Welcome, December

December....how can that be?  I'm fairly certain that this year went much faster than it should have.  Ready or not, here it is.  I know I am not alone in disbelief.

The crud has struck like a vengeance around here so accomplishing much has been a bit of a challenge.  Thankfully, commitments and entertaining have forced us to keep moving.  We had our big Thanksgiving last weekend - in the rain - and then our annual Christmas dinner here last night.  Now that those two big dinners are behind me, I managed to slip away into my sewing space today.  I have missed the dates with my sewing machine. 

There is no way that I can keep up with the annual Bonnie Hunter's Mystery quilt during these busy days.  I am partway through step one, but worked on step two today.  Although these are not "my" colors, I love the way they are all coming together. 

My sister is also doing the Mystery.  This is her first time doing one and we've been having fun sharing our photos with each other.  Although I have not been able to convince her to start her blog YET, she is posting her progress on her IG account (alaskanquilter) along with some amazing quilts that she has been creating.  If you follow her you will also see some spectacular views from her Alaskan sewing studio.

December was the final month of our MCM Bee.  Elizabeth is the queen bee this month and requested that we make a block of the block that we requested when we were queen bee.  Isn't that a great idea?  This was the block I sent her.

The only other sewing I have finished is my postcard from Sheila's postcard swap. This one went off to Brazil.

Do you remember the cope that I reconstructed?  It was a thrill to receive a photo of it in use.

When the whole gang is here for Thanksgiving we try to get a group photo.  The rain canceled our attempt this year so we gathered after church the next day for our photo.  We were missing one who had to head back to college early that morning.

I have an update on my iron.  I did contact Oliso as Candace suggested.  Even though the guarantee had expired, Oliso did offer to replace the iron for about a third of the price of buying a new one.  It is so nice when a company stands behind their product. 

It looks like winter has finally arrived to the better part of the country.  Our temps have also taken a dip.  It is the time of the year when the fires in the fireplace feel really good.  I guess it is December.  Enjoy the days ahead.

Decision Made

After leaving my first row of the upcoming Row by Row hanging on the wall all week, I made a decision on the black row that was bothering me.  I did a little unstitching and applied a new spacer row.  I think I like this better.

This was the before.

I may still add the darker rows - depending on what future rows look like.

There hasn't been much stitching going on here this week as we have been away, but I came home to some great mail.  I participated in Sheila's postcard swap again and received my postcard from Lin (in France).  It is just gorgeous with so many terrific techniques.

As well, my mini quilt from Barbara arrived from Ireland.  This was from the ALQS10 that I have participated in for many years.  I have received so many beautiful quilts through this swap and have met so many great blogging friends.  Barbara actually received one of my quilts a number of years ago so it is a thrill to now also have one of hers.  I just love this one and the quilting is beautifully done.  She also included a mug rug and a little book about her area with the quilt.

Recently a dear friend of ours had surgery and complications from kidney stones.  I was blessed to be able to help him a bit and in return he brought me a lovely Breadfruit table runner from Hawaii - his home state.  Although he apologized for it not being "homemade", I will cherish it.  I love the color he chose.

As I said, we were away this week for our annual fishing trip to the Sierras.  Again this year, the fishing was uneventful, but the family time with all the kids, their spouses and all of the grandkids was priceless.  Just a few pics from the trip......

First fish!

This little ones mom used to do the same thing.  Her mom would pull my drawer out, remove all of the towels and climb into the drawer.

These three can make a golf course out of anything!

It will be a quiet blog week for me as our daughter and SIL are off to Hawaii for the week.  We will have the five children AND the dog. Life should be busy here.  I'll be back next week!