finally a sew day

last night i did get more units done on orca bay and today my hope is to finish this stack of cheddar strippy squares.  that'll leave me with the purple strippy squares and the rest of the HSTs to do.  bonnie has already posted part 6, assembling some ohio star squares.  i'm not quite keeping up but this should be a january finish, along with the amish center diamond.  ***** last night i also worked on the last of my 5-in-5 challenge pieces, a small patriotic wallhanging that will be finished before new year and will also get deleted from next year's list.  ***** first day of winter and we still have bare ground here.  this is my kind of winter for absolute certain, though every day like this is a gift and we know it well.  sooner or later old man winter will pay us a visit. 

i AM sewing...

albeit very little these pre-Christmas days with a heftier-than-usual to do list.  these are my triangle units on the corner of a very old sewing table.  the chunk you see that's missing from the corner looks larger than it really is; however, the sewing table will be retired soon i hope.  the old viking is simply too heavy for its fragile condition.   but i digress....yes, i got in some sewing time yesterday.  today should be the last day of chores and i should be able to get back to orca bay for the remainder of the week.  not sure at all if i'll be up to speed by friday's next part or not, but i can try.  i also want to finish piecing the feathered star top and also finish another small piece for the 5-in-5 challenge.  ***** today is a rain day, which is a much better 4-letter word than snow.  it'll come soon enough for me.  **** did i mention...i HATE carpet on the sewing room floor!!!

so this is christmas?

yesterday morning it was 11 degrees....this morning it is 39 degrees....no snow here or even in sight!  i can take this weather until march for sure.

test drive

since last night was to be the coldest night of this season so far....temps hovering around 10 degrees...i added this to my 2 regular quilts.  yes, we do have heat in the apartment but i leave my window open a tiny bit because i like it a bit cooler when i sleep and the heat control is behind my elfa unit and difficult to access.  i actually folded this in half covering just the end of the bed.  happy to say i was quite toasty and not too warm.  once finished (january maybe?) it'll be a welcome addition to my regular bedding; until i get another quilt done that is.  ***** today's plans include more on the orca bay, some holiday errands and baking. a couple more days and i'll be done and can work on my various projects as desired.  still no snow.....great!

it can't be christmas....

without perry como, for sure!  ever since i was in the 5th grade, i had a crush on perry como.  i would watch his show faithfully every week.  i was constantly sending him letters.  if you peeked inside my schoolbooks, you would nearly always find one in progress.  even in black and white he was my idol.  he would sing, "dream along with me," and i was right there, dreamy and starry-eyed.  he never read one of my letters on the show but that was okay, no doubt he saved them for when he was alone in his dressing room, right?  i was certain of it!  we even shared the same food likes...."hot diggity, dog diggity" and i liked hot dogs too.  when color TV came, especially when color TV came, he was dreamy.  i have this christmas album and others too.  in fact, i just copied all my christmas LPs onto CD so i could take them in the car.  sadly, perry is no longer with us but he lives on in spirit and CD.  thank goodness for that, but it's not nearly enough for me. 

a maine snowman

this is the only kind of snowman you'll find in these parts of maine, hopefully for the entire winter!  up north they have snow, of course, but not around here.  my mother made this little cutie as a decoration and sent it off to my florida nieces/nephews.  he's so cute and best of all, doesn't melt.  it's a commercial pattern and was easy peasy to put together.  guess where she found that luscious christmas print....yep, she raided my stash, with permission of course.  *****  slowly working on my strippy squares, and i do mean slowly.  they'll get done when they get done.  i did cut a whole stack of green triangles too, for the HSTs.  christmas prep comes first, though.  and with these cold temps, it's finally starting to feel a bit christmas-y too!

vision of sugarplums, er, strippies....

here's the awful truth....i have this many strippy squares PLUS cut more triangles and sew them on the HSTs yet to do to get "caught up" with "fat tuesday on orca bay."  today's list includes making a small window curtain for DSIL and then i can work on this mystery project.  ****  the upside of having a small family is lots less to do when holidays come around.  due to work schedules, it's just going to be mom and me on christmas eve and christmas day.  even at that, there is much to celebrate; in fact, every day is a celebration of sorts even if in a melancholy mood, which seldom applies to me.  so, i should get a lot of sewing done.  i've also been doing some just plain relaxing needlework--cross-stitching--on some tucked away UFOs.  **** our tree is all decorated and looks great.  and surprise!  today we are having SNOW!  that's right; big, wet flakes are coming down right this minute.  our luck ran out and winter finally arrived.  only 2.5 months until spring, though...

smells like christmas!

got our tree yesterday and put it up last night.  immediately the room filled with the heady aroma of fresh balsam.  just because maine is at the bottom of the forbes list of states for job creation and economic opportunity, doesn't mean you can't get a decent christmas tree.  in truth, this might have come from canada because those fanatical environmentalists get their shorts in a twist if anyone mentions cutting down one tree within the pine tree state's borders.  even if we were sitting on a century's worth of crude, there would be no way it could ever be drilled.  state officials spend wasteless time getting kids into college to train for jobs that don't exist and never will as long as this practice continues.  so all of you who dream about the idyllic life in maine can let that dream go.  the only people who live that kind of life here are those who earn their money elsewhere....like martha stewart, john travolta, tom selleck and their ilk.  ok, off the soapbox....i'll dispense with my inner scrooge....god bless us everyone!

first christmas quilt

not exactly amish but simplistic anyway.  i didn't want to make a "normal" double wedding ring with tons of pieces; i did that after i made this one.  i love the forest green/wine combo for christmas instead of the kelly green and red.  this quilt was entirely hand pieced and hand quilted.  i started it on a whim and didn't buy enough green, so there is a slight color variation, normal for antique quilts of course.  it has a nice cotton batt and a decidedly antique feel and drape....i'm totally happy with it.  **** for all you boomers out there who remember the patty duke show and her award-winning film, the miracle worker, made at a tender age.  today she turns 65 and if you go to www.ssa.gov, you will see her tell how she applied for social security and medicare online....yep, she is the poster gal for social security, her and chubby checker too.....what a hoot! 

year-end stash report

all year i've been keeping track of quilt-related expenditures and amounts of acquired stash.  this was strictly for my own purposes, for curiosity sake.  as of today, i've purchased 31.75 yards of fabric.  i didn't count backings here, which is usually muslin.  according to the stashbuster UFO secretary, i've used up 50.75 yards in finished projects.  i think she only counts the tops as well.  this means i'm not adding to my stash at all.  the flimsies that are done are not included in this figure either, nor are works in progress or kits in shoeboxes.  i've been able to tell just from available space that i am not adding to my stash; it gets circulated of course, as things get used up and others get added.  what has increased is my stash of finished things--tablerunners, wallhangings and quilts.  i've donated some and gifted some others.  The final result here is that i am not needlessly or wantonly collecting fabric, though sorely tempted.  i've also sold off a few books that i no longer want and also donated various notions that were languishing around.  after the new year, one of my first purchases will be enough wide muslin to finish all the bed-size UFOs i currently have.  with my income taking a downturn, it'll be good to have on hand whatever i'll need for future finishes.  on the quilty front, 2011 was a pretty good year.