New Stuff!

The last thing I need is new stuff. My house runneth over. I even know that need and want are two different things. So I really wanted these two new pincushions. They were calling to me...buy me, and put me on a shelf to be with other pincushions. Maybe those were just the voices in my head! Anyway I came home with them. The Pilots Club has a semi annual antique sale that I never miss here in Lawrence, Kansas. I never miss the homemade pie that they serve. The coconut cream pie called to me too.

I also wanted these pins. They still have the price on the back of $1.49 at Walkers in Wichita, Kansas.

I also wanted a couple more advertising thimbles. I put them with the rest. I use different containers to display them.

I also wanted to also show you a photo of my granddaughter in her first Halloween costume.

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall. I just love this season! It's the time when we pull out all those big pot recipes like chili, ham and beans and chicken and noodles. Yum!

Quilt Shop Winner!

Thank you so much to all the quilt shops who took the time at Quilt Market to fill out our survey to enter a drawing to win this prize basket full of Amy Bradley Designs goodies! We really appreciate your responses and will take them into sincere consideration. We especially appreciate all the great ideas we got from you! The winner of the random drawing, selected by random.org was Karen Stephens of Speckled Hen Quilt Shop.

More photos from Australia

I didn't get to post all my photos before I went off to market in Houston. These are some of the fun ones I wanted to share.

The sign says: Retyred Highway Crocodile made from road refuse. Created by David M. Jones.
This was at the Kuranda Market near Cairns, Australia

These two stores had these amazing sculptures on top of their awnings in St. Kilda. St. Kilda is a bayside suburb of Melbourne and the best people watching I have ever had!!!!!!!! The shops were eclectic and so unique. We also hit the sunday market which was even more of a bonus! Can you say SHOPPING!

It seemed to us that every 3rd store at St. Kilda was a french bakery full of pastries. Which we all had to try more than once. You can probably gain weight by just looking at this photo!

Can you believe this was someone's fence in St. Kilda. The creativity!

Back Home From Market!!!!

I have been away at Quilt Market in Houston. What fun it was to be back in the action. I missed the last two Markets because of wonderful family events. We had my granddaughter Rowan's birth and my son Adam's college graduation during the last two Markets. Those special events don't happen often!

Now all I have to do is unpack the truck. Why is it always more fun to pack the truck than to unpack. Does it all have to go back where I found it? Sigh...

This was our booth...both the left and the right side.

This is three generations. My mom Dorothy, me and my daughter Ashley. We have way too much fun being together. It's nice traveling with family too because if your tired, goofy or forgetful...they understand. Every night we treated ourselves to a wonderful dinner. We always go to the same restaurants every year. We start dreaming of fresh seafood in Houston as soon as we hit the Texas border.

Me and My Sisters booth is always the cutest booth. That's Mary and Barb, the designers behind their bathing beauty signs. They are always giggling and happy and a lot of fun to be around.

This is a famous duo. Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece o' Cake Designs. I love their applique quilts. I even got to take a class from Becky last year and learned LOTS!

Heather Bailey's booth. Just beautiful!

A few years ago, I was able to judge the top 10 shops for Better Homes and Gardens American Patchwork and Quilting with Kaye England. Once you have been around this lady she will be one of your favorite designers. She has a personality and wit that is contagious. She is always on the go. I love hearing about her farm and her many animals.

This was at the Better Homes and Gardens American Patchwork and Quilting Booth. I just love the colors and I love how they quilted it.

This is the award winning booth of Minick and Simpson. Hanging on her right is the hooked rug made by Polly Minick which I would also LOVE to make!!!!! I also really like their new quilt that looks like a flag. I enjoy following their blog, too.

This is Sue Spargo beside one of her quilts. Her quilts are AMAZING! I wish this was on my wall.

They have antique quilts for sell. I will take all four of these!

I loved this display. Sometimes I look this bad after long days of sewing!

The Other Side Of The World

I have been on the other side of the world recently with my husband John and my wonderful mother-in-law Bev. We just got back from Australia and New Zealand. Between that and getting ready for Houston Quilt Market I am using that as my excuse for not blogging for a very long time.

Our trip was wonderful and we all want to go back. We are all still a little rough around the edges from the jet lag. I am one of those people that can't sleep very well on planes so I totally respect those business men and women that do those flights often! The flight over the ocean from L.A. to Sydney was 14 hours. That is a long time sitting in a airplane!!!

This is us after our first flight.

We got to do a back stage tour at the Sydney Opera House. Here we are in the orchestra pit. This was a real highlight of my trip. It was so fascinating to find out how the scenery is stored and moved around during performances.

This is in front of the Sydney Opera House.

This is before our ninth and final flight. I have more photos to share later.....

Hip Hip Hooray!!

How do you make a quilter happy? Fabric!!!!! My new fabric line from Moda "Barnyard Buddies" arrived from the UPS man. It smells wonderful! It feels wonderful! And my personal opinion ...it looks wonderful! Yes, I have cut into it. I couldn't wait! My mind is racing on what I want to turn it into. I made two patterns for you to use all this fabric last spring. I will show you the patterns again. The fabric should hit the stores within the month. YEA!

I Hate Spinach But I Love This Quiche!

Spinach Quiche

Stouffer's Spinach Souffle thawed out (found in the freezer aisle)
2 eggs
3 Tbls of milk
2-3 tsps. of chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced drained mushrooms (fresh or a 4 0z. can)
1 lb mild cooked, crumbled and drained sausage
3/4 -1 cup grated swiss cheese
One 9 inch unbaked pie shell ( I use Pillsbury in the dairy aisle)

Mix together the above ingredients and put in the unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes clean. I also wrap aluminum foil around my pie crust edges. I remove the foil for the last 5 minutes to brown my crust.

I got this recipe from a friend years ago. Every time I have made it for someone they have always requested the recipe. I love it because it is so fast to make.

Mom Saves The Day Once Again!!!!

My Mom just left after a week of sewing. I hope you all have Moms like mine! I told her I was really behind in getting my quilts ready for Market and like magic she appears at my door. Yea Mom!!!!!! She loves it as much as I do. She gets time off from cooking and cleaning and we watch ( more like listen) to a lot of movies. We also get to spend time together and we order in food. Not a lot of cooking when we are in sewing mode!

These are the movies we rented:

The Painted Veil
The Ballet Shoes
Emma
The Duchess
Confessions of a Shopaholic
New in Town
Great Expectations
Doubt
Enchanted
Closing the Ring
Iris
Lake City
The Holiday
The Soloist

We didn't care for Revolutionary Road and Two Lovers. Both were REAL DOWNERS!

Change of Plans

Yesterday I was dressed up (at least for me) and driving on the interstate through Topeka, Kansas on my way to Council Grove, Kansas. My husband John was giving a presentation and I was going to surprise him and show up to hear it. The surprise was on me. I was driving about 65mph in the fast lane in noontime 4 lane traffic when somebody decided to leave fence posts in my lane. I couldn't swerve because a semi truck was next to me and a man was running down through the lanes to remove the posts. Amazingly no one was hurt just a few flat tires. Wow! This really makes you think how quickly life can change. My only trip yesterday was with the tow truck driver back to the auto shop and home. Home felt really good yesterday!

My Secret Weapon

How do I cut all those little pieces with holes in them? An X-Acto knife with a #11 blade. You can get one at any art supply store or craft store. I have been doing this for years. It is soooooo much easier than trying to manipulate your scissors in a little space. You can buy a cheap metal knife or a nicer one that has a cushioned handle and the blades usually come in a pack of five. I would suggest you practice though before you start on something good. I hope this is a good tip for everyone because I love it.

Winners of Christmas in July Giveaway!

The winners, chosen by random number from random.org are....
Sewbaby
Woodie Dorsey
Nancy
Please email us at info@amybradleydesigns.com to claim your prizes!
To everyone else, thanks so much for signing up as followers, we love hearing from you! Keep checking in as will keep giving away free stuff!

Black dog...Black tile

Our dog Gladdy knows she is not supposed to be on my granddaughter Rowans' play area on the floor. I guess she decided if camouflaged she could get away with it. Very sneaky.....

Christmas in July Giveaway!

We promised another giveaway in July and here it is! We will be giving each of three winners a fat quarter stack of my Happy Howlidays fabric, a Hairy Christmas pattern, and a box of my Christmas Cards. To enter to win, sign up to become a Follower of my blog by clicking on the Follow link on the sidebar. I will randomly choose three winners from my Followers list and announce them on Friday July 31st so be sure to check back and see if you have won. And start working on those christmas projects and gifts, you only have five more months to procrastinate!

I'm In Love

I love my new 1/4 " foot. My seams are so BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! Why does it always take me forever to catch up with the rest of the techno world! This foot makes it easy for quilters who are getting old and need to wear magnifying glasses like me!

My granddaughters first bite of a tomato.

I love to Bake!!!

I bake cookies at least once a week. This is a really great recipe because it uses overly ripe bananas. They are moist and delicious. You can make them without the chocolate chips....but who would want to skip out on more Chocolate!!!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 c Crisco (I use butter flavored Crisco for all my baking)
1 c sugar
1 1/2 c flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 c ripe bananas mashed ( don’t double bananas if you
double the recipe)
1 3/4 c uncooked oatmeal
1 c chocolate chips ( 6 oz.)
Cream Crisco, sugar and egg. Sift dry ingredients
and add alternately with mashed bananas. Remove from
mixer and add oatmeal and chocolate chips.
Bake 10 -12 minutes at 350 degrees.

I use parchment paper to cover all my cookie sheets.



My mother-in-law Bev gave me this great tip...use a potato masher to mash your bananas. This works so much better than a fork which I was using.

I am getting old!!!! I just got done talking to the painters who are painting our house. I was probably telling them something profound and wise....ha ha. Anyway I walked back into the house to go back to sewing. I walked by a mirror and noticed I not only had one pair but two pairs of magnifying glasses on my head. Apparently the pair of contacts resting on my eyeballs are not enough. Did I mention that I am turning the BIG 50 this year. I could tell you that this is the first time that this has happened...but no. Usually it is one pair of sunglasses and one pair of magnifying glasses. When did I cross the line of forgetfulness. I not only have become my mother...I have become my grandmother!!!! Help!

My sister wrote this in response to the above.

Hey six eyes! I heard your funny story about becoming Grandma Ree as I was on my way to work this morning. Little did I know that I would do worse! When I looked in the mirror this morning I saw that my hair was sticking up in the back. So, I wet it and then stuck a long silver clip in the back to help hold it down as it dried. Well, I forgot to take it out, and went to a meeting that included several VPs. When I got back to my office an hour later, I discovered the clip was still in there...yikes!! (Luckily, only about half of the usual participants were there, due to vacation schedules.)

Can you tell we are truly sisters!

Pin cushions

I love to collect and my family calls it a true addiction. I've been on the lookout for unique pin cushions. I wanted to show you a few of my latest acquisitions. This can't be a bad thing because they make me smile, smile, smile when I walk by them!