Amy Bradley Designs

Show and Tell

2012-01-20T15:54:00.000-06:00

Judie Butler gave me permission to share her email with you all. I just love her jacket! I have seen my "Quilt Diva" pattern reduced on jackets but never my "Everyday is a Shopping Day" pattern. She did such a great job. Now I want one!

Hi Amy,
Well, I finally finished the project that I started in your class at KC in Saratoga Springs last year. I have attached two pictures and hope they receive your approval. The jacket got a big laugh at my guild meeting Tuesday night.

I enjoyed you and the class so much. This type of quilting was a whole new world for me, just wish I had chosen an easier pattern. I am the classic piece quilter, but your subjects are delightful. I will not be able to take the class you are offering at Kc this year, but wish you good cheer. Judie

New Doors

2012-01-02T13:11:00.000-06:00

Old Doors

New Door

Sometimes a business has to spend money on very unexciting things. This is my latest. We needed a door on our warehouse that is air tight, insulated and doesn't let in mice. Sometimes the little things make you happy. If we don't have the occasional mouse I will be happy!!!!!!

Christmas is all boxed up!

2011-12-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

They were lighter when they were empty. Heave Ho!

Seven trips to the basement and I should get it all put away. What I should do now is take seven trips around the block to work off all the sugar cookies and homemade candies that I ate. Out of sight..out of mind doesn't work....I know where to find it! I think I personally ate my way through Christmas. It was a 24 hour high calorie fog. Thank goodness I was up at 5:00 this morning exercising it off.

I am SO ready to get back into my daily routine. I am sure you all feel the same. Have a great day!

Grand Prize Winner!

2011-12-26T08:42:00.001-06:00

Thank you to everyone who ordered, this was so much fun! I hope everyone had a nice holiday.

The grand prize winner of the Hairy Christmas quilt is ...

Kelly Pakes

Happy Quilting!

December 24th Give-a-way

2011-12-26T08:32:00.000-06:00

And the winner is...

Madeira Hornbaker

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 23rd Give-a-way

2011-12-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

And the winner is...

Catherine Visnaw

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 22nd Give-a-way

2011-12-23T10:52:00.000-06:00

And the winner is..

Lysa ErkenBrack

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 21st Give-a-way

2011-12-22T09:25:00.000-06:00

And the winner is...

Clemente Juarez Soto

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 20th Give-a-way

2011-12-21T09:42:00.000-06:00

And the winnner is...

Samantha Dyroff

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 19th Give-a-way

2011-12-20T10:01:00.000-06:00

And the winner is....

Margarita Morales Diaz

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 18th Give-a-way & Blueberry Coffeecake

2011-12-19T10:43:00.001-06:00

This recipe makes a moist and delicious cake.

Blueberry Coffee Cake
2 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c.white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 c. buttermilk

Topping:
1/2 c. chopped pecans ( I double this)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. blueberries
(if frozen, thaw and drain)

Sift flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder into large mixing bowl. In a second large mixing bowl, cream sugars and oil, then add eggs to this mixture and beat well. Add dry ingredients to the batter mixture alternating with buttermilk. Pour into greased and floured 9" x 13" pan. In another bowl, mix all topping ingredients together and spoon on top of batter. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

To save time, I mix all the dry ingredients the night before. The next morning I simply add the wet ingredients.

And the winner is ...

Carmen Izquierdo Barquin

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 17th Give-a-way

2011-12-19T10:37:00.001-06:00

And the winner is...

Linda Meyers

Linda chose the Seasoned Quilter for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 16th Give-a-way & One of my first Christmas Decorations

2011-12-17T10:36:00.001-06:00

And the winner is...

Leila Johnston

Leila chose the Seasoned Quilter for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

I am so happy to see these two each year. They have been around since my college days. Wow ....that was a long time ago!

December 15th Give-a-way & Another scale decorated for Christmas

2011-12-16T10:14:00.001-06:00

I love this scale. I wish I knew what it was used for. It has three iron ball weights that are used on the brass arm. Just think how fast the produce is weighed at the grocery store now.

And the winner is...
Kevin Pulford

Kevin chose the Merry Christmas for his free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 14th Give-a-way & Two little mice...see how they hang

2011-12-15T10:35:00.001-06:00

Patricia Mayhew, a friend here in Lawrence makes these mice. She has made hundreds of mice in all occupations and settings. I gave a bride and groom set to my daughter when she got married.

I bought a little artist mouse for me.

I am not for sure...but ....I think...I am...almost done with my Christmas shopping! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to start on my Christmas baking now....yea.....and cleaning...yuk!

The winner of our December 14th daily give-a-way is...
Sandra Hutchings

Sandra chose the My Alphabet Quilt for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 13th Give-a-way

2011-12-14T10:09:00.003-06:00

The winner is....

Carol Schlessman

Carol chose My Alphabet Quilt for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

December 12th Give-a-way & Nativity Sets Exhibition

2011-12-13T09:11:00.001-06:00

And the winner is .....

Cindy Stanley

Cindy chose The Hoots as her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

I went Saturday to the Festival of Nativities at the Centenary United Methodist Church here in Lawrence, Kansas. I have wanted to go for several years and this year I grabbed my camera because I wanted to share it with you. The ladies that unpack almost 300 nativity sets year after year and lovingly put them out for display for the community to see need to be applauded. It must take hours and hours. It was hard to pick which ones to show. I also wish I could of taken you all with me because they were all so unique to see in person and that I so wish I was a better photographer..

Nativity Set from Argentina

Nativity Set from India

Nativity Set from Nigeria

South America Nativity Set

Guatemala Nativity Set

Guatemala Egg Nativity Set

Kyrgyzstan White Wool Nativity Set

Mozambique Wood Nativity Set

Irish Celtic Nativity Set

Gaucho's Nativity Set

South Seas Nativity Set

Uganda Nativity Set

This one looked like the whole city of Bethlehem

Connie Hadl made this beautiful quilt and Kris Barlow quilted it.

Peanuts Nativity Set

I collect snowmen but I think I will pass on the nativity set version.

Chess Nativity Set

There were several trees full of hundreds of nativity set ornaments.

This is the end of my show and tell. I hope you enjoyed it. If there is a similar exhibit in your town please go and take your family or a friend....you will ENJOY IT!

December 11th Give-a-way & Social Networking

2011-12-12T10:24:00.002-06:00

And the winner is
Judy West

Judy chose Stitch a little, talk a lot for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Before Twitter and Facebook there was social networking!

We were gathering on front porches....

and enjoying each other...face to face.

Those definitely were the good old days!

December 10th Give-a-way & Men who Quilt

2011-12-11T10:55:00.001-06:00

And the winner is .....

Doug Weaver

Doug chose Traveling Turtles for his free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

When I sent out my last email with four new patterns all with funny quilting ladies, I received a couple of emails reminding me that quilters are not just women! So this is dedicated to the guys, the first is a take on my Super Quilter done for a name badge challenge by Timothy Means. I love it!
These Nutcrackers were done by Ken Casey. I love seeing my designs in the darker more traditional colors too, very nice job.

December 9th Give-a-way & Grammy's Cranberry Salad

2011-12-10T10:34:00.001-06:00

And the winner is.....

Marina Chaney

Marina chose Happy Halloween for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Grammy's Cranberry Salad

2 packages of small cherry Jell-O

- Mix with 2 cups of hot water and 1 1/2 cups of cold water.
- Let set in frig until slightly jelled.

Use a food processors or an old fashioned grinder

- Grind 1 cup cranberries.
- Grind 2 apples cored and sliced.
- Zest 1 orange. Peel, quarter and grind orange.
- Add 1/2 cup sugar to the ground fruit.

-1 cup chopped celery fine

-1 cup chopped pecans
- Add the ground fruit mixture, celery and pecans to the
slightly jelled jell-O.

Pour into a glass 9” x 13” dish.

December 8th Give-a-way & No Will Power!

2011-12-09T10:15:00.002-06:00

And the winner is ......

Colette Van Ornum

Colette chose the Seasoned Quilter for her free pattern.

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

The snowman jar on the fireplace mantel started out full this week of M&M's. My lack of will power has made it go down slowly each day. Thanksgiving has come and gone and I still want to eat.....sigh. Why do we have such wonderful things to eat around the holidays! Why! Why Why! I have a refill bag but it will stay locked in the pantry until Christmas!

December 7th Give-a-way & Apartment for rent

2011-12-08T09:15:00.001-06:00

And the winner is ....

Debbie Harding

Debbie chose the Funny Babies for her free pattern.

When I found this sign I just had to have it for my dollhouse. It is fun to decorate up your treasures for Christmas by adding some greenery here and there.

December 6th Give-a-way & Christmas Candy

2011-12-07T09:11:00.001-06:00

And the winner is .....

Justine Cancryn

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Justine chose the Seasoned Quilter for her free pattern.

It's a good thing I exercise everyday because I love to keep candy in this scale. I also put in some old fashioned Christmas light in there too. Can you believe how real looking the fake greenery is now.

December 5th Give-a-way & More Snowmen

2011-12-06T09:47:00.005-06:00

And the winner is .....

Barb Lenards

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Barb chose the 1 Little 2 Little 3 Little Quilters for her free pattern.

I don't know where I found this miniature cabinet for my little snowmen but it is perfect.

Gingerbread Houses Galore!

2011-12-05T13:17:00.000-06:00

I took my granddaughter Rowan to see the gingerbread houses in downtown Lawrence. The event benefits Big Brothers and Sisters in Douglas County. It was fun to see her reaction to these wonderful houses. These masterpieces do put you in the Christmas spirit. I loved the theater above and I took a close up of the dog with the owner right. On the marquee it says "Its a wonderful life" which I saw last night on TV and cried once again. I have to watch it and "White Christmas" every year.

Can you even imagine all the hours that went into all these houses!!!!!

I love this house because each side of the house was a different color. I wonder if this is based on a actual house? This is the front.

This is the back.

This cottage is done beautifully. I loved the large leaves next to the house. It belongs to a mouse. The photo below shows him sleeping in his upstairs bedroom.

He has a candle by his bed and his stocking is hanging on the fireplace.

This is Dorothy's house from the "Wizard of Oz". Notice the witch's feet under the house and the yellow brick road.

I loved the pretzel ladder leaning next to the green popcorn trees. Notice the pasta wheels on the pretzel wagon. It is so much fun to see all the candy and snack food that they use.

This is a replica of the bell tower on the KU campus complete with a jayhawk. Lawrence is the home to Kansas University.

This is Spooner Hall. This is also a replica from the KU campus. Lots of Shredded Wheat and red licorice!

This is Santa's reindeer stable.

This Victorian house was amazing, The artist cuts and bakes the miniature bricks separately and then adds them to the house.

A Christmas windmill.

We also saw the Lawrence Old Fashioned Christmas Parade and stayed dry. The parade has around 100 horse drawn entries each year that come from all over. The wagons and carriages are decked out in wreaths, lights and bows. Even though it rained the crowd was there because it is such a popular event. My mother in law Bev, granddaughter Rowan and I stayed warm under all the blankets.

I hope you all are enjoying the Christmas events in your towns too!

December 4th Give-a-way

2011-12-05T10:05:00.001-06:00

And the winner is.....drum roll please

Nancy Swinford

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Nancy chose 1 Little 2 Little 3 Little Quilters as her free pattern

December 3rd Give-a-way

2011-12-04T14:09:00.001-06:00

And the winner is ....drum roll please

Patricia Merkel

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Patricia Merkel chose the Merry Christmas pattern as her free pattern.

December 2nd Give-a-way

2011-12-03T10:28:00.002-06:00

And the winner is ....drum roll please

Sandra Dess

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Sandra picked My Alphabet Quilt as her free pattern.

December 1st Give-a-way

2011-12-02T09:44:00.004-06:00

And the winner is ....drum roll please

Karen Mills

Each and every day we will choose a new winner from our daily orders until December 25th!

Thanks to everyone who placed an order and don't forget to check back to see who won the grand prize quilt on December 26th. Happy Holidays!

Karen chose the Spool Stack pattern as her free pattern.

Amy's 25 Days of Give-a-ways!

2011-11-30T19:49:00.023-06:00

Every order placed at www.amybradleydesigns.com between December 1st and December 25th will receive six free Christmas cards to give to all your quilting friends! PLUS....

Each day between December 1st and December 25th we will draw one order at random to be a daily winner. The daily winner will get to choose one item from www.amybradleydesigns.com, yes any item at any value free! You can choose a gift item, block of the month set, quilt pattern. We will choose the daily winner the following morning. The daily winners will be contacted by email or phone and the names will be posted on this blog. PLUS....

We will draw one lucky winner at random from all the orders placed at www.amybradleydesigns.com from December 1st to December 25th to win one of Amy's Hairy Christmas quilts! Yes, a finished quilt made by me! The winner can choose either the Dog or Cat version of Hairy Christmas shown here. We will choose the winner on December 26th. The grand prize winner will be contacted by email or phone and the winner's name will be posted on this blog.

Come Join Me In Hawaii This February!

2011-11-28T12:27:00.027-06:00

I know what you should ask for this Christmas...a Hawaii trip to come quilting with me! February 10 - 18 2012 I will be in sunny Hawaii. It will be the place to be in February. Right now in Lawrence, Kansas the temperature is 37 degrees and it is 78 degrees at the Royal Kona Resort. www.royalkona.com I will be teaching classes in a big room next to the beach. You can see it in the photo above. It is the bottom white on the building on the right. How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take a look at the view from the rooms! Not a bad view to come back to after a hard day of quilting.

Here is my schedule:

I will have a meet and greet with trunk show at 6:30 -7:30 p.m. on Sunday Feb. 12

All day class plus lunch on Monday Feb.13
Choose any one of my fusible applique patterns and learn my special applique tips. I will be handing out a practice dog block and applique tip sheet. I will demonstrate and then circulate! That way I can give everyone my full attention.

All day class plus lunch on Tuesday Feb.14 - Ms Moody 2 Shoes
You can make her into two 17" x 17" wall hangings, a 16"reversible pillow or an apron. You can hang these quilts on your sewing room door to let the rest of the world know how your day is going inside your sewing room. One quilt is all smiles, the other is, well ... the opposite. Your family and friends will know whether to enter your studio or not!

http://www.comequiltwithme.com/shop/pdfs/CQWM_Hawaii_for_Web2.pdf

Above is the brochure link.

The retreat includes six days of classes and lectures offered by national quilting teachers along with local favorites and 2 bus trips. All day classes run from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.: morning classes run from 9 a.m. to noon and afternoon classes are from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Lunch is included in the cost of all classes! If you need a ride to or from the airport, go to www.speedishuttle.com to make arrangements. Machine rental is also available.

Questions?
Call Pat Yamin at 718-377-3652 0r
email: comequiltwithme@aol.com

The Quilting on the Beach Retreat is sponsored by:
Quilt Passions Quilt and Needlework Shop http://www.quiltpassions.net/contact-us.htm
Organized by Come Quilt With Me http://www.comequiltwithme.com/shop/home.php

Lets Have Some Fun Together!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-21T14:45:00.005-06:00

I hope everyone is getting excited about good food and fun times with the family like me! I am hoping I can get in a few games of Skip-Bo or Guesstures after the dishes are done and the left-overs are put away (please let there be left-overs). Hot turkey sandwiches covered with gravy....yum and a side of mashed potatoes.

I have been doing some baking and freezing ahead of time to make my life easier on Thanksgiving day. There are so many dishes that you have to make that day but some things you can make ahead of time like this Frozen Fruit Salad. It is a family favorite and it is always ready to eat right out of your freezer. Have fun everyone and safe travels!!!

Frozen Fruit Salad
1 can (14oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (21 oz. blueberry pie filling
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple drained
2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3 bananas sliced
1 container (8 oz.) Cool Whip Topping thawed

In a large bowl, combine milk and pie filling.
Add pineapple, nuts and bananas. Gently
fold in whipped topping. Spread in one 9" x 13"
or two 9" x 9". You can also put it in single
serving containers. Cover and freeze. Remove
from freezer a few minutes before serving. Cut
in squares. Yields 12 - 15 servings.
For another delicious version: Use peach pie
filling, mandarin oranges drained, crushed
pineapple drained and bananas.

The quilt above is "Happy Thanksgiving" from my "Seasoned Quilter" little quilts.

Fall Market 2011

2011-11-08T14:00:00.000-06:00

We are back from Market. This is the 8th year for 3 generations to go to Fall Market in Houston. The 9th for Mom and I. The first year my daughter Ashley was ready to go and she said "lets get some book tapes for the long drive". I told her that Mom and I just talk for the 12 hour drive. She could not believe that we talked the entire 12 hours! Now that she has made 8 of these trips she realizes the fun that we have just talking and laughing from Lawrence, Kansas to Houston Texas. I am not sure anyone else would enjoy our conversations but we do.

This year we took more furniture than usual. I can't believe we got all of this in my husbands truck with the topper. Below is a photo of the left side of our booth. I took my new wall hanging design " One Little, Two Little, Three Little Quilters" to get framed and matted in yellow. It is in a white frame and over my white table.

Here is what just the quilt looks like close up.

Below is a photo of the right side of my booth. I put up a cutting table which proved to be wonderful storage area behind the curtains. I designed a dog shelf that my Dad built for me and it is on one end of the cutting table. I love that my Dad is so handy and does such a great job. See how my whole family helps me out!

On the door is my new design "Ms Moody 2 Shoes". Remember the mood rings that we wore in the 70's? One of these quilts posted on your sewing room door will let your friends and family know your mood. I also made the design into a reversible pillow and into an apron. I had a quilter say she would have to change the quilt mid-day because she always starts out nice but ends up grumpy.

Here is my daughter Ashley and I being silly.

Below is another one of my new designs. "Stitch a little, talk a lot"

I collect pincushions so I decided I needed to design one. I had so much fun coming up with this one.

I hope you like all the new designs. I can't wait now to start on new ones!

Why Do I Love Them So!

2011-10-19T14:41:00.009-05:00

Pincushions definitely are addicting to me! I like the whimsical cute ones and I have three new ones to show you. Is there a pincushion anonymous out there? Do others collect these things? Do I really have that many pins that need storage? Where will I put my growing collection? I might need a new piece of furniture....which will lead me back to the antique store where these little things live. I might need to buy more. It is a vicious circle!

This last weekend I had a near crying moment! I took my sewing machine in for a tune-up because it was not cooperating with my sewing schedule. I got it back home and started sewing. I looked at my wall hanging that I was getting ready for Quilt Market. It had black sewing machine oil stains in four places. To make a long story short I tried several things. Do you know what finally got it clean? Automotive bug and tar remover. I lost a few brain cells smelling the stuff but my wall hanging is stain free and at Rosie's (my quilter) now. I also tried putting my wall hanging in a plastic bag with baking soda and a dryer sheet. I then sprayed it with Febreze to try to get the lovely solvent smell out it. So if this happens to you...don't go to your laundry room...go to your garage.

Guess What I Found?

2011-10-08T15:12:00.010-05:00

In Harrisonville, Missouri at "Keepers Antique Mall"( http://local.yahoo.com/info-17824815-keepers-antique-mall-harrisonville) I found four of these stained glass windows. I was so excited I almost started hyperventilating!!! They look like quilt blocks. I just love, love, love them! I just had, had, had to have them! I am getting closer to having the studio that I always wanted and these will look so cool to have in the plans.

Today was also a good day because I ran 2 1/2 miles without stopping. My goal is a 5k. Half of the run today was up a long hill. I run slow but I am .... moving. I am sure there are buzzard circling overhead waiting on me!

I also shot the rest of the photography for my new patterns outside today. This was quite a feat since the wind was trying to blow the quilts and the photographer (me) to the next county! I can't wait to show you. Market it at the end of this month where we debut them all.

Have a great weekend! Amy

Happy Halloween Giveaway

2011-10-07T10:30:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who responded, great costume ideas! The winners are:
Mom2RyandSis
YankeeQuilter
Deb G. in VA (Deb, please email us at info@amybradleydesigns.com Your profile isn't public so we can't find your email address. Thanks!)

More Decorating!

2011-10-03T15:48:00.018-05:00

I decorate our veterinary hospital ( Bradley Animal Hospital ) for every major holiday. The clients love it...at least the two legged ones.

It was time to bring out the big orange and black tubs for Halloween. I love that you can buy color coordinated tubs for your holiday decorations. It is much easier to find things.

The kids like to drive the receptionists crazy pushing the button on the "Dancing Snoopy". The x-ray shows a sewing needle that was swallowed. Ouch! My husband has gotten those out with a endoscope still threaded before. Amazing.

In case the kids missed the "Dancing Snoopy" they can push the paw on the dancing dog in the ghost costume. Another earful for the receptionists....over and over.....and over

This is our Halloween tree.

I put things up high on book shelves.

I even put things in plants. I can go on and on but I won't. Decorating for holidays is F-U-N!!!!

Leave a comment about your favorite Halloween costume that you dressed up in and we will have a random drawing for three of my "Happy Halloween" patterns this Friday Oct. 7th.

New Yummy Recipe!

2011-09-30T10:08:00.004-05:00

My family has been making a butterscotch brownie recipe for years. I think I finally found a recipe that out does the long standing family favorite. How can this recipe go wrong...2 sticks of butter, coconut and pecans!!!!! Hide your bathroom scales!!!!

Coconut Pecan Blondies

2 eggs
1 3/4 packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted and cooled
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 chopped pecans, toasted
( you wouldn't have to toast them)
1 1/3 cup coconut
8 oz. white baking chocolate coarsely chopped
( I used 1 cup white chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar for 3 minutes. Add butter and vanilla;
mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the brown
sugar mixture, beating just until blended. Stir in pecans, coconut and white
chocolate.

Spread into a greased 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 - 40
minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs
( do not over-bake ). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Family Weekend

2011-09-26T16:01:00.021-05:00

My family minus my husband (he couldn't come) all went to the Indian Peace Treaty in my home town, Medicine Lodge, Kansas. The pageant commemorates the great Peace Council of 1867 between the U.S. Government and the Plains Indians. It is a action-packed weekend of reenactments, rodeos, parades and Indian dances that they put on every three years. My Mom and Dad hosted all their kids and a majority of the grand kids and great grand kids. It was total pandemonium and it was wonderful!

We all went to the parade on Saturday. I loved it but my granddaughter Rowan really loved it because she found out that parade floats sometimes throw out candy. She was in sugar high
heaven!

We got to see a wagon train go down main street.

There were Indian dances.

The usual 0ld cars and trucks.

One of my highlights was seeing my old band instructor Jim Schnoebelen leading the alumni MLHS band. They sounded amazing!

An ox cart

A Cowboy and his sidekick.

We had a great time and I am paying for it today....sooooo tired. You know how family weekends are...lots of food, talk, games and little sleep. ZzzzzZzzzZzzzz

I Had A Wonderful Time in Springfield, Missouri

2011-09-19T11:18:00.020-05:00

I was invited by Merrily Parker to come to her shop in Springfield Missouri "Merrily We Quilt Along" to teach a workshop. I was excited to come because I remembered her the first time I met her. My maiden name is Parker and it was easy to remember her name. Her shop is lovely! At one end is a tea shop which has desserts to die for (literally). They provided our delicious lunch. Next to that is the large quilting machines. You can even rent one to finish your own quilt. Then there are all the wonderful Berninas for sale. Following that is the quilt shop with all the fabric that you will want to buy. Then at the far end of the shop is a classroom with its own entrance. That was really handy because we had our usual workshop haul to bring in and it was raining. Holly, her daughter, was helping us which was amazing because she had a hurt arm. I hope the arm gets better soon!

It rained all night before and all day which is wonderful for so many reasons in our dry area! I think a rainy day is a great excuse to sew, read, or bake and we SEWED! These girls were on a mission and they got a lot done. I was so impressed.

Charley Benton who worked in the shop made my Snowday Sewday pattern up for the shop and I just love it! She used Shagged Shannon Fabrics for the earmuffs and the stocking cap. She also used Benartex Minkee on the star to give it more of a 3-D effect. She did each of the snowmen in a bright color. I did my two versions more traditional with 3-4 main colors so this is a great look.

I even got to hit some antique shops on the way home. What a great trip!

I found this signature quilt above. If only I could meet all the ladies that signed their names to this quilt to know what is the history behind it .

My new sewing machine above...doll size that is.

Two new glass dogs. Company for the other two, of course.

I hope you all had a great weekend too! Amy

I am an early bird!

2011-09-12T12:21:00.015-05:00

This year I am ahead of schedule. There is always a first for everything! I got my Halloween Village out for the first time in 4 years. Why you say....because I have a captive audience. My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter Rowan. She helped get everything out of boxes and there is a lot of boxes with these things. It was fun to see her face as we plugged each house in. Right away she was deeply disappointed that the people could not go in the houses. She wanted more people too.
I had to go to the store to get a big package of C batteries and it was still not enough to light up the little accessories. We all know that accessories make the outfit...I mean the village!

The haunted house is our favorite building above.

These are her favorite trick-or-treaters. The flash light and the pumpkin light up.

I would love for John and I to dress up like this Mr and Mrs. sometime. The good thing is that my table that I use says...NO MORE HOUSES ...because there is no more space. My husband I am sure is grateful for this.

Have a great day and thank you for ALL my wonderful birthday wishes! Amy

Today Is My birthday !!!

2011-09-09T09:28:00.013-05:00

In honor of my birthday I am giving away 5 of my Birthday patterns from my Seasoned Quilter series. One for each decade that I have been on this earth. The first five people that respond to this blog entry will get one mailed to them.

I told my family I want to spend the day sewing. The wonderful thing is that I will be working and playing at the same time!!!! Shhh...don't tell anyone my job is my playtime.

My husband has already bought me flowers and Smurf cupcakes. I think the Smurf cupcakes were more for my granddaughter Rowan. We all had blue lips yesterday after we ate them. He also took my car into get detailed. That is what I wanted for my birthday. I want the weirdest things now like new gutters or car detailing!

Skip your diets today and celebrate with me!!!

I know the name of the quilt block!!!!

2011-09-07T19:04:00.009-05:00

Two posts ago I asked you if anyone knew the name of the quilt block of my new yellow quilt. I now know it is the Virginia Snowball. Yea! My brother Bill and sister-in-law Devra gave me several things for my birthday. One of the things they gave me was this old magazine "Quilts". The copyright is 1932. It is all in black and white and originally cost 15 cents.

Almost at the end of the magazine my Mom found the block. The mystery is solved. Thank you Bill, Devra and Mom!

I finally found another one!

2011-09-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

What is this you say.......
The golf clubs are drink swizzle sticks and on the side is a cork screw. My Grandma and Grandpa had one of these and we all played with it as kids. When it was time for the estate sale of their belongings my brother Bill and I were bidding on it without knowing we were bidding against each other. I won. The only way I could feel better about this win was to find another one. Several years ago I made amends with my brother when I gifted one to him for a present. I now have found one for my sister Julie. My search is complete. Isn't it funny how little silly sentimental things like this are more important then the big expensive piece of furniture that you inherited. It is all in the happy memories!

New quilt for my yellow obsession!

2011-08-31T09:53:00.014-05:00

I painted my walls a light yellow even though in this photo it looks like a dark yellow. That is all I needed to start collecting yellow quilts. It doesn't take this girl much to start collecting anything. My daughter tells people to NEVER tell me what they collect because I would be adding to their collection. I just love the hunt! The adventure of all those dusty over crowded antique stores...and I am in heaven.

Yesterday I went down to Emporia, Kansas to pick up some more patterns from my printer. I decided to treat myself to Poehler Merchantile Antique on 301 Commercial Street. It is now one of my favorites in Kansas. No thrift store stuff just all antiques. Just the way I like antique stores. I have never allowed myself time to stop before. Wow...have I been missing out. I usually have my printing all shipped but I think I will have to go get it from now on. The next couple of blogs will be about my neat treasures (treasures to me anyway). I always thought it must be fun for the people who work in those stores to see what everyone brings up to the counter. The lady there said that I must have a very interesting house based on what I was bringing up. How should I take that....I love it because I buy what makes me smile. I also design quilts that make me smile. Above is my newest yellow quilt and I am smiling. I would be even happier if I only knew what pattern it was.

Above is a close-up of one block from the quilt. If anyone knows what block pattern it is I would love to know. Have a great day and remember this hot, hot, hot summer is almost over! Amy

What can you make with a wooden pallet?

2011-08-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

(Images via: Instructables & jkratman)

Take a look at this website to see what else you can make with a wooden pallet. We get some of our shipping on these and it makes me want to think twice about getting rid of them now. I am a believer in recycling especially when it is this cute. Amazing!

http://webecoist.com/2010/04/07/art-of-upcycling-20-diy-wood-pallet-reuse-project-ideas/

Saginaw, Michigan

2011-08-19T15:06:00.043-05:00

Mom and I just got to escape the Kansas heat and travel to Saginaw, Michigan where the grass was a beautiful green and the flowers were beautiful. I was invited by the Piecemakers guild and Quilted Cottage Quilt Shop http://www.quiltedcottage.net for two guild talks and two workshops. I have wanted to meet these girls for a long time. Sandy seated below is the " Head Diva" in my book. She is the leader of the "Quilt Diva's" sewing group. They have made a ton of my patterns. Yea!

Below is a photo of the Quilted Cottage. It was my kind of shop...full of cheery bright fabric. I loved the stools at the cutting table and the shopping carts to bring up lots of bolts to the cutting table. I can't believe this shop is only four years old and they have it so together!

Next door is this lovely large space for workshops. It will hold 40 participants easy.

Mom and I are in the front below. Left to right: Judy, Emily, Julie, Stacy (co-owner) Jackie (co-owner) and Jessica of the Quilted Cottage.

These "Diva" ladies dressed up and sang a special song for me before my guild talk.

Clara Martin brought her "Bathing Beauties" quilt for show and tell. She has made five of these, one for herself and her four sisters. She added an extra girl to my pattern. I just love to see my patterns made up in other colors and with your own creativity.

I have never seen this before....flowers spiraling down the tree trunks. They actually were dirt encased plastic tubes wired to the tree trunk with flowers coming out of the holes in the tubes. They also had a water drip system through the tube. They had about five of these in a row. Cool!

Chris Pahssen- Noble took such good care of us when we were there. She took a lot of time out of her week to drive us around and make sure we always had food and drink. THANK YOU CHRIS!!!! On the way back to the airport she even took us a little early so we could stop at the town of Frankenmuth - Michigan's little Bavaria. http://www.frankenmuth.org I have been to a lot of places but I have never seen so many flowers in one town. It was so perfect it was like a movie set. She even let us step inside the world's largest Christmas store. http://www.bronners.com/aboutUs

Above is the Bavarian Inn. http://www.bavarianinn.com

This chicken below was made up of flowers outside this restaurant in Frankenmuth. Amazing!

I had a WONDERFUL time!!!! Thank you Piecemakers Quilt Guild and Quilted Cottage!!!

HOT! HOT! HOT!

2011-08-03T10:22:00.007-05:00

Yesterday my iron of 5 years started to make sounds like my Rice Krispies ... snap, crackle and pop and it was gone. It's has been a good iron and survived numerous falls off my ironing board. I told my husband John that I needed to go out and buy a new one.

He suggested that I just take my small iron collection and put them on the sidewalk. It registered 113 degrees on our outside thermometer when he said that. I think I would need a oven mitt to remove them. When I look at these irons I just think how spoiled I am compared to the women that had to use these. Amazing!

I now have bought a new iron for $19.00. Since I do mostly fusible web I can't be without one. Nothing fancy for me I am too hard on them to buy anything expensive.

Today we have a cool front coming through. It is only supposed to be 92 degrees! I say stay inside and sew, sew sew!!!!

Playing With Sticks

2011-07-21T08:35:00.014-05:00

This sculpture is located outside the front door of the Mulvane Art Museum on the Washburn campus in Topeka, Kansas. The artist is the internationally known Patrick Dougherty of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has built over 200 sculptures all over the world. This sculpture uses native dogwood and willow branches. It will be up for two years. You can walk through the tunnel of woven sticks and doorways. It is beyond cool. Can you imagine having this in your backyard to play in! To learn more go to www.stickwork.net

This sculpture is also made by Patrick Dougherty and is in my home town of Lawrence, Kansas on the Kansas University campus. I love how he built it around a existing tree.

This is a close-up of one of the doorways in Topeka.

This sculpture of horses is located at the Kansas City Zoo. I love this kind of recycling.

The Most Creative Shelves I Have Seen

2011-07-12T14:41:00.004-05:00

Designer website: http://www.stanislavkatz.com/

If you like out of the ordinary .... go to this website below and check out all the shelves. They are funky and amazing!!!!

http://www.homeinteriorszone.com/interior-decoration/furniture/31-modern-and-creative-book-shelves/

Great LEGO Exhibit in Topeka, Kansas

2011-06-29T22:36:00.012-05:00

I enjoyed having my nephews for a week while their parents were in Italy. I tried to come up with one fun thing to do each day to get out of the house. I didn't want them to be to bummed out about being with Aunt Amy and not in Italy with their folks. One day we drove to Topeka to the Mulvane Art Museum on the Washburn University campus. We went to "The Art of the Brick". There were 28 LEGO brick sculptures by New York artist Nathan Sawaya. He is a lawyer turned artist. If you have a chance to see this exhibit ....GO. Grab your kids, neighbor's kids or be the big kid. I think you will enjoy each and every sculpture. It makes me want to go out and buy some LEGO's! We couldn't decide on a favorite. Here are some of the sculptures for you to see how amazing they are.

This one above is called "Cracked".

The sculpture is building himself in the one below.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend full of great food, family and of course sewing! Amy

How creative!

2011-06-26T13:38:00.005-05:00

My friend Rosie and also the quilter extraordinaire of all my quilts just sent me this photo of her sewing machine. SHE LOVES, LOVES, LOVES PURPLE! This photo doesn't do it any justice because it looks lavender and it is really a deep shade of purple. This is in her sewing space and don't you just love those walls! No wonder we get along so well. She just got done painting it and I wanted to share it with all of you. She bought it at a garage sale for $10.00 and it was painted a light blue. I just love paint and how you can change the look of anything. She may put her featherweight on top of it and wouldn't that look cool.

Look what I found!

2011-06-24T13:17:00.014-05:00

Remember seeing one of these thingamajigs (stereoptic view finder) at grandma's house? I do. I just found two great viewer cards. I love to look for old sewing related antiques. Isn't this card great because the wife is sewing and the husband is taking care of the baby....as it should be right ladies?

This one the Mom better not miss a stitch or ouch!

I hope you all have a great weekend full of your own sewing projects! Amy

I just made the most delicious new recipe and it was so EASY!

2011-06-22T20:43:00.005-05:00

This recipe was super easy because you do it all in the crock pot...my dear electric friend. I would rather sew then cook so I love recipes like this. I shredded the beef while it was warm and had it open face on bread for a hot roast beef sandwich. This is one of my favorite sandwiches. It made a lot of gravy and it tasted like Moms! What can be wrong with that. You can even start the rice cooker or serve it with mashed potatoes for the true mom effect. Next time I will use low sodium beef broth because I thought it was a little on the salty side. I will be serving this at the next Bradley get together and I will have two crock pots going of this recipe. Delicious! I hope you all like it!

Roast Beef and Gravy

1 boneless beef chuck roast ( 3 lbs.)
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/3 cup sherry or beef broth - (I will use low sodium next time.)
1 envelope onion soup mix

1. Cut roast in half; place in a 3 qt. slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients; pour over roast.

2. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat is tender.

yield: 8-10 servings
prep: 15 minutes
cook: 8 hours

New Outfit For Rowan

2011-06-20T13:41:00.004-05:00

My Mom just sent this outfit for my granddaughter Rowan in the mail. I just had to show off my Mom's handiwork and my granddaughter Rowan! She used the pattern IJ8270 Shoulder Tie Topper from Indygo Junction. http://www.indygojunctioninc.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=126_193&products_id=810 Mom said it was super easy. She used the Barnyard Buddies fabric line that I did a few years ago with Moda to make the outfit. Rowan is getting to the age where she likes new clothes and dressing up so Thanks Great Grandma Dorothy!

Road to Oklahoma Shop Hop

2011-06-14T08:38:00.041-05:00

When Mom asked me if I wanted to go on the Road to Oklahoma Shop Hop I said YES. We have never done a shop hop from beginning to end and I thought it was about time. We had such a great time getting to see all eight shops. We did five shops Thursday and three shops on Friday. We made the BIG MISTAKE of not staying all night in a hotel on Thursday though. We spent most of Friday morning back tracking to where we left off in Oklahoma. Aaugh!! We took notes and won't be making that mistakes twice. We now have our sites on another state. My daughter Ashley wants to come next year to make it a three generation trip.

We started at Alva, Oklahoma at the shop Fabrics & More Etc. Mom visits this shop the most because it is the closest and absolutely wonderful!! We picked up our passport book and our first block. Each shop designed and sold a block pattern using Moda's Minnick and Simpson Charlevoix fabric collection to make a quilt. They then sold the finishing instructions and kit to make their unique quilt that used all of the eight different shop's blocks. We loved all eight quilts. How can you pick a favorite they are all beautiful! Here are the photos of each shops unique quilt design and the owners or managers of the eight shops.

This is a photo of Fabrics & More Etc. quilt in Alva, Oklahoma.

This is Sheri and Mary Ann owners of Fabrics and More Etc. above in front of the 2009 Moda University BOM quilt. I don't know how I didn't catch them smiling because they are always smiling! I think Mom and I were their first customers for the shop hop. It just shows our dedication to getting out of the starting gate early .... to buy fabric of course.

This is Liz and Gretchen a mother and daughter team above. Their shop is Quilter's Depot in Ringwood. They also put on a quilt show in a community building close by. They served delicious BBQ sandwiches with sides for a small fee also in this building. It was our lunch on Thursday and it was delicious. Super friendly shop!

Randa, above is the owner of Prairie Quilts in Hennessey. She has a wonderful big shop in a 100 year old historic building. She even installed a elevator to get up and down for classes and shopping ease. This is a great feature since we believe we have to pack our studio in order to take one class. Have I mentioned that all these stops usually included free cookies. The iced sugar cookies at her shop are worth mentioning....delicious! Randa is one of those ladies that can get a lot done and has a great shop to show for it.

We climbed into her front window to get this photo above. This is Terri in front of her quilt. She is the owner of The Quilting Post in Stillwater, Oklahoma. This is a college town and the home of the Oklahoma State University. I just love college towns they offer so much!

Above is Michelle, owner of Sooner Quilts in Guthrie. I love this town for antiquing also! Mom and I thought we couldn't possibly need more fabric and then we walked into her shop after buying in all the previous shops and started buying. What were we thinking that we didn't need more fabric!!! She had a Minnick and Simpson trunk show from the designers so it was an added treat for all of us traveling quilters.

This is Verlinda (the manager) and Toni of Oklahoma Quiltworks. They won my prize for most demos going on. They have also started a sign up for my new Merry Christmas quilt in their shop and showed me the first three blocks. They even ordered three different bolts of fabric to get the perfect fabric for the skin color. This was our seventh shop and we still found more fabric to buy of course!!

Above is Billie of Patchwork Place in Norman. She was actually talking to Sheri from Fabrics & More Etc. our first stop when we stopped to see her, our last stop. She had the perfect white on white fabric for my next project.

Above is Suzy of Completely Quilted, Ponca City. We missed meeting her daughter Nancy who co-owns the shop. I thought their quilt design looked like a modern day Navajo blanket. Very creative! Suzy does the quilting in their shop and it is beautiful.

At the end of the two day trip we had filled passport, more fabric, less money and memories to last a lifetime! I can't wait to go on my next one! Thank you to all these amazing shops and their employees who worked so hard to put on such a great event! You should all plan your schedules to go next year!

Spring Market 2012

2011-05-31T13:49:00.029-05:00

We have been back from Salt Lake City, Utah for two weeks!!! I have not sent one blog about Spring Market. Bad, Bad Me! The good news is that it was a successful market for us which has kept us quite busy. Yea! The bad news is that I am a delinquent blogger like usual. I love finally getting to show you what I have been working on for the last few months. So drum roll....... Here is my Have a Happy Scrappy day pattern. You can make a wall hanging, a larger quilt wall-hanging and a pillow from the pattern. I made these versions using charm packs from Riley Blake. They are perfect for charm packs. I love charm packs...everything is all coordinated for you! Just grab one and start sewing.

Here is my new Have a Happy Scrappy Day card design. They come with eight cards and eight matching turquoise envelopes

This is my new Have a happy scrappy day notepad. I put mine on the fridge and write my grocery list on it. When I am ready for the grocery store run, I just grab it and go.

What made this market so much fun is that we got to stay with my sister Julie and her husband Ken. Getting to have family time with them and my nephew's family was icing on the cake. We even managed to get in a few games of Skip Bo ( my favorite card game). We gave her a different color version of my new scrappy basket quilt for a thank you gift for having us. When I took the photo of the quilt it was hanging on a black curtain so the photo makes the quilt borders look wavy.

My brother-in-law Ken showed us around his work. He is a CW5 in the Utah National Guard. My daughter Ashley even got to fly in a Apache helicopter simulator and then sit in a real one. Her husband was so jealous. My brother-in-law Ken and and his two sons are all pilots.

I hope you all are having a good start to your summer. I think it skipped spring here and went right into the hot summer. That means we need to stay inside and sew, sew, sew........

"Rock of Ages"

2011-05-07T19:19:00.010-05:00

My daughter Ashley and I have season tickets to "Broadway Across America" in Kansas City. The show that we saw this time was "Rock of Ages" and I thought it was worth the price of my whole season ticket! I think I could watch it three more times and still miss things on stage. There was so much to take in. The cast was wonderful and even though they have played it a hundred times they acted like they were enjoying every minute of being on stage. I just loved it! Constatine Maroulis from American Idol played one of the leads and did a superb job.

Here's how producers bill Rock of Ages: "In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small-town girl met a big-city dreamer — and in L.A.'s most legendary rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the '80s. It's Rock of Ages, a hilarious, feel-good love story told through the hit songs of iconic rockers Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake, and many more.

If you want to check out the remaining cities that the"Rock of Ages" tour will playing in and the dates here is the link http://www.rockofagesmusical.com/tickets-2/us-tour/

Kaw Valley Quilt Show

2011-05-02T15:09:00.036-05:00

I wanted to share some photos from the Kaw Valley Quilt Show here in my home town of Lawrence, Kansas. I volunteered to white glove and it was fun getting to read and appreciate the quilts longer. I want to stress that the quilts were all nice and square unlike my photography which didn't do the colors any justice either. I know we all love seeing quilts so I hope you will forgive my amateur photography. Below are two of Linda Frost's quilts. She is a very talented and accomplished quilter in our guild and she was the featured quilter this year.

My friend Margaret did this wonderful quilt. She also did a handkerchief quilt once that was amazing. She owned a antique shop once and appreciates all the beautiful linens.

Below is a quilt by designer Ruth Powers. More of her gorgeous quilts can be seen on her website http://www.innovationsquilts.com We have several published designers that belong to the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild. We are so lucky.

I thought the display below was fun.

Happy Easter Everyone!

2011-04-21T21:46:00.021-05:00

I thought I would share some of my favorite Easter decorations. It was especially fun putting them out this year because I had my 2 year old granddaughter Rowan helping me decorate. I love to watch her face as she unwraps each decoration. I can't wait to give her the chocolate Easter Bunny and see if she will eat the ears first or feet first. According to a survey, 76% of people prefer to eat the ears of a chocolate Easter bunny first before any other part.

My Mom gave me this bunny artist. Rowan just stares at this, she is so fascinated with everything on his work table.

I ordered this bunny band out of a catalog years ago. It is one of my favorites!

I made this family of bunnies when my kids were young. They all live in the carrot. I so wish I still had the pattern for this. This family of bunnies have seen a lot of love.

My husband John is a veterinarian and I have a lot of fun decorating our clinic for each holiday. This is the Easter tree that I put up every year. I was so excited when I found the stuffed dog with the bunny ears. The quilt I did about 15 years ago. I don't just decorate the lobby...I decorate the exam rooms too. Our staff and clients love the changing of the decorations.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter full of good food, family and beautiful weather!!!!!

Inspirational

2011-04-16T08:57:00.015-05:00

I was in New York doing a workshop for KC Custom Framing & Fabrics www.kcframingandfabrics.com. Tamaris Dolton was one of the ladies that attended my workshop. She brought this quilt top for her granddaughter Fiona to the workshop for show and tell. We all just fell in love with it! Her daughter Tisha took drawings that Fiona has made from when she could hold a crayon until now, age nine, and beautifully embroidered each one. Tamaris won a block swap and asked for 12" star blocks in the same bright colors as Fiona's drawings. A quilt was born...and I just love the whole thing. I hope this inspires all of you to do something similar, because it sure inspires me.

Cowabunga!

2011-04-10T15:09:00.004-05:00

A friends daughter was at a thrift shop and came across this find. She just had to share a photo with her mother who in turn shared the photo with me. The price tag was $30.00 and she did not buy it. It would be great in a little boys room with a cowboy theme. I love how they take old furniture and make it new again with paint. I love paint ... it is cheap and can change anything!

Exercising With A Mission!

2011-04-08T13:53:00.000-05:00

Every spring when it warms up I take my exercising outside. Exercising is no fun in my book but I definitely hit that age where it is a must!! I have other four letter names for it too! The sun, birds chirping, and flowers coming up make it just a little bit better...until I see the litter. Aaugh!!! Why would a person ever throw trash out their car window is beyond me. Every spring I take my big black trash bags and my gloves and clean up my 1 mile stretch of road. This is the photos of my spoils (literally). You wouldn't believe what I pick up. Once I found $16.00 because I think somebody threw their change into their fast food sack and forgot about it. The road looks pristine for almost a whole 24 hours before a cup or a can is once again in the ditch. Sigh. I just figure all this bending over has to help the old mid-section.

Just recently in this last week we also noticed that someone stole our solar panels out of their frame. They brought water up from a well for the cattle. Our dog Gladdy is sniffing for any clues.

They apparently needed to cut our fence to do this. The good thing is that we didn't have any cattle in this pasture. I knew they were after copper wiring but .....solar panels.

St. Joseph, Missouri Piece Corp Guild

2011-04-05T18:38:00.006-05:00

I was the speaker last night for a WONDERFUL guild in St. Joseph, Missouri www.piececorpquiltersguild.com. This is one happening group. When it came time for the show and tell for the block of the month usually 4 - 5 quilters get up to show their block. Half of the guild is doing this block of the month and they were there front and center to show them off. I was AMAZED! Carl Hentsch the only man in the guild designed this years block of the month. He is coming out with his own book and does beautiful quilts. Then if this wasn't enough to get my attention....Hazel Meade shows me her own creation using my Quilt Dive fabric. I designed this fabric a few years back for Moda. I love how she designed the quilt for the diva panels to be in rooms in a house. SO CREATIVE! Hazel is also this years president of the Heartland Quilt Guild. It was a fun evening!

I now want to go back with my husband for a day trip. St. Joseph is where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended. It was recently named the #1 Top Western Town by True West Magazine. I also heard they have numerous antique shops. My kind of town! www.stjomo.com

One of My Most Requested Recipes

2011-04-04T09:56:00.004-05:00

This recipe won a grand prize ribbon for a 4-H student at our county fair. I was there helping that day and got to sample the recipe and I thought it was delicious!!! I often have one of these in the freezer because it is so easy to make and freezes great. The more ripe the bananas the better. Great to have on hand for last minute guests.

Banana Sour Cream Coffeecake (Amy Bradley)

½ c butter

2 c sugar

2 eggs

1c mashed ripe bananas

½ tsp. vanilla

½ c sour cream

2 c flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

Topping and filling

½ c nuts

¼ c sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

Beat butter and sugar until light. Add vanilla, eggs, bananas and sour cream. Mix. Combine dry ingredients and add to mixture. Use Pam to spray the bundt pan well. Sprinkle half the topping in the bottom of the pan. Spoon in half the batter. Sprinkle the rest of the topping followed by the rest of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes clean. Cool for 10 minutes and pop out of pan. Freezes well.

My New Hat!

2011-03-29T16:10:00.004-05:00

Going to Target is usually dangerous for me. I usually find lots of things that are NOT on my list. I just love seeing what new things they have. I found this hat calling to all my quilt pins. I, of course had to put my new Quilt Diva pin front and center in the photo! Quilting pins look much better than fishing lures don't you think?

My Other Job

2011-03-25T13:29:00.010-05:00

It is calving season and I love getting out in the sun. Rain and snow...not so much but sun....YES! It is always good to stretch my legs from that crouched, hunched position at my sewing table. I check on them throughout the day and my husband John does the early morning and bedtime checks. I just love to catch when the moms are having their calves. I try to stay at least 50 yards away using my binoculars so that I don't stress them out. It is so amazing how they do it all by themselves. No epidural. No drugs of any sort. No doctors in white coats. No male pacing the pasture. They just lay down and have their baby and then jump up and clean it off. I am in awe every time!

When the calves get older they play around with each other like puppies. They run around the pond and around their moms chasing each other. It is fun to watch. When it is nap time one or two of the moms babysit all the calves while the other moms graze.

This is spring calving season so the next time you drive down the road be sure to look for babies out with the herds maybe you can catch some out playing and chasing each other.

One Lucky Follower Gets My New Pattern!

2011-03-22T10:12:00.019-05:00

We had so much fun with the last giveaway, we decided to do another one. This time it is my brand new pattern and the winner is ....mysistersusan. Thanks so much for following! I love to read your comments. Let me know what you think about this pattern and if you have any suggestions for other patterns or gift items you would like to see.

My "Happy Halloween" pattern was so successful for us that I thought I would follow it with "Merry Christmas". (48 1/2 x 62 1/2) My mom came up after I had the patterns all drawn for our usual fun. This is where we pick out fabric for the new pattern, watch tons of movies and eat carry out while we cut, fuse and stitch. I absolutely love this time with my Mom. We hope you like the color combination. We thought it looked like winter colors but you can do it in traditional colors too. Rosie my friend and quilter quilted candy canes in the border. The quilting is AMAZING!

I used the penguin block over and over again, nine to be exact to make this 48 1/2 x 48 1/2 wall-hanging. We bought a package of 1 3/8" buttons and then matched fabric to the buttons to make their coats. You could do this in any color combination with the black and white penguins.

I was so excited to do the nutcracker the same way that I also made two more nutcracker blocks to make it more fun. I know there are a lot of people out there that collect nutcrackers. I had fun using all my black and whites and the background could be your favorite color. I just love red. My couch is red. My car is red. I also think they would look wonderful in traditional nutcracker colors. You could even do them all blue and white. I just wish I had time to do all the color variations!

I did have time to make a pillow out of wool felt with the black and white stripe as a border. Of course this could be any of the Christmas blocks....nutcracker, Santa, gingerbread man. This makes a quick gift.

I almost forgot...we also put a placement sheet in the pattern to make the middle block say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas for those who might want a choice.

We wanted to get it out now so there would be plenty of time to get it made for this next Christmas. We hope you like it!

Quilting Day Giveaway Winner

2011-03-20T21:56:00.005-05:00

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, we picked a winner by random using http://www.random.org/integers/
And the winner is....drum roll.....fcrowthe
Thanks again for following me and I hope everyone had a wonderful quilting weekend!
Amy

National Quilting Day Giveaway!

2011-03-14T13:10:00.006-05:00

In honor of National Quilting Day this Saturday March 19th I am having a giveaway!
To enter to win, sign up to become a Follower of my blog by clicking on the Follow link on the sidebar. If you are already a Follower you will automatically be included. I will randomly choose one winner from my Followers list and announce them on Saturday March 19th. You have to check the blog on Sunday to see if you have won. These are some of my most recent patterns from left to right Fabric Addict wall hanging, Snow Day Sew Day, My Alphabet Quilt, Happy Halloween, Traveling Turtles, and Fabric Addict Doll. The retail value is $195.00. I'm planning on celebrating National Quilting Day with a day of sewing, movies, and chocolate. What are your plans for National Quilting Day?

I love these pins and you will too!

2011-03-10T10:59:00.006-06:00

When Nan at Quilting Bits and Pieces www.eudoraquiltshop.com told me about these pins I was skeptical. The price of the pins were so much more then what I usually pay for straight pins. She told me once I use these I will not want to use anything else. Nan was so right! I love these. If I grab other pins by mistake they now feel like nails in my fabric. These wonderful pins are so smooth and thin. I don't use these on thick fabric like canvas or jeans because they would bend but they are perfect for all my quilting projects. Sometimes it is the small things that make you happy....these pins make me happy. I highly recommend these pins!

Antique Sale Fun!

2011-03-07T14:55:00.018-06:00

Wind up wooden horse that I bought.

Twice a year I look forward with great anticipation for the Pilot Antique Sale. Why you say.....because of great antiques and homemade pie! I love walking booth to booth and looking for treasure. I am there when the doors open. It is wonderful to find all these dealers under one roof and one car ride to get there! What made it really special this year was that Kathie got all of us quilters (Terry, Nan and I) to meet for lunch. We laugh because we see each other every year at the same time. Show and tell is a lot easier sitting at a table then digging through sacks in the aisle. I have just recently started collecting unique pincushions in the last few years and I only get ones that make me smile.

I also take home pie for all my family. At $2.00 a piece it is a steal especially since I do not make pie. This is one way my family forgives me for adding to my collections. One woman bought 18 pieces of pie for her college son and his dorm friends. I am sure she will get a Mothers Day card this year.

This pincushion had a bell boy hat so I put two of my hotel don't disturb signs behind him.

I already had the dog pincushion on the left so he now has a friend!

I put a few of my other clowns together for this photograph. I just love that if you pull his nose you get a measuring tape.

New York, New York!

2011-02-22T12:53:00.015-06:00

I just had a wonderful time at http://www.kcframingandfabrics.com/ in Saratoga Springs, New York! (Home of the first potato chip.) When Courtney (on the far right) and Kelly ( on the far left) asked me if I wanted to come to do workshops for their shop I said yes. Then I got off the phone and thought upstate New York in February ... what was I thinking! It was wonderful! These two sisters were the nicest of nice, the customers were fun, weather was fine and I enjoyed myself immensely! I even got to meet most of their family...all nice, nice, nice!!!!
Their shop is in a two story old grange building. They have made the inside so modern to go along with their modern and bright fabrics. The upstairs of their building is for classes. Lots and lots of space and even a stage in case someone wants to break out into song.

We had sent some of my quilts earlier and the room was perfect for displaying them against the tall white walls.

They put me up in the historic Gideon Putnam Resort.

I made one of these dog block for each of the participants who took my workshop. It is for practicing their buttonhole stitching on. I wanted them to practice first before starting on their first block or wall-hanging like I did. Needless to say my first buttonhole block looked hideous!!!!!

This is Debbie in the bee headband showing me her Snugly Bugly blocks. She was one of three Debbies that day. You can tell someone is fun when they come in dressed for fun! My "Doo Da Daisy" pattern is hanging on the back wall. I absolutely loved this building. It was perfect for showing off quilts. They even had a small lunchroom off of this room for eating our lunch and snacks. Is there any better way to start a workshop than a creme filled donut followed by chocolate and a swig of diet pop to even it all out!

This is Jessica who made my pattern "The Hoots" for her future baby. I just loved the colors that she used!

I would definitely recommend this shop if you make your way to Saratoga Springs, New York. The whole town looked like a lot of fun. http://www.saratoga.org/

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

2011-02-03T19:53:00.006-06:00

What do you do when you have eight inches of snow and your thermometer reads below zero? This girl get her colors out and her movies on! I was having a lot of fun until I watched the movies "Chloe" and "The Hours" back to back. I usually do one serious one feel good. I had to break into the chocolate after those two in one afternoon!

I am so through with winter. Oh where Oh where is spring??????

Remember When...

2011-01-30T17:03:00.006-06:00

Last weekend my husband and I went antiquing in Springfield, Missouri. I came across some memories. Memories of being stranded under a hot dryer for 30 - 40 minutes waiting for a head full of 2 inch curlers to dry. What we will do for a good hair day!!!!! Thank goodness that they invented blow dryers. It takes me less than 5 minutes now. I did do more reading back then though. The dryer in the top photo had a price tag of $69.00. The dryer in the bottom photo had a price tag of $10.00. Remember the saying "one person's junk is another person's treasure". Needless to say I didn't bring these treasures home.

What A Great Guild!

2011-01-27T10:32:00.009-06:00

My daughter and I just did a guild talk for the Starlight Quilters Guild in Mission, Kansas. This is one happening FUN group! When it was time for show and tell the line practically went around the room. They get things done! The group also added 80 quilts just that night to Project Linus! They warmed up the group telling jokes. I followed with passing out some chocolate and my talk and lots of quilts for my own show and tell. If you are not in a guild and live close by to this one please try this one out....you will love it! http://www.starlightquilters.com

This is a photo of my quilts all neat and tidy in their bags ready to show.

This is a photo after the talk. No problem though with great help they were all back in their bags in about 5 minutes.

Have a great day! Amy

Time to say goodbye once again

2011-01-20T11:39:00.000-06:00

Time to put up my snowmen collection for another year. I should really keep them up all the way through January because it is definitely snowman weather outside. It is funny how you are so ready for the holidays and all things holiday related to go away...fudge, peanut brittle, extra pounds and snowmen. I am now back into my normal routine....designing, sewing and alas exercising to lose the sugar pounds. I like normal! Normal always feels good!

Shrek the Musical

2011-01-17T16:16:00.004-06:00

Don't walk but run to the musical Shrek. My daughter and I saw the national touring production at the Music Hall in Kansas City. It was wonderful. We didn't know what to expect. We both couldn't quit smiling through the whole thing! We both have seen a lot of musicals and this ranks up there with my top three. I loved it!

More quilts for Rowan!

2010-01-29T15:30:00.005-06:00

How many quilts can a first time grandma make for their first grandchild...four I think...or until I finish another one. My husband told me to start a fund for future grand kids so they won't be deprived. He doesn't know me very well. I fully intend to spoil them just as bad! It is a grandma's right to give them all the love and attention that they want and then hand them back to their parents.

The quilt that I just finished was easy. You could use any pattern. Just substitute a photo block for one of the blocks. I used EQ Printables by The Electric Quilt Company. They give you all the instructions to put your photos on their fabric sheets using your ink jet printer. I also used some of my fabric designed for Moda. I even remembered to put a label on the back!!!! My grand daughter Rowan loves looking at all her family, cats, dogs and her house. Her Daddy said to my daughter do you know that Rowan is dragging her new quilt around the house. Yea! That is why I made it for her to do. I just love this grandma business!!!

I am featured in the February issue of Quilter's World magazine

2010-01-22T16:11:00.006-06:00

My daughter Ashley is now a published author because she wrote the article that appears in the February issue of Quilt World magazine. My husband John took the photo of me holding all the quilts. Isn't family great! By the way my arms were about to drop off from the weight of all those quilts while he was getting the perfect photo. Move left...step back, no forward....hmmmmm

Ashley wrote the article and sent it off without me seeing it. It was more of a surprise when I got the issue in the mail. She pretty much pegged me and the family which is kind of scary. I ended up crying in the end though.

This is the quilt that is featured in the magazine. If you want the pattern you will have to go out to the new stand and buy one. I just hope my family hasn't bought them all up.

New Quilt Pattern Just Out!

2010-01-15T13:20:00.002-06:00

Around this time Santa pays attention to who has been naughty and nice. I have definitely been naughty about posting any blogs. Whew! Thank goodness Santa was still really nice to me this past Christmas.

I have had so much fun working on my new "Snowday...Sewday" quilt of snowmen. I tried to come up with every imaginable head adornment for a snowman. I also wanted to make a red, white and blue quilt for all the quilters who decorate their homes in these colors as well as the traditional red and green. I can't wait to see someone do it all up in my usual brights. Every snowman can be dressed in a different color too. It is a really simple quilt to make and all the pieces are nice and big. A side note: I collect snowmen. I have a whole mantle full at Christmas. I had a personal mission for this one!

Peppernut Cookies ...Addictive!

2010-01-15T10:54:00.008-06:00

Peppernuts
1/2 cup oleo
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 T soda
1/2 T water
1/2 t anise
3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t mace
1/2 t cream of tartar

Cream together oleo, brown sugar, and eggs. Dissolve soda in water and add to creamed mixture. Stir in anise to taste. Add flour and spices to creamed mixture. Chill. Make into rolls the size (diameter) of a dime. Slice 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until light brown.

I recently found this recipe and have now made FIVE BATCHES since Christmas! You really can't eat just one. They are so good with tea or coffee. I personally doubled the anise to one teaspoon because we like that licorice taste. I am still on the fence ...if I like the mace in it or not. They would be a great give-a-way tied up in a cute cellophane bag with some neat tea or coffee. All my family was in agreement that this was a keeper especially since they eat them as fast as I can make them.

New Stuff!

2009-11-04T15:06:00.016-06:00

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!

2009-10-30T11:46:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-28T11:41:00.000-05:00

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!!!!

2009-10-14T21:11:00.033-05:00

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

2009-10-02T10:24:00.010-05:00

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!!

2009-08-26T08:34:00.006-05:00

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!

2009-08-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

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!!!!

2009-08-17T07:55:00.000-05:00

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

2009-08-13T16:13:00.004-05:00

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

2009-08-08T07:36:00.006-05:00

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!

2009-07-31T09:36:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-26T17:19:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-07-23T17:35:00.006-05:00

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

2009-07-22T13:25:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-07-22T13:13:00.006-05:00

My granddaughters first bite of a tomato.

I love to Bake!!!

2009-07-21T11:18:00.006-05:00

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.

2009-07-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-10T21:37:00.005-05:00

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!