Musings by KA

Well another week has flown by...just where does all this time goes that flies through the air.  I had a blast reading all the comments during the Mistletoe Make and Bake blog hop, thank you so much if you left one.  Normally I try and answer all comments personally but y'all overwhelmed me, thank you for the kind words....and btw I am not responsible for any weight gained during the making and baking of the hop...just sayin'.... WOW....another Thank You to everyone that brought in panties for our Pantie Raid, when I left on Saturday we had 62 packages and I'm not sure if we got any on Monday...if we did I'll update the total over on my Facebook page, what's that??? you don't follow me on Facebook...well get on it...we have loads of fun over there and you don't want to miss out. We are a day away from December and I still haven't started my Christmas gifts but that's no big surprise to those that know me but this year I need to get my fanny in g

The Pantie Raid is still going on.... if you've not dropped off panties for the Pantie Raid there's still time....Kelly Ann's Quilting will be open Saturday 9am to 3pm...we still have plenty of fat quarters to give away.  Lets show the quilters from the other shops... Batiks Etc and Sew What Fabrics ... Wytheville VA Sweet Home Quilt Shop ... Conyers GA The Quilted Kitty ... Lincoln NE Quilting Possibilities  ... Forked River NJ Wish Upon a Quilt ... Raleigh NC Keepsake Cottage Fabrics ... Bothell WA Rosebud's Cottage ... White Bear Lake MN Cotton Patch Quilt Shop ... University Park Fl Log Cabin Quilt Shop ... La Vista NE Shiisa Quilts ... Bloomington IN Clever Quilter ... Newfield NY   that we know how to give our panties.... hope to see y'all tomorrow... until next time be kind Kelly Ann

Kelly Ann's Quilting will be having our first annual after Thanksgiving Pantie Raid to collect new women's and children's  panties and socks.  We'll be donating all that we collect to the local shelter that services abused women and their children.   We'll be accepting donations Friday November 26th and Saturday November 27th, and if you're traveling don't worry, we'll take those panties on Wednesday the 25th.  For each package of new undies you donate, we'll give you a free fat quarter from a selected group. We have enough cut and rolled for 350 donations and it would make me jump for joy if we had to cut more.   We are not alone in the Pantie Raid...take a look at some of my peeps that will also be collecting panties in their area... Batiks Etc and Sew What Fabrics ... Wytheville VA Sweet Home Quilt Shop ... Conyers GA The Quilted Kitty ... Lincoln NE Quilting Possibilities  ... Forked River NJ Wish Upon a Quilt ... Raleigh NC Keepsake Co

Before you do this.... Make sure you do this... so that you don't end up like this... Have a great Monday... and remember... Be Kind... and... Rewind.... Kelly Ann

With the temperature dropping at night the trees have decided to drop their leaves but not all at one time, little by little, week by week...The first weekend Andrew went out to start up the blower he couldn't get it started so a quick run around the yard with the mower and most of the leaves got chopped up.  Weeks later still unable to get the blower started we determined that it was just best to get a new blower and put this one out of our misery.  But, before I'd let him use the new blower I thought I share a few pictures of what our fall yard looks like...  Looking down on the ground...  looking through the branches...  don't forget to look up...  looks like a quilt in the making, love the color play..  perfection...one simple leaf... perfection says goodbye to fall... Next on my to-do list...Thanksgiving Dinner... stay tuned... menu coming up... until next time Be Kind... Kelly Ann

I have a question...do you share your cookies?  do you do a cookie swap? Well check out some fun cookie swap stores with the rest of the bloggers...featuring today... Vickie Cook Eapen – Spun Sugar Quilts Melisa Morrison – Sweet Home Quilt Co. I love to share my cookies... For several years I've made platter after of platter of cookies and sent them off to work with Andrew.  The years I've not been able to make a boatload of cookies leaves me feeling like something is missing from Christmas.  Standing at the kitchen counter with all my ingredients laid out in front of me, mix a batch and into the fridge to chill, mix the next batch and into the fridge they go...and it goes on like this until I have several batches ready to hit the oven.  I think it's so cool to come home and throw a batch into the oven...yummo!  I've never done a cookie swap, but I would guess it's like a wine tasting except everyone goes home with a plate of cookies, and instead of a wine

Day 5...So, have you been making and baking as we blog along?  Up today... Roseann Kermes – Rosebud’s Cottage Brenda Riddle – Little Acorns I wonder what these two have in store for y'all today? Is there one tradition that you have to do during the holiday season, something you can't live without?  Mine is eggnog...   yummy, creamy, rich eggnog...and do you know what goes great with eggnog?? COOKIES!!! This recipe came from my Mother-in-law and while I do an okay job with them, and they taste pretty much the same for some reason her's are better...and these Linzer Tarts go great with eggnog, so grab a mug and get to baking...almost a match made in heaven. LINZER TARTS             1 cup butter    2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 tsp almond extract 3 cups flour 1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder 1 cup Raspberry Preserves (or flavor of your choice) powdered sugar Cream butter and sugar; blend in eggs, extract, flour, baking powder.  Mix well, chill batter for 1 hour or more.  R

Sorry it's a day late but here goes.....drum roll please.... Kathy B. said... Kelly Ann - thanks for the "interesting" recipe - can't wait to share some Reindoor Poo with friends and family! I love to applique wool/felt, so I'll create that version for sure. I have never used Aurifil, so I'd better be checking that out as well. Thanks for sharing the recipe, pattern and hand motioning photos! Kathy B...send me your mailing address and your package of 12wt Aurifil thread will so be on your doorstep... Thank you to everyone for leaving a comment...I had a blast reading them all...

Wow it's already day four...where did the time go?  Up today is... Lissa Alexander – Moda Lissa Julie Stewart – Quilts4Julie Have y'all noticed a theme in our post?  Each day we have a different subject to chat about, today we're suppose to talk about a "go to" book, it could be cooking, crafting, or just general reading.  I can honestly say I don't have a "go to" book, all of my recipes are either in my little pattern box or I make things up as I go along.   When I was growing up my mother had a cookbook and all I can remember is it had Charleston in it's name.   I've always played in the kitchen and nothing is better then making a cake or cookies from scratch, I can still remember pulling this book out of it's safe keeping drawer and going through it to make something special for my parents, well, more like my Dad, Mom doesn't really care for sweets, but this little girl knew back then that the way to a man's heart is throug

Woot Woot it's day 3 and your story tellers today are.... Celine Perkins – Perkins Dry Goods Patrick Lose – The Latest News from Patrick Lose Kelly Ann Richardson - Kelly Ann’s Quilting Lookie who the third person on the list is...yep it's me....how exciting is this...and now it's my turn to share with you another goodie and my fun Christmas project. So by now y'all know that I grew up in a military family, when my father retired we settled in a small town in North Carolina.  The neighborhood my parents still live in was a great place to grow up, every year there would be a big Christmas party and you learned early on how to get a conversation going in a room full of strangers.  The family that hosted this party would invite people from all over, people with no family in the area, people from their work, just people in general.  I've never had any issues starting a conversation, and to some of you that's not a surprise, but keeping one going with strangers

How do you stay sane during the holidays? De-stress?  Check out our next two bloggers to see what gets them through this crazy season... Heidi Kaisand – Hen and Chicks Monique Dillard – Open Gate Quilts How many out there like to go Christmas shopping?  Is your shopping experience like this?   Is your shopping experience like this? or this? I'm more the second shopper...every January I say to myself..I'm gonna make all my gifts this year and every December I'm running around like a mad-woman shopping till I'm dropping.  To de-stress I take one Sunday before Christmas and bake, yes bake...all day long, there is nothing more relaxing then being in the kitchen, Christmas Music on and mixing all those fun cookie recipes together...which leads us into my next recipe... Graham Cracker Balls 1 Box Graham Crackers 2 lb Powered Sugar 2 cups chopped pecans 3 tablespoons Vanilla 2 cups crunchy Peanut Butter 4 sticks butter 16 oz coconut Bring butter to room tempature

How exciting is this, 6 days of hopping around the blog world, meeting new friends, learning new things and all in the comforts of your pj's...so grab a cup of coffee... and let the hop begin!!! Up First... Sherri Falls – This & That Let me take you back to Christmas 1966, my father was in the United States Marine Corps and we were stationed at Camp Lejeune NC, all was right with the world.  I have two older brothers, at the time Jimmy was 12, Karl was 11 and I was 6, we lived in a mobile home that had no storage, at the time a mobile home made sense to those families in the military, get orders to a new duty station and just pick up your home and move. That Christmas morning we woke up to our biggest load from Santa ever, there was a guitar, drum, bugle, keyboard (I'm pretty sure my parents thought we'd be the next Beetles), and I'm pretty sure there was more stuff but what sticks out in my mind is how in the world did Santa make it in, we didn't ev

Wanna sneak peak into how we jazzed up the store for Quilters Quest ?   2010 Quilters' Quest Quilt  Cash & Carry Kits aplenty...  just a little something for fall Fire Escape, this one will keep you warm and safe!  our Pieced Tree Table Runners are climbing the ladder to success!  the latest Swirly Girls Design pattern...it's a real star in our book!  Glow in the dark..Just Jacks...gotta love the smile on those faces!  There will be no whining when you do this Cheese & Crackers!  All the way from the great white north, Quilting Snowladies..  She wanted a close-up...  Speaking of snow...a little snippet from Crapapple Hill's Snow Days   and a long snippet from Crabapple Hill's Twas the Night...  Beautiful flowers from a beautiful Dee... There's so much more to see but thought I'd save some surprises for those that are coming out, don't want to spoil their fun....so if you're in the area, stop by and say hi! Happy Quilting Kelly An

Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corp 235 years and still going strong...and here is my favorite Marine of all.. love ya Dad....

Who doesn't love a Sapphire... no.....not that kind of Sapphire.... this kind.... Stop by Kelly Ann's Quilting and check out the great deal we have for you... Happy Quilting Kelly Ann

It's really hard to believe that it was a week ago that I was flying out to Houston...we really packed alot into those five days.  Thursday as we were checking into our hotel, I hear this voice behind me...Kelly Ann..and who do I see...my friend Sharon... Sharon has an online store... Daisy Cottage Quilting ... she was gonna be hanging at the hotel waiting for her/our friend NancyNoBlogs to show up... and they were gonna pack all of market into two days...silly girls...bet they stay longer next time...cause if the do then they'll be more meet ups... Friday was a complete blur, we did our usual, racing from classroom to classroom, learning about some of the new goodies being introduced at this years Market.  This is where the celebrity sightings start, and a celebrity packed market it was.  Year after I year I give y'all a run down on who we saw and how very exciting it is to see the designers in our industry, well this year I'm standing in a doorway and this wom