-quilted it.
Lori's wallhanging.
Lori's felt flower.
Lori's wall hanging.
Lori's quilt.
Rachel's table topper
Rachel's new bag. She adds a flower that compliments her outfit

Kathi's carolers.
Sharon Baker's presentation:

Thank you Nancy for hosting this month's meeting. We had a great sew and tell and enjoyed a special guest Sharon Baker, a wonderfully creative fiber artist/quilt artist. Sharon shared several of her pieces and enlightened us on her creative thought that went into each piece. Sharon teaches classes on creativity, has written a book and has several patterns. Her work has been exhibited in competitions and galleries throughout the United States. Her website is www.kapamaker.com. It was a treat to have her visit our quilt group.

Here are the recipes for the great lunch we had afterwards.

Flavored Cream Cheese for Ham Croissant Sandwiches

16 oz cream cheese (I used 1 regular and 1 light.)

1/2 C dried cherries soaked in orange juice for several hours

1/2 C toasted pecans

1 tsp orange zest

Whip cream cheese. Chop soaked cherries and pecans into small pieces. Mix into cream cheese. Add a little of the orange juice to get a spreadable consistency. Add zest. Bring to room temperature before spreading on croissants.

Apricot Almond Bars from Alyson

1 C butter

1/2 C sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 C sifted flour

1 12 oz jar apricot jam

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 C powdered sugar

1/4 C sliced almonds (you can use slivered, but I like the way sliced almonds look)

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Spread in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and cool. Spread apricot jam over crust. Beat the egg whites and almond extract, then add the powdered sugar gradually. The mixture will be thin. Spread over jam, top with almonds. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. (Be careful not to let the glaze brown very much in the oven. The bars look prettiest when the egg whites are hard and glossy and let the apricot jam shine through.)

Cut bars while warm, or even better, after freezing.

(note: the only change I made was to sub 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp vanilla for the 1/2 tsp almond in the glaze since I don't like really strong almond flavoring.)

December 2010 Meeting

2010-12-08T15:39:00.014-07:00

Wow, lots of show and tell today at our meeting! That's our favorite part of the meeting, so what a fun way to end the year. We met at Robyn's home, 17 of us present including Diane S.'s sister visiting from Oakley.

After show and tell, we had a gift exchange and then a wondeful potluck luncheon with Robyn serving us chicken caesar salad sandwiches on fresh focaccia bread.

We have such a great group and each month as we meet it's a reminder of how we are truly blessed to have each other for friends.

The Potluck!!

October 2010 Meeting

2010-10-28T12:21:00.006-06:00

Thank you Jeri for hosting this month's meeting. We had a great time and learned so much. The practice session on continuous line machine quilting ideas was great. Thanks to Robyn, Cindy and Carolanna for your fun ideas and sketches. What a great idea to sketch on the back of gift wrapping in order to see how the design looks on a larger scale.

Also Maurene reported to us that our cancer auction quilt auctioned off for a record $2200. It's very motivating to know that our quilts are not only appreciated but especially that this money will go to such a wonderful cause.

Jeri served us a yummy fruit pizza. Here's the recipe:
Fruit Pizza

1 c butter
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 Tbsp. milk
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt

Mix together and put in jelly roll sheet pan
Bake 350 for 15 to 18 min.

Icing
1 block cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1 small tub of cool whip

Layer fruit over frosted cookie.

Kathi's "Turkey Carving"
Kathi's mosaic quilt
Robyn's orange quilt
Robyn's quilt
Nancy's gift bags
Nancy's Tag Along Totes (Atkinson Designs)
Close up of Tag Along Tote
Carolanna's tablerunner
Carolanna's quilt
Lori's son's quilt (had to crop the picture since my "owy" was blocking part of it :)
Lori's purses-large and small

Lori's swap example
Lori's pocket advent calendar gift from a swap partner-LUCKY!
Another gift from a swap partner-mug cozy
Yet another great gift to Lori-sewing machine cover
back of machine cover
Lori's Christmas blocks
Lori's poinsettia pillow(she'll add bells to the middle)
Maurene's string quilt
Monica's quilt

Sept 2010 mtg-Diane B.'s

2010-09-29T15:17:00.011-06:00

This month we met at Diane Beagley's home on Wednesday, September 29th.
There were 17 members present: Mary, Nancy C., Tracey, Kathi, Nancy F., Jeri, Robyn, Rachel, Carolanna, Lenette, Susan, Diane S., Jeanie, Maurene, Diane B., Monica and Linda.
The Pizza Box Block exchange has evolved into a fun part of meeting each month, as we view each new block. After showing the blocks we enjoyed sew and tell. Not everyone had items to show, but we enjoy all that was shared.
For those interested in purchasing thread, Rachel will be sending in a thread order to Connecting Threads. Please contact her.
Diane B., our hostess showed and explained how to make a "Halloween Hand", using muslin, wire and batting. It 'stands' on a can and can be used as a Halloween decoration. She also served a delicious lunch of Italian Peasant Soup, Rolls and two desserts, Pumpkin Pie Tarts and Apple Turnovers. Everything was very nice. Thank You Diane for your effort and hospitality.
Next month we will meet on Wednesday, October 27th, 10:00 a.m. at Jeri's.

Mary's quilt for recently released Primary president

Rachel's king size bed quilt
Back of Rachel's bed quilt

Material Girls' cancer auction quilt-quilted by Rachel

Back of cancer quilt

Carolanna's table runner
Carolanna's quilt
Carolanna's jelly roll quilt

Carolanna's scalloped border quilt
Close up of scallop border
Pillow made by Lenette
Christmas snowball quilt by Nancy, Diane S.'s daughter.
Diane S.'s coin purse
Diane S.'s flannel bib(reversible)
Diane B.'s cheater quilt
Jeanie's table runners

Diane B.'s cowboy quiltClose up of cowboy material
Quilt top made by Maurene's mother-in-law-all hand pieced.
Close up of hand-piecing
Monica's quilt top

Vintage linen Maurene bought in Amish country
Mummy hand demo by Diane.

She gave each of us a kit to make one.

Fun table settings

August 2010 meeting

2010-08-26T14:34:00.013-06:00

Corrie's anniversary quilt
Nancy C.

Sample of Diane S.'s curtains for bathroom window.

Lenette's tablecloth (she used flannel as batting to make it a bit thinner)

Carolanna's pot holders
Kathi's dresden plate chargers

Carolanna's own design
Maurene's quilt

Monica's daughter's quilt (quilted by Nancy's husband)
Diane B.'s chenille baby boy quilt

Hannah's apron (it's reversible)-Diane B.'s daughter
Lori's sewing machine cover

Lori's Pin Cushion Organizer

Material Girls of Idaho met on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at the home of Tracey Braithwaite. Fifteen members were in attendance, plus two daughters. First on the agenda was showing and viewing the pizza box exchange blocks. Each month all of the blocks come back so nice! Sew and Tell next: A discussion was held about the erasable gel pens by PILOT called Frixion. This is a very handy tracing pen that can be used in sewing and stitching. The ink will iron right off the surface of your project. Various colors are available, the pen can be found in most office supply stores.

Also, on sale right now at Hancocks Fabrics is a line of quilting fabric called M'Liss.

Tracey had available for us to sew, a fun tea towel and fabric for Fall. See one pictured below.
Some members shared a seasonal recipe of something from their garden. We enjoyed a pasta dish and some bottled relish. Tracey served a very refreshing slush and delicious Zucchini Muffins right out of the oven. Thank You, Tracey for all your effort to provide a very enjoyable morning! Take a look at this Sew Mama Sew link that Lori Shroath shared. It will lead you to the pin cushion she made for a swap partner. Pin Cushion Organizer. Next month our meeting will be held at Diane Beagley's home on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Thanks to all who attended and showed their sewing creations for the last month. See you next time.

July 2010 Meeting

2010-08-19T20:05:00.003-06:00

The July 2010 meeting for Material Girls was held at Susan Tway's home in Garden City. Susan's home is situated with the Boise River right out her back door. We enjoyed watching a mid-summer storm through the big picture windows that morning. Susan was prepared and set up to help us all make a small Santa ornament or gift tag. She also prepared Strawberry Shortcake for our refreshments. Thank you, Susan, for everything. We met one of Susan's friends and hope to see her again at Quilt Group. Sew and Tell was enjoyable and quite varied. Our group consists of many talented ladies. Thirteen group members were in attendance. We continue to exchange pizza boxes with one more completed block each month. We are asking as you complete a block to write your name inside the lid of the box. See you all in August, where we will meet Wednesday, August 25, at Tracey Braithwaite's home in Eagle. Thanks to everyone.
PS It's been so long I couldn't remember who did what for a few things. If you have a sec, go to Flickr and comment on the picture and I'll get things fixed. Thanks!

June 2010 Meeting

2010-06-30T16:48:00.003-06:00

Material Girls June 2010 meeting was held on Wednesday, the 30th of June at Jeanie Farnworth's home in Emmett. Sixteen group members were in attendance along with a few daughter's visiting for this summer meeting. Jeanie served delicious cinnamon rolls and fruit. Many many beautiful projects were shown during sew and tell. Corrie Munson showed the group how to make a "Little Wallet" by Valori Wells. Available also, were ready to make up kits for the little wallet. Corrie brought several items showing new lines of fabric. Group members were able to purchase charm packs, etc. Thank You Corrie and Thanks so much to Jeanie for hosting our meeting. See you next month at Susan Tway's home in Boise on July 28th.

May 2010 Meeting

2010-05-27T11:15:00.009-06:00

Wednesday, May 26, 2010~Today the Material Girls met at 10:00 a.m. at Nancy F.'s home. Fifteen members were in attendance: Kathi T., Diane S., Lenette P., Carolanna M., Nancy C., Diane B., Nancy F., Monica C., Rachel L., Maurene L., Susan T., Corrie M., Jeri M., Jeanie F., and Tracey B.

After one month of the Pizza Box Block activity, we were able to view the first blocks made. They were all fantastic! Each of us left with yet a different box with another block to make! Note all the pizza boxes in our photos...looks like we had a huge pizza feast.

Sew and Tell was relatively short, so we moved on to yummy fruit and yogurt parfaits. Several ladies brought sewing machines to make the patriotic star that Lori Schroath designed last month. They got to work on those and this concluded our meeting. Next month Jeanie Farnworth is in charge. Thank You. Enjoy the pictures.

The yummy parfaits...

April 2010

2010-04-30T19:30:00.016-06:00

On April 28th, we met at Maurene Lamm's home in Eagle. There were 13 members in attendance: Carolanna Mellen, Diane Spackman, Lenette Poole, Susan Tway, Kathi Thompson, Tracey Braithwaite(newest member), Nancy Fahnestock, Rachel Lamm, Maurene Lamm, Robyn Chamberlain, Corrie Munson, Lori Schroath and Diane Beagley. Mary Lloyd dropped in briefly and left several plastic 3 inch template strips for us to take and use with our Vintage Baby Blocks quilts! Rachel Lamm updated the group on the quilt for cancer reaserch that we made 2 months ago. It will be donated to the cancer charity called Expedition Inspiration.
The "Pizza Box Exchange" activity is under full swing. Each person brought a block to be passed in their pizza box to a different member, exchanging every meeting for the next 12 to 15 months. The blocks all vary, from 30's fabrics to black and white to novelty to using shirting from old dress shirts. We missed getting a picture of a couple of the blocks. We will update those next month, and include those of a few members who were not in attendance today. After an inspiring "sew and tell" session, we visited and enjoyed mini muffins and fruit smoothies created by Maurene. Thank you. Next month we will meet at Nancy Fahnestock's home on Wednesday, May 26th. The plan is to make a star shaped red white and blue table topper. Lori will do the demonstration.

Diane S.'s table runners

Diane S.'s exchange block
Rachel's exchange block
Rachel's quilt
Rachel's quilt
Rachel's block
Rachel's table topper
Another of Rachel's table toppers

Close up

Rachel's quilt
Carolanna's exchange block
Carolanna's quilt
Carolanna's quilt. Experimenting with rickrack
Carolanna's quilt
Carolanna's quilt
Carolanna's quilt
Susan's exchange block
Susan's quilt
Susan's quilt
Corrie's exchange block
Corrie's purse
Corrie's Vintage triangle quilt
Diane B.'s exchange block
Diane B.'s daughter's skirt
Mary's exchange block
Maurene's exchange block
Maurene's work in progress
Kathi's daughter's baptism quilt
Kathi's exchange block
Monica's exchange block
Robyn's exchange block
Robyn's quilt
Nancy C.'s exchange block
Lenette's Bullseye friendship quilt
Lenette's quilt

Sew and flip stars designed and made by Lori. We will be making these next month!
Lori's exchange block.

March 2010

2010-03-25T08:16:00.004-06:00

Material Girls met at Kathi's, our fearless leader's home, for quilt group today. Twelve ladies were in attendance: Lenette P., Corrie M., Mary L., Diane S., Nancy C., Jeri M., Robyn C., Jeanie F., Kathi T., Carolanna M., Rachel L., and Lori S.

To begin, we turned in our last friendship blocks. These were a log cabin block for Nancy C. They all sewed up very very cute. Kathi introduced a new monthly block activity called The Pizza Exchange which we will carry out for the next 12 to 18 months. Next month we are to bring a block of our choosing done in colors that we would like everyone else to follow for the block they make to go with our original block. The size block you make to begin with can be from 12 inches to 8 inches (finished). Bring it in a pizza box with your name on it. Subsequent blocks made by each Material Girl will be that same size. The boxes will be passed around the group at each meeting. You will only make one block for another person per month. Clear as mud? :)

For "sew and tell" we started out viewing Quiet Books made by Lenette and Diane. They turned out great. Diane also showed a small wall quilt that was started 25 years ago. Finally finished in 2010! Corrie showed 2 Vintage Baby Squares quilts. One done up in the Wheels collection by Riley Blake and the other from the Rawhide line by Moda. Both quilts are absolutely awesome. Mary showed a baby size butterfly quilt top and a flannel quilt that she crocheted around using the "cowboy" stitch. Very nice. Jeri showed two table toppers and a tablecloth top with scalloped print on the fabric. Very unique. Robyn, again has been busy sewing with Kaffe Fasset fabrics and Batiks, mmmm, one top all quilted and washed the other ready to be sandwiched. Jeanie showed 3 flannely soft baby quilts and receiving blankets done with the mitered corner. Carolanna made a darling pink and brown quilt with daisies, a pillow to go with the Breat Cancer Auction quilt and a stunning pink, red, orange and black quilt top. Kathi has been working with intensity on a large appliqued winter tree wall quilt! Whew! She also completed a beautiful bag (The Bella Bag by Heather Mulder Peterson) made from fabric she picked up overseas. The handles are attached with BIG grommets. At this point we had a 'texture magic' discussion. Rachel showed a table topper with fabric scallops on the edges, a black wool topper and a "pineapple" quilt top. Lori came loaded with wonderful quilty goodness to inspire. She showed a big bag made of home decorator weight fabric, a smart orange 'purse', a big pink pillow made from a free tutorial on the Amy Butler website, a zigzag quilt (crazymomquilts tutorial), a green and white quilt (from FilmintheFridge site), a quilt from the Livin' Large book and another quilt made of an Abby Lane pattern. Everything was a feast for the eyes.

Kathi then demonstrated a Four Sided Placemat! If you use placemats, it is a must do! How do people come up with all the clever ideas???

Thank you so much, Kathi!

See you all in April. We are tentatively meeting at Jeanie's home in Emmett.

February 2010 Meeting

2010-03-24T20:25:00.002-06:00

For our meeting on February 24, 2010, we sewed quilt blocks for the Cancer Research Donation quilt. We met at Lori S. home in south Boise, with our sewing machines ready to piece. The block used is a Buggy Barn pattern. The quilt is made of pink, white and black as seen in previous post. Thank you to Rachel L., Carolanna M. and Lori S. for organizing this quilt and work meeting. Lori and Rachel provided a great lunch of salads, bread and pound cake for dessert. There were 11 ladies in attendance: Nancy F., Diane S., Lenette P., Carolanna M., Susan T., Rachel L., Lori S., Diane B., Jerri M., Kathi T. and Monica C.
This is the last month for Friendship blocks. We returned the Bullseye blocks to Lenette, and received Nancy C., block.
We missed seeing several members, including Maurene, who's daughter passed away. Our best regards and wishes go out to the family.

Thank you.

Susan G. Komen Quilt

2010-02-04T16:02:00.004-07:00

As you all know each year we do a quilt to donate to Susan G. Komen for the Cure Boise to auction at their Survivors dinner in May. This year we will be doing Buggy Barn's "It's in the Bag" quilt similar to Rachel's below.

Like the example we are going to do it all in pink, black and white. To do the 30 blocks needed to make a twin we were hoping that each of you could bring 3 fat quarters in any combination of pink, black and/or white. I realize that we may end up with lots of extra fat quarters but this will give us some flexibility in planning the blocks as well as making it so that we can add a few to the back.

Because each block is made up of 5 different fabrics we need to be careful in picking our fat quarters. Please make sure that your fabrics are comprised of any combination of: true pinks (any shade, just none that is dusty or muted), black and/or white (no cream or ivory). You do not have to have all three colors in each fabric, any combination will work. Also, prints are great and will add variety to the quilt; tone on tone, animal prints, stripes, polka dots... we love them all just as long as they contain only pink, black, and white.

This is a fabric we are thinking about using for the sashing

And this is an example of the "feel" we are hoping for from our fabric choices.

In addition to your 3 fat quarters, please bring your sewing machine a tabletop pressing board (if you have one) and iron (if bringing a pressing board). This should make for a fun activity. If you've never done a Buggy Barn pattern, you're in for a treat :-)

Granola Recipe

2010-02-03T22:27:00.002-07:00

Granola

(this recipe can be doubled)

3 cups rolled oats (not quick)
1 cup slivered almonds, or sliced
1 cup various nuts, broken coarsely, I used whole almonds also
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
1/4 cup dark or light brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 T. maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 t. salt
1 cup raisins (optional)
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. It takes a few minutes of stirring. Pour syrup mixture over oat mixture, and combine. Pour onto a sheet pan. Cook for 1 hour, stirring half way through.
remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix.

note: other dried fruits can be used instead of raisins, I.e. cranberries, cherried, chopped dates, chopped apricots, blueberries.

This granola is excellent when served over plain yogurt with chopped fresh fruit.

January 2010 Meeting at Diane S.'s

2010-02-01T23:16:00.006-07:00

Our first Material Girls Meeting for 2010, was held January 27, 2010, at Diane Spackman's home.
There were 18 people in attendance, including, Corrie Munson, came to talk about a darling springy tablerunner she had made and to show the group how she constructed it. The pattern is titled: Dresdens On The Vine. Corrie talked to us about English Paper Piecing. Thank you Corrie for coming. We hope to see you more often! Attending: Diane Spackman, Diane Beagley, Lenette Poole, Nancy Christensen, Maurene Lamm, Rachel Lamm, Carolanna Mellon, Robyn Chamberlain, Nancy Fahnestock, Susan Tway, Monica Campbell and her mother from Utah, Kathy Mumford~visiting, Lori Schroath, Linda Ingram, Kathi Thompson and Jeri Moore. We returned friendship blocks for Nancy Fahnestock and received a new one to do this month from Lenette Poole. It is a circular block called the Bullseye. Nancy Christensen will bring us a friendship block to sew in February. This will be the last friendship block we will sponsor. We enjoyed seeing many many projects completed by one another. Our refreshments were fruit, yogurt and granola parfaits. Thanks to all who participated. Our meeting in February will be held at Lori Schroath's home. We will bring our sewing machines and sew away, as we are making a quilt for the Breast Cancer Research Auction.

Christmas Luncheon at Nancy C's 2009

2009-12-03T17:34:00.002-07:00

December 2, 2009 Material Girls Christmas Party held at Nancy C. home.

Attending: Mary L., Maurene L., Jeanie R., Jeri M., Carolanna M., Lori S., Robyn C., Kathi T., Diane S., Linda I., Rachel L., Susan T., Diane B., Lenette P., Nancy F., Nancy C., Monica C., Jan L.
We enjoyed many Sew and Tell items, as you can see in the slide show.
We gave Susan T. the friendship blocks that we made for her. Nancy F. presented her block for us to take home, sew up and bring in January.
After Sew and Tell, we played a game which entailed passing fabric, tearing it in half and continue passing it. We all brought 1 yard of Christmas fabric for this fun game.
Our gift exchange was different than previous years. We passed gifts right or left around the circle, to a story about Mr. and Mrs. Wright. One by one, we opened the gift we ended up with at the end of the story. It was a lot of fun also.
Lunch consisted of soups, rolls, dill bread, vegetable tray, refreshing punch and lovely Christmas desserts, contributed by all in attendance. Thank You to Nancy for a very nice event. We felt like we'd had first class treatment.
Next month meeting: Wed., January 27th 2010 at Diane S. home.
Lenette will bring her friendship block to us in January.
Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year.

October 2009

2009-10-28T15:43:00.006-06:00

Materials Girls quilt group meeting Wednesday, October 28, held at Jan Leifson's home. Red and Cream friendship blocks for Linda Ingram were turned in. Thirteen members were in attendance. Before the meeting began, we went downstairs at Jan's to find a built in playhouse for the children. Seeing the rooms was a delight.
Sew and Tell Items: Nancy F. showed a remarkable sewing machine cover, Nancy Christensen had a pretty quilt top made from a kit of the Quilt Soup pattern "Ciopinno, Diane S. brought a clothespin holder that was made of fabrics by Red Rooster, a kindle holder made of patchwork squares, and a reversible apron made from a pattern in the book Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. An original embroidery design was created and stitched on the solid side of the apron by her daughter, Amber. Kathi T. showed her completed quilt that was made of blocks from the friendship swap. It is darling. The pattern is a Threadbare Creations original. Susan T. showed a small patchwork jack-o-lantern quilt, 2 Birdie Bags made from the Amy Butler pattern, a very pretty pieced-flowers quilt top and a table topper made of wool. The Robb-n-Graves Designs pattern is called Bone Appe'tit. Very cute. Rachel showed several holiday table toppers and wall quilts. She has been sewing up the Scnibbles patterns, showed three very cute skirts, (with lining!) and a nice quilt top made of Amy Butler fabrics. It is a fat quarter quilt called "Slide Show". Jeanie F. showed a very cute snowman/Christmas stitchery, her "Seeds" stitcheries completed in a quilt, the completed penny rug, and a small Bullseye Quilt made of 30s fabrics in yellow, green and lavender. Maurene completed her baseball quilt. It is done in very pretty dusty blue fabrics. She also brought a very nice Christmas panel done up as a wall quilt by Linda Blakeslee, Maurene's daughter. Jerri has been sewing hexagons! She showed a lovely quilt made from a McCalls magazine pattern. She had enough leftover hexagons to made a very novel table topper! Jan L. continues to amaze us all with her ability to get a lot done, she showed a green and purple wall quilt done in the Card Trick pattern, a striking paper pieced star quilt done in the Primary colors and a gorgeous Maple Leaf quilt of Batiks!
Thank You everyone for sewing, showing and sharing your talent.
Susan T. presented the friendship block for this month. She would like us to do these in creams and reds, also.
Jan served us a yummy slice of Pumpkin cake with Maple Frosting. Thank you Jan for hosting us this month. Next meeting: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at Nancy C. home. This will be our Christmas meeting. A lunch of soup, rolls, and desserts will follow a gift exchange and Christmas fabric game. Everyone please bring: food item for lunch, 1 yard of Christmas fabric, a quilt related gift for the exchange and a pair of scissors AND your sew and tell items! See you then.

Sept. 09 Mtg

2009-10-09T11:11:00.001-06:00

August Meeting Slide Show

2009-09-01T16:27:00.000-06:00

Quilt Group Meeting ~ August 2009

2009-08-31T19:49:00.009-06:00

Our meeting this month was held at Lenette Poole's home, on Wed. August 26th. In attendance were Lori Schroath, Monica Campbell, Jeanie Farnworth, Jerri Moore, Nancy Christensen, Diane Spackman, Maurene Lamm, Carolanna Mellen, Nancy Fahnestock, Rachel Lamm, Linda Ingram, Susan Tway and Lenette. (Our numbers were a little low, as many ladies couldn't come.) We enjoyed show and tell (pictures will be forth coming) after which, Lenette showed those who were interested the snowflake stitch in crochet. This is a cute stitch that works well for a baby afaghan. Monica handed out her friendship block to all present. Lenette served us a very tasty lunch of Taco Salads with grapes and a delicious fresh lemonade drink. We also enjoyed a tasty raspberry dessert with vanilla ice cream. Thank you Lenette, for an enjoyable meeting and all your effort for our meeting. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 30.The friendship block person for September's meeting is Linda I. Our meeting will be held at Monica Campbell's.

July 2009 Meeting

2009-07-29T23:11:00.026-06:00

Today we met at Robyn Chamberlain's home for a nice mid summer quilt meeting. After show and tell, Robyn showed us how to crochet a round rug using 1 inch wide fabric strips. She also served a delicious lunch of Caeser Salad, grapes, watermelon, yummy bread and wonderful fruit trifles for dessert. Thanks so much Robyn.

Carolanna's friendship block and below is a quilt she made from similar blocks.

Carolanna's snowball quilt made from a layer cake of fabrics.

Carolanna's zigzag quilt.

Diane S.'s checkbook cover. She learned how to make them from a blog tutorial.

A colored pencil holder made by Diane S.

Both purses were made by Nancy. The one below is a purse made from 2 tea towels and it's reversible.

A Kaffe Fasset design made by Nancy. It's called the S quilt.

A block of the month quilt made by Maurene. It turned out beautiful. Above is a closer look.

Here's a fun blue and yellow table runner made by Diane S.

Maurene finished the friendship blocks we made for her.

Here is a full shot of it. Very nice.

Close up of a block of the month quilt sponsored by Huckleberry Patches of McCall, Idaho. Below is the full quilt. Many many hand stiches in this quilt.

Jeanie F. made a very simple quilt of browns, tans and reds for her grandson who is getting married in just a few short days.

Rachel made this darling girlie quilt for her daughter's bedroom wall.

Rachel also made this fun bulletin board of pinks and blacks!

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Completed penny rug. We started these last month. Two people got theirs done, Rachel and Susan

Detail quilting of Robyn's scrappy round the world quilt.

Here is Robyn's latest version of the crocheted rug that she showed us how to make today.

This yellow and blue quilt was completed by Jerri M. for her friend's child's wedding quilt.

Lenette made a diaper changing pad to match the diaper bag that she made, pictured below. Very Very Cute.

Diane Beagley's daughter, Hannah, attended quilt group with her today. She made this cute purse in a class she took at a local quilt store.

Diane B.'s log cabin quilt.

June 09 mtg at Rachel's

2009-07-03T20:38:00.001-06:00

June mtg recipes

2009-07-03T20:01:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple of the recipes from our last meeting. After a wonderful show and tell (pictures coming shortly), Rachel demonstrated how to make wool penny rugs and we swapped wool fabric so we can all make a penny rug. Lunch was a fun treat and as usual requests came for recipes. So here are 2 of them. More may be coming later.

Chicken Salad

4 c. chopped chicken
3 celery ribs, diced
1 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans

Dressing:
1 1/2 c. mayonnaise or less if you desire
1/3 c. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Frito Salad

1 medium onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
2 yellow bell peppers, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped
1 can red kidney beans
1 bottle Catalina salad dressing
1 bag Fritos corn chips

Add all ingredients together in a bowl, except the dressing and Fritos. Toss together. Add dressing, as much as desired to coat, and also add the Fritos when ready to serve.

Recipes from May mtg

2009-06-04T09:40:00.003-06:00

Here are the recipes from our yummy lunch at Diane's.

Egg Casserole
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz. cream cheese, cut in cubes
2 c. diced ham
1/2 c. green onions
8 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. Bisquick
1/2 lb. mushrooms, diced
1/2 tsp. mustard
2 c. half and half
Spray 9x13 inch pan. Toss together cheese, ham, green onions, and mushrooms and spread evenly in pan. Put everything else in blender and mix until well blended. Pour over top and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees (golden brown on top and until knife comes out clean.)

Punch
The strawberry lemonade is:
1 pkg crystal light lemonade made as directed
then I mix about 1 cup water with 2-3 cups washed strawberries
in blender and mix the 2 together.

That day Diane added some punch she had left over.
That recipe is:
3 packs cherry flavored kool-aid
1 large can pineapple juice
1 large bottle sprite
2 cups sugar that has been diluted with 2 cups hot water
8 oz can frozen lemonade

(mix together and chill) if it is too sweet for you, further dilute
with more sprite

She added about 1 quart of the punch with the 1st punch mixture

May '09 meeting at Diane's

2009-06-01T17:05:00.001-06:00

April Meeting

2009-05-05T18:24:00.008-06:00

Carolanna's pink, black and white quilt. Very striking!
Ruth's Iris Applique. An original work of art.

Diane Spackman's Daisy Chain Quilt made from charm squares.

Daisy Chain. Amy Butler fabrics are so unique.

Diane's Thanksgiving wall quilt.

Hot Pad made by Diane S. Used 2 layers of insul-bright.

Lori Schroath's tractor close up. A Buggy Barn pattern.

Lori's full quilt. Very very cute!

Butterfly quilt close up.

Butterfly quilt by Lori Schroath. So Springy and fun!

Raw edge applique quilt made by our whole quilt group. This quilt is being raffled off on May 7th at the Research for Breast Cancer Dinner at the Boise Center on the grove. We all made the individual blocks, then as a group put the whole top together. Fun blocks to make. A huge thanks to Lori Schroath for quilting a binding this lovely quilt. The backing is white with pink polka dot. Very sweet!

This airplane quilt is the friendship block quilt that we did for Lori. We did paper piecing for this very cute quilt. It was fun too. Lori used some wonderful colors for a boy quilt!

This is Robyn Chamberlain's quilt. Made of all Kaffe Fasset fabrics, including shot cotton. Is is a great quilt, I almost stole it while she wasn't looking.

Recipes

2009-03-22T11:41:00.003-06:00

I had a few people ask for recipes from our March meeting so I thought this would be a good place to share them. Let me know if you have any questions.

Pork
4 lbs pork roast
5 cans tomato sauce (8oz)
3 tsp pressed garlic cloves
1 1/2 - 3 cups brown sugar
4 tsp cumin
4 cups Dr. Pepper
2-4 tbs molasses
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Mix the entire aboge ingredients, place ina crock-pot, and let simmer until meat is tender and pulls away with fork.

This will work overnight or about 8 hrs on low. This also makes a TON of sauce so you can mix the sauce and either double the meat or freeze half of the sauce for next time.

Lime Rice
2 Tbs butter
1 1/4 cup rice
2 1/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 tsp salt
pepper
juice and zest of 1 large or 2 small limes
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro (I added more lime and cilantro)
1/4 tsp cumin

In a skillet, melt butter with rice. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

I ended up tripling this for our quilt group and the ratios worked well.

Creamy Cilantro Dressing
16oz bottle of mild La Victoria tomatillo salsa (or any other mild green salsa)
1 package dry buttermilk ranch dressing
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4-1/2 cup sugar

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate

Serve with Black beans, cheese, tomatos, cliantro, sour cream, etc. I also like the uncooked toritllas from Costco (in the refrigerated section).

Good Luck!

March Meeting Slide Show

2009-03-22T11:39:00.000-06:00

2009-02-26T16:22:00.004-07:00

Material Girls met at Carolanna Mellon's home on Wednesday, February 25, 2009. Twelve people were in attendance. The completed friendship blocks of a "raw edge favorite fabrics" was turned into Diane Spackman. Laurie Blackner handed out her friendship block, which at first glance we can see it is unique and has a turtle on it!
First on the agenda as usual was show and tell. Kathi T. showed a beautiful Baptism quilt custom made for her daughter from an original pattern. One block done with handwork shows the island of Samoa, where Leah was born. Kathi also showed a Card and Duct Tape bag that she and her daughter made. Check out the slide show for that visual! Laurie Blackner showed a quilt called Summer Camp Quilt, which is a "cheater" panel quilt. It was made for one of the babies in her life. Rachel Lamm has many finishes this month: a Long embroidered/patchwork pillow mmmpretty, her Friendship Blocks quilt~we all helped with that, a Ladybug Table Runner, a Valentine Wall quilt, and a Happy Easter wall quilt. Nancy Fahnestock showed a neat pillow with a heart and love on it. Mary Lloyd has been sewing away on a table runner for her mother in law, a pretty table topper called Allspice Star and a big quilt made from the Tranquility line of fabric. Carolanna had several lovely projects as usual: completed Ladybug Quilt with scalloped edge, a Spring Quilt and a Pastel "Walmart" qQuilt which has real pretty machine quilting that she did on her big quilting machine. Jeri Moore showed a Houses on Parade quilt that she made from a McCalls quilting magazine. There is a secondary pattern that can be seen in that quilt. Diane Spackman showed a raw edge applique flower quilt that is a Waltzing With Bears pattern. Lenette Poole showed a very lovely quilt that she made from a purchased kit of the Flutterby line of fabric. It is a hexagon block quilt.
Monica Campbell, Diane Beagley and Robin Chamberlain were also in attendance. Thanks ladies, inspiring as usual.
Carolanna took us up to her sewing room where her machine quilter is and let us quilt with it. It was fun. She also served us a great lunch of BLTs on crissont rolls, cool whip salad and carrot bread. The raw edge flower blocks for the Cancer Research auction quilt are due next month.
~~Thanks so much.

Feb. '09 Show and Tell

2009-02-25T19:02:00.001-07:00