January Blues (and Whites) Quilt!

January has been a month of chilly weather,

sunny days, clear roads,

and a blue and white quilt!

This Fall, at my workplace - Conrad Grebel University College, plans were underway to make a "community" quilt.

The fabrics in blues and whites were all donated from co-workers and friends stashes!

 By the beginning of November the stripping and piecing

was well underway with our quilt experts, Sara and Mandy, organizing a sewing bee.

There was involvement from students, faculty, staff and community

connected workers - what fun!!!

The pattern "Twisted Log Cabin" is a design that I've always admired

and was so happy to learn this technique.

 Many of us took strips and templates home to work on over the holidays.

I was hooked and really enjoyed sewing my blocks!

Fast forward to January .....

The finished blocks were all returned and in a mere 2 hours

one evening after work, they were all sewn together and the quilt top was complete.

Sara and Mandy sewing strips together

I tried keeping up with the pressing!

The next step was to stretch the quilt top with the batting and backing onto 

the quilt frame. Our new and spacious Library was the perfect spot to set it up.

The antique quilt frames and stands,

made by my Grandfather for my Mom many years ago - worked great!

Many quilts were made on these old frames and I have fond memories of the quilting bees.

I remember my aunties sitting all around the quilts, the interesting chatter, the delicious snacks and meals, and the perfect stitching!

The quilting has begun and we hope to have it completed within the next week or two.

It's been so great to have such a variety of beginner and experienced quilters stop by on a regular basis to put in a few stitches here and there.

This quilt will be donated to the Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale which is held annually on the last Saturday in May - New Hamburg, Ontario.

Learning to piece this pattern and having the confidence to try my

thimble at quilting has been such a joy.

I think I've caught the quilting bug ....

Till next time ...... do you love quilts???

Tis the Season ...

for left-overs and taking down the decorations!

I'm slowly getting through most of the left-overs from the 

Christmas Holidays and am afraid some of the cookies etc.

are already too stale to use up!

One of my favourite left-over meat recipes is one that I learned

in my high school Home Economics class - simple and delicious!

Savoury Meat Pie

(aka - glorified left-overs)

1/4 Cup chopped onion and

2 Tbsp. chopped pepper (gr. or red)

Sauted in some butter till tender.

2 Cups diced cooked meat (this time I used left-over beef roast)

2 Cups cooked vegetables - diced or sweet peas, mushrooms or corn, etc.

1 1/2 Cups well seasoned gravy thinned with milk or stock.

Stir it all together and pour it into a 2-qt. casserole dish.

Pop it in the oven for 15 minutes at 425F

Remove from oven and cover it up with your favourite biscuit dough.

Cut a few slits in the top for the steam to escape.

Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes till golden brown and bubbling - delicious!

 

The decorations are down and now the house seems so empty - sigh!
 

It's been another wonderful Christmas and a brand new year is ahead.

I shall leave some of the candles around the house for a while to 

remind me of the light of Christmas and what it means.

Have you put away all of your decorations already?

I have chosen a verse for 2015:

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23 

Till next time .......... stay warm and happy!

Traditions?

I know that everyone is busy and it amazes me how so many of you

are able to keep up with posting wonderful Christmas stories, pictures and recipes!

Your posts have caused me to think - what are our family's Christmas Traditions?

I found myself feeling sad that we don't really have too many

wonderful traditions like some folks have.

They change from year to year as situations change I guess.

What makes a tradition?

After uploading my pictures I noticed that there are actually a few

things that have become Christmas traditions of sorts:

Homemade Biscotti

Cherry Cheese Tarts and Rheo Thompson Chocolates

Nuts and Bolts - my mom's recipe

Tete de Moine Cheese

Jarlesberg, Applewood Smoked Cheddar, Brie cheeses and Garlic Stuffed Olives

The back Porch "walk out" fridge - so thankful for this!

Chilling with our friends and their growing family on Christmas Day!

Visiting with Grandma Leis at the home - Oh how I wish I could tell her the good news!

As you can see, the pictures I've taken this Christmas are mostly food related

because I have been dubbed the annoying family paparazzi - do you ever feel this way?

Perhaps I need to take a long and hard look at what things our family

can add to make Christmas more meaningful and to savour the moments

even more than the food!

Even though the moments are rare - they are the most important and much

more precious than any food or photos.

I want to be intentional about making 2015 meaningful and precious.

The Lord has blessed us as a family beyond anything we could have asked or even imagined
just as Ephesians 3:20 promises!

Till next time - HAPPY NEW YEAR dear friends ....