THE SECRET OF THE PILLOWCASE AND THE SECRET AND FABULOUS RECIPE

OK, I have to share this most wonderful secret that I have had for eight years with my Grandchildren that every Grandparent, Aunt or relative of children will LOVE.

When my first two Grandchildren got old enough to spend the night at my home. I put this very pillowcase on my guestroom bed where I would sleep with the little one that spent the night. It is glow in the dark. ALL year long not just Halloween time, this pillowcase sits on that bed.

Then when it is bedtime and teeth are brushed I always say "I am brushing my teeth and don't go into the bedroom yet as I get the halloween pillowcase." Then like clockwork, they rush to the bedroom giggling and hurry into bed and onto the pillowcase and when I go in, I make a big deal about them stealing my pillowcase and I turn out the light so we can see the glowing things. It has worked on four of my Grandchildren for years and soon the last two will be old enough to sleep here and I know it will work also. No trying to get them to bed...simply a fun pillowcase. I am in the midst of making new pillowcases out of new fabric to replace this pillowcase that is getting rather worn and old. :0) I giggle just thinking about a new replacement for the old one. What fun!

Tonight Mel and Kathy and I went out to dinner and then to Julie and Julia. They had seen it and I hadn't. I was always a fan of Julia Childs. I thought I would share my friend Suzanne's most wonderful recipe with you for a delicious recipe sure to please you and your most picky guests. Get ready for the compliments, it is DELICIOUS.

Suzanne's DELICIOUS Veal Burgundy
16 small white onions, peeled (About one pound) I buy them all ready in the frozen food section
3 1/2 lbs of veal stew meat
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup ketchup
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Herbs of Provence or Fines Herbes
2 teaspoons of Maggi Seasoning
2 teaspoons of Kitchen Bouquet
2 cups of Burgundy or other dry red wine
2 cups small whole mushrooms
I put the wine in the slow cooker then the meat cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
Then the rest I had to the top of the meat and cook on high for about 5 hours.
Add about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with a little water at the end to thicken.
Just before you serve you can also add 1/4 cup of brandy
She serves this with mashed potatoes, peas and rolls.
Bon appetite!

One never knows what surprises you can get from the Mary Lou Retreats. :0)

Just wanted to say that I hope you will be one of the people who come and join us in May or August for my retreat. I just checked out bags and I am going to order awesome ones that will be fun to use all year long for projects. :0)

FULL INFORMATION FOR THE MARY LOU COLOR ME OUT OF THE BOX RETREATS IN 2010

"OUT OF THE BOX-UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVITY IN QUILTS RETREAT!
$575 for the May retreat -May 1,2 and 3-The event ends May 3rd at 3pm
Final no host dinner at the Coeur d'Alene Hotels "Dockside" for those who want to eat together before we say "Goodbye" -we will probably do an extra day of shopping and adventuring the day before for those of you who have not been to Spokane or Idaho. Stay tuned.
Three days of fabulous sewing with Hoochy Mama blocks,Flower Power blocks, Hoochy Houses, and new patterns that are brand new all done with the hoochy technique.
Leave with a quilt of fun color, creativity and your very own original twist.
We will have our own cook, baker and prizes and give aways. Sewing machines may be rented ahead of time through the retreat. We will be meeting in darling Post Falls Idaho at the Jacklin Art Center, a stones throw away from beautiful Coeur d'Alene Idaho and Spokane Washington.
You may fly into the Spokane Airport and take a shuttle or rent a car to the hotel. We have both single and double occupancy rooms.
This will be a wonderful chance to come and meet other creative quilters from many places. Hope you can come and join the fun.
The second retreat will be a story quilt retreat based on Mary Lou's new book "Out of the Box Quilts." This retreat will be held the same place as the first and the dates are August 20, 21,22 and 23rd. The price of this workshop is $785 which includes the hotel and all food with the exception of the final dinner (optional) held at the Coeur d'Alene Hotel's Dockside restaurant.
Both retreats will have discussions and the question of the day along with tiaras and many of the things that make Mary Lou's workshops oh, so special.
We will have a sign up on Mary Lou's website by the end of next week. Marylouquiltdesigns.com

LETTER FROM ASILOMAR STUDENT

Before you read this, you need to know that I gave out large plastic gemstone rings to match the tiaras. This is one of the Sisters (Charlotte) that I had in class.
She writes:

Mary Lou, Laura and I laughed all the way to Dallas on the plane. We had such a good time, makes you want to get the same group together again because we were all in tune. Thanks for a great time.

Laura was wearing her two rings, one on each pinky finger, on the plane. (She is the only one who could wear them without getting a huge blister.) The lady sitting next to me leaned over and said “I am interested in gem stones, could you tell me what kind that is?” Without blinking an eye Laura responded, “Plastic!” Good thing it was near the end of the trip because we could hardly contain ourselves until we got off the plane. I am sure all of Dallas wondered what we were laughing about. Isn’t life grand? Love Charlotte

Quilts in the works and people who were fun and creative

This is Kathy with the purse we all loved. It comes in black she says with white dogs. Darling!

I teach a Christmas class (taught this one in Georgia for a guild) and Kathy took the class, did this tree and then came to Asilomar to finish the borders. She is working backwards but it is a beautiful quilt that is happy and will be treasured at holiday time.

Lynne from Texas did this quilt about three friends who go to the beach in Florida.

This is Laura's quilt. She did these great cars in the borders and then hoochy mama and flower power blocks other places-what fun! Laura is from San Antonio and she is really thinking in this photo.

Below is Carol's blocks-Carol is from Northern California and was timid with color before she came- she is "Out of the Box" now and ready for more

The quilt below belongs to Nancy who lives close to Dallas TX. She decided to have a woman jumping "out of the box" and I think this is going to be a fabulous quilt.

Here is Nancy with her beginning of a quilt about her Grandson who hunts ducks along with his Grandfather. Nancy is one of those people who can do anything and has. We were impressed with her skills.

Below is Nancy and Laura enjoying an evening in Carmel

Here is Kathy with her story about her doggies.

Below is beautiful Barbara who has her blocks almost completed and is doing a story about her Victorian house and her friends who come to visit. She told a story about her Mother's homemade tortillas (hot and wonderful) and I hope she does that story also.

Below is Mel, (sister) Andy, and Kathy (taken in Carmel)

Nancy, Laura (thinking again) and Charlotte who is also thinking (they are sisters)


Andy, Kathy, Mary Lou and Deb at dinner sharing stories and tales of the class

Forge in the Forest is a wonderful place to eat if you go to Carmel-Kathy,Mary Lou and Deb enjoy dinner and fun

Above is everyone at the table- I wish we could have gotten the whole class at this table-they were all so much fun and so very nice. What a treat to be around such great women!

OK, so in case you do not know how the class works, we have a meeting each morning in the fireside room. You have a question of the day and each person answers the question. Then it gives others a chance to listen, learn and think and come up with new ideas for stories and lessons on life. This day was the day the question was "RECIPES" -this word conjures up alot of things, what do you think when you hear the word "recipes?"

My photos left out alot of important people. I was at the front of the class and wish I had everyone in one of these but it was impossible

Judy is either telling a joke or a story

Mel takes notes in the back as others share

Here is Andy who is happy working on her blocks and thinking of her story

Deb and Kathy

Charlotte smiles big as she looks at the menu and enjoys the surroundings

Lynne with her beautiful smile and positive energy

And Kathy who always laughs, encourages and does her best at whatever is in front of her.

Above is Beth who was always at the back of the room listening intently and always giving out her beautiful smile. We are at the airport waiting for our plane to arrive to go home, happy, fulfilled and content.

Check out Beth's blog for more photos on the class and other fun things

http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/

Here is our wonderful class photo- we took this photo at the 11th hour and we are missing a few friends. But aren't we an attractive class? Only two people remembered their tiaras.

Another fabulous time (week) at Asilomar with new and old wonderful friends, lots of laughter, a few tears and fabulous quilts made for memories and stories (Emptyspoolsseminars.com)
If you have not experienced this I encourage you to sign up for next years class -just click on the easy address above in this paragraph.
Many of us put little gifts out when no one is looking and at each seat is a little prize now and then. Laura and her sister Charlotte (they should be comediens) gave out these bumper stickers. I thought about putting mine on my suitcase for about a minute---it is now in front of my computer and another one is upstairs above my calendar-such fun and so true!

Kathy's hoochy Flower Power blocks from the book-great combinations!

Here is Charlotte's Hoochy border before the story about her brother who died of AIDS was added-she drew out a large dinosaur, him sitting on it reading a book and other darling things that represented his full and talented life cut short. The first sample she brought with a PINK polka dotted dinosaur with a boy reading a book on it's back walked off. If you see this please contact me as it was "lifted." A first for this 25 year old conference. This is still the best conference ever and I would never worry about my things there. This was a fluke and
not what we ever expect to happen with the lovely quilters that attend this wonderful conference. Each girl in the class made her a block and signed it. :0) Such fun!

I flew into LA where Mel picked me up and whisked me to her beautiful home in Manhatten Beach. She and her husband collect fabulous original artwork and interesting things as they travel with their two boys. The house is three story and lots of color and things to look at, read, think about and enjoy. After lunch and cupcakes (below) we drove up to Modesto to pick up her sister Andy and meet her lovely family. Above is her nephew John who had the coolest hair and I wanted my daughter to see how cute he is with this "doo." After an evening of chatting and getting to know a little bit the people I had heard so much about, we headed out for breakfast and then Asilomar.

After arriving in Pacific Grove, we went to Tasuti Zoo (my favorite shop in the Universe) and the Back Porch Fabrics (my favorite quilt shop in the Universe)-photos of Emily and Mary the owners of Tasuti Zoo tomorrow-----

After shopping and checking in, we went to our fabulous friend "Deb's house to have hamburgers prepared by Robin - I can honestly say that it was the best hamburger I have ever had and the best potato salad (next to mine) I have ever had. Our friend Kathy came and we had a wonderful evening in a beautiful home.

I didn't give Deb and Robin a chance to pose- I simply took a photo-wish I had taken more and warned them-they are such giving and lovely people-wish you knew them!

Here is Mel, ready to chow down as I take photos instead of helping my hostess.

I know you wonder why I keep posting sunsets but they are all so different and so lovely

There are three women who run Asilomar. This is Suzanne who is really fun, really works hard and really great at making everyone seem like they are number 1. I even gave her a tiara this year. For those of you who do not know, I always hand out tiaras to people in class for fun.

As Charlotte and Laura said "Everyone in Mary Lou's class feels like a Princess"- I think that is a story quilt. :0)

This was my favorite fabric this year in the window of Back Porch Fabrics. They sold this one out and then put another one in and I bought that too- they have great stuff!

This is the gate that greets you each time you visit


Kite flying on the beach is quite exciting to watch too.

Above is Judy from Tahoe who has taken my class three times and made fabulous quilts. The quilt above is of her Grandson and aren't the shorts fun? She chose all hoochy stars for her border and she is going to include all of his favorite things-she is very creative.

Judy did this quilt last year about her Grandma who loved to can, had an old wringer washer, was very loving and made treats to eat-Note Jundy as a little girl on the chair. Isn't this charming???? I loved this hoochy mama border.

Mel said her Father loves to call boys "Cowboy". So she is working on her cowboy hoochy border which is think is wonderful. The girl is from Tasuti Zoo and makes you smile.

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Below is Rosemary who comes from Oklahoma and married a sailor and promptly moved to Japan. her story is about the experience and the two cultures-very fun.

Laura and Charlotte are sisters that are close to 70 years YOUNG in age- they are hilarious and fun and wise. They were dressed like twins as children and their Mother and Father scraped enough money to give them dancing lessons when money was tight. below is Laura's story quilt about those days and the recital that they wore baskets on their heads with flowers. This is a great quilt with a great story. Such fun!

Below is Deb's quilt in the works that will be all about her beautiful garden. Her drawing was superb and the colors are extraordinary. It is going to be cool!

The Hoochy Mama blocks are going to be for another quilt in her list. :0) It is hard to do just one after you "get it." These are diary pieces in cloth and are sure to be studied someday.

This is all I have the energy to post right now. If you were in this class and got photos, please send them to me. I am missing alot that I had the wrong lens on my camera.

It was a wonderful, exciting, creative, color awakening week. These ladies all out of the box by the last day will surely never go back in. I am tired but so amazed at the creativity I got to be a part of. What fun.