The Insomniac's Delight-Label Quilt

Have you ever seen a label quilt?  Do you even know what it is?  I didn't until my mom started creating.

It's the coolest quilt ever!  Look close for some amazing, unique labels.

My mom has created hundreds and hundreds of custom quilts over the years.  And I have been the happy recipient of many of them, along with other members of my family.    

She is an accomplished quilter unlike me who can tie a quilt...if I have help.  My mom's hands are always busy doing something.  She thinks TV programs are boring unless she has a quilt in her hand, and then they are just tolerable.

I'm not sure if the label quilt was her idea or something she saw and said, "I can do that!"  And she usually can.

Like the tag says, she started gathering labels in 1996.  She would remove labels from clothing, shoes, packaging materials, flour bags...anything with a fabric label.  She would then cut the label carefully out of the article and place it in an envelope for safe keeping.  

They are from all over the world.  From her travels and anyone else that wanted to give up their label.  After a time she had several people gathering for her.  They would bring her over handfuls of labels they had saved for her.

  

Once she felt she had enough labels she started creating the quilt square by square.  Over the years she continued creating the squares and by 1998 she had enough squares to make a very large quilt.

The completed label quilt hung in her entryway for years and as people would enter they would stand at the quilt (in awe) for what seemed a very long time.  Many of the labels had stories attached to them..."We picked up that label from..."  kind of like the touristy tea cups you collect from different countries.   

Since that first label quilt was created, several more have been made and given to my sisters.  I'm thinking I will hold out for the original.

Many of the clothing companies now do not have labels, instead they have the company names "stamped" in their products.  But every once in awhile we come across a really great one.  It goes into the envelope, waiting to be sewn on the next square, for the next label quilt.

Go check your closet...

Master Chef (Youth Group Style)

Our youth (and their leaders) loved this Master Chef night!  And almost every young man and young woman participated.  Especially in the eating part.

We invited official judges.  And as the flyer explains, asked each person to bring an appetizer, entree or dessert.  They were to create their entry at home and bring it to the activity ready for judging.

We were treated to lots of extraordinary dishes. 

My daughter tried her hand at making the delicious appetizer, Tortilla Pinwheels.  She added fresh salsa and chips to the dish and won first prize in her division.

Store the pinwheels in refrigerator and then cut right before serving.

At the last minute I decided to bring some fresh picked honey crisp apples (my favorite) and some Carmel Toffee dip.  This recipe is so fast and so delicious.

Heather's Apple Dip

8 oz Cream Cheese

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/4 C White Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

Toffee Bits to taste.

As you can see in the picture I decided that instead of worrying about double dipping I portioned the dip into single serving plastic cups (found at Wal-Mart).

Another great find was this Coconut Crunch from Costco.  Light coconut taste.  So good.

Before the judging began we split the group in half and had them sit at two tables for the Master Chef  Challenge.  

One bag was filled with savory ingredients, the other with sweet.

The story boards they came up with were hilarious!  See if you can guess what this scripture story is?

Need a few hints?  The gumby looking character holds a sword (pretzel rod) and shield (pepperoni).  You will also notice that there are several arms (string cheese) laying on the ground with little black sheep (olives and toothpicks) in the corral.  Need anymore guesses?  Does Ammon and King Lamoni's sheep sound familiar?

The long lasagna noodle is the road with banana pebbles on it.  Those guys are so clever!

The young women decided they would create a large boat with animals boarding two by two.  The boat was constructed out of Oreos, gum drops for the mast and animals, and red vine strings for the red (?) water.  They also used pretzel sticks for the boarding ramp.  Once again...clever.

Now back to the judging!

Each person that brought an entry was asked to stand in front of the judges and explain what their dish was and how they made it.  Now that was quite comical at times!

After the judges listened, tasted and marked the judging sheet, the head judge stood and announced the winners and gave them their Gold Bar Award.  (A Symphony Bar with custom wrapper)

After the judging, all were invited to sample the entries for refreshments.

If you are interested in any of the templates for this activity, just right click on picture then copy and paste into your program.

Our youth are so much fun!

Back to School Locker Box Emergency Kit

Ever needed a safety pin (or two) at school?  A mint or a band-aid?  Or just a big ole' chocolate bar!

This mini school-locker-box includes all that and more.

I usually create a fun, yummy, basic emergency type kit each new school year for my daughter's locker.  Many of her friends have come to know that Kate's locker is the place to go in an emergency.

  

This year we made one for Kate AND her young women's group.

Flip boxes, ribbon and owl brads found at Hobby Lobby.

Much to the girls delight the little flip boxes held a lot more than I thought they would.  

Find the Back to School tag here

Slipped the FULL box into a large cello bag and attached the tag and ribbon.

All ready to place in their lockers!

For another fun idea check out last year's locker box here

Hope it's a great school year!