Goodbye 2025

 Yesterday I had two friends come for lunch. I have known Cathy since I was three or four, and Marilyn since I was probably eight. How very lucky we are to have been friends for such a long time. 

Today, I went to lunch with quilting friends to our friend Maribeth’s home to see her decorations before they come down. Maribeth showed us a quilt for her friend’s first grandson. The baby is named Leon, so Maribeth created a lion quilt for him. The center is a paper piece lion pattern that she found online. It is surrounded by lion fabric and coordinating pieces.

Could that be any cuter!!! Maribeth also has a collection of beautiful ornaments including some Wizard of Oz ornaments.

Simply beautiful!

Finally, let’s end the year with a smile. Last week, I drove by a home with quite a number of ‘uninflated’ pieces covering their front yard. Curiosity got the best of me, and I had to go back at night to see what they were.

Note: In rereading yesterday’s post, I noticed that I had neglected to add a few photos. I have since added them in case you would like to go back and take a look at that post.

Let us hope that we all have a Healthy, Happy, Creative New Year!!!

My Halls Are Decked - Part 2

 

In today’s post, I’ll show some more scenes from my holiday decorating. Long ago, my friend Diane taught me how to do stained glass. This little grouping has not been displayed for many years, but the window ledge in my dining area in my new home is perfect for doing so. 

I would occasionally accompany her to a local glass shop, Whittemore-Durgin in Rockland. I would pull out a pieces of glass and suggest that she really needed to buy it. She said if I liked it so much, I should buy it and she would teach me and she did. One unusual piece had a black swirl through it. You can see it below where I used it to create the cloak of one of the Wise Men. I no longer work with stained glass, but I am happy to display these pieces.

Here are some other scenes. 

I love collecting Christmas tree pins.

And finally, here’s my favorite quilt, not just Christmas quilt but favorite of all time. I think it was called “Old World Santas.” 

Thank you for the positive energy sent Emma’s way as she is doing better. The vet said Vestibular Disease can reoccur, but for now, she is steadily improving.

2025 has been quite a year for me! As I have said, everyone should buy a new home at least once every seventy years or so. :-) I wonder what 2026 will bring?  Wishing you all, a healthy, happy year ahead and thank you for reading my blog

My Halls Are Decked for This Wonderful Season

 I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I spent the day at my cousin Kristin’s home with her family and my cousin Linda’s family as well. It was wonderful.

As I have mentioned often, I watch quite a bit of Youtube,  usually flosstubers but at this time of year I also enjoy house tours. It’s fun to see how others have decorated for the holidays. With that in mind, I thought I would show you how I have decked my halls for my first Christmas in my new home.

Because my living room ceiling is so high, I purchased this 7.5’ tree. (My friend Kathy L. helped me lug it in and put it up. She liked it so much that she was in line at 6:00 am at Lowe’s on the day after Thanksgiving to buy the exact same tree! :-)

This pencil tree displays my cross stitch ornaments.

This little tree adds sparkle to my four-season room. The lavender plant on my coffee table was a gift from a friend who recently visited. 

This baker Santa graces my kitchen counter along with two thrifted Santa mugs. They were each $1.99 and look adorable on my Jingle Bell Cafe cross stitch display. :-)

Of course there is more so I will continue the tour in my next post.

Special thanks to Terry K. who helped me solve the html issue with posting. Be sure to check out her blog, OnGoingProjects. She is a talented, prolific quilter.

One more thing, please send some positive energy and perhaps a prayer or two along for my sweet Emma who turns fourteen this week. On Saturday, we took a long walk, and she was absolutely fine pulling me right along. On Sunday morning when she woke up, she was very unstable and clearly disoriented. The emergency room vet diagnosed vestibular disease which older dogs can get. Other than a pill to help her dizziness and lack of balance, there is nothing that can be done. The hope is that she will gradually return to normal. She isn’t in any pain and has a good appetite, but for now I must carry her from place to place. She seems quite content curled up beside me on the couch, so hopefully, my girl will improve.

Through My Garden Gate

Wouldn't this make a lovely Christmas card ? A few days ago, I picked up a wreath for each gate on the sides of my house. Though there was snow on the ground when I took this photo, it's gone now as yesterday was a wild and windy, rainy Friday.

This colorful display caught my eye ouside a doctor's office last week, and when I went to Michael's, I picked up similar colored ornaments to display in this gorgeous punch bowl. It's Heisey cut glass and was a present to my dad's parents on the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary in 1927. In the background is the current wool applique project on which I am working. (The photo doesn't capture how truly bright and sparkly the ornaments are.

That's it for now. Enjoy the weekend. One more thing . . . blogger.com is making blogging more challenging as they are changing how we create and publish our posts. Suddenly HTML shows up as I am composing. Bear with me as I figure it out; hopefully, you won't notice any difference. :-)

A Gentle Snowy Sunday

This is the scene that greeted me this morning. The soft, confectionery sugar snow has coated the trees and bushes and the sidewalks, but the roads are basically clear. No one minds this type of snow which has continued all day.

Yesterday I had a very special visitor. My friend Kathy’s mom had been driven down by a caregiver to see Kathy’s holiday decorations. Her mom had been hearing all about my new home, and when Kathy asked if she would like to visit my house, her mom replied, “Sure, I would love to!” 

Dear readers, this is what 103 looks like!!!!!!!! She is beyond amazing.  She delighted in seeing my quilts, all of my vintage holiday treasures, and each room in my new home. The visit wasn’t long, but it was indeed very special. 

In both 2004 and 2005, I resolved to cross stitch at least one Christmas piece each month. How did I do? Not well . . . I added only two new ornaments this year. 

Once again, I’m making that same resolution; let’s hope I do better in 2006. :-)

A Lot Going On . . .

There has been a lot going on lately, all of it good: decorating, entertaining, dinner with friends, a Christmas luncheon with friends, and two upcoming guild Christmas parties. . . Today was a  calm day, so I thought I would fully finish this cross stitch piece on which I put the final stitches on Thanksgiving Eve. It has yet to be pressed. Why? I cannot for the life of me find my sticky mounting boards. There is absolutely no doubt that all of my finishing supplies came with me, but where they are hiding is beyond me so framing this piece will have to wait. (I’ll have a whole year to find my supplies :-).

While searching for my supplies, I found this with my sewing things. Good Heavens!!! What is this fifteen inch, heavy tool doing in my quilt studio? Beats me. Lord knows I had tried to give away all the tools in my basement, but evidently there were no takers for this one.

I’m thinking it might possibly have been used to remove horseshoes. Please correct me if I am wrong. My dad’s paternal grandfather drove a hansom carriage in Boston in the late 1800s and he had a horse. Here he is with my great grandmother out for a drive in their buggy.

So how did this end up in my quilting studio? Beats me. What am I going to do with it? Well, that was easy . . . I stuck it in my tool carrier in the basement. :-)

Actually, I have found all kinds of fun/interesting items during unpacking. My favorite by far is my “Official Membership  Card for the Lassie Get-Up -And- Go Club.” I found a cute little frame for it and have it tucked in with my mantel displays. When folks spot it, it brings smiles. The Lassie show, a Sunday night staple, was sponsored by Campbell Soup. In tiny  print along the bottom it reads: “Once a day … Every day…SOUP! Gives you Get Up And Go!” I don’t ever remember seeing it since I was a kid. All the identification information on the back was printed by my mom. Where had it been all these years and how did it get packed up in the move??? Beats me, but it’s fun.  

Speaking of cute frames, look at this one that I found at Michael’s; it lights up. It’s perfect for displaying this photo of my young cousins which was taken on Thanksgiving. They are wearing their Christmas pajamas which they traditionally receive on Thanksgiving night.

It doesn’t seem possible but the oldest four are now in their second year of college. Time flies but the tradition continues.  

Enjoy this busy, happy season; no stress allowed. ;-)

A Lively Quilt Guild Meeting

The Crosstown Quilters of Weymouth had quite a lively meeting yesterday on Veteran’s Day. Appropriately enough, Betty Ann showed her stunning flag quilt. She could not recall the name of the pattern, but when she shares it with us, I’ll mention it in an upcoming post. 

Just look at this display of poinsettia blocks which were turned in for November’s Block of the Month. If you make a block, your name goes into a bag from which five winners were drawn. Each winner received either three or four of the blocks which would go together nicely for a festive table runner. 

Our guest speaker was Carla Klean from Canton whose presentation was entitled “From Quilter to Artist.” She was fantastic!!!  This quilt was from the pattern “Petals,” and much of the fabric used in this piece was from Tim Holtz, a Canadian fabric designer. This was one of her early quilts; her more recent quilts which were equally colorful and creative reflect her desire to take her work in new and exciting directions.

So, what am I currently working on?  Well, it’s another wool applique piece with far too many pieces!!! My goal is to get it done for Christmas, but there is no pressure as it’s a piece that could remain up all winter. I have cut out all the pieces from my stash, and there are a zillion of them but I know it’s a project on which  I will enjoy working. 

Keep bundled up as the temperatures are starting to drop. :-)

Autumn in Bloom . . . Wool Applique

 Here’s the wool applique piece that I spoke of in my last post. It is “Autumn in Bloom,” a pattern from Buttermilk Basin. I had been collecting autumnal shades of wool to use in this piece. On my last visit to the Quilted Crow in Bolton, I found just the perfect fabric to use for the borders. 

Along the way I had ordered this scrumptious piece of wool which I used for the leaves. As you can see, my fabric often looks like Swiss cheese as I fussy cut sections that I want to use on a project. Wool is expensive, so I will use every inch of it. :-)

Though I didn’t plan to bring my hibiscus plants in, the talk of dropping temperatures prompted me to bring this one into my sunroom. Though it looks incredibly healthy now, I know what will no doubt happen. It will begin to drop its leaves and become a mess. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the blossoms as yet unopened and keep my fingers crossed that I won’t have to toss it. 

I hope you all are having a happy, creative, and productive week.

Halloween Decor and Autumn Color

My plan had been to share a completed piece of wool applique with you today, but I still need to add the binding and a small hanging sleeve, so I will show it next time. Instead, I’ll share a bit of the Halloween stitching displayed in my bookcases. What fun I have filling these shelves and changing out the mantelpiece! 

The foliage this year was greatly diminished by the drought conditions we experienced this spring and summer. There are, of course, some lovely spots of color, but it doesn’t seem to be lasting. There was an absolutely gorgeous tree on a main road nearby, but before I could get to photograph it, it had dropped a third of its leaves. 

I am loving this view from my deck. Though it is two days before Halloween, my hibiscus plants are still blooming.

Yesterday, I captured this image of ducks on one of the small ponds on the golf course.

On Tuesday, I attended a meeting of the Crosstown Quilters where we were pleased to learn that our quilt show had been a success. Having completed the two quilts that I had in the show, I am now able to turn my attention to other stitchy projects.

I spent a few hours today at the car dealership getting four new tires and sensors in order to get my sticker. Lucky me! I brought a book and a piece of stitching to pass the time, and tonight my plan is to finish that book and do a bit more stitching. :-)

Hope you are all having an enjoyable week.

Bits and Bobs of This and That

 The Crosstown Quilters Guild had a wonderful show on Saturday and Sunday. I had two quilts in the show. The first was  Celtic Blessing, a pattern from Ricky Tims. The completed blocks had languished in a project box for a number of years as I had never gotten around to piecing the blocks together. The back of the quilt is made up of blocks of various shades of green to represent the green fields of Ireland.

The other quilt was “From the Heart.” I had purchased the kit for this quilt at our guild show back in 2018,  and I had assembled all the blocks but had put it aside without adding the borders. Notice a pattern here??? Thank goodness we had this show to spur me on to finish them. The beautiful quilting on both was done by Cannizzaro Creations in Rockland.

I’d like to say that from now on I will always finish quilts and projects in a timely fashion, but I know myself too well to commit to that. I am, however, trying to work through my many, many projects now that I am settled in my new home. Wish me luck!

We had a nor’easter on Monday and Tuesday with lots and lots of rain. I shot this photo from inside my sunporch.

Here’s the scene after the sun finally made an appearance.

Per request, here are some photos of Emma after her trip to the groomer last week.

Note the festive Halloween baubles that the groomer added. :-)

One more thing . . . I recently had some trees trimmed in my new backyard. Well, all except one was done  as one of the workers had noticed a large, active hornet nest hanging from the end of one of the branches. The cold temperatures eventually took care of the hornets and the wind and rain took care of the rest. Here are some of the remnants; the outer shell was like pieces of paper.

Well, that’s the buzz from here. I hope you are all having a happy, positive, creative week.