Christmas cooking and a little stitching

After making the complicated truffles, I made the trusty chocolate and coffee truffles I usually make and they were so easy!

I stitched this little angel the other night. She is a stamped image and was fun to stitch.

I also finished off 2 more of these decorations using Theodora Cleave buttons and Marg Low's patterns.

I had a busy day today shopping for the final bits of fruit and salad for the Christmas meals and then did a bit more cooking. We are heading to my daughter and son-in-law's place tonight to celebrate Christmas eve...eve and have our presents for our immediate family. Tomorrow the rest of the family comes. Hope all your preparations are going well.

Cooking!

On Saturday, I also attempted to make these lovely chocolate truffles. The recipe was in the Good Taste magazine.

They CAN look like this.

They were quite difficult to manage and ended up looking like this, though they taste quite yummy!

Yesterday I baked again. Those who know me well, know that I don't enjoy the mess and effort of cooking (I would much rather be stitching) but I always make special treats at Christmas so it is necessary and with lots of people coming, I need lots of treats. Here are some of my florentines.

Please note that everything so far has a chocolate component! Oh dear.

Giveaway drawn

Thank you to those who commented on my Giveaway post. I am so glad you liked the decoration and the pattern. I have drawn the winners and they are catita and Heidi. Congratulations. I will get the pattern to you as soon as possible.

Some little gifts and baking...

I had a very successful shopping trip yesterday with my girls and managed to get the last of the gifts. They are under the tree, wrapped and ready. I have just wrapped some decorations for my girls and have made these appliqued hand towels for them and one for me. They are designs out of some of Nancy Halverson's Christmas books.

I also had a baking afternoon yesterday and had a go at this Panforte from the latest Donna Hay magazine. Looks OK in this picture from the magazine, so hope it tastes yummy.

Don't forget to comment by tonight on the December 16 post to be in the giveaway for the Nativity pattern. I'll draw it tomorrow morning.

Only a week to go......

I was planning to do some Christmas cooking today but I HAVEN'T! I am trying to do many little chores, like cleaning and shopping and today ended up being a bit of cleaning and another large shop and a little wrapping of gifts. Oh well, thankfully there are more days before Christmas. This is our first ever Christmas where we are staying at home and the family are coming to us. This is very exciting but means I have to think about FOOD! I usually do lots of sweet things and others do the meat and veg and salad etc! There are lots of things to think about and some very long lists.

Thought I would share this special decoration that Anita was showing me the other day. It is a bought shape and it is filled with lots of scraps of thread.... Anita calls them orts (I think) and we save them for her. Looks pretty good!

I have just finished stitching this little nativity, stamped using one of my favourite stamps, for a gift. It is a lot of work but worth it.

Here are a few more fused felt decorations. They have been fun to make.

Here is my almost empty shortbread tin. It was full to the brim recently! Should have made some more today!

New pattern, new decoration and a giveaway

So exciting to get the new wooden nativity decorations last week. Laraine has cut the wooden decorations and they look lovely. Thank you Laraine. I have prepared a pattern which includes a stitchery of the design, the instructions for painting the decoration and the background mini quilt. The patterns and extra decorations are at Hobbysew now.

This is the decoration which is hanging on my tree just as it is!

And here is the stitchery version.

I am having a giveaway of two patterns including the decoration for two lucky bloggers. Just leave a comment on this post before Monday and I will draw it then and post as soon as possible after that.

The last of the show and tell!

Check out this wonderful Catherine wheels quilt! Doesn't it look fabulous?

Janet taught a bargello class and here are 2 of the finished quilts. They look great.

Margaret came and showed us her finished bag! Such lovely colours.

Margaret has also finished this wonderful quilt.

Thought I had best finish up the showing and telling but the quilts were very inspiring!