Pumpkins A Plenty

An assignment given in our 2nd grad class was to create a character pumpkin. Each child was to pick their favorite book character, design, and decorate the pumpkin. Here are the results. It was really fun to see what they came up with. Can you see some familiar book characters? Further down you will see the answer to my question.

Here's an expanded view of all of the pumpkin characters. You can click on each of the pictures to take a better look at the kid's pumpkins.

Here you'll see book characters like Peter Pan, Harry Potter, Alice the Fairy, Verdi the snake, Skippy Jon Jones the cat, and Pearl the mouse from Pearl's Promise, just to name a few.

Here you'll see book characters like Camilla in A Bad Case of Stripes, Frankie Stein, Harry Potter, Care Bears, Junie B. Jones, Alice the Fairy, Pokemon and some more pumpkins that I can't quite figure out myself. I'm going to have to ask the kids.

Here's a picture of one of the other quilts I made in 2002 that the kid's are enjoying in the classroom. It's been fun to share my quilts with them and they love sitting on them during reading time.

Notice the one un-lit pumpkin.
He's not happy being forgetten!

Here's the quilt label I made for it.

I don't know how it goes in your family but whenever we'd go anywhere, whether it was out to eat or to a movie or another activity there would always be at least ONE person who wasn't happy with the choice being made. It's funny how that works! That was my inspiration for the quilt label. The original quilt had 6 lit and 6 unlit pumpkins. I personalized it my making every pumpkin happy but ONE!

Happy HALLOWEEN to Everyone!

My Pumpkin Angel!

Isn't this the cutest Pumpkin Angel you've ever seen? I just couldn't resist posting a picture of my grandaughter Kora Belle. She's just 8 months old and she's already wanting to pull herself up and walk like her momma did at an early age. Natalie is trying to hold her down and keep her little. I remember how much I didn't want my babies to grow up either, but somehow, they DID!! Now I get to enjoy having grandchildren. What a JOY it is!!!!

Holiday SQUARED Quilt

I'm finally getting around to doing this post. I hope you all like it. This is a fun and happy Halloween quilt that I made a few years ago for my kitchen table but, right now I'm sharing it with the kids in the classroom I work in. I'm a teacher's aide in 2nd grade. It's a lot of fun and the kids like me as much as I like them. Everyday I take care of a special needs child (in a mainstream class) and when he doesn't need me, I help with the needs of the class. It's very rewarding!!!

You can use this pattern to make a quilt for every holiday like Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th of July & Halloween, etc. This is a scan of the original pattern I made for one of my classes. You're welcome to use it for personal use. Please don't print the pattern to sell. Thanks and Enjoy!


You will need the following to make this quilt!

• 1/4 yard cuts of 36 different holiday fabrics
• 1/2 yard of contrasting fabric for small stop border
• 3 1/2 yards for quilt backing
• 2 yards 90" wide quilt batting

Cutting Instructions:

• Cut a 2 1/2" strip and a 4 1/2" strip from each of the 36 fabrics.

Now take the 36 strips measuring @ 2 1/2" and sub-cut the following:

• Cut two strips @ 2 1/2" x 4 1/2"
• Cut two strips @ 2 1/2" x 8 1/2"

The remaining fabric you will cut into 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares. You will you need 224 squares for the outside checkerboard border. (You will have to cut approximately 20+ squares from the leftover 4 1/2" strips to get the 224 squares you will need).

Now take the 36 strips measuring @ 4 1/2" and sub-cut the following:

• Cut eight 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square from each strip.
• You will get 288 squares but will only use 36 squares, one of each print.

Note: You will now have 252 extra 4 1/2" squares to make a bonus quilt or use them to make a trick or treat bag. For example: Make a quilt with 8 rows of 6 squares in each. You would use 64 squares and the quilt would measure 48" x 64" before any borders. You could also make a nice table runner too.

Here's a close-up of the outside checkerboard border and the machine quilting.

Trick or Treat Bags

I had a lot of fun making these Trick or Treat bags for Halloween. This "Halloween Night" panel made by RJR was quick and easy to make. You can go here to buy it along with the coordinating prints.

Above is a picture of the panel I bought at Broadbent's

Black Cat Trick or Treat Bag & Witch Trick or Treat Bags

Front of Witch Bag

Back of Witch Bag

Front of Cat Bag

Back of Cat Bag

Our Fall Break

It's hard to believe that I'm at the end of the 3rd day of my 5 days of vacation and I know the next two days will disappear quickly. I've gotten some things done but not quite as much as I had hoped to accomplish. Yesterday, I got together with 3 of my quilting friends and we did a little bit of sewing, a lot a bit of talking, and even more time going to lunch and stopping at Broadbent's after lunch. It was a FUN day together so I didn't mind not getting too much done.
I did manage to finish making all of the pumpkin tissue holders and a couple halloween treat bags. I'll take pictures tomorrow if I get a chance.

Today I wanted to SEW too but, I had to take my son to the doctor for a sore throat and then we had to get the registration done on the car that he drives at school. Well, it didn't pass the safety part of the test and I spent most of the day taking care of getting a new windshield (it was cracked) and also going to the car store to get new light bulbs for two of the lights that were burnt out. I pulled into Jiffy Lube 10 minutes before they closed and finished the paper work and got my 2009 sticker. It's done! What a relief!!!

I thought it was about time that I posted some of my Halloween quilts so, here's one of them. It's my pumpkin quilt. I made it last year and this year it's hanging in the office at the school where I work. It's fun to see it every day! I'll post another Halloween quilt tomorrow along with the instructions on how to make it.

Here's a closeup of the pumpkin.

Close up of the machine quilting my friend Kaylene did on the quilt. Isn't it cute? I thought so. She used the pumpkins in the fabric to mirror the stitching.

SLICE, Another TOY!

I'm so excited I just had to share this new little toy with you!!! If you know what a CRICUT is you'll be really excited to see it's newest competition!! It's small, it's portable, and it's made by Making Memories. It looks like a lot of fun and very creative. I've just got to run out and buy one. I went to the Making Memories website and looked it over so go peek if you have a minute.

I'm already dreaming of the possibilities.

Christmas Cottages!

I finally finished the last two cottages and took pictures. I'm sorry it took me so long. Everything just seems to get in the way of my FUN!! Anyway, I finally finished them and here they are. I hope you like them!

Here are my cottages all together.
I made 3 blocks of each for a total of 15 blocks.

This is one of my favorites!

I love the snowflakes on this roof!

I thought the black and white background on this block was really cute along with the peppermint candy house. It reminds me of the candy house in the fairytale "Hansel and Gretel."

I really love this fabric from Moda's "Candyland Christmas" line of fabric.

I look forward to putting my cottages together once the exchange is done. The blocks I've seen so far are just adorable and it'll be fun to see them all put together. Thanks, Nanette for putting this exchange together for all of us.

Pumpkin Tissue Holder Tutorial

(I painted this little WITCH years ago)

I thought I would share my latest little gift I'm making for some of the girls in the office that have October Birthdays. Believe it or not there's three of them! I started making just four (one for me too) and then I thought, well, SO and SO would like one and of course, my quilting buddies would like one, and maybe I should make one for my sister and as you can see the list just kept growing. I think I'm up to 15 little pumpkins I'm making.

This is a quick and simple little gift you can make for anyone. You could even make it out of lots of different fabric to personalize it. I've seen these little tissue cuties in a lot of different places.

Have fun making these little pumpkins.

To start off you will need what you see in the picture above.

• 2 pieces pumpkin fabric cut @ 6" x 6 1/2"
• 2 pieces fall stripe cut @ 2 1/2" x 6" for binding
• 2 pieces green fabric cut @ 2 1/2" x 2 1/4" for leaf
• 1 piece batting cut @ 2 1/2" x 2 1/4" for leaf
• 1 piece brown ric rac cut @ 4" long for stem
  

• Fold striped binding in half lengthwise, press.
• Place pumpkin fabric with wrong sides together.
• Using a 1/4" seam sew striped binding on each side.
• Press binding so seams go outward.
• Fold binding over toward back of center fabric.
• Stitch in ditch making sure to catch underneath.
  

• Here you will see the binding sewn in place.
• Fold in half and mark center with two pins.

• Place green fabric with wrong sides together.
• Place batting in between the two green pieces.
• Use a pencil to draw a leaf, then sew on pencil line.
• Trim leaf just outside the line you've just sewn.
• Center 4" piece of brown rick rack and green leaf.
• Sew in place so it doesn't move.

• Fold outside edges toward the center.
• Pin in place, sew the short ends twice.
• Finish off the edges with a serger/zigzag stitch.

• Turn your pumpkin inside out and press.
• Tack the leaf in place.
  
• Fill with Kleenex Tissues.

Now it's ready to throw in your purse for
when you have the sniffles.

Favorite Breakfast Quiche

This is a yummy and satisfying breakfast dish. I'm sure many of you have made it in it's many variations but yesterday at the hair salon the lady sitting next to me had never heard of quiche made with a hashbrown crust. I enlightened her and she gave me her email address so I could mail it to her. Since she had never heard of it before I thought I would just share it with each of you. It's pretty simple to make and a delicious yet sophisticated looking breakfast to serve to a group of people for breakfast or brunch. You can add fruit and pastries to the menu along with orange juice and toast if you like. Enjoy!

Breakfast Quiche

By Kim Walus

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Ore Ida Frozen Hash Browns (Shredded) or Costco's hashbrowns
1/2 Cup Butter (melted)
2 Cups diced Ham, Bacon, Sausage, Polska Keilbasa or any combination
2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Colby, or both
Green Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms are optional
1/2 cup Milk
5 eggs (beaten)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Empty hash browns into a 9”X13” ungreased pyrex dish. Drizzle melted butter over the top and place in a 425 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes. Combine meat, cheese, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and spoon over hash browns. Spread evenly. Beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the ingredients in dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 6-10 depending on how BIG you cut the pieces. In my family we're lucky to get 6 pieces. My kids could each eat TWO pieces they love it so much.

Apple Brickle Dip

I've been cooking again today since the kids are home for General Conference weekend. They wanted me to make their favorite breakfast quiche and for lunch I'm making this extra yummy Apple Brickle Dip and sandwiches with chips.

I first made this recipe for a Hidden Oaks Christmas Gathering in December of 2001 and it was a big hit and everyone wanted the recipe. I have since given it out to several people and it’s always a favorite. The only problem is that it’s so good you want to keep going back for more. There’s rarely any leftovers on this one! This Recipe is from the December/January 2001 issue of the Taste of Home Magazine page 66.

Here it is. . .

Apple Brickle Dip
Taste of Home Magazine Dec/Jan 2001 Issue

Ingredients:
8oz. package cream cheese, softened (do not use fat-free cream cheese)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 package Heath English toffee bits (10oz.)
3-4 medium tart apples, cut into slices or chunks ( I like Fuji or Honey Crisp)

Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugars and vanilla. Fold in toffee chips. Serve with apples. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 2 cups

Our Visit to Sundance

Last week my DH's parents (from N. Ca.) came to visit along with his Uncle Dan and Aunt Pat from Oregon. It was Dan and Pat's 1st visit to our home. It's been over 15 years since we made a trek to Oregon to see them so my husband decided to try to get them down her. Dan is Mark's mothers brother and we knew it had been at least a year since they had seen each other. We had a great time while they were here and my kids just loved them, especially McKenna. She was so sad when they had to leave and cried after they left. She loved Dan so much she had me take her out after school to buy him a present. So I have a package to mail on Monday to Uncle Dan.

Here are a few pictures from our trip up Provo Canyon to Sundance. . .

We got a late start on Saturday because Grandma Carole wasn't feeling well so Mark's parents stayed home while we took Dan and Pat up to Sundance to ride the ski lift. It's a really fun ride and lasts about 45 minutes up and back. It's a great way to enjoy the fall colors. You can even get off at the top and walk around or take a hike. There are lots of bike riders that go up the lift and ride down. It looks like a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day. Dan and Pat enjoyed the views. Dan is a big tease and had fun joking with all of the people on the other side going down while we went up and those going up as we came back down. It was a lot of fun being together and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The weather was perfect that day, too!

Here's the back side of Mount Timpanogas.

Here's my DH on the ski lift.
He's sitting just to the right of me.

Aren't the colors beautiful?

Here's a look at the ski lift looking down toward the place where the lift turns and goes back up and down toward where we started at the bottom of the ski lift.

Another look at the beautiful colors.