It was June of this year. Hot. Bright sun. Long days.
My quilty friend, JP, and I decided to make Christmas tree skirts. JP and I get together every Monday to quilt and in June decided to do a mutual project.
I was happy to get such an early start on these two skirts. I knew that they would be done well before Christmas. (Can you tell something is coming?)
Last year I had made a Christmas tree skirt for Noel Heart. You can read the story here and see the gorgeous quilt. I finished it right before Christmas, but it took real hustle to do it.
This year, I said with satisfaction, I’ll finish way before the Thanksgiving holiday. In our house, at Thanksgiving, I give each of my kids a Christmas decoration for the house. It’s a tradition I’m carrying forth from my Mom.
Fast forward to after Thanksgiving. Say, this past week. I finally finished the skirt for Nancy Drew. Phew! But, at least it’s done!
The photos are a little light or dark, depending on which one you look at. It was night. I was using my "good" camera. It tends to make pictures that are not the correct brightness (or darkness)!
This is the back, but both sides can be used for under the tree.
I'm hooking up with the parties on the right column! You won't be sorry if you go and visit each of them. There are a lot of creative quilters out there!
Don't miss my Christmas Carol Countdown 2014. It started on Monday and will continue to Christmas Eve. Lots of great carols, stories and videos. You do not want to miss it this year! Just click on the badge on the top right each day!
You're right, I shouldn't be complaining about going back to school after a two-week break...but...
I always feel guilty complaining about going back after vacations since most everyone works "regular" jobs, like my husband. Every weekday, 8 hours a day, every week of the year except for a couple of weeks of vacation. I'm glad there are people who can do it, because don't think I could!
I've been having to put off and put off reveals of my latest projects, since they were Christmas presents for family. It's difficult to keep secrets when family reads your blog! The one I made for Sweetie was opened up Christmas morning with me there! In an earlier post, I mentioned how she is crazy about zebra print! Her parents got her a sheet and comforter set in zebra print. And I, I made big zebra throw pillows!
I got some great fleece zebra fabric and thought of just backing it with some other plain fleece. I was at the cutting counter with my two choices, when I looked behind me at one of the rows. And there it was! This gorgeous black curly "haired" fabric! It was sooooo soft and Perfect.
I found some super pillows at Goodwill. They were 22" square, made of foam. They have this wonderful feel. They are firm but bounce back when you come off them. I don't know how long it's been since I've had a nice foam pillow like that.
Sweetie was so thoroughly happy with shining eyes! What a perfect expression to tell me that I had gotten it right! I took a picture on Christmas (I thought) but never did find it on my camera. Nancy Drew took a picture tonight and emailed it to me.
My other present has still not been given! Here comes a shocking reveal for when my oldest daughter, Noel Heart, reads this blog. The gift is for her. She and her hubby (who I need to find a "blog-name" for) have been so sick since before Christmas. They haven't been able to come over here and celebrate Christmas with both her families. Next week, I promise!, I will let you know what had been on my sewing table until December 20th.
I'm following along with A Year of Lovely Finishes and have made my January goal. The First and Most Important quilting goal is to finish my son and DDIL's wedding quilt! If you've been reading for a while you'll know this is a long-running story. My January goal is to finish 40 blocks of the Log Cabin and 16 of my Sister's Choice Quilt, which is a Leader/Ender.
Doing math, thank goodness it's only division, it works out to 10 Log Cabin blocks a week and 4 Sister's Choice blocks per week. And the astonishing thing is that I met that goal This Week!!!! So I am well on my way to meeting January's Goals!
Next week, I will get all of my Log Cabin blocks on the design wall for a picture! It's huge--the blocks are 14" finished. I now have somewhere around 60 finished. I'll make sure and count them for next week.
I'm sharing my progress on the following super blogs. Make sure to go over and look at all the amazing projects quilters are doing. All the links are in the right sidebar.
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times Show and Tell Tuesday at I Have to Say Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced We Did It! Wednesday at Sew much ado It's A Party at Creative Princes We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation I Quilt at Pretty Bobbins
Each time I type the title with the days left till Christmas, I have this inward shudder. Many of you probably share this dreaded countdown with me. How many days left until everything has to make it in the mail to get to the __________. These past few years the blank has been filled in with "East Coast." I have a son and a daughter living on the "opposite" coast. That includes a son-in-law and two granddaughters. The gifts have made it every year with some room to spare, but it's always a gnawing in my stomach until I leave the post office with their packages on the way!
My current situation is, admittedly, much better than four years ago when the same daughter as above was deployed and in Germany. But that was still fairly simple because of the military mail system. I only had to mail her things to San Francisco!
By far the worst location and, unfortunately, the worst turn-out was the year my same son as above was stationed in Korea (Army) and same daughter was serving a mission for our church in Japan. (Is it just me or does it seem that the two of them are in "cohoots" to live far away?)
It was getting close to Christmas and time to mail packages. My son's were easy, he was in the military, but my daughter's had to go through the regular mail system, and that is very, very expensive. I decided to send my daughter's Christmas box via military mail to my son in Korea. From there he could mail it to Japan, just a hop, skip and a jump over the little bit of ocean!
The plan proceeded well until Christmas Day when my daughter got to call home. She reported that no Christmas box had arrived from me. That was truly dreadful. Here she was far, far away in Japan. First Christmas without family. And no Christmas presents from home. It was agonizing.
Then January came and went. No Christmas box. February, the same. Finally the Christmas box shows up...at my son's "doorstep" in Korea. I don't know where that package had been for almost three months; I hope it had a good time.
Now the best plan was for my son to mail the package through military mail back to me. I then sent it through U.S. mail to Korea. Into the next month...Easter arrives in Japan. My daughter finally receives her Christmas box...the same day the Easter box arrives from home!
I'd like to believe that it was "all for the best." But it's going to be a hard sell!
One story is enough for a day, so those of you waiting for the Balloon Stomp will have to be patient until tomorrow.
Here is a carol I discovered this year and it's already high on my favorites list. It's done by a group called MercyMe. This carol, written by a member of the group, reflects on Joseph's feelings towards his newborn son.
I searched through all the videos I could find for one that I liked to illustrate the song. None of them were perfect. Each one had something beautiful and right, each one had a part or two that didn't fit for me. Here is the one that I finally picked. The song is so tender and filled with the love of a father. Here is "Joseph's Lullaby."
