For Special Friends

These are the ornaments I made this year for friends. The fabric is from a line by Diane Knott from several years ago and the tutorial for the ornaments is here. You can see the ones I made in past years by clicking here and here.

Two for the Price of One

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will hold out today for my guild's annual holiday party. We usually have a wonderful dinner and then a fun fat quarter gift exchange. Often times the wrapping is just as nice as the fat quarters inside, and with every year, more and more of our guild members make reusable bags for the event. This year I made a drawstring bag based on this tutorial, using the two fat quarters that I received in last year's exchange. If you want to see what I brought last year, check this post.

Just A Little Thank You

This is a postcard I recently sent to Karen Griska of Selvage Blog to thank her for picking me as a winner in one of her recent giveaways. I'm hoping it has arrived in her mailbox already.

Thanks again, Karen!

God Bless Us Every One

My guild does a lot of charity quilting throughout the year. We often give the finished projects to Project Linus, but this batch will be going directly to a local shelter for abused parents and children in time for Christmas. To see some of my blog posts on the progress of some of these quilts, click here, here, and here.

Thanks to the generosity of guild members who donated fabric and/or their time, some local residents will hopefully have a little bit to smile about this holiday season....

Best Dressed Wine

My husband and I and a couple of friends enjoyed a "Barrel Tasting" event at Keuka Spring Vineyard up near Penn Yan, NY this past weekend (about an hour and a half drive from home). One of the displays of gift items included "bottle vests" for those who like to make sure their wines are well-dressed. There was a basket filled with vests made from all sorts of fabrics, from patriotic to Christmas themes. Interesting way to use up scraps!

During the tasting, we got to sample some prize-winning wines along with getting a chance to try some that are still "cooking" in the barrels. It was very interesting comparing the wines that are "ready" with those that are not. We then got to try mixing our own blends, both of the whites and the reds.

After the tasting, we enjoyed a wonderful spread of delicious appetizers. I was so busy eating that I forgot to take a picture. Oh well, trust me, the food was very good, too.

The Christmas Season Has Begun

I am a person who insists that no Christmas decorating begin in my house until the Thanksgiving weekend is over. Thanksgiving is an important holiday and it shouldn't be overshadowed by what comes a month later. It bothers me to no end that I start hearing Christmas music in the stores in September and see Christmas things in the stores way too early in the year. The commercialization of Christmas gets me madder and madder every year.

That being said, I do like to put a few things around my house for the season. Most of them are things that I've had for years or things that my dear friends and family have given or made for me in years gone by. Or things that I've made myself, such as this cube tissue box cover.

I think I'll get these out next.

Always Time for Hexagons

Like I said in my previous post, I haven't been doing too much stitching lately, but I did manage to put this little hexie ornament together over the weekend. The back has the fabrics in reverse (green on the outside, cream in the center) and it's puffed up a bit with some polyfill stuffing.