Peach Patch Quilts: February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Do good things, good things happen....

Things have been pretty busy at the house of Peach. I checked off a project off my list that has been staring me in the face for quite some time. Sadly we live someplace that has icky water. We have a water softener in the house and the fridge but apparently there is still ick in it. As a result the cover to both of my ironing boards looks like someone wiped their bums on them. I used a duvet cover that I purchased at a goodwill for a couple bucks. I added a few extra layers of padding from some white flannel that I originally used on my design wall. I was very happy with how it turned out. It makes me think that spring is right around the corner. Its a yellow, green and purple plaid on a background of lavender. Its quicker and easier that buying a new cover. I think next time I will add a layer of scotch guard to repel ick.

Last week I was back out on the road in Columbus. I had come across a charity online that makes quilts for kids in foster care in Ohio. The name of the group is My Very Own Blanket. They have a workshop night on Wednesdays where volunteers can prepare quilt kits and sew quilts and pillowcases. By the time I had left I had made quite a few pillow cases and labeled several finished quilts ready for donation. The volunteers cut down donated fabric into various sizes. Anything that is too small gets added to a scrap bin for making string blocks. I had just sent off some string blocks for a swap on swapbot and wasn't sure what to do with the blocks I was going to receive. Here are the blocks I made.

The kind ladies at My very own blanket loaded me up with a mother load of scraps so I could make more string blocks. I have been stitching away on these blocks plus I have received 4 of the 8 blocks from the swap. I also upgraded my design wall by changing the cover from flannel to batting and reinforced the seam. I just need to get something to anchor the bottom to the wall. I don't think these old old walls are very square. I would love to start a satellite branch of My Very Own Blanet here in Wisconsin. I am looking for space to meet so we can get some volunteers together to stitch.

I am always impressed at how nice string quilts look when the fabrics are put together with no rhyme or reason. If I have enough strings I want to make a pink based string quilt and a no pink string quilt.

I am linking this up to Freshly Pieced.

Last but not least we have a winner from the Blogger BOM giveaway, Pamela was the lucky winner of the Chirp fabric. I dropped it in the mail to her today.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Feb Blogger BOM, a Winner and Two more giveaways

Today is the February installment of Blogger BOM. The presenter today is Sandra of Sharp Quilts. The block she created is called "Meet In The Middle". I think it is a great addition to the blocks we have been making. Sandra created a great tutorial here on her blog.

Sandra has kindly offered a give away on her blog of 5 fat quarters. I love the black honeycomb print!

I too have a fun give away . To participate make sure you are a follower and leave a comment. The winner will receive a half yard of Chirp by Robert Kaufman and the associated panel which is 2/3 of a yard. It reminds me of valentines day and spring! I'm ready for spring to be here.

Giveaway open until 2/25/13

As a final note of business I also have the winner of our Bonus BOM. The winner is MAMMAROCK. I will be emailing her and she will be receiving this.

Here is a list of all the participants of the BOM

Date	Name	Blog
Sept 15^th 2012	Carin & Carol	Margarets Hope Chest
Oct 15^th 2012	Jenny	Sew Kind Of Wonderful
Nov 15^th 2012	Jennifer M	Ellison Lane Quilts
Dec 15^th 2012	Natalie	Craftin Mechanic
Jan 15^th 2013	Stefanie	Little Lady Patchwork
Feb 1^st 2013	Jennifer I	Knotted Thread
Feb 15^th 2013	Sandra	Sharp Quilts
Mar 15^th 2013	Nicole K	Patchwork Duck Designs
April 1^st 2013	Bree	Distant Pickles
Apr 15^th 2013	Tracey	Itching 2 B Stitching
May 15^th 2013	Felicity	Felicity Quilts
June 15^th 2013	Erin	Billy Button Design
July 15^th 2013	Nicole N	Mama Love Quilts
Aug 15^th 2013	Dhia	Peach Patch Quilts

Here is a button you can grab and put on your blog to make sure you don't miss a single post.

I have also started a Flickr group to show off all the pretties you make.

Blogger Block Of The Month Flickr Group

If you would like to donate any blocks you make during this blog hop please mail them to the address below.
Donated blocks will be sewn into quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest.

Peach Patch Quilts

P.O. Box 0012

Sullivan, WI 53178

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Puppy Love!!!

Over the weekend I tackled a couple dog based projects as well as a quick valentines project. On the doggie front I made a couple dog chewies as a Valentines present for some puppies in Michigan. I have been cranking these out at a pretty fast rate. Turkey loves them and it keeps him from chewing up my more expensive stuff. If you would like to make some I would recommend this tutorial here.... They are very simple to make and a great alternative to expensive dog toys that get torn up. I have been hitting up the remnants at Joann fabrics. The remnants are 50% off whatever the going sale price is. Recently fleece has been 50% off on sale and then 50% off cause its a remnant. Gives me something to do with my hands while watching tv other than chomping chips.

Over the weekend I also broke out one of my favorite dog biscuit recipes. I used to make them all the time and it got to the point that Daisy would spit out commercially available biscuits. Such a diva !!! I don't often post recipes but this one is a keeper and I have optimized it so I will share.

Puppy Love Dog Biscuits

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups meat in broth
3/4 cups cornmeal
3 cups flour (whole wheat, all purpose, whatever combo of flour you have)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Prepare the meat....

You can use any meat in this recipe. I utilize this recipe to use up freezer burnt items, left overs or meat that's on sale. Make sure that you don't use leftover that are heavily seasoned. Take your meat and cook in 2-3 cups water for as long as you can. I usually cook the meat until it is falling apart. Remove from heat and cool until you can shred or chop the meat as small as possible. If you used bone in meat make sure to remove all bones at this point.

Add your broth and meat to a large bowl. You can substitute meat and broth for hot water with bouillon cubes. Heat the contents of the bowl in the microwave until hot. Remove from microwave and add oatmeal, let stand 5 minutes.

Stir cornmeal and egg. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Knead 3 to 4 minutes, adding more flour if necessary to make a very stiff dough. Pat or roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut into shapes and place on a greased baking sheet. You can use cookie cutters, or free form shapes. I cut bite size pieces with a pizza cutter.

Bake for 40 minutes. Allow to cool and dry out until hard.

There are no preservatives in these biscuits. Shelf life can be lengthened by freezing.

I cut mine into hearts this time for valentines day, I should have added some beet to the mix.

I also made some treats for my human Valentines as well. I have a million pink scraps and this ate up some. I think i need an all pink scrap quilt to kill my scrap stash. I mailed off these to my mom and a coworker for Valentines day. Hopefully they will arrive in time.

Last but not least we have a winner for the Traveling Stash Box #6. Katie from Snuggle Up with a dish from Karma will be the recipient of the traveling stash box. Hopefully she will enjoy the goodies within and add some more awesome stuff.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Traveling Stash Box #6

Ann over at Orange Cumpled Napkin started a new traveling stash box and I was the lucky winner. I got to pick this up yesterday from the post office. Here are all the goodies in the box. A book of kids projects some fabrics and some orphan blocks.

Here is what I took from the box.

Since this box is still in its early stages I added more than I took to help it grow and grow. I added 20 fat quarters and a pack of 50 2.5" squares

If you would like a chance to have this box visit you (especially if you have some box building materials!) Here are the rules to qualify.....

Leave a comment below......Give away open until 1/11/13!!!!

Don't forget we have a great give away for Blogger BOM (fat quarter pack, 2 yard total!!!). Enter that give away here...

RULES:

Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.
There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.
Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.

GUIDELINES:
The definition of a stash is a secret store of valuables. For quilters it's a collection of usable quality products. The stash should contain mostly fabric with a few patterns and/or books and other items.

FABRIC: Should be quilt shop quality in new condition. Scraps should only be included if they are cut for adding to a collection and packaged accordingly (i.e. I-Spy squares, postage stamp squares, etc.). There should not be anything under a Fat Quarter unless packaged like this.
PATTERNS/BOOKS: Should be in new or gently used condition. They should be kept to a minimum (books are bulky and add weight).
OTHER ITEMS: Should be in new or gently used condition. Tools, notions, etc. These items should be packaged if necessary.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:

If you receive a box with anything that is of "poor" condition you should not feel guilty in tossing it out.
Only put items in the box that you would be proud to own. The box is NOT a dumping place for all your outdated unwanted items.
Items should be free of smoke and pet hairs.
You must replace items you take with the same quantity of like-kind items. Replacing more than you take is always welcome. :) There is a guide to Pre-Cut amounts below for your reference.

GUIDELINES TO PRE-CUT AMOUNTS:

Jelly Roll strips are 2-1/2 inches so every 10 strips is 2/3 yard (plus an inch). 30 strips is 2 yards plus 3 inches. 40 strips is 2-3/4 yards. 50 strips is 3-1/2 yards.
Honey Buns are 1-1/2 inches so 10 strips is just slightly under 1/3 yard. 40 strips are 1-2/3 yards.
Desert Rolls are 10 (5 x 45) strips or just slightly over 1-1/3 yard.
Turnovers are 80 (6 inch) triangles and is equal to slightly over 1 yard.
Charms are 5 inch squares. 40 charms is equal to 2/3 of a yard.
Layer Cakes are 10 inch squares. 40 layer cake squares are equal to 2-3/4 yards.

HOW TO SAVE MONEY & TIME WHEN MAILING A STASH BOX:

Did you know that you can purchase postage online from the United States Postal Service (USPS)?
Did you know that when you purchase postage online you get a discount and FREE Delivery Confirmation?
Did you know that when you purchase postage online you can also schedule the Post Office to pick up your package at your home or office?

Yes you can do all of these!
Here's how . . .
1. Go to USPS.com.

2. Click on Ship a Package.
3. Click on Print a Label with Postage.
4. Log on or create a new account.
5. Enter the mailing information for your package. Enter the package details. We use Flat Rate boxes to mail the Traveling Stash so check "I am shipping Flat Rate". Then choose your ship date and click "Next: Choose a Service".
6. Scroll down the shipping options. Click on "Large Flat Rate Box". (Note: Some of the stashes are in medium boxes so if the stash you have is in the medium box you will choose that option.) Scroll down to "Add extra services". The "Delivery Confirmation" box is already checked. You get it for FREE when you purchase flat rate postage online! How cool is that?!!! :)
7. Click on "Next: Review your Cart".
8. Verifty the mailing address then click on "Next: Billing Information".
9. Follow the instructions to pay for the postage.
10. Print the mailing label out. Trim it and tape it to the box.
11. Your package is now ready for mailing. Either drop it off at the post office (you can simply put it in the package drop box inside) or schedule a pick up online.

SAVINGS: Did you notice that you only paid $14.65 online for postage (large flat rate box), instead of the $15.45 you pay at the post office? You save $ .80! You also receive FREE Delivery Confirmation. That is a value of $ .75. For a total savings of $1.55! Plus you can track the delivery of the package! :)
This may seem like a lot of steps but it's really not. I just tied to spell it out carefully so I didn't confuse anyone. If you have any questions you can contact the post office or me (Cherise) and I'll be happy to help you! It really is an easy process and one that save you time and money! I know everyone likes that! :)

Find out about the Origins of the Traveling Stashes Boxes here.

Find all the Traveling Stash posts here.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Blogger BOM - Feb Bonus Block!!!

Today is a bonus installment of Blogger BOM. We had so many great bloggers that we ran out of months and had to add some bonus blocks! The presenter today is Jennifer of Knotted Thread. The block she is showing us is called "Whirlwind". It makes me think of windmills and tulips and spring which is much needed this time of year! The beautiful tutorial can be found on Jennifer's Blog. She has a great blog and a super cute etsy shop with so many awesome fabrics at great prices. And because she is that kind of girl, Jennifer donated the block she made for the tutorial to the charity quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest.

As always there is a super give away! To participate make sure you are a follower and leave a comment on what valentines projects you are making for your sweetie this year. The winner will get this fat quarter pack from Jennifer's etsy shop. It's two yards of Riley Blake fabric. I'm not going to pretend I wasn't tempted to keep it myself. But I will be strong!!!

Giveaway open until 2/14/13