Happy New Year!

Wishing you peace and happiness in the new year...

Home again...

Arrived home safely on Sunday evening after spending a wonderful few days in Vermont with the kids.  We had our Christmas tree...

which the Fox in Sox kept a close watch over.  I remember how the kids used to open gifts and beg to have their pictures taken...not this year!

Max was happy to have HIS picture taken, with his new penguin! 

We had more snow in NJ than we did in Vermont, but it was just so pretty up there.  I was fascinated with the frost on the trees as we would drive through the higher elevations!  I guess that's why Andrew calls me a "Flatlander".

When I arrived home there were some wonderful gifts waiting for me.  First was this incredible pair of Evangeline mitts from Amy at abc creations.  They're gorgeous and I absolutely love them!

And second was this beautiful package from my Charming Girls Secret Santa Swap partner, Kate.  She sent a tissue box holder in a gorgeous Christmas fabric (I need to go buy tissues to fit it!), along with a little chicken pincushion, a 2" Omnigrid ruler with a ribbon on it (I hung it on my tree!) and a fat quarter of fabric.  Thank you so much Kate, I love everything!

I got back to real life today...worked a Weight Watchers meeting, then ran to the quilt store to drop my Pfaff off for service.  Tomorrow is my first day at the real estate agency where I'll be working...I can't wait!  The new year holds a lot of promise and I'm looking forward to seeing where it leads me!  I hope that the new year brings you wondrous journeys as well!

Christmas Memories

Kelly has asked for our Christmas memories...the one that stands out from both my childhood and my children's childhoods is waiting at the top of the steps for permission to come downstairs to see if Santa came.  You see, we'd be awake early and had to wait for my parents to get up.  Then my mom had to go downstairs and start coffee and my dad had to set up those BIG lights (remember those?) so that they could take pictures of the festivities.

When we had children, it seemed like a fun thing to continue.  I would get up and make coffee, tea and hot chocolate, my husband would take the dogs out and the kids would sit at the top of the steps and wait, not so patiently, for us to say they could come downstairs. This picture was from 2007. Last year was the first year where we don't have a step picture...because we opened gifts on Christmas Eve after mass.  This year will be different too...not only will be open gifts on Christmas Eve, but we'll be at Andrew's where there are no steps!

I was so looking forward to having a white Christmas in Vermont...who would have thought that we'd get two feet of snow in New Jersey the week before Christmas?  It was nice to be snowed in over the weekend.  But then, I had all my Christmas shopping done and everything wrapped...I know that the storm was a major inconvenience for a lot of shoppers!

I've completed my December project...the center of Andrew's quilt is finally together!  I'll be bringing it up to try out on his bed...it turned out pretty big, so I'm not sure if I'll be adding borders to it.  I do love it the way it is...I hope he does!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Charming Christmas

Joan asked us "Charming Girls" to post pictures of our favorite Christmas "corners" in our homes.  I didn't do much decorating this year since we won't be celebrating Christmas at our house, so this is easy...I only put out my favorites!

Right now the treee is up, the red and white lights are on and it's waiting to be decorated.  We'll do that tomorrow night when we're all home. 

There is ONE ornament on it though...

Right now it's a Phillies kind of Christmas!

I do love my nativity set, which we got from Avon when we were first married in 1985...we keep talking about getting a new one, but haven't managed to...it just wouldn't seem like Christmas without this one!

In the foyer there's a little table with my snowmen...I think they may stay out all winter!

And above that table are two very special Santas...

That's a peek into my favorite Christmas corners...I hope you enjoyed it!

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

The Fat Quarter Shop said I should post a letter to you, telling you what's in the shop that I'd like for Christmas.  There are so many choices!  I'd put down everything, but I like my friendly, neighborhood UPS man too much to make him work so hard!  I think if I were to wish for anything, it would be this Winter Joy Fat Quarter Bundle.  I love the fabrics and the colors...they would make such a sweet quilt for winter!  Maybe with a nice flannel backing...so comforting.  A cup of hot chocolate and a good book, wrapped in my Winter Joy quilt, snug by the fire...I may not move until Spring comes!

So, I think I've been a good girl...and if you bring me this little gift, I'm sure there will be some really good cookies waiting for you!

Love,
Carolyn

Walking down the street we saw this...

I really wanted to run through the brick wall and see if the train was on the other side...

Distractions

I've been watching these guys this morning...they seem to be having so much fun!

December Goals

I hate having posts with no pictures, but that's what I've got today.  My first December goal has been reached...I passed my NJ State Real Estate Licensing Exam!  My only quilting goal for December is to finish Andrew's quilt, which you can see here. Anything beyond that will be a surprise!  I do have 2 customer quilts to quilt, I plan to get started on those this weekend.  And I still have to do EVERYTHING related to Christmas...the shopping (I've done a little!), cards, baking, decorating, etc.  How many days until Christmas???  You know, this having to go to work thing really gets in the way!  :o)

Thanksgiving

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We left on Wednesday afternoon and headed north to Providence, RI to see Ellen.  We took her to dinner and although the Chili's left a lot to be desired, it was great to see her and spend some time with her.  Although she's done well at school, she's decided to come back home to go to school and live, so once Christmas comes, she'll be back home for good.  I'm so excited to have her move back home!!!

After spending the night in Providence, we  headed further north to Vermont to spend Thanksgiving with Andrew.  We had a great time!  The boss and I took a long walk on Thanksgiving afternoon, after watching Rutgers win.  We had reservations at Sam's Steakhouse for dinner...this was the first time in my life I ate in a restaurant for Thanksgiving!  After dinner there was a lot of game playing... 

We stayed in Vermont until Saturday.  We made a quick trip to Waterwheel House Quilts in Londonderry where I picked up a few things...

The bundle on the left are Kaffe Fassett's and the bundle on the right are from Lecien.  Both are beautiful! 

We had hoped for some snow while we were in Vermont, but according to all the papers, this is the first time in 15 years that the ski resorts didn't have snow to open on Thanksgiving.  Fortunately, on Friday night they got a start on it...

and Okemo will be opening this coming weekend!

While I was there, I read a book, spent some time knitting and worked on these two applique blocks.  One more block and I can start putting this one together!

And when I arrived home there were some beautiful Christmas paisleys waiting for me from the Fat Quarter Shop!

Once I take my state licensing test on Thursday I'll be ready to get started on decorating for Christmas and finishing up Andrew's quilt.  So, what did you do for Thanksgiving?

What was I thinking?

When Andrew moved to Vermont, I realized it was time to make him a new quilt.  I looked through some magazines, found a block I liked, played with it in EQ for awhile and sent him the results.  Then I moved on to making the blocks.  This is the result...so far!

I didn't anticipate that it would take SO LONG to make each block!  The nine patch centers were a breeze, and it really isn't a difficult block.  But the trimming of the hourglass blocks for the star points...THAT is taking forever!  I'm almost finished the blocks with the blue star points, which you see here. There are 48 of those.  Then it will be on to making the 35 blocks where the nine patches willl be blue and the star points will be red.  They'll be alternated with the blue.  I had high hopes of having this done for Thanksgiving when we head up to visit him.  Now I'm just hoping that I'll have it finished when we go up for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, do you use Pandora to listen to music? I decided to set up a station with all my favorite Christmas music, so I asked it for Andy Williams Christmas songs.  I spent a few hours listening to some fabulous Christmas music...Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, The Ray Coniff singers, Josh Groban, Harry Connick, and Michael Buble to name a few.  Give it a try...you get 40 free hours of music a month!

Almost there...

I've got one more week left of Real Estate Licensing class and tonight is a big test.  Our final is on Monday, then if I pass that I can go on to take the state licensing exam.  I've been spending my time studying, taking practice tests and putting all of the vocabulary on index cards so I can study some more.  At least 20 vocabulary words per chapter and 22 chapters = A LOT of index cards!

On Monday, Grace received the H1N1 nasal vaccine at school and had an immediate reaction to it.  Dizziness, exhaustion, aching, a rash on her neck...the nurse called me pretty quickly to come pick her up!  So, did you know that since the nasal vaccine contains a small amount of weakened, live virus, you can get a mild case of H1N1 from it?  She's been home from school since.  I'm hoping she can go back tomorrow, the doctor says she can return once she's been 48 hours without a fever.  I guess a mild case is better than a regular case of swine flu!

Raindrops Keep Falling...

on my head...at least they were this morning. Problem was, I was sitting at the kitchen table! Not the best way to start the day. Hopefully, the problem is solved now that I've pulled out all of the bathtub caulk upstairs, cleaned, scrubbed, bleached and recaulked. We'll see if I have raindrops in my bowl of Total tomorrow morning! Fortunately, something just arrived to make me feel a whole lot better...fabric!

I placed an order yesterday at 1:40pm for these Jo Morton fabrics. I ordered online from Old Country Store Fabrics. I received an email back at 4:54pm, telling me my fabrics had been cut, packed and shipped. I just went to my mailbox and there they were, with a nice note thanking me for my order! I'd highly recommend shopping here...they have beautiful fabrics (I've been to their store many times, it's one of my favorites!) and their service is incredible.

We went to the Phillies World Series Game 4 on Sunday...it was so much fun, although it would have been better if they'd won! They did win last night...here's hoping they can win Games 6 and 7 in the Bronx and bring home the championship for a second year in a row...Go Phils!

More October Finishes...

The feathered tablerunner is bound...

The blue nine patch quilt is bound and ready to be sent off to charity...

My embroidered blocks are set...this one will go on the machine to be basted. I plan to hand quilt it for NEXT Christmas!

And the baby quilt is quilted and finished...right down to the striped binding! I love this quilt, it was based on Jo Morton's Cinnamon Stars quilt in her newest book, Vintage Journey.

Next on the list are the nine patches for the Charming Girls Half Pint Quilt Along and the quilt for Andrew. Those two will be my November goals!

Fall...

Fall has been beautiful here in my world...

I've spent it finishing up my Stitcher's Angel Projects...they are off in the mail to places far away!

I've finished up a few customer quilts...a beautiful floral...

And an adorable Halloween quilt!

And I've finished the top for a special little baby to be...she should be arriving soon! This one is next on the machine...

And to top it all off, Cliff Lee pitched an amazing 6-1 win against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series. Un.be.LEE.vable!!!

Vermont..

Grace had a half day this past Friday, so after school I picked her up and headed to Vermont to visit Andrew. I love having a reason to go to Vermont! On Saturday morning while the kids were sleeping, I went out and explored. I'd driven past a quilt shop on the way in and decided to head back there to see what it was like. Good choice...this store was amazing! Waterwheel House quilt shop is a beautiful shop...so full of wonderful projects and fabulous fabrics. And Gracie...the shop Golden Retriever, who is just a sweetheart.

This fall leaf quilt was hanging on display...see the little sign that says "Kit Available"? Not anymore, I bought the last one. :o) The sample was done with fusible applique, but I think I'll do needleturn. The fabrics in it were nothing like anything in my stash...lots of brights, Kaffe Fassetts...just a beautiful combination. I plan to prep blocks and work on it during my travels to Vermont and back...when the boss is driving, of course!

Shelley, the owner was very nice and the women in the shop were just having too much fun together...it seems like it would be a great place to hang out! If you find yourself in Londonderry, VT, be sure to stop by! You won't be disappointed.

The ladies did direct me to another shop, Country Treasures in Chester which carried Jo Morton fabrics. We stopped there in the afternoon and I have to admit...it had a ton of fabric and was very charming, but also very overwhelming. I found some Jo's that I wanted, but so many bolts of fabric were piled on top of the ones I wanted that I walked out with nothing...and decided that I'd order them online from Old Country Store Fabrics when I got home. This is a shop I've visited several times in Intercourse, PA and love. I didn't realize they'd started an online store!

I also stopped at the yarn shop, Six Loose Ladies in Proctorsville. Another fun place! One of the things I noticed in talking to the people I ran into...most of them were from New Jersey! When you're ready to slow down, the heat lovers from NJ all head to Florida and the cold lovers to Vermont. Guess which one I plan to go to? :o)

Making Progress...

I took the pictures of my October projects on Saturday morning and since then I've had 3 productive days in my sewing room. Several of the projects are much closer to being finished! The Poochie bag is done, the blue quilt and applique quilt block are both now quilted and I've made and sewn the binding onto those two quilts as well as the feathered table runner. I've also put together my embroidered Christmas quilt top and have prepared the backing. That should be the next one on the longarm, but will have to wait because my days off are over.

I've also joined in the Quilt Along at Charming Chatter. I thought the little nine patch quilt would be perfect for my Jo Morton fabrics, so will be using my little stash of them for this project. I plan to use the whites/tans on the top of the pile for the background fabrics and the rest for the nine patches and sawtooth border.

I plan to work on binding during Wednesday's Phillies game. It's an afternoon game, so I'm going to park myself in front of the television and stitch away. I can't do that during Thursday's game because I'll be AT the game...can't wait!