End of Year Wrap-up

Did you have a Merry Christmas? Ours was lovely. We spent Christmas Eve at home, just the two of us, noshing on a simple charcuterie platter.

Our simple but healthy Christmas Eve “feast”

On Christmas Day we went to my son Ryan and daughter-in-law Kim’s house. Both my sons were there, but my daughter and her boyfriend live in Washington so they weren’t able to attend. Kim’s family, minus one sibling and family were there too. This year, even my ex-husband Scott and his wife Cally joined in. It was a very pleasant evening, with lots of good food, good company and gift exchanging. There were 20 of us all together. 

Last Saturday I decided to spend the day basting quilts. For the first time, I spread everything out on our huge kitchen island to pin baste. I also brought out my ironing board to iron things as I went along. While listening to a Christmas music channel, I spent the afternoon basting six quilts. What a game changer the island is! It’s 53” wide and 80-some inches long, so it was plenty large to accommodate the quilts. And its counter height made pinning things easy without having to bend over. It was such a delightful afternoon! 

Rather than show every basted quilt in an individual photo, I made a collage.

And of those six, I got two of them finished, plus one I had already basted the previous week. First up is my Scrappy Stars quilt, a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project for this year. It finished at 47x59”.

Here’s the backing. It’s already been labeled to donate to Quilts for Kids. 

Next up was this scrappy column quilt at 39x50”. 

And finally, this Community Quilt, one of 5 that I have basted and would love to have quilted and bound for our mid-January Quilts for Kids workshop. This “Community Quilt” was made by quilters in Iowa and sent as a top for me to quilt and donate. I’ve had it (and four of its brethren from the above collage picture) for over a year and feel a pressing need to get these finished and finally donated. 

This is a small quilt, measuring only 33.5x41”.

I’ve got a few more days before year end, so I’m hoping to get them all done and into my meager count of finished quilts for 2024. I’ll report back next week with my final total, or you can check my 2024-2025 Quilts page (the tab is just under the blog header). 

My Bernina is in the shop for her annual “spa treatment”, so any quilting I do will be on my Brother back-up machine. That means it’ll have to be straight-line or serpentine stitching with a walking foot. But that’s OK. Yesterday afternoon I used the Brother to stitch up the year’s batting scraps into four large and one small Frankenbatt, and he did not let me down!

Have a nice and safe New Year’s Eve and Day. We’ll see you back here in January!!

Ready for Christmas and 2025

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, the shopping and wrapping and baking are all done. I even spent yesterday afternoon walking around delivering gifts (mostly homemade biscotti) to  friends around our HOA community. It was a beautiful afternoon and it felt so good to be outdoors!

I was able to finish up three quilts this week from tops I had sewn earlier in the year. This first one was sewn (well, the top was) way back in January when our Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month was green. Here it is, eleven months later, finally a finish! Yep, moving and remodeling sure messed up my sewing rhythm. But it’s done before the end of the year!

I quilted it in a simple stipple and it finished at 42x48”. The backing is an adorable woodland print I picked up at Hancock’s of Paducah online a couple years ago. They have such great prices and selections - check out their $4.99 and $5.99 sale fabrics!

Then I quilted this pink and white string top sewn in May. Same size - 42x48”, stipple quilted. 

For the backing I used most of the last of this adorable cherry blossom print I picked up at an estate sale several years ago. 

And then it was this bright checkerboard kids quilt I sewed in October or November. I just cross-hatched it. The backing is a really old print that I hate and am glad to be rid of. 

All three of these little quilts will be going to Quilts for Kids in January. 

I have two more that I want to quilt between now and Christmas. my Bernina goes in for her annual “spa treatment” the day after Christmas. For the week or so that it will be away from home, I’ll use my backup Brother machine and do my annual Frankenbatting marathon - sewing together the strips and large chunks of batting I’ve accumulated during the year to make useable batts. I’m also hoping to baste about 5-8 tops that have been donated to me over the last year (for Quilts for Kids) so I can just quilt them as the opportunity arises. Those little activities will help clear out some of the piles around my sewing room and make way for me to hit the ground running in January!

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Here’s a random picture, of no particular significance other than I wanted to show that I finally got pictures hung on the wall of our little den area off the kitchen/dining. I never did find anything I liked to use as the coffee table holiday centerpiece. So I’ll just wait until the holiday decorations are put away and figure something out then. 

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So, I mentioned that I baked biscotti this year. After two half days and one almost-full day of baking, I completed 8 batches of biscotti, two batches of four different flavors.

Top: Vanilla Cinnamon with icing and sprinkles
Bottom: Classic Almond

Top: Lemon with Lemon Drizzle
Bottom: Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Walnut

And, all together: 

I’ll be taking lots to our family Christmas gathering at my son and daughter-in-law’s house on Christmas Day. 

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I have my 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks and scrap projects figured out for 2025. I had hoped to make myself a Halloween quilt this year, but other priorities popped up. I only decorate for fall, not for Halloween. Fall decorations go up in September and come down after Thanksgiving. Also, I have several fall quilts, but have never made a Halloween quilt. So that will be happening in 2025. I have a great haunted house panel that I bought at Missouri Star Quilt Co. about 3 years ago. I’ll surround the panel with 12” blocks - 16 of them. My plan is to sew 2 Halloween blocks per month. I have picked out the block patterns I want to use, including bats in all four corners. That will take me through August to finish the blocks. Then I can use September to sew it all together, quilt and bind it, and I’ll have a Halloween quilt by October!

And then - and I’m really impressed with myself (buffs nails on shoulder) - I even kitted up two of the blocks so I’m ready for January’s sewing!

And finally, here are the blocks I’ve settled on for my 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge monthly blocks.

These are pictures I saved from the internet. I can tell you that our dear friend Cathy L (Sane and Crazy Blog) is the inspiring quilter from whom I am flagrantly copying the flying geese with black background (left bottom in photo above) and the “switchplate” blocks using 1.5” scraps (top left). 

The bottom right block is the classic Weatherpane Block, and the top right one I pinned on Pinterest (no source info available). I call it Paint Chips, and it will use up some of my 2.5” squares.

So, with those four blocks I’ve chosen, I can make dents in 1.5”, 2.5”, and 4+” size scraps, as well as miscellaneous black pieces for the flying geese and miscellaneous light neutrals for the Switchplates and Paint Chips.  Win win!

Have a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah (my daughter and family celebrate both). Be safe and may you spend the holidays with the ones you love.

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly

….. and I’m trying to fake it until I make it! Some sunshine would go a long way towards being jolly, and so would a little self control when it comes to chocolate. But this too shall pass, so I’m rolling with it and keeping busy. 

All in all, it was a fun and productive week. I’m just going to talk about all the things in the order that Blogger deigns to upload my photos, so let’s buckle up!

What a shock, I do believe they maintained their chronological order!

Last week, I may have mentioned that several of us women in the condo community decorated the clubhouse. I didn’t take pictures at the time, but on Monday morning of this week I was back there for a quick HOA Board meeting for us to decide the new responsibilities of each board member. (I’m going to be the Treasurer). Anyway, here are some photos I snapped of the clubhouse decor so we have references of what-goes-where for future years. 

Clubhouse fireplace and mantel

Christmas Tree and reflection of Karen and Carol working on hanging more decorations 

Side table in conference area

On Monday and Tuesday, I sewed more zipper pouches, adding six instead of just five to the total. 

Here are all thirteen that I made this year. 

One evening my Weight Watcher friends and I got together for our monthly card game (Hand and Foot). We try to make our December meeting a light potluck and inexpensive gift exchange. This year, my contribution to the buffet was this fruity Christmas tree. I snapped a photo of it in my kitchen before I wrapped it and carted it off just in case it didn’t survive the ten minute car trip (but it did). 

And here are Ruby, Annette and Ellie at the buffet at our friend Lory’s house. Not shown: Lory, Lisa, Linda and Shauna. We all had fun, and that’s where a lot of the zip pouches were given, each person choosing their favorite. In return, I got hand soaps, a Christmas mug, socks, an amaryllis bulb, and more. 

Later in the week, I spent an afternoon basting kid quilt tops to their backings. Some are more recent quilt top finishes, but one dates back to the beginning of the year before we moved from the house to the condo. I really want to get them finished before year end. 

A green scrappy top from January

Recently finished Bright Blocks

An RSC2024 scrappy quilt top finished in November

Pink and light neutral string top constructed in May

My plan is to focus on quilting up those four tops ASAP. I don’t have any parties or gatherings after Monday next week, so my hope is to get them done, labeled and photographed to show here on the blog next week.

There was one quilty finish this week for my friend Maureen. This panel quilt finished at 27.5x34”. I quilted it in wavy lines for a watery effect. Maureen loves cranes, the color green, and Japanese art in general. 

It can be used as a table topper or wall hanging (I added hanging tabs on back). I will also be giving her a matching zipper pouch filled with biscotti. That’s the biscotti I plan to start baking this afternoon after we get home from the Community Christmas Brunch at the clubhouse. I was going to make another fruity Christmas tree to take to the Brunch, but it will be a hastily-assembled fruit salad in a bowl instead. 

Have a fun and festive week as we head toward Christmas! May you enjoy every moment of it!

Linking to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Working as An Elf for Santa

I wonder how many of the women who read this blog are the primary “Santa’s Helper” for Holiday merrymaking in their family? I used to love to do it all; decorating, shopping, baking, wrapping, sewing, writing cards or the “annual letter” - and all while being married (hubbies can be work too, amiright?), raising three kids and holding down a full-time job. I bet many of you did, too. Were we wonder women or something?

For Bruce and me, our respective first marriages failed, and together we blended the last of the unfledged teens into a new family. In time, they too fledged and we were empty nesters. It was easier and simpler as the years passed to downsize the tree, decorate minimally, and hand out cash and gift cards at Christmas to our kids and ever growing list of grandkids. And forget the baking, cooking and sewing! 

But we’re changing things this year. It’s been an expensive year with the move from the old house to the condo, and the subsequent remodeling and furniture purchases, etc.. Bruce and I both agreed that it’s now the time and season -literally and figuratively - to slow down, be more deliberate and enjoy the spirit of Christmas. This December, we’ve reached our stop on the Big Spending Train and we’re getting off. 

We started by cutting our gift budget to about 1/3 our usual amount and informed our adult kids. Surprisingly, or maybe not-so-surprisingly since we tried to raise good humans, they were beyond cool with it. One asked me to bake biscotti, another one requested a quilt (done!) and another one wanted some old family pictures and such. 

And so that’s the theme of this post. I’ve been working as a secret elf for Santa! 

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In the Sewing Department of our Santa’s workshop, Elf Cathy finished sewing together this quilt top of bright scraps:

The size is 40.5” x 50.5”, and the top has been put on the Sewing Department Schedule to be basted for quilting next week. The eventual quilt will be donated to Quilts for Kids. 

Next, the assignment was to complete between 10-12 quilted zipper bags for gifting over the next couple weeks. Elf Cathy was able to completely finish seven of them the first week. They’re all box-bottomed and of varying sizes. Shown below on their sides, not the most flattering view. 

The remaining five zipper bags are all cut out - fabric, fleece, lining and tabs, and ready to be assembled next week. 

As for the Cooking Department, the elves have worked out a four-variety selection of biscotti, a modest ingredient shopping list, and a timeline. And already a whole turkey sits in the freezer, waiting for its turn to shine golden brown. (Oooh, I’m making myself hungry!)

The Decorating Department sent an elf to help the North Pole Homeowners Association decorate their clubhouse. As a reward, an old wreath with jingle bells that was being thrown out was brought home by said elf to be used on their front door. 

The seasonal merriment has just begun here, and life is good! How are your elves faring?

Linking to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.