from Hip Stitch!

Our holiday schedule:

We will be CLOSED

Dec. 23-26 and

Dec. 31-Jan. 1

Our year-end SALE will be Dec. 27, 28, 29.

Best wishes for a relaxing holiday!

Dear Friends,

The heart wrenching tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut has us reeling and bereft.  Somehow we must attempt to honor the memory of those killed and offer a gesture of hope into that gaping darkness of loss.  For 26 working days (when we are open), beginning on the 21st of December, we will be giving one percent of all sales to the Albuquerque Public Schools Title One Homeless Project.  We’ll also have a collection jar (if you simply want to donate) and 2 cards to sign: one for the Sandy Hook PTA and one for the folks who run the APS Title One Homeless Project.  (http://www.aps.edu/title-i/homeless-project)

All children are our children.  All families are our families.  The Reverend Martin Luther King said it eloquently, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

At the store, we are heartened and feel hopeful about the world when you tell us about your projects, what you are creating, who you are making something for.  Daily, we are witness to friendships formed, stories and journeys shared. In ways large and small, our little store is a garment of community and caring constantly woven.  We are grateful for your presence in our lives.

Suzanne and Carla

My work is never done

Just got home, after teaching a Sewing 101 class (awesome women).....where I talk in the beginning of the class about how I've sewn over the years, and that my girls also sew, blah, blah, blah.....and then I walk in the door and this is on the kitchen counter:

you know, this girl KNOWS how to sew.....but it warms my heart a bit that she leaves notes like this for me.

Ten-year-old Natasha has been taking sewing lessons here for a while, and this week we tackled a zipper and boxing corners to make this cute zippered pencil pouch.  I asked her to pose w/the bag.   Here's her take on "posing":

Pretty nifty pose, no?

Today is your lucky day!  You get the recipe for Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, courtesy of Jen Giddens.  Jen shared them with the crafters at the Hipster's Holiday Craft Show, and word spread quickly...."have you tried THOSE cookies?"   "they're fabulous!"  "who made them?"

Aline, daughter of Diana, cornered Jen and asked her to email us the recipe.  Here it is:

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies:

(Recipe from The Cooking Photographer)

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (7.4 ounce) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix *Not sugar free*
2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels

Instructions 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. It has to be parchment this time.

2. In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

3. With a standard (size 50) cookie scoop, scoop the dough scrapping off the excess as you go up the bowl. Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place a caramel in the center. Work the dough around the caramel sealing well. Place the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.

4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. After baking, carefully slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter. Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm. Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment or on a cooling rack.


Notes: If cookies get too cool before you twist them off, freeze the whole sheet for a few minutes and they’ll come right off.

--
Jen Giddens
Owner & Designer
Jen Giddens Studios
www.jengiddens.com

Thank you, Jen! 

A Saturday of....

..... crockpot pumpkin lattes for customers at our Open House - recipe in the newest edition of Generation Q magazine:

....customers like Linda, who came in wearing her beautiful Sandlewood Jacket:

.....a fun Christmas tree skirt class, featuring mi madre:

and happy Bralia, who finished hers and danced around the store wearing it as a cape:

(we get a little jiggy around here)

Have to also share Stacey's sewing, for her daughter Sydney:

A kindle bag, using our canvas Odds 'n Ends.

And pj bottoms that you have turn your head to the right to see properly, because the picture is having some rotation issues!

Survey says....!

Hey Hip Stitchers.....

will you take a moment and take this survey?  Generation Q, our favorite stitching magazine, would like to hear from you!  Just click HERE to tell all!

Thank you much!!

2 more days!

NM Weddings

Thank you, Susana, for the Hip Stitch shout out on your BEAUTIFUL blog:

and check out her husband's website......if I had to have my wedding over again, I just may have changed my music to his band!

A Whole Lot of Quilting Going on Around Here

Anna 

Suzanne 

Carla 

Lily  (Wait a minute, that's not a quilt!)

Olivia

 Campbell finished her first doll quilt on the day after her 10th birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Campbell ! ! !

Peggy 

 and

Hey, who are these guys?

Quilt Market Recap

We're home.  How to describe this trip?  Surrounded by beauty......creativity.......the latest and newest.......starstruck.......inspiring.......

I'm getting all the pictures up on Flickr, but here are a few from our fabulous weekend:

Some highlights in particular:
*meeting my fabric idol, Amy Butler
*being so impressed with both up & coming and seasoned fabric designers:  Bari J, Sarah Watson, Emily Taylor, Meg McElwee (pictured above on bottom left), and so many more!
*getting to see a quick glimpse of the Quilt Show, which opens to the public this week.  WOW.

More pics to come.....more to write.  But now, sleep is calling.

UK UFO in ABQ !

Part 2 in an ongoing series of longtime languishing but now completed UFOs   (see August 11, 2012 for part 1)

A few weekends ago I met two wonderful women, Martha and Susan, on visit from London.  

It was great fun and interesting to ask them and hear about about the Olympics,

Princess Kate and David Tennant.

Fun and interesting too to discover that Susan is a quilter, who, after viewing the Gee's Bend exhibit, had the same response as Jacqui Gering, "I can do that!"  Susan's first quilt was done ad lib.  (I am hoping to get a picture of it to share with you!)

And the UFO  part:  Her partner Martha started knitting this GORGEOUS sweater over ten (10!) years ago.  Over the years, the skeins of yarn and slowly materializing sweater spent time in the back of closets, behind doorways, near the couch, in the car, etc. And now, here it is:

The 10 Year (definitely-worth-the-wait-wearable-work-of-art) UK UFO in ABQ !

Good art is nothing more than infinite patience. (William Wallace Kimball)

A sweet little 6 yr. old recently made this drawstring gift bag in the lounge:

Aline came in wearing this Prairie Girl top......that she shares with her mom, Diana:

(don't know about you other moms of teenage daughters, but I love sharing clothes with my girls!)

Julie made this purse w/Parson Gray fabric:

Here's the quilt that will be raffled off at the Hipster's Craft Show Nov. 10.....have your purchased your raffle ticket yet?

And here's the scoop on the craft show!

Get out the kleenex....

...because I'm having a trip down memory lane tonight, due to some wonderful news about a baby-to-be in the family! (NOT ME)  No details until a more public announcement is made.......

So I was meandering down memory lane in my scrapbooks, and came across this picture:

Me and my baby/toddler, Jane.  I remember that old machine that was my mom's hand-me-down, and sewing that dress for a toddler friend.  I can close my eyes and almost feel that moment - Jane in my lap, reaching out now and then, wanting to help somehow but not knowing how, and me, taking my foot off the pedal, and gently reminding her to just watch, don't touch.  And then I blinked, and it's 14 years later......
....and now I'm going to go cry!

Call me June Cleaver.....

....but I'm just going to say it:  I like ironing.  I find it meditative, and calming, and peaceful.    For a few moments, I can solve problems that are quite simple - get out the wrinkles.  Easy peasy.  Granted, I don't have to iron daily - I don't have to iron my husband's white dress shirts to a crisp, like women in June's era did.  I iron my quilt pieces, my skirt pieces, my dress pieces, my handbag pieces.  There's going to be an end result of some creative endeavor.

Today, I used Best Press (new in the store!) in the lavender scent while I ironed.....and oh, how lovely that was!

A Whole Lot of EVERYTHING Going On Around Here!

No, those weren't just boxes and were we happy to see him!

Look what the cat, I mean, Matt, brought in!

A

full

hand

of

patterns

! 

18

bolts

of 

fabric

!

And dreamy books filled with wonderful things!

And THEN...

Hailey brought in her AWARD WINNING QUILTS!!!

  

State Fair 2012

The New Mexico State Fair has come to a close as of today......and I'm glad that despite my family's busy schedule, we made it for our annual trek!

Here's a sampling of the day:

As we were going thru the bag search gate, the young man asked me, "do you have any knives, guns, shanks, or any other weapons?"......I couldn't answer right away, I was so dumbfounded.  I finally said, "No, I only have a wallet, kleenex, chapstick, and sunblock," while trying not to burst out laughing.  I'm still not sure if he was kidding me.....

I thought this little gal was so adorable: 

We ran into our friend Dagmar, who was demonstrating the sheep to shawl: 

Debbie, from Modern Quilt Guild, entered her quilt in the quilt show (left), along with her mother, Dorothy (right):

 Hip Stitch quilting teacher Rosanne's quilt:

In the home arts building, I came across sewing done by Haley...who learned to sew this summer at Hip Stitch with Rosanne, our wonderful teacher.  Haley entered this pillowcase, which had a 3rd place ribbon:

Her 1st quilt (also 3rd place):

 

and this quilt: (it's folded, so you can't see the full beauty of it):

the 4-H exhibit featured some very vintage hand-pieced hexagon quilts:

we had to take in the pig races:

 and to finish our day,  Asbury Cafe's blueberry pie a la mode for me: (my girls each got peach and pecan)

 'Twas a wonderful day at the fair......will we see you there next year?