Table runner in redwork

I did a post a while back showing some red work and some cross stitched items I've made.  Of course cross stitch is very very very did I say very time consuming but it has hit the scene again.  Red work on the other hand is a very fast satisfying art.  The red work on this piece is about 16x20 and took me 4 - 2 hour evenings in front of the TV.  I was thinking of doing a crochet edge and making it into a sort of doily but then I remembered the 10 minute table runner Carla Kennedy made at the retreat and decided to give it a go!  I am happy with it.  I am sending this to Donna so she can see how red work looks in all one color.  I choose a color that is close to her heart or at least I believe to be since her entire house is made up of this blue teal color.  Anyway another project completed....what to do next???

It's a show and tell bag!

I am so excited about this project for the boutique.  Katherine from the guild has a friend from another guild that shared this pattern with me.  She is also going to let us sell the pattern as well as the finished bags.  I made 6 of these bags for the boutique (none for myself yet, but soooooon).  The first one I made was fairly expensive because the pattern calls for 1 1/2 yards of lined quilted fabric.  Even with the 40% off coupon the bag cost over $20.00 to make.  Well since we don't really know what people are willing to pay for stuff like this I thought to myself...hm.....how can I do this cheaper.  The bag is so huge it will hold a king size quilt to take to the guild for show and tell.  It is the perfect bag for this so I didn't want to scrap the idea...
So what I came up with is using bed spreads.  There are some really cute bed spreads that don't really look like bed spreads and you can get them at Marshalls, TJ Max etc...for dirt cheap.  I bought a king/queen for $23.00 and a queen/full for the same price.  I was able to get three bags out of the king/queen and two out of the queen/full bed spread and well that is a bargain!  So I made my six to sell at the boutique and we can sell them for 20/25 and make a profit but the one I made using pre-quilted fabric we will have to get 35 out of it to make a profit.  Sometimes it really does help to think "Outside the Box"...hehehe
Here are our bags for the boutique...and remember we will also have the pattern, YIPPEEEEE.  Mary was so sweet to model them for me.  She is holding on the left the one that cost so much and the one on the left is a bed spread.  I didn't take a picture of the wild pink ones but I think you get the picture.  Very useful bags...come get one!

French Macaroons at Sur La Table

I decided to take a class on French Macaroons at Sur La Table this past week.  I have made them before and they did turn out nicely but I thought they might have some secrets to share since I love these delicate little cookies.  Here are the ones I made about 6 months ago.

Okay so they are not so beautiful but oh they did taste good.

So I took the class and well, there were no secrets to be had but it was tons of fun.  I did not take a picture of the finished tiny little macaroons mostly because they were not very pretty.  They actually had over cooked them.  I was a bit disappointed in the class but oh well, it was FUN.  We made pistachio, pumpkin and chocolate and I do have the recipes for these so when I make them I'll be sure to try not to over cook them.

They have a class in Nov. for tamale making.  I have made empanada's and enjoy making them so tamales are basically the same thing but not deep fried.  I am hoping they show easy technique on how to roll them.  I am excited about this class and am hoping not to be disappointed ....since I've not made tamales I think I will not be...:)

Here are some pictures of the macaroon class:

A much needed get away....Quilting Retreat

If you have never been on a retreat I highly recommend it.  There are so many available retreats from card making, scrap booking and Quilting but the list goes on and on and on.  Going on a retreat is so much fun, you get so much done and you get to meet like minded people that inspire you to be the best you can be!  You might even make a new friend or two or three or eleven!!!!
A friend from our quilt guild, Carla Kennedy <<<her blog  organized a quilt retreat at the most beautiful place you can imagine Retreats by Marge <<< a link to the retreat.  It was magnificent and I do mean magnificent!
I meant to get there early so I could visit the quilt museum and the local quilt shop but all the yard long beans I had picked and put in the fridge to can "later" were starting to look sad so I had to can those before I could leave.  Here are those delicious beans all canned and ready for winter munching!

Everyone had the most beautiful project they were working on.  Some would make you cringe with envy!  We laughed, talked, sewed, and of course we ate, and we ate well!  I don't know about everyone else but I had and awesome time and am so happy Carla took the time to organize it.  I can't wait till next time.

So here is that view I was talking about... Honestly it was hard to drag myself off of the porch to go and sew. The weather was awesome, the view was awesome...but so were the ladies!  So next time you want to just get away think about doing a retreat!

Spooky Halloween Cookies

Every year I say to myself that I'm going to take the time to make and decorate cookies for Halloween.  I do it for Christmas but time always seems to get away from me on Halloween.  What got me motivated to actually follow through this year is my niece.  She's been deployed and will be away for the next 6 months.  Yes, even through Christmas.  So I planned on doing several things for her to keep her spirits up during this time.  I send at least 4 letters a month to start.  For me, that is a feat in it's self.  I also found out she loves antique dollies so I went to some local shops and found a few small enough to stuff in an envelope with a letter.  I also planned on sending her a small Christmas tree with lights and ornaments.  You just can't go through Christmas without a tree!  Anyway I also wanted to be sure to send care packages and one of the care (or two or three) I told her I'd send her cookies.  So thus the reason I actually got in gear this year.

I found this video on how to make the cutest pumpkin cookies ever!  I often watch Sweetambs videos, she is so over the top talented!  She posted this video and information for Halloween for free.  She does sell videos on several technique at a low price so you should go check her out if you want to learn how to decorate cookies.  Here is the link to the pumpkin cookies I made :  https://www.sweetambs.com/tutorial/halloween-cookies/

Here are the cookies I made after watching the video, I also made some ghosts and bats just for more fun, now mind you cookie decorating isn't in my real house but I did enjoy it anyway and I don't think they look too bad.  So if I can do it so can you!