Sunday's accomplishments

After Saturdays accomplishments, I thought I would see what I could finish on Sunday.

I had the pieces cut out for this tree table centerpiece for about a month now. I was just trying to get my head around how it was sewn together. The directions left it looking more confusing than it really was. I decided to just go for it. It worked out OK in the end.

It measures 17" tall and is stuffed firmly. I learned that it would be better to stuff all 6 sections at the same time instead of each section individually (which is what I did). The 2 sections towards the bottom left were the last ones I stuffed. Since I stuffed the first 4 so full, that left less room to stuff the last 2 sections. If I make another, I will make it shorter and stuff it in a different order.  I think it might need some red ribbon bows tied to the points. Plus, it needs a star on top. Right now it is too tall to put on the coffee table because it blocks the TV a bit.

Robbie was bored so I put him to work.

Didn't last long though lol. Robbie has always loved playing with my fluff. It's never safe around him.

December's Schnibble pattern is Truffles. I have to say that I don't really care for pincushions. I don't use them. I have made them but they just get tossed around by the kids and dog.

That being said, what am I going to do? I made the commitment to make a Schnibble each and every month. I plan on sticking to that commitment.

So, Once again I am going against the norm and making a quilt. I am using all the same patterns that are used in the pattern. They will all be 18" blocks. The first was the shoofly. I have always enjoyed this pattern.

 

Then I did the courthouse steps. I plan on making them all in Christmas colors. Not sure what the final quilt will measure but it will be an adventure.

Back to work today so I'm not sure what I will finish...

How I spent my Saturday

I decided to spend my Saturday doing some light sewing. I was hoping to make a good size dent in my need to get done list. Last month I saw a wonderful Christmas stocking tutorial over at Park City Girl's blog and knew that they would be perfect for the stockings I needed to make. I bought my fabric last month and was all ready to go when I had the time.

The pattern is actually listed on two blogs because the top of the stocking is made from Victoria's wonky star tutorial. I had two tabs open on the laptop and was flipping back and forth ready the steps from both patterns. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the actual stocking pattern because this is what I made:

 

Four 12.5" wonky star blocks. These are supposed to be the top of the stockings. Not bad if you wanted GIANT stockings but I was going for something half that size. Maybe if I read where Park City Girl said she used 2.5" squares instead of 4.5" squares like in the larger block I might have been OK. It's OK because now I  have 4 nice blocks to make a baby quilt with.

 

Here I are my four finished stockings. I'm hoping to be able to make some more before Christmas actually gets here. Not much time left though. If I was smart I would just make them throughout the year and then I would have plenty when the Christmas season rolled around again. Doubt that will happen though lol.

Decorating the tree

Each year around this time I go out and pick up one of those gingerbread house kits. Sometimes it's a house, sometimes it's a train. Last year it was gingerbread men. The kids (of all ages) love to decorate them but nobody really likes to eat them.

Fast forward to this year. My oldest Justin (21) works at Bob Evan's restaurant. Each year during December they have their annual holiday party. Any employee that wishes can bring in something to eat. They have a contest to see who has the best prepared dish. They actually do this throughout the year for different holidays. Justin always asks for my input about what to make. I've noticed that the winners have usually made something that looks fun. The best tasting isn't always a sure fire winner. Over the years we have made stuffed peppers (requested many times since), red velvet skull cake, and other desserts. Justin's first idea was cheesecake. Then he realized that we didn't have a springform pan plus the work involved. Since there isn't much wow factor involved he decided to change his dish. Then he thought about mac and cheese but the one he liked had 7 cheeses and wasn't in his budget. I try to stay out of the decision making until he has tossed around a few ideas first. Then I do an online search. Justin gets sidetracked online and doesn't look at all the blogs that I do. Anywho....we decided on a Christmas tree cupcake cake. I saw some fun pumpkin ones during Halloween and figured we could do a tree easily.

 

Here is the prototype that me and the other two kids worked up last night. I have several food allergies so I needed to make everything from scratch if I wanted to eat any of it. When Justin makes his, we will use a cake mix and canned frosting. They just make a better appearance. We will also use a variety of candies to decorate the tree with. I'm thinking peppermints, holiday M&Ms, rope licorice, etc.

 

I used mini cupcakes for our version. I used a simple white cake recipe I found online. I swirled some neon pink food coloring in just for fun. I laid them out to resemble a Christmas tree shape plus a trunk.

 

I can't eat butter, shortening, or milk products so I had to search out a good frosting recipe. I found this one over at Recipezaar.  It reminds me of a fluffy marshmallow. Not too sweet and nice and creamy. I colored some yellow for the star and some more brown for the trunk. The brown didn't get dark enough because I was worried that the liquid food coloring would thin out the frosting too much. The rest was colored green.

 

We used some non-periels for the ornaments. Then the kids outlined the ornaments with gel food writing tubes.

 

Then they used the gel writers to make the garland. It was fun and kept the kids busy for a few minutes last night.

Once Justin makes his, I will post a pic so you can see how his looks.

Squishy Balls

 

I like to keep some hand sewing in a little soft case for those times that I have to sit and wait. I also take it with me to work so I have something to do during break times. I was making lots of hexagons but then I got bored. The only surprise there is that it took much longer than I expected. Still loving the hand work, I decided to switch to pentagons instead. This way I can make a bunch of balls instead of quilts, purses, placemats, etc.

 

I joined 2 different I spy Swaps recently. One was for 4" squares and the other was for 5" squares.  I  took the 4" squares and turned them into pentagons using freezer paper. This is the same way I do my hexagons. You stitch 5 around a center pentagon. You do that twice. Then stitch the two halves together (inside out). I leave 1.5 sides unsewn, turn and stuff very well. Sew the opening closed. They make fun little balls for the little ones. My big kids (and the dog) have been having fun with them too. I think they would make great additions to a baby shower basket.