Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Just wanted to stop by and say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody. This year I was busy making a lot of gifts for friends and family, and now that the packages have been opened I don’t have to keep them secret anymore.

Back in October my Mom asked me to make a quilt for my Grandma. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. I enlisted my Parents, Sister and her family, Brother and His wife and my deployed husband, to send me their traced hand prints so that I could incorporate them into the quilt top. I used blocks from Fresh Lemons Quilt Summer Sampler Series and Solstice Star Series. Each unfinished block was 12 .5 inches square and the Hand print blocks were 13.5 inches…oops. So I added sashing to even up the quilt blocks.

The majority of the fabric that I used was Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane that I have had in my stash for a couple of years. It was intended for a quilt for myself but I think that my Grandma deserved this beautiful fabric. In fact I might have enough left for a quilt for myself too.

I also made a quilt for my daughter. She has been bugging me to make her one since I’ve made big quilt for both the boys and once I saw this quilt by Lovely Little Handmades using my favorite color combo and fabric line I had to make it. I substituted some light blue fabric with white polka dots that I had in my stash along with some red, pink, and aqua that I picked up from Joann’s fabric. I ordered this “Simple Life” fat quarter bunch by Tasha Horsley from Skye Reve Fabric online shop.

I used some Hello Kitty fabric that I found at Joann’s fabrics for the backing along with the leftover pink fabric and some pink fabric with little white polka dots that I had in my stash.I picked up some clearance red and white striped fabric for the quilt binding.  I love how it turned out. She was so excited. Her reaction totally makes all the late night sewing worth it.

I also made some other gifts, I pad cases for my mom and dad.

A coupon organizer, composition notebook cover and this thread catcher and weighted pincushion combo for my friend and her mom.

Three of these ruffled mini wallets, only a picture of two of them I forgot to take a picture of the one I made for my niece and the bi-fold wallet that I made for my nephew.

I also made a super cute Bible Cover for my sister, with the help of my Brother in Law who took the measurements for me….heehee sneaky 😉 I love the little patchwork that I put on the front. I hope that it fits her Bible. I wont know till she gets home from her family vacations in California. Fingers crossed.

I also made my niece a doll and my friends baby a hooded towel but I totally forgot to take pictures of those when they were done. Needless to say I was a busy little sewing fool here and I still have gifts for my boys that I have to make before they go back to school. Kizaiah wants a satchel backpack. I promised him one and I need to get sewing on that and I planned on making both boys lap desks but didn’t get a chance to make those. They did get an I.O.U. though, thank goodness they understand that they don’t need either of those gifts right away. I will post about those when they are done.

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas and may the next year be filled with lots of Love and Laughter.

 

Chili and Cornbread

I love when the weather changes from hot to cold. That’s probably one of the reasons I miss Washington so much, the rainy weather inspires me to cook something warm. Now we live in Oklahoma and today it was 82° outside…not exactly chili weather but sometimes I can’t help myself. Winter to me means staying indoors, doing something crafty and eating warm food. Chili and Cornbread fit the bill. This is a quick and easy recipe, you can make it ahead and let it simmer for 2 hours but sometimes I don’t start making dinner early enough. Tonight was one of those nights. I let it simmer for at least an hour. Still really tasty. I also freeze the leftovers for another day. Just put leftovers in a plastic freezer bag and lay it flat in your freezer. Once it’s frozen it doesn’t take up much space at all.

Chili with Meat and Beans

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 can pinto beans, *I don’t drain or rinse mine but you can if you’d like

1 can kidney beans *I don’t drain or rinse

1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 can tomato paste

1 small white onion, diced

2 TBS chili powder (*homemade or store-bought)

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp or 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp or a few dashes hot pepper sauce, like Tabasco

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp white sugar

shredded cheese and more diced onions for garnish

Directions:

In a large pot brown ground beef and diced onions. Once meat is cooked all the way through, drain off excess fat and place back into the pot. Then add all the other ingredients except cheese and onion garnish. Allow to simmer at least 1-2 hours stirring occasionally. Top with shredded cheese and raw white onion. Serve hot with cornbread.

*Homemade chili powder*

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp garlic powder

Sweet Yellow Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 cup-1 cup white sugar (* We like our cornbread sweet, I use 1 cup)

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 400°.

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Mix oil, eggs, and milk together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix with a few stiff strokes only until just combined. Bake in a  9 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes.