Quiet mornings are the best

Hello Everyone!  Aahhh, there's nothing like a quiet Sunday morning, when the house is still and I have the Sunday paper all to myself and the sky is changing from it's early morning pink to purple and grey and blue.  Yes, it's one of those days where it just seems easier to appreciate all the small things that go unnoticed most of the time. 

I snuck in my first 15 minutes of play this morning, and made one little block that I quite like. 

I love the zing that hot pink solid adds to the block.  I'll keep going ahead with this, maybe one block a day for the week?  We'll see where this takes me.

This is what I'll be reading today, a Christmas gift.  This is what I refer to as a 'gentle read.'  When I worked at Chapters years ago, I was always asked to recommend a book that did not have violence or explicit passages and I always suggested The Mitford Series by Jan Karon and The Elm Creek Quilt Series by Jennifer Chiaverinni.  So if ever you need a gift for someone who does not like romance novels or murder mysteries, keep these two authors in mind.

Once I'm done my Christmas gift reading, I will have to get back to my 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'...everyone raves about it but it's taking soooo long to get into the story....guess I'll just have to keep plugging away at it.

Enjoy your day!
Mary-Frances

I have four PhD's...

...Project's half Done that is!  Actually, I have more than four, but I've decided to commit some time to finishing up four of them in the first six months of 2011.  I took the plunge and joined Myra's PhD challenge yesterday.  Here's the link so you can see what everyone else is working on...and there are sooo many fabulous projects to see.  http://phdchallenge.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances



The first challenge is to finish this charity quilt I made using blocks made by some of the girls in my daughter's girl guide troupe.



I need to get this beast ready for quilting...I may even hand quilt this one!



My favourite project, with only four blocks to go before I can put it together I seem to have hit the proverbial brick wall...couldn't say why it's taking sooo long to finish.



After sewing up two rows for this project, I promptly gathered up the pieces and put them away... this quilt will reduce me to tears, I just know it!

  Six months to finish these up....think I can do it?

New Year's Quilty Resolutions

Hello Everyone!

Goodness, where has the time gone?  This year has simply flown by and I for one am glad to see 2010 come to an end, hoping the new year will bring more joy than sorrow for us all.

I don't usually make new year's resolutions (mostly because I never keep them!), but thought it would be a good idea to resolve to make a few changes, especially as it relates to quilting, because let's face it, those last 10 pounds I "should" lose are never coming off and there's no way I'm ever taking up jogging...or doing yoga again...ever.

Here's what I hope to do this coming year:


1. I will treat every quilt I make as a learning experience, an opportunity to say 'wow I really like what I did here' or 'wow, what was I thinking?' and leave it at that.

2.  I will spend as much time as possible in my sewing room (or garden), working on projects I enjoy, without apologizing for the dust or general disorder of the house, life is short and I have quilts to make (and flowers to tend to)!!

3. I will challenge myself in ways that are meaningful to me, by using colours outside my comfort zone, trying new techniques, and quilting something bigger than lap-size quilts!

4. I will use up most of , half, ok, a quarter of my stash instead of simply buying new fabric for each new project (I'm already wavering on this one!) I don't think I can actually keep this resolution, so how about this:  I will try to use fabric from my stash as much as possible in the coming year.  Yup, this seems doable. ;-)

5. I will enjoy the process (unless I have to cut over 100 half-square triangles or something ridiculous...I can't promise I'll enjoy that process, but whatever, you get the idea) and worry less about the outcome.

Happy New Year to you all!
Mary-Frances

Scrap - Bee Blocks for January

Hello Everyone!

It's good to be back home and working in my sewing room again.  I joined an on-line quilting bee a few weeks ago and we begin the fun this January.  It's a scrap-bee going on at the 15 minutes of play blog (http://www.15minutesplay.com/), check it out if you have the chance.  Every month, one person sends out instructions for the kind of block they would like you to make.  The secret ingredient here is we all have to use 'made' fabric from scraps for our blocks.  Here are the blocks I made for January:




See how the triangles are made up of a variety of fabrics?



I used telephone book paper as the foundation for the triangles (as per the instructions I was given for the block).



We all have to make 10 inch blocks using scraps with red strips and a yellow center. I only had to make one block, but it was so much fun to do I made three.    

 My month for the scrap-bee is April, so I have a while before I need to decide what kind of block I want everyone to make.  I can't wait to see what this quilt will look like once all the blocks are put together.

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

Last of the quilting before Christmas

Daily Quiltspiration - Don't get hung up on colour choices made in past quilts.  Each quilt is a reflection of who you were at that point in time, nothing more, nothing less.  Past quilts are testaments to the evolution of your own personal style.

Hello everyone!  Well, I spent some time in my sewing room the other day and I know it will be the last time I have to sew before Christmas.  I wanted to have at least one black and white quilt top done, but that's just not how it worked out.  Here's what I have done so far.

My posts will be few and far between during the holidays, so I would like to extend my best wishes to all of you this Christmas and for the New Year!

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances



Only sixteen of forty-two blocks made...



...and I'm already...

 

...playing with block placement!

 

What's your favourite?



A Blogger's Christmas Poem

Hello all!  Here's a little something I wrote just for you (with tongue firmly in cheek mind you)....

A blogger’s Christmas Poem

‘Twas twelve days before Christmas,

when all through the house,

All the bloggers were stirring,

busy clicking their mouse.

Their posts were now ready,

Written with care,

In hopes that their cyber-friends

Soon would be there.

Ready to read

About things big and small,

Of projects and recipes,

Even trips to the mall.

The quilters were busy

With their needle and thread

The gardeners were dreaming

Of warm days ahead.

Bakers were sharing

What goodies they’d made

Their cookies and candies

Temptingly displayed.

Though I am now sleepy,

It’s time for my nap,

Ready to dream of cookies and gardens

With a quilt on my lap.

I have one last little something

I really must say

To my friends out in blog-land

Have a happy holiday!

Merry Christmas to all!

 ;-) Mary-Frances

Retro cookie recipe

Hello everyone!  Here's a blast from the past, a genuine circa 1950's (or maybe it's from the 1960's) cookie recipe that my mother used to make for us every Christmas.  They're called Cherry Snowballs and are one of my favourites...

Enjoy!
Mary-Frances

Cherry Snowballs

1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans (we never added this)
Maraschino cherries, drained
Icing sugar

Blend butter, 1/2 cup icing sugar and vanilla thouroughly.  Sift flour and salt together and stir in with butter mixture.  If using, add nuts.  Chill dough approximately 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 F.

Wrap a heaping teaspoonful of dough completely around a cherry for each cookie.  Be sure cherries are dry.

Set cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.  Cookies will be set but not brown.  While warm, roll cookies in icing sugar.  Let cool.  Makes about 36 cookies.




I set the cherries out the night before, so they are good and dry for baking.



One lone snowball....



...becomes 36 snowballs.  They don't look cooked but the bottoms are quite brown. 



Rolled in icing sugar and ready to eat!