Me & My Stitches

Me & My Stitches
Click on the picture to go to my website. These are 1 1/4" pendants.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Ready for Christmas!

Thanks to everyone who shared links with me for the brown Cotton Club fabric - I did find what I needed - now to get that quilt off to the quilter!  One reminder - if you are a "no-reply commenter"  PLEASE CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS!!  I hate it when someone leaves me a comment and I am unable to reply - makes me feel like I'm being rude!  If you don't know how to change your settings, follow this link for the instructions...Lori has made it easy!


If you read my last post, you know that I've been itching to make a Christmas quilt - was hoping some of you would join me in a sew-a-long, but I didn't have a lot of interest in that.  So, I bit the bullet and started one on my own.  I decided to make The Merry Christmas Quilt from Heart to Hand.


I love this quilt and am super excited about making it.  I have cut out all of the black flannel for all of the blocks and have prepped the first 2 and part of the 3rd - just need to steam them onto the block.  Here is the first block...all stitched and everything!

 And here is block 2 - all prepped.  I have about half of the stitching done now.

I had to set those aside so I could work on these...
These stockings are made from my grandpa's neck ties.  I have been going to make these for years, and always forget about it until Christmas time, then there are too many other things to do and it just doesn't get done.  This year, I decided to take a day and just do it!  Well, the first day was slow going, but by the end of day 2 they were finished!  We also have all of my FIL's ties and I need to make a batch of stockings with those as well, but that is going to have to wait!

We are having our family Christmas here tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day - we are starting out with our annual cookie-bake, then having our Christmas dinner and gift exchange, then back to cookies (if we have any energy left by then!).  I've been busy wrapping gifts and need to finish cleaning (I hate cleaning!!) today.  My dad likes date cookies - they are a pain in the butt - you stuff a pecan inside of the date, then put them in batter and spoon them out, bake them, then frost them.  They are a lot of work, but he likes them, and this is the only time of year he gets them (if then!), so I'm going to try to get those done today.  But...I decided to try something a little easier - I'm just going to chop the dates (they were out of the already-chopped-dates at the store...boo!) and the pecans and just throw them in the batter.  Seems like it should work - so we will find out.

I've been decorating a little (I'm not a decorator, at all) and have our big tree up in the living room...



My angel has a bit of a problem - she's leaning a bit - but better than what she was at first!

(do you see those ears sticking up??? Callie always has to be in the middle of it all!)

 and a few close-ups of ornaments on my pencil tree in my sewing room...





Aunt Nancy made me this last year...isn't he cute?
She made this one too...

I also wanted to share this - I had a fun mail day yesterday!  These are from Janet O of Rogue Quilter blog...
She likes making small stuff almost as much as I do.  I already have a couple of her cute ornaments, but this time she sent me this basket - using my favorite red fabric (that she is also hoarding), and some of her wonderful hand made soaps.  They smell sooooo good, and look how cute - love the snowflakes!  Thanks again Janet!  Such a nice surprise!

And just as fun as a good mail day, my DH brought home this beautiful poinsettia the other day...

It's really big, and I would like to set it on the floor, but SOMEONE can't keep their teeth off of it!  Speaking of that little someone...what the heck is she doing??

This is a new one - now we walk on my sewing machine?!

Now I better go get that cleaning done!

I'm linking up with Bonnie at Quiltville - Go check out her blog and all of the links to see what everyone is working on!
Have a great day and a very Merry Christmas!

20 comments:

  1. Love the wool Santa hanging your Aunt Nancy made. Do you have any idea where or what the pattern is? I would love to do it myself. Merry Christmas.

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  2. Beautiful decorations! Enjoy your family Christmas.

    I would have joined you for a Christmas quilt along. :-( Dang I'm always late to the show.

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  3. Merry Christmas to you and yours - and to Callie too of course :)

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  4. So fun to see your post! Love the quilt you are making!! And those stockings--WOW, what a great idea. They look wonderful!
    I'm hosting my family party on Monday--40 people! We don't make cookies together. Good thing, my kitchen is big, but not THAT big!! Those date cookies sound really tedious to make. Hope your alternative method works.
    Your Aunt Nancy is a treasure--such cute Santas!
    Oh, my goodness, that kitty is determined to be part of the action! : )

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  5. I absolutely love the block of the month project. It's going to be wonderful! I have a kitty like yours...always finding something to get her nose into. Merry Christmas to you, we are celebrating one Sunday so we aren't far behind you!

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  6. How awesome to make the stockings from your grandpa's ties-a wonderful keepsake. I love your little kitty helping with the decorating!

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  7. What a delightful post Julie! Loved seeing your tree ornaments, little quilty stuff and that lovely poinsettia. How big are the stockings made from your Grandpa's neckties? Are they all for you? Or are you sharing them with family? That's such a great idea! Enjoy your family dinner - hope you have lots of help!

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  8. I hope you're having a wonderful gathering today, Julie! Your quilt will be stunning! I did find the recipe for the Rolo treats - wow - they're wonderful!
    Cheers!

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  9. It appears that someone has taken up the balance beam!! Are the cat Olympics coming soon and I didn't get the memo??
    Love the stockings - such a wonderful way to remember your grandfather (and eventually FIL). Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't care to clean or decorate...I only decorate in a timely fashion because I have the county town clerks xmas party at my house every year.

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  10. I really love those neck tie stockings. What a great idea. I saw the Christmas quilt you want to get done. I have one that I pull out and work on a bit every year....usually right after the holidays. We should come up with some way to get those Christmas projects finished before next December. Happy New Year.

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  11. Hi Julie,
    I hope you had a very merry Christmas! Those stocking you made with your grandpa's neckties are precious. What a creative way to preserve them so that they can be enjoyed for many generations to come. I also love your quilt blocks! Was that a cute little kitty head I saw peeking out from the packages under your tree in one of those photos?! So sweet!
    A very happy new year to you!

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  12. Oh my gosh, how I love your stockings made with ties! I wish I had seen that before I got rid of all my dad's ties. I had them for so many years and finally forced myself to clean out stuff. It never fails, right?

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  13. The wool heart is a good design.

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  14. Can you please send me directions to tie stocking. Clouse8@gmail.com

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  15. Would love info on making tie stockings

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    1. You are commenting as "Anonymous" with no e-mail address. If you want to send your e-mail, I will give you some tips for the stockings - I didn't use a pattern, but would be happy to give you info.

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  16. Please share tips for your tie stockings!! My Dad loved ties!!

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  17. Would love, love, love to know how you made these stockings out of ties-my Mom still has all my Dad,s ties and we didn’t know what to do with them-what a great idea! Love, love, love them!!!!

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  18. Is is possible to still get information about making the necktie stockings? They are beautiful

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    1. I would be happy to share info with you about the stockings, but your name is listed as "unknown" - possible your settings are not set as public. If you would like more information, please comment here with your email address.

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