Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of my friends here in blogland! It is already January 1st for many parts of our extended family and soon will be for others. I hope you all have a safe and healthy new year and all (or most) of your dreams come true! ;o)

Gifts Given

Here we have the three pillows that I made for the 2 DDs and 1 DIL. I don't remember who got which one....just sort of wrapped them blindly. I really like that Fruitcake fabric!



I used the pattern from Camille's book Simplify. It was easy peasy, but I would do the envelope back a little differently next time. I would definitely allow more fabric for the foldover. Have made a note on the pattern.



Then I made a dozen of these....fun pillowcases and the eight grandkids took their pick....and a couple adults got the rest! Very fun simple pattern. It is called the 20 minute pillowcase and it encases all of the seams....sweet! I don't remember where I got the pattern, but if you google the name, I bet you will find it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

My oldest son and his family are on their way here from Oklahoma and so my next few days are going to be filled with loving on them! I want to wish everyone in blogland a very Merry Christmas. I have made some wonderful friends on this laptop and for that I am grateful! I will be back the beginning of next week with pictures of the sewn presents. Yes, I remembered to take pictures before wrapping!

Friday Night Sew-In

Last night was Friday Night Sew-In for the last time this year. Heidi organizes this and it was a great way to get caught up with our holiday sewing and knowing others were doing it at the same time. Of course it is gift time, so I can only show you the fabrics I worked with.



This will be the fabric for the back .....




And this is the book that had the great pattern.....I really heart this book! Hope everyone that sewed had fun and had some finishes like I did!



Merry Christmas FNSI buddies........

Snowman and Soup

I finished my Snowman stitchery and really love the way it turned out. I really like Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas, but Fruitcake is right up there also...I love the way all of the prints come together.



I used the extra charm squares for the backing also....love it.



And tonight I made homemade chicken noodle soup....yummy and some for the freezer also. It was great on this snowy day that never made it out of the teens for our temperature.

Does anyone know where I can find a quilt block pattern for a house? I know they are out there in blogland because I have seen them, but I can't find any today. It can be wonky or "regular". It should be 12x12 inches finished. Thanks for any help .
And because no post is complete without a picture, our Browns did not win today in Buffalo....even though I wore my shirt! :o(

Decorating

I have been sewing, but I can't show any of those things right now...might be gifities or pressies as our down under friends say. Our quilt guild has a sit and sew on the 2nd friday of the month, so I plan on going to that this week and getting a lot accomplished. There won't be any computer distracting me there! I have done some decorating. I don't decorate with a lot, but there are some special things that go up each year. Like my little tree in the kitchen that has my beagle ornaments on it (those were a gift from my sister Cathy). Of course they are in honor of my beloved Barney.



Like this one for instance....I think it looks a lot like him. Heart you Barn!

Relaxing

Discovered that I can look at an open fireplace and even have the crackle of the burning wood on my television! It plays Christmas music too!! All this and no mess with wood! I know the mess, we used to burn wood for years in our closed woodburner...I'm too old for that now! I think this will be neat on a cold evening when you just want to relax. Speaking of cold, it has arrived in NE Ohio and it brought snow flurries with it!

Family and Win

We had a great Thanksgiving with family and good food. Of course it was extra good because I didn't have to cook. After many years of cooking it is nice to go to the "kids" for a meal! Some of the grandkids below....



The 2 DD's posing over the mashed potatoes.....



Grandpa helping Graham carve the turkey.....

A relaxing fire after the feast......we were all stuffed....and then it was time for pie!

On a side note, I won this darling pattern from Renee Plains during the Home for the Holidays quilt designer hop. It is still going on and the link is on my sidebar!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My wish for all of my friends and family is a blessed Thanksgiving Day! Let's eat!!

Less than 5 weeks.....

Today I was sewing some more of these.....


that wind up by being these and then will be joined together....2 of them are already....can't reveal anymore at this time.



I did that sewing while I watched this on TV....one of my favorite movies, When Harry Met Sally. Don't have to really study the TV too much because I know it by heart! Sorry for the very tiny picture!

This is ready to be sandwiched and quilted....this one is for me!

Winner, winner.....

I have seen this magazine all over blogland and several of the gals I follow have blocks featured here. Vickie at Spun Sugar Quilts had one of the giveaways to win this beauty and I did! Thank you, Vickie, I have several dog-eared already that I would love to make!

Come to the Quilt Show!!

Head on over to SewCalGal's blog and join up with a favorite Christmas quilt, tablerunner, wallhanging. This is so much fun to see everyone else's goodies.


I worked on this small quilt all of 2009 by stitching the embroidery blocks that Gail Pan Designs gave to us as freebies for 9 months. I just started my blog at the beginning of 2009 and I was also trying to start AND finish quilts for the first time! I was determined to finish this for Christmas 2009 and I did....and it hung in my hallway and I am so proud of it!



I am working on Fat Quarter Shop's BOM, 12 Days of Christmas, and hope to have that to show and brag on next year.

Great Stuff

Last evening we had our Material Girls Quilt Guild Christmas party. It is early, but we don't meet in December, so it is on our November meeting night. We had a really nice dinner and a lot of laughter at a nearby restaurant. Our secret sisters were revealed and this is what I received from Judith. A darling wool ornament kit, a gift card and of course chocolate. Thank you Judith for a fun year of great gifties!


We also have a guild exchange. We have a game that we play and the gifts get sent here, there and everywhere. I picked this one and nobody else took it from me. This is the "gift wrap" and one of the reasons I grabbed it.



When we finally opened our gifts, this is what was inside....I was overwhelmed and felt very lucky! Thank you, Carol for your exceptional sewing skills and generosity! I don't really need anything else for Christmas after bringing these gifts home with me!

And on a side note, a girl can never have enough BLISS.....love this fabric!