Christmas Quilt

I decided I needed a project to kick start my holiday mood. Because, it does NOT seem possible that December starts on Saturday. Wasn't I just taking the kids to the pool on a 105 degree July day? I can protest all I want, but I suppose it won't make time slow down any.

This is a super simple quilt that I sorta based on this design. Rag quilts are easy. They don't require true quilting, you don't have to baste or bind and you don't have to be a perfectionist.

I chose three different (but similar) Christmas fabrics, used white flannel for the "lining" and ended up using red fleece for the backing. Turned out to be a very cozy quilt that helped keep me warm on our Thanksgiving trip this past week. Granny likes to turn down the heat at night! I brought it along to snip on our trip and I was able to put it to good use.

Here's the finished project:

 

I asked hubby what he thought of it and he said, "It's very Christmassy." I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

Donkeys!

I'm just barely squeaking this in before the deadline! It's a fun little project that is part of a fabulous festival called, "Donktober!"


It's a gathering of crafts & sewing projects centered around a donkey theme. My entry for Donktober is this pair of sock donkeys. Full tutorial here. I've made several sock monkeys before and I just adore them. And I've seen patterns for sock elephants, but this is my first encounter with sock donkeys.

I was just going to make just one and give it to one of my kids, but then I decided they should each have one. That way, the donkeys can be friends and then there would be no fighting or hard feelings amongst the kids. There's enough of that going on anyway.

So, how adorable are they? Definitely not perfect and lovably lumpy (I'm not so good at the stuffing part).

 

 

 

I'm not sure how much mine actually look like donkeys. Perhaps more like moose, or a character from Backyardigans?
 

 

Oh well, whatever they resemble, they are definitely cute and the kids think so too. We're still deciding on names, so far, it's just Donkey and Mr. Donkey.

Now, this has got me wondering...am I making some sort of political statement by making these and joining in on a donktoberfest? If so, I should probably go ahead and make those elephant ones just to be fair.

Thank you to Missy Mac Creations for sponsoring this party!

Catching Up...

on a lot of things around here. It's been such a busy month.

We went on a nice autumn vacation to the Ozarks:

 

We survived Halloween! Spaghetti & meatballs turned out awesome-

 

My pumpkin creation won a prize-

 

My son's definitely deserved a prize too, but he's been first place three years running (time to let someone else win!)

 

And we survived the craft fair. It was fun, a bit stressful and sometimes a bit discouraging, but overall I'd call it a success and definitely a huge learning experience! Here's our booth during set-up:

 

So, now I'm awaiting the busy storm of the coming 6 weeks. I've vowed to try as hard as I can to keep things low-key and low-stress, low-budget and low-"gimmie". Hopefully when January comes I can say that we succeeded.

I've been doing a bit of sewing during the past week, mostly Christmas gifts and today I tackled a fun little project that I'll be posting about tomorrow...

Happy October!

Where did September go? I do so love this time of year, I sure wish time would slow just a bit. The leaves are starting to turn, the air is drier and chillier and I'm loving getting out all my fall decor. Got scarecrows in my pansy-filled flower pots, mini gourds in baskets and almost every room in the house has something fall-scented in it. Fall scents are the best!

Another amazing scent is baking bread. And I baked exactly two loaves today. That's a HUGE accomplishment for me, especially on a day like today when my to-do list was pretty long. The first was just a regular loaf of oat/wheat bread and the next was a new recipe for Rosemary Olive Oil bread. It turned out so good and was quite lovely to look at too:

 

The only thing I'll change next time is to reduce the salt, probably to 1/2 a teaspoon.

It sliced up nicely:

 

And we ate sandwiches for dinner. Piled on the turkey, cheddar & some horseradish mustard, with sides of sweet buttery dilled carrots and cole slaw. It ended up being a hit of a meal, everyone cleaned their plates with no complaints, other than the fact that I didn't make enough carrots.

This month promises to be a very busy one! I'm trying to finish up craft show stuff, we're taking a mini vacation for fall break, there's Halloween costumes to work on, and a prize winning pumpkin to create for the annual pumpkin contest. My plan is to win first place this year. Good luck to me in all my October endeavors. I think I'm going to need it.

Fair Inspired Goodies

The last few weeks have been so busy! I've been working hard sewing more stuff for the upcoming craft show:

Celebrating a four year old:

 

And doing fun stuff like going to the State Fair! I'm not sure who these strange fair-going kids belong to:

 

You just never know what you'll see at the fair.  Take a look at these prize winning carrots! Really makes me want to bust out some ranch for dipping. (in their defense, this was day 6 of their showing)

 

Here's a funny chicken:

 

And a friendly camel:

Some of the usual crazy fair food offerings:

 

Then this weekend was our little burg's fall festival complete with rides and more nasty fair food. Okay, not all fair food is nasty, some of it's pretty good. Like my favorite Indian Tacos, roasted corn, caramel apples...and this yummy concoction. Two years running it's my son's lunch choice a the state fair. They call it a "Barbecue Parfait." It is layered baked beans, mashed potatoes and pulled pork, drizzled with bbq sauce on top. Looks like a yummy dessert!

So, this last week, we decided to make our own at home. Simple enough! Stuck some pork in the crockpot with bbq sauce, whipped up some potatoes and warmed some beans, then layered it in a glass.  

 

My other fair goody wasn't something we ever ate AT the fair, it was on the way. There is a bakery in an Amish town on the road up to the fair. It was always a tradition for us to stop and get some of their marvelous cinnamon rolls. Well, last year after we got home from the fair, we learned that the bakery was closing :(. No more gooey, nutty doughy rolls to complete our day at the fair. So sad. Then, a few days ago I spotted this recipe and couldn't stop thinking about it. I was craving that doughy cinnamon something. I think my brain automatically expects me to overindulge in some cinnamon roll type treat mid-September. I just had to make it. I did, and it was SO good.

Apple Walnut Pull-apart Bread...this kind of sweet treat is my weakness.

 

So, September is winding down, there is another somebody with a birthday coming up, then October hits with crazy Halloween busy-ness (a kid wants to be spaghetti & meatballs for Halloween....good luck to me making that costume). Then November will be upon us and with it, the Craft Show!! Yikes!! Slow down time!!