to swap or not to swap { & giveaway winner announced! }

heather & kerri are at it again!

{the brains behind the pillow swap}

they have just started a new swap.

The { Urban } HOME Goods - a modern swap

wip wednesday... my oldest quilt still in progress

do you ever wonder how i decide what wip to blog about?

sometimes it's easy.. there is something on my design wall... you haven't seen it.. done.

sometimes it's something i haven't worked on in a while and just decided to pull out

and then sometimes.

like today.

the day itself inspires the post.

today is march 17th.

and to most of you...

that means it is st. patty's day.

{and it is...}

but it is also the founder's day for my sorority

i am a proud sister of delta phi epsilon

that's me.. sitting in the front row... 3rd from the left.

circa january 2003 - drexel university

so how does this relate to quilting??

easy!

this is my oldest wip!!

 from 2003!

6/15/2003 to be specific.

i happen to have a spreadsheet with start and finish dates for all my quilts... so i also know that this was the fourth quilt i ever started... some people may call it obsessive.. i call it detailed.

anyway.

i finished the top on 7/10/2005 & haven't done a darn thing to it since.

why you ask?

because when i started it..

i was an inexperienced quilter.

and made a lot of mistakes.

and now i have no idea how to finish it.

but it has such sentimental value... that i have to come up with a plan... somehow!

 here are some of the issues.

with text on the photos to show...

so.

we have quilter's cotton

mixed with flannel

old sheets

fleece

linen

a placemat

lots of fuse-able interfacing

all kinds of applique

and markers!

how the heck do i fix the hold..

and quilt this thing.

without breaking a million needles??

cause like i said.

this thing has crazy sentimental value.

including that this purple shirt in the photo above

is the first letters i ever got.

so what is your oldest wip?

and why?

hop on over to quilter's daily to join the blog along...

share your oldest wip!

giveaways going on in blogland... wk11 {ended}

do you read this list all the time & wonder how to get your giveaway listed?
it's easy!!
send me and e-mail... it's best if you send it to me over the weekend or monday... so i have time to get it into tuesday's post when it posts.  i can't promise all giveaways sent to me will be listed... but i try & list as many as i can each week!
-julie

all giveaways from this week have ended!

grab this code to add the giveaway button to your blog to help spread the word!

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sponsored giveaway: featuring Burgundy Buttons {ended}

i'd like to introduce to you...

leah of burgundy buttons

sunday stash..wk11

i've had a productive week over here.

and i didn't poke any buttons!!

fabric OUT

etsy sales.
pillow talk swap idea #1
pillow talk swap idea #2
zipper tutorial fabric... almost done!!
elijah's quilt
new MBS tutorial

and friday night.

a bunch of us from the philly modern quilt guild

got together & had a sewing night!

 i worked on this... blocks i cut may 16th of last year!
and haven't touched since...

just a simple bricks quilt

for me.

the backing fabric is the best part... i gotta remember to snap a pic & show you...

after i add a few more rows to the top.

fabric IN
gauze fabric for pillows... didn't work as planned

so this week

2 in
18.05 out

YTD totals

purchased: 241.29 yds

busted: 180 yds

net: -61.29 yds

another week in the right direction!
how did you do this week??

loaded chocolate covered pretzels tutorial

a while back i showed these to you..

and promised a tutorial..

& i finally got a chance to edit the photos & type it all up for you!

disclaimer.

i am a quilter.

not a chef.. or baker..

i don't pretend to know my way around a kitchen.

or spend much time in there...

so with that said.

here we go!

loaded chocolate covered pretzels tutorial

supplies

1. chocolate - shown here is "Make 'n Mold" and "Wilton Candy Melts" ...use chocolate that is made for candy molds... if you use regular chocolate you'll have to temper it & i can't tell you anything about that!  I prefer Wilton.. but i'll work with any kind.. I had one bag of milk.. one of dark.. and one of white.

2. assorted toppings

3. glass bowls

4. forks

5. a plate

6. cookie trays

7. wax paper

8. pretzels

9. microwave
10. plastic bowls
11. spatula

Step #1

Open up the bag of pretzels and sort out the broken ones from the unbroken ones.  I do my best to get a bag with mostly unbroken ones.. but you'll never get 100%  Put the broken ones back in the bag and give them to someone {like my dad} that doesn't care that they are broken... and let them eat them.  If necessary inform anyone that is around that they can't eat the non-broken ones.  {this needs to happen when i make them.. i love you dad!}

Step # 2

Put the chocolate into a glass bowl and put it in the microwave.  Using medium heat.. i used a 6 on mine.. set it for one minute.

Step #3

Once it beeps.. open the microwave and stir.  The chocolate pieces that touch the glass of the bowl will melt more and probably stick to the bowl.  So... stir well and set it for another minute.  Continue until you can stir it and there are no pieces left.  You can use 30 second intervals on the microwave after the first two times.  You don't want to over do this.. as the chocolate can burn.

Step #4

This is what it should look like.  It won't be liquid like water... but it should be nice and smooth.

Step #5

Drop a pretzel in!

Step #6
Gently push it into the chocolate and use your fork to cover it in chocolate.

Step #7
Slide the fork underneath the pretzel and lift it out of the chocolate.

Step #8
Gently tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to help the excess chocolate drip off the pretzel.

Step #9
Your pretzel should look like this photo.  Gently place it on the wax paper covered cookie tray.  Repeat until the cookie tray is covered.

Step #10
You should end up with a tray like this.  You could stop here but that would be kinda boring... You'll want to work fast so that the chocolate doesn't harden before you have a chance to add some fun toppings!

Step #11
It's time to add toppings!  The first one i'll show is mini M&M's.  I emptied an entire bag into a plastic bowl.  Pour the M&M's all over the pretzels... just go for it.. cover them!  I'll show you later how you aren't wasting any!

Step #12
This is what it'll end up looking like.  Set it aside & make more.  I don't put the pretzels in the fridge at this point... even though some people will tell you to do that.

Step #13

Pretzel rods are also easy to make!  Instead of covering them completely.. you'll want to cover between 1/2 and 2/3 of the pretzel.

Step #14
This is how i cover them.  I coat the fork and use it to then coat the pretzel.  I rotate the pretzel as I go so that all sides get covered.

Step #15
Once it is coated it should look like this photo.   Gently place it on the wax paper covered cookie tray.  Repeat until the cookie tray is covered.

 Step #16
You can mix both types on one tray.

Step #17
I also use candy toppings.  Shown here is turtle crunch by Wilton.  Just like before...go for it!  Pour the toppings on and completely cover the pretzels.  I use the entire container at this point.  Again I'll show you later how you aren't wasting any!

Step #18
Now you have another covered baking sheet of pretzels.

Step #19

Once the chocolate has completely dried.. it's time to take the pretzels off the wax paper.  carefully pick up one pretzel at a time and shake off any excess topping.

Step #20
This is what your pretzel should look like.

Step #21
After you remove all of the pretzels you'll be left with the excess topping.  Lift the wax paper up a bit on 2 sides to get it all in the middle like this photo.

Step #22
Then you'll be able to pick it up as shown in this photo... and funnel it all back into the container.. and use it to cover more pretzels!

Step #23
Another way to decorate your pretzels is to drizzle melted chocolate on them.  I often do dark onto milk... or milk onto white... and so on.

Step #24
It is hard to describe this action... but I tried my best to capture it in this above image.  It is a very fast back and forth motion... it doesn't always come out perfect... and you do get much better at it the more you try.  If your chocolate has begun to harden at all this won't be possible.. without melting it a bit again.  The more liquid the chocolate.. the easier this step is.

Step #25
Another photo to show the drizzling.  It helps with the pretzel rods to just go across them all at the same time. Any of the chocolate that connects them to each other on the wax paper will easily break off when you remove them later.

Step #26
My favorite topping... Dark chocolate and Mint on dark covered pretzels... these all went first!

 #27
I hate to waste... so at the end when i have more than one chocolate left.. but not enough in the bowl for dipping... this is what I do.  Take the bowl with the least amount of chocolate and use a spatula to scoop it all together.

#28
Scoop it into the other bowl right on top of the other kind of chocolate.  Shown here is dark on top of milk.  Now you'll have enough to dip a few more pretzels... and the ones that you make will end up being a marble looking mixture of the two!

#29
Put all your pretty pretzels on a nice plate or tray... and share!  Once they are done.. they can go in the fridge... but they don't need to.  FYI-If you put them in the fridge before the chocolate hardens you run the risk of them drying too fast & a whiteish looking film may appear on them.  Also.. I usually leave a few at home... because leftovers are very rare!!

enjoy!!

pillow talk swap done!

first off..

thank you for all of your opinions on my original pillow idea

i read each one.

tried a few things.

but the flower wasn't cooperating... so since my deadline was approaching.. i put the flower aside for another day... and made this....

i love it.

love love it.

so much that it was really hard to send it!!

here it is in progress.

it fits a 14" pillow form.

the white.. and final navy linen border are a flange. 

i quited along the shape of the hexagons... 1/4" in and around all the shapes. 

since my partner sent me my pillow early.

the two of them got to hang out together for a few hours...

how great is this pillow that quiltinkimmie made me??

i just love it!

my pillow loved it too.

they didn't want to leave each other.

they hung out together for a while.

along with my fantastic denyse schmidt pillow {thank you!}

wall art & ottoman via target

& since this post is all about hexagons...
& since the cat is already out of the bag...
i'll be hosting the next old red barn quilt a long!!!
yesm... me!
a hexagon quilt a long!

as dana put it... "Julie has graciously volunteered to teach us the mystery of the hexing hexagon."

so are you in??
we will be starting mid april...
so you have some time to plan!