Getting Things Done

We had a lovely Thanksgiving gathering--we were 22 for dinner  and got to catch up with my brother Tyler's kids,  whom we had not seen in some time. There was a lot of furniture moving and cooking for the big meal.   I took zero photos but we did have two baby announcements! One was of our nephew and his wife who were not able to make it, they live a 12 hour drive away.  It is their first baby and my brother and sister-in-law's first grandchild.  So exciting for them  The other announcement we can now share is of our own son and daughter-in-law's pregnancy!  Dane will have a baby brother or sister next year.  Very excited about another grandchild!  It was great to have a big family gathering again.  Plenty of leftovers to enjoy too. I gave the Windham Challenge pillow cover to my sister-in-law.  

I did kind of "squircle" quilting, which is not perfect!  Though I like the colors and prints, it does not go with anything in my house. 

Extra parts landed on the back.  I had the text print in stash to use--only Windham fabrics were allowed.  The stripe navy print made a nice accented binding. 

My sewing room became a sitting room for the big Thanksgiving event--the annual furniture resetting was accomplished pretty easily.  I first worked on the quilt top of the moment, Beachside Bungalow. 

I had the bright blue solid and the purple print in stash.  This long and slender quilt will be great for naps. I will look through stash fabrics for backing options first.  

My sister's longarm machine may get fixed soon, but until then I decided to quilt some smaller projects on my own to ease the crowding in the "to be quilted" closet. 

Curved organic crosshatch with the walking foot for this small quilt/baby quilt.  I used pink thread for three of the corners, and black thread for the last one, just for fun. 

During the burying of thread tails in one section, I lost my grip on the needle.  My husband and I were searching my sewing area for about 25 minutes with flashlights without success.  Finally, I went to pick up the quilt from my sewing desk and the magnetized needle was sitting on a pair of scissors on the quilt!!  So glad the search ended well. 

Backing made from leftovers from other quilts.  I love the monkey print that came from grandson Hunter's baby quilt.  I'll use black for the binding.  Tomorrow I plan to get another smaller top quilted to end the nice long weekend.  

Thanksgiving in the Time of COVID-19

Our much scaled down Thanksgiving included only our offspring and their families, and we were happy to be able to host once more.  We discussed with the new parents especially the recommendations for setting up.  DIL Ashley had read that having each family use their own set of serving utensils was suggested.  Luckily, since we live in SoCalif, weather did not prevent our outdoor Thanksgiving.  We were able to easily space out tables on our patio, and spent little time inside, mainly just getting food.

 

The tables were bare at this point but soon filled up with diners. 

Grandson Dane (3 months) looked quite adorable in his button down onesie and khakis, shoes and hat!  He did very well through most of the ruckus; Mama even got to eat before nursing him.

Auntie Erica got in some snuggles with the little guy.  He's growing well and staying healthy.
 

Grandson Cove (6) had a great time rummaging through the toybox and coming up with different disguises.  He looks like a big bug here :)

Erica's boyfriend Ryan, son-in-law Chris, and DIL Ashley...pre dinner.

 

Grandson Hunter (4) provided music after spending most of the time running in the backyard--hence the pink cheeks :).  It was good to have them all here in a safe way.  Next year we hope hosting more family will be possible.  My brother and sister who live in town fixed dinner for our folks at their house, to good reviews, lol.

Hope everyone's abbreviated celebrations included plenty of yummy food and, of course, pie! Our Thankful Things this year included the safe birth of twin grand-nieces the day before Thanksgiving.  One is undersized and staying in the NICU for a few days, but otherwise both girls are healthy.  We haven't had a girl born in the family for about 14 years and to have two at once...that is special indeed.  

I have spent time with wool applique and will post about that next time.

Design Wall Monday--Thanksgiving and Quilting

It's Design Wall Monday again, see more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog.  I have several things to show for the long holiday weekend's work.

First, Thanksgiving prep meant moving a lot of my sewing room stuff into the garage so we could make room for moving furniture to extend the dining tables.  My husband took the opportunity--and unusually cold and rainy weather in SoCalif--to use our fireplace.  

Usually my cutting table is directly in front of the hearth and hides the pretty ginkgo leaf firescreen I got as a gift one Christmas.  We have had piles of logs from an ornamental pear tree that the drought killed years ago--Grant fed the fire all day with them and it made him very happy :)  We were only 11 for dinner and there was plenty of everything, with lots of leftovers!  It was a lovely time together and we got a visit from the grands and their folks later. 

Friday morning I partially reassembled my sewing room to work on two projects, the Oh My Stars swap blocks from the fabrics I showed last post, and the ongoing background fabrics for Jen Kingwell's Dreamweaver quilt for our son and new daughter-in-law.  I got seven more rows sewn together.

 That's another 140 squares completed....and another 140 to go.  I pulled out the project bin and applique template instructions and will need to confer further with the 6-month-weds about fabric choices in the near future.  Then I got to work on the swap blocks.

I used my GO cutter for the 2.5" red print squares and cut the remaining pieces.  The flying geese were made the four-at-a-time way and then trimmed to final dimension.  In this photo the muslin background looks pink, for some reason...

...this photo has truer colors.  I'll need to keep being careful with the seam allowances to keep the 1/4" from the points, but I am really pleased with the fabric choices.

I'll have another quilt to share next time--my sister quilted my Lucky word quilt top for me today!  We got it on the frame together and she finished it tonight.  Here's a sneak peak...

So excited--here's how it last looked...two years ago after Sewtopia New Orleans in November 2017.

Design Wall Monday--11/26/18, and Post Thanksgiving Post

It's Design Wall Monday and I have a new/old project.  See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts. 

On my design floor is a Christmas quilt long-in-waiting.  Last year I made 4 patches from charm pack selections with a bunch of additions from stash and a couple of fat quarter purchases for variety.  There was a Christmas in July urge that went unfulfilled until now.  After restoring most of the sewing room post Thanksgiving, I laid out the quilt again and started sewing rows.  

This my Christmas version of Barefoot in the Park by Loft Creations.  All that's left are the corner triangles, which I've already cut.  Lucky find of this Lori Holt fabric for the setting squares that went with all the 4 patch colors. I haven't yet decided if I will add appliqued circles to some of the setting squares per the pattern.

 Also at Superbuzzy I found a suitable aqua print for the borders.  Love the Poinsettias.

I didn't buy very much of this fabric and blame quilt MATH!  Hopefully some kind of decent border will turn out. 

Our Thanksgiving was full and fun with a crowd of 21 for dinner, including our son's girlfriend who had knee surgery the day before, our precious offspring and grandsons, and numerous visitors after.  Two of my mom's brothers (she has 6 younger brothers!) came to help set up and it was fun to get extra time with Jim and David. 

There are many fall/Thanksgiving decorations in my home and I love setting them all up for the occasion.  

My mom gave me this beautiful Williams Sonoma dishtowel this year as part of my birthday gift, and I pinned it up in the half-bath, along with filling the towel shelf. 

In the living/dining room, more Autumn splendor:

The room looked lovely with family linens on the tables, my Grandmother's Franciscan Red Apple Dishes, and Grant's family silverware and crystal, but you'll have to picture that, I have no photos!  Everyone brings a specialty dish to enjoy and there is always a lot of talk and laughter.  This year there was also music, as Uncle Jim brought his guitar and we sang.  My favorite holiday, and there is always room for more at the table.  It is worth all of the work to spend this day together.  

While many folks have already been putting up Christmas lights and trees, my husband and I like to wait until December.  We usually get a fresh tree and don't want it to be tinder dry by December 25th.  There is a Christmas newsletter yet to write--and hopefully actually get out this year, and a whole lot of decorating.  I'm contemplating making a new tree skirt as our decor has changed.  It remains to be seen if time will allow for that sewing ambition!

Slow Sunday Stitching 11/26/17--Thanksgiving Wrapup

A little late to the party, but I do have slow stitching to show.  First, progress on the Lizzie Kate cross-stitch. 

We watched the grandsons last night and after they were in bed, I finished the rest of "forever" , after pulling out most of the V and redoing it, and got a start on the S for Stitching, while watching a PBS show on the Beatles.  I put a few stitches in today before diving into the ongoing binding job, a baby quilt for my daughter's best friend. 

 I had to get creative when I didn't quite have enough of the pink solid for the binding...

 ...though it disappears on my beige carpet :)  The label is next, as baby Grace is finally here, a week overdue.  After a bath, the quilt will be on its way to the newly expanded, happy family--she's the first grandchild for both sets of parents.  Linking up to Kathy's Quilts.

Thanksgiving was a rather quiet affair, with us hosting as usual, but without the big crowd.  One could actually hear oneself and others at the table, since there were only 11 of us: two of our kids, my mom and dad, brother, sister, uncle, and nephew with his girlfriend.  

We even ate together at one long table.  I enjoyed pulling out my Grandma's Red Apple dishes I love so much.  My sister Kathy was a big help to Grant and me in the kitchen, as always.  She peeled and seeded a pomegranate while I put together the fruit salad; she toasted walnuts and almonds for dishes, and made the green bean dish, while I tried to get out all the bowls and serving pieces. Brother Kevin carved the turkey, Mom and Dad brought pies, Erica made the special potato dish we all love.  Everything came out well.  Later, two nephews stopped by, one with his expectant wife, and Kathy gifted them the quilts she made at our retreat at Sewtopia--can it be only three weeks ago? 

First was the wedding quilt.  The couple are ski boarding enthusiasts and got married 18+ months ago in Mammoth Lakes in winter, at 10,000 feet.  Kathy used a panel and coordinates for a snowy mountain themed throw. 

The wedding quilt being late, they got an additional matching quilt for their baby boy due next month!  Mama-to-be has been on bedrest and is hoping for an earlier delivery.    The marrieds also stopped by with the grandsons so we all got to play (wind them up!) with them for a little while.  We had a lovely day and clean up took way less time than normal, lol.  The men even helped empty the living room of the 15 year old couches we were giving away, in anticipation of a new set to be delivered the next day.  Grant and I ended the evening by pulling dining room chairs to the TV to watch WALL-E.  

He had to work Friday, but I had the day off and not only did I not go out and shop on Black Friday, I never left the house. Bliss!  There were a few visitors to enjoy and plenty of pottering time after the busy days before.  Back to work tomorrow, and the mad rush to Christmas.  We'll wait until Dec 1 to get the lights up and house decorated, though plenty of our neighbors took advantage of the holiday to do so. Lots to do in the next month--but there will still be stitching time :)

Design Wall Monday

Nearly Thanksgiving--my favorite holiday!  My design wall has two turkeys, for two nieces, this Design Wall Monday.

Emma's turkey, Thomas, is all ready to go to his new home.  I bound it in a dark purple Thimbleberries print from stash.  

Hannah's turkey, Tomasu (she loves all things Japanese), is pieced, backing and binding are made, just awaiting sandwiching and quilting.  Hopefully I'll get the quilting completed tomorrow night, maybe even finish it off with the binding.  It is surprising how much binding it takes--about 80" of binding was required for each 16x18 little quilt.  It has been fun to see what the young ladies chose and I hope they will enjoy their patchwork turkeys for years to come.  (The original pattern is "Give Thanks" from The Quilted Basket, and I purchased it at Helen's Hen House in Missouri in 2012). 

See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

 I've also been spending time with an embroidery UFO, this is Poinsettias and Pomegranates.  I find I cannot work too long on the 32 count linen without my vision going blurry.  I did finish all the pomegranate blossoms in between coughing and sneezing attacks that kept me home from work the other afternoon.

I'm pleased with it so far. There are a border, corner blossoms and a basket to complete for this pincushion pattern.  I may just decide to frame it instead. 

Our long-delayed baseboard project is complete at last.  DH Grant and I spent an hour or two prepping and painting Saturday morning doing touchup and final coat of paint (this pic was of the install and not the final look). We are expecting 21 for Thanksgiving dinner and can't wait to show them off.  Naturally, now I want the baseboards redone in the rest of the downstairs to match, and fresh paint in the sewing room and kitchen, etc etc.  The home improvement list never ends!

So Far this November

Things are busy around here, but not as much in the sewing room as I'd like.  My sister and I have reupped for local guild positions, I'll be secretary again and she's sharing the communications position with another member.  We're hoping to have a fun year with a new board and a chance to introduce new ideas.  My sister bought an IPadPro and is letting me use this to type up the notes at meetings.  This should save me some time since I've been handwriting everything so far and rarely get to the computer timely to get the notes typed up and then uploaded much in advance of the next meetings.  

Last month's guild challenge was free motion quilting on a small handmade item to donate to the guild that could later be sold for fundraising.  I pulled out my "small UFO" box and found a block I made last year.  Eureka!

I was originally in this pic I stole from Flickr, but looking half-asleep so I cropped myself out!  I'd say the little spools are about 5" tall.  So happy to have this off the list of unfinished objects crowding my sewing room.

All the blocks got done for the Starcrossed quilt for DD Erica.  I went to her house to layout the quilt, lacking floor space for these 16" blocks.  Her cat Lucy provided QC.  I'm hoping to get some stitching time to get the top together soon.  I have two small projects to finish first, though, for my nieces.  Another turkey is laid out on the cutting table to assemble, this one is Hannah's. 

Hannah went more brown on her turkey and more creamy with the background.  If I could get to my sewing machine, I'd start sewing those squares and triangles together. However, my sewing room is currently crammed with furniture as we finally got baseboards in our living room, a gift from my kids and husband for my birthday.  We had the 16' long baseboards delivered and they were lying in the living room, stacked about 7 inches high.  I managed to nearly kill myself tripping over the stack and smacking into the tile floor.  I will blame this on the fabric I was carrying, hurrying to the washer!  I fortunately got my hands up fast enough to break my fall, but my left shin took a hard hit on the baseboard edge and my lower leg has been swollen and numb for 10 days.  My left shoulder isn't very happy either.   We immediately moved the baseboards to the garage, but bending over to the floor to paint them was no picnic either, can you say hamstrings too tight? Not too pleasant painting in record heat, either. Anyway, they are now installed by a handyman and the unfinished part of the wall is nicely trimmed, four years after we had laminate installed  in the living/dining room.  Sheesh. 

Here's Grandson Hunter in some fall leaves.  He and his big brother, mom and dad had a weekend away at Bass Lake with friends recently.  What a happy little guy :) He generously shared his cold with me at my birthday brunch last weekend, but I'm glad it's this week and not next.  We'll have about 21 for Thanksgiving dinner this year and enjoy gathering all together in our newly baseboard-enhanced room! I have a 5 day weekend planned and hope to get stitching time then. 

Thanksgiving Weekend Wrap Up

 One last autumn photo before the Christmas onslaught!

Pumpkin Field, photo by Donald Jahadamy

It was a wonderful, crazy, packed and loud Thanksgiving feast.  We ended up feeding a total of 28 at dinnertime, and had an additional 13 people stop by (two more ate!).  It was too cold to eat on the patio so we all crammed into the house.  Thank goodness I took a day off work for clearing out my sewing room.  It was restaged with a table for 7, a seating area, all the dishware on my sewing desks, and the desserts on the pull out table of the Hoosier.  The remaining 21 were at three tables in the living room, including three visitors from Perth, Australia, a family friend and his two teen-aged boys. The boys are are experiencing their first visit to the US--I'm sure Thanksgiving was an experience they'll remember!  There was enough food, even though I later discovered I forgot to open the olive cans and the vegetables served were pretty light as only one bag of french beans got used.   I'm hoping we host a more reasonable 18-20 people next year:)

On Friday my sister Kathy and sister in law Laura invited me to join them for some shopping in the old downtown.  We had a lovely time poking through gift shops and antique malls and thrift stores.  I found a bunch of brand new boxes of Christmas cards for really cheap, which will be great for my husband to hand out to his customers.  Score of the day was a new old piece to add to my beloved Grandma's set of Franciscan Apple dishes that I use every Thanksgiving: 

It was grimy and has a small flaw in one of the sections (black dot), but the hand painting is gorgeous on this three section relish tray.  It is about 12-14 inches long in the middle section.  I also had fun combing through a rack of old postcards, and paid $2 for this Birthday Greeting: 

 The embossed and colored birds and garland, deer and stream were so sweet. 

It looks like this went to Mr. Newton B. Ward in West Lafayette, from Mrs. Nettie Peterson.  The postmark reads March 13, 1908 Millville, NJ, received in W Lafayette on March 14, 1908--only one day to travel that far in 1908!  I love that this dear little greeting has survived for 107 years.  My sister Kathy and I had a very memorable trip to Lafayette in 2006 when we attended a quilting workshop by Ricky Tims that was held at Purdue University.  We never traveled on Russell Street, that I recall, but the street still exists according to Google Maps, and is just west of Purdue.  Such fun to randomly find a connection to a place I've been to.

I spent some of yesterday repacking Grandma's Apple dishes and reassembling the sewing room. Then I did something entirely selfish.  I pinned a quilt for ME! 

This Christmas quilt has been folded on a hanger with the finished backing for over a year.  The blocks came from a long-ago swap when I belonged to an on-line group called Quiltbuddies. 

 

Can't wait to have this hanging on my railing for the season!

Erasing the 80's

I've been busy working, but no sewing or blogging seems to be happening, unfortunately.  This past weekend my daughter Erica and I took on a project I've been longing to do for some time--erasing the 80's fake "aged" brick fireplace.  Of course this ended up being one of the hottest weekends ever in November, but we pressed on. Having done many painting projects, we are well aware that prep takes five times as long as the fun painting part.  There was a lot of cleaning, wire brushing, vacuuming, soot removal, and washing. We let the brick dry overnight, then Erica did all the taping.

 She did a really good job and we commenced with brushes and rollers. 

First coat went on fairly quickly and we let it dry for about 3-4 hours.  

Second coat made the transformation even better.  There was some touch up after a few more hours, including wiping off some of her cat Lucy's dusty fireplace exploration paw prints, but by Sunday night the 80's were gone forever. I couldn't wait to start staging the mantel.

An idea I pinned on Pinterest worked out sublimely with these doilies my husband's maternal grandmother crocheted so many years ago.

 Love the filet crochet one with its curly fringe. 

The rest of the room is a complete disaster, but the mantel is ready for the holiday!

Last year my sister-in-law Laura gave me the beautiful linen towel and the pheasant gravy boat.  Paired with a length of grapevine garland and a glittery pumpkin platter, the fireplace is ready to glow over the 27 we are feeding this year for Thanksgiving.  Lots of work to get ready for the crowd, but looking forward to the love and laughter and fun of being together.