Betty's (dudes22) 2021 Quilt Fest Pt 2

Thought I'd start a second thread even though not much has been going on sewing-wise. Or - at least not worth reporting. I've left my original picture hoping it will continue to make me feel guilty about not finishing it. In looking over my first thread from this year, I can see that I've done very little of what I had planned. About the only thing was that I did work on was my red/white quilt and am now starting to put the various blocks and sections together.

2021 Projects:
Masks: who knows how many
Pillowcases: 15

Tops finished/unfinished but not quilted/partially quilted: 54

Finished:
Polka Dot wall hanging

I have made some masks this year although I haven't been good about keeping track of how many. These are the newest ones I made for my sister at the library - one for the July 4th holiday and one for the Olympics.

>2 dudes22: An interesting mask pattern! So nice of you to accommodate your sister.

I don't mind mixing lit and sewing. Will start mentioning what I'm reading when I start the new thread....

>3 avaland: - I know we all have our reading thread elsewhere and I do follow folks that are here, but I liked this one a lot. It 's not high literature but it was very interesting.

I've been working slowly on putting the sections together for my red/white quilt. Like Lois, our weekend is supposed to be wet and rainy, so I'm hoping to get a bit done on it. Yesterday I put together some of the smaller churn dash blocks to make a bigger block for one section. When I went to attach a sashing strip to it, it was too big. So I had to take it apart. It's 3x3 blocks. I took apart the rows and I'm going to press and measure again to see if the rows are the right size before I take apart the individual blocks. I wasn't off by much and I'm hoping some judicious trimming will work without cutting off the points.

>5 dudes22: Sounds like a good plan requiring a fair amount of patience.

Third day of rain. I've moved my sewing machine into the ark, just in case, ha ha.

I got the churn dash blocks fixed this week. I did a lot of judicious trimming of each block to get it to fit into the section so I didn't end up having to resew any. I haven't spent a lot of time sewing this week but the next few days are supposed to be hot and humid so I may retreat to the basement and sew if it gets to hot to sit and read. Right now I'm enjoying the front porch with coffee and my book. Or I may take a hand quilting project on the deck later. After waiting all winter for some nice weather, seems like I should be outside.

>7 dudes22: You'd be brave to retreat to the deck, if your weather is anything like ours. I went out to water and work on the back garden project for about an hour and half before retreating, first to the screen porch (level one cool down, ha ha), before the final retreat into the house and A/C.

It was fairly pleasant early this am so I did a little gardening I had planned as soon as I finished my walk. (Even before coffee !) All I did was pick up the fallen rose petals and cut some foliage left over from my bulbs. I sit out under the awning and read a bit and then I go in and sew. I was putting together another section of the red/white when I found three squares I had put together that were supposed to have sashing in-between so I had to stop and take them apart. Also wanted to finish the newest Kazuo Ishiguro book. sew-book-sew-book???

>9 dudes22: Maybe there has been something in air... well, we’ve corrected our errors and moved on 🧵

Yes we have...

>10 avaland: I hope it's not contagious!

I saw an interesting article about how your rulers can become "curved" over time from the rotary cutter pressing up against it and you can get inaccurate cuts. (I've also wondered if the rotary cutter might take slivers of plastic off as you cut) I've actually been wondering lately if my biggest ruler might be some of my problems. It's the one I use most for cutting. I've had it forever. You're supposed to stand it on edge and see if you can slide one or more index cards underneath it. I'm going to try that and might get a new ruler.

>13 dudes22: I recently bought replacement for my two most used rulers. They had acquired one too many dings from years (20?) or more for using the rotary cutter on it. It did not notice any curvature. Turns out they still sell the exact ones!

>14 avaland: - I probably have a few dings in mine too.

As this picture shows, that post I saw about checking the ruler seems to be true. I could slide 2 pieces of cardboard-like paper under my ruler. Time to get a new one.

Wow, that's an interesting test. My cutter just kept running into the same gouges....

I was thinking of getting a new ruler anyway.

I've moved my red/white quilt to the basement so I can put it up on my design wall and in looking for a project for upstairs, I decided to take out a box of cut up pieces and start putting them together.

>17 dudes22: Do you have machines on both levels of your house, or do you have handwork for upstairs? Just curious....

I bought a used older Bernina about 5 or so years ago that was on sale so I could have a smaller one to lug to classes that wouldn't be as heavy. I use that one in the guest bedroom for smaller piecing and my "bigger" machine in the sewing area in the basement. That way if I'm actually quilting a quilt, I still have a machine to use for piecing. I'm not the kind of person to stick with one project at a time. :)

>19 dudes22: Smart move. What model Bernina do you have?

I have a 440 QE and a 145.

I consider that a *new* Bernina. ;)

I'm looking to buy one, but want a real oldie - looking at the 1100 and 1200 series from the 80's/early 90's. My mum has an 1120 and I love it.

>19 dudes22: That sounds dangerous, thankfully my house is on one level :-)

>23 avaland: - Well, I can only be in one place at a time, but it does "encourage" multiple projects. It is nice that if I'm in the middle of quilting, I can stop and work on something else and still leave that machine all set up.

>22 PawsforThought: - I looked up an 1100 and it looks like it's a serger? But a 1200 looks like a sewing machine. But it looks like it has a really narrow throat. I would think that would make it hard to fit a quilt in for quilting. (oh - an 1120 does look like a sewing machine)

>24 dudes22: They are definitely sewing machines. And I have never quilted anything larger than a pot holder so it's not an issue for me. ;) They're stabile and old enough not to have too much electronic stuff (no touch screens) which I like, but new enough that they have some fun extras.

I'd love to have serger/overlocker (and/or a coverstitch machine) but I know next to nothing about how they work and what you need, etc. That'll have to be in the future. It'd be nice to use one when fixing up clothes, though (or even making them).

>22 PawsforThought: I thought of you when I saw this on Instagram!!

>26 lesmel: A beauty! Though I do prefer *slightly* newer models. ;)

Coming by to say hello on my catching-up trip.

Nice of you to stop by.

Off and on since I've last been here, I've just been working on some of the scrap blocks talked about earlier. I have a bunch made now and have started to put them together to get some finished quilts from them. Some of my seams aren't lining up as nicely as I'd like so I've decided to take the easy way out and add some sashing between the rows so it's not quite as noticeable. It's supposed to be fairly hot for us (90+) and very humid over the next 5 days or so, so I'm thinking I'll probably be spending a lot of time inside quilting and reading. IF I get some of these blocks into quilts, I may look through my fabric and start making more pillowcases for our church charity.

Sounds like a plan! I will see what I can get done in the early mornings and then retreat to the studio.

It's been raining here since Fri so lots of events have been postponed. We have a community parade and it's not going to be until tomorrow because they couldn't decorate the float yesterday. Fireworks moved. Rhode Island has the Bristol Parade which is the longest running parade in the country (since 1785). Last year they had just some cars - I think so they could still claim they had one.

We were supposed to go to a cook-out yesterday which is postponed until tomorrow. So I made 2 batches of ice cream yesterday and I'll make 2 more later today.

I decided to assess where my quilting projects are and make a better plan for the last half of the year. Although I spent a lot of time working on my red/white quilt, it's still not finished. I've made some masks, a few pillowcases and I finished one wall hanging - that's all. So even though I say it at the beginning of the year, I vow to finish quilting some of the tops I have finished and not start new projects.

Yesterday was very nice, wasn't it? (it had been raining here since late last Weds.) I notice this morning that it rained during the night and it's suppose to rain all week.

Well, you have done more than most of us. I've been done and out with a bad cold (the first since Jan 2020!). A good assessment is always a good thing.

It was cloudy here all day but not rainy. We're supposed to get more rain later today although it's sunny right now.

I realized that if (IF!) I finished one quilt a week, it would still take me a year to finish what I have now. That's somewhat depressing. I do have a couple that I might send out for quilting. That will help a little.

ETA: Well there are a few that the top isn't finished either.😣

I'm stopping in to get up to date, after a two-week hiatus. I want to see that red and white quilt.

>35 sallypursell: - Thanks for stopping by. The red/white quilt is on hiatus while I try to catch up on other stuff. Two reasons - There is one block that I'm thinking I might redo. Plus it's in my sewing room in the basement now (because that's where my design wall is) and the summer weather is too nice to spend time in the basement. So - temporary pause.

Oh, well, it will be a quilt some day.

>37 sallypursell: - That's what I tell myself.

Where has the month gone? I can't believe it's almost the end of July. My favorite fabric store had their "Christmas in July" sale today. I didn't want any Christmas fabric but I was out of the Kona white I need and I wanted to buy a new 6.5x24" ruler and the bargain hunters cove was marked down even more so I decided to take a ride up there. I didn't buy a lot of fabric but larger amounts than I usually do so I spent my allowance for the month :)

>39 dudes22: Sounds like that was a bit of fun! I just replaced both my big rulers. Must be the season :-)

Part of my fabric purchase recently was a bunch of solids (I don't really work with solids except for white.) I'm thinking of doing the cover quilt on this book and felt they would also be appropriate for some other kids quilts I'm thinking of doing.



I also recently bought this for the back of a quilt I'm going to take to the quilter on Fri. (?) I'm hoping to have enough left over for some borders on other quilts. It's 108" wide so I'm hopeful.

The son of our friends got engaged recently and Lori was telling me the other day that they've started to look for a house, preferably a small farm. I had made this lap quilt pattern once before and I think I'm going to make two for a wedding gift - one with vegetables and one with fruit. I had originally found a great fabric with basil leaves that I used for the outside border. I'm hoping I still have enough even if I have to seam it (the pattern calls for length-of fabric strips) or maybe if I put in a corner block. I used a fabric with coffee beans for the dark sashing and there are still some coffee bean fabrics out there. I found a red fabric with watermelon seeds on it for the fruit one.



This picture is not the one I did - it's the one from the pattern.

I like that pattern and the thought of fruits and vegetables prints.

>43 dudes22: What a great idea! I look forward to seeing both the process and the end results.

>44 lesmel: - >45 PawsforThought: - Thanks for the encouragement. I had to order some fabric so I'll have to wait to actually get going, but have started to cut out some from what I had left from the last quilt that will work.

I love that idea, Betty! And the pattern is great. Too bad you had to buy fabric, I know what a hardship that is LOL.

>43 dudes22: Love the idea of one each fruits and vegetables. I have been collecting these kinds of prints and that is a great pattern for them. I have a paper piecing pattern of jars of preserves on shelves, but every time I look at it I realize how finicky it is to make.

I also have enough apple prints to make their own quilt!

>47 lauralkeet: - Yes - it is so hard to force myself to buy fabric.

>48 SassyLassy: - I have a couple of patterns of jars - I'm not sure if they're paper pieced or not - I tend to think not. Someday I'll do one.

>41 dudes22: That's a great print, Betty!

Re the Quilts from the Quiltmaker's Gift book, I made that cover quilt years ago but I re-drew it so there were rectangles not squares in the centers. In most of the centers I put a fabric photo of a different one of my sister's Seeing Eye puppies she trained.

>43 dudes22: I love that! It makes me think of books! Fruits and veggies will be fun to do.

>50 avaland: - re:41- I have to admit that although I expect shrinkage, I was surprised by how much this fabric shrunk.

Everything okay with you, Betty, re the hurricane?

It was breezy and rained all day but it’s been that since mid-June (so nothing out of the ordinary). Expecting much more tomorrow, I hear.

I’ve emailed Betty as my phone# for her was not correct. Just wanted to check on her as she lives near the Rhode Island. She has a lot of family in the area, I think.

>53 avaland: When I heard the storm made landfall in RI yesterday, I immediately thought of Betty. Thanks for reaching out to her, Lois.

Thanks all for checking and worrying. The eye of the storm went over us, but we were on the east side of the storm so more wind than rain. We lost electricity but we have a generator so my refrigerator and freezer were ok and we had some electricity, but no cable or internet. It came back on around 1:30 today. My brother's farm is still without but he has some bigger generators to keep the meat freezers running so they're doing ok too. They're being told it should be back tomorrow sometime.

ETA - Lois - I sent you my new phone #

>55 dudes22: it's great to hear from you, Betty! I'm glad the storm wasn't too bad, all things considered.

>55 dudes22: Most long-time New Englanders up this way have generators, too. Ours was primed and ready. We are getting the storm now with some heavy rain, but to be honest it's not any different that other downpours with all the constant rain we've had since mid June.

To give you all a better idea of where the storm went, I'm putting up this map.



The eye of the hurricane came over Block Island (bottom of picture), continued over Charlestown, and then kind of headed west over to Connecticut and turned east again to go over Massachusetts and out to sea. I live close to the dot at the end of the word Charlestown. There's a hiking trail near here and there's a point from which you can see Block Island. So where I live and to the east side of the hurricane is more wind and to the west of the eye is more rain.

I left the development yesterday and went about 30 minutes north for an appointment and saw a ton of trees down and lots of electric trucks. There was even a field of corn that was almost laying on it's side. It was only a category 1 so really not as bad as some areas in the south when there's a hurricane. I can't even imagine how bad Katrina (cat 5) was. We're very lucky in the northeast - the waters stay cold enough that the hurricanes are never really that bad.

>58 dudes22: Some of my ancestors were among Block Island's first settlers.

Wow - that's interesting.. My husband has relatives that live there but I'm not sure how long they've been there.

Well - I am devastated. My favorite quilt store in the state is closing the end of the year. In the email I got today, Pat said that she was going to retire and couldn't find a buyer. Pat and her husband started Ryco Trimming in 1984. It's located in an old mill building in Lincoln, RI. I can remember going there when they didn't have much fabric but loads of trims and craft type items. And there was always a large selection of tiaras and beads to make wedding veils. Then they gradually moved over to more quilting fabric and they have the best selection in the state. They also do the quilting and I've used that a number of times. They've been flooded out a few times (they're on a river) and always came back. Pat's husband died a few years ago (before covid) and I think that and the difficulties during covid probably convinced her to decide to retire.

But this will put serious crimps in my quilting. There is one small quilting store about 1/2 an hour from me, but they don't have the biggest collection. And I heard that there's a store over the bridges but I haven't checked it out yet. That's it as far as I know for independent fabric stores near me. I'll have to see if I can find somewhere/someone else to do the quilting part. I usually do my own unless it's bigger than I feel comfortable handling.

Big sigh....

>61 dudes22: Oh. That hurts my heart a little.

>61 dudes22: Sorry to hear that, Betty. It’s always the places you genuinely like that go, isn’t it? Hopefully a buyer will turn up from out of the blue, but if not, I hope the place over the bridges can be an alternative for you.

>61 dudes22: I'm sorry. I felt the same way when our local needlework shop closed a few years ago. There's one nearby in Pigeon Forge, but it caters to the tourist traffic. It's good for some things, but not everything. The best one is about an hour away in Johnson City now.

Oh that's so sad. I'm sorry. Hope you are able to fill the gap over time.

Thank you all for your commiseration. I know I can buy fabric online so it's the quilting services that I think I'll miss the most. I've only taken a couple of classes there because it's about an hour away (one end of the state to the other, south to north). And they also have an open sew each week where you can bring things you need help with which I've taken advantage of a few times. I might see if I can find somewhere in Connecticut that's close too.

Or I could start using up my stash ;)

>61 dudes22: Sorry to hear of the demise of another quilt shop; I sympathize, Betty.

I can attest that there is an advantage of working scrappy, but I still love to go to quit shops.

>67 avaland: - Maybe someone will appear out of the woodwork and buy it.

I have a quilt up there right now for quilting and when I go pick it up I'm going to see if the girl that does most of the quilting might be thinking of opening a quilting business. I know the names of a couple of local quilters from the quilt shows but I think I would only use them for a quilt where I wanted something intricate. I might have to look at a smaller quilting type machine.

I went up to Ryco's today to pick up the quilt they quilted for me. I was talking to the owner for a bit while she was cutting fabric for me and, come to find out, she just bought the same machine that I'm buying. She also was mentioning to someone that after her last newsletter, some people asked her to put a list of local quilt stores in a newsletter. So hopefully I'll find some new places to get fabric.

I stopped to speak to Kim who is the girl who does most of the customer quilting (although not the one I was picking up) and I asked if she had given any thought to starting a quilting business. Apparently she does quilting but never mentioned it at Ryco's because she was working for Pat and didn't think it was ethical (good for her). Anyway, she gave me her card so if I can't do it myself, I have another option.

I then went and picked up my new machine and had my first "lesson". I'll post a pic in a few days once I get it set up. I'm excited to do it but so busy this week, I'm not sure when I'll get to it.

>69 dudes22: Oh, that's good news about her doing quilting, and also about possibly finding out about other shops.
I look forward to reading about your adventures with the new machine.

>69 dudes22: I'm so glad you're finding alternative sources for quilting, Betty. I can't wait to see your new toy and hear more about its flashy new features.

Here's the group of fabrics I've chosen for the "vegetable" quilt. The coffee beans are the sashing and binding and the lettuce will be the border.



And here are two photos of the "fruit" fabrics. I'm trying to decide which watermelon fabric to use for sashing (cut 2.5", finish 2") I had trouble finding something I liked enough for the border so, for now, this leaf/plant fabric is the border. I do have a fabric that has multiple fruits but I was thinking of them both being somewhat similar. I think I'm leaning more toward the darker watermelon fabric for the sashing, but I'll take opinions. I also have a fabric with cherries that I could use as a fruit strip and use the raspberries as the sashing.

>72 dudes22: Nice!

>72 dudes22: They both look really good - what amazing fabrics you’ve found. And now I’ve started thinking about what a quilt with herb prints would look like. Obviously more of a monochrome project than these.

Aw, cute!

>73 thornton37814: - >75 scaifea: - Thanks

>74 PawsforThought: - I ended up buying a bunch of fabric that I'm not using, but I have a couple of ideas for another veggie/fruit quilt that I think will use up a large amount. Or I might see if I can find a plan to use some in the back.

>72 dudes22: Those are some very vivid veggie fabrics. They are going to make a great quilt, Betty.

My friend's son's fiancee is from India and their plan was to wait to get married until her parents could come from India and her sister from England or to go to India to get married. But becuase of the various Covid situations, they've decided to move the wedding date up - to OCT 4!!!! I don't think I can get both of the lap quilts done by then but I'll be spending a lot of time sewing the next couple of weeks to try. The top of the vegetable quilt is almost done and the fruits and sashing are cut out for the other. Sew! Sew! Sew!

ETA: Although the pattern only calls for 8 fat quarters, I've decided to add a 9th fabric in some of the blocks of the fruit quilt for a little more variety.

You can do it! Sew! Sew! Sew!

My gosh, that is only 9 days, Betty! Perhaps, you could give them a small gift with a note that you are working on something special....?

Well - it's a very small wedding so I'm sure I'm not expected to get anything. (Immediate family only - I don't think my friend's mother or sister are even invited) Maybe I can do a small basket of RI items - local chocolates, coffee syrup, pancake mix, ... with a note that there's something more coming. Need to put wedding card on my shopping list.

>81 dudes22: the small basket with a note sounds quite sensible, Betty. Good luck.

Everything ok, Betty? It's been a while since you posted.

Things are fine. I've been working on those two quilts which will be a wedding gift. And some masks for when we go away next month. Nothing much to write about.

Well, I've finished the tops for the two wedding lap quilts. Now I need to get the backs done so I can put them together.

>85 dudes22: Excellent!

Thought I would do a quick check in. I've been busy lately making pillowcases for the Christmas Shoebox charity that the church does. The boxes get packed in Nov which I always manage to be surprised at when they put out the call for shoebox items. I think next year I'm going to set a goal of "x" number of cases per month so I'm ready.

While I was picking fabrics for them, I was ruminating on the fabrics I have bought that I really liked but then never used. And those others I bought and I have no idea why and I'm not that crazy about them.

I also have a towering pile of leftovers that need to be cut into manageable pieces for charity quilts that is threatening to fall over on my ironing board.

But this morning I'm off to the local bookshop to order some books for Christmas presents. (It's pretty small so I think most of them will have to be ordered.) And then to the library to see my sister and get some other children's book suggestions.

>87 dudes22: Since I'm going in very few actual stores and relying on stock of what is online, I ended up doing the build a shoebox online option for $25. When I pack my own, I usually pick up some crafty kits of various sorts--beads, needlework, etc.--at least for the girls.

>88 thornton37814: - Our church has a "packing party" so people buy groups of stuff to contribute - toiletries, socks, some crafts, etc. I think they put uninflated soccer balls for boys. The pillowcase idea came about because a lot of the children who get these boxes don't have anywhere to keep their stuff. Foster kids use them like a suitcase.

>89 dudes22: that sounds great, Betty.

I'm going to have to tell the charity I have given 10 lap quilts to for the last two years, that I can't provide them this year. Too much has been and is going on to get much done. Will make a donation instead.

I've sent 45 pillowcases for the Christmas Shoebox project to church. I was planning to make more but we had to make a quick trip to NY last week. My husband's brother-in-law passed away. He was 91 and it was expected. And we're off to AZ in Thursday for a couple of weeks. With all the stuff on the news about passengers acting badly, I'm hoping things will go well.

Enjoy your weeks in Arizona, Betty.

Your donation is more than wonderful, that’s a lot of pillowcases!

>Thanks, Lois. Next year I'm going to try and do some each month. I think it's a good way to decrease my stash too.

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's brother-in-law, Betty. Very impressed with your pillow case making. Once I finish the Masters Program, I want to find some good charity knitting projects.

Deaths are always hard, even if they’re expected. I’m very sorry for you and your family.

I like reading about your charity projects, and I’m very impressed with your numbers even if you aren’t.
Like Laura, I’d like to do some charity knitting in the future, but I think I want to get my knitting speed up a little and be a bit more regular (not take weeks or months off) first. I know of a few charities that work with homeless people and they always want warm things for the people they help so I’ll probably go with that.

>94 lauralkeet: - >95 PawsforThought: - Thank you both for those kind wishes. I think there are a few groups that take knit items. I started to list a couple and then others kept popping into my mind, but I'm sure you'll both find some.

To those of you who celebrate:

Hope you had a lovely holiday and that you are enjoying the weather in Arizona...(warm, dry...)

I took some of my hand-quilting project with me to Az, but never picked it up while I was there. We were just too busy with our friends. I had thought Lori and I would sit outside a bit and work on projects, but we never did. And now with the holidays starting, I think it will be next year before I even look at it.

>99 dudes22: Sorry you didn't get any work done on your project, but at least it was for a very good reason. Quilting can wait, spending time with loved ones is more important.

>100 PawsforThought: - Very true!!

My sister-in-law is going to come and stay over Christmas. (She lives out of state and just recently lost her husband.) I'm going to have to take apart my sewing area in the guest room and move it back to the basement. That means I probably won't be doing anymore quilting until after Christmas. So I went ahead and started my thread for 2022, but there won't be any activity there either.

>99 dudes22: It's not a bad thing to have a bit of a break; enjoy your friends, family and the holidays. Oh, what a job to move your quilting to the basement! Stop in and say hi when you need a break XX

>103 avaland: - It's not too bad, Lois. It's just my small machine and a few projects and rulers, erc. I can fit some of it in the dresser in the room. I don't have a lot upstairs - it's mostly all in the basement.

Today I'm trying to finish up most of my holiday cookie baking. Since we went away for Thanksgiving, I made some and froze them uncooked before we left. Since we've been back, I been making, cooking and freezing others for my holiday cookie trays. So I want to get all the frozen ones cooked today and I have 2 more to make from scratch and maybe another batch of my gingerbread ones because I used most of them for the cookie swap last week and think I might need more. That will give me 16 different kinds. Then I have made and frozen 7 small cranberry breads, 4 small pumpkin breads and 3 small fruitcakes. I need to do a batch or two of spiced pecans also. (No partridges in pear trees. I pointed out to my husband the other day, that this year it will cost more than $41,000+ to give me everything from the song.)

It sounds like a lot, but actually I'm much less stressed than I was a few days ago now that I've made a list.

>105 dudes22: 16 different kinds of cookies? Holy cow!

>106 PawsforThought: - I started doing cookies as gifts many years ago for the people I worked with, my hairdresser, mailman, etc. People really liked it so I just keep doing it. And I love cookies...

I'm impressed with the sheer scale of your cookie making as well, Betty. I'm going to make three types of cookies, and those just before my daughters arrive. Otherwise a certain other inhabitant of this house will make them disappear.

I live and die by lists, too, btw.

I make about 10-ish kinds of baked goods for Christmas (cookies, cakes and buns) and I feel very ambitious. I pale in comparison to you, Betty.

And lists are the best.

>108 lauralkeet: - Some I make because my mother made them - my spritz cookie press was hers. Although he will eat some, my husband is not really a big cookie eater.

>109 PawsforThought: - My mother used to make some of those yeasted sweet breads - sort of like you make for cinnamon rolls and fill them and then twist them. One of those things I'm intimidated by. I know Laura was talking about the sourdough she perfected during covid. If we're going to have to hibernate again this winter, maybe I'll give it a try.

During the holidays, I used to make 5 kinds of cookies; but usually 5 dozen of each. This was when I worked in an office of 75+ people. I loved trying new cookie recipes. It's how I found my black pepper butter cookie recipe...which used to be requested.

I miss that level of baking. I guess I could be the cookie elf in the neighborhood; but that would mean being social. 🤣

>106 PawsforThought: Betty, you are as bad (or good depending how you look at it) as I am with the baking! Today I finished baking quick breads with over 20 made. Apricot, Cranberry, Apple-Date, Chocolate, Sweet Potato, Blueberry, Cherry, Zucchini....and 4 different kinds of Gluten-Free. They been given out to family, the contractors who were in the house, friends....I start on pies for Christmas Eve tomorrow....

Were any of your cookie decorated with icing? I used to do plates/boxes of cookies because I loved making different kinds of little cookies (but I only iced one or two). I think I stopped the cookies around 2015 or so. We'd take some even to the people working at the town transfer station (aka: the dump), a box went in the mailbox for the mail carrier....etc.

>112 avaland: I might request some recipes…

>112 avaland: - I only did 2 this year that were iced - gingerbread trees and Italian filled cookies (Cuccidati). But others (like Spritz) have colored sugars, etc. I was thinking of dipping some of the biscotti in chocolate, but maybe not. My last batch of cookies is baking as I write this. I may do one more batch of small cranberry breads and I need to do one batch of spiced nuts still. I think tomorrow will be cookie tray building day so I can start delivering.

Here are pictures of two of the trays I did today. For those of you trying to count the types of cookies, some are hidden underneath so you won't find 16.

Oh, those are beautiful, Betty. Yum. I made 8 pies these last few days: 1 cherry, 2 apple, 2 sawdust, 3 chocolate. It's become less of a streamlined process the older I get....

To all my friends here in Needlearts:

A belated thanks, Betty. Hope your holidays were lovely and Covid-safe.

Thanks, Lois. We did have a good Christmas. When my SIL lost her husband last month, I offered to drive up and bring her to my house for Christmas if she wanted. (She falls asleep driving long distances). She lives about 3-3.5 hours away. I went and got her (and the dog) last Thurs and then took her home yesterday. I had to take all my extra quilting stuff out of the guest room so now I can put it back. I'm going to spend this week trying to get reorganized - maybe take down some of the decorations and clean up my wrapping area in the basement. And try to finish my last book for this year.