Dresden Plate Quilt History

Do you love Dresden plates quilts as much as we do at The Parish? The Dresden plate pattern has a rich history. Did you know? The Dresden Plate quilt pattern was one of the most popular quilts made during the 1920s and 30s. It was first published in the 20s. However it was not always under the name Dresden Plate. Friendship Ring, Aster, Grandmother's Sunburst, Dahlia and Sunflower are all names we've seen for this popular pattern.

The 1930s version is easy to date because of the traditional floral prints of that time. Some were made with appealingly patterned feed sacks while others were made with solid fabrics.The quilt of this time frame was made of blocks with fabric appliquéd in a series of compass like blocks with flat edges. The petals or plates radiate from a central circle which is more illustrative of a flower. Which is why there are so many flower names for this pattern.

Even though the Dresden Plate did not gain popularity in it's current form until the late 1920s the forerunner of this block were the fan patterns of the late 1800s.  You may be familiar with these fans in Victorian crazy quilting and other quilts of the era. 

Today the Dresden Plate is still popular with those who love vintage 30s fabrics. Here at The Parish is have a wonderful collection of these fabrics and excited to show you how easy and addicting this block can be! Come in today and see our FREE demo!

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

Mini Dresden Tutorial

If you know anything about The Parish you know we love the dresden plate. If you haven't made one yet we have a treat for you! We are sew in love with Suzn Quilts from Susan Marth. Here are just a few of the patterns we currently have in.

We have a tutorial board in the shoppe, but we thought we'd share it here with you. This is a great use of scraps and they make lovely embellishments for any quilt project.

Supplies you'll need:

• Mary Ellen's Best Press
• C Jenkins Freezer Paper Sheets
• That Purple Thang
• Roxanne Glue Baste It
• Tiny Dresden Plate Template
• Suzn Quilts Pattern of your choice

Step 1 & 2:

Step 3 & 4:

Step 5 & 6:

Step 7 and you're done!

If you click on any of the links in the supply list you can purchase all you need for your project. We also have many of these patterns in stock. We hope you will give it a try.

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

Welcome Gail Wax to The Parish

Gail Wax is our newest addition to The Parish. Gail is such an accomplished Quilt Artists we wanted to share some of Gail's talents. Watch The Parish calendar for Gail's upcoming classes.

Gail Wax 

Quilt Artist

Creativity was a regular social experience in my family, so I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t involved in something artistic, including drawing, collage, painting, sculpture, sewing, knitting, crochet, and much more. My friends and family and I constructed high school dance decorations in our garage and built homecoming floats in our living room, all while listening to my brother's rock band practice in the den!


My current passion for art quilting began a decade ago when I attended a local guild meeting and met a wonderful group of characters that called themselves “The Art Focus Group.” Imagine my joy when I saw them use not only fabric, paint, but also yarns, threads, beads, metals and more. Art quilting breaks the sewing boundaries while still forcing me to constantly improve my sewing and quilting skills.


My body of work is a testament to both my love of learning (and teaching) and my inherently short attention span. One of my first art quilts, "Busy Bee", was juried into New Quilts of Northern California during the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California, and has won both a judge's ribbon and show ribbon. The offbeat work shown above is part of a cape design that was also accepted by PIQF and won second place in a garments category.

While I still do traditional quilting, vintage quilt restoration and fabric hoarding as both work and hobbies, you will most often find me viewing, photographing or working on an art quilt.


I am pleased to now be affiliated with the Parkland Parish Quilt Shop in Tacoma, Washington, and hope to meet you there soon! In addition, we will be hosting art quilting classes for beginners, and I can assure you, no "talent" or "training" is required… just comfortable clothes and a desire to play with fabric. You can do that, right?

Fun Stuff on the Horizon...

The weather is warming up and most folks are spending more time outside and beginning to make Spring Break and Summer plans. Don't forget to include The Parish on your outings. Loads of new classes and fabrics in to inspire you. Catch us FaceBook and our online calendar to keep up with what we're up to!

First up on the horizon is the 2015 Washington Row by Row Experience. This year's Row by Row runs from Sunday, June 21st through Tuesday, September 8th. New this year! Look for the fun fabric coordinates from Timeless Treasures and other fun collectibles. New to the Row by Row Experience follow the link to learn more.

Next up is the 2015 Western Washington Shop Hop. We have Shop Hop Guides in the shoppe so you can start planning your trip. We are also pre-selling Shop Hop fabrics now. They will be ready to pick up the first day of Shop Hop Thursday, June 18th. Pre-sale only $9.75 per yard. Stop in the shoppe or give us a call at 253.531.4309 to pre-order yours today, because once it's gone, its GONE.

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full.

2014 Western Washington Shop Hop!

Are you ready to go Shop Hopping?


The shop hop begins on Wednesday June 18th, and to help you plan your adventure here is a photo of the full quilt!

The quilt will be hanging at Gossypium in Issaquah, and it is even more impressive in person!




All you need to get started is pick up your passport and flyer from The Parish (or download it from the website) and you are ready to go.  A new passport has been posted as of June 1st, which corrects a typo and makes the north and south shops a little easier to differentiate.


Don't forget about our fabulous prize packages!

• One 3 day 2 night quilt retreat for up to 6 friends at the Jolyn's Quilt Away in beautiful Lake Limerick in Shelton, WA
• Two Babylock Espire sewing machines
• 30 Gift Bags from various quilting and sewing product companies
• 102 Gift Certificates
• Plus many of the shops will be holding their own special give-aways

To be eligible for prizes, you must turn in a passport stamped by at least 16 shops by Sunday June 22, 2013 at 5pm to any participating shop. 


Happy hopping and may your bobbin always be full!

Handwork...

Here at the Parish we love our handwork. Each month our Hand Embroidery Club meets for a lovely tea party and an afternoon of handwork. In June we will be starting two new Blocks of the Month. Both from Crabapple Hill Studios. One is called Deck the Halls and the other is Snow Globes. These are great projects to bring that festive touch to your home during the holiday season!

Snow Globes

Deck the Halls

Each of these projects features a coloring technique and then the hand embroidery of course. It really has a lovely finished effect.

Not into hand embroidery? We also love our applique here at the Parish! Kathy prefers the 'prepared' applique approach, which gives you a needle turn look. Watch our calendar for an upcoming class.

We are also getting into wool applique. Here are some photos of the Words to Live By project I'm working on for Shop Hop.

And if you've been watching our Facebook and newsletter we are now carrying Hand Dyed wool from Olympic Wool Works. The gal is from Port Angeles, so when you are purchasing her wools from us you are supporting two local businesses!

Hope to see in for these new additions. Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

 

2014 Western Washington Shop Hop is almost upon us...

Are you getting ready for this year's 2014 Western Washington Shop Hop? We have many new things in store for you when you make your visit this year! New Block's of the Month, grab and go kits, hand dyed wool pre-cuts to name a few.

Have you purchased this year's fabrics yet? Don't wait to long, time is running out and so is the fabric. Don't miss our on the pre-order price of just $9.75 per yard! Call the shop and order yours today 253.531.4309.

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

Making a Come Back...

I've been not posting for a while, but now I think I'm back! Folks have been commenting that they enjoy the recipes, however they really like projects, tutorials, and tips. To that end we will try to offer some thing new to hit those interests. However, we are not the only ones with great tips! So if you have a great tip to share send it to us at parklandparish@gmail.com and if we share your tip you will win a free gift!

Now that Kathy is back with us full time she is offering a Beginning Prepared Applique Class each month. With this method of applique you get the "look" of needle turn applique and many folks like that look and are not adept at achieving it by needle turn. This month's project would be great for any sewing room and features the Piecemaker's fabric line by Kathy Schmitz for Moda. The two class series will be held Wednesday, April 30th and Wednesday, May 7th from 6 - 9pm.

Here are some photos from other projects and classes using this method.

If you'd like to join us for our next session register online or call the shop at 253.531.4309. Remember when you take a class we walk you to the whole process of your project to help you be successful, plus they're lots of fun! So come sew with us!

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Toasted Coconut Pound Cake!

Getting back into the groove! Here's your What's Cookin' Wednesday feature...

Toasted Coconut Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, divided
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted, divided
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl with paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down bowl. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with two 1/2-cup additions buttermilk, and beat until combined. With a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/4 cups coconut.

Transfer batter to pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 60 minutes. Let cool in pan the remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Whisk together confectioners' sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

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Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Shrimp & Veggie Stir Fry over Quinoa

Now that my company is gone, I'm back to my blogging!! Today  for What's Cookin' Wednesday I'm sharing one of my many stir fry recipes. Since not everyone in my house likes quinoa, I also made steamed rice to accompany our stir fry. If you are not familiar with cooking quinoa, don't let it intimidate you. It's so easy and quick, if you and your family like it, it will soon become a staple. Quinoa, pronounced /keen:wa/, is actually cereal and not a grain, like most people think. It is extremely healthy and one of few foods that is a complete protein in itself. It's very versatile and I use it in place of rice all the time. It really picks up any flavors you add to it, since it has such a mild flavor of its own.

For today's dish, I used 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. I usually rinse my quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and then toss it into a dry frying pan. I saute it for a good minute or two and then add boiling or hot water. I usually add my seasonings at this time. For this dish I added about 1 tsp of Mushroom Ultimate Seasoning. Once the water and seasoning are in, I stir to make sure it's evenly dispersed and then cover the pan and reduce to a simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes then fluff with a folk. Done!

Next I took the shrimp and whatever veggies I had on hand. For today's dish I used 1 medium onion, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 2 cups broccoli florets, 1 red bell pepper. I also cleaned my shrimp by taking off the tails and sprinkling with salt, just a pinch or two. I mix the salt into the shrimp and then gave them a good rinse. The salt helps to kill any bacteria that may have developed during the thawing process.

I also saute my veggies in stages since not all veggies have the same cooking time. First I cook my onions. Once they are soft I add my mushrooms, then broccoli and then peppers last. Since the shrimp just take a minute or so I add them last. During the sauteing of the veggies. I added about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce I had on had and as things began to get to dry I added a splash or two of water. Once the shrimp are lightly pink you're done!

Enjoy!

Here's a recap of your ingredient list:

1 cup quinoa                                  2 cups water or stock
1 tsp seasoning

1 lb raw shrimp                             1 medium onion sliced thin
1 cup mushrooms sliced                2 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper sliced                  1/4 or to taste teriyaki sauce













Hope you enjoy it! Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full.

What's Cookin' Wednesday ~ Barbecued Salmon

Here's the new edition of What's Cookin' Wednesday. We are collecting recipes from our customers to compile a cookbook for the holidays. This recipe is from Joan Cassaw and is a big family favorite. Here's her recipe:

Seattle Salmon

Fillet Salmon

Sprinkle the meat side of salmon with accent salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic salt.

Cook skin side up as far away as possible from the hot barbecue fire for 7 minutes. Turn and cook another 10-15 minutes. During this latter stage baste with the sauce.

* Sauce - 1 cube butter, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, pepper, onion salt and lots of fresh parsley. (Double the sauce for a 6 pound or larger fish)

When salmon flakes easily with a fork, it's done.

Enjoy! Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

Chevrons, chevrons every where!!

It seems every where I look I see chevron quilts. They can be quick and easy or a little more challenging depending on which pattern you use. In the shop there are several versions of chevron quilt patterns. Marti Michelle has a pattern and a tool, we have a little $3 card pattern and there is the one I'm doing today from the Cotton Candy book. I will be doing this in two parts, because as you all know life gets in the way our sewing and quite frankly I just didn't get it all done this week! So bear with me... Here's what I did.

First I chose this great creamy jelly roll we have in the shop, that was really the basis of my 'color scheme'. Then I found this wonderful fabric in my stash, if you come in the shop it's now sale fabric. I just love it!

For this quilt you're going to sew light and dark 2 1/2 inch strips together.

Then you are going to PRESS them open. To the dark as always. If you didn't see the Moda article I shared on Facebook, it's a MUST read on the importance of PRESSING. So check it out!

After you have sewing all your strip sets together and pressed them open, you are going to sub-cut them down to 4 1/2 inch units. Once you have a pile of units it's time to have 'chevron fun'! And that's where I'm at now. Laying out my chevrons to see how I like the fabrics together. My OCD is very happy!

See you next time and you can see how it all worked out! All the fabrics used are in the shop and we also have this book in stock if you'd like to sew along. If you do PLEASE comment or share a photo! I'd love to see and hear what you're up to. Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wednesday ~ Tea Party Chicken Salad

Each third Sunday of the month we host a tea party for our Embroidery Club. This month Kathy did a red, white and blue theme and served some yummy Chicken Salad sandwiches. Here is the recipe:

Yummy Chicken Salad!

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless cooked chicken breasts (you may use canned chicken)
• 3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted
• 2 cups red seedless grapes
• 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced  

If you cook your chicken breast, put the chicken in the fridge to chill, dice into bite-size chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes, celery and mayo. It's that easy. Kathy serve the chicken salad on ciabatta rolls, but any bread you like will do! Enjoy!

Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full! 

Quickie Table Runner!

Do you like quick projects? I mean something you can get done in an evening? I am totally addicted to finishing things. So when I'm working on a large project I like to take a break every so often and work on something I can get done! This great new pattern we just got in the shop fits the bill. Just pick up a couple mini charm packs and some background fabric and you'll have a lovely runner in no time!!

Here's what I did...

The pattern is called Hopscotch. Follow the link to purchase one from us online.

I had a couple of mini charms in my stash. They are Marmalade by Moda and then I just picked up some background I liked.

If you used these charms much of your work is already done. All you have left to do is cut your background squares, triangles (to make it on point) and your borders.

Love these rotating mats for sub-cutting. Really helps make your cuts accurate, since you don't have to continually move your fabric! Once you get all your pieces cut, just start laying them out, until you get the look you'd like and sew away!

 

Once I laid my pieces the way I wanted I just began sewing strips together, pressing along the way. I can't stress enough how important PRESSING is! If you want a crisp looking top with nicely nested seams, PRESSING is a MUST!!

After sewing your strips together, just square up, add your borders and you're done! I think this took me all of 2 1/2 hours, even with a helper!!

Don't have a mini charm? Get a regular charm pack cut it into fourths and you can make two! One for you and one to share!! Click here to purchase your pattern and check out our pre-cuts online! Happy stitching and may your bobbin always be full!

What's Cookin' Wednesday... Caramel Apple Cake!

I know we are in the middle of summer and most folks are going to picnics and planning warm weather fare. However, this time of year I start thinking of the upcoming school year and the idea that autumn is just around the corner! If you have Christmas gifts to make and decorations to plan for the holidays now is the time to get sewing!! All of that gets me in the mood for autumn smells and tastes. On that note I found this recipe for Apple Cake and Caramel frosting. Even though it's a hot day, this cake is well worth it!!

Here's what we did:

Caramel Apple Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup veggie oil
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups chopped apples

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan. In a medium bowl mix sugar, oil and eggs together until blended; beat about 1 minute. Then stir in the remaining ingredients, except the apples. Once this batter comes together fold in the apples. Pour into a pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once the cake is cool smother it in wonderful caramel frosting!!

Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium sauce pan melt butter. Once butter is fully melted add the brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the milk. Bring back to a boil. Then set aside until lukewarm and gradually add powdered sugar. Then place the the pan in a bowl of cold water and beat out the lumps until it is smooth and spreading consistency. If it's to stiff add more milk 1 teaspoon  at a time. YUM!!

 

Yum! Yum! Happy stitching, may your bobbin always be full!