I am back

Hello All,
After family medical issues, a long hard move, and getting to know my new area, I am back. It was a stressful 3 months but I am hoping it will get easier over the next month or two. I have started to do some side work as a Virtual Assistant to help make ends meet until Eric can find another job. There are a couple of VA positions I am interested in and they look promising.

While I was away, I had some thoughts on where I'd like to take Snow Top Quilts and I'd like your opinion. My thought was to set up a quilting retreat or camp somewhere in Colorado. My first thought was at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO -the place where they filmed The Shinning- and have some guest speakers, as well as some quilting teachers for 3-4 days. My questions to you are:
Where would you like to go for a quilt retreat/camp?
How many days would you be willing to go for? 3-4 days? 7 days?
Who would you like to see teaching at the quilt retreat?
What classes would you like to take?
How many people would you be comfortable taking a class with?
I am working on finding locations all over the state of Colorado and hope to have a good idea of when, where, who, and how much by the end of the February. Send me an email with your answers to: MichelleHalverson@SnowTopQuilts.com

Just a little Quilter Love

This weekend my family and I had a garage sale to help downsize our stuff for the move. I decided to put some extra quilt patterns out there from my stash. What I ended up with was a small group of ladies sitting around keeping me company for about an hour. We all had a lot of fun sitting and chatting, first about quilting and then about life. It was a lovely time. Amazing how quilters always seem to find each other.

The big move...

My family and I are finally making the much anticipated move from Wisconsin to Colorado. We will be leaving here in 3 weeks. In that 3 weeks, I am planning on having a garage sale to lighten the load in the moving truck, we have to pack up our dvd's and clothes and some of the girl's toys but for the most part we are packed since we never really unpacked from our last move 6 months ago.

We are all very excited to make this move and finally start to live our life long dream of being in the mountains. Megan is so excited she keeps telling everyone that she is moving to mountains and every day she says good bye to the hay bails behind our house.

There are a lot of things to pack for the girl's in the car. I will make home made granola for a snack, thanks to a friend from another forum. Here is the recipe:

Simple Granola

1/2 c oil
1/2 c honey
1/4 c b sugar
1T vanilla
Heat these in a large pan for 3 or 4 mins on a boil. I use a roasting pan.

Remove from the heat and add
7c rolled oats
1c wheat germ
1/2t salt
1/2c almonds
1/2 coconut
Other things I add(it just depends what I have on hand)sunflower seeds,sesame seeds, rice crispies(if am a little short on oats). Add what ever you like. I put the raisins & cranraisins in when the granola is cooling.

I bake it in A 350' oven. Stir every 10/15mins until it is light brown. Browns fast.
When cool store in air tight containers.

MMMMMMmmmmmmmm eat by the hand full~~anytime.

Of course, we'll have trail mix and Sam's club is a good place to get those small bags of gram crackers and boxes of raisins.

I made them activity boards out of small cookie sheets and scrapbook paper and stickers. We made these a few months ago and I have yet to laminate them. Again thanks to a lifelong friend of mine I will be stopping by Michael's to get some foam magnets. We also went to Target and got two small magna doodles for them to color on while we are in the car. One of our dogs eats color crayons and markers are just a bad idea.

I am so excited!

Somethings every quilter should have...

in their sewing basket. Last night I was working on some hand sewing for a custom valance and I had to rip out some stitches. While I was ripping out these stitches, I had to adjust my light and when I did that I accidentally put my seam ripper through part of my thumb. There were no band aids or neosporin in my basket so I had to rummage through the first aid kit to find what I needed. Then it occurred to me, I should keep these things in my basket with me to avoid having to search for them. Now in my sewing basket I have band aids, neosporin, and anti-septic wipes. Just something for all to think about.

Question 4 of 5.

Still waiting for the right answers to yesterdays questions!

Here is question set 4 of 5

1. What years in the 1800's was the Baltimore Album most popular?

2. Who is the founder of the Quilt In A Day books and company?

Ready set next questions!

Two winners so far, we 3 more prizes and the Drawing for the $100 Gift Certificate!!!!

1. in what year was the first state wide quilt guild founded in Utah?

2. What year did the Kansas City Star publish the first quilt pattern?

Next questions

Here are the next two questions for the Aug. blog/facebook contest.

1. Name two of the personal uses for the Krafter's Komfycush (hint: can be found in the SnowTopQuilts Etsy store )

2. Where was the 1933 World's Fair held?

Again here are the rules

1. Be a follower and a fan of this blog and the SnowTopQuilts fan page on Facebook.
2. you must post your answers in the comments section, the first person the get the right answer to both questions wins. I will send you a message on Facebook for your address so you can receive your prize.
3. There are 5 prizes to be won, two questions will be posted for each prize.
4. At the end of the month there will be a drawing with all the participants names for a $100.00 gift certificate to use on the Snow Top Quilts web site.

In my world these next few weeks

My family and I have been trying to find a house to buy in Colorado. There are many choices, in a few places I like, but now with my husband out of work it will be almost impossible to get a mortgage. So I am going to try and make 300 quilts to sell online at my various selling venues to raise enough money to buy a house outright or at least prove to a lender that I can bring in a decent income to be able to pay the mortgage until Eric finds a full time job again. Our lease is up in 60 days and I'd like to sell enough quilts to help get us to Colorado before then.

Yesterday I went through my fabric stash and figured I have enough fabric in my stash to make 30 quilts, mostly lap size, twin size or baby quilts. The good news is I have a few started already. I am giving up quilts that I was going to make for myself. I want those quilts but I also want Colorado more, so it is a sacrifice I am more then willing to make. I will start listing them in my Etsy store, and then I will list some in my Artfire store as well.

Stay tuned for updates on my progress. :) And wish my luck.

August Contest

Welcome to the first contest on the SnowTopQuilts blog. There are some rules, but they are easy.

1. Be a follower and a fan of this blog and the SnowTopQuilts fan page on Facebook.
2. you must post your answers in the comments section, the first person the get the right answer to both questions wins. I will send you a message on Facebook for your address so you can receive your prize.
3. There are 5 prizes to be won, two questions will be posted for each prize.
4. At the end of the month there will be a drawing with all the participants names for a $100.00 gift certificate to use on the Snow Top Quilts web site.

Simple! :) Ready?

Question 1:
Who patented the sewing machine and in what year?

Question 2:
What year was the National Quilting Association formed in Washington D.C.?

Working on...

I have been spending a lot of time working on a custom quilt. It has been really fun and an interesting project. I am sad to see it coming to an end, but at the same time I am thrilled that I am completing my first custom quilt order from a total stranger.

I am also getting ready to start posting the first contest on this blog! I am so excited. I found most of the information in a book and I am now trying to cross reference to make sure everyone can find the answers online as well. I know not everyone has this book, even though I think quilter should own a copy :)

My next custom order is from an unexpected customer, my husband's best friend. I never thought he would be the kind of guy to want a custom quilt, but then again I never expected him to have a lavish garden either. I guess it was the "geeky IT guy" persona that threw me off. HAHA

Now, onto some really exciting news. My family and I are finally close to moving to Colorado. My husband lost his job here in Minnesota and now that he has no job here, we can move to Colorado. It will be easier for him to find a job in Colorado when we live there. I am in the process of looking for a place to rent and finding the best way to move our stuff from here to there. I am price checking between do it yourself moving vans and moving companies that come in and do everything for me. I am voting for the latter :)

Contest for Aug. 2009

I decided to host a contest during the month of August between my Facebook page and my blog. I am not sure what the rules are going to be yet or even what the contest will be about. I need some time to think about all that and to come up with some fun and exciting prizes. I know that a few F.Q.'s and maybe a couple of quilting novels, maybe some patterns. Still in the works. I just had to tell everyone I am so excited!

Health Insurance for Self Employed

My husband lost his job on Thursday. It wasn't much of a shock to us since his company has been laying off hundreds of employees over the past 3 years and we have made it through 6 of those lay offs. Also we are planning to move out of state anyway, we were just hoping to keep his full time income until we moved and that he'd have a job already lined up before we got there. Now we have neither his full time income nor a job lined up in Colorado.

I'll admit I am worried about our financial situation and nervous that our savings might not last long enough for him to find another job, but at the moment I am most worried about our girls not having health insurance. What are my other self employed bloggers doing for health insurance? The policies I am seeing online have huge deductibles and not having a steady income makes it hard for me to see how we'd be able to pay for those and still afford our basic needs.

Another scary thought is that I was just tossed into the role of sole bread winner in the family and I am only still in the beginning stages of start up. But that is another post altogether, so stay tuned for my thoughts on that and how I am going to manage my new role.

Comments...

So I am having troubles posting comments. So I just wanted to let everyone know that I am not ignoring you or not reading comments but I just can't comment myself. :( I have been having trouble on other people's blogs as well. I'll have to figure out what's wrong and fix it.

Christmas in July is HERE!

Just listed a couple of listings for my Christmas in July sale. I will be listing more tomorrow, including Christmas fabric.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27662768
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27663182
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=27664369

I will be adding more patterns and fabric over the next 5 days and then I will be adding Christmas quilt kits sometime after Wednesday. I am still putting together the patterns for the kits and I will start cutting them up sometime this weekend. So check back and see what new items I have added that day!

Almost Ready

The Christmas in July sale is almost here! I am finishing with pictures and working with my website host on some technical issues. At the very least, if my technical issues are resolved, the Christmas in July sale will be going on at my Etsy store, http://www.snowtopquilts.etsy.com/

I will be listing almost 50 items tomorrow, including Holiday print fabric, patterns, and pattern books. Pre cut quilt kits will be listed on the Snow Top Quilts home website later this week. I haven't decided yet but I am thinking of making a couple of queen sized, a couple of twin sized, a few lap quilt and a few table runner kits. I am thinking a total of 10 quilt kits total.

This is going to be a really fun sale as I am having a blast putting it together. I hope you enjoy it just as much.

SnowTopQuilts Etsy store July Promotions and Sales

Coming Soon! Christmas in July specials. Free shipping in the U.S. on orders of $75.00 or more. Receive a free gift with any order of $125.00 or more. Receive a free $25.00 gift certificate to use for yourself or to give as a gift on any order of $175.00 or more. Order a CUSTOM Christmas quilt over $400.00 and receive a free Christmas log cabin lap quilt.

Every Sunday, I will discount 1-3 items 50% as a weekly sale and promotion.


SnowTopQuilts.Etsy.com

Pixresizer

I have been noticing my friends with online stores have been having problems with resizing their pictures to the quality they need to sell their products. With my stores on etsy and ebay and of course my website and blog I use something called Pixresizer developed by Bluefive software .

Pixresizer is a free download directly from the Bluefive website. I find this to be the easiest way for me to get my pictures to the size I need and the quality I want. You can use the pre set sizes or custom size your pictures to what you need. You can upload and resize multiple pictures at a time or do them one at a time. Your original photos are not altered at all and you can save the new images in a different folder. I organize mine by size, that way I always know what pictures can be used where.

Try it once and you'll be hooked. I was, and pixresizer is all I use.

Setting Colors...

There are many ways out there to make sure the colors of your fabric don't bleed into other fabrics in your quilts. I am sure there are many ways to make sure the color of your fabrics stay as bright or close to it after washing. I don't know them. Today I am going to tell you about my way of setting colors in fabrics, that not only works in fabrics for quilting but in clothing as well. I use this method with all my bright and dark colors. This way has never failed me and I have been doing it for almost 12 years now.

2 cups white distilled vinegar (I use Flavorite, it doesn't have to be the expensive stuff to work)
enough cold water to cover your fabric, water should be close to ice cold.

Submerge your fabric into the cold water and make sure it is completely wet. Let sit in the sink for 2-6 hours, but no more then 24 hours. Take out of the cold water and squeeze, don't twist just squeeze, out excess water and machine wash like normal.

This method works for up to 4 or 5 yards of fabric, for more then 5 yards add more vinegar about 1 cup per 2 yards and of course add more cold water to cover the fabric.

For jeans, add 3 cups of vinegar to the cold water and let sit for 6-8 hours. Keeps your black jeans black! Turn jeans inside out before placing in the washing machine.

I hope this helps you keep your colors looking the way you want them too.

Beef Stew Recipe for the slow cooker

Here is my beef stew recipe for the slow cooker:

2 lbs cubed stew meat, cut into about 1" cubed
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. season salt, I use Lawry's
1/2 tsp. fine ground white pepper, you can use black pepper too
1-2 tsp. olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
1 tblsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 med. onion chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth, I use Swanson
3-4 potatoes quartered
1/2 small bag of baby carrots
1 stalk of celery chopped
1 can diced tomatoes, I use the flavored kind, it depends on what mood I am in, which one I use, but for the most part they are all good. If you use the garlic tomatoes reduce the amount of garlic cloves you put in the stew or it becomes over powering.


Put flour mixture into gallon-sized, zippered bag. Shake beef in bag to coat. Sauté coated beef in 1-2 tablespoons olive oil until browned. Add chopped onion to beef to sauté and soften. Transfer to slow cooker. Add carrots, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, and paprika to slow cooker. Mix beef broth with 1 tblsp Worcestershire and ½ cup red wine. Pour into hot skillet to deglaze, then pour over everything in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low of 10-12 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. I prefer the 10-12 hours myself, I'll get up and do all this early in the morning, it's worth it.
I serve the stew in bowls, accompanied by slices of fresh bread or Texas toast.

Why I started quilting.

When I was growing up, my paternal grandmother was a crafter but mostly a quilter. She had a huge room in their home dedicated to crafts. She did all kinds of crafts, bead work, knitting, crochet, dolls, stuffed animals, paper crafts, punch needle, latch hook, jewelery making, and so many more. Even today my Christmas tree is decorated in ornaments she made, my daughter's play with some of the stuffed animals she made me when I was a little girl. I still sleep under the afghan she made me, although too short for me now it is still my favorite blanket.

My fondest memories as a child are of my grandmother piecing blocks for another quilt, watching Wheel Of Fortune and me sitting under her feet picking up pins out of the carpet. It was the only way she'd let me in her sewing room and I was so honored to be in there with her, "helping" and wishing I could touch each and every bolt of fabric she had on the shelves. She had a hand quilting frame in the center of the room, next to her cutting table and as she was hand quilting, I'd get to sit under the frame in my "fort" and pick up the pins she dropped. Around the fall the ladies of the community would get together and make crafts for the local craft fairs. I always got to acompany my grandmother and hand her supplies as she was working. I loved going to those get togethers, all the ladies visiting with each other and my favorite part, all the baked goods they brought!

I always wanted my grandmother to teach me to quilt, my mother thought I was too young to learn and said that I'd learn in Home Ec class so my grandmother never got to teach me. Sadly she had ended up having 4 strokes. The first one wasn't bad and she was able to resume most of her regular activities after a couple of weeks, the second one made her give up all her crafts except quilting, but she had a hard time using her hands, the third stroke left her bed ridden and her all her crafts stayed un touched in that one room. The fourth stroke ended her life, I was 14 years old and had just started sewing in Home Ec class at school.

I made two pillows that year a shark and a cupcake, but that was the last of my sewing for years. The next time I picked up a needle I was 25 and 7 months pregnant with my first daughter, Megan. My husband and I had gone out to various craft shows looking for a baby quilt for our unborn daughter. I had something very specific in mind and I couldn't find what I wanted. My husband suggested that I make one myself. I was very hesitant to try quilting myself, I had in my head all my grandmother's quilts and how perfect they all seemed, I couldn't make anything like she made.

Late one night, I was awake with bad heartburn and I decided to look on eBay.com for a quilt top, or a finished quilt. I stumbled upon "quilt kits" and discovered that these where precut fabric and a pattern to assemble your own quilt top. I found one that I just adored, it was a very beautiful pastel rainbow colored quilt kit using all Moda fabrics. At the time I had no idea who Moda was didn't know what a deal I was getting. I bought the kit and waited for it to arrive.

But I had a problem, I had no sewing machine! Christmas and my Birthday are 5 days apart and coming very soon. Usually I don't mind that everyone forgets my birthday, it is so close to Christmas that people just forget and that has been happening since I was very little. This year I was determined to get something for my birthday, a sweing machine. I thought if I made the offer to have both presents combined into one gift I could convince my husband that spending $100 or so on a machine wasn't too expensive. He agreed and went to find out what he could on sewing machines. He enlisted his mom's help and she ended up taking over the project, I am very thankful for that!

She went to a local quilt store in town, it was right next to her favorite coffee shop and asked them what kind of machine would be good. They were Janome dealers and I ended up with a Janome DC3050 as my very first sewing machine. I was hooked! What a lovely machine, a little intimidating at first, but Tina, the Janome dealer and quilt shop owner showed me how to use it and clean it and I couldn't have been happier. I have been using my Janome ever since, I bought another Janome Mini as a backup when I take my machine into be serviced and my oldest daughter is getting a Janome Magnolia 7312 for her first machine for Christmas this year.

Ever since I made that first quilt I have been hooked on quilting. I made my first 3 quilts from kits I bought off eBay and then I finally got the courage to cut my own fabric. I am mostly a self taught quilter with the exception of picking up tips and ideas from my quilt group and online forum friends and ofcourse books.

That is why I started quilting. Why then did I start my quilt shop? It was kind of a natural progression for me. I was a stay at home mom and was looking for ways to suppliment our familiy's income. I sold handmade candles for awhile, taught and still teach BabySigns, and I tried Melaluca for awhile too. Quilting just seems to fit better. I enjoy it, I don't mind getting 3 hours of sleep some nights if I have to work late and get up early with the girls (that's what Startbucks is for) and I truely love the different challenges that come from making custom quilts and sharing my love for quilting with anyone I can!

When my family moves to Colorado I might consider opening a physical location once both girls are in school full time but I will for sure get a Long Arm machine and offer that service as well. I am even trying my hand at designing a quilt. The possibilites are endless for a quilter.

I'd like to know why YOU started quilting? Post a comment here or email me at MichelleHalverson@SnowTopQuilts.com

New Items on etsy

SnowTopQuilts shop on etsy.com :)

A gift set with free shipping was added today at my etsy shop along with a few other things.

Where did you get that picture?

I have been asked a couple of times about where I got the picture I use on my blog, facebook, and my website. An old friend of mine and poker buddy, Jake Nielsen is a photographer and a phenomenal artist. He is allowing me to use his photograph for my company. If you are interested in seeing more of Jake's work you can contact him here http://artisinresidence.com/

My commute...

is nonexistent. I don't get the time in the car like most people to unwind from work and a crazy hectic day. Instead, my "office" is about 15 feet from my family room and I walk by it a 100 times a day when I am not actually working. I never really leave work, but I never really leave home either. In my case, I couldn't get to sleep at night, there was always something else that needed to be done. As far as work goes, I do my work when I can through out the day and most of it at night after my girls asleep. Which is where my problems started. I was always working at night right before bed, it is really the only time I have to work uninterupted. So I was having issues with stopping work at bed time. I seemed to always go to bed thinking about work, what else needs to be done, or the one thing that kept me up most of all...designing quilt patterns in my head!

So I came up with a system to help myself get to sleep without thinking! Read a book. Any book about anything but quilting, business or building websites. It started when the new Jennifer Chiaverini book came out, one of the Elm Creek Quilts Novels. I know that is about quilting, but it is a novel, a story line, not a how to book. I do have to admit that the Elm Creek novels are too good and I was still up at night, but it did get my mind off work. Now I read other books, mostly Dean Koontz novels but I will read others too every now and then.

Reading takes my mind off my work and makes it easier to fall asleep. I make sure I leave myself an hour or however long I want to spend reading. Usually I have to set an alarm to remind myself of the time and then another alarm to remind myself to stop reading. The trick is to listen to the alarms and have self discipline. That can be hard when you are really into whatever it is your doing, but it helps to keep yourself well rested and sane and keep up your drive and motivation to work from home.

I hope this helps some of you work from home people out there.

SnowTopQuilts.com Update

I have decided to switch web hosts. So my site might be down for a week or so. I have to rebuild my site and try to figure out how to re-direct my domain name to the new servers. My old host is taking their sweet time getting me the necessary information to re-direct but I expect to have the problem fixed by Monday or Tuesday at the very latest.

I ordered some more Krafter's products from Stone Creek Creations. I was unable to obtain more of the Krafter's Komfycush but I did manage to get a couple of the Krafter's purses, even a couple of "retired" but limited Kakhi colored and some other items as well. These are the photos of the items I ordered.



Here is a picture of the Krafter's Komfycush, I have two of these in Royal Blue listed at my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6033886

I also ordered the KP2 Krafter's purse, it is a larger version of the Krafter's Purse.As soon as I can get my site switched to the new host I will publish it and I should be ready to take orders at that time. I am very excited to get my store up and running entirely. It is such a great feeling to be that much closer to contributing to my family's well being again, and to share my love of quilting with all of you.

Works in progress

Some people ask me what I am working on as far as quilts go, well most of the time I am working on something to list in my Etsy store, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6033886 But I always have more then a few projects that need to be completed for personal use. I have been quilting for over 4 years now and I don't have one quilt that I made of my own! My two daughters have their baby quilts that I made for them, and many friends and family members have quilts I made for them, but I have yet to finish a quilt for myself.

As for what I am working on for my Etsy and eBay stores, I am in the middle of two twin sized pinwheels, and one king sized pinwheels. I am cutting up fabric for a couple of star quilts and I am designing a quilt around some fabric from Hoffman Farbics now.

I am really hoping to get an Alchemy for a daybed quilt, I am drawing a design for the buyer now to see if she likes what I have to offer. Crossing Fingers.

For my personal projects, I have the fabric picked out and sitting in a drawer for a double wedding ring, fussy cut around some fabric from Moda. It will be a king sized quilt with matching shams. I still have my mother's day project going on, an applique quilt I designed from the state flower, tree, and bird of Colorado along with some mountains.

I started an all hand pieced, hand quilted wall hanging about this time last year. I am in the process of hand quilting it now. Eventually I'll finish it, but I keep putting it down to complete or start other projects :) When I do complete this quilt it will be framed in a picture frame.

A few months ago I made a quilt in a cup for a friend of mine who loves butterflies and her husband kept taking her cup, they said it kept water really cold. So I decided I'd suprise him with his own quilt in a cup so I am making his cup now. My friend's cup has been broken, so I am also making her another cup.

I was very active in a quilting forum for a couple of years and I participated in a lot of swaps, from charm swaps to block swaps and I have a few of those blocks from the swaps to make into quilts. I usually give those to Project Linus. http://www.projectlinus.org/ I will for sure keep one of the quilts, as it was a friendship quilt and all of my friends participated.

There are some projects I am forgetting, but these are the majority of them.

Welcome

Welcome to the Snow Top Quilts blog. I am so excited to be able to share my love of quilting with you. Feel free to follow this blog, as I will be adding quilting tips and techniques, ideas, Block of the Month, contests and promotions, patterns, recipes, and so much more.

Snow Top Quilts was started in March of 2009. The reason I choose the name Snow Top Quilts is because my family and I are planning to move to Colorado, hopefully before the end of the year, and we are looking at homes in the mountains. I love snow covered mountains, they are peaceful to me just as quilting is peaceful to me.

At http://www.SnowTopQuilts.com/ you'll be able to buy fabric, patterns, pattern books, quilting novels, notions, quilt kits, finished quilts and order custom quilts. Soon, I will have a section for quilters to list and sell their quilted creations on my web site. My hope is to become a full quilt shop online.

I decided to start this quilting store all with my own money and I make and sell quilts on Etsy.com and eBay.com to help pay for my inventory. It is a slow process but it is a very gratifying choice, especially in this economy. Because of this decision I have a limited inventory to start with but it is growing, I hope you'll check my store often to find out what's new. I also have some inventory listed at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6033886

If you have any great quilting tips, or are having a problem with a pattern or technique, send me an email and I will post it on this blog for you and others can comment and offer advice or other tips on that topic.

MichelleHalverson@SnowTopQuilts.com

I hope you join me as a fellow quilter or just someone who is curious, on this fun and exciting journey through the quilting world.

Michelle