Lookie what I got

Last Friday was a wonderful annual luncheon with my friends from the Wanabe Quilters... you know the group that has been together 20 years and knows their stuff. I'm glad they let me join later. Here's the gift I received from Nancy Mastroianni. She knows my favorite flower is a dogwood and wowwww I got a whole quilt full of dogwoods.
What a lucky gal I am. This is a wonderful group of 'talented' and thoughtful women.
The wheels are already turning for next Christmas. We have drawn names for next years secret Christmas Pal.

Time to Party.... and snack

I at least pinned a quilt yesterday, but it's party time and this is my contribution to the appetizer menu.... a turkey cranberry wreath. This takes two 8oz crescent roll packages laid out with half crescent points headed inside the wreath, the other half pointing outside with the two sets of FAT ends overlapped on the perimeter of the wreath. Then a turkey, mayo, dijon mustard, dried cranberries, swiss cheese, coarse black pepper, parsley, chopped celery salad is scooped around the center of the wreath. I placed this on a baking sheet with two overlapping half sheets of parchment. This will be handy later.
Then you bring crescent points across salad and tuck under ends. First one set of rolls one direction.
Then the other direction. Brush with white of one egg for browning. Then in to the preheated oven 30 minutes 375 degrees F.
Pretty huh? You can then slide the whole thing including parchment onto your serving platter and carefully remove parchment sheets .


I'm hungry. I must get to this party and chow down. Car is packed. I'm outta here. Happy Friday all!

Liquid Amber "Gold"

Things are heating up for hectic holidays... so I wanted to STOP for one second to appreciate nature. At home up the mountain it is definitely WINTER... COLD and snow. 15 minutes down the mountain, just outside my studio door is this exquisite FALL colored liquid amber. Pictures don't really do justice to this breathtaking tree. Click on photo for enlarged image.
I am not a botanist but 'am fascinated with the dangling pods on the liquid amber tree. Anybody know what they are called?

I must admit, I'm glad I don't have to rake up the leaves that will soon be falling off this tree. STAY WARM all.

Posting Update: THANK YOU for the comments about the name of this tree and the name of the hanging pod. It seems this tree has different names in different parts of the states as this is also known as an American Sweet Gum.... and the hanging pods are also known as .... go figure "Monkey Balls!" I love Google!

Where is that DAY Stretcher???

Anyone remember those stretcher frames we used to put our freshly washed jeans on.... so we'd get nice creases front and back? I wonder if someone makes a DAY stretcher for this time of year. I need one... we'll we probably all do this one week before Christmas.
Last night, I made 4 Christmas flannel pillowcases for grandkids... and must mail some today ( some live in Colorado and New Jersey... SOOOOOO Far!) :-( I added notes suggesting these snuggly pillowcases would provide a great nights sleep on Christmas Eve.
Today, I finished the binding and label on a secret pal gift for my Friendship Group.. the Wanabe Quilters. Believe me, they ARE quilters.... the group began 20 years ago and has most of it's original members. I came along much later and have to catch up with this talented crew. So, what do I make for my secret pal who is an expert applique queen, and precision piecer? Ofcourse, something I'm not all that good at.... A pieced/appliqued quilt. This baby is called FROG CABIN.. ie.. not quite a real log cabin block plus an extremely large frog (a creature fancied by my secret pal)

Now to quilting....I'm also not a stencil user, but a traditional quilt calls for some... so I gave it a shot. For the frog, I thought the fabric was my built in quilting pattern. Following the plan already in the fabric is sometimes the perfect choice. Click on pics for closeup.

Can't wait to see if she likes it.

Boxed 3 quilts for Road To California today

My big job of the day:
1.Finish adding sleeves and labels to quilts for Road To California show in January
2.Box all 3 accepted quilts up for delivery to the Road office in Upland Ca.

First time I've entered more than 1 quilt, and 'am really thrilled all 3 were juried in.

the newest... Bailerin Linda (a.k.a Proud Heritage) category: Art People

Winter Hunt... category : Art Pictoral
and lastly...In The Beginning : category Art People

Ready for your Closeup Mr. Tims

One of my all time favorite Ricky Tims pieces is Bohemian Rhapsody. BREATHTAKING!
Here are some rare closeups of his work.

Not my work... is this not spectacular quilting?

Last weekend I somehow managed to spend a few hours at a Ricky Tims Super quilt Seminar. What a delightful and talented human being is Mr Tims. Click on photo for closeup view. We seldom get to get so close to quilts hung in shows, but we could here. This is a new "photo printed/quilted piece by Ricky. The price of the 64" wide Epson printer would gag a horse, but as Ricky said, he's not buying a long arm. The background quilting on this piece knocked me out. With his quilting alone, he made a static floral image "MOVE"...