Front Door Designs

Christmas Decorations 2011

2011-12-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

Photos courtesy of Bryce

Thanksgiving treats

2011-11-23T14:49:00.001-08:00

Theses are the things that you need: Yogurt covered pretzels, Rolo's and nuts or candy for the top

Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Lay out the pretzels with the Rolos on top

Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 minutes and then pull out and press a candy or nut on top

That's a lot of Rolo papers!

Now they are ready to go to a party!
YUM!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T14:18:00.001-08:00

Our Front door

The turkey's are ready for Thanksgiving

More shots or our beautiful Fall leaves

Thanksgiving decorations

2011-11-23T13:44:00.001-08:00

It's time to take pictures of the Thanksgiving Decorations

The Kitchen

The Family room

The Living room

My new turkey pillow

Our front door

Some beautiful trees in our backyard

We have much to be Thankful for!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

Butterhorn Rolls

2011-11-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

I have a great recipe for Butterhorn Rolls that my neighbor gave me years ago.

They are very easy and everyone's favorite.

They gave me the reputation of being a great roll maker-

But it's really just the recipe!

I was called and asked to make the rolls for a catered dinner,

so I decided this was a good time to share the recipe.

BUTTERHORNS

1 pkg. yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup sugar

3 beaten eggs

1/2 cup melted butter ( one cube)

( I put the cube in a bowl, cover it with the paper it came in- and microwave a few seconds)

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add all the other ingredients in order.

Stir with a wooden spoon. It will be sticky!

Cover with saran wrap and put in the refrigerater overnight- (or for at least 4 hours)

When you are ready to make the rolls, divide the dough into 2 balls.

It is still a little sticky, so use some more flour.

Roll each ball into a circle, ( about 1/4 " thick) and spread with more melted butter.

No wonder they are so good!

Using a pizza cutter, cut the circle into 12-18 pie shaped pieces. ( I make 16)

Starting at the large end, roll them up into cresent shapes.

Repeat with 2nd ball of dough and put them on 2 cookie sheets.

Let rise

Depending on the outside temperature, that could be 1-3 hours

I have even let them rise for 4 hours during church

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes

I spread a little more butter on the tops after they are baked

ENJOY!

This is the easiest yeast roll you will ever make. And you didn't have to knead the dough!

Extra Hints:

I have doubled the recipe many times- but either use two mixing bowls or have someone strong there to stir the batter as a double recipe is pretty thick to work with!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Halloween again and time for my "annual" post.

Fall is my favorite time of year - I love all the beautiful colors and decorations.

Join me for a tour of my Halloween decorations.

This is my Grandson, hoping if he waters the pumpkins- they will grow Bigger!

The scarecrow- guarding the door and the pumpkins!

The pumpkins- now they are all watered. Look,

a new one sprouted up in the planter.

Our house sign

The entry way. Wow! there is sunshine.

The quilt hanging by the stairs. It was reflected in the entry way mirror.

The bench and the new pillow I made this year!

The living room

...with more pillows

My cute scarecrow

The family room

More of the family room

A closeup

The kitchen

Out the kitchen window

More cute things

A pretty tree in our front yard

Another pretty tree in our backyard.

I do love Fall in the Northwest. Red Trees and Green Grass!

Halloween Costume

2010-11-02T12:57:00.001-07:00

My husband had to dress up like someone from the 1920's for his Halloween party at work.

The "gangster" look suits him!

Fall Projects

2010-10-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

My daughter asked me to make Halloween "trick-or-treat" bags for her kids,

I had lots of fun making them. I hope they weren't embarrassed to use them.

The big ones were for the girls and the little one is for a boy

They did turn out kind of big-

I hope that they got a lot of candy to put in them!

They are hanging on my neighbor's cute little halloween fence.

I started this FALL QUILT last year and was excited to get it done in time to use this year.

I love the bright colors!

Here it is hanging out on the couch with a scarecrow and pumpkin.

Did I already say that "I love Fall"?

I Love Fall

2010-10-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

I guess it has been a year since I updated my blog. Making sherbet pumpkins makes me remember how much I love FALL!

We've got the sherbet and lots of candy.

We're all very artistic in this family.

Don't these look yummy!!

Jason and I saw this beautiful rainbow on a trip to the cabin.

We also took a trip to Leavenworth and loved the beautiful leaves on the hillside.

We enjoy the grandkids and fall leaves at the cabin!

We've also got the pumpins and flowers and grandkids on our front porch.

Gotta love those SUNNY Fall days in Washington!
(See, we are even playing football)

Sherbet Pumpkins

2009-10-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

It has been our family tradition to decorate sherbet pumpkin faces every year for

Andrew's October birthday.

This is what they look like ( after they have melted a little- sorry!)

Here is a picture of Andrew and Emily.

Andrew is holding his pumpkin with a candle in it.

Here are the kids decorating theirs.

If you want to make one,
Cut a container of orange sherbet down the side and slice off thin, round slices.
Add a green candy to the top and make a jack'o lantern face out of candy corn and m &m's, etc.
Or if you are a little kid- just dump on as much candy as you can and eat it.

ENJOY!

Halloween Quilts

2009-10-03T18:02:00.001-07:00

Our quilt group was excited about making circle quilts last year.

I made two Halloween Circle Quilts.

NUMBER ONE

...and, NUMBER TWO

Fall

2009-10-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE FALL

This is the PUMPKIN that we are growing in our yard.

Everyone loves to stop and look at it

HERE IS A CLOSE UP

A HALLOWEEN PILLOW I MADE

A FALL LEAF QUILT

MY VERY FIRST HALLOWEEN QUILT AND WITCH PILLOW

I MADE THIS PUMPKIN QUILT WITH MY QUILT GROUP

SEVERAL YEARS AGO

NEW PILLOWS FOR THE ENTRY WAY

A Close up

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

vintage baby quilt

2009-10-03T16:43:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a garage sale with my daughter. We saw this bag and thought it was made out of the Cutest fabric! However, it was a very odd shaped bag. I bought it thinking that the fabric ( + cute blue Aunt Grace that the lining was made out of) would go great with some red and yellow vintage fabrics scraps I bought in Sisters, Oregon.So it took the bag apart! Here is the fabric and pattern all ready to make a cute baby quilt!

Voila, the finished top- I used every scrap!

I tried for close up views!

Now to decide what to use for the back and binding!

It has to be something I have- that's my new rule!

Can't wait to finish it!

Finished Tops

2009-10-03T16:38:00.001-07:00

I finished some quilt tops which I started a few months ago.

I am excited to show that they are done.

The first is a quilt I made from April Cornel Fabrics

Here is one of the borders that I embroidered and sewed flowers on.

Here is the finished center with the two side borders

And finally, the whole quilt top.

The flowers and leaves are raw edge applique and after I quilt it I will sew buttons in the center of each flower. I'm hoping it will be as cute as the one I saw in the store.

I also finished two tops made out of Paris Flea Market Fabric.

When I made this first top I used a dark green print for the posts and when it was finished,

I wished they weren't so prominent - the blocks were supposed to "float"

So I made a second top and used a lighter green for the posts.

Can you tell the difference?

I do like them both!

I am Happy to have them done!

Our trip to the Oregon Coast

2009-09-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

Jason had a business meeting on the Oregon Coast in September, so I got to join him for a fun trip. It was someplace that I'd always wanted to go.

Here we are together in front of "the other Haystack rock"

The weather was perfect and the ocean, waves and sand were beautiful

Don't you wish you could have been there?

A beautiful sunset!

A view of the bay at Depoe Bay

Me and my friends

A view off the deck at our room in the Salishan lodge near Lincoln City, Oregon

Another beautiful rock!

My husband doing his favorite thing!

The beautiful view that he should have been looking at!

We got to hike up to the lighthouse on Cape Meares

This is the view taken near the lighthouse. What a great beach!

There is a Boy scout camp on part of it.

Another view!

Of course we couldn't come home without visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory
for some cheese curds, (and some dinner and ice cream!)

The pinwheel blocks are coming together!

2009-09-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the blocks that we are making and sharing for our qroup pinwheel quilt. We love them all, they are such bright, pretty colors

Sewing Class

2009-09-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

This Summer I taught a sewing class for my granddaughter and her friend.

Here they are sewing a pillowcase
Modeling the finished products!

Next they made purses and a project of their own choice.
( Emily joined them)

And, Voila, the finished projects. Aren't they cute!

Our House

2009-09-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

This summer our son and daughter painted our house. They were troopers as it seemed that this was the hottest summer we've had and it took lots of prepping and painting.

It looks great and we are glad they did it and not us!

It is just about the same color as it was, but a little more brown. Now we are trying to decide what to do with the big wall with nothing on it.

Sisters Souvenirs

2009-07-16T17:04:00.001-07:00

When we were in Sisters, Oregon on Friday night- I saw some beautiful stained glass hangings in a store window. The store was closed, but I was hoping to go back on Saturday and see if they had something that I could hang in my kitchen window.

I have been looking for something to hang there for a few years.

Since, I wanted the glass, I decided not to buy any fabric as a souvenir,

but then these old nine patch blocks called to me.

They are beautiful colors and all hand sewn. I had to get them! And after much looking around town, I finally found the stained glass.

Robert was there at a booth selling his work, so I got to meet him!

I love it. We just need to hang it up!

Can you tell I love RED?

Our trip to the Sister's Quilt Show

2009-07-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sisters was beautiful with the flowers hanging everywhere. Here is a closeup.
I like this picture because you can see that Sister's is surrounded by forest

There were also flower gardens on every corner.

I've always wanted to go to Sister's Oregon to the Outdoor Quilt show. This was the year we decided to do it. We had never been to Central Oregon, so we had a fun three days looking around. We enjoyed the beauty of Mt. Hood on our drive there.

Around every bend we would see it in a different scene.

We couldn't decide which one was our favorite.

It is so majestic!

Driving into Sisters you can see the "Three Sister's" peaks.

My favorite was this shot with the mountains and the barn.

My husband has found himself a place to "hang out" during the quilt show!

Really, he barely got to sit there. He walked around with me and took pictures.

This is one of the buildings and Sculptures in Sisters.
See the flag advertising the Quilt Show?

This is the quilt panel they made for the show.

It was sold out, but we found it framed on a building.

Here is the quilt store called "The Stitchin' Post".

They sponsor the quilt show each year.
Here I am on Friday night, in front of the Stitchin' Post

Here is the Stitchin Post on Saturday- the day of the show

The ladies from Gee's Bend were in front of the shop signing their book and Singing!

This is the way the streets looked.

Thousands of hanging quilts and thousands of people.

What a cute shop. I'm there on the corner in the green shirt.

Here are some of my favorite quilts.

There were so many and lots of art quilts, but my favorites tend to be simple and colorful.

How about this one for a reminder of a trip to Paris?
Two Christmas Quilts
They always grouped like-quilts together

and color coordinated them to the building they were hanging on.

I had to add an "Art Quilt".

Love the bears!

When we got to hot and tired we left and drove to Sun River

We ate lunch at the Lodge in their outdoor cafe

Bryce's Birthday

2009-07-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

"Bryce's real birthday!"

Our baby is 23! Couldn't skip showing his cute picture with his cake.

Pinwheel Quilt Block Tutorial

2009-07-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

I saw the cutest, bright PINWHEEL quilt on a blog called VanessaChristenson.com

My quilt group decided to each make 8 pinwheel blocks a month and trade them for 8 months.

There are 8 of us and we will each end up with 64 pinwheels!

We chose to use sherbet colored fabric.

On Vanessa's site, she makes each pinwheel separately, so I decided to do a Tutorial on the fastest way to make 8 pinwheel blocks, from the same fabric.

You could use 2 fat quarters or 1/3 of a yard of a colored fabric. You also need the same amount of a white fabric.

You would draw a 10" by 20" rectangle on the back of the white fabric. One 10 x 20 will make 4 blocks. Draw two if you are making 8 blocks. Then divide each piece into 8 five inch squares.
Next draw a diagonal line though the four squares. You will need to enlarge this to see my lines.

2. Pin the white fabric to the colored fabric, right sides together

3. Start sewing 1/4" from the drawn diagonal line. Sew on both sides of it. then turn and sew on the opposite diagonal line.

4.When you are finished sewing, cut the squares apart with a rotary cutter, on the lines you have drawn

5. Now cut on the diagonal line. Soon you will have 16 half square triangles sewn together

This is what one looks like. It's all sewn and is ready to press and trim

Iron it open, pressing the seam toward the colored triangle

Now turn it over and square it up using a 4 1/2 " ruler

Here are all the yellow ones squared up and ready to go.

Next lay them out like pinwheels to get ready to sew again.

An easy way to put them together is to chain sew them. First sew the two top squares together, then sew the two bottom squares together. Keep sewing until they are all sewn together.

Now cut them apart in twos. See how they are different. One is a top unit and one is a bottom unit.

Lay them out and press them. ( they will still be connected in the center) Press the seams toward the colored side. This will make both seams going opposite directions.

Fold them together and sew

Open up and press.

Now finish the rest. Look at how pretty they are.

Watch for pictures of all the cute blocks we will trade and finally the finished quilt!

Patriotic quilts

2009-07-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

In February, my quilt group sponsored a quilt show to raise money for "American Hero Quilts". Sue Nebeker is in charge of a group who provide an American Hero Quilt for every injured soldier at the Madigan Army Hospital near Fort Lewis, WA. We wanted to help her make quilts and raise funds to finish and ship the ones she makes.

This is the picture that was in the local paper to advertise our show.

I had just finished two patriotic quilts that I donated to be raffled at the Quilt show.

The 1st is a "Stars and Bars" quilt

The 2nd is a Mystery quilt that I made in a church quilt group

I still have my flag quilt that I hang on the wall

I made this top years ago, when I first started quilting. I thought if I gave the other two quilts away- it would force me to get this one quilted by the forth of July!
Here it is, still unquilted - but very festive!

Maybe I will finish it by the next 4th of July!

Celebrating the 4th

2009-07-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here is our front porch looking Patriotic!

We had a great 4th of July weekend. We got to spend lots of time with all the family.
Bryce had two roommates from college who came to stay with us.

Friday morning, he and Derek gathered some friends and

they all floated down the Snoqualmie river.

Getting ready to go!

In the afternoon we went to Lake Sammamish with Aaron, Kira and their friends and Angela and her girls. Everyone had fun on the boat, the jet skis and playing in the sand.

It was a perfectly hot day to enjoy the beach.

We took a picnic.

Saturday morning we had a pancake breakfast at the church. It was for 2 wards-

So Angela and Scott and family were also there.

The Bishoprics looking very festive!

Angela, her children and friends

After the breakfast, we went to the Parade in Bothell with Barrett and Beckie and then had a barbecue for Bryce, Derek and their friends. Andrew and Emily joined us.
Then we all went to the fireworks in Sammamish.

Sunday, the kids came to dinner.
Here are some of the family who have birthdays in July!
Happy Birthday!

Don't worry, there was more dessert! Beckie made brownie cupcakes,
Angela made a fruit pizza and Andrew and Emily made cotton candy!

After dinner, we had a tug-of -war to see who was the strongest.

It was another beautiful day in the Northwest!

Mom's quilts

2009-07-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

While we in Utah, I took pictures of the quilts that I had made for my mom. They turned out a little blurry. I took better ones when I made the quilts, but I can't find them.

I'm hoping to get all the quilts I've made on the blog eventually, so I can have a record of them.

This is the quilt I made for her 80th birthday. It starts with pictures of her growing up, marrying and adding her family. It hangs on a wall in her bedroom.

I made this quilt for Fall, It includes both Halloween and Thanksgiving

I made this quilt for her when she moved into her condo and got a new green leather couch.

Does it look like it has feet?

Trip to Utah

2009-06-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah, we took a trip to Park City to celebrate our Wedding anniversary.

We stayed there 41 years ago, when we were on our Honeymoon.

The weather was beautiful and we took a ride up the Mountain on the ski lift.

This is the view of Park City from the ski lift.

Taking a time out with a bear

Jason taking his time out with the bear.

We stayed at a great Bed andBreakfast called "The Washington School House Inn"

A picture of us on the porch

We stayed in the Miss Jennings Room- Lovely!

Trip to Utah

2009-06-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

In June we went to Utah to go to a neice's wedding and to visit relatives

Here is a picture of the happy couple.

We visited Jason's father's grave and took flowers

Our daughter, Angela, and her youngest, Nathan, flew to Utah with us.

We visited Jason's mother.
Here is Nathan with his Grandma and Great Grandma Moulton

We were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open house

This is the outside of the temple. Isn't it beautiful!

We visited with my sister and I got to go "Material Girl's Quilt Shop"

which is near her house.

We also visited my mom.

Here is Nathan with his Great Grandma Cheever

We took a drive over to Santaquin, where my mom was born

We stopped at the Red Barn (famous for their ice cream cones)

Grandpa and Nathan got to try out the Tractor

This is the House where my mom grew up.

We also visited the cemetery to put flowers on her parents grave

Andrew's Graduation

2009-06-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, June 14, we went to our son, Andrew's graduation. He is graduating from University of Washington Bothell in August, but they only hold graduation in June.

Here he is in the crowd. ( look in the middle)

Showing off the diploma-to-come!

Some of his supporters

His brother Bryce (top) Mom, Andrew, his wife Emily, Dad and a neice and nephew

More Posing

We want to remember the day!

WAY TO GO ANDREW!

Birthdays

2009-06-09T11:03:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to add that the empty fridge is fixed and filled and ready to go again. Hooray!

We have lots of family birthdays in June and July. Derek and Scott are first. They are getting ready to blow out "all " their candles. Lots of family were here to help celebrate!

wedding flowers

2009-06-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last Friday and Saturday I helped do flowers arrangements for a wedding open house for a friend.
She loves daisies and pink flowers - So we started with daisies and added pink roses and peonies. Luckily, we live in Washington and lots of the flowers came from our gardens.
There is something very wonderful about working with flowers!

This is the swag for the fireplace mantle

Here are the other arrangements we made

On Saturday, we put one on the table by the front door

This one was for the buffet table

These were on the tables outdoors

Baby Gifts

2009-06-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

Baby Gifts

It seems like everyone I know who is having a baby this summer, is having a baby girl.

I was all out of burp cloths and bibs for girls,

so it is time to make more.

(I'll make some for boys, also)

Here they are, all cut out

The finished product

These are some of my favorites

Look how cute they look in the basket!

I got them finished just in time for a baby shower this morning.

Our "New" Refrigerator

2009-06-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

I think that because we decided to have a Memorial day barbecue, our refrigerator decided to quit working that morning. We loaded everything into ice chests.

We got the fridge working and it worked for a week. Then yesterday morning it quit again.

I wonder if it was because we were hosting another barbecue that night for some church friends? Now all our food is back in the ice chests.

Normally, it is cold enough in Washington to keep everything cool.
But, of course, this has been the hottest week of the year!

The repairman is coming tomorrow to put a new compressor in our real refrigerator!
Yeah!
I am thankful for ice and refrigerators.

Memorial Day

2009-06-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day

Because the weather was so wonderful, we decided to inivite our neighbors over for a barbecue.

The kids loved playing in the fountain and the adults enjoyed visiting

All the kids wanted to have a turn on the swing

The food was great!

This is our newest little neighbor. Everyone got a turn to hold her.

Isn't she adorable?

2009-05-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

More Tree Climbing

I think my son must have been jealous that the grandchildren got to climb a tree and get their picture taken, so we found him climbing a different tree in the front yard. He used to climb it when he was younger, and he proved that he could still do it!

He's really up there- Keep looking.- I'll show you another view!

I hope the Grandchildren don't get any ideas!

2009-05-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

After I made my block for Claudia's quilt, (posted earlier)
I decided to make a pillow for a friend of mine who lost her father.

This is what it looks like. I love the borders!

2009-05-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Spring!

This is a picture of the beautiful "tulip tree" right outside our front door.
The grandchildren love to climb it and they only add to it's beauty!

Two of our cute granddaughters. Pink girls in a pink blossom tree!

Paris Flea Market Quilt

2009-05-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

NEW PROJECTS

Its time for me to start some new projects!
Years ago, I bought a collection of (Moda) Paris Flea Market fabrics and a pattern.
When I got ready to start working on it, I realized that I needed more of the background fabric. Luckily, I was able to find it online.
I ordered it from Quilthome.com and it came in two days!

Here it is !

Quilt # 1

The blocks laid out

This is a picture of the finished top. I just have to add the scalloped border!

Quilt #2

A few years ago, I was traveling through Montana with my husband. I saw this flower quilt pattern at Bell Tower Quilts in Corvallis. I fell in love with it. I had fun picking out fabrics for it at lots of other quilt shops all along the way. I think I am ready to start on it.

I love the bright fabrics, they are April Cornell fabrics by Moda!

A picture of the pattern and some of the fabrics.

Here are the center blocks-

All the flowers and leaves-

Now it will be a few weeks while I embroider the vines and sew on the flowers!

Quilt

2009-05-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Claudia's Quilt

I am in a quilt group called the "Sammamish Sew What's".

When the husband of one of our members passed away , we all made her blocks for a quilt. Then I put it together.

Here are the beautiful blocks-appliqued and embroidered!

This is the block that I made-

This is the finished quilt-

The embroidery and applique blocks all turned out so sweet. It is bright and cheerful.
We hope it brightens her days!

CTR pillows

2009-05-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

These are some pillows that I made for for my grandchildren who got baptized and for the children that I teach at church. They are to remind them to" Choose The Right"

Our Family

2009-05-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! 2009

Since this is a blog about my love of family and quilts,

I decided that it would be a perfect day to start my blog.

This is a picture of most of my family in front of the church door on our Grandson's baptism day. A Granddaughter was baptized 2 weeks earlier.