Happy Holidays !

Hope everyone had an enjoyable C'mas Day with family and friends. We had a nice ham dinner, sat and visited and exchanged a few gifts. JD stayed for the afternoon and evening; Mark went home to 'straighten' his house for visitors this weekend and Nate met Deanie and went to her parents for the evening. JD left sometime during the evening (I went to bed early - football on TV gets the best of me). Tracy and Mitch both called and had nice visits with them. And Anna called again the next night to tell me her mom was painting a wall in their dining room RED! She's a sweetie. I'm waiting for pictures from the far-away G'kids.

This morning Chet and I went out to Mark's for breakfast and a visit with Darcy, Tori and Tia. Tia will be living with Mark and going back to school here - to be with friends. Jack, a friend of Mark's stopped in this morning, too. Pictures are of Mark, Chet and Jack.



We had Tori, Darcy and Tia pose for a picture, too. They are well; Tori is a full time college student as of Jan.



We have fresh snow - it began snowing early afternoon but it seems to have stopped now. Just a nice white look, so pretty with C'mas lights glowing on them. I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out well enough to show here.

Sewing - I finished the 30 Log Cabin blocks and have to sew them together now. I'd hoped to finish them quickly but my heart just wasn't in it. It's not going to be a pretty quilt! But, it will keep someone warm! I have a quilt ready to be picked up from the longarm gal - perhaps tomorrow - if the roads are cleared and not slick. The shop is also having a sale and I just might find something I really need.!

Have a good week, stay well and warm.

We Have Snow!

Yes, we had a 'measurable' snowfall' but it's barely an inch deep.  More is predicted starting later this afternoon and into the night.  No complaints after all, 'tis the season!'  We are watching Park Road through the patio doors and there doesn't seem to be alot going on our there - streets out front look slippery.  No need to go out for a couple of days so am content to stay in.  We don't C'mas shop at our house - write checks!  Only Nate, JD, Mark and Chet and I will be having dinner on C'mas here.  Deanie will be working that day and we'll fix a plate to send to her.

Mitch called while on his way to Milwaukee where he was catching a train to Chicago.  He has an office there and goes a couple of times a month (I think).  Green Bay has a lot of snow but they love outdoor activities.  Haven't checked in with Tracy this week and plan to call both local sons sometime today.

My quilt guild got together on Monday for a C'mas party.  We had a pitch-in lunch and oh, so much food!  Played a game and swapped FQ's.  I didn't get to go last year because of icy streets.  Tuesday a friend and I went to Rushville to the quilt shop.  We signed up to take a class - name of it escapes me right now.  It's a block a month and we go to a lecture and demo.  I have my fabrics selected, laundered and ready to go.  We are also having a gal come in to the next guild meeting and do a class on the North Carolina Lily block - fabrics also ready to go for that.  Several of the gals in the Fabric Stash room are having a green strip swap; I have them ready to go into envelopes and be mailed by mid January.

While rummaging for class fabrics I took note of my container of C'mas fabrics and thought I really ought to do something with them - either use them or donate them.  Photo below is an assortment of fabrics I had. 

I decided to do the Pineapple Blossom, a pattern from Quiltville.com. I made one block and decided the fabrics I had wouldn't work. It's a lovely block - photo below.

I then decided to do the good old Log Cabin blocks.  Photo below! Not sure this is going to be a neat quilt but it will keep someone, somewhere warm!  I'm working on a total of 29 blocks now and I know that's an odd number - am thinking perhaps I'll add plain strips around the Pineapple block and make it the same size as the others - - it can be the 'maverick' block! The blocks will finish at about 14" and will set them 5 x 6 and should have a nice size lap quilt.

Hoping everyone is well and enjoying the Holiday Season.  Thanks for stopping by.  Stay well and warm.  Till next week ~~~~~~

Holiday Mood

Not much of a holiday mood at our house yet - hope to get fired up one of these days!  I did dig out the fireplace mantle cover and put two candelabra in the bay windows.  Neighbors houses are 'gaily lit' and I even tried taking a picture of them but it was too dark standing in the garage and it was too cold to step out of the garage!  Chet stayed home from church this week - Advent services have begun and they have a soup and sandwich supper before services.  It was bitter cold and he's moving slow so inside was the best place for him.  He loves football games and I don't - so I do TV watching in my bedroom.  Among my favorites are Dog, the Bounty Hunter, Operation Repo and Curb Your Enthusiasm (when it's on.)  Odd choices!  Am also keeping tabs on Tru TV - Casey Anthony case should be coming up soon.

We chatted with Tracy and Anna Grace and they were complaining about the cold, too.  Both were in pajamas and ready for bed.  Then they decided it would be too cold for the dog to stay outside overnight and they got dressed and went and bought a 'doggy dome' for him, put that in the garage and threw towels in it.  I've not heard how he did but am sure he survived!

Local sons must be busy - they've not reported in this week.  Mark's teenage step daughter will be moving in with him on the 26th of the month.  She's been very unhappy in Michigan and grades have suffered.  Hopefully being here will help her; they were very close!

To get into the holiday mood I thought perhaps making a few more C'mas wall hangings would perk me up.  I pulled out the tub of C'mas fabrics and searched for enough to do three more small ones.  I put them in the mail yesterday to Tracy & Anna Grace - they may be teacher gifts!

 Close up shot to see the embroidery.

 These pictures were taken laying down, on my chenille bedspread - that's why they look a tad odd.  

Off to make myself something to eat - have a good week and stay warm.  Thanks for stopping in!

 

 

Why Are Computers Giving Me A Hard Time Today?

I've attempted to update this darn blog for the past half an hour - and it's not working well at all. I won't even attempt to explain what's happening. So - here's what I'll do - - - I'll just describe the pictures from down here!

The two small quilts were both finished this week. The patterns are from Prairie Children & Their Quilts, by Kathleen Tracy. It's a treat to be able to finish a piece between working on bigger ones. Both are machine pieced and quilted. Broken Dishes and African American Sampler are the names.

The next two pictures are from a shopping spree I went on Saturday. Nearby quilt shop had a 30% off sale and I just had to take advantage - I've not bought new fabric in a while and just felt a treat was in order! The gold and the red/white check were found in the "bargain bin" and the other is a kit I'd seen made up and loved it.

Cold and wintery here - snow showers were predicted a couple of times but so far nothing - and that's fine with me. I really must go buy a snow shovel this year, believe it was four years ago that our shovel broke!

Nothing else new here - guess the kids and g'kids are fine or we'd have heard from them. So I'll sign off for today. Want an early lunch so I don't have to be out here when the football games begin! Have a safe week.

Latest Photos and Good News

I finally got around to taking pictures of recent finishes. First is the Gracie Bag I made. Notice the antique metal button on the tab - it's from a black watch plaid corduroy coat I had in high school....we won't talk about how long ago that was! (The orange thing toward the back of it is my label tag.) This will be taken along with the snowmen/women angel wall quilts I made, to my boutique at the Beauty Salon.



The next two photos are of the Stained Glass quilt recently finished. It measures about 60" square. Love how it's quilted with variegated roses/reds thread.



And this is the back of the quilt. I couldn't find anything so asked my long arm quilter's advice and she suggested this - I love it! I think the stars with stained glass has a "theme" going!



The good news is that I finally found the missing wall hanging! This morning I was looking for quilts to donate to the local Cheer Fund and found it - hiding in the stack of smaller quilts! Ah - I feel good!

Yesterday was such a lovely day - friend called and thought we should take advantage of it and visit an out of town quilt shop. Of course I was ready to go in a few minutes. I did find some fabrics but controlled myself! And I will use them soon.

Must run and do a few errands - stay well and warm.