From Christmas to New Year's Day

 I'm such a sucker for star quilts!

I found this quilt in an antique mall on sale for less than $50. It needs repair and even though I've never attempted to repair a vintage / antique quilt, I decided to take it on. Some of the fabric in the lower stars have disintegrated and will need total replacement. Also, the lower border has been cut off so I will need to add a border and hand quilt it. I will not be using this has a bed quilt, it will be for display only. For now, I'm just admiring the stars and contemplating how to go about the repair.

 

Besides quilting, I love to bake and this was one of my Christmas presents! Some of the recipes sound delicious and I plan to try a few this year. When I was growing up, one of the things I was responsible for was baking a cake or pie every Saturday. I still like to bake cakes and pies!

 

Someone else got everything (maybe) he wanted for Christmas!

 

One of the fun things I do for our Christmas family get together is fold napkins in a fun holiday design. This year I tucked a few pieces of candy into napkins I'd folded into elf booties. With grandchildren ranging from 2 to 7 years old, the table and menu is casual. Someone usually spills their drink, accidentally drops their food on the floor, or refuses to eat. This year there weren't any mishaps! Instead of a traditional meal, we served waffles with vanilla sauce or other toppings, breakfast casserole, bacon, and fruit. Since it went so well, we may do it again next Christmas!

 

Besides the traditional peppernuts from my Mennonite background, I also made cream cookies which is a recipe I'd been wanting to perfect for a long time. When that went well, I thought of New Year's Cookies which are also known as portzelky, similar to the Dutch oliebollen. They are kind of like a fried raisin fritter and are usually only made on New Year's Eve or Day. The one on the right is the traditional raisin and is rolled in sugar and the one on the left has chocolate chips and is glazed. Being fried, they are definitely not healthy.

 

Also, my Thanksgiving Cactus has finally decided to bloom! I think if you look closely you can see a few red blossoms.

In the early hours of New Year's Day, it began to snow and didn't stop until we had received almost 5"! It has been several years since we've received that much snow at one time. The snow was wet and has already started to melt. So grateful for any moisture because most of Kansas is already in some degree of drought.

After I finished the Grandmama Llama quilt before Christmas, I took my sewing machine to be cleaned and checked over. I know it must have really needed it because it had been several years since its last check up. I'd been doing the routine cleaning but I hope no one gasped when they opened the machine and gazed into its inner workings!

Anyway, my sewing machine is once again home and I look forward to my next sewing project!

Until next time, Mayleen