I was lucky enough to spend Halloween with my nieces this year. Lucy was the prettiest princess and Alice a very cute Jaguar. It was a windy night, cold and a few sprinkles of rain, but thankfully no snow! Lucy had a fabulous time and made sure to ask everyone for candy for her baby sister Alice too.

Those that have been around the Quilting Gallery site for a year or more may remember the birth of my Alice Lynne, last Halloween.

This year, I’ll be taking my nieces out trick or treating for the first time. Lucy, at 3.5 years old, is very excited to be a Princess (again!) and Alice will be a pumpkin.

Here are the pumpkins my sister and Lucy made this year.

I’ll post pictures of Alice’s birthday present later in the week.

With less than two months left until Christmas, I’ve started thinking about some quick and easy gifts I can make.

These fabulous Scrappy Bookmarks definitely fit that bill. Terrie has put together a great tutorial with lots of photos.

If you need a refresher course, be sure to check out Nadine’s video tutorial on edge stitching Inchies. It’ll come in handy for doing the edges of the bookmarks too.

I’ve been working this week on a new feature for the Quilting Gallery site: a Quilter’s Cookbook, to be available for sale early in December as a downloadable PDF file.

Early next week, you’ll be able to submit your family-favourite recipes for inclusion in the Cookbook. You’ll also be able to include a short story about the recipe, a photo of your favourite quilt and a story to go with the quilt. It’ll truly be a Quilter’s Cookbook.

The theme for the Cookbook is Quick and easy recipes, so we can get back to quilting. I’m looking for recipes in the following categories:

• Appetizers and Snacks
• Soups and Salads
• Main Dishes
• Quilter’s Sweet Treats (Desserts)
• Beverages
• Other Goodies

I’m really excited about this, and can’t wait to read everyone’s recipes and quilt stories. Please don’t send me your recipe in email. The submission forms will be available early next week for you to submit all the information on-line.

Start looking through your recipes and photos of a favourite quilt you’ve made or one made by a family member.

More info next week!

Julie Pieri from Quilted Pleasures writes a great monthly newsletter, The Sewing Gazette filled with news and information from the quilting and sewing world.

I’ll be a guest for the November issue. Sign up to receive the newsletter and read my interview.