Post Christmas Post

A friend commented that my blog has been a bit quiet lately. She's right. Between spending several weeks with our daughter Jill, and family, and having access to only snippets of sewing and embroidery time, not only has my productivity been drastically reduced, but so has blogging time.

While at Jill's house, I've continued to make these for "Friendship Medallion." Jill has my old Bernina QE153, so I can sew whenever I'm at her house.

I embroidered another "Snowmen A-Z" block, and the letter "O" for ornament is underway. I think this alphabet quilt may be a 2012 finish!

The kidlets have been my focus - a happy way to consume my time.

Tay, Aesa and Celina

We always take formal holiday pictures...

... but with two little ones (and a frustrated big one), smiling faces are not always easy to capture.

Just before Celina and her dad departed for their Christmas eve flight to the United Arab Emirates, Celina paused for this picture showing off her new Sperry "Angelfish" shoes - a gift from us. For one week, she and her dad are there to join a family gathering of his family.

Tay with his new backpack, standing on the "I Spy" quilt I made.

Not-yet-talking, 13 month-old Aesa says "auh-oh," and manages to communicate everything else by sign language and "ah-uhn?" sounds.

In Florida, grandson Austin is who we didn't get to see in person, but we're grateful for Skype so we could watch him open a couple presents on Christmas morning.

Austin

By email we received this photo of Austin and his friend Daphne. According to our son, "they could be heard in the next time zone." Santa's jolly humor, and patience, is very appreciated.

I read on another blogger's post that she received push-back from a reader about putting up pictures of her family. It's difficult to understand such a complaint when a reader is free to not read a blog post. While I enjoy blogging about many things, particularly quilting, this blog is also about the people in my life. In four more days I'll be wrapping up 2011 posts, and then, for the third consecutive year, I'll order a printed blog book from Blog2Print. For me, it's the best way to remember the things I deemed most important. The book is a tangible record of my interests - a diary, if you will - for my descendants.

By the way, my Christmas present was a gift certificate for a haircut from my favorite - I-trust-her-implicitly - hair stylist in Kansas City. Check out my blog profile photo to see my new, shorter do. Here's how I look from the back. I love the way it lays and moves, and of course, I'm hoping I can make it look like this myself!

I'll leave you with this chuckle. Last week, Jill, Celina and I went to lunch together at a Kansas City Mexican restaurant called Salty Iguana. Inside the door was this sign. Do you 'spose it's a typo, or is there such a thing as "Quiltless Quesadilla"? What does one look like? More importantly, aren't you glad you can get one 50 percent off!?

Linda

Christmas Ornaments

After seeing ornaments on others' blogs, and enjoying the "history" behind them, I thought I might share a few of my homemade ornaments. I made and gave these to my parents for their tree. After mother died, in December 2002, they were passed along to our daughter, Jill, where they now hang on her family's Christmas tree.

The gingerbread girl is a reflection of my counted cross-stitch years - the early 80's when I owned a needlework shop called "The Stitchery Niche."

Then came a good half-dozen and more years of smocking. Jill wore pretty smocked clothes, as did a few other children I outfitted for a small income. Smocking also took the form of Christmas ornaments, and Easter eggs for an Easter tree!

Throughout the years, I've dabbled at crafts. These red felt skating boots are one of my favorites. The blade is a large paper clip!

For the days ahead I'm wishing you beautiful memories of times past, and much hope and faith in the promise of eternal life through the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a merry and blessed Christmas, dear friends. Linda

Selvage Blog Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED
Karen, at SelvageBlog is hosting a giveaway of a 2012 AQS Quilt Art Engagement Calendar. It just happens to have one of my quilts in it!

Check out April 30, 2012.

If you'd like to try to win, head on over.  Tell Karen I sent you. Linda

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Holy Family

I'm not decorating for the upcoming holidays. No. I'm not a Scrooge.

Our children aren't coming home for Christmas. With great distances to travel with little ones and all the necessary paraphernalia associated with 13 month-old, 19 month-old, and 27 month-old children, it's just plain work to go anywhere. So, without the need for a Christmas tree, I pulled out my favorite seasonal wall hanging, put it in the entryway quilt rack, and called it enough.

Dilys Fronks of the UK is the designer of this 2003 piece: "No Crib for a Bed."

It's batik, and one of the few pieces where I've used decorative stitches to enhance the design.

The star rays are stitched with gold metallic thread. The horizontal line of what appears to be colorful beads is a decorative stitch made with variegated thread.

These silhouette-type nativity scenes were offered each year, from 2003 to 2006, in the magazine Quilt It: for Christmas, when it was still being published. I have the 2003 and 2006 issues. "Holy Family" is the 2006 design and I think it's my favorite. I have only a picture of the one I made; I gave it away. Someday, I'd like to sew another one for myself. 

In my mind, a nativity is the best and most significant reminder of this holy and blessed season.

A couple more of my four very special blessings...

Aesa, 13 months 

Aesa and Tay

Tay, 27 months

Linda

Blocks for This and That

In the five days I've been at home since our Florida trip, I've spent some time at the sewing machine. Yay! I also spent two days sewing with Hope Quilters (read about our day here).

For myself, I played catch-up on the November 25 release of the third block in the Bloggers' BOM. Pink is outside my comfort zone, and putting these particular colors together is a first, but definitely fun. It's an unusual block, don't you think? I'm making two each month since they're only 8" X 8" when finished.

These two 12" X 12" star blocks have been sent off to join other star blocks to make a quilt for a special someone who's having health problem. 'Nuf said.

Martha Washington Star

Broken Star

Upon request, and following certain guidelines, back in August I made and sent this 12" X 12" Single Wedding Ring block to someone who was going to sew collected blocks into a quilt as a wedding gift for one of my blogospheric buddies. I haven't heard a word about the status of that quilt and that makes me feel disappointed. Should I be? Update: The new bride has received the blocks; it was never intended that a quilt would be given to her. She - Shannon at Pieceful Kwilter - will post about the blocks when she has a chance. She's a busy professional longarm quilter - understandable given that it's pre-Christmas, giving time.

I've also been crazily sewing tiny 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" squares into these cute nine-patch blocks - only 72 of them needed for my Friendship Medallion quilt. It does seem to be taking a long time.

Linda

Perpetually Stitching

Even while on the road for hours and hours, and wherever we're traveling, I'm not entirely content unless I have something to work on. An otherwise tediously long trip by car can be almost pleasant while listening to an audiobook and stitching. During our 23-plus hour drive each way, to and from Florida, we were entertained by "Valley of the Horses," the second book in the Earth Children series written by Jean Auel, published in 1982.

While listening, my hands were busy with this embroidery piece. It's one of the latest designs by Crabapple Hill called "The Night Before Christmas." It sews into a pillowcase.

Before leaving on our trip, I prepared everything including cutting the three fabric prints for the pillowcase. For the embroidered part, I used my light box and a Sewline pencil to trace the design onto a tone-on-tone snowflake print fabric.

Thanks to my Aussie friend, Tracey, I was able to embroider the design with a lovely, hand-dyed, variegated Australian thread made by Cottage Garden Threads. Tracey mailed it to me from South Australia and in exchange I sent her my New Life Quilt pattern. A great swap, I'd say! 

The six-stranded thread is quite pretty with short color variations from cherry red to burgundy. I stitched with two strands.

I began stitching on the way to Florida, and completed it shortly after arriving. Then, was able to sew it into a pillowcase on my traveling Featherweight sewing machine.

I finished it in time to mail to Kansas City as a gift to our granddaughter, Celina, for her 13th birthday.

Later, she thanked me sincerely and reluctantly told me she isn't using the pillowcase! Because she showers at night and goes to bed with damp hair, she doesn't want to ruin it. 

How sweet is that? I guess I'm glad to know she likes it enough not to want to risk damaging it.

During the car trip from Florida back to Iowa, I completed these stitcheries.

They're part of a long-term project, "Snowmen A to Zzzz," also by Crabapple Hill. When I first started stitching these, I worked on the alpahbet letters I happened to like best. Now I'm just working my way through the alphabet. The  letter "M" is already stitched, so "N" is next. As always with UFOs, it's good to see progress. It might even be a quilt by Christmas 2012! Linda