Just Because Quilts: 2025

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange

Greetings!

It's time once again for the annual Christmas Virtual Cookie Swap hosted by the talented Carol of Just Let Me Quilt https://www.justletmequilt.com/ . Thank you, Carol, for inviting me to tag along on this fun and delicious blog!

Today is my day to share my holiday creations. For the Cookie Exchange, I decided to share my favorite cookies of all times. These cookies have everything I love -- sweetness, crunch, and easy to make.

DOUBLE DOODLE COOKIES

Step One

Mix together --

1/2 cups oats (I use 1-Minute)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

a generous shake of cinnamon

Step Two

Mix together in another bowl --

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

2 large eggs

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 Tablespoon real Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Step 3

Combine the oats and flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix together.

To mixture add:

3 cups milk chocolate chips

1 - 2 cups Rice Krispies

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Dough can be chilled 2-4 hours before baking if desired.

Drop teaspoon-sized mounds on parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees F for 9-12 minutes.

Serve with ice cold milk.

YUMMY!!!

These cookies will be a hit at any Cookie Exchange, or can be a great gift for family and friends.

Have you been working on any Christmas projects? If I don't start my Christmas projects early (like in August), December is a nightmare.

This year, my granddaughters asked for puff quilts. Sounds easy enough, right? These have been the hardest quilts I have ever endeavored to make. What should have been easy-peasy, stuff-and-stitch quilts turned into a real struggle. These are not easy quilts to make on a regular sewing machine, but the end result is beautiful and oh so comfy. By the third one, I was finding what worked (lots of pinning) and completed the fourth one pretty quickly. The pink is a 5 1/2" square and the blue is 6 1/2" square. They are backed with minkee, which is very soft, cuddly, and forgiving.

I better get a good hug for these!

My problem now is, do I ship from California to Texas, or do I just drive the distance and deliver them in person? If I deliver in person, I can collect on my hugs.

I followed the tutorial on YouTube to make these quilts and, other than needing a larger work space, they do go together quite quickly You can follow along at The Sewing Channel under the heading "Let Me Blow Your Mind. New Easy Puff Quilt Technique" at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+2sSNS9mdE7Q&t+674s

Well, that does it for me. Thank you again, Carol, for this fun hop. I love adding to my recipe collection. Santa's going to have a full belly this Christmas for sure! I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday!

I'm excited to see what everyone has going on this holiday season. I'm going to grab a cup of tea and a couple of cookies and do some blog hopping. You should do the same!

DECEMBER 1^st

DECEMBER 2^nd

DECEMBER 3^rd

Quilting Between The Rails

DECEMBER 4^TH

Happy Cottage Quilter

Days Filled With Joy

That Fabric Feeling

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Out-of-the-Dark Blog Hop

It's fast approaching Halloween and I am so excited to share with you my projects for the Out-of-the-Dark Blog Hop created and hosted by Joan of Moosetash Quilting. It's always so much fun to participate in this hop. I love seeing the creations of my fellow quilters and what delightfully fiendish projects they've created.

This year I started off with a banner. My only problem with this project was knowing when to stop. I made the banner out of colorful felt triangle pieces, approximately 9" x 12", and sewed on the face pieces, staggering the triangles up and down to fit next to each other nicely when placed together. All of them have button eyes to give them more color.

This was a quick and easy project to do, but who do I leave out? In the end, I made all of the Halloween icons we have come to love and expect at Halloween, and thought I could always delete a couple to make the banner shorter. I backed each triangle with another felt triangle, which I clipped to string the line, and separated each monsters with a trio of wooden balls between them.

Just some of the monsters in the line up are:

a batty bat

an old witch

Frankie

Wolfie

the mummy

a ghost

These hauntingly handsome fellows would also make a cute table runner.

Quite a parade of fiendish faces to greet this year's Trick-or-Treaters. I think I like the witch the best. Which character is your favorite?

And what is Halloween without a visit from some Ghastlies?

I really miss these guys. This has got to be one of the best Halloween fabrics ever made, but I understand they are not making this fiendish family fabric any longer. What a shame. They were my kind of people.

I use a bullet journal every day to keep me on track. The covers of my journals can get quite abused, so I make covers for them. In my stash I have some bits and pieces of leftover projects made from the Ghastlies line, so I quickly made myself a Halloween cover.

Agnes and friends thought it was a wonderful idea.

There are dozens of tutorials on YouTube that explain much better than I can how to make a book cover, so I won't bore you with the details of how I made this one, and let you choose from YouTube which one you like best.

I hope you've enjoyed my dark creations. Agnes and I are so happy you stopped by and hope you will come again soon. We'll leave a candle in the attic window.

Thank you, Joan, for hosting this fab-BOO-lous hop! You are truly the Queen of Halloween!

For more gruesome treats, visit the ghouls below to see what they have created. Happy Haunting!

Monday Oct 20

Tuesday Oct 21

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Wednesday Oct 22

Quilting Between the Rails (on Facebook)

Thursday Oct 23

Monday, October 20, 2025

Have Costume ... Will Travel

When you have to travel 1,500 miles for a costume party, it's a good idea to have a simple, easy-to-pack outfit that needs little to no explanation and few accessories.

My neighbors are traveling from California to Texas for a haunted birthday party for their baby grandson. After discussing and discarding several ideas that might be suitable, Mr. Potato Head popped up. Everyone knows Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and costumes would be easy to create, pack, and wear. Perfect!

All you need to make these iconic characters are brown T shirts, felt scraps, and felt glue. (Regular glue is not recommended.) Head gear is optional, but my neighbors are adding a derby for Mr. and a big bow for Mrs. I'm sure they will be a hit!