Day 34.....Jimgle Bell Hop

Hello All,

No, I'm not going to miss a day at this!! I was working at the shop today for the Jingle Bell Shop Hop. I'm enclosing a few pictures that I took at the shop to keep you inspired.



We had a lot of new customers come into the shop for the first time today. And we also saw many of our long-time customers stop by.



Here are a couple of quick projects for Christmas that Melissa made. The patterns are from Hatched and Patched.



Here's Lisa's new block of the month.



This is Fa La La by the Artichoke Collection girls. A quick and attractive wallhanging.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have more stockings done.....or pillows......or Austin's quilt. You'll just have to stop by and see what I've been up to.

As always,

Lynn

Day 35.....Pillow fight anyone?

Hello Everyone,

It's a blustery, rainy day here in California. Just a perfect day to sew, listen to music, and throw another log on the fire. Except those logs are out in the rain and wind.



Today I made two pillows for my living room. These went together very, very quickly. I love the plaid! The back is also plaid. The pillow forms slide in easily. The tops can be removed, washed, ironed, and back on they go.

I almost always make two of everything......except for the argyle stockings! (I made 6 more last night.) It is just as easy to make two instead of only one at a time. You can keep both, or tuck the other away when a handmade gift would be appreciated.



The pattern is right next to Austin's quilt in the Snow Country book by Thimbleberries.




When the wind stops blowing, and the rain stops, I'll go to town and look for buttons to put into these little loops to hold the pillow together.



I discovered that 18" pillow forms are a bit like people. Not all are stuffed equally! The form on the left is a bit "plumper" than the one on the right.




Both Zinny and I hope you are having a wonderful day.

As always,
Lynn

Day 36.....and argyle stockings!

Hello to Everyone,

Yesterday I really wanted to sit and sew and make these adorable little stockings from Moda Bake Shop.....so I did!

Each box will make three stockings, but who could possibly stop at three! These little stocking are just the sweetest little things.

The directions call for adding a ruffle to the top. Never being one to follow a pattern, I decided to put yo-yo's on the top of mine. The stocking are about 10" long. I'm going to hang mine on the Christmas tree at first. But then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day they will go on the dinner table and hold a napkin.....maybe even the silverware. The guests get to take home their stocking at the end of the evening.

I love to make yo-yo's......it's absolutely mindless to make up a batch of yo-yo's while watching your favorite show or while listening to music.

So tonight, I'll finish the binding on the top and attach each yo-yo with a Christmas button. I'll add a little tab for hanging too.

At my last count, I've made nine so far. I have a few more to go to take care of everyone. Let me tell you they are addicting. They just keep getting cuter and sweeter. They would also be lovely in white and gold fabrics. What about Fairy Frost silver? I'm a traditional kinda gal, so I'll just stick with red and green. But, if anyone decides to make these in other colors, send me pictures please and I'll post them on the blog.

There are several Moda Bake Shop boxes at the shop. If you can't find one, start making some strip sets and make the stocking any size you want. Toss on some yo-yo's and you've got yourself some tree decorations, hostess gifts or table decorations.

Have a wonderful day.

As always,

Lynn

Day 37

Good day to everyone!



I put the borders on Austin's quilt. This quilt turned out to be larger than I thought...but that will be okay with Austin.



I had to piece the top and bottom borders so that all of the fish would be swimming upstream. The print is quite busy, so the seams aren't too pronounced. I'll wash the flannel backing today and make the backing tonight. I'll most likely put the quilt on the quilting machine tomorrow. I really have to be in the proper "mood" to machine quilt. Today I just feel like sewing.



While I was taking pictures, I asked Zinny (isn't she a pretty girl) not to step on the quilt. She didn't step on it.....



But, just like a little kid, she just had to touch it!



I took a little trip over to see the nice folks at Dublin Sewing Center this morning to stock up on Serger thread. (You'll see why in another post. ) All the thread is 20% off until the end of November.

The Jingle Bell Shop Hop starts tomorrow, Thursday Nov. 19th. http://www.jinglebellhop.com Check out the participating stores and come by and say hello. There are some great prizes that will surely put you in the holiday spirit.

I'll be busy creating the rest of today. More Christmas ideas for you tomorrow.

As always,
Lynn

Day 38......

Good Morning Friends,

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, and your home filled with hungry folks, how about making a wonderful breakfast casserole the night before to diminish morning stress while you get the turkey ready for the oven. I've always said that I make Paula Dean proud with the amount of butter that I use.....but it's worth it!

Cinnamon Bread Custard with Fresh Berries

8 slices purchased cinnamon-raisin bread
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
3 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup hot water
Powdered sugar
1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

*Brush both sides of bread slices with melted butter. Line 13x9x2 –inch baking pan with buttered bread slices.
*In a large bowl, beat eggs and egg yolks. Whisk in sugar, milk, cream, and vanilla. Pour over bread slices. Chill 2 hours or up to overnight.
*Preheat oven to 350. Place baking pan on large baking sheet with sides. Pour hot water into baking sheet to provide steam for custard as it bakes.
*Bake 25-30 minutes, until top is lightly browned. Cool slightly, cut into squares and top with powdered sugar and fresh berries.

This recipe has always been a little challenging at higher elevations. Watch it carefully. You may need to bake it a bit longer.

What could be easier......the casserole will be baking and warming up the oven at the same time in anticipation of the turkey. Your home will have a delightful "cinnamony" smell. Your guests will be delighted and content. Some may be so content that they will go from the table to the couch instead of taking a brisk morning walk.

Several years ago, Athena, my daughter-in-law-to-be suggested that I put all of my recipes into a cookbook for the family. I started the book and it's growing by the month. The book has become a prized gift for family and friends. Stay tuned for more recipes from the Wilder Family Cookbook. I feel a giveaway coming during December!

As always,

Lynn

Day 39 and counting...

Hello to everyone,

I made good progress on Austin's quilt yesterday. This quilt is very simple. Just
sew (5) 1 1/2" strips together then cut them into 5 1/2" blocks.



I'm already thinking about how I'm going to quilt this. I've been wanting to try something called "Wavy Lines." Whatever I do, it can't be at all girly! So, no feathers in the border. Here's the last block that needs to be sewn together.

My design wall is filling up with quilt blocks.

Off to work this morning at In Between Stitches. We are getting ready for the Jingle Bell Shop Hop that starts this week.

Have a great quilting day.

As always,

Lynn

40 Days Until Christmas

Hello All,

It's not like I'm the bearer of bad news.....we all know the Holidays are right around the corner. I stood in my kitchen this morning looking at my calendar and started counting the number of days until Christmas.

So I decided to start my 40 days and 40 nights blogging challenge to myself. I'm going to try to blog each and every day until Christmas. The blog will contain recipes, projects, decorating ideas and just about anything that I'm doing to prepare for the Holidays.

The first thing I did was start a list of what I would like to accomplish in the next 40 days. Right at the top of the list was "Make a quilt for Austin." Austin is my 12-year-old grandson. He's been waiting not too patiently for a quilt that he can call his own.

I turned to my library of quilting books and remembered that I really liked a quilt in Snow Country by Lynette Jensen.

This quilt looks fast and easy and right now those two words, Fast and Easy are at the top of my vocabulary.

I went to my stash or SABLE (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy) and started pulling out every plaid, stripe, check, stripe and star that I could find. Austin likes to fish when he's up at the cabin so what better border than this fish fabric.

Here's Austin at the Blue Lake Springs fishing derby last year.

I started sewing strips together right away and before I knew it, the quilt started to come alive.

So check back and see the finished quilt in the next 40 days!

As always,

Lynn