Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! I hope the reason for the season is in all of your hearts. I wish love, health and happiness to all of you as my Christmas gift. I will not be posting for a couple of days. I am taking time off to spend with my children. As you know, I do not get to see them often, so I soak up all of their goodness when I can. I will be having much family time. I will not be sewing until after Christmas---all of my gifts are made and on their way to their new owners.  Smile, be happy and enjoy each other!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

   Oh time is going by so fast---and yet, I find that my sewing is going so slow! I am not sure if other people feel this way, but right now, I feel like I take one step forward and two steps back. I wish I could wiggle my nose and make all of my projects complete. Why do I do this to myself? Why do I make such demands on myself? I always say----"Nadine, you did it again!" And then I find myself adding this to the comment: " You should have started these during the summer!"  You would think that after all of these years, I would finally take my own advice, do myself a huge favor---and just start in the summer months.

  OK, deep breath--in and out. Better. I know I have a few more days to work on these projects. It will work out. I will probably have to pull a few late nights here though. Can you relate? Please tell me I am not the only one doing this " sew like mad" thing right before Christmas.

  On another note here, I do feel pretty satisfied in my accomplishments yesterday. I had made myself a check list and I have to say---I had them all checked off by the time I went to bed. That is a good thing. At one point, I had to chuckle at myself. I was working on the longarm and having my embroidery machine stitch out more ornaments at the same time. That was something I never did before. I usually just sit there and gawk at my machine while it is stitching out a design. But.....time waits for no one, and there is no rest for the weary.

  Here are some more of the ornaments that I have been making. Someone on an earlier post said that they look Victorian. I have to admit----they do! I can not believe that I did not notice this before, since I love the Victorian era. I do not think I mentioned what collection  these ornaments are from.They are: Christmas Lace II by Betty Svensson. I bought it from the Husqvarna dealer a few years back.

  I have something to show that I made, but I want to finish stitching it out first. Hopefully I can show it off tomorrow. Till then, enjoy your day. Keep working at checking off all that you can on your to do lists!

Sorry--I can not figure out how to rotate this silly picture. I just love these ornaments. The ribbons for hanging will be added today.  Couldn't you see crystals hot glued on them--wouldn't that look nice?!

Love all of the possibilities n this collection.

Christmas Past

Today is a day of going down memory lane. The weather is cold and snowy. I am not feeling ambitious to go out and about in it. Warm and fuzzy clothes with a good cup of coffee in my hand is a great way to be. With the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season on us, it is making me want to just slow down for a minute and savor the moment. My list is a mile long of all the things that need to be finished, the fun events that are scheduled, the wrapping and sending off of gifts, etc...... You know the deal. No one is free from this craziness. Days are going by very fast---truly, in just a blink of an eye a week has past! What is happening? The answer is - life. Life is happening. We are so busy with our lists, responsibilities, getting ready for the next day-that we whiz right through the day without thinking about it. I find myself thinking about the people in my life.

I remember a few years ago, that I heard from my daughter that her good friend,Rachel, was coming home from college for Christmas, but would be leaving soon to move to Florida. I was like: wow, how can this be? Is she old enough to do this? Is she ready to do this?? With these thoughts going through my head, I thought about what I could do to wish her well and send her on her way with love. So...... even though it was a week before Christmas day- I got busy on making her a quilt. I wanted to make something special for her. I wanted her to know that she is loved. I wanted her to know that I care and that I wish her the best on her new adventure. 

I decided on a pattern called " 3 Sisters". I choose this pattern not only because I liked it and it looked fun to make, but because it made me think of Rachel, her mom and her sister----three ladies, three sisters in spirit. I had already had the material in my stash. I even remember were I bought it from--Creekside Quilting in Arcade. I worked as fast as I could on cutting, piecing and then quilting it on the longarm. I had a fast approaching deadline. Rachel was coming over to say goodbye before she left. I cut it so close, that she was actually walking up to my door when I was sewing the last of the binding stitches!!!

I was so happy to see her! Many hugs and good wishes were given. She was so shocked when I presented the quilt to her. I could see the emotion of happiness and surprise all over her cute face. The time---that blasted thing called time-----it went by so fast. She no sooner came, then she was gone. Gone to travel her own road of life.

Beautiful smile on a beautiful girl

I love this picture

Flash forward to the present. I would like to say that I have seen Rachel many time since she left. The truth is, is that I have not seen her since that day a couple of Christmases ago. Time goes by, and here we are. I would love to say that she took her quilt with her and cuddled with it many nights when she was alone. I would love to say that the quilt has comforted her while she was away from her mom. That she felt all the love that was put into the making of it for her. No I can not. Sadly it has been folded up and stored at her mom's home in her old room.

I feel sad thinking about this quilt. Quilts are made to be used. Made to comfort and heal. Made from love and given in love. At least, that is how I view it. I miss Rachel. She is doing well. She is traveling the States and loving life. Good for her!!!! My only wish is that the quilt that is lonely and waiting for her - was with her and traveling around and gathering miles on it as well.

Keeping Busy- and Smiling

With this Holiday Season upon us-----I am so very aware of how busy everyone is and all of the "To do lists" that are out there. I love and dislike this season. Don't get me wrong---I love the reason for the season---I just hate all of the commercialism that seems to grow and grow each year. It is so funny, when I was a child----I was so unaware of this craziness, I just wanted for Jesus to have his birthday and for Santa to come. Ahhhhhh----the innocence of childhood. As an adult---I still want to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I no longer wait for Santa ( or do I?....... hahahaha). I do though want to enjoy every bit of it. I want to be with all of my children, sit back with my husband and talk about the wonderful things to come in the new year, I want to see my family members that I do not live close to, I want to cook and eat our traditional foods, I want to play music that is up lifting and joyful. I want to be in the moment. Then----if there is a chance for me to slip away and play with my machines and create something beautiful on a wonderful day of rejoicing---then it all adds up to a perfect day.  So, with these thoughts and desires of mine-----I force myself to stay focused. Look at my list-ha ha, and smile at each one listed. It is my personal list of what I realistically want and will do this Holiday Season. I will share a bit of it with you. Maybe it will inspire you on your list:
- wake up and smile at the beginning of each day
-think quickly of 10 things I am thankful for
-think of each of my children and send a loving thought to them
-envision us all together laughing and talking
-make at least 3 phone calls a day to different friends just to say hello
-make it a point to smile at strangers when I am out and about

As you can see, it has nothing to do with buying or meeting high expectations that always feel so self defeating. These are things that truly make me happy, smile, feel wonderful and create a better immediate world for me. Now----let it not be said that I will be thinking of my sewing studio and all of my machines with love..... of course I will, I want to make it a point to go into my room everyday and cut out some personal sewing time for just me. It doesn't have to be a big and extravagant sewing project---just something to allow me to go into my studio. Appreciate my room, machines, notions and fabrics. You know----fondling fabric never hurt anyone!!!! Ha!

Today, I plan to work on a quilt on my longarm. I am doing custom quilting on it for one of my customers. I have looked forward to starting this quilt top for many months. We had issues with batting and backing. So happy we conquered it and I have started it. I am planning my stitching as I go and I am even thinking of using some designs from my robotics on this. That is exciting, because it will be the first real quilt that I will using the robotics on. Way cool-- way exciting. I will post pictures as I move along on it.

Later I have my Christmas Party for my Guild. It is going to be so much fun and I can't wait to see all of  the ladies. We are exchanging Christmas potholders. Doesn't that sound neat?!

I came across this picture and had to post it here. I made these  Christmas stockings as a gift a couple of years ago. They are of my own design. I just loved making them. They were fun to do from the beginning to the end. I have to admit---I do love making stockings. Maybe that is something I will do in a couple of days. Every time I think of these stockings I have to smile.  So---I encourage everyone to make something today that keeps you busy in a good way and that also makes you smile.

Simple Christmas Tidings

I know, I know, I know...... Christmas stuff already???!!!! Yep, and so it begins. I bet there are a few people surprised that I am going to sew something that doesn't have to do with Halloween. Ha---in a way, me too! Don't get me wrong-I do love Christmas. I love the reason for the season. I just do not like all of the commercialism. Christmas is a joyful time and also a difficult time for me. Christmas is all about family. Unfortunately for me, my parents have dropped their earthly cloaks and have gone back to Creator. My children are all scattered around the USA and it is difficult for them to come home with their work schedules. So....... I never really feel like decorating or doing much because it just is not the same without family. But---this cute book caught my eye one day when I was at Creekside Quilting. I just had to buy it. It not only has wonderful quilty items in it to make, but it also has delicious recipes in it. I could not resist. I also love the fabric line that is show cased in the book. Wonderful-simply wonderful!!!!!  All of my warm fall/winter colors. I don't care to much for bright colored fabric, so these were perfect for me. As luck would have it, I am told that there will be a class on one of the projects in this book. It will be on the "Twinkle Trees Table Topper". I know that I can make this on my own, but sitting with other like minded people with machines humming all around me, does sound very inviting. Why not I ask myself?! I was with a friend of mine that day, we both decided to sign up. So glad that we did. Because of the distance, I had Creekside mail me the kit. They are really sweet about doing that. I spent a good couple of hours ironing, and cutting all the fabric up per the directions. It was not difficult-just time consuming. I have the stripology ruler from Creative Grids. It was such a help. I would recommend this ruler to anyone. Yes- I do have the Accuquilt cutter system. They do not currently have a 1 1/2 square inch die cut, that is why I love my stripology ruler. Now I am already for my class this Saturday. I am excited and looking forward to making this project. It will make me smile when I see it all completed and on my dining room table. It will be a bright spot for a not to happy time for me. Quilting does help heal the heart.

All of the cut pieces and left overs

The so delicious book!