rotary, continued

I have a little time off this week and weekend

- going to meet up with some family and friends

for the last Christmas celebration of the year...

Well, timing-wise it will be a New Year celebration, I guess,

but we will celebrate Christmas with them, first

(that is if they can get out of that east coast blizzard!).

I am multi-tasking,

(which is part of the running in circles/rotary feeling)

so as I am packing and

going through my quilting/UFO stash,

(trying to choose a project to take on my trip)

I am also watching a favorite Christmas movie -

It's a Wonderful Life.

(I can't believe that this was a 1946 movie -

and that it really is still relative to 2010 in most ways.)

I'm also thinking that this truly is a wonderful life, even with the rotary!

So, instead of wishing you only a happy 2011,

I also wish you
a wonderful life...

with health, prosperity
and abundance.

Debra

rotary...

not the sewing implement/rotary cutter this time,

but the traffic rotary

you know - a round-about....

I feel like half of the time I am running in circles.

Too many things to do, not enough time.

Getting into the circle, and not getting out,

just running and running - a never-ending rotary...

Do you feel the same way?

I know that it is a choice, this running in circles...

that I could just say no to a whole lot of stuff,

and I really don't drive myself craZy... most of the time...

Maybe I just need a new blade???  :)

I know, I am going to go sit in my lazy-girl chair, put my feet up and stitch a little. 

That will slow down the round-about  just a little!

to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas, please...

Five Stockings Hung...

four gifts wrapped,

three pans of rolls,

 two quilts to bind,

and a pecan-apple-cranberry pie

Merry Christmas!!!

more meanderings: on quilts and from my mind...

Why is it that when I'm really busy,
I can stop being busy for just a minute
and all of these meanderings come to mind?
THINGS that would be fun to do...
Like:
Start another quilting project...(not finish one of the bazillion UFOs).
Whip up some bread and knead it and set it to rise by the wood stove...(just because fresh out of the oven bread is almost sinful.  Let alone the four to six hours that you need to set aside for the mixing/kneading/rising/rolling/cutting/rising/baking/eating).
Sketch another pattern idea...(three whole books of sketches and notes for a year should be enough to clear a mind, don't you think?).


Yes, all of those things would be wonderful to do,
but....

the things that should be done?  Still waiting!
Well, most of them...
I do have a few things off my list.
Here are the pics for the last few customer quilts for the year:

Joell's monster...isn't it great? 

Love how she made the center to match the great border!

 Another Dear Jane from Diana....

also great, and also love her border.

 And lastly this time,

a restoration of a friends' grandmas' picnic blanket:

One piece backing, cotton batting,

one-patch top tied with red, woolly yarn.

Well, back to meandering thoughts while I work on some of my stuff. 

Come to think on it...

I think I will mix up some bread, and while it is rising, I can work on an UFO Christmas gift and jot some new notes into my sketch book!

Happy eve of Christmas eve everyone!

Visions of Sugar Plums giveaway finale

Today I sent out the "sugar plums"

to my followers

that sent me their mailing address.

(if you don't receive my sugar plum, sorry,

it's because I didn't receive your mailing address).

No,
still not these sugar plums...

Closer to this below:

My give away question to be answered was

"Wool or Cotton?"

"Cotton or Wool?"

Pretty simple, huh?

It was fifty/fifty - half for wool, half for cotton.

(I like both, so I'm not sure how I would have answered.

Guess that's why I have both in my stash!)

Anyway, I sent a little wool "sugar plum"

to those that answered wool,

and a little cotton "sugar plum"

to those that answered cotton. 

Thanks, everyone, for following my blog and for taking the time out of your busy schedules to leave a comment occasionally.

Merry Christmas!

what was I thinking?!?!?

So, it is the week before Christmas...

Why do I always do this?

So, here's the thing...

We have four grey stockings in our family

which I made from an old wool blanket,

many, many, many years ago.

Over the years,

we had exchange students from other countries

and I shared with them some of our families traditions.

One of those traditions being these same gray wool stockings.

All of the exchange students took home with them their own grey wool stocking.

All except for one.

When my daughter got married a few years ago,

she brought home a store-bought white and blue stocking

with a big silver initial on it for her new husband,

so he would have a stocking on our mantle.

A nice enough stocking,

but not grey wool,

hand stitched and lettered with love.

So our mantle had

four grey wool stockings & one white store-bought stocking.

Anyway, this year,

I realized that I have an extra grey wool stocking

left from an exchange student. 

So I tore out the lining

and picked out the hand-stitched lettering from his name.

 

And it's ready to put on my S-I-L's name and re-attach the lining.

What could be better than a re-purposed re-purpose, right?

 But that got me to thinking...

That's the catch phrase here...

"got me to thinking"...

My son has a girl friend that he has hinted that "this is the one".

And said girlfriend has a daughter(!-my excitement)

So I am now, again, grey stocking short - two grey stockings short.

And can I find another grey wool blanket?

NO.

But I did find this...

A cool cream with red stripes wool blanket...

Sooooo......

my creative mind

decided that I could make

all of the girls (me, my daughter, girlfriend and her daughter),

the cream/red striped wool stockings. 

(That would free up two grey stockings for future "guy" use.

Yep, that's me, planning ahead for more family! :)

The girls would all have matching stockings

 in white/red stripes,

and the guys would all have matching grey wool stockings. 

And they would all go together

because they all have the same stitched tree with button ornaments!

But, like I said,

that was my creative mind.

My rational mind

is saying what in the world are you thinking?!?!?

So, that nice cream/red strip blanket is now this:

And this

 Awaiting these:

Also awaiting the red cording, names and lining!

So, what was I thinking?!?!?

All I can say is Happy Stitching!!!

meandering and quilts

Real quick...

('cause I should be meandering, not blogging!)

A few of the latest meanderings for other folks...

Dorothy's 30's quilt. 

She rescued this top from I don't remember where.

The top was all machine stitched,

including the quarter-circle appliques with a button-hole stitch.

Wonder if someone got it all pieced and decided they didn't like 30's fabric???

Anyway, Dorothy added a border and picked some great backing and binding and it's a cute lap quilt, isn't it?

I was going to quilt little bow-knots all over it,

but when it got on the machine,

it called out for loop-y hearts

in each of the pieces, colored and white.

Next,

Remember Caroline's "birds"

that she was gifting for a niece's wedding?

The one I was angling for, trying to figure how I could be her relative?

Well, she has hers done, too!

 Just as gorgeous as the first!  

Still can't talk her into gifting it my way!

And, finally, for this post,

Susan's new grand baby quilt!

Since I took this photo, I have attached the binding.  

I will hand stitch the binding tonight,

my regularly scheduled evening calming period...

When I put needle and thread and thimble to use

and relax in my favorite lazy-girl chair-

feet propped up and quilt across my lap...

quilts, meanderings &

I shared a bunch of peeks of the meandering on this a couple of days ago...

This is Mary's version of Walking In A Winter Wonderland

...did I mention that I really love this quilt?!

Just winter wonderful!

Next, another great quilt by Billie...and another gift off her list -

I love that she used flannel for the backing and binding. 

I got to finish this one off, so I know how great the flannel is for binding!

The last couple are Barb's...

she now has gifts off her list, too!

Aren't all of these quilts great?  And aren't they all inspiring?

Makes you want to go finish one of your own, right?

That's all for now -

back to meandering!

(so I can go finish one of my own!)

Happy Stitching!

Giveaway for followers...cotton or wool

Hey followers...

if you'd like a "sugar plum" for Christmas...

 NO, not those sugar plums!!!

Wait, not this confection, either!!!

This is closer!

Don't forget

that I will need

your snail-mail address

emailed to me

if you'd like a

"sugar plum" for Christmas!

(cotton or wool?)

More info here:  Visions of Sugar plums

I won!

I had been following a blog hop

(Henry Glass Designers Holiday Project Parade)

and I shared with you that it was a cool thing...

Well, how cool is it that I won one of the giveaways?!

This came in the mail yesterday!!

I opened it, and wa-laa!

The Patriotic Little Quilts book - autographed!

I'm lovin' it!

Thanks so much Little Quilts gals -

Alice, Sylvia, and Mary Ellen!

And thanks, too, Henry Glass Fabric Company!

Snow day, Sew Day

Today was to have been our LQS Open House...
Lots of make-it-take-its, demos, and chocolatey goodness!
Then came the Winter Wonderland!

Well, before the Wonderland part,

 there was freezing rain!  Splendid!

Just kidding!

Here's how I spent my afternoon in the snow a couple of days ago:

poinsettia, cocoa and cookies

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland"...

the Sew Day version...

a customer quilt that I got to meander across:

cardinal and snow

candy cane, holly

snow, pomegranate hanging in the mistletoe

holly, mistletoe & hearts

 

candle in the pine and holly

 





mittens, candle and candy cane



Yes, I have my own Winter Wonderland that is all pieced and ready to put on the machine.

Yes, I have now quilted two of these for others. 

Yes, I wish one of these was mine!

Maybe another Snow Day?

Yes, another Snow Day, Sew Day for Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

Giveaway and quilt meanderings...

If you missed it, I am doing a "follower giveaway"... new or old follower...
check out the post "Visions of Sugar Plums" for the rules...Nothing major, you just have to send me an email & answer a question, and I will send you a little "Sugar Plum".  I think I will continue this through the 19th of December, so I can mail out everything by Monday, the 20th.

Now, on to the quilt pictures!

First - a restoration for Maxine...

the holes that were everywhere:

This was a very old top that was hand pieced by her Grandmother in the late 1890's

and passed down through the family, never finished, and at sometime, damaged. 

I repaired, layered, quilted, trimmed, and bound, for

The finish:

 Next, Wilma's

I also got to finish this one after quilting...the binding was a very lovely purple.

It will be a granddaughter's gift.

 Then next up,

Mary's

I am embarrassed by how long I had this in my possession!

EVERY time I put it back on the machine,

my machine decided it had a problem!

So, I would take it off, take out some stitching and have the machine looked at.

Then a month or two later, repeat the process...
(This was totally "out of" Mary's "box"!
She lives, in her quilting world, a little more on the primitive, dark side.)

But, finally,

a beautiful quilt:

 And, Billie's.

I got to quilt and trim and bind this one, too!

I think it's a gift, so can't say too much,

but a great finish for Billie.  She is very prolific.

When she gives me tops to do, there are usually multiples in the bag!

OK, back to the meandering! 
Christmas is coming!!!

Visions of Sugar plums - for you?

Well, visions of something...

I was having a thought the other day... A thought,

well more than just one thought...

I had all kinds of stuff rattling around in my head

and 

at this time of year

I think the stuff rattling around in there was

 visions of sugar plums...

Well, my visions were much more chaotic

than that above!!!

 Maybe this???

 No, not that either,

but that one made me laugh when I read it...

How about this one?

 

Maybe more like my "vision"

- with stuff scattered, and a little of everything, everwhere...

Yep, chaos!

(The last picture is really from

http://www.walterwick.com/, a fun word/picture search.)

Anyway, it was like in the old carol,

"visions of sugar plums danced in my head".

 I was a-thinkin' that

I really appreciate

all of the people in my life - real and cyber people.

And if I could,

I would like to let each and every one of you know

that I really appreciate each of you 

and everything that you share with me.

So,

 in the spirit of the season,

I would like to give each of the
people

that follow my blog

a sugar plum (of sorts)...

If you are a follower of my blog,

new or old,

just send me an email with your snail mail address...

(My email address is listed under "view my complete profile")
Put "Blog Follower"
in the subject line, please.
and
Answer the question:  Wool or cotton?

And I will send you a sugar plum...

(You know that sugar plums are kind of like prunes, right?
Prunes rolled in sparkly sugar!...
And you would really like a prune for Christmas, right?   
No, just kidding!
It will probably be something wool or cotton!)

Yep,
a gift for my followers,
for the folks I am thankful for...

Maybe that will help

get some of that stuff that's
rattling around in my head out of there!

Thank you, friends...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Felice Navidad...

holiday wishes to each of you!