Ready for Christmas

All parcels have been mailed and most have been received, trees are up, floral arrangements done, dark fruitcake is made and wine has been purchased!

This year I opted to leave off the strands of tinsel.

My Charlie Brown tree is in the dining area. It's a skinny one and doesn't take up much room.

Here's a full view of the tree skirt that made my sister made a few years ago.

Our favourite dark fruitcake from an old recipe of mom's.

I have been making a few gifts but cannot show them until after Christmas. Stay tuned!!

Enjoy

The Tree is Done!!

The Christmas Shows / Markets are finished for me this year! It's been a hectic fall. Thank you to everyone who commented on my art work and to those who purchased something from me. You are all awesome!

Well, the tree is up and decorated! Big job!!! I wasn't going to put tinsel on the tree this year but it was bare to me as I love lots of glitter. In any case, why break with tradition as I've always put it on my trees. Even as a child, I put it on one strand at a time.

Please note my gorgeous tree skirt. Made for me by my wonderful sister, Joan. This was a birthday gift a few years ago before we left Newfoundland.

I received a pre-christmas gift in the mail this week. What do you think of these!!! Apparently, my sister measured my cushions this summer with Christmas ones in mind.

Here are a few closeups of ornaments on the tree - before the tinsel was added.

Hand made by my friend, Marilyn in NL. Love this one!!

The stained glass ornament is one of three, made by my brother, Don, in NL. Gale made the snowman when she was living in Chicago (about 4 years ago).

 This cat is ancient. It must be at least 45 years old.

This one was made during a textile tour to England in 2008. We visited a local artist and did these.

I received this Temari Ball during an ornament exchange at the St. John's Guild of Embroiderers, years ago.

Enjoy! Hopefully I get back into the routine of posting more to the blog. Thanks for visiting.

Christmas Tree

The tree is up and decorated! My gorgeous tree skirt is in place (Joan made the tree skirt for my birthday two years ago). Now, if only the flooring was down in my back entrance so the washer and dryer could be moved out of the front hallway. It should be completed later this week as it takes two days for floor to settle once it's 'glued' down and another two for grout to cure. I keep telling myself that it will be finished by Christmas!

 Links related to Tree patterns, quilts, projects:

• Pinterest:  HERE, HERE, 
• Tree quilt pattern 
• Not a Christmas tree quilt but cute anytime: Trees Quilt Pattern 
• 12 Cozy Christmas Tree Skirts  More HERE 
• Tree Farm Quilt Pattern  
• Quilted Tree Wall Hanging  

Enjoy!!        

Scrappy Quilting Projects

I have been noticing lately that a lot of the quilts people are blogging about are Scrappy Quilts. It would seem that using up fabric on hand or using up leftover pieces from other projects is the key. If this is your thing, check out the links below:

• 3 & 8 Tutorial made with 3" and 8" squares 
• Checkered Arrow quilt pattern 
• Bullseye Baby Quilt   
• Cosy Post Triangle Quilt 
• Festive Christmas Tree Skirt  
• Scrappy Rainbow Placemats 
• 25 Things to do with Fabric Scraps     
• Scrappy Pillow Tutorial   
• Scrappy Fabric Bowls 

The quilt below was featured in a previous post HERE

Tree Skirt in Place - Temporarily!

We set up our tree today. It is a pre-lit one with white LED lites. Tomorrow, coloured lights will go on and then the decorating begins!. However, I couldn't resist putting my new tree skirt under it temporarily, to see how it looks.

In the mean time, have a look at these sites:

• Christmas House Tutorial (I like these)
• Christmas Crafts Tutorials on Pinterest
• The Ribbon Retreat Blog Tutorials
• Holiday Craft Tutorials
• 101 Holiday Craft Tutorials

Enjoy!!!

Birthdays

My sister always surprises me on my birthday! This year, she presented me with this fantastic tree skirt. She saw a quilt with trees on it that she liked and decided to design her own quilted tree skirt. Joan had reds and greens left over from the quilt she gave me last Christmas and decided to make the skirt to match it. You can see the quilt HERE. 

The tree skirt that I use was made years ago from a pre-printed panel from Fabricville. All I had to do was stitch two half circles together, add batting and a back, then quilt it. No imagination for that at all.

Here's my new tree skirt made with batiks. Thanks, Joan!

Quilt and tree skirt

New skirt!!!

Oh Christmas Tree

Welcome to December (one day late)! It seems that people are putting up their Christmas Trees earlier every year here in St. John's. As I was driving home last evening, I could see brightly lit trees through the windows. Many houses had the outdoor lights on last week. My house won't be decorated until the master bathroom renovations are completed. That will hopefully be tomorrow. The flooring is going on today. The other bathroom will not interfere with downstairs decorating once the new  tub and surround are removed from my main hallway. We had to open up the wall between the bathrooms to remove the old tub in one room so two bathrooms had to be renovated.

I have been working on some felting as you can see from the photo. The colourful background will eventually become felted tree ornaments. Usually I do several felted sheets and put them aside until they are needed.

To get into the spirit of Christmas (very difficult to do when things are topsy turvy around the house), here are some trees for future projects. I don't know about you, but I like to collect things for reference later as you never know what new ideas emerge.

Many of these projects are quick and easy to do so you might get one done for Christmas!
Enjoy!

• Tree Skirt Poppyprint
• Wall Hanging  Barb Creations
• Advent Calendar Quilt
• Penny Rug Les Petits Points de Boute
• Patchwork Christmas Tree Softie Sewn Up Teresa Down Under
• Mod Tree Wall Hanging May Chappell
• Tree Pouch
• Modern Christmas Trees  Christa Quilts
• Tis The Season Patchwork Pottery
• Christmas Tree Quilt Projects Fave Quilts
• Christmas Tree Package
• Ruffled Ribbon Christmas Tree Tutorial
• Patchwork Navidad 
• Oh, Christmas - Fat Quarter Tree Patchwork Posse

Christmas Show & Tell

We have a great bunch of quilters in this neck of the woods! Everyone is so eager to share their work. Of course, at this time of year, the focus is on Christmas. Take a look!

Add caption

Now check these out:

Door Stop This can be made for any season with a change of fabrics and embroidery design.
Candy Table Runner
Tree Skirt
Christmas Block Tutorial
Santa Ornament - cute one
Christmas Ornaments Seasonal Sampler

Enjoy!

Nothing Personal . . . and Some Sites to Explore

A great big thank you to everyone who reads my post! When I started this blog in 2009, I made a mental note to keep my personal life private. However, on that note, I'm sure you are wondering what happened to my almost daily posts. On November 16, my 91 year old father had a car accident and has been in hospital ever since. Daily trips to the hospital, moving my mother from a senior's cottage to a level 1 - 2 care facility and getting her settled in as well as trying to have her visit my father as often as she is able, takes all my time. I'm wiped out at the end of the day. I miss posting and hope that will change soon.

In the meantime, here's a few sites to explore:

The Quilting Edge Tutorials
Chez Beeper Bebe
Christmas Tree Skirt
Christmas Table Runner
Christmas Present Quilt
Snowflake Ornament

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas and More!!!

I just finished my 'clapboard' creation (previous post). YAH!!!! I'm not ready to share the finished photos as they aren't taken yet - must wait for daylight. However, I just found some Christmas projects that you might enjoy. Time sure has a way of flying quickly!

• The 12 Days of Christmas from Sew Sweetness is interesting. It's from 2011. In fact, this blog has lots of tutorials to share with you.
• HERE are a few nice holiday projects from Pellon
• Partridge from Retro Mama
• Torie Jayne's Hand Made Felt Birds
• Festive Christmas Tree Skirt from Sew Crafty Jess
• Mini Tree Ornaments from The Sewing Loft
• Free Christmas Patterns 

More September Show & Tell

Show and Tell is a favorite part of most quilt guilds. Quilters get a chance to 'show off ' their talents, discuss their work and see the work of others 'up close'. The procedure I like best is to have the show and tell items on display for the entire evening. This gives everyone a chance to view them so that if anyone has to leave early, they aren't disappointed. Quilters are given a chance to talk about their work later in the meeting. Here's a sample from the evening.
Enjoy!