December Sewing

As busy as everyone is in December, I have found some time to work on a few things. I pieced a toddler quilt and quilted it at a friend's home on Wednesday. She bought a quilting machine earlier this year and offered to let me give it a test run to see what it was like. It was FUN, but I still think I'll wait until Jackie retires before I consider buying one. I didn't LOVE it, but I liked it and I think the reason that it was fun was due to the fact that I got to spend the day with my sweet friend.

And ya'll think I live out in the sticks...this gal, who is also a ranch wife and my co-worker, lives twice as far from town as I do and her driveway (aka: dirt road) is 23 miles long.

I made one more block for a scrappy 'NEXT' Christmas quilt and I plan on making this my leader ender project in the New Year/ Hmmm...I think this is the same block I shared previously, but suffice it to say, I DID make one more:

 I made lots of these lined drawstring bags to replenish my dwindling supply:

Well, truth be told, I'm still making them and the above photo is from a few years ago. I love these things and I've made so many that I think I need to laminate my pattern

You can find the pattern HERE and although Jenny offers one size free, it was highly worth purchasing the pattern for the other sizes.

I made another set of potholders for the wife at North Camp:

And I surprised myself by jumping in on Bonnie Hunter's On Ringo Lake Mystery and actually making some progress:

Clue one is finished and clue 2 and three are cut out:

Haven't touched clue 4 and clue 5 will be posted tomorrow...yeh, not a chance. We tuned in to the NFR each night and I spent that time drawing diagonal lines on the endless 2" squares called for in the 2nd and 3rd clue:

And yes, I have a very attentive line drawing assistant.

Today's the 21st...it's 10:30 here and ya'll know that's at least 2 hours past my bedtime, but I haven't been on the computer in 3 days and this was the only way I was ever going to get a post in. Doesn't everyone try to get a quilt trimmed and bound 4 days before Christmas when presents are still unwrapped and baking still needs to happen?

German Baby Quilt

It's been a long time since I had a finished quilt to share

One of my co-workers is celebrating the arrival of a new granddaughter and as I think all babies should be welcomed into the world with a quilt, I began to sift through my stash. Her son-in-law is stationed overseas, in Germany, and I thought it would be fun to take my inspiration from Germany. I was born in Germany and this fabric reminded me of traditional German design from my childhood.

I had an idea to recreate the flowers so I searched online for a free pieced flower block, selected coordinating fabrics and made 12 blooming blocks. I want to say that this was a fast quilt, and in actual piecing time, it was, but it took me a coon's age to select the fabrics for the flowers from my stash:

And I chose this red for the border:

Jackie quilted a sweet design called Billowy across it

And I bound it using the black and white dot that I used for the flower centers:

It finished at 50" x 50"  and will soon be snuggling with a sweet baby as they are coming home for Christmas!

Here Comes Santa Claus

I finally began to haul the Christmas decorations in from the shed this week

and I wanted to show you the newest addition. My mother-in-law has collected Santas for 30 years. Anything Santa was fair game to her and we all have many fond memories of Christmases with a house bursting with family and a whole herd of Santas.

This year she decided that it was time to disperse her collection among family and as I drove back to the ranch after my road trip, she asked me to stop and choose some Santas. I don't have a lot of space, but I loved the idea of having a piece of something that she enjoyed for many years and one Santa really did tug at my heart.

He is made from an old quilt

and I just knew he would be perfect.

I have this red metal sleigh and Santa was the perfect addition to it, but he was just a little too short. He needed a booster seat so I looked around for something close at hand and lo and behold, right next to me, the stack of quail ammo sitting on the entry room - laundry room shelf caught my eye...perfect fit!

I figure Santa likes smoked quail as much as we do! Now, I'm counting on ya'll to remind me of where those extra boxes are when DH is looking for them!

Quick Road Trip

Our girl had her wisdom teeth taken out last Thursday. One was completely horizontal and they had to be cut out. She told me I didn't need to come down, but that's just what Mamas do so I pulled out at 3:30 on Thursday morning and headed her way. This little mountain town I drive through had it's Christmas finery on full display

  When all was said and done, she had 5 extractions with only Lidocaine. She had a 7:30 class the next morning and she went to it. The kid is tough.

Neither one of us is a shopper, but I was down there until noon on Saturday and we ran around and did some Christmas shopping. There is a farmer's Market where she lives and she's been telling me I need to come down for it. It only took 2 years, but I finally made it

It was cool and crisp and just a perfect Saturday morning. We got there at 8 and some of the venders were still setting up, but the market extends for 3 blocks and we thoroughly enjoyed perusing the offerings.

The popcorn vender was popular, but not in the cards for a kid who just had her wisdom teeth removed!

We also popped into this amazing used bookstore again that I've been meaning to post about and will soon

I love the architecture on these old buildings:

Then our girl steered us to this little gem for brunch:

Where this little fella was patiently waiting for his owners...and leftovers

She says this is a hidden treasure in SW New Mexico and I could not agree with her more. Don't let the empty parking lot fool you, the lot across the street was full.

Lots to choose from on the Brunch menu

On her recommendation, I had the Eggs Benedict - New Mexico style (2 corn masa boats filled with a red chili con carne topped with a poached egg and smothered in hollandaise)  and it was the best thing I have ever eaten:

Our girl had an omelette with goat cheese and chorizo that was wisdom teeth extracted approved and it was out of this world. I want to come back and just work my way through the menu, because everything that came out of that kitchen looked and smelled amazing.

I was also able to spend a little time with 3 more of my favorite people and I treated them to supper out to celebrate a new job:

It's so nice when you enjoy the adults that your children have become. It was a good trip and I'm glad that our girl won't have any more trouble with those pesky wisdom teeth.

Still Working Through November

The days and weeks just keep marching on and I just keep falling further behind. Each day I intend to get something posted and each day it doesn't happen. Everyone else is running full speed ahead into Christmas and I haven't even posted since the middle of November. So, I'm going to start where I left off and hope that I'm not posting about Christmas when Easter rolls around. :)

I hope that, for those of you who celebrate it, ya'll had a blessed Thanksgiving. It was such a pretty day here. Our girl came home late Wednesday for quick visit. She had to leave out on Friday morning, as she is on the downhill slide to defending her Masters Thesis and until then, her head is under water.

Our boy, his sweet girl and little T, went to Albuquerque to spend the holiday with the other set of grandparents. They have been here for every holiday and gathering for the past 2 years and although we miss them, it is only fair to share them with the rest of the family. :)

I spent Wednesday in the kitchen in an attempt to keep from spending Thursday there. We are a traditional family when it comes to Thanksgiving. The only change I made this year was to cook the stuffing in one of my cast iron skillets:

On Wednesday I made the Cranberries, rolls, vegetable casserole, chopped everything for the stuffing, boiled eggs for deviled eggs, and baked the Pumpkin and Pecan pies. That only left mashed potatoes, turkey, and stuffing for Thursday, allowing me to spend lots of time with DH and our girl. Even though it was just the 3 of us, I wanted enough leftovers to send home with our girl and for us for a few days. We love Thanksgiving leftovers.

A little quail hunting took place

And jerky making commenced

And I decided to partake in Bonnie Hunter's On Ringo Lake Mystery this year so I pulled fabrics:

 I know I'll fall behind fast, the closer we get to Christmas, but I'm just going to have fun.

I put together a little package for a sweet little girl who is dealing with some health issues. She loves unicorns and I made a lined drawstring bag with one fabric to hold a gift and a unicorn pillowcase with another:

I am binding a baby quilt. I tried to machine bind it, but I don't like the way it turned out so I need to rip it out and either try again, or hand stitch it:

I pulled fabrics and made one block for a scrappy Christmas quilt I've been wanting to make:

and no, it won't be done this year. I also pulled and cut fabrics for a disappearing 9-patch

It seems I'm trying to make up for lost time in the stitching department. I made zero progress last week, but that's another post and hopefully it'll not be far behind.