you gotta love the minds of kids :)

Driving to school, I told my kids that I saw a deer on my morning run. This created quite a lively debate between the three of them:

"Maybe it was a REINDEER!"
"Maybe Santa is checking up on kids to make sure they are good!"
"Did you see a red light?  Maybe it was Rudolf!"
"No, Rudolf does, like, ALL the heavy pulling on Christmas Eve, he is probably at the North Pole resting up."
"Maybe it was Dasher!"
"Or Dancer!"
"Or Prancer!

Then The Middle Child piped up, "Or maybe it was just a regular old deer named Brad."

merry and bright

We got our tree this weekend!  We went to the usual tree farm and took in all the annual traditions.  The sleigh ride:

Hot chocolate and hot dogs and snuggling by the fire:

And scoring a tree, of course :)

We finished decorating it Monday night.  The Hubs and I laughed about how, for so many years, we had clumps of ornaments, 10 or so per branch, all along the bottom and a naked tree top.  Now, it is all about the ladder for the kids.  They want to go up HIGH.  They even started scaling the walls to deck the halls :)

Crazy kids! And of course there was some rocking out to Harry Connick Jr. Christmas tunes (in pajamas apparently 3 sizes too small)....

....and other horsing around, too.

But the final result was, once again, the best tree ever :)

twinkle :)

Finished up my circle of stars mini quilt/ table topper!

I decided to do some hand quilting...I think it finished off the project perfectly.  I practiced using a couple different kinds of stitches...french knots, crosses and so on.  I just let it evolve and had fun. 

While I was stitching away, I was in my glory watching this movie.  Do you know it?  Classic stuff.  One of my favorites from the 90s....toe pick!

The plan is to use this as a table topper, but in case I change my mind down the road, I added these triangles on the back for a dowel so I can use it as a wall hanging as well.

And now it has a place of honour on the table for the holiday season!

 

I am so pleased with how this came together.   Sharing over at Quilt Story.

WIP Wednesday

Yes,  this actually 3 posts in one week so far, and 3 link ups.  I am feeling sociable ;)

After my huge surge of productivity at retreat, I have basically sat on my arse and done nothing to progress the Christmas present crafting.  But yesterday, I had a day off work and opted to neglect all housework to get down to some business.

Time to do some dreaded basting!  I used my handy dandy 505 + dumbell method.

And had my trusty sidekick guard the batting.

Soon enough, I had basted my 3 quilt tops from retreat:

And then for no good reason whatsoever, I decided I needed to piece myself a Christmas table topper.  This shows how much I suck at time management.....clock is ticking on holiday gifts but I opt to start a new thing for me.  But I got inspired and couldn't help myself.

So this became this:

And in the wee hours of the night, here is what I ended up with.  I so love the result!

This finished up at 22" square, and has 185 pieces!  Inspiration was here, and decided to add neutral squares as the back drop after the fun I had making the sprout blocks for Tracey. It is going to be our coffee table topper over the holidays.  I am thinking I may cut it to be round instead of square?  And am thinking about quitting....suggestions???

See you all at WIP Wednesday!

a scrappy souvenir

While away at retreat earlier this month, I had a chance to meet the fabulous quilting Krista.  She put together a couple bags while there, and when I complimented her fabric choices, she generously shovelled her scraps over to my work table.  They came home with me as I contemplated the perfect project.  I pulled a couple complimentary fabrics from my stash and decided on this:

Our camera is reasonably new, and my biggest pet peeve (or my husband's, I should say), is that I am constantly misplacing the lens cap cover.  I used this tutorial from LBG Studio, which conveniently includes a little pocket for the cap on the side.  Perfect!  I modified the design somewhat and quilted it, as I love that look, and am so pleased with the outcome.  It feels so comfy on the neck, and it is gender neutral enough that the Hubs is happy to wear it.

Thanks, Krista, for the lovely scraps!  I will think of you every time I am clicking away :)

Sharing over at Fabric Tuesday.

and then there were three

I so loved the pillows that Svetlana made for me that I decided they needed a friend.  so, I pulled out my scraps from my quilted retreat bag and put together this snazzy chevron number:

 

I quilted it it chevrons as well, while I was at it!

The back is a Denyse Schmidt dot, and I basically copied the zipper installation method that Svetlana used.

Here is the happy trio!  I think I may get addicted to making these....

Happy Monday!  Linking up at Sew Modern Monday and Fabric Tuesday  :)

Awesome swaps, take 2

In addition to some fantastic pillows, I also received a second fun swap package last week, from Cherie of Sew and So Quilts.  Cherie and I met at Sewing Summit last year, and have been friends ever since.  She found some adorable slippers on Pinterest and wondered if I could make her a pair.  I did a test knit, making some for myself to figure out the process first, then made some for Cherie.  I sent them off along with some assorted goodies, many the same as in Svetlana's package (and never thought to take a photo first, oops!).   In exchange, she agreed to make me this wonderful holiday mini:

(I was too excited to iron this first, haha!)

I just love it!  I have had this pattern (from Purl Bee) on my to-do list for ages!  I love that it was instead made by a friend, so that I can smile and think of her each Christmas when I hang it on my wall :)

She did a fantastic job, I  adore all of the fabrics she chose, the quilting, the binding and backing...the whole shebang!  Now I just have to pick up a dowel so I can hang it on my wall this holiday season, and for many more to come.  Thanks so much for a great swap, Cherie!