Some of Our Traditions

Dear Friends....it has been great fun to read about your favorite holiday traditions. I thought I would share mine with you. Every year at our Christmas dinner, I set the table with our finest china and silver. At each place-setting, I put a Christmas Cracker.

Christmas Crackers are a British tradition. They are colorful paper favors filled with small gifts, a crown and a joke. We each pop open our cracker before dinner and take turns sharing our jokes while we each place our crowns on our heads. Lots of laughter ensues!

After dinner we all gather around the fireplace and the kids (now grown) open their stockings. Each stocking is filled with small essentials like soaps, gum, chocolates, socks, a kitchen tool or toolbox tool....all sorts of small things that fit nicely into their stocking. I think they have more fun opening these than anything.

Christmas music plays all day and a fires are kept burning in the fireplaces for the whole day. The house is warm and inviting and full of love!

Christmas Apron Giveaway

Happy Holidays from Bee Haven Acres!

I have been working like an elf these past few weeks

finishing gifts, shopping and wrapping.

My packages are in the mail.

A home-made Christmas is planned for the most part.

I would like to offer one last apron give-away for the year,

as a thank you to all of you who visit me here on my blogs

and leave such sweet comments.

I have met so many wonderful readers this year...I hope to meet even more in the

coming year.

Please leave me a comment to enter this giveaway...

and tell me your favorite tradition during the Christmas season.

If you are not a blogger, simply send me your comment in an e-mail and I will enter your name.

I will enlist Hubbs to pick one lucky name from our hat on Wednesday, December 17th.

Please check back next Wednesday for a posting of the winner.

That person will receive this apron in the mail :

Happy Holidays, Dear Friends!

I'm Dreaming......

....of a White Christmas.

Alas, today it is cold and rainy.

We really need some.......

Here is today's Christmas project. It is a little wool felt pillow. The reverse side is made from the softest, felted, black, and grey and white snowflake sweater.

It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas!

I have always held a great affection

for snowmen.

As a child, the first snowfall

would invariably end up rolled into balls

and stacked in the front yard.

A carrot from the fridge,a scarf, and some sticks and stones would help that frozen sculpture morph into a "being". And there he would stand until the temperatures rose.

Some of my most treasured holiday decorations are the snowmen that I have collected over the years. They grace my mantle, my windowsills, and any other empty space I can find. I thought I would share them with you.....

Santa's Workshop

Well, the elves have been busy today. A dreary, rainy, cold day is good for.....Hmmmm, let me see......well, sewing of course. I finished up another special order. This pillow: (Heather, I hope you like it!)

And a wonderful gift for Hubbs....of course I cannot show you that picture....it is a surprise! I will post a picture after Christmas of that one.

Another Christmas Order

Early awakening makes for extra sewing time! Here is another special order man's barbeque apron...reversible.

Filling Christmas Orders

Here is hubbs modelling the latest in men's barbeque aprons. I just completed this apron as a special order. One side is digital camo and the other is a hunter's print. All he needs are tongs and he's ready to throw another steak on the barbie!!

Baking With Bev

I thought I would share one this year's Thanksgiving dessert recipes. While scouring my cookbooks for new ideas, I came upon a recipe for Cherry Clafoutis. This is a traditional French dessert described as a batter pudding....not quite a custard, not quite a cake. Because cherries are not in season in this part of the country, I decided to vary the recipe and use some of our fresh frozen berries from this past summer's harvest. What I did not realize though, that when made with anything other that cherries, a clafoutis becomes a flognarde instead. So.....here is my recipe for Triple Berry Flognarde or "Flognarde Avec Trois Fruits".....Mais Oui, Je parle Francais....un peu.

Triple Berry Flognarde

Butter, to grease pan

2 tbsp. sugar

3 cups berries (blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.) fresh or frozen

3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

grated zest of one lemon

confectioners' sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking

dish and sprinkle with 2 tbsp. sugar. Place the baking dish on a cookie sheet. Spread 3 cups of berries (fresh or frozen) in the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Do not drain juice.

Beat eggs with sugar about 1 minute.

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Add half of dry ingredients to egg and sugar mixture. Then add all of half and half and the rest of dry ingredients. Add the vanilla and the lemon zest and stir to combine.

Pour the batter over the berries. Bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool slightly, serve with powdered sugar dusting.

Yummy!!

Busy in Santa's Workshop

Like so many others, I have pledged to make this a home-made Christmas this year. Although our economy needs stimulating...I think I will mostly be stimulating fabric and quilting shops. Every available minute from here until December 25th will be filled with projects. Here are a few more that I finished this morning as my pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookies were baking....

Ok, back to work!

May you and yours have a bountiful Thanksgiving!

I Love Snow Days....

The weather report called for "flurries" today, but we have about 3 inches on the ground. It has continued to snow most of the day. What a wonderful day to stay inside and look out at the beauty! I took "the girls" out for a walk this morning....my, how they love the snow. They romped with such utter abandon...this is the weather they both were meant for. Maddie came back in the house carrying golf-ball sized snowballs on her leg feathers and sacked out for the rest of the afternoon. I got lots of sewing done....YAY!!! The chicken quilt is finished and I made a few kitchen towels. This evening I will start another project, too. After all, there is only a month left until Christmas....yikes!I had fun quilting this piece and got a bit creative. I sewed the word "Egg", in cursive, over and over in the red striped border. In the black, chicken wire border I sewed the word "Chicken" several times.

Appliqued tea-pot kitchen towel

First Snow

This is what I awoke to this morning...a winter wonderland. And it is still snowing. The first snow is my favorite. The feelings that stir in me are the same as when I was a child. It reminds me of hot chocolate, warm tea, days off from school, sledding, snowmen and of course Christmas. With all of my required work for the week complete, today I have the luxury of time on my hands. I will use it to make some Christmas gifts and probably complete my chicken quilt. A walk in the snow will be a treat for the dogs, too. Brrrrrrrr....I will have to bundle up.....but when I return home.......ah yes, hot chocolate!

Bawwwkkk, Baaaaaawkkk, Bagaaawwwkkkk!

A little extra time to sew today has proven quite productive. I started adding to my chicken, and this is what I have come up with so far. The black and white spotted fabric is actually an egg print, so I appliqued larger eggs in each corner. The second black and white print is chicken wire. I will place a border of egg print around the entire thing and bind it with the red and black stripe to finish. It can be used either as a lap quilt or a wall hanging.

For the Birds

Baaaaawwwwck!

Several months ago I bought a book with some unique sewing ideas.

I have wanted to start this applique project for the longest time

and finally tonight I had the time.

It is just the most adorable whimsical chicken.

This will be the central block in a quilted wall hanging (I think).

Tomorrow I will start adding to this block....how it will turn out, I haven't a clue.

Stay tuned!

I spent the morning in a hospital waiting room....while my father-in-law had a minor procedure. Armed with lots of hand sewing I made the most of my time. I finished my quilted table runner and also a Yoyo table runner that I have been working on for the longest time. I think perhaps these table runners and mini quilting projects are my favorite. I am into instant gratification when it comes to sewing projects. Finishing one like this keeps me coming back for more!

Gifts

Here is my next project. It will be a table runner when it's finished. I love to applique. This adorable basked caught my eye and I though I would give it a try. It is from one of the Thimbleberries books.

I took the appliqued blocks and added squares and triangles on point. Next I will put a border around the entire thing, quilt it and then bind it with a coordinating print.

I will post the finished product........probably Sunday.

Hand Work

Here is a picture of my election quilt....finished. I spent last evening finishing the hand work...finishing the binding. I am quite pleased with the end result. In the lower corner I sewed a tag commemorating the 2008 election. I plan to use it for summer holiday decorating...4th of July and such.
Now it is time to get busy and finish some Christmas projects. I am so behind this year....I may as well just start now for next year, instead!!

Head in the Clouds...Feet on the Ground

It seems that lately, I have been so very busy with life...not much room for playing...but still lots of room for dreaming. My dreams are of the new farmhouse we are starting in December. It will be a log home...replacing a contemporary styled, but very leaky and inefficient old house. When it is complete, we will live in the country full time. No more commuting.... I can hardly wait. It's funny, the old house is finally all torn down and, yet, in my dreams I have lived in the new one for so long now...busily decorating its' rooms to make it cozy and inviting.

I thought I would share with you my inspiration for one of the guest rooms. I found this picture in a shabby-chic decorating book. Though one of the walls in my guestroom will be log, the rest in that room will be dry-wall. That way I will still be able to acheive the look I want in the color of the walls.

I have ordered a reproduction antique iron bed (the old ones never came in Queen size) and will use a crocheted bedspread that my Grandmother made many years ago. I have a crocheted dust ruffle and a beautiful lilac quilt that will complete the bed.

This weekend I spent considerable time at a public auction about a mile from our farm, and was able to pick up a few extra pieces of furniture. An old wash stand that I got for a steal will fit nicely by the bed. Perhaps the most exciting acquisition was a box of beautiful linens. A gorgeous, vintage linen table cloth (perfect condition) and matching Damask napkins will be used in the dining room. But, what I found the yummiest of all was 13 sets of vintage pillow cases. Aren't they just beautiful? Some had rust spots, so I soaked them for several hours in very hot water and Oxy-clean. I laundered them in mild lavender laundry soap (vegetable based) and starched and ironed them when they were dry. I am so happy that all the rust stains came out, and they laundered beautifully. What I don't use on the iron bed, I will proudly display in my 200+ year old corner cupboard that will also occupy that guest room.

This is my favorite of the pillowcases. It is hand-embroidered....so adorable. It was covered with tiny rust spots.....but luckily, all of them came out with the Oxy-clean!

Pink Saturday

It is hard to believe that Saturday has rolled around already!

This week's Pink Saturday project is a quilted journal.

This is the perfect project for leftover scraps and takes a minimum of time. You might recognize fabric from past aprons and graphics that I used in other projects.

I began by sewing several strips of leftover fabric together and then quilted them. On top of that I added vintage picture, rick rack, vintage lace and crochet flower. I then assembled them into a book cover that fit a spiral bound journal perfectly. Sewn together with right sides facing each other, and then turned inside out with pockets incorporated in the seams to hold the notebook flaps.... and...there you have it...instant gift!

For more Pink Saturday posts, please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for a complete list of participants....and think Pink!!

Quilting....

I have been working on this quilt top for a few months now. Today I finally had enough time to stitch the blocks together with the sashing. I need to put a border around the outside, quilt it, and add the bias edging. I think I will also add an applique to the lower corner commemorating this year's historic election. That might make this quilt a collector's item many years from now. It is lap sized and will be good to use either folded over the back of a chair or hung on the wall.

My Country Tis of Thee

I must admit, I awoke today with a renewed hope in the greatness of our nation. I look forward to the future with the belief that, working together, we can return our country to the great land it once was.... a beacon of hope and strength for the rest of the world.

I am personally so glad that all of the campaigning is over. Let's move forward!!

Photoshop Fun

This morning I played around with Photoshop...after having voted at 7 AM (I arrived at the polls at 6:30). I was experimenting with creating a different blog banner. If I had extra time I could get addicted to Photoshop. All of the rubberstamping and collaging that I used to do with paper can actually be done digitally with this program. Oh what fun....an unlimited supply of images and stamps (known as "brushes") can be found online.

This is a bit too busy for my tastes, but was a fun exercise!

A Surprising Discovery

I had a comment from another Pink Saturday participant, Gabriela Delworth, with a link to this blog by Jenny Doh. Click on this link and check out her blog....for an article about the Apron-o-logy edition from Somerset Studios in which one of my aprons will be featured. She shows a picture of three Somerset Studio employees....and my apron is being modelled by the girl on the far right. Surprise! A special thanks to Gabriela...it was so kind of you to forward this link to me!

This special edition is scheduled to hit the news stands on February 1st.

Pink Saturday

Last week's Pink Saturday Blog Giveaway's Winner is.........

Teal of Country Gal Wanabe

Please e-mail me with your address

and

I will get your child's apron into the mail.

For this Pink Saturday I am featuring another apron

of my own design.

This apron is styled after the vintage full apron,

but updated with a little modern style.

I call it "Lilly"

because it reminds me of fabric from Lilly Pulitzer.

You can purchase this apron or any others from my collection at

Touch of the Past Aprons

Please visit Bev at How Sweet the Sound for a complete list of

Pink Saturday participants.

Make it a wonderful Pink week!!