Monday, December 29, 2008

Year End Flimsy


I hustled and got a flimsy completed so I can send it to Kat for quilting later this week. Several months ago, I was the lucky lotto person for my online mini-group and I sent them all different blocks using some Civil War fabrics I'd received for Christmas last year from my friend Kathy.

I love how this quilt turned out! Kathy and I, using the same fabrics (we split a fat quarter pack), both made samplers using a finishing kit from one of the participants in a designer sampler from an online shop. We both used blocks from Marsha McCloskey's Block Party and I was lucky enough to get many of my blocks made by pals in the group.

Now Kat will work her magic on it and I'll bind it in time to deliver to a special someone who will remain anonymous for now.

I also completed stitching on the first block for my latest Halloween endeavor, "Hocuspocusville" by Crabapple Hill. I found the kit at the Napa Quilt Show at Thimble Creek's booth and had to have it!

Is it possible to have too many Halloween quilts?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!


Best wishes to one and all for a Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah. I hope you enjoy your celebrations with family and friends as I am. Be back in a few days!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Why Quilters Do What We Do


This picture is totally staged, but I love it just the same. Benjamin loves all of his quilts and that is all one needs to do to ensure a continuing supply, isn't it?


Sunday, December 14, 2008

Christmas Meme


Here's a fun one from Diane at Going to Pieces


Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, but only the real deal. The occasional egg nog is OK too, but the calories....oy vey!

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? Santa always wraps presents. Lately, though, Santa has been making reusable fabric bags in an effort to go green.

Colored lights on tree or white? We change from year to year, but usually colored. This year we bought a live potted tree that we hope will stay small enough to bring in for a few years.

When do you put your decorations up? The first week of December if I'm "on it."

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? It has to be the stuffing. Mom's recipe using Mrs. Cubbison's seasoned dressing (NOT cornbread) and adding chestnuts.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? To borrow a quote from Francis P. Church, Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. You can read the entire text here.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When the kids were small, I adopted a tradition shared with us by our neighbors on Kate's first Christmas. New P.J.'s were given and opened on Christmas Eve so the morning photos would be sweeter.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I have ornaments I've collected for years, but since I'm now using a small, live tree the branches won't hold the weight of the heavier ornaments. I'm using some lovely blown glass old-fashioned ornaments my daughter gave me. They are light and they remind me of the few old ornaments my Mom had from her childhood. I also use some tin icicles a friend sent me from Amish country as part of a Secret Santa exchange years ago. This year the tree is on a tabletop with part of my Christmas village around it.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love snow, but mostly when I don't have to go out in it too much. Learning to drive in the snow when living in Ft. Collins, Colorado and Reno, Nevada was not too much fun. A good book or some hand quilting and a cup of hot tea in front of a snowy window is nice.

Can you ice skate? What, are you kidding? I'm too klutzy.

Do you remember your favorite gift? A Kitchen-Aid mixer.

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Taking time to see family and shopping for gifts for the kids on the Salvation Army tree. One year we bought for a whole family and that was a blast.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? My husband's fudge--there is none better--except his Mom's, but it is her recipe. Oh wait, my (step)Daughter Sarah makes Rocky Road that has addictive properties once likened to crack cocaine. Either/or is good.

What is your favorite tradition? When I was a little girl (and up to my teens) we would have hot chocolate and home-made doughnuts after the annual Christmas parade. The parade was always held on the Monday night after Thanksgiving and we always observed the tradition. When I moved back to Visalia with my two children, we observed it too but with bakery doughnuts. Then, they started letting everyone and his cousin be inthe parade and it wasn't done until after bedtime on a school night!

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Giving, definitely. Occasionally, someone will surprise me with something great and unexpected (size and cost unimportant), but I'd much rather be on the other end of it.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? "I'll Be Home For Christmas."

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Neutral, but I do like peppermint.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Never.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Christmas Quilts For My Boys


Unlike their mother, who had to wait 18 years for her Christmas quilt to be finished, my little boys will have their Christmas quilts tomorrow.

My "Sistah" Becky started it all by giving me a Sandy Gervais "Holly Jolly" Jelly Roll for my birthday last year. As I was trolling that very dangerous website The Fat Quarter Shop, I saw this pattern, so I ordered it and another Jelly Roll and was off to the races. Last January at Becky's winter sewing retreat, I got all the blocks made and during the ensuing months, I did the applique of the boy's names and put the tops together. I did modify the original pattern by deleting the top row and adding their names. I also made matching pillowcases with their names for use during the holidays and then for storage of the quilts in the off season.

I bought backing in LA at Quilt Festival and gave all to Becky over the summer and she quilted them up on her HQ16 and got them back to me at PIQF. Now they are bound and will be dropped off by the UPS guy tomorrow.

I also included in the package, a little something for Mommy, a tiny quilt made in the Snooze-You-Lose Mini-Group. The stockings are fabrics I saved from Kate's original Christmas quilt started in 1979. This mini-quilt is cool because it sits over a plastic 8 x 10 self-standing frames and can be removed for other seasonal quiltlets. This picture is Kate "helping" me quilt it in 1980. No wonder I didn't get it finished until 1997!!



Sunday, December 07, 2008

Nothing New Here

Since the kids left, I've been getting my decorating done and a wee bit of quilting. I have done a whole lot of work on my other love, the garden. I decided that I needed to flip my compost heap before the rains came and sogged it up and made it too heavy to sift and turn. (Because in spite of the season to date, we will be getting the rain we need.)

We compost all of our yard prunings, grass clippings and leaves except the thorny stems of bougainvillea and roses as well as all of our vegetable kitchen waste. Since I watched a video from The Slow Cook's blog, I'm going to add my dryer lint too. Twice a year, our compost pile yields a considerable amount of black gold. When added to my flower beds and container vegetable garden. Wednesday was a beautiful day, cool and foggy and the perfect weather for playing with my compost.



Monday, December 01, 2008

Hanging out with my boys


The boys came to visit Nana and Pop for Thanksgiving, so we were very busy chasing kids.


I presented their Christmas quilts, so photos will follow tomorrow.

I hope your Thanksgiving found you happy and healthy and in the company of those who matter most to you.