An unexpected photo op...

I was sitting at my computer and just happened to look over to my sewing/cutting table and saw Jack looking at something. What could it be?

Why it's "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" on TV!

Wow, must be a really good part!

I need to lecture him about getting too close to the TV. He's gonna need glasses. He said to tell you it was a really good show and have a Happy New Year!

P.S. Ignore the messy sewing room.. It's on my "to do" list!

The best laid plans and a swap

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families and that Santa was good to you. We had a great Christmas with Emma and her mommy and daddy. My mother and brother weren't able to make it here because of the weather but hopefully we can get to California or they can get up here soon.


I had intended to continue my decorating tour long before today, but I'm sure you all understand how plans can go astray. You're all probably sick of looking at Christmas decorations, so I won't go overboard with tons of pictures. Here are a few snippets of what things looked like. Maybe next year I'll be a bit more organized. Hahahaha!

The little quilt is a Jo Morton and I made 2 of them during my "power sewing". The little plate is one I won as a door prize at the party in Calif.

I also won the little snowmen sitting on the red cabinet.

I made this doll quite a few years ago when I was selling crafts in a Christmas boutique.

So, there you have it! Merry Christmas. But wait....that's not the end of the post!

Karen and I did a swap and my package arrived on Christmas Eve, but it was snowing so hard we didn't go to the mailbox that day(we have cluster boxes at the end of the street), so I didn't get it till we took a walk on Christmas Day.

Oh boy...cute wrapping!

Hmmmm, interesting....some greenery.

And a neat black bowl!

Oh my! Look at these darling little pillows.

And this mat is absolutely gorgeous.

And look how wonderful it all looks together.

She also included this adorable snowman plate.

And some Quilter's chocolate! What could be better than all of this? And on Christmas day to boot! Thanks Karen for all the goodies. I love them all! You're an awesome swap partner. Oh and one more thing...

I got alot of comments asking what pattern this is. It's called "Five Cent Fairy Garden" from Kim Diehl's book, Simple Blessings. The pattern is on page 83. I actually made 2 of them during my "power sewing". One for me too! ;-)

Giftys

We always draw names around October for Secret Santa gifts. That gives us lots of time for shopping for the "perfect gift".


This is what Patty gave Cathi.


So then, Cathi gave me this wonderful Brighton necklace.

My turn...I gave Patty this little table topper that I made along with a framed quilt/stitchery and a braided table runner that I got from Karen at Farmhouse Woolens. I forgot to take pictures of the ensemble so maybe Patty can send me pictures of what she did with them and I'll post it.

That left Marsha who made this fun Mary Englebreit panel quilt for Janet (Myrtle).

And Myrtle gave Marsha this fun assortment of goodies. The doll is lifesize and so darn cute! Sorry for the quality of the picture but it was getting late. LOL. If you click on the picture you can see everything a bit better.

Then, another tradition we started a long time ago is giving everyone the same thing. It used to have to be homemade, but that part of the tradition has since fallen by the wayside..

This big Santa was given to each of us by Patty. Isn't he cute? The soles on his big feet are a riot!

Sparkle snowman guy was given to us all by Myrtle.

Cathi got this adorable flag for everyone.

Marsha made everyone a quilted tree skirt but we all decided they made great choir collars, so we did our best rendition of "Ave Maria". LOL

Here's where I put mine after I got home. Next year it will go under a tree.

Of course, Jack had to be part of the picture.

And this is what I gave everyone. Remember the snowman pillow during my "power sewing"?

Well, this is how many I made. Sure glad I challenged myself.

So, needless to say, we had a blast and the party finally wound down around 1:30am. Yes, that's AM as in AFTER midnight! In our younger days, we would go even later....or should that be earlier. These older bodies can't take those hours anymore. :-)

Thanks guys for another fun party!

Trip to California

What's a trip to Calif. without going to Panera Bread. In fact, we went there for lunch twice! And I had the same thing both times...french onion soup and a baguette. Yummy! I look so forward to that part of the trip.

And Target Greatland. What could be better?

We all made purchases there! From left to right: Patty, Marsha, Cathi, Janet (aka Myrtle). It the small things in life that make one happy! LOL

Can you tell where we are? I'm gonna make you guess.

Now, on with the Christmas party. We always start the evening with strawberry dacquiris. Not too many tho because we have lots to do and no one would want to be too "tired" to miss a minute.

These are my buddies who I have gotten together with once a month for the past 30 years. I had the nerve to move away but I always make it back for the Christmas party and sometimes I'm lucky enough to be able to join them during the year too. Love you guys.

Patty made up these cute and yummy appetizers.

Patty was our host this year. (we rotate houses from year to year) She said she had so much fun putting the table together. Marsha and I were in charge of dinner. We had lasagna, salad and bread from Panera...(where else?) Marsha had it all made before I even arrived in town, so needless to say, I didn't do very much. Thanks Marsha.

We got to take home the pretty pinecones and that cute little tree.

Loved the caged gold ornaments in the background. Such a pretty table this year, Patty.

And then on to the games. Janet (Myrtle) was in charge of games and candy this year. This is our version of Bingo. She made it up a few years ago and we have so much fun playing it that it's become a yearly tradition.

We use Hershey's kisses as our markers and sometimes there aren't enough kisses left for blackout. Hmmm, wonder why. ;-)

This is the pile of presents that we have to choose from when we win a game. So much fun. We each bring a pre-determined amount of door prizes. I didn't get any pictures of what everyone won. So sorry.

After hours and hours of game playing, chatting and grazing it's on to our stockings. Cathi was in charge this year.

I made them wait to open their stockings until I could get a picture. They were ready to hide my little red by the end of the night.

And here's what was in our stockings. Good job, Cathi!

Tomorrow I'll show you what our giftys to each other were.