Signing off

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/3151080751_8c82ff6d62_b.jpg

Signing off to ring in 2009 with a family camp-in, snacks and fun. See you next year with a holiday recap and some new work in progress.

Wishing you a sweet New Year!
Jill

PS: Look closely at the big man's features, all carved from a lovely butternut squash. The word for 2009 is "Improvise". :)

All is Calm

1. Custom White Felt Wool Beads #2, 2. quick embroidered coaster..., 3. Vintage buttons and brooch bracelet, 4. White Felted Hearts Made From Recycled Sweater, 5. mummy and baby polars, 6. White on White, 7. blooms in white, 8. Handmade by me, 9. Handmade By Me, 10. Handmade Pink Christmas Ornaments-I love glitter!!, 11. Handmade bed, 12. handmade ornaments

That's my boy!

"I feel sick mama."

What kind of sick bub?

"You know, like Jello mama."

Me thinks its all the gummies daddy fed him.

Monkey love

Meet Stella and Irene. I've been feelin a little bit of that monkey love this Christmas and these two cuties are now in the hands of two of my favorite girls. I was lucky enough to be on the phone with the mama (who is also listed among my favorite people, and its a short list you know) of those two while they open up their monkey friends and yes there was a little squealing.

Stella and Irene had to travel a bit to arrive in the hands of those girls but from all reports it was worth the trip. The legwarmers worn by Irene were custom made for this special monkey as was Stella's super cool hat. Both were whipped up by Miss Momo, ten years old and an eye for monkey fashion.

We love you and miss you Stella, Irene and the monkey keepers. Merry Christmas to our favorite peeps. :)

December's Mini Quilt Swapping

Kim already received her package for the 6-12" Mini Quilt Swap, yay USPS! The theme this month was 'My Favorite Things'. Each partner lists five of their favs and you can choose which of their favorites to work with. Kim had a great list of favs so it was hard to narrow it down.
My first thought was to fit each of the five in the quilt somehow. I must have sketched out forty different way to make that happen. In the end though, the sketch I liked the best was a pared down Wizard of Oz theme (Kim's favorite movie, and one of mine too).

I pieced the background in greens, reds and golds for the Emerald City and the sky from some fun cow jumped over the moon fabric . Yeah, I know there's no cow in Oz but the fabric worked so I went with it. I drew the witch pattern after a quick looks at some movie stills to get the right pose and of course one of the best quotes from the movie is stitched alongside the wicked one.
Each of the hanging charms is made from fabric handstitched (quilted almost) onto two layers of wool felt. I know I said I simplified this quilt but I still couldn't fit everything in that little quilt and so the charms were born. I think they might be my favorite part and I'll probably make more of them eventually. I think they might make really cute little pins.
Kim sent me a beautiful mini as well. I love it so much that it deserves a post of its own. Yes, I did make the happy noise when I opened her package. Check back and see how pretty Kim's mini is! Its already found a very happy spot on my kitchen wall. :)

Cozy

1. Tea Cozy, 2. ( home = heart ), 3. Playing with Scraps of Color, 4. Yo Yo Quilt, 5. patchwork grubs, 6. The Little Pink House, 7. teapot, 8. petite village, 9. "Tea Party" - Sewn Collage Art Quilt

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

mmmm....cookies

mmmm....cookies, originally uploaded by spinster sister.

It smells like Christmas around here. Cookies are beginning to pile up in the most unexpected places. Unexpected because someone's children have already eaten at least half of the stockpile. Its alright, I'm a very creative cookie hider.

The latest batch making my house smell so good is the classic Alaska cookie. Named by G when he was to young to pronounce Molasses and during a time when the grandparents were driving from NY to Alaska every summer. Alaska cookies were born. G won't touch chocolate anything but will eat a spice cookie anytime. Go figure, if I couldn't positively identify that giant head of his I would have sworn they switched babies at the hospital. We love him anyway of course, aversion to chocolate and all.

If your in mid-Christmas baking hysteria or haven't even started these are a great, make your house smell amazing cookie that will keep until the big day (if you hide them well).

Alaska Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter
2c sugar
2 Large eggs
1/2c molasses
4c flour
4tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp ginger
1tsp cloves

So you mix them in the typical cookie like way, roll into balls, roll in sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. I'd watch the first batch to see how long it really takes. Apparently my oven is a little quick and I swear they were looking done in 6 minutes so use your own judgement. Let me know if you give them a try!