Merry Christmas

I want to wish the Merriest of Christmases to all my friends and followers. 

…Sunny…

The big Reveal!

For the past several months, I’ve been Quilting Along with Hazel, Joanna, Sue, and others around the world so that we might each have new quilts for our Christmas decorating.  Hazel and Joanna have taken turns hosting our get-togethers each month, and they’ve been quite entertaining.  And then there’s Sue.  Sue posted a challenge for us at the beginning, and it was our choice whether or not we wanted to accept.  The challenge:  make a Christmas quilt, no larger than 96” perimeter, and not using any red or green!  I think Sue may have been nipping at the Red when she came up with this idea, but the results have been spectacular!  Go HERE  if you’re interested in seeing what everyone has made.

Naturally, I accepted the challenge, and here is my quilt.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

There are angel wings quilted into the corners, and an angel wing label.  And I actually finished it early!!  Thank you Sue for the inspiration – I’m quite happy with my new little quilt.  Thank you to Hazel and Joanna for keeping me motivated and on track each month.

I’ve been sewing like crazy the past few days to finish up two more gifts.  I expect to finish one tonight, and perhaps one tomorrow.  Then I’ll have to make Christmas cards and attempt to get them in the mail before Christmas.  And then a few days off to rest up for the new year. 

Kindness always matters…….Sunny

Oh the Weather outside is Frightful!

Our forecast for today was for 1-2” of snow, and we got at least 5”.  Later tonight, we’re expecting an ice storm on top of the snow.  Yippee..  On the bright side, it’s perfect sewing weather!!  I sewed down binding all night Friday night for FNWF, and I finished one quilt yesterday.  This is a service project for our guild – the quilts are being given to the Sheriff’s Department, to have in their cars for children who may be traumatized and need some comfort. 

A few minutes ago, I finished another quilt.  This one will be going to Project Hope.  A young mother who is suffering from post-partum depression will eventually receive this.  The patchwork blocks were made by Pat of 501 Blocks, and then I made them into a quilt.

Last week I finished two gifts that I won’t be able to share until after Christmas.  And sometime this week, I’ll have to finish another gift.

So….what can I show you?  How about some postcards?  This is the one I received from Annette in Sheila’s postcard swap.

The tiny little snowflakes are beads, and I love the way she stitched the ‘border’.

Here is the postcard that I sent to Annette.

We had a houseguest for a few days before Thanksgiving, so I spent a couple of weekends cleaning.  I am really trying to reduce the amount of ‘stuff’ in this house.  I had a box for the SPCA, the Habitat Restore, the Used Book Store, and a few crafty things for co-workers.  I still have a long way to go.  Sometimes the stuff just gets too overwhelming,   I also prepped plenty of hand sewing before our guest arrived, so I could be sociable while he was here, and not be stuck down in the cave.  My plan worked quite well.

I’m sure I’m forgetting things, but I’ll try not to wait so long for the next post.

Kindness matters…and Santa’s watching…..Sunny

FNWF and Retreat Results

Another weekend bites the dust!  Another beautiful Fall weekend.

I left work at about noon on Friday, and took a lovely drive in the country to the Retreat site.  Fall has finally reached the low lands, and the colors were awesome.

Look what I found in this tree:

Oh wait, that’s the results of my Friday day/night sewing!  My first ever Little Red Schoolhouses.  And what better time of year to build them. 

I finished this top late Friday night, and started thinking about my next project.   I won 7 pieced blocks from Pat at 501 Quilt Blocks several months ago, and they’ve finally become a quilt.

This required not one but two visits to the nearby quilt store, which is actually one half of a General Store in Amish country.

It’s not a fancy shop, but they have some great prices on fabric.

Meanwhile, back at the retreat, there was much sewing, much eating, much talking, and more than a little laughing.  We have to take a short walk to the dining hall, so we had time to absorb some beautiful scenery.

I did get started on a third quilt this morning, but I didn’t get very far.  I’m working my way through the pile!  I tried to start on another very small project, but I decided I didn’t even like it any more, so I donated it to the chairperson of the raffle committee.  One more off the list! 

Off to catch up on some blog reading now.  Did I miss anything excited over the weekend?

Always be Kind……..Sunny

Weekend Wrap-up

This lovely postcard arrived in my mailbox on Friday, and it was accompanied by a matching mug rug.  What a bonus!  This was made by Pauline, and was from a postcard exchange arranged by Sheila. 

Thanks Pauline, I really love them! 

I’ve been busy this week, but I don’t have much to show or it.  I’m working on a secret project during my lunch hour, and I spent some time working on a baby blanket.  A co-worker and her friend bought kits of fleece to make no-sew baby blankets that are just fringed and tied.  But they decided they wanted something different, so I was called in.  I said “Sure, I can make something for you”.  How stupid was I?  I’ve never worked with that type of fabric, and it was a nightmare.  This stuff stretches and moves and stretches some more.  Per their request, I appliqued the baby’s name on the first blanket, and then was told that I was given the wrong spelling.  One of the pieces had been pinned to two layers of batting when I received it.  I finally got one sewed together, and tied with yarn, and I declined to attempt the second one.  I’m not usually a quitter, but this little experiment was impossible. 

Tonight, I cut out one quilt, and started cutting another.  I’m going to a retreat next week, and I want to get a lot of sewing done.  I’ve never cut in advance before, so this will be something new. 

Fall really is here, and we put our kayaks in storage yesterday.  A sad day indeed.  One of the nice things about fall, is that I get to see some beautiful sunrises on my way to work each morning.

Now if I could just find a decent place to take a picture!  The light changes so quickly.

Instead of taking a daytrip yesterday, we stayed close to home and ran some errands.  I finally got to visit our brand new library, we put the kayaks in storage, and we stocked up on apples, squash, and pumpkins.

Then we took a very short hike to a nearby waterfall, experiencing more of my favorite things of fall – walking through crunchy leaves.  And fall has a special smell, with the leaves, wood smoke from nearby cabins, the apples. . .   It won’t be long until the smells of holiday treats will be in the air, too!  Less than two months until Christmas…..

Be kind to Everyone!  Santa is making his list..Sunny

Supporting my National Parks!

Another beautiful Fall weekend comes to a close.  After a brief debate over where to go, we decided to brave the crowds and visit a nearby National Park! 

 

 

 

 

Shenandoah National Park is home to Skyline Drive, and is an absolutely beautiful scenic drive.  October is traditionally their busiest month of the year, and thanks to our sad lack of government, the parks had been closed the past two weekends.  We knew it would be mobbed, but decided to go anyway.

Sorry to bore you with so many pictures, but it was just so beautiful!

We even saw some wildlife.

 

It’s a Bear!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of today (Sunday) was spent sewing, but I don’t have anything to show.  I prepped a project for applique, and another for some red work embroidery.  I can’t even show my Christmas QAL finished quilt, because I’m supposed to save it for the big reveal in December.

And now that it’s fall, and the temperatures are getting cooler, it’s soup weather, so I made a big pot of soup for dinner tomorrow night.  Since DH retired last year, he has been the head chef, and I decided to be a good little wife and give him a night off.

Be kind to DH…..Sunny

Fall has arrived

Last weekend, while my hometown and surrounding area was buried under 30 – 40 inches of snow, DH and I were kayaking in shorts and tank tops.  We went to a distant lake in the ‘mountains’ and we were able to find some signs of fall.

At the beginning of our paddle, we shared the lake with only two other kayaks.  It was so incredibly peaceful and quiet.

Later, a group of young men came out in a couple of canoes.  I think they were on a group trip from the city, and had never been in canoes before.  The seemed to be having a very good time, but were extremely noisy, so we just turned and went to the other end of the lake.  It was big enough for all of us.

During the past week, we’ve had over 6 inches of rain.  Here is the sky the night before it started.

After all the rain on Thursday and Friday, we decided to take a chance on a road trip for Saturday.  The day started out cloudy and drizzly,

Then the sun came out for awhile!

We had to take a short hike to reach our real destination for the day.  We had seen a picture of this site in an advertisement for West Virginia, and made it our mission to find it!

 

 

 

 

After leaving this park, we went to another area, but we ran into heavy fog, and had to call it quits.  Here we are just driving into the fog.  Before long, we couldn’t see anything!

Every parking lot near the hiking trail heads was full!

Driving back down the mountain, we saw a few more pretty scenes, and then we started for home.

 

 

 

 

Sunday was sewing day!  I finished the secret project.  what do you think?

Must go now…Be kinder than necessary…..Sunny