End of Year Post

 

Our Christmas card this year. For those of you keeping track, upper left hand corner going clockwise----Jaxon and Cameron age 5 (they are twins),  Elliott 13 and Griffin will be 16 next week! Madison 13, Piper 1, Finnegan 5 and Brynn 3 and my oldest grandchild Fallon is 17!! Life is certainly better with grandchildren in it!

I definitely scaled back on the Christmas decorating this year. I focused on my kitchen table that is the heart of our home. Putting live plants there seemed fresh and just right, I love the simplicity. The beautiful nativity scene is a gift from my friend Stephanie all the way from Germany! I am hoping the amaryllis bloom in the next 2 days, my fingers are crossed.

Today I am cooking the things that can be done ahead. I am making Pavlova for dessert, 2 of them because everyone loves this! It's a little fussy, but mostly you need patience. Have you ever made it? Give it a try, it's light but yummy.

The new Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patters by Barbara Brackman is out and in color!

I have Electric Quilt and use it all the time. My guild did a Sew Along and I drafted most of the patterns on the program. They will also be offering software in 2021 that goes along with the book.

At this time of year sewing is on the back burner. This is a block of the month with Fig Tree Quilts. I am keeping up with this one! I think it ends in February or March.

We are starting to put the blocks together which I am glad so I don't have to make too many more blocks.

These are my Zoom blocks that I work on when we have Zoom meetings. I am almost finished the 10th one, I wonder how many more I will make?

I am still making the house blocks here and there. I have over 50 now.

My friend Cindy made this tub for me and it is perfect for storing the blocks so they don't get lost.

Even the inside is pretty.

I love this fabric by Cathe Holden. These are some labels for the back of quilts, but think of all the other things you could do with them.

This print features vintage paint-by-number paintings that are so fun.

This one features needlepoint. How cool would this be in a tote or purse?

I am trying to hold back with the cross stitch but it is hard! The patterns, the floss!!! It's all so great and so different from the 1980's.

This is a zipper pull that was made from a sampler image.

If you don't know, they now have cute little things like this to loop your floss onto. I don't want to tempt you but they sure are cute.

This year I have read 63 books! I think I will be able to finish this one in time to make it 64. This is pretty intriguing and an easy read. Do you keep track of your books? I do on Goodreads. I have started so many books that I have already read so this helps and I can also recommend books that I liked.

A while ago I posted a pattern for a quilt that I was working on that I called Pandemic. It was wildly popular, I sent out hundreds of patterns. Jayne sent me this picture of the quilt she made with the pattern as a wedding present. I think it is terrific! Thanks for sharing Jayne!

As the year comes to a close, I hope you find some good things to reflect on. I know everyone hated this year but I am choosing to look for the good things. Two really good things happened to me this year, so I am focusing on them. One I will share in the new year so stay tuned (-:

This morning 4 bluebirds were snacking on berries in the front yard. They were so beautiful against the white snow and the red berries, just an ordinary thing that made me feel good. I am going to keep looking for those kind of things.

I painted this the other day and have found that painting is very relaxing and very different than quilting. If you mess up usually you haven't spent months or maybe years of your life creating it. It's just paper and paint or fabric and we can always get more.

 

From my home to yours..... we wish you a very Merry Christmas! 

Kelly

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Fabric by Cathe Holden

I am so beyond excited to tell you I am a descendant of William Brewster who came over on the Mayflower from England! I have dabbled in genealogy but was so thrilled when I found this out the other day. It's so timely too! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and this is the cherry on top! He is my 11th great grandfather. The link is on my mom's side and most of her family lived in Massachusetts until the 1800's and then moved to the midwest.

I took a quiz and found out I am just like his wife Mary Brewster. This is what it said:

"Mary Brewster showed great courage in following her convictions and braving the hardship of the new world. With her family, she opened their home for separatist meetings in England,leading to danger and difficulties for their family. Around 1607 they fled to Holland to escape religious persecution. She and her husband, William, with their 2 youngest children boarded the Mayflower to brave the life in a new land where they could worship as they chose. Mary was one of only 5 adult women who survived the first winter, and one of only 4 to still be living the following year at the first Thanksgiving”

You can be sure I have already applied to the Mayflower Society How cool to tell my family on Thanksgiving Day! Fun fact, there are 35 million people all over the world that are descendants and only 10 million are in the United States. I am planning a trip to Massachusetts in the future to go to all the places... I will also be searching for the family members that participated in the American Revolution or as I am now finding out it was called the "American War of Independence". There is also a pin involved with the membership to the Daughters of the Revolution that I covet.

I have not done cross stitch in a very long time, like maybe the early 1990's. Imagine my happiness when I found out that there is a sampler dedicated to the 400th Anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower.

It is a very big project and the count of the linen is very small, but I am up for the challenge! A fellow blogger Kyle of Timeless Reflections just happened to post about her also being a descendant of the Mayflower and the sampler that she just finished!

The adorable pin holder was worth it too.

I have been making some Christmas gifts and could not resist this adorable Santa Claus. You can find the pattern at MMM Crafts It is so much fun to make and not too hard. It takes time to let the glue dry. Her techniques and tips are great and makes this a fun project.

Sorry for the blurry picture but the sock is too cute not to show.

I have been obsessed with these little houses. They are so much fun to make and kind of addictive.

They are small 2 1/2" wide and 3 1/4" tall. I'm not sure what they will become but I will continue to make them and see what happens.

They are paper pieced. I made my patterns on EQ8 and love to just sit and sew without any measuring.... you could do it without the paper but I enjoy paper piecing.

I also have an applique project going. They are perfect for Zoom meetings and makes me feel productive. I am just going with whatever I feel like doing with no direction at all. All I can say  is #cuzcovid!

I also made some project bags for my many projects! I love this cheater fabric and how it turned out. Do you want to know what is in the bag?

This.......I have fallen down the rabbit hole of yet another project that takes up lots of time, cross stitch. I got this before the Mayflower Sampler, that will be up next. The way I look at it is stitching is stitching, no matter what you are doing. It makes us feel good and ebbs and flows with the crazy time we live in right now. I am enjoying it right now even the 32 count linen fabric that I can barely see.....Also since the 1990's they have come out with linens and floss that are GORGEOUS!!!! That in itself is enough to make you want to dive in. The hand dyed fibers are so rich and you just want to touch them and sew with them.......

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I know this year has been more crazy than we could have ever imagined. Many people are suffering and going through difficult times. I am thankful for everyone in my life that brings me happiness and joy. I am especially thankful for my sister this year who has shown me that no matter how difficult things can be, hard work and perseverance will get you to the other side and we are never too old to try. Thank you to everyone who stops by my blog and sends me nice comments, I read and enjoy each and every one, thank you!

Kelly

Long Time Gone

 I can't believe how long it has been since I posted anything on the blog....

One of the things I have been doing is making the Pincushion Collage Quilt by Laura Heine for a class at the  The Old Country Store in Intercourse PA If you are interested in taking it, the class is in February. It is such a fun project, especially for anyone who sews!

Fall is here in all its glory! I love autumn and everything is has to offer. Crisp cool days, sweaters, beautiful leaves, soup, hot tea and putting the garden to bed. While I love my gardens they take up a lot of time!

I don't decorate much for Halloween but I saw this on Instagram and loved the idea. They had pictures of their kids but I chose to use some scrapbook images that was a very low key Halloween idea.

I am also making a autumn quilt along with my friend Stephanie. This is the Fig Tree block of the month from a while ago. We both bought the kit to make it easy. I love their blocks and the instructions are very good. If you have ever wanted to try it, don't be afraid to do it!

I am also trying my hand at crochet......this was a first attempt and it's pretty wonky.

This is much better and I find it very relaxing! Repetitive motions can do that I suppose. I am hoping to make more and get better at it.

Over the weekend I made myself a project pouch with this adorable fabric from Lori Holt. It's cheater cloth and all I did was quilt along each orange peel to give it some body. So quick and so easy! My friend Cindy gave me the quilter zip charm that completes it just perfectly!

I kept the lining on the vintage side too. I think my crochet will fit in their perfectly!

I can't say my focus is totally back to normal so I am always doing something here and there. My stuff was all over the house and I was always looking for scissors, or my needle threader, you get it.....So I got this organizer at Michael's and it is so nice! This is the bottom part......

this is the top part. I really am happy with it and might need to get another one....

This is my new bed quilt. It is going to be king size! At first I was going to do the blocks in a straight set. I showed it on Instagram and the overwhelming majority said no put it on point. So I tried it out and yes I like it much better this way. I think I have enough fabric but I won't let that bother me. I will take a page out the book of our pioneer quilters and use something else if I don't have enough!

I have made myself some design boards to keep track of all the pieces and it is a life saver. I don't mix up the pieces that are almost the same size and it is nice to have them all in 1 spot. I will be making more. Do you use a design board?

I have read lots of books this summer. This was really good but will not be for everyone. I loved all the details and the story behind this disastrous group and all the bad decisions they made and people they trusted. I was also surprised that there are people that never heard about the Donner party. Yes cannibalism is involved but like all things in the world it was sensationalized over time. Once it is put into context I think you will have a different opinion about it.I gave it 4 stars.

This started out very slow but I stuck with it because I bought it. It is very difficult to get a GOOD book at the library these days....I liked it in the end but would only give it 3.5 stars.

I read all of the Lonesome Dove series this year and loved every single book. Larry McMurty is such a good writer and really paints a picture for me. I will be reading more of his books. Any recommendations out there?

This book I could not put down! It was very good and I think based on true events. This one got 4.5 stars.

While this one started out slow, it really picked up and makes you wonder what lengths you would go to keeping a secret that you know is hurting others and altering their lives. The injustice of this book is sad but the twist at the end makes it worth reading and I didn't see it coming! I gave it 4 stars.

Kelly