notes from Terry Ann

Molten Chocolate Mugs

Today is a very important celebration at my house - My daughter Megan's 20th birthday! I think we'll celebrate with Molten Chocolate Cake! When Megan started Kindergarten, I started publishing my quilt patterns, and in the past 15 years, I've published 17 books and over 40 patterns. Whew - I didn't realize it has been so long! I love designing quilts and I seem to always have new ideas brewing.

Today as you hop around our Cross Country Christmas blog hop everyone will share stories about gifts and gift giving.

Pat has started a flicker account for you to share pictures of your blog hop projects. I can't wait to see what everyone is making! Go here to upload your photos and see the photo gallery.

I like to make a stash of quick little gifts to have on hand during the holidays. Whether I need a quick hostess gift, or a thank you for a teacher, my hairdresser, or even the mailman - I can grab one and go! Our project today is a "Molten Chocolate Cake Mug" which is a gooey chocolate cake that bakes right in the mug! You'll make a super simple bag and fill it with the dry ingredients for the cake. Tuck a tag with the baking instructions into the mug and then add some decorations if you'd like.

Leave me a comment and let me know who you'll be giving Molten Chocolate Mugs to this holiday season - one lucky person will win a collection of my favorite books and patterns! Upload a photo of your finished project to the flicker album - I bet you'll get really creative with these!

Let's Get Started

Materials:

Bag: two contrasting prints - 9" x 10" each

Tie: 1/2 yd. rick rack/ribbon or a 2" x 20" fabric strip

Mug: 12 oz. or larger microwave safe mug (I have found $1 mugs at the dollar store and Goodwill, and WalMart has mugs for $2.49)

Sugar, Cocoa, and Flour

Cardstock and ribbon trim for the tag

Sewing Instructions:

 

A. Stitch the the 9" x 10" rectangles together along the long edge using a 1/2" seam. (shown above) Press the seam open.

B. Fold the Step A unit in half lengthwise, wrong side out. Stitch a 1/4" seam to make a long tube. Press seam open.  Terry's Tip: To avoid creasing the bag, let one edge of the bag extend over the edge of the ironing board.

C. Fold the lining over the focus fabric and press the top edge as shown. NOTE: The lining should be on the outside!

D. Adjust the bag so the seam is centered, and stitch a 1/4" seam across the bag bottom. 

E. Turn the bag right side out and tack the center of the tie to the back of the bag, 2" below the top. Put the Step F baggie inside and tie a bow.  

F. Cake Mix: Measure 1/4 cup sugar, 2 Tablespoons flour, and 2 Tablespoons cocoa into a small baggie. Shake it up to mix the ingredients.

  
G. Tag: Print the PDF file below onto cardstock or paper. Cut a tag out and glue it to coordinating cardstock. Trim the edge with a rotary cutter or decorative scissors. Punch a hole at the top and attach a ribbon if desired. Tuck the tag and a candy cane into the mug. 

Download Molten cake tags

 

H. Optional fabric ties: Press the 2" x 21" strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Open it and press both edges in to meet at the center crease. Refold the center crease and press again. Topstitch close to the long edges.

For Four Mugs

Prints: two fat quarters (18" x 21") or eight 10" x 10" layer cake squares

Ties:  2 yards of ribbon or one fat quarter (18" x 21")

Terry's Tip: If you enjoyed making these, you'll enjoy making a "Best Press Bag" as a special gift for your quilting friends!

Milwaukee Cookies Old and New

I grew up in Milwaukee and every year we'd go downtown to see the cookie display at the Electric Company, and we'd stand in line to get our copy of the annual cookie book. My sister and I chose a few new recipes to try each year, and my mom was happy that all the baking got done while she was at work. Some of the cookies didn't turn out - like the jam filled cookies that were really soggy; and others were so good that they became favorites. Here's a recipe that we tried because we had never heard of using cracker crumbs in cookies - and it was so good that I've made them every year! These fragile cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, and I can never eat just one!

Chocolate Kisses

3 egg whites (large)

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup soda cracker crumbs

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar gradually, beating until very stiff. Beat in Vanilla. Gently fold in Cracker crumbs and melted chocolate. Drop from teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet (or parchment lined cookie sheet). Bake about 10 minutes.

 

Many of my grandmother's favorite recipes came from the earlier books - this is the cover of the 1958 book. One of the best surprises ever was the year my sister gave me a copy of this book - it has lots of good old traditional recipes inside.

The Electric Company printed books from 1928 all the way through the early seventies, and they have come out with some commemorative books in recent years. Go here to download copies of the recent books and to look at a collection of the covers throughout the years. I found "Frosted Maple Cookies" in the 2006 book - I think these will be one of the new cookies I'll try this year. It calls for boiling raisins for 10 minutes - and I've never done that. This year, I don't even have to be in Wisconsin to continue a Milwaukee tradition!

Don't forget to hop over to Pieces from My Heart  today for Sandy's brand new pattern - and remember to leave a comment so you are eligible for her giveaway! The other designers in the Cross Country Christmas Blog Hop will share their favorite recipes today - I wonder how many will be for cookies?

Favorites Old and New

Get started on a homemade holiday by hopping over to Gudrun's blog today. She has a free "Quilt As You Go" pattern that is sure to become a favorite. It's simple enough that you'll have plenty of time to whip one up in fall colors and another one for Christmas!  

During our Cross Country Christmas blog hop, enjoy a free pattern from each of the 12 designers and remember to comment on all 12 blogs to be eligible for a big grand prize! Tell your friends and enjoy the hop together - I look forward to meeting you and sharing some Christmas stories! 

And now for some old favorites . . . When I was growing up, my favorite Christmas presents were usually creative toys. I loved making my own flowers - each one different. Fun fun fun!

I spent hours and hours at the kitchen table baking plastic critters with a Mattel "Thingmaker" - my favorites were the ones you could put on the end of your pencil. I can still smell that hot plastic and hear the sizzle when it went into the water to cool.

My sister and I got each other surprise presents every year. One year, instead of splitting up in the toy store and being sneaky, we decided to get each other the exact same paint set. At first we let my mom think we both chose the same thing by accident - but we eventually "fessed up" and told her that we had planned it together. I still love paints and markers - in fact I often start my quilt designs on graph paper with crayons and markers.

Lucky 7

Less than 7% of you correctly guessed Sandy Gervais as the cute blond in the picture! Lots of guesses for Heather, Pat, Sherri, and Kari - probably because of those blond curls. Roseann even got a few votes!  I chose the 7th correct guess, so the prize goes out to Leslie Schmidt. Congratulations Leslie!! Just email me your address and I'll send your fabric right away.

Here is a picture of how Sandy looks today . . . nope, no resemblance at all, other than the fact that they are both facing the same way!

 

While downstairs tonight, I decided to cut out a Christmas quilt so I have a new quilt to work on during the Cross Country Christmas blog hop. I fell in love with a quilt on display at Bear Patch and had to get the kit! Usually I buy kits and then go home and use the fabrics for something completely different, but this time I want my quilt to be exactly like the one I saw in the shop! But wait - when I got home I found some cute snowmen and Christmas trees in my stash, so mine will be a little different after all. Can you tell which ones I added in? The fabrics are mostly from two fabric lines : "Have a Sheri Berry Christmas" by Lyndhurst Studio and "Be Merry" by Riley Blake. I'll keep you posted as I work on it this week!

A Christmas Angel

Here is one of the 12 Cross Country Christmas angels . . . can you guess which one? The only hint that I can give you is that it's not me - because my angelic photo is posted on another designer's blog. This could be Gudrun, Sandy, Pat, Heather, Pam, Kari, Terri, Sherri, Carrie, Roseann, or Linda . . . what do you think? As you are hopping around to the other designers' blogs, see if you can find my picture too.

You have until Saturday night to figure out which designer this is. Leave me a comment with your best guess and I'll draw a name (from the correct guesses) and post the winner on Sunday! The winner will receive some fat quarters from our Neutral Territory fabric line from Red Rooster. Good Luck!!

Count Me In

 

Time to start the countdown for our Designer Blog Hop! We have a great group of designers - six from Minnesota and six from all over the country. We're getting ready for the holidays with some easy projects for you to make just in time for gift giving. But first we want to have a little fun!

This Wednesday you'll have a chance to get to know us a little better - our "little" selves that is . . . Each designer will post a baby picture (not their own) and you can guess whose picture it really is. HINT: My picture will be the cute one! 

Beginning on Monday, November 9th, we'll each take a turn giving you instructions for a fun little project. Each day we'll all share holiday stories, recipes and photos with you. I can't wait to get started!

Nov. 9th. Gudrun: http://www.gudrun.typepad.com/
Nov. 10th. Sandy: http://www.piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot/
Nov. 11th. Terry: http://www.terryatkinson.typepad.com/
Nov. 12th. Pat: http://www.patsloan.typepad.com/
Nov. 13th. Heather: http://www.ankastreasures.wordpress.com/
Nov. 14th. Pam: http://www.pamkittymorning.blogspot.com
Nov. 15th. Kari: http://www.newleafstitches.com/blog
Nov. 16th. Terri : http://www.whimsicals.typepad.com/
Nov. 17th. Sherri: http://www.thisandthatpatterns.typepad.com/
Nov. 18th. Carrie: http://www.lavieenrosie.typepad.com/
Nov. 19th. Roseann: http://www.rosebudscottage.typepad.com/
Nov. 20th. Linda: http://www.lindalumdebono.blogspot.com/

I'm still here!

You haven't heard from me for a while - I've been under the weather since Market. I'm much better now and the giant cold sore on my face has gone from a truck headlight size down to a little bicycle headlamp. YAY!

Lots of fun in the works - we are gearing up for the holidays with another designer blog hop - tune in on Monday to find out more about all of the fun we have in store for you!! I think this one will be twice as fun as our last one! (and you'll get to hop more than twice as far across the country)

 

Getting back to quilt market - I had a great time attending the show - since we didn't have a booth I had time to really look at all the new fabrics, YUM! I even had time to be a tourist - and I visited some fun places.

 

This sculpture declares Houston "The Art Car Capitol of the World" - I love all of the cars embedded in the base. While in Houston, I actually got to drive an art car - no I didn't hit anything!

Believe it or not, I found this car in the park right in front of the convention center. It was made by students as an art project, and when I asked the teacher if I could take a photo of it, she said "Get in"! Hard to refuse an offer like that!

A last minute trip to Quilt Market

I decided to pop in to Quilt Market! On Wednesday, I had to empty the back of my car to make room for my suitcase - ever since we cleaned our closets these bags have been riding around with me everywhere I go. A stop at the Goodwill was one of the many last minute errands before packing. What was I thinking? Some of those clothes might have worked for this trip . . .

I had to reschedule a scrapbooking class at Archivers - but they'll have more next month. I had to skip my favorite occasional sale at Second Hand Rose in Buffalo, but they'll be there with more good stuff next month. Yikes!

On Thursday I hopped on a plane at the crack of dawn to come down to Houston. This time instead of having a booth, I'm attending the show to see all the new fabrics and find out what's going on. I'll post some updates in the next few days - my head is already spinning with everything I've seen so far.

Celebrate early and often!

Turn simple rectangles into stunning triangles with this tree skirt or table topper. Use fat quarters for two-tone triangles or use up leftover strips to make strippy triangles.

Here is our design wall at the shopowner's retreat last summer - it's fun to see different shapes emerge with different color placement!

An Easy Escape

It's time to celebrate - my new patterns are ready! Today I'll show you the quilt - stop back tomorrow for a peek at the new table topper. The new quilt, Fire Escape, is a "five yard quilt" - use just five prints for the lap size - 1 yd. of each. Of course I included a twin and queen size too. This one was really fun to make because it took on a whole new personality in each different fabric combination. Here's part of a twin size quilt on my design wall - I put the rows up sideways so that I could see it better while I was working.

We had fun testing this pattern at our summer shopowner seminar. Here are some of Patti's blocks:

Laurel used brights:

Debbie used batiks and Chris chose fun florals.

A world of fog and light

I wasn't too excited to walk over to Navy Pier - to me it sounded like a bunch of tourist stuff. Boy was I wrong! The walk over was interesting - lots to see - and beautiful weather. Look at how cool it is when the fog creeps in around the buildings.

 

From Navy Pier we couldn't even see the skyline - but we did enjoy the stained glass windows in the museum. What a variety of styles! I could have stayed twice as long and snapped pics of every one - here are just a few of my favorites. WOW!

 

 

 

 

Art all Around

Kirk and I are spending a few days in downtown Chicago, and there's art everywhere you look. First look UP and enjoy the skyline and the clouds:

Next, look DOWN. Here's a fun little tar guy that was in the middle of the street. I saw another one a few blocks later that was painted yellow. Anyone know anything about these guys?

 

We walked past Columbia College and found some creative student garments in the window. We may be missing Project Runway while we're in Chicago, but this almost makes up for it!

The gardens in Grant park have a few extra large flowers and insects!

 

The Miracle Mile is a stretch along Michigan Avenue with lots of shopping. But I'd rather look at the gardens, buildings, and artwork. I made Kirk wait till I got a good picture of these "quilter tiles".

what a fun shop!

I had a great day at Tammy Tadd's in Sycamore. I met lots of wonderful people and enjoyed the bright, fun atmosphere. Here is the entrance to Tammy Tadd's studio - which is just above her shop. Tammy's attention to every detail shines - in addition to her love of everything pink and green. I love the pink weber grill! (hiding behind the railing)

And here is the view from the porch - this is just part of the shop!

There were so many fun little nooks and crannies to look at - here is one of my favorite little displays:

Way too much to see in just one visit - I'll have to go back again! I want to see all of the holiday decorations - I heard there will be lots of lights!

It's a party!

Quilt Sampler Celebration

Saturday, September 5th
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

LOCATION
Tammy Tadd Designs
 920 W. Prairie Drive, Suite J
Sycamore, IL 60178

 
Tammy Tadd Designs has been chosen as one of the top ten shops shops across the United States and Canada! The shop will be featured in the fall 2009 issue of Quilt Sampler magazine.

Come to the celebration tomorrow! I'll be at the shop all day signing books, with demos at 10:30 and 1:30.  I brought lots of quilts and my two brand new patterns - the printer delivered them right before we hit the road for Sycamore.

 

Hog on a Log

 

Cool weather and big crowds - the main streets were wall to wall people, but the side streets and buildings weren't too bad. We had a great time people watching. One toddler poured most of his $3 bottle of water onto the sidewalk while mom and dad were talking. He had fun watching the water run downhill. The teenagers traveled in groups - some in fancy cowboy boots and hats with really short shorts; others in band shirts from the parade. It was fun to see how each group had a different style. 

My first treat at the fair was a pork chop on a stick, actually a "Hog on a Log". Yum! I am always amazed by the variety of food that can be served on a stick. How about this for thinking "outside the box":

 

The quilts on a stick were fun - but a little crowded. Hard to get a good picture but here's a few of them.

 

I was delighted to see a Winner's Bouquet quilt with a blue ribbon! Such rich, warm colors and beautifully machine quilted.

This is as close as we got to the midway:

And here's the sun setting on a big Minnesota mosaic at the end of a great day.

Stop by the State Fair

It's time for the Minnesota State Fair, where everything is on a stick, including quilts! Seriously, there is a category for 8" x 9" quilts on a stick! Can't wait to see those when I'm at the fair. Friday afternoon I'll be in Heritage Square at Rosebud's Cottage - stop by and say hi!

Here's a list of fun fair food so you can start planning what you'll eat:

Deep Fried Norwegian Banana Split (banana wrapped in lefse, deep fried and topped with ice cream, chocolate, pineapple and strawberries)

Leprechaun legs (lighty-battered deep-fried green beans with dipping sauce)

Foot Long Dessert Pizza on-a-stick (pizza dough, sweet cream cheese, cinnamon, sugar)

Pot Roast Sundae (a scoop of mashed potatoes, roast beef, gravy, corn, and cherry tomato)

macaroni and cheese on-a-stick

alligator sausage on-a-stick

Teriyaki ostrich on-a-stick

Tornado Potato, a potato spiral-cut on-a-stick

frozen grapes on-a-stick

So far, the only thing I know can't miss is the pork chop on a stick - my favorite! But I love to see and hear about all of the other crazy foods on a stick. I heard that the chocolate covered bacon is kinda good . . . in a strange way. See you Friday!!

More Minnesota shop hop quilts

Kirk and I turned our visit to Blue Earth into a fun little road trip and visited a few quilt shops on the way home. We got to River City Quilts in Mankato just after they closed at 5:00, but the shopowner let me in.  (she probably didn't want me drooling all over her window as I peeked in at all of the beautiful quilts!!) She designed this quilt out of the shop hop fabric and made two versions - one in blues and one in greens. Here's the blue one. The green one is hanging right behind it facing in the other direction - I think it's interesting to see how the quilting makes it just a little bit smaller.

We stayed in Mankato with lots of WWE wrestling fans - the roads were blocked off for the event at the Alltel Center and we had an interesting time getting to our hotel. The WWE fans we saw at our hotel were evenly divided between families and guys with big coolers . . .

The next day, we stopped in Montgomery at Quilter's Dream . Look at the Lasagne quilt they made from the Minnesota state fabric! I like the how the border print frames the quilt.

And then off to Waconia to visit Heavenly Patchwork. What fun to see another completely different quilt made out of the state fabric.

A vintage beauty

Here's the Yellow Brick Road quilt that won viewer's Choice last year at the quilt expo in Blue Earth. It is a labor of love - made by Tracy Petersen from Ledyard, IA. Tracy set her blocks on point and included lots of vintage linens, chenille with an assortment of pastel prints.

Look at this close up of all of the different styles of quilting that Tracy used in her blocks!

Woodcarver or Quilter?

At the 26th Annual Upper Midwest Woodcarvers and Quilt Expo last weekend in Blue Earth, MN woodcarvers and quilters shared the spotlight. They have more in common than you might think.

Look at this carver's hand - that is a machine quilting glove! And look at the table - wood shavings everywhere - just like a quilter with threads everywhere.

There were vendors for both fabric and wood. These wood kits did nothing to spark my imagination - but I found a great batik Jellyroll!
 
These were my favorite carvings - It looks like antique kitchen tools are another thing we have in common.

Colorful Blue Earth

Kirk and I headed down to Blue Earth last weekend for the The 26th Annual Upper Midwest Woodcarvers and Quilt Expo. The Jolly Green Giant was there to welcome us. I wonder if quilters made his HUGE shirt? And how on earth do they get the shirt over his head - he looks friendly but I don't think he bends . . .

Tracy (in red) invited us down to the show to see her group's challenge quilts. Here I am with just a few of the 12 quilters who exchanged blocks from our Confetti in the Corner book. After they exchanged blocks, each quilter put the blocks together in a different way. Take a look at these amazing quilts - no two alike! I looked at all of the quilts several times before I realized that they all started with the exact same blocks!

 

The woodcarvers displayed their projects on tables in front of the quilts and several of them sat working on projects during the show.

 

Can you believe the variety of amazing quilts? Next year's challenge will be a block exchange using civil war fabrics - with positive/negative color placement. I can't wait to see what they up with - too bad we have to wait a whole year to see them.