adventszeit

I am not getting much done in the last days before Christmas as far as sewing. Most of my projects are finished, and I am slowing down, enjoying the season. I made a couple more batches of Christmas cookies since I did well at WW last week. I really ate too many over the weekend though. I also managed to get some of my last projects finalized with binding and border before the Christmas tree went up on Saturday.

 

We have been enjoying the Christmas Season by visiting the Weihnachtsmärkte. Everything is offered from homemade wooden ornaments to hand-blown glass, scarves, socks, mitten, wicker baskets, candles, soap, Christmas decorations, quilts, artwork, and speciality foods. There is always a nice variety of foods such as Flammkuchen, Hefeklößchen, chocolate coated fruits, roasted almonds and chestnuts, candy, mulled cider and Glühwein, und Feuerwurst.  The kids even got to eat Zimtwaffeln (cinnamon waffles). Oh, how I love Christmas Time.

Weihnachtsmarkt in Dinkelsbuhl

I am usually in the search for these little wooden treasures. Do you know what they are? They are personal butter molds. You have to "bathe" them in water for an hour or two, fill them with softened butter, return them to the fridge and press out the butter with the plunger. Very cool! This time I found a flower and an owl.

Butterförmchen

We were at one of the nicest Christmas markets here in southern Germany - Dinkelsbuhl. I love returning to this town. I found the two butter forms above located in one of the baskets below. The vendor also had larger butter forms, but I don't have a lot of experience if they work well or not. My husband always tells me of his grandmother that would decorate the freshly made butter with a knife. She was pretty talented and ornate in her designs. It must have been a very beautiful lost art.

Everything made from wood

The inner city with the wall of Dinkelsbuhl is breathtaking. The buildings do not have large billboards or signs in front of the building. There must be an ordnance that states this, because you almost don't see what the shops are selling until you get right up on it.

I think Dinkelsbuhl is one of Germany's best kept secrets...Rotherburg ob der Tauber is very commercialized...where all the tourists go. Dinkelsbuhl is what I imagine the real Germany to be in the Middle Ages. The building are enormous, and you can really get the impression of how big the "Häuser" were. There weren't such things as individual homes in the cities at that time. These were made for several families and over generations.

Dinkelsbuhl am 3. Advent

I hope you are enjoying this holiday season with your friends and family. It is only about going to the office party, because you have to. It's about sharing your time, your valuable time with others. Make someone laugh today, because it is good for them, and for you!

on a Christmas roll or spiral

I am proud of myself this year! I am so into the Christmas mode - I already mailed off the presents to my American family. (They'd better arrive before Christmas, too! They tend to be locked up in Customs for weeks and don't arrive until after the holidays.) I have made five different batches of Christmas cookies and will work on some more this afternoon. I have my little owls in still in production and started on a few new holiday projects. I am really on a roll, because I usually don't get my butt into gear until the last Advent and then it is too late!

I borrowed a 9° ruler from a friend of mine to make some quick table runners. I made a few of them a couple of years ago and wanted to make them again this year for friends as gifts. Pictured to the right is this super cool, super easy, mind boggling table runner. It actually won in a contest at the Quilt Gallery! I had totally forgotten about it until Ingrid, a reader in Witzenhausen, asked about this technique. Your friends will be amazed when you make these! I am still amazed by it and am happy that I didn't give all of them away a couple of years ago.

I also wondered what else can you make with this ruler? Since my husband requested a new tree skirt for our tree, I decided I would have to make one in traditional colors this year. I first wanted to make a round spiral tree skirt, but I didn't think I had enough of all of the fabrics. Instead, I used 2 - 2 1/2" wide strips from nine different fabrics to make this quick and easy tree skirt. I used an additional 3/4 yard of the smaller prints for the between wedges. You will need 20 patchwork wedges and 20 one-fabric wedges for a total of 40 wedges.

With the left over strips, I made a very quick table runner. How cool is that - two for one! There is still a little leftover. I am still wondering what I can do with that!

And to show you what else we've been up to, my dear daughter photographed their gingerbread house. Each year I buy a store bought gingerbread package and let the kids decorate it. They have so much fun with it, and it never gets boring. I save some of the Halloween candy and let them throw that on as well. After a few days, the kids forget to eat the candy, but by Christmas, it is all gone!

Are you familiar with the 9° wedge ruler from Marilyn Doheny? Have you made anything with it? If you have, get out those photographs and link up below! I would like to see what you've made.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen