Three Free Patterns, Scandinavian Christmas Hanging, Walt Disney Cartoons

  Time is short; I can no longer afford to just drift. That is my mantra these days. Though in honesty I don't think I ever just drifted...I remember too much of it all, conversations for instance and my feelings during those conversations. No I have to think I was fully present, putting in lots of effort and responsible for whatever happened or didn't happen, whatever words came out of my mouth, whatever got done or got lost along the way, etc.  And now suddenly it's yet another December and hopefully bringing with it a wonderful gift- my 71st Christmas! Life, it goes on, heh.

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color's prompt this week was to think of a Christmas movie that is a favourite. Two things I just loved growing up -the Walt Disney Show and cartoons. I made a vow when I was 9 or 10 to always love cartoons no matter how old I got (they truly were more innocent times!). I watched the Walt Disney Christmas cartoons as a kid, my girls watched them and I was so happy to find them on YouTube and share them with my grandsons. The production values were so good they stand the test of time.  BTW, do you have a Christmas movie I should check out?

 Someone mentioned the neat wooden wall I showed inadvertently in This post. Our whole house is wooden but with the flat logs not round. When I came across this photo of Tony holding up the Scandinavian Christmas hanging,  I realized it shows what it looks like here in part of the main room. It is a very high ceiling so we have a lot of cubic space.  Lynette Anderson Designs for a link to the hanging.

And that is Rex, our German Shepherd, the most loyal dog I've ever had. 

Below, a close up photo of the appliqued snowmen block. What an enjoyable project that was!

Thursday's Three Free

One link this week but it's a doozy!

We All Sew offers a bank of 139 free patterns called Red and White Holiday Decor (though other colours are included). This is the Bernina site and there is so much to explore there.  There are tutorials and templates provided to sew pin cushions, place mats, ornaments, quilts and just about anything else that comes to mind. Here is a smattering...

Vintage ornaments seem to be a modern theme this year.

This one is called the Fair Isle Pillow.

Of course, Dresdens caught my eye. This is called Peppermint Candy.

You'll have to check it out yourself. But at your own risk because I'm pretty sure you will find something you would love to sew. :D

And for my slow stitching pals, comes this bank of free hand embroidery patterns found at this link-  Needlework Craft Gossip.

Someone is watching me. Present day dog, Ned, keeping watch, resting his head on the coffee table wants another walk so must go. Silent imploring, LOL.

Hope your December is off to a marvelous start!

Happy to be linking with Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Kathy's Quilts, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Applique Quilting Patchwork.

Pre Christmas Preparations, Projects of Christmas Past

Lots of dillydallying going on here this morning...and coming right on the heels of the lollygagging mentioned in the last post. We had snow again but rain has wiped it out...again. Such strange weather so far this winter.  Meanwhile  I'm lingering here at the computer just writing away which is not an awful thing as sometimes my blog/writing ideas come to me in spurts and I can get a number of ideas recorded to be fleshed out later.

The whole place needs a good scrub...two old people, two big dogs. Fridge needs some deep diving cleaning attention too.  I'm still so happy we bought a new stand up freezer when we moved here. I could literally hug it...oh how I hated trying to clean out the old majorly deep box that was a freezer at the farm.

 Grandson loved the way the lights puddled more at the bottom of the tree. When I see that now, I think of him.

We had a grand day together and he really is a help and ever so careful unwrapping the ornaments. He also was instrumental in putting together this little tree for the tv room.  He figured out how the stand should go when it was totally stumping Nana because he looked in the box and saw it on the
"structions". :)
tr
 Here he is taking a break in his hidey nook behind my stitching chair and eating his fairy bread.  At least it is whole grain, :)

I've stitched two strip borders on the Santa Snowman piece and hand quilted it this way.

 Thought I would mimic the cross stitches with a little motif.  I have the backing material picked out so it will be a cushion top very soon.

When I opened my little Christmas fabric box, I found the fabric I had bought in a bundle from the thrift store. There was more of this particular line than I thought, unfortunately cut into shapes.  While metallic designs are not what I would buy, it is beautiful fabric. The best I've seen. Tried to find a name and it seems to be a Moda line, Robert Kaufman, Holiday Flourish perhaps.

  So too pretty to give back to a thrift store, I set about using some of it.  With some tricky strip stitching and cutting, I came up with this piece that I'm making into a little table topper.

This was fun to work on and I wondered for the umpteenth time why small projects don't appeal to me.

Meanwhile time for the hangings of Christmas past to come out.  Here is Scandinavian Christmas I finished last year. Funny, I see it now and I think it's okay...I'm not as focused on the little problems I might have had during the stitching.

While I was flirting with being in the woods after dark one day, I was rewarded with a glimpse of this fellow.  The resident Barred Owl and so happy to know they are still around. I hadn't seen one since July when he had flown across my path on route to the pond.

Sadly I don't have the equipment required to get a good photo in such light conditions.  But it gave me a thrill to watch him just the same. I soon skedaddled though because there is something about the woods in the dark...Hubby lived at the old farm for over 40 years and had never once set foot on the trails after dark.  I did venture a little distance a couple of times trying to capture stars with tree tops.  At the very least, there were lots of skunks there and that's something you really don't want to surprise.
I hope your pre Christmas preparations are moving along.  I'm reading about some great cookie baking happening and secret gifts being sewn. Such a wonderful and fun time of the year.
So fun to link with Not Afraid of Color, Quilt Fabrication, It's a Small Town Life, For the Love of Geese, The Inquiring Quilter, My Quilt Infatuation and Paying Ready Attention.

Aurifil News, Shoe Box Quilting, Strings, Scandinavian Christmas Finish

Whenever one of us laments the doing of nothing and the passing of a morning with not an iota of work to show for it, the other will remind him/her this is what retirement is about. I didn't know Hubby in his work life, but I can tell he was focused and hard working. He has earned the right to sit back and let time run away some mornings. And he is less than half a year away from 80 which probably earns him extra resting rights. ☺

No Guilt-Just Quilt

Snow and more snow. I'm reading blogs where many of you are talking about snow, namely how much we seem to be getting this year.  Stitchers and snow days seem to go together.  Working on a project is the perfect way to pass a bad weather day.
 I have a mental picture of you swaddled in comfy clothes, in pet chairs, a cup of some hot beverage at hand's reach, stitching away all the while snow flakes are flying past the window.
 Likewise, I imagine my friends in the Southern Hemisphere in light summer clothes, fanning yourself on a veranda, sipping something with ice floating in it. Lucky dogs either way!

A little good news relating to us sewists.
 After much research, the folks at Aurifil have chosen to link with The Plastic Bank, a social action group headquartered in Canada that works at cleaning up the oceans, specifically the removal of plastic.  As a result of their contribution, Aurifil is now a plastic neutral company.  You can read about it here...Aurifil Auribuzz ..  Meanwhile I didn't know Aurifil was producing 6 strand embroidery floss available in all 270 of their colours.


When I looked through my totes last week, I have strings it seems. I guess you needn't be quilting long to build up a pile.  I've filled a number of shoe boxes with various sized remnants. Sorting required!

After sizing them up, I seemed to have a lot in blues, probably thanks to a couple of Hubby's old shirts. I remember sewing a few of these wonky log cabin type blocks back years ago and tucking them away.  A bit of digging unearthed that small pile and also one lap sized quilt already sewn together. Forgotten.

I was giving my small sewing machine a little tuneup and wanted to try it out so I stitched this many blocks in the style of the former blocks on impulse. It's really fun to sew like that...the result is abstract and interesting though out of my comfort zone.  I wonder will I bring this to some kind of finished state this winter.

So Next Christmas It Is Then
I am so glad to have been able to meet my Elm Street Quilts OMG for January. Both of my stated goals are completed.  The OMG deadline got me through this Scandinavian Christmas piece.  After getting sidelined with the blocks above, I made myself switch to stitching the binding on this piece right at the last minute almost. Of course, now I'm jubilant this is finished.  And happy my hand stitching and quilting held up throughout all the mauling.

I am liking a new to me author recommended by a friend.  Rachel Cusk  I'm intrigued by her style of writing and am halfway through reading Outline as an ebook from the library.  It's the most interesting writing I've read in a while.

 I've been shoveling every day keeping pace with the snowfall.  All good; I'm being real careful with how I'm handling it.
Hope you are staying warm and safe or cool and safe where ever you are!
As always linking up with Not Afraid of Color and other folks finding lots of things to like on a Thursday. Joining the linky parties at My Quilt Infatuation, Free Motion By the River, Em's Scrapbag, Quilt Fabrication, and Esther's Quilt Blog.

Enrolled in Finishing school

"Wisdom comes with winters," said Oscar Wilde.

Here I am another winter on my hands and hopeful the wisdom continues to mount, LOL.
Frozen over now, we walk across the wet land area and I think of the frogs that caused such a racket there all spring and summer. How deep in the mud have they had to sink to survive this, I wonder.

Taken at our pond at the height of last summer before Miss Heron sauntered through!

There is a lot of sharpness in the woods...all the trees deleafed and all their bits sticking out. Hubby leading our little family on our walk took a full body fall recently. Without a chance to put out his hands, his chest took his weight. He was creeping around painful when he had to turn or twist but we are both counting our lucky stars he didn't break anything and is all better now.
It will happen- the falling down, the getting up.  Which is really like a metaphor for life isn't it. We fall down, we get up. We have to do this. Just like in the coming new year, we know for sure there will be the good days interspersed with bad days and even on those bad days we put one foot in front of the other.
  Hopefully a lot more of the good ahead for us and the people we know and love.
 My wish for all you reading this will be that then... a 2019 overflowing with goodness.

Here is something that always makes me smile, such a happy Jack Frost, designed by Kathy Schmitz.  This is the January block from my A Patchwork Year.

Meanwhile, I am serious about starting Finishing School.  First up is finishing the Hand Quilting on this piece, the Kathleen Tracey Mystery Friendship quilt. Fingers a bit sore but managing.  I've been using painters tape to help with straight lines.
Need work still on the eveness of the stitches showing on the back.  Part of me says not to fret while another part wants those to be as even as the front. Then to the binding. Part 1 of my OMG for January as declared at Elm Street Quilts.

And Part 2 of my OMG....Just have the binding to sew on this one. YES to finally getting Lynette Anderson's Scandinavian Christmas finished. Then I just might hang it up even though Christms is over. In fairness to me, I could not find a fabric for the binding and was late last year when I did. But really, many months have elapsed since so there is no logical explanation why this piece that I love and put so much work into was allowed to languish unfinished.

So I have my work cut out for me which is good...goals are good.
  The sun may be low but I fancy it is strengthening and the days are longer by just a bit. Here is that low winter sun setting on Friday just behind the house. (BTW, did anyone else watch that series Low Winter Sun...we enjoyed it.)

The happiest of New Years to you all!
Linking this post with  Kathy's Quilts,  The Quilting Jetgirl, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Esther's Quilt Blog, Free Motion By the River and Sew Can She.

Celebrating My Year in Stitches

At Walmart, no one in Christmas finery except the greeter who is wearing a Santa hat and calling out Merry Christmas to everyone coming through the door; there I am too.  Actually I'm wearing my red sweater but it doesn't show bundled as I am in my down winter coat.
 Last minute shopping...some chocolate treats specifically ( I like the Russell Stover Whitman's Sampler for little gifts) and I don't mind at all being there.  There's a real hustle and bustle to the place on the eve of Christmas Eve, a certain excitement that I don't want to miss.  After all, excitement as such is kind of sparse in my retired adult life, so I will enjoy it where I find it even if it is the local Walmart. LOL

I hope your Eves went well as we close the days to the special one on the horizon . To think a new year is this close to rising boggles my little mind.

But before the new, a quick glance back at the old.

An invitation went out from Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs to write a new post highlighting any number of things that were great about 2018, including the suggestion to write about stitching finishes.



Since my blog is part journal,what a good idea for me to take stock of the stitching side of things and write about what was finished, halfway quilted and still a sad flimsy on a shelf.  But no, I shouldn't say sad as I'm not a bit discouraged to see what needs to be finished, I know I will get to it.

This one below was just finished in the nick of time.  I called it Scandinavian Redwork with no pattern for the quilting finish when it was begun.  I traced some of Zeena Shah's drawings from her Scandinavian Coloring Book and embroidered them with DMC floss.  Her book is available  here at the Book Outlet and at the end, I thought hearts made a suitable border.

This is my version of Edyta Sitar's Pumpkins pattern found at the marvelous Laundry Basket Quilts.
A great applique project and it did get bound and hung on the wall as glimpsed in the photo above.  I want to get her umbrella pattern to make a similar kind of quilt.

I loved embroidering this Leane Beasley pattern, Sew Laugh Love  from Leanne's House.  It hangs in my sewing room and while I'm not laughing all the time, I'm definitely loving (almost) all the sewing taking place there.

I wanted to work on something fun and brightly coloured and found lots of basket inspiration around the net.   I enjoyed displaying this one for the summer months.

I found this pattern in my files, a page torn from an old magazine so I can't credit the designer.  I use this as a little mat on a table in the entry.  I experimented with the hand quilting...fun.

These next projects are in the queue acquiring some quilting lines...

This is In the Garden of Contentment from the talented Allie at Allie Oops Design. It was a free Stitch Along and I loved making six of these pretty blocks.

This panel features Bob Fair's painting called After the Snow, a nostalgic looking piece.  I am trying to quilt by hand and machine.  I enjoyed the process of choosing a block for the border and liked the way the small diamond shaped blocks worked out.

Needing quilting
 The Indigo Snowballs- sigh, love this but it is so big!

Painted Lady by Laura Heine- so colourful to work with and stitching wool was surpisingly easy; the pattern is now on a little discount at Mad About Patchwork. Laura's site is Fibre Works and I visit it regularly to find inspiration.

This large block below was the free mystery project this year offered as a Stitch Along by Kathleen Tracey at CountryLane Quilts. Kathleen designs beautiful small quilts.  I struggled with getting the piecing straight and had to unsew a lot but learned as I went.  

Featuring my bank of projects like this has shown me one thing... as much as I love cloth, the way I like best to put it together is in combinations involving applique and embroidery.  

I know my projects are nothing like the gorgeous quilting I love to see over and over at your blogs.  I dream of a Brinton Hall or a Dear Jane quilt, for instance. Who knows, maybe someday!

Meanwhile, I am thankful for three things...my fingers that still can stitch, my continued pleasure in this great pastime of ours, and all of you in the blogging world sharing your work and inspiring me!
Happily linking with Not Afraid of Color, Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication, and The Inquiring Quilter.

Scandinavian Christmas Finish and Me

There is an apex of housework that involves having everything in the house clean at the same time, where it just doesn't get any better than that.  The clothes laundered, the dishwasher cleared, the floors mopped, dusting done, the bed changed, etc. ...dare I admit this only happens a few times a year for me these days.  Christmas time is one of them.
So I sit here in my as clean as it can be with two big dogs living area and slow cooker chicken and chick pea dinner starting to smell up the place in a good way, and write to you.
We've had a spate of Crazy weather with rainfall warnings that materialized in huge downpours, freezing rain warnings and then all quiet with a fresh blanket of snow covering everything. All confounding but certainly make for interesting walks.  Cleats on our boots these days because we never know what we will find underfoot.

But looking up so happy to see this fellow, a Barred Owl, not once but twice lately.  Always in the same area of the woods where the very tall deciduous trees are now bare and yet he blends in still surprisingly well.  This was just prior to dusk and the photo shows like a black and white because of it.  I wonder is there any way to identify this owl as the same one we have been glimpsing since we came here two years ago.

I got Hubby to take this photo of me yesterday.

Pleased with this little hanging and especially happy to have it all done. I could say the hearts are appropriate because there is so much in this hanging that I love- embroidery, redwork, Scandinavian themes, and hand quilting.  Finally, I actually finish an Elm Street Quilts OMG as stated!
 Have a couple of other things to show you later on, because of course, being me, the fingers have been busy.  But that can wait.

Now it is time to visit your blogs and say some personal Christmas hellos.
I sincerely hope this Christmas is glorious for you in all manner of ways.

Wonderful to link with Kathy's Quilts, So Scrappy, Viewing Nature With Eileen,  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts,  Alycia Quilts, Silly Mama Quilts, Free Motion By the River and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Tree Buntings, Dacquoise Cake, December Walks

I'm starting to dawdle more in the mornings.
 Last September marked the first day of my life that I did not have to set an alarm for either morning of the week.  No babysitting in the mornings any more. So gradually I've embraced this and turned it into an excuse to have a second cup of coffee and keep reading, googling, etc. A case where I look up and it's already after ten and I get a little start like I'm supposed to be somewhere and have forgotten about it.  I've already talked about being pathologically punctual so being late for anything is a fear of mine.
Another phase of life for me. Something that mattered so much doesn't matter any more.  Where ever I'm going these days, the timing of it is more or less fluid.  So relax, Jocelyn, relax.

I joined Daughter and younger grandson on a nature walk in a nearby park area last Sunday...the only sunny day in a long while.  Glorious!  Abby, their Black Lab, joined us and had a ball retreiving sticks. She was relentless; I don't think she would give up till she physically dropped.  We noted one very tiny nest and one large one that Robbie said must be a raven's. I think that was a good guess.

Rosy cheeks and snow angels- very Canadian!

  

Little boy in a tall wood

I just love trees and they are everywhere you look with the Christmas season in full swing.  This is too cute...a wonderful tutorial on tiny trees for decoration or a bunting from Svetlana at s.o.t.a.k. handmade. Another great stash project too.

                             
Did you see this tree pattern at Amanda Jean's Craftsy Shop? I was sorry to read that Amanda is ending blogging at Crazy Mama Quilts but is off to explore new adventures, I'm sure.  I liked how, though it was her business, Amanda's posts were not inundated with sponsors' ads popping up.

                                  
And a photo of our tree.  I'd been making do with old lights and decided on new ones for this year and multicoloured too.  There are 200 on this 6 foot tree.  On the mantle are the Ikea squirrel lights and the santas are in full view on the sofa table this year..

And I made the Dacquoise cake.
At the last minute, I had a hankering for an old fashioned sponge cake for the layers instead of chocolate.  I baked three of them to use and they were good enough to eat without the meringue layers.  However, the three meringue layers do add a slightly crunchy texture and more flavouring.
But next time I'm cake making, it will just be the sponge with some fruit and cream which suits me fine.  Anyway, here is my very tall December version of a Dacquoise cake.  Leaning ever so slightly and not exact sizes of layers which would cost me presentation points on one of those baking shows.

The recipe for theVictoria Sandwich sponge cake is Mary Berry's  so you know it is good.  Very difficult to cut small pieces of this, I tell you.
 A last look...my alterations have been made...cornerstones added, red blocks switched out and an extra star embroidered for the hare.  Going to be smoothed out and made into a quilt sandwich today.

The count down is on in earnest!
Lots of Thursday Thankful things to see and read at Not Afraid of Color.
Also linking this post with Sew Fresh Quilts, My Quilt Infatuation, It's a Small Town LIfe, Brian's Home Blog, Our World Tuesday and Quilt Fabrication.

Unsewing, Cake Making, QAL's

On the phone, my mother, who is days away from 85, asked me if I had my Christmas baking done. She loves to talk cooking and baking with me and laments how her kitchen days are behind her. She still speaks with surprise of how I don't bottle things because we are so alike and that was something she did often with food.  Her reasoning being, if company dropped in, you always had something you could make a meal out of for them, the real Newfoundland way.
 Bottling food was something I never really had an interest in, perhaps because it sounds like botulism(LOL), and I know I would be terrified of getting the whole tight seal thing right.  But she bottled jam, meat, vegetables, etc., fed it all to many and never harmed a soul.

Speaking of baking, I made Christmas scones on Friday.  Several facebook friends have links to King Arthur's Flour and I saw this recipe for Ginger scones scroll by. I love anything with crystallized ginger in it.
 It was chilly yesterday with -20C windchill so it was nice to come in from the morning dog walking to this.  Hot tea and a scone with extra old cheese and pear for lunch, a combination Hubby loves.  There he is lurking with his newspaper at ready waiting  for the photo shoot to end so he could chow down.

This is finally a flimsy and on the wall.  I freaked a little when I saw it together for the first time...thought it just too much red.  But having it hanging around has enabled me to get used to it and now I'm okay with it.  It is a Christmas project, so is what it is.  Some of the hearts need their papers removed still and here is what I'm pondering :- adding more hearts to the plain blocks, more cornerstones, substituting those two red blocks for the gray starred ones.  I am definitely going to stitch another star in the hare block.   The more I look at it, the more those two red blocks have to go. My stash pile is a whole lot prettier from this project!

While I had the little Brother machine out stitching these blocks I sewed together more of the scrappy Lily blocks, a super stash busting project.  Cutting the pieces for this in front of the t.v. is a great activity for me...suits my multi tasking personality.

I love the idea of QAL or SAL's.  2019 promises to be a great year for these events. For me, I have to proceed with caution as I have finishing requirements on a number of projects.  I can't believe I've fallen into this as I used to be a strict "one project at a time" stitcher.

Kristin at Simple. Handmade.Everyday is joining with Patty at Elm Street Quilts to conduct a sewn by hand quilt along. This promises to be interesting with two such experienced quilters providing tutorials, etc. along the way.
                                  

Another lovely Quilt Along is happening at  Patchwork Posse.  And there are baskets...which I love.

                                         

The wonderful Myra at this post of Busy Hands Quilts is again collating links to many of the 2019 QAL's.  Nice to find them all in one place if you want to have a look. Also great to see what is still available from her 2018 list.  Please let me know of any you are finding interesting...

Besides the unsewing in my day today, there will be cake making...have the eggs out of the fridge to get room temperature whites for my meringue...wish me luck.  So all good here at the wooden house.  Hope it is likewise for you in your corner of this world.

Lots of lovely hand sewing happening at Kathy's Quilts as always. Also happy to link with
Free Motion by the River, What a Hoot Quilts, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Em's Scrapbag, and
Love Laugh Quilt.