Christmas gifties!

I cannot start the New Year until I finish with Christmas!  Lucky for me, I still have over an hour to go as I start writing this.

Our Christmas celebration was very low-key this year.  We spent Thanksgiving with my family, and stayed home alone for Christmas.  I had gatherings and luncheons and teas with several different groups and friends.  A lot of festivities throughout the month.

Early in the month, a package arrived from my friend Maria in Australia!  I was so good - I didn't open it until Christmas Eve.  I am notorious for opening gifts early.

This is the neatest scissor keep that I've ever seen.  It lays flat when unzipped, and Maria did the tiniest little applique.  And she even embroidered my name on the back.  It came with some Lynette Anderson fabrics, and a Belgian chocolate lollipop.  The chocolate disappeared earlier tonight.  I can't thank you enough, Maria!

Another package arrived from Di in sunny Florida.  It was chock full of fun little goodies, and the most beautiful pair of hand-knit socks.  They are so soft and warm and cozy.

I believe there was chocolate in this package as well, but it disappeared long before the picture was taken.  There's a beautiful Wildflower calendar, some handy clips, an adorable little coin purse, and other goodies as well.  Thanks so much Di!

I don't usually share what DH gave me, but he outdid himself this year.  He was in a quilt shop in Utah with me, and asked if I like this fabric.  Um .... yes!  Would I want it for Christmas?  Um...YES!!

It's a fat quarter bundle of gorgeous Civil War reproduction fabrics!!  I'm now on the hunt for the perfect pattern to use.  Reproduction fabrics are very popular in our area, and I have a nice selection of books to look through.  I'll start the search in the next day or so as I begin the purge in my sewing/craft room. 

DH also got me a gift certificate from The Singer Featherweight Shop, and these are the goodies I chose.

I needed the new presser foot and LED light bulb for the gift that I bought myself.  In case you didn't see her on FB, here is my newest machine.

She is in great condition, and sews like a dream.  She's already worked on three projects!

I need to take a couple of pictures tomorrow during the daylight, and then I'll be back with my OPAM and my word for the year. 

I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!               Sunny

It's just not possible - Nov OPAM

Is it?  Has an entire month passed since I posted?  I thought it had been a couple of weeks.  Oh well.  Nothing much to share in the line of quiltiness.  I worked on three projects at Quilt Retreat at the beginning of the month, but none of them are finished.  Two weeks later, I went to a scrapbook retreat with my college roommate.  It was held at a State Park, so it was very convenient to get up early each morning for a short hike around the area. 

Somewhere in there, I managed to make 8 mug rugs to be given as favors at an upcoming Christmas luncheon.  I used Christmas colors, but not Christmas fabric, so they can be used year-round.

I also made a little gift to send to Maria.  Fortunately, she took a picture because I forgot to.

So I did manage to have a finish for OPAM.

Thanksgiving week found us in Salt Lake City, UT.  We had planned to go visit my sister for Christmas, but my brother was able to go for Thanksgiving, so we moved up our visit.  We had family time, and plenty of sightseeing.  And I finally got to meet up with Vickie from Creative Notions.  We 'met' through a  swap several years ago, and finally had the chance to meet for lunch. 

More on that later......

I'll leave you with a few (?) images from Utah.

Two darling great nieces

A quilt shop!!

Snow at Snobwird Ski Resort

Look at how high I hiked!!

Christmas lights at Temple Square

I've spent this entire weekend working on blocks for a swap for a retreat.  Almost finished!!  I hope to have more to show in my next post, which will be in less than a month, I promise.

Keep on Stitching....... Sunny

Devil's Kitchen on Mt. Nebo Scenic Loop

Oct. OPAM

Another month comes to a close, and what a month it's been!  You might be surprised to know that I actually did some stitching.

The first thing I did when I returned from my Cape Cod Retreat, was finish the top we started.  I had made the borders, but they needed to be attached, which went quickly.  This is a Deb Tucker pattern, appropriately named Atlantic Flyway.  It is currently in the to-be-quilted pile!

With another retreat coming up in a couple of days,  I've been trying to clean off my sewing table.  I needed to use up some leftover fabric, so I decided to whip out some churn dash blocks.  They take a lot longer than I expected!     I hope to get a baby quilt and a doll quilt from this pile.  After retreat.

There were also some orphan blocks and strips that I couldn't just throw away, so they became place mats.  I also used up some fabric that was in my pink pile, and I can never find a use for.

The place mats will count for OPAM along with a lavender baby afghan that I finished in the car on the way out west, and 11 tiny little name badges that I finished earlier this evening to take to retreat.  The afghan was left in South Dakota, along with the baby quilts from last month's OPAM.

Tomorrow I'll be packing for retreat.  I have cut out 4 projects, so I'm ready to roll.  I always take one project for each day, and usually an extra for 'just in case".  Like, just in case I forgot part of something, or any number of other minor tragedies.  I take fairly simple things that don't require a lot of concentration, because there's a lot of gabbing going on!  I can't wait!!

We've had rain all day today, which is why the above pictures are so dark and dreary.  We made sure to get out yesterday for a hike to enjoy the beautiful fall day.

Many of those pretty leaves are probably gone today, with the rain and the wind.

Keep on stitching......Sunny

I have returned!

I've been on two absolutely wonderful trips,  and I'm having a little trouble getting back to realilty!

The first trip was a lovely quilt retreat, with 23 other quilters on Cape Cod!  In addition to making a quilt as a class, we visited a couple of quilt shops, a cranberry bog, and a National Seashore.  My room overlooked the ocean, and I took a nice long walk on the beach each morning.

The top is now finished, and it's in the 'waiting-to-be-quilted' pile

access to the beach here is several stories above the water

two seals playing in the surf

After returning from the Cape, I had two days to do laundry and repack for a trip out west.  I took hundreds of pictures, so I'll just share a couple of the highlights.

Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD

Little church on the prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead

50 foot sculpture-Dignity.  I'm going to make this quilt!!

South Dakota Badlands

Peak Fall color in Spearfish Canyon

Roughlock Falls

A little snow the night before made it chilly

Gorgeous fall colors

Crazy Horse Memorial

along Needles Highway

Buffalo/Bison in Custer State Park, SD

Anyone still out there?  At some point, I'll probably add more pictures to one of my pages, but I think this is plenty for now.

I've been on a sewing binge the past few days, trying to catch up on a few small projects.  My Pfaff has decided that it doesn't want to sew (again) so Flossie the Featherweight is doing the job.

Keep on stitching!     Sunny

Geographic center of the US

Devil's Tower

Sept. OPAM

I know it's a little early, but I probably won't have any more finishes for the month.  I will, however, have more sewing, as I'm heading to Cape Cod on Sunday for a retreat!!  We're having a class, for which I've cut out all the fabric.  I just finished cutting two other small projects as well.  Wouldn't want to run out of things to do!  Rumor has it, there are quilt shops near our retreat site, too.

My primary project for September was to make purple baby quilts.  Three of them.  They're going to a project that sends purple quilts/blankets/afghans home with every newborn, along with info about shaken baby syndrome.  By the time I deliver them to South Dakota in a couple of weeks, I plan to have an afghan finished as well.

I also made an orange placemat, but failed to get a picture of it.

I made major progress on my Jelly Roll quilt, but it won't be finished until next month some time.  I started a checkered Dresden plate.  All the blades are made and ironed, but I ran out of time for sewing them together.  Only seven more to go,

I continue to spend a lot of time on the hunt for wildflowers.  In addition to the time spent hiking and photographing, I spend hours with my field guides, learning to identify them.  Here are a couple from my walks this week.

Spider Wasp?

Praying Mantis

Turkey Tail mushroom?

Aster

Crown Vetch

Wild Bergamot

Bittersweet

Bottle Gentian.  DH found another patch!

Fall is coming!

Keep on Stitching, and I'll be back in a couple of weeks.......Sunny