Goodbye November, Hello December

Wow!  Has this year flown past or what?  It seems hard to imagine we are already into December. 

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful with lots of great memories being made and waaaay too much delicious food to eat.  The only downside to it this year was that my mom was unable to join us as she had an infection.  She so loves being around all the activity and enjoys seeing the little ones.  Each year we attempt to get a photo of the family together and this year was no exception.  We were missing one grandson who is away at college in Florida.

First Thanksgiving for three of them

There has not been a lot of sewing time, but I am attempting to join in on the Easy Street Mystery quilt with Bonnie Hunter.  This is the beginning and I will get to it as time permits.  I do have my almost 400 sub cuts of pairs finished.  They just need to be sewn into four patches.

They really are not pink!!!  They are grays, blacks and whites.

I have worked a little more on my Christmas stockings in the evenings.  It doesn't seem as though I make much progress until I compare it to the previous week's photo. 

This year I am going to enter my little red Christmas Tree into the 2012 Christmas Quilt show.  If you have made a Christmas quilt, you should put yours in as well.  They are accepting links through Nov. 30th.  There are prizes to be won even if you did not submit a quilt for the show so be sure to go and visit.

The house is slowly turning from fall decor into Christmas.  I am going to have some of the granddaughters come over to help me transform it the rest of the way.  They love doing it and I LOVE the extra help. 

Have you seen the Holiday Lane Blog Hop pillows?  Oh my goodness....they are fabulous.  That is on my to-do list for next year.  It is a free pattern by Jill Finley.  You can check them out at www.sewwequilt.com and follow the link to the pattern. 

First Monday of Fall

I am enjoying seeing the photos on different blogs of the fall colors starting to appear.  We don't have much in the way of color changes, but the leaves are starting to fall and the lighting is completely different on the hills.   It won't be long before we are talking about Christmas.  I am sure that everyone is ready for it.....right????

My Christmas tree quilt is finished and ready to hang.  I just LOVE the way it turned out.  As I mentioned in my last post,  it is a design by Cherry from Cherry Blossoms Quilting.  I FMQ-ed  ribbons and bows around the tree and feathers along the outer border - a first for both!
 

Halloween will soon be here and I had a couple of costumes to make for some of the little ones here.  I'm sure most everyone has seen Woody in Toy Story and that was the look I was going for.  One vest has the sheriff badge embroidered onto it.  Why just one???  Well, we all know that "there's room for only one sheriff in this town".   I doubt that the two year old will care that there is only one. 

Mhairi's mug rug for our fall swap arrived from Australia this week.  She included some fancy teas and a wonderful Australian magazine.  The mug rug is so cute and has a handy little pocket on the side for keeping a spoon or a napkin in it.  Thank you so much, Mhairi.  I will enjoy it this season. 

I've had the joy of having little ones several days this week as well as older ones spending the night over the weekend.  Life is busy...life is good!!!



Oh no....I don't have to stay with Grandma...do I????

Here's hoping this posts since I am now being forced to use the new interface!!!!

Still Alive and Kicking

Yep, I am still here.  I just haven't had time to get a decent post off and I didn't have a lot to show in pictures either.  However, I did manage to squeeze in some sewing today that lasted more than five or ten minutes.

Blocks 66, 67 and 68 are done on my Just Takes 2 QAL.  The new set also looks like they will go up quickly. 

I've been working on a couple of blocks for an upcoming Blog Hop that I will be participating in.  My day will be on October 1st - the first day.  I rather like being first because there isn't the pressure of having seen so many wonderfully constructed blocks.  I guess it is like school when I liked to go first before someone else did an awesome job and then I had to follow.  Here is a sneak peek of my block.

I have also been working on a Christmas Tree design.  It is a fusible applique which I really haven't done much of in the past.  Cherry from Cherry Blossoms Quilting is the creator of this fabulous design.  If you are not familiar with her you will be blown away at what she designs.  I am looking forward to finishing the applique and constructing the quilt.

We had five grandchildren staying with us for a couple of days and they each wanted to make something with the sewing machine.  The boys love the embroidery machine and always have fun creating something unique. 

My granddaughter is redoing her bedroom in aqua, black and white so she did a pillow to put on her bed.  I just loved her color combination.

We also got a chance at some wonderful baby snuggles for a few days.  This little one is as good as gold and is just starting to smile.  LOVE it. 

You know it is autumn when the candy corn arrives.  My DIL showed up yesterday with a fresh bag of it for me.  Each year she manages to find a bag before I see then in the stores.  Now I know it is time to start my decorating for the upcoming season!!!  After all.....this is the last week of summer. 

The days have been a little warm here so we always open the house up early in the morning to cool it off.  I had our doors open and two birds hopped right into the house.  When I saw them I went to show them the way out.  One flew out, but the other flew into the door, breaking it's neck.  I was hoping it was just stunned (as they often are) and set it outside.  The poor mate hopped around the limp little bird for close to an hour trying to get it to jump up and join him (or her).  I felt so awful. 

Lastly....the winner of my book from the Blog Hop Party has not responded to my email nor checked my post saying she was the winner.  It has been two weeks so I selected a new winner through RNG.  This time it goes to Susan.  Susan is actually a regular follower of my blog so congratulations to Susan.  I will send you an e-mail.