New Years Eve

 It's finally here.  The last day of 2020!  Actually it is much like any other day but we'll give it a shout out of it's own.  Or perhaps I'll wait until tomorrow when 2021 actually starts.

It's a cold day here.  Feels in the low 30s and rainy.  At least I don't have to go out and can stay inside.  Today is also the day I can show you one of the test patterns that I did.  It's called Loves Times Three.  It's small but I did it in all pinks.  

Wait.  The Reindeer Clan wanted to say good bye since they are going to hibernate until maybe July.  So for one final appearance we have:

Chad:

Fritz:

Hiram:

and Suzie:

Have a great and safe New Years everybody!!!!!!

Winding down 2020

 Just a short post to ask "Are you glad 2020 is coming to a close"?  I have mixed feelings on it but overall it hasn't been too bad.  Yes I know COVID curtailed a lot of my plans but overall I still think I came out ahead.

I didn't think I did a lot but over all I did.  I retired!  Number one on my list.  That, of course, enabled me to do more crafting.  So what else did I do?  I moved!  Some thought this was unexpected but for YEARS I had been saying that I would move after all of my immediate family passed away.  That happened so when I retired I also moved to Arkansas!  BEST move EVER.  I missed my friends in Illinois but we do keep in touch via social media and I kept my same phone number and email so it's not like they don't know how to keep in touch with me.

I also managed to meet my weight loss goal.  I actually lost a little more weight last week so now I am hovering between 179 and 181.  Considering that I weighed over 300 less than a year ago I am proud of my accomplishment.  The only problem with the weight loss is the "nothing fits any more".  It's a good thing I don't go out a lot, especially with COVID now, so I don't have to worry about it.

I have managed to get some UFO's done.  Those are craft projects that were started but not finished.  I am so enjoying having time to craft.  Being at home is NOT a problem.  I change out my projects and keep some out so I remember to work on them.  Today I bought a flannel sheet and put it up on the wall for a design wall.  This will be one way for me to remember to work on certain projects.  The design wall isn't perfect and I will be working on THAT in 2021 also.    So to inspire me is a UFO that I have been working on for years.  LeFleur!

Before that I had my house blocks for Corona-ville up.

That's it for now.  I will post tomorrow with some things I want to do in 2021.  I might even include a LONG list of BOMs for 2021.  See you on New Years Eve!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas everybody!  I haven't done any stitching or crafting for the last couple of days so I could enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  My friend Dan came over, and will be here today also, to share a meal with me.  

I gave Dan his pillow and he gave it a big hug so I do believe that he likes it.  That, of course, put a big smile on my face.  

The menu was a simple one but I think it turned out great.  Not many leftovers which is good since we will have more today.  

Only a little bit of the ham was left over as well as a little bit of corn bread with honey butter.  The cornbread will come out today.

Of course dessert time was candy and cookie time.  Santa had some also (with milk) so now it will be leftovers today.

My menu today, Christmas Day, will be Rock Cornish Hens.  I'll roast potatoes, carrots, and onions with them when I bake the hens.  I will also bring out what was left of the corn bread and serve it again today with honey butter.

That's about it for now.  I'm getting sleepy again so that is my que to stop writing.  Have a great and safe holiday.

Four Days and Counting

 I did some more work on some projects and made some decisions.  Will they be Christmas presents?  A couple of them will be but they won't be mailed until after Christmas.  Still I'm happy to have made progress on them

I have finally decided on which layout for the two log cabins that I did.  One is in a lighter colorway and I thought I'd like it a bunch more than I do.  These were kits from Jordan Fabrics and the pattern suggestions did not include a border but I think I want a border on them.

First up is the lighter colored fabric log cabin.

Because there isn't a clear or well defined darker portion of the log cabin, in my opinion, to stand out more, I'm going to use the above layout and keep it more traditional.  Any suggestions on border color and how many borders?

This next one is better.  It has a more distinct darker color on the outer row so I am going to chose this layout for it.

Once again the pattern was a kit from Jordan Fabrics and no border was mentioned.  I will put a border on this too but not sure yet what colors.

I did finish the reindeer Merry Christmas stitching.  It is all stitched down and now I have a hard decision to make.

Do I make it into a wall hanging or do I make it into a long pillow for the couch or some place else?  I could also make it into a table runner.  Decisions...decisions...decisions.  What do you think?  I probably won't finish it until sometime in 2021 but it is a good start.  Do you remember the reindeer names?  From Right to Left....

Chad

Suzie

Declan

Hiram

and Fritz.

You didn't meet Fritz before.  He is somewhat shy around social media but get him going at the Christmas Party!   Watch out!.  Rumor has it that he has hidden cameras in his antlers and that he uses it to his advantage.  Careful how much egg nog you have or more importantly, keep Fritz away from the egg nog.  Unless you want to see him dance Lord of the Rings.  He's getting better at it.  He makes it for a full 5 minutes before his legs get all tangled up.

The other progress I have to share with you is an idea for my friend Janine.  When Janine had some health issues and had to go into a nursing home for rehab, her family got rid of 99% of all the quilted stuff I had given her.  She asked me if I could make her something else.  Janine is a cat fanatic.  She can't have her cats any more and the family took them to a shelter also.  Soooo, I found these funky cats and thought of Janine.  I am putting one on a pillow and then I'll send down the pillows to her.  If they make it to her (with COVID I'm not sure) then I will send more.  

These are the first two.  I almost have them ready to put together.  I will mail them to her in January.  This first one is stitched down already so I will probably work on it a bit tomorrow to make it a pillow.

This second one will be stitched down by the weekend.  Janine used to crochet so I thought the cat playing with the yarn would appeal to her.

I have two more designs that I picked out that I could make more pillows out of.  These will be small enough she could put them on her bed if she wants or even in her wheel chair to lean against, etc.  What do you think?

That's it for tonight.  It is 11 p.m. (Central) so I am going to try and turn off my bran and get some sleep.  Have a great day and be safe.

Hugs to all.

Five days and Counting

Five days until Christmas and counting has begun.  You know about the counting don't you?  That's when you look at what you wanted to get done by Christmas and then look at what you GOT done and THEN look at what you have left.  Don't despair.   There is still time to get some things done  Perhaps you need to look at what you wanted to get done and change what it looks like.  Did you  need ALL those sections to that quilt?  Could you cut some out and it would still look great.  Perhaps you don't need to do a quilt but perhaps a pillow that they can cuddle with?  

That was one of my changes.  I need to do a quilt for a friend but it's not going to happen.  Actually it hasn't happened for about 10 years now so in 2021 I will try to change how I envisioned it before and see what can be done.  Perhaps a quilt will not be what it will end up as for so many things have changed in those 10 years.

I did, however, get one pillow done which I thought was cute.  This will be a present given out on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  Then I'll make one for myself because I think it is cute and it sure did feel good on my back when I sat in the rocking chair.  LOL.

I already have some projects that I started at the last minute which will carry me through the end of December.  I have to so much done on a project before it lets me put it aside until later.  I think by February I should be able to put the holiday projects away until July.  Why July?  You've heard of Christmas in July before right?  That's my reasoning anyway.  Don't worry though.  I will still be crafting.  

I had mentioned before that I wanted to pick up on my cross stitch again in 2021.  That required me to get a bit organized and now I am ALMOST done with that.  This is my stash of DMC floss.  You might think it is a lot, and you'd be right, but it is not all that I have.  As I mentioned, this is my stash.  I have projects that are kitted up waiting for me to work on them.  Most of them are from Heaven and Earth Designs (HAED) and average around 60 colors in each one.  I did not count in those colors.  :)

This first picture is what I have organized so far.

This second picture shows what else I have to file away into my stash.  Sounds like a plan for Christmas Day or New Years Eve, etc.

Have you guessed how much floss I have?  What you see here is 934 skeins of floss.   I would estimate that I have about another 240 skins that are kitted up in projects.  You might think that is enough, but I know from experience that I will find a new project that I will want to do and when I kit it up there will be MORE floss that I will need.  LOL.  Such is the life of a crafter.

If I don't get a chance to post again before Christmas, I hope you all have a merry and safe holiday.  It doesn't matter if you celebrate it or not.  I will always wish you a great and safe day.  Live it well for you never know when it will be your last.  

The Reindeer Clan

 I managed to get some stitching done on the Christmas table runner.  I won't get it finished by this Christmas but it will be for next Christmas.

Here are the cute reindeer.

This is Chad.  He has a sense of rumor and is quite loveable.

This is Declan.  He likes to think he is in charge but usually is a middle of the road type of reindeer.  He has your back so you don't have to worry.

This is Hiram.  He will be stitched down this week.  Hiram holds a special place in my heart because of his namesake.  Don't trust those innocent eyes though.  He likes to get into trouble.  He won't blame other if he gets caught but he won't be too repentant either.  LOL.

The sweetheart of The Reindeer Clan is Suzie.  She is a sweetie and the rest of the clan look out for her.  She has them eating out of her hoofs and knows it.  

There is one more Reindeer that I will show when it is his turn for being stitched down.  So if you see reindeer flying unsupervised this year, it is probably this clan.  They like to sneak away from Santa and go visit the Queen Elf.  Perhaps it is because they know she'll feed them stuff that Santa and Mrs. Claus don't think they should eat, or at least not that much of it. 

Have a great day and watch out for Reindeer Crossings!

Another finish for 2020

 I couldn't stand it any longer.  The three quilts/wall hangings that came back from the long armer (why do I always want to type long armor?) gave been staring me in the face.  To shut them up, I picked one up to finish.  All it needed was the binding so I did that this week.  It was the hexagon heart which will go on the wall in February.

It will replace my hexagon snowflake that is above the dresser in the living room.

I put two crocheted snowflakes on either side of it.  I might have to make some hearts to go on either side of the hexagon heart.  I'll see.  I have time to do that.

That's not all that I worked on.  I also pulled out one of the log cabin kits from Jordan Fabrics that I've had for a couple of years.  I wasn't sure if I would like working on log cabin blocks so only ordered one kit.  That gave me 12 blocks.  They suggested a couple of different layouts.  Their suggestions were:

Layout 1

Layout 2  

I might play with different layouts but these aren't too bad.  Which one do you like better?  Layout 1 or Layout 2?  Do you have any other suggestions?  I did like piecing these blocks together.  I decided, after making 2 individual ones, that I could chain piece them.  That speeded up the process a lot so even though I started these last night, I finished them around 11 a.m. today.  I can see that I might have more log cabins in my future.  

That's about all I have for this quick post.  It is cold today  and will be for the rest of the week.  I am cozy warm, almost too warm, so that's ok with me.  The range of temps for the rest of the week are highs  between 41F - 51F and the range for lows are 26F - 38F.  If the temperatures are below 32F, I let the cold water faucet drip.  Been doing that for years and it works pretty good.  At night I also move my electric heater into the laundry room and aim it towards the bathroom.  It just takes the chill off and helps keep pipes from freezing.  Besides I don't like to sit down on a cold bathroom stool in the early hours.  LOL.  I will admit that I'm a wimp.  

I hope you have a great day.

Stay safe and well.

Hugs to all.

Kona Color of the year for 2021

 It's hard to believe 2021 is right around the corner but Kona is here to remind us.  They have picked their color of the year for 2021 and here it is.  It's a beautiful sky blue called Horizon.

Sometimes I'm not that fond of the Color of the Year but I can get into Horizon.  I might even have to order some of it but not for a long time since I have enough blues for now.  Still.......

<grins>

Have a great day everybody.

What's Cooking?

 Whew!  I don't know about you but my brain hurts as well as my hands because of trying to get all the projects done that I need to.  That means this post will be more about what I plan on cooking this week as well as introducing you to my friends new blog.   Susan (Susie) has been talking about journaling/blogging for a bit and I am so happy to see that she started.  You can use the link below to check it out.  She has just started so there isn't much to show yet but bookmark it to go back to later.  I will put a tag in the next day or two on the side of my blog so you can just click that.

Quilting Susie Blog

It is cold here today.  I shouldn't be surprised since it IS December so I sat down and made a list of what I would like to cook this week.  So far my list consists of:

apple butter or apple sauce, I'm not sure which yet

white lasagna

ramen noodle chicken soup

cookies - chewy ginger molasses; peanut butter (hopefully to put in the freezer for closer to Christmas and the New Year)

Cupcakes and frosting - not sure if yellow or chocolate 

That's all on my list so far but I feel like I am missing something that I had thought to add.  Oh well, sooner or later I will remember what it is...Oh..I just remembered!   Rice pudding.  I have a lot of rice and raisins so a nice rice pudding sounds good.  I will have to double check on how many eggs I have.  With all this cooking I might have to get more eggs before I can make everything.  LOL.

Now it's time for me to get my bible and do my daily reading challenge.  That is to read a chapter of Luke each day in December leading up to Christmas.  

The bible that I am reading out of was presented to "Mom Chamberlain" on December 25, 1953 by Anita and George Chamberlain.  In this case, Mom Chamberlain would be my grandmother and was given to her three years before I was born.  It is the King James Version "The text conformable to that of the edition of 1611 commonly known as the authorized or King James Version".  I have to be careful with it since the binding is coming off.  I need to get some glue or something to put it back on. 

I hope everybody stays safe and well.  I thank you all for reading and hope you have good holidays.

Peace to all.