November 2018

Diane hosted our end of the year Christmas meeting with the help of her daughter and Jeri. We had a great time, great food and gathered wonderful ideas as we shared Christmas hacks with each other. Our theme for the meeting was Favorite Things, so each of us brought 3 of our favorite thing. We put our name 3 times into a bowl. Then when it was time for the game, we each showed our favorite item and explained why we liked it so much. Then we went around the room choosing a name from the bowl. We then received one of the items from that person. The bowl went around the room 3 times, so we each went away with three different items. A perfect game for our group!

BRUNCH

Lenette's famous toffee

Fruit

Orange rolls

Brown Sugar Pepper Bacon-not pictured

Preheat oven to 400

Spread bacon on a tinfoil lined baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with pepper and brown sugar.

Bake for another 8 minutes or until bacon is cooked to your liking.

Ornament project- thank you Jeri! These were fun to make

SHOW AND TELL

and 

CHRISTMAS HACK IDEAS

Cindy made this 9-patch. 

Christmas Hack-use online shopping and ask your kids to make their gift lists by sending you links to what they would like

Nancy (Diane's daughter) made this cute "Super Girl" for her daughter.

Hack- keep the scissors, tape and pins all in with the wrapping paper so you don't have to gather everything every time you wrap something.

Jeri made this wool piece which fits perfectly in the tin she found. If you look closely, she even stitched her and her husband's initials in the tree.

Hack - schedule a dinner with your grandchildren and let them open your gift to them at that time instead of grouping your present in with everything else they get on Christmas day. Also their family loves doing a white elephant each year.

Darla made this ornament using cinnamon sticks and scraps of fabric.

Darla made this tulip quilt from a quilt kit-in-a-box she got at a quilt retreat.

Hack - Darla takes a 10-day summer trip with her sister and plans at that time what to make for Christmas gifts.

This is the the box the quilt kit came in.

Darla made this quilt from 2 1/2' strips and it's called Apron Strings

Darla also made this Floral Fantasy quilt.

Darla made this half square triangle quilt.

This is a small zippered bag that Darla made. She keeps cute little wonder clips inside. She said it was very easy to make.

Susan made the above two wool table toppers using her own dyed wool (except for the backgrounds). We're hoping to make the Christmas one as a group next year. Susan enlarged the pattern to make it the perfect size for what she wanted. Cindy shared a place online where she finds good deals on wool, it's Dorr Mill.

Hack - Remember to show gratitude every day and give hugs

and give memory gifts. One year she put together a memory box for her dad with special things inside that they grew up with.

Nancy Ch. showed these plates as part of her hack. She said she collects cute, unique similarly colored plates to use for special occasions throughout the year.

She also said they like to give "experience" gifts such as tickets to a hockey game or to the ballet.

Also Nancy loves making sugar cookies but since they take so much time, she triples the recipe, bakes some of it and puts the rest of the dough into the freezer so she can make cookies quickly when needed.

This is a sample of one of Jeanie's hacks. She has given these to her grandchildren.

Also when she puts Christmas decorations away, she always writes what's in each bin on top.

She uses bubble wrap to wrap her nativities.

Jeanie also shared that her daughter hangs all the stockings on a tension curtain rod, then hangs that rod on the stocking holders that sit on the mantle. Kathi personally loved that idea, so here's a pic of how her's turned out. When the rest of the kids/grandkids come for Christmas, she can then just add their stockings onto the curtain rod.

Mary's son was complaining that he was always cold, so she made this quilt from her scraps and she had her son tie it. She used a flannel sheet for the back.

Hack - Mary buys cute paper plates from Hobby Lobby to use the whole month of December. It not only looks festive, but it also helps make more time for her to-do list.

Mary also made this half square triangle scrappy quilt.

More Christmas Hacks

Andrea says using online shopping, 2-day shipping and same day store pick-up has been a great time saver.

Monica said it helps to have a theme for the gifts each year such as emergency prep, babysitting coupons, dinner gift certificates

Kathi is asking her kids to make a "giving list" this year.

Robyn does puzzles each year so she has collected quite a few over time, but this year she found a neighbor who does the same thing, so they are just trading puzzles instead of buying new ones.

Robyn also found that flannel sheets go on sale in January each year, so she buys them to use for backs for her quilts.

To make it smell like Christmas in her home, Robyn makes this to simmer on her stove:

1/2 orange, sliced

1/2 lemon, sliced

2 cinnamon sticks

T. cloves

bay leaf

water

Robyn also found Christmas 3D glasses at Lowes and Home Depot. When you look through them at lights, they show different object such as Santa, trees, snowflakes, etc Fun for the kids.

Nancy gives money to her grandkids to buy a gift for someone else and then report back to the grandparents on what they chose/did

A couple months before Christmas, Nancy shops with her kids (the parents) to buy gifts for the grandkids so she knows exactly what they need and want.

Sherry has her family make a list of 4 items:

Something you want

Something you need

Something you wear and

Something you read

Sherry also said they love finding fun things at the dollar store and uses online shopping to beat the crowds

Diane said one idea to keep the toys under control is to pack up several toys from the previous year before Christmas and give them away to kids in need

She also found a new favorite chocolate to use for her hot chocolate - Saco

Diane also taught us about Hygge (Danish) - her new favorite word.  It means the absence of anything annoying or emotionally overwhelming, taking pleasure from the presence of gentle, soothing things. It's used when acknowledging a feeling or moment, whether alone or with friends, at home or out, ordinary or extraordinary as cozy, charming or special.  A quality of coziness and contentment. "You can't buy a hygge living room" 

May we all enjoy a hygge Christmas season!!

October 2018

Big thanks to Lenette for hosting this month's meeting along with Cindy, Jean and Joan for their help also. We had door prizes, fabric giveaways (thanks to Joan and Jean) and best of all, the friendship and motivation we feel after attending.
Nov. 28th we are having our last meeting of the year. We are meeting at Diane's for a Favorite Things Christmas party. Think of something you love that costs under $10 and bring 3 of that same item to the meeting. Everyone will leave with 3 fabulous new finds! And of course bring your show and tells and brunch will be served.

Here is the show and tell:


Diane's daughter, Nancy, came to our meeting today and showed this fun rag quilt she made for a friend's son who has suffered from an illness.

Nancy C. finished her wool pumpkin project from our meeting a couple months ago.

Split nine-patch by Nancy C. She had enough leftovers to make another quilt.

The back

Nancy C. made this brick quilt using donated fat quarters and woven fabrics from Allyson Smith

Jean made this penguin quilt making it look more tropical by using the Hawaiian style fabrics. It is a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

Jean made this bear quilt from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

Cat in the Hat quilt made by Jean. The entire story is told on the fabric behind the Cat.

Back of Dr. Suess quilt

Jean made this wool table topper

Jeri made this friendship braid quilt.

Rope bowls that Nancy C. made from clothesline cord. She used cork to finish off the edge at the top.

Close up

Robyn made this ribbon box quilt from a free online pattern. She changed the width of the ribbons to make it more appealing as a baby quilt.

DEMO

Nancy C made this stunning pickle dish quilt called "Eye Popping Pickle Quilt" from a pattern that she's seen made with Kaffe Fasset fabrics. But she chose her own fabric combinations and entered it into the Boise Basin Quilt Show. She won 2nd place! She explained all that goes into entering a quilt into a judged quilt show, how to block a quilt (pin finished quilt to the rug, square up using rulers, spray with water or steam and let completely dry before unpinning), what the judges are looking for, and what she worked hard on with this quilt including a demo of how to make perfect 90 degree binding corners which helped to make this an award winning quilt.
What judges look for:
visual impact
workmanship
quilting
borders
binding

Nancy said she usually uses a cut 2 1/2" strip of fabric for the binding and shortens her stitch length to attach it to the quilt top, adds a bead of Elmer's school glue and then irons to stabilize the edge. She irons after attaching the strip and then glues again after she turns it to the back side and uses an invisible stitch to attach it to the back.

Close up

Fabrics and kits that Jean and Joan donated to the group.


Lenette's quilt from last month up on her wall on her stairway. Perfect spot for it!

LUNCH

• Grandma Morris' carrot CAKE with cream cheese frosting

• 1cup oil
• 3eggs
• 2cups sugar
• 2cups carrots, grated
• 1(20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained
• 2cups flour
• 2teaspoons cinnamon
• 2teaspoons baking soda
• 1teaspoon salt
• 1cup flaked coconut
• 1⁄2cup chopped nuts (optional)

• FROSTING

• 1(4 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1⁄2cup margarine
• 2cups powdered sugar
• milk (just a little)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Beat together the oil, eggs, and sugar.
3. Add the carrots and pineapple.
4. Sift together and mix into the carrot mixture the flour, cinnamon, soda, and salt.
5. Stir in the coconut and the nuts.
6. Pour into an ungreased 9x13-inch pan and bake at 350F for 45 minutes. If you are using a glass pan, bake at 325°F.
7. To make frosting, cream together the cream cheese and the margarine, then beat in the powdered sugar, and add just enough milk, if any, to make it a good spreading consistency.
8. When cool, frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting.

Chicken Roll-ups

Sept 2018 Meeting

Robyn, thank you for hosting our meeting this month and a big thank you to Nancy C. for helping with the lunch! Next month, October, we are meeting on the 31st at Lenette's. Also The AccuQuilt is at Robyn's house if anyone wants to borrow it.

Here's our show and tell:

Rachel used panels to make these 4 outdoor quilts for her sons for Christmas. On the back she found some extremely soft fabric called Sew Lush from Joann's. It felt even softer than minky.

Backs

Rachel also used a panel to make this Halloween quilt.

Rachel made this baby quilt.

Diane made this pinwheel baby quilt using one line of fabric.

Diane made this wedding garland using Twill tape ordered from Amazon and cut various lengths of ribbon, flowers and greener and tied it all on upside down.

Maurene was given these flower garden hexagon blocks that her mother made. They were all hand-pieced. Maurene sewed them onto the white fabric and added the sashing thanks to several employees from Quilt Expressions who helped her pick the fabrics.

Cindy used lots of flannel scraps, 2 1/2" squares, to make this Scrappy Heart quilt.

Close up

Cindy also made this Halloween wallhanging using the stack and whack method for the scrappy looking border.

She attached a label she made using her embroidery machine.

Cindy also made this Halloween table topper, a dresden neighborhood.

Lenette also made the same Halloween quilt but used some different fabrics.

Here is a finished project from last month!

Jean made this Halloween wool table topper

Jean also made this wool pillow.

This "Lexington" fabric "Emblem" block quilt was made by Jean. The pattern is from the Fat Quarter Style book.

Jean also made this patriotic quilt.

Another quilt made by Jean. Even the quilting contains some anchors.

Jean made this Christmas wall hanging from a kit using embroidered squares and pinwheels.

Robyn made this large half-square triangle quilt top for a granddaughter. She used grunge fabrics.

Jean shared this T-shirt quilt that her sister, Joan, made. Very creative placement and unique style for a t-shirt quilt.

Jean also shared this quilt made by her twin sister, Joan.

Monica made this double churn dash quilt using fabric from the Varsity Line.

DEMO

Robyn presented a great demo about the use of color and choosing colors for your quilts. She gave each of us fabric squares to use as our own personal color wheel. Here's a website that will be a wonderful reference and reminder of what she taught.

https://www.incolororder.com/p/art-of-choosing.html

LUNCH

Southwest Sandwich

1 loaf French bread – split in half

2 tomatoes, sliced

2 avocados, sliced

1 lb. turkey or ham, sliced

sliced cheese – provalone, mozzarella, or other

Dressing:

(Recipe makes more dressing than needed for 1 sandwich)

1 c. mayo

2/3 c. sour cream

¼ c. chopped olives

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

½ tsp. salt

1/3 c. chopped green onion.

Layer on split loaf of French bread:

turkey

tomato

avocado

dressing (be generous)

cheese

* This sandwich can also be baked.  Make as directed then place on cookie sheet.  Tent with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Tomato Corn Salad

Cherry tomatoes, halved

Fresh corn

Green onions

Radishes

Cilantro

Dressing is olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt, and a little sugar

Stir all together and then add crumbled Cotija cheese to your taste.

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

¼ c. butter

2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. sugar, divided

¾ c. flour

½ tsp. salt

¾ c. milk

3-4 c. fresh fruit (peaches or blackberries are good)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare fruit (wash and slice as needed) then mix with ½ c. sugar and set aside. Melt butter in a 9”x9” baking dish.  Mix up a batter with ½ c. sugar, the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk.  Pour batter over melted butter, but do not stir. Spoon prepared fruit evenly over top of batter.  Do not stir.  Bake 45-50 minutes.  The batter will rise to the top and will be brown and crisp.  Serve hot or cold.  Good with ice cream.