A Little This and That

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we had a wonderful day down at my parents'.  We broke tradition and had ham instead of turkey and it was delicious.  Of course we had mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, and pumpkin and mince pies.  As usual, everyone complained about eating too much, but that's to be expected.  

On the Monday before Thanksgiving we enjoyed an overnight visit from grandson Keaton.  His school was out for the week but brother Cameron's was not, so Keaton was looking for a little "vacation" for a day or so. He and Papa Dan cleaned and filled the hot tub and Keaton enjoyed being the first one in this year.  (I suspect it wasn't quite as fun without a brother to splash around with, however.)  

In the evening I introduced him to a favorite site of mine, especially during the holidays.  Jigzone is an online jig saw puzzle site with many categories of puzzles, but my favorites are, of course, the Christmas ones.  You can change the cut and go from six pieces to one with about 276, so even if you've done a puzzle before, you can still be challenged by it.  Keaton loved it.  

Aebelskivers were requested for breakfast and this grammy was kept busy at the stove making strawberry jam filled yummies.  

By the time I was done it seemed as though a bomb had gone off (I seem to have dirtied every bowl and scraper in the kitchen, not to mention the liberal use of powdered sugar), but as Dan said, no one was hurt in the explosion.  :-)  We all ate until we were stuffed. Mmmmm....

Of course the trains came out and covered the living room floor.  Dan and Keaton were even able to diagnose and fix a problem with a special train I'd gotten for Dan years ago, and Keaton loved sending it chug-chugging down the track.  (It actually made that sound once we found a 9-volt battery to revive it's "voice".)  

Meanwhile, in the sewing room I came up with a little project to be used in this month's embroidery club that proved to be a hit.  We machine embroiders often have designs we love but just can't figure out what to do with. I was pondering this and all at once came up with an idea: stitch out a row of them, frame them with simple borders, and you have a perfect little accent for a wall or table.   I have a different one on display at the shop, but here's one I finished here at home.

This particular design is from an OESD pack called Holiday Luster.  Each design in the pack is one color, which makes it perfect for quick stitching.  

And last, in house news, we ordered the carpet for the stairs today!  They said there'd be no problem getting it done by Christmas!!  Yay!  

Dad's Quilt of Valor

I just received an email from the lady who made Dad's quilt and am pleased to share this picture.

The lady standing right beside Dad is Sallie Wilhelm, the one who pieced Dad's quilt, and the lady to the far left in the striped vest is the one who quilted it. On the right side, you can see some of the ladies in the hug line.  It's a lovely big quilt and also came with a matching pillowcase to be used as a storage case.  Those ladies do wonderful work!  

New Table Runner? Check!

Ohh, I can't tell you how much I love this new runner! The fabric is so gorgeous (Sentiments by 3 Sisters for Moda) and the pattern (Waffletime by Atkinson Designs) is perfect when you have a beautiful focus fabric you don't want to cut into small pieces.  

It's a perfect fit for the coffee table and I can hardly wait to have it there for Christmas.  I have more of the fabric and plan to make a throw quilt.  My first plan (before the table runner came on my radar) was to have the quilt as an accent for our bed for the holidays, but now I may want to use it in the living room.  Of course, it has be made first!  :-)

I have two embroidery clubs to teach today, so I'm off to get ready.  Happy Thursday, friends and family!  

Veteran's Day

I can't believe I forgot my camera (yes, I can--as my mom says, it's a family affliction), but I did.  Today Dan and I drove my parents to a Quilts of Valor presentation where Dad was one of twenty veterans to receive a special quilt.  Dad's is beautiful, all done in red, white and blue log cabin blocks surrounding a center panel with an eagle.  It's very fitting as he was a member of the 101st Airborne, known as the Screaming Eagles.  Dad's quilt was made by a lady who worked for him many years ago and he's always had a special place in her heart, so it was doubly special for both of them.  

The program was short and sweet, with emphasis on giving the quilts to the veterans.  They started with WWII veterans, and Dad was the first up.  They show the quilt and then there is a "Hug Line" composed of ladies who made the quilts.  I wasn't sure how Dad would react to this, but he headed down that line and gave each of those ladies a big hug and received one in return, and there were at least a dozen of them, probably closer to fifteen or sixteen.  It was fun to watch.  (I still can't believe I forgot my camera!!!)

When all the presentations had been made, and they included quilts for some veterans who have just returned home, there were refreshments and I'm here to tell you it was a cookie lover's (Dad!) dream.  It was at an American Legion hall, so I don't know if they were responsible or if the quilt ladies did it, but they did themselves proud.  

We took Mom and Dad home and spread his new quilt out on the sofa to admire it.  There's a huge machine embroidered label on the back (probably 8 1/2 by 11") with Dad's name, his dates of service, branch, etc., and the names of the ladies who pieced and quilted it.  As Mom said, it's a family heirloom.  

What a wonderful way to celebrate Veteran's Day.

Winter's Sending A Little Hint...

The view out my dining room window just a few minutes ago:

And I have to say, except for walking very carefully, I love it!  So beautiful.  Meanwhile, Dan just finished the trim around the entryway windows and is tearing off the old trim around the door in preparation for putting up matching trim.  New door will come later, but for now, the entryway is getting ready for the holidays!  I need to see about carpet for the stairs this week.  Note to self:  Do it!!

Accomplished!

I got the binding attached to my fall quilt yesterday, and last night I sat on the sofa beside my bee-u-ti-ful and oh-so-handy new end table and hand stitched it to the back.  It's done!

It brightens the corner and now I need to make some type of wall quilt to match.  Hmmm, do I have time before Thanksgiving?  I usually watch little Daniel on Wednesday afternoons but Ann just called to say I got the day off, so I may just head downstairs and hope for an instant idea.  (Miracles do happen!)

Here's the whole quilt:

Hooray for a finish!  :-)

Fall Quilt

Yes, people, progress has been made on the fall quilt.  If you'll remember (or even if you don't), I bought fat quarters of Sandy Gervais' new fall line when we were in McCall in August.  I used them to make a small Yellow Brick Road quilt and then realized I needed more fabric for the borders.  I was able to order what I needed online and got one border on and half the second.  Then life intervened and my quilt languished in my sewing room for a number of weeks.  

I finally forced myself to go down and finish that last border two weeks ago.  At that time, I was faced with a revelation:  I love to make the blocks for a quilt, but for some reason, freeze up when it comes to borders.  I think it's because the pieces are long and awkward and I have a fear of ruffled edges; I don't want them, and I (stupidly) allow it to stress me out while I'm stitching.  So I said to myself, "Self, get over it!  What's the big deal? It's a quilt!"  And I sat down and stitched.  :-)

Next up, I realized I had no pieces of fabric in my stash big enough to work for a back, at least a back that kind of matched the front.  Back to my computer.  At this point, I'd like to do a little pitch for shopping locally.  I love our little quilt shop, but there's no way it can possible stock all the quilt fabrics that are out there.  I shop at home first, and then (and only then) online.  I've had very good luck with the Fat Quarter Shop which is in Texas.  They are very nice to work with and the packages arrive quickly.  The fabric is sealed in a ziplock bag which keeps it nice and dry, even on very rainy days like the one when it arrived at our house.  The outside of the package had gotten wet somewhere along the line, but the fabric was safe.

I also decided to do a little experimenting with my thread and purchased a variegated King Tut thread called, appropriately, Autumn.  

Yesterday I loaded the quilt on my machine.

I'm happy to report I finished it last night!  Up next, the binding.  Hopefully I'll be back with my completed fall quilt in a couple of days.