On Christmas eve I think the plan is to go to Union Terminal and see the train display and then grab a bite of dinner with my older son and daughter-in-law... Christmas Day we do an appetizer/brunch at their house and open presents... they will go to her parents house for dinner and my younger son and I will do a simple shrimp scampi and linguine meal. I picked up a small shrimp ring and those little roll up sandwiches at Costco today for the brunch... and I made a bunch of cookies last week, so I can take those too...and I plan on a ham/egg/cheese/biscuit bake too... we will have plenty to eat.
The week flew past again ... got too many gray days but I did get to sit out on the porch twice... I LOVE LOVE LOVE my sun porch... best money I've spent on this house... suppose to have a bit of warmer weather the end of the week... I saw a forecast temp of 59 for Friday so I should be able to sit out there... it is so cozy and the Dude keeps me company.
Well I did get a some crafty stuff done and that always makes me feel good ... to start, I got the binding on my Fat Quarter Cube quilt with the Heather Ross Sugarplum fabric... you can find the free pattern by clicking on this link...
Turns out it is large enough for my double bed... I'm going to see if I can track down some of the polka dots to make pillowcases... I love having pillowcases that coordinate with the quilt... I don't usually put the matelasse sham pillows on the bed anymore ... just pillowcases is a bit more relaxed and I like that..
I took the time to cut the binding fabric... that wonderful plaid... on the bias ... took a bit longer but it does look nice...
The color is off a bit but you can see the binding and the quilting pattern on the back nicely... the panto is called Peppermint Palace and it was done by Quilting by David... another wonderful quilt.
Here's my feeble attempt at a styled "glamour" shot on the porch...
I'm always in awe of the arty pictures posted on IG... just don't have seem to have the touch for it...oh well... I am happy that I did 3 new Christmas quilts this year... and I realized that these 3 make up about 50% of all the quilts I did...not a big year for quilting for me... definitely spent way more time cross stitching...
And evidence of that is that I started and finished the first piece from the Hands On Design "A Year of Celebrations"...
Here is my version of January...
Now I stitched this on a scrap of 32 count linen I painted with Rit Aquamarine dye... I changed almost all of the flosses... Cathy Habermann designed these monthly pieces using GA and Weeks and she gives you the conversions for DMC... I started there and went off on my own tangent... I'm big into the turquoise 3847/3848/3849 color family .... I also stitched the word January in 3848 instead of the called for 310... I didn't like the high contrast of the black... and the scarf at the top I did in satin stitches instead of cross stitches... I like the added dimension. I have a little standing frame I picked up at Target that I want to use to display these monthly pieces... it is a light gray and I think I may paint it white ... I'll think about that when I get this guy mounted and "priscillafied"... can't wait to get going on February.
And I did a little Santa Sunday stitching on "My Christmas List" piece by Silver Creek Samplers...
I'd like to finish that string of lights today and get the car that goes underneath that tree started... should be doable.
So the rest of today should be pretty quiet... don't have big dinner to fix ... and the gift "wrapping" shouldn't take more than 30 minutes... I just checked the TV schedule and found some cool shows on Walt Disney and Mary Poppins, and one on Bob Hope, and another on Bing Crosby... should make for great background viewing while I stitch.
I hope you are have all your holiday preparations well in hand... don't think I can take it as easy as the Dude here....
but I shall try... I'll be linking up again with Kathy's Quilts... and settling into my chair to stitch ...and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!
happy stitching-
carol fun
The dude looks very comfortable. You made that quilt for him, right?
ReplyDeleteJanuary done in time ...that’s good! The list project will take a while but I will check each week to see your progress
Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteOh that quilt is so bright and cheery and looks to be a cozy spot for a little nap. Merry Christmas to you.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt turned out great. I'm thinking Dude has given it his stamp of approval. Congratulations on getting the January block finished! I look forward to seeing what you do with February's. You are off to a good start on the Christmas stitch! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteThe Dude really has the right attitude about life!!I love that beautiful Christmas quilt. I love your idea of pilllow case wrapping. This year I have really none to do. The DH and I decided to do a few road trips in place of things we really don't need. My DD and I will go shopping as she wants a coat and shoes. She has the next two weeks off so we can have some quality shopping time. The others went to Alabama thanks to amazon! I do hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteLove the January stitchery!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
That's a very sweet quilt, the colors are so cheerful, and the bias binding was worth the efort it looks great! Happy Holidays!
ReplyDelete