What a way to end the year

Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. was having their Boxing Day sale all this week. I quickly dropped in today, just to say hello, and well HELLO…They had a really good Boxing Day sale going on. 30-50 -75% off quite a few fabrics. 

I have no will power! 

So the bolt selection started…when I finally left ……16 meters of fabric, 4 Flurry by Kate Spain, 3 Nature’s Gift from Deb Strain, 1 Countdowns to Christmas, 1 Floralicious bundle, 69.57 spent, 184.68 saved, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I have no will power….

I need a  new   New Year’s Resolution!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

This is block 1 of the BOM from Val Laird called Apples of Gold. It looks like a sweet little quilt whereby you can use a lot of your scrap fabric pieces up. There is an element of embroidery in up and coming months by the looks of things. It was just too sweet to pass up.

This is a free BOM offered at http://val-laird.blogspot.com

These quilters are wonderful…the ones that  design these wonderful projects and are kind enough to share them with fellow quilters for free!

I’m feeling Grinchy

We were visiting family over the holidays and had dinner at my niece’s home. Needless to say, we all came down with the dreaded flu…the whole nine yards….up chuck, end chuck (if you know what I mean), headache, body ache, fever….etc etc…)(*_*)&Q)&R_*R_)(Q_R

Needless to say I was feeling a little Grinchy. What was even worse is that I had to cancel my extended family Christmas with my siblings and their families. It was suppose to be held yesterday…not only were we not feeling up to entertaining 25 guests, but it would not have been fair to subject them to the dreaded bug as well.

I had the event all planned and a lot of the food and details purchased as well, but was really disappointed that I didn’t get to give out my Grinch favours…These little guys have Hershey nuggets tucked away inside….

Ba Humbug!

Fields and Furrows

I  finally finished my Log Cabin quilt that I’m teaching in the New Year at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. The beginner class I taught before Christmas wanted to continue with their quilting and we decided this would be a good one for them to continue with. It ended up quite large 100X100 and although I had wanted a different layout originally, I think that this one called Fields and Furrows worked out quite nicely. I had originally wanted a star format, but when all the blocks were laid out the black stripes on the blocks just did not look great in the star layout so I had to go with this one. I am still using up my stash…this one used up a pile of strips I had set aside for another project…I had the outer border fabric and backing in my stash as well. All i needed to purchase was a small amount for the centre squares and first border so I’m pretty pleased I’m making a dent in my fabric. I would definitely make another one of these…it was from the book by Eleanor Burns..Quilt in a Day Log Cabin and went together quite quickly and I really liked her technique. I used the panto pattern called Taro to machine quilt it and it shows up quite nicely.

Owl…..do anything for cookies

This is my beautiful daughter Rebecca modelling the Owl apron I made for my niece Julianne. Julianne had our family over for Christmas dinner and I owlalways like to take a little something to the hostess. I managed to pick up the fabric panel for this apron at Hobby Lobby just before Christmas. I quilted it, sewed the binding on and it turned out so cute. The best thing of all is that my niece is crazy about owls so the themed apron was perfect.

Kindred Spirits all wrapped up

Every Christmas, Michelle who owns Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. in St.Catharines, takes the staff (that includes me) out for Christmas celebrations. She is so good to us and we all just love working for her…what an amazing job… getting to work at a local quilt store!

I always like to get my “Sew Sisters” a little something to unwrap at the event and this year I crocheted little curly neck scarves for everyone. Don’t my sisters all look great all wrapped up in them! There is Michelle, Amy, Sylvia, Gloria, Marg, Sharon and Jane.

Itty Bitty Cutie Patootie Christmas Mini

Sometimes when I make flying geese, I save the triangle cut offs and when I have nothing better to do in my spare time make something out of them. These were cut offs from the Christmas quilt I finished earlier this month. It finished at about 15X12 and fit perfect on a little quilt rack I had bought when we travelled out to the Sisters Quilt Show.  I even went as far as to put this little baby on my long arm and feathered the crap out of it  back and forth over it. Cutie Patootie, Itty Bitty Christmas Mini.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Merry Christmas…..

Day 12…Sweetest houses on the block

It’s always a challenge getting those little Christmas gifts for the hairdresser, the neighbour, the niece, the outlaws…..this year I decided to make the sweetest gift of all…chocolate houses to gift. While they were a little bit of work, they were also very fun to create. Each one different, but the premise the same….YUM YUM!

The Twelve days of Christmas at Our House

Day 11…Quilted Christmas Tree Ornaments

The Sew Sisters from Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. always get together over the holidays for a dinner and ornament exchange. Michelle takes us out for dinner at Cafe Amore and we spend the night in festive fits of laughter , with good food and good friends. This year I made a quilted ornament to give for the exchange. They were relatively easy to make but quite time consuming. It took forever to fold and pin all the little pieces in place. While I had good intentions to do a small army of these guys, I accomplished 2 and was completely pooped. Plus those pins are really hard on the fingers. I know that whomever gets this little goodie will appreciate it’s beauty.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at Our House

Day10…Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

I spent the day with my oldest grandson Ayden, he is three going on thirty…and of course what’s a day at Nana’s without making Christmas Cookies and doing crafts together. He was so funny, trying to roll out the dough, asking a million questions…what fun for both of us. It made me realize how much I miss all the Christmas traditions I had with my children when they were small. I’m blessed  that I get to do it all over again with my grandchildren…and this time I can be even sillier than I was with my own kids…cause they are grandkids. We all know that Rudolph has a red nose, but the pack of candies I bought for the noses had all the colors of the rainbow in it. Ayden wanted purple noses and yellow noses and blue noses on his reindeer…we laughed and laughed…

He took those reject reindeer home!

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Day 9…Santa Stuffer

Even with the holidays I am managing to finish up some UFOs. I had this kit half started for the last couple of yards and finally was motivated enough to take it out and finish it. So glad I did…as he is so cute. The pattern is from Threads that Bind. It came as a kit with almost everything you needed. Although he is relatively small, only about a foot high, it seemed like I stuffed and stuffed and stuffed this little guy….I thought it would never end… It really should be called One Fat Ass Santa instead. This guy would never get down a chimney…. for sure, one to many cookies.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Day 8…Sugar Cookie cut-outs

My Kids all love sugar cookies…I'm positive, all kids love sugar cookies. These are cute little mitten cut-outs, sprinkled with jewel sprinkle sugar.  So Yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (NOT olive oil!)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 4 1/8 cups flour

Directions:

1. 1

   Cream sugar, butter, powdered sugar, and oil.

2. 2

   Then cream in eggs and vanilla.

3. 3

   In a separate bowl mix baking soda, cream of tartar, and flour.

4. 4

   Start adding dry ingredients to creamed ingredients less than 1 cup at a time.

5. 5

   Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours.

6. 6

   Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out with your favourite shapes.

7. 7

   Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

8. 8

   Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are browned.

9. 9

   Decorate as desired

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Day 7…Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons)
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring lemon juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until reduced by half. Add 1 stick butter; stir until melted.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream remaining stick butter and 1 cup sugar on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in egg and lemon butter. Mix until pale, about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla and 2 teaspoons zest. Mix in flour mixture and poppy seeds.
3. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons zest. Roll spoonful's of dough into 1 1/2-inch balls; roll them in sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press each with the flat end of a glass dipped in sugar mixture until 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with seeds.
4. Bake until just browned around bottom edges, 10 to 11 minutes.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Day 6…YOYO the HOHO Tree

These are cute little last minute gifts to make…just in case you thought you didn’t have enough to do over the holidays. I really like the wooden spool that they are set on, great for quilters or sewing friends. These are made out of Yo-yo's using bright and funky Christmas print fabrics and virtually can be put together in an evening. Hot glue the little pompom on the top and it’s Christmas!

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our House

Day 5-Almond Caramel Swirl Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon maple flavouring
• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• FILLING:
• 30 caramels
• 2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and maple flavouring. Gradually add flour and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, melt caramels; stir until smooth. Stir in cream cheese until blended; set aside. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion between waxed paper to 1/4-in. thickness. Spread caramel mixture over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges.
• Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.
• Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

The Twelve days of Christmas at our house

Day 4...Oh! Christmas Tree
This year I was debating even putting up a  Christmas Tree. It is always so much work to put up and down and I find it exhausting as no one else in the household ever wants to help. Our children are all grown and as we all age, the tree unfortunately sometimes seems a chore. Part of me wanted to pull out my tacky ceramic one and call it a day, however I anticipated the grandsons coming over and saying…”Nana, where’s your Christmas Tree?” Not to be a Nana Scrooge I did opt to put ours up, but thought how can I make this as simple as possible? The thought of putting up all the decorations that originally go on was overwhelming….do the math, 4 kids, 1 decoration for every Christmas for the first 15 years of their lives and that amounts to a lot of decorations.  I had bought this mesh ribbon at Sam’s early in the month and thought I might be able to spruce up the tree a bit , no pun intended.  The oldest son brought up the Christmas Tree box, I put the 3 pieces together, turned on the lights and started wrapping the mesh in and out….this stuff is amazing. In no time I had it wound it in and out. I wrapped the extra mesh into a bow at the top and attached it with a pipe cleaner. At this point the tree already looked amazing. I ran out and bought about $15.00 worth of cheap gold balls from Wal-Mart and these  great twirly dried and spray painted things from a local garden centre that were a steal at 6 for $6.99. I quickly hung the balls and stuck the twirly things throughout the tree….within 10 minutes…no lie…the whole tree was complete and looks like a million bucks. I’m a believer again!

The Twelve Day of Christmas at our house

Day 3....Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas…
I love this Fons and Porter table topper, and what I love even more is that I actually finished it! It was worth the wait…I’ve had the kit in my stash since 2009…guess there are just some things that never go out of style. The colors are so vibrate and pretty and everything co-ordinates together wonderfully. I longarm quilted it with the pantograph pattern Happy Times.
Merry Christmas to me.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our house

Day 2.....Snowmen melt my heart
Say hello to “Gus”. I made another one of these little guys at a class a few years back and put him out on display for the Christmas season. You know how this works….youngest daughter comes over and falls in love with it and wants one of her own for her home. So out comes the pattern and fabric again to make another one. This one will be my daughter’s Gus. They really are quite easy and quick to make and they really do look quite sweet on display. I love the socks on the line with the little pegs…too cute.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at our house

Day 1 …..Hedgehog Cookies

The daughters have already been into these and say they are delicious.

You'll Need:

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Melted Chocolate chips
• Crushed walnuts

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.
2. Form cookies (in an oval shape with a pointed end) and place 2" apart on on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool on wire racks.
3. Dip 3/4 of cookies in melted chocolate and then in crushed walnuts. Dot two eyes and a nose!

Fields and Furrows Log Cabin

Well I managed to get all the blocks completed while I was in Cayman and was able to lay the blocks out to see what might be the best layout. I had my heart set on a star layout, however when all was said and done, the blocks just looked awkward in that option. I played around a bit and found that this layout called Fields and Furrows looked best. Now I just need to square the blocks up, sew them together, get my borders on and quilt it and I’ll be ready for my class in January.