Are you tired of the non-quilt related posts?!!! I consider my blog a journal and I write about what is happening in my life but it seems like the last few weeks it’s all about knitting, travel, and family … with very little quilting going on. I’ve made some progress on my pre-Christmas goals so I’m hoping to have some quilting content this week. In the meantime, I spent some time on eBay looking at vintage quilts. I have a list of quilts to make that is soooo long but I’m always willing to add more to the list!
This is a pretty star …
I’d like to make another bow tie quilt – I’ve done two already but they do appeal to me!
I like these hearts but I think I’d like another alternate block better …. something to think about!
I ordered a couple more books … actually I think it was 4 more. A copy of the Maine book I gave to Mom (for me), two copies of the Lake Oconee book (for the boys) and a book with photos from our trip to Hatteras for Mother’s Day. They all turned out great and we had company here tonight and they loved them!
If you’d like to try it out … use the code below … you get a discount ( paperback books start at $10 but I pay $15 for a hardcover) and my sister will get a credit if you use her code – win/win!!!
I got home last night and realized how close Christmas actually is and I’m NOT ready! Do you do much holiday decorating? For me it usually depends on how busy the month of December has been and how much we’re traveling. Keith was gone the first week of December, I was gone the second week so normally I would do the minimum but looking at my list, it still seems like a lot. Luckily, Keith helps!
He put the lights on the railing right after Thanksgiving because I like to sit on the porch when it’s all lit up. Keith also got a couple poinsettias the day before I left for my trip and while I was gone, he hung the wreath, bought and set up a lighted reindeer on our little patch of grass …
….a close up of the reindeer.
Sometimes we have a real tree but not usually when we’re doing a lot of traveling in December so he set up the artificial tree while I was gone too. We will wait to decorate it until the weekend before Christmas when Chris, Becky, Rae, and Mo arrive. Tree decorating night is one of my favorite traditions even if it’s happening so close to Christmas.
I need to dig through my Christmas bins to find my tree skirt, my ornaments, and my Jim Shore snowman and Santas. I also need to get a few Xmas cards in the mail – that really should have been done before I left for my trip and I need to shop for a few stocking stuffers. Unpacking is also on today’s agenda and if I’m lucky I might even get to sew a stitch or two!
EDIT: ….and the stockings!! I forgot all about getting the stockings hung!
How do you decorate for the holidays? Are you ready for Christmas?!!
This visit seemed to fly by and I can’t believe I’m heading home in the morning. I’m ready to see Keith and Finn but we could have used more time.
Today we worked on prepping a kit quilt for Mom, or at least we worked on the first section. It’s pretty complicated …. appliqué …. and I had spent time reading though the pattern yesterday so it was time to get it started. The appliqué will be pieced in three large blocks and then Mom will add sashing and borders.
Maureen helped trace the pattern onto template plastic and then fusible web. The appliqué was not reversed for using with fusible web so that was an extra step for us. She did NOT want her photo taken.
Mom gave me a smile… I have a whole series of photos of her at the ironing board!
Maureen didn’t mind having her photo taken with Curt that evening after she’d fixed her hair!
We had a great day, Mom and I worked a bit in the sewing room getting labels ready and then Mom and Maureen sewed labels and I embroidered some names on stockings Mom made last year. After dinner, we gave Curt and Kevin the quilts we’d made for them. They’re for Christmas but it was nice of Mom to give them early so I could be here too.
Kevin and his Bear quiilt
Curt and his Fish quilt
I’m sorry I missed seeing everyone that was here on Saturday for Mom’s birthday but I’m enjoying our visit!
My travel day did not go as planned, my flight was diverted from Charlottesville to Washington Dulles and I had to drive through a snowstorm to get to my sister’s house (2 hours from the airport) but I arrived safely … and just 4 hours late! I’ve only flown through Dulles a couple times but the airport was pretty easy to get around.
I had an eye exam the other day – my first in years and decided to see if it would work for me.
Because I had lasik, I don’t need correction for my distance vision so I’m just wearing one contact in my non-dominant eye.
So far, not so great. I’d love to be able to do without my reading glasses but my vision isn’t quiet sharp enough and my distance vision is less clear too which is expected. I’ve read it can take up to a couple months to adjust so I’m going to give it a fair trial and I have an appointment when I get home and maybe the correction will need some tweaking – we’ll see.
