MooseStash Quilting: March 2023

Monday, March 27, 2023

Hip Hippo Hurray!

I had so much fun reading all the posts on the "Little Green Apples" challenge.

My fellow bloggers really brought their apple lovin' "A"game and rose up to the challenge, in the most creative ways.

Today I want to announce the 2 winners of my green apple potholders.

The first winner is...Sandie

The second winner is...Doreen

Ladies, drop me an email (calicojoan@aol.com) with your mailing info and I will get them off to you!

I've been on a bit of a pot holder craze lately and I swear our devices are listening in on us.

LOL!!

Last week the sweetest Hippo potholder pattern came up on my Facebook page.

Little Ms is all about Hippos these days. It's all we talk about, so I had to order it.

Aren't they just the cutest things?

I knew I was in trouble when I looked at the "Susie C Shore Designs" website.

Oh my goodness, she has the cutest patterns!

I see that I am about to have an entire zoo-ful of fun new potholders in my future.

OHHHH...and even a Halloween goodie or two!

Check them all out for yourselves HERE.

You can even find a penguin potholder pattern on the Free Pattern page.

So, I have to ask...I am finding that Insulbrite batting that I have used for years, is harder and harder to find, here locally. I ordered my last bag on Amazon. What are you using in your potholders?

I am wondering if there is something new and improved that I don't know about.

As I mentioned before, Little Ms has been on a Hippo craze ever since she went to "Zoo Lights" at Christmas. The Hippo and Giraffe house's were open as warming stations.

Heather the Hippo

This pattern is from the "Funky Friends Factory".

If you have never stitched any of Pauline's patterns I have to tell you, her instructions are the best I have ever seen. With her directions and videos, they go together beautifully.

She has a blog you can check out HERE with so many fun ideas!

So it truly is a HIP HIPPO HURRAY kind of day!

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Little Green Apples Sew It - Show It Challenge

Let face it, when we think about apples, I bet 90% of us think about those big juice red apples.

But I'm here to tell you "Green" is "Queen"

This little 19" x 24" mini is "Apples" from "Angie Padilla Quilt Patterns"

Maybe it's the pie!

I do love a good apple pie!

Granny Smith apples are my go to for pie making.

We have used the same recipe for years, in my family. As you can see it was from the Parade magazine in the Sunday paper way back in 1979.

Call it the "sky high" or just downright delicious, but it's still our favorite recipe today.

I've long given up on making pie crusts, though, with Pillsbury making pre-made crusts you just unroll, why would I even try!

LOL!!

I'm so crazy over little green apples and baking, that I even made potholders for the occasion! And I am giving them away to 2 different people, just to say thanks for visiting.

Postage is crazy, so you must live in the USA.

To enter the drawing, leave me a sweet little green apple comment and sign up on Rafflecopter. I will pick 2 different winners on Monday March 27. That gives everyone the weekend, to catch up on blog reading.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My little public service announcement!

I recently read on a Facebook group about using these silicone face and body scrubbers to clean your rotary cutting mats.

Honestly, I didn't even know they made silicone face and body scrubbers, but I had to find them and try them out!

Cutting the Insul-Bright batting for the potholders, left a big mess on my mat.

What better time to give it a try...

Voila!, it really did work well. Who knew?

Now I need to continue on with the rest of the mat.

My mats are a mess and in dire need of replacing. Many of the lines have been worn off. I know I really need to get on that, but for now these little scrubbers will help keep it lint free anyway.

Amazon carries them, but Wal-Mart in the makeup aisle, was the best deal I found.

How do you like them apples?

A big thanks to Carol from "Just Let Me Quilt" for hosting this delightful challenge. Now hop on over to my fellow bloggers sharing their "green apples" with us today!

MARCH 23

Moosestash Quilting (your here)

Just Because Quilts

Scrapdash

That Fabric Feeling

Next month's challenge is...

If you would like to play along, drop me an email.

May's challenge is...

Let Carol know if you want to play along.

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Quilt Labels and Blog Hops

Do you label your quilts? I am the absolute worst at it, but I am working on getting better at it.

This past weekend I actually went to work and started making labels...even stitched them on my projects. LOL!!

What did I learn from all this?

Well, I can sure cut down the size considerably.

I can have the the label ready before I attach the binding.

(that saves me hand stitching down 2 of the sides anyway)

And I need to add the date on our blog hop buttons.

Yep, that just never crossed my mind, until I printed out my labels.

I will be doing that on future buttons, in case anyone else uses them for their quilt labels.

One of the very first posts on my blog back in 2009 was about printing on fabric and the options that were available. You can find that post here

There have are many new products on the market, but my favorite is still

"Bubble Jet Set 2000".

It's the least expensive way to do, and it is washable. Jenkins, the manufacturer explains the magic of their product HERE. I use batik fabric, because of the tight weave. Personally, I think it prints a cleaner image. It's so easy to do. Just cut your fabric into sizes that will run through your printer. Mine were 9" x 11 1/2". (later trimmed to 8 1/2" X 11") I laid them in a baking pan and poured in enough "Bubble Jet Set" to cover them. You can stack multiple layers. Let them set for 5 minutes. Allow them to dry and iron them onto freezer paper.

I use these sheets because they are stiffer than the normal freezer paper and my printer is happier with them. I can use them over and over, as well.

Trim your fabric before putting them into your printer, making sure there are no strings to cause problems. Once printed let set for 30 minutes. Wash them using a mild detergent or Bubble Jet Rinse, and allow to dry. Your labels are ready to go.

So...that being said

Monday starts our Sew It - Show It Challenge, and this month we are "Green" with envy.

Green Apples, that is!

31 of our favorite bloggers are ready to share.

You don't want to miss out!

MARCH 20

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Schmilt

Quilting Gail

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

DesertSky Quilting

Days Filled With Joy

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Sew Many Yarns

MARCH 21

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Quilted Delights

Karrin’s Crazy World

For The Love Of Geese

Vroomans Quilts

Quilted Snail

Homespun Hannah's Blog

MARCH 22

Pinker n' Punkin Quilting & Stitching

MARCH 23

Now, if that isn't enough...

Carol just announced a new hop

This challenge must include one or more of the following

Rose/pink fabric

Eyeglasses

Roses

Positive words

Check out all the details on her post HERE and join in on the fun.

There is still space for you on the April Challenge.

Drop me a line if your interested.

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

Monday, March 6, 2023

It's My Day in the Dust Off a Quilt Book Blog Hop

We can all thank Bea, from BeaQuilter for making us pull those books off the shelves and put them to use.

My goal, while I had a couple months off from watching my grandies, was to actually clean up my sewing room. While it may not gone as well as planned, I did manage to go through my bookshelf.

The project I found was this sweet little scrap buster...

This is "Hugs and Kisses"

This pattern did not come from a traditional quilt book, but one of my binders of quilt patterns, I am going to do "someday".

It was on my bookshelf and yes, I did have to blow a little dust off of it!

Years ago, I went to a class on finding your creativity. It was an excellent class that focused on cleaning out the stuff you are not interested in, to make room for what you love. The instructor actually made us all bring a quilt magazine, and tear out the pages we loved and throw away the rest. That was the hardest thing to do, for everyone in the class. She also gave us each a journal that we were to paste the things we loved in.

To this day, I still love flipping through that journal for inspiration. It amazes me just how much it does get those creative juices flowing.

The biggest benefit from it once I got home, was I was able to take stacks of quilt magazines, pull out only the pattern I loved and throw away the rest.

Over the years, I've gone through my binders from time to time. I've added some things and tossed some. Just recently I separated them into seasonal, kids, and scrappy binders, etc...It makes it so much easier to find what I'm looking for. All my internet finds are printed and stored in there, as well.

This pattern is from 2007. While it took some searching online, I found there has been a name change to "Hearts and Flowers" and you can still find the free download HERE.

Please stop by and visit my fellow bloggers today.

They all have been cracking open the books lately!

March 7th

Quilting Gail

Thrift Shop Commando

High Road Quilter

Moosestashquilting (you're here)

Bea asked us to share our oldest quilt book...

Mine is this Dear Jane book published in 1996, but the quilt is from 1863!

Have I made this quilt yet???

NO :-)

But this book from 2000 was from the first official quilt class, I ever took. They told me my colors were terrible. So motivating for a brand new quilter. It's funny how you remember those kind of things. I loved what I chose at the time, but in retrospect...they might have been onto something. LOL!!

None the less, I was delighted with my finish.