Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas Decorating

Two days ago Jack set up the tree and today we bought the decorations up from the basement and I decorated the tree, He helped by getting some of the ornaments unwrapped and he put new hooks on the ones that needed it. It took a few hours to get the tree done and right after I arranged the tree skirt Miss Mona, the princess cat, settled herself on the tree skirt for a nap.

She really has very pretty green eyes but I think this glowing kind of demon look is the feline equivalent of "red eye".

No amount of coaxing or gentle prodding would convince her to leave her new napping quilt. I might as well give in because she will do whatever she wants as soon as I leave the room.

Over the last few days I also hung Christmas quilts in my sewing room. I replaced the quilts from my last post with Christmas quilts. I don't have the places to hang them that I used to have so I am working out new arrangements. I do believe that the gray flannel I use on my bulletin boards has made the colors in my photos come out true to life.

The quilt on the lower right is hung sideways and I will have to change that and I need to clean up the shelf under the wreath quilt. I found that I have 20 mug mats so I hung some of them with my 12 days of Christmas cheater smart panel.

I have some larger quilts and I am not sure what to do with them. Well..... one is on my bed and two are one the backs of chairs but I have 3 that have no place to go yet. Maybe they will find a new home.

Progress

I may not finish this today but I am making progress. As I expected, I didn't get back to my tree skirt after dinner but I got back to it first thing this morning. 

I  wasn't sure how I wanted to proceed. I  thought that maybe I should not have stitched the Prairie Points on until after I layered it and quilted it. I knew I did not want to unsew them but I couldn't decide  what to do next.

I woke up early and dozed off a few times and each time I woke up I  was thinking about a different solution.

In the end I layered the backing and the top and pinned all around the edges and stitched it and then cut away the excess backing. Next, I layered it with the batting on the bottom, then backing and finally top on the top ( makes sense, top on top, right) so I could stitch exactly 3/8 inch along the edge. I stitched  the straight sides where they meet, leaving one open in the center for turning. Finally, I stitched around the center circle even though I will trim it and bind it after the quilting. The Prairie Points made it easy to work out the edge and press it, all I had to do was pull on the points.

As I was working this morning I was telling myself that the next time I will put the whole thing together differently. I hate not knowing if something is going to work. If I found that it looked really bad after I turned it and pressed it I wasn't sure I would ever finish it. It looks good and I think after I quilt it and trim the center hole and bind it that it will look even better.

Now lets see,

Maybe I can start agonizing over what thread to use to quilt it.

Frenzy fizzle

 It was not a true finishing frenzy. I am still working on finishing and I have finished the quilting on the red, white and blue piece but I am giving it a rest while I contemplate what to do next.

 I had opted for no borders just a binding with faux piping. Now I am thinking about adding a 2 inch border. there is enough space to sew that all around. I am also thinking about embellishments so I will work on something else while I have it up on the wall to look at.

Our Friendship  group met last night and I picked up the ruler I am borrowing and I was really eager to get started cutting. I am not very good at following directions, even when they are very good, however I looked at the tutorial  and cut one wedge and then i read the instructions again and cut another wedge and then I put the rows of sewn squares from one charm pack in order on a foam core design board and cleaned up my space and put things away that I am not using right now. I made a nice clean space to work; then I called it a night.

This is what I have so far. I thought I would get more cutting done today but I had other things to do.

Today is Jack's birthday; his big birthday party  is in 2 weeks but Wednesday is the day our grandson comes to dinner and today one of our granddaughter's and her 5 year old son and our son were also coming.  I had to shop for groceries and of course a cake among a bunch of other things  to get ready. I finally got the dishes done and everything put away about 9PM so no more sewing today. Tomorrow looks good for sewing.

By the way the Birthday Boy celebrated his 80th birthday with a nice afternoon motorcycle ride.  

Getting there

I did not get my eye exam on Friday just like I didn't go shopping earlier in the week. When you live with Mr Spontaneous adjusting plans just comes naturally.  We went to the Y in the early afternoon and then I got my hair chopped  cut. I wanted it neatened up at the bottom and the top left alone because I want to let it grow long enough to get a perm. I have been trying to get  it long enough ever since the last hair cut when every last curl bend in my hair got cut off. No one ever believes me when I say my hair is really really straight and when the curls are cut off they are gone until the next Perm.. It is probably my fault for not making it really clear what I want.  Well ... it will grow and in the meantime I will just have to make sure I wear makeup and feminine earrings and clothes so I don't like like an old man instead of an old woman. We puttered around long enough while we were out that it was getting close to dinner time and Mr Spontaneous took me to Pannera's for supper. I guess he thought I looked presentable.

Yesterday I went to the Women's Christmas Luncheon at our church (this was the reason I decided to get my hair cut). There were 28 tables and every one of them different and they were all beautiful. Different women from our church decorated them with their own china and napkins and centerpieces etc.  I wish I had thought to bring my camera. I am not a possessor of the latest in cell phone technology, no camera in my phone. Some of the tables had little boxes or bags of chocolate as table favors; this little mini quilt is what we got as favors at our table. It is about 4 1/2 x 6 and looks cute hanging on the door knob to my sewing  room. I am so glad we didn't get chocolate because I would have eaten it (all myself on the way home). I am trying really hard to at least not gain any weight. It is probably not realistic to think  I am going to lose any this month.

I took a nap when I got home and after  dinner I put these Christmas quilts  on the bulletin boards on either side of my sewing room window. I am hoping that when it is time  to change them out again I remember where  I put the things I took down.

When we  get the tree up I will finish the decorating. I have one box of stuff that I put away with the ornaments and it  is  easiest just to get it all down at one time. I am not sure when this will happen. If it rains Mr Spontaneous won't be going out on his motorcycle and we will  either go shopping or he will get the tree out. If it sounds like I am complaining about Jack I am really not. He keeps it fun and interesting and we laugh a lot.

 Keeping it real........that is not to say I never complain.

It's starting to look like Christmas

I made some progress yesterday but it is not all finished. I did get the Christmas dishes out and put the hand painted China safely away. This is the shelf where I keep my Christmas dishes and the china that I change them out for. You can see the Chocolate pot in the middle with bubble wrap around it. The boxes hold more hand painted china. This is irreplaceable for me. My mother painted it when she was a young woman. When I put it away I always put a sign on the shelf in front of it so no one shoves something in there when they are putting something away. I am usually the only one who puts things away in this cabinet but a reminder doesn't hurt.

 This is pretty much as far as I got yesterday. I decided to keep the 12 Days of Christmas after all. There is an electrical outlet in the wall at about the level of the 8th day and this is the only Christmas wall hanging that is long enough to cover it. That is the dumbest place to put an outlet if you ask me. (obviously no one  did) I left one of my hand painted china plates on the top shelf  on the right side. It is too large to fit in the boxes from my Christmas dishes and I do not have a place to put it that I feel is really safe. Since it is red and green it fits right in.

 When I took the photo yesterday I didn't have my centerpiece out so I put my plant there for the pic. On the right is what I decided to use this year. I put a few things that I have sitting here and there other years together with a couple of candles . The little  china angel was  a gift from a friend for my December birthday almost 50 years ago. Mr and Mrs Santa and the taller angle are things I made when I made and sold cloth dolls at craft shows years ago when country decor was in. The little china trinket box is  hand painted and I bought it at a craft show, probably where I was selling my stuff.

This vase is one my son made in Cub Scouts when he was 9 years old. It is a Log cabin syrup bottle that was coated with glue and rolled in crushed egg shells and glitter. I use it every year somewhere; this year it is the bathroom.

Almost everything I have around at Christmas is something that friends or family have given me or something I made or that has special  memories from when or where I bought it.

Well I wondered what I was  going to do with all  those quilts and.......... I found places for everything and I need a few more. LOL

I need a long runner for my coffee table and mantle quilt for a long shelf in my living room. Maybe I need some pillows too.

Those things will have to wait till next year. I still have to finish cleaning and decorating the rest of the apartment and I have done no Christmas shopping yet. Today I am going to get an eye exam and get new glasses. Hmmm... maybe while I am waiting for my glasses I will see if I can find a sweater for myself.

Oh My Goodness

What am I going to do with all these quilts.

I got the bundle of quilts down from my closet shelf and put them all on the sofa and coffee table so I could see them and also photograph them.

The three on the back of the sofa and the 2 in front draped over the coffee table are wall  hangings. Draped on the right arm  of the sofa  is the  colorwash that I know I will use again on my table. (It is nice to know where a least one thing is going). Folded on the cushions are 3 larger quilts that are not big enough to use for a bed quilt but I can use them on top of my bed over something else. They cover the king size bed side to side and from the foot up to the pillows. I will probably use my sampler there this year.

Laying on the coffee table are an assortment of mug mats and 8 place mats( I am using my mug mats for my blog banner this month) . I made the mug mats last year and the place mats at least 10 years ago maybe even before that. There are 2 pillows on the left side,one is a dark green cover with a "belly band" around it. I made the cover last year to cover up a faded pillow that my husband uses in back of this neck when he watches TV.  I am not sure I will use the cover this year because I made a new cover from plaid strips and he likes it and he doesn't like me to mess around with his favorite stuff. The other pillow goes back a loooong  time. I had some motif squares from a Debbie Mumm fabric left from something; I added  some scraps and made a pillow.  

 Draped on the left arm of the sofa is one of nine Christmas Log Cabin quilts I made in 2000 for all my family members. You can see them all here. This one belonged to my Mother in law; she didn't put it away after Chrismas but left it out all year. When she went to  the nursing home she had it on her chair and used it as a lap quilt. It was washed many times at the nursing home and has held up well; there is only one dark green print that has faded so that the color doesn't look green anymore. 

This little Chrismas tree quilt is one that I made for her. It slips over one of those 8 x 10 lucite sign holder/picture frames. Her eyesight was failing and it was hard for her to make out details but she could see that this was a Christmas tree. It sat on her dresser. I made her several so she could have a change with the seasons and holidays. I knew I had the little tree quilt but I had  forgotten that I kept the the Log Cabin quilt after she  was gone.                 

The quilt above the sofa is not a Christmas quilt but the first  year it was up on the wall and some of my family saw it for the first time on Christmas Eve they  thought I made it just for Christmas.

I really do not have a place for all these quilts. I can put some of them over the backs of chairs and I will use the place mats and a few of the mug mats. I may give the 12 Days of Christmas wall hanging away. I made it last year  and I  used it but except for the border but it isn't something I pieced. Most of the other things I designed, some are hand quilted and there is more nostalgia associated with them. I am more inclined to use the older things that I have always used, just like I still have to put all the ornaments on the tree. Some of them go back 60 or more years from  before we were married.  When Jack talks about getting a smaller more manageable tree I think about how I will not be able to fit all the ornaments on the tree.

Oh well..... I was going to go shopping today for something new for me to wear but I have been everywhere looking already and even bought something and returned it and I know I am not going to find anything I want. No, it is not a case of nostalgia, wanting to wear the old things. I want something that is not old lady-ish but not something that would be more appropriate on my granddaughter. I have looked and right now what I want isn't there.

 So.... I will stay home and get out the Christmas dishes and put the quilts around and see how it goes.  More to come later.

Christmas Sampler

There is a Christmas Quilt show going on at Sew Cal Gal. I haven't been able to grab the linky button but you can click on the link and  get there from here.

 I  finally finished this sampler quilt that I started about 3 years ago when our group at church was doing a Block of the Month. I made mine in reds and greens using a  bunch of fabrics from  Block of the Month packs from a local quilt shop. I decided right away that I would not make the quilt from the shop but I bought all the packs since I had signed up. There were enough red and green fabrics in the packs that by adding a few from my stash I was able  to make a scrappy quilt. There are a lot of reproduction fabrics from the BOM packs which is nice for a traditional quilt. I decided that I would make 3 blocks every month and make 3 quilts. That didn't happen. However those blocks didn't go to waste I used 5 of them on the back of the quilt. After the 2nd month I knew I wouldn't make 3 quilts after all so I only had 6 left over blocks. The blocks are 9 inches before the red frames. 



57 x 70



Back

 I am not sure where I will  use this one this year. I change things around from year to year. Because it is new this year I will  probably put it where the whole quilt shows.

This quilt below is the one that for the past maybe 15 years always goes on my dining room table. It is a nine patch color wash and I left the center kind of blank because I intended it for the table with a centerpiece sitting in the middle.



40 x 40

I got out some of my Christmas quilts yesterday. Looking over my Picassa web album I am remembering many more quilts that I made for Christmas and have given away. I still have a bunch that I kept, probably too many.

I haven't taken the bundle of Christmas quilts down from my closet shelf yet but by the end of this week I will be taking out all my Christmas quilts and  Christmas dishes and they will be out until January 1. I will be showing more of my Christmas quilts in the days to come.





A little progress

I made a little progress  today. I realized that it is almost time to bring out the Christmas dishes and quilts and I have a new Christmas quilt that was not quite finished . I needed to finish the big stitch quilting on these two blocks; that's all that was needed .

 This quilt has been sitting since August, all done, binding and all, waiting for this little bit of hand work. You can see the whole quilt here.

Yesterday I finished up my black and white  9 patch color wash background and fused the edges of the 3 circle doodle to the background. I still need to cut away the background from behind the doodle because all the seams, especially the intersections, create a problem with the stitching. I have to go out and get some Warm and Natural batting; that is the only batting I like for wall hangings.

This will be the largest doodle  that I have quilted and it will take some  time. I don't stitch on every line but most of them will be quilting lines. Up to now every one that I have done I have considered an experiment but I have experimented with several different ways of doing things and this one is not an experiment; it is the real deal.

A nice surprise and more Christmas quilts

Monday morning I got a very nice surprise. I won the giveaway on Red Pepper Quilts for a Half yard bundle of Pat Bravo's natures Elements fabric. I love the colors and I can hardly wait to see it "in person".

I  have been busy getting out all my Christmas dishes and quilts and making more place mats. about the time I was thinking I have too many Christmas quilts I decided that maybe I need a couple more for a couple of places but not for this year. I do have one in progress that has been in progress for 2 years,maybe next year.

I made 4 more place mats using this same blue snowman fabric and different red strips. They are all alike except for different red  fabric. I don't thave them quilted yet. They will all go for our visitation pastor and his wife to take to  the shut-ins and nursing home patients.









 I made this quilt  last year and I made a bunch of small projects with the little motifs and log cabin strips, pot holders  and mug mats and little bitty quilts for little  places. I was in the use "it all up" frame of mind. One of the ladies in our quilt guild said she has no stash, she buys what she needs and uses it up. I thought that sounded smart after sorting and sorting and organizing and reorganizing all my left overs from many years over and over and over again.
I pretty well used up all of the left overs from this piece. I did have a few  red strips left that I used this year in some mug mats. The little gingerbread people are foam cut outs that my great grand children decorated with glitter pens a couple of years ago. I try to use all the things the kids make and it is sometimes a challenge to figure out where to put it all but I think it pleases them to see it.

   The quilt below is a wonky log cabin I made a few years ago probably before wonky was in style. I bought the Letters to Santa fabric but the rest came mostly from fabric I had left over from years of quilting. I quilted it in the ditch around the blocks and then handquilted with big stitch using embroidery floss around the edges of the focus squares. I did a search on-line for Merry Chrismas in other languages and free motion quilted them all around the border. The other photo is the back  of the quilt.

This is a more sedate log cabin quilt that I originally made to use for a table cloth. I turn my plaid quilt over so the back shows and put the Christmas log cabin crosswise on the bed. I didn't notice all the various things laying on the bed when I took the photo but that's OK; it is kind of typical of the way I do things.