Another Lantern Quilt

This is another Lantern Quilt made in the Morning Out class last winter.

I used so many tools on this quilt it was getting ridiculous.

• straight edge
• large circle template
• large oval template
• weird assorted curves template
• 1 1/2" straight line stencil
• chalk pounce pad
• tailors chalk
• tape measure
• and of course, the dreaded stitch ripper

I used a variegated thread in the lantern blocks and the borders.

The back is sooo pretty.

The last few days I've been trapped in the office working on the next quilt for Morning Out.  I took an afternoon/evening off and went out with a couple of my Red Hat gals to see The King's Speech.  Excellent movie!  The theatre was so quiet at some points I didn't dare stick my hand in the licorice bag.  Today I'm revising my UFO lists (OMG, that I even have more than one list.  sheesh.) so I can register with Judy Laquidara for a monthly UFO completion challenge.  I don't know if I can complete one per month, but I'll give it the old college try.

Christmas

Christmas Eve. Enough said.

Christmas Day with mom, both of us wearing our new chapeaux. Ain't we cute???

Mom's funny these days. I baked Molasses cookies and took them with me. They're soft, and mom has no top teeth, so... I also brought tea and teacups, because Tim Hortons is closed today. I had the cookies on a lovely glass dish, so were having an elegant little tea party, with our party hats. heh, heh, heh. Mom has about eight cookies and half a cup of tea. Then she says to me "Oh, I'm so full of cookies I think I'm going to lie down and have a nap." Yeah, ok Mom. Merry Christmas to you too. Sheesh. Puzzle, here I come.

Aprons for the seniors

Here's the family modeling the Christmas aprons I made for 'the home'. Not everyone looks happy about the photo shoot.

Here are all 24 before I delivered them. The administrator was very happy to receive the package. Hopefully all are being used today.

We had our Christmas dinner with my nephew & his wife last night.  Pretty traditional:  turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, vegetables.  My brother & his wife are in Asia visiting my Singapore niece for the holidays.  When I checked their Facebook pages this morning - OMG.  They have been eating tarantulas.  Crikey!!!  I'm glad I stayed home.

Sampler Quilt and Christmas odds & ends

I love sampler quilts, and this is a beautiful example. 

Fabulous border print for the outer border.

Not your everyday straight slab-o-sashing.

Beautiful reproduction Civil War prints.

DH & the neighbour, armed with their flyers from Home Hardware and Canadian Tire, heading out to Christmas shop for 'the wives'.  I'm going to start stuffing the mailboxes with sale flyers from Birks Jewellers and see if they get the hint.  Shiny baubles in a tiny box are much nicer to open on Christmas morning.  However, I have to give them credit for being EARLY and not shopping on the 24th.

Last week was our Red Hat Christmas dinner at the Purple Pear in Hamilton.  It's in a skanky area of town, but has excellent food and the company was great.

I'm in the middle of making 24 Christmas bibs aprons for the residents at Mom's retirement home.  These are for the special residents who need assistance with their meals.  Why I get myself involved in these projects when I have no time is beyond my comprehension.  But I do it every year.  Maybe it's genetic?

Hot Chocolate, anyone??

 This quilt reminds me of hot chocolate with marshmallows. 

Speaking of marshmallows, I had home made marshmallows on Sunday.  They taste better than the packaged ones, which should be no surprise.  If you check out Luke & Mel's food blog (see the sidebar for a link), they make them occasionally.  Her latest ones are a candy cane version with a red swirl running through them.

I have a friend who told me about her family Christmas last year.  The siblings decided to forgo their gifts to each other and 'adopt' a needy family instead.  I thought that was such a GREAT idea I proposed that to my brother & s.i.l.  So here I am, with all these kids toys & gift vouchers for the mom & dad to go on a date night.  S.I.L. and I went shopping last week, oddly (for us) not at a shoe store.  Today I will hit the dollar store for tissue paper and stuff to get this all wrapped.  It was so much fun wandering the toy aisles, and to not struggle over gift choices for adults who really don't need anything.

Christmas rush & Fitness

Recently finished Christmas quilt.  Too cute!!

I love this time of year when I can put the Christmas quilt on the bed in the guest room.

Bad bread maker, bad!!  This is failed loaf #2 - sweet potato bread.  It tasted good but the texture was very dense, because it should have been twice this size and nice & airy.  Black & Decker gets one more try then it's back to the store.

This weeks quilt - beautiful neutrals - creams through browns & greys.

How to get ready for a long day of slaving over a hot, whizzing needle.

• 5 sets of Sun Salutations
• stretch the hamstrings
• stoke the fireplace & pour another coffee
• step away from the computer...

I'm close to finishing this quilt - down to the last set of borders. My customer (lucky woman) will be leaving for the southern climes this coming week, for the whole winter. She wants to take this with her so I need to keep my butt moving.

Recipe for Disaster #1:

• take one brand new breadmaker
• take one recipe from a different breadmaker
• take one cook who usually experiences quasi-failures with the breadmaker makes, ahem, interesting loaves of bread

Speaking of keeping my butt moving, how's this for Recipe for Disaster #2:
We're going skating this afternoon. It's a free skate sponsored by the Caledonia Kinsmen. Admission is a donation to the food bank. So far it's cost us $120.00. I needed new skates and DH needed his sharpened. We both needed new blade protectors. It will be interesting to see how much this REALLY costs, when I add in the food and the lost wages after I break my hip.