Quilt Therapy

Today, I am thankful for wood and warmth, for fireplaces and fires and for 40 little piggies who are warmed by the hearth in our home.

Today, I am thankful to be a child of God, a wife, mother, daughter to many who have parented me, sister, daughter-in-law, aunt, sister-in-law and friend.  I am thankful to have the opportunity to know many through quilting and to know more through life.  I am thankful for opportunities to share my blessings with others, I am thankful to Lesley at The Hungry Housewife for sharing her Oreo Turkeys with us and for the opportunity to share in some culinary fun with my kids.

For our quilt group Christmas party, I made 3 different dishes – one of them being Chicken Alfredo Pizza.  It was FANTABULOUS, and many of the ladies asked for the recipe. 

Ingredients:

2 tubes Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
1 small jar Alfredo sauce
2 c. Tyson grilled chicken strips, cooked and diced
1 c. cooked, diced & drained bacon
1/8 c. diced green onions
2 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400°.  Spray Pam on a baking sheet (half sheet cake pan is perfect).  Unroll crescent roll dough and lay flat it on pan, pressing the seams together so there are no holes.  Use a fork to pierce the dough so that it doesn’t bubble when cooking.  Spread Alfredo sauce down on dough (we don’t like too much, but use your own discretion).  Next, layer the diced chicken, bacon, green onions and cheeses on top.  Bake for 15 – 25 minutes, depending on how toasted you like your cheese.

FAB flavor, and very simple to make!

My thankfulness today is for good food, and the ability to afford to feed my family.

TWO MONTHS!

That’s how long it’s been since I’ve had or taken the time to sit at my machine and quilt. 

By Saturday, I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I went right home, after my wake-up time and email, and started on the simplest, most beginner-friendly quilt I could think of — a layer cake quilt, made from the Urban Couture fabrics sent to me by Linda at AbbiMays.com.

Ahhhhh, for the love of fabric and quilting:

Today, I give thanks to the talents that I use for quilting, for gifting others with my creations and to God for giving me a passion for fabric and all things quilty.

Wednesday is dump day.  As my man and son were leaving to take a load of trash to the dump, I *specifically* warned the son-man NOT to let his dad go dumpster diving again.

Did they listen?

Do I really need to ask that question?

They listen about as well as the girls listen to me.

NADA

Perhaps I should have a new category on this blog called “Dumpster Diving for Dummies”?

This week, the fine, older gentleman at the dump led my husband to a grand find.  A Dearborn heater — THREE TIMES the size of the Dearborn heater that I use in my office shed.  Now, my shed is merely 12′ x 12′ — not very big and pretty full of office equipment, computer and peripheral box storage and warm shirts that I occasionally need at 3 am when a chill may set in while I’m working.  Once my shed gets warm, I usually turn the Dearborn off, because if I let it continue to run, I start perspiring.  Yeah, it warms me up that much.  My LITTLE heater, that is.

I’m thinking my husband lives by that “if one works, try five” viewpoints — you know, if one aspirin works, why not take five because then you’ll surely not have to take another for a week!

Presenting my husband’s new / old dumpster dive find for the week (the heater, not the son-man):

Oh the joy on their faces …. and the horror on mine!

Click Here for the PDF of this Last Minute Gift Pattern

1) Begin by folding each of your 2” squares diagonally, into a triangle. The, place them so that you create a star pattern and pin together:

2) Now, using your sewing machine, stitch all the way around the triangles, to secure them together and create stabilization for the edges of your star:

3) Finally, hot glue your star to the clothespin, then embellish with something in the center of the star. On the back of the clothespin, glue a magnet strip so you can hang it on your refrigerator or magnetic board!

Click Here for the PDF of this Last Minute Gift Pattern

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Next week is Thanksgiving.  {gulp} 

As we gear up for my annual “25 Days of Christmas” posts, I’m going to do things a bit differently.  I’m still going to take photos of Christmas decorations and rememberances … but, I’m going to also list also list our family’s giving and blessings.  Perhaps you’ll join me, with comments on your own giving blessings.  We sure don’t have much, but what we do have, we’d gladly give to others.  As long as we have health, happiness, home and food – our faith will carry us through whatever else we need to calm our souls.

This week, we gave toys to a mission fund at our church.  It wasn’t a lot, but it was about 10 small gifts that a fellow congregant will deliver to a church in the Texas valley, who is in a very poor and disadvantaged area.  We also donated funds to my daughter’s fifth grade class, so they could invite individuals to their class for a Thanksgiving feast. 

If you have or know of a group or people who could use blessings from others, feel free to leave a comment.  We’ll see if we can’t help share our own blessings with others.

Did you ever have one of those people who is so kind, you just can’t help wanting to squeeze them in a tight hug, and never let them go?

That’s how Karen and I feel about Pat Sloan, and her assistance with our first Quilt Dash game.  She was a hoot and a half to visit with via email, and in person, too, when I met her at quilt market.

But, the fun really comes in now – at the end of the game, when she donated such a gift bag of fabulous prizes – just LOOK at what a lucky winner won:

Pat, from the bottom of our pea-pickin’ hearts – we thank you.  For your generosity, for your willingness to share your fabulous talents with a couple of quilting-unknowns…and for your faith in Quilt Dash.

Our little quilt group hosted the annual county-wide extension service Christmas Party on Saturday, at a local church.  We didn’t have a whole lot of attendees, but those that did come were nice and gracious and we all enjoyed ourselves.  No use in me talking about it, let me share some photos of the quilts we had on display with you!