december rolls on

even though most of the world is in a holiday frenzy, things are quiet and serene here in middle earth maryland...my shopping is done, most cards mailed, christmas dinner contributions planned, apartment decorated.  one thing was missing tho....

christmas pillowcases!  i had changed bed linens and put the quilt on but oh no!!  no christmas pillowcases!  as providence would have it, a member of our friday group donated a couple bags of stash detritus and therewas this christmas print....geese with neck wreaths...pulled out a green toile for the cuffs and here they are....made a skosh larger than pattern as my pillows are quite fluffy.  

quilting the pumpkin panel and cutting out more kaffe tumblers rounded out sewing for the week.

another gift arrived last week....a sortof santa dropped by with my very own sleigh!!

i joke and tell people my apartment is furnished by Uncle Sam aka Medicare....only half right!  the PT admonished me sternly to NOT depend on it too much....so i still exercise and walk as much as possible, but no longer confined to quarters.  there is a plaza close by and various other places PLUS the ever-enticing library....only dependent on weather...going to store by myself is a definite high.  

a scale (from Medicare) helps monitor for fluid retention but this time of year it can be a grinch, so taking this advice....

wishing you a blessed and calm week....remember the reason for the season!

a momentous day!!

much anticipated day when i finally have finished my quilt....it was a long and sometimes uncertain hiatus...thanks be to God and all his caregiver servants...i dedicate this quilt to them!

say hello to 'wildest dreams'.....72" square, blocks are hand pieced and top is machine pieced, then densely hand quilted by me...definitely a humble quilt as it took a bit to get back in my quilting groove but i love it just the same....a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment.  with my very last PT visit yesterday, putting my patient persona on the back burner for a very long time...i hope!  next???

since snow is in the forecast....not us but getting closer...time to get this autumn panel done and put away until next year....just some outline quilting and bind for a speedy finish...then either Baskets I or II  will take its place....another finish this year???  hope springs eternal!

my tree is up and this little sentiment is just perfect for me....love love love multicolor christmas lights...especially on pine trees with snowy boughs....

decorations are nice but i never forget the real reason for the season...especially with the blessings i've received this year....

onward to christmas!

 as a true mainer, this is the kind of tree i love....

with a lot of free time over the holiday, cruising the 'net i found ancestors on both sides who were in maine in the 1600s...so there you have it....what else did i do to keep busy?

finished this little snowmen wall quilt for dear daughter who visited and now resides in her home...a quick wash and it might be on her door already!  she spied the red/green economy block scrappy and requested that as well...

turkey day awoke late and spent most of day quilting, now on last side of 'wildest dreams'...cruising instagram and reading blogs...baked cookies...pulled out christmas tote....texting family in maine....today absolutely must clean fridge and more quilting of course!

word to the wise sewist...

have a blessed day!

gloomy day diversions

pre-winter here in MD means start of the gloomy season....gray skies, often rain, sometimes ice...in a word...BLAH!  thankfully i have kaffe fabrics to cheer me up....the scraps morphed into their second version....

oh yeah i am liking this one a  lot....have a baggie of them all prepped...size undetermined and, no surprise, another project using up more scraps has taken root in the gray matter....only 16 of 8-inch blocks and more playtime for me.....what else brewing?

quilty detour to get this finished so DD can pick it up over holiday....

like me she'll be putting up christmas soon after turkey day....and needed something new for her front door...

believe it or not, had never ever made microwave bowls before this week....lickety split had 3 prepped and one done...

this morning watched thanksgiving parade from america's hometown and mine too, really....plymouth, massachusetts!  boston dialect so familiar and fun to hear again....

lots of nice floats and bands....it was raining there and it did last year as well...did you know that 10% of the US population are mayflower descendants?  imagine that percentage will dwindle in years to come...the parade is chronological so starts out before pilgrims' arrival with this float...

fun to watch while waiting for bird to thaw....someone generously gave me a turkey and some vegs which i'll share of course....it's 15# and tho i like turkey, it does get way too repetitious when cooking for one.  some church is here today with a big dinner but i seldom go because of my salt restriction...plus this yankee doesn't care for southern dishes....collards, sweet potato pie and the like.  none of it suitable for  me personally or anyone really who watches their health.   

made my list that should keep me occupied until thanksgiving when i hope to take the weekend getting christmas on display....my blood counts have been low since surgery in july and ramping them up with meds and diet is restoring my energy level, feeling more like myself again....now to find a magician for my knees....LOL!   

redo report

dropped out of reproquiltlover's economy blocks sew along, but did manage to sew up a fair number of them...first attempt at using them up failed but after a blogger's suggestion, tweaked a bit and settled on this...a red binding should finish it nicely

now a flimsy, had to sew up a few more to get it square....looks like the right side border needs a redo....plan B did the trick!

plan B also worked for the kaffe scraps....overflowing shoebox has been tamed!

pulled out all the very small scraps and the nickels went into the nickel shoebox...this is what's left...and a project has been chosen...

yeah they are small but have this stack to cut up and use....no time limit on it at all...but a nice change of pace project for machine time....

winter is ahead and basically confined to quarters, so the bright prints should offset the gloom, both external and internal....

and finished this placemat to use after the holidays...

put flannel in the middle and finished it off envelope style....next is finish up a few other things PLUS wildest dreams.  new year approaches and must get lists ready and game on for 2026!

saw this which suits me perfectly....my mom often remarked how she never dreamed that first 4-H sewing class would be a lifelong passion for me....

i got uninvited for thanksgiving so have formulated plan B, which is to turn the apartment into christmas...plan to cook a few traditional yankee must haves, watch the parade (love those rockettes!) and play christmas music....now full speed ahead to the week!!

brrr tuesday

verry chilly this morning.....31 degrees, which is akin to the arctic for marylanders....any day perfect to remember and honor all our veterans...

always deeply honored for anything i can do for them!

good to sew in any weather as well....up early this morning for some scrap playtime...cut some kaffe squares first...

meh....doesn't do much for me....will make a few more and use as placemat....no biggie if it gets stained...back to the drawing board for the kaffe scraps

next pulled out the red/green scrappy economy blocks made earlier this year....

had pulled some background pieces and sewed some twosies...uninspiring but will sew more and play around with them.....

and got the "semi" sewing bug?  that's semiquincentennial....pulled out this pattern thinking i might make one eagle....fabric on hand....still mulling it over....

and a dive into the senior center's scrap tote revealed these....some autumn fabrics for a future project and some neutrals.....

always dreaming of this.....

gremlins busy overnite with computer and blogger is always temperamental....so annoying....have a blessed day and  keep warm!

at last!!!

 been chomping at the bit to get back to this....

finally pulled out of the closet and gave it a try...eureka!  and this is the last inside block to be quilted, now for the outside rectangles, triangles and squares...so a 2025 finish?  i surely hope so....

veterans' day is almost here....with our country in chaos it is more important than ever to remember those who gave their all....i found this on instagram and it made me wish we had such a president now...two very very different republicans...

other progress....

the scrappy christmas top is done....i didn't have enough squares in the baggie that was given to me so i made some out of 1.5" strips...which i think gives this a different vibe....so the $3 the baggie cost was used up  almost entirely.....

and another instagram photo sums up my feelings precisely......

sun is shining....70 degrees on sunday.....roasting a chicken tomorrow as some soup will be needed next week when a cold snap arrives....it's the seesaw season, temps up and down...have a blessed day!!

plans?

seems harmless to jot down things to do, right?  lately my list has turned on me like a mad dog....all set to assemble these into a scrappy top.....

seems harmless enough task right?  derailed by yet another ER run....testing revealed meningioma in cerebellum...huh?  another diagnosis that totally shocked me....grueling 40-minute MRI was reassuring.. now back home after a totally no-fun weekend....almost don't dare to get out of bed anymore...LOL!

and just when all the winter clothes are out the weather turns warmish for another few days...no matter....i'll enjoy it!

have a blessed day!

birthday boy!

today is brother #2's birthday....he is 8 years younger than me so i remember clearly my mother being pregnant with him, her baby shower where she received 4 tiny adorable dresses that were passed on, the day he came home from hospital (halloween) and his growing up years...he was feisty and energetic from day one but has mellowed with age like all of us....

he's a grandfather now, a musician, an author, dad to 3....happy birthday bro!

week ahead wide open so making the list with high hopes...LOL...while rearranging stuff found this...

easy to machine quilt so will get 'er done and out of the waiting pile....

and a spring stitchery kit got pulled together....

last, this pile needs to disappear.....a scrappy top is in the works, just a few hours with miss sunny should do the trick...

and if time permits, hope to start applique on the red/green album-ish top.....after some cooking and house chores!  here's to a blessed week with some good news from DC for a change....

some progress!

waited to post until some finishes ready to show.....tackled some things piled on the sewing table....

the socks....they are a bit roomy but not so much i can't wear them...and they are warm and now done....win/win/win!

a little cross-stitch piece started eons ago...pattern from meredith's blog, pinker n punkin...she is very generous sharing all kinds of little stitcheries....this is winter saltbox and finished ahead of the season for a change....just stuff and add it to the display....

rather than start another new thing, pulled out this piece, added the borders, cut out and pinned the swags...would love this to be finished by christmas but really depends on the fingers....wish i could have made the border a tad wider but limited to the piece on hand...once the applique is done it won't appear as crowded....

signed up for a christmas swap and need to make a couple of things for that, must keep under wraps for now....

feeling sorta rabbity, jumping from one thing to another....it's because i have so much free time....just work on whatever comes to mind at the moment.  really trying to move some UFOs forward while waiting for fine motor touch to return in full...needs must tackle some house chores sooner rather than later...cabin fever isn't fatal but some days seems like it might be....

quilty peep gladi always includes nature photos on her posts...she lives in southern NH so plenty of seasonal change photos....here is one she said i could post....

and since it's the season, i found this on instagram....andrew wyeth...

if you ever find yourself in rockland, maine, the farnsworth museum has an entire building (a former church) chock full of works by all 3 wyeths....definitely worth a trip....the elevator is huge and contains an old church pew!  it's interesting to see the 3 very distinctive styles of their work....