October 2013 Treat Pops and Dips

 October's meeting was held at Corrie's home. We try to get there early so that we can do a little shopping in her shop! Thanks, Corrie.

After show and tell, we discussed upcoming plans and ideas. First we talked about several possible ongoing projects. In the end we voted to start making quilt squares for the charity Quilts of Valor. We will begin in January and Nancy will bring a pattern for us in December. Here is all the info about Quilts of Valor.

We also voted to start the pizza box exchange again. Anyone that is interested in taking part, have your starting squares ready for our February meeting. 

Corrie volunteered to head up purchasing the AccuQuilt for those of us who are going in together to share one within our group. Sherry will keep it at her house for us to check out.

Our next meeting will be at Jeri's the second week of December. More info will be coming.

Here are the pics from our show and tell:

This is one of our humanitarian quilts that Maurene made. It was from our donations called teenage girl fabrics.

Maurene made this quilt called Little Red Hen. It's made of stars, applique and embroidery.

This is a quilt Maurene made several years ago before our blog was in existence. The "lamm" quilt has special meaning to her.

Corrie showed us some fun 'grandma toys' made from mermaid material.

Lenette brought her finished pizza box exchange quilt. She placed the squares on point and it turned out wonderful.

Robyn made this lap quilt for her daughter's wedding.

Robyn also made this chevron quilt for her daughter.

This beautiful navy dress was made by Robyn for her granddaughter.

Kathi made this scrap quilt from all of her ethnic fabrics.

Jeanie made this couch potato quilt.

This is a quilt Jeanie made several years ago. It is called Secret Garden and is beautifully hand embroidered.

Jeri embroidered this square and will probably make it into a pillow.

Rachel made this Halloween banner.

This is a coin purse that Rachel made.

Using the AccuQuilt, Rachel cut this Halloween tumbler quilt.

Rachel quilted spider webs onto the quilt.

This is a wool wall hanging by Rachel.

Rachel made this throw quilt,  using the Quilt Smart method, and practiced her feather quilting on it.

Janna made this trio of Fall wood posts.

Diane used a charm pack to make this baby quilt top.

Diane also made these luggage tags.

Diane shared a tablerunner she made from years ago.

Cindy made this boat quilt and used a knit on the back. However, she said the knit was very stretchy and hard to work with.

Cindy also made this chevron baby quilt.

Cindy showed this queen size snail's trail quilt.

Nancy made this quilt and used the Binding the Angel  technique for the binding which gives you perfect binding and corners. She got a 3rd place ribbon at the Boise Quilt Show with this quilt!

Nancy shared an idea to us about making fabric postcards. These are some of the examples.

DEMO

Corrie and Rachel showed us how to make treat pops for any occasion.

Ours were made with little pumpkin bread disks, caramel, praline chips and a whipped cream/cream cheese layer.

We also enjoyed several dips and crackers made by Corrie.

Sept. 2013 Potato Salad/Pasta with Pistachio Pesto

Fall is here and traditionally we seem to make and start more quilts when the weather turns a little cooler, so it was fun getting together sharing ideas this month, very motivating. We had show and tell, then Rachel and Corrie demonstrated the AccuQuilt. 

Afterwards Nancy served us a yummy lunch and the recipes are included in this post. Thanks a lot Nancy, for hosting our group this month. Next month our meeting will be at Corrie's.

Here's the show and tell:

Rachel used the Ghastlies fabric to make this Halloween quilt.

Corrie made this tumbler block quilt and used the AccuQuilt to cut the blocks. She also handquilted it using pearl cotton.

Corrie made these banners and used them at her retreat.

Sherry made this cute crib quilt for her daughter who is expecting a baby in October, Sherry's first grandbaby. Her daughter picked out all the colors and Sherry put flannel on the back.

Emily, who is new to our group, brought this quilt top made from the Swoon pattern from Camille Roskelley.

Nancy made this quilt using a Fig Tree pattern.

Diane made this baby quilt using all stash fabric. It does not have any batting and she put the binding on by machine and quilted it on her home machine.

These were embroidered by Daine.

This is a quilt Jeri's sister made for her. Jeri's sister was the featured quilter at the recent Reno quilt show. Her sister had 60 quilts displayed at the show.

Block applique detail.

Rachel brought some of the giveaways she received at Corrie's latest quilting retreat. Rachel, Susan and Maurene from our group attended the McCall retreat.

Corrie made these using chocolate molds.

Each person at the retreat received their personalized name tag.

At the end of the retreat, Corrie handed each participant a personalized going away box for the trip home. Rachel thought it was so cute, she couldn't eat anything in it and brought it to the meeting so we could see it.

Rachel made this quilt at the retreat. It's from a pattern she saw on Pinterest called Double Charming and it uses 3 charm packs (should probably be called Triple Charming,..)

The AccuQuilt-You can cut up to 8 pieces of fabric at a time.

Dies for the AccuQuilt

LUNCH

Warm potato salad

• 3 pounds baby red potatoes, cut in half 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar*
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled 

Can be served warm immediately, or reheated next day in a baking pan.

Pasta Salad with Pistachio Pesto 

Favorite pasta, grape tomatoes, halved, red onions, chopped yellow peppers, roasted pistachios, grated parmesan cheese, thinly sliced fresh basil.

Cook noodles, cool under running water and dress lightly with lemon vinaigrette dressing.  Add vegetables.  Add several tablespoons pesto.  Check for seasoning.   Add more dressing if needed.  Lastly, stir in pistachios and freshly grated parmesan cheese and thinly sliced basil.