Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Daisy...

And from our "gingerbread" house to yours!

I wish you all the blessings of the Christmas Season!

December?

Time just seems to be flying by, so much to do, so much to see and not much time at the computer to share what's been happening! There haven't been any "finishes" for me, I'm still working on hand quilting the quilt (which will never be done in time for Christmas!) and I've got a few knitting projects sitting untouched.  I did get away for a few days.  There was a real estate convention in Atlantic City last week and my boss and I went from Tuesday to Thursday.  We stayed at Harrah's marina and this sand sculpture was in the lobby.

 After a series of little mishaps and inconveniences, Harrah's upgraded us to a suite in their Waterfront Tower, which was pretty spectacular.  I felt like royalty with our fancy bathrooom...

and our beautiful bedroom with an incredible view of the bay...

our lovely dining room, where we enjoyed our room service breakfast...

And even more beautiful views of the bay...

and our relaxing living room, where yes, I did sit and quilt for awhile!

We felt totally spoiled and enjoyed every minute of it.  Once I came home, I decided I needed a little Christmas. The Boss had suggested we go into Philadelphia to see the 'Christmas Village' which was set up by City Hall.  It was a collection of temporary shops which sold everything from mulled wine to German Christmas decorations.  It was set up around the city Christmas tree...

I just love City Hall...it's such a beautiful building!

Grace also wanted to do some shopping at Tiffany.  We did look at all the displays in the store, which was great fun!

Then we had dinner at Max Brenners...the food was incredible and the service was first rate. I was impressed that when they brought me the wrong food by mistake, they not only corrected it, but comped both my meal and my husband's. I'll definitely be going back.

Now I guess I should make some preparations for Christmas!  Most of the shopping is done, the tree is up with lights and the packages to far off places are mailed. We're not sure that we're decorating the tree this year, Daisy likes to chew most everything...furniture, kitchen towels, and I'm guessing that Christmas ornaments would be a real treat!

Happy Thanksgiving...

The rolls are baked

The apple pie is ready... 

The stuffing is made, the green beans cleaned...all that I'll have to do tomorrow is bake some cranberry bread, make mashed potatoes and gravy, and, oh yeah...roast that turkey!  We're staying home this year...the kids are looking forward to a quiet day filled with football and feasting.  We have another reason to stay home this year...

Daisy was spayed on Monday and she needs rest and relaxation so she can heal. Poor puppy, she does NOT like that collar around her head! But every time I take it off, she starts licking her incision, so on it stays.

I wish for you, my friends, a blessed Thanksgiving, filled with family, friends and all good things. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Today is Andrew's 23rd birthday...I can't believe he's that old. Seems like yesterday that he was just a little guy, toddling around the house with his stuffed giraffe.  As you can tell from the picture, he might have grown up, but he's still a little kid inside!  He and his girlfriend Dayna dressed as Ash and Misty from Pokemon for Halloween.  Andrew, I hope you have a wonderful birthday!

It's the small things...

That make me happy! Today a customer stopped by with a copy of a just published book for me...Vivacious Curvy Quilts by Dianne S. Hire.

Inside was her quilt "Life on the Technicolor Highway", which I had quilted for her.  Here it is, on page 19...and not only mentions Jane as the creator, but me as the quilter! This is my first appearance in a book, although I did have a mention in McCall's quilting years ago, when I quilted a quilt for Michelle Scott.

But I guess it's always a thrill to see your name in print!!!

Saturday Stitching...

Enjoying the  process...but so much more left to stitch.  Think it will be finished by Christmas? Only 48 more days...

Help?

 A friend of mine stopped by yesterday with this quilt.  Her sister had gotten it years ago at an estate sale and gave it to her.  She was cleaning her home office, found it and decided it was one of those projects she'd never get to...so she offered it to me.  Sight unseen, I said I'd be happy to take it off her hands!  It's in beautiful condition, the flowers are hand appliqued and it's machine pieced. 

My question is, what is the name of this block?  I thought it might be a dahlia of some sort, but haven't found anything but the giant dahlia quilt, which it definitely isn't.  Any ideas?  Here's a closeup of one of the blocks...

And just because she's cute, here's a picture of Daisy.  She's growing up so fast!

Oddly Fascinated...

 I had two plans for my recovery...to quilt and to knit.  Okay, I also planned to do some computer work for the real job (which I've done).  I started my Lily Cardigan from Marie Grace Designs and have found myself doing more knitting than quilting.  I find that I'm oddly fascinated with how this sweater is constructed and find it amazing that I can follow the pattern...I'm not so good at following knitting patterns.  Or patterns in general.

But I'm in love with these raglan increases.  They're just so much fun and I made them!  They may not all line up perfectly, but then, neither do I, so I'm okay with that at this stage.  Once the sweater is done I may not be quite as happy with them.

I'm having the boss take me to my favorite yarn store this weekend, as my 24" circular needle won't cut it for a sweater that will have over 300 stitches on the needles by the end. It's already getting a little hard to work with, so tonight I'll spend some time quilting.  Unless those little raglan increases start calling to me again.

And how about that Phillies game last night?  Awesome...

It's been a long time...

since I basted a quilt by hand.  I kind of miss having my longarm handy!

The road much travelled...

We spent Friday and Saturday running up to Vermont so we could move Andrew back home.  I have to admit, it was a little sad to move him out of his apartment.  But, Vermont put on a show for us, so I felt much better about it!  The color in the Ludlow area was beautiful, although not quite at peak.  Here is the bridge, which gave Bridge Street its name.

Behind the apartment...



Saying goodbye to "The Hole"...

One last look at Okemo... 

Back at home I've finished two of my September/October Projects. The banner for church is completed and just needs to be dropped off tomorrow.

I also finished my socks...finally!

On the drive to Vermont I also knitted a dishcloth and a half...finished them when we got home!

Next up will be basting and quilting the 9 patch quilt.  I'll have some quiet time to quilt in the next week or so, since I'm headed to the hospital on Friday for a little surgery.  Nothing major, it's an outpatient procedure, but there will still be a few weeks of recovery time.  Now to get that quilt basted so I'm ready!!!



Michael's Wedding...

On Saturday, my nephew Michael married a beautiful Bulgarian girl named Bistra.  They make a wonderful couple and I wish them every happiness!

Michael and Bistra with my parents

Love this picture of my Dad!

My family...Grace, Me, The Boss, Andrew and Ellen

Andrew and his beautiful Dayna

Ellen and her handsome Jake...who really is smiling here!

My gorgeous girls

And the love of my life

Congratulations to Michael and Bistra! I'm so very happy for you!

September/October Goals

Kelly has asked us Charming Girls to share our goals for September and October.  Mine are pretty simple.  Quilt the 9 patch quilt and finish the banner in the previous post, and finish these socks which have been languishing on the needles for close to a year.  I do knit slowly.

Our topic this month is "Quilting the Quilt".  Kelly's asked for ideas...as a longarm quilter, I'm often asked for my opinion on quilting.  Although there is beautiful, elaborate machine quilting out there, I've always liked a simpler treatment for quilts.  I try to let the quilt "speak to me" and design the quilting around what it says.  If the quilt has a particular period, 30's for example, I usually use motifs you would have found on quilts of that time.  I've never been one to quilt things to death, although I do admire quilts that are quilted this way.  Kind of like art quilts...I admire them but wouldn't make one.

All in all, it really depends on the quilt.  There are some that just call for more detailed quilting and others that the piecing is so beautiful that busy quilting would diminish the piecing.  Just go with what your heart says...it will always be right!

September!

I love September...it's like the start of a new year!  I have a new planner, just waiting to be filled in.  Grace will be going back to school tomorrow...she's looking forward to starting at her new high school.  We've had a lot of good news lately...I think the best being that Andrew is moving home from Vermont.  He interviewed on Friday at the company my husband works for in Philadelphia and they offered him the job.  He will be the 3rd generation in our family to work for this company.  In addition, he also stopped at a local snowboard shop and they hired him part time, so he'll be coming home with not one job, but two!  The plan is to have him home by the end of September.

We spent our Labor Day weekend working on our shed.  Every agent that has seen our house has commented that it's an eyesore...and they were all right!  Here's the before picture....

After spending the weekend removing the old, rotten trim, replacing it, removing the doors and repairing them, priming and painting, it now looks like this.  I think it's a bit of an improvement!

I've done a little sewing...I'm repairing and refinishing one of the old banners from our church.  I've removed the old border fabric and replaced it, after washing the central counted cross stitch piece.  There was a patch in the center which I will replace, then I'll put it all back together with a little bit of machine quilting before I return it to the church.

I also finally got the borders on my 9 patch challenge quilt.  I'm planning to hand quilt this since my quilting machine is packed away in my garage, waiting to be moved to its new home, once its old home is sold.  I really wish that would happen soon!  I think it's time to bury St. Joseph.  Our last house was on the market for a year and didn't sell until we buried St. Joseph...yeah, it's definitely time!

Daisy is growing bigger by the minute.  She's mostly trained, as long as we remember to take her out!  With all the dry weather we've had, the leaves are starting to fall.  When we take her outside, she picks up a leaf and carries it around in her mouth until she finds a better leaf.  Then she'll drop the first one and pick up the new one.  She's quite amusing!

With Andrew moving back, Max will be moving home too.  They met this weekend and after an uneasy start (Daisy did NOT like Max sniffing around her food!) they came to a truce and spent a great deal of time ignoring each other.  I guess eventually they'll get used to each other!

So, that's what's been going on in my corner of the world, what's new in  yours?