An extension of Mystery Quilt contest deadline

First - we need to post an extension of the deadline in the Mystery Quilt Contest. We had a little trouble getting the email out so we extended the deadline to Monday the 30th. You have through the 30th to guess and Zoie will draw a name on the 1st from the correct guesses. What does the grandfather clock have to do with the Mystery Quilt???? Well - nothing but there is a story that goes with it.




As you know if you read my post last month, Pep and I have been married 40 years as of October 18th. The first time we went to his parents home I saw this Grandfather's clock and just loved it. It was Pep's mother's clock and had originally belonged to her father. Pep remembers his grandfather letting him hide in there when they all played hide and seek. The clock stood in the corner of their living room for 40 years that I know of - but it didn't work. Eunice had jewelers over on several occasions to try to fix it but it just didn't work. Since she loved the way it looked - just like I do - and it had been her father's, it stayed in the corner of the living room. Last month before the house was sold, my son Brian went to Chillicothe with me to bring the clock to our house. He thought we should put it in the living room but that would have called for a major upheaval and furniture rearranging - not one of my favorite chores. And there was a space in the back bedroom where it would just fit. We got it home just as it started raining and put it in the bedroom. The weights had gotten askew and the lock was stuck so I had Pep come open the door and straighten things out. He set it and started the pendulum.

It's been working ever since.
And it chimes. Some clocks have a lever to turn off the chimes but not this one.
And it's in the bedroom with the crib :)
We can just stop the pendulum and that will stop the clock. We've had to do that a couple of times when people need to sleep but it has started up again each time we reset it.
And I'm not moving it! It might stop working. It seems to like it where it is.
Pep's mother would have been so excited - maybe she is!

Mystery coming to an end

I was doing one of my favorite things thIs morning while I sipped my coffee and listened to my tapes. I was sewing the binding on this year's Mystery Quilt. It's almost time for the December Mystery Quilt block to be posted on the website, finishing up this year's quilt. Sooooo.......



we decided to have a contest. Make a guess as to what the 12th block will be. Just post your guess in the comments section or email Tara at info@janpatekquilts.com. We're sending out an email on this contest too so all of the guesses won't be in the comments section. And since we're sure that there will be lots of correct guesses, Zoie.org will draw a name from the correct guesses on Friday the 27th. The winner will get a free Mystery Quilt next year. And do remember that next year the quilt will be almost totally different - it will be a sampler though - my favorite kind of quilt. Good luck ladies.

Frost on the Pumpkin?

This might be carrying "frost on the pumpkin" a bit too far.

Berry making

We're getting ready to send out the last section of Pomegranates and Berries - a quilt with lots and lots of berries. I'm getting familiar enough with blogging to try and show what I think is the easiest way to make lots of berries. And those of you that know me know that I love to put berries on quilts. This method works great for any kind of circle though, not just berries. So here goes.

Trace the circle on your pattern the required number of times onto freezer paper and cut the circles out.
Or if the berries are the right size (and most of mine are) buy Avery dots at your local office supply store.



Iron the freezer paper dots to the wrong side of your fabric - or simply place the Avery dots there.



Cut the fabric 1/4" larger than your pattern - 1/8" for very small berries.



(I like to keep my patterns and fabric circles in a ziploc bag so I don't lose any.)



Make a knot in your thread and do a running stitch around the outer edge of your fabric.



Pull the thread until the fabric is snugly around your paper berry. Backstitch and cut your thread.




Applique berry to background. Cut out the back and remove the paper with your fingers or with tweezers. This is one of 4 sections to a Pomegranates and Berries block. Each block has 24 berries and there are 9 blocks to the quilt. It is totally awesome to behold. Can't wait to get it on my bed - if I can keep Kelly away from it. She loves black quilts and the border is black.



If I'm doing lots and lots of berries in a block I use glue to anchor the berries before sewing. You don't need much glue - just put a dot on each side of the fabric.



Now sew the berries on by sewing up one side of a string of berries and down the other. That way you don't have to keep starting and stopping.
This is a flower from the beeskep block from "Across the Wide Missouri" by Edie McGinnis and myself. It's the KCStar BOM for 2010.



Love those berries!

We have a Winner

November Mystery Quilt Block



I really want to thank you all for all the awesome names and really nice comments in my quest to find a name for the Mystery Quilt this year. It was really hard to pick one because there were so many great choices. And I finally had to decide on one.

The 2009 Mystery Quilt will be "Cabin in the Pines". Colleen please email Tara your shipping info and she will send you a Cottage Garden kit.

I did decide to use the name "Homespun Stars" for the Featured Fabric Quilt next year so Patchworksail if you'll email Tara your info we'll ship you a Harmony Layer Cake. (Moda somehow lost my order for the Blessings precuts so I didn't get any - Hope Harmony is OK)
And since there were so many really neat entries that I liked a lot, we did a consolation drawing of all of the rest of the suggestions and Nancy of MT won either my last Harmony Layer Cake or my last Hemming House Jelly Roll. Just let Tara know.



Meanwhile it was Halloween! And since we live outside of a pretty safe small town, all of the grandkids congregated here. I don't have pictures of the 2 smallest because they came after Trick or Treating and were very tired.



Zoie had a gigantic pumpkin (not pictured) that called for the Pops and his Spiderco (sp?) knife that will cut through cars. She wanted it carved to look like a guinea pig. It did too! Pops and Max set to work and soon all of the pumpkins were carved. Quinn had gotten his pumpkin at his preschool party and didn't want a bigger one.



Then on to costumes. Uncle Max applies face make up to a "devil" of a face. (Good old Brian Jr.)



Cullen made a great snake!



What a fun night.
They were all cozy in their costumes. Grandma only wore her jean jack and almost froze to death. Silly grandma!