Sister's Choice Quilts

Happy Holidays

I hope your Christmas was as fabulous as mine was.  Lots of family time, which is just the best.  My cousin Dennis from Michigan was visiting his brother Paul, and it was just lovely to sit and visit with someone who I grew up with and don't see very often.  He is an international pilot and has such an interesting life.  We had a small family gathering Christmas morning, then headed to the Bay Area for my larger family's Christmas Extravaganza.  It is wonderful, but is complete chaos.  Those of you with large families can relate, I am sure.  It was pure pandemonium.  My husband, Eva and I stayed over at a motel, while Ahren stayed at my father's house with Ozzie.  Ozzie was pretty overwhelmed by the entire proceedings.  He is getting older for sure.

Today Eva and I headed home, while my husband and son went down to the Monterey Bay area to see some sights.  After dropping Eva off at her daddy's I tackled the piles of gift bags, ribbon and discarded boxes.  After sorting those out for the most part, I swept floors and made a big pot of soup.  Truth be told, I am pretty pooped out about now, and am looking forward to at least three days of doing nothing!

My favorite presents were from my husband (new bathrobe and slippers), my daughter (an entire box of beauty products) and my son (a new Staub pie plate and a gift certificate to Fatquartershop!!!  They know me so well.  I am off to put on my robe and slippers and sit in a comfy chair for awhile!  Maybe for the next three days.

Cookies!

My sweet son in law hosted a cookie decorating party for our Eva and some of her friends and neighbors.  After eating pizza, we cleared the decks and he brought out gingerbread cookies he and Eva had made.  The kids were given decorating frosting and loads of sprinkles and goodies to decorate their cookies.  You can see little Sawyer on the left is really into making her star cookie exactly right.  It was total pandemonium, but a good time was had by all.

On the sewing front, this is my last zippy bag.  I ran out of lobster clasps, and this is as far as I got with the last bag.  The clasps should arrive today and this enterprise will be finito. These things are a breeze to make, and if you are afraid of zippers, this is the project to help you get over that in a hurry.  I will do a tutorial on the triangle pouches after Christmas.

My son Ahren has arrived in San Francisco and had a good flight. He will spend today with a good friend and my husband will collect him Saturday morning and bring him home.  Can't wait!  I asked him what I could cook for him for his homecoming, and he responded with the first thing that popped into his head:  Linguine and Clams.  Ok then.  That is what I am making for dinner.  The things we do for our kids, right?

Have a fabulous weekend!  Last one before Christmas!

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.

Quick Check In

This is just a quick check in to let you all know I am still alive. If there is anyone out there who is still reading my blog that is...

We had a great Thanksgiving.  It was a small gathering of just four of us, but very nice all the same.  After this dinner, I am determined to improve my pie-making in the future.  I made a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie for the feast, but both could have been better.  I have just purchased a pie cookbook and am determined that I will master the skill of pie-making in the New Year.  The pie in the photo above is a chocolate cream pie I made yesterday, which turned out pretty good.   I will definitely keep you posted on the recipes I try and how my pie-making education is progressing.

Would you believe that the four of us had two turkeys on the Thanksgiving table?  I had ordered a small (10-12 lb) one, which I roasted in the oven, and my son in law (who owns the barbeque restaurant) had an extra smoked one that was ordered by a customer but never picked up.  It was pretty interesting to compare the tastes of the two birds.  I liked the juicy tenderness of the one I roasted in the oven, but the complexity of flavor in the smoked bird was pretty interesting and delicious as well.

I am still finishing up the Christmas decorating in the house.  Just about there.  I hope to show some pictures this week.  

Sorry for the brief post, there is lots going on and I have little time to share!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (if it is a holiday you celebrate).

Packing and a Couple of New Favorites

I've been packing for our annual trip to visit our son Ahren in Ireland.  We leave in just over a week, and I am determined not to overpack this time.  I swear the last two years I packed ten outfits and ended up wearing the same three over and over again.  I set up my rolling rack to "audition" clothes.  If you have a rolling rack, it is a wonderful tool for arranging your clothes for a trip.

One thing I have to keep in mind is that Irish people don't typically have clothes dryers.  You would think in a country where it rains 360 days out of the year, a dryer would be a very handy appliance.  Nope.  They tend to be old school and everyone dries things outside (weather permitting, which is five days of the year) or on collapsible clothes racks inside.  Seriously, if the weather is fine, everyone exclaims all day long "Oh, there is a good bit of drying in the day", and they all put their clothes on the line outside, optimistically thinking things will dry.

What usually happens is that you do your laundry, put it on the drying rack in the kitchen and in three days it is still there and still damp.  I'm not kidding.  I will never pack jeans again.  I wore them once, washed them and it took them five days to dry.  Everyone's home is festooned with half-dry clothes draped everywhere.  It is a national problem, and I do not see why something can't be done about it.

Well.  I got off on a little tangent there, didn't I?

At any rate.  What am I packing for just over two weeks in Dublin and five days in London?  My color scheme is mostly black, red and cream.  Nothing needs ironing.  At the moment (and I am hoping to cut these numbers down), I have five pairs of black stretchy leggings and/or knit pants for my bottom layer.  (I will be comfy, yet pulled together looking, and bonus:  they dry pretty fast). For tops I am trying to pair down to six or eight lightweight silk, lightweight cotton, poly or chiffon blouses that will dry overnight if I have to wash them.  They also pack down to nothing and take up virtually no room in the suitcase. One cozy sweatshirt type top to lounge in.  Two pullover sweaters I can wear for warmth or dress up with a scarf.  I can't decide between the red or the black so I have both ready to pack.  One may have to be eliminated...I have two cardigans that look dressy and can top off my blouses and be that "third layer" the fashionistas tell you to have.  I have a red rain jacket, an umbrella, a couple of scarves, a crossbody bag and two pairs of shoes. That should get me through just about all the occasions I anticipate.  I will use packing cubes and fit everything into two carry-on sized bags.

My dresser is a disaster, with stacks of undies, jewelry I am trying to decide between, and various items Ahren wants but can't get in Ireland.  Would you believe you can't get cold medications there without a prescription? No Alka Selzer Plus, no DayQuil, etc.  I always try to stock up on that for him.  If you are curious about what he looks like, click on the photo to enlarge it.  He is sitting with his sister Sara in my kitchen a couple of Christmases ago in that photo.

I won't get lost in the crowd in this cute red rain jacket from Talbots:

This is a new favorite nightgown from Soma.  They are having a great sale right now.  You can pay $52 for one of these long nightshirts, or buy two of them for $60!  They have adorable patterns to choose from, and the fabric is the coolest, silkiest, cotton tee shirt material.  I love to wear something like this when I travel, in case our son wants to pop in our room or I need to wander down to the kitchen for something.  It is modest and presentable looking, yet super comfy to sleep in.

I have some new toiletries and makeup I plan to pack, which I'll share with you in a future post.  Getting organized for a trip is one of my favorite things to do.  I hope I am getting better at it and overcoming my tendency to overpack.

Are you a good packer?  Do you have any tips you can share?

Book Winner

Yes I really did buy two of the same book.  Luckily my random number generator picked commenter number 17,
Nancy Watkins, to take one of them off my hands!  Congratulations Nancy.  Send me an email with your address and I will get one of these in the mail to you right away!  Thanks to everyone who participated.

In other news, we had a great weekend.  I was able to sew my free little gold half square triangles into rows.  Just waiting for some gold fabric to come in the mail for my setting triangles, backing and binding.  Love this little table runner for late summer/early fall.  It is so wonderfully scrappy.

Best of all, my Eva is home from a week at camp!  We celebrated a great week of adventures in the forest and a grateful safe homecoming by going to Jamba Juice for smoothies.  One more week of summer vacation and then it is back to school (3rd grade!) for Miss Eva.

Hope your week is getting off to a splendid start.

Sushi!

My son in law knows how to do things right.  He hired a professional sushi chef to come to his house and prepare five hours of sushi for 16 guests.  It was amazing.  Just imagine this happening in your own home and not a restaurant!

The sushi master brought an assistant and they made the magic happen all evening long.

There were oysters.  I have gone decades proclaiming that I would never eat a slimy icky oyster.  I was persuaded to try one and now realize my life has been wasted.  Years that I could have been enjoying this incredible delicacy down the drain. I could weep.  I cannot even describe how wonderful these were.

This was the freshest albacore tuna you can imagine.  Yes it is raw.  Yes it was delicious.

How is this for a presentation?  It was so cool!

These are yam chips that were used to scoop up fresh seviche (more raw fish marinated in lime juice).

Seviche.

I mean, really?

My son in law is a winemaker, so of course his wine was served.  Heaven.

Naturally to show respect for the occasion, I had to dress up.  It was just so special.

I wore a Japanese scarf as a wrap, and arranged my hair in as Japanese a style as I could manage.

The amazing thing is that I actually own blue chop sticks.

It was such a fun evening, and I am so grateful to have been able to enjoy the food, the fellowship and the incredible experience.  It was a once in a life time event for sure.

Happy 4th of July

Ozzie and I would like to wish you all a happy and safe 4th of July if you live in the US, and a happy Thursday if you don't!  We plan to go to a barbecue with the family, and my corn salad that I posted on a week or so ago has been requested.  I told you it was good!

Ozzie isn't too keen about all the racket the fireworks make, but he plans a restful day up until the festivities begin.  I will spend the day making corn salad and reading my book.  Talk to you tomorrow!

And So It Begins

Summer has officially begun here.  I took my girl to her first day of swim team practice and as you see from her stance, she was somewhat unsure of the whole enterprise at first.  She got with the program without delay however, and I was so proud of her.  When the coach first said "Okay, we are going to do eight laps" my heart sank.  Eight laps?  Seriously?  How could this kid do eight laps?  But she did.  And then did eight more.  Already she is a better swimmer than I ever was.  She has a great attitude, is so strong, and makes my heart swell with pride when I see how undaunted she is by challenges.

So, yes, I am a proud nana.  

But lord have mercy, is it ever hot out there in the sun on the sidelines.  There is no shade at all, and I pretty much did myself in.  I think I may have actually had a touch of sunstroke.  My friend and I had walked earlier for 45 minutes in the heat (did I mention it was 100 degrees yesterday?) and then I had barely recovered from that when I had to take Eva to swim team practice.  No shade.  Hot hot hot.  After I dropped her off at her summer camp afterwards, I came home and had to lie down.  I tell you I slept for three hours.

Any of you out there have experience with taking kids to sports activities and trying to stay cool and out of the sun?  I am thinking I may have to just drop her off and go sit in Starbucks or something until I pick her up.  I don't want to miss seeing her, but I just cannot take that sun.

So, unfortunately, since I was napping all afternoon, I didn't start my new sewing project.  Harrumph.