The "Almost" Famous Christmas Apron

I hadn't made one for 2 years, but I had a request for another.

Yes, my regular readers know what is on the other side of this very pretty Christmas apron.

A little naughty Alexander Henry fabric to jazz up this reversible Christmas apron.

This makes #4 and I still haven't made myself one.

The first time I made this apron I called it "Not Your Grandma's Apron" but I've been thinking about that and I'm pretty sure at least one of my Grandmas would have worn this on the naughty side all the time.

Her name was Grandma Lucille.  

I'm thinking I'll write up a tutorial and call the apron Lucille.

Complete with a baseball bat (barbed wire and all) on one side and a little Alexander Henry fabric on the other, it will be a little naughty on both sides and still a sweet little apron for me. 

 Grandma would love it!!!

This really is the last post for 2016.  I don't think I can finish anything else,

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Shirts with ThermOWeb

I hope your Christmas was wonderful.  Here in the sticks we are still in celebration mode.

One more family get together this weekend and we will be ready to welcome 2017.

I meant to share my shirts earlier, but time got away from me.

This year I created a wardrobe of shirts to wear through the last week of work and all the Christmas celebrations.  The 2 above were made with Hot Melt and Deco Foil by ThermOWeb.

I simply traced my letters and cookie cutter shapes onto the Hot Melt and cut them out.  Then I followed the package instructions to iron it to the shirt.

I chose Red, Green, Gold, and Emerald Watercolor foil transfer sheets to cover the Hot Melt adhesive and, like magic, I had very magical shirts.

This picture was at work with my friend, Vicki.

It was "Tinsel Tuesday" and sparkle was important!

For the other 2 shirts, I rummaged through my closet and pulled a couple of long sleeve tees that aren't long enough for me anymore.  (I have a vertical issue with shirts)

Next, I stitched lace to the bottom of them.  LOVE!!!  and will do this again!!!

I used Deco Foil on the Teal shirt by cutting a dear head out of Hot Melt and using a Champagne color foil transfer sheet.

The red "Jelly of the Month Club" shirt was created by using a certificate on the internet as the picture and a HeatNBond EZ Print Inkjet Transfer Sheet for dark colored fabrics.  I simply printed the certificate and pressed it on the shirt following the package instructions.

I wore this one for the "Pretty Ugly Christmas Sweater Day."  You could wear a pretty sweater, an ugly sweater, or a pretty ugly sweater.  lol.  I chose Jelly.

Have a Happy New Year and I'll see you in 2017!!

(unless I finish a couple things I'm supposed to have done)

In Our Garden Blocks for December

The

In Our Garden Block of the Month blog hop

Hosted by Amy over at 

Sew Incredibly Crazy

has the cutest blocks and I've kept up with the blocks all year

 and 

we only have one month to go.

Every month one designer shares an applique block and a pieced block

and by January this will be a super cute quilt.

The weather is frightful here today and tomorrow promises to be even colder and wetter.  These blocks are perfect for winter.

This months block were designed by Jan over at Sew and Sow Farm.

The pieced block is called "Winter Star"  and really is fun to put together.  I used by background fabric in the star and used color for the background this time.  It really makes me think of a winter sky.

The applique block for December is called "Sunbonnet Sue and Friends."  I've never been a big fan of Sunbonnet Sue, in fact, I've never made one until now but I decided to use Jan's vision and make her design.  While I was afraid it wouldn't fit with my other blocks, I was WRONG.  It's a perfect addition and I really like it.  I even found a little bird button to add to the snowman's hat.

Of course I used my favorite fabric iron on adhesive by Thermoweb, HeatnBond® Lite, for the fusible appliques.

 I was lucky enough to receive Riley Blake fabrics for this quilt.

That Sunbonnet Sue is so pretty with  fabrics in Botanique by fabric designer Lila Tueller.

There is still time to jump in and make this quilt with us!

Here is the list of bloggers and the months with links to find the 

blocks and patterns:

February - Blocks 1 and 2

Amy – Sew Incredibly Crazy

March - Blocks 3 and 4

Carol – Just Let Me Quilt 

April -  Blocks 4 and 5

Doris – Quilting Queen Online

Bonus Block

Amy - For Thermoweb

May - Blocks 7 and 8

Carla - Creatin’ in the Sticks 

Bonus Block

Carla - Creatin' in the Sticks

June - Blocks 9 and 10

Sue – Super Mom No Cape

July- Blocks 11 and 12

Joan – Moosestash Quilting

August - Blocks 13 and 14

Kris – Kris Loves Fabric

September - Blocks 15 and 16

Pat – Life in the Scrapatch

Bonus Block

Pat - Life in Scrapatch

October - Blocks 17 and 18

Vicki – More Stars in Comanche

November- Blocks 19 and 20

Lana – It Seams to be Sew

December

Jan - Sew and Sow Farm

Still to come: our last month of blocks

January

Amy – Sew Incredibly Crazy– Final Blocks and wrap up

There's a group Facebook page HERE 

 and a Flickr Group 

where everyone has been sharing garden blocks.

Join in on all this fun!!!

A new BOM will start in 2017 after the last blocks for this one in January.

We have already started designing and it will be a fun quilt!

(For his fans, Splash will be making another appearance)

Happy New Year Mini - Let the Ball Drop - Free Pattern

Today I am over at the Thermoweb blog

sharing a free pattern.

 It won’t be long before the ball will be dropping in Times Square and the new year will begin. If you can’t be in New York for the celebration, why not bring a little Times Square to your own New Year Celebration.  

This fusible applique Let The Ball Drop mini quilt can hang on the front door to greet guests or would be perfect to decorate the party table.  

The secret to making this one quickly is Heat N Bond Lite EZ Print Sheets.  The pattern is ready for you to print without tracing anything.

The finished size is 16” x 20 ½”

I used Moda Grunge fabrics for this one and Aurifil 50 wt thread for the piecing and quilting.

The quilt is sandwiched with StitchNSew Fleece to really show the quilting.

I would love for you to try this pattern and give your feedback.

Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop 2016 - Coconut Cookie Recipe

Today I am joining other bloggers in a
Virtual Cookie Exchange
hosted by

Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.

Welcome to
Creatin' in the Sticks
and
Merry Christmas!

If you love coconut as much as I do, you'll love this recipe.
I don't have any special reason for making these cookies during the holidays except that my family loves them.
I have to make 2 batches of these to make them last longer than one day.

These cookies are so easy and are just as delicious plain as they are all dressed up with 

chocolate and toasted coconut.

Coconut Cookies

Yield  about 2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg (room temperature)

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. almond extract

1/2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Line cookie 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.  Cream together butter and sugars.  Add egg to the mixture.  Combine flour, soda, and salt in a separate bowl.  Gradually add dry mix to butter mixture.  Add almond extract and vanilla.  Mix in coconut.  

Use a small scoop (tablespoon size) to drop on parchment paper lined cookie sheets and bake for 9 minutes.  Cookies will be perfectly chewy when they are a little under-baked and then cooled.  

Optional:

1 cup coconut - I use sweetened flake coconut

4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate (melted)

 Put 1 cup of coconut in a shallow baking pan and bake, stirring occasionally until toasted.  7-10 minutes or longer if you want more caramel color.   Set aside.

Spoon half of the top of cooled cookie with a thin layer of chocolate and cover with toasted coconut. Set on parchment paper until chocolate is set.

If you want more cookie recipes, you are in luck.

Here is the whole schedule for more great cookie recipes:

December 5

Just Let Me Quilt - Giveaway

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Kris Loves Fabric

December 6

Creatin’ in the Sticks You are here!

Brenda’s Quilting Blog

Bumbleberry Stitches

December 7

What’s Up With Kim

Granny Can Quilt

Rosemary’s Recipe – posted at Just Let Me Quilt

December 8

Deb’s Rustic Quilting

Treasured Nest

Just Let Me Quilt

Thanks for visiting and have a happy holiday season!

Need Cookie Recipes?

Starting tomorrow there will be lots of fun happening over at 

Just Let Me Quilt

for the first day of the 

Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop.

If you need cookie recipes or if you want in on the giveaway,

 follow along as bloggers show off some sweet little goodies.

Here at Creatin' in the Sticks we've been baking and tasting to make sure to bring you a really yummy treat on Tuesday, December 6th.

Here is the whole schedule:

December 5

Just Let Me Quilt - Giveaway

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Kris Loves Fabric

December 6

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Brenda’s Quilting Blog

Bumbleberry Stitches

December 7

What’s Up With Kim

Granny Can Quilt

Rosemary’s Recipe – posted at Just Let Me Quilt

December 8

Deb’s Rustic Quilting

Treasured Nest

Just Let Me Quilt

Happy eating!