Making Memories

 Holidays are a time for

bringing together family and friends.

Our family celebrated Christmas 

early this year.

Scheduling everyone's availability

is often challenging

but we made it work.

My Florida kids

arrived and

the other families came

 from much nearer destinations.

We didn't do anything fancy

or complicated.

Took walks

made pies,

gave kisses

 and wore

new Christmas jammies.

It was more than opening presents

although that was fun.

It was just being together.

making memories

(photos by the talented Jessica Wolfe)

Happy Holidays

 Until Next Time-

Technically It's Still Fall

 Yes, that's right 

technically it's still Fall until

December 22nd.

As much as I didn't really want to 

be sewing on Halloween fabrics 

while listening to Christmas music,

I dug deep and finally finished

The Thimblecreek Quilt Shop's 

Halloween Mystery Quilt.

After making 551 four patch units

 came the job of sewing the pieced lattice

to the 50 blocks.

With the blocks set on point

there were candy corn triangle units to make. 

It required a lot of pinning but,

 finally it was all put together

I decided to add one outer border

just to visually contain all those pieces.

It's finished at 64" X 75".

And guess what?  

I used what I had and

made a nice dent in the Halloween stash.

My deadline was the winter solstice

and it looks like I made it with a couple days

to spare. 

I knew if I put this away, it would be hard

to pull back out to finish.

It was a challenging quilt to piece

 

 requiring a very accurate 1/4" seam.

It's not exact, but close enough for me.

But, truthfully, I'm ready for 

something different.

Time to see what's next on the list.

 for the new year.

Until Next Time-

A Gift Beyond Words

A long time ago

a friend and I

decided we needed to become hookers.

 Okay,

I know your mind drifted over to the

naughty side,

but in this case,

we're talking rug hookers.

We took a wonderful weekend class,

practiced the basics,

 

 bought a neat kit,

upgraded tools and frame....

And then I came home.....

Basically, that was the beginning

and ending of my hooking career.

I love the textures, the designs,

and even the process, 

but knew deep down I couldn't add another

art form to my already overloaded days.

I had meet a new online friend, Gayle,  

from The Middle Sister.

Now she is a dedicated rug hooker and

does beautiful original pieces of art.

Well, we struck a deal and my

hooking supplies were added to

her supplies.

I know they live happily there.

A couple of weeks ago a

wonderful package arrived and it 

was from Gayle.

Hmmmm.

This is what she had sent me.

A beautiful hooked table runner.

I truly couldn't believe it.

Gayle used a pattern from Norma Whaley

as her inspiration.

Then used her awesome talent

to create this wonderful folk art holiday runner.

Her kindness, generosity, creativity

have left me speechless. 

Gayle, I might just be inspired to

look into hooking again....someday!

Thank You!

Until Next Time-

I Still Love It!

I'd like to say that 

I have very few unfinished projects,

 but then you'd know this would happen.

About a month ago I found tucked away 

this sweet crib quilt that still needed to be finished.

 

36" x 42"

 In 2005 a friend showed me

a late 19th century antique crib quilt 

she had recently bought.

I loved it and knew I had to make

a copy of it.

 I searched through my repro stash and found

the perfect pieces and

started sewing square in a square blocks.

I loved the soft browns and pinks

with the few pieces of indigo blue.

I have searched high and low for the
photos of the original quilt so
you could see the comparison,
but that would require a whole lot more searching.

So you'll have to take my word
that it looks like its twin.

But the question remains:
Why did I stop?

Here it is:
I wasn't in the mood to handquilt
and to figure out an appropriate design.

So away it went into the depths of the closet.

As you can see 
it really wasn't even that hard to decide,
but it must have been at the time.
That's all I can say.

No matter the excuses,
after 10 years I still love it and
so glad that it's done!

Until Next Time-

The Prep Before the Meal

Anyone who has prepared a 

holiday meal for family and friends,

 knows that it just doesn't magically appear

on the table.

When everyone is licking their lips

and oooing and ahhhing 

 over the deliciousness

of the meal

there is a kitchen like this in the background.

It takes a lot of work to 

finally get to this point. 

The same thing happens when making a quilt.

I've been working on 

the ThimbleCreek Quilt Shop's

Halloween mystery quilt

since July.

I've had Halloween fabrics in piles

for months.

We got the final clue last week.

Yay!

Now there are literally

500- 2" four patches to make

for the lattice.

 Of course,

there's pressing involved

 and lots more sewing.

Eventually,

 the blocks and lattice strips

will come together.

And then the big reveal

ooooo, ahhhh.....

Delicious!

But not yet.

I'm still cooking
and making a mess.

Until then

have a wonderful Thanksgiving

counting your many blessings.

 Until Next Time-

A New Route to Travel

 Should I?

or Shouldn't I?

I've been wanting to start something new!

 But...

I've got so many other projects that need 

to be finished!

This isn't the time of year to

be adding things to the list!

Yaaugh!

What's a quilter to do?

 Well.....

 I've been wanting to start Di Ford's

"Route 66"

from her book, Primarily Quilts.

Her book has been around for awhile

and I know others have already made this lovely quilt,

but I've been waiting until I 

could really enjoy every moment of sewing.

I've been collecting some different border options,

interesting fabrics for hexagons and diamonds,

precut paper pieces,

and a big set of Clover binding clips.

I'm sure I learned to use these

from someone's blog,

but, boy, do these clips work great

holding the "fussy cut" fabric exactly in place

while you baste.

It's great to feel excited about the new challenges,

new fabrics, new skills.

Most of my works in progress, WIP's,

are closer to being finished.

(Notice I didn't say done, just closer!)

I know this isn't a "hurry up" and 

"get it done fast" kind of a quilt,  

but today is a  good day to start something new!

Until Next Time-