Stitchin’ Heaven Howdy

Ahh, another great week, I can feel it!  How about you?  How was your holiday? Mine was great, was a very low stress and fun time.  I managed to maintain peace and was not at all overwhelmed, considering that I cooked over 15 dishes and entertained about 16 people.  I’m ready for the Christmas rush now!  I must tell you, though, this month (December) for our Perse Anality project we are making Wonder Wallets by Lazy Girl Designs. I originally thought, that with what we were sending members, we could make 2 wallets, well, I went at it last night and actually made 4 out of 20″ of fabric.  I did one right after another up to 7, and it would have been more had my hubby not wanted me to watch a movie with him.  This is the perfect little gift for stockings or coworkers. I plan on making one for each person here at the store.  Have you made them? What did you think?

We must now, announce our winner for last week’s Quilty Question:

Congratulations, Cathy Weber!

Thanks so much, Cathy!

You ready for this week’s Quilty Question?  What quilting technique are you dying to try?

Can I tell you mine?  I would like to learn how to hand applique. Yes, I just love seeing these applique quilts with perfect application, no threads showing and just perfect…Although, I’m pretty sure that requires some patience and time, I’m still working on that…

Did any of you get to make the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake? I haven’t yet, but wonder what you thought, if you had a chance.  Don’t forget today is Cyber Monday and we have FREE SHIPPING & 20% off your entire order! Tell them I sent you and I will be sure to include a nice little goodie!

Hope you had an amazing holiday and have a productive week! XOXO

Hope you all had as great  of a Thanksgiving as we all hoped you did!  We hope that your time was and is shared with those close to you, if not in person, in your hearts and thoughts.  I know, that when I am not at work, I often think of you all.  I enjoy the comments you leave and am truely inspired by your stories and lives.  I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to blog with you all. Thank you.

You ready for another recipe?  I was IM’ing with my BFF from high school on facebook a couple days ago, and in closing she added that she had to make a cake or her in-laws wouldn’t let her in. Teasing of course.  She’s great and everyone loves her, cake or not. So, I had to ask which cake and to send me the recipe. She did, courtesy of Epicurious.com . She also added some tips she learned from her attempts at perfecting the recipe, so I’ve let you in on those too. They’re at the end of the recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting

Filling
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter

Cake
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter
1 pound golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Frosting
1 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
Butterfinger candy bars, coarsely chopped
Glazed peanuts

For filling:
Bring cream and sugar to simmer in saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter. Chill uncovered overnight.

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions.

Divide batter among pans and spread evenly. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely.

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Whisk whipping cream and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in bowl until mixture holds medium-firm peaks. Fold into cream cheese mixture in 3 additions; chill until firm but spreadable, about 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer, bottom side up, on 9-inch tart pan bottom. Spread with half of filling. Place another layer, bottom side up, on work surface. Spread with remaining filling; place atop first layer. Top with remaining cake layer, bottom side up.

Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before continuing.) Press candy and peanuts onto top of cake.

Sammy wants you to know: Enjoy! But, I warn you…once you make this once, there will be a demand to make it like 10 times a year. Also, a few tips that it took me a bit to figure out… add a little sour cream to the cake batter so that it stays moist, otherwise it can seem a bit dense. Also, be sure to make the frosting with a mixer and don’t melt down the butter or cream cheese, I initially tried to do the frosting by hand but it won’t hold if you do it like that. Instead just use a mixer and add the butter and creamcheese at room temp. It seems to make a pretty substantial difference in the firmness of the frosting.

Hope you get a chance to make this one. I plan a test run of this one , this weekend. I wouldn’t want to make it for the first time right before Christmas and it turn out looking weird. )  Let me know if you have made it or plan to. Would like to hear how it turns out.  Again, if you a recipe you’d like to share! Send ‘em on! Email me at nichole@stitchinheaven.com or leave a comment with your recipe. Don’t forget to attach picstures, too! Recipes seem so much more yummy when you have a picture, don’t they?  Have a great weekend!! XOXO

What a great week last week.  How was yours?  We’ve always got something going on here. We actually celebrated Thanksgiving among staff here. Everyone brought something!  We ate on it for a few days, too! Yummm… Leftovers are always best!  With that, we shared our friendship and love for one another, while feasting on some amazing dishes.  You all gave some great “one words” for quilting, too! So, on to our winner:

Congratulations to :  Arlene S.

Arlene answered last week’s question with “creative”.  She is right in so many ways.  Quilting sparks a certain creativity in all of us!

Ready for this week’s question? Since Thanksgiving is in just a couple of days I thought this was appropriate:  When it comes to quilting,  what are you thankful for?

So, I was off yesterday, which is why the question comes today, and my girls are out of school for the whole week!  We got the Christmas Tree up and cooked and baked all day.  One of the things we made were these chocolate covered pretzel sticks with sprinkles.  I used almond bark.  Does anyone have any suggestions for using almond bark to where it isn’t such a mess and so hard to melt. I used the microwave and went by the directions, but still ended up using some milk to make it more of a liquid than a chunky chocolate glob.  Help?! Was gonna do this with peppermint sticks and vanilla, but not before I heed your advice. Thanks in advance, ladies 0r guys!

We wish you all the safest and most memorable holiday!

When I check my emails everyday, the first thing I look for aside from any Facebook notifications, are recipes.  Although, I’m not a seasoned cook, I love to watch the cooking shows, get cooking magazines and search online for new things to try.  One of the emails I recieve comes from MyRecipes.com.  The recipe I’m sharing with you today is from the email I got from them this morning.  They are doing this Cookie Countdown, where everyday until Christmas you get a recipe for a new cookie.  This one is the Hello Dolly Cookie .  Just click on the image to be directed to site for the recipe and nutrition facts!

Do you have a recipe you’d like to share with us? Please email me at nichole@stitchinheaven.com .  Thanks, Connie Cook for giving us your recipe for Banana Bread!  Her recipe is only 152 calories and sounds scrumptious!  So, that you aren’t scrolling through all the comments to find it, here is her recipe:

BANANA NUT BREAD

Mix in a bowl
3 Ripe bananas, well-mashed 2 eggs, beaten until light

Sift together
2 Cups flour ¾ Cup sugar
1 Teaspoon salt 1 Teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons melted butter, optional ½ Cup nutmeats

Add the flour mixture to the bananas and eggs and stir well. Add to the bread mixture ½ Cup nutmeats, chopped

Stir well. Put in a buttered loaf pan 9 by 5 inches.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes at 350°F.until the bread pulls away from the pan sides and it is golden brown.

To vary:
Add also ½ Cup raisins for Banana Nut Raisin Bread

I’m just loving these weekly questions. Did you all happen to notice the abundance of Bonnie Hunter fans?  They really came through for her, huh!? Although, with 138 comments (how AWESOME) and the majority being for her, our winner this week chose Judy Niemeyer as her favorite designer.  It is so hard to chose just one, isn’t it?  Some mentioned a couple!  Well, lets all give a hearty Congratulations to our winner for this week:

Marsha Warren

Congratulations, Marsha!

You ready for this week’s Quilty Question?

Here ya go:  Describe in ONE word what quilting means to you.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Please don’t be shy and stop by to say”hi!” often and don’t forget to leave your answer for this week’s Quilty Question for your chance to win a $25 Stitchin’ Heaven Gift Card, just like Marsha!  Also, we just had our after market party at the store on Saturday, so this week all the cool finds will be on the Hotflash! which is our weekly newsletter, so if you aren’t already signed up…what are you waiting for?! As, always, if you need anything you can call or email me nichole@stitchinheaven.com .

We just can’t help ourselves over here!  Like we really need another reason to post and talk to you, Deb’s was like “Let’s post recipes each week.”.  Well, why not, right?!  So, why not start today. Deb emailed me a recipe for the World’s Greatest Banana Bread to share with you. Ya know, and since it is coming to be the Holiday season, why not give some inspiration. Here’s the recipe:

(please note: the image is not the actual image, I took it off of Google, but I needed one for dramatic effect & to seduce your senses!!)

World’s Greatest Banana Bread

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups shortening (Crisco)

3 over ripe bananas (the kind you would throw away!)

2 eggs

Topping (1/3 cup sugar plus 3 teaspoons of cinnamon)

5 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans.

Combine flour and sugar, then add all other ingredients except topping items and mix together. Pour batter into the pans and smooth tops. Bake for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over top of bread. Bake for 35 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

If any of you make this recipe, please let us know how it turned out. Got an even better recipe? Let us know!  Or if you have a  recipe definatley worth sharing, please email them to me at nichole@stitchinheaven.com . I’ll fit them in! We love pictures, too, so if you have an image to accompany your recipe, do send.

Fun, right? On behalf of us all….We always LOVE hearing from you and Thank You!! XOXO

It’s a new week, sorry I’m a day late, but I have our winner for last week’s Quilty Question!

Congratulations, Gretchen!

Gretchen is our random winner for our weekly Quilty Question!

I’ve really been enjoying getting to know you all through these questions.  They’re quite inspiring, humorous and informative.   Thank you all!

This week’s Quilty Question is: Who is your absolute favorite quilt designer?

This is kind of a tough one. I know for me it is.  I can name a few, although, I think I can narrow it down to my favorite.  How about you? Please leave a comment, I’m anxious to hear what you have to answer with.  Oh, and of course, you must comment for your chance to win our weekly $25 Stitchin’ Heaven Gift Card!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far!

This month, I’m off to San Francisco, California and off  to a late travel start.  I decided to stay a little longer with my favorite quilt shop friends at Stitchin’ Heaven.  That’s ok, though, they are always fun and always have something going on.  I watched at the shop the whole Monster Mash Mystery. A lot of fun, especially that the class was decorated and the students were all dressed up! 

I’m really looking forward to my trip to CA, not only for the beautiful valleys, but the awesome quilt shops!  I plan on visiting Britex which is 4 floors of wall to wall fabric, it’s right off of Union Square in the middle of all the action and with gorgeous fabrics of all textures. It’s also a couple blocks up Stockton from Powell BART/Muni station, the cable car lines & Market St. buses. Tha cable cars are awesome.  You just can’t go to San Fran and not hitch a ride on one of those, it’s the San Francisco treat..No, wait….that’s Rice A Roni! LOL   The Stitch Lounge is also a good one, that I have every intention of stopping by to see.  I hear they have some pretty new and inventive things going on as far a the fashionable ambitious.  Ooh, if any of you live in the area or are going to be in the area, I’d love for you to take a pic from a destination spot or landmark, send it to me and I’ll give ya a suprise. Fun, right?

I’m sure there are a million and twenty things for me to do and see and get into trouble with, so we’ll just have to see.  The project I chose for this month comes from the book Quilter’s Get Organized , I actually found this book laying around Stitchin’ Heaven right before we were headed to Market.  I found so many great organizational ideas using fabric, including a tote bag!!  Your project is the Trendy Tote Bag (so suitable for us, I know!) and we’re using Moda’s Nouveau fabrics. I just love this line, great fall colors and very “hip”.  It’s a really nice travel bag too.  Good for projects, clothes & shopping.  In between sewing time you can read the new Quilt Sampler Fall/Winter magazine included with your project this month. 

Well, I’m off to have an amazing lunch at The Cliff House : Set in the historic cliff house, high above the waves of Ocean Beach, Sutro’s at the Cliff House is a casually elegant dining spot where patrons enjoy spectacular ocean views with their fantastic fare. The menu at this critically acclaimed restaurant offers locally caught seafood and creative preparations of American cuisine. Headed by Chef George Morrone, the first Bay Area chef to ever receive four stars from the San Francisco Chronicle at two different restaurants, this San Francisco seafood restaurant is not to be missed.  Sounds yummy, right? 

Talk to you soon and please let me know what you’re up to! How are you going to use your Trendy Tote Bag?

Toodles ~ Perse

Woo hoo! Saturday was so much fun with the Monster Mash Mystery. Thanks to all of you who particpated, shared and commented! It was a lot of fun! 

Congratulations to:

Jane Waddel - Grand Prize Winner

Winners for the scavenger  & decoration hunt:

Julie Westbroek

Sharn Knarr

Joyce Michael

Shown are the prizes the winners won. The wallhanging is part of the Grand Prize and the bags of goodies are for the hunt winners! Thanks, again girls and to all who participated. Happy Birthday, again to Portia’s mom!

Week 2 Quilty Question Winner for the Stitchin’ Heaven Gift Card:   Pam Biswas

Congratulations, Pam!

For those who are just joining us, each week we will post a quilting related question and ask you to post your answer as a comment to be entered in our random drawing on Monday’s for a $25 Stitchin’ Heaven Gift Card! So, you have from Monday to Sunday each week to post your answer.

Quilty Question for the week of Monday Nov. 2 -11th is :  What sewing/quilting notion can you NOT live without?

It’s been busy around here with all the new stuff coming in from Market. Be sure that you are signed up for Hotflashes! Trish has a bunch to feature this week including Girl Scouts fabric!  The Holiday season is official, the stores are all ready with Christmas trees and decorations and “To Do” lists are growing by the minute. At least for me they are! We have a ton of great gift ideas and will be featuring them until Christmas.  So, be sure to check in with us first (wink)!

Thanks, again for always making my job fun! I love you guys/gals!