notes from Terry Ann

Texture Thursday

A few weeks ago I found these great plants at Room and Board in Edina. So yes, it is a fall picture, even though it looks like summer! The great contrast between the leaf shapes and sizes give this landscape great texture to make it so inviting.

Texture in quilting can be achieved in exactly the same way - by using prints that have different shapes and sizes. Combine larger prints that you see right away with smaller prints that you notice when you take a closer look, and you'll have an interesting quilt. Remember - "Variety is the Spice of Life!"

Today is Kari's turn to share a special project with you. I bet she will use her Clearly Perfect Angles!

Hop on over to the other designer's blogs and see what treats they have cooked up for you! Gudrun, Sandy,  Roseann, Kari, Heather, Terri, Carrie, Linda, Pat

You won't know until you try it!

When I was in grade school, one of the schools I attended was Atwater school in Shorewood, Wisconsin. There was no hot lunch program like the kids have now, but we could get a bowl of hot soup to eat with our bag lunch. Each week we had the same 5 choices of soup. On Wednesday, there was always bean soup. I never had any because I could tell by looking at it that I wouldn't like it. Picky eaters know these things, trust me.

Years later, after Kirk and I were married, we often had lunch at his parent's house after church. Here's his mom, Kathleen, in her kitchen holding Megan. One Sunday she made a big pot of bean soup. I very politely told her I didn't like bean soup, but she handed me a bowl of soup anyway and said "You've never had my bean soup!" She was right - her bean soup was really good! I've been making it ever since, and it's one of my favorites!

Download Kathleen's bean soup recipe

Today is Roseann's turn to share a special wool project with you. 

Hop on over to the other designer's blogs and see what treats they have cooked up for you!

Gudrun, Sandy,  Roseann, Kari, Heather, Terri, Carrie, Linda, Pat

Do I smell Apple Pie?

I like to make Apple Pizza Pie instead of regular apple pie because it's flat and you get more crumble topping in each bite - yum! Plus it makes a great dessert for a group since you can cut it into whatever size squares you need.

When the kids were little we went to the apple orchard every fall, but now I just wait until our grocery store has local apples. I like to use Granny Smith or Braburn apples, but any tart baking apple is good.

Make crust for a two crust pie and roll it out a little bigger than a 12" pizza pan.

My mom taught me how to make the fluted edge on the crust - but mine never gets quite as even as hers. I peel more apples than I think will fit because they shrink down when they are baked. Hmmm, maybe some of the shrinkage is because they taste really good after they are tossed with the cinnamon and sugar.

The crumble topping covers the apples.

Kirk was downstairs shipping orders today when the pie went into the oven, and before it was even done he came upstairs and asked "Do I smell Apple Pie?" The poor guy had to wait for it to finish baking, and then he had to wait even longer for me to take this picture before he could dig in!

Download Apple pizza pie recipe  Make your own apple pizza pie and your house will smell as good as mine did today!

  

Hop on over to Sandy's today to see what great scents are coming from her cauldron - and of course she's cooked up a great project for you!!

Orange Orange Everywhere

Welcome to our Fall-O-Ween Blog Hop! So many of you have been spreading the word about Fall-O-Ween that I'm sure we'll have a great time! I was in Wisconsin this weekend and didn't get a chance to pull out a zipper winner from last week's comments - so (drum roll please) here is the winner - #47:  

• I don't have a blog to spread the word - but I'll be emailing all my quilty friends! Looking forward to the blog hop. Went to my first Groovy Girls last Saturday. Great class. Love the zippers!!!!! 
• Posted by: Trina Christenson | September 20, 2010 at 03:23 PM

Trina, contact me with your mailing address and I'll send an assortment of all 36 zipper colors out to you right away! 

Remember to comment on all 10 of the designer's blogs during the blog hop to become eligible for over $500 of prizes!

My favorite fall color is orange, what else? And my favorite color combinations are colors right next to each other on the color wheel. I love the orange and yellow of candy corn and the different shades of orange in the pumpkins! 

And I like the heirloom varieties of pumpkins - this stripey pumpkin is a more intense orange - and it makes the other pumpkins look kind of boring. And how about flowers -  can you tell which of these flowers are not real? Which one is your favorite shade of orange?

 

Hop on over to Gudrun's blog today and see if she has used any orange in today's project . . .  I know there is orange in her "Olivia" fabric line . . . and I wonder how many of the other Fall-O-Ween designers have orange on their blog today?

Here are some of the oranges that I'm auditioning for my project on Friday!

Whoooo's coming to Fall-O-Ween?

 

I met this little guy at the Bachman's idea house - and he wanted to know whooo's in the Fall-O-Ween blog hop! Here's the lineup:

Sept. 27 Gudrun: http://www.gudrun.typepad.com/

Sept. 28 Sandy: http://www.piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot.com/

Sept. 29 Roseann: http://www.rosebudscottage.typepad.com/

Sept. 30 Kari: www.newleafstitches.com/blog

Oct. 1 Terry: http://www.terryatkinson.typepad.com/

Oct. 2 Heather: http://www.ankastreasures.wordpress.com/

Oct. 3 Terri: http://www.whimsicals.typepad.com/

Oct. 4 Carrie: http://www.lavieenrosie.typepad.com/

Oct. 5 Linda: http://www.lindalumdebono.blogspot.com/

Oct. 6 Pat: http://www.patsloan.typepad.com/

We have lots of great pictures, stories and projects to share with you - I can't wait!!

Pockets to Go for Fall

My friend Melisa just finished these Pockets to Go over the weekend and and she shared this photo with me. They are made with Andover’s new laminate fabrics with coordinating cottons for the pockets and bindings. She said they were fun to make and the laminate was not difficult to sew with once she bit the bullet and got a Teflon foot for her machine! 

FALL-O-WEEN

It's almost here!!! I'm seeing the first signs of fall color in my neighborhood - and there are even better fall colors coming to our FALL-0-WEEN blog hop! We'll have 10 designers, 10 days of fall colors, lots of stories , and of course a great fall project every day!

Post the FALL-O-WEEN logo on your blog and tell all of your friends about our blog hop. Leave a comment to let me know how you're spreading the word and I'll pick a lucky winner to receive an assortment of 36 zippers - including plenty of great fall colors.

 

Sculpture park

On our way home from hiking, as we drove down Hwy 95, we noticed colorful artwork peeking over the trees, so we stopped to check it out. Franconia Sculpture park is open all year and admission is free. What a great place! We wandered around looking at all sorts of fun stuff. Of course this sculpture is one of my favorites because it has "quilt blocks" painted on it! 

The playground is right in the middle and it has little hidey spots and fun places to climb.

I like the shadow stripes made by the setting sun - I wonder how it looks in different light . . . or covered in snow.

This house is interesting from far away - and with more to discover when you get up close.

People often ask me where I get all of my quilt ideas - and that same question was in my mind at the sculpture park - how do these artists come up with these amazing ideas??

There is even a huge mural in the bathroom - Love those colors!

These lavender logs look like they lead to another world . . .