Cold and Rainy Day

 So it's been very cold and rainy here today. High in the thirties and raining almost all day. We have gotten over and inch and a half in the last 24 hours.

The wind has been blowing from the north and it just feels cold today. So, what do we do on a day like today? We sew and we bake. And since it is December, we bake cookies!

These pictures were from our Cookie Sunday last weekend. We try to get together every year for a day of cookie baking and now the kids are old enough to be of real help.

I think it's safe to say we all had a good time and enjoyed some hot chocolate as well as cookies.

I made some tiny gingerbread houses to sit on the rims of our hot chocolate cups. These were so fun to make.

Sunday we tried making some jam thumbprint cookies. They turned out pretty good.

This is the Stollen I made from a King Arthur flour recipe. The blob in the middle is homemade almond paste. Less expensive than store bought and super easy to make.

This is a pistachio, chocolate and candied orange shortbread. Recipe came from the New York Times. It turned out delicious.

I had some extra gingerbread dough so I tried making gingerbread men to sit on the rim of a cocoa cup.

These checkerboard cookies are a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The dough is made in the food processor, super easy. Putting together the checkerboard log for slicing was a little fiddly, but with a pizza cutter and my acrylic ruler it went rather well. Sometimes it helps being a quilter. My next post will be my finished Christmas quilt!

Welcome to Wednesday

Trying to get back into the habit of blogging more regularly. I can almost always have something to say, but I have become lazy with sitting at the computer and putting it down here. It is finally spring here and even though it is not as warm as I would like it, the days do seem sunnier and things are blooming.

These beautiful lavender are blooming in the front yard. The bees are all over them on any given day. I love all the purple goodness.

I have been baking. This key lime pie was one of three I baked for Pi day. I also baked a pecan pie and an apple pie. We ate pie every day for almost a week here. Glorious, but now, back to reality.

I had tons of ripe bananas and a bunch also in the freezer, so I baked three loaves of banana bread. Some will go to friends, and one got wrapped and frozen for now. I cannot seem to let any bananas go to waste.

And I stitched this little lovely from Liz at Cozy Blue. She has many lovely stitcheries in her shop. I believe most, if not all, fit into a six inch hoop, where you can leave them if you like. They are fun to hang just like this. I fell in love with the bees and have been eyeballing this one for months. I am so glad I got it. This one was so much fun to do.

I am happy to report that my 100 Days tiny house project was a success, not just in that I finished it, but it really did give me time and space to wait for my sewing mojo to return. Since I finished the tiny houses top, which is now ready for quilting, I have quilted my Penny Sampler quilt. I just finished it yesterday. It needs binding. I have pulled fabrics for a new baby quilt for someone, and I am excited about these and other new projects that are on the horizon. Tiny houses was clearly, just what I needed.

So, I will return here soon with more projects to share with you. Happy Wednesday.

The Week That Was

I feel like I do lots of stuff every week, but when I sit down to write about it, I struggle to remember what I did. Oh, well. Here is a brief look at my week.

 I finished the flower on my Dropcloth ABC sampler. I am really enjoying this piece of work. It is fun to slowly work my way through the elements.

 I wore my Mother's Day crown all day last Sunday. I made one for each of my daughters as well, and they sent me pictures of them wearing theirs. The idea for these came from Susan Branch.

 Another batch of confetti cookies was needed. We have had a couple of guys working on our front yard and I wanted to thank them for their efforts.

 I ordered some cherries for our cocktail hour. Our local liquor store was out and these are our favorites, so I found them on line.

 I am also building this kit of London's Elizabeth Tower. These are like Legos, but super tiny. We didn't realize that the size was so small when we ordered it a couple of months ago, but I have decided to persevere and do it anyway. This represents a week and a half of effort.

 I am still working on blocks for my Penny Sampler Club quilt. These are called bell flowers, but I had a couple of funny comments on Instagram. One thought they were tiny shirts and the other thought they were kimonos.

In baking, I decided to make my own puff pastry. I have never done that before. It was a fun experience and it worked out okay. I do want to try it again and see if I can improve the outcome.
So that's my week, mostly. Hope you are all well. Talk to you soon.

Same Stuff, New Week

I hope y'all are hanging in there and doing okay. I really feel for the parents who have their kids at home right now. It is tough. Keeping them busy, and happy is a hard thing. I just have to worry about myself, a much easier task. My husband is still working for now, although reduced hours and only a small group at his big warehouse place of business. Plenty of room for 4-5 people to distance themselves. Here is a peak into what I am up to right now at home.

I made this last Christmas, and decided it would be perfect for the Grandchildren for their Christmas ornament for 2020. I made that decision early, so I could work on them throughout the year since I have 4 to make. This is the perfect time to move this project along.

 I have already completed a pink one for Miss N. So I decided to do the three for the boys all in one big swoop. This is the beginnings of the hats.

 Coats and hats. Still need to stitch the trim on the coats here in this picture, but that is done now.

 Putting the bodies together with the pipe cleaners inside for stability and so you can pose them a bit.

 Santa heads with their hats on. I did all these yesterday and now wait for the glue to dry for the next step. I did so much these last few days, I may take a day off from this.

Also have the arms glued on and when they dry, I will stitch them to secure them. I feel like a week of intermittent work should finish these up. The pattern is from Larissa at MmmCrafts.

 This is a crochet project I am working on . I can't reveal it all just yet, as it is not finished, plus, it's a birthday surprise.

 Reading this. I love the shows on HGTV and Home Town is one of my favorites. I am enjoying this immensely. They seem like such nice people.

 I baked some sugar cookies last week, and my sister and I painted them with royal icing and a couple of clean water color brushes I had on hand. A fun technique to try.

 Here is another of our ways to spend time. We love puzzles and this one is 1000 pieces. It took us a couple of weeks to get it done. At times it is frustrating, but it really occupies your mind, which is good right now.

 And yesterday I used up some cherries I had in the freezer to make these scones. I do love to bake and it soothes me to do so.

 Here is the picture of the finished heart quilt top that I couldn't find the other day. I was able to cobble together several white on white fabrics and make it look intentional.

I hope you are keeping yourself occupied with lots of sewing, baking and puzzling. This may take awhile and we don't yet know what is on the other side. See you soon my friends.

Long Time Gone

I sorta fell off the edge there my friends. I got busy doing things and I kept thinking when I had something finished, I would blog. I am now thinking that I need to just get on here more often and talk about what I am doing, finished or not. So this will be an update post.

 First of all, there have been lots of roses blooming here at the Garden House. This is a small selection of some of the beauty.

 This gorgeous rose is new this year. It is called Sedona and it's beauty is in the color variation from the center to the exterior petals. It smells lovely too.

 There have been lots of great strawberries at the farmers market and I baked this wonderful treat. It is a vanilla cake covered with a whole pound of strawberries. You can find the recipe at Smitten Kitchen.

 I am working on crocheting this blanket for my oldest daughter. I am almost half way done.

And I am participating in the Summer Book Club QAL with Kate Basti on Instagram. Never too late to join in if you are interested.

I have been working to restock my creations for my next craft fair in the fall. This is my box of ear phone tacos.

 And I had an idea for something and I went searching the internet for Grosgrain ribbon. I found a reasonably price source and bought a few colors to start.

And this zippered pouch was the result. Another new item for my craft fair. Plus, I am slowly working on quilting my big yellow slab quilt and am doing some quilts for Christmas gifts. So you see, I have been busy, even if I forget to document it here.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon.

Hello October!

Sorry I have been out of touch for awhile. I spent the last week of September and the first week of October in North Carolina with my kids and grand kids. Then, when I returned home I had some medical stuff to take care of. But I am back in the saddle now and sewing most days, in some fashion or another.

 I finished up the 100 Days 100 Blocks challenge on Instagram. I really loved making all those blocks and posting each day. In fact, I kind of miss the having to post a picture a day over there. Never thought I would feel that way.

I am sort of leaning towards this, or a similar arrangement of these blocks for the finished quilt. I have a bunch of other commitments so it may be awhile before I get to them. I have made a list of all the sewing I need to do and some of the things have deadlines. I have plenty to keep me busy, that's for sure.

 It's m y favorite time of year for cooking and baking too. I baked these two loaves of bread yesterday. They are so yoummy!

 Then there is this pear and oatmeal breakfast bake from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook. This is a very tasty recipe. I am cooking a bunch of recipes from that new book these next few weeks. It's been awhile since I had so many recipes I wanted to try.

And I bought a couple of pie pumpkins and roasted them for use in baking. These are a few of the seeds, I am drying them out and giving them to my daughter in NC. They have a large yard and I thought maybe they could try and grow some next year. It would be fun for the kids.

So lots going on, and I will try to show you pictures when I can, of the things that are not surprises for people. Happy fall. Enjoy the weather. Talk to you soon.