It’s so close! Sweet Celebrations, Moda Bakeshop’s second book, is almost here. And I’m lucky enough to be a part of it! My quilt (that I can’t show you yet) is Christmas themed. And I like to think that it is Holiday Fun without being over the top. But you tell me when you see it. 😉 Since this is a bakeshop quilt, obviously it was made with precuts. And I loved using a few layer cakes of neutral Bella solids in combination with a mix of fat quarters from all kinds of designers. And yes, I did my own quilting on that thing…I think it was 14 bobbins I went through?!
Oda May, Moda’s hard hitting journalist, sent me a few questions to answer so you all can get to know me a bit better. If you are a regular reader, some of these may be old news to you. But if you are new (first of all, welcome!) you may be at least slightly amused by me.
OM: Do you prefer a corner piece or a center piece when eating cake? Or do you not like to discriminate?
Angela: It depends on how good the frosting is! If it is light and fluffy and made with almond flavoring then I will most definitely take a corner piece. Yum. Otherwise, I’m not too picky….well I am but I try not to be. 😉
OM: Tell us about your favorite apron.
Angela: Well….I wasn’t going to bring it up, but I am kind of partial to this certain Apron I made for a certain competition *cough…the Moda Bakeshop Sliced Competition*. It’s hanging in my kitchen now and I’ll be sure to wear it this holiday season for serving cocktails to my guests. I love how it’s dressy but still an apron. I just love aprons that look like clothing.
OM: How do you press your seams?
Angela: I was once a die hard press your seams to one side kind of gal. But now I’ve learned that sometimes it is better to press them to the side and sometimes it is better to press them open. Either way, I’m very thoughtful about them. When I have a lot of seams that meet at a point, I tend to press them open. When I have a lot of blocks to sew together, I press to one side but I am sure to alternate my seams so they butt up together and have less bulk.
OM: Do your pets/kids/spouse help or hinder your creative process?
Angela: Uhm…yes? Often! Both. I have a husband, a two year old and a cat and between the three, I’m lucky to get some time to sew. As you might expect both the cat and the two year old are drawn to anything fabric and sparkly. And my husband just wants my time (can’t blame him!). But in the end, they are the greatest inspiration. I doubt I would have made this backpack without the inspiration of an adorable toddler to wear it. (And I’m happy to say that she uses it all the time for preschool!)
OM: If you could have a quilt shop spree, which items would you snag off the shelf?
Angela: Is that a trick question? EVERYTHING!!
And in keeping with the Bakeshop and Celebration theme, here is a recipe (a food one!) that we make every year especially at Christmas. It’s the perfect, make ahead, bake and bring to a party kind of food. It truly is scrumptious.
My favorite tradition is definitely getting together to decorate our tree. I love that thing. But a lot of my family is Jewish, and I also love getting together to play dreidel and winning the Hanukkah gelt (right next to the Christmas tree; we're a mixed bag).
My favorite Christmas tradition is our family brunch that we have after the presents are opened. Everyone leaves happy and full of good food.
I have a small bell that my husband saves for me to put on the tree. It was given to my mother from her mother the year I was born. I put it up, have a good cry remembering those women who are me, and then Christmas at home can start.
Spending the afternoon at my sister's house, it used to be just the 6 siblings and parents. Then we added husbands and boy/girlfriends. Now it's all the kids and their spouses and grandkids…can't beat that!
One tradition that we've kept in our family is to celebrate Christmas the European way. We celebrate on Christmas Eve. We read the story of Christ's birth and all the kids get to play songs on their instruments and we have an enjoyable relaxing evening.
We love making Christmas cookies with the kids.
Ooooh, I love exchanges of all sorts: ornament exchanges, cookies swaps, secret Santa parties. 🙂
Abigail
We are just starting this tradition, but I'm very excited about it… each member of our immediate family has another person in our immediate family that we will each MAKE a gift for for Christmas. My kids are 9 and younger, so it will be a tradition that we will love for a long time!
kim dot woodbury at gmail dot com
We made a gingerbread house with the kids last year; even though it was from a kit, the kids LOVED it and are already asking to do another this year. Thanks for chance to win! (EMAIL: marshudson at comcast dot net)
We have an ornament exchange when all of my family gets together for Christmas. Young & old have so much fun stealing from each other & laughing or oohing & ahhing over the ornaments.
Tradition is to have our family time on Christmas morning after everyone is up and we have had a BIG home cooked breakfast, then we open gifts, one at a time! Such fun! lisamcgriff (at) hotmail (dot) com
This isn't quite a tradition, but one of my favorite simple tasks to mark the changing seasons is swapping out the bed sheets for the warm, cozy flannel ones 🙂
We make my Grandmother's Christmas Cookie recipe. So much fun to carry on this tradition and pass it on.
My favorite Christmas tradition is making christmas cookies!
For the past almost 10 years, my high school girl friends and I get together for a gift exchange, dinner, and of course to simply catch up and chat. Recently we changed the rules so that we donate to a charity of our secret santa's choice, and attempt to hand create a gift for them with limited funds ($5-$10) so it forces us to value the little things and to dig a bit deeper for cheap things. Its amazing what we create for each other! No one believes they can make anything nice, but when we do the exchange we are all always surprised to find out what each other has made.
Thanks for the giveaway. My favorite THanksgiving tradition is the day after we go shopping and then to see the tree lighting in Indianapolis.
i love every thing christmas
I love my daughter to snuggle up in a new sleepsuit on Christmas Eve 🙂
I love your Bakeshop recipes! Congrats on the book and thanks for the giveaway.
My favorite Christmas tradition is unpacking my mother's nativity scene music box and setting it up. I love to wind the music box and listen to Silent Night.
We always open one present on Christmas Eve. I always like to make something new for Christmas too…like a new throw quilt or this year is new stockings. Thanks for the chance to win!
Santa always brings us breakfast in our stockings. It's always the kind of things I would never get my kids…individual boxes of cereal, squeezable applesauce,etc…and tides them over while my husband and I take our time making brunch.
Every Christmas Eve, we have a fondue supper. We have three pots set on the table. It's so much fun as we linger over our food. We end up eating way too much too.
I love going to see the live nativity at a church here where I live. It really helps us all to keep Our focus on the real reason for the season!!!
When I was growing up we always opened our gift Christmas morning and spent most of the day in our pjs. I wanted the same for our kids and and that's what we did. We'd have Christmas Eve at family and church but Christmas morning was reserved for our house. Thanks for a super receipe, yumyum!
Thanks so much for a great giveaway and a chance to win.
usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com
My favorite tradition is opening my stocking first thing in the morning since my parents would always still be asleep. I had little presents to tide me over so I wouldn't wake them up haha! 🙂
My fondest memory was when my daughter was younger and she still believed. We would not only make a plate full of cookies for Santa, we would make sure the reindeer were well fed too. We'd put a plate full of carrots and water out for them to munch on. Oh so many little nibbles I'd have to take in those carrots. In the morning, she was so thrilled to see their "teeth marks" in those carrots. ah… the days when things were simple…
khauglan at [yahoo] dot com
It just isn't Christmas without displaying my Santa and Snowman candles. They are and a little cheesy but they are all that I could afford to decorate with the very first year I was out on my own.
I love making handmade ornaments to tie on packages. This has been a family tradition since I was a child. We tie a piece of embroidery floss (color coded to the child) on them and then when they leave home they will have a wonderful collection to take with them@
Christmas morning we (adults) have Mimosas and eat sausage and cream cheese roll-ups in crescent rolls! Yum yum!
My favourite tradition on Christmas is driving up to my aunt's house and eating until we're stuffed!
Our favorite holiday tradition is "uglies." When our children were small (a long time ago since our oldest grandchild is 20) we started the tradition of giving small inexpensive unique and often ugly gifts. It enabled them to purchase a beloved gift for very little money. Most of the time they are functional pieces. My favorite to this day is one I've had over 30 years — a kitchen timer that looks like a can of italian tomato sauce. It doesn't match my kitchen decor, but had a prominent spot on the counter.
My favorite tradition is helping my grandma get all the food ready 🙂
Christmas Tradition – My Late Grandmothers Frozen Christmas Pudding … it can only be made during Advent and once it is all gone it is all gone. It is hot here in Australia so it is a welcome alternative to hot boiled pudding… plus it is the yummiest food ever and tastes like Christmas time to me.
I enjoy making a Christmas tree ornament every year – often, it's a snowman or gingerbread man – and I make multiples so that each of my kids receives one. Good memories!
Decorated sugar cookies made with 'real' butter….so yummy! Lisa in Texas
My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating our tree. I usually do most of the work, and everyone else "supervises" but it's my favorite!
My favorite tradition is driving around before Christmas looking at all the Christmas lights and decorated houses.
My favorite holiday tradition is getting together christmas eve and having appetizers with family and playing cards and board games and maybe before heading to bed opening a single present.
On Thanksgiving weekend, my daughter and her girls, and daughter-in-law and girls like to make a quilt,usually a rag quilt so we all can work on it!
A relatively new tradition is to go to my son's and spend Christmas Eve at their home and wake up for Christmas with the grandson. He is getting older now but I hope they keep inviting us to stay with them. It would be very lonely and sad if we had to stay home and not be with family.
On Christmas eve all our families meets up at Mom's and go onto what used to be called "Midnight" mass, which changed to 10 pm, then 8 pm and currently its at 6 pm. 🙂 After mass we have dinner and later open presents.
We exchange gifts with each member of the family–none of those gift exchanges, with one gift per person for us. We designate someone to pass out gifts–each person is given one gift with their name on it,then we open them in turn, from oldest to youngest. Then the next round is passed out and it starts again. To make it last longer, we've been known to choose lots of little gifts so they can be individually wrapped.
My favourite tradition is cutting down our own Christmas tree from the farm!
Holidays help me slow down and remember to be joyful. thanks for the chance
Favorite Christmas tradition is going to Temple Square in Salt Lake City and seeing all the lights. It is beautiful and I love being in the hustle and bustle of all the people.
I love finding out what is in my Christmas stocking on Christmas morning!
My family gets together for Christmas Eve dinner at my parents. After dinner, the children from each family perform a song or skit that they created in the weeks before!
My in-laws are the tradition makers in my family. They take my kids on outings every week in December. Usually to the Zoo for ZooLights, There is an old train that runs along a Railroad and is used as the Polar Express, Downtown for Christmas Lights, and The Nutcracker. My husband use the time to go Christmas shopping or a night our for ourselves!
I love making pajamas for my son and neices, nephews, and parents. It's so much fun to pick a fabric that reminds me of them or something they accomplished that year, and to know the receiver loves the thought and comfort of my gift.
My favourite holiday tradition is playing crokinole.