The weatherman says it may be a snowy Christmas!

Christmas Eve!  The stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Shannon and Nathan and his folks will come for Christmas lunch tomorrow.  Meghan and Justin and the boys will be here for dinner time, and then we will all open presents, starting, of course, with the stockings.



The rest of the house is decorated and more or less ready for the family week. The boys always seem to like to look at the nativity scenes we have. This one is on our sideboard in the dining room. It was my mom's and was always placed in the stable built into our tree stand. It has been mended a few times, but I always enjoy getting it out year after year. I have another set that my brother and sister-in-law brought to us from the Holy Land many years ago. Maybe my brother remembers what year that was. I was young then, and I'm not now. I also have a miniature scene on a shelf above the kitchen since, and then there are a couple inside of ornaments on the big tree.  There is even a triangular shaped plastic nativity that I got as a child from Sunday School.



I always have a hard time getting a good picture of the Big Tree. It really is big, too big for the room. Not too tall, but too fat for our space. However, it just would not seem right to have a little tree in the room, and we didn't spring for a new skinny, tall tree yet this year. This guy is 12 feet tall, and although it is a big deal to put it up, it is not nearly as challenging as when the kids were little and we had real trees this size. We wire this one to the balcony, just to be on the safe side. Many memories hang from ornament hooks on this tree! I have some wooden ones we painted from a kit the first year we were married, gifts from all kinds of family and friends, teacher ornaments from thirty four years of students and colleagues, handmade ones from the girls, ornaments from craft shows, some bought just because we liked them, and some that hung on my childhood tree. The patchwork stocking was made for me when I was a teenager by my grandmother. I surely did not think it was so special then, but now ?



Merry Christmas from Patchwork and Pug.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!

All decorated, most of the shopping finished, and packages ready for the mail. All of that plus snow flurries today, too! It must be close to Christmas.



These wool snowmen were made from a pattern by Bird Brain Designs. There are seven of them hung on little bobbins and stung. They are hanging in a basket above our hall door to welcome visitors.



I have a pair of snowmen made from paper mache. My mom made them sometime probably in the early 1950's. The scarf is much newer, knitted by Shannon a couple of years ago.



This is upstairs on our little balcony. Meghan painted the tree for me last year, and Santa likes hanging out by the tree.



I decided I had to have a new tree in my sewing room The garland is measuring tape braid, and the ornaments are little wooden spools strung with beads and some old bobbins I had stashed in a drawer. The stocking on the right was my childhood stocking made of green and red felt with some sweet little ornaments My mom made one for me and one for my brother. Remember that, John?



This last photo is the new little wool tree skirt I made for my sewing room tree. The thimble sitting there was my mom's. I don't usually even use a thimble, but this one is well worn. The stockings are not yet hung, but they are ready.  This was a fun, relaxed weekend. It is cold here in Alabama, with the wind howling and flakes flying, but we are cozy inside with Ozzie the pug.



The table is ready to set for Christmas dinner!

New Christmas Tree Quilt

Here's another little project from the last month. For years, I have thought I should make a tree skirt for the four foot tree that sits on a table in our family room. I just never have gotten around to it. This year, I decided to make it happen. It is just nine patches in holiday colors, all repro fabrics I have on my fabric shelves in my sewing room. It wasn't a tree skirt pattern, so I just cut the quilt up the center and made a small circle to accommodate the tree trunk. Some binding, and it was finished.



I am slowly, so slowly improving my free motion quilting. Last weekend, we drove up to Knoxville on Sunday, and then Monday I completed the Machine Mastery classes at Gina's Bernina for my new Aurora 440QE. The last two lessons were on using the Bernina Stitch Regulator and using the machine to  attach embellishments to whatever. I had so much fun taking the series of six classes. We enjoyed dinner out at the Chophouse and a nice couple of days away from work.



This little tree has all small glass ornaments. I broke a few decorating this year, but I probably have a couple hundred little ones on the tree.



Ozzie? He's fine. He had a day at the vet yesterday for his annual checkup and shots. Not much seems to upset him. Well, maybe the Alabama loss to Auburn bothered him, but he had a fun time at our Ironbowl party anyway.  We had to buy a new living room rug, thanks to puppy-dom, and I guess a new couch will have to happen soon since he has customized ours with a couple of chewed holes. But we love him. We keep reminding him that Santa is watching -- he better be good!

Guess I need to catch up

Whew! Busy, busy. Between school and house stuff and dog stuff and, well, life, the days zoom by. I will post in more detail, but this is one recent project that was lots of fun. I made this little table runner out of fabric that the Sew Beautiful Martha Pullen store is carrying. I had to have it ready before the Houston Quilt Market and the show. I suppose it was there. I wasn't. I hope that the pattern is usable. I have never written a pattern before. Of course, I write lesson plans all of the time, but a quilt pattern is different. Plus, I made the quilt and then went back and wrote the directions. I thought that I would write everything down as I went, but no, that did not happen. I am so new to free motion quilting that I know it could be more "artfully" quilted, but oh well, I did what I could. Anyway, here is the link to the PDF.

Dad with his girls

Allen with Shannon and Meghan at Bridger's fifth birthday party this weekend -- my favorite picture!

Happy Halloween

Happy and Healthy and Busy

You'd think I could take a few minutes to update this blog. I love having it and keeping track of Oz and the quilting world, but life seems to have gotten in the way. It's hard to complain when both of us are employed and have careers we have invested in for all of these years. Allen has been home lots for several months, and that is just wonderful. We had a fun evening with some of his Denver colleagues a couple of weeks ago.



We've been gone from home three weekends in a row. Weekend #1: Paducah, Kentucky - beginning of my Fall Break - fabric and fun.

Weekend #2 - Knoxville - Bernina class. Great food and a side trip to Smokey Mountain Knife Works for Allen. I have been sewing for how long?? And I have learned tons from the first four machine mastery classes. Probably the biggest thing I've learned is that I have lots to learn. I suppose you can teach an old dog new tricks. Are you listening, Oz?

Weekend #3 - Knoxville - Two Bernina classes. And again - great food and a trip for Allen (during my classes) to the knife store. Seriously, that store is what they call "destination shopping."  Any time you have a waterwheel and waterfall and 55,000 square feet of shopping, museum, displays, and trophy wildlife, it's something to see.

Meanwhile, yes, I've been sewing. I have finished a couple of projects. One that I really like is a triangle quilt that I quilted with my new BSR using spiral triangles.



I've never made a quilt with anything but a straight border, so that was new too.

I've made a couple of Schnibbles quilts. Carrie Nelson is the designer of Schnibbles -- little quilts with little pieces. I think they go together beautifully, but they are still a challenge, especially while I am still a novice at the quilting end of the process. The one on the right is my favorite -- it is called Short Story, and I used a Moda fabric charm pack called Kashmir.



I've also made another project, but that one is not here. I did it for Shannon for her work, and I will post that one later. To market, to market...

Between Alabama football and real work (school is moving along - yearbook is getting going, and the first nine weeks has ended), weekend trips, and lots of sewing, I haven't blogged. Oh -- we did contract to have our master bath redone. That will be an interesting process, I'm sure. Happy and healthy and busy. What else could we wish for?

Finishing Some Projects

August means produce from the farmers. We usually buy from one of our local farmer's markets, but last weekend we headed up to the Nashville Farmer's Market. The choices and quantities are on a bigger scale, and the colors and smells and the bustling crowd are worth the drive. We were there early enough that the day's heat didn't smother us. We stopped at a couple of our favorites, and of course, I brought home a new stash of fabric from Stitcher's Garden. Got to have something to show for the trip! I have more stash than time, but ooooh, I love having it. Most of what I bought was reproduction 1800's fabric.



I have finished several projects lately. This one is on its way to North Carolina for my great-nephew. He was born at just over three pounds, but he's been home for a couple of weeks and topped five pound this week. It is so hard for me to get something in the mail. Don't know why. It is one of the very few things that I procrastinate at doing, so the quilt sat washed, folded, and packaged on the dining room table until Saturday. I hope they like it. The picture here looks blurry, but the yellow and black are really crisp and fresh looking. The backing is black and white letter fabric. Perfect for a baby boy, I think.



This one was a fun project. The Gee's Bend Quilters from Alabama made -- still do make -- quilts from fabric at hand, and they make them without bought patterns. Their story is fascinating to me. Allen and I saw a showing of their work last summer at the Denver Art Museum. This quilt is from a kit (and it's the only kit I've ever made) from Windham fabrics. I made the top last winter, but I didn't have the backing. I really wanted the hand dyed fabric that would match, so I waited. When it came  a couple of weeks ago, it was the first quilt I quilted on my new Aurora 440. I used the walking foot, so nothing new there, but I also used the Plexiglas table that extends the surface of the sewing area since my machine sits on a table rather than inside a cabinet. I got it in Knoxville a couple of weeks ago when we went to Gina's Bernina for my first class on the new machine. I learned a few tidbits and we had such a great day. We're going back in October for more classes and more knife shopping for Allen. Talk about a humongous store. Even Allen was overwhelmed.



I finished this little guy too. He is a wool felt pincushion about 4" x 6" that I started a few weeks ago when I hosted a Craft Night for Shannon, a couple of her work colleagues and my blog buddy Anne who lives here in the Huntsville area. We had such fun that night! Everyone went home with a project ready to finish. I hope we get together again soon.

And Ozzie?



On a quilt... or



or between my feet. Actually, he loves, loves, loves his buddy Allen.

With all the finishing, what's new? Hmmmmm. A couple of big things. One big one is a new school year. I'm back at school (and since Allen braves the heat and humidity to walk him), Ozzie spends lots of time with Allen. Back to work and keeping up with my school web site. Well, we have to pay for the hobbies, the vacations, the pug, spoiling the grandchildren somehow, right?

It's not all about Ozzie the Pug

Not everything is about Oz.



My daughter's job as Art Director at Sew Beautiful Magazine has practically made me famous. Well, maybe not really famous, but I have had some fun because of it. Last summer, Shannon had me make a quilted pillow for the fall issue.  She made the lace pumpkin, and I did the batik one. I was pretty excited to see it in the magazine, Then,  this winter they did a blue issue, and she wanted me to make some blue sewing room items. I made two needlebooks (one with her embroidery design), a log cabin pincushion, a round pincushion, and a custom ironing board cover.  I helped to write the article and had my own byline, and she even had the blue items at the Sew Beautiful table at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion last week.

Today, we did something to help out their sister publication, Just Cross Stitch.  The photographer, Jennifer Tarkington, came to my house and did a photo-shoot of about five pieces for an upcoming magazine. Each one used one of my quilts in the background, and Shannon pulled some of my things from around the house to stage each little vignette. Fun for me, fun for Shannon, and wait...I didn't think everything was about Ozzie...



But I was wrong. He was right in the middle of every shot.



Helping every minute.



After a morning of mischief...



Ozzie's ready for a quiet afternoon. Maybe I can sew.

Christmas in July

Yes, it is really July. Proof? Peaches and Cream corn on the cob and



Chilton County peaches.  We had fun Saturday heading off to the Farmer's Market. Tonight's dinner was really wonderful: pineapple and bourbon marinated salmon and sauteed black-eyed peas with Vidalia onions and sweet red bell pepper.

But it felt more like Christmas today.



Nope, not because of my carved quilt Santa in my sewing room closet....



And surely not the weather --- Ozzie is hot from his walk.



It's because my new Bernina Aurora 440QE was delivered! I set it up and sewed some patches I had already cut and ready, and then I worked my way through all of the embroidery stitches on a sample patch. I didn't get the big embroidery module. Don't think that's really what I'd get my money's worth from, but I can buy it and add it if I change my mind. I was so impressed that Gina's called yesterday with the shipping costs, and it arrived today. I am itching to try the stitch regulator, but I decided to go with some basics today and get the feel of the new machine first. Tomorrow, new adventures!



I'm working on a pyramid quilt out of batiks. Fun and easy, and I think it will be perfect for quilting with the BSR.



This weekend I finished my applique project from the Denver trip. Ozzie likes it.



And I made this fun Civil War Buckshot Pincushion from a Marcus Brothers pattern. I guess they were originally filled with buckshot. I opted for crushed walnuts with a yo-yo and a button from my mom's buttons to top it off.  My new machine opens up all sorts of new possibilities. Merry Christmas (in July) to me!

Has the summer heat made me crazy?

We had such fun with the boys! Our plan was pretty simple: Divide and conquer. We planned activities together with all of us for some of the time, but then we built in time where the boys would be separated so that we could really enjoy each of the individually. One of my favorite afternoons was when Taplin was sleeping, and Bridger was playing on the floor of my sewing room. I told him how when I was little I would stay at my grandparents' house for a week or so, and I got to play with my grandma's buttons. Bridger spied mine on a shelf and asked if he could play with them. He was occupied for a long time with one simple jar of black and whites.



When they were together, they were a handful. My hat is off to you, Meghan. They have tons of energy. All of the activities we had planned to wear them out worked. But they wore us out too! I think they had fun, but I guess nothing is as good as going home with Mommy and Daddy.



They headed home after a Sunday brunch -- French toast casserole with praline topping, blueberries and strawberries, and sausage.



Sunday afternoon, I was working on a yellow and black nine patch quilt top (more on this in another blog, but it will become a baby quilt for our nephew's little boy!) when I took a break to check my email. An invitation -- an opportunity! My blog friend Anne from Film and Thread wanted to know if I would go with her to the AQS Knoxville Quilt Show. What the heck, why not? Well, sure, I'd never actually met her, but I felt pretty comfortable having exchanged emails and blog comments for some time. The plan was made. I drove out to her house Wednesday morning, and off we headed to Knoxville. The three and a half hour trip was quick because we had lots to talk about.



Anne really was tempted by this frame system which would turn her domestic sewing machine into a quilting machine. The plan was to go to all of the venders and then check out the quilts (400 or so of them, I think). Wow. We walked and looked and talked and oohed and aaah-ed. Her mom came from Asheville, NC for the afternoon too. What a delightful person! Of course, Anne restrained herself. Me???? No. I bought a new Bernina, an Aurora 440QE. To be fair, I have been thinking about this machine for some time now, and I did call and talk to Allen several times about the price and such, and he agreed that the price was right. However, how unlike me to drive two hundred miles from home with someone I'd never met AND buy a new machine. However, no buyer's remorse yet. I haven't heard that they've shipped it yet (saving tax $), but I'm waiting!



While I wait, I will sew on my "old" machine (Shannon's "new" machine). I tried out a Schnibbles pattern. Lots of fun, not too big, pretty quick, not perfect. When the new machine arrives and I figure out the BSR (Bernina stitch regulator), I will have a couple of tops ready to quilt!  AND -- did I mention I met Alex Anderson from The Quilt Show?? Such a warm, gracious person!

Fourth of July with Bridger and Taplin

Happy Fourth of July! I finished the red, white, and blue quilt just in time. I hope it fits the kitchen table, but I haven't tried yet.



Right now, I have little boy breakfast on the table. Blueberries for Taplin.



Bridger is trying out the new Car Quilt that I finished just this morning. I fell for the fabric panel when I saw it up in Franklin some months ago, but I didn't get it out to make until Wednesday. Hmmm. The boys got here Wednesday night. I just outlined all of the road and buildings with black thread. Quick and easy, but hopefully, hours of fun.



Yesterday's fun included making star sugar cookies with Baker Bridger.



We took the cookies to Aunt Shannon's and Uncle Nathan's house for a cook out and some pool time for the brothers. Is this not typical?



Ozzie is having a fun Fourth too! Lots of love and plenty to get into.  I wonder what adventures we will have today!