holiday finish

another UFO is escaping the 2018 list....this wallhanging of little baskets is done and ready to be gifted.  had purchased a FQ bundle of Margot Krager's Dargate Indigos and could never decide how to use them sooooo cut up the entire stack into these little applique baskets with the intention of making a large quilt, which is still on the planning list.  there were plenty to make this small piece for a quick finish.

with no real plans and iffy weather coming for Christmas, might possibly knock off one more UFO...have 2 small pieces that would like to see done before 2017 is history....but without my usual caffeine habit that could be an over-ambitious goal.  i really, REALLY miss my diet pepsi big time....

the forest thickens....

with the addition of more tree blocks....i am sooo liking the look of these so far and all from stash too!

it'll be a fun christmas quilt when done.  ***  whew, the calendar may say december but here in maryland the mercury has been hovering near 60 and 50 for the past week or so.  it has started to cool down some but definitely no white christmas.  this former new england gal has seen quite enough snow and i am loving the maryland winters a whole lot!   ***  gonna be a low key holiday here, but the real reason for the season can always be celebrated...

too early?

that would be to think about quilty goals for 2018...i don't think so!   there's a party going on over at jetgirl's blog with some super giveaways....one being the quilter's planner.   have ogled this for some time but simply cannot justify spending that much money on something that might not get used to its fullest...after all, i want to sew in my free time, not journal/write etc.  anyway, thought YOU might be interested so i'm doing this post to alert the quilty masses!  course i wouldn't turn down the other delish prizes like aurifil thread, patterns, mags etc.... as for my personal quilty goals, it's about the UFO list, the stash and just plain keep on doing what i've been doing....my "new normal" lifestyle requires regular exercise, but i'm betting there will be more energy that goes along with that, which means more time to sew/quilt/create than previously.  it's been a tough journey to this point with more work ahead that'll hopefully lead to more fun as well....a friend whose journey has been more challenging than mine always says we are not promised tomorrow and we aren't....but can enjoy THIS 24-hour slot with hope and fulfillment whatever we do...

crafts of christmas past

even though i started quilting nearly exclusively in 1979, prior to that i was a serial crafter.  each year when i unpack my ornaments, those years come wafting back to me in wonderful memories.  here is a sample of what's on my tree....

oh the hours this sampling represents!  felt and sequins and beads, oh my!  made lots of those.  the bandana ornaments were in a family circle mag eons ago.  the bell and blue were kits.  the cross-stitch ones came from a pattern--have made a ton of those and given many away.  then there was the year in ceramics...the angel, the stocking and the 3 wise men yet to be unpacked.   the pinwheels are more recent, as is the fabric star with sequins...that was a swap with the jo morton yahoo group (i made 2 of them...overachiever me)....the felt monogram mitten was just my idea using iron on alphabets.  and then there are these...

as a child, my daughter was fascinated with gumball machines and i found a kit with 2...and the butterfly was a freehand idea of mine for a niece.  we used to live near a yarn shop that carried a lot of these felt kits with sequins and beads.  she has an advent calendar--another kit--of a tree with 24 pockets each containing a little ornament for the tree...more sequins and beads....and a nice big star for the treetop.  she also has a nativity set done in crewel that came in several kits and finally got finished about 10 years ago.   now that i pretty much only quilt, my ornament days are mostly past.   luckily i get to revisit them every christmas...like most of you, no doubt.  give me any old tree--even the cheapo fake amazon i have now--but load it with lights and my ornaments and it'll always be christmas!