Tag Archives: LCsCottage

Gingerbread

It is that time again…the time when new resolutions and goals are being stated and written everywhere.  A time when one’s hopes are fresh and new beginnings bring brightness to one’s future.

So…what are my goals?

A haircut and a dentist appointment. 

I believe in reachable goals.  Don’t you? 

It has been months since I’ve had either of these.  Last summer, I think.  I lost a filling sometime back then.

I do have a long-term goal.  It is more elusive; at least for me.  I intend to find it.  My word for 2015 is ‘Joy’.  More on this later.

The first day of the new year, I spent baking and sewing.  How great that feels!  It has been a long time.  I’m not ready to share what I am sewing, but I can share what I baked.

My favorite gingerbread recipe!

Gingerbread Recipe

*Click on the photo for an enlarged peek.

It is from my favorite cookbook.  The American Woman’s Cookbook, published in 1947, and given to me by my mother-in-law when I was a young bride.

American Woman's Cookbook

American Woman's Cookbook

A very joyful New Year to you all!

Gingerbread

A Christmas Carol

‘There is a lot of buying and selling.’ -Ebenezer Scrooge
‘Is that all you can see?’ -Ghost of Christmas Past

A lot of buying and selling.  Yup.  To my discredit, that is all that I have been able to see.

Every Christmas season, either my husband, or myself would read aloud to our children the classic,  ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens.  We would read a portion every night, and then, on Christmas Eve, we would watch the movie, starring George C. Scott.

It is a tradition that our children now practice with their children.

I am a US Postal employee.  I work six days a week.  That’s not a holiday schedule…that is my normal schedule.  Like many offices, mine is short staffed.  That’s just the way it is. 

However, I have been, and am, working 9 to 11 hour days.  That is the buying and selling that I have been seeing.  Perhaps, because I am so tired, I am not seeing the wonderful gift giving inside the hundreds of packages and cards that I handle every day.  Homemade jam, cookies, toys and more, shipped to those far away loved ones.

This post isn’t a rant, or a ‘pity me’ post.

Tonight, the words have come back to me:

‘There is a lot of buying and selling.’ -Ebenezer Scrooge
‘Is that all you can see?’ -Ghost of Christmas Past

I want to give a shout out to all of those postal drivers and workers, to UPS employees, to the FedEx employees, the retail clerks, the waiters and waitresses, to the bakers, and many more who have neglected their blogs, their families, and  their Christmas card list.  Those who couldn’t go to the Christmas parties and plays and concerts; who didn’t have time to bake holiday cookies and fruitcakes, nor go shopping and out to lunch.

To all of those who are working so diligently to bring a merry Christmas season to many others:

May you experience the love and joy from Him, of whom Christmas is really all about.  And may you be blessed with much peace in the New Year.

Thank you!  God bless you, everyone!

Tiny Tim/Anthony Walters

Color/Value Visual

I thought that you might like to see a visual experiment on what color/value can do in a quilt design.

I am using the Autumn Tints block in a straight set and with the same five colors in every design that you see.

The very first design is the Autumn Tints block set side by side with no sashing.  All of the other designs have sashing between the blocks (I wanted to see if I could introduce some perspective to the design).

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

Autumn Tints Straight Set

I came up with even more variations just by moving the color/value around.  Sometimes there are very interesting effects, such as squares appearing to ‘float’.

There will be a visually appealing look just for you if you experiment with color and value!

I participated in the Around the World Blog Hop in this post from last week.  I encourage you to check out this week’s participants:

Cathi Godwin over at Quilt Obsession
Linda Jo Reed over at Upheld in the Battle
Amy Johnson over at Amy’s Free Motion Quilting Adventures