Christmas is coming...

It will be here sooner than we think. I am just amazed at how quickly days are going.

I thought it would be fun to share Christmas recipes, stories, memories...and of course, quilts with you this month. I also have some guest bloggers this month. A few with Christmas stories, a few with quilt related info.

I love to be in the kitchen, baking and cooking for my family. And Christmas time is one of the funnest times to be cooking. There are sooo many yummy treats out there. I love making food gifts for friends and family.

So to kick it off, I am going to share with you my families favorite Christmas cookie recipe. I started this about 8 yrs ago, or so. I was given a Nestle Toll House cookie cookbook one year, and this is where the recipe comes from. My husband is a huge chocolate fan, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. And the kids love decorating them too. We made our first batch yesterday.


(this image was taken off google images)

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

2 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
2 3/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp each salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon
3 tbls butter or margarine
3 tbls sugar
1/2 c molasses
1/4 water

Melt 1 1/2 c choco chips.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon in bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy, beat in molasses and melted chocolate. Gradually add in flour mixture alternating w/water. Beat until smooth. Cover and chill for 1 hr, or until firm.

Roll half the dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut into shapes. Repeat w/other half.

Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until edges are set but centers are still slightly soft.

Either frost w/a mixture of powder sugar and water or melt remaining chocolate chips and drizzle over cookies.



We've had a few snow weekends, finally! My kids and I love the snow. It's been the perfect days for hiding in my sewing corner of the family room. That's where the wood stove is! So not only is it toasty warm, but I have beautiful views to look at, while I am sewing away.



Last year, I made these stockings for my family. My youngest son didn't want a homemade one, he was happy with his fuzzy one from Walmart with a puppy dog on it. But this year, he says I can make him one :)



What are you making this year?

I have some mug rugs to make (Yes, I have joined the craze!! I was told it's a good way to practice my new found machine quilting skills :) a few bags, maybe some pillow cases, a bedside caddy.....just to name a few things.


This coming weekend the Q&N is having our third anniversary mystery quilt weekend!! I'm sure it's going to be another gorgeous quilt, from our leader and great friend, Jess. Kits are available in the shop. And you can buy the pattern here.

I hope to see you join us!

Stay tuned, I'll be posting a bit more this month...I hope!

Till next time
Dorian

Happy Thanksgiving

All of us at the Quilt and Needle would like to wish you all out in blog land, a very Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day is full of family, friends, good food and lots of laughter.

Here at the homestead, it's just going to be my little family of five. There is only one of us who likes dark meat, but most of it goes in the freezer, and then eventually to the dogs. So we decided to go with a half a turkey this year, the white half :) It's going to be odd cooking just the breast/back. But I'm sure it will be tasty. We have all the fixings ready, and my dd and I will be cooking up a storm on Wednesday, getting all the pies and breads made or ready to go in the oven on Thursday.

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On the quilting front; I did the Oct mystery quilt in Christmas colors. I only did the medallion part of it, as my Christmas stash pile is sadly lacking. It's very scrappy, I made it with the 10" layer cakes that we swapped last year. It's a another great mystery, and you can still buy the pattern!

I think this would look great on the table, as a table cloth. But I will eventually quilt it and give it to my Mom. One of the red fabrics I used has a silouette of Elvis Presley, and she's always been a fan.

My practicing on the machine quilting is going well. Here is a small tree skirt I made.


And my pink baby quilt I was working on is just about done. I just need to do the binding. And decide if I want to quilt in the small border.

I have a laptop bag pattern I am working on. As well as a few more quilt patterns. I hope by the New Year I'll be ready to start selling some things. Wish me luck!

And I've finished piecing a top for one of our charity groups. This is a lovely pattern. My dh really like the color combo's.

The picture at the top of the blog is of our first snow fall of the season. We got 4" over the weekend. And now it's almost all gone. But we are expecting more this coming weekend. It's going to be fun having a white Christmas for once.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Till next time~

Dorian

Another mystery quilt

If you missed the Oct mystery quilt, and want to join the Gals at the Q&N in doing it again, we'll be having another mystery weekend this weekend! That's the 13th and 14th. You can buy the pattern here. It's another fabulous design! Would look gorgeous is Christmas colors.

Sign ups for our next Robin is coming to an end also. So if you want to join in that, come on over to the board and join us. This year it's going to be a row robin. We haven't done one yet, but it will be just as fun as ever. I love adding to someone else's work. It stretches the mind and sometimes makes you work outside your comfy box...which is a good thing.

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On the home front. I am finally getting the hang of machine quilting! I don't have a long arm, just using my 1930's model White. I love this machine. It's so tough and durable. Right now I am just doing straight line quilting. I don't know if I will ever move on to free motion quilting or not. So for now, I am enjoying doing it this way. Here's what I'm working on.



I know.... I have much practicing to do. But I bet my neice will still love this quilt when it's done :)

I've also started my list of things to make for Christmas. I've found directions for fabric boxes and baskets, darling mug rugs and candle rugs, chocolate goodies and more. I love the Christmas season!

The skies have been beautiful lately. We've been having lots of clouds moving about, sometimes giving us some rain. Here is a sunset picture I took about a week ago.



I hope you'll come join the fun on the board.

Till next time!!

Dorian

I've been busy

After testing all of Jess's beautiful quilt patterns, for the past 4 yrs! (well, almost, I can't believe it's been that long!) I have decided to give my hand a try at pattern making. Like a lot of you, I have patterns bouncing around my head, trying to get out :)

So the past few weeks I've been working on those. I have 2 baby quilt tops all done, now I need to do some quilting on them and finish writing the patterns up. And one more I'm working on. They are easy, fun and stash busting! Here is a sneak peak at them.






I also have 4 'big' people quilt patterns and at least 3 bag patterns that I am trying to get written up. I am going to be making some, and selling them...at least, that is the plan. Wish me luck :)

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Over on the forum, we had a delightful mystery quilt weekend. If you missed it, you'll have another chance in a few weeks. I think it's the second weekend in Nov. So mark your calendars and come play. It's another fabulous pattern by Jess!

Our round robins from this year are starting to trickle home. I got my beautiful one in the mail a few days ago. I just LOVE IT. The Ladies did a fantastic job on it. Here's a picture.





Isn't it beautiful?

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We are finally getting some cold weather at my house, no snow yet, but lots of rain. It's the perfect time to sit at the sewing machine, feel the woodstove crackling at my back, and sip hot tea or cocoa.

I hope you can come see us on the forum, and join in the fun sometime.

Till next time.

Dorian

Scrappy stars...done

I've finished my scrappy stars top. It is much different from the one on the link I showed you. I had put all the smaller stars together, with no sashing, and just did not like the way it looked. I've learned that you really have to watch the color placement of each strip. Next time, I'll make the strips better, so that the stars emerge as they should.


But I like this top. I think it looks good with the sashings. When I made the larger 'stars', I had thought, before I pieced them into the top, that they came out good. But once you put them together, you can see that the colors of the strips are not quite right there either. You need to use dark/light on the outer two strips, and a medium/light for the middle strip, in order for the pattern to come out. Oh well, I still like it. And I'm sure it will help to keep a Veteran warm. This is just a lap size, but something nice to snuggle under while watching tv, etc.

Here are some block pieces I am making for a "storm at sea" quilt. It's for our Sept QOV (Quilt of Valor) recipient. I am going to be piecing this beautiful top. It's made in batiks of purples, blues and greens. It's going to be gorgeous!


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Other happenings around the forum. We have moved the Oct mystery dates to the 22nd/23rd. So you have plenty of time to buy the pattern. And I'm sure if you ask Jess, she can kit it for you if you'd like.

We all have our Secret Santa friend, so have been browsing patterns and going thru fabrics, looking for just the right thing. I love this swap! It's so much fun making something for a friend, without her knowing who is doing it.

I also have the sign-ups for next years Round Robin going on. This year we are doing a Row by Row robin. You can find the thread here. Come on over and join us, it's lots of great fun!

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Fall has finally arrived at my house. It's been beautiful weather, cloudy, rainy, and the next day sunny. Highs have been getting in the 60's and 70's. And cool at night. We have the woodstove going in the mornings and lots of firewood being cut up and stacked. I LOVE this time of year :)

Hope you all have a great day.

Till next time.

Dorian