A Little More Christmas

 I am really starting to feel the Christmas season. It gives me a warm glow inside. I want to do all the seasonal things. We started last weekend by watching the entire Macy's Thanksgiving parade. I haven't watched the whole thing in years.

Here is the picture of our fully decorated tree that I promised to post. In addition to the birds, there is a Kansas City Chiefs snowflake ornament and my Santa that I made a couple of years ago from the pattern by Mmmcrafts on Etsy. I also hung my glass icicles that I bought quite a few years ago from Crate and Barrel. 

Here is an old wooden Santa ornament and new garland I made. The pompoms are from Benzie. You can find them on Etsy or at Benzie.com. They are so much fun to string.

I have a sort of addiction to bottle brush trees. I now have well over 100 in various sizes and shades of green. Last year I added a couple that have teeny tiny lights on them. I love those especially.

I decided to set them all up on top of the china cabinet this year. A couple of years ago, I got tired of them falling over all the time, especially the smaller ones. I had a bunch of old wooden thread spools which I wound baker's twine around, and I hot glued the bases of the trees to them and I love the look. The two tiny ceramic houses are a new addition from last year. Not bought as Christmas decor, but moved here to be in the trees for the season. Found them on Etsy too.

Also new this year, I am working on a Christmas quilt. I have been wanting to for a couple of years at least, but never got motivated in that direction. I finally pulled out all my Christmas fabrics.

I first decided to make strip sets and keep it to the mostly red and red and white fabrics. Then, I found some that the design was oriented the other direction. So, I made more strip sets with just them.

Then, I decided it needed something for visual interest. I needed to break up all that red and white a bit. So I pulled out my tomte patterns from Moss and Lotus that I bought a few years ago. I made the tiniest tomte in the bunch. And I love it.

This is going to be a great Christmas quilt for sure. I am hoping to get it done by Christmas, but we'll see. I don't really feel as stressed by the season this year. No deadlines to worry about really. I am trying to just enjoy the season. So far, so good.

The last thing on my list for today, is these pot holders. I have been meaning to make some for awhile now, so I decided to make these Christmas ones for now, and I'll make some every day ones real soon.

These are just made from scraps I had from other projects. I love having holiday pot holders. I hope you are all well and enjoying the season. See you soon.

April is Finally Here

So, thankfully we have turned the page from March to April, even though not much else has changed in the past few days. I am keeping busy here, as always. One thing I learned when I was going through cancer is to get up and get dressed every day. Make the bed. It is a feeling of normalcy and the best thing for starting the day.

 This week's baking was Granny's pan dulce. This is a Mexican sweet bread that is not too sweet, actually, and is flavored with Anise seeds and crumbled cinnamon sticks. We love this so much and it reminds us of our childhood. Granny would make it and within a couple of days it was all gone.

 This is the cover of a small pillow that Heidi Staples of Fabric Mutt made for me back when I was doing my cancer treatment. I just love this little pillow.

 And this is the back. It has an envelope closure and has been used so much it is pretty worn. So I decided to make a new cover for it.

 And what could be better than a Heidi Staples tutorial for the new cover? I love these little cross stitch blocks. The tutorial for these can be found on her blog, Fabric Mutt.

 This is the back with its envelope closure. So glad to finally be able to use this pretty fabric.

 Next, I have been working on four Santa ornaments for the grand children for next Christmas.

 And, I am pleased to say they are done! Here they are, all lined up on my cutting table.

 The pattern for these is available from Larissa at Mmm Crafts. She has lots of patterns that are fun and gorgeous.

I also started posting pictures daily on Instagram, of the earrings I am wearing each day. Why? Because it is a daily exercise designed to make me wear all of these beauties. I need a routine and a daily post on IG is part of that.

And lastly, I finished this stitchery from Cozy Blue. She runs her business out of her home and has lots of stitching kits and iron on transfers if you don't need the kit.  I am always needing a diverse set of crafts to keep me busy. Maybe you are too?
Stay safe my friends and I will talk to you again soon.

Same Stuff, New Week

I hope y'all are hanging in there and doing okay. I really feel for the parents who have their kids at home right now. It is tough. Keeping them busy, and happy is a hard thing. I just have to worry about myself, a much easier task. My husband is still working for now, although reduced hours and only a small group at his big warehouse place of business. Plenty of room for 4-5 people to distance themselves. Here is a peak into what I am up to right now at home.

I made this last Christmas, and decided it would be perfect for the Grandchildren for their Christmas ornament for 2020. I made that decision early, so I could work on them throughout the year since I have 4 to make. This is the perfect time to move this project along.

 I have already completed a pink one for Miss N. So I decided to do the three for the boys all in one big swoop. This is the beginnings of the hats.

 Coats and hats. Still need to stitch the trim on the coats here in this picture, but that is done now.

 Putting the bodies together with the pipe cleaners inside for stability and so you can pose them a bit.

 Santa heads with their hats on. I did all these yesterday and now wait for the glue to dry for the next step. I did so much these last few days, I may take a day off from this.

Also have the arms glued on and when they dry, I will stitch them to secure them. I feel like a week of intermittent work should finish these up. The pattern is from Larissa at MmmCrafts.

 This is a crochet project I am working on . I can't reveal it all just yet, as it is not finished, plus, it's a birthday surprise.

 Reading this. I love the shows on HGTV and Home Town is one of my favorites. I am enjoying this immensely. They seem like such nice people.

 I baked some sugar cookies last week, and my sister and I painted them with royal icing and a couple of clean water color brushes I had on hand. A fun technique to try.

 Here is another of our ways to spend time. We love puzzles and this one is 1000 pieces. It took us a couple of weeks to get it done. At times it is frustrating, but it really occupies your mind, which is good right now.

 And yesterday I used up some cherries I had in the freezer to make these scones. I do love to bake and it soothes me to do so.

 Here is the picture of the finished heart quilt top that I couldn't find the other day. I was able to cobble together several white on white fabrics and make it look intentional.

I hope you are keeping yourself occupied with lots of sewing, baking and puzzling. This may take awhile and we don't yet know what is on the other side. See you soon my friends.

Christmas Time is Busy Time

Lots of sewing projects going on here. I scarcely have time in the day to work on all of them. I guess it's good that I keep busy, though. And holiday cookie baking begins today. So, let's see what I've been up to.

 First up is my Dear Dottie quilt. I made the baby size in a quilt along with Rachel of Stitched in Color. I do plan to make another in a limited pallet soon.

 I am doing some very dense straight line quilting on my Dear Dottie. I am almost finished with it.

And here is the back. I don't think I could ever do this much quilting on a larger quilt, but for this size, I am loving it.

 And all these next photos are my Tomte blocks from the sew along with Sue of Moss and Lotus. All the patterns here, plus some new one are available in her Etsy shop.

 They have been so much fun to make. They are all paper pieced, so if that's your thing, go check it out.

 I made a new reindeer head for my middle daughter. I got this pattern years ago. It is still available on line, but the links with the directions are nowhere to be found any longer. It was a bit of a challenge to assemble, but since I had made 3 of these in the past, I finally figured it out.

 I bought a bunch more tiny bottle brush trees to add to the holiday decor. I love these cuties.

 I got myself an early gift of some LED lights for my sewing machine and all I can say is WOW! They sure do make a difference. They weren't too expensive either, so I can't believe I waited this long to help out these old eyes of mine.

 And here is the first of 4 Santa ornaments I am making for the grand children for next year. It is the Twelve Days of Christmas ornament from Mmm Crafts. I figure I can work at a slower pace and do it right. No rush. That will make next year even easier for me. Yay!
Well, lots to do today, so I gotta run. Talk to you soon.