DECOR TIP: PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR!

Hey everyone....hope all is going well. I wanted to share the Pantone 2018 color of the year...18-3838 Ultra Violet. Oh my goodness....to all you purple lovers...this is definitely your year! This color is very vibrant and stunning. As a designer, I can definitely see this as a dominant color mixed with greys...neutrals with black accents. This would be a great color in a child's room as well. When you're out shopping, look at plastics...towels, etc....usually the color of the year gets incorporated into a lot of accents for decorating. As always, email me if you have any design q's....always glad to help! Consulting and Space Planning is my specialty. View more about this great color hue on pantone.com.

Blessings from my Home to Yours,
Cat
cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com
www.cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com
Facebook...I heard it through the quilt-vine
Follow along on Pinterest

"A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, Pantone 18-3838 Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity & visionary thinking that points us toward the future"...read more at Pantone.com
                                                                           

"CATS FARMHOUSE CRAVING BUSTERS"

Hey quilters....wanted to share my recent post on my cooking blog....it's the New Year and getting back on the "diet train" has been a bit difficult. Wanted to share my tips just in case anyone else needs a bit of encouragement. Please share your tips as well. Pop on over to my cooking blog and see who's my "life coach"...who gives me my "text-me-ups". Enjoy!

Blessings from my Home to Yours,
Cat
cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com
Facebook...I heard it through the quilt-vine
www.cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com
                                                                             

                                                   "Farmhouse Healthy Snack Tray"

Do you suffer from N.E.Q.T.(Not Enough Quilting Time)

Hey quilters...hope all is going well.....a snow day here in Texas! Love looking out my sewing room window and seeing birds especially cardinals in the snow. Well my question is....do you suffer from N.E.Q.T? That's right...."Not Enough Quilting Time". I know this past Christmas flew by for me and I had wished that I had the time to make more gifts. My Gramma Stetson once said...."the greatest gift comes from the heart". That has stuck with me throughout all my years.
So here's the cure.....no meds that cause those nasty side effects....its 12 Mos. of Quilting w/ my new series on blog..."Cats Farmhouse Quilting & Cats Farmhouse Christmas"....all you need is your favorite fabric & Aurifil thread. We'll have pattern designs all from this one sweet block below and all designed in EQ7 with easy techniques to follow along. The designs will all derive from the block below which include....table runner....hot pads....lap quilt & baby quilts banners etc. They will make great gifts for Weddings....House Warming or any special occasion throughout the year. I will be showing a sweet technique to make rustic fabric or you can purchase wood look fabric for the designs or give it a "scrappy look" from your stash. Some of the designs will be combining Bright Batiks by Hoffman mixed with my rustic fabric. I'm excited about these new designs....and excited about getting gifts done throughout the year. I don't know about you but sometimes just going through my Christmas fabric makes me happy.
Here's a sneak peak of the block....hope you're excited as I am... Enjoy!

Blessings from my Home to Yours,
Cat
cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com
Facebook...I heard it through the quilt-vine
www.cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com

                                                                   Farmhouse Block

Cats..."NEW YEARS BREAD PUDDING"

Happy New Year everyone! Along with all the Holiday cheer comes left overs....and for me that is not good cause today it's back to reality....dieting that is! Yesterday, I came up with a plan....gather all the left over "Christmas Cheer" and do something with them. As the old saying goes "outa sight...outa mind"....well I didn't want to waste anything especially my "low fat fudge" and had some left over candy from decorating the Elf on the Shelf gingerbread house with Grandson Davin oh and bits and pieces that were used to decorate cookies....so here's what I came up with....have to say that I had a blast making this bread pudding and it's very d-lish! I even threw in 2 innocent left over bananas for good measure :-). I will admit excited about the New Year but not so excited to get back into dieting again. Well....maybe this will help me and anyone else that doesn't need that "tempting" left over "Christmas Cheer" hanging around. Enjoy!

Blessing from my Home to Yours,
Cat
cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com
cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com

                                                                                   

Here's all you do...

Spray a large glass pan

Mix well 3 eggs...3/4 c heavy crème....1 tsp. vanilla...1/2 tsp. nutmeg & 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Spread about 3-4 cups of your left over bread from making the Snow Flake sandwiches (previous post) or use some left over bread and break into tiny pieces.

Now have fun layering all your left over "Christmas Cheer"....I even unwrapped kisses....used choc chipe...m&m's and my low fat fudge cut into tiny pieces....used up my pieces of walnuts and pecans from baking cookies and 2 bananas.....have fun with this part! 

Pour the egg mixture over all this yummy goodness and bake in  a 375* oven for about 20-30 minutes....watch carefully cause ovens vary. 

I let mine cool and leftovers kept in the fridge for the rest of the family to snack on. I had a blast making this and feel so much better waking up this morning and starting off the New year without tempting candy steering me in the face. Enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR & T-SHIRT QUILT UPDATE!

Hey quilters....Happy New Year! I hope everyone is enjoying this special time....reflecting back and making new lists for the new year. For some odd reason my lists are usually the same every year so now I just go "ditto but only better"...less stress :-). I'm taking a moment to update a step on the Halloween One-Z quilt....yes, I know it may be a bit late for some but due to receiving several emails I decided to go ahead and post. Hopefully this year we have no hurricanes and life will go smoother. I am looking forwarded to my "12 mos. of Quilt-Mas"...I've almost got the pattern designed in my EQ7 and currently working on certain squares to have advanced techniques as well. I love hearing from you and especially when I hear that you are just starting to quilt. Just remember to never get frustrated cause it's your quilt...make it your way & that's why quilting is so special....you quilt and sew from your heart! Anyway....still taking down Christmas...enjoying the sun this morning...thank God cause it's 24* in Texas! Keep checking for the new posts to follow along on the "12 mos. of Quilt-Mas" and follow on my facebook page...I heard it through the quilt-vine....Have a great New Year and looking forward to quilting together! 

Blessings from my Home to Yours,

Cat

cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com

www.cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com

One-Z step one...for a 10.5 x 12.5 back ground fabric fold One-z to fit  7 x 10 inches. (See diagram...I trim the back side of the one-z so you have less bulk to fuse.

Tip....Sleeves cut longer and tuck in....allows for a smoother shape of one-z

Press one-z if needed.

Try not to be too perfect. Less stress due to the one-z's probably have been washed several times and the cotton does distort a bit. Tweak as you go while tucking the sides in.

*With rotary cutter cut strips of "Heat n Bond Lite" to fit your basic square of one-z (see pic)

*Fuse to back of one-z following manufactures direction on heat-n-bond lite.

*Make sure the shape is to your liking if not tweak at this time

*Remove backing and fuse to center of your t-shirt fabric

*Applique as desired (I use Aurifil 50# thread for strength)

Tips:...

You might hand sew areas at this time (shoulders).

Press hard when fusing due to the layers and always use pins that can take heat just in case you touch them with your iron when fusing.

When getting ready to applique...mark your squares to the number of layout to keep them in order.

Then group by thread color for faster appliqueing. 

Make notes if you need to go back to a certain one to do some hand sewing.

This is the same technique that I use on all of my T-Shirt quilts. I will be doing another large one this year for my grandson so will keep you posted on that one as well. Hope this helps and email me any q's. Show your finished products anytime or please share if you have a better way. That's what this blog is all about...."Sharing Tips Among Friends"

                                                                              

                                                                   One-Z Step One

                                                                                

                                                                   One-Z Step Two

                                                                               

                                                                      Left Corner

                                                                               

                                                  Center One-Z w/ one sleeve out and flap

                                                                             

                                                      Right corner & Scrappy Border

                                                                             

                                            Hexagon Spider appliqued w/ Aurifil 50# black

"New Years Blessing & Cats Texas Style New Years Brunch recipe"

Hey quilters....hope everyone is enjoying the Holidays. This year has flown by so fast for me and can't believe it's New Years Eve. Wanted to wish everyone a Blessed 2018 and share this fast & easy Tamale casserole with you. This is a great crowd pleasure for any occasion. My family loves it and I've taken it to many quilt luncheons and church functions as well. Thanks so much for emailing me for the last step of my T-shirt quilt tutorial. Going to Florida to do some hurricane work delayed my posting a bit so I was so thrilled to receive emails from you for the last steps. As always feel free to share your finished projects anytime especially on my Facebook page. I will be sharing many fast and easy quilt patterns this coming year with you. I love making gifts and Christmas time so I decided to share "12 mos. of Quilt-Mas" this year. Fun gift sharing gifts to make throughout the year so you're not like me doing last minute sewing and quilting. Anyway...thanks again for a wonderful year and pop on over to my cooking blog for this fast and delish tamale casserole. Enjoy!

Blessed Quilting from my Home to Yours,
Cat
cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com
cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com
                                                                             

"AURIfil THREAD AND JINGLE"

Hey quilters....hope all is well and you're enjoying this special season with your loved ones. I have to say I was a bit nervous when I was asked to do this special gift for my grandson. Please make a sleeping bag for my Elf on the Shelf, Jingle. Oh my word,,,,no pressure!!! I thought about it for days....and then realized just go through your "stash" and if it doesn't work then I didn't waste any money. Well....I have to say with all my quilting projects throughout the years this was hands down my favorite. It's so easy to do and that is why I wanted to share this with you. You know...just in case you get asked the same thing ;-). I love being a Gege and especially when I get asked to do something so special as this. I've made my grandson many quilts and he's only 7 and I hope to make many more! As you can see the great quality of Aurifil thread made this project easy and the colors matched perfect!
I used Aurifil 50# 2260 Red and Aurifil 50#2885 green for the outline stitching and the quilt in the ditch stitching on my domestic machine. Great quality thread and makes your projects a breeze!
Merry Christmas!

Blessed Quilting from my Home to Yours,
Cat
cmhdesigns2@yahoo.com
www.cookinganddecorwithcat.blogspot.com

Scrap Christmas fabric....cut 2 plaid 6 x 11....1 red 6 x 11....1 green 6 x 11
2 light weight batting pieces 6 x 11

Lay one plaid piece (right side facing up) and one red piece (right side facing down) on top of plaid piece...layer with batting piece on top and stich using a 1/4 inch seam allowance....Leaving a 2 " opening to flip inside out....hand stitch opening or use a washable fabric glue for opening.
Repeat same process for the plaid and green fabric.
*At this time it's easier to quilt your pieces if desired....I did some fun quilt in the ditch stitches.
Lay 2 finished pieces together and top stitch around....leave the opening (fold) unstitched (per pic)
Personalize it with some fun craft stickers if desired.
Finished size is approximately 5" x 10"
This is also a great project to do with kids for their own "Elf on the Shelf"
Hope you enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!