as usual...

Looking back
on the last couple of weeks before Christmas:

the tree was sitting naked in the living room,
the kitchen cupboard was covered with baking & candy making supplies,
and the house needed a good cleaning.
Oh, and on the Eve of Christmas,
there was a burst water pipe in the the kitchen, just for fun!

Fast forward to the 30th of December - today:
The tree did get strands of lights, cranberries, and popcorn - it was beautiful - and without ornaments.
The baking & candy supplies got pushed to the pantry - I'm thinking now Valentine candies.
The grandchildren were over frequently (I can't believe how much they have grown during the year) -
there was lots of fun accomplished 
and we did finish our 'this year ornament'.

There were three wonderful family gatherings.
There was a baptism for SIX children!!
Sometime in there, a quilting friend came to visit for the day.
AND - I received a new kitchen faucet and plumbing!

No worries or stress though.
(Well, maybe just a little stress when the water was running from under the kitchen sink 
all over the floor while I was preparing for the annual Christmas Eve Feast!
The kitchen floor, with it's flood of leaking water, had it's best cleaning in quite a while, and I'm thankful that it happened when I was home.)
My usual thinking is that things will get done when they do.
And if the don't, that's OK.
Spending time with family and friends is what counts in my book.
And THAT has been happening!

On the quilting-friend front:
This quilting friend and I have an annual
Christmas tradition of going out for lunch together. 
But we decided to change it up a little this year. 
Instead of going out somewhere for food,
she picked up carry-out and came for a visit and some sewing.
A whole 8 hours of visiting occurred,
and some sewing was accomplished. :)
It was a wonderful change of pace
without all the surrounding distractions in a restaurant,
one we think we'll make a new tradition.

Also as usual, 
the end of another year quickly approaches.

I am so thankful for:
family & friends
opportunities & traditions 
blessings & trials.

I wish each of you a safe & wonderful end to 2014
and a 2015 filled with everything you could hope for and more!  
And to my quilt-y friends:

Happy Stitching!, 
Debra

Merry Christmas!

Thanks to family and friends everywhere 

for being such a special part of my life.

I wish you blessings, abundance

and happy stitching!

love, Debra

It's a wrap - a double wrap!

Challenge accepted,

and conquered! - 

the commission quilt project that I've taken on-

that's to be a Christmas gift-
is finished! 

As in, It's A Wrap!!! 

I ordered fabrics & prepped my quilting area.
The ordered fabrics arrived on the 12th,
and I was a sewing 'machine' - rotary cutting, sewing, pressing, quilting.
A fast motion blur. :)
Last night, the 23rd, I took the last binding stitch.
And it's being picked up this morning.
So it's a wrap!

And then I wrapped...
gifts that is.

My traditional, family Christmas Eve dinner party is tonight, 
so now I'm off to the kitchen.
Hope your plans are running smoothly
and your wrapping is, well, close to being a wrap.

Merry Christmas Eve!

burning the midnight oil aka Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice is today.
A time of celebration -
welcoming in the season of Winter!
Since there is no snow outside, and I'm missing it,
I took a couple of pics of one of my favorite snowy wall hangings.

 (Snowy Days pattern by Heart to Hand)

I made it a few years ago (maybe 2011?) with wool on cotton, 
and hand appliqued it.
Then I hand-quilted, using not only cotton quilting thread, but wool yarn to add some big stitch quilting.  Isn't it just a great pattern?  Especially to show on the day of the Winter Solstice?

Here in the northern hemisphere,
Winter Solstice means it's the shortest day of the year.
Boo.
BUT, that also means it's the longest night of the year!
Yippee!!
So I'll be burning the midnight oil
(do people still know what that means?)
working on my commissioned quilt project.
My goal is to get this quilt to the point 
that I can put it on the long-arm machine today.
Maybe even start the quilting, 
so I can bind it tomorrow and deliver it Tuesday!
Yep, burning the midnight oil, for sure!
How are you doing on your holiday preparations?

Happy Winter Solstice everyone!

pedal to the metal -

it's getting close to Christmas!

I've be working (frantically, it seems) on the commissioned quilt that will be a gift.
I had the machine cleaned, bobbins filled and a new blade in the rotary cutter when this arrived in my mail box:

Quarter-yard cuts of 'Irish', 
the top white dot for setting fabric,
and the bottom green, little stripe for backing.  

I ordered this green stash from Fabric Shack of Waynesville, Ohio, 
which is a couple of hours drive from me.  
I ordered after their closing on Wednesday 
and I had it on my cutting mat on FRIDAY by noon!
And, they only charged half of the shipping amount!!!  

So, thanks to the wonderful customer service from Fabric Shack, 
I was able to start almost immediately!
I cut 2 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch strips from each fabric, 
and sewed them into fours THAT DAY:

Trimmed, then sub-cut into strips and ready to make 16-patch blocks!:

By Saturday afternoon, all 32 of the 16-patch blocks 

and the start of the X-blocks made:

So I feel like it's a great start!

Yesterday afternoon, we did the family tree-trek:

 


It was a great day - partly sunny and about 45 degrees.

The little guys are here today, playing while mommy and daddy are shopping.
So no sewing on the gift-y quilt or decorating the tree, but we sure are having fun!!
And pedal back to the metal tonight.

Hope your Monday is wonderful, too!

a couple more meanderings in thread

The weather outside is frightful - cold, snowy and blustery.
But inside, it's just delightful.
The fire is crackling, a gumbo is in the slow-cooker, 
and I've finished up the last of the customer quilts of the season!

Janet's quilts - the last of her Christmas gifts:

Yes, they are sideways, but for some reason, blogger won't let me change them today :(

I did 'whirlpool' as the quilting design on these two also, 
to match the last two nephew quilts that I did for her.

Those quilts, above, WERE the last on my "quilts-to-do" list...
but, because I am who I am :),
I said I could fit in another quilt.
But not just to quilt, but to MAKE!  From scratch!!
Only two weeks, and I am now making a quilt for a friend's Christmas gifting!!
Call me crazy!, but I really love it - 

the time challenge and creativity!

Fabrics should arrive today, 
the rotary cutter is ready to FLY,
the machine is cleaned, 
and the bobbins are filled! 

Hope your Thursday is  going splendidly!

smiles

Last week, right after Thanksgiving, 
we (Sweetie and I) drove down to the magical world of the mouse...
(we met Sonny-boy and his family there).

On the way down, we saw a large road sign that said
"Don't be a Turkey.  Don't text and drive".
It made me smile, but I didn't get a picture taken.
So heading back home, through Georgia and Tennessee, 
I had my camera ready.
Well, the Turkey/text sign was gone.
But in it's place was another funny...
I know there's a whole lot going on in the picture below, 
but check out the 'Eyes on the Road' sign:

It made me laugh out loud.  
Someone with the interstate highway signage department has a sense of humor.
And, no, I wasn't driving, but took this picture from the passenger side. :)

And, here's a picture of a magical mouse moment:

Even the little guy was awake for this one!  We joked with Sweetie that he doesn't look very happy with 'his' balloon.  Personally, I think he may have been thinking of $$$ not the balloon he was holding. :)

I'm off to quilt another customer quilt that's going to be a Christmas gift!
Hope your day is wonderful, too!

wonderful Monday

I love my stash of fabrics and wools and threads and bits of this and that...
but, I've decided that I have too much stuff. 
Stuff that I will n.e.v.e.r., e.v.e.r. possibly use in my lifetime 
even if I did nothing other than stitch and create non-stop. 
So, with that in mind, when a friend recently said she was looking for some wool scraps to try her hand at wool applique, I shared my abundance of wool scraps with her.
It felt liberating , cutting chunks of wool off and bundling them off to Norway.

Now, today, I open an envelope from that friend from Norway...
and there is a beautiful thank you gift for me!
Some chocolates, a pincushion, and the most beautiful little hand-work bag!!!

The fabrics are yummy (the lining fabric I searched all over for and never found it available!) and the bag is so professionally made.  Even the little sentiments that she stitched on the other side of the bag (below) are just wonderful! 

The little sentiments - 'Make Life Fun' and 'Make Life Beautiful' are from the fabric that May Britt used for the lining.  I looked all over for this 'wordy' fabric and found none.  And she used it unknowingly that it was one of my favorites!! 
I love, love, love these very unnecessary thank you gifts!  So very thoughtful, and I will treasure them.  Except for the chocolate - which has since been nibbled down to half :)
I will think of my friend every time I use the bag and pincushion.
So very nice and SO unexpected.

Near and far, I have wonderful friends. 
I am so thankful for my friends!

Happy Monday to all!!

Flags, part 4

Flags of the American Revolution (a sew-along with Lori  of Humble Quilts fame),
 and it's time to share!

In the nick of time to share along with the participating group, 
I've taken a picture of my hand-appliqued block
that was part of this month's 'assignment':

I REALLY like it!  It was a whole lot o' little points to turn under.  And if I cared just a little more, I'd un-stitch and re-do that white point up near the eagle's beak.  But, I don't, so I'm not.  I think it adds just a little more character.

Here's a picture that tells the real, more complete story:

I still have five more stars to stitch down on this flag!!  
And, I didn't make a single one of the 
pieced star blocks that were also assigned.

Instead of being home and doing the usual 
getting ready for the holidays and cleaning 
and decorating and baking and then stitching in the evenings, 
I've run off with Sweetie and the Sonny-boy 
and his family and made some 
MAGIC memorial moments in the Florida Disney parks.
Oh, and I've walked my feet off !!  
(It's been a whole lot of fun, though much more tiring.)
We're driving home today and tomorrow, 
so maybe, sort of back to the usual schedule this coming week!

Happy weekend and Happy Stitching!

More Dear Jane Retreat show and tell 4

More and more gorgeousness from retreat:

These antlers were family members' hand-prints:

 A signature block exchange quilt:

 and a close-up of the near center:

 No pattern for the last picture...she made it to look like a photo taken in her own back yard:

Isn't that just a whole lot of inspiration and beauty??

I think there is just one more post-full of pictures from this retreat,
so back soon!
Hope you are having a great week!

More Dear Jane Retreat show and tell 3

The next prolific quilter is Rosemary:

 A signature block quilt -from a swap I believe:

A sew-along quilt:

This one she wanted larger than the mystery sew-along, 
so she added more borders:

 She used left-over blocks in 30's prints in this:

 and left-over blocks in reproduction prints in this:

 and I LOVE this Diamond quilt she just got back from her quilter:

 and finally, a quilt from blocks from an exchange:

 

More beautiful quilts from more beautiful retreaters:

If you enlarge the photos, you can see the wonderful quilting
done on each of them!  
And people don't get why I love quilts and textiles...
I wish I could show them these in person to explain why!

More Dear Jane Retreat show and tell 2

This Dear Jane retreat group is one prolific group of gals!!
so I'll split the quilt photos into a few posts.

Judy usually makes Small Quilts and Doll Quilts (blog),
but she made this large quilt of baskets: 

OK, that's more like it!:

 She also made small and then smaller 'HO-HO-HO' quilts:

The one on the left is sideways in this photo ^.
Do you see the lines of red 'H's, and white 'O's?
Then she also had another large finish of beautiful cheddar and stars:

I really wanted her to leave this one for me :), but she wouldn't go for it.  Imagine that!

Caroline, from Belgium, shipped her quilt tops to a quilter in the USA, then picked them up while in the States, so she was binding away while on retreat:

 LuAnn is as addicted to English paper-piecing as I am
and she had to large quilts with EPP in them...
this one in the works:

And this one finished:

 Yes, she ALSO had a finished Dear Jane quilt!
 And, in her spare time, she does the mystery quilts, too:

 More to follow