Our Christmas Trip

We had a great Christmas.  We drove to MD with our two dogs and on the way we stopped at an antique mall that advertised it was “pet friendly.”

  Here is a fuzzy picture of Abby strolling through the mall, checking everything out.  What fun that was.

We spent Christmas with DS#3 and his wife and our wonderful granddog, Ponce.

Over the three days we were there we were treated to lots of good food and fun.  Our DIL is of Swedish descent and she is oh, so proud of it.  So she gave us a traditional Swedish Christmas. 

Here we have bacon fried brussel sprouts, ham, and Swedish meatballs for a Christmas Eve smorgasbord.  There was lots more but since I took this picture from her blog, this was all she shot.  And later that evening we “waddled” to a wonderful Christmas Eve service, attended by many members of her family.

On Christmas day we opened presents.  We had a great time, again.

Here is DH, and the puppies, doing a good job of getting that gift out of it’s wrapping.

And here am I doing the same thing.  The owl decanter was a gift from our son and daughter-in-law.  They know how I love hollow glass owls.

And this was the gift our DIL commissioned for DS#3.  Ponce was trying to decide if he was looking in a mirror or not.

Because of the snow storm heading for the east coast, we decided to leave a day early, on the 26th.   We left early in the morning and drove down I95, headed for SC or even FL to avoid the storm.  Well, that didn’t happen and about 20 miles south of Richmond we hit ice.  And, yes, it was not a good thing.

This is what happens when your car does a 90 degree turn on the interstate and then slides into a ditch.  We had to be pulled out, the car was not drivable, and is still in VA to be repaired.  No one was hurt, the puppies were so good while we went through this event but we were all grateful to be home again.  We will be driving back up to VA to get my car but not until sometime in January: next year.

I must say that throughout this experience we were blessed by being helped by the nicest of people.  And that made it not nearly as bad as it could have been.

I finally was able to get back into the studio this afternoon and hope to have something quilty to report for Design Wall Monday.

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Last Design Wall Before Christmas

This is what is on my design wall today.  All of the blocks are made: none of the blocks are sewn together.  And this is where it will be left until after Christmas.  I wanted to get at least the center together but between getting ready for our trip to MD, last minute Christmas shopping, and other family stuff, this is as far as I got.

I really like these colors and am looking forward to when I can warm myself under them. 

After I got the blocks on the wall I drew the embroidery lines on my Snowbound blocks and then packed them with the floss and needles so I will have some handwork for our Christmas trip.

This afternoon I will be out in our front yard (1.5 acres) cutting down pine trees.  They grow like weeds and are coming way too close to the house.  So, while they are still young, and won’t fall into the house, I am getting rid of them.

Then it will be time to pack and get ready to hit the road for “snow” country, MD.  We will be taking the puppies so it should be an eventful trip even before we begin our visit with DS#3 & DDIL.  I am getting so excited.

But before we get started on anything else, be sure you stop by Patchwork Times to see what other quilters are working on.

Since I have not had a lot of time to sew this week, I have only gotten a little further on my flannel log cabin blocks. Thus, this post will not be about quilting.

The first thing I have to do is to give a belated thanks to Norma of Quilting Is A Fine Art.

She offered this beautiful chatelaine in a giveaway and I won. And since purple is my second favorite color, it is even more beautiful to me. Thanks, Norma.

As I wrote in my last post, my DD and I went shopping on Monday. We shopped for Christmas gifts, ate great, and had a wonderful time. One of the things we both purchased was dog beds (can’t forget our 4 footed children).

Well, mine went over great.

On Tuesday I began moving furniture (just an affliction of mine). I will show pictures later of what I moved from the dining room to the studio. And in-between I finished wrapping gifts and preparing them to mail.

Can you see all the help I had?

So this is my life: buy stuff for animals, work around animals, love animals. Cool, huh?

Design Wall: Something New

I decided that since it is going to be a cold winter, I better make a flannel quilt to keep me warm. So I opened up my EQ7 and designed a couple of layouts: this is the one I think I am making.

I have had this fabric, which is more orange than it shows here, for at least 7 years. I pull it out every fall, trying to see if it wants to become a quilt, but until this week it has preferred to be folded on a shelf. But this week it jumped off the shelf and cried out to be a log cabin. And I, shaking with the cold, was only too happy to oblige.

I have made more blocks but these are the only ones that are complete. I am not sure how many I will be making but I know there will be at least 50 since that is how many I have started.

Today I will be going Christmas shopping with my DD. She and I will be doing last minute hubby shopping, well kind of. Really we will be laughing (at them), eating well, and having a great girls day out. And I will be leaving DH at home, being cared for by our four footed children.

And while I shop, you need to drop by Judy’s blog to check out what other quilters are working on.

Snow in the Deep South

Yes, that’s what I said, SNOW. I complained all morning on Facebook until it finally went away.

But I’m not sure if the roses are going to survive. ;-)

Even the Owl was confused.

However, while that white stuff was coming down, I was in the studio getting stuff done. The first thing I worked on was the last of the Snowbound snowmen.

He is all appliqued down and now I am ready to start on the connecting blocks. Next week I will draw the lines for the hand embroidery that I will be taking as hand work while we travel for Christmas.

The other project that I started was to cut strips for a flannel log cabin quilt. We are experiencing below freezing temps here at night and I am in need of a really warm quilt to cuddle/huddle up in.

Well, that’s it for now. Tomorrow is WW day and then I’ll be back in the studio, sewing and sewing and sewing.

It’s Quilted & Design Wall Husband

Unfortunately I had to crop DH out of the picture.

All I have gotten done this week is to get the quilting done on my 12 Days of Christmas. I have the binding machine sewn on and am almost done with the handwork part. I put crystal eyes on two of the birds on the ornaments and will get them on the quilt tomorrow. Now the big thing will be to figure how where to hang it. And, of course, I will need to make a label but right now I have no ideas so that will

This week I have a full quilting schedule. I will be working on a Jelly Roll BOM block, a Layer Cake Quiltalong block, and trying to work up a new Snowman block to go with my Snowbound BOM. Then, with the leftover time, I think I will put a comfort quilt on the frame and get it quilted. I have a new panto that I would like to try and this might just be the time to do it.

Oh, and I guess it is also time to wrap the Christmas gifts and pack up the ones that have to go in the mail.

Wow, I’m going to be busy, aren’t I? So you better hop on over to Judy’s blog to see what other quilters are up to.

have to wait.

Progress Is Being Made

I finally have 12 Days on the quilt frame. And I have about half of it quilted.

This is how I am quilting the background: loops, leaves and berries. This is freehand, as if it doesn’t looks like it, but it seemed festive and appropriate to the quilt.

And this is how I am quilting the tree. Most of this won’t be seen because the ornaments will be tacked on above it,

like this.

The top of the background and the green part of the tree are done. But I had to stop to get ready to teach my Weight Watcher’s groups tomorrow. It is time to learn about the new program and because there is so much to the change, I need to really be prepared.

One more picture

So the cat is now pretty much living in the house and she has just discovered the birds. Life continues to be an adventure.

Merry Design Wall

Today begins a whole year before my next birthday and the beginning of the Christmas season: how fun.

Doesn’t it seem right that my design wall today has 11 snowmen? All of these are appliqued down and ready for the hand embroidery which I will try to get done when we are visiting in MD at Christmas. Anyway there is only one more snowman in this years Bunny Hill Designs BOM. And here is my problem, I need 13 snowman blocks for this layout. What to do, what to do?

Anyway, I finished these last two snowmen blocks this week so I am ready for #12 and will have to decide what to do about #13 later.

I have my 12 Days of Christmas ready to quilt and it will be on the HQ before today is over.

Yesterday was my birthday. After a week of reviewing the DVDs, DH took me to see Harry Potter (big fan), out to eat.

I only thought to take a picture (taken with my new iPhone) after I had almost finished.

And after we got home I opened my gift from DS#3 and his wife. Thanks my children.

It was a great day and now it is off to another great year.

Very Happy Thanksgiving

Here in the South we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a beautiful day.

This is what we see as we step out our front door. It really looks so peaceful, doesn’t it? However, Thanksgiving was being celebrated at our DD and DSIL’s house so we passed right by all of this and left.

And this was what we came to see.

This is a charcoal grilled turkey. Even though it looks black no part of it was burned. This bird was perfectly spit grilled and smoked by our SIL, Gary.

He loves to cook: having his picture taken, not so much. Heh, heh!

So we ate, talked, laughed, and ate some more. And then it was time to come home.

I did get a little sewing in after our return and completed the applique. After being “scrunched” under the machine, one can’t say this is a fragile top. But later this weekend I will be putting it on the quilt frame.

I also made the star for the top of the tree. Well, attempted, I should say.

Look at those square points. I tried several times to get pointed points but I just can’t do it. So I have come up with an alternative for the tree top but will save that for when it is ready.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Don’t spend too much on Black Friday. I plan to stay home, sew and quilt.

Hooray! Design Wall Monday

And I have something on my wall to show.

Isn’t she beautiful? And it is almost done. I have completed the baubles/ornaments and have two more gifts to applique. Oh, and I have a star to make for the top of the tree. Then borders and it is off to the frame for quilting (no complete quilting plan yet). I am so excited.

Now, since it is still November, I feel that I need to show that even here in the deep south, we have Fall color.

I took these as I walked around the house, getting some exercise during my full day in the studio.

But for some reason, my rose bushes don’t know that we are almost to December and are blooming all over the place

Now, off you go to Patchwork Times to see what other quilters are up to.

Friday's Work

I almost never post more than twice a week but I was so excited this afternoon I just had to share.

Here is my 12 Days of Christmas wall hanging. It isn’t sewn down yet but everything is ready and the appliqueing will begin tomorrow. I spent the afternoon putting a finishing edge on the tree and then making everything else would fit on the background fabric I have chosen. I find that I am very impressed and pleased with how it looks. I still have 4 ornaments to applique and then figure out how to finish them but I will figure that out next week. And I may have this on the HQ before the end of the month.

I also will show Block 2 in the Layer Cake Quilt Along.

I am not sure that I like this one as much and was very concerned that it called for 5 different fabrics. There are only 40 fabric pieces in a layer cake and if all of the blocks were to call for 5 pieces, we would need 60. I will pay more attention from now on to be sure I don’t run out of fabric before all 12 are introduced.

And lastly, I appliqued down the last 2 snowman blocks that I have prepped. I think I am 2 or 3 behind in prepping but I will get to that this weekend, I hope. This is a Bunny Hill BOM.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll see you at the Monday Design Wall.

Christmas Quilt Show

My contribution to the Christmas Quilt Show is Flight School. It is a modification of a pattern I found in a Quiltmaker magazine a couple of years ago but since I have not been able to find it again I cannot say what issue or who the original designer was. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

I made this quilt because we have a rather large fireplace hearth that encompasses the fireplace and a built in bookshelf. Our Christmas village is laid out on this hearth but the bookshelf was distracting. I had been covering the bookshelf with Christmas fabric but when I saw this pattern I knew it was the perfect setting for the village.

The quilt is 44"x40". The snow was quilted with nickle sized pebbles and the sky with a sidewise meander and occasional stars. I also quilted the "rays" behind the reindeer.

The quilt was hanging in our local quilt show last weekend. Although there is no Rudolph I overheard a small boy telling his mother that his favorite quilt was the Rudolph quilt. It made me smile.

If you haven't started the Christmas Quilt Show tour, hop on over to SewCalGal and enjoy some Christmas fun, beauty and inspiration.

Design Wall Monday, November 15, 2010

First, our quilt show went great!! The quilts were beautiful, the visitors were complimentary, the ladies of the guild worked like a well-oiled machine and the husbands, both for set-up and take down, were wonderful. If you missed our quilt show you can see pictures of most of the quilts here.

After three days away from the studio, I could hardly wait to get in there and, except for small breaks for food, I spent all day there. I finished all of the gifts for the bottom of my 12 Days of Christmas and have them “stuck” together. They are not really fused yet but they are holding on to each other. I also got the diamonds sewn together (no picture) so the top of the tree is done. Tomorrow I will get the background together and maybe even the rest pressed onto it. I have a lot of machine applique to do on this so I may still be working on this when we meet again next Monday. In the meantime, be sure to visit Judy’s blog to see what other’s are doing.

Progress & Quilt Show

I am making progress on my 12 Days of Christmas.

I have put the dove and 2 gifts together and have one cut out, ready to go.

Around the tree are some fabrics I am trying out for the background and borders. Decisions, decisions.

But there will be no more sewing for the next three days. Thursday, of course, I will be in NWFL and then Friday & Saturday I will be working our Quilt Show.

Sunday was setup for this show.

The setup chairman was so well organized and had a complete plan which worked out beautifully.







All of the quilts were lined up alphabetically and then














were picked up and deposited at their assigned location.







Guild members then clipped the quilts together and,







with the help of several wonderful husbands, the quilts were hung over the PVC pipes. (several weeks ago we were cleaning said pipes....oh, what fun.)

Then last night we tweaked the show layout and the vendors began their setup. It’s not the biggest show I have been to but it is really nice looking and I am so impressed with the talent we have in this guild.

And here are a few shots of how our show looks.

I have put pictures of individual quilts on my Webshots page. Please check them out. I didn’t get pictures of all the quilts but I think it is pretty representational of what we have to offer.