Merry Christmas to all, and to all...

And to all?

I wish you were coming with us to the beach! We leave tomorrow morning, December 27, and will return January 14th. I am hoping that my mother does well during my absence, but we have a lot of resources around her to keep her happy and comfortable. I will try not to worry too much, and enjoy my time with Hubby.

So with that said, me and my beach babies will be having a good time in Anguilla - a little island in the Caribbean. I changed the black cats to a soft black fleece for some texture...I sure hope they won't be too hot there!

I have my 11 books ready to go too. I've them packed already and can't remember a single one of them except for Allende's new novel about Ines Suarez in Chile that will go into my carry-on.

Stay safe and I'll "see" you next year!

Beach baby, beach baby

there on the sand
From July to the end of September
Surfin' was fun we'd be out in the sun every day
(Listen to this song at Jerry's Jukebox)

(The color is off on the block below, but is truer in color on the last picture in this post. It is really more of a soft lime green with a hot pink swimsuit. In order to get the detail on the Beach Baby, I had to take the picture without a flash.)

Sometimes, I think I am just crazy, and other days I just know I am! Today is the day I KNOW!

I don't have time to be messing around with ANY new projects, but what am I doing? Messing around with a new project.

We're planning to go to the Caribbean (same place as the last 20 years) December 27 as long as my mom is OK. I just can't fathom not taking handwork along with the 2 dozen books. I've been telling myself that I need a break from sewing and quilting, and it's OK not to take anything. I finally broke down and pulled out a pattern that I've loved and wanted to make for a long time. Of course, it won't be anything like it when I'm done, but it's nice to have an inspiration piece, right?

I find that handwork is really calming. I can think and dream about anything while I stitch. Sometimes, when we are vacationing, I can fall asleep while I am stitching. How relaxing is that? When people tell me that I do too much, why not take a break, I pause and think about it, but in the end, my heart knows what my hands want to be doing. Sewing!

Can you see where this is heading? I think I'll have 4-6 babies done, ready to embroider and buttonhole while I'm on the beach.

Beach babies, beach babies there on the sand....la la la la....

Christmas with my buddies

My buddies, Carolyn and Ibby and I went out on the town (Lawrence, KS, home of the Jayhawks) yesterday. We met around 9:30 AM, drove about 40 minutes away to Lawrence, and shopped and shopped, ate,shared our handmade Christmas presents with each other, then shopped, shopped and laughed a lot along the way. It was a great day! We all bought fabric at Sarah's, which is a wonderfully chock full of fabric store. We all found things we didn't know we needed at the other shops, and I actually bought a coat! We didn't get back to town until close to 6 PM, and I was exhausted. I had a light dinner with hubby and then went to bed to read (The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson). Hubby woke me up to go to sleep around 9 PM. LOL!

Here are the goodies we exchanged:
These are the 20" pillows I made for them. The lighting was bad, but you get the picture anyway! I added the sequins and beads since the wreath spaces seemed so big!



And these are my gifts from them! The sewing kit is from Carolyn. What is so funny is that I planned on making these last year for them out of wool, and I hate doing embroidery so they got put aside. Now, I don't have to make them, as I love the one Carolyn made for me. The fabric is from the Seaside Rose collection.




And doncha just love this pincushion from Ibby? It's wool work, and it looks just like Bonnie. It is now sitting in front of my Christmas quilt in the hearth room.

It's hard to believe that this weekend promises to be so nice with temperatures in the 60's. Especially after the snow we had just a couple of weeks ago!

I've spent most of the time this week taking care of my mother. She had a small stroke Sunday morning, but didn't realize it until several hours later when she couldn't tie her shoes. The left side of her face is somewhat paralyzed, but she can still speak (slurred and no tonal inflection) and eat (has a difficult time chewing). Her left thumb wouldn't work, but has gotten stronger and the big news this week is that she can actually work the hooks and eyes on her bra! She will be getting physical/occupational therapy and speech therapy, so we are hoping for some more positive results there, too. She was afraid of being left alone when we returned from the hospital, so I slept on her floor. Euuwww! It's a concrete floor with carpeting on it, and it sure was hard. I think it got harder as the night got longer!

And I am not hard to please! Lookie what I found at our local Wallie World!! I was so excited to find this, I bought two rolls, and I think I am going to go back and get the neon green roll, too.
I use it to wrap my thermofax screens. For those of you who don't know about thermofax screens, you can check it out here

What's a blog post without a snapshop of my Bonnie girl, doing what she does best? Sleeping and guarding quilts! Now, I am trying to get the last of my Christmas sewing completed for early gift giving on Saturday.

The last of the bunch!

They're done! AND delivered!







We took all 30 quilts to the clinic on Tuesday and had a nice informal lunch with the staff. Afterwards, the Director of the clinic gave the Sisters their surprise in her office, so it was low key and personal. It was wonderful to see the delight and wonder in their eyes, that the twin size quilts were for THEM! The last of the pictures I posted today are the Diabetic Education reward quilts that we will continue making over the next year.

I've had construction going on in the house for the last few weeks too. We had a closet organizer system put into the master bedroom walk-in closet, and hardwood on the stairs going upstairs as well as the long hallway and landing leading to the three bedrooms there, too. New carpeting was supposed to be installed in the bedroom and closet this past Thursday, but the installer never made it, nor did he call. Why do we always seem to end up with these guys, Huh? So now, we have to wait around on Tuesday to get it done. Of course, I am still living out of the three bedrooms full of furniture and contents from my bureau drawers in the meantime.

Because of all of this, I am not putting up a Christmas tree, and no decorations. Well, I DID put up the Christmas quilt, with three Jim Shore Santas in front of it. And my apple swags are waiting to be put up instead of the pink roses in the main living room. But that's it! My friends are having a hard time believing that this is all I will do. I usually start decorating around Thanksgiving, and it takes me until Christmas Eve to finish it all. We will just enjoy everyone else's this year!



This is a little art quilt I made a few years back that makes me smile. It was supposed to be a self-portrait, but it's a little too "tidy" to be me. But, this is exactly what I will be doing in my "stewdio" for the next few days.