Mid December Stitching

Life seems to be settling down a bit from the crazy pace of the last few months.  The days are drawing closer and I'm finding a few spare moments here and there for some stitching.  There is something relaxing about the time spent sewing.

I still have a few small projects to finish before Christmas, but I hope to get those done in the next few days.  Meanwhile, sewing a few minutes at a time helps to get the clues to the Bonnie Hunter Quiltville Mystery, On Ringo Lake, done.  I have managed to keep up - so far.  Clue #4 came out today and I had to give it a try.  I love these pieces - both the design and the colors.

The last few weeks have used the salmon color so I was happy to move away from that color.

A friend of mine had started a lovely quilt for her newest grandson.  She did such a nice job on the applique and was in the process of hand quilting it, but has been knocked down a bit by some medical problems.  Knowing she was not going to be able to complete it for Christmas, she asked if I would machine quilt the borders for her to finish it off.  I wish that I had the time to hand quilt it to complement her work, but the quilt is now finished and ready to be gifted.

It's hard to believe that the year is almost over and my Temperature Quilt is now in its final days.  November was a colorful one with some record breaking temperatures.  December has been exceptionally warm too.  I don't know why my one blue is showing up so dark in the photos, but I'll try to capture the whole year when the lighting is better.  It surely looks different from my sister's geese since she lives in Alaska.  You can see hers at IG alaskanquilter.

Puppy time is also consuming a lot of my free time.  One of us is definitely getting trained.  This little guy is such a love and wants to be wherever I am at all times.  Writing my Christmas cards, he was right there with a nose on my knee.

Sewing.....he sleeps in his bed right next to the sewing machine.

Computer time??? lol  It's tough to use the keyboard when he is sleeping on my wrist.

I'd say he is adjusting to his new home quite well.

The Thomas fire is still burning in our area with nearly 1000 structures now burned down and two deaths - one of a young firefighter yesterday.  Full containment is not expected until January 7th.  Our quilt guild and many others are joining the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild in making blocks for quilts for the victims.  It is an easy block to make if anyone is interested in participating.  This is from their website.

Here, There and Back Again

It has been another bit of traveling for us last week.  We flew to Omaha, rented a car, took one granddaughter out for dinner, drove to Kansas and took two more granddaughters out for another dinner before driving up to Iowa to spend some time with my relatives.

One thing I love about traveling at this time of the year is the beautiful colors of fall.

Since my roots are from the Midwest, it was fun to visit some of the old homesteads.  Both of these homes were built by my father and it was nice to see them still looking good.

We also took the time to visit Boys Town while in Omaha.  They have a fantastic museum on the grounds that was fun to visit.  If you have never seen the movie, Boys Town, you should consider watching it.  The original Oscar for the movie was displayed in the museum.

We avoid busy roads while driving so we can enjoy the countryside and this trip was no different.  One small road landed us in the middle of Hamilton, MO.  I had no idea until we had arrived in the town that it is home to Missouri Star Quilt Co.  Wow!!!  It was amazing.  They had great murals.  We only stopped for a few minutes as we were working our way to Iowa.

A nice spot for DH to bask in the sunshine as it was 29* outside.

While in Iowa we stayed with my cousin on their farm.  Again, it was quite chilly for us with highs in the mid 20s and low in the teens.

My cousin's farm in the heart of the Amish community.

Sunrise over the cornfields.

Driving back to Omaha for our flight home, we passed through Madison County - home of the covered bridges.  This poor one had seen better days before burning.  

Winterset, IA. is the birthplace of John Wayne.

John Wayne birthplace

This week has been an exciting and busy one for us as we added a new member to our family.  Needless to say, he is getting lots of love.

I haven't had much of a chance to sew this week.  I can't imagine why, but I have made a couple of pulls for the upcoming Quiltville Mystery QAL which starts next week.  I'm leaning towards pull #2 as it is a bit more green.  What do you think?