Headed to the 'doc' for a biopsy tomorrow. UGH!

I am not looking forward to tomorrow. The dreaded scheduled .....  biopsy.

But on a lighter note....in my blog reading I came across this great post! If any of you have a hard time organizing your stash....check our what this great blogger has to say. HERE!

I don't like to post without  pictures so here's today's pick.

 I needed a bright and happy picture!

This was our booth in Yuma a few years ago. The quilt on the left is my Whimsy Lane Pattern. You can order it HERE!

Another bright, shabby happy booth.

If I only had pictures of all the booths I've ever set up!

This is the quilt I made for my dear Auntie Winna. She is in her 70's...she just stood there and wept when I handed it to her at my mom's 80th Tea Birthday Party I put on for her last year. 

The quilt on the left is the one I made for my dear, dear friend Jenette. While making it I was praying so for her family...her husband was dying of cancer. She too came to my mom's 80th birthday party where I presented her with this. Our's is a 30 year incredible friendship! I love you Jenette!

Everyone always wants to buy my lamps at shows. Maybe I'm in the wrong business!

My sweet little Ashley hard at work. A few years ago she left her single life in Boise to come home and help with the business and go on the road with her dad while I was down on my back. Everyone still misses you on the road kiddo! I love you!

So that's all for today folks.

Get some stitchin' in!

Quilting Hugs,

John'aLee

New Pattern: Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

My poor honey...not only did he totally tear down the booth at the Rocky Mtn Quilt Festival for me....I begged him to take pictures of
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe... 
while it was hanging under good lighting. And.....he didn't forget!!

The Quilt

Close-up of the Hearts and Ribbons

I thought I'd posted pictures of this quilt in progress...
but can't seem to find them in my blog posts...
so back to the camera....

Trying out backgrounds for the center piece and working with the checkered border.

This was my first basket made with the Dresden Ruler

My new basket...liked it much better.

At This point I became stuck. Enter Marla!!

Close-up of the sign

Close-up of the Ribbon and Mistletoe

To pre order this pattern
go to our website @
The Scrappy Appleyard 

If you want to see more or the Design Process 

 Click Here!

Until next time my Quilting Buddies....
Happy Stitching!

Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival

We made it to Loveland for the Quilt Show!
Here is Ken setting up the booth:

I know I am very lucky to have a hubby...
who diligently does all of this for me.


Now here is the Meet Me Under the Mistletoe...
being hung for the very first time:

The pattern will be ready at the end of September.
You can order it online for $19.99
If you  pre order it before its release of Sept 30, 2010,
we are offering Free Shipping.
To take part in this offer Click Here
(Thank you Miss Marla for all of your help 
in getting this finished for me!)


We are back at the hotel...after a long show day. I can hardly talk...my throat is raw from demoing all day. 

Thankfully we have kept very busy...

We almost always have a double booth,

but here we have a single...

and it has been very difficult

to give demos with

such limited room.

Just look at what a mess my demo table is:

I had 6 different demos going on:
The EZ Dresden Ruler, the EZ Scallop Ruler
the Needle Threader,
Mylar Templates for Grandmother's Flower Garden,
and my new Mystery BOM.

Quilters are thrilled with the 

Mylar Templates for the 

Grandmother's Flower Garden.

Several ladies have had the same

problem as I have with my stitches 

showing through to the front with the

paper templates, and are excited 

to see my samples...where none of the

stitches show through...

all because of the plastic 

templates.

If any of you are on a 'hexi' craze...

you have got to give these a try.

If you want to order them... Click Here!

Tomorrow I will take pictures of 
'quilts' hanging in the show
and get them posted in a few days.
Here's a Dear Jane...

 I'm always impressed with these quilts.

Until next time....
Happy Stitching
to all of my buddies out there!
John'aLee

Bad News...Busy Day....Leaving for a show early in the morning....

My oh my...what a day.

I have been running around...

packing for our trip...

We are leaving for Loveland Colorado...

early in the morning for a show.

And since we went down to help my son

this last week...

we didn't leave ourselves enough

time to get done all we needed to.

So it has been rush..rush...rush all day.

I finished my sketch for the second block

of the Mystery Block of the Month...

pulled the fabrics for it...

managed to get  it transferred on to cloth,

into the hoop,

and even a little bit of stitching done on it.

I had to do the applique pieces 3 times...

At first, they just weren't drawn 

where I could get in the corners well enough.

Then I didn't mirror image my freezer paper...

have you all ever done that one before?

Next I  went out back to the shoppe,

where Ken was busily working away

making kits,

and asked him for the bolt of fabric

I needed.

It was gone.

He had used it up in kits.

"Okay", I tell myself, "breathe...John'aLee...

it won't do any good to get angry....

go to Plan B...

find something else that will work."

Which is what I did...

but I can't say there weren't

fumes coming out of my ears!

I stop and whip up my hubby

some breakfast.

Kill with kindness eh?

I then finish cutting all the fabrics

for 54  Strawberry-Li-Cious Blocks

for this new Mystery Block of the Month

 project.

The phone rings...

I look at the number...

it 's the doc calling...

"What in the world are they calling me for?"

I ask myself.

"You need to schedule a biopsy on the lump

in your left breast." The lady tells me.

I couldn't believe my ears.

I had a mammogram done in July....

they wanted more testing done...

so they had me come in for a sonogram.

The technician who performed the sonogram

told me he thought

everything looked fine.

That the lump was just a cyst.

And I'd totally put the whole thing 

out of my mind.

So boy howdy did this throw me in 

a tail spin.

What's a gal to do?

PRAY!!

So that's my bad news....

which will hopefully turn to good news

after the testing is done.

The mayor in town, who is a good friend

and customer,

just found out yesterday

that she has Stage 4 Lung Cancer.

I was devastated to say the least.

I immediately had the Guitar Man

pull out the soft Winter Roses Rag quilt

we take to shows...

I wrapped it up...

put some Mylar templates in the gift too...

for her to make some 'hexis'

while she is going for treatment...

and wrote her a letter...

telling her to wrap herself up in

the quilt when her days got

too much for her and to know that

she is so loved!!

Her name is Janet.....

please add her to your prayer list.

A project I am working on with my own 'hexi' templates.

I finished out the day by making

that knothead husband of mine

some tostadas for dinner....

went out and designed some more

Meet Me In Paris kits for him,

worked on my blog

and am now calling it a day.

Hmmmm...it's only 1:06 a.m.

And I have to get up at 6 and be on the road?

Mom and Dad are expecting us for dinner

at their house in Castle Rock...

so I am hitting the sheets!

Buttercream Summer (First Block in our New Mystery Block of the Month called Strawberry-Li-Cious)

Whew....it's done. I literally invested more than 250 hours into this one block. I promise....it won't take you gals that long. I just had so much to learn. And it was by trial and error the finished product is finally done!!

Here are some close ups. (I had a hard time getting a good photograph of this. The Guitar Man even brought in overhead lights and tried to help me. In other words...the photos don't do the block justice)

Now to share the 'Process' with you:

The Preliminary Sketch

 After the sketch was done, I started commissioning fabrics. I played around with lines from Fig Tree:

And if you remember my post that showed you my first sketch for this block...

Which started out like this:

And then became this:

But let me tell you what was wrong with all of this:
The basket wasn't symmetrical...I didn't like the strawberries, the flowers were crying out for help...I didn't like how the flowers ate into the handle...and I felt it needed to be bigger.
So back to the drawing board:
And after a few drafts I completely made over the block:

Added a flange around it....
and still realized my strawberries needed some work.
Another whole block?? Geez....Louise! Was I ever going to get this thing  right?
And finally...yesterday....I took the last stitch:

 To sign up  for this Mystery Block of the Month

click HERE

Come and join us on this 'Design Journey'

we are taking.

See the process on my blog...

and look forward to your 

package each month 

in the mail

with the latest block.

Hurry...Limited Amount

of Sign-ups 

Available! 
 

The BEST EVER Overnight WAFFLE Recipe...

If you are looking for a good Waffle Recipe...I have it for you girls.

This is the recipe I used while the kids were growing up...

Every Saturday night I would whip it up...

Set it on the counter overnight...

And then one by one, as they crawled out of bed

Sunday morning...

I made them each a hot waffle...

Topped with Strawberries and Whipped Cream...

Before heading off to church.

It worked out perfect...

And it will tickle your tummy....

It's so yummy!

The recipe comes from:

The Breakfast Cookbook

by Marion Cunningham

Raised Waffles

1/2 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

2 cups milk warmed

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 eggs

1/4 tsp baking soda

Use a rather large mixing bowl...the batter will rise to double its original volume. Put the water in the mixing bowl and sprinkile in the yeast. Let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar and flour to the yeast mixture and beat until smooth and blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.

Just before cooking the waffles, beat in the eggs, and the baking soda, stir until well mixed. The batter will be very thin. Pour about 1/2 to 3/4 cup batter into a very hot waffle iron. Bake the waffles until they are golden and crisp. (My hubby likes them crisp...I actually like them barely toasty and brown).

This batter will deep well for several days in the refrigerator.

Smash up some fresh strawberries, add a little bit of lemon juice and about a tsp of sugar.

Whip some cream...and

ENJOY!!