I belong to a wonderful group of quilters called DayStitchers.  (It’s probably supposed to be two words, but since we have no rules, no minutes, I’ve never really seen it spelled.  I like one word, and it’s my blog…)

Mary brought “pie” for all of us a couple of weeks ago.  (The other woman in the picture isn’t Rosie, that’s for sure.)

It looks to be about 16 pieces of pie, both blueberry and cherry!  These are the cutest pincushions you’d ever want to see.  She weighted them nicely, and they have sugar sprinkles (beads) across the top.  And as with everything Mary makes, the workmanship is impeccable.  And I particularly love that she signed and dated them on the bottom.  What a treasure!  Thank you, Mary!

I’ve had my slice of pie on a plate, and Jim seems so surprising drawn to this pincushion.  Doesn’t it look good enough to eat?

–Sue

(12/16/09 NOTE:  This is such a good “to do” list for me, I’m going to modify it as I complete these tasks.)

That’s how close Christmas is — I can already hear Santa’s sleigh off in the distance, like the ticking of a clock, reminding me of all the things I need to do in the next week.

BAKING:  I am not a prolific baker like my friend Pam who is making 13 kinds of cookies this year (and she doesn’t do easy cop-out cookies either!).  I’m making my favorites:  Swirled Mint Cookies, a peppermint pressed sugar cookie, Capuccino Flats (coffee/cinnamon/chocolate cookie), and neighbor Marilyn’s Taffy Cookies, a brown-sugar shortbread cookie with Hersey bar piece melted on top.  The sugar cookies are done; two more batches to go.  Mmmmmm. 

SHOPPING:  (almost) done.  Now, in the spirit of truthfulness and full disclosure, our family is small, plus we draw names for each other, (plus I do smaller “mom” gifts for the “kids”).  I have DH left to buy for (Jim, are you reading this?  Reminder to leave a Sears ad out with some things circled).

CHRISTMAS LETTER:  Done & Mailed.  I have done a Christmas letter every year for probably 36 years until last year.  It seemed like it was too depressing, since we were in the middle of some medical testing and didn’t know the outcome yet.  Why make people worry?  Skipped last year.  All the medical stuff came out quite well, so I needed to do a letter for this year.  I spent a couple of hours at the computer trying to do some kind of letter, and I felt like I was writing the same letter I had written 35 or 36 times before.  So stale and boring.  Here are most of our letters since 1996, including one written in verse; it’s a fun way to look back at what’s been happening in our lives since then:

So I searched on line for Christmas letter tips.  Just the spark I needed.  So my Christmas letter is now a newsletter (which I’ve done before), but I added a quiz.  There were several other ideas on this web site for ways to make your Christmas letter more interesting, and I was able to keep to my cardinal rule:  no more than one page.    Once I had some fresh ideas, the letter practically wrote itself.  Now I need to print the labels for the envelopes (yes, I know handwritten is more personal), and get those puppies in the mail!  I like my letters to reach their destinations shortly before Christmas, so I am actually on track.

TREE & DECORATIONS:  Done.  Artificial permanent tree has been up and lit for two weeks, with nary an ornament to be found or my sweet angel on top.  Yesterday I added ornaments, but only about half of them.  I only hung the crystal and glass ornaments, the silk poinsettias, and the icicles.  I’ll see if this tree grows on me this year.  It looks a little sparce without all the kids’ ornaments on it. 

Put up my snowman wall quilt, have to find a home for my little Christmas tree wall quilt, got out the silk poinsettias, put out my very favorite table runner, along with some other miscellaneous trims.

QUILTING:  Have one gift quilt left to finish.  (two days’ work)

FUN & PARTIES & FUN & FUN:  A brunch, an afternoon “dinner”, a tea luncheon, Wednesday quilt group with cookies & snacks – get out my elastic-waisted pants and I’m ready!  And we will try to get a date to work out for our card-playing group as it’s our turn to host (after Christmas).

CLEANING:  Hah! 

MAILING:  Done!  Package to DS in Virginia, and get the cards with letters in the mail (tomorrow).

CHRISTMAS DINNER:  We always have the same thing — shrimp de jongh with rice, bread, and salad.  Easy and special.
Okay, I know I’m forgetting something.  Oh….

WRAPPING:  Not done.

And let me share three wonderful gifts I got from three wonderful friends (we celebrate early — and often), in case there’s a gift idea that works out for you:  an Oregon Scientific atomic alarm clock with the projector for the ceiling, a pressure cooker cookbook – Miss Vickie’s, and a purse (I was able to pick out the purse because I returned a gift that was a duplicate).

So, what are you doing reading my blog???  Don’t you have holiday prep to do?  I know, some people are much more together than I am, but I feel like (finally) things are almost under control at our house.  

How are you doing — can you hear the jingle of the sleigh???

–Sue

Tracy is a dear friend’s daughter.  Tracy (along with her sister Kerry) seem more like extended family to me, like nieces without gifting obligations!  She grew up across the street from us and was DS#3’s best friend for a number of childhood years.  Tracy has a fun blog where she talks about life in suburbia with her three small children, the creative things she does to keep them amused, and she also has a nose for a bargain.

Go check out her give-away post here, and be sure to leave a comment (she’s giving away wool socks!!!).  To read her older posts, just click on the header of her blog.

–Sue

on Celine Perkins’ blog.

She has a great tutorial today for doing that final join on your binding.  When I first started quilting, I did a straight-across seam; didn’t like it, but did it on many quilts.

Then I played around and came up with my own slightly cumbersome method of doing a diagonal seam for that final join so it looks like the other seams in your binding.  Celine’s tutorial is for doing that nice diagonal finishing seam.  I can’t wait to try it on my next quilt, as it is probably a little more streamlined than my method.  Check it out!

–Sue

Minnesota quilter Celine Perkins has a block featured in the upcoming issue of  Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers, Collectors Edition, and today on her blog she shows us a cute table topper made using that block.  Celine is known for her easy patterns and great directions, so it’s definitely worth checking out.  And I am soooo looking for that magazine next time I’m out — it looks like a winner!  (Be sure to leave a comment on Celine’s post.  Prize?  A copy of the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks publication.  Ooooh, pick me!!!)

Congratulations, Celine, on being included in this issue.

–Sue

Today is Minnesota’s own Terry Atkinson’s turn to share a project on the CCC blog hop.  She has an easy gift idea on her blog today.  You’ve probably seen some of Terry’s patterns and books, and she is a wonderful designer.

Be sure to add a comment to her blog.  Add a comment to all 12 CCC blog hop hosts, and you will be entered in a special drawing.

–Sue

for choosing my picture!

Vicki Welsh of Fieldtrips in Fiber used (with permission, of course!) my dragonfly photo for one of her color studies.  Check it out — it made me look at this photo in a whole new way to see where she found those colors!

Vicki’s blog is one I read regularly.  She has interesting lists she compiles from her blog reading, she does fabulous fabric dying and offers her wares through her shop on Etsy, takes great bird and nature pictures, plus she’s one of 13 fiber artists working on a 2-year-long creative challenge, Fiberaction.   (When you visit her Etsy shop, check out her quilt backs — I think they are fabulous, and I plan to use one for the front of a whole-cloth quilt.)

We are experiencing some unseasonably warm weather for November 7th here in Minnesota — in the 60s!!!  Enjoy your Saturday.  I’m meeting a friend for breakfast in an hour, then back home to do a little window washing, which is a good thing since I take so many photos out our windows!

–Sue

Nothing bought this week.  I guess that helps offset some of my “negative winnings” at Las Vegas!

Sashing strips/border/binding for my Scrappy 9-Patch,  3 yards used.

Isn’t it fun to finally receive a package you’ve been expecting?  It’s ten times more fun when you receive a package you WEREN’T expecting!

Lynda G. (a fabric winner in my 60,000th visit give-away) is from Maine, and she sent me a lovely gift assortment of Maine-related items!  What a fun surprise, Lynda, and I will think of you every time I use/see them (lobster fabric, a Maine pin, a Maine/moose tape measure, a Kennebunkport postcard, and a lovely note).  Thank you so much!!!  It was such a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy couple of days. 

(Pictured above:  Niece Summer & her husband Adam in the stream, Kathy & Dan on the bench with their nephew Alex.)  Our Nephew Dan from Seattle passed away this week (age 48), losing his hard-fought battle with kidney cancer.  We stayed with Dan and Kathy for a few days during our Seattle trip last summer, where they are relaxing above by the stream in their backyard.  They were such a special couple, and it’s hard to believe he’s gone.  If you’re a spiritual person, please say a little prayer for Kathy, who has truly lost her soul mate.

Also this month, we’ve lost Cathy, a member of Prior Lake Quilters as well as our Wednesday group, DayStitchers.  She is pictured here showing the block she made for Arlis’ birdhouse quilt.  Cathy was such a friend to us all, and she always had a cheerful word and a sunny disposition — gone now due to breast cancer.  It’s hard to accept that she won’t be at our Wednesday get-togethers any more.

They are both gone too soon, but both Dan and Cathy will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved them. 

–Sue

(A warning:  This is a long post, and I rambled a bit.  I put the stash report first, in case that’s all you’re after.)

This was a good week — no shopping (ZERO yards in)!  There was also a lot of sewing going on, but I was working on existing projects for the most part (3 yards out on a family reunion quilt).

Accomplishments this week were completing a customer quilt on the longarm, pinning up an oversized queen-sized customer quilt on the longarm so it’s ready to rock and roll, started knitting a new pair of socks, working on a family reunion signature quilt, and working on a gift project.  Here are pictures I can share:

This sock is knitted from some Opal self-striping yarn (75% wool/25% nylon).  I’ve completed the heel, and am ready to do the heel turn.  Yarn like this is absolutely addicting because you don’t know what’s coming next.  Well, until you figure the repeat out, but by then you are several inches into it, and it’s still fun anyway.  After last week’s fiasco with a new pattern (the sock was getting HUGE), I’ve reverted back to my original successful pattern.  When will I learn . . .

I’ve already blogged about the family reunion quilt here.  I’ve sewn the corners on all 98 of the signature squares.  Thankfully, this pattern has no sashings, so it will go together pretty quickly.

The customer quilt was a twin-sized airplane-themed cutie.  I quilted it with Jodi Beamish’s panto “Popcorn” to simulate clouds.  And speaking of pantos, I blogged here about my favorites and also sharing your favorites, so if you are a panto user, pop over and read the other comments and perhaps add one of your own. 

For fun, (okay, I really do have fun EVERY day — it isn’t just once a week) seven of us neighbor ladies (and we all live in seven houses in a row, so how fun is that???) met at the local Perkins for breakfast.  We were having so much fun, the people at the next table wanted to join us.  Thursday was a lovely day, and Perkins is probably a mile or less from here, so I opted to walk there.  (Okay, okay, okay, I did accept a pick-up ride with Marilyn halfway there, but I did walk all the way home with Karen.)  Don’t you just love springtime?

I took this photo on my walk.  This is the long-way view of the pond behind our house.  And I wish you could hear it.  The blackbirds were singing their hearts out and the pond just sounded alive with activity.  Did I already say, don’t you just love springtime?

Saturday DH and I were sitting out on our deck having a pretend latte (I brewed a couple of cups of pretty strong coffee in the Keurig coffee brewer and added some hazelnut-flavored creamer).  As good as the $4.00 kind!  Anyway, we spotted a great blue heron hanging out along the side of the pond.  Here is the un-zoomed regular photo view of the pond from the deck (I marked in red where the heron thought he was hiding):

 Here is a photo with my beloved Panasonic 12x optical zoom/4 times digital (total of 48x zoom), which I’ve blogged about before:

This really isn’t a great picture because I’m all the way zoomed out, and it gets pretty grainy.  It’s good if I stick to just the 12x, but sometimes that just isn’t enough (but I’m unwilling to pop the big bucks to get a super-duper camera).  It’s fun to be able to get shots like this without leaving your pretend latte on the deck!

Oh, and I also worked on our family tree.  My dad is the product of a short-lived marriage of the 1920s.  I can’t find any trace of his birth father after the 1930 census, so just a shot in the dark:  anybody know anything about Kelsey Jordan, b. 1880 in Iowa (also lived in Oklahoma, Minnesota, Colorado), parents were (supposedly) Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss Jordan and Laura Salome Dunning???  (I can find more info on BMP & Laura, but not Kelsey.)  I keep searching, but the mystery continues.  I guess I deserve it — I always did love a good mystery, and they are so hard to find!

Sue

Since Patrick asked the question on my blog, why have an appraisal done on a gift quilt, I thought I would address the question here also. 

Here is an appraiser’s site to check out, and she lists a number of reasons for having an appraisal done.  (She isn’t local, but they all seem to have the same list and info.)

I have appointments to have two quilts appraised at the Minnesota Quilt Show in Duluth in June:  Pat & Patrick’s Irish Chain, as well as a star kaleidoscope quilt I am donating to our church for a raffle.  The reason for an appraisal on the second quilt is obvious — for tax purposes.  But why for a gift? 

My original plan was and is to tuck the appraisal into a sealed envelope and give it with the quilt.  It would be up to them if they wanted to open the envelope or just file it away or toss it into a fire (the envelope, not the quilt!).  It makes no difference to me. 

Patrick asked if it was necessary.  Of course not, so maybe they will take the fire option (VBG!).  It will still be interesting to me to see what a trained, certified appraiser thinks of my best work.

It has been pointed out to me fairly recently that quilts with special meaning tend to have more “value” (however you want to define it; I’m thinking mostly monetary value for this post).  I think this quilt will have some unique family value (of course, I am a little biased).  Patrick is of Irish ancestry, Pat is 25% Irish; they were married last year on St. Patrick’s Day; this quilt is pieced in the Irish Chain pattern.  I mean, how special can you get???  I am still mulling over how I’m going to quilt it, and any longarmer knows how that goes.  The quilt has to “speak” to you.  I have a couple of Irish-influenced ideas in mind, though I dislike using templates and have been working on a freehand plan.  I have purchased special thread, and the Irish Chain is waiting to get pinned onto Elvis.  Then I will put on some Irish music (no, I won’t — maybe some bluegrass, or maybe some real Elvis).  Of course, a label documenting the quilt will need to be made and applied, then the whole thing bound.

And because it’s a gift, no further pictures or updates until it’s gifted.

Sue