Day 11 & the Dentist

A belated welcome to Day 11 of the Blog Hop. Sorry to be so late but I've spent most of the day at the Periodontist. Dr. Thomas is a very nice man and taking very good care of my teeth - well, really my gums - after Brian sent me to him. And I still would have much rather been at home blog hopping.

Every post has to have a picture as far as I'm concerned and I chose this one. We'll hang Pinecones and Hollyberries in the hall this weekend as soon as Jake gets here to climb the ladder.

I really love Fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love the colors and textures and general feel of the air. And as much as I love winter, I'm usually slow in letting go of fall. But today's Blog Hop did it. Besides the neat project and scrumptious looking cookies - its about those little girl's dresses - they so got me in the mood for Christmas. The dresses Debbie and her sister's wore were just like ones Nancy and Susan and I had when we were that age. You simply must hop over to Debbies blog and see them. Good memories. Thank you Debbie.

But come back soon because we finally got the website up and running again after a week and we are going to celebrate. We're giving away a really big kit and having a bunch of specials :). I'm really excited about the whole thing. See you soon.

Day 10 & some Girl Gang quilts

It is Day 10 of the Holiday Blog Hop - only one more week left. Wow - how quickly time passes. And for right now you need to hop on over to Tara's blog and get the pattern for a really cool snowman penny rug and another great cookie recipe. We are going to be totally set in the cookie business for grandchildren for awhile. And she's having an awesome sale on all sorts of quilty things.

Speaking of quilting we had our "Finish the Girl Gang quilt and Christmas party" last night at Missouri Star Quilt Co. We were all making "Sunny Days" and boy they were all really neat. And so varied. A couple of ladies couldn't make it and I'll try to get pictures of their quilts if they bring them next month.

Meanwhile - this first one was made by Caroline Peterson (on the right) and quilted by Maxine Hicks (on the left).

This is the backside of the quilt in the beeskep section. Can you see the little bees? The whole quilt is done with that kind of detail. So cool, Maxine.

Quilt top made by Marie Boyles.

Quilt top made by Amy Gertz.

Center section by Maxine Hicks. We told her it was ok that she didn't get the side blocks sewed on since she was rather busy quilting.

Center section by Debbie Youd

Center section by Marcy Reagan.

It was really fun to see so many variations in colors and fabrics.

If you didn't get a chance to make it last year, the pattern will be in my Quiltmania book that comes out next spring.

Country Paths - The quilt behind the pillow on the chair

Luned asked about the quilt behind the Angel Pillow on the chair. It's Country Paths - kind of a wishful quilt. The three houses belong to my 3 children. It would be nice if I could just take a walk down a path on a beautiful fall day and visit them. Alas, they all live too far away for that. Or maybe it's not alas. Some space for everyone is a good thing. It's easier to be your own person without your parents that close - or your children. I wish Brian and his family were a little closer though. Anyway - Country Paths comes out every fall. It's one of my favorite quilts.

And the Winners Are..........

Quilt Pieces and Jackiero. (We had such a response that we drew 2 names.) Ladies, if you will email Tara at jpquilts@cameron.net and give her your info she'll mail you your kits.

I want to really thank all of you for your comments. I wish you all could have won. I won't get my yardage to sell until sometime in January so I won't have kits until then. But - Angels are always in season. At least I need them all year long.

It was great to hear that other people have cookbooks with duct tape binding and share the same kind of traditions. And I know what you all mean about the walnuts. We rake them up and cart them off in wheelbarrows except for the few the kids take the time to crack and pick out for cookies.

We've been in a big transition here - building a new storefront where things are a little more secure for both of us. Right now if you google Jan Patek Quilts.com you'll get a page saying the site is under construction. It takes about 48 hours to go from the old one to the new one. At the end of the 48 hours my Home Page will be my blog - right here - and you'll see all the latest stuff and go to the store from here. The new store (what used to be the catalog) is a lot more user friendly and we're still figuring things out so occasionally there's a glitch or two.

Between the new site and the Blog Hop and Christmas - whew!

When I quit working in Kansas City, I was worried that I would be bored just staying at home and taking care of a house, a farm and the kids. So I wanted to make a quilt. Wow - what wonderful places that has taken me. And I have never been bored.

Welcome to Lucky #9 of the Holiday Blog Hop

I was just at Stacy's blog and read what she said about me. Wow! I am overwhelmed. Thank you Stacy. It has truly been great to be able to spend my life doing what I love. And it's OK to put the quilts in a closet or chest for awhile - we need to rotate them with the seasons. Just so they come out again. Besides the creative part which I love, I get to meet so very many nice people.

On to the holidays - we start on them each fall. The first thing you need in our cookie recipe is grandchildren for the thumbprints and a walnut tree. Well, maybe you can go buy some chopped nuts at the grocery store but if you have a walnut tree handy it's nice. Zoie and Cullin spent almost one whole gorgeous fall day cracking walnuts on the sidewalk by the barn, picking them out and putting them in a plastic jar for the cookies. And it's their idea every year.

Then I make some mint and cherry jelly each summer. The mint jelly, especially, is so much better if you make it yourself and it's really easy. The recipe is in my Betty Crocker cookbook - the one with the duct tape for binding because it's been used so much. Mint will grow anywhere. We have some right in front of the house - smells great when you hit it sweeping the walk or raking the leaves. If you don't happen to have mint by your front porch or a cherry tree by the driveway, you can buy both those at the grocery store too.

Here' the recipe. Also from my Betty Crocker cookbook. I can do cookies and cakes and always make a great pound cake to have with coffee in the wee hours of Christmas morning.

(Pep is a gourmet cook and whips up delicious meals from nothing. He does tastes the way we do color.) I, on the other hand always say that as a cook, I'm a great quilter.

And speaking of quilting, here's my project for the Holidays. I always try to make something new for the house and thought an angel pillow would be just the thing. It's made out of our new Classic Wovens line that will be in stores (my store too) in January.

Download Now!

(I want to thank my friend Michelle for figuring out how to fix it so you could download the pattern. She's a genius!) I hope you like it. I resized the block from the Primitive Primer to make an 18" pillow. Since the fabric won't be in until January, I can't sell kits now but we will offer them in January. You can preorder one from Tara by emailing her at jpquilts@cameron.net or calling 816-632-7632. I do have enough fabric, however to give one kit away today. Make a comment and we'll do a drawing tomorrow to see who wins.

If you want to make the Primitive Primer quilt to go with your pillow, I put the book on special for half price today.

Either this weekend or next, Pep and Jake will go out in the front pasture to find a tree. Missouri Red Cedars are kind of prickly but they fill the whole house with such a wonderful smell. That first day we just bring it in and get the lights on.

Zoie & Quinn, Jake and Cullin - last month in the back pasture. They are 4 of our 9

grandchildren and the 4 that live nearby. They're here on a regular basis. I put this

picture in because I was totally amazed at how much they've grown in a year. Too

fast - it can make a grandma's eyes leak.

Once the tree is in and up with lights on, we have cookies and milk or hot chocolate. And grandma usually puts the higher decorations on while the low ones go to the kids. Zoie always sits on Grandpa's shoulders to put the angel on top. We may have to rethink that this year :).

On Christmas Eve we go to church in Kansas City and come home to unwrap one present - always Christmas jammies. Then we're up early on Christmas morning if Cullin and Quinn are here and they will be this year. Stockings are a pretty big thing at our house. Pops is off Christmas night but not usually on Christmas Eve too so we have to wait until he gets home to start on presents. Stockings keep us busy until then. With Grandmas 2-tone pound cake to munch on we can make it until the presents all get opened. Then the kids go to the back of the house to play and the adults usually take a little nap.

We used to have a big Christmas sit down dinner but the last few years have toned it down a little. We get a ham from Burgers Smokehouse and have a buffet of sides that can be pretty well made in advance. The only thing we need to cook is Kelly's killer macaroni and cheese - sooo good.

Our oldest son, Brian, his wife and 4 kids live about 1 1/2 hours away. With little ones, they, of course, want Christmas morning at home. We always have our Christmas with

them on the weekend before or after that Pep is off work. We get to have lots of

Christmases that way.

When I first stopped working in the city years ago, I wanted to learn how to make a quilt and paint some Christmas dishes. I started with the quilt. I finally bought the dishes years ago :)

This is Christmas 101. Back to the Basics of Christmas and what it is all about. May the blessings of the God that loves each and every one of us be with you today, through the holiday season and the coming year.

Black Friday tired, The Bible Quilt and Day 8

Yesterday started at 5:00 due to grandsons who hunt. And it ended rather late for me. Pep works nights at a hospital in Kansas City. He can have either Thanksgiving or Christmas off, not both. So we have Thanksgiving dinner after he gets up at night, before he goes to work. It was really good - turkey and all of the trimmings. And Pep makes the best gravy in the world. Zoie (10 years old) wanted to help cook this year for the first time. She made the mashed potatoes. Not very many lumps either.

Then this morning started at 4:30. When Pep left for work last night he noticed that I had a flat tire on the van. Kelly drove back out from town early this morning and picked me up so we could do Black Friday shopping. Usually I don't go but she talked me into it this year and we did have a lot of fun. The air is cold and crisp and in this small town people are pretty nice and in the Christmas mood when we shop. Then we go out to breakfast when we've finished. The shopping was successful.

But when we got back from shopping the van still had a flat tire. The boys pumped it up for me and I drove into town to get it fixed - taking my quilt block with me to stitch on while I waited.

I'm working on Block 1 of the Bible Quilt. (I was piecing the sun and remembered why the quilt became a Block of the Month :) I will have a tutorial on it on the blog in January). Anyway - I changed the name of the Mystery Quilt BOM to The Mystery Quilt/Classic Quilt BOM.

The Mystery part will be the fabric I choose to kit it. I originally did it in 1998 and those fabrics are long gone. We're taking preorders for it now. If you want to be in on the fun, email Tara at jpquilts@cameron.net and let her know. The kits will be 18.95 this year - a little more because each block will include a skein of Weeks handdyed floss. The price includes shipping and handling though.

Anyway- what started that whole line of thought was waiting in line to get my tire fixed. Everyone who went out for Black Friday must have had a flat tire. I was really tired so I just sat in my car in the sun and stitched instead of going in to the waiting room. It was so relaxing. I enjoyed it so much I almost didn't want them to tell me it was done. The only thing that would have made the experience better was a cup of coffee and some of Lynda Hall's cookies. You really need to hop over to her blog and see her project. Then you can listen to the music and look at the pictures in her smile box. I am getting really intimidated by all of these awesome bloggers. Thanks Linda, for sharing with us. And I really liked her comment about having some many projects from the Blog Hop lined up for retirement. Stitch On!

Apple Strings & Homespuns - Lots of reasons to Give Thanks

It's almost Thanksgiving and every year at this time I make a new apple string to go over the mantle. I've always loved apple strings but in the ones I saw the apples all fell together on the string and took a gazillion apples. I came up with this years ago as a way not to have all the apples fall together. It's a lot less work and takes fewer apples and less time. I thought I'd show you how I do it.

First you need to slice and dry your apples. Pep always slices them for me - about 1/8 -1/4" thick - as thin as you can get them. Then he puts them in a vinegar/water or lemon/water bath for a few minutes so they won't turn brown. Then we put them in our dehydtrator for about 24 hours, checking to see when they're dry. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can do it in your oven. Put the slices on racks on cookie sheets or pizza pans. Turn your oven as low as it will go (you don't want to cook them) and leave the door open a crack so the moisture can escape.

When they're dry you can set about stringing them. You'll need a large eye needle - a tapestry needle or doll needle will do - and some fabric you can tear into strips about 3/4" wide. I always put my apple slices in a bowl and sit and make the string while we watch TV at night.

Tear a strip and make a loop at the end in case you want to hang it on something. Then put your needle through an apple slice. Make a largish knot in the string a couple of inches down the fabric. Put on another slice and make another knot. Pretty simple and it holds the slices apart.

When you're almost at the end of the 1st string, take your needle off and make a slit in

the end of the fabric. Get a second strip and put it through the slit.

Now make slits in both ends of the 2nd strip and pull one end ot the 2nd strip through

the other and tighten somewhat to join the 2 strips.

Now rethread your needle, make another knot

and put on another slice. Just keep on going, adding slices and strips until your string is the length you want. It really goes pretty fast. And you don't need a lot of apples. I got a 3 lb bag but Zoie & Cullin and Quinn ate half of them and I still had enough to do the string above our fireplace.

Now here are my homespuns again. I'm pretty excited about them as you can probably guess. I really like all of our fabrics and the Lilac Hill line for next spring is a neat change of pace. And the homespuns are our first love. (I really don't like to use anything else for backing - they're so comfy when I'm sewing on the binding) The wovens are going to be a Moda Basics line and for that reason, I'm going to carry bolts and the Fat 1/4 bundles in my storefront. There are a lot of shops, particularly in the warmer areas of the country, that don't carry them and I want to make sure people can get them if they want to. We're transitioning to a new storefront that you can access from the blog and we'll have them posted shortly. Moda ships them in January but you can preorder yardage as soon as I get them posted. Wahoo! Can you tell I'm excited. I really was down to barely useable scraps on some of these.

If you order a pattern and want to order the fabric to go with it, we can email you a pdf of the fabrics we used so you can make your choices.

And finally - This is Day 7 (I looked this time before I started typing) of the Blog Hop and Lisa Bonegan's Day. You've got to be sure and hop on over to her blog and see her really cool cookie jar wrap. To say nothing of print off the recipe for her soft ginger cookies.

There hasn't been a project yet that I didn't want to make immediately and this is definitely another one. Many thanks again to Stacey for all her organizing.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.