COUSINS AND SOME PROJECTS WORKED ON

 Saturday was a very busy day.  DS#3/DIL were scheduled to run in a marathon, but since Eli was sick, only DS ran.  Jonah stayed with us for the day and Abby, her Mom, Jonah and I went to a local park where the kids had a blast.  They literally ran the whole time the were there (just about).  Four year olds seem to have unending energy!

A snack to replenish the energy!

Walking to the car together.

 Jonah spent the night in our camper and played with some toys that he hadn't seen before, such as the marble maze below.  That has always been a real hit with the grandkids!  You put the marble in the top and it rolls down through all the curves, bridges and bumps to the bottom.

Uncle Sam is always fun too.  You put your penny in Uncle Sam's hand and when you press the button, Uncle Sam's hand drops the penny in his satchel.  In this bank, you can retrieve the pennies to do it all over again.  It's a heavy metal replica of an antique toy/bank.
 

Pressing the button for Uncle Sam.

 I have been sewing every day.  Some things I'm not showing on this blog, so it doesn't seem like much.  I was able to finish this panel from the Winter Wonderland pattern.  Two panels down and one to go, then they will get set into a quilted wall hanging.

Close-up of the left side.

Close-up of the right side.

I worked on the appliqué pieces for this wall hanging, which I am making two of, and had hoped to get them all ironed on, but decided I better wait until I get home to iron them on the background because the iron I have in the camper has some gunk stuck on it and I don't have a pressing cloth with me.  All the pieces are ready, though and they will be machine appliquéd when I get around to it.  The wall hanging was so cute when I saw it at the LQS that I just couldn't resist!

We will be back home in about a week.  Yea!!  We're ready to get back to normal living again.  I think I'll work on a UFO list and maybe set some goals for 2013.  I'm afraid it will be a long list!  

THRIFT SHOP FINDS

My DIL took me to a couple of our favorite thrift shops yesterday and I found some lace with pink ribbon running through it for only $2.99 - over 4 yards of it!  Perfect for certain princess outfits!

I also found a piece of fabric for $1.  It looks like men's shirting fabric and I can probably use it to back a quilt.  It is bluer than it appears in this picture.

I think the lace will work on the princess skirt.

 I decided to put velcro on the waistband to make it easier for little princesses to put it on and off by themselves.

I also had plenty of fabric to take a couple tucks which can be let out in the future in case the little princesses grow - and still want to wear it.

I like the way the lace makes the skirt fancier.  I had planned to take these home with me as I have ooddles of lace there, but now I won't have to.

I'm almost finished with the top and hope to get a picture of the completed outfit being modeled by the sometimes camera shy princess soon.

Now I can get back to my quilting projects.

SEWING FOR A PRINCESS

My DIL bought Abby a princess dress for her birthday, but the princess wasn't happy with it as it scratched her delicate skin.  So, I thought maybe I could make her a dress that didn't scratch.  I looked at a bunch of patterns, but they were pretty complicated.  I thought maybe if she had a decorated T-shirt and it was tucked in the skirt, the shirt would protect the delicate skin from any scratchiness.  So to JoAnn's I went.  While there I purchased 2 yards of some wide sheer glistening stuff.  I also saw some stretchy soft fabric that I thought might be a good top - that I could make plenty long enough so it wouldn't come out of the skirt.

Sheer glistening skirt fabric

Fabric partially made into top

I'm going to have her try on the shirt before I sew up the sides to make sure it fits OK.

Chair modeling skirt

The fancy appliqué on the shirt top was found at a thrift shop for 50 cents and the net type fabric around the waist was a remnant.  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it.

And, why make one when you can make two while you are at it?  So, I'm making 2 skirts so that if a friend comes over, she can at least have a princess skirt to wear.  The tucks in the skirt can be let down if the princess grows a lot.

BTW, two of my blogging friends that wanted to be able to see my "secret" blog don't have an email on their blog that I can access, so if you want to be in on secret blog, I will need your email address.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Whether you went to bed early (like me) or late; got up early (like me) or late, I hope you are having a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The last few days have been spent with Abby.   In this picture, we are both looking at videos on our computer.  She loves to see videos of Jonah, Eli and herself - I do too.

Yesterday was a really nice day to go to the park.

I have been doing some sewing early in the mornings and have started a new "Secret" blog so that I can post items that I don't want certain people to see.  So, if you do want to be able to see my secret blog, just let me know and I will add you to the list.

VISITING IN THE CAMPER

Christmas Day DS had to work at the hospital, so we had our DIL and GD Abby over to the camper for lunch.  We had celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve.  

Abby lining up the tiny wise men and shepherds.

Reading Abby's favorite book about Vera being sick.

I worked on my 4 3/4" log cabin blocks.

32 blocks added to the ones I have at home.  I think I have about 200 of them.

Tomorrow is a big day for Abby - her 4th birthday.  She is very excited!  We plan to go to the zoo and then have a little family party.  Hopefully, it won't be too cold.

Have you had any time to sew this week?

CIVIL WAR BLOCK IN BOOK!

Did anyone read the Civil War Quilts blog  by Barbara Brackman today?  Well, I got up early as usual and was reading some blogs and CWQ came up with a new post, so I was reading along, and Country Log Cabin was mentioned!!  I looked more closely and there was my block on one of the pages of the book.  Yes, a picture of one of the blocks that I made!  She said that she mailed a free book to each of the people whose block appeared in the book, but I haven't received it yet.  I don't know if she even has my address.

If you scroll down on that blog to the paragraph that starts with "Amazingly enough" my block is in the picture right above that and mine is the block on top.  You can see where I blogged about that block here.

Today we continue on our journey to our designation where Abby will be waiting.

NOT MUCH TO REPORT

My oldest GS likes to wear bow ties (he's 17) and I made him one last month to see how he liked it and what other colors he might like.  When I went to a fabric outlet, I bought some red and green silk.  Here is the red silk with the tie pattern pinned onto it.  That is all I have in the way of pictures - I forgot to take a picture of the finished tie before I mailed it off to him as I was in a hurry to get it in the mail in case  he wanted to wear it during the Christmas season.

As to my short list.  I have completed all but one of the items and the one I didn't complete is almost there, so I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished.  Number 6 is the culprit - the applique top for my DIL.  I decided I needed to double check with her about the size before I sew it all together.  I have most of the appliqué done, but will still need to add a few more flowers and quite a few more leaves.  I'm doing the appliqué by machine.

We will be visiting 2 of our sons and their families over the holidays.  I hope most of you will be able to spend time with family during this special season where we celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord.

FINISHED AUSTRALIAN QUILT

I just finished my Australian Quilt - so named because I received the fabrics from Leanne in Tasmania, Australia.  I think it was a few years ago and I Finally got around to making a quilt with them.  It is a good sized lap quilt and I plan to use it on the couch of our camper when we go out, but will keep it at home when we are home.

The green on the backing does not correspond to the borders on the front, but I think you can see the quilting better.

I actually had fun quilting the borders!!  Now there's only one thing on my short list!

My quilting guild had a pot luck on Monday night along with an ornament exchange.  I was the lucky one to win this unique pincushion, which I think is actually a doorknob hanger.  The lady is wearing a pincushion!   I love her knees and hair.

Blogger made this picture revert to the uncropped and sideways version.

Well, we're getting closer and closer to Christmas and I need to get some more baking done.  DH and I are going to Love's this afternoon to see her decorations.  Tomorrow is a pot luck at church and then I will devote myself to finishing up Christmas preparations. 

MORE FINISHES FROM MY SHORT LIST

I finished two more items from my short list.  I like crossing things off my list!

Ornaments for Jonah, Eli and Abby.

Stuffed Batik fish for Eli and Jonah.

Ornaments for older grandchildren and sons/DILs.  

The sawtooth star ornaments are double sided so when the twist, you will still see a star.  Each side is different, though.

QUILTER'S CHRISTMAS PARTY

Today is the Quilter's Christmas Party put on by SewCalGal and we are supposed to tell something about ourselves.  I have been blogging about quilting for 5 years now and my blog has been mostly about that, because that's what I started it for.  But, lately I have been lucky enough to become involved in a very special family.

First, I will backtrack a little.  Years ago my DH and I were missionaries in Colombia, South America and our boys had a particular science teacher while we were there.  That science teacher and his wife had a little girl named Carrie.  Carrie grew up and married Gavin Jones.  They became missionaries in New Guinea, where Gavin is a helicopter pilot and Carrie is a public health worker.

About six months ago, another friend of mine asked me if I had heard that the Jones couple were expecting quintuplets and I hadn't, so she directed me to their blog.  I started following their blog and when they asked for volunteers to help with the babies, and since I love babies, I sent in my name.  (Besides, I'm a grandma with no baby to rock as they live too far away!)  The Jones'  live just 5 minutes from me and I am going there once a week to help with the babies.  For me, it is fun and I'm very happy to be able to help in a small way.

You can visit their blog to find out all about them.  The quintuplets have an older brother who is 8 years old, so they went from 1 boy to 4 boys and 2 girls!  Can you imagine???

Gavin and Carrie holding 4 of the babies.  One baby, Seth, is still in the hospital.

David and Will

Seth - he needs extra treatment for his lungs.

Marcie and Grace

 If you go visit their blog, you can find out more about their work and the daily life of a family with quintuplets.  It is quite a challenge and they need our prayers for strength in the every day challenges that most parents face - times 5!

One last picture of Grace that is so cute:

Gracie showing off her head bow and her cannula: "This is my cannula and I am not ashamed!"
She had an excellent pulmonologist report, praise God, and we are starting to decrease her time on oxygen each day.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions started when I was a child.  My grandmother and aunt would make lefse every year - a Norwegian potato pancake that you put butter and sugar on and roll up.  I got the recipe from them when I was in high school.  When I got married, I started making it myself and although I can't say that I made it every year, I probably did make it the majority of them.  I have already made some and it is safely in the freezer for Christmas Eve.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and remember the One whose birth we are commemorating.

DECEMBER FMQ CHALLENGE

The last lesson in the FMQ challenge is by Patsy Thompson and it is on borders.  This is a really helpful lesson and the video is so good!  We had to practice 5 different borders on a whole cloth.  Below is my practice piece.  Each border  (which are kind of hard to see - sorry) is different and the first 2 from the middle out, are only 1/2" wide.  Then there are 2 one inch borders and the final feather border is 2".

Luckily, I had a quilt ready and it has 3 borders, so it was perfect to use some of the ideas for it.  The yellow and brown borders are each 1 1/2" wide and the final wide border is 4 1/2" wide.  Patsy's video covered the instructions on how to do a feathered border.  She is such a good teacher and it was pretty easy to do.

This picture shows the borders from a different angle as well as some of the blocks.  The center blocks are done in an overall pattern.

Here is a view of the overall pattern on the back.

Another view of the back.

This view of the front shows the yellow border a little better.  I used a variegated thread for the yellow and final border.  The rest of the quilting was done with Essential Pro in Cocoa.  I used Essential Pro Natural on the bottom.  I still have the long sides to quilt and when it is all quilted and bound I will take a picture of the whole quilt.

I am lacking two months of the challenge and I have decided not to make them up due to lack of time.  I do want to thank SewCalGal for hosting the challenge, and all the quilting experts that shared their expertise with us.  It has been a huge help to me.

CLIFTON, TEXAS, A NORWEGIAN COUNTRY CHRISTMAS TOUR

Yesterday DH and I went to Clifton for the Norwegian Country Christmas Tour.  The tour included a quilt show, some decorated homes and a historic house and church.  Since my ancestors are from Norway, anything about Norwegians coming to the USA is interesting to me.  My relatives settled in Minnesota and Chicago.

The quilt show was small, but there were some beautiful quilts there.  No names of makers were given, but I especially liked these three.

The Ringness House Museum is a partially restored house built in 1859.

I love the quilt on this bed.

The grandmother's flower garden quilt is over 100 years old.

Fireplace in the Ringness home.

I had to put in the picture of the flags blowing in the wind!

St. Olaf Church, also referred to as the  Rock Church, was built in 1886.

The weather was unseasonable warm and extremely windy, but it was a beautiful day.  No progress on my short list was accomplished yesterday, but it was inspiring to see the homes decorated for Christmas.  It makes me wish I had more decorations put up than I do!  Have you put up your Christmas decorations yet?