Decorating Christmas Cookies

Saturday we decorated cookies with my nieces and nephews. They will go home with the ones they decorate. They look forward to it every year but this year they tired of it only after about a dozen cookies. My husband and I had to decorate the rest. I had baked a lot of them this year.

Here is my niece decorating her cookies. She is concentrating very hard to get it just right. Her cookies look wonderful!

This is her brother with the sprinkles. Can you tell he loved them? He did a great job on his cookies and was even trying to tell the others how to do it like him. So funny!

This is another nephew. He liked drawing faces on his cookies. I told him is cookies would not be as sweet because they didn't have a lot of icing on them. He didn't seem to mind. He also did a great job!

Even hubby got in on the act. He did most of the gingerbread men. And that is my son(on the right) trying to keep up with him.

He has a way with the knife to get it just right. I tried but could not do it as well as him.

These are some of the cookies after they were done.

These are of the ones that I did. I used a toothpick to spread the icing in the center.

The counters were full. They were all over the place. The table also had a bunch on it. I had to let them dry out so I could put them stacked in there tins.

That is all for today. I have several things to do this morning. We are going next door to my sister's later today.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Baking...

Yesterday I baked Gingerbread men and Sugar Cookies. Every year my niece and nephews look forward to decorating the cookies for Christmas. It started with my own children when they were younger and they still like doing it if they are around. They make a mess and it is a lot of work for me (easier is I would just do it myself) but they are making memories. And they remember every year and ask about it. This is the first year that I make the cookies ahead of time. I usually do it all in one day, the baking and they decorate, but this year I thought I would get a head start. That way I can sit with them and help them out. Usually I'm cleaning the kitchen after all the baking to make room for the decorating.

I didn't get any photos of the sugar cookies. I will take some pics on Saturday after they are done. Today I have an MRI scheduled for 11:45am. They are looking at my head/brain and pituitary to see if they can find out why I still have a full feeling in my ear. The fluid is all drained out because of the tube that was put in. The doctor has done a couple of hearing test on me and my hearing is 100%. He is not sure why I still have a full feeling in my ear. So I have to have an MRI to look inside. Pray that all will be fine and everything is in it's place and there is nothing in there that is not supposed to be there. I will probably not get the results until after Christmas. I'm not a very patient person but in this case I have no choice. I will trust God will take care of everything. Hope everyone is having a non-stressed holiday.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Gifts and good friends...

This is a Christmas gift from my best friend. Isn't it lovely? She worked hard on this. The poinsettia in the middle and the leaves and berries around the outside edge and raw edge appliqué, which she loves to do. I love that the colors are not necessarily Christmas colors. I probably will leave this on year round. I just love it V. thanks again.

We had a Christmas get together, my friend and I, on Monday to exchange our gifts. We ate lunch, visited, ate chocolate pie, sewed binding on another quilt, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We don't get together often enough anymore. Our lives are very busy. It is a shame because we love to be together and to be able to quilt together is the best. It is just great to have a best friend that shares a love for quilting. We have lots to talk about always.

This is a close up of the star. The quilting in the dark green looks like reindeer antlers to me. She did a wonderful job on them. Need to go and clean the kitchen now. I baked cookies all day today for my nieces and nephews to decorate on Saturday. I will show pics of the cookies tomorrow.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

It's been a bit crazy around here...

I finished the Christmas quilt after much fighting with the quilting. I made a label which came out very good (not an easy task for me, my handwriting is awful). I sewed it on and then threw it in the washer (I always wash the quilts I give away, just in case something bad happens to it) and when I took it out it had bled. I think it was the binding fabric but was not sure. I tried several things to remove it, stain remover, bleach, but nothing worked. As you can see from the pictures below, it was pretty bad. All over the quilt. I called my husband on his way home from work to stop at Wal-mart and pick up some Rit Color Remover (if you are not familiar with this product, it removes color from white fabrics that have bled). The package said for a large load to use 2 packages so I followed the instructions. The quilt is a large one. It removed all the bleeding but it also removed some of the red color in the other fabrics. The red centers are now orange and several other red fabrics in the quilt are now brown or orangey. It doesn't look bad (a lot better than with the bleeding on it) so I dried it and wrapped it up last night.

You can see the pictures below are of the quilt after it was washed with the color remover. If you compare it with my last post you will see the difference in colors. Oh well, still a lovely quilt.

I also finished knitting my Step Mom's scarf/wrap but didn't get a picture of it before I wrapped it up. I will try to get a picture of her wearing it to show you how it came out. I wrapped all my gifts yesterday and they are under the tree. Now maybe I will have a couple of down time days before I have to start my baking. I have all my nieces and nephews coming over on Saturday to decorate cookies. A tradition started several years ago. It is a lot of work for me (they make a mess!) but they love it and ask every year "when will we be decorating cookies?" So I have to do it. Hope everyone is having an enjoyable Holiday Season. Bye now!

Quilt til your arm falls off...

I'm working on finishing some Christmas gifts today. I will be quilting on the log cabin quilt for my Sister in law. I was afraid it would not get done in time for Christmas. I had quilted it on my frame and there was something wrong with the tension. I found out only after I had about 3/4 of it done. I had to rip out all of it. So now I am quilting it on my regular sewing machine. It will take longer but I know the tension is good. I like the way it is coming out. The picture below is a close up of the quilting. Hope you can see it. It is simple and fast. I did a row yesterday now I only have 7 more to go. Hope to make a big dent in it today.

The picture below is of a scarf/wrap I am knitting for my Step Mom. I think she will like it. The yarn is Bernat Boa. I have not knitted in a long time. I am more of a crocheter. This yarn is like eyelash yarn, it is hard to see your stitches, but I love the way it is coming out. I could have crocheted on but I think that knitting is softer and more stretchy than crochet and I wanted it to have that soft feel to it. I just might have to make me one when I am done with this one.

Well gotta go get busy! Have a good day everyone. Only 12 days til Christmas. Anyone singing the 12 days of Christmas today?

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Fun Party...

I had a really good time at the party last night. Good friends, good food, great gifts. This is a picture of all the things I received last night. We are 13 people in the "woolie" group. We make (or buy) a small gift for each member and give them out at the party. I made felted soap for everyone and they seemed to like it and wanted to know how to make them. I told them I would give a demonstration later on after the holidays.

There is a lanyard with a little wool sheep on it, and a checkbook cover with bees and a beehive (everyones cover had something different on it), There is a small bag with a wool flag on it and it has my name embroidered on the back of it. The bag in the back has a wool sheep appliquéd on it. One of the members made us calendars and note cards with our sheep logo on it. Can you tell we love sheep? Everything was so beautiful and creative. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

Here is a close up of some of the items. There is a measuring tape covered in wool made by my best friend, isn't it adorable. The sheep next to it is also a tape measure, you pull on the arm and the tape comes out. You can see the lanyard here and a pin with a appliquéd cardinal on it.

This is a close up of the checkbook cover and wool pincushion made out of scraps of wool roving. The pillow has the sheep and a star on top. She also put a label on the back with her name and the year. So cute. It is a lot of fun to exchange gifts and to see all of the creative flow that people have. It inspires!

The picture below is the last ornament I have to show you. My daughter made it in elementary school and has a picture of her in the center (can you tell it was the '80's). She has several ornaments made in school with her picture. These are very special to me. I can always remember what she was like when she was young. Those times pass so fast. Wish they lasted longer. Merry Christmas and I hope everyone is almost finished their shopping.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

More ornaments...

I have a busy day today. I have another Christmas party tonight. It is with my "Woolie" group. I have to make bread to bring and I need to get to it. I wanted to share some more ornaments with you. The one above was given to me last year by a "Woolie" friend. She collects old tins. She uses them to make plaster molds and sometimes fills them with cholocate. I love the look of this old santa.

This one is fairly new. I got it in an ornament exchange a few years ago. To me it stands for all things old. The teddy bear, rocky horse and bicycle wheels all things of the past.

This one was given to me by my best friend a few years ago for Christmas. I just love it. It represents the love of quilting we share.

This is one I bought. It is supposed to be left out for santa to use to get in through the front door. I thought it was very old looking and liked the thought behind it. I don't have small children here at home any more to share the story with but still it is fun to think about. We don't have a fireplace for santa to come through so it was appropriate.

Well gotta go...

Quilt til your arm falls off...