QuiltBLISS 2015

Are you as excited about QuiltBLISS as I am?? Plans for QuiltBLISS 2015 are well underway and we have some very special surprises!!  QuiltBLISS will be Thursday, February 26th through Sunday March 1st 2015. We couldn't be more excited about our teachers and guest speakers ~ but more on that later.

As the registration draws closer (July 28th, 2014) We will have more information about tickets, sponsors, pricing, teachers and the schedule of events. So visit the QuiltBLISS website starting in June. wahoo!

I just love our new logo! It couldn't have turned out better.

Please visit http://www.quilt-bliss.com for more info.

Strawberries + Summer



If you don't know by now, I have a serious slight obsession with strawberries. Really, I have several long standing obsessions, but strawberries is at the top of the list. I know it comes from growing up in Portland picking strawberries every summer with my family. Hood strawberries are small and full of the sweetest juicy flavor. Hood's make the best jam, ice cream and strawberries and cream.

Last spring when The Pattern Basket came out with the Strawberry Social quilt, I ran to my computer and ordered the pattern. For my strawberry medallion quilt I took the strawberries and made a border. Now, I am making the whole quilt. I will be tweaking it slightly (as I always have too!) but for now I am happily making my strawberries. Summer can't come soon enough.

QuiltBLISS Retreat

What an amazing weekend. I loved hosting QuiltBLISS and I am so glad I made a video of the weekend. It couldn't have turned out better and encapsulates how much fun we had. Check it out!



















QuiltBLISS 2014 from Lilly McDowell on Vimeo.

Yo-Yo's

I love handy work, I love the thimble and the needle. I love how they feel in my hands and I love the results after a few hours of just ME time.

Lately I have been crazy for yo-yo's. My dear friend was making Halloween yo-yos a few months back and explained how her sister for Christmas had made her a 100 yo-yo garland out of Christmas fabrics. Be still my beating heart. I had instantly gone yoyo for yo-yo's.

She was working with the standard "orange" yo-yo maker but after further investigation I found that there was a "jumbo version" and I was smitten.

The yo-yos end up being about 3" and a little more and I am in L-O-V-E.

My big idea was to take all my ugly, "what the heck was I thinking" fabric and make yo-yo's out of them for QuiltBLISS. Any fabric looks awesome all cinched and gathered. A yo-yo garland is pretty harmless and I knew if I decided to do something else with them, I could just take the yo-yos apart.

So began my quest to make hundreds of yo-yo's. I made a goal of 300 which would give me 6 strands of 50 yo-yo's. I have about 250 done and have started stringing them together.  All my previous hard work is starting to pay off, they look really cool.

We are Family

A few weeks back I realized almost all of my family would be in Utah. So I decided we needed to have a family photo shoot. I so appreciate my sisters making the effort to be there. These picture we will cherish forever. It was a great time to capture all of us in our different stages of life. My parents hadn't had photos taken together in 25 years! Far too long. They complained that they looked old...I said "Well,  you can't look 55 when your in your 70's" A good reminder to me...to take photos all along the way of life, and don't stop even if you think you look "old".

 Because we were all doing a session at the SLC Temple we had the pictures taken on the temple grounds. Even thought is was the last day of September the flowers were gorgeous, the sky was overcast the pictures turned out perfect. My kids really cooperated and there was little to no screaming and crying.

 

As always my friend Kimberly from Echo Photos outdid herself and waved her magic camera. She really is an outstanding family photographer!

The best homemade biscuits

After I had my last baby, my sweet neighbor brought over a bag of frozen biscuits. All the directions said was THAW and then COOK @ 400 degrees for 12-15 mins. It was already dinner time so in the freezer they went. Fast forward a few weeks and I needed dinner stat. I took out the biscuits and let them thaw. 30 mins later in the over they went. I got the jam and butter out and waited while they cooked. 

Really these biscuits are mouthwatering. I loved them. I asked my neighbor for the recipe and she happily obligued. I love when people will share their good recipes!

I made this recipe 3 times before they turned out. At some point I had switch my baking soda and baking powder GAH!!! and that is a deal breaker with this recipe. 

Here is the recipe for the best homemade biscuits:

1 pkg yeast and 2 tablespoon water ~ allow to proof

In a large bowl combine these dry ingredients:
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
3 tablespoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar

Add: 1 cup shortening and mix like pastry dough, then add 2 cups buttermilk and yeast.
Barely Mix Together.

Pour dough onto a floured surface and shape into a square. Avoid really mixing the dough too much ~ it should be just barley together. see below

Cut into squares and separate onto a cookie sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. OR place in a ziploc freezer bag for later.

* I do alittle of both cook 10-12 and freeze the rest. The smaller the squares the better because it is a yeast dough.

Eat hot with lots of butter and homemade jam!

Summer is Coming to a Close

Summer is coming to a close at our house. The kids start school next Tuesday. It's still boiling hot here and I refuse to buy skinny jeans for my kids to wear on the first day of school when it will be 99 degrees.

My baby turns ONE next Monday. Ahhhh, I just can't believe hims ONE.

I am hoping once school is back in session my life can get back to normal. Normal is a relative word, but I guess I mean a little quieter.

QuiltBLISS is coming along splendidly! There are only 7 spots left, so hurry and sign up. We have so many great things planned you'll be sad you missed it.