ALYOFs

I am linking up to SewBitterSweetDesigns for, not only the final ALYOFs for the year for good. It's been decided by the hostesses that they can no longer continue to host this event. It has been a privelidge to be associated with such a group of like-minded, wonderful women who give so much of themselves to host such events, especially when they are such long term. They have been an enourmous encouragement to those of us who just have too many projects going and little to no incentive to get them finished. They gave us that venue and I will be forever grateful to them for that encouragement and wish them well in all their future endeavors.  Thank you Melissa and Shanna.

One and Two

 

 Blocks three and four

 

Blocks five and six

 

Blocks seven and eight

 

Blocks ten and twelve

 

Blocks nine and eleven

My final goal for the year was to assemble the blocks of this 2010 BOM. It's from a local quilt shop that I discovered on a motorcycle ride with Honey Do back then. We literally flew past it on the bike and the next time I headed to Mom's or BF's I took the scenic route to try and locate it. I did :)

I started at the beginning of the month, but as the sizes for the greats pajamas came in this project went by the wayside in an effort to finish up Christmas. 

The BOMs came in kits with fabric and instructions. Unlike the kits from JoAnn's, these are not pre-cut and that's okay so that I can hone my cutting skills. The hardest part of this project was determining what someone else had decided what they were calling the colors because there was no key to follow. I managed without any major mishaps. The biggest problem I ran into was one of the fabrics was cut short, so I had to include the salvage in the block.

I am getting these done just under the wire - as it's New Year's Eve.  Putting the top together is another goal for another time.

The blocks are officially done :)

We were asked to create a collage for the final link up. So here's mine.

Thank you Susan for the help. As usual, she's there to get me out of trouble and learn something along the way. 

 

I also managed to find a little time to get some ornaments cut out for future use. These will be gift tags for my great nieces and nephews next Christmas.

Wishing you all a heartfelt Happy New Year filled with good health, love and prosperity.

Thanks for stopping by,

December, 2015 . . . final days

December is quickly coming to a close. And I still have goals to be met.

The first one is one of two wool blocks. 

I've spent some time playing around on Pinterest lookiing for gift ideas for the coming year. I'm finding quite a few ornaments to make for the greats. They really liked this year's snowmen.

There was a lap battle going on Sunday afternoon as I tried to finish a book I'd been reading for some time. Reading isn't a priority most days, but I wanted this book done. On to the next one :)

Hope your goals are being met before the end of the year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Enjoying Christmas week

MERRY CHRISTMAS

We enjoyed a pleasant Christmas Eve at my mom's. 

She made a wonderful dinner and the kids opened their gifts. We mostly just do it for them and the adults just enjoy. My nieces liked their wreaths and scrapbooks. Financially, everyone is tight so we kept things small. I've already started making plans for next year and will try and use what I already have to minimize cost and help alleviate some of the extra supplies that are just taking up space and either need to be used or purged.

We celebrated a quiet Christmas Day at home just the three of us. Mom, of course, was invited, but declined to just have a quiet day without any stress or responsibility. She needed to catch up on her rest too, as far as I was concerned.

 I gifted myself with this adorable treat tower. Honey Do and Newton received one each from me as part of their gifts.

 

Honey Do gifted me with this adorable Vermont Teddy Bear "Penguin".

He's gifted me one almost annually since we've been married. It's getting harder because I have so many after 16 years of marriage and the novelty has sort of worn off. But this one, I really wanted and he loves me :)

We all enjoyed the quiet, watching movies, playing video games and I did some stitching :)

I began one of the two wool blocks I need to get finished before the middle of January.

Listening to my book as stitched.

I hope and pray you all had a blessed Christmas with family and friends.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Finishing December . . .

There were still some projects to finish before December could come to a close . . .

Some are gifts, some are just fun sewing for something different to do.

Third dog coat for Sara

Toys for dogs

 

2 wreaths

Some decorating outside - LOL

And I talked Honey Do into a trip to the quilt shop to pick up the December Farm Girl Vintage block. BF and I will be starting this in January.

We ran to a locally owned grocery store on the way home and got some fun foods that we don't normally get. Things like smoked salmon and specialty cheeses. It was a fun couple of hours away from home.

Tomorrow's agenda includes making more holiday cereal mix, a batch of cookies and a scrapbook for my oldest niece. It's going to be a busy day.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Another unplanned absence

It's been a week away . . . again . . . unplanned . . . 

My time has been not my own lately.

(found on facebook)

I have pretty much been chained to my sewing machine.

When I haven't been running errands, cleaning, or spending time with BF or Mom, that's where I've been.

Understand, I'm not complaining. Once the projects are done, I tend to feel a little lost - like I don't know what I should be doing next . . . LOL.

So what did I accomplish?

A baker's dozen of pajama pants. I bought t-shirts to go with them.

They range in size from a men's extra large all the way down to a  2T !!!

That was fun :)

This gorgeous piece of art goes to Mom. It's a panel that I quilted. It's bound and ready to go.

I painted a wooden dowel for her to insert in the hanger. I finished that this morning.

I still have a couple of wreaths to make, but they don't take long. A bit of wrapping and I'll be all done. I'll spend the rest of the holiday season with my guys. I'm behind on my Wool BOM, so I'll catch that up and I have a book I want to finish reading - 100 pages and I'm done. Finding the time has been the challenge and it's just for pleasure so I haven't really been pushing myself. But I really want to know "whodunit" !!!

Honey Do and I were gifted with something very special this year from Newton :)

An original piece of art!!!

He painted it in art class. I was absolutely thrilled by his talent.

Like his mother, he pointed out his mistakes, but I think he did a pretty darn good job :)

Thank you so much for hanging in with me these past few weeks of unpredictable blogging. I have missed you all terribly. 

I wish you a blessed Christmas remembering that our Savior was born. The gifts and cards are nice, but we should never forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

May God bless you and yours.

Have a safe, healthy and happy New Year's.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

No ordinary Tuesday . . . or Wednesday . . . or . . . .

I've been away for a bit . . . unplanned . . . unintentional . . .

Bible study is done for the year and I've managed to keep myself extremely busy. 

Carpets cleaned, house cleaned, laundry caught up . . .

and sewing . . . and planning and prepping . . .

I found this adorable pattern (on either Pinterest or Facebook). Here's your link.

It's a wall hanging with a Christmas stocking. BF was telling me that she didn't have a small Christmas wall hanging. I had just found this one and thought what a cute, simple project for us. Not only did I think that, but once I started prepping mine, I decided they would make wonderful Christmas gifts for next year. So I prepped those and will begin working on them after the new year's.

I got a few scraps from my prep work :)

These are the components and colors I've chosen.

For my birthday, BF gave me a redwork pattern. I spent one night prepping that too. All the designs are drawn off and backed and ready to work on next year.

In the meantime, Rocky and I have been working hard to get those Christmas jammies done.

We still have a few more to go, but we're home for the next couple of days and fully expect them to be finished.

There was a package sitting on my front porch one day last week . . . apparently the mailman couldn't find the mailbox (or milk chute, as the case may be). 

My lovely friend, Katie in Pennsylvania sent these to me :)

I grew up with Aunt Martha's ion-on transfers. Can't wait to start a project with these :)

Thank you Katie.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.

Solitary Saturday . . .

I was up at 3 a.m. to see Honey Do and Newton off to another hunting trip. 

Unfortunately no luck in getting a deer. The venison would have been nice for the winter and would probably carry us through most of the next year.

As in football, there's always next year :)

I went back to bed and tried to sleep. I did finally and rose about 7:30 a.m.

Dogs and I went outside. It was cold and foggy and overcast - and stayed that way most of the day.

Good excuse to stay indoors and get something done. 

Progress was extremely slow.

I did get the flags switched out, and the wreaths.

 

Then I went to work on the basement.

I sorted, purged and put away enough to clear off one of my tables.

I still have a lot more to do, but this is a really good start.

 

The cutting ou process for this year's pajama parade has begun. I'm hoping to have them all cut ou be Tuesday and spend Wednesday sewing. I'm going to Mom's on the 1th and would like them sewn and wrapped. I need to make 12 pairs.

Monday afternoon was spent sewing little pillows. I had cut 5 inch squares a while back, so I didn't need to cut anything. They will be used with the three and four year olds at my Bible study to help with large muscle activities.

And they are already done :)

While I cleaned the basement, I found these beautiful cutwork linens. 

They are going to require the perfect project. In the meantime, I've added them to my collection, which is growing.

And look at this little cutey. I found him at The Shabby Rose Studio.

Fee does such beautiful work and is such an inspiration. I can't wait to try some of her ideas in the new year.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a day filled with creativity.