American Homestead Pincushion/Ornament Class

This post gives information on my Ornament/Pincushion

Class that I teach to guilds, stitching groups and retreats.

There are many ways to use the projects that you create.

Here are the various ways you can use the ornaments.

You could also embroider a name and date on the back

to make it a special keepsake ornament.  I know people

who make them for their kids or grandkids so when they

grow up and have their own homes, they have a collection

of ornaments from someone they love.

You can also add a little pocket to the back to hold

a gift certificate.

If you decide to make a pincushion you can place them

on a metal candlestand which looks lovely.

You can also frame them, they look great grouped 

in three or four on the wall.

You can also put them on dowel sticks and

add them to a floral arrangement.

You have two choices to make:

1. What pattern do I want to make?  There are 13 to

choose from.  They are shown below.

2. What colorway would you like to work in?  There is 

a brighter group of fabrics called the European Folk

Art Collection and a deeper group of fabrics called the

Pennyrug Collection.  Here they are:

Patterns created in The European Folk Art Collection

Patterns created in The Pennyrug Collection

This is what you need to bring to class: (it's so 

simple, you can bring it in a little basket!)

Scissors: sharp scissors to cut the wool felt and thread

Small pincushion with a few pins

Needles: appropriate to your choice of thread or whatever

feels good for you.

For ornament: 2 - 6'' x 6'' squares of cotton batting (scraps

from your quit projects are great)

For pincushion: a sandwich size ziploc of fiberfill

Floss/Thread:  There are as many opinions on what is the

best thread as there are brands of thread so I let my students

choose their favorite.  I generally use DMC embroidery floss 

and the correct color numbers are shown below.  If you prefer 

another thread or floss then just search for a comparison chart

for the brand you choose.

For European Folk Art Colorway:  Ecru - 806 - 3347 - 742 - 816

For Pennyrug Colorway: 677 - 920 - 826 - 816 - 732 - 742 - 310

Now choose one of the 13 patterns.  The photos show a

European Folk Art colorway example on the left and a 

Pennyrug colorway example on the right.

Here is a video about the class:

I hope to see you sometime very soon!!  ~ Ellen

Grand Isle

This is my Grand Isle tabletopper pattern.  I love how 

changing colors can really change the look of a pattern.

You could make a different one for each season or holiday.

The one with the pumpkin is made from felted wool and 

the ones with the brighter colors are made with wool felt.

There is a funny story about this pattern.  Our relatives

Pat and Jim had purchased a summer home in Michigan 

in a town that started with the word Grand at the time I

was designing this pattern.  I looked on a map and found

Grand Isle and named the pattern for Pat and Jim's new 

town.  It wasn't until later that I found out they moved to

Grand Haven ~  ooops!  I think I should design another

pattern to honor Grand Haven.

www.americanhomesteaddesign.com

24 Hours in Old San Juan

For Lavender Linda and Captain von Trapp

A few weeks ago we were taking a cruise that 

departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We

decided to arrive a day before the cruise so we

could spend some time in Old San Juan.

We stayed at the boutique hotel in Old San Juan

called the Casablanca Hotel.  When I was on the

cruise a few days later I had breakfast with a chef

from the Ritz Carlton in San Juan, when I told her

where I had stayed while in town she looked at me

and exclaimed, "that's where you stayed?  That's a 

great hotel, it's a boutique hotel, it's a really cool

place!"  Yep, my travel street cred went up a few

notches...

You've got to love a hotel that plays Casablanca 

in the lobby 24 hours a day.

By this time we were very hungry since we hadn't

eaten since we arrived at the airport in the wee

hours of the morning.  Walking along a street a

woman walked across the street to give me a 

postcard and tell me that the cafe she worked at

was having happy hour.  I asked her how long

happy hour was and she said until 7pm.  I said,

"That's more like Happy Day!"  I looked at Mr.

Wonderful and said, "Well, we are on vacation, 

let's go to happy hour!"  The place was called the 

Blessed Cafe and it was owned by a Jamaican

Rastafarian who wanted all his guests to have

a wonderful experience.  It was a small place

with a bar and another room with a few tables

and all the decor was related to Bob Marley

and the Wailers.  We ordered  a few drinks and

settled back in vacation mode.

Our taxi driver who drove us in from the airport

told us not to miss trying mofongo while in town.

It was on the menu so of course we had to try it.

It is mashed plantains with a pork mixture on top.

It was delicious!

After the Blessed Cafe we walked off our

lunch and popped into antique stores and 

small artisan boutiques.

We headed back to our hotel for a siesta.

The room was small since the building is old

but everything was very nice.  We had upgraded 

to a room with a balcony thinking we would have

one overlooking a quaint street but the balcony is

really just the walkway to your room, don't bother

getting this upgrade because...

...upstairs is a lovely rooftop terrace with large

soaking tubs.  Bring your favorite beverage and

enjoy stargazing while soaking in your tub.

When we awoke from our siesta, we were hungry 

again and it was time to hit the streets.  I wanted to see

the big church and hiked up the hill but the church was

locked up but just across the square I spotted a little tapas

place called Rosa de Triana.  Our plan was to stop into a

few places for a small dish and a drink.

We sat in the cozy courtyard filled with plants 

and fairy lights.  The cafe is known for it's 

Sangria so we had to sample it.  Since there

were no cruise ships in port, the town was quiet 

and we dined with all locals.  It was the type of

place where you nod and say buenas noches to

your fellow diners.

We ordered two tapas plates and the servings 

were so large we knew our plan for visiting a few

places that evening was going to have to become 

Plan B.  So we lingered over our food and drinks

and fell into slow down vacation mode.  At the end

of the meal the waitress served us complimentary

glasses of a local apple liqueur that was delicious.

I wish I had brought a bottle home with us.

Leaving the restaurant we walked down the street 

and through San Juan gate and walked along the

Paseo de la Princesa, the old city walls are on one 

side of the walkway and San Juan Bay is on the other.

It was an enjoyable stroll and we came upon an area 

filled with food vendors and artists selling jewelry.

The food and drinks looked great but we were far too

full to sample anything but we did pick up some cookies 

to eat in bed once we got back to our room.

We watched a bit of Casablanca in the lobby back at

the hotel and then headed up to bed.  I would suggest

to anyone who will be staying at the Casablanca to

bring along a DVD of the movie or download it to one

of your devices and bring along an HDMI cord so you 

can watch the movie in bed.

Mr. Wonderful was up at the crack of dawn

and ready to find a cafe for a coffee.  For myself,

I prefer to laze around in bed when I get the chance

and since all we had to do that day was eat something

and head to the ship, I opted for waking up slowly.

Opening the wooden shutters and looking out these

windows I felt like I could be meeting Papa Hemingway

for lunch.

When I finally got myself moving we hunted around 

for a new restaurant called Melt.  I saw a photo of

their food on instagram and wanted to go there.  When

we finally found it there was no Hemingway but we did 

sit next to the owner of the hotel in which it is located

and got a lesson in Puerto Rican history and politics.

Then it was time to head to the ship to set sail

for parts unknown.

A great 24 hours!

Elle's Kitchen: Cinnamon Toast

I was out of state this week and yesterday I got

home in the afternoon, played with the puppy dog,

headed down to the big city with Trishie for a lecture

 by Frank Abagnale at the IMA and then we met Kate

 for a very late dinner before heading home to an end of

 day telephone call with Mr. Wonderful and off to bed!

This morning I woke up and let's just say, the cupboard

was bare,  nothing for breakfast...  there were a few pieces

of bread so I went old school and made cinnamon toast.

This is a favorite of mine from when I was a child but I

haven't had it in years.  It is so simple and most people 

have everything they need in their kitchen.  

Toast the bread until it is light brown, spread with butter

and let it melt a bit then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon

and gently mix the butter, sugar and cinnamon together.

This is something my Mum often made for me when I was

a child.  When I was old enough to make it myself I 

remember we had a spice jar with the sugar and cinnamon 

already mixed together ~ I don't remember if this was a

commercial product or just something my Mum mixed up 

herself to make it easier for me.  

It was still delicious!

A New Book Project!

75 Fun Fat Quarter Quilts

An exciting new book has just been released.

It is called 75 Fun Fat Quarter Quilts and many

designers have written chapters and I am happy

to be one of them.  My chapter is called 

One Simple Block

because all the quilts are made from, yes, you 

guessed it, one simple block, The Contrary Wife.

The quilt shown above is called  Au Contraire.

This quilt started with this sweet fat quarter

bundle because remember, this book is about

quilts that can be made from fat quarters.  And

all the quilts in my chapter are so easy to make

because the blocks are made from 4 half square 

triangles and 5 squares and you sew them into

a simple 9-patch block.  What makes this chapter

so interesting is the eight quilts that I designed 

all look so different by changing the colors or

changing the way the block was placed in the

quilts.  And just to get you a bit more excited,

I'm going to give you a sneak peek at the quilts.

This is Falling Leaves, a great Fall themed quilt

but you could use the same idea with any fat 

quarter bundle that you may love and it would

 look beautiful.

This is Chain Link, a completely different look

using white, red and black fabric.  This color

grouping is the favorite of my daughter Katie

Rose so I have lots of these fabrics in my stash.

This is Big Red, those of you that know me know

I love stars in quilts, they are such a traditional,

iconic look.  But this quilt looks bold and modern

by using bright, bold colors.

This quilt is called Magnificent Valour, I thought 

it would be perfect for those of you that make all

of those wonderful Quilts of Valor.

This is Ups and Downs, as you can see, again, I

have lots of red, black and white in my stash.  I 

think this would also be great if you did each row

in a different color.

This is Garden Paths, it reminded me of a show

garden with lots of flower beds surrounded by

grassy paths that meet with a fountain at the 

intersections.

This is Candy Garland,  I thought of strings of

wrapped candies when I designed this one.  It 

would also be fun in Christmas fabrics.

And this is just one of many, many chapters from

all sorts of talented designers.  So there you have it, 

just a snippet of the chapter I wrote, after all, we want

 you to run out and buy the book so you can see the full 

designs for yourself.  And remember, this is all from

One Simple Block!

To win a free copy of this book* please leave a comment

on this blog post, let me know which of the quilts in my

chapter is your favorite or you can just say hi!

  Remember to include your email address with your 

comment so I can reach the lucky winner.  On Wednesday, 

December 23 I will select a winner using a random 

number generator. 

*If your address is  in the United States you will receive a 

hard copy of the book.  A winner from outside the US will 

receive a free e-book version.

So many people can get to know about this new book we

are having a blog tour.  Stop by these other sites to see

what some of the other designers have to say about their 

chapters.  There are still a few more days of the tour!

12/14 C&T Publishing blog

12/15 Jera Brandvig

12/16 Melissa Cory

12/17 Kate Colleran

12/18 Sue Pfau

12/19 Tiffany Jenkins

12/20 Ellen Murphy

12/21 Amanda Castor

12/22 Jo Kramer

All the best!   ~ Ellen

Update!  A winner has been chosen for 

this giveaway.  It was Bonnie.

Thanks to everyone who participated!