Merry Christmas

Two nights until Santa comes!



The weather prevented us from having our family Christmas get-together up north this past weekend, so for now, the goodie bags will sit in the basement, awaiting that magical trip.




Since we didn't travel this weekend, the boys came home and got constructive! They built a cat tree for Matt & Vicki's kitten, Willow.










My boys are 24 and 25 so I don't think they'll be watching for Santa this year, but they must still believe because their wish lists kept growing!


While the garage was "man" territory, Vicki and I got constructive in the sewing room.



Vicki finished a doll quilt for her niece made from scraps from the quilt I made for Dakota.

Then it was table runner central as we salvaged my scraps and created table runners for gifts. And a few more "go green" shopping bags too!






The cold weather has kept me indoors, much to Belle's dismay - but we've tried to go for walks. She doesn't make it far before she starts hopping on three legs - alternating the legs because her feet get too cold! It's tough to push a dog out the door so she'll go to the bathroom before you leave for work!


Enjoy your holidays!

Baby it's cold outside.

They always say that if you don't like the weather in Iowa, just wait a bit, and it'll change. Yesterday morning I took Belle for a walk about 8:00 am - sunny, light wind and 50 degrees. All the ice on the sidewalks had melted and we had a great time.

By 5:00 that evening, it was 10 degrees and the wind was bitter. That's Iowa!

I gave my soon to be daughter-in-law a sewing machine for her birthday a few weeks ago. Yesterday she came over and we spent the day "playing" in my sewing area.

Here's what she accomplished! The pattern for the table runner is from Doris at "Threads of Conversation". Doris used batiks, and I made one - but haven't taken a picture yet.

The next few nights will be spent finishing Christmas gifts.

Stay warm.

Fall camping

We spent last weekend camping. The campgrounds close this weekend. The weather was great on Saturday, it was a perfect fall day. Sunday turned windy and cold and now the camper is ready for winter storage.

Belle asked nicely so we took several walks around the campground, enjoying the fall colors and nice weather. At the end of the day, she was really worn out.

I've taken my sewing machine out camping a few times, but usually try to have something to work on along, like binding or embellishment. I've been working on "crazy quilt" blocks for over a year now and I think I have enough that I'll be able to put them together this winter. The quilt will be more decorative than functional, but it's been fun to experiment with embellishments.

There will be more embroidery to do on the new seams, add some more ribbons, and I think I'll quilt it with a "tie" method. Or maybe use buttons or beads.