What I've Been Working On...

A couple of weeks ago I began piecing this flower quilt.  The pattern is named "Cottage Blossoms" and is by Lella Boutique.

As you can see, the top is finished but I will put it away for the holidays.  In January, I will bring it out, sandwich it, and machine quilt it on my Juki TL2000Qi.  I don't know if I will piece a backing for it or buy wide backing fabric for it.  I have TONS of yardage that I purchased specifically to make pieced backings, so I'm leaning towards doing that to use up some of my stash.

While piecing the flower quilt, I made these 12 crumb blocks as my "leader/enders".  They are 6.5" square.  (Crumbs are the little pieces of leftover fabric that are too small to be cut into usable strips after you are done making a quilt.)

I have a whole bunch more that I made previously, so I'll add these to them.  I'm thinking of adding star points and making them into star blocks...these crumb blocks would be the center of the stars.

Here's a close-up of the blocks so you can see the variety of fabrics that went into them.  (If you have received a quilt from me, you may see some of the leftover fabrics in these blocks!)

Making those blocks really didn't make a dent in my "crumbs" stash.  (These are 2 of my 3 crumbs boxes.)

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to "big stitch" quilt on the "Pastel Baskets" quilt that is in my frame.

Andy & I have broached the subject of sectioning off a portion of the basement and turning it into a sewing room for me.  Two and a half years ago we moved my sewing room into the "master bedroom" and we took one of the two smaller bedrooms for our bedroom.  However, I really have "outgrown" the master bedroom.  One of the issues with my current sewing room is that there are 2 windows, a door, and a fireplace that take up room/wall space, thus biting into the "usable" space.  If we build a room in the basement there would only be the door into it to take a "bite" out of the usable room, so not only would the room be slightly bigger, it would have more usable space, thus making it more functional.   

We have just started discussing it and it would take some work to get it up and running, so don't everybody hold your breath right just yet.

Loretta

Getting Ready For Christmas...

Quote For the Day:

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.

In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." 

~ Larry Wilde

I really miss my kids at Christmas...mainly because as soon as they were old enough, I had them put up the tree and do the decorating!  Now that Andy & I are empty-nesters, the Christmas decorating is left up to me and therefore doesn't usually get done till the last weekend before Christmas.  In fact, if neither of the kids are coming home for Christmas (like last year) I don't even bother putting up a tree or decorating...other than throwing a wreath on the front door and calling it good!

But this year, Paul and Trinity and their boys are coming for Christmas, so the tree is up!

And lo and behold...Andy offered to put up outside lights!!!  It's been probably 13 years since we've had outside Christmas lights on the house!!! I have to say that it really looks lovely all lit up!

I even added a festive bow to the vintage concrete Boston Terrier statue that sits on our front porch!!!  :)

Loretta

Thanksgiving Recap...

Let's see...we're only slightly over 2 weeks past Thanksgiving Day...so...yeah...this post is right on time!  LOL

Our daughter, Erin, and her family came in for a few days to spend Thanksgiving with us!  We had a great visit and a very nice Thanksgiving dinner!

Clark showed us what "food coma" looks like...

...because when you've had enough, you've had enough!!!  

Clark and his dad, Dale, also provided the dinner entertainment!!! 

Sera and Clark with our dog, Ginger...

While they were here I gifted Erin & Dale with their wedding quilt!  This top was purchased from Ebay already hand-embroidered...I just hand-quilted it.  It is 100" x 100"...a king-size!!!

Loretta