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.

luscious hand dyes

I've been drooling over Vicki's hand dyed fabrics ever since she first began posting pictures of them. They are wonderful and I was so excited when she opened her Esty shop. Now I can buy some of those gorgeous fabrics for my very own. The colors are scrumptious.

The color palettes are really nice!

I should have opened them up so you could see them better. Believe me, they're gorgeous. :)

Look at this wonderful sunprint.....aren't the colors fabulous? Vicki also does tye-dyed T-shirts. Go on over and have a look....you won't be sorry.

I leave you with a picture of Frankie.....hubby calls this his Superman pose.

Have a wonderful day....thanks for stopping by.

Tagged Alert

Seems there's something fishy going on. If you receive anything from me saying I tagged you....nope, I did not. Vicky emailed me because she got some from me and others. I got one from Paula and I've also gotten some from other people. I did not send anyone any invitations, so please ignore anything you get. Sorry for the trouble. :(

garden party

These are my snake blocks which I will now refer to as Libby's worms.....sounds so much more pleasant, don't you think. I do not mind worms in the garden but snakes......ewwwwwwww, they give me the willies. My flower basket block needs a bit more work....the flower centers still need to be stitched on. I was going to start this block all over because one of my flowers ended up displaced and rather pale looking and my dragonfly is a bit cockeyed. I ripped off the pale flower, added a couple more and figured my dragonfly was just a bit juiced on some nectar. I'm going to just be happy with it. Libby has real garden worms and her garden is stupendous!

I think I spend a squillion hours on the stars.....who knew paper piecing could be so hard. I think I need pp for really dumb dummies 101. When I finally got to the last star, I inverted the colors in one of the parts. Oh well.....it's done and I am very pleased with it.

I'm making one of those baskets where you cover rope with fabric and zigzag the coils together. The one I'm making is called a CapNap Bowl. I'm using a Bali Pop which is a jelly roll of batiks.

Someone can't wait until it's finished to take her nap.

While I was outside taking the pictures of my blocks I couldn't resist the roses.

Thanks for stopping by.....I love it when you do.

thank you

I would like to thank all the brave men and women who have served in our armed forces and are now serving. I'm grateful for the sacrifices they and their families have made to give our freedoms. And to those that have given the ultimate sacrifice, words seem to fall short. My family and I thank you all!

well.....it sure has been awhile

And that's because I am such a procratinator. I've been meaning to post and take some pictures and the day gets away from me. So, I think, okay, I'll do it tomorrow.......hmmmmmm.......it sure has been a lot of tomorrows.

Spring has finally sprung up here in the northeast. Everything is so green and the flowers are getting ready to bloom. The lilacs are blossoming and they smell so divinely. The irises are getting ready to pop and I saw a cute little baby bunny run across the driveway this morning.

I've been stitching up some hexes. I tried them last year and I think they were too big and I didn't really enjoy them. These are 1" and I'm loving them. Thanks to inspiration and many hints from Libby, I think I've got it. The first one I did "wrong" so that will be my "humility block." At least I got it right by the second one. :)

I've really been enjoying these Buggy Barn blocks. I love the wonkiness of them and how can you go wrong with homespuns. All the blocks are made, I just have to iron and square them up. I'm already drooling over my next project.....churn dash done in tan and red.

This is my stitchery from Primitive Gatherings. I was going to frame it but I'm now I'm thinking that I will face it with some black wool and a buttonhole stitch.

I'd like to wish all the moms a Happy Mother's Day. I'll be spending the day with my sons....what could be finer, I ask you.
Thanks for stopping by.....I'm hoping to be a little more proficient with my blogging posts. :)

Katy's Hope III Raffle Quilt

It's time again for the raffle quilt to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. Perry's Granddaughter Katy is the sweet little one who has CF. JudyL so generously donated the quilt this year. Go take a look at Perry's blog and if you can take a chance on a very worthwhile cause.