names

I'm finally.... finally...finally....

getting some names on these stockings!!!

My husband's Aunt Kathleen made these many moons ago

and we received them one at a time as we

had children.

She died many years ago and then

Aunt Elizabeth made a few more to keep

up with the growth of each family.

I think she was given the secret recipe pattern.

Now that Aunt Elizabeth can't knit anymore...

What am I going to do????

I want to keep adding to this group as

the children get married and have children of their own.

Hnmmm...

I didn't make the first few like Carla did at her house.

I can't replicate these Kitschy Classics.

What am I going to do????

I bet you've got some ideas perculating out there in blogland....

What are they???

Neigborhood News:

Here's a lovely house from Australia!

Maria was worried I hadn't received it.

I had.

Plus I wanted to let you know....

A few of our neighbors are a little worried about

their houses arriving late
sooooo...
I made an executive decision...

NOT my favorite thing to do.

I've decided to wait until Tuesday to draw winners.

You never know

Mail can be delayed.....

And I didin't want anyone to miss out!

I'm hoping to get the neighborhood

all laid out on my living room floor tomorrow, though!!

I think I'll be able to get

the entire room covered in houses!!!

OOoooh! How fun!!!

Howdy Neighbor!

Here are SOME of the blocks sent from your neighbors:

Angie,  Elizabeth, Erin,  Melinda,

Barbara (from Northern Ireland!),

Riel, Toni, Wendy, Belinda,

Sarah and Jessica.

And a big thank you goes to Charity for

including some extra blocks that were

hanging around her house....

plus an apple tree block that she thought would fit in

very nicely with the houses.

I think so too!!!

That will give us more blocks...

and more winners!

I'm now CONVINCED this is

THE.

BEST.

PLACE.

TO.

LIVE.

repurposed gift.

I received a little gift for Christmas.

A kitchen towel.

Cute, huh?

Here's the recipe that came attached.

I knew that if I used this towel

in my kitchen...

as intended...

it would not be long for this world. ;)

Soooo....

I trimmed it a bit.

Added a strip of fabric on the top....

And a strip of fabric on the bottom.

Two ties on the sides...

VIOLA!!!

I wear aprons quite often in my line of work:

(Chief cook and bottle washer).

This has become the perfect towel for me!!!

house for Lynn

I'm in a little scrappy quilt bee over at

the 15 minutes play blog!

Lynn requested bright houses.

Is this bright enough??

I tried something new to me....

Raw Edge Details.

I just cut the door and window out

and "free motioned" all over them.

I hope Lynn doesn't mind the raw edge part.

I usually do a little needle turn applique.

I was lazy this time.

But really...

The truth is....

I wanted to experiment!!

That to me is what makes quilting

SOOOooooo

much fun!!!

The fewer the rules...

The better!!!

Santa KNEW!

Santa knew what I didn't need this year!

He knew that I already have a sewing machine.

Actually...I have more than one!

He knew that I already have TONS of fabric.

He knew that my quilt books are ready to topple over.

He knew I needed this!!!

Something to help me clean up my sewing mess!!!

and to clean up after my little helper!!!

I believe it's toss up as to who the messy one is!!!

Is it me and my sewing droppings???

OR

The Dog's hair that never DISAPPEARS??

Guess what I was doing on Christmas Day???

Trying out my new MACHINE!!! ;)

It worked.

The sewing thread came up!!....

and the dog hair was removed!!!

WOO HOO!!

It'll come back though...won't it???

That's what I thought.

Housework is just never done....is it???

p.s.
I looked high and low for the post I wrote about
that quilt behind the vacuum cleaner.
I finally found it!!!
wow!!!
Talk about a needle in a haystack!!!

twas the night before Christmas....

Baking

Something for the adults...

and...

Something for the kids.

A new recipe I'm going to try this year!

The only question is...

What are spice drops?

I bought these cinnamon drops in the

decoration/baking isle

hoping they will work.

:/

Practicing

The piano for the Christmas Eve service tonight!

Wrapping

The last minute gifts....

and....

ALL those little things that go in the stockings.

I dread wrapping a bit.

EIGHT stockings!!

EEEeeeK!!!

and the most important thing...

REMEMBERING

Christ's birth.

Merry Christmas to YOU!!!

details.details.

 Sewing in the attic.

I love this door knob!

Another animal lover. ;)

Look at that sweet little owl!!

Wonderful!

Aren't all the little details GREAT???

Our neighborhood is coming together!!!

Thank you....

Nancy, Sue, Mary, Carla,

Victoria, Cheryl, Susan, Kelly and Barb.

I'm so happy you live in MY neighborhood!!!

getting along

My 2" scraps seem to be getting along with me this week!!!

Is it because they know Christmas is right around the corner???

Their little seams are matching up so nicely!!

I think the reason MIGHT be this little machine!!

She sews along so sweetly.

I'm also being a little more careful to

use a SCANT 1/4" seam.

Maybe that helps...but....

I'm going to give my little featherweight

ALL the CREDIT!!!

I was ACTUALLY getting LOW on 2" scraps!!

Can you believe it??

I cut some more today....

and hope that....

This quilt grows to be

TWIN size sometime real soon!!!!

little something

I made a little something for my little girl's

music teacher.

Isn't that little picture perfect???

I added some scraps and Viola!!!

A little gift card holder!

After piecing the little ornament and quilting it,

I used embroidery floss to

hold that card on the back.

Pretty simple.

I could have also added a little pocket.

But....I didn't think of that soon enough. ;)

I'm especially thankful for this teacher.

I've watched her grow up and

NOW

she's teaching my little girl!!!!

baking

I bake bread...

once in a while.

It's much easier (for me) to make a bunch of loaves of bread

than it is to bake cookies.

When I make cookies......

I always have a batch or two that end up in the oven

too long!!!!

and you know what THAT means!

I made some Carrot-coconut bread this year

using a recipe from an

old cookbook of mine that I see is still in print!

Wow!!

I also saw another recipe book that has me intrigued.

I've always loved the Taste of Home magazine

and have used some of their recipes for years.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a WHOLE book

JUST with baking recipes???

Yes. it. would.

Here's the recipe for the bread if you're interested:

Carrot-Coconut Bread

2 1/2 C. flour

1 C. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

combine then add:

3 eggs

1/2 C. oil

1/2 C. milk

Stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

stir in:

2 C. shredded carrots

1 1/3 C. coconut

1/2 C. raisins

1/2 C. pecans or other nuts

Bake in small greased/floured baking tins

30 - 40 minutes.

Each batch made about 5 small loaves.

Add a thin strip of Christmas fabric.

Tie a bow.

Give them away and say

Merry Christmas!!!

birthday gift

What do you give the expert knitter who has everything?

A new project bag, of course!!!

I had fun creating!!!

Just like making a quilt...

but a little simpler.

;)

sweet houses

Aren't these fun?

Kathleen, Sue, Sara and Kim.....

Your houses look so great together!!

See what good neighbors you are???

I can tell just by looking....you get along!

Here are some more from Tara.

Fun. Fun.

Rachael went a little crazy.....

Yippee!!!

Look at these beauties!

By the way...

She's got a great giveaway going on RIGHT NOW!

Scrappy blocks that some lucky quilter is going to win!!

Well. I'm sure having fun over here...

Checking out the houses.

ACTUALLY...

I'm really trying to keep them all straight!!

I don't want to get the names, addresses and houses

 mixed up before I begin to

put them in groups and distribute them January 1!!!!!

Since some of you are sending more than one block...

There will be MORE winners!!!

Woo HOO!!

You are the sweetest bunch!

I haven't even mentioned the little gifties that some of you include

in your envelope!!!!

DO you KNOW all the warm fuzzies that gives me???

Well. IT DOES!!!

 We've been making some little houses here too..

The SWEET KIND!

Can you see that roof sagging on the left????

The two little ones thought decorating these was GREAT FUN!!!

The two big kids thought we should probably try to

FIX that sagging roof....

A hair dryer????

Hmmmm......

red and green

Now I've got a little red to go with my green!!

:)

Just a HOP SKIP and a JUMP

(hand sewing the binding)

and this quilt will be ready for Christmas!!

Let me tell you...

I was so proud of my quilting on this one.

I wanted the family to NOTICE it last night.

I was hiding all the long thread tails as we talked.

Guess what???

No one said anything!

I thought I had done an outstanding job (for me)

on all that quilting.

By the way...it took ALL DAY!!

I stipple quilted green in the green areas,

creamy snowflaky looking designs in the cream centers,

red thread in the yellow and red flower areas,

and then white feathers around the outside cream areas.

Well. I was proud.

THEN....

I saw Victoria's quilting this morning and was totally

HUMBLED!!

Maybe I'll have to invest in the book she recommends!

I know she got a new camera recently too...

but even in real life...my quilting does not even come close!!

Well.

It's good to be humbled once in a while!

I do hope that's the last humbling experience of the day.:/

Here's the lovely linen back.

I found two curtain panels and thought they were

PERFECT for this quilt. :)

They were also the RIGHT price! ($2)

I should rename my blog...

The FRUGAL quilter.

I love a good deal!!!