"Twelve Fridays" Projects

Can you believe it? There's only three more days until Christmas!

Wow! Am I unprepared!

I'll be playing the 'catch up' game today...

Well, let me first show you what I've finished since we last met ;)




The Wreath Block - 16 inch

 

This sweet little wall hanging is bordered with that same peppermint fabric used in the wreath.

It's piped with the red  from the bow. The green binding matches the dots in the peppermint fabric.




Wall Hanging - 16" x 42"

 

For this one, I decided to put three religious symbols together...

an angel, a messenger of God

a church, a place for God's people to gather together to worship and praise Him

a candle, reminding us of God's Eternal Light, Jesus Christ

Thanks Wyatt for holding it up there!




Table Runner 42" x 16"



This block used the very first block from the series (tree on right)

I cut another tree out of darker fabrics to flank the house block.

It's piped and bound with a red/gold star fabric.



Wall Hanging 16" x 42"



Here are three blocks from when I wasn't posting.

Between some minor sewing machine problems and "who knows what else?"

I just didn't get these done weekly.

BUT, they're done now and in a finished product!!!

Well, that's it for now.

I'll post the completed final three blocks at a later date.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

Mission Accomplished

The first Saturday my daughter and I went to 4 out of the 12 shops on the Shop Hop list.

We hit the two in Stroudsburg and the ones in Lehighton and Effort.

It was such fun browsing the shops and seeing each of their finished Shop Hop quilts.

It was girl time at its finest :)

This past Saturday was Road Trip Day... (though a lot better ending than that of Thelma and Louise).

 I, along with my best friend, Chris took my dog and headed out to explore Eastern PA!

What a beautiful time of year to take a drive... (and boy, did we drive!)

Took off at 8:30 and came home at 5:30 with just one stop for food.

Click HERE, you can see just how far we traveled - starting at #12 and heading south we hit all of the remaining shops excluding #6 (in Easton).

That one is AtPiece where I do my Friday Christmas blocks.

I'll be seeing them soon enough!

Thank You

Let's remember the veterans today... those that have served and given their life and those that were fortunate enough to come home again.

Growing up I always had a special reverence for those in uniform. That respect has stuck with me through my life, a life that may have been different if it were not for these men and women. As I sit and think about their courage and sacrifice it brings tears to my eyes,

tears of sadness, tears of pride.

Yesterday I sewed two blocks from my Shop Hop kits using the American Valor prints. I think they might make a nice gift for a vet... maybe a pillow, maybe a small wall hanging for a vet living in a nursing home. I'll be thinking about this some more as I put them together.

Go visit a vet. Strike up a conversation with a WWII vet, you know them by that baseball style hat they wear with pride. Let's not forget Korea, Vietnam and the
Persian Gulf/Afghanistan. There are plenty of young men and women home on leave around donning their uniform.

Don't know what to talk about?

Just tell them THANK YOU.

The Stockings Were Hung...



Block #9  the Stocking



Interesting to look at, interesting to make! Christmas music playing in the background as we sewed today... really puts that feeling in the air. I should probably start gathering border and backing material and deciding which block to put with what if I want to have them for presents this year!

Shop Hop Alert

Tomorrow is the first day in the 9th Eastern Pennsylvania Shop Hop.

I've copied the route map from the Facebook page.

You can find the complete listing of all the participating shops on the Facebook page under Info.

HAPPY HOPPING !

On the Eighth Friday of Christmas...

my true love gave to me... the Star of Bethlehem.

Such a joy to stitch up after last week's frustrating time (machine/user malfunction).

This block went together simply and without any glitches.



Block #7  Star of Bethlehem



And for those of you counting... there are
7 weeks and 2 days
until Christmas!

Here's the Church...

Block #7 

Here's the church.

Here's the steeple.

Open the doors

and see all the people!

Yup, here's the church! As for the steeple, my poor little church has 'steeple envy'.

Made one false move when measuring and ended up with a RINKY-DINK steeple.

Oh well, it's cute none-the-less!

Now about opening those doors, I better put some handles on the doors!

How else will the people get inside?

Ideas as to what to do with the windows, anyone?

White Weekend !

Here in northeast NJ, we were blanketed!




Very early in the storm...

 

So very many people are still without power in the the surrounding areas,

especially here in our town. 

It has been a blessing to not be without power. My husband is doing pretty well now dealing with the absence of television (it was a little rough going the first couple of days).

He misses The Weather Channel the most :)

Besides the cable being out, we did suffer a few losses... there is a tree down in the back of the yard and a very large limb laying on the trampoline, all of the power surges caused us to burn out two power strips, the power cord to our modem

and the electronic ignitor to our furnace (300 bucks for that one!).

Well, we fixed the furnace, got a new cord as well as a "bonus" modem overnighted from Verizon (surprise!) 

and the cable guy was JUST out front for a moment.

Positive sign, wouldn't you say?

God is so goo-oo-ood

God is so goo-oo-ood

God is so good

He's so good to me!



Cassie just couldn't wait to get out there!

Currently the weather is 55 degrees and super sunny...

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

6 Down, 6 To Go!



Block #6 - House



This one worked up pretty quickly. Chain stitched the second story walls and windows. I just love how the red and brown look next to each other. The yellow is perfect for the windows... just like all the lights are on in the rooms. I'm picturing black sillouhettes in each window.  That would be pretty, don't you think?

Was That a U.F.O.?

It most certainly is a U.F.O. and I'm hoping to be abducted by this one!

If I really thought about it, I might be able to tell you just how long ago I started these blocks.

Hmmm, nope, hurts my brain to go back that far.

I've been making a twin size for each of my sons to go on their twin beds. 

Too bad they have bunk beds now! Well, they'll be just fine on those beds.

So far, I have 6 green floral, 6 red plaid, and 2 blue floral.

Only 16 to go plus sashing and border.

p.s.  UFO = UnFinished Object :)

Block Time

It's Friday again~ Seems like just yesterday that I was posting last week's block. Oh, yeah, it was just yesterday... thanks again Verizon!  So, this week went much better than last - in and out in under 2 hours.

 

Block #5  The Bell



Here it is, complete with the big wrinkle (just had to fold it on the way home,didn't I?)

Oh, and please excuse the untrimmed edges. 

But, at least the points ARE pretty good...

I really do like the look of it, clean and classic comes to mind.

Maybe someday I'll press it and re-post a nice FLAT block!!!

In the meantime, please feel free to use your imagination ;)

Another 'Friday' Block

This past Friday, we tackled the very involved Wreath Block. It took an extra half hour or so on Tuesday to complete it. I don't think anyone finished in the time we were there. At first, I was't too sure if I liked it very much... there was just something about that bow...





Block #4  The Wreath

  

The more I look at it with that cute peppermint fabric, how can I NOT!

Two Tin Cans and a String

So, still a little numb after dealing with Verizon Customer Service (and I use that term VERY loosely). No phone or internet for 5 days.  Might as well be using two tin cans and a string. After many missed appointments, finally, this morning someone came to the house, checked the wires and drove up the street to "the box".  He never did come back. WELL, at least we're up and running...  I just called 'billing' and got a credit for the days without service - one thing easily done, I hope! They never did apply the September credit they owed me. At least the guy I talked to offered to adjust that as well :)  Now, if only I could charge them for aggravation,cell minutes and aspirin!

The Boys are Back in Town !

Well, the boys (and Mommy) are back in town... back from 3 months in Latvia where they were visiting their Babulya (Grammy). They were missed!

My nephew Daniil (Danny), 3 yrs.9 mos.

This is my nephew Maksim (Maks), 1 year old today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAKS!

The Heat is On!

Thanks to Chris for becoming my first follower and for the Facebook plug. She's turned the heat way up!
So, in response to that, I've changed the look of the site and updated my site description.
To all who can relate to either Martha in one way or another... drop me a comment. I'm looking forward to it!

The Twelve Fridays of Christmas

This Quilt in a Day Publication is by Wendy Gilbert

(who looks a little like Karen Carpenter, if you ask me...). 




Wendy Gilbert

 

At Piece Quiltery in Easton, PA is running this class most Fridays up until Christmas. A group of us get together every week with an instructor there for help when we need it.  It's a fun morning of sewing and chatting over a cup of tea and a doughnut (or two)!

So, Block 1 was the Tree...

It was pretty easy going using the Diagonal Sewing Technique.  Such a neat and clean looking block!

Block 2 - the Angel

A little trickier than the week before.  The head, complete with hair and halo, had to be sewn in several pieces including the white background for that section. After it was sewn, it had to be squared up remembering to not chop the halo but the chin. A very cute angel indeed!

  The third week we tackled the candle.  A little work, but well worth it, right down to the flame. The fabric for the candle itself is a cherry red but with many thin gold and black vertical lines.

I think this Friday we'll be working on the Wreath. Anyway, we're not working in the order of the book. Maybe there's a method to their madness, maybe not.

My very first post!

Well, here it is!  It's not much, but it's my first.  Kind of like a lot of other firsts... first kiss, first attempt at baking a cake, first time you peddled your bike without anyone holding on to you, first apartment, you get the picture.  I guess what I'm hoping for this blog is to force me to complete tasks -sewing projects, cakes, whatever I might actually accomplish. Then of course, there's the little matter of getting what I do onto here!
Here we go...