Saturday, December 3, 2016

This and That

It has been a busy few weeks and though I emailed the winners of my giveaway I didn't get a blog post up recognizing them as I had planned.  Let me correct that oversight now.

Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting won a copy of Wandering Geese
Karen of KaHolly won a copy of Autumn Moons
Ariane of Ariane Quilts won a copy of Snow Dreams
Elively won a copy of Quilter's Scrapbook

So, what have I been up to?  There has been baking.  Here's the fruitcake fruit mixture bubbling on the stove, defying gravity, apparently.  Gotta love those sideways loading pictures.


I tried not making fruitcake last year and there were sad faces.  Yes, some people do like fruitcake!  Or maybe just this particular recipe.  In any case, those family members that requested it are getting some in their Christmas parcels this year.  My brother gets cookies too - though if I don't get them packaged and mailed soon there won't be any left to send in time for Christmas arrival!

There has been a bit of sewing.  I'm late to the party but I am finally making some of the microwaveable bowl cozies that became very popular a few years ago.  



My daughter tried the first one out in the microwave to heat up her lunch today, and it worked like a charm.  If you do make some, remember to use only 100% cotton materials, and only use them to reheat foods for a short amount of time.  Cotton will heat up in the microwave, and it will ignite if you leave it in long enough to get hot enough.  Heating up a bowl of soup or leftovers for a couple of minutes seems to work fine - but as with all cooking, don't leave it unattended!

There has also been work at the quilt shop, tweaking my Tic Tac Who? pattern to address suggestions by my kind, capable and very appreciated pattern testers, pondering a Block of the Month program using my snowflake blocks (stay tuned!)...and other stuff but I won't bore you with a whole list!  Just busy.

In between things, I have been working away cutting all the pieces for my daughter's Chic Country quilt.  It's slow going.  I got most of the squares and rectangles cut out, then decided to tweak things just a bit so needed to figure out how that affected my part counts.  I got that sorted out and moved on to cutting the curved pieces out of all the squares and rectangles. I think I'm about half done.


I'm hoping she won't have moved on to new favourite colours before this quilt is finished.  We picked out these fabrics last February!  Did I mention I plan to make this my next hand quilting project?  There is probably at least a year's worth of work still to go...

14 comments:

  1. Is your fruitcake like the English one? I love fruitcake but haven't made one this year. My mum used to make around a dozen starting August/September and they would mature in the pantry wrapped up in waxed paper, foil and a thick tea towel before being sealed tight in a cake container. Oh, the anticipation as we unwrapped the first one (for me more exciting than unwrapping my presents). That whisky soaked jewelled beauty redolent with spices. Just a small piece - so rich, so indulgent.

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  2. Thank you so much for the pattern! It's amazing. I plan to make a few of these table toppers. I'll share them when I'm done. Love those bowl warmers. And have fun working on your daughters quilt! I'm sure she will love it!

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  3. Thank you so much for the pattern, which you already know I love!! You are one brave sole to take on that hand stitching project!!!!!!!

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  4. My hubby likes fruitcake and I have developed (slowly) a liking for it so last year I made one with my MIL's recipe that was lurking in my recipe box. It's an easy recipe, so probably not the "best" one, but it turned out pretty good. Maybe I'll make some again this year. Your project looks interesting! I'll look forward to seeing it develop.

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    1. Easy is terrific and can be the "best", so don't feel any shame, Ruth. Mine is easy too, as it is all whole fruit and nuts. I just smile that I can make it so easily with no mutilation required!!! :)

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  5. Ooh... curves. Those look pretty! And I love the colors of your bowl cozies. I need to make another one or two of them - my mother keeps hinting she needs another. :-)

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  6. I have not seen those bowl warmers... might have to do some searching and try some for the kids. Look at those curves on those parts! You sure do like adventure. Keep forgetting to mention - love the new header =). Now to go sew up Stair steps... finally today into a top! A whole day to sew and I am sew excited.

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  7. I have making some bowl cozies on my to do list, so far they haven't gotten made but they do look handy. Your fabrics are so pretty! That's a lot of curves for your next project. I am anxious to see that one come together, it looks interesting and the fabrics are wonderful!

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  8. It sounds like you are keeping busy! Nice to know your baking efforts are appreciated :-) I'm sure your daughter will love her quilt whenever it is finished!!

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  9. I just found those microwave pot holder pattern this summer. I made some for my daughter in CA, my son and daughter in law and for us. The are not only fun to make but choosing the fabrics for each person was really fun. We don't put ours in the microwave. We just put the bowl from the microwave into the hot pad.

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  10. Glad to see you and yours are also fruitcake lovers. People seem to be either strongly for or against!! To the No sayers, I often remind them, have they tried mine? A BOM ... oh yes! :)

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  11. We are fruitcake lovers, too! Mom always made a light version and my gram made a darker one. Your daughter's new quilt is shaping up nicely. I have sewn lots of curves in garments, but never in a quilt.

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  12. Mm, im or too fond of fruitcake, but it DOES look delicious! You sure are keeping plenty busy! XO

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  13. 'defying gravity' lol, sure looks like a delicious fruitcake. I haven't made my mum's recipe (delicious too) in forever. The bowls looks very useful, should investigate, but I don't need another squirrel! So cool that I know 3 of your 4 winners, yay!

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