Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.


And a wonderful New Year!

Dorian

Another book plug for my Daughter

Hello All,

My daughter, Rachael, has published another Ebook. This is a group of short stories.



Here's a synopsis:

Seven short stories about different characters in varying worlds. November Delion, known as Nova, races to save the Undercity and a brave young lady from the effects of a sound ripple bomb. Then he must fight his own battles against a scientist bent on bringing a woman back to life, by stealing the Animation core from the fearsome Werenor.

Then Jusker Royal solves a mystery in a fantasy world, in which the culprit is not who you might expect. The clues are a bottle of elixer, some coins and a cheap knife, but the answer is far from simple.

Natasha Grey meets a robotic being called Saphiro, Leaflow both enters a man’s mind and is captured by the Sunsract and Carrie learns the difference between Light and Dark. All in one book of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

If you have a youth that enjoys Sci-Fi and Fantasy, or even if you enjoy it yourself, you might find my Daughters books enjoyable.

She has a brand new website now too. You can find her at:

                                                 rachaelslucas. com

You can find her books thru links on her website or at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and Apple, to name a few.

Have a great day!

Virtual cookie exchange, my day!

Hello Everyone,

Have you been following along this week on the Virtual cookie blog hop? It's one of my favorite hops of the year. So many yummy recipes being shared, lovely quilted items being shown, and family traditions being told. Thank you Carol for hosting this wonderful hop every year!

For a few years now I've shared my family's favorite holiday cookie, the Chocolate gingerbread cookie. So this year I wanted to share my personal favorite seasonal cookie. And I only make it around Christmas, as I tend to eat more than my share of the batch ;)

It's the gingersnap. 

I love mine nice and crunchy, served with a hot cup of coffee, just perfect. 

There are many, many recipes out there. Some are crunchy, some are soft. I use the recipe out of this recipe book: Golde's homemade cookies.



It's an older book, published in 1984. I'm sure you can find it on some used book sites though, if you wanted.  It has a lot of great cookie recipes in it. Here is the recipe.

3/4 C vegetable shortening (I use butter)
1 C granulated sugar, plus some for dipping
1 egg
1/4 C molasses
2 C all purpose flour (I use whole wheat)
1 tsp each: Baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, sugar, egg and molasses until well blended.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and spices together. Add to the creamed mixture. Mix well.

Wrap and refrigerate dough for 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll dough into balls about half-tsp size (or as large as you like). Dip each ball in granulated sugar, rolling around getting it all sugary. Place on cookie sheets (do not flatten), bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy with your favorite hot (or cold) beverage.

This year I want to get back into making some homemade candies too. Growing up, my Mom (and I think my Grandmom too) made Divinity. A yummy confection of sugar and eggs, whipped up like meringue, mint flavor added. Or vanilla with walnut chunks in it. Yummy! I haven't made any myself before, so this will be a first.

In the past I've also made batches of peanut brittle. Again, another of my personal favorites. And we can't forget the fudge! My dd and I make chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge every year. A family favorite and one of our traditions.

Getting in the kitchen, cooking and baking with my dd, is always a treat. The holidays make it that much more special though. 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing my favorite cookie. I hope you pop in and visit with my fellow bloggers today. You can go to Carol's site to see a full list of hoppers for the week, so you don't miss out on all the yummy treats.

Quilt Doodle Designs

Ridge Top Quilt (you are here)

Pumpkin Patch Patterns & Quilting
Websterquilt

Bumbleberry Stitches

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Cornerstones on edge is finished! And Thanksgiving

Hello Friends,

Yah, I finished Carson's quilt yest. Cornerstones on Edge is my original design.  (The handsome man holding up the quilt is my oldest son.)

And I've finished just in time too. We have almost 2" of snow on the ground and lots more coming down. It's going to snow thru Thurs :) :) My youngest and I are loving it!

I used a solid, medium tone, gray flannel fabric on the back of this quilt ( I should get a picture of it, as it shows the quilting). 

Here's a closeup, just simple line quilting. It fits the quilt and the person I gifted the quilt to :)

I used a bit lighter color of gray for the binding. It's what I had on hand, and I think it works just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

For my American Friends and Readers, I am wishing you all a very Blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy fine food, good friends and family. And safe travels to any of you out and about.

Stitch it and Gift it... my day!

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog. First, a thank you to  Carla, for hosting another fun blog hop! I always enjoy these blog hops, looking at all the creativeness out there.

My long time readers know how much I love to give my stitching goodies. I am always making things for birthdays and Christmas. I have 4 kids, so have made many a quilt for them. Along with book bags and pencils pouches, purses and pillow cases. Making things is FUN! And giving them is even better! Extended family members and friends have all been recipients of my quilts and things.

My latest quilt is this one. As you can see, it isn't finished yet. But I promised you a full picture today, so here it is. I hope to finish it soon.

 This is my Cornerstones on Edge pattern. I took my original Cornerstones pattern, made the blocks 3" bigger and put them on point. I really love this design! A perfect one for boys (I have 3 boys, so am always trying to find good patterns for them). Of course, it's great for girls too ;)

Here's a closeup. I am doing 'organic' straight line quilting, simple and easy.

Carson is 15, he is already 5' 10". He outgrew his dinosaur quilt long ago and is really in need a of new quilt. He is my picky teenager, so I let him choose the colors for his quilt. I showed him a page full of these beautiful Shadow Play fabrics and told him to pick 3 or 4 colors.....The gray and black were a given. lol.  And he loves animals, so I threw those in for a bit of fun :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christmas is right around the corner, so I've been busy making a few small gift items too. This little mat/wall hanging is simple and quick to put together, so I thought, as my gift to you, my readers and visitors, that I would give you the pattern so you can make a few too. It is a simple, quick design using mostly 2.5" squares and HTS's. You can use any size squares you want and make it any size. Or make a few and put them into a table runner, or make a lot and make it into a quilt. You can put hanging triangles in the back and make it a wall hanging. I think it would look lovely with a big candle in the center of it, used as a candle mat.

Here you go:

This project is 18.5" square. It's made up of 2.5" squares and some 2.5" HST's.

You will need: twenty-eight -  2.5" colored squares, any color you want.
                         four - 2.5" background squares
                         eight - 3" colored squares
                         four - 3" background squares
                         one 6.5" background square
                         two - 2.5" x 14.5" background strips
                         two - 2.5" x 18.5" background strips

 

I forgot to put the 6.5" square and four of the 3.5" squares in the picture

                                                                           
Make eight HST's from four of the  3" colored squares and the 3" background squares.  Using whichever method you like. Trim to 2.5".  Press seam towards background square.

Lay out 4 sets of 6 colored squares...the sets can all be the same or you can mix them up. Sew together. I sew a top square to a bottom, press the seam up. Next row, press down, third row press up. That way the seams next nicely together.

Sew together one 2.5" background square, one 2.5" colored square and two HST's. Watch how you turn these HST's, you want the background side facing the background square. 

Make the snowball block: Place one 3" square in each corner of the 6.5" square, rights sides together. Sew a diagonal line and cut 1/4" from that line. (Like my good friend Pat, I don't like having to draw the diagonal lines, so I cut the corners off first, then sew.)  Press open.

Sew a 4-square patch to either side of two 6-square patches, making sure the background square is on the outer top edge, not touching the 6-square patch. Sew a 6-square patch to either side of the snowball block. 

Now sew all three rows together. Put a 14.5" background strip on the top and bottom. Add the remaining 2 strips on either side.  Sandwhich with batting and backing, quilt and bind it.  Embellish anyway you want.

Wouldn't these look cute with some seasonal buttons sewn around the wreath? Happy Holiday making!

Please make sure you visit my fellow blog hoppers today and tomorrow.

Thursday, November 14th

Beaquilter

RidgeTopQuilts

Cynthia's Creating Ark
Songbird Designs
Farm Quilter
Kathy's Kwilts and More
Bumbleberry Stitches
Quilt Schmilt

Have a great day!

Problems commenting

Hello All,

This past year I've had a lot of problems being able to post on blogs. I don't know what changed, but blogs I've previously commented on, I'm no longer able to do so. I've researched it some more this morning and found out something that I hope will help YOU if you have had problems commenting on MY blog. And if others change it on their blog, maybe I wont have problems anymore either :)

This is what I did: In Settings, under 'post and comment' I changed mine from "Embedded" to "Pop-up window". And now I can post on my own blog, which I haven't been able to do lately.

So if anyone was having issues commenting on my blog, I hope this helps you all out. I am hoping that now even those of you that don't have a Google account, can now comment again (try it for me Sis, please!).

Have a great day all!

Christmas sewing

Hello Everyone,

I've been playing with Christmas fabrics lately. Making a few things for gifts, or decoration for the house. I haven't decided yet what I am going to do with this cute wall hanging/candle mat.

I wanted to make a wreath and using some 2.5" squares popped into my head, so I played around and came up with this design. Would it look cute with some novelty button sewn around it?

Here is the mug rug and cup cozy I made for my quilty friend on my forum, QATW. We made each other one, so now I am waiting for mine to come in the mail. These are fun, quick projects that are nice to trade.

I have a feeling more of these poinsetta flowers are in the future ;) I used the Hex n More and the Sidekick ruler to make it.

I'll show you more next month on the Stitch it and Gift it blog hop.

Have a great day!

The holidays are coming.

Hello All,

Fall weather is setting in; cool mornings and warm afternoons. The leaves haven't started to turn just yet, but they will be soon. I always enjoy the change of season :)

You know the Holidays are coming soon. The quilters, makers and gifters are starting to make gifts and do secret sewing. And my favorite blog hops are coming up.

Here is a sneak peak of my middle son's quilt top, that I've finally finished. It came out so good, I know he is going to love it! You can see the rest of this quilt on my day in the Stitch it and Gift it blog hop on Nov 14th.

I'm making a mug rug and coffee cozy too, that will be a gift for a fun swap I am doing on my quilting form, Quilting around the World.  I've got some cute Christmas fabrics to use.

And then, on Dec 5th, you can stop in and see another one of my family's favorite cookies, in the annual Virtual cookie exchange blog hop, hosted by Carol over at Just Let me Quilt.


 

Thank you Carol! This is always a fun one :)

I'm also working on 2 of my WIP scrap projects that I started this Summer too. So enough to keep me busy. I'l pop in and show you progress when I have it. 

The white in the top box is the background, this is going to be another Irish Stars quilt. The bottom is the Film at Five project I started this past summer, the gray on the right will be the background.

Have a great day!

Stitch it and Gift it

Hello All,

We are getting some rain today, sure does feel good. It's not cold, just a bit chilly. 

I just wanted to pop in and tell you all about November's blog hop. It's call Stitch it and Gift it. All about stitching up and giving gifts...and my long time readers know I like do that :)

Carla is hosting it, thank you Carla :)






You can pop over to Carla's blog and join up if you feel like. Have a lovely day all.

Phires Compass, a finished quilt

Hello Everyone,

It's starting to feel a bit like Fall these past few days. Cool and cloudy. Lots of rain in the mtns, so hopefully it has helped to put out some fires.

I've been working on this Phires Compass quilt for the past month or so. I've finally finished it. I started it here, a bit over a year ago.

This is a modified version of the pattern Phires Radiance, designed by Jessica J.E Smith. I am not sure where you can find the Phires Compass pattern, she designed it for Northcott fabrics and I can't find a pattern for it, as it was made back in 2009.  But they are just a little bit different, so if you like this pattern, get the Phires Radiance pattern and have fun with it.

I found a busy backing for it, the colors are fairly matchy, so I think it works well. And I bound it with the same yellow. (Doesn't the picture above make it look like the slice of an orange or grapefruit?)

This is the third one that I've made, but the only one I've quilted!! LOL

My boys were helping me out, and the youngest decided he had to peak over the top and be in the picture :)

Hope you all have a great week!

A fun swap

 Hello All,

Such an interesting summer weather wise. Last Sat, we had Tstorms roll thru, we even got around 1/2" of rain, so that was awesome. Now we are back up into the low 90s for a few days. 

My friends and I on the quilt forum QATW, did a fun swap this month. We all sent 2 yrds of fabric to someone, that someone added a yrd of fabric from their own stash/or bought one, and then made a quilt for the person who sent the 2 yrds of fabric.

I sent my fabric on to Jessica. This is what she returned to me. She added the green to my red and cream to make this lovely snowball quilt. Isn't it beautiful? Jessica does such nice work.

Donna sent me these two fabrics.

I added these daisy's to them...

And made her this Happy Garden Maze pattern from Pat @ the Scrapatch.

I did make a variation there, adding in the double pinwheel blocks inside of the garden maze.

Swapping fabrics and quilted items with your quilting buddies is so much fun :) 

Take care all,

Scrappy Irish stars top

Hello All,

The summer here has just been so lovely, I can't get over it. We've had very few days over 90 degrees, and none over 95, and that is almost unheard of! I feel very blessed to have such great weather this year. I pray that it keeps the fire danger down. August/Sept are the two worst months for fire in California.

I've finished piecing my scrappy Irish stars! The pattern is at Wedding Dress Blues. I debated about putting a border on it, but I don't think I will. It is at 70x80 right now. I think a border might detract from it's scrappy goodness.

This quilt has some of my very favorite fabrics in it. The background for the stars is from Sweet waters Sunkissed collection, which is my all time favorite :)

There's some V& Co fabrics (that bright orange loveliness). And some Maywood (the roses). 

That cute kitty is Here Kitty Kitty fabrics I got with the kit for this quilt.

Love those gray butterflies too... so many great collections here :)

This quilt to will go put away for now. I have a few other quilts I want to get quilted up before I tackle this one.

Have a great day all!

Some quilty progress

Hello Everyone,

I hope your Summer (winter) is going well. It's been beautiful here. Highs haven't gotten out of the 80s! Which is just soooo nice, as usually we are roasting by now. I see that our temps are going to go up this week though, so I guess our hot summer has begun.

I've been working on getting my Phires Compass top quilted up. I tell myself every year "this is the year to get lots of quilting done" and it just doesn't happen. This is my second quilt this year that I am quilting, but I have 3 more in progress of being made, and I have added at least 2 more tops to my 'to quilt' pile. I'll never see the end of that pile at this rate ;)  

Looking at the link for this quilt, I realized I never showed you a finished top...hmm, I'll make sure to take pictures once the top is quilted :) But here you can see the progress I am making on quilting it.

I'm doing lots of flowers, leaves, swirls and loops. I have done a few new-to-me loopy designs that I got from Lori Kennedy. I have her first book, and I really like it. I follower her blog too and have learned many different quilting motifs. I'm practicing lots on this quilt, which is the best way to practice for me. on a quilt top ;)

I have these two lovely piles of scrappy goodness, waiting to be put into a  quilt top. These are the Irish stars and chain blocks.

I'll be putting these together soon.

Have a great day! Stay cool... or warm...