Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year… it takes place during my cherished fall season, and it’s a time of reflection for me, when I can look back on my past and realize just how very fortunate I have been in my life.  I am grateful for many things, not the least of which is the joy I take in cooking for this holiday!

Since it will just be Jim and I this year, (he’s headed back from New Orleans this evening and will be in during the wee hours) I’m making a simple meal, but with some of our favorites.

Roast turkey, mashed potatoes (with roasted garlic, cream cheese and lots of butter!), dressing, rolls, cranberry chutney and kentucky bourbon pie.  I will post some of my recipes later in the week, along with the beef bourguignon that Pins and Needles requested.

Here’s my progress on the little wall hanging so far.  I had much better luck with the Bernina cutwork tool this time, the letters appliqued perfectly and I’m so tickled with it!  That’s really all I wanted it for, letters!  My placement on the other hand, isn’t so great, but oh well!

 I definitely want to make this again, but I’ll go fabric shopping for it.  I really didn’t have much in my stash that was suitable.

I wish you all the most wonderful Thanksgiving!  May you be warm, your bellies full, and I hope that you are happy in life! 

Death by fruitcake

Do you suppose it’s possible I may gorge myself to death on fruitcake?  I can’t seem to help myself!  There’s no way a single batch will make it to the holidays, I’m simply going to have to bake more every week or two!  This last batch, I made eight mini loaves, and there’s only three left!

I’m halfway through quilting the log cabin quilt, it’s going to be just lovely!  I chose a deep, burnished gold variegated hand dyed thread by Valdani for this one.  A total pain to work with, but I’m loving the way it looks.

This morning I watched Bernin’s latest cutwork webinar, and I absolutely have to stop everthing I’m working on and make the adorable little Christmas wallhanging they showed!  If you don’t have the cutwork software and tool, you should watch the webinar, I think you’ll be amazed! 

I’ve already starched some fatquarters, and would like to go shopping for some more, just for this project, to make as gifts, it’s just too cute!

If you’re interested in watching the webinar, it will only be posted for a few days, and you do have to register with your name, email address and home address (or make one up) but you’ll learn a lot!

Yesterday I stopped at Lowe’s and bought some poinsetta’s, a christmas cactus, and a Norwegian pine… they’re so pretty!  Plants don’t last long in our house as it’s extremely dark inside, but they should make it through the holidays.

I can still smell the fumes...

From my debit card melting from all the abuse it took today!  But oh my, did I have fun!

I ran down to the French Seam to pick up my Bernina 830 today.  In just two weeks, there were all new store samples to drool over!  I am just sick that I forgot to take my camera along this trip!

Karen French, the owner, was kind enough to spend over an hour with me this morning.  She showed me the new bias binder from Bernina, which looks like a really, really nice improvement over the old one.  There are multiple screws in the base where it attaches to the machine now, for precise positioning depending on the machine model you have, and the arm swings out for easier loading, plus it uses a new presser foot (#95) which comes in both 5mm and 9mm!

I was very tempted.  But then she showed me a store sample done with the Bernina cutwork tool, something I’ve not had any interest in yet because I haven’t seen anything made with it that impressed me… until today!  It was a simple wallhanging really, that said “Welcome” on it, but the letters were perfect!  And then it dawned on me that with the cutwork tool and software, I could do applique letters and number of any font, any size, WAY cheaper than buying even just one alpahbet die set for my AccuQuilt Studio.

So that came home with me too.  Oops.  Then I saw the new Rose of Sharon embroidery applique pack.  Yep, it followed me out the door as well.

Then there was the incredible table runner made with some of the designs from Smith Street’s “Fancy Stitchin” CD… not something I would ever have considered purchasing from the samples shown on the CD cover, but WOW if I’d only had my camera along to show you what the store sample had done with these!

I picked up a couple of patterns, the store samples (obviously VERY deadly to my wallet) had some beautiful vests made up, and while the placemats on the pattern cover for “Served with a Twist” don’t look very impressive, they were really cool looking in person!

The nifty ruler for rounding corners… I am a self professed ruler junkie.

Off to soak my card in ice…