Let it Snow!

We've been decorating an office Christmas tree that will soon be sent to Aspirus Wausau Hospital where it will be raffled off to benefit their hospice program. The theme of the tree is "Copper Country", so today I made these "copper" snowflakes to add to the tree.

These were made with my embroidery machine. Each snowflake takes about one hour to stitch out. Metallic thread isn't the easiest to work with and the last snowflake was the only one that completely stitched out without any thread breaks. It was a nice way to end the day!

Unfortunately, I didn't have any metallic copper thread so I used bronze. Hopefully there'll be someone in Wausau who doesn't know the difference.

I had a cute little guest at my house today. This one wanted to spend some time with "Auntie Carol"! How could I resist -- all my grandkids are so far away, I'm glad my sister is willing to share hers now and then.

She was a pleasure to have -- she quietly played with the dollies and puzzles, humming and singing all the while.

She and her sister and brother, along with their mom, joined Gram, Barb and me for our Friday night dinner. This one was thirsty!! Probably from all the pickles she ate.

BOO!

This house sits directly across from the old Calumet church. I need to find an alternate route when I go out after dark.

I'm a Winner!

I spend a lot of time on the internet finding inspiration from many sewing and quilting blogs. I don't often get too interested in the giveaways, but this one from Made by Rae caught my eye last week. I was surprised and delighted to be the winner and find this cute bag in my mailbox on Saturday. It's made from the prettiest soft pink corduroy -- I absolutely love it! Thank you Rae!


And on a quilty note - I found this quilt top in my closet on Saturday. I had put it together from my stash on our 2009 quilt retreat in Traverse. I pulled it out now, thinking I would get it sandwiched and ready to quilt. When I laid it out on my bed, I decided it would serve me better if it was a bit larger, so I've been digging a little deeper into my stash (and doing a little shopping) so that I can add a few more rows.

While I was in the closet, I noticed there were 5 other quilt tops waiting to be quilted. I guess I don't need to start any new ones for awhile. I haven't dared to count the projects that are started but not quite far enough along to call them quilt tops.

Did I really say I was a winner?

Philip's Quilt

I let Terri pick out the fabrics for this quilt when she was pregnant for Philip. It was a challenge to come up with a pattern that would work with the pieces she sent. I remember coming close to running out of one fabric -- I think I had to do some creative piecing. The pattern I chose was called "Aunt Vina's Favorite".

My mom and I were able to make a trip to North Carolina shortly after Philip was born and I ended up finishing the quilt while I was there.


That was five years ago -- this year Philip started kindergarten.

I haven't seen him in way too long -- looking forward to a visit Thanksgiving weekend!

Hugs and Kisses

This year I've been trying to finish up some old quilt tops that have been hanging in my closet.
This quilt, a pattern by Patrick Lose, has been waiting to be quilted for several years. When I first completed the top I had some idea that I would embroider the grandkids names on it with their birthdays. I finally decided last week that it would never happen and I needed to just get it quilted so it could be used.



I machine quilted most of it with straight line quilting. I then added some hand quilting with pearl cotton around the appliques.



I found a soft yellow polka dot for the back. It's finally ready to snuggle any little ones that come to visit.



I just have to add another picture, totally unrelated to this post. Yesterday Barb and I took ma for a ride to enjoy the fall colors. We stopped to get a view from the lookout on Quincy Hill. I love the picture I captured of ma -- I hope I have such a mischievous glint in my eyes when I'm 90 years old!

Flashback Friday

I started quilting about 30 years ago, but by then I had already been sewing for quite a few years. This was my first sewing machine, a high school graduation gift I received in 1963.

My nephew has been putting some old slides onto a CD for me and he sent me this sneak peek of what he's found on those slides. I don't remember seeing this picture before, but it sure brings back many good memories from that little corner of my childhood bedroom.