PHB

I'm in the PHB zone now (Post Holly Bazaar) - that time when all the prep is behind me and I'm left looking around wondering what it is that I should do next. It's nice not to have a list of pressing projects and baking to deal with but it leaves me a little adrift.

I wasn't quite ready to sit in to my hoop to do some hand quilting or to go down and work on the sewing machine, but I did want to do something. Then, while I was rummaging around in the project basket in the study my bag of Christmas cross stitch fell into my hand.

This was going to be my holiday stitching project last year but that didn't bear much fruit. When I looked at it again last night the timing seemed right to pick it up and I got a few stitches in before bed.

There really isn't that much more to do, just some outlining and highlights at the bottom of the piece, so that's going to be today's slow sewing project. If I put my mind to it I should be able to finish it today. I just have to 'believe'!....M

Done and Dusted

Well, another Holly Bazaar is in the books. Toppers and pot holders were bound and stockings were hung and all was finally ready.

There was a baking frenzy before everything headed out the door so the Official Cookie Tester was working overtime. I baked two different types of loaves (Cranberry Orange and Plum)...

and Social Tea Squares...

and a double batch of yummy Toblerone Shortbread.

This year there were also Gingerbread cookies. I made up a batch of dough last weekend and with the help of Anne and Betty made enough snowflakes and Gingerbread men to fill nine bags with cookies.

This is Martha Stewart's recipe and it is lovely - great to roll and they are delicious. A hit of black pepper gives them a nice little kick. Betty always makes these for the Christmas cookie bakeoff so this was the first time that I actually made the dough.

And there were Butter Tarts too, some with raisins and some with pecans. I haven't made them in years but once I got the idea into my head there was no turning back. I've had this recipe since 2002 and never made it. Its from a bakery in Baysville called Humble Pie Bakery that is renowned for their butter tarts. Can you say 'divine'? OMG! I'd forgotten how good they were. These now go into the rotation.

The bake table did a brisk business as did the craft table and the silent auction. Lunch was ham and scalloped potatoes so after I finished serving tables I had two orders packaged up for takeout which will be our dinner and I am looking forward to it.

As I drove home a gentle snow started to fall and is leaving a dusting on the ground. There will be a rain/snow mix so it won't last, but it was a nice seasonal touch to end the day's festivities....M

The Same, But Different

The Holly Bazaar is at the end of the week so if I'm going to share my two versions of the Moda Love table toppers like I promised I'd better do it before they leave the house. This is the first one that I made and followed the layout of the inspiration piece that I was referring to.

And this is the second one. They are the same pattern but this one doesn't have a white border around the star. I had already cut the back and batting for it before I realized that there had been a border on the first one so I decided to go ahead and make it without the border and see what it looks like. I think either one work well, and this one might be more suitable for someone with a smaller table.

Both share that happy, stripey binding,

and cheery backings. This red print is on the smaller one and a green version of it was used for the larger one. I bought several yards of each of them a few years ago on sale and they have really come in handy.

In keeping with the 'same, but different' theme, and despite my slow mo mojo I also finished my four scrappy potholders.

They all have scraps of orange but no two are identical. They will be added to the pile for the craft table as well.

This is going to be it for this year. There is one more topper on the design wall but I just kept tripping over myself to get it made so I decided that I didn't need to stress over it and it would be fine to just call it a day. It has made all the difference to my stress level. So now it's just baking and then let the reindeer games begin!.....M

The Queen of Halloween Rides Again

Jane is a maker. She is happiest creating - everything from quilts to softies to greeting cards and ephemera. She's also the Queen of Halloween, getting into the spirit of things more than almost anyone I know.

So it was no surprise that she would turn her hand to creating some fabulous banners to celebrate this spooky season. Vintage prints, ric rac, ribbon and a few embellishments and she was off to the races.

This year she made four of them, each with their own wonderful style.

Do you recognize the candy corn blocks in the back? In short order, leftovers from her recent Halloween quilt border became the inspiration for a new project.

The banners herald the completion of her latest Halloween quilt, beautifully quilted by Roberta. (Jane sent it off with a warning not to be afraid of the glow-in-the-dark pumpkins 😄!) You can't see it very clearly here but the pantograph is the same pumpkin pattern that we used on my Pippi Longstocking patchwork pumpkin table topper only at a larger scale. The variegated thread shows up beautifully against those black scrolls.

And the binding is perfect too. She used the 'check' that was included as one of the border and it works brilliantly to finish it off. Now all she needs are a few ghosts and goblins to come knocking on her door.

Happy Halloween everyone, particularly the Queen of Halloween!....M