"What's on the line?"

A little quilt that I made in 2001 called "Hearts in the Pines" is on the line today.............
By now you know that I took this when the weather was nicer. It obviously is not that green and lovely outside here in Minnesota today. However, yesterday it did reach into the lower 40's and that made it very nice for shopper's who were out and about. I know because I was one of them. :-) My main reason for going out was to get groceries but I also enjoyed lunch with my daughter, Collette, and grandson, Jacob and then did a little shopping, too.
But back to the quilt.........it began as a sketch of one block, then I added a little more and another detail here and there. I liked the idea of hearts and pines together. I wasn't necessarily thinking of Christmas trees when I added the tree appliques but instead was recalling the pine trees in northern Mississippi. I remembered smelling them as we drove through the area on our way to Biloxi, Mississippi where my husband was stationed in 1969. I can still recall that cool night air and the smell of those trees. Do you have memories like that......so clear you could almost touch them? I wish they was a way to "capture" them and yet, perhaps that's what I did when I was making this quilt top. I did the piecing and my friend, Sara Peterson, did the machine quilting. I designed five quilts in this series that are all about 36" square. I shared the first of the five quilts in this post. I will eventually share photos of all of them and then get the patterns revised for sale. I taught this as a class to a group of friends and in classes in our community education program. I use the quilts as tabletoppers but they would also look great hanging on the wall. :-)
So, if you celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, did you enjoy a good time with family and friends? I hope so! Our son, Devlin, came for a midday dinner on Thanksgiving day. Daughter Collette and family were at the in-laws. The turkey my husband cooked was really good but the part I liked best was ....... the pies!! I baked them the evening before and they came out of the oven looking and smelling so good that I could hardly wait to eat them. My husband's favorite is apple and he even offered a compliment......"hmmmmm, that was good!" And my son's favorite is pumpkin. I ate a half a slice of each! Devlin sent an e-mail the next day "dinner was excellent". :-) Even the gravy turned out tasty which doesn't always happen in my kitchen! LOL!
Oh, and that pretty tablerunner under my pies is a gift from my friend, Connie. :-)

The day after Thanksgiving, Collette and Jacob came over to spend the weekend. She brought ingredients to bake up some Christmas cookies and they were yummy. Proof is in the picture below. I wish I could remember what these are called but all I can tell you is that they tasted really good! Chocolaty and peppermint combined and they were yummy. The recipe for them is in the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookies. Go here for more yummy cookie recipes.

I'm going to bake up a batch of these peppermint treats tonight. Collette brought along her mother-in-law's Kitchen Aid mixer so mixing the cookies was sooooo easy. She mixed up more dough for other cookies she'll bake each evening this week. She has a reason for baking all these cookies and for a craft project that Jacob helped her with but I can't tell you yet. It will have to wait til later this week so as not to give away the secret to those who will be receiving them!

The tree is in the living room and waiting to be decorated. Of course, I have to put it together but that's my project for today. I thought about doing it this past weekend but I was enjoying just spending time with family and never quite got in the mood to get going on the "tree-decorating". Since there are just 26 days til Christmas, I must get "in the mood" now!! I think I'll do a "countdown" to Christmas of memories or projects........something for each day. I'll start on Wednesday, December 1st. I'll be back then with photos and a memory. :-) Til then, have a great Monday!
Sandi