Four More Sleeps

The twenty-first is winding down, and Christmas Day will be here before we know it. As you can see, my Christmas cactus has decided to bloom right on time. There are several others in bloom as well.

We got such a fun package in the mail today from my sister and her husband. We had a good time exploring all the goodies in the box, but my favorite has to be this sock monkey mug. It is making me happy right now being filled with hot tea!

You might have noticed that I like sock monkeys. Just a little bit. And that they seem to find their way into lots of the quilts I make. What can I say? They just make me smile, and I figure they might do the same for someone else. Smiles are good.

This pretty little tote bag showed up here last week from my friend Sheila. Beautiful construction work she did. I shall enjoy using it. Matter of fact it has a small crochet project in it right now!

I got another package today. This was from my friend Deb, aka Wonky Girl. Look at this gorgeous fabric! Oh the fun we'll have together! Blog friends are such a blessing to me! 

I have completed twenty of these star blocks and cut the sashing strips. Soon, this too will grow into a quilt.

 

This one has grown into a quilt, but it has not had its binding added yet. I need to get busy.

 

This is a busy time of year for us all, isn't it. Our baby girl Mary will here Wednesday! We can hardly wait. We are all looking forward to a Christmas feast here on Friday.

 

I hope your plans and projects are all lining up happily and that you are taking time to just enjoy the season. We are so blessed to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus!

 

Hugs and kisses,

If I Were a Bird

I think I would want to be a safe inside parakeet on a day like today. This is Miss Ru's Pete Keet, and he is singing along with the playlist today while outside it is cold and rainy. If you look through his cage past the ceramic chickens on the shelf you might notice birds on the feeder outside helping themselves to some bird seed. I wonder if Pete feels superior? He lived in the wild for a time before he came here to live. I'm sure it was an accidental thing, but he definitely does not want to leave his cage. I have to clean around him because he will not let me take him out, nor will he leave on his own power. Ruthie had been saying she wanted a parakeet, and one day when Mr. Muddling went out to the chicken yard, there was a parakeet eating chicken feed! He came inside, put on gloves and went back and got him. We had a cage in the garage, which I quickly cleaned up and furnished with paper and seed, and there he lives still. Isn't it interesting how our loving heavenly Father will supply even our wants?

 

On the sewing front, I finally finished the flannel tumbler quilt for our bed. It is heavy! I'm sure we will enjoy it when it really gets cold here, but for now - I'm just glad to have it done!

 

 

This top is also finished and the "rocky" looking flannel underneath is to be its backing. My friend Phyllis came down and did a lot of sewing of that top, and then I finished putting it together. Now I need to get it quilted and bound. This will also be a USO quilt.

Quarter square triangles in solids and stripes along with some 4 1/2 inch squares have been growing into these star blocks.  I like to let things develop as I go along. Seldom do I know exactly what I am going to do as I make a quilt, but it surely is fun to find out!

We are getting a little bit of Christmas decorating underway. I need to go buy more Christmas tree lights tomorrow. And the really good news is our Mary will be coming home for a few days at Christmas! It will be so good to see her again. She says she's going to try to stay awake the whole time so she won't miss anything. Funny girl! I told her she will probably pass out with a food overload!

 

I hope your holiday preparations are well in hand and that you have lots of plans for fun and good fellowship.

 

Hugs and kisses.