Holly & Berries Christmas rag quilt

So, back in October I sketched a little design for a Christmas rag quilt.

My sister and I
went shopping for fabrics, and after she cut out tons of holly leaves and berries, we got together to make a quilt.


Two sewing machines on my table!  What fun!  As we began this project, she looked at me and said, “You realize that a lot is at stake here, don’t you.  If this doesn’t work, I’ll probably never try making a quilt again.”

Yes, I realized that a lot was at stake.

So, we took a deep breath and began!  Here are the first two holly leaves.


Add the berries, and we’re liking it!


And so it began.  A day of sewing with my sister.  It was a really fun day, as the quilt slowly began to take shape, one block at a time.
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I think she’s having fun.  I hope so.


After quilting every piece, we laid them all out.
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Here’s Kristen holding the first finished row:


Right about now I realized I’d made a mistake in my math when I drew the pattern out, and we made an adjustment so it would still work.  Then we sewed the rows together, and here it is!




It was time for Kristen and Jake to head home, so she took the quilt minus the borders and finished it at home.
She just sent pictures of the finished product, with borders, all snipped and washed and snuggly.


I think it’s so cute.  I love the way the holly leaves and berries turned out, and I hope that she likes it.  It was a fun project to do together.

So here’s the big question:  Will she ever make another quilt?

I know I will.  I might make one of these!

Handmade Christmas Cards

There’s something fun about the stacks of paper and supplies that I always have when I’m making my Christmas cards.


Blue cardstock, strips of old sheet music found at the thrift store, green tags cut with my current favorite paper punch and stamped with a design and a greeting, a large stack of pictures of my (somewhat) supportive children, and smaller tags punched from the sheet music with our names on it.


The letter is written (short and sweet!)


Last year my pregnancy hit me hard at the beginning of December, along with another crisis in our lives.
I was so exhausted I was afraid of falling asleep at the wheel on the way to and from school!
I mailed my cards at the end of January.  That’s not going to happen this year!  I’m determined to get these cards done and mailed before I start other Christmas projects.

Progress…


progress…


progress… (note the change in lighting, now we’re working late at night) DONE!

Here’s the final product:


Hooray!  Most of them are mailed.  I just have to pick up a few more postage stamps and track down a handful of addresses, and then they’re REALLY done.

Meanwhile, Merry Christmas to you!

A Post-Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving means so many things to me…
A day of baking pies, the smell of turkey cooking…
Gathering with family, the table set in anticipation of the feast.




Some of our Thanksgiving pennies scattered on the tables…


But all these things are really just reminders, symbols, of the abundance we enjoy.
Life, health, opportunity, freedom, sacrifice, and people.

It’s wonderful to have people you love gathered in your home.  My husband’s brother and his family joined us.


And his  sister and her family came from San Diego to be with us.


It was a wonderful, enjoyable day, complete with the sounds of happy children playing after the meal.

I must say, though, that there is one more thing that Thanksgiving means to me:
Turkey sandwiches!


The day after Thanksgiving, at our house, is not about Black Friday but about enjoying the lingering feeling of the holiday.  Turkey sandwiches are the best!

The long list of preparations prevented me from posting in advance about the blessings I am thankful for.
This is probably just as well, because I’d have to revise my list anyway.

Today, hot water tops my list of things I’m thankful for.
Sometime during the evening of Thanksgiving, the thermostat on our water heater decided to quit.
Don’t worry, the manufacturer said.  It’s under warranty, we’ll overnight you a new one…..

on MONDAY!

Hmmmm.  That means we receive it on Tuesday.  It adds up to at least five days without hot water.
Yesterday when I took a 2.5 minute shower and my feet were numb from standing in the ice cold water, I realized that I’ve never been so thankful for the blessing of hot water.

Today we’re getting smarter.  Boiling water on the stove, carrying pots upstairs to mix with the freezing water from the faucet… you get the picture.

I’ll tell you what YOU can be thankful for:  that you’re not the one trying to bathe 8 children for Church in the morning!
(We’ll just say it’s been interesting.)  We’re thankful for electricity and  a furnace that hasn’t quit on us as well!

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