Reflections

2024 is almost finished and 2025 is about to begin.  Isn't amazing that we're a quarter of the way through the century that just seemed to begin a few years ago?  So much has happened, yet there's so much left to do.  

This year, I finished my usual number of quilts - 14, several given away to various charities.  One was most significant because I started it back in the 1980s.

It was just a simple white on white piece, not even 18" square, and pre-printed.  I unearthed it in 2023 and began taking it to the Calico County Quilters monthly meetings.  I enjoyed working on it while chatting and admiring other people's work, including Wendy's intricate hexie quilt made with Tula Pink fabrics.  Hanging over my desk now, this little quilt makes me proud!

The quilt I least enjoyed working on was the Laura Heine collage, Birch Street, which my mom enjoys seeing in her family room.  

It was an intense project, and I doubt if I'll ever make another.  I just don't enjoy following patterns.

My favorite quilted items were two table runners using "Snowflake" Bentley fabric.  I can't find a picture of either one; I gave them away to neighbors for Christmas.  Gale, who lives next door, says she loves the way it looks on her table, and that makes me very happy.  Her husband Alan is Jewish, so the blue of the snowflake fabric works well at their house. 

I knit a number of hats for kids going into foster care, and now I'm working on a scrappy scarf made of knitted squares.   My sister gave me some lovely fingering yarn that I am dying to start working with, so I will probably set the squares aside for a while.   

My hand quilting project to take to Calico County is a sashiko piece I finished embroidering last fall.  It's black thread on charcoal fabric, so Dee's classroom where we meet is the only place I can actually see well enough to hand quilt.  But I'm sure it won't take me 40 years to finish!

Happy New Year to all - may 2025 be a good year for you!

It's coming along

I've taken lots of time off, but the Bigfoot quilt is still coming along fairly well.  I am ready to put a set of borders on... maybe tomorrow.  I cut each of the little panels out and bordered them to make a border.   This was fun as the "Legends of the National Parks" are quite hilarious.  It seems every park has its weird creature.  Before attaching these borders, I will add some coping strips which have already been cut out.

When I finish adding the borders, the quilt will be about 45" x 57", which will still be too small for Chris, who is 6' tall.  So I will need to come up with another set of borders before a final print border in the "Bigfoot" line of fabric.

I'm thinking about flying geese or four patches using some of the left over small panel scraps and dark green and brown scraps.

When those borders are on, I think the quilt will still be a little too small for my 6' foot.  I've been thinking about some footprints around the outside before the final border.  It's very much a design as you go quilt, which I enjoy.

Today we went grocery shopping very early, I changed the sheets on the bed and did some laundry, and we met our friends Samantha and Vicki for a nice lunch.  It seems to be becoming our holiday tradition, as Vicki is a teacher and very busy most of the year.  Now I am heading for my easy chair to read a little more in Letters from Skye, a newish novel told in letters.  It's a gray day, so maybe I'll doze off a bit, too!

Merry Christmas!

 

Winter holiday fun

With the library festivities over, Chex Mix made, the Christmas village up, and packages wrapped, I turned my attention yesterday to holiday greetings in the form of cards and letters.   It snowed lightly most of the day, which offered perfect weather for staying in and watching the flakes drift down.  I mail a lot of cards to family in the Netherlands and also to old friends who we haven't seen in a long time (some since college!).  In the course of looking up addresses, I found that one dear old friend had passed away.  That always puts a pall on the holiday, but we know that it's going to happen more and more as we age.

In the afternoon, we walked over to spend a few hours with dear friends and neighbors Mary and Manny who plied us with drinks and goodies.  We all opened presents and were pleased with our jigsaw puzzles.  Paul and I haven't done one in years, so this will be a fun thing to work on during another snowy day.

Because we rarely see our next-door neighbors now that it's winter, Gale and Alan will be coming over to our house this afternoon for more snacks and drinks.  I think that will be it for Christmas gatherings except for Christmas Day brunch with Chris.  On New Year's Day we're planning another First Footing, an old English custom which promises luck to the first person to enter one's house.  We're inviting neighbors and old friends for a relaxing afternoon without football.  

In between all this merriment, I'm hoping to get some sewing in and read a few books.  Right now I'm enjoying The Answer is No, a novella by Frederick Backman who wrote A Man Named Ove.   It's quite funny, especially for anyone who belongs to a Home Owner's Association and has to deal with the board.  I have a Christmas short story by Jenny Colgan to follow, so you can see I'm taking a break from mysteries and meaty reading for a while.

A bonanza of sweet treats!

I got a message a few days ago from UPS saying that a package would be coming yesterday, Dec. 19.  We watched and waited, but by 7:30 pm, hadn't seen or heard a thing.  Then at around 7:35, we got a message that a package had been delivered.  It was from Peter's Gourmet Market, a Dutch store in Michigan that Mom and I shop at regularly.  I hadn't ordered anything recently, but obviously Mom had - and it is wonderful!  Three layers of yummy Dutch goodness!

Paul hasn't had many of the goodies in the box, but of course, I have and am delighted.  

I was going to bake cookies today, but that isn't necessary.  I think we have enough for a while!  I'll put some into a tin for Chris and then serve the rest when/if company comes or we get a hankering for sweets.  

This leaves me with a little more time to work on Christmas cards and make Chex Mix today.  Maybe I'll even get back to sewing on the Bigfoot quilt.  Some additional fabric arrived yesterday, too, so I am ready to add a few more rounds.  This afternoon, we're getting together with some neighbors and tomorrow afternoon with other neighbors.   These are folks we see almost every day when it's not winter, but in winter we all hibernate somewhat.  It's good to get together during these dark months.

Dresden Garden finish!

 I took my newly finished Dresden Garden quilt to guild yesterday, and two quilters held it while I took a picture.

This looks a bit blurry to me although it looks fine on my phone.  I'll see if I can get a clearer one when I show and tell it at my other guild Tuesday night.  I used a pattern on the Riley Blake website for the fabric bundle "Flora" and hummed the tune of the old song while I worked.  But I diverged after making the Dresden Plates, adding the paper pieced butterflies and then the subsequent borders.  

Robin immediately recognized the "potato chip" blocks in the next to the last border.  Those are fun to make although my mom would probably tell me they make the quilt too "busy."   I enjoyed making the pieced binding.  This quilt measures 72" x 72" so will fit a twin bed.  I have no recipient in mind for this quilt - I never do - but I will enjoy having it on the guest bed for a while.

Bigfoot in the sewing room

 

I started working on a quilt for my son who loves Sasquatch - Bigfoot as some call it.  Some people believe the creature hangs around Whitehall, NY, a town we go through on most trips south.  I've never seen him driving through, but the area seems to have captured the attention of locals.  There are even stores with souvenirs devoted to Bigfoot.

Elizabeth Hartman's pattern Legendary had a 10" x 18" pattern for the creature surrounded by tall pines.  I made one big tree and Bigfoot for the center of the quilt, and I've made a bunch of smaller trees to go around the center medallion, as it's turning out to be.  

Last summer I bought a panel of smaller pictures of other creatures called "Legends of the National Parks."  I'm cutting those out and sprinkling them around the outer borders, along with some big footprints.  This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but maybe I'll have the top done in time for Chris' birthday in January.  I plan to have it longarmed.  

Other than Bigfoot, I've been running back and forth to the public library most days, checking on the Light Up the Library display, attending programs, and helping with refreshments.  There was a musician playing Celtic holiday tunes on the guitar and autoharp (beautiful), a musical group rockin' the house with carols, an author signing his latest book, and a classical pianist who explained the origins of popular holiday songs.  These have all been great ways to get into the holiday spirit!  

Things will settle down next week, and I have a stack of gifts to wrap.  I plan to make some Chex Mix to give Chris and his friend Marad before Christmas.  I've ordered a tourtiere and apple pie for Christmas Eve.  We plan a New Year's open house so I will make some goodies for that after Christmas.

Winter is definitely here

As is typical for December, we've had a little snow every night and we wake up to the sound of the snowplows on the roads.  Living on a corner makes it more apparent that there's lots of activity in the early morning hours.  This was our view a few mornings ago.

We've had more since then, but none of it has clipped our wings much.  We have still gotten out and, yesterday, even took a walk.  Today, though, I plan to stay home, do laundry, read, and sew.  

My brother and his wife have been visiting over the weekend and are leaving this morning before the predicted freezing rain starts.  I hope they don't encounter any on the way home to NJ.  We did have a nice weekend - lots of good conversation and food.  We went to see the Wicked movie which I loved and also to A Christmas Carol adaptation played by local folks.  Our little town may seem like "Maybury" once in a while, but that's when we love it the most.  The holiday lights downtown, sprinkled with snowflakes now and then, make it very cozy after dark.  Hope you're enjoying the season as much as we are.

Lighting Up the Library

I spent most days at our public library last week helping take in donations, assembling Christmas trees, decorating the meeting room, and more for Light Up the Library, our Friends of the Library's big fund raiser.  The library looks gorgeous now, and this afternoon we'll have a grand opening program with music by "Donna Thunder" and her band.   She stopped in on Saturday to plan her grand entry with The Little Drummer Boy.  Should be quite an experience!  Here are a few pictures of the library. 

The local figure skating club girls are always so excited (and so cute!) to be decorating their tree.  This year's theme is "Skating on the Canals in Holland," and all the ornaments are blue and white.

The Friends of the Library's tree includes ornaments made from the pages of old books and some book-related ornaments.

The local jeweler loves to make centerpieces and tabletop trees each year.  This year's includes small Byers Choice figures with packages on Christmas morning.

I have done almost no sewing, but I did finish reading The Gray Wolf by Louise Penny.  It ended in a cliffhanger and now we fans all have to wait another year for the next book.  I started the latest book in the Secret, Book and Scone Society series by Ellery Adams.  The main character is a former librarian and current book seller who specializes in bibliotherapy - right up my alley,

Thanksgiving was postponed to yesterday due to our first real snowfall of the season.  It looks very pretty out, and I did get some wreaths put up outside.  Yesterday Chris got our bird feeders out, too, and I did a little clean up of my sewing room.  I'm still machine quilting a twin-sized quilt but very slowly due to the library project.  Hope to get back to it this week before my brother Rob and his wife Linda come for the weekend.  These are busy times!