Christmas Picture

Here we are with our two daughters laughing it up on Christmas day.  Fun day for us to share.

Clean Up Day

We had a good Christmas, not great, but good.  We have so many family members who are ill or have issues until my heart was heavy this Christmas season.  But we had three of our children for lunch on Christmas day and that was especially nice.

Last night I made my "to do" list for this morning.  And every time I went by it today I had to add another "to do".  Slowly I am marking off items on the list.  My sweetman has been helping me this morning and I really appreciate that.

Decorations are down and put up, bathrooms cleaned and wash is going.

Today was my "Nicholson" quilt day but we awoke to heavy rains this morning and I just decided best to stay inside.  So I working hard on that list and hopefully I will have it completed by lunch and get upstairs after lunch for some serious sewing.

Merry Christmas to All

A very Merry Christmas to all.  For unto you is born a Savior.

A New Quilt

These are some of the beginning blocks for a new quilt I am making.  I have 56 blocks finished and today decided that I needed 16 more.  I have used all blues from very light to very dark and I think it will be a beautiful quilt when completed.  The sashing will be the same white as used in the blocks with a dark blue for the cornerstones.  Still undecided about the borders.  Will post more as I get closer to the completion.

2011 Unfinished Quilts List

At the end of 2010 I made a list of my unfinished quilts.  Here is the list as of today.  I will finished some of these quilts in 2012 but that Grandmothers Flower Garden may never get finished.  It is my least favorite quilt in progress and I have lost interest.  But maybe one day I will pick it up again and work on it.  So here is the list.

UNFINISHED QUILTING PROJECTS TO FINISH IN 2011

Dresden Plate	Decided to	Rip apart	And redo	sashing
Baltimore Alb	Hand quilting	This and hope	To finish 2012
Basket Baby	Finished 2011
Xmas table runner	Finished 2011
B. Hunter Quilt	Completed	Jan 2011
String Quilt	Completed	May 2011	Dan’s quilt
Quilt Panel	Basted and	Ready to quilt
#1 Pinwheel	Completed	2011	Pat’s
#2 Pinwheel	Completed	Oct 2011	Pat’s
Beatitudes	Can’t find	Blocks but	I know they	Are someplace
Grandmothers Flower Garden	May never	Finish this	Quilt!

Wine Jelly

Earlier this month I purchased a small jar of wine jelly at our town holiday craft fair.  It was delicious.

After researching the Internet and finding recipes,  I decided I would try to make my own.  Here is a picture of the results.  And it is very tasty.

Miniature Christmas Sampler

This is a miniature Christmas sampler I finished this weekend.  Originally I had intended to use it on my dining room table.  But that table is now part of the "dining room quilting area".  So I will hang it for the holiday season.  But first it is being shown in our guilds Christmas quilt show at the Commerce, GA library.

I used lite heat and bond for the applique and then did a very narrow buttonhold stitch on the applique.  It was machine quilted, by me, and since I am mostly a handquilter it was a learning experience.

I especially love the red fabric I used and went back and purchased more for my stash.  Now I am going to watch for the quilt shops after Christmas sale and go back and buy even more if there is any left.  It truly is a lush color of red.

Maybe this Christmas

I am working on a Christmas runner/wall hanging. Sorry no pictures, maybe later. Last night after my Sweetman was in bed I was able to get in about an hour of sewing. This piece has applique that I did with Heat and Bond lite. Now I am appliqueing on the machine with a button hole stitch. Since I now have converted the dining room into a mini sewing area I may just hang the piece for this Christmas.

My Sweetman is doing well. His disease has hit a status quo level and does not seem to be escalating for which I am delighted. We are having fun days getting out every day to go somewhere. His favorite trip is a drive up to the mountains. I want to go back during the Christmas holidays as I think he will really enjoy all of the decorations and lights.

Pinwheel #2

This is the Pinwheel #2 quilt that I made in 2010 and finished quilting October 2011. My sister admired this quilt when she was here last year. (She also admired Pin Wheel #1). I gave her #1 and since she has several granddaughters I decided she needed #2 also.

Yesterday I pieced the backing for my Baltimore Album. My plans are to get it loaded onto the quilt frame and basted ASAP. I am really looking forward to handquilting the Album but it will take up all of this year and a large part of next year.

Sitting on the cutting table is fabric for a Christmas table runner. Do hope I can get started on that this week.

Fruit Basket Turn Over

When we built our house eleven years ago I was blessed by having a sewing room upstairs in the bonus room. It has been wonderful and it ususally is a mess with all of my fabrics spread out all over the place.

Now, with my Sweetman being ill I cannot get up there very often to sew as he always wants me close by. After three months of very little sewing I made a decision. Today I took the leaf out of the dining room table and tuned the table to give me room in the dining room area to create a sewing area. Then I moved my sewing table and sewing machine down to the dining room. I now have a corner of the dining room as a sewing area.

Our dining room, kitchen and great room is a very open area and should work perfectly for me to sew and Sweetman to sit in the great room and watch TV.
Next week I am going to puchase a TV for the great room.

A little cluttered but a workable solution for now but workable.

Autumn In the Air

Here in Georgia we have had several wonderful cool mornings. Fall is in the air. It won't be long before we will have fall colors all around us. I think this may call for a trip to the north Georgia mountains in a few weeks.

New Cell Phone--Goodby

I was encouraged to get text messaging for my cell phone in case it was needed for an emergency. So I had text messaging added to my cell phone plan. But the phone I had was awkward to use for texting. Off I went to Walmart and purchased the above phone and just to make sure I did not miss anything I had an inexpensive data plan added to my plan. Brought the new phone home and attempted to learn how to use it. Viewed the CD that came with the new phone, went on line and viewed the manual. After more hours trying to learn how to use the new phone and one sleepless night I decided that my life is too short to spend anymore time dealing with a new cell phone and new plans. I think I have received less than five text messages and I never did learn how to get on the internet or get emails. Tomorrow the cell phone is being returned to Walmart and text messaging and data plan being dropped from my cell plan. All I need is a phone to make calls on.
Life is less stressful since making that decision.

Memories Not to be Forgotten

What do you see in this picture? Woods, a gate, a neglected narrow road? A strange picture to post on your blog?

I see a road that winds through the woods to what use to be a house and farm that gave me love, security and peace. This is the entrance to what use to be my grandparents farm and is loving referred to as "The Farm" by our family.

Even today, forty years after my last visit to "The Farm" I could walk every acre and not get lost. As a child I roam over every cow path, hill, lake, creek and pasture by horseback, bicycle, and foot. I know every hiding place a person could hide on these 285 acres. I know where not to go because it is dangerous and I know every hill to sit on for the perfect view of sunrises and sunsets. My life has been pondered on those hills many times. The Farm was my haven from an insane world.

This summer Sweetman and I returned to our hometowns for a visit. I made a swing off the main highway and drove us through the backwoods of Mississippi and returned to the farm area in the middle of no where, where "The Farm" is located. The farming community has changed but I found that dusty road that led to the entrance of "The Farm". I got out of the car placing my feet on dusty, sweet Mississippi soil and took a few pictures of the entrance.

We could not get down to the old house, which is no longer standing so I am told, as the new owners have a locked gate. But is was so good to just stand there and let the good memories flow over my being.

The land is now owned by distance relatives who are commercial farmers.
Sweet, loving memories, a good trip, a trip down Memory Lane.

Pinwheel #1

I tried a new method of cutting out this quilt. While the cutting and sewing went very fast it was not as accurate as I like. But it turned out to be a sweet quilt. Plus I used up more fabrics. This quilt is going to a special person who shall remain a mystery until delivered.

Our New Great Grandson

This is a picture of our newest great grandson. Isn't he a cutie?
He is welcomed by big brother and all our family.

New Baby, New Quilt

We are so excited as we are having a new baby in the family this week. Our only granddaughter is scheduled for delivery this week and we know it is a little boy.
This quilt was made for the newest great-gran. We may not see him for a while as he will live in Texas and we are in Georgia. But to Easton, we say welcome to a wonderful family filled with cousins, second-cousins, aunts, great aunts, uncles, great uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. Lots of love to go around for you.

Blomming Flowers

I had lots of help planting my whiskey barrels and pots this year from our two youngest grandsons. They did an excellent job as you can see from the massive blooms.
I always plant marigolds in hopes of keeping the deer out of the yard. And I love purple wave petunias. The pot that appears empty will have zinnias blooming a few weeks as they were just planted last week.

Grandson's Quilt

This is the finished quilt for one of our grandsons. He has graduated from college and now is part of the real, working world. Many, many, many blocks in this quilt and I kept adding borders to make it long enough for him as he is very tall. Miss Ann did an awesome job quilting on her her long arm. It is bright and he loves it.

Bunny Hill Design

This is a quilt I made from Bunny Hill Designs free Block of the Month 2008. Several of my quilting friends also made this quilt and it was very interesting to see how each of us used different colors and fabrics.

One day a very sweet little girl will receive this quilt.

Blogging and Quilting on Hold

I haven't been blogging or quilting due to a big yard project. Part of our backyard is a small hill that dips toward the house. Beyond the other side of the hill is a beautiful wooded area that we have let remain natural. But that hill and backyard toward the house has been a thorn in our side. We have just had so many problems getting grass to grow and just when we had everything growing we had the problem with the yard caving in due to our wonderful builder digging a pit and burying stumps and building supplied in it. After spending mega bucks a couple of years ago to get that corrected we started trying to rebuild the back yard area. Then my wonderful Sweetman became ill and everything stopped. Last year it was just mowed and a little care by our lawn service company with fertilizer and weed killer.

This year was the year. That yard was going to have grass. I ordered 1 1/2 pallets of bermuda sod and started the process. The afternoon of the delivery I started laying sod (and had no idea what I was doing). But the yard had been aerated twice and top soil placed in many placed to even it out etc. Back to laying sod--I was so tired and still had 1/2 pallet to put down. Here comes my wonderful neighbor plus two other mutual friends and they started helping me. Finally, it was down and we were blessed with good rains for several day.

But I still had some bare spots. So I went and purchased 50 more pieces and that day Sweetman felt good and was able to help me. Now I have one more area that needs about 50 pieces and I hope to get that down this week or next week.

Yesterday two of our grandsons came to visit and they helped me get flowers planted in my barrels and pots and then some down in a bed by our mailbox. Aren't friends and relatives wonderful?

My goal is to get the yard where all I have to do is maintain it and not spend lots of time on it each year.

Hopefully I will be back at quilting very soon and have pictures to share with you.