Val's Quilting Studio

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Baby it's Cold Outside...

I took a break from sewing my OMG project to take a neighborhood walk.
We've been under an inversion of COLD this week so I had to bundle up, but the fresh air felt good.

Sorry for the blurry picture. My phone does not like the cold.

Our days have been so very grey that even our little window solar figurines aren't dancing.

Our highs are only 27-29 degrees and the nights are in the teens. Brrrr...

As you can imagine, everyone's saying if it's going to be this cold, let it snow!

Mayybbbeeee not THIS kind of snow, but a white Christmas is always on my wish list.

Yet, after last winter I have to admit, it's nice not to be shoveling snow yet.

Just dropping in to document our weather and to say hey!

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Thin Mint Crackers (A Blog Hop)

These cracker cookies seriously taste just like the Girls Scouts Thin Mints.

And this is the recipe that can be found:

BUT!!!!

The double boiler system has never worked for us using the chocolate chips!!

The chocolate chips have NEVER melted right:

We always end up throwing the chocolate away.

My husband's "secret ingredient":

Now this recipe is truly as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Melt a bag of this Almond Bark in a double broiler.

2. Add 1/2 tsp. of peppermint extract once melted.

3. Dip your Ritz crackers into the chocolate and let them set on a cookie sheet.

That's it. OH! And they taste WONDERFUL right out of the freezer!

Happy Holidays everyone! Oh! And if you are new to my blog, I welcome you take some time to look around and follow if you like what you see. I always follow back as it's fun to meet new bloggy, quilty friends. Also I have a give-away going on and have extended the deadline to Monday, Dec. 11th to include all of you fellow Cookie Exchange participants. Click HERE for the give-away.

I'm happily joining everyone else in Carol's:

December 5

Just Let Me Quilt

Carol, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for organizing this event for all of us!! You Rock!

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Tuesday Archives #176: Cross-Hatch Quiting

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives!

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party.

(You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: CROSS HATCH QUILTING

This past Summer I discovered that cross-hatch quilting was wayyy easier than I had anticipated. Really, once I got the hang of using the rulers and creating a non-stop quilting pattern within each nine-patch, I was set. We sure do enjoy having this quilt on our bed.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Monday, December 4, 2017

Moving Forward...

Well I returned home this weekend. My Meme duties finished, for now. I'm grateful for the precious moments I got to share as our daughter and SIL settled into their new home and welcomed their new little baby. I soooo enjoyed all my newborn cuddle time.

I also had the duty of unpacking and setting up the boys' bedroom. I never tire to seeing my my quilts being used and it was rewarding to see the boys' dinosaur quilts together and looking good.

My daughter texted me this picture below this morning exclaiming: "I swaddled him in one of your receiving blankets and he slept from 11:00 pm to 4:00 am." Now, I'd like to think it was the blanket...but he really is such a good little baby and my daughter is doing a wonderful job nursing.

But hey, I'll take credit whenever I get it! Seriously though, sleeping newborns are just adorable.

As we all move forward and begin to return to familiar routines, life is good for big brother too. He is loving his baby brother and even started at his new preschool today. He told his mom on the way that he was excited to be back at school...but misses his two friends. I miss him already!

So with that said, I'm back to sewing. I won this fat quarter bundle awhile back and it arrived while I was gone. I'm thinking of making two receiving blankets with them, with flannel on the back. Please do share if you have any quick pattern ideas. I also have my Dec. OMG goal and wool stitching ~~to keep me out of trouble~~, I mean busy. All truly are fun sewing, that I did get a chuckle from your previous comments how each project "was so me." You guys are the best! Thank you for your continued bloggy friendships and for inspiring and motivating me with your talents as well.

Until Tuesday Archives tomorrow, I will close wishing you a fantastic day!

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Wool BOM Progress

This past summer I set out to stitch this Anne Downs BOM. As I put them on my design wall this morning I was actually surprised how much progress I've made since summer:

Only half of them are stitched but now that the cutting and pinning are done, I look forward to the stitching that awaits each evening as the nights get darker and life slows down earlier than those long days of summer. It's truly my very favorite project right now.