A Perfect Lunch

Today, for the first time ever, I made homemade tomato soup.

 It was very easy and surprisingly very good.

All I did was saute some garlic and onion in olive oil until brown. Next I added some chicken stock and let it simmer until the onion was tender. From here I placed it in the blender, added a can of diced tomatoes and blended until smooth. Once ready it was all put into a pot to simmer. I then added salt and pepper to taste. After the soup cooked for a short bit I decided it was a little too thin so I thickened it with cornstarch.

To go with the soup I made a grilled cheese sandwich using homemade whole wheat bread. Yummy, everything tasted so good!

More Christmas Sewing

Elizabeth's pajamas are a bit large this year but I made them that way on purpose; she's just growing so fast!

 I love this style because she can wear the pants during cold weather and just the gown during warmer weather.

It's hard to tell in the photo but the print is little monkeys on lime green flannel.

The bunny slippers Elizabeth is wearing were a Birthday gift for her from Jonathan. 

Christmas Sewing

Normally I do a lot of Christmas Sewing but this year I didn't do as much; mainly because of time.

In October we took a road trip to visit family and friends. While on this trip I learned a little about two of my nieces; one likes sports and the other likes lime green, hot pink and zebra stripes.

For one niece I made a zebra stripe pillow out of some fake animal fur in my stash.

And for my other niece I found some basketball print fabric that I quilted with straight lines before turning it into a pillow.

Each year I plan to start my Christmas Sewing in January but I never seem to actually do it. I wonder if I'll succeed this year and truly begin early? You never know, maybe this will be my turning point year :O)

Actually, now that I think about it, planning and starting the gift making process early is a wonderful New Year's Resolution!

Quilt Club The Final 6 of 12

 Last week was my final quilt club meeting for this year.

I now have the final 6 blocks completed.

Some of the blocks were a challenge;

 But it was good to be challenged.

I have learned a lot this year working with so many different patterns.

Once Christmas is over I hope to start assembling all my blocks.

I have already picked out fabrics for my sashing and just lack deciding on a fabric for the back.

I plan to make this quilt either a double or a queen.

Merry Making

 Our days have been filled with Merry Making...

Making  messes...

 Cleaning messes...

 And smiling with satisfaction as the table fills up with homemade goodies ready to share with family and friends.

I love Christmas and all the activities that go along with it; however, this year I have had to say "no" a little more often than I want to.....in order to have enough time to finish up all that needs to be done here at home.

Cooking With My Home Canned Beans

 Today I made a pot of homemade chili....

And used a jar of my home canned beans. They were so packed in the jar it was hard getting them to come out without squishing them. I wasn't sure how they would work in the chili, but they worked very well.

 The flavor was amazing too! There's just something about beans and ham broth.

I make my chili with taco meat, garlic powder, chili powder, tomato sauce and beans. It's simple and taste so good.

Making Dolls

 Elizabeth has been invited to a tea party by some friends. She went last year and had such a good time. As a Thank You gift for her invitation I decided to make a ballerina doll for each of her friends.

This first doll was my practice doll. The pattern suggested using felt for the hair but since I didn't have any I used corduroy instead. And I must say it worked very well.

The original doll pattern, Simplicity 1900, isn't for a ballerina so I improvised by adding a bun to the top of the head, pink to the feet for shoes and ribbon to the legs for laces.

 Once my practice doll was finished I knew what changes I wanted to make to the other two dolls.

 I began by adding a larger bow to each bun; it stands out well.

 And I used thinner ribbon for the leg laces.

 All in all I am very pleased with all three dolls.

Elizabeth loves her doll, she gets the practice doll, and I'm pretty sure her friends are going to love their doll too.