Holiday Memories

Years and years ago when the kiddos were young I baked up a storm for Christmas. 

 Peanut brittle. Toffee. Fudge. Pounds and pounds of fudge. 

Chocolate-covered pretzels. Banana bread.  Strawberry bread.  

Fruitcake (yes, I am the one person in the world who loves fruitcake!).

 Rum cake. Zucchini bread. Pumpkin bread. 

Thumbprint cookies. Candy cane cookies. 

Gingerbread men. Decorated sugar cookies. 

 I loved all that baking! (I even made plum pudding one year!)  

I gave away tons of baked goodies as gifts and the rest was served 

at our Christmas Eve open house for family and friends.

  Such sweet memories!

Christmases are different now, with kids/grandkids in Hawaii, Oregon and North Carolina

...and we're in Arizona.  

Diets change, too.

So my baking binges are a thing of the past.

Still, sometimes the urge hits and there's nothing to do but give in to it and bake something.

So I did!

Candy cane cookies! 

Its been 20 years or more since I made a batch of these.

They take time to make but that's OK when you're in the throes of a Baking Urge.

Hands all greasy and gooey.

Carefully rolling each log to the correct size. 

Twisting them together two by two.

Loading up the cookie sheet and popping them into the oven.

Enjoying the wonderful smell of cookies baking.

Mmmmmm...the smells of Christmas and treasured memories!

Life IS good!

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri

Priceless Winners!

Yep, I decided to choose two winners!  Each will receive the fat quarters as shown above.  Hope you like them.  I figured they would make a couple of cute coin purses.  

So now, the winners!  

First is Joanne Lendaro of Splitting Stitches.  

Next is Emily C of Callenders Creations.

Congratulations! 

I have sent each of the winners an email so I can get the info I need to send their packages out ASAP!

Thanks to all for your lovely comments.  Now get ready for the NEXT HOP!

 

U R Priceless! Coin Purse Blog Hop

  

Day 4! 

So Many Thanks to Katherine at Sew Me Something Good for all of her cheerleading efforts. She's kept us on track and kept track of us.  Yay Katherine!

Madame Samm, you provided an awesome pattern for us, with foolproof instructions (available here), and I have had a ball making these tiny (addicting) purses!  Thank you!

Now, for purse #1 (and the dearest to my heart):

Isn't she the sweetest little thing? (Referring to the coin purse, of course. The child could use an attitude adjustment. But I like her just the same.)

It's this year's Ghastlies fabric line and I can hardly wait for the next collection!

I love to add piping to my purses so found the perfect shade of pink for it in my stash. It was meant to be!

One thing I will do differently with the piping next time: I will add it just shy of the seam allowance to cut down on the bulk so that the edge will fit better in the purse frame channel and the needle won't balk at the bulk. ("Balk at the bulk"...that's what my jeans do when I put them on fresh from the dryer.)

Here's are the ingredients for the piping (the quarter is there for scale):

Teeny tiny piping cord, encased in a 1" strip of fabric, sewn with my zipper foot and the needle positioned right by the cord in the fold.  Then trimmed to a 1/4" seam allowance using the Groovin' Piping Trimming Tool (not a seller, just a happy fan of the tool). 

Here is the other side of the Ghastly coin purse:

Wouldn't it be fun to add some crystals to the candle flames?  Or to the chandelier chains? Or...never mind. Maybe next time.

On to purse #2:

Route 66!  We've spent a lot of time on the Arizona segment of Route 66.  I found this fabric in The Quilters Mercantile in Williams, Arizona.  Makes me want to hit the road!
The back of the coin purse is the same.

Purse #3:

This is actually the center of a huge flower with black/white/grey petals. The purse doesn't do the fabric justice at all, but it is an eye-catching pattern. I offset the flower center just a bit...wish I had done it just a bit more. The sides are made from a coordinating black/white striped fabric. When I got it sewed together and turned it right side out, the white stripes looked like piping.  Happy coincidence!

Here is the other side of the purse:

Yes! Same fabric, different flower! (I LOVE this fabric.)  You can see more of the striped fabric on the side.

Okay, those are my FINISHED purses.  Here is one that almost made it but I ran out of time and into an "arthritic fingers" wall:

Gotta have the southwest desert pictured in here somewhere!

Now for a wee little giveaway!  I am picking out FOUR fat quarters, each in a different Southwest design, and will send them to whomever Mr. Random Number Generator chooses on November 13th.  Trust me, they will be nice fat quarters! Simply leave me a comment and make sure I can email you if you win.  Best of luck and THANK YOU for stopping by!

NOW...PLEASE VISIT MY CO-BLOGGERS FOR MORE COIN PURSE GOODNESS!
(If you missed some of the hop thus far, click on the U R Priceless Blog Hop button on the left side bar.)

as sweet as peaches
Deborah B
Birgit H
Fish Creek Studio
A Quilter's Table
Lily Patch Quilts
Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio
Mary F
Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm
The Desert Rat Chronicles (that's me!)
Sally K
Paris at a Certain Age
From Blank Pages
Quilt Taffy
Barb H    

U R Priceless Blog Hop!

 

 Starting Monday, November 5th, visit these blogs to see how coin purses can be transformed from simple, utilitarian bags to works of ART!

There will be over 100 bloggers participating, so I'm sure there will be MANY more coin purses to inspire you...maybe to make some of your own?

There will be giveaways, too, so come join in the fun!

My day is Thursday November 8th, so stop by and visit, and please, please visit my co-bloggers, too!

Happy Hopping,

Gramma Sheri