Fall-o-ween Blog Hop Day 5

I am going to interrupt this Blog Hop for a very important message.
Our brand new website has FINALLY launched!!!!

It took almost an entire year to get to this point.

Okay this is an update from this morning's post.

There seems to be a glitch in the new site.

Some people are being directed to the old site, or no site at all???

If you do not see the above picture as the header of the site...you are at the old site.

And the paypal is not working. :--(

Hopefully this will all be resolved in the next couple of days.

I will be at the Funny Farm for the rest of the day!

(Keep reading you will figure it out.)

.

It was grueling.

At one point I felt like running away and joining the circus.

And if I heard the words "must be a glitch in the system"
one more time,I most certainly would have ended up at the Funny Farm.

But good things come to those who wait.
I think you will like what you find.
At this site you can actually jump from page 1 to page 44, or jump to any page.
The new site has categories within the categories. For example if you are looking for just Charm Pack™ patterns there is a category for Charm Pack™ patterns. Looking for just Christmas patterns?? Yep, there is a Christmas Category.

Check it out at http://www.piecesfrommyheart.net/ (same address as always).
Let us know how you like it.

Now onto the Blog Hop.
First of all thank you for all of your well wishes. I am feeling better today.

Welcome to Day 5 of the Quilt Designer's Fall-o-ween Blog Hop.
Today's featured designer is Terry Atkinson of Atkinson's Designs.

Hop on over to her blog to check out what she has to offer today.
The topic for the day is Clothes.

It is always a sad day when you wake up and you feel you may have to do away with the capris and put on a pair of blue jeans.
Even sadder is the day you feel like you need to wear SOCKS.
Socks have always been a problem at our household.

I don't know if the washing machine eats them or
the dryer but something happens to them
as we never seem to have pairs.


It never fails on the day it is just too cool to go without socks,
I open up my sock drawer and there they are…
all kinds of socks...none of them matching



I always end up putting on "kind of matching" socks
(two brown as opposed to a brown and black)
and head to K-mart...in mis-matched socks, to buy new matching socks.
And next fall I will do the same thing again. When both kids were still at home the problem was twice as bad.
We had baskets full of socks - none of them matching.
One kid was always accusing the other of taking his or her socks.
I remember the year Anthony decided to solve this problem once and for all.

He took a blue marker and put a big AG

on the bottom of all his white sweat socks.
His sister decided she also was going to solve the problem.
She took a blue marker and put her initials on the bottom of all her white sweat socks.


Her name is Abby.
And the fight continued.

Tomorrow's designer will be Heather from Anka's Treasures.
Tomorrow's topic will be Decorating.

Hop along from blog to blog to see what everybody has to say about clothes.
Comment on all 10 blogs and be eligible for our grand prize.

GE Designs, Pieces of My Heart, Atkinson Designs, Pat Sloan, Anka's Treasures,
New Leaf Stitches, Whimsicals, Miss Rosies,
Rosebud's Cottage, Linda Lum DeBono.

When you finish your projects take a picture.
Use this link to post the pictures on Flickr for all of us to see.

Hope you find time to get out and enjoy this gorgeous Fall day and may you always find matching socks.
From my heart,
Sandy

Fall-oween Blog Hop Day 4

Welcome to day 4 of the Quilt Designer's Fall-o-ween Blog Hop.





Our featured designer today is Kari from New Leaf Stitches.





Hop on over to her blog and see what she has to offer. I am sure it well be great.

The topic of the day is Texture.
As the days start to get cooler I feel the need to change out the decor in the house.

I change out the tomatoes for…

Gourds.

There are so many interesting pumpkins and gourds out there, all with interesting textures.

This old quilt is one of my favorite "texture" things.
This is the front...

but I prefer to use the back because it has more texture.

I pull out my darker colored quilts and my wool applique pictures.

Find the quilt pattern here.

Find the wool applique picture here.

I put woolly chair covers on my chairs and tie raffia around a pumpkin stem.

I bring out the hooked wool table mats.
Bruce made this for me.
Yes, happy to say, my husband is a hooker.



There are a few fall textures that I don't like so much.

Like the slimy, stringy innards of a pumpkin.
Bruce is helping Anthony with his Jack-o-lantern.
Bruce seems to be more into it than Anthony.

Another fall texture I do not like are cockleburs.
Some of you may not have experienced cockleburs.
Again it's a country thing.
In the fall when the men are out in the fields harvesting the crops,
they do not want to take time to come up to the house to eat supper,
so the food is taken out to the fields. My sisters and I would ride
along with mom to take the supper out to the fields.
When we arrived at the fields us girls would get out of the car
and play in the fields while the men ate their supper in the car.
(Kind of like eating at a Drive In.)
It was fun running around in the fields rustling through the corn husks.
But when you were done you had prickly cockleburs stuck allover your socks.
Oh how I hated that feeling.
But there is good in everything.
Did you know that Velcro was modeled after cockleburs?

I am experiencing another texture that I am finding as unpleasant as cockleburs in your socks
I am in the middle of the worst cold I think I have ever had.
When I swallow my throat has the texture of sandpaper.
Under my nose looks and feels like sandpaper.
When I cough I sound like a barking seal.

(Sorry, I guess that would be more of a sound thing than a texture thing.)
And I am sorry but I can find nothing good in this cold.

Hop from blog to blog to see what the other designers have to say about fall texture.
Comment on all 10 blogs and be eligible to win our grand prize.
GE Designs, Pieces of My Heart, Atkinson Designs, Pat Sloan, Anka's Treasures,
New Leaf Stitches, Whimsicals, Miss Rosies,
Rosebud's Cottage, Linda Lum DeBono.

Tomorrow's designer is Terry Atkinson of Atkinson Designs.
Tomorrow's topic will be Clothes.

Here is hoping you can go for walk and enjoy the fall day with all of its many textures.
And may you never find cockleburs in your socks.

See you tomorrow,

From my heart,
Sandy

Fall-oween Blog Hop Day 3

Hello, and welcome to Day 3 of the Fall-o-ween Quilt Designer's Blog Hop.

Today's featured designer is Roseann from Rosebud's Cottage.

I am sure she has something fantastic cooked up for you to make.
Hop on over to her blog and check it out.

The topic of the day is Tastes.
Oh my gosh where should I begin. Those of you who know me, know that food is my first love.

When the nights start getting cooler I start craving comfort food. Days of meals consisting of sweet corn, cucumbers, and tomatoes have passed and we move into things like, meat loaf, squash, cheesy potatoes, chili and cabbage and pork.

And yummy things like apple dumplings and caramel apples.

When I was growing up, fall meant caramel apples from Klemish's Bakery.
They cost a nickel or a dime, depending on the size of the apples that day.
The caramel was soft and buttery and would puddle
on the wax paper at the bottom of the apple.
I would always choose the one with the biggest caramel puddle.
I saved that part for the very end. Yep just lick the caramel off the wax paper.
Klemish bakery is no longer in Jackson.

I have never found a caramel apple as good as the ones made at Klemish's bakery,

and I have been told that the recipes from Klemish bakery died with old Gloomy Klemish .

(I was very old before I realized why they called him Gloomy.) Baker….worked at night...slept in the day...never saw the sun.

Fall brings us an abundance of apples.
My favorite way to use fall apples is my sister's Apple Dumpling recipe.
It is quick, easy and VERY good.

Brenda's Apple Dumplings

1 cup sugar
1 stick real butter (do not substitute)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 green granny smith apples
1 can refrigerated Pillsbury crescent rolls
1/2 cup Mountain Dew soft drink

Melt sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon together in a saucepan.
Cook until sugar is dissolved.
Peel and quarter 2 apples.
Wrap 1 crescent roll dough around each apple piece; dough does not have to cover apple entirely.
Place apples in a greased glass pie pan or small glass baking dish.
Pour sugar mixture over all.
Pour Mountain Dew over all.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until apples are soft and dumplings are a golden brown & crispy.
Serve warm with ice cream & drizzle caramel from bottom of dish over the ice cream. Serves 4 people.

My favorite Fall snack is Corn Candy and Peanuts.
Gudrun mixes popcorn with hers and calls it a salad.
Gudrun is my kind of gal.

Tomorrow designer is: Kari of New Leaf Stitches.

The topic tomorrow will be Texture.

When you finish your projects take a picture. Use this link to post the pictures on Flickr for all of us to see.

Hop around from blog to blog, I am sure you will find some yummy recipes. Leave a comment to be eligible for the Grand Prize.
GE Designs, Pieces of My Heart, Atkinson Designs, Pat Sloan, Anka's Treasures,
New Leaf Stitches, Whimsicals, Miss Rosies,
Rosebud's Cottage, Linda Lum DeBono.

Now go mix yourself up some corn candy and enjoy the day.

See you tomorrow.

From my heart,
Sandy

Fall-o-ween Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to Day Two of the Quilt Designer's Fall-o-ween Blog Hop.

Today's designer is....Me!
For more info about me, read my bio and Bits and Pieces on the side bar.
Today's topic is Scents


When you think of fall scents, burning leaves is one thing that comes to mind.
This is one of my favorite pictures of our son Anthony helping his Dad rake and burn leaves.



In the fall we go from the smell of people grilling burgers and veggies
on the outdoor grill to cheesy potatoes baking in the oven.




Yum. Cheesy potatoes are my favorite!
We never have them in the summer.
Even with air-conditioning one does not want to start the oven very often.



Mmmmm, how about apple cider brewing on the stove?



Or Pumpkin pie baking in the oven?

But here in farm country when the crops start to be harvested

and you step outside at night, it smells like fall.

It is not a scent that I can describe but I am sure you Midwesterners

who live in farm country know what I am talking about.

Then there is this little thing. It has quite a distinct scent, and it is not a good one.
Again if you do not live in farm country you probably do not have these.
(I'm talking about the little rust colored bug on the pumpkin.)

In the fall, when the soybeans are harvested out in the country,

these little pests move to town.
Mom always said there is good in everything.

The only good I can find in them is that they are a nice "fall" color.

Then there are these little critters.
You've head the saying I smell a mouse.
Well I never really smell a mouse but I certainly can hear them.

Again as soon as the crops start coming out of the fields they move into town...

to my attic. I usually have one mouse a fall.

We hear it in the attic, we set the mouse traps, next morning...history.
They are called "field mice". I wish they would stay in the fields.

My sister Brenda has designed the kind of field mouse that you would want in your house.
Very cute.
Check it out at Country Stitches.
You won't smell or hear this mouse.

My project today is a simple little table mat or wall hanging.
Since the topic today is scents, I have named my project Pumpkin Spice
When cooler days start to show up I like to add some texture to my quilts by using a scrappy pieced fabric background mixed with wool appliqué.

I have added some interest with wire and acorn/wool ball embellishments and ric rac.
Print or download pattern here.

There are two pages. Page 1 is the templates

and page 2 is the materials needed and instructions.

You can buy the acorns on Etsy.com

Thia project is quick and easy and you could easily make it tonight.
.

I also have many new fall patterns posted on my website.
Check them out here.

Tomorrow's topic is Taste.
Tomorrow's designer is Roseann from Rosesbud's Cottage.

I can't wait to see what Roseann has in store for you.

Check out the other designer's blogs to see what they have to say about Fall scents.
GE Designs, Pieces of My Heart, Atkinson Designs, Pat Sloan, Anka's Treasures,
New Leaf Stitches, Whimsicals, Miss Rosies,
Rosebud's Cottage, Linda Lum DeBono.

Remember, if you comment on all 10 blogs, you will be eligible to win a gift bag filled with all kinds of goodies.

Brew yourself a cup of cider, sit out on the porch and enjoy the day.

From my heart,
Sandy

Fall-o-ween Blog Hop Day 1

Welcome to day 1 of the Quilt Designer's Fall Blog Hop.

Myself and 9 other fabulous designers will be blogging
on various fall topics for the next 10 days.
Each day there will be a featured designer and she will be offering a
FREE fall project for you to make.

Our topic today is Color.



I have always had a fascination with color.
Was there anything more fun than buying a new box of crayons?



Or a new paint box.
I collect paint boxes.
I like the ones that have been used.

The ones that you know just by looking at them

that many "masterpieces" have been painted out of this paint box.

Whoever used this paint box liked warm colors...just like me.
Notice how the red and orange are almost gone.
And she never used the cool cobalt blue
but she did used the warm aqua and warm golden brown.

When it comes to color, there is no better season than fall.

Fall is a time when nature displays her last burst of color
before it is put to bed for the long winter.

This past week I receive a package in the mail full of fall colors.
The package contained the strike-offs for my 2011 fall fabric line.

There are a few more prints to come before I have the tedious task
of narrowing the line down to 40 pieces.

Today the featured designer is Gudrun from GE designs.

Hop on over to her blog to see the free project she has posted today.

Tomorrow I will be the featured designer. I have designed a quick and easy fall tabelmat for my project.
Tomorrow's topic is scent.
Be sure and check it out tomorrow at www.piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot/.com

Remember, if you comment on all 10 blogs, you will be eligible to win a gift bag filled with all kinds of goodies.
GE Designs, Pieces of My Heart, Atkinson Designs, Pat Sloan, Anka's Treasures,
New Leaf Stitches, Whimsicals, Miss Rosies,
Rosebud's Cottage, Linda Lum DeBono.


I hope you find time today to enjoy the beautiful fall colors.

From my heart,
Sandy