Summer Camps 2011

It's been more than a year since I've posted. Crazy. But here we are again...starting up summer camps and classes. Click on the schedule to see when we'll be having camps. Email or call me to talk about which dates you're interested in. A couple of camps are already filled...so hurry!


Yay Summer! Yay Sewing! Yay Sunshine!

Make It Mine Summer Camps

Please email me at barbara.silvester@gmail.com for information about dates, times, and availability! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Show and Tell

Check out the Thursday Afternoon Quilters showing off their quilts at Craft Warehouse! After 6 months of cutting, pinning, sewing, unsewing, singing, laughing, talking, and FINALLY finishing we just had to show off what we'd accomplished. We were invited to the Quilt Club at Craft Warehouse to tell what we liked and didn't like about the whole quilting process. (Lucky girls...an hour off school and a trip to Wendy's for french fries and a Frosty, too!) 

Long Arm Quilting Services ~ updated prices

Just click on the price list to enlarge. Give me a call or send me an email...I'd love to quilt your quilt!

Mini Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is the FAVORITE snack lately at our sewing classes. (We do not recommend that the entire muffin is eaten in one big gobble...now who would do that?!) The kids have asked for the recipe and it's so easy they can make it themselves!

1 box chocolate cake mix (triple chocolate is best, but any chocolate flavor will work)
1 small can pumpkin
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1/4 c. water

Mix all ingredients together and scoop into pam-sprayed mini muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes.

I like to double this recipe by using the big can of pumpkin with 2 boxes of cake mix. They freeze very well.

A Hug Quilt for Hilde

Kerin makes what she calls "Hug Quilts" for people who need a little TLC. Here is her quilt for a very good friend, Hilde. I stitched the blocks (above) with the terry twist technique.

Hilde loves birds and bird houses so this fabric was perfect. The back (below) showcased the fabric too.

Loops & Flowers for Baby

For this cheery baby quilt I stitched freehand loops...

and funky little flowers.

Busy, busy, soooo busy!

I got behind on the old blogging routine with the busy-ness of the holidays. Here are some of the wonderful quilts I was honored to be able to quilt in the last few weeks before Christmas. (Sorry, it was too much for my overloaded brain to remember to take pics of ALL of them.) The one above (and below) was made by Carole. SOOO pretty and such amazing workmanship...it is not obvious that she's still a beginner! The quilting design is a pantograph, "Antique Lace" by Patricia Ritter.

This next one was made by Becky. She stressed over this one so much that it gave her a few sleepless nights! After all her worries, I was not expecting to see this wonderful quilt. She made it for a favorite teacher who, I am certain, will LOVE it! He will never know about all the tender loving care that went into it, however.

We chose a big meander quilting design which is fun with the wonky squares-in-squares pattern. This is such a fun quilt and perfect for a guy. Good job, Becky!

This little cutie is another of Carole's quilts. It's for her niece-- a dolly quilt.What a lucky little girl (and dolly!)

  

The paper-pieced hearts are amazing, aren't they? Carole says they were fun to make, but time-consuming! The free-hand quilting work was fun to do on this one...lots of loops with heart-flowers inside the hearts.

An Apron for Kerstin

You better believe big boys can (and will!) sew. While home over Thanksgiving, Jamison sewed an apron for  Kerstin. And I heard that she's already put it to good use! (Photo, please, Kerst!)

Jamison chose all the coordinating fabric (not an easy chore, since the apron is reversible) and even did the pinning and cutting. As you can see he is using a well-used pattern...I don't even know how many aprons have been made from this ol' newspaper pattern.  Can't wait for another mom-n-son sewing adventure!

 

Snow Flurries Forecast

Here's my own version of the quilt Becky made. We learned to make this pattern in Heather's class. Thanks, Heather, for the inspiration! You should be such a proud teacher.

Snow flurries on this one too! (Side note: the weatherman says we MIGHT get snow flurries in the next few days. That's terribly exciting!) 

 The flannel backing is going to make this a very snuggy quilt. Hope the recipient will love it...;-)

Becky's Christmas Quilt

Becky had a ton of cute Christmas fabrics in her stash. I think she had planned to make a million pillowcases! Instead she created this ADORABLE Christmas quilt for a friend...lucky!

She wanted wintry looking quilting to so I stitched these swirls which really do make you think of snow flurries. Brrrr! 

It's always a party in quilt class!

But these are NOT party decorations. And, sorry girls, I will not leave them up until next class. These "streamers" were a result of our lesson on chain-stitching our quilt squares. Once they figured out they could toss the ends of their chain over the loft edge, it was a merry time seeing how long the chains would be by the end of class. Fun times!

Why should girls have all the fun?

OK. If you didn't know this already, boys really are different from girls. More on that another time. But one way they are the same is that they can all sew! And do it beautifully! I am so impressed by the attention to detail. Just look at Jack ironing the trim piece for his Blazers pillowcase. He's going to get it right no matter what.

Pinning the pillowcase requires a ton of concentration and dexterity! Here's Cassy encouraging a very capable Jason. Go guys!

"Hey, we could wear these as dresses!"

They may be young, but they're super sewers already! Their pillowcases are not yet finished, but that doesn't matter because they can easily be worn as dresses. I love to witness their creativity and enthusiasm!

Cassy giving Jessie a lesson in ironing. I think we've heard at least a dozen stories of burnings by iron. Ironing is a pretty dangerous activity, apparently.

Marissa sewing her pillowcase tube, remembering to take those pins out before she sews over them. And there's her cute yellow pin cushion she sewed by hand.

"More pins?" Yes, Lily, you can never have too many pins. Pinning is not an easy skill but notice that she's got the technique mastered!

Pin Cushion & Scrap Bag

Just finished this cute scrap bag/pin cushion/pocket organizer for our Make it Mine sewing room. It is Elizabeth Hartman's pattern from Sew, Mama, Sew. I used 3 fat quarters. Turned out pretty cute, huh? I have a different one that I made a while back. Here it is:

I've loved using this little scrap bag! We decided that we needed one at each of our sewing stations so I need to make a few more. But I loaned out the pattern and can't remember who I gave it to! I thought I'd try Elizabeth's pattern. I don't know if I'll end up liking the organizer pockets to store seam ripper, scissors, etc., but it might help keep things a little more orderly for our individual sewing areas. The scrap bag is great for thread bits. Plus, these look so dang cute!

60 cards in 60 days...am I crazy or what?

For me, paper crafting comes in a close second to creating with fabric. I love to make one-of-a-kind cards, especially when I can give them away to someone who will then give them away--the gift that just keeps giving! So I was pretty excited when I was asked to make my aunt's Christmas cards for her this year. I considered it a challenge when she told me she needed 60 of them! Good thing she asked me at the beginning of October; I figured if I averaged one a day I'd have them done in time...so that's how it became known as my very own 60 Cards in 60 Days Challenge. 

I thought it would be fun to chronicle my progress in blog form. I will post each card as I've completed them. Since I've made several already, I have some catch-up blogging to do! Join me here at 60 cards in 60 days. 

Cassy's Fall Quilt

This quilt was made by Cassy, our Make it Mine Sewing Class assistant. She loves everything to do with fall from the changing leaves to the crisp, sunny days to the vivid colors...maybe it's because she has a fall birthday...BTW, happy 18th, Cassy!

Even though she started it almost a year ago, she finished it really quickly--I taught her how to do the binding on Saturday and she was finished by Monday night. Didn't she do a great job?

"Did you make this on purpose?"

When you have a very picky eater, as child #4 is, it is not very often that you get a thumbs-up on a meal you've prepared. Do you feel my pain?
I'm used to it...I don't like it when I've spent time, effort, & resources to present a perfectly good dinner only to have one "no thank you bite" taken...but I'm used to it. (Children 1 through 3 have had their picky moments too!) After 18 years, she is getting more brave and trying a few more foods. But she's a little iffy about things mixed together, as in casseroles or crockpot stuff. And veggies may never be her thing--at least not while she's living under my roof. Glad she's made friends with green salad, even though lettuce and carrots are the extent of her bravery in the produce section.
Which brings me to last night's dinner: Potato & Sausage Au Gratin cooked all day long in my crock pot. Smelled and looked delicious to me...but I was ready for her oft-used "no thank you bite".  I was surprised to see her serving herself a good-sized portion of the creamy stuff. After one bite she asked,
"Did you make this on purpose?"
Really? It was a compliment! She liked it! Her only comment was that she would have liked to have corn as a side dish to add to her bowl. Corn? (Hey, that's kind of a vegetable.) And you want to mix it in? You betcha I'll have corn next time!

Red Potato & Apple Sausage Au Gratin
2 c. sliced sausages (I used Al Fresco Brand "Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage")
4 c. quartered raw red potatoes
1 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. shredded cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. yellow mustard

Parboil potatoes 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, brown onions and sausage together in a skillet.
Spray crock pot with non-stick spray. Combine drained potatoes with sausage and onions. Sprinkle cheese evenly over top. In a small bowl, combine soup, spices and mustard. Stir soup mixture into potato mixture. Mix well. Place in crock pot. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Pumpkin-Banana Muffins. Oh yummy.

My house smells so good. You get the full effect when you walk outside and then come back in. Is there anything better than the smell of pumpkin & cloves & nutmeg & cinnamon at this time of year? I had oodles of bananas (why do I buy that too-big bunch at Costco?) that needed to be dealt with. Just had to make Grandma S's Pumpkin-Banana Bread recipe. The bananas make it a little milder than some pumpkin recipes, but you can't taste the bananas at all. Be warned: you'll have muffins and muffins and more muffins. But they freeze well. I usually half the recipe but today I wanted to make some with chocolate chips and some with cinnamon chips & raisins. Quite spectacular results.

These guys are the best kept secret around! Hershey's Cinnamon Chips. They are hard to find but you gotta keep some on hand in your freezer. My friend Monica gave me my first bag. What a good friend.

My favorite muffin-making tools: This pan makes the cutest little loaf shaped muffins. And the Pampered Chef scoop is awesome.

Banana-Pumpkin Muffins
3 ripe bananas, mashed
6 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. sour milk
1 lg. can pumpkin
4 c. sugar
5 1/2 c. flour (I use half white and half wheat)
1/2 c. oil
3 tsp. soda
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon (I use 3 tsp. because I like a little more flavor)
1 tsp. nutmeg (I use 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. cloves (I use 2 tsp.)
chocolate chips (I use 1 bag for half the recipe) 
or cinnamon chips (I use 1/2 bag for the other half of the recipe along with 1 c. raisins)


Bake at 325 for 20 to 25 minutes. Don't overbake. 

From scraps to scraptastic!

I have a problem tossing out even the littlest pieces of fabric! I do keep the tiny bits pretty organized though. Bins and baskets hold strips of various sizes of fabric. I collected all these primary colored bits from other projects. I love this technique for using up scraps. I was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's "String Piecing" approach.
Here's a primer: http://quiltville.com/stringquiltingprimer.shtml.

You have to try it for yourself. The end product is so cool and it looks like you had a plan all along! Here's the first one I did. I literally used every strip of fabric I had! I considered entering it in an "Ugliest Quilt" contest...but Carole convinced me that it really isn't all that ugly. Thanks Carole!