A Few of our Favorite Halloween Things

We are gearing up for a few spooky days in our neck of the woods!
Here are a few of our favorite Halloween things...

Pumpkin Jack is a fantastic book about a boy and his beloved pumpkin. This is a great book to explore the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Who Will Haunt My House on Halloween? has delightful illustrations that keep you reading again and again.

Scared Silly is a fun compilation of Halloween poems, riddles, jokes and stories. The author/illustrator is Marc Brown of Arthur fame. When my son was four or five I read him a suspenseful story from this book that made him nearly jump out of his skin. The memory of it still makes me giggle hysterically.

Love this book! I have read this to various classrooms of children and it always proves to be a winner. Megan Lloyd is one of my favorite illustrators and she, once again, does a fabulous job. This book is just lovely.

Another Halloween favorite is our annual Haunted Gingerbread House creation. My husband and I made our first Haunted Gingerbread House when we were newlyweds and our family hasn't missed a year yet!

We LOVE pumpkin bread! Below is, hands down, the best pumpkin bread recipe I have ever tasted. It is super easy, delightfully tasty, and makes your house smell so good when it is cooking.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

**Recipe from allrecipes.com**

Happy Halloween!

Images from womansday.com, recipetips.com, neatsolutions.com, rd.com., newportnewslib.org

Help Needed!

Good Morning ladies!

I am in need of your assistance this morning
.

As you can see from the pics, I am currently in the throws of wrapping up many mitten quilt orders. I have spent a great deal of time stitching lately as the entirety of the stitching around the mittens is done by hand. As a result, something curious has happened. I have worn the skin off of my left hand between my index finger and thumb where my hoop is constantly touching. Now, I have been stitching all of my life and have never had that happen! My index finger on my right hand will occasionally become a little tender depending on the thickness of the fabric I am working my needle through, but I have never had the skin on my left hand blister and peel off!

Has this ever happened to any of you and if so, do you have a solution?

I have switched from my wooden hoop to a plastic hoop, even though I feel like my wooden hoop holds the fabric more taut, the plastic seems to be be less abrasive. I'm probably just going to slap on a band aid, but if you have a magical cure - please let me know!

Aren't these fabrics fun?
I have been designing mitten quilts from them for customers and I am loving working with the bright colors.

(This is my hand and the hand of my daughter, she was six at the time, sewing a Christmas quilt for one of her dolls)

Speaking of mitten quilts...

Typically I work when my children are at school or sleeping. When they are home and awake I try to give them my full and undivided attention. However, this Saturday, I needed to spend part of the day working on mitten quilts. I was working with a quilt made from the bright fabrics pictured above when my seven year old daughter came into the room. (Well, room is a stretch. I work on our kitchen table which is situated so that if you are doing anything but sleeping, you are probably where I am working) Anyway, my daughter wanted to know who the mitten quilt was for, to which I replied that I was, at the moment, making two for a brother and a sister just a little bit older then she is. To which she replied, 'No fair! How come they get the quilts?' I then told her it was because their mom had paid me to make them for her. After a few moments of thought she said,

'Mom, if I pay you some money will you make me a mitten quilt?'

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So I just gave her a big hug instead. Later that night, when she was supposed to be in bed, she tiptoed out to the table, snuggled next to me on the bench and watched me sew until I tucked her back in.

I do believe that there will be a mitten quilt made just for her to discover this December.

Last Turkey Quilt of the Season

My last turkey quilt of the season is now in the shop!

Enjoy!

***Our last turkey has officially sold! Christmas quilts on the way...***

Gobble, Gobble!

Remember this pile of fabric?

Well, with a little stitch here and a little stitch there, it has turned into this...

It is now over in the shop and ready for your Thanksgiving home!

Have a lovely Thursday!

***Our little turkey guy has already sold. I have one more turkey quilt in the works for this season - I will post here when it is complete***

A Give Away Where Everyone Wins!

Hello!

Harvest Moon Hollow's first patterns headed for quilt stores went out today... exciting and scary all at the same time! In celebration of the first official day of Harvest Moon Hollow Pattern Company, I am hosting a give away where every person who participates can receive a Harvest Moon Hollow box of goodies on their very own doorstep. Here's how it works -

Simply leave a comment letting me know what your favorite quilt store is. Just the name of the quilt store and city is all I need. I will then send Harvest Moon Hollow sample patterns to your favorite quilt store. If they place an order (no matter how small!) - you will receive a package of Harvest Moon Hollow goodies! Do you have several favorite quilt stores? Leave a comment for each one - your odds of a fun package go up with each one!

I will close comments on Wednesday, the 20th.

Thank you!

Welcome Back!

After a few days of construction,
I am happy to welcome you back to the Hollow!

Sugar Berry Studios has created a simply lovely corner for us to sip cider and visit in.
I have worked with Sugar Berry Studios many times and am always beyond pleased with the results. A kind thank you to Sugar Berry Studios for adding just the right touch.

Over the last few days Harvest Moon Hollow has grown!

Harvest Moon Hollow is pleased to welcome The Finishing Corner and Harvest Moon Hollow Pattern Company to our little neck of the woods.

What? Did you say patterns?

Yes!

After many long nights and days and nights of labor, Harvest Moon Hollow Pattern Company has arrived.

Do you remember this little owl?

He can now be found in an ePattern over in the Shop.
The 'O Be Wise' ePattern not only includes the charming little owl stitchery, but also the instructions to finish him into a double border pillow (I just love this fabric by the way. It's from the Frolic line by Sandy Gervais).

And now, for one of my favorite Thanksgiving sayings of all time -

'May You Gobble 'Til You Wobble'!

This ePattern includes the directions for the cheery turkey stitching as well as the finishing instructions for making your turkey sampler into a 44" table runner for your very own Thanksgiving table.

Do you know what my very favorite part is about ePatterns?
The instant gratification that comes from receiving it almost immediately in your inbox.
Free shipping is a wonderful thing.

Our Harvest Moon Hollow Pattern Company site is for wholesale (I am hoping to start selling to quilt stores. Keep your fingers crossed for me!) orders, but feel free to meander over and check it out if you like. In fact, feel free to wander throughout the Hollow. Some of our nooks and crannies are still under construction, but all should be up and running soon.

One last thing...
I just wanted to let you wonderful ladies know how much I appreciate your following. Starting a business is a very scary proposition, but your kind words have done wonders in settling my nerves.
Thank you.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Under Construction

Harvest Moon Hollow will be under construction over the next day or two.

Never fear,
we will return on Wednesday (fingers crossed) with some exciting news!

We will see you soon!

Time for a recipe!

This recipe is my 'most requested' recipe. It's just a simple loaf of banana bread, but oh so good! I think it's the buttermilk that makes the difference.

Harvest Moon Hollow Banana Bread
1 1/4 C sugar
1/2 C butter softened
2 lg eggs
1 1/2 C mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)
1/2 C buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 C chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom of loaf pan. Mix sugar and butter. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans. Bake 1 hour. Cool 5 minutes in pans and then remove. Makes 2 loaves.

Happy Baking!

A New Cozy Corner

Good Morning!

I know that many of my followers are fellow stitchers.

Do you ever find yourself completing a stitching of one kind or another and just not know how to finish it? Putting your stitching in another frame seems repetitive and the thought of the time spent to finish your work of art into a quilt, wall hanging or pillow seems tedious - or maybe even overwhelming.

What's a stitcher to do?

Harvest Moon Hollow is excited to announce a new cozy corner in the Hollow.

Harvest Moon Hollow's Finishing Corner

I am pleased to now add finishing services in the Hollow. Let me give you a little glimpse of how it works...

This lovely stichery is the work of Natalie over at A Stitch In Time. Isn't it beautiful? She sent it my way and once I received it the fun began.

I started by sending multiple pics of various fabric swatches (seen above) to Natalie.
Once we found the perfect match, I got to work.

Upon completion I sent her a pic of the final product to make sure it was just what she wanted.

I then packaged it up the Harvest Moon Hollow way and sent it her direction.

Simple as that!

With the holidays fast approaching, our Finishing Corner may prove invaluable to you.
I recognize that the idea of sending your stitchery away may cause you to gasp. But, here in the Hollow, we will love and care for your little one just as if it was our own.

If you are interested in finding out more about our Finishing Corner, please email me. You will find our prices to be very competitive.

Happy Stitching!

Too Many Pumpkins!

I had a wonderfully uplifting and inspiring weekend!
I hope yours was just as delightful.

Speaking of delightful, check on this absolutely scrumptious fabric I picked up this weekend.
The lighting is terrible, but I think you can get the general idea.
I am just itching to take these beauties and make a few Thanksgiving Quilts.
I just love fabric...

You know what else I just can't get enough of?
Children's Seasonal Books.

In our home we have a book basket that takes a very prominent position in our family room.
Each season it is filled to the brim with different books.
My children absolutely squeal with delight when the holiday books make their appearance.

This is one of our all time favorites.
It chronicles the sweet Rebecca Estelle and her adventure with too many pumpkins.
The illustrations are lovely, Megan Lloyd is one of my favorite illustrators.

And when you are done reading this book, your mouth will be watering as you can almost smell the aroma of baking pumpkin and cinnamon in the air.

It's a wonderful book for children of all ages.

Mini Pillow Kits and a Twist

Happy October!

Do you ever feel that once October hits, things get busier and busier until Christmas? I always seem to have so many projects I want to start, fun ideas I want to work on - but how to find the time...

With this in mind, Harvest Moon Hollow is releasing our

Fall Mini Pillow Kits!

In each of these kits you'll find a simple project that can be completed in just one short sitting. Before you know it, you'll have made a delightful mini fall pillow, just the right size to fill up the little nook or cranny that is still waiting for its touch of Fall Magic. In each kit you'll find -

*muslin
*the perfect amount of DMC floss
*pattern
*coordinating button (LOVE these, so fun!)
*finished pillow (no sewing machine required)
*instructions

All you need is a needle!

With the mini pillow kits, you can have the satisfaction that comes from finishing a project in a short amount of time. That just sounds down right lovely to me. I currently have six different kits over in my Shop for a steal of a price. Hop on over and take a look - they are so easy and convenient you may just want to make one of each!

Now to the twist!

Here's a twist on the Warm Winter Minter Quilt that we released on Wednesday.

So many possibilities! So much fun!
I've already started receiving orders for the mitten quilts, so be sure to place your order soon before I run out of space!

Have a lovely first of October!