The Scrappy Christmas Quilt

I know everyone has packed away all things Christmas, but I'm squeezing in one more quilt finish this year and it's a Christmas quilt.

I LOVE Christmas! First and foremost, I love celebrating the birth of our Savior. This little nativity I made is the first thing to go up when I pull out the decorations:

                      

I love soaking in time with family and spending time with friends. I love cooking and baking all the Christmas favorites - our yearly Cranberry Sour Cream Pound Cake is only made once a year - Jesus's Birthday Cake:

I love tradition. The only thing missing all these years was a designated Christmas quilt and it had to be scrappy. I have 2 Christmas quilts that I lay at the foot of the bed in each of the kids' rooms - this one:

                                        

And this one:

                                        

And I love them both, but I wanted a Christmas cuddling quilt to snuggle under while watching Christmas movies and munching popcorn by the light of the tree. I collected fabrics for years:

                                 

I settled on this pattern from a 2013 Quiltmaker issue:

                                                            

Cut and pieced blocks last year:

                              

And finally handed it off to Jackie to work her magic. Cute Christmas lights on a green Cuddle fabric.

 I bought yards and yards of this fabric for $2.00 / yd years ago and pulled it out for the binding:

And I savored stitching the binding while visiting with DH in the evenings:

                               

At  68 x 88 it's a good snuggle size.

My quilt holders wanted to stay incognito:

But antics ensued:

As they are wont to do around here:

Oh, to be young and nimble again!

No quilt holders were harmed in the production of this post. :)

This is my final finish for the year and it's already become a treasured part of the Christmas Season at the end of the dirt road where shenanigans, naps and quilts are always welcome:

Finally - A Quilt Finish

Hold on to your hats. I've actually got a finished quilt to share today. It's been a while.

A few months ago our son mentioned that his girlfriend would really LOVE a quilt. It makes my heart happy that the kids enjoy and appreciate the quilts I make because I love making quilts for them. When they come to visit she often walks around admiring the ones I have out and it's always heartwarming to see everyone curled beneath them in the evenings. She loves turquoise and horses and when I stumbled upon this fabric, I knew it was the perfect fit.

I wanted something youthful and modern for the design and this pattern made the cut:

                                              

I chose a turquoise minky for the back and Jackie quilted this fun design across it with turquoise thread:

                             

I enjoyed stitching on the binding in the evenings and it finished at 53 x 67:

                                    

Merry Christmas!

A message from Skeet:

From all of us at the end of the dirt road - may the magic of Christmas fill your hearts and homes as we celebrate the birth of the Savior.

Dangerous Pecans

So, when I asked DH what he wanted me to make the most for Christmas, he said Praline Pecans. It has become a tradition that we buy a cone of them from a vender at the WRCA in Amarillo when we are there every November as we leave and head home. Through the years I've tried a few recipes here and there, but it was never THE ONE. Well, this year I tried these and Eureka!

We can't keep our hands out of them. I'm not going to link to the original recipe because when I try to go there, it tells me it's not a safe site and I don't want to send ya'll anywhere that's unsafe. 😉. And I saw them on Amazon: 2lb 6oz for $44.99! Holey Moley!

We have a Safari Club Christmas party to attend later this week. The meal is catered, but everyone brings something for the dessert table. When I asked DH what I ought to bring, he just looked at me. We've been married long enough for me to know his answer was these Whiskey Praline Pecans.

Initially, I made one batch to try. They disappeared. I am taking a double batch to the party, but I can't make them until that day or there won't be any to take. I will triple the batch for us at Christmas. That will give us enough to share with the neighbors.

 Whiskey (Bourbon) Praline Pecans

1 lb pecan halves
1/4 C sugar + 1 Tbsp for later
1/4 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1 large egg white
2 Tbsp whiskey or bourbon
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vanilla

*Preheat oven to 250°. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine 1/4 C sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt. Set aside.
In a 2nd bowl, combine egg white, whiskey or bourbon, honey, and vanilla. Whisk together until frothy. Add pecans and stir to coat. Remove pecans with a slotted spoon and add to sugar mixture, leaving extra liquid behind. Stir until all pecans are well-coated. Sprinkle extra Tbsp of sugar over pecans and give a quick stir. Pour pecans onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Pecans will be sticky until they cool. Good luck restraining yourself from eating them all. In fact, I made 6 batches. 😲

I know someone will ask - you can use any whiskey or bourbon. You can't really taste it in the finished product, but I used Maker's 46 because that's what was in the cabinet. And no, the cayenne doesn't make them very spicy. At least not to us so I add just a smidge more than the original recipe.

DH suggested I try this with almonds so I did. Two thumbs up!

However, the pecans hold the coating better due to their shape. I guess you could say we're going a little nuts around here. 😊