Favorite Tip

I'm participating in the

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Today I am just under the wire to post here so it has to be quick.

I don't know how my writing skills will improve at the rate I'm going,

but I'll keep on trucking with the challenge.

On days there hasn't been a sewing project to blog about,

 I've been using

Cheryl's prompts to keep up with the challenge.

Today's prompt:  Favorite Tip

A college English teacher once told me to get it done,

get it done, get it done.  Then go back and perfect it until you are happy with it.  

But first, just get it done.

OK, that's more like advice, but it's the best.

I've used that little tip so many times.

Almost every day.

Skills I Wish I Had

I'm participating in the

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

I've managed to write on my blog for the first 8 days of 31.

(I'm including today)

On days there hasn't been a sewing project to blog about,

 I've been using

Cheryl's prompts to keep up with the challenge.

Today's prompt:  Skills I wish I had.

I wish I had better quilting knowledge on my long arm with both the computer and free-motion.  I want to have the courage to tackle free-motion on the long arm like I do with my domestic.  I wish I knew how to digitize my own designs.  I wish I knew how to do the updates on my long arm too.  Guess I better get on that soon.

I wish procrastination wasn't so easy.  lol

I wish I was a faster stitcher, designer, and writer, then this post wouldn't have taken me an hour to write this little post.

I have a lot of stitching skill wishes.  So many techniques I wish I could try and conquer.  So many projects I wish I had time to do.

Throw Back Thursday - Grandma's Pudding Cookies

I am participating in 2 events this week.

The first is the 

Christmas Virtual Cookie Exchange and Blog Hop

and the second is the

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

In the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge, Cheryl Sleboda has a list of prompts to help with subjects to blog about every day in December.

Today's prompt is "First Project".

The Virtual Cookie Exchange and Blog Hop is an annual event hosted by 

Carol at Just Let Me Quilt

 and 

has been so fun

with all kinds of cookie recipes and sewing projects shared.

So I decided to combine the two events today and share one of the first recipes I published on my blog back in 2012.

Maybe it's not a "first project" but it's one of the first things I put on this blog.

These are

Grandma's Pudding Cookies.

This is my beautiful Grandma that made these cookies in a picture with my kids back in 1994.

And this is the recipe for these light and tasty cookies.

She made them with lemon pudding which is a bit of sunshine during these cold winter months.

1 cup Bisquick
1 (about 3 1/2 oz) pkg. instant pudding
1/4 cup veg. oil
1 egg

Mix all ingredients until dough forms a ball.  Shape dough by teaspoonfuls into balls.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Dip bottom of a glass into sugar; flatten balls.  Bake about 8 minutes at 350 degrees.  Makes about 2 dozen.  Good with lemon pudding or the flavor of your choice.

For a lot more cookie recipes, check out
the complete schedule for the 

Christmas Virtual Cookie Exchange and Blog Hop

December 2^nd

Creatin' in the Sticks

Ms P Designs USA

Home Sewn By Us

Vroomans Quilts

Cathie's Craftworks

Sew Many Yarns

Just Because Quilts

December 3^rd

Moosestash Quilting
Stitchin At Home

Barb – Hosted by Just Let Me Quilt

Hill Valley Quilter

Little Penguin Quilts

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Selina Quilts

Count it *all* JOY!

Purring Cottage

December 4^th

Made By Marney

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Beaquilter

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Life in the Scrapatch

DesertSky Quilting

Sunlight in Winter Quilts

December 5^th

Quilt Doodle Designs

Ridge Top Quilt

Pumpkin Patch Patterns & Quilting

Websterquilt

Bumbleberry Stitches

Kathy's Kwilts and More

December 6^th

Just Let Me Quilt

Kris Loves Fabric

Domestic Felicity

Karrin’s Crazy World

Songbird Designs

Melva Loves Scraps

Brenda's Quilt Blog

The 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge. continues through December.

So you will be seeing me a lot (I hope) in December.

I'm going to give it my best.

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

I'm joining Cheryl Sleboda

for her annual 

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

I'm trying to up my game by blogging every day in December.

That's 31 days straight

and

designed to build good blogging habits as we head into 2020.

Do I have that much to write about?

Luckily for me, Cheryl has prompts to help us along the way.

The first 3 days of December were reserved here in the Sticks for

A Time for All Seasons Block of the Month

and

The Christmas Virtual Cookie Exchange and Blog Hop.

Today I'll use Cheryl's prompts 1-4 to catch up.

#1 - Introduction

I'm Carla

and

I live outside of  Dodge City, Kansas - (out in the sticks)
I started this blog back in 2012 and the name, Creatin' in the Sticks, just seemed fitting.

Creatin' in the Sticks is the name of my business where I sell PDF quilting and sewing patterns.  I am a designer for Thermoweb and a 2019 Island Batik Ambassador.

#2 - Sewing Space

 My studio is above our detached garage.

I love that I can work and leave my mess and no one knows

because it usually looks like this...

I'm usually fighting deadlines and this is my ugly.

#3 - Machine

You can see my Janome MC6600P  in the above pictures and she is certainly a workhorse.

She is humming pretty much every day.

This is the machine that should get more credit that she does though.

This was the first sewing machine that was my very own.

Mom and Dad gave it to me for Christmas before I graduated High School.

The old Kenmore will stitch through just about anything and I've stitched a lot of miles on her.  I did my first free-motion quilting on her without a needle down feature.  That seems like such a challenge now that I'm spoiled with the modern features of my Janome.

#4 - Favorite Tools

This is such a hard prompt for me.  Every tool is a must-have once I have it.

I mean, I didn't know how cool a rotary cutter was until I had one.  The modern conveniences we enjoy in quilting is amazing.

If I have to choose, it would be my new pink Oliso Iron and wool mat.

There is just something about having a pretty iron and that wool mat is a game-changer.

Thanks for visiting my daily blog in December.

This should be fun.

Spring Quilt Market - Recap

I was so excited to attend my first International Quilt Market and have now fully recovered from the trip and catching up at my day job.

The spring quilt market was held in Kansas City this year which made it so easy for me to attend.
Add to that my friend Joyce just opened a quilt shop and was excited to check out market too.

International Quilt Market is a credentialed trade show and not open to the general public

although, most of the new fabrics and patterns seem to be shown on the internet before the market even starts so I don't really think anyone is missing out on the big reveals.

For me, quilt market was more about meeting internet friends and networking for future collaborations.

Before I set foot on the floor of the quilt market I met Tula Pink.

It didn't hurt that I had decided to wear my Moon Shine t-shirt that day.

I could have just dropped when she asked me if she could take an Instagram Street Spotting picture.

She was so sweet to let me take a picture too.

Her new fabric line Monkey Wrench made such a cute booth.

Our first day of International Quilt Market was Thursday and we attended the Schoolhouse Series.  It was a series of 15 - 30-minute presentations about what you could find in the booths in the upcoming days and educational classes about anything quilt related. 

 It really gave us a chance to see what to focus on at Quilt Market. 

One of my favorite Schoolhouse presentations was Kim's, from Go-Go Kim, social media class.  She joined the Island Batik team for several presentations and it was fun to meet the faces behind the names of all my Island Batik friends.

Island Batik has a new spring line by Kathy Engle called Freedom that is perfect for 

Quilts of Valor or any red, white, and blue quilt.

(I will have a quilt to show soon...)

 Later that day we attended Sample Spree.  I have to admit that Sample Spree was not my favorite thing we did.  It's a chance for buyers to purchase individual items from manufacturers.   I'm not a buyer and I do not like crowds or to stand in line for long periods of time.  I probably won't do that event again.  Although I did get to visit with a lot of like-minded people while I stood in line, I would rather do that over a cup of coffee.  lol

Friday was the first day the show floor opened

and

it was soooo overwhelming for a newbie.

My first stop was the Blend Fabrics booth to see my projects.

Through a partnership with Thermoweb, I made a few things for the Blend Fabrics booth.

These projects were for Anna Griffin's Lila fabric collection, the patterns for these projects are coming soon over at Thermoweb.

Thermoweb frequently partners with other industry companies for events and shows.

Michael Miller Fabrics has been super generous to the Thermoweb fabric project designers

and

I just had to visit their booth.

Rob Appell with Michael Miller conducted lots of interviews and it was fun to watch.

It was fun to meet Crystal in person too! 

She is the reason you will see a lot of my new projects for Thermoweb made with bright and fun Michael Miller Fabrics.

My first day of booth hopping finished with a visit to the Hobbs Batting booth and a visit with 

Steph and fellow Island Batik Ambassador, Jennifer - The Inquiring Quilter.

It was such a pleasure to meet both of these ladies and

I can't wait to share my May Island Batik Ambassador quilt for the Make it Modern with Hobbs Batting challenge. I tried a technique that was suggested by Steph and it worked brilliantly.Stay tuned for the reveal later this week.

Day 2 of booth hopping was quick and fun with meeting and connecting with more friends.

First stop - Riley Blake Designs to meet Cindy and connect with an old friend, J Wecker Frisch of Joy Studio.  Janet is the designer of the fabric, Handmaids, from one of the first blog hops I hosted, She Who Sews.  We had so much fun catching up and maybe some fun in the future too.  

Her booth was adorable.

Speaking of blog hops, I met another friend from years of blog hopping.

Doris from Cactus Queen Quilt Co. had a booth for her new endeavor, X-Blocks.

Another blog hop friend, Amanda of Amanda Murphy Design.

I finished my Quilt Market fun with a talk by Pat Sloan

and Quilt in a Day's, Eleanor Burns.

I heard more than once that this was a small quilt market but that the people attending were there to conduct business and it was a great success.

No matter what the outcome was for others, we had a blast and checked a lot of things off our lists.  It was fun to help my friend Joyce explore options for her quilt shop and I'm so excited to see the new things coming to 

 Birds of a Feather Quilt Shop.

And that's my first Quilt Market experience in a nutshell.

I don't know how it could get any better.