Winter at the Studio

While it's December now and there's no classes scheduled this month at the Quilt Studio, it's a great time to push through personal projects and clean up the place. I'll post next time about the upcoming January 2009 classes. A kindly friend helped me file and sort and the scrap bin has been replenished as each large tub of fabric gets gone through and the little stuff pitched or given away. December is kind of a reflective time for me. Rod and I rarely exchange large gifts and this year more than ever we're having a low-key holiday.

But that doesn't mean depressing or sad. Far from it. We're spending time with friends and I'm doing some baking. This year the goal is loaves of traditional German stollen (fancy sweet bread) filled with almonds and candied fruit. Here's an excellent recipe for stollen at this link and the photo is used with the permission of Aimee, the blog's writer. http://www.underthehighchair.com/2007/11/who-stole-my-stollen.html

I bought a huge ham to bake for a church Christmas party. Come Monday I will be at home most of the day, basting the enormous haunch with a blend of coffee, brown sugar, lemon juice, and spices. After the feast, we'll take home the ham bone and plan a slow-cooked pot of beans. The picture is last year's Thanksgiving feast but take my word, this year's ham is twice as large.

Not to post without a quilt reference, the moon's been spectacular as it hit perigee last night-lovely and large. Here's a little wall hanging I made called Sol y Luna (Sun and Moon) for a charity auction. The work is reverse applique and different than anything I've made so far.