Passport to MN was a huge success – winners will be posted soon too!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by.  It is wonderful to see shops come through – to match a name and a face….what a treat!  And a huge thanks to all of the shops who are so supportive of me by carrying my patterns.

Right now, I’m working on a project using the Twelve Oaks line by Judy Rothermel from Marcus Fabrics.

I love to make scrappy quilts and you know one of my favorite things are Civil War era fabrics.  Although I try hard not to plan toooo much, I have to plan just a little.

A secret to making quilts that look scrappy without losing your mind is to choose  “sets” of fabric and use them to make repeats of blocks. You don’t have to make every single block different.

Another tip to keep scrappy things organized is to set all the pieces for one block on a paper plate.  You can easily stack the plates and work through them at the sewing machine without getting things mixed up!

I guess this is turning into a tips and tricks blog today!  An extremely useful tool that I discovered while blog surfing one day is this triangle trimmer by Quilt in a Day.  The horizontal and vertical lines that help you align the seams on the triangle (or hourglass) block before you cut.

And that tape that you see, that’s Nexcare first aid tape, it keeps the ruler from slipping.  A tip from Carrie Nelson over at La Vie en Rosie.

Even when you think you are pretty accurate with your stitching you can come up with a good pile of trimmings!

I hope to be able to show you the finished product soon…  now I better get back to work!

Follow Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily Nov. 9-13 at quiltmaker.com/quilty pleasures for inspiration, ideas and giveaways galore!  Visit my blog everyday this week to see what’s up! Leave a comment and be entered in a prize drawing on Friday for a packet of my newest patterns.

The problem was that we couldn’t find the Orange Supreme cake mix that the recipe called for.  So we improvised with lemon.  It was ok, the frosting was runny but overall, a fair substitute.

Long story short, I made two other versions using yellow cake mix instead and I think I’ve perfected it!  So here goes:

Cake:

1 package yellow cake mix
Orange juice (use in place of water, same amount)
Oil and Eggs as listed on the box.
1 – 3 oz. box of Orange Jello, divided in half.

Make the cake as directed on the box, mixing in the 1/4 c. of Orange Jello powder with all of the other ingredients. Bake as directed and cool completely. Remove from the pans and frost.  My “cake plate” is the lid from my 9 x 13 pan .

I used two large bread pans and floured the bottoms.  This would also work in a 9 x 13 pan.

Frosting:

1 tub of Cool Whip
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. orange jello powder (about half of the 3 oz. box)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together well and refrigerate while the cake cools.  If you make this in a 9 cx 13 pan, use half the amount of Cool Whip, sour cream, sugar and vanilla.  I’d use the same amount of Jello powder, it will just taste a bit more orange-y!

Enjoy!

I will be drawing two names  for patterns on Sunday Evening – be sure to comment here on any fun stuff you have found in the past week.

Better yet, go visit Roseann’s blog to see all of the blocks she’s posted instructions for!

A highly anticipated event here in Minnesota, and one that takes an amazing amount of planning and preparation!  Quilt Minnesota happens once a year – the first two+ weeks in August.  This year it runs from July 31 to August 16. It covers the entire state and nearly 90 Brick and Mortar shops participate.  An exclusive line of fabric is designed for it too!  Click here to print out your passport – it’s also a great listing of shops in the state, organized by region.

During the shop hop, stop back here for some of my favorite tips and tricks.  Comment on each post for a chance to win a Perkins Dry Goods pattern – there will be random drawings through out the shop hop!

The pattern will be available in the web store next week – it retails for $8.50.

Now I’m back and have been working hard to finish a project that should have been done for Spring Market…..here is a sneak peak:

It’s  a  darling Tree Skirt pattern called “Under the Tree!”  It should be available within the next week or two. I made it in two sizes, one for a table top tree and one for a living room sized tree.  Stay tuned!

I will be drawing for a free Under the Tree! pattern from comments made in the next 7 days….don’t miss this chance!

Now for the Grand Prizes!

If you commented on all 10 blogs, you were entered in a drawing for the following gift bags, filled with fantastic quilting goodies from all of us:

GE Designs, Anka’s Treasures, Perkins Dry Goods, Rosebud’s Cottage, This ‘N’ That, New Leaf Stitches, Atkinson Designs, Cedar Canyon Textiles, Scrap-Bags and Quilted Treasures.

1st Prize  A gift bag worth $200
Gwendie from www.gwendiequilts.blogspot.com

2nd Prize  A gift bag worth $60
Lynda Green

3rd Prize  A gift bag worth $40
Sue Cahill

Congratulations Gwendie, Lynda and Sue!  Please send your shipping address in an email to:  gudrun@gequiltdesigns.com so you can get your prizes!