Tuesday, December 30, 2014

What A Year!

 Another year has flown by.
It's time to look ahead to 2015
and think of all the possibilities that await.

But before we leave this past year too quickly,
I took a few moments to
gather all the quilts and projects
that were finished in 2014
and created a Smilebox of
what I accomplished.

I hope you enjoy a little
recap of the year.


Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
Another free picture slideshow by Smilebox



 Until Next Time-

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Maroon Bells

Sometimes you just have to do it.
Follow along simply for the fun of it, 
even when you don't know
exactly where you'll end up.
Maroon Bells
2014
22" x22"

That's what happened when
I decided to follow along
with a Mystery quilt
being lead by Lori over at 

No fear.
Lori's quilt-alongs have always
produced awesome
 small vintage inspired quilts.
So when she introduced a mystery quilt
 I knew I was going to join in.

I used mid nineteenth century reproduction fabrics
and without realizing it,
the reds seemed to dominate
 
especially with the addition of a red border.
Lori called hers Cascade.
I decided to call mine Maroon Bells

  after a beautiful place
 in Aspen, Colorado,
which is a lot closer to home.

I had fun machine quilting it with
diagonal lines through the squares
and adding a feather pattern
 over the diagonally pieced 1" squares.

If you'd like to make one too
stop over at Lori's and find the directions
and see what others have done.
It won't be a mystery, but
still fun and when you're finished 
you'll have a fantastic
vintage quilt too.


Until Next Time-

Friday, December 19, 2014

O Christmas Tree


Christmas gifts can come in all shapes and sizes.
Our gift to each other this year
showed up this week
in a big ol' truck.


 What's
10 feet tall,
forever bluish green
and triangle shaped?
????
6 new blue spruce trees


It's a gift that will be long lasting.
The little birds that visit our yard
have already found the shelter
in their branches.

It's a gift that will keep giving and growing
each year.
Our backyard went from this


to this


And from this
 to this


 in just a couple of hours.

These trees were planted as saplings 
about 25 years ago by Paul,
a former graduate student of Running Man.
He still lives on their family ranch north of town.

As a kid he and his brother
planted over
2000
new trees.

From the distance of the window
the trees don't look too tall,
but they're over 10 feet tall.
Now they just have to settle in
and enjoy their new home.
I'm starting to envision
twinkle lights on them next year.

"Oh, Christmas tree
Thy leaves are so unchanging, 
Not only green when summer's here
But also when it's cold and drear."

Until Next Time-


 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Happy Christmas

My tinsel was hung
 without a tangle.
Everything went well,

No matter the angle.

The gifts were unwrapped

  with squeals of delight
 It was Christmas at my house,

 Oh, what a sight.

It's not the date that matters,
or the presents under the tree,
 it's just coming together

 and having fun
 as you can see.

There were new toys to play with,
for both the young and the old,
And fun Christmas jammies
 to keep away the cold.


Our excitement is over,
 
And the treats have been eaten,
 but
I just wanted to
Wish you,
a joyous holiday season.

(Photos by the talented
 Jessica Wolfe)


Until Next Time-
 

Friday, December 5, 2014

Simple Joys

Stitching time is going to
 be very limited
in the next couple of weeks.
The hustle and the bustle
just seems to take over,
and that's okay at least for a while.

So instead of thinking of complicated stitching ideas
I wanted to focus on something simple and fun.
So when I read Karen's blog
where she shared a tutorial for 
her favorite cute thread catcher,
 I knew I just had to make one.

When I stitch in the evenings
all the threads snippets make a nice 
little pile on the arm of the sofa,
but sometime they wander off on the sleeve 
of my sweater, which can be
 oh, so not so very cute.
This little thread catcher is just too sweet
and handy.
I had to take the time 
(less than 30 minutes)
to make one.

Need a quick gift for a quilty friend?
Check out Karen's blog for the instructions.
Make sure you also make one for yourself.
Maybe even more than one.

Even if my days are full,
It's still nice to sit down in the evenings and 
do a little handwork.  I've never been able
to just sit and watch TV.
Trying to coordinating with the season,
I pulled out a Crabapple Hill pattern

Simple Joys of Winter.
The pattern was already traced, so

 I could jump right into the fun part.
***

We're celebrating Christmas early
this year.
My Florida kids will be here next week,
 hoping for snow and a "Colorado Christmas".
It will be sweet to have them home.
But that hustle and bustle stuff can get in the way.
So at the end of the day,
take the time to
 remember and cherish the simple joys.
It's what really matters.


Until Next Time-