Christmas Wreath Pillows

I have a wonderful friend who loves to decorate her home.  She tells me that pillows are very in and I should have more on my couch... As it is coming up to Christmas, I thought that this might be a good idea and I would make some Christmas themed ones.  I hunted out some red fabric ( a couple of Christmas ones too :)

I cut 3 inch strips and sewed them together in pairs so I could cut wedges from them.  The ruler I happen to have is for 11 degree wedges, sigh so lots of strippy bits later....

The Blue Circle Quilt done...

I finished this before Christmas so it had it's moment and now I will show it off.

I have just finished the binding on last year's Christmas quilt.  (This is the back.)  I'm not sure where it should go.  But I like it.

I might have gotten a bit carried away with the quilting (insert shrug ) but what can I say....

And one more....

Lil Twister Tool

So we made a detour on our way home through South Dakota and visited Quilt-tiques in Rapid City.  Sure there were other sights there but this one sticks out in my mind. (Oh, yeah, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse,...)

I bought a kit with the Lil Twister Tool that makes these cool pinwheels.
It went together in a day and here is the small top

Cute and christmas-y
I liked it just this way but the pattern recommends the addition of some ribbon...

What do you think?  This is what they recommend.  But is it necessary??

My Circle quilt is off the Design Wall

Finally, I got my christmas quilt off the design wall and on to the hand quilting frame.  After a bit of marking, the quilting is begun,

More House Row Along

Still finishing up my row of houses for the Bee in My Bonnet Row along.

Just sewing the small sashes between the houses.

 

Another row done. Yeah!

Christmas Presents 2012

I just had to brag.  My DD did an amazing thing for me for Christmas.  She gave me some beautiful hand made spoons.  Her uncle-in-law turns and carves them each individually and they are wonderful.  Everytime I am at her house I admire them.  Sooo on a recent visit to her uncle she procured some for me...Yeah, yeah, yeah, I am blessed.

Then my son found this cool egg timer.  It is so cute.

Smells of the season

I found a recipe for spices to add to mulled wine for the Christmas season.  I liked the sound of it so I filched the idea for my christmas tree.  (Normally I would link you here to her site but I saw it on Google reader and my history button doesn't show where I have been.  Darn it. )

I do not have a real tree so I thought I would hang a small pouch of spices on it.  It works really well.  The smell isn't predominant all the time but it comes and goes.  I like that.  Yesterday evening it was nice and spicy - maybe cause the furnace comes on more.  But this morning I'm not smelling it so much.  Suits me.

Here's my recipe:  6-8 whole cloves
                             6-8 whole allspice
                              6-8 whole cardamom pods, slightly crushed
                              a cinnamon stick

I made a small cheese cloth bag like you would for bouquet garni in your stew pot.  I put the spices in, splitting most of the pods open.  Then I tied it shut, adding a cinnamon stick on the outside.  Don't forget the cardamom it is really important to round out the fragrance.

I will leave you with a picture one of the beautiful ornaments my mother in law made me before she passed away.

Christmas Wheel Quilt

I made this a few years ago and it always makes me smile when I pull it out this time of year.  It is all hand pieced and hand quilted.  It was fun to make and I realize how much pleasure I get from looking at all those careful and not so careful stitches.  I think in this fast paced world we  cannot forget the pleasures of slow both during a project and after.

When a quilt is finished by machine there is a great sense of accomplishment that goes with the finish and after, at a job well done but I challenge you all to try the slower pace of the hand made for a deeper sense of how our foremothers operated and as a testament to what we can accomplish with our own two hands.

Blue Circles on my Design Wall

Here's something new on my wall....

I'm trying to figure out how to lay them out.  These circles are all made from the same piece of christmas ball fabric - very old now.  The 3 1/2 " blocks have been sitting in a box for a few (ok, quite a few) years... but I'm getting to them.  Maybe in time for Christmas this year...