Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas filled with love, joy and the magical wonder of Christmas.

O Christmas Tree

We got our tree 5 years ago……it was a whim purchase after my Mom passed away. It looked really beautiful on my computer screen. A prelit tree that would be delivered right to my door.....be still my beating heart. Prelit….I wouldn’t have to string lights any more....woohoo! I like lots and lots of lights and here my tree would be prelit with eleven hundred lights. Yes, that’s right, in my beautiful tree were 1100 of the most blindingly, clearest and brightest of lights you could ever want. A tree so bright and blinding that you didn’t want to leave it on unless you were wearing sunglasses.
The last few years have found excuses to leave the tree in storage. A little Charlie Brown tree was purchased for a fraction of what that big bright tree under the stairs cost. And there it sat.
I decided this year it was time to bring out the big beautiful prelit tree. I really do love the tree….it looks very real. But, I do NOT love the 1100 very bright clear lights. No problem I thought, I will change them out…..how bad can it be? I took strings of lights and removed all those tiny colored lights bulbs. And then I began to pull the clear bulbs from the tree. Swapping out a bright clear light for a red or green one. I had blue, yellow and purple ones too. Oh boy, I’m on my way now…..a tree with colored light……1100 of them! Seemed like a really good idea when I began. Halfway through it didn’t seem like such a great idea anymore but I had gone too far to stop…..way past the point of no return. Maybe a few band-aids will help. Yes, that’s much better….I’m on a roll once more. The top section is done, a few branches on the bottom and most of the middle section is transformed. I’m down to the last couple hundred that need to be swapped…..I’m fading fast, my fingers are throbbing. Thankfully Josh asked if I needed any help and he swapped out the last of them. And now…..I have prelit tree with 1100 beautiful colored lights. It was worth every little cut, blister and sore finger(s). I'm enjoying the tree so much I may have to leave it up for awhile.........
Have a wonderful day and I hope your tree makes you happy. Thanks for stopping by.....your visits hightlight my day!

a finish

I made this quilt for my niece who is due to have her baby next month. I got the pattern from
Amanda Jean....she has some great tutorials.



I did a simple wavy line grid for the quilting. I used a moda jelly roll.....love is in the air and some white on white for the sashings. All fabrics came out of my stash.

I used Judy's technique for machine stitching the binding....I was pleased with how it came out. I did have to unstitch and restitch in a few places but I was pleased with my first attempt. I will using this method in the future for sure. Judy has a great little video on how to do this.

My machine does not like to go over pins. I usually pull them out before I get to them....this one I missed.

I leave you with a picture of my baby.....I'm sure he's reflecting on what mayhem is next on the agenda. Have a wonderful day.....thanks for stopping by.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for.....my family, good friends and my freedom. I'm thankful for all the wonderful blogging people I've come to know and I'm especially thankful today to our Soldiers and families who give up so much for us. Wishing you all a wonderful day!

a finish

I finished up my Christmas project this week.....I made 101 Christmas stockings for Neighbors Helping Newborns. They will deliver the stockings to the area hospitals. The nurses will dress the babies in them during Christmas week. It means alot to the families that have to be there during the holidays....brings a bit of Christmas cheer.

I had lots of help working on them.

These are some of my knitting projects....scarves, hats and dishrags. They will be ongoing until Christmas, worked on in free moments.

My baby is getting big.....he continues to amuse me and get himself into lots of mischief.

Tuesday was our wedding anniversary.....it's hard to believe it's been 31 years. I've been very blessed with a wonderful man. Although he doesn't understand why I do the things I do, he lets me do them anyways. I'm looking forward to the next 31 years.

I hope you have a wonderful day.....thanks for stopping by.

Break is Over

And I didn't even mean to take a break. The days turned into weeks and then months. I'm back and hope to have lots to share.

I had a wonderful visit with Libby yesterday. She's as warm and friendly as I thought she would be. We chatted away and the time just flew by. I think it will become quite habitforming. :)

I've been knitting the past few weeks. I've made a few dishrags, a scarf and a hat for hubby, thanks to a great pattern from Paula.

Kim gave us a challenge in August to finish 3 things. I did finish 3 tops, thanks to her. Now, I'm working on a portrait quilt. I'm taking Jean Shute's class at MQResource. I'm having fun with it....it surely is a learning process.

I've gotten some more of Vicki's wonderful hand dyes that I plan to use in another art quilt. Vicki's has lots of gorgeous fabrics in her esty shop, her service is excellent and special orders are welcomed.

I don't have all my pictures ready to go with this post but I'm going to put it up anyways. Don't want it to be weeks before I actually post it. Thanks for stopping by.....your visits are always the highlight of my day.

a finished block

This is my version of the tulip block....I'm happy with how it came out.

It's very seldom that you see the three cats together. I went outside to chase a squirrel off my birdfeeder. They were quite interested in what I was doing and in what the pesky squirrel was doing.

This is Maggie lounging......it's hard work smacking Frankie away from her.

Frankie was enjoying himself surrounded by bubblewrap.

He was quite tuckered out after playing in the wrap.

I wish everyone a very Happy Fourth weekend. Thanks for stopping by, I love it when you do.