Goodbye November!

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving (for those who celebrate)? Ours was lovely, although there was one cooking fail on my part. But no matter - it’s not worth bothering about until next year when I vow to review the recipe before starting! (Facepalm). We had our lovely friend Maureen over for the day. She lost her husband two years ago on Thanksgiving and was grateful to have a place to come and eat and visit with friends. We had a lovely afternoon and evening.

My friend Ruby was back for a week (between trips) and offered to be my quilt holder-upper for the photos of It’s a Jungle Out There. Unfortunately, it was late afternoon when we remembered, so the courtyard was in shadow and the pictures are mediocre and don’t really show off the vibrant colors. But you’ll get the idea. 

I had a doctor appointment this week to get cortisone shots in my knees (the cold is killer on them) To say that my doctor was excited was excited to receive the quilt was an understatement. Dr. Doug (as I call him) has been my doctor - and he delivered my daughter Megan - since I moved to Utah in 1983. That’s over 40 years of marriages, raising families, health issues (mine and his), trips and pictures from around the world - particularly Africa for both of us - comparing vegetable gardening tips, and we have the same political beliefs and proclivity to throw in some colorful language now and then…. Well, it’s been a great run. 

He loved the bright colors and the African fabrics. He thought is was so clever to “disappear” the tiger motif to assure it was an African jungle, not a generic jungle. Dr. Doug was leaving right after my appointment to spend time down in his St. George condo (3.5 hours south of here) with his family. He was taking the quilt there because it’ll match their bright decor. He must’ve hugged me at least three times! So very appreciative. We both teared up! THIS is one of the reasons we quilt, isn’t it? Spreading joy. 

The backing is pieced, and doesn’t show off very well. The purple mottled effect in the backing’s companion fabric is much more pronounced in this stark photo than in real life. The quilt finished at 61x77”. 

I also finished sewing together this Color Sticks top this week. I’ll send it off to Cynthia Brunz for her Many Hands, Many Hearts charity, since the pattern was hers and I do want to contribute. The top finished at approximately 45x63”.  It’s shown here sideways (as if you couldn’t tell) on the design board. 

On Friday, yesterday, I spent the day “Decking the Halls”. We packed up all the fall decor and dragged in the Christmas and winter decoration totes from the garage. I’m so glad we had weeded our collection of  Christmas things down last year in the old house. We kept just what we loved. Late in the afternoon I did run out to a local home decor store that was having a 20% off sale on Christmas decor for the last two days of November. I picked up some new things to fit the condo. I still have more decorating to do, like going to a garden center to get a fresh wreath for the front door, but that will happen today or Tuesday. The priority today will be going to the grocery store.

I’ll leave you with a picture of little Darla, snuggling on Mommy’s lap one night last week. She didn’t even mind the hot pink iPad cover she had to share my lap with!

Have a good week and stay warm and treat yourself well. The rush to Christmas has begun.  I’m linking up with Scrappy Saturday

Some Finishes and a Rainbow Flimsy

Winter has definitely arrived here in the Salt Lake Valley. It’s been cold and we’ve had rain. About three days ago we even woke up to a dusting of snow. I say Bring it On! Let’s get plenty of snow over the next 2-3 months; good for the water supply, good for tourism, good for the winter holiday spirit. And then come March 1, it can just go away! ... um ... Do you think Mother Nature is listening? I’m not holding my breath. 

So this past week, the stars aligned to allow me to get several projects finished. I love when that happens! The first finish was this four-patch posy quilt for Quilts for Kids. I tell you, it was pure bliss working on this project. I love the fabric and colors. It’s just so cheery!

In the 20 main 4-patch blocks, I quilted a swirly flower. It’s one of my go-to designs. You can see it better from the back.  I also did a vine along the outer floral border and a loopy design in the sashing. 

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After laundering, the quilt measured 50x60”. 

Last Sunday, Cousin Kim and I basted this large quilt, which I’m calling Bear Tracks because of the masculine Dan Morris prints of deer, bears and owls. Anyway, this will go to my daughter-in-law’s father, Bill. It’s the third of four Christmas quilts I want to get done before Christmas. 

Bear Tracks measures 78x88” and was straight-line quilted at four-inch intervals. The outer blue narrow border was given a curled hook pattern. Simple, but echoed some of the same motifs in the fabric. Here’s the backing.  You can click on these pictures to enlarge them and see the beautiful fabric.

And then I remembered that before I could mail off my brother Steve's Christmas quilt (the panel quilt of the snowy truck), I had to finish the zip pouch I was planning for him. This was the last of the fat quarter of marijuana-themed fabric that I’d ordered earlier in the year. Previously I’d made Steve a mask out of the fabric, plus I cut two zipper blocks (one for Kim, one for me) out of it. And now, the pouch. Seriously, I think I eked out every last leaf out of that print!  The pouch is 7x10”, quilted with a small stipple and sports a green zipper. Green is Steve’s favorite color.

And speaking of Cousin Kim and the zipper blocks, let me show you HER zipper quilt finish. Mine will be pretty much the same (at least 80% of our blocks are the same) once I get it sewn together. Isn’t it awesome? It looks like it’s just glowing!! Kim is giving it to her son Nick for Christmas. 

 

So, those are the finishes. Next, I played with strings and made another couple dozen multi-colored string blocks. But you don’t need to see a picture of those, because after you’ve seen a few dozen (like last week), you’ve seen them all. I’ll just keep working on them until my string bin looks depleted. Hahaha - as if.

I also took a few moments - and it was literally just a few moments - to sew together this Scraptastic Star flimsy.  With the 12 sixteen-inch blocks, it measures 48x60” and will be a great quilt for Quilts for Kids. I made these blocks all year as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. It’s high time I begin sewing some of the blocks together into tops, eh? 

My plan is to get Scraptastic Stars, along with the gray and orange scrappy column quilt (seen in progress  here) basted and quilted. I just realized that I’ve never shown that finished gray and orange top. Well, no matter. Hopefully I’ll have the finished quilt for you next week.

I received a surprise package from Sally this week. How sweet of her (I bet she hates me saying that) to gift me with a yard of this delightful Gumby and Pokey fabric. I was so excited that I wasted no time in pulling some potential matching strips from the QFK scraps for it. I’ll probably do something quick and easy with it like the third quilt on this page. 

And then not to be outdone, Molly Kitten (Sally’s supervisor), sent three bright and happy cat fabrics to Darla. I have no idea what those two felines are cooking up, but you can bet you’ll hear about it here.

Finally, I’m about to start the fourth of the four Christmas quilts to sew this year. This final one is for my son, Ryan.  I saw this line of fabrics at Connecting Threads and it just hit me how perfect it was. I bought a 10” square pack and lots of yardage. That’s not something that I often do, but it was during the time I was reading a draft of Ryan’s book manuscript, and the colors and prints just leaped out at me and said “Arahorn!”. Maybe someday I’ll explain that more. Anyway, the fabric must’ve been popular because it was GONE within a week or two. Now all the decisions have been made and the pieces are cut. Let the sewing begin!!

We had a wonderful, quiet Thanksgiving here at home this year. Except for last year, that’s what we usually have done over the last 10-12 years anyway. We  did talk or text with most of the family during the day. Then for a mid-afternoon dinner I made a wonderful turkey and dressing casserole, using Melody’s recipe, here. I didn’t get a picture, but if you check out the link, you can see it. Seriously, if you’re wondering what to do with your leftovers, or would rather just cook an easy turkey dinner next time, I heartily recommend this “turkey lasagna” without reservation. We added a bit of mild Italian sausage (and celery and onions) to the cornbread stuffing mix. It made enough for three dinners and a lunch. Anyway, we also had green beans from the garden and pumpkin pie for dessert. A simple, perfect day. 

Last Week of November

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving (for those of you here in the US)? We were with extended family on Bruce's side. There were 21 of us, and it was a blast. It snowed lightly on Thursday, but kindly held back until yesterday to dump several inches on us. But it's beautiful, and it's the perfect time of year, so we welcome it!  

As for my hands/carpal tunnel surgery, I got the stitches removed from both wrists on Wednesday. It's been 2 weeks now, and I'm pretty much fully healed incision-wise. My hands aren't numb any longer, except a small part on 2 fingertips, and the doctor says that should go away in the next few months. I am bearing good weight and pressure on them now, and have resumed all my normal activities without problems.  I even plan to pin baste three quilts this weekend with the help of Cousin Kim.

Speaking of weight, I've been actively working the Weight Watchers plan again after just see-sawing around a few-pound weight range over the last 18 months. Actually, I'd gained back about 9 of the 35 pounds I lost a couple years ago. But now 8 of those extra pounds are gone, and I was mindful of my Thanksgiving eating. I even planned for a piece of pumpkin pie and enjoyed that! Now it's time to get serious and tackle the final 25-35 pounds over the first half of 2020. I do plan to make (and partake of some) almond biscotti during the Christmas holiday season as well as some Kahlua and eggnog (lite). All doable while still losing, if I'm careful. 

But you're here for the sewing, so let's get to that.  Here's the red string star quilt I've been working. I showed a few blocks last week. This week I completed them all - it is so fun to stitch these that I just couldn't stop! This is one of the flimsies (quilt tops) that I'll be basting this weekend.

And a close-up of a a smaller area. I ran out of the solid red, so used a similar red with dots to fill in. I love how it makes the stars look more dimensional.  To keep on top of these multi-colored strings (a lot of which I get from quilting and trimming the quilts I do for Quilts for Kids, I may do a background star - which is 4 blocks - of the Rainbow Scrap color of the month in 2020, and then just use the multi-colored strings around them. I think that might be fun!

This helped make a dent in my string scraps, but I have a whole tote bag of low-volume strings that I want to make into some sort of string quilt. That idea will be put off until 2020, though, as I have some Christmas projects (zip pouches) projects that beckon.

And I'm currently working on this project for Cousin Kim for Christmas (she doesn't read my blog).

It was a layer cake (10" squares) of a line called Newport that she and I both fell in love with and bought. She made her squares into a quilt for herself, but her daughter Sarah loved it so much that Kim gave it to her. So I'm using my Newport fabric to make a quilt for Kim. The prints are big and colorful, so I wanted to find a pattern that would allow the prints to shine through without being chopped up too much. I'll sew on it today in hopes of finishing off the top. Then I can hide it while Kim is here sewing on Sunday.

Before we put the cat's play tree back into the guest bedroom after the painting that we had done, it was sitting out in our upstairs hall. Alfie "re-discovered" what fun it was to play on it while us mere mortals walked past. He could roll around, hide, swipe playfully at us - what great fun!

And finally, Bruce put up the tree. It's tiny, because we didn't know how our respective hands would be this year after all our surgeries, and we didn't want to try to haul up containers and bins of things to decorate. Anyway. Bruce says it's The Best Tree Ever. The Best Tree He's Ever Had in His Whole Life! He picked it out at the grocery store, bought little tiny LED lights, raided the Christmas decorations for the tiny ornaments (including a bird from the 1950's), and added a crocheted star at the top. The lights are battery operated. You'd think he was a 10-year old with an early Christmas present.

Now all we have to do is take down all the autumn decorations and beef up the the Christmas decor with a few choice decorations. That's on the agenda for today. But, that tree! (wink)

Linking up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Thankful

I hope my American friends enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving. And for those of you outside the US, I hope it has been a wonderful week. We had a small gathering at our house - just Bruce and myself, my brother Steve and my son Shane and granddaughter London. The turkey was huge, and the appetites matched it. London, who is 8 now, helped me by setting the table and making a centerpiece of Thanksgiving decorations. I had made two pumpkin pies, then our wonderful neighbors brought over a huge Costco pumpkin pie as a “just because” gift. Needless to say, Shane and London went home with a pie and lots of leftovers. The weather was beautiful - clear and about 60 degrees, unseasonably warm. Just a great day all around!

I didn’t get much sewing done this week, but it was productive.  First, I finished Rainbow Selvages.

It finished at 60x72”. The backing is a piece of Tula Pink ponies fabric in gray and teal, and the binding is the same gray woodgrain fabric that I used on my Reading Rainbow quilt. I’m glad to have another Rainbow Scrap finish!  You can see other great work and finishes at the Scrappy Saturday linkup at Angela’s blog.

Reading Rainbow was also a Finish-Along goal of mine for 4th Quarter 2017.  It was #4 on the list published here.

And then I got Tulips basted. No quilting yet. With the Thanksgiving prep and celebration, I didn’t even get into the sewing room after Tuesday.

Yesterday, Black Friday, we took down and put away all the autumn decorations. But our first errand was to go to Costco, thinking we would be fighting crowds, to pick up a couple Fitbits (wristwatch-type fitness bands) for daughter Megan and me. We arrived 25 minutes early, thinking there would be lines for the 9:00 opening. But there weren’t. We sat in the car for 5 minutes, then did stand by the door for another 5 (third in the short line that was now forming), and at 8:45 they let us in. No mad rush. We got our 2 Fitbits, plus a couple Christmas movies, and there was not waiting even to check out.

So, we came home and moved the furniture out of the living room and then I vaccumed and we rolled up the big rug. I cleaned hardwood floors underneath and did a deep clean in the living room - shelving, windows, shutters.  Next, we rotated the rug, and then rearranged the furniture to make room for a Christmas tree. The guys brought up the boxes of decorations and the tree.  I did get all the decorations out, but lost steam and took a nap after that! Today I can set up and decorate the tree after I do some grocery shopping.

And then later today I will begin sewing the first clue to the On Ringo Lake mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter. Fifty nine-patches. Christmas music is now allowed, and I’m excited to welcome back Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, The Chieftains, and Amy Grant (among others) to serenade me.

Have a wonderful week!

Thankful for ..... A Finish!

Business first. I finished quilting and binding the quilt for my DDIL Kim for Christmas. She selected the orange peels and Hello Darling by Bonnie & Camille.  The quilt finished at 64x75”.

I couldn’t show it on Instagram because she follows my feed there. But here is a picture we snapped between stiff breezes a couple days ago. This was goal #9 on my Quarter 4 Finish Along Goals, which you can see here. This is my fifth finish for this quarter with several more to go. Yikes!!

Back in the early days of my blog (I have been blogging nearly 10 years - that anniversary will come next summer), I used to post vintage graphics for various holidays. As most of them are from old Victorian postcards, and as Thanksgiving was not a national holiday a hundred-plus years ago as it is now, Thanksgiving graphics are hard to come by.  But I did find a few seasonally appropriate ones, so I will include them here. Feel free to right click and save them on your computer; they are copyright-free. So, while I blather on talk about a few things, the pictures will be interspersed.

I don’t usually get sappy at this time of year, but a few readers have remarked (and one even wrote personally) to say how upbeat I seem in my posts, especially given not only the end-of-year Holiday preparations and tons of sewing projects to finish, but our ongoing construction. And let’s not kid ourselves, as adults (and regardless of which candidate you were rooting for), this election cycle has taken a lot out of us these last few weeks. There was no hiding from it.

I am a Glass Half Full person. So, yes, I am upbeat, despite the disappointing-to-me election results (and the sheer number of persons who voted for his intolerance), despite the colder and darker weather that is upon us as autumn turns into fall, and despite the continual delays and messes that the living room (and eventually the hall and back bedroom) remodel throw at us. Why? Because there is so much to be thankful for!

During the election, I was bothered by the phrase “Make America Great Again”. To me, that was a Glass-Half-Empty viewpoint. Excuse me, folks, but America is ALREADY great.  We are free to live and worship (or not) as we like, to own homes, raise families, obtain medical care, get in our cars and drive when and where we want for leisure and entertainment.

We have myriad opportunities to work and a system that allows us to retire and continue to live well when we are old and tired. We can mail a letter across the country for less than 50 cents for crying out loud! We can talk or Skype on the phone to friends and family around the world. We have freedom of speech. Our water is clean (unless we live in Flint - shame on those crooked politicians!), our air is relatively clean (and they are working on it), and we have ready access to more food than we could possibly need.  And we are in the minority of humans on this planet who can say all those things. 

Anyway, those are major things that I often take for granted, but am truly thankful for. There are also bazillions of tiny things that we take for granted, and for those I am thankful as well. That my family comes to visit and play regularly. That my house is warm and my cats love us and keep us company when we are home. That we can go out to dinner if I don’t feel like cooking. That my order from the fabric store arrived today so I can begin my next quilt. And even that a lace client placed a large order today (and that commission will finish off my Christmas shopping). 

I am also grateful for a loving husband with a great sense of humor. We have been together for 14.5 years (married 13.5), and we are still laughing together and planning together and having fun. Plus, he feels it’s his manly duty to clean the turkey and prepare it for the roasting bag. How lucky am I?

Yes, dear, the turkey is cooking!

I just got word today that our cabinets won’t be ready until NEXT Wednesday (Nov. 30). That will be almost 4 weeks to construct it all when it was supposed to be 2 weeks. Oh well, what can I do? In the meantime, the flooring project will move down the hall and hubby can begin hooking up all the wired-in electronics. I can still schedule the delivery of the furniture on time, because it wasn’t going to be ready until Dec. 7-8 anyway.  And the silver lining is that Alfie and Darla will have more time to run around on the floors (sans furniture) like idiots.

Our Thanksgiving will be just Bruce and me, along with my adult son Shane. Shane is a single dad, and his daughter London will be with her mom for Thanksgiving this year. We’ll have turkey, veggies (some from the garden), stuffing, mashed potatoes (also from the garden), pumpkin pie, and beer/wine/coffee. After eating, the guys will putter around with electronics and projects in Bruce’s laBORatory, then they’ll probably whip out their guitars. I will sew, or peruse Pinterest. We’ll talk and relax. So much to be thankful for!!

What are you doing? Whatever it is, may it be joyous, delicious and warm!!

Hugs,