A New Star Galaxy Is Closer

Far, far away
in another Galaxy
there was a stack of EPP stars
looking for a new place to shine.

They found a new space.

A place they can call their own.

These stars will circle and orbit

the last pieced and appliqued border of

Di Ford's Mystery Quilt,

Mountmellick,

which can be found
 the in Quiltmania Magazines, 2014.

It won't be long now

before their star presents
will light up this quilt.

Then there's just 

one more outer border to add and

this wonderful quilt will be complete.
May the force be with me.

 Until Next Time-

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-


 

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-
 

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

Moose Bay Muses

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-

It's All Been Gravy Lately

 Our Thanksgiving meal 

has always been a bit on the 

unconventional side.

Our gravy is

the secret family

Italian Spaghetti Sauce

 covering homemade raviolis 

made by a

 father/daughter team.

Prior to all of this,

it was all gravy

on the quilty side of life too.

I was just in the mood to abandon

all the current projects

and follow along with a

small mystery quilt that Lori,

at Humble Quilts, was organizing.

Why not.

 21" x 23"

I tweaked it a bit, by adding a border,

but it was great fun to sew along.

It was the perfect diversion I needed.

Next in the gravy boat

was this.

All those 3" nine patches I had adquired

in a block swap are sewn together.

 40" x  46"

 I'm adding vines in both borders.

And then, of course, it will need more applique.

 ***

No, traditional Thanksgiving meal 

is complete without real gravy

for the roasted turkey and mashed potatoes.

Who can pass on that!

Here's a couple of other finishes

that have been gravy for me.

You've seen these all before,

but now they're done!

I was just waiting for some extra hands

to help hold them up so

I could take a photo.

Quilt #1

 Home for the Holidays

64" x 64"

pattern by Primitive Gatherings

This quilt was all done on the machine, excluding the hand

embroidery for the words.

I even machine buttonholed the wool applique

using a wool thread by Aurifil.

Then I did the machine quilting.

Quilt #2

The top is done on this one.

Ewe and Me

74" 94"

pattern by Janet Stone

and offered by The Quilt Show.

This is the quilt that I used an ancient collection of

Sandy Gervais fabric by Moda

that has to be at least 15 years old.

I must have been saving it for just the right project.

I love how it turned out.

Just a little bit more gravy.

Quilt #3

Here it is.

All done.

 Roseville Album

95" x 95"

pattern by Kim McLean

2011-2014

I can't believe that this one is finally done!

What a feeling.

 Hope you're riding the gravy train too.

Until Next Time-

A Super Seminar

 I spent last weekend with

 Alex Anderson

and

Ricky Tims.

 It was the kind of seminar 

that makes your head explode.

Not in a bad way, but

in a way that gets your juices running.

We heard about 

improvisational patchwork looking at 
Caveman style Convergence quilts

to

radial symmetry using his
 Bohemian Rhapsody (2002)

as an example.

This is Ricky's current project

a string quilt using all the leftover pieces from students
from the last 7 years of teaching classes.

It's being  machine quilting on his Bernina  home machine.

Then there were some his  prize winners

Linelines III: Can Something Come from Nothing
 Houston, 2012

I loved the couching technique,
all done on a regular sewing machine.

Alex shared her techniques

for adding squiggles into her patchwork.

 

 and much more

These two wonderful hosts from the Quilt Show.com 

have a great chemistry, bantering back and forth

and sharing their quilting techniques,

as well as, sharing their passion for quiltmaking and

stories of life.

The main thought I walked away

was the idea that you have to

find what you like and

follow your heart.

There's no one right way to do things.

There's no one style that is better than another.
Just make what you love, and
make it your passion.
 

It's not that I have to get out of my "box",

but maybe be willing to invite some new things

into my comfort zone and see how they might fit in.

( Bears in Bertie's Log Cabin.)

I like that idea.

Until Next time-