Possibly the best dip since french bread!

The night before we moved the ladies in my Church had a gathering. Everyone was asked to bring a food that described their personality, or was just their favorite.  There were a lot of yummy dishes! Like this one from my cute friend Emily. (Isn't her blog to die for? I know so cute!).

There was one dish though that none of us could keep our hands off! This absolutely delish Artichoke Dip! I think the name is a little too simple for it though. I'd call it something like, I Can Die Now and Have No Regrets in The World Dip. It is that good, stringy, cheesy, and it has artichokes so it's pretty much a vegetable and who can feel guilty for eating a vegetable!

Well I moved away and had to go to some extent to get the recipe, but thanks to a great friend who tracked it down for me here it is!! Trust me it does not disappoint!

What you'll need:

1 cup of mayo

1 package of cream cheese, softened (8 or 16 oz.)

1 cup shreded parmesan cheese

1 cup of cheese of your choice

1 can of diced green chiles

1 can of artichoke hearts (not marinated)
1 clove garlic, chopped

Chop the atrichoke hearts a bit, it just makes them go a little further.

Dump everything in a bowl and mix together really good. 

Place in greased 8x8 pan or equivalent size baking dish
  

and bake at 350 degrees; 30 minutes or until set. (Note: if you bake it a little longer it get a nice golden edge.)

Serve with french bread cubes, baguette slices, pretzel sticks, vegetable tray or...well you get the idea. Just experiment and let me know if you find anything else fun you like to dip in it!

One love?

A girl of many overly costly addictions hobbies.

I guess that is how I would describe myself.

 In moving to a new state and having the chance to meet tons of new people I have been asked this quite often, "What do you do, or what do you like to do?" it seems depending on my mood that day I always have a different answer.

 I'm a momma to the 3 most incredible kiddos.

 I love to bake.

 I adore photography.

 I'm nuts about sewing.

 I'm a wife.

 I wish I was a runner (this is only a half hearted wish though since I refuse to do anything about it).

 When I was listing these things to the last kind gentleman that asked me his response was, "My wife likes to sew too. She probably likes it more than you do because it's her only hobby though." I was not sure how to respond at all. It's silly but I kind of felt a stab of hurt straight to my heart. I LOVE sewing and I know there are so many of you that love it just as much or more than I do (even though I don't really find that possible) but I also LOVE all of my other hobbies and responsibilities. I don't feel that since I like to do more than one thing I love each individual thing less.

 I kept dwelling on it all day. It was just one of those silly off hand comments but for some reason I could not let it go. I finally came to that famous "I wish I had said this..." statement. I wish I had said, "You have four kids and I only have three so does that mean I love my kids more than you because I have less of them? No. It only means you and I have been blessed to feel the love in our hearts grow with each new addition to our families. And so it is with hobbies and passions. Our love isn't divided between our passions I think it grows with each additional one we gain." 

 Excessive? maybe. Turns out I'm also a little passionate about defending my passions. :)

What do you think? Am I way off here?

Share The Love Shop Shout

I have stumbled upon a lot of great little shops and blogs lately.  I just couldn't let this one go. Polkadot Prints is one of my new addictions! I'm in love with the new "Mini Travel Games" Jordan has created!

This would keep my kids entertained for hours! 

Her party supplies are to die for! This "lets go fly a kite" theme is my favorite so far. If only L's birthday wasn't in November... kite flying may not be the best theme for a November birthday. 

She also has tons of freebies and DIY stuff for you to check out. honestly I spend way too much time on this cute polkadot blog. I'm in love with everything Polkadot prints has to offer. I hope you stop over and fall in love too!

Someone's Gray Skies Are About to Get Happy!

I'm going to get really cheesy here for a second so hang in there with me. Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway! It really is so much fun reading through all of your comments and what your favorite things are.  I so appreciate all of the support from everyone of you and I'm so excited to meet some new faces around here and have some new fun blogs to follow myself! You are all so sweet with your comments and who doesn't love people being sweet kind to them.

Without waiting any longer lets get to the point!

Congratulations...

Jennifer Pike-McCurdy

(Jennifer, I can't find a way to get a hold of you. Would you please email me and we'll get your little baby cuddling in this blanket in no time.)

I seriously wish I could make one of these for each of you. It seemed to be the most frequently commented favorite thing in my shop. Alas, all I can give you is this

A little preview of whats to come this week! You'll thank me for these though! They are so so good!!

The Lake

{Giveaway Reminder: The Gray Skies Quilt giveaway ends on Thursday so enter here!}

A weekend at the Lake...

Just what we needed!

One thing I learned from my boys this weekend... When life hands you a Barbie lifejacket, wear it like it's nothing, strut it around. Who cares what anyone thinks as long as you are having fun! And if you do you'll soon be the cool one in the Barbie lifejacket!

Grandma's Window Quilt {By: The VC}

It's finished!

I've been dying to get it all ready and here it is. I'm so glad my Mom was here to make one of my quilt designs. When my 4 year old boys first saw this quilt they kept saying, "it looks like a window, lots of windows!" And so I decided to name it in honor of all three of them. The boys and their Grandma.

 The pattern is now available in my shop here.

Not a seamstress? Let me know, I'd be happy to make one for you just let me know and we'll work it all out.

{Don't forget to enter the Gray Skies Giveaway here!) 

Colors of Summer

{Giveaway Reminder: Click here to enter the Gray Skies Quilt giveaway! Don't miss this one!}

I was recently stumbled upon this blog! As a quilter and photographer it is my dream blog. I love color and I love amazing pictures so this blog is the ultimate eye candy for me!

With fall right around the corner (thank goodness! I'm dying in the heat!)I've been searching for a few final summer colors for my  next couple of quilt designs and found these:

Am I wrong for wanting to eat this picture right now? I can't think of a better summer breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Grapefruit! One of my many summer weaknesses.

These tomatoes make me wish I had a garden this year!

And here's the final choices for my next quilt. it reminds me of a summer day, all bright and cheery!

Gray Skies Giveaway!!

Giveaway is now closed. Thank you for your entries!!

Wow!! The response was overwhelming! I asked my Facebook followers to spread the word and if we got to 200 likes by the end of the day I'd do a giveaway. they blew it out of the water  and we ended the day at 213! Thanks everyone for spreading the word!

I have been asked a lot if I would sell the Gray Skies Quilt as a finished piece. I've always declined because of everything that has gone on this year. Now, things are back to a good pace and I'm so excited to shout from the rooftops that I will be taking orders for all of my quilt patterns as finished quilts (so far there are only two, but there are lots more to come just as soon as I can finish them)! Pick your colors or buy it in the same color scheme that it was photographed in it's all up to you!

To kick off this exciting news and because you really showed so much  love on Facebook I'm going to giveaway one finished, completed, ready to hang on your wall, use as a crib quilt or give as a gift...

Gray Skies Quilt.

I'm so excited for this! It is the first time I have every given anything really big away it's in my shop for $175.00!!

Here is what you need to do to enter: become a follower of my blog or like The Vintage Clothespin on Facebook (or do both for 2 entries). Leave a comment with your favorite VC item.

Want some more entries? Each of these is worth a bonus entry and you can do as many of then as you want! Just remember to leave a comment for each entry you do.

-Share this giveaway on your blog or facebook.

-If you have every bought from The VC or made something using a VC pattern post a picture of you and the item on my facebook page or on instagram and #lovingthevc. I'd love to seem them!!

-Pin your favorite thing from The Vintage Clothespin blog.

-follow the VC on facebook.

-add a VC button to your blog.

So there you have it. GO!

(Winner of this giveaway will have one week to claim their prize. If the prize is not claimed after one week of the winner being announced said prize will be donated to a local hospital or charity.)

My 5 year plan

My 5 year plan is unlike most peoples'.

My 5 year plan includes this fabric,

 22 yards of white fabric, and a smiling face five years from now when I finally finish this...

It's a Cathedral Window quilt I started making for my Lily when she turned 1. I thought that if I started it that early it would give me plenty of time to finish it for her big girl bed. My plans have now changed. In the beginning, I decided to sew it all by hand so it would be more sentimental and I didn't want any stitching lines. I'm wondering now if it is going to be worth the hand-sewing after all.  

 I call it my origami quilt because you have to fold it and fold it all together before it can be sewn. It really is an amazing process! It is taking a lot longer than I anticipated, but don't you think it would make a nice 6-year-old birthday gift. Or if all else fails maybe wedding gift (or first baby gift). The possibilities are endless really. ;)

Sweet and chewy in all the right places {RECIPE}

I LOVE baking! 

I do not, however, love baking chocolate chip cookies!

 I have never had a chocolate chip cookie I could not stop eating. In fact I've never had a chocolate chip cookie I really cared to finish (that didn't change the fact that I would finish it though).

 When I was little I used to ask my mom to make me chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips, that's how little I cared for this particular dessert.

 I have always enjoyed the dough much, much more than the baked counterpart. For this reason I have never really baked CC cookies often. I've never been the one to take them to the neighbors. I preferred sharing things like salted caramel cupcakes (my very favorite!) and cheesecake. That was until about three weeks ago. My good friend, and old next door neighbor Niki, and her daughter came to visit us at our new house. She is an amazing woodworker and I had a list a mile long of things I needed help with as I am NOT an amazing woodworker. While she was here slaving away for me, she shared this amazing recipe. 

I made it that night and I haven't stopped baking them since. I honestly have gone through one 10 pound bag of flour and five pounds of butter.  These cookies are what chocolate chip cookies were supposed to taste like.

 They are supper soft and chewy. They bake into perfect circles every time. Right out of the oven the edges have a nice little crisp to them and after a few minutes "they have the consistency of butter" as my brother said on his last trip here. Stop reading this now and go bake them! I can't think of a night better than these beauties fresh out of the oven, working on a new quilt, and a great episode of Downton Abby. I'm hooked on all three!! 

First let me introduce you to one of my favorite kitchen tools...

This little baby is my pride and joy.  It seriously makes mixing with my Kitchenaid a riot! It scrapes the edges as it mixes and it is incredible...Ok on with the recipe!

What you'll need: 

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 c. brown sugar 

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 c. all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 c. milk chocolate chips

First, beat the heck out of the butter and sugar. This is what is meant when normal recipes say cream. This step should take 5-7 minutes on the highest mixer speed your little mixer can handle. The sugar crystals cut into the butter creating air pockets and this is part of the amazing finished product (that and the genius idea of cornstarch-honestly try it)!

After butter mixture is nice and fluffy, add egg and vanilla, then mix again.

Add all remaining ingredients and mix together. Then taste some and scoop onto cookie sheets (using my other favorite kitchen tool!)

Bake @ 350 degrees F. 8-10 min. (In my oven it takes exactly 10 min. Do not bake longer than 10 min. The cookies may look fluffy and underdone, but don't do it!

Let cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes then move to cooling racks to finish cooling.

Now just poor a nice glass of milk and ENJOY!! Oh and let me know when you try them. I'd love to hear that I'm not the only one addicted to these delicious bites!

Grandma's first quilt

I am so lucky to have my mom come visit for a month or so every summer. Every year I tell my mom I want to make something with her. And every year I end up finishing a bunch of my projects while my mom sits on my studio recliner, trims my threads (my dreaded task), unpicks my mistakes (another dreaded task), and chats wih me about life, kids, and business. Looking back my mom definetly gets the bad end of the deal. 

This year I have no studio and no recliner for her to sit in. I have no unfinished projects (let me be completely honest here. I have plenty of unfinished projects it's just that they are still packed in boxes labeled "studio" which again I don't have so they remain packed and in my garage waiting).

During my last trip to arizona I had a lot of time to think, and design. I finally found the perfect fabric for my next quilt design and I promptly showed it to my mom.

 She was in love! She talked about it for a couple of days and finally asked if I would mind if she made the same quilt. I was estatic! We left immediately to two of my local quilt shops and bought all the supplies. When the sales clerk asked what my mom what was making she got a proud smile on her face and said, "an amazingly cute quilt my daughter over there (said while pointing right at me as I was wrestling my three kids our of the fat quarters and acting like I was not listening in at all) designed. She is an amazing seamstress!" I have to say while I was a bit embarrassed there is nothing like a shamless plug by your sweet mom to make your day. Anyway to make a long story a little less long. My mom and I have been working on her VERY FIRST QUILT EVER for the last week and last night we started quilting it. I can't wait to see it all complete!

Come visit me and I'll help you make one of my new designs too. :)

Here we go again

This year has been nuts to say the least.  A job transfer, building a new house, designing our new house, buying a lot, lot falling through, not building a house, living with in-laws, finally finding a new house, finding the best every chocolate chip cookie recipe ever(recipe to come!!)... 

...moving out of storage and in-laws into new house, trip to Arizona (just me and the kids 13 hours in the car so hubby could unpack new house) and back again. Finally here in the middle of August I'm here again. It feels so good to get everything all settled and feeling like home again.

With all that has been going on this last year I have felt the need to change things up a bit. The Vintage Clothespin is in for a sort of re-haul. New design, new products and lots of new patterns!! I was planning on waiting to blog again until all of this was complete, but quite honesty...I miss it and I miss you all. I'm working on so many fun new things for you all I just couldn't wait to share them. So please hang in there with me because I just couldn't wait to say hi again!  

Hi!