Christmas Wrap-up #1

Lets start with my family, shall we? I know my attention span isn't that long, so I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

First, a review. I decided to make everyone something hand-made for Christmas. I needed a padded cell before it was done, but it is finally done.

I made my mom this Dogwood throw. She loves dogwoods, and I knew she admired the quilt in one of my first quilt books. (I actually bought it for S for Valentine's day one year, but that's another story.) I taught myself needle-turn applique on this one! She loves it.

I knit my first hat for my dad. My poor dad, it's pretty bad, but I'm still proud of it. And so is he (I think!)

I made my brother beer coozies. They have his pictures on them! They crack me up to no end! They were difficult to make, and they're not very well constructed, but they were good for a laugh!

I made my SIL an embroidered picture with a "J" in it. She once asked me to embroider olive leaves for her (she's Greek) but I couldn't figure it out, so this is the next best thing!

For one grandmother, (the one who taught me to quilt) I made a pin cushion and gave her some fabric. She was pretty happy!

I had been wanting to make a Modified Bento Box for a while, so I decided to make one for my grandmother and grandfather. I didn't use a pattern, just looked at some on-line and went for it! (The main one I looked at was the one by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. I miss her)! Anyway, I didn't measure correctly, so I ended up making matching boxy quilts. They really enjoy them, though! This one was for my grandfather.

This one was for my grandmother.

Finally, my cousin had her first baby in November, so I made this blanket for little Gema Neveah!

That's it for my family . . . next time . . . the in-laws!

See-ya!

ACK!

I know . . . I'M HORRIBLY LATE! December was a mess trying to finish up Christmas presents . . . then January was a mess, trying to finish up Christmas presents (only 3 weren't done for Christmas, but the last one took until January 25! My poor mother-in-law!)

I also got a ridiculously wonderful present, and I want to introduce you all ASAP, but I don't want to rush it. So that, and the Christmas Wrap-Up will have to wait. I hope to get it all done this weekend, but we'll see.

For now, I just wanted to stop in and let you know I was still alive, and give you some AWESOME news! Last night was the first meeting of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild! Hurray! We had so much fun! I met a lot of new people, and we're going to have a BLAST! If you're in the area, you should stop in next month! We're just getting the ball rolling, and since all we really did last night was meet each other and talk about what we wanted to do with the guild, I don't have much to tell you, but know it was great!

Anyway, I'll be back soon with crafty stuff, I promise!

See ya!

CURVES!

This fabric . . .

For these blocks . . .Are Here . . . Ready to go out to my Quilting Sisters!

Blogged about Here!

TOO EXCITED FOR WORDS!

It's going to be LEGEN . . . (wait for it) . . . DARY!

See ya!

Catch Up

Christmas is in FULL SWING!

I made the first batch of Pumpkin Bread for a Christmas Party tomorrow, we've decorated the house (all except the tree) and I made a new coffee cake.

See . . . pretty, right?

To catch you up on all things non-Christmas present related . . . I'll tell you about the Bee.

I am SO LATE for Michelle . . . she was October. I blame cowardice. She scared me! She asked us to come up with our own thing, as long as it was squares in squares. I was SO SCARED! I don't do my own thing! It's very hard! So here are the ones I came up with.
I hope they work!

I'm also late for Missy, but not nearly as bad, since she was November. She asked for a wonky star!

Really proud of my first Wonky-ness!!

These will be in their packets that I'm sending out (hopefully tomorrow) with my quilt instructions.

Woo Hoo!!

See ya!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!

Sorry I've been a little absent, but I've been plugging away at Christmas presents! I should be back after the holiday (when I need a break from cleaning, decorating, or crafting) to get caught up on blogging. (Remember, exactly 1 MONTH until Christmas!)

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!

See ya! :)

A Birthday for Christmas!

Or should that be a Christmas for your birthday? Anyway . . . My Mother-In-Laws birthday was on October 30, and I made her what she asked for . . . a Christmas table-runner.

She's kind of a Christmas Nut . . . but that's OK because so am I. And so is S, and his brother, and so on and so on. We LOVE Christmas around here!

The runner was really simple, I used 2 charm packs of Frosted Memories by Moda. It was already kitted up for me, but I can't remember where I bought it. It was a booth at the Plano Quilt Show, but I'm not sure of the quilt shop's name. Sorry! I have found, however, that things come together REALLY easily if they are already cut! (I HATE cutting!) I put it together during craft night one night, and it came together beautifully (AKA most of my points matched! Whoop!).

I feel kind of bad, because it wasn't a surprise, but I know she likes it because it is what she wanted, so that's good, right?

Changing channels, I found this NEW Material Shop this week! City Craft is GREAT! I have been feeling guilty lately about not really supporting my local quilt shops, because I definitely think keeping these guys around is important, but I agree with Abby in her post about this. We love local quilt shops, but we can never seem to find what we are looking for, the new, modern fabrics. I spend TONS of time (more than I should, I admit) lurking on blogs like Oh Fransson and Handmade by Alissa and Crazy Mom Quilts. They inspire me SO MUCH, but I can never find the same fabrics they use. So I order them off of the Internet, and they arrive, but it's never quite what I thought it would be. It helps to see and touch fabric (part of the joy of fabric shopping, but we'll get into that later). By the time I'm ready to start my quilt, I'm guilty about not buying the fabric locally and disappointed in the actual fabric. Not a good start! But City Craft changes that! They are small, but what they have is AWESOME! They have all the modern, hip designers and the bright colors. I've already bought some, but I'll show that off later. If you're in the Dallas area, you HAVE to go see them! They're great!

Enough rambling. :)

See ya!

Make Me Happy Monday

What makes me happy today is . . .

The view from my back yard. I love the reds.

FALL!!!!

The massive amounts of leaves. S. hates these!

I love it! Sweaters, boots, scarves. I love the colors in the trees and the crispness in the air . . .

Our walnut tree!

But I especially love the FOOD!

I'm having to hold myself back from the kitchen. I made this scrumptious Apple Upside Down cake from Paula Dean (S calls it my Ya'll Cake) . . . but it was GONE before I got pictures. I'm already craving my mom's famous pumpkin bread. Maybe this weekend will be a baking weekend . . . until then, I'll content myself with leaves and sweaters (even if it is 75 degrees out)!

Our begonias under the leaves.

See ya!