More December "Quilty" Stuff

On the Dear Jane Group a wonderful lady which I shall lovingly refer to as Mrs. "C" (as in Claus) hosted the Dear Jane Winter Holiday Swap. Throughout the swap Mrs. "C" encouraged us with the words to various Christmas Carols, Cookie Recipes, or Riddles about Christmas. After awhile everyone started referring to the quilt blocks they were making as "cookies". When someone would finish a set of blocks, they would say things like, "I have 1 batch of cookies out of the oven", or "I have 2 batches of cookies ready to bake", meaning their pieces were cut and ready to be sewn together. I had a wonderful time, as I'm sure everyone did. These delightful little "cookies" will be carefully tucked away until next year, when I will once again join the swap, and add to my Christmas Cookie Collection, until I have enough "cookies" for a good enough to eat Christmas Cookie Quilt.

December "Quilty" Stuff

I was "lucky" enough to be enticed, shamed, nudged, guilted, or threatened into joining the Christmas With Jane Siggy Swap over at the DJAlternate List by a dear friend (you know who you are, Rosa), just kidding, I loved every minute of it :) I made and swapped 150+ signature blocks with a wonderful group of quilters there. And these are the little darlings that I received. As unbelieveable as it may seem, there is not one duplication of any of the fabrics!!! There are blocks not only from the U.S. and Canada, but from several other countries.




























Each one of these little blocks is a treasure to me. I can't wait to get them together for what is sure to be the most beautiful Christmas Quilt ever. I know some of the ladies have already assembled their quilts, but not me, I didn't quite manage that goal...hopefully I will get that accomplished for next Christmas. There may even be enough blocks here to make 2 Christmas Quilts!

"Decembery" Things

I thought while it is still December, just barely, I would post some "Decembery Things" (is Decembery a word??? Spell Check says "NO", Oh well I say "Yes"!!!). This is a picture of our first snow of the season, way back on December 3rd. While I am not a big fan of snow or cold weather, I must admit, that it is very pretty to look at... from inside my nice warm house, with the fireplace going and a cup of hot chocolate in my hand.

Later in the month, we woke up to these beautiful Ice Pictures on our front windows. These pictures were taken as the sun was rising one morning. I am NOT a morning person, by any stretch of the imagination, but this particular morning I was up early. Why? I don't have a clue. My guess would be, so that I could actually see for myself these awesome ice creations. Oh, by the way the ice is on the outside of the windows!

My Sewing Buddy

This is my wonderful sewing buddy, Samson. He is a part Maine Coon cat. My dear "little" Samson weighs 22 pounds! Samson loves to help me quilt...

He lays on what I am trying to hand quilt, or he likes to try to grab my thread, but his favorite thing to do is to jump up in my chair when I get up to go to the ironing board. But he does keep a close eye on my sewing machine. No one can get near it...including me at times!!!

MYSTERY QUILT #1

I promised myself I would get this Blog up and running before the New Year arrives. So here we go! I just finished my very first Mystery Quilt top. This is a Christmas Eve Mystery Quilt, which means that I began piecing the blocks together on Christmas Eve. Yes, I am addicted to quilting and a holiday does not stop me! It may have been my first mystery quilt, but it will not be my last. I can not take credit for this quilt design. The designer is Dorothy Young, over at Pocket Full of Mysteries. Only the choice of fabrics is my own.

And here are a couple of close up views.