2011 in Pictures

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all!

Hope Santa Claus found each of you!

A great time for family and fun - even for Lucy and Webster!

Thank You, Menards!

Menards is not really one of my favorite stores 

but I made a great find there recently.

And it was just in time for a Crazy Sweater Party!!

What a sport my husband is and we did make a cute couple!!

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookies Oh My!

I love to bake 

and I have baked my favorites to take to a party tonight!

Here's what I baked - 

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

Double Chocolate Pomegranate Cookies

Brown Butter Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peppermint Swirls

Crispy Ginger Cut Outs

Noel Cut Outs

Vanilla and Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Lemon Pistachio Cut Outs

Honey Ginger Bites

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I think that's it!!

All recipes are on my Pinterest Boards under Sweet.

www.pinterest.com

Let me know if you need an invitation to join Pinterest!

Lucky for me, I really only like cookies fresh out of the oven

and my husband is the cookie dough snatcher.

But if you were my neighbor, we could be sitting down together right now with a plate of cookies and a fresh cup of gingerbread coffee!

Merry Christmas!

Big Daisy Dot Returns!!

In the midst of my holiday cookie baking, 

I just finished a quilt for michael Miller Fabrics.

Often times, same fabric designs are reprinted in a new color way,

and that is the case with Big Daisy Dot.

I did a previous quilt with this fabric that was featured in a MMF ad.

The Big Daisy Dots fabric has a brown background this time and I have fussy cut the daisies into 3 1/2" squares.  

This quilt also features some of the new Couture Cottons from MMF.

And this is the bonus project sewn with the big daisy dot strips

left over from the fussy cutting of quilt one.

All of these strips usually end up in a scrap basket -

but not this time!!

Next post - COOKIES!!!

Snippets of Thanksgiving Week

Wow, it's hard to believe Thanksgiving is over!!

Our family gathered for some enjoyable down time and lots of good food!!

My sister-in-law, Dee, arrived on Tuesday from Minneapolis.  We did some Christmas shopping and took time to enjoy a hot dog - a must do in Chicago!

We had a great lunch at Franks 'N' Dawgs in Lincoln Park.

They make many of their dawgs in house 

and have a great selection of unusual combinations.

A great choice!!  

Plus it is right across the street from the Crate and Barrel Outlet.

A birthday celebration for Dee with Alison and Natalie joining us

at Ruxbin!  Sites of the wall decor!

The waiter knew Alison from her many previous visits

and we topped off our delicious meal with 

two complimentary desserts!

Toasted butternut squash ravioli to start out Turkey Day!

Fresh turkey on the Weber grill 

along with the traditional dish - Broccoli and Rice!!

Caramel Apple Pie with Brown Sugar Gelato!!

Time for a nap - what a stretch for Webster!

And a shooting adventure to Wheatfield on Saturday for Dennis and Alison.

Lots of fun with family!

Hope you had a great thanksgiving, too!!

Are You on My Gift List???

Since I enjoy sewing so much - 

and I have so much fabric in my house - 

I decided to do some sewing for Christmas gifts this year.

I found an updated pattern of and "old bag" 

and this is what I came up with.

First up is a red/aqua fabric group from Michael Miller Fabrics.

The lining is the same as the outside polka dot pocket.

The wide stripe works well for the ruffle.

This bag features fabric designed by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit Fabrics.

There is a small swatch pinned to the upper right side and this is the lining.

I tried to sew different combinations/fabrics and this is home dec weight.

These are Laura Gunn's latest fabrics designed for Michael Miller Fabrics.

All of the fabrics are quilting weight so I added a woven interfacing to the lining.

The lining fabric is pinned to the left side of the bag.

I am wondering if my daughter, Natalie, might like this one!

OK, I think this one will be a favorite of my daughter, Alison.

This bag features Amy Butler Corduroy (Rowan Fabrics) for the outer bag

and quilting cottons for the ruffle and lining.

The lining swatch is pinned to the upper right of the bag.

I love the large prints and this is a favorite home dec weight

designed by Anna Maria Horner for Free Spirit Fabrics.

The lining fabric is the same as the ruffle - also by Anna Maria -

quilting cotton weight - a close second for Natalie.

And last, but not least, is this bag made with a laminate outer fabric 

designed by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit Fabrics.

The swatch is hanging to the right and is delightfully fun!

Maybe my hairdresser, Amber, would like this one!

The laminate is really easy to sew on.

My sister-in-law, Dee, is coming for Thanksgiving 

and I am hoping she will find one she likes for her birthday on Wednesday.

Yes, it is fun to put the fabrics together, especially since all of them are from my quilt shop or fabric leftovers from samples I have sewn in the last few years.

Do you want to be on my gift list???  I am working on more projects,

Stay tuned!!

Happy Halloween!

We had a blast at the Halloween Dance Party Saturday night 

at Duneland Ballroom.  Big attendance and lots of great costumes.

Catered by Zing Pizza and lots of extra treats!

We did not win the costume contest - but we did get a lot of laughs!

More than 30 dancers out on the dance floor 

learning a line dance to the Monster Mash.

Creative treats to share - made by me!!

A time for confession....

a costume contest winning wizard..... 

And our good friend - Doug!!

www.dunelandballroom.com

Halloween Week-End is HERE!!!

I have always liked Halloween and do miss that we live out in the"country" and don't get any of those cute trick or treaters!!

I do have my fall quilts all around the house!!

This is a mini quilt and features a Halloween batik fabric.  Fun!!

I haven't carved a pumpkin for a few years but want to roast the seeds!!

This great quilt was a block exchange with a Stitch and Bitch group I was a part of in Buffalo, NY.  It was a Happy Jack Quilt that was featured on the cover of Fons and Porter Magazine at the time.  Each group member made two of the same blocks for each member.  What a memory!!

Love this lap size quilt - made from the famous five yard quilt pattern.

This was a shop sample and is machine quilted in a star design.  Love it!!

And I always love to hang this quilt at this time of year.

It is a panel designed by Sandy Gervais 

and I had a blast practicing my machine quilting.

Great colors and sew fun!!

Heading to the kitchen this afternoon to make some treats 

for a Halloween Dance Party.  Stay tuned!!!

Dinner for 8 and Don't Be Late!

I sent this quilt to Houston, TX today for wholesale quilt market - a big happening this week-end!  It is a little out of the box - but I decided - why not?

I like to look at fabrics and then decide what direction to take.  

Always hoping you need to buy this collection to make the quilt.

These fabrics are designed by Ty Pennington and right away I saw.....

a tablecloth

dinner plates

random napkins

different sizes of glasses

Ane here is what I came up with!

  

Toss it across your table and add some silverware!

What do you think??

October Sample Sewing

Yes, indeed, it is time for fall quilt market in Houston - 

so I have been busy sewing samples!!

For Free Spirit Fabrics

This quilt features fabric designed by Mark Cesarik called

Morning Tides.  The yellow gives a punch to the royal blue, black & cream.

Both of these garments are made from Sewn Patterns.

They were wonderful to work with!  

The pants are from a pink linen and worked up beautifully.

The dress has very nice style lines.

For Michael Miller Fabrics

A sweet nine patch featuring 9 fabrics each from a fabric line 

designed by Patty Sloinger called Bella Butterfly.

Machine quilting by Louise Moon - dancing butterflies.

Under the Big Top = bright and fun!

A delightful novelty print with new solids from MMF.

Front and back views of a quilt featuring a new fabric line from Laura Gunn -

Garden Wall in the olive color way.

The scale of these designs has a wide range -

from the small calico in the binding

to the large floral on the backing.

Just one more quilt to finish by MONDAY

featuring new fabrics from Ty Pennington.

Stay tuned!