On to better things!

Christmas is over! Whew! It was a great one here, but I am glad to move on as the title implies. I haven't taken the tree down yet, but more out of laziness than wanting it up. The kids, pets and family members all had a wonderful couple of days. We cooked like crazy, baked a ton of goodies and of course there were presents...lots of them. I got totally spoiled! In fact, too many things to mention. Two unusual gifts that I got that I am just crazy about are an Aerogarden that grows a garden on your kitchen counter and a cricut that is a cutting system for scrapbooking, cards and that kind of stuff. I planted my Aerogarden on Christmas day and the two basil plants sprouted today. Exciting stuff! For me anyway...Andrew was just wild about his big boy bike from Santa Claus.....He has been on it nonstop. He even tried to put it in the bathtub with him. I have been busy working on a quilt for my sister...The one who likes fairies...Well, I finished the top today. I used a "nine patch pizazz pattern and altered it a bit. The fabric is really pretty with a great feel to it. I am going to quilt it and mail it off to her this week. First I have to quilt the "one block wonder" quilt...We are having a show of them at the fabric store in January...It has been our most popular class and a lot of them have been made. I am going to call mine "over the wonder"...mainly cause I am personally sick of looking at it! haha....It is the most work I have ever put into a quilt. I posted it when it was on a design wall totally unfinished and that is about it. I will post it in all it's wondrous glory before I take it into be hung. We are having an "itty bitty" swap on my fabric atc group....I am not sure if the name was made up by someone on our group or elsewhere. What they are is a 3x3 fabric collage. People ask for a theme and everyone in the swap makes them two in their color and theme an then they are all displayed together. Mine are called "Rabbit, Moon" and " nesting.....just little bits of fabricy stuff with a little paper.....I have a lot of things due by the end of the month, but there is nothing unusual about that. I went to a quilt store today with a friend and made a conscious effort not to by stuff for more projects. I ended up with a book and stuff to make another purse and a quilt pattern. I am hopeless I guess......

Time with the kids.....

It has been a fun and crazy few days....We are officially on the countdown to Christmas now. Santa Claus is mentioned daily at this point (sometimes as a threat...) even by the two year old. We are making presents and doing holiday type things and reading Christmas stories and singing Christmas songs. This for me, is the fun part of Christmas if you don't get all stressed out about it. (and I haven't...) I did some serious Christmas cleaning the other day and it was cold out but nice, so I left the big sliding door open and Andrew played on the deck with Cooper and Thomas for two hours. He is so good about playing right in front of the door where I can see him and he can keep an eye on me. I got the cutest picture of him riding his worm. He is built like such a bruiser, but he really is just a little guy. I wish I could keep him right at this age for longer. I think he is the sweetest little guy ever......Yesterday I took them to a big Christmas light show in Stanwood Washington. It started at 5:30 pm and was worth the drive! We saw Santa Claus and Liv rode a pony and they both went in a petting zoo....Andrew still is very wary of Santa but he wants that bike so in the picture it is the three of us. He just couldn't do Santa alone yet. We were so bundled up, we could hardly move and good thing too! It was really cold and wet. We got home really late and woke up really tired. Today I made gummy candy shish kebobs for stockings and some angel/ shell ornaments. The heads are wooden beads...Pretty easy to make. Then after a nap, I went to Livs school and her first grade class made candy houses. She calls them bringerbread houses.....I love when they mix up words...it is so cute and they grow out of it too fast. This was a great project. They made a base out of the kids milk cartons and then covered them in white paper and masking tape and then using white frosting as the glue, you adhere 5 graham crackers, cover that with frosting, then decorate with candy. She is thrilled with it and even though it is home now, the house is still intact. (because it is out of reach at her request) She is hoping it will stay that way until grandpa gets here to see it!

The twelfth day of Christmas!

On Tuesday night I just went crazy sewing...I guess I was in the right mood and nice and relaxed because I got a ton of stuff done...I finished a purse for my sister Julie, another hanging atc ornament, finished three more stockings, I made a tablecloth out of this really soft flannel with red barns and deer and snow and a border of an old fashioned red with holly and I finished piecing a quilt! WOOHOO! If I could do that all that time. wow! I love the purse and I think my sis will too...I had never used bamboo handles before and made up a way to tie them on. What the correct way is, I am not sure but the colors of the bag are so bright and cheerful, that I think the knotted ties go with it. The quilt I started last Thursday at work. It is a wall hanging from the book "Cool girls quilt" and I thought it was so cheerful and we have these great new autumn fabrics so I decided to give it a whirl. It is really unusual because the blocks around the appliqued flowers have a sewn pleat of fabric down the center....It gives it a really cool 3d look. I haven't done applique in a while and I was kind of rusty but the more I did, the easier it got. I am going to quilt and bind it tomorrow. I might piece the back out of the leftover fabric too. I haven't decided for sure yet though. I got three different magazines this week...all my faves...Quilting arts, Cloth , paper, scissors and the Sew Somerset issue. I have been poring over them, getting inspired to try some new things. I have decide that I am going to submit a couple of things to Sew Somerset. After all, it is what I love to do! the deadline is the last day of January, so we will see....I would love to be a part of it though. In January I am taking a garment fundamentals sewing class and I am going to make another fur jacket...the right way! This is going to be really scary for me because I am used to making things work and not always in the right way. I am still scarred for life by my Home Ec sewing class when I was fourteen....Speaking of making it work! Project Runway tonight! Oh yeah, and I was brave and ventured out among the hoards to a Seattle area mall to shop. It was crazy and hot and I am almost done! I took Andrew the two year old troll with me and he was a darling little angel. Santa Claus waved at him and he about had a heart attack. He was thrilled until we got too close and then he was just terrified..Oh the fickelness of two year olds. He still managed to holler across the distance at Santa that he wants a bike though....as he clutched my pant leg. We are going to do our Christmas baking here soon. The kids, big and little all know that I do it every year so they are all excited about "helping". I am not sure if I am excited by that or not but I am sure it will be fun. Messy but fun. I usually get out of control and make way too much and many things but it is only once a year so what the hey......and they all manage to get eaten and I give away a lot. yummmmmmmm...

I hate sewing fake fur!!!!!!

Stacie wanted a fake fur coat for Christmas so I decided to jump on this one, Miss talented sewer that I am! Wrong! This was a giant pain in my bazooka I am telling you! I knew it stretched, but I did not know that it GROWS and GROWS....it turns into the big brown fur blob...I also cut the sleeves off too short which resulted in the different colored fur cuffs but I think that was a happy accident. I would say I am furred' out, but now Olivia wants one. The good news is, I learned a lot from my mistakes and the next one will probably have a whole new set of mistakes...Things are pretty quiet around here...Mainly because Daniel, my eight year old grandson has had a sore throat! Haha! I asked him how he was today and he said " a little good." Why a little good? Well, cause it's better than saying a lot bad..Mr optimism himself. I am also posting a picture of a couple of ornament Atc's for a swap on one of my groups...I think they look like little shopping bags. Well, guess that is all from Melinda's house of chaos tonight! HO_HO_HO!