Merry Christmas!

Gosh, it's been so long since I posted that I really don't know where to start (and stop)!  When I last posted, I was getting ready to leave for the I-80 shop hop in Clear Lake.  It was lots of fun and I even got to meet a fellow blogger.  Vivian, from Quilts N a Mug (sorry - blogger is not letting me post a link to her blog!) came to see me.  Wish we would have taken a picture together, but of course, I didn't even think of it.  It was so great to meet her in person and chat for a few minutes.  I did actually take some pictures of my booth.  I had a big space to fill, so I took some of my friend, Missie's (Traditional Primitives)  quilts and patterns to sell.  Boy, her awesome quilts sure made my booth look good!  The pineapple on the wall, in the center of the picture is hers, as are the two on the table below it.  You can see my jewelry displays - these are working out really well - they are old window frames that I got from a friend.

This beauty is also Missie's - it's her newest design and is called Pennies in My Garden.  I love the whole thing, but especially the flowers in the borders.  I told her she was nuts for letting me borrow this - and that she would be lucky to get it back!  I actually hung it on my design wall after I got home.  But, it finally made its way back to her.

 The quilts hanging here are my design - actually the first pattern that I published.  I made the big quilt, then had one of those middle-of-the-night ideas that I should try making it smaller.  Love the little one!

 The quilt hanging here is my tiny 9 patch, called Size Does Matter - it is much better in person than in pictures - the 9 patches finish at 1 1/2".

 I sold almost all of my pin cushions at this show.  One super-nice elderly lady purchased eight or nine of them to give as gifts for Christmas.

It really was a fun show - my neighbor was Merry Backes from Merry's Stitchins (what is the deal with my computer?  won't let me post a link to her either!)- she has an amazing shop in Jesup, IA.  I had been there a couple of times, but it's been several years.  She invited Mom and I to stop on Sunday on our way home, and boy were we glad that we did!  She recently built a brand new shop, and it is amazing!  it's huge, and she has everything you could ever want in there - even wool and Valdani floss!  I'm hoping to spend some time with her, maybe this Spring.  She has a retreat center there as well - it is in her old shop.  It would be a blast to go and stay for a few days...or a week!

After vending at a couple of shows, then selling to a few of the vendors for their shops, I am really, really low on jewelry.  Of course, the first priority is keeping up with the charms - the batch you see below were sent out the end of November, and I've been working away on the next ones.  

And in between that, I've spent a few weeks in Des Moines with my daughter.  She and her boyfriend have been here some too - so nice to have her to help decorate my trees.  The boys (my husband, Greg and her boyfriend, Greg - we call them Team Greg) had to work on the lights on the trees for quite some time, and my Greg has vowed that this is the last Christmas we will have that tree!  To prove his point, he burned the box!  Surprised he didn't have a ceremony when he did it - he's been mad at that tree for several years!

We will have a very small crowd here on Christmas - my brother and his family are at their home in Florida for the holidays, which makes it pretty quiet around here.  We were supposed to have our annual cookie bake yesterday, but we've had freezing rain and there was a layer of ice on everything - so Mom stayed home and made cookies by herself - :(.  It's no fun to have to make them all alone!  Jessica and I made a ton of peanut clusters and some round pretzels, with white chocolate in the middle with an M&M on top (should have taken a picture!)- but that was it - we just did the easy stuff.  Poor Mom was home making anise cookies and all the hard stuff!  I told her to get Dad to help, but she seemed to think going it alone was a better idea!  Overnight we had about 5" of snow - we will definitely be having a white Christmas!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!  Enjoy the time with your family!