Around the House

I started decorating around the house, earlier this month, by hanging the "Stitch Pink Christmas" (my version made up in traditional Christmas fabrics) quilt out on the porch. I finished the quilting on this one in January, it's the first time it's been hung! I love it! From there on it was full speed ahead with the decorations, inside and out. 

I got the Christmas dishes placed in the kitchen cabinet, although this task wasn't without incident. 

You know how it goes- you get on a roll and think "as long as I'm doing this, why don't I take all the dishes down and clean and dust the shelves..."  😞 This beloved platter (all the more so now because I can't find a replacement, even at Replacements Ltd!) didn't make it. Sadly, I've learned what the limit is on those shelf pins. Let's just say we've replaced the shelf pins with all metal ones, the plastic ones have their limits. I was super lucky that the loss here wasn't any worse.

The tree's up and decorated in the family room.

A few Christmas gifts have been finished and wrapped.

Mr. G. and I took a little ride out to one of our favorite greenhouses, this one specializes in Poinsettias . We love to walk through the racks and see all the new varieties, this one with the rounded leaves was gorgeous!

However, change comes slowly to us; we brought a traditional one home with us. Little did we know, until we got there, that this small town was about to have their annual Christmas parade! By the time we made our Poinsettia selection, paid for it and got back in the car, the streets were lined with hundreds of spectators. My idea of stopping for lunch on the way home was thwarted, we were lucky to get out when we did without being part of the parade!

It's beginning to look a lot... well, you know. Not one cookie has been baked yet, though.

Today could be the day. 

 Life is Good!

Retreating and More

I haven't retreated from blogging~ although it probably seems that way. I don't know how I get so busy with things that time slips away, but I do. The weekend before last I was lucky enough to spend some of that ever-elusive time retreating with a few friends, we commandeered the craft room at a local camp, set up our sewing machines and got to work. The first flimsy finish is this three block pineapple pillow cover for our oldest granddaughter for Christmas. I secretly squirreled away enough of her scraps from the quilt that she recently completed to get this done. I know that she'll be surprised! I was able to get it quilted up this past week. 

From there I moved onto this "Pumpkin Seeds" wall quilt, getting the top together and adding the borders after I returned back home. It will hang out on the porch next fall; I'm working a year ahead (doesn't that sound so much more efficient than being behind?). Yes, it does! 😉 

I pieced Tom Turkey (another pillow cover) on retreat as well. Since returning home I've quilted him up, hopefully I can get the pillows made this weekend. If you've never wrangled a turkey beneath a needle before you've really missed out on an experience! 🤣 This pattern is Gobble, Gobble by Center Street Quilts. 

You probably all followed Moda's "Stitch Pink" daily block sew-along in the month of October. I collected the daily patterns and am in the process of creating my own "Stitch Christmas" project. Again, I'm working a year ahead 😉; indulge me in that belief, please. Instead of thirty blocks I am making mine with twenty five blocks and it will finish at approximately 64" square, if I decide to add a small border, we'll see. 

Last weekend we had a couple of overnight guests (this one and her brother)  and, since stitching a turkey didn't do me in, we sewed up a couple of chickens! One to keep and one to give away. 

This is a tease for my next post. What, exactly, is this in Gregory's hands? Stay tuned, you'll be amazed!

Life is Good!