Sister's Choice Quilts

A Tea Party and Two Meals

Week One of Social Distancing is now nearly complete and we survived.

So yesterday Eva and I got all dressed up and had a tea party.  Three kinds of tea, cucumber sandwiches, scones, lemon curd, the works.  It was just what we homebound girls needed.  You may think you have no reason to get out of your sweat pants, but just do it.  It doesn't matter if you don't leave your driveway, don't see another soul but your family, just make an occasion and celebrate family and fellowship and togetherness.  We may be stuck at home, but by golly, we can still party with one another.

We had a lovely time.  And, whew, looking at that photo, I sure do need a hair cut.  I have no idea if my hairdresser is operating these days, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that this shelter in place rule is over before my hair is down to my knees.

On another topic, what are you all cooking these days?  No excuse not to make a bit of effort since we are home all the livelong day.  I have been trying to make meals that I can get some leftovers from.  On Wednesday my husband roasted a chicken with potatoes, carrots, and onion.  It was a tiny little fellow, and we ate half of it between us.  On Thursday I took all the meat off the bones and made chicken enchiladas.  My favorite simple chicken enchilada recipe is from Dinner at the Zoo, a fun blog site.

This is my dish of enchiladas before I popped it into the oven.  I cut the recipe in half because I only had two cups of leftover chicken.  I used 10 enchiladas instead of 14.  It makes great leftovers too, in case you can't eat it in one sitting.

The superintendent of schools in our county gave his talk yesterday afternoon, and of course, no one has a clue how long school will be closed.  What he did make clear, however, was that the teachers will be providing all the learning materials either online or in physical packets.  The expectation is that every household with a child will homeschool their children with these materials for as long as we have to stay home and schools are closed.  He does not want any child to be unprepared to pass on to the next grade.

At this point, I am pretty much in awe of what these teachers have to do on a daily basis to educate our children.  Since Eva's parents are still working each day, homeschooling has fallen to me.  For the most part, I am really enjoying it, but when Eva gets tired and her attention wanders, it is more frustrating.  I am good at presenting the materials and working with her, but maybe not so good at scheduling breaks and snack times to shift gears now and then.  It isn't like I can say "Recess!" and send her out to run around in the driveway for twenty minutes.  And my goodness, is she ever missing social interaction with other children.

Are any of you homeschooling right now?  How do you meet these challenges?

 

Books to Read During Lockdown

We are pretty much under lockdown here, and I imagine your situation may be similar.  We are only going out for the most essential reasons and otherwise staying in the house trying to occupy ourselves with anything to pass the time.  In an effort to provide some sort of distraction (however small), I am going to post every day this week and offer up some topics that may inspire you to try something new.

Our libraries have closed for the duration of the COVID-19 situation, but I have several other options for you to cheaply get your hands on some books that will definitely help you pass the time we are stuck with "social distancing".  Today I am going to recommend some backlist books that will be completely escapist.  You will become so immersed in the worlds of these books that the time we are stuck inside will fly by.  These books are readily available and most can be borrowed at no cost in an eBook or audible format.  The books I mention are available for purchase on Amazon for Kindle, Audible.com, or are available free on a service called Scribd (free for 30 days), or through your library's eBook borrowing service (Hoopla, Axis 365, Libby).

I am not going to provide reviews here, just the briefest descriptions.  Hopefully, there will be something for everyone here.  So, let's go.

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth- a series set in post-war England, 22-year-old Jenny leaves her comfortable life to move into a convent and become a midwife in London's slums.  This is also the highest-rated series BBC has ever done and is available to watch free through Amazon Prime.

A Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell- escape to Denmark with this entertaining real-life saga of a couple who moves to Denmark for a year to see what life there is all about.  See what the Danes get right and wrong, and be completely entertained.  Made me laugh out loud in parts.

Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencik- a young woman leaves life in the US behind to move to the Bolivian jungle.  It starts as an exotic excursion and ends up being a fight for survival.  You have to suspend some belief with this book, but I promise you will be completely immersed.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver- one of my all-time favorite books.  An evangelic minister takes his wife and four daughters on a mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959.  Told from the point of view of his wife and daughters.  Pretty amazing story that will stay with you long after you finish the book.

Winter Cottage and Spring House, both by Mary Ellen Taylor- if you love women's fiction and also enjoy books told from alternating timelines, you will be a fan of anything Mary Ellen Taylor writes.  Both these books involve the restoration of properties on an estate on Virginia's Eastern Shore and uncover secrets from the past.  Mary Ellen Taylor has also written the Union Street Bakery series, books that involve baking, plucky heroines and some romance.

The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley- this is a seven-book series (6 available so far) about the adopted daughters of a Swiss bazillionaire who has died and left information to each of the girls about their origins.  Each book tells the story of one of the daughters and follows her back to her country of origin and her ancestors.  All these books have a dual timeline format, which is so fun.  These books will take you to Rio de Janeiro, Norway, Beatrix Potter's Lake District in England, Aboriginal Australia, the Scottish Highlands, Flamenco dancing in Madrid, and the plains of Kenya.  The first in the series is The Seven Sisters.  If you want to escape, these books are the way to go.

Three Pines books by Louise Penney (Inspector Gamache books)-  This series is absolutely beloved by so many readers.  If you have not read any Louise Penny books, you really should give these mysteries a try.  All are set in or involve a cast of characters from Three Pines, a small town in Quebec Province, Canada.  Still Life is the first in the series. You will come to love the characters and enjoy the increasingly deep look into human nature as the series progresses.  Winner of many many awards. 15 books in the series, so if you love this author as so many do, you will be all set for a long time.  You are welcome.

Madame Chic series by Jennifer Scott- if you want to spend your quarantine time on some self-improvement, the Madam Chic books are an entertaining way to do it.  This author explores poise, manners, and the fine art of living.  She also has an intriguing YouTube channel called The Daily Connoisseur, which could occupy you for hours. 

Fingersmith, Affinity, The Little Stranger, The Paying Guests all by Sarah Waters- I have enjoyed everything this author has written.  Her books are historical fiction, some set in Victorian times, others in the 1920s or 40s.  All her books have a creepy Gothic vibe and are suspenseful and atmospheric.  Such a good writer.  Her books tend to be lengthy as well, so they will definitely keep you engrossed for a while.

Last, if you really want to escape from this world, you might want to try some Fantasy books.  

Robin Hobb is a prolific author who has written five series set in The Land of the Elderlings.  I would start with 
The Farseer Trilogy, then The Tawny Man trilogy, then the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, the Live Ships trilogy and then the Rain Wilds series.  If you get caught up in these books, you will not regret it.  I have never read so many pages by one single author!  Each series involves some of the same characters, who you will grow to love as you progress through the books.  Really excellent.  If you have never read books in the Fantasy genre, this is your gateway.  Not violent, no open door sex, no bad language- just top-notch storytelling.

The Blackthorn and Grim books by Juliette Marillier are also an engrossing fantasy series set in an imagined world of ancient Ireland.  Dreamer's Pool, Tower of Thorns,  and Den of Wolves are the books in the trilogy.  The series starts out quite dark, but Blackthorn and Grim are a formidable team and overcome many adversities.  Our grumpy main character Blackthorn is sentenced for seven years to live amongst the people of Dalriada as a healer.  Part fairy tale, part Celtic folklore, these books are magical in more ways than one.

So, what do you think?  With luck, some of these books will take you away from our crazy present world and into realms beyond your wildest imagination.

 

It's Spring Here

All my Valentine's decor has been put away.  You won't find much red around here.  Well, there is always some red, but you know what I mean.  I re-did my little tiered tray for March and it makes me happy.  The St. Patrick's themed items were mostly from Hobby Lobby.  Most of the other items are things that I just had around and worked in.  That is the front side in the photo above.

And since you can see it from all sides, here is the back.

Here is the hall table, with my shamrock runner from a couple of years ago.  The pattern is by Fons and Porter and is called "Luck of the Irish".  Here is a link to the pattern and a tutorial on making one yourself.  You have plenty of time.  Just raid your scrap bins for some nice greens and you can have one too.

Hope your week is going great!

A Touch of Red

I have switched up my tiered tray again, this time with some touches of red for Valentine's Day.  I really do have a lot of fun with this tray for seasonal and holiday decor on my kitchen counter area.  It's ironic that most of these little items I already had.  No need to break the bank shopping for new doodads each time I want to change it out.  However, I have to say, when I go into Target, Michael's or Joann, my eyes are peeled for anything inexpensive that would be cute on it.  What I did buy recently was the little wooden heart-shaped sign that says "Home is Where the Heart Is" ($4, with discount at Michael's) and the Rae Dunn "Hugs" mug ($6 at Home Goods).

Speaking of Rae Dunn, are you familiar with the craze surrounding the pottery pieces designed by the artist?  It is nuts.  The simple pieces are distinctive because of the font used to engrave words onto the items.  At Halloween you could find mugs with "Boo" or "Wicked" on them.  At Christmas maybe "Jolly" or "Hum Bug" etc.  Each season and holiday there are new ones.  Cute but not that amazing.  Nevertheless, people line up outside TJMaxx and Home Goods (where her stuff is sold) before the stores open on the delivery days, and charge in and fill shopping carts with every piece they can get their hands on, take it home and sell it on eBay for twice as much as they paid.  It is crazy.  When I was at Home Goods, there was a woman there with two little kids whom she had trained to recognize Rae Dunn pieces who were running around like lunatics grabbing every piece they could hold and bringing it over to their mom's shopping cart.  Wow, some message to teach your children.  I had picked up the little "Hugs" mug and was half expecting the woman or one of her little kids to snatch it out of my hands.  You would think the stores would limit the number of pieces each customer could purchase to avoid this hoarding mentality.  What do you think?  Were you aware of this insanity?

Here's the backside of the tray.  Eva sits at the counter by it every day, so her side has to be cute too!

Hope your week is off to a grand start.  

Around the House

You know I love my seasonal decor, but when January arrives, I want to clear the decks and have things as uncluttered as possible. In my dining room, I am keeping it simple with mostly white accents.  My dear husband came home from the grocery store with a spectacular bouquet of yellow roses, and they add just the right pop of color.

The mantel is totally cleared off, and my husband complains that it looks like we are moving.  lol  It's ok.  I am enjoying the simplicity of it.

In the foyer, my hall table is pretty sparse as well, with just a white candle and my primitive star.  I am enjoying the calm look of the blue and white table quilt.

This little Township quilt is on my coffee table with a vanilla scented candle my friend gave me for Christmas.  Have any of you had the Harry Slatkin Homeworx candles from QVC? Oh my gosh, they are divine.  

I am continuing the blue and white vibe in the library, where my Aurora star quilt is waiting to have its binding stitched down.  When I sit in my chair to sew it I can listen to my latest audio book "The Stationary Shop" by Marjan Kamali.

Lastly, here is my little tiered tray all changed out from Christmas to "Winter".  Below is a close up of the top tier.  I think I am going to enjoy decorating this little thing all year long.

How about you?  Have you got your holiday decorations put away?  Do you like to change our your decor seasonally? Do you use quilts in your decorating?

It Is All Catching Up With Me...

Christmas will be here in one week.  I still have some gifts to wrap, last-minute things to pick up, a school performance to attend, cookies to bake, menus to plan and shop for, my son arriving from Ireland today, a guest room to get ready, and I have Eva overnight because her parents are entertaining their employees.  And I am pretty sure I forgot a few things, like my manicure appointment and my date to walk with friends on Friday.

And three more of these to make:

These little triangle pouches are such fun to make, can be finished in a jiffy and people seem to love them for carrying lip balm, hand sanitizer, or even earbuds for audio devices. I attach lobster hooks on little tabs so folks can clip them to whatever.  I have given two away as teacher gifts, so they aren't in the photo, for a total of nine made so far.  I need to make three more, by my calculations and think I can just about manage that.  It is a nice little "extra" gift to tuck in a bag.  Especially if you put something fun inside it.  It is bad luck to give a zippy bag without something in it, don't you know?  If anyone is interested in a tutorial, I took lots of photos while I was constructing them, so I could do that.

Eva and I made an astonishing mess making spritz cookies for her to give her parents and grandparents in the little tins above. I found them at Savemart and think they will be perfect.  They are small, so they won't hold a ton of cookies, which is good.  The little spritz cookies will be perfect.  The lids are see-through, which is kind of fun. It is amazing how we totaled the kitchen much fun we had making those things.  I will be sweeping up sprinkles for the next six months, but it was worth it.

Oh!  And I totally forgot to share with you this adorable little wool kit I bought from Shabby Fabrics!  It arrived yesterday and I cannot wait to start it in the New Year.  The pattern is easy (beginner-friendly)  and adorable, and the wool included is so pretty.  It may have just slipped into my shopping cart while I was shopping for other people.

Are you relaxing right now and enjoying the days up to the holidays, or are you totally overcommitted and frazzled?  There must be a balance we could strive for.  I'll get the essentials done in the next two days, and then I swear, I am going to chill out and enjoy my son's visit.

Holiday Gatherings

Hope you all had a great weekend!  I got a little sewing done, and finished my piece for the snowman applique.  The snowman and his broom will go on the right in the empty space.  It will be just the right amount of wool applique to get me started.  Of course I don't have any wool yet, but the Etsy shop where I bought some has shipped it, so yippee.

We had a family gathering on Sunday night, and I was so pleased with all our decorations.  We were all decked out.

My husband, as I have said, loves holiday decorations and thinks the more we have out the better.  He recently came home from a trip down to the Monterey area with a metal tree centerpiece decoration that has holders for five candles.  I wanted to give it a bit more oomph, so I added my crazy snowmen collection around it, and I like the results.  Everyone gives me a hard time about these snowmen, but they are wonderful collectibles that I acquired in the 90's.  

I get a lot of teasing about these funny looking little guys, but they are near and dear to my heart.

I've been watching some YouTube videos on making little zippered bags, so I may attempt one this week if time allows. There is always time to make a few zippered bags before Christmas right?  We have what, nine days? Have you seen the ones that are in the shape of little triangles?  So cute.

Around the House at Christmas

I've been enjoying my little Christmas vignettes around the house.  It is so nice this year to have all the decorations in place, the gifts purchased and wrapped, and my husband at home to enjoy it all with me.  My husband's contract employment has come to an end for now, and just in time for him to be home on a daily basis to take part in the festivities with us. I think I have mentioned that he is Mr. Christmas, and loves every bit of the decorating, cooking, shopping and hoopla that goes with celebrating the holiday.  He is in his element and it is so nice to see how relaxed he is and how often I see a smile on his face.  He has not suggested that we wear matching Christmas pajamas yet, but we do have two more weeks.

I have come up with two more Christmas themed books to share with you all.  I bought both last year but did not get around to finishing them.

In "Seven Days of Us" by Francesca Hornak, the entire Birch family is under one roof at their crumbling country estate for Christmas.  Unexpectedly one of them is exposed to an illness, and they find themselves under quarantine for a week.  And sometimes a week can be a very long time when spent with your family...It will be a different sort of Christmas for sure.

"A Lot Like Christmas" by Connie Willis, is a collection of twelve short stories all with a Christmas theme.  Connie Willis is known for her quirky sense of humor and her way of describing characters with real human foibles.  The topics in the stories include the timeworn Christmas newsletter, Christmas pageants, holiday movies, and office parties.  This time of year when we are all so busy, a short story collection can be just the ticket to getting some reading in without tackling a 400 page tome.  I managed three or four of the short stories last year, by the look of my bookmark, and I look forward to enjoying a few more this year.

Hope your week is going well!  

The Mantel

This year I was excited to change up some of my holiday decor.  For the past umpteen years I have done pretty much the same thing on my mantel and I was getting tired of it.  I persuaded my husband to buy a gorgeous lighted and decorated garland from Balsam Hill during their pre-holiday sale.  It was still pricey even on sale, but I was so happy to have something new to work with.

You will not believe what happened.  Or maybe you will.  We received the garland and excitedly got it into position on the mantel, complete with little Command hooks to anchor it in place.  It was a pretty heavy, what with all the decorations and all.  The lights work by a little battery pack on the left-hand side that you can set to be on for up to five hours I believe.  Anyway, there was this plastic tag hanging off of the battery pack, which I wanted to be cut off, so we could tuck the pack out of sight.  I gave my husband a pair of scissors and instructed him to clip off the plastic tag.  And what do you suppose he did?

Yup.  He cut the wires to the lights.

There was quite a lot of "Oh no!" and "You did not just do that!" and "I cannot believe that just happened."  But it did.
So now we have a mantel garland that does not light up.

Oh well, it's still pretty.  And I can string some fairy lights through it.  Aaarrrrggggghhhh.

Here is a close up of one of my little vignettes on the hearth.  I have a Mary Englebreit Christmas book called "Believe" and my new little barn lantern/snow globe and my red QVC Luminara candles on one side.

On the right, I have a faux arrangement of holly and poinsettias in a basket along with another red candle.  

I am pretty pleased with it after all.  The only downfall is that the mantel is completely full with the garland, so there isn't any room for my stocking holders.  I will figure out another place for them to hang, never fear.  I have these nice wrought iron ones that spell out NOEL, that I got at Pottery Barn a few years ago.  My kids drive me nuts by mixing up the letters so they spell out something else.  They know how to make me crazy.  This is what I mean, see below in last year's holiday picture.  You can also see how much better my mantel is this year!

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2019

Well, this was quite a day.  I was juggling a number of activities and not attending totally to any one of them.  Sara came over and brined the turkey while I was decorating the Thanksgiving table.  I tossed the giblets in one of my husband's precious copper pans and promptly forgot about them.  Sara left to go to work, and I got a notion to run out to buy some new candles. While I was buying the candles, a friend called and asked if I could meet her for coffee at Starbucks.  I did, and we had a lovely chat that lasted an hour.  I got home and was flabbergasted that the house was full of smoke.  Oh.  Right.  The giblets on the stove.  The $200 copper pan my husband loves was charred, the contents incinerated.  The house was still standing, although it was very smokey.  In my hurry to get every window in the house open, I tripped over the lamp cord next to the sofa and the lamp crashed onto the floor and smashed.  Well then.  What else could possibly go wrong?

Did I mention we are having an Arctic cold snap, with temps down to the 30s and snow expected?  And I had to have all my windows open for a couple of hours to air out the house.  Sara arrived four hours later and said "What burned?"  Sigh.  Guess that wasn't all that effective.  Maybe the stench will be gone by Thursday?

Well, my centerpiece looks nice.  That fan-shaped thing is actually a dried mushroom.  Cool.  I used a combination of real chrysanthemums and a few dried natural ingredients and a couple of faux decor pieces.  I used a block of that stuff called "Oasis" that you can stick the flower stems in and arranged it all in a ceramic pumpkin I had on hand.  It turned out pretty well I think.

Instead of making cranberry sauce I spent an hour and a half trying to clean the gazillion dollar copper pan.  I got the outside all shiny again, but there are still scorch marks on the sides of the inside of the pan.  Not sure how to fix that.  Maybe someone with more strength in their arms can scour it off.  What a disaster.  At least it doesn't look as if the pan is ruined, even if it isn't quite as pristine as it was.

This is the little vignette I have on the buffet.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the detail. My son in law is part Native American, and I hope the romanticized version of the Indian couple doesn't offend him.  It probably won't, but what do you think?  The figures remind me of the Thanksgiving story I was taught in school in my childhood, and I liked it, even if it isn't realistic.

I am just grateful I didn't burn the house down today and can't think about anything else.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!