Food Drive at The Crazy Quilter

I guess it's time for me to grow up and give back to the community! For my first attempt at becoming socially responsible, I am holding a food drive during the month of November. Here is how it will work:

Thru Nov. 30, when you bring a nonperishable food bank donation, I will give you 10% off your in-store purchase. The only exclusions are machine quilting and class fees.

In addition, for online purchases, I will donate 10% of the total purchase, (before shipping and sales tax) to the local food bank.

Now you can quilt in November and feel good knowing someone will be eating Thanksgiving dinner because of you!

Wool Pin Cushion Kit

For the past few evening while I watch TV I've kept my hands busy making up one of the new wool pin cushions I found at Market. Here is a picture of the final result:

Everything but the floss and stuffing to make this pin cushion is included in the reusable tin! For $1 more, I also have bags of crushed walnut shells, which is used for the filling. A great stocking stuffer or friend gift!

New-Ragspuns

Ragspuns are a product we purchased this Fall at Market. They are adorable little pre-cut shapes that are fast and easy to applique to all sorts of things. Wall hangings, pillows, tablerunners, towels, pins, and ornaments to name a few! They are not expensive, and add a lot of texture and personality to your projects!

Dec. 1 we will be starting a monthly towels club. Basically, for $13.95 + shipping each month, you'll get everything you need to make 1 tea towel. These make excellent gifts, or use for seasonal decor in your kitchen! You can literally have this done in an hour or two!

You can view and order the monthly kit Here! Don't forget to watch the New catagory, as other Ragspun products arrive that I have ordered! There are some adorable pin kits on the way, and more!

Back from Market

Well,

I'm back from Quilt Market! It was a whirl wind trip, but worth it as usual. I will be updating the website with everything new, so be sure to check the New Additions catagory over the next few days for everything I brought home.

I don't even know where to begin, we found so many things we loved. There are new fabrics featuring tractors, cowboys and indians, paper dolls, and shoes coming in the future. There are TONS of new patterns (2 suitcases worth), and some exciting new products. I have a couple of advent calendars, a tree skirt, an adorable wool pin cushion, and so much more to add! I will try to highlight one or two things per day over the next week or so. If you want a sneak peak, watch the New Additions!

My money saving strategy of staying farther from the convention center and renting a car proved to be iffy, at best. By the time we drove 30 mintues each way, paid for parking at the convention center ($10/day), and got lost looking for the nearest Starbucks, I'm not sure this proved to be a good strategy, so I'll probably be revamping for next year.
Although my GPS was invaluable, it did have it's faults. For example, did you know it doesn't tell you when you're about to run a red light? Nope, you need my mom for that, who's scream from the passenger seat is actually quite effective. It also doesn't speak up when you're driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Nope, once again, major GPS design flaw. Some days you're just lucky to be alive, huh?

Yep, I think I'm going to fire myself from making travel reservations and let my mom take it over. Especially after the long lay-over in Seattle and the puddle-jumper plane we had to ride to Spokane in. Try staying calm with my mom next to you, making comments like "This small of a plane should really come with parachutes." Yes, I think I'll let her make any future reservations!

Anyways, watch for lots of new stuff. Lots, and lots, and lots.......

New Names for Hair Dye

See, the funny thing about black hair is that it's really hard to match the color and get a natural result. We've all seen those ladies whose hair is so black it looks neon blue.

I don't dye often, but lately the grays come faster and faster. Since my #1 is to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER actually buy "black" dye, but stick with the darkest shade that isn't black instead, I thought I was safe with "Natural Black" instead of the darkest "jet black." Boy was I wrong...

The last time my hair glowed like this was when I dyed it for fun in highschool. And I don't mean a good glow. Here are some alternate names I've come up with for "Natural Black."

"Too Poor to go to a Hair Salon"
"Why I Didn't Go To Beauty School"
"My Hair Glows in the Dark!"
"Now You Know Why That Hair Dye Was On Sale"
"You Can See My Hair From Space"
"Well, At Least There's No Gray Left!"
"Who Needs a Halloween Costume, Anyways?"

And the ever popular, "Holy Shit!" which is what my mom said when she saw my hair. Yes, I've now joined the ranks of women whose hair is "so black is looks neon blue." Just in time to head off to Houston. Oh Joy.

Warning:Make at your own risk!

I had a moment of weakness at the grocery store yesterday. Actually, a few moments of weakness in a few different aisles, and when I left I had all the ingredients to make really good Chocolate Oat Bars. I found this recipe almost 10 years ago in a recipe book of my mom's, and I've made them so many times since I have the recipe memorized. I'm not much of a baker, so that's saying a lot!

If you're up for some major acne breakouts and instant weight gain, whip up a batch of your own! They only take about 10 minutes, which is why they're so dangerous! Here's how:

Melt 1 cup of butter. Add a tsp. of vanilla and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Stir until the sugar is mostly disolved.

To this, add about 3 cups of uncooked oats. I use Quaker Oats. Cook this mixture on low about 3 minutes. You may need to add more or less oats, just add enough to soak up almost all of the butter mixture.

While that cooks on low, spray a 9x9 glass pan with Pam. Add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to a new pan and turn on low to melt.

Press about 1/2 to 2/3 of the oats mixture into the bottom of the glass pan. Be sure to stir the chocolate too, so it doesn't burn.

When almost all the chips are melted, add 1/2 cup of peanut butter and melt into the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Then, pour this into the glass pan.

Sprinkle/crumble the remaining oat mixture on top of the chocolate. Then, refrigerate until firm.

That's all there is to it. While it firms up, I recommend stocking up on acne wash!

Store Menu Changes

I finally figured out how to change the layout of my online store menu this week! I have changed it so that it is now 4 rows across instead of 2. I have added so many new catagories since I started the site that 2 rows across meant a lot of scrolling to find the right catagory. So, what do you think? Is it easier and more pleasing to the eye?

Check out the changes here!