Christmas Eve

Everyone is nestled all snug in their beds.  Christmas Eve is here.  

The little half-hexagon wall hanging is complete at last and hanging at the end of the longarm.  Fitting place, don't you think?  If you look closely at the bottom left, you will see what is a laundry basket with blankets in it.  Also in it is Dinah, and those are her eyes you can see shining there.

Dinah likes ice cream.  I learned that giving the two older dogs their nightly allergy medication is easier if I wrap it in ice cream and toss it to them.  It goes right down.  Now they wait patiently for bedtime because they know there will be ice cream.  Dinah has figured this out, too, and shows up for her share.  Of course, Lady gets ice cream, too.  Chloe is far too dignified to join in that sort of thing.

I am so happy this year to actually have Christmas cactus blooming at Christmas time!  That hasn't happened for years.  I was beginning to think it never would, but my hope has been rewarded.  Aren't they pretty!  That is my grandparents' photo there on the right.  I keep them where I can look at them often.  I still miss them, and they've been gone for a long time.  As a former pastor used to say, we have treasure in heaven.

I pray for each of you a blessed and happy Christmas, full of only good things and covered in peace.

Hugs and kisses,

It Only Looks Like Chaos

I ordered a kit from Connecting Threads.  Really liked all the fabric.  Did not like the fact that I would have had to cut out templates and then cut out LOTS of pieces.  So I cheated.  I cut 6 1/2" inch squares from all the pretty fabrics and 2 1/2" strips out of the accent fabric.

I sewed all the squares to the strips,

then added another strip to one side.

Cut them apart, pressed and went to the design wall.

There was coffee and ice cream involved in the process and then somewhere along the way I decided to do my nails in Christmas red and green.  (Did NOT work out well.)

Anyway, here is the end result.  I like it.  It was relatively quick and easy and most importantly - fun to make.

It has Warm & Natural batting and a fleece backing.  You may notice that I evenly divided the back.  There is a reason.  You see, this quilt is going to our granddaughter who was married the last day of October.  We haven't met her husband yet, but they are here in town now and this quilt is for them.  I thought if I put a clear dividing line, there could be no argument about how much of the quilt each gets for cover.  Not that I think they would be fighting about it, just trying to think ahead.  You know. LOL

Meanwhile, outside it is getting cold again.  (Stop laughing, Thimbleanna!) I know that you who live in the frozen North don't think that it gets cold here, but it's cold to me!  I'm really thankful I do not have to deal with really cold weather very often.  Our little patio is not weatherproof, but it should give enough shelter to keep these plants alive since our temps are supposed to hover around the freezing mark the next couple of nights.

I also put in a couple of gratuitous cat pics.  Dinah is not really angry as she looks, nor is Chloe nearly as innocent as she looks.   But we love them.

I'm still working on my little half-tumbler wall hanging.  I quilted it on the longarm, but it wasn't enough, so I'm stitching in the ditch on my darling Singer 201.  It's kind of relaxing in a weird sort of way.

I hope you are having fun and getting lots done that needs to be done.  And if I don't see you again before then, Merry Christmas!

Hugs and kisses and lots of love,

It's Beginning to Look More Like Christmas

I do love this time of year.  Not the cold, so much, but the decorations and the cookies!  

This little Sixteen-Patch X's quilt is finished.  I used the signature die from the GO! cutter and the sixteen patches for alternate blocks  It was a fun quilt to make.

I guess this might look like a mess, but it's bits and pieces of the completed quilt.

The backing is two same pattern/different color flannel prints.  It should make someone a nice, warm quilt.

This is the half-hexie project I've been working on, now a completed flimsy.  I still need to get it quilted and it will be a wall hanging.  This one, too, was a lot of fun to make.

I cut more half-hexies and some tumblers last night and there are a couple more projects that I have put aside.  We'll see what jumps in line first.

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend and found something to do that gives you joy!

I am so thankful for this world of quilting and blogging that I discovered.  It does give me joy and, I think, brings happiness to a lot of others, too.

Hugs and kisses,

I Have the Best Sister!

Last week when I posted about eating pizza on the patio with sweet Miss Ru, we were drinking root beer and it made me think of candies my sister and I  used to eat when we were very young.  So, of course I emailed my sister Sue to reminisce about the root beer flavored Necco candies.  She, being a masterful online shopper, sent me a big tin of those very candies which arrived today!  What a lovely surprise.  She also included a log cabin shaped bottle of Vermont maple syrup and a cute little green glass Christmas tree. 

I honestly did not remember all the other flavors, but there they are.  I also did not know that these candies were first manufactured in 1847!

Of course this little package of candies is not there any more.  I sampled them all away.  Good news is there's plenty more in that tin. Thank you, Sue!!!

I finished the quilting on this little quilt last night.  Still need to get it trimmed and bound.

I had a little mishap.  I was sewing along using a ruler to attempt some straight lines and ran over said ruler.  No real damage, just a broken needle.  I am so enjoying using this machine.  It is a pure joy to "drive"!  

I hope you've had a good weekend.  It's still fairly cold here, but nothing like Boulder, where Sue told me it was 7, yes that's seven, degrees when she got up this morning.  Brrrrr!

Hugs and kisses,

Tracy's Blocks Have Become a Quilt

A while back I put some blocks that a friend from church had made into sashing and borders and quilted it.  You can see it here.  At that time she had also given me another set of blocks to make into a quilt.  Now they, too, have been sashed, bordered and quilted.

I had fun with the quilting on this one.  I played all over the quilt with freehand flowers, swirlies and ribbons.  Not perfect, but still pretty good!  Tracy did such a wonderful job of piecing the blocks that it was just a joy to put the together.  I believe she plans to gift this one to her sister.

The serial number for my Singer 201 was issued on September 5, 1940, which makes her even older than me!  I do so enjoy sewing on this machine.  She just hums along through most anything.

I made pizza yesterday, and Miss Ru and I had it for lunch out on the patio.  As you can see, there was considerable agitating by Bruno and Lady for a share of the grub.  (They were not terribly successful......)

 

I am so thankful for so many things, including you!  I hope you are having lots of fun and finding a way to help others in the process.

 

Hugs and kisses,

Three Quilts Headed to Ohio

Two perfectly beautiful child-sized quilts made by my friend Sandy.

A little glimpse of the backing on one,

and the backing on the other.  Both of these will be going to Quilts of Compassion and eventually to some of the victims of the tornadoes that ravaged the north central states recently.

Dinah has inspected and approved these two for shipment.

This third one I shared earlier in the week, also made by Sandy and quilted by me.  We are so happy to do this that we can to help those who have lost so much.  

There was cold weather here for about a week.  It is warming up a bit now and I'm glad.  Some things were damaged, but you can see these roses are still smiling!

Speaking of smiling, I am smiling that I got to put the cushions back out on the swing on the patio and enjoy sitting out there for a bit this afternoon.  Life is good!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving if that is something you celebrate.  I'm glad we have a day set aside in this country to thank God for all His blessings, but really - we should be doing that every day.  He is so good!

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Hurrah! Two Quilted and Bound

This is the Christmas string quilt made from the strings I won on the wonderful Millie's blog a while back.  The border fabric entered my stash from my friend Sandy.

The backing is this fun fleece.  Got to have a little extra warmth this time of year.

A little close up of the quilting while it was still on the frame.  I just did a free-hand swirlie thing.

I quilted and bound this one made by Sandy.  It is another of those Ten Minute Block quilts.

The backing is a Jenny Beyer print.

Here is a close up of the quilting - again free-hand, and certainly not perfect, but I like it anyway.  This one will be going to the Quilts for the Northwest for those who suffered through that horrible round of tornadoes.  Here is a link to the post where Bonnie Hunter told about this particular group.

It has been really cold here.  For us, that is.  We are not much accustomed to cold weather.  Even the dogs have to be covered.  Don't they looks sweet?? And funny.

Chloe just covers her face and takes a nap.  

I am cooking in preparation for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow.  We will enjoy family and thank God for all His blessings

Hope you have a wonderful time, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Lemons, Quilts and Cats

We have quite a nice lemon harvest this year.  There were near freezing temperatures forecast recently, so I went ahead and brought most of the lemons inside.  There has been juicing, and slicing and freezing happening here, and I also shared some with my neighbors.  

My next door neighbor Michelle brought us this lemon meringue pie made with some of those lemons last night!  Talk about a quick return on my generosity.  And boy, oh, boy, is it good!! 

I got a new Go! die the other day - a hexagon.  There are three sizes, and I had an idea.  I know, dangerous, huh?  I cut different fabrics just a little over half-size of the largest hexagon.  This effectively makes it a half hexagon and therefore much easier to sew together.  No "Y" seams.  It will take some planning to get the rows to work out right and you know I'm not the greatest at planning ahead, but we'll see.

The Christmas strings are coming along nicely.  Soon and very soon there will be a Christmas Coins quilt here!

Chloe is NOT happy.  Dinah has made herself perfectly at home and feels absolutely no shame about eating from Chloe's bowl.  Oh, the woes of having to be the grownup.  I feel Chloe's pain.  Isn't that the most pathetic face you've seen lately?




I do hope you're having lots of fun and not having to do too many grown up things that are unpleasant to you.

Hugs and kisses,