September Snowbuddies

August 1, 2012

September “Snowbuddies” – “Honey Bee”

Hello Woolies!!

As I finalize my sketch of the September Snowbuddies Embroidery pattern, I think about how we all need a “Honey Bee.” I am so lucky that I have a whole hive or bee skep of Honey Bees that bring so much joy to my life. I often (in jest) refer to myself as the Queen Bee. Surely, it is “good to be Queen” especially when your life is so blessed with so many honey bees.

You know that my “Bee” is Savannah who shares this Blogspot with me. You are getting to know her through all the stories that she shares in “Mini Moments.” Well, Bee has a big brother named Cody. He has always been our Sweet Pea, because before he was born, he would not reveal if he was a girl or boy….he is certainly a boy full of surprises. No surprise that he stole my heart before he was even born. Cody is about to turn 14 and he is quite the handsome young man. We had a date on Saturday!!! A lunch date. He arrived with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and we went to a French Restaurant. Cody loves to eat and would never be considered a picky eater, he loves everything!! We shared a fabulous salad made with produce from the local Farmer’s Market. Then an appetizer of Mushrooms, Truffles and the most incredible Ricotta Pasta balls that were the lightest of dumplings ever. We just about embarrassed ourselves and licked the plate…..the dressing was amazing!! Cody had a burger with homemade chips (not so French) and I had a Vegetable Frittata. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Wee! Wee! Wee loved it!!! Yes, the food was wonderful, but my date and our conversation…..Priceless!!

I so believe in intuition and what my “gutt” tells me. My antennae have been saying to stop and smell the roses. In the rose bushes I always encounter a few bee stings but, the hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm of the hive is music to my ears.

No bees……………no honey!!! I hope you take some time with your bees, I promise, the honey is sweet!!

Connie………… aka Queen Bee

Mini Moments with Bee……………..

I am on a competition team at my dance studio that has 12 to 15 students on it. My competition group was chosen to be choreographed by a woman who has worked on Broadway. Next Wednesday and Thursday I am going to be choreographed by her.Then next Friday I am going to Waterworld with a group of friends. I can not wait. I love Waterworld even though it is only the second time I've gone. It is going to be an exciting week for me!

This Carmel Puffcorn recipe is amazingly good.

1 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bag corn puffs (Chesters)
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Grease roaster pan.  In saucepan mix butter, sugar, salt and syrup.  Over medium heat cook until boiling, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat to low for five minutes, do not stir during this time.  Then add soda and vanilla, mix well.  Pour over corn, stir well.  Bake 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool on wax paper.

Girlfriend Time

Hello Woolies!

Have you had a “Sew Day” with a friend lately?  It has been a very long time since I have been able to spend a day creating and sewing with a friend.  Now, I am not feeling sorry for myself, but I am still glowing from just a few hours spent sewing with my sistah friend Jeanette on Friday.  Jeanette and I are both quilt pattern designers and we love picking each other’s brains for ideas.  Since I have “closed out” the majority of cotton print fabrics in the shoppe, I have a surplus of beautiful Civil War prints that are screaming for a beautiful scrappy project.  I thought of pinwheels and hexagons and all kinds of patterns that are great for scrappy projects.  So many of them require yardage of background fabrics and I wanted to challenge myself to try to use what I have.   Jeanette had a perfect idea and we began selecting and cutting 2 ½” strips.  She became the instructor and I was the student…so stinkin’ much fun!!  (There are times when it is great to not be in charge!!!)  Using a nifty Dresden template, we cut the pieces and began stitching them together.  The photo below will show how we are using 20 different prints and how beautifully and scrappy they work together.  A great way to use your stash and in our case, construct, cut and offer a kit for this beautiful Dresden project.  We will be cutting this project and offering it as a kit.  A perfect NEXT giveaway item……………………….August 17^th we will draw for a winner of this kit.  Be sure to sign up!  And, if you are interested in purchasing a kit, stay tuned as we reveal more of the project and the price of the kit.

 

Since July has been “Snowman” month, this Friday we will present the last special snowman themed project.  This one is my design and even though in my head I had a design that I was going to call “Snowball Fight” I ended up with a design called “Laughing Snowballs.”  This kit will be offered two ways……………

1.      For those of you that have made or are making the Flag Stand Penny Rugs, we will offer a kit that is just the right size to fit on your Flag.

2.    It is also offered as a kit for a finished Penny Rug

You can stop by the shoppe and pick up a kit or order a kit by contacting Carrie at carrie@starrypinespatterncompany.com   She would be happy to ship a kit to you.

 

My real sistah Lori who lives in Omaha recently sent me a recipe.  Now, if Lori sends a recipe, you know it is good.  In fact, she said that you want to sit down with a gallon of cold milk and eat this whole  Peach Pound Cake and then she said…..”just ask me how I know that.”  Here in Colorado we are blessed with some of the most incredible peaches.  This would be a great recipe to try out and if you are trying to consume more calcium….sounds to me like a great reason to drink some milk……Enjoy!

Lori’s Peach Pound Cake

1 c. Butter or Margarine, softened

3 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

3 c. flour

½ t. salt

2 c. peaches, peeled and chopped

6 eggs at room temperature

½ t. almond extract

¼ t. baking soda

½ c. sour cream

Glaze

1 c. sifted powdered sugar

½ t. vanilla

3 T. warm water (use less if too watery)

½ t. almond extract

Cut a piece of waxed paper to fit bottom of a 10” tube pan.  Grease and flour pan, put in paper, crease and flour paper.

In a large mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.  Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.

In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Add to creamed mixture.  Fold in sour cream and peaches, pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 for 70 minutes or until a stick of dry spaghetti inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from pan and dry on a wire cake rack, cool and glaze,.

Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, warm water and almond extract.  Place cooled cake on a plate.  Pour glaze over top of cake, leave on rack at room temperature to set.

Have a great Week!!

Mini Moments by Savannah……………..

I am really excited because my Tee Tee has taught me how knit a ruffled scarf.  It is pretty easy and of course adorable!  You can buy the yarn at your local yarn or craft store! You wouldn’t believe how fun it is. I am also excited today because I am going to my second dance camp called Intensives. It is four days of dancing for four hours each day.  It is so fun! I do a different kind of dance each hour. I learn a dance in each class. And I perform at the end. Of course after the camp is done I am tired, but stronger in everything!  

July is Snowman Month!!

Hello Woolies!

Happy Friday the 13^th!  I try not to be superstitious, and think WOW!  We need to make this a lucky day!  Today is the drawing for the Moda Bag and all the goodies that Savannah has selected and packed inside.  The “lucky” winner of this bag will receive the bag and inside are 15 mini kits.  The value of this bag and goodies inside are well over $100.00.   Our “Random Number Generator” has selected the following person as the winner……Marlene Sullivan.  Congratulations!!!  Marlene please contact us with your mailing information so that we can send this bag your way!

July is Snowman month at The Little Wool Shoppe.  Each Friday we are offering a new kit featuring Snowmen.  These kits are all available by contacting Carrie (Bee’s Mom) at carrie@starrypinespatterncompany.com.  Our first kit was “Frosty Mugs” and the cost of the kit for all the wool and binding is $45.00.  This is the custest project ever and goes together and finishes really fast!  The designer is Threads That Bind and it measures 11” X 40”.

The kit featured this week is from All Through The Night.  Bonnie Sullivan has done it again with “Seven Snowmen.”  If you are familiar with her pattern “Seven Santas” you will love this project, too!  It is like paper dolls and dressing seven cute snowmen.  The cost of the kit is $62.00 and features wool for the entire penny rug top including the black background.  The easiest way to dress these snowmen is to use and applique sheet and lay out all the pieces and steam press them together.  Then when cool peel the constructed snowman away from the applique sheet.  Repeat for all snowman.  They are then very easy to place onto the background fabric and press into place.  Here is a picture of Bee holding one of the snowmen.  I think I know who is cuter!!

Here is a sneak peak at next week’s Snowman project from my friend Joanie from Bits and Pieces by Joan.  (Joan calls me Butthead!....it is a long hilarious story!!)  This project is called “Snow Pals.”  It will be presented in kit form two different ways…one with a frame and one finished like a penny rug.  We will post it next week.

The last Friday of July I will present in kit form my new Snowman project called “Snowball Fight.”  Stay tuned for photos and information.

My sistah girlfriend Jeanette Pie’ is coming to visit next Friday!  She lives in Maryland and we will be spending the day together.  We are adopted sistahs and just know that it was inevitable that we would meet and join hearts.  Fate is that way and I am so lucky to have her in my life.  Professionally she is the owner and designer of “Easy as Pie” designs.  She is the “Talking Quilts” lady.  She has designed some new pillow tops with Subway Art and will be bringing along her models and some preprinted panels so I can feature them in the shoppe.  Check out her website at www.easyaspiedesigns.com .  We will share photos in our next post.

I just cannot believe that we are halfway through July.  I checked our corn fields and our corn did not quite look “knee high” by the Fourth of July, but it has been so hot.  I was reading through the current Country Register

Found this interesting recipe.  Have not had a chance to try it, but it does sound promising…..

“Cooler Corn-on-the Cob”

Get a cooler and wipe it clean.  Fill it with shucked ears of corn.  Pour two kettles-full of boiling water over the corn and close the cooler.  Open the cooler 30 minutes later and enjoy your meal.  The corn will be perfectly cooked and as long as the cooler stays closed, it will also remain at the perfect level of doneness for a couple of hours. 

Enjoy the Weekend and stay safe!

Mini Moments from Savannah………………………..

Last week I was on the road to Wyoming.  It was quite a  5 days. I went to see my Grandparents and Great Grandmothers. When I was in Wyoming with my Grandparents, we did lots of stuff. For one night we were campers even though we were sleeping in a fifth wheel. We went on a hike and went fishing. I also met a man named David Miller and his dog, Max. He was biking through Wyoming. He told us that he was 50 years old and that he was going to bike through 50 states in a year. He had already biked 26 states including Alaska. He showed me pictures of the beautiful Savannah, Georgia. He was right Savannah is beautiful.  And a cool fact is that there is a ferry in Savannah called Savannah Belle’s Ferry. Well, that is my name!  He was a really nice man. So nice that we invited him for breakfast. So my brother, Cody and I made pancakes, eggs, and bacon for 7 people that morning.  Then we went to my Grandparents house and played games and ate dinner. The next day we went rafting on the Shoshoni River. It was a grand time. The next morning it was time to leave. It was a fun trip.

P.S. On my blog, www.thestudyhouse.blogspot.com I have started a read along for the book Where the Red Fern Grows.  Children and adults will love it.

August Snowbuddies

Happy July Woolies!

Here we are smack dab in the middle of Summer!  I am happy to report that the Colorado fires appear to be “contained.”  Not without an army of Firefighters whose endurance was super human.  The loss of Homes and lives mark this Summer in great sadness.  We pray for the families that they have the strength to move forward.  We praise the Firefighters!!

Last Saturday was our first Farmer’s Market of the Season.  Down here on Main street in old town Windsor the streets were bustling with families out to enjoy the fun!  We are lucky as the event is just around the corner from the shoppe and “home” for Chuck and I.  We were able to enjoy our first Colorado peaches and apricots.  I will be certain to get to the Market first thing this coming Saturday so I can get some of the homemade cheese Danish. 

Since we have moved above the shoppe, I am missing gardening this year.  I did move over all of my favorite pots and cool iron trellis’.  Since we have a flat roof outside of our door upstairs, I thought I would try some roof top gardening, but haven’t even had a minute to try.  I can’t imagine a summer without geraniums as you all know how much I love them.  Tending a watering the yard I have not missed much, but flowers……I may have to rescue some from the Soopers parking lot and give it a try.   Now….if I could just find a spicket outside for some water????????????????????

Friday, July 13^th Giveaway…… Bee and I are gathering things that we add to our cool Moda bag that we will be drawing for on July 13^th.  Who will be the winner…..stay tuned!

AUGUST “SNOWBUDDIES.”  Here is the next in the Series of our “Snowbuddies” Embroideries.  This August themed Snowperson is holding a giant Sunflower.  We hope that you are enjoying these fun easy to stitch projects.

Each month will remain on the Blog to be downloaded free of charge. 

Have a safe Holiday!

Mini Moments with Savannah:

I am a little bummed about not being able to have your own little fireworks show in Windsor this Fourth, but town fireworks are still a great joy. AND WE SHOULD PROBABLY BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY!  Today I wrote a report about the Fourth of July and the history behind it.  I now realize what the Fourth Of July is really about. I am excited to swim on the 4^th and to just have a fun holiday with my family.

 Just to let you guys know I have started a read along book club on my blog. Here is the link to my blog http://www.thestudyhouse.blogspot.com It is when I read a book and you can read along. I will be starting a new book in the next week so please check it out. This is a great thing for kids my age to do during the summer break to keep their minds full of knowledge.

 I hope you have a fun holiday.

I AM PLEASED THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME MOISTURE IN THE AIR, BUT NOT ENOUGH! DARN IT!

Summer Time!

Hello Woolies!!

Summer Time has arrived in Colorado!  We are experiencing days in the 90’s and even hotter!  I remember when I first moved to Colorado in 1978…you know the “olden days”….the rare person had air conditioning in their homes.  Every afternoon at about 3:00 it would rain gently for a bit and then the sun would come out again.  It cooled things off so beautifully!  A day in the 90’s was rare for sure!  Chuck says he remembers when Fort Collins ended at Prospect Avenue.

Things do change…..this year’s Birthday qualified me for Social Security.  Wow! Life feels like it changes and goes by in a blink.  I hear the 1950’s referred to as “mid century.”  That can make you feel ancient.  I remember my sister and I visiting a Flea Market together and we were cracking up at all the things that we had from our childhood that are referred to as “vintage.”  We certainly in our minds eye are still the young chickies we always thought we were….at least that is how it feels until we look in the mirror.  I have found if I look in the mirror without my tri-focals on, I have not a wrinkle or age spot on my face!! Try it! It works!!

On to quilting…….where wrinkles can easily be taken care of with an iron!  Pictured below are Savannah (Bee) and myself holding the Moda Bag from Spring Market.  This bag is going to be filled with fun items, a total surprise for the person who wins it!  We will be drawing for the prize on July 13^th and notifying the winner in that Friday Post. 

Hope you have a great weekend, don’t forget that next Friday’s post will have the August themed “Snowbuddies” embroidery pattern.  We will be leaving the downloadable patterns on the blogspot until next June so that you have the opportunity to download them all.  After that they will be removed and distributed as a pattern that will be for sale.

Mini Moments from Bee…………. 

There is a lot of things you can do in a summer. You can go fishing, camping, vacation, picnics, bike rides, and swimming just to name a few. Well here is a great idea to make sure almost everything gets done that you are interested in. It's called a Summer Bucket List.

How To Get Your Summer Bucket List Started-

1.  You buy a bucket (small one is great) and write down all your summer want to dos on strips of cardstock.

2.  Then you put all the strips in the bucket. You can put this bucket by a bulletin board or something else.

3.  Then when you get the time to do one of the activities you can draw a strip from the bucket and then you have something fun to do that day. Make sure to take lots of pictures at your events. Then you can hang that event strip on the bulletin board along with a picture or two.

Here are some of my family's Summer Bucket List events:

·        Go to Waterworld

·        Go to Elitches

·        Go on a picnic

·        Ride our bikes on the Poudre Trail

·        Ride our bikes to the pool

·        Read at least 12 books

·        Swim at the Windsor Lake

·        Go the Gunther Toody's

·        Spend a day in Estes Park

·        Go to the Drive-In

·        Have a picnic on Picnic Rock

Here is a picture of our Summer Bucket List

Woolies Brown Bag Strip Kit Drawing Today!!!

Hello Woolies!

Today we drew the winner of the “Woolie’s Brown Bag Strip Kit.”  Our computer generated winner is……..Pam Hagar.  Congratulations!!  We will be emailing you for mailing information.  This is so much fun!!

We have started our “Summer Hours” at the shoppe.  We are only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Always going against the grain, I have shorter Summer Hours than Winter Hours…go figure.  Actually, this is the first step in creating the classroom space and classes on the days that I am closed.  With a smaller retail space it is hard to set up and operate classes while the shoppe is open.  Last Sunday, we had about eight ladies here just having a great time stitching and extending friendship.  Nancy promised us a Chantily Cake from Whole Foods and we were not disappointed.  I loved that I got the leftovers to share with Chuck.  We had plenty of healthy and not so healthy snacks to choose from.  I love the spirit of sharing and caring when two or more come together.  Stay tuned as we offer some really fun classes and I encourage you to contact us if you have a group of ladies that would like to use our space or have me teach a special class for you.

Last Friday night we had this enormous bus pull up and empty out 40 excited quilters from Texas.  It was about the wildest hour and fifteen minutes that we have experienced in a long while.  Since we knew these ladies would be visiting, I decided to make it “Free Kit” day at the shoppe.  Why not make the day a bit wilder and crazier!  I have at least one “Free Kit” day per month, it is a small project that I design just for this reason.  Ladies need to walk into the shoppe to get their kit.  Pretty easy!  We have been known to giveaway anywhere from 50 to over 300 kits in one day!!  The little kits are free for that day and then put out for sale the next day.  Soooo, “Bee” came in to be the distributor of “Free Kits.”  A lot of you Blog followers got to meet her, not that she is famous, but it was sure fun for her!!!  Our Texas ladies were able to experience our Shoppe, get a free kit and become “Woolies.”  Deb tells us that we converted a lot of ladies over to wool.  For sure we could tell that we made some new friends and followers.  Thanks Y’All!!!  Come again anytime, we loved it!!

Today, Bee and I are eating the best homemade tamales imaginable!!  A local woman makes and sells them and today they were steaming fresh right out of the cooker. They were so hot we could barely touch them.  Well, I consumed one and Bee couldn’t resist and had two.   I am sitting here watching her while she eats, picks out perle cotton colors and is blanket stitching.  She is definitely going to be a multi tasking woman some day.  I often realize just how your genes can filter down to grandchildren.  I may begin to call her “mini me” instead of “bee.”

I received a really cool Bag from Moda while at Market in Kansas City.  Our next post will show the bag and we will have some surprise contents for the NEXT GIVEAWAY.  Watch for details!!

Have a wonderful weekend, we are hoping that the horrible wildfire in Northern Colorado will soon become contained.  So many of our friends have been affected by this disaster.  Homes are lost, but so is the magnificent landscape of Colorado.  We are praying for a huge rain storm that will snuff out the entire fire and people can begin to rebuild their lives and homes. 

Mini Moments from Bee……………

Well, recital was amazing.  I danced my little heart out.  It was great having my family and friends there to cheer me on.

My brother, Cody has been gone for a week. He is at camp in Estes Park with his church youth group. I have been the only child, it’s been fun, but also boring. Without my brother around I don’t have anyone to play with, with it being summer and most people are out doing something else. Thankfully, he comes home today. I will enjoy his presence.  I can’t wait to hear and see him again.

Today I think of all the firefighters at the High Park Fire trying to contain the fire.  I pray for and thank them. I also think of all the homes that have been either evacuated or burnt down. I just pray that the Lord would look over the firefighters and the residents of the affected area.  God bless them all!

Summer is Here!!

Hello Woolies!

I can honestly say that Summer is here!  We have had such a warm Winter and Spring that it has been hard to define just when Summer would begin.  Last night was the first Concert in the Park and the streets were full of families coming and going to the park to enjoy the food and music.  Since we are now living downtown on Main Street it is so much fun to see and be a part of the activity without even starting my car!  I sometimes feel I am out of a romance novel living over the Shoppe.  It really is quite comfortable and this big antique building has welcomed us in so many ways.  Watch for future posts where I will share photos of our little home and some of the fun decorating ideas that I have used.

I have been spending lots of time in my storage units and have been finding some boxes with cool things in them.  Today, we introduce the “Posies Treasure Box” kit.  It is an 8” X 8” white box with a cool divided tray on the inside.  I love nothing more than finding a box or tin that I can embellish with one of my designs.  It is a challenge that soars me through the air.  I found 32 of these boxes in the way back of my storage unit.  I obviously had some vision for them.  So, I dug them out and this box is embellished with a Penny Rug on the lid and a wrap around Penny Rug for the box bottom.  One of the coolest parts of this box is a sectioned tray that fits just inside of the box.  Perfect for your treasures, sewing jewelry or whatever your heart desires.  The design features a white wool oval on the center front of the lower portion of the box.  I have used this spot to personalize my box with my initials.  You can do the same or add whatever you like.  Perfect for yourself, or a perfect gift for that special someone in your life.  The kit is available for $48.00, includes the Box, all the Wool for the Penny Rug on the lid and box.  We are happy to ship to you or stop by the shop and pick one up, while the supply lasts.  Call the Shoppe to order a kit – 970-686-5642.

I hope you have downloaded your next “Snowbuddies” embroidery pattern.  Some of you tell us that you are just getting the first one, but we have checked and both are on the site to download.  You may need to go to “Home” to update the latest postings. 

You still have time to sign up for the “Woolies Brown Bag” Kit that we will be drawing for on June 15^th.  You can check a previous blog posting for that information.

Have a great weekend, stay safe and be happy!

Mini Moments from Savannah –

Do you remember that Windsor had a tornado on the last day of school four years ago?  We had a big storm last night and it made me think of the tornado.  Before the storm we went to the Concert in the Park and it was really fun.  We had hamburgers, chips and a drink.  It was fun.  There were a lot of kids there and we got to see some of our friends.  I am so glad it is Summer time!