Twelve Days

As we close out those twelve days of Christmas it's a good time to reflect on the holidays and get back to that guiding word and how I plan to respect it in 2022. I did receive two Christmas gifts for use in the sewing room that I had asked for from Mr. Goodneedle, I'm eager to try them out and will report on them after the next few days; those will be spent taking Christmas down and packing it away until next December. After a very warm weekend (New Year's Day saw the outside temperature rise to 75 degrees!) we were slammed back into reality on Monday with a storm front, the return of seasonal weather and... SNOW! The photo below was taken right outside the sewing room door just after the heavy snow started to fall. This beauty came at a price, however; total loss of power. 

Last week my husband took our generator apart; the starter button hadn't worked properly the last time we needed it and he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to troubleshoot the problem. He ended up talking to customer support and they agreed to replace the part. His plan was to finish the repair on Sunday afternoon after church, that's when the needed part was scheduled to arrive. Naturally, the part didn't show up that day as promised. Because timing is everything... Mr. G had to make temporary repairs to our generator (which he happened to have disassembled at the time) so that we could get it running and at least turn on the water and flush the commodes; ah, the joys of country living on a well!

He got the generator back together and, before long, the power was restored. Hallelujah! 

That needed part? It arrived later on Monday afternoon, after we needed it. 😉

My sister sent me an antique sewing basket for Christmas this year. This one is in beautiful shape, it's a "Princess" sewing basket manufactured in Algonquin, IL in the 1940's. All the spool pins are intact.

The tomato pincushion motif is echoed in the bottom of the basket. I'm going to use it for magazines.

It sits on the floor in the sewing room right beside my handwork and reading seat. I love it. 

Yesterday Mr. G and I celebrated his birthday with dinner and a movie. It had been a VERY  l-o-n-g time since we'd actually been to a movie theater; we had a wonderful time and this movie didn't disappoint. When we arrived to purchase the tickets we were able to choose our seats before we entered, they do a very good job of keeping distance between the seats and rows as a safety precaution; that was new, the other surprise since the last time we'd visited a theater was the price of popcorn: $24.99 for a large bag! Mr. G pointed out to my astonished face that the price did include two drinks. Oh. Thanks anyway.

Speaking of popcorn: our two oldest grandchildren gave us this microwave popper for Christmas. It is the cutest little thing, the lid is also the measure for the corn, it's just the perfect size for the two of us. I have a new-found respect today for not taking things for granted: namely electricity and  weather. As of this morning, all the remaining snow has disappeared.

Stay tuned for my upcoming report on those new tools in my sewing room; 

after I get the Christmas trees and decorations put away!  

Life is Good!

It's A Wrap

... and just like that, another Christmas is history. 2019 is looming just around the corner. I can finally post about a few things that I have been stitching. Using this pattern by Atkinson Designs I managed
to make up quite a few batches of these zippered pouches that will be good for toting all sorts of goodies and whatnots. For the most part, I constructed them in sets of threes to give as gifts.

But then, I got to thinking-- the medium size is just perfect as a unique presentation for a cash gift. I stitched up another batch especially for that purpose, these were made up from Christmas and winter-themed fabrics and distributed to family on Christmas. 

They were a huge hit! All tolled, I believe I stitched up somewhere between 25 and 30 of these. I can now do it with my eyes closed! One thing that I did learn along the way is that there is absolutely no consistency whatsoever when it comes to pricing all-purpose zippers! Shop around, there are bargains but you do have to hunt.  

And, speaking of huge hits; Gregory loved his new quilt. 😊

Hannes received something cozy, soft and warm from Santa for his sleeping enjoyment as well. 😉

Yes, another Christmas has come and gone. On Christmas afternoon Mr. Goodneedle and I watched a movie that I had never before seen. I realize that you're shocked and that I might be the last person on earth to admit that I had never watched this quintessential Christmas movie. I knew that another year could simply not conclude without viewing Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. It truly was wonderful!

There was popcorn, too!

Life is Good!

Spelling It Out!

There were some questions after yesterday's blog post about the name ornaments that the grandchildren made while they were visiting over Thanksgiving; I decided to show you through a series of photos here today how they were constructed, there were a few errors made along the way (mine) as I developed a prototype for this fun Christmas craft. First, you will need to gather the following supplies: 7/8" wide ribbon for the ornament base, 5/8" coordinating "accent" ribbon for the bow at the top, silver cord for the hanging loop (I found 2mm on a spool), jingle bells, heavyweight silver thread (and a needle), regular cellophane tape, Scrabble tiles (I found mine on Amazon.com, they are sold in packs of 100 letters) and a hot glue gun.

I measured the silver cord into 4 inch lengths and wrapped that mark with a piece of cellophane tape and cut through the tape to eliminate the cord fraying and coming undone. I made a ring of the cord, matching end-to-end and wrapped it together to hold it with another piece of cellophane tape.

The backing ribbons (7/8" width) I cut into 15 inch lengths to accommodate any size name and to give myself plenty of room for the layout. I folded down an inch at the top and slid the loop inside the fold, covering the tape, and hot glued it down on the back.

Then, I flipped the ribbon to the right side and placed a tied bow (made from 12" lengths of the accent color ribbons, 5/8" in width) in position on the top. Don't glue it down yet, simply placing it in position gives you a good visual of where to start placing your letters without crowding the pieces.

Scrabble tiles! Find whatever letters you will be needing for a name or a greeting and place them on the backing ribbon until they're just the way you want them.

Put a glob of hot glue on the back of each tile, carefully, and place it down on the ribbon into position. Don't put the glue on the ribbon (trust me!). When the letters are all firmly in place go ahead and glue down the bow on top.

Adding the jingle bell: my first attempts at this had me trying to attach the jingle bell with the silver cord used for the top loop. I failed at that, the cord was way too bulky. I found that by pulling a length of heavy duty silver thread through the center of the ribbon, and threading the bell on the needle at the same time I could then cut off the needle from the thread, right near the eye, and have long enough "tails" to tie a square knot firmly, anchoring the bell smack-dab in the center of the ribbon. I then tied a knot again, going around the back and then back to the front to gather the sides and after tying once more, tightly, I snipped off the excess thread length. 

Voila! Trim the ribbon off at the bottom, below the bell. I cut on angles toward the center to prevent the grosgrain ribbon from fraying.  These are quick and adorable personalized ornaments, I think I may use these as name tags for Christmas gifts. Have fun!

Life is Good!

Year End Wrap-Up

This is it, my 2015 year-end-wrap-up, three days late. I had to show my latest addition to the stash closet, the third and final ruler board. Mr. Goodneedle made it for me for Christmas. It joins these two, already installed.
This third one is the final one only because I'm out of real estate on the walls in the closet! My husband would like to think it's because I am done buying specialty rulers; well, if the truth were known, that is probably something that I should think about doing... but, until then, there's still room for a few more! The rest of this post is a show and tell of random dowloaded photos that, basically, speak for themselves but I'll add a few brief explanations.

After the Christmas pillowcases came off the grandchildren's pillows 

they had to be replaced... out with the Santas and reindeer and in with some winter fun motifs!

I ordered this book which arrived too late to have some sewing fun with the little ones this year...

bit that's okay, we'll start early this year and create some ornaments together, this is an adorable resource; I recommend it.

I am wearing this pin proudly, the precious gift from a dear friend who knows me well...

proclaiming me to be the queen of ironing; I can own that!

This is another Christmas gift, from my husband. Too bad it wasn't cool enough to wear it at the time! 

Notice the temperature on the instrument panel of my daughter's car. This was on Christmas eve at 5 PM! Actually, the temperature rose to an unbelievable 80 degrees before we arrived at church that evening! I was reminded by those temperatures and the humidity level of a Christmas eve twenty years earlier... when we lived in Puerto Rico! North Carolina, Christmas 2015, felt exactly like the Carribbean. 

 

I stitched out some samples this week for altar linens, something new to me; I loved the results.

That's it: a wrap-up of randomness. All in all it's been a good year... and on we go, it's all good.

Welcome 2016 ~ I'm ready!

Life is Good!

Reflections On Christmas

Mason and his custom-designed sport locker.

Mason had a special Christmas request this year from PawPaw; a sport locker. He sat at our kitchen island on Thanksgiving day and carefully drew a detailed sketch of what he had in mind. He was sure that he wanted cubbies on the top for his football helmet and other sports paraphanalia and he was clear in his desire for a closet rod where he could hang his jerseys and uniforms. PawPaw took it from there; with a fairly limited time frame, the workshop was a busy one in the past few weeks. Mason's mother informed us that the locker, when it arrived at their Capital City home, would reside in the garage. Mason had a different idea altogether!  On Christmas eve day we loaded up the pick-up truck with the locker firmly and tightly wrapped in a plastic tarp to protect it from heavy rain; it worked, the locker arrived dry and ready. Once unloaded at its destination (hidden just inside the garage) we joined the family inside the house until it was time to reveal the surprise. No one noticed when Mason entered the garage for something else and surprised us all by declaring that he had found his locker! Although anti-climatic, the moment was no less fun; Mason was thrilled to pieces with his gift! He would hear no part of its planned placement in the garage, he was bound and determined that it would stand in his room, at the foot of his bed; his determination won out!

PawPaw in the workshop (where the magic happens... yes, those drawers are dove-tailed) with Mason's sport locker, my only regret is that somewhere along the line we misplaced his design sketch.  There was something so sweet and heartwarming this year about a little boy drawing up his plan and having every confidence that his special wish would be fulfilled.

Lucy Ann wove a potholder on a loom, she was so proud of her creation; a gift from her great-grandparents. I remember making these too, when I was her age. A classic craft that delights today as much as it always has; making something with ones' hands, linking generation to generation. 

Lynnleigh, at her home, Christmas morning. She and her brother each received tablets and headphones from Santa. At almost three, Lynnleigh was ecstatic over each and every gift she opened; according to our son she clutched a charging cord for this unit to her heart and said how much she loved it after unwrapping it! She was content to sit and watch a video with a few goldfish crackers when all the hoopla died down. My mother made her the little purse in the foreground; as you might have already guessed, her favorite color is orange.

This might just be my favorite photo of the season. Gregory's wish this year, topping his Santa list for months now, was "scuba gear"!  (Who ever could have predicted that it would be warm enough to actually use it?) When this cute little elf-in-flippers and a snorkel clomped into the kitchen for show and tell at Christmas breakfast I thought my heart might just burst to witness his joy. For sure, when I reflect on Christmas 2015, I shall remember the happy innocence displayed on four very special little faces. 

Life is Good!

What Is It?

"What is it"? That was the question I asked my husband when we were opening  gifts on Christmas morning. With the same puzzled face as mine he examined this hourglass shaped jar with its tight-fitting, air-tight, lid and exclaimed exactly what I had been thinking... "I have no idea" he answered; we had both drawn complete blanks on this one!  My parents had sent this gift and I could only imagine their fun when they wrapped it, wondering how long it would take for us to figure out what it could be. I broke down and had to ask... "it's a pickle jar" my Dad happily explained; I believe that they were glad that they had succeeded in stumping us!

Ahhhh... I get it now...

The pickles, in their briney-good juice, are stored in the refrigerator this way... inverted.

To serve: flip the jar right side up; all the brine drains into the bottom,
and you have no drippy pickles on your plate!

Genius... yeah, now that I know!
Did you?

Life is Good!