Cookie Class - Chiefs Edition

My cookies!

Greetings friends! It has been a super busy week, but I had to stop by and visit with you again today - I wanted to share photos from my second cookie decorating class over the weekend...

You may remember reading about my dear friend Leslie and I taking a Christmas cookie decorating class in December. This past Saturday (the day before the Super Bowl), we took a second class and invited two more friends along for the fun! Living in Kansas City, of course this class was a Chiefs cookie decorating class. We visited the same local small business owner that teaches cookie decorating classes in her home. Cindy's Cookie Co. is located in Olathe, KS...and if you are in the area, you should check her out! We arrived at 10:00 AM on Saturday morning for the 2-hour sold-out class. We each had our own workstations with six fresh baked sugar cookies, several bags of royal icing and all the tools needed to complete our decorating. This time we were able to be a little more creative and pick how we wanted to decorate a couple of the cookies. I opted to put #95 on my jersey (popular numbers were 15, 87 and 10, but I opted for a defensive player) and I decided to put TRAVIS on my friendship bracelet (it worked for my husband - his name is Travis...and for Travis Kelce). I felt more comfortable working with royal icing this time and I did a pretty good job - in fact, everyone did...we had a great teacher. She gave us more tips and tricks regarding tools and supplies and where to purchase materials...we had a practice sheet to work with the icing before starting our cookies...plus she had a bottle of water and a snack at each workstation. We had such a great time! Plus, Leslie embroidered matching Chiefs aprons for the four of us, which made the day even more special and memorable!

The teacher's assortment of cookies...

I also have some photos from Union Station in KC with all the Chiefs decor - the entire city has been RED for a few weeks! I asked for a Super Bowl win again this year for my birthday and our hometown heros did not disappoint (my husband told me not to get used to this gift every year! 😂). We will be headed downtown bright and early tomorrow morning to attend the Super Bowl parade and rally at Union Station - which we know will be insane (plus the best people watching around). We will be spending our Valentine's Day with a million plus members of Chiefs Kingdom...it will be an adventure!

Love Is In The Air

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, my thoughts were actually on Valentine's Day, as I was designing three Valentine themed projects for AccuQuilt and sewing/quilting the samples. Today, I am excited to share the GO! Lovebirds Apron, the GO! Hugs and Kisses Bed Runner, and the GO! Sweetheart Wall Hanging. I really enjoyed creating these three projects and you can read all about them on the AccuQuilt Blog, where I did a guest post...that's right, today I am a guest blogger on the AccuQuilt Blog - and I am sharing the details on these three projects...

The GO! Lovebirds Apron is made using a kitchen towel as the base (which makes this a super quick project), then adding seasonal machine appliqué! You can find out the type of towel I used and some fun tips by visiting: http://www.accuquilt.com/blog/
AND...this pattern is FREE for a limited time: http://www.accuquilt.com/go-lovebirds-apron-pattern.html

The GO! Hugs and Kisses Bed Runner was such a delight to work on and only uses TWO cutting dies to make the Xs and Os...to find out just how simple this project really is, check out my guest blog post on the AccuQuilt Blog: http://www.accuquilt.com/blog/
AND....this pattern is FREE for a limited time too!!: http://www.accuquilt.com/go-hugs-and-kisses-bed-runner.html

Finally, here is the GO! Sweetheart Wall Hanging - a combination of simple strip piecing and machine appliqué. Visit the AccuQuilt Blog to find out my tip for making the applique shapes stitch up crisp and flat: http://www.accuquilt.com/blog/
AND...of course, this pattern is available for FREE for a limited time, as well!!:
http://www.accuquilt.com/go-sweetheart-wall-hanging-pattern.html

I hope you take a moment to read my guest blog post...then go download these special Valentine projects...and I would love to see/read about your Valentine's Day creations - please share them with me!

For now, I am back to work on some springtime quilt designs (always months ahead of the game!)...and then this evening I will be in my stitching nest working on my special October project for Just CrossStitch magazine.

I will be sharing my Bitty Blocks finish soon, so be sure to visit again later this week...

Sewing For The Kitchen

I have one final handmade gift to share with you - it is a kitchen set. One side of the apron and the center of the pot holders came from a fabric panel (Potpourri by Grace Pullen licensed to South Sea Imports)...and with a little help from my friend Merry, I was able to pick a great coordinating fabric for the other side of the apron, the border and back of the pot holders, and the hanging tabs for the kitchen towels (Saltbox Harvest by Deb Strain for Moda). The fabric panel started the ideas flowing and when finished I had this fabulous kitchen gift set. I like a heavier apron, so I oped to make the apron reversible, with the printed panel on one side and the coordinating fabric on the other - I like that you can choose the side you want to wear on any particular day. I also added a border and hanging loops to the printed panel fabric for the pot holders - it made them a much better size at 10" square (plus I thought the added border gave them a more professional finished look). Finally, my mother-in-law has been wanting a good set of hanging kitchen towels for quite some time - she has mentioned it to me on multiple occasions...so I decided to make a matching set. I tried to find a close matching kitchen towel, cut it in half to make two finished towels, and made hang tabs...I opted for a button and buttonhole to make them easy to hang up and take down for laundering - I was very pleased with the results and now need to make some for my own kitchen.

This last gift is being delivered this afternoon - we are having dinner with my in-laws at a local restaurant to celebrate Christmas....it should be a nice relaxing evening. I really enjoyed making my Christmas gifts this year - I found joy in the creating and even more joy in the giving. I hope you are on the giving or receiving end of some handmade holiday gifts - they seem to make the season just a little more special....

An Apron Girl

I'm an apron girl...yes, it's true...and I seem to have built quite a collection. Some are seasonal...some are floral...some are retro...some were made by my Auntie Ann...some were made by me - I truly love them all. I know in the last couple years, aprons have been making a "comeback"...I never knew they went out of style....they have always been a staple in my kitchen. Today, my Saturday sewing project was a vintage look apron trimmed with red rick rack! I had so much fun working on this...I think I was actually giggling as I attached the trim. This apron is going to be a nice addition to my ever-growing collection. As you can see, I also purchased a couple extra yards of matching fabrics..aren't they yummy?! They are from a line called "Momma's Apron Strings" by RJR Fabrics...I just loved the look of these fruity prints and had to add them to my stash. I am still working on ideas on how to use them - I just know I will find the perfect project....