Yum! Yum! Yum!.....and a new quilt top!

I spent the entire weekend baking my cookies for the trays that I send out.  I usually make up 6 trays for some neighbors and friends, and then a huge tray goes with hubby to work.  He works in the Snowmaking Department at Sunday River Ski Resort, and there are a couple dozen young, hard working guys that spend their whole shift trudging through snow banks, hauling hoses up and down the mountain, and generally working their butts off to make it great for skiers!  A lot of these guys are away from home, with no home-cooking (or baking) the entire time they're here.  So I feel good about supplying them with a sugar overload a few times during the season!  lol

This year I made 4 new cookies to add to my trays!  And they all came out GREAT!  Woohoo!

Here's my first attempt to photograph food like all the foodie-bloggers do.  Yep.....it's harder than it looks!  When you see a really great photo of food, that blogger knows what they're doing!  Me.....not so much!  lol

First of the new ones......and the BEST DANG THING EVER!  It's vanilla fudge center with dried cherries and walnuts, then dipped!  YUM!  It was originally going to be just fudge, but when I cut it up, it was kindof sticky, so I thought......let's dip it!  lol  And it's the best mistake EVER!  It's a little like a nougat.....swoon!

Next up, Peppermint Bark (just like Williams Sonoma!  HA!)  So good, and SO EASY!  And didn't cost $30 for a little tin, either!  lol

Next are the Candy Cane Cookie Dough Truffles that I got the recipe from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life blog.  Totally awesome in every way!  (Check out her yummy blog.....you won't be sorry!)

And the last new item, Pecan Pie Bars from Lizzy at Your Cup of Cake.com.  Again, totally awesome!  Lizzy's site is filled with easy recipes, most using a cake mix!  So great!

I usually make snowflake sugar cookies every year, and these came out prettier than ever!

Here's a look at all 15 different kinds at once!  I can't stop eating them, so I'll be fixing another tray for hubby to take tomorrow, too!  Then they'll all be OUT OF THE HOUSE!  Whew!  And then I'll be able to seriously get back to Weight Watchers on Thursday!

Ok......so that was all the Yum Yum Yum part of this post......here's the newest quilt top!

It's made with recycled shirts for the Rolling Stone blocks and yardage I had for the sashings and cornerstones.  The blocks finish at 11 inches...... the sashings are 6.5 inches wide!  I love that look!  I got the inspiration for this quilt from some photos that Bonnie Hunter and friends took at 2 visits to Sisters, Oregon over the last couple of years.  They had been looking at one of the antique quilts booths and took pics of this quilt, and the minute I saw it, I just knew I had to remake it!  I didn't use any reds or blacks like the original; my blocks are all blue and brown with white to beige center rings (very subdued in comparison).  I switched out the background white for a soft blue, too.  You know me......I can never just follow a pattern exactly.....something ALWAYS has to be different!  And my orange is a softer one, too.....don't want to freak my hubby out!  lol

(Original quilt from Bonnie Hunter's blog, 2012)

My plans are to REALLY get busy quilting up these latest quilt tops.  I'm hoping to have several to post about in the first few weeks of January!  Keep your fingers crossed for me, huh?

And if you know me at all, you'll understand that this post is #139, so it's my last one of the year!  I just LOVE prime numbers, and it's a quirky need of mine to end the year on one!  LOL

So, I'm wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy New Year!

And no.....I'm not even going to look at that stupid list I made last year of my UFO's.  (What was I thinking!  Sheesh!)   Nope.....not even gonna look!  HA!

regan

Snow....snow....snow!!!

We're loaded with it right now!  And I love that!  I'm hoping we'll be skiing by the weekend!  :o)

I have been quilting like crazy this past week, and will hopefully have pics of my latest quilt top to show in the next day or two.

But I need to have a pic of some kind on this post......so......

.....Hubby just brought in the mail, and we had a good little laugh!  Only in a small town could you send out a card like this, and have it actually delivered correctly!  We love that!

And what's really funny......it's our town clerk who sent it.....and she KNOWS our address!!!!  HA!

Hope you're getting some time to relax and enjoy the season!  My baking marathon doesn't start until Friday, so I have a few more days to relax and sew!  Yay!

regan

Not the last minute! Yay!

I'm a HUGE procrastinator......and usually wait until the last stinkin second to do anything with a deadline!  Not this time!

I have a gift exchange at our quilt guild's Christmas party on Dec. 11, and I just finished my gift!  Woohoo!!!!

I picked up a little mug of the Pfaltzgraff 'Winterberry' pattern.......I have a few serving pieces of it, and just love it.......it's a sweet little sprig of holly on them.

And I just finished the mug rug to go with it!  It's a wonky star in fabric with holly sprigs on it......kindof matches, and I backed it with the holly fabric, too.

And can I just say.......this was the first time I really used my walking foot, and have never quilted with it, but........

I LOVE IT!  I'm going to be using that walking foot A LOT from now on!  My stitch-in-the-ditch was dead-on!  And it made the straight lines evenly spaced and perfect!  Holy cow!  Why had I never used that before!?!  Sheesh!  I'm so out of it sometimes!

And can you believe it......I've posted twice in one week!  Whoa!  I'm on a roll!  lol

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

regan

While I was buzzing......

.....on my caffeine high, I got so much done!  Woohoo!  But no, I'm not going to make that a habit!  It was 42 hours of knots in my stomach, and nerves on end!  No more regular coffee.....ever again!  lol

Of course, I'm totally happy that some of my 'must make' projects got started!  I pulled all my repro brown fabrics and started cutting like crazy!  I've had a brown baskets quilt on the list for a long time now, so I'm totally jazzed that it got a good start!

I am loving making these baskets!  I used Linda Franz's Inklingo tutorial on back-basting the handles and they are quick and easy to whip out!    These blocks finish at 7.5" square.  They'll be set on point with alternate beige-background squares......I'll need 49 of the baskets......8 down, 41 more to go!  lol

Don't you just love all the tutorials, great ideas and inspiration we get off the internet!?!  I was just saying the other day to my friend, Pat......."Where would we be if we weren't following the blogs we do and getting so much good info on the computer!?!  Imagine never seeing Bonnie Hunter's blog?  Or Sue Garman's?  Or Cindy Needham's?  And so many others!  Cripes!  Our whole idea about quilting would be SO different!"  And I know I would never have attempted, or accomplished, many of the quilts I've done if not for getting all that amazing information and inspiration from so many blogs!

So at this time of Thanksgiving, I'm totally grateful for all the wonderful quilters who inspire, motivate, and help to keep me creative!  And I'm so grateful for all the lovely comments I always get from my followers, too!  You are the best!  Thank you all so much!

Hoping everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving!

Eat lots of pie!  :o)

regan

A finished top, and......oh no!

I spent the last few days putting all those little 4" blocks together......and now it's done!  WOOHOO!!!!

I'm totally in love with this quilt!  I don't know how I'm going to quilt it yet, but it will be bound in red!  And it's a heavy top, so I know the batt will be very thin!

And the 'oh no' part of this post?.......

Well.......here's the story!  I've been following Weight Watchers since May, and part of the way I get my water in every day is to down a ton of coffee!  Usually about 2 pots worth!  It's decaf, so it's ok!  It's also the way I'm able to get in any calcium, cuz I use my lactose milk in every cup, so by the end of the day, I've had some milk.  And, at my last physical, I told my doctor this, and she just laughed and said, '25 pounds down!  Whatever works!'  So it's all good!  LOL

So today, for a little change of pace, I found a couple bags of special flavored coffee (we usually use french vanilla), so I thought, "Fun!  Gingerbread flavor!  Why not!"  And I drank a pot and most of the second by dinner time.

That's when I started feeling yucky!  And I instantly thought it might be the butternut squash soup I made, cuz it was a brand new recipe (totally yummy, by the way), but thought maybe it wasn't agreeing with me.

Then about 20 minutes ago, I thought......"Hmmmmm!  Could that coffee have been regular?"

CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!

I drink decaf (and have, for the last 25 years!) FOR A REASON!!!!!!!!!

Because the last time I had regular coffee.....just one cup!.......I was up for 3 DAYS STRAIGHT!!!!!!  AND my heart felt like it was coming out of my chest!

I don't even know what a pot and a half are going to do to me!!!!

Needless to say......for the last few hours, I've been VERY busy!  LOL

I actually designed 8 upcoming quilts, drafted the blocks for all of them, printed out ALL the pages for paper piecing 5 of them.......and now I'm getting ready to pull fabrics for them all from the repros stash......

And I expect to have all of the fabrics cut and kitted together by morning!  Because I don't expect to ever hit the bed tonight!  LOL

SHEESH!  That'll teach me!  And, needless to say, I am getting rid of those two bags of coffee!

Hey......could you tell by my story......I'm just a little hyper right now!  Maybe I should do a little housework, too!  Nah!  LOL

regan

On the design wall.....

I finished making all of the 4.5" log cabin blocks (finishing at 4" square), 1/2" finished logs.  I started working on these at the same time I was doing those scrappy churndash blocks.  They are all made from recycled shirts!  All 418 of them!  :o)

They don't fit on my design wall all at once, so I'll have to do the laying out in a couple of sections.  It's 19x22 blocks.

I just LOVE this layout!  And of the 3 different layouts I had up on the wall yesterday, it's the one that hubby picked!  Yay!  :o)

Have a great week!

regan

The Cocheco Show.....Part 2!

I can't seem to stay on track with anything these days!  Sheesh!

But better late than never......posting quilty pics, right!?!

These are from the Cocheco Quilters Guild show that was held October 12 & 13.  All of these pics are from a special exhibit from 3 quilters in their guild.  These three gals LOVE repro quilts, penny rugs, and everything antiquey......and they put together a beautiful grouping from their collections.  Enjoy!

This was our favorite part of the whole show!  We just can't get enough of repros and antiquey stuff!  Yummy!


And I'm so happy Halloween is over......now I can enjoy watching tv again, and not have to deal with all those creepy/scary movie promos!  I hate that stuff!  I know a lot of people love it......but it seriously gives me nightmares!  Plus, I live in a very old house, and am alone a lot of nights......so I just don't need those images running through my mind when I'm turning out lights!  lol

Have a great weekend!

regan

A show and a finished top!

My friend, Pat, and I were at the Cocheco Quilters Guild show last weekend.  It's one of our favorite shows in the year, and these gals have been doing a show annually for 32 years!  Wow!  Amazing talent and energy from this group!

Here are just a few of my favorites.......

"Bigger Baltimore" by Carol Barstow.   This quilt was first shown at a previous show, and now was the backdrop to the admissions table!  Love it!

 "Butterfly's Delight!" by Betty Jo Quinn.

 "Pot Holder Quilt" by Lynette McCreary.

 "Here Comes the Bride" by Susan Copp-Silva.

 I didn't get the label on this one.....but I love how graphic it is!

 "Prairie Flower" by Patience Dixon.

 Again, I didn't get the label.  The quilting was done in a woodgrain pattern.....very effective.  I'm not usually a modern gal, but I love this!

 "Imperfect Beauty" by Gladi Porsche.    Absolutely stunning.....and the hand quilting was perfection!

 "Mary's Glacier Star Quilt" by Nancy Starks-Cheney.

 "Glorified Nine Patch" by Havrilla Stephens.     Gorgeous!

 "Transition and Union" by Mitzi Horne.

 "Tropical Dream" by Penny St. Cyr.  The wall hanging was made with all the left over scraps!  Awesome!

 "Twentieth Maine Dedication Quilt" by Louise Ford.

 "Freedom Rings" by Havrilla Stephens.

 "1930's Remembered" by Patricia Howlin.

 "Labyrinth Walk" by Debbie Shepard.

 "Baskets in the Briars" by Susan Copp-Silva.

 "Going Dotty" by Nancy Henry.

 "Civil War Tribute" by Cindy McKenna.

 "My Quilting Journey" by Lorraine Hall.  A signature quilt, with names of local, national and international quilters she has taken classes from or worked with in her 25 years of quilting.  Awesome!

 "Trio of Doll Quilts #2:  Four Patch" by Gladi Porsche.

 "Trio of Doll Quilts #2: Hexagon Fun" by Gladi Porsche.

 "Trio of Doll Quilts #2: Charmed Circles" by Gladi Porsche.



And just in case you thought I've been just sitting around doing nothing.......I finished putting together my red and white tumblers top!  Woohoo!  It was my leader/ender project for the last couple of quilts, but it was time to focus on it......and I love how it turned out!  AND I managed to use up a BUNCH of reds and whites that were in the way!  Everything went into this, except my repros!

Tumblers finish at 2.5" tall with 1" across the top.   Measures 90x75.



I'll have more pics of the quilt show......in my next post!

Enjoy your weekend!

regan