Show & Tell part two!!

Lorrie sent her Happy Dreams pillowcase & top sheet to show you. She says she had a great time making them & they "went together like a dream!" That's always nice to hear!! It looks like you did just a beautiful job Lorrie! Thanks for sending your pictures!

There are bluebirds flying around this quilt too!!! Shellee Jensen sent in her Bluebird quilt for us to Ooooo! & Ahhhhh! over! She always does such gorgeous work! I love the colors she used! She says now she can't wait to get to the three new projects in her "to-do" pile..... which ones are those????? Get to stitching!!

This is Winter Sampler sent in by Danielle from Massachusetts (sorry Danielle... I cropped off your fingers when I re-sized the photo!) She says that this worked up quite fast. It's SO pretty too! You did such a good job on it! She also wrote that she's going to make the pillow that was in Quiltmaker magazine. Are you going to search around at antique stores for some old crocheted pillow edging? I found some this weekend..... really pretty!

This beautiful pillow is by our friend, Susan Ache from Florida. She says that she made a cutting mistake & this is what she did with it so it wouldn't just be wasted! Great Idea!!! This is SO CUTE!! I just may steal the idea for a future pattern! LOL!! Susan sends us photos of lots of things in her house (beautiful, girly, pretty pretty house by the way!) Thanks so much!!! I wish you'd come & decorate my house for me while I just sit on the porch & drink iced tea...... or margaritas, depending on how late you'll slave away at it! Hmmmmm..... I had a nice little dream moment there!

Wow!! We have received SO MANY of your projects for show & tell!!!

This "Over the River ...." was made by Sheri Siedentop from The Quilt Cupboard - I love the message at the bottom of her email "A store-bought quilt warms the body, but a home-made quilt warms the soul." We love this version of the quilt... very warm!!! Beautiful Sheri!

This showpiece was designed, pieced & quilted by Ann Jones. She says that about 12 other guild members helped with the embroidery. "It was entered in a local, medium-sized quilt show and took first in it's category-original design." I can see why! It's stunning!!! She also writes that she's working on Winter Wonderland for her mom, & when she finishes it is planning to start on Twas the Night.... but is thinking of doing it in shades of purple (Ooooo! Night sky??) blue or multi. Send us a picture when you're done! I can't wait to see!

Think you're seeing double?? I messed up & put Sheri's quilt in twice???? Nope! This one is by Carlene Deems from Aunt Lenies Attic in Jefferson, OH. It never fails to amaze me how similar yet how different they can look just with different floss colors & the fabrics chosen! Gorgeous sepia toned stitchery Carlene!!This is also by Carlene. She used Moda's Simplicity line (says she's a dot & stripe nut!) Well, me too!!!! If it's got polka dots on it, it's for me!! This is just beautiful! Ok, now this shows she's a girl who loves to embroider..... she says she started Over the River in mid October... had it finished by mid November & didn't start Berry Picking Party till the beginning of December!!! Not only that.... she's ready for the next one! WOW!!!

Lauretta Allen made this beautiful, blue Winter Wonderland! She says she works in a quilt shop & when women come in complaining about how they'd like to do hand embroidery but don't have the time, she tells them.."If you have time to watch tv or the news, you have time to embroider!" Good for you Lauretta!!! You're absolutely right! She says that she's also done Over the River ... & is currently working on Hocuspocusville & Heirloom Romance is next because not only does she love crazy quilting, she loves any excuse to bead & embellish! A girl after my own heart!!

OK girls.... take a close look at this!!! Diane Masumoto writes that she's taking crazy quilting & ribbon embroidery classes at Piecemakers (sorry, don't know which Piecemakers!) & she's incorporated everything she's learned in this Heirloom Romance quilt. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to be able to enlarge it & see it up close. Really incredible!!! Great work Diane, you should be SO proud of yourself!!!
This is so sweet! This was the stitchery from our winter contest! Ann Jones made it into a quilted wall hanging & added an embroidered border.....from......Winter Wonderland???? Am I right? Very pretty Ann! She writes that now she's going to get back to work on a Winter Wonderland that she's making for her mom's Christmas present... only two big blocks left! WooHoo!!!! If one of them is the candy cane clothesline one, I apologize..... I LOVE to embroider, but for some reason I really hated stitching that block! Guess I shouldn't admit that.... after all I designed the darn thing!! LOL!!!! Sorry, sorry, sorry!.... Good work Ann!
This is Remember Me by Beverly Shultz. I LOVE the ticking stripes!!! She set the blocks to accomodate the eight signatures of her tea friends. She says that she did this right before she & her husband relocated & she wanted a wonderful reminder of all the tea times they'd had together over the years. How sweet she is!! She did it as a tablecloth.... in the round! Beautiful Beverly!! Oh! It's hand quilted also!! She's also done a machine embroidered valance for the breakfast room in her new home to match the quilt design & now it's very much her "tea room"! I'm sure it won't be long until you fill your table with many new tea & stitchery friends in your new home!!
I have many others to post but I'm going to have to wait till tomorrow! Phil just got home wanting dinner, I'm sure..... and the copier "dude" is here fixing "The Beast", our big color printer. If it doesn't get fixed tonight, the new patterns can't be released on Friday!!! YIKES!!

We're almost ready for our newest pattern release! Here are the other two, "Gardener's Angel - Hope" which is the first in what will be a series with angels for all 4 seasons, and "An Embroiderer's Blessing", words we all live by! We should be ready to have these ready to go late next week if all goes well!

I need to send a big "I'm Sorry!" to everyone who had sent in photos of their projects! I'll have time to post them as soon as these patterns are done. In the midst of all the new pattern hubub we've had computer problems, printer problems & MORE computer problems! Our computer "dude" claims that we have gremlins & that we need to put live plants around the studio to keep them busy so that they leave the electronic equipment alone............ hmmmmmm............ don't quite know if I'm ready for THAT one!!!!

Just a note to everyone who has posted comments, "THANK YOU!!!" We love to hear from you! One thing though that we can't do is email you back with answers to questions, etc... because we don't receive your email address with your comment. YIKES!! You can reach us directly through the website however, or you can email at info@crabapplehillstudio.com .

Talk to you later! I have to finish adding barcodes to the pattern backs so that we can start printing!

OH MAN!!! I can't believe it's been so long since the last post! I've been so busy with the new patterns I've lost track of time! In March I'll have 4 new designs to release, a quilt named "Friendship Blooms Over Garden Fences", a big heart shaped pillow named "Heartfelt Wishes", the "Gardener's Angel of Spring-Hope" (you've seen a little of her before), and a stitchery that I'm going to frame named "An Embroiderer's Blessing" (I'm trying to finish stitching it tonight!) I think I'll have to decide between a Haley Mills movie marathon (Summer Magic is my fav.) or a Doris Day marathon (I'm thinking Don't Eat the Daisies would be a good place to start) Just snuggle up with Honeybunny (that's our cat, not an embarrassing nickname for Phil!) stitch & hibernate with old movies until I'm done ...... I wonder if we have any Funyuns? Here's a little preview of the new stuff. Hope you'll like it!

I'll write more later & show you all the new photos that have come in from other Knot-y Girls! Bye!

2009 Winter Stitchery Contest

We asked you to use our pattern to stitch a project for our Winter Stitchery Contest! The first entry we received on January 16th would receive the prize of a gift box from Crabapple Hill, brimming with goodies..................... Well............. At midnight my blackberry started vibrating and ding-donging! A lot of you stayed up WAY TOO LATE at night to hit the "send" button and we thank you! The response was GREAT!!!!

Our first email clocked in at 12:00 from Heidi Brincken of Colfax, WA. She made this pretty pillow (looks like it goes with her decor!) in red & blue. A very patriotic bird just in time for President's Day! She send us a photo of the back of the pillow too. I just LOVE toile!!!! Don't you? Great work Heidi! We're sending you your first place gift box ASAP!!

Four entries arrived next ( I say that because they were all time stamped at 12:01 and were announced on my phone with the same frantic buzzing & ding-ing! LOL!!!) They're all going to receive a small gift box also!
First was Melody Baker from Manson, WA. She said that working on her project added some hope of spring to her dull, dreary, foggy winter. Boy! Can I ever relate to THAT!!! We're all fogged in today too, and a thick coating of ice is covering EVERYTHING! We need spring to arrive in the Pacific Northwest so that everything can be the colors of Melody's pillow! Pink like the apple blossoms and green ..... like everything else!!!! Very pretty Melody!

Next is Cindy Keery from Cilliwack, BC in Canada. Cindy used Weeks Dye Works floss to stitch her design and then made her bag by free motion quilting the front and using heavy weight interfacing on the back. She says her straps were made using the Moda twill tape that ties up Jelly Rolls etc.... REALLY CREATIVE IDEA!!!!! It's a beautiful bag Cindy!

Now comes the pillow made by Jan Thompson from McVille, North Dakota. She sent in her entry with a little note asking....."Do you know how hard it is to stay up til 1AM??????" Yes, we do, & we really appreciate all of you being such good sports!!! Next time our deadline will be.... oh.... 5pm or something........... after all, it's always a bad time for someone, somewhere!! She says that she's working on Hocuspocusville, Tea Party and Heirloom Romance. What a busy girl!!! I'm so impressed!!!! She used Shiva stick paints on the stitchery- SO pretty!... and I love the way she put it diagonally on the pillow & did that ziggy-zaggy border! Really, really cute!! She writes that it's going to be a shower gift.................hmmmm.... wish I was the lucky girl receiving it!!!

One of the other entries we've received is this pocket calendar cover made by Lynn Schumacher of Abita Springs, Louisiana. She writes that she tea dyed the background fabric, appliqued the branch, worked the stitchery in redwork with coiled French knots (bullion?) for the rose, gave the bird definition using trapunto, shaded the bird and leaves with watercolor pencils and then hand quilted it using an echo quilted design... WHEW!!! Lots & lots of work & a very beautiful result Lynn! Have fun using your calendar!

OK!.... Our next beautiful, beautiful project was submitted by Perri Dixon from Goondiwindi, Queensland Australia. Anyone who complained about having to figure out the time difference when sending in your entry should talk to Perri about it......... poor girl even had to figure out which DAY to send it in because they're so far ahead of us where she is!!! Her needlework case is so very pretty!!! The stitching is beautiful & look at the inside of the case! Using the Moda Aviary fabric with the bird's eggs was a stroke of genius!!! Wish I'd thought of it!

Now for Shellee Jensen (Hiccup Girl - we've talked about her before!!) She sent this adorable address book cover with a yellow bird perched on it. How stinking cute is THAT????

This is a sweet little pillow made by Kathi Schaffer. She writes that she had grand plans for her project but the closer it got to the holidays, the smaller in scale the project became. She said " I just know there are others out there whose Christmas projects started in May, become the Thanksgiving terror!" I love the way you finished this Kathi, it's just perfect the way it is!! Love the way you flipped the image for the other side. Very , very pretty!!!

Margaret Westbrook from Birmingham, Alabama sent this cheerful table runner! (Wish we could see both ends!) She did Madiera embroidery on both ends and then pieced with 1 1/2" strips embelished with rickrack. I love the old fashioned look!!!

This contest has been so much fun! We loved seeing your projects & I think it's so cool to see what you can do with a little pattern that has NO directions whatsoever. You're all just the nicest people & so talented!! Thanks SO MUCH!!!!!!! xox Meg

" snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOWWWWWW!"

Yes, I admit it.... I've watched "Winter Wonderland" one too many times this month! We had our first white Christmas in far too many years! It was gorgeous! I LOVE snow! I loved having it for Christmas!! I love the way it looks & smells & even the way it tastes! I love icicles & hoarfrost & the way it sparkles at night. I love the crunch it makes when you walk on it & the way it almost "squeaks" under the car's tires. I love the way it makes the whole world quiet & almost otherworldly! We had it for almost 2 weeks leading up to Christmas day & then the warm Chinook winds managed to melt almost every bit of it over the weekend.........sigh............... Oh well! Time to think about spring anyway! All it takes is the scent of wet earth to set off that urge to plant! I've been making lists and drawing up garden plans even before the Christmas decorations are down! We have several bushes to move as soon as the ground thaws & I'll be transplanting over 50 lavender plants. Let's hope they have a sense of humor about the move & agree to thrive in their new homes. I received my first seed catalog in the mail a couple days ago. I can't WAIT to get started! I'm going to order about 6 different kinds of sunflowers, old fashioned cosmos, delphiniums, sweet william, foxglove, & every single variety of pumpkins they carry. Several of the farmers near us grow pumpkins-I know they'll do well. We'll be able to go HOG WILD in October..... I LOVE going hog wild with pumpkins!!!! But, I have to keep reminding myself that there's a whole lot more winter left & not to jump the gun!! Probably couldn't even get a shovel into the dirt outside right now anyway! HA! So, I'll just have to stitch!

Sheila & I have just finished stitching the panels for our new "Friendship Grows Over Garden Fences" quilt. We're just waiting for the fabric from MODA to put the quilt together. The fabric line we're using is supposed to hit the stores in March so we'd better get busy! I stitched another project over the weekend (It's a gardener's angel!) that I'm going to put together with Lecien florals. I haven't decided whether to have her as a single pattern or draw up three more & make them into a small quilt. Decisions, decisions....... I was drawing furiously right before Christmas trying to get a new Christmas quilt down on paper and out of my head so that I could calm down & enjoy the holiday. I CAN'T WAIT to start stitching it up!!!!! It's more snowmen.... an alphabet ......... Christmassy........ I LOVE snowmen!!!! WOW! There's just too much to be excited about right now! Calm down girl!

Our angel.... sorry about the basting threads!

I'm not sure about the pink blouse yet... may have to take it out & re-do it!

We've received a photo to share!

This is "Heart of the Home" made by our friend Shellee Jensen from Belding, MI. She stitched it in perle cotton & it's quilted using some McTavishing....... I had to go online & find out what that was. It's a very pretty quilting technique!............. I really need to get out more! Anyway, we met Shellee in our hotel at International Quilt Market in Portland, OR last spring..... is it OK to tell this story Shellee???.... We met her (she had NO choice!) when she walked through the lobby with a big case of the hiccups. Of course, we couldn't just ignore THAT now could we???? We made lots of fun of her & she & her friends are really nice & have good senses of humor (meaning they didn't get mad at us just because we were pointing & laughing!) SO...... now she's "HiccupGirl !" & we just love her! She obviously does beautiful work too! Bonus!!!!

Well, have to go for now. The guy has arrived to clean the chimneys for the studio's fireplaces... can't have any stinky smoke in here! Bye!

Yahoo!!!! Time to get ready for Christmas!! We've put up our Christmas tree in the studio & decorated the front porch with tons of twinkle lights. A couple of weekends ago I found TONS (really... they were everywhere!) of vintage ornaments in a couple antique shops in Yakima. We put the small, gently worn, pink balls on the tree & all of the other pink & aqua balls & bells are piled among the village houses. I also found a hand embroidered tablecloth that looks like it's NEVER been used! Such a lucky find!!

Last weekend I got to visit with a lovely group of ladies at Pendleton Quiltworks in Pendleton, OR. They're all so nice & fun, & down to earth! What a nice way to get to end my teaching year! Thank you to everybody who takes my classes. Girls who stitch are just SO much fun! It seems to just go with the territory!! Everyone looks like they're working so hard in the pictures. I didn't get everybody in the shots.... was somebody out in the shop BUYING FABRIC?????

This sweet, little girl's top was embellished by Cindy King for her new grandaughter. She does such lovely work! I love that she used this pattern like this!!! The snowman bodies are appliqued and the words are stitched in a sparkly floss. This is so soft & cute!! Thank you for bringing it to class Cindy!

This photo was sent in by Sherrie Hockett. Her Indian Summer pillow is just beautiful!! Hmmmmm........... there's a Morning Glory pillow in the background that looks awfully familiar! You've been a busy girl!!

This weekend I made candy canes (No, not real ones!) I'll show you how to make them if you'd like a handful of your own! I'm going to make 30 of them. Enough for myself & a handful for each of the "Girls" Christmas gift bags......Shhhhhh!.... don't tell them!

You start with wood dowels - we used 5/8" ones. We (Phil that is.... I didn't actually touch them until they were cut & sanded.........I know! He's a pretty good guy!) cut them into 12" lengths & sanded the cut edges.

Paint with ivory acrylic paint - I like to use a sponge brush & paint one half of the candy cane with a thin coat of paint (so it dries quickly & I can hold on to the clean, unpainted side while I paint. Later, the painted end will be dry enough to hold while painting the other end without getting.... well..........paint-y!)

Now paint the other end & let it dry. I give all of them a second coat of paint so that the color is even.

NOW! Choose a pretty red acrylic paint (or whatever color you'd like - I made black & orange ones for halloween this year. They turned out SO CUTE !) Use a 1/2" or so, flat paintbrush to add the stripes. Just start at an angle at one end & slowly twirl the dowel as you paint the stripe.

If you're working in a warm room & you don't glop on the paint, it should dry enough to lay flat to dry as soon as you're through painting. I like to use parchment paper or waxed paper for this as it won't stick to the painted surfaces.

Once the paint is completely dry you can add a tiny stripe with a paint pen , liner brush or even a sharpie! Look closely & you'll notice that the lines are imperfect & kind of wobbly. Once the glitter is added you won't even notice the imperfections.

Use a clean sponge brush to coat the candy canes with Mod Podge & roll in clear glitter or mica flakes to give it a sugary sparkle. You can do this very quickly because they seem to look better if they're not evenly coated.
Sparkly, wintry, Christmassy......... inexpensive & easy! Perfect!!!! I hope you make some of these! Have Fun!!

We have more member's show & tell & another sneak peek at the "Vintage Trick or Treat" pattern............... (at least, that's it's name this week!) I love the stitched blocks in this pattern SO MUCH! I'm waiting for just the right fabrics & then I'll put it together!

One of the great things about being in this business is that you get fabric samples & info about up-coming fabric lines from the major fabric companies. Really..... it's the greatest thing!!! It's like Christmas morning! A box will arrive & when you open it up, it's filled with jelly rolls, sample rolls or even 1/2 yd cuts of new fabrics. I'm in HEAVEN! Even if they're something I think we'd never use they still get opened up & "caressed"!! LOL!! Yesterday we got a box from Lecien..........OH MY GOSH!!!!! Such gorgeous, soft florals & dots! Makes my heart palpitate..........may even be un-healthy to get that excited!! We'll definitely have to keep them in mind for some of the new designs! We got a box from MODA a week or so ago too.......... all of the samples are sitting here & there......................... calling to me!!! I've been asked by a few companies to do fabric lines. I've put it off & put it off. I finally realized that I love the surprise of finding beautiful fabrics. When you design a line, you feel that you HAVE to use it for everything you do that time around. I'd much rather feel that rush of inspiration from someone else's fabric!!! Sound silly?? Probably. I may still do another line but right now I'd just like to pick & choose from all of the beautiful stuff that's out there!

We have some show & tell to share. First is "Heirloom Romance" made by Cheri Testa from Maple Falls, WA. I met Cheri at a class I taught at Cotton Pickin's in Stanwood, WA. She's done a beautiful job hasn't she? I love the colors she's chosen.... really a rich look! Looks like she's got some redwork down there to the left.............. what's that Cheri???

This "Heart of the Home" was made by Susan Ache from Florida. She's going to frame it but says that she'd thought about making it into a baby quilt too. Great idea! but I think I wouldn't use the wool on it........... did you use wool or applique fabric scallops??? Let us know!............ she will let us know............... she's kind of a Crabapple Hill stalker.....................YIKES!!!! Just kidding, Susan's alot of fun & we get a huge kick out of her emails!!

Nireko Ohira from Kensington, CA. made fruit from our "Home Grown" pincushion pattern using Lecien fabrics. Nireko works for Lecien & made them for their Quilt Market booth's display. They look beautiful!! Nireko is such a sweetheart, she sent us Karisma fabric pencils to try for tracing patterns. I'm going to try them out tonight (I'm tracing off a pattern we're sending to Better Homes & Gardens) They have 4 colors of leads & an eraser so that you can remove the lines if you need to. I'm really hoping that this will turn out be the best thing since sliced bread!!! Keep your fingers crossed! Has anyone used them?? Are they great? Or OK?

It's so much fun to hear from everyone... to see what you're working on & all the different ways you're finishing things! Write us a note, send us a photo! We want to meet you!!!