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.

When there’s a will there’s a way

I’m was in Grand Cayman on vacation at the beginning of the month and had taken some quilting to do while I was visiting. I had packed all the fabric and book to make a Quilt in a Day Log Cabin Quilt. I had all the strips cut and packed, the book, my seam ripper, thread, pins and scissors. I started to put the quilt together, was ready to cut the first strip into sections when I realized that I had not brought my cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler. )(*&*^(*^))(&. What is a girl to do…..improvise of course. I visited the local hardware store, picked up a utility knife, dug out the plastic cutting board from the kitchen along with a T-square my uncle had at the house and I was in business. Actually…and surprisingly enough, it really worked well. I managed to cut my strips into 2.5 inch squares.  When there’s a will there is always a way.

Mini Dresden Fun

This is one of the funniest classes to teach at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It’s the Mini Dresden,  three classes of fun in miniature. All the ladies did such a nice job on their mini versions. It always amazes me how different each quilt can look based on student’s fabric choices.

I loved them all, but might be tempted to try a Christmas version as Kathy’s turned out fabulous

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Beginner’s End

After seven weeks of cutting,sewing, picking out, sewing again, measuring, ensuring 1/4 inch seams and learning the dreaded ironing tips…plus the tricks of the trade for borders, the beginner’s have finished their beauties. These ladies all did fabulously…and their quilts look amazing.  What a great group of students!

The Centre of Attention

This is the centre of my Fons and Porter Christmas quilt. Lots of flying geese and half square triangles, but well worth the effort. I’m just about ready to put all the pieces together and it will end up a nice size at 54X 54.

The corner blocks are sweet too…little stars with holly leaves appliqued and button berries.

Thimbleberries Entrance

Years ago my mom had made a Thimbleberries  quilt and had lots of extra scrap fabric left over. She was cleaning out some of her excess  stuff and brought me a huge bag of the extras. I was even lucky enough that some of the scraps were already sewn in strips for a  piano key border. It was just a matter of cutting them into blocks and sewing them on point. She even had enough stash scrap pieces that I could get a small border plus the binding out. Voila, a perfect runner for my front hall entrance way. The lovely painting above the cupboard is an original painting by my mom as well.  I love when I get all these fabulous finds from her.  I really like the way this scrap runner turned out and at such a great price…free.

Can’t see the Forest for the Trees

I have been trying really hard this last year to finish off some projects I have had in my stash for literally years. I had bought a kit in 2009 at a little shop just outside of Rochester. I got it for a steal as the whole kit ( fabric, pattern, binding) was half price for $35.00. It was a Fons and Porter pattern and immediately took my eye. I had tucked it away in my stash and with the Christmas season approaching decided it would be nice to do something in the spirit of the season for myself. There was a total of 12 trees to complete in the pattern and I love the technique to get these together…lovely little flying geese all lined up in a row.

Simply Beautiful

Jane, one of my original beginner girls, has been busy continuing her new found love of quilting. Though the pattern is quite simple, the quilt is stunning (and huge)…95X95. Made from a layer cake of Luna Notte it turned out amazing.We quilted it in the pantograph pattern called Taro and it was perfect.  Jane I am so happy that you are continuing with your quilting ventures, your quilt is lovely!

A picture is worth a thousand words!

My daughter, bless her heart, always takes my grandsons to get professional Christmas photos taken. This year she was very excited as she managed to get them adorable matching “ugly” Christmas sweaters and had the highest of hopes that the pics would turn out amazingly.

With a 1 year old and a 3 year old together, confined in a 8X8 room with a backdrop, blaring lights, wrapped Christmas present props and a 25 year old male (professional) photographer…by the way, who doesn’t have kids, doesn’t want kids and after meeting my grandsons, never ever wants to even be in close proximity to kids…what could possibly go wrong!

My daughter went onto describe how the photo session started off well then went downhill faster than an Olympic skier winning the gold medal. The youngest was taking flying leaps at the $10,000 backdrop while the oldest was sure all the wrapped present props were gifts Santa had left him and started unwrapping them all. Needless to say the photographer was less than impressed and after 5 minutes of shear bedlam and fiasco driven frenzy he indicated that perhaps they should come back another day.

Any mother in her right mind, knows that this is not an option after getting 2 kids under the age of 4 dressed, psyched, out the door,  in the car  and hauled into the store for pics.

She in the calmest of voices, probably in the low tones of  Linda Blair during one of her sessions in the Exorcist,  screamed…..Take the Picture!…..

This is her Family Christmas photo…..love it, one of my favourite.

This picture is now on America’s most wanted profiles.

Crazy for Crazy Eights

This was a fun BOM that was offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It was a block offered each month from the book and ruler called Lazy Angle. It was so much fun to create each month. This finished setting pattern was my design and was offered as a finishing kit for quilters. This version is Linda’s and she brought it to be long armed. It turned out gorgeous….and the blocks were awesome to create.

Over, Under, Under Over

Linda, one of my favourite customers, brought me this wonderful geometric quilt to long arm. She indicated that is was from a Quiltmaker magazine that she had bought some time back. I love the look of this design. It looks like the pattern pieces go over and under at each intersection. She lucked out finding the most amazing backing in the same blue shades…plus the same zig zag pattern…Bonus!

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Red, Black and White Mystery

My friend Pat finished her Mystery quilt and brought it to be long armed. I just love this one. It’s a mystery I taught last year at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. called Chicago Undercover. I love the way the blocks look like they are woven in and out across the quilt. This has to be my favourite mystery class so far. Pat you did an amazing job on this one.

Mom’s the Word

Judith is surprising her mother with this quilt for Christmas…so mom’s the word…no letting the quilt  cat out of the bag. It’s a fabulous log cabin and it truly looks amazing. Judith your mom is going to love this. We used a pale blue thread and the pantograph pattern Country Garden to quilt it. It was the perfect pattern for this quilt. The fabric had roses throughout as does the pantograph. Judith’s daughter will paint her grandma’s room as her part in this Christmas gift and Judith promises to send me a photo of the bedroom makeover when everything is complete. Can’t wait to see!

Beginner's Luck

I was so surprized when I received a call from Lorna who is in my beginner class that she had a quilt she would like to have long armed. We haven’t even finished the class yet. Low and behold she shows up with this wonderful quilt she completed on her own. She did a great job, and that is no beginner’s luck. She was a seamstress previously so she had the basics. I love the warm and rich tones of this quilt and I love the 2nd border with just a few patches in it. Lorna, great job and I can see you are already hooked on quilting!

Starry Starry Night

This is a perfect quilt for a young man and Carol Ann’s nephew will be delighted to receive it. It’s made using a charm pack and co-coordinating fabric and I love how easy the stars are pieced. It looks great quilted and will be a great keepsake to curl up under.