Fellow Quilters,

Greetings from the Caribbean!  Hubby and I are cruising through the Eastern Caribbean, where it is hot and humid.  Today is a sea day, which means a work day for me.  My temporary office is the back pool deck and I have to say that the views from my “window” are terrific.  This is the view off the back deck yesterday in Dominica.

Sailing out of Roseau, Dominica

Have you started decorating for Christmas?  When I am at home, my growing collection of Christmas quilts is hauled out of storage on December 1 and each bed is “decorated” with a festive quilt.  The pictures hanging on the walls are replaced with wall quilts.  And my Christmas dishes once again fill the cupboards.

The ship has decorated for the holidays as well.  There are numerous Christmas trees in the various lounges, and garland in the common areas.

The atrium tree

The biggest display is the 15ft wide gingerbread village created by the culinary team, complete with a train, set up in the atrium.  The young children onboard the ship are fascinated by it, not just by the moving train but also the sparkling lights.

Sparkle is the theme for this month’s Quilt Block Mania, and 12 other designers have contributed blocks based on this seasonal theme.  My Starburst block is a favorite of mine.

Starburst block by Patti’s Patchwork

It is a quick and easy variation of the classic Spinning Star block – if you’re familiar with this block, you’re probably thinking that it looks exactly like a Spinning Star, and you would be correct.  The original version of this classic block has a partial seam, and most quilters avoid them when possible (they’re not chain-piecing-friendly).  While I am fine with partial seams (I was a garment sewer before I became a quilter), this one is very short and therefore more difficult than your average partial seam.  I redesigned this block to eliminate the pesky partial seam and turn the block into a 9-patch.  Wham, bam, done!  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  You can download the pattern for Starburst here.

You can find the links to the other pattern designers’ blocks below:

Sparkle Heart by Carolina Moore
Sparkly Star by Patchwork Breeze
Diamond Ring by Crafty Staci
Stellar by Inquiring Quilter
Sparkle Star by Scrapdash
Snowflake by QuiltFabrication
Starburst by Patti’s Patchwork
Tree by Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts
Sparkle with San Diego Sewn
Aurora by Emerald Falls Quilts
Twinkle Twinkle by Epida Studio
Sparkly Ohio Star by Oh Kaye Quilting
Crown by Appliques Quilts and More
Sparkly Christmas Bell by Around the Bobbin
Prismatic Points

Have you found easier variations of your favorite blocks?  If so, please share the details by leaving a comment below.  Call me weird, but these things excite my brain 😊

Recipe time!  Holiday baking is a tradition in my family – my guys insist on it and are very willing testers as well as dish washers.  Christmas Crack(le) is one of my new go-to holiday sweets and it’s quite easy.  I tweaked the recipe (of course!), substituting Pretzel Crisps (they’re very thin, like crackers) in place of twisty pretzels or saltines.  The colorful photo is from momontimeout.com

Photo from momontineout.com

Christmas Crack(le)

6oz (180g) Pretzel Crisps (I get jumbo bags from Costco)
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 11” x 17” (very large) baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread pretzels in single layer, covering entire surface.
2. Combine butter, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla. Cook on medium heat until boiling, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Stop stirring and boil for 5 minutes.  Quickly pour over pretzels, covering most of them (it will spread as it cooks).
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips.  After 3 minutes, spread over toffee.  Optional:  Sprinkle with ½ cup chopped almonds/pistachios/dried fruit/holiday sprinkles  Chill for 1 hour and break into pieces.

Wishing you a joyous, peaceful holiday 😊

Patti