Working on Some Christmas Gifts

I had purchased one 10 min. pillow case kit for my grand niece, so I thought a would make a few more as stocking stuffers. Didn't I decide that and I received an email from my son ASKING for pillow cases.
KARMA!
So I made two pairs today. The one on the left will go nicely with my forest green bedding and the other one I decided I'd gift this evening, after the Messiah concert, to a woman who has taken me to a number of stellar events in the city.
 Tomorrow I'll play with some of the embroidery settings on my machine and see what they'll do!

Oh The Weather Outside Is ..........

So I stayed in and made RUM BALLS
A confection of my youth. Well young adulthood really. Young children hate these, between the rum and the bitter sweet taste. So it was considered an ADULT COOKIE. ( I think I seduced my hubby with these.)

Not really a family recipe. They were in the charity cookbook from the Windsor Art Gallery that was published back in the 50's.

Here's the recipe I use............

Approx 14 oz of chocolate cookie crumbs (roughly 2 7oz pkg of chocolate wafers)
1 C walnut crumbs
1 C icing sugar
1 C Cocoa powder ( baking cocoa )
1/2 C rum
1/2 C corn syrup

Mix well.
At some point its easiest to switch to using your hands to really blend the dry with the sticky wet.
Roll into firm balls ( 1 aim for 1 inch)
Roll in icing sugar
That's it!
They keep best in the frig, or cold cellar but they do freeze well also.

Morning After....Lots of Fun

Well who doesn't like to blab on and on about their work!

I had a great time and was so pleased with how my presentation was received. You just never know.
A delightful plus was some members of an on line Quilting Board drove in from Orangeville for the event.  http://www.quiltingboard.com/  It was nice to put faces to names.

At one moment I paused, a little concerned with the silence in the room, but everyone was fixed on the image on the screen......mesmerized! They still don't believe me when I say there is no magic here, just critical "seeing" and analytical deconstruction.

After my presentation, the members gathered to examine the pieces I had laid out. I answered a lot of very good questions. Questions about workshops, I fielded back to the guild executive. We'll see what happens there.

And when I got home, Hubby was still up and we chatted ( well he listened while I rambled on and on) until the unheard of hour of midnight!
(Men put up with so much.....HAHAHAHA)

What to do today!?

Big Night Tonight...!

I've been keeping myself busy these last few weeks leading up to this evening when I am scheduled to speak at our monthly guild meeting. I spent a long time preparing a slide show as well as picking out sample pieces from my work. The photos were particularly difficult as I have SO MANY. ( I could go on for days LOL ) I'll let you know how that went...... tomorrow.

Not being able to sew for 3 weeks was particularly trying so I made up for it these last four days by assembling this "throw". It was a deep discounted bargain I couldn't resist. The plus is I really like it. So it's a win win situation.
My 'new' Husqvarna works very well though there are some interesting things to get used to. I do have the option of turning features on and off but I thought I'd live with the factory setting for a while.

So this is what I was working on. Two of the five rows are fully assembled.

This was the first time I had tried the "flying geese" method of make 4 at the same time, cutting them apart at the end. I was certainly impressed with the accuracy. I wonder if one way over the other uses more material. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm..... something for research.

At Last.......................

I brought my new machine home today.
Husqvarna Sapphire 875, not the newest model and used, but much more than the Janome that I used and abused for 10 yrs.
So I WILL SEW today.
I cut out a lap quilt yesterday so I will get acquainted and amuse myself with assembling that.
(AND just MAYBE, I won't be the BEAR hubby says I've been, and I won't spend hours in front of the refrigerator...........close to 5 lbs worth, I think!)