All is Calm.....

Happy New Years Eve.   I hope you had a peaceful Holiday Season.
I finished my mini Asian One Block Wonder
Lilly  21" x 24"

 Here you can see how small it really is.

 I quilted it the same design as the large quilt.

 The backing is a bit of a mashup with what I had leftover. (still needs a label)

I also made this quick modern mini.  I just felt like making something new the other day. 
Chicken Little 12" x 14"

 I had exactly 1 strip of this cute fabric.  I think I picked it up teachinga workshop or from the free table at guild.

I like to use a single fold binding for little quilts.  I have also developed a new pre-pressing method and glue basting which makes the hand sewing go very smoothly.   Hhhhmm  maybe I should do a tutorial?  

I found a fat eighth of this pretty fabric I picked up somewhere for the backing.

Yay!  Here are some great Liberated House quilts from a workshop I taught last spring for the Ocean Wave Quilt guild.  Thank you Lorraine for sharing this photo.  I see Elmo, lol.

My talented friend, Nancy, finished her Christmas Lollipop Garden workshop Quilt.  Very Cute!

Mah Jongg! Santa brought me a beautiful set for christmas.  I'm very excited to learn and play.

It came with a beautiful carrying bag.  

 I am spending time everyday with lessons on YouTube and I'm looking for a local teacher.

I also received a vintage ViewMaster and some new vintage reels including Mary Poppins one of my all time favorites.

Today we are going to see Mary Poppins with friends and then out for dinner.  Home early which is just how I like on New Years Eve.

Thank you all for making my blogging rewarding by continuing to read and leave comments.  I am very grateful for my little corner of Bloglandia. 

I wish all Peace and Joy for 2019~
xo

Relax...It's almost Christmas

Take a page from Coco's playbook!

I usually have my vintage pink tree in the sewing room, but this year it is in the Living Room.

 I used piece of vintage linen for a skirt.  It looks pink here, but it is red.

I have a mix of vintage and new red and pink ornaments.  I love when they have glitter.

 or snow.

One of my favorite holidays crafts is making Pomanders.  I use a citrus spiral tool to make designs and make it easier to push the cloves into the orange.

From the internet:
Pomanders were first mentioned in literature in the mid-thirteenth century. They were used in the late Middle Ages through the 17th century. Also a version of the pomander with oranges, cloves, oils, and a golden ribbon can be used as a recovery charm in witchcraft.

 I recommend you check dollar stores or Job Lot because the whole cloves can be really expensive.  I rotate them to dry them out evenly.

While enjoying a sip of Christmas Cheer I like to take a walk down memory lane with my View Master reels.    Click here to see a post from 2009 on how we made these hat boxes.

 I have my mother's collection from the 1940s, mine from the 1960s/70s and my kids from the 90s/.

 these were my Moms.  I have everything from Nursery Rhymes, World Capitals, Animals and Bible stories to Sesame Street and  Spider-Man.

I'll close today's pre-holiday post with this sweet photo of Coco.  She is such a dum dum.  I love this look on her face.  It is mostly blank but with a mild confusion.

 I put it on the freezer so she can enjoy it.  She was born on Christmas Day and will turn 9 this year.

Wishing you a little piece and quiet during this busy time of preparation.
xo

Deck the Halls Danish

My Mother-in-law, Geraldine Bovbjerg Vedder, was 100% Danish.  We both shared a love for all things Christmas.

I have a collection of Danish Nissemen.  The one above is holding his giant porridge spoon.  Here is a little more about him.

A nisse considers porridge his due and is greedy for butter.  The legendWhen the Nisse Got No Butter on His Christmas Porridge  illustrates the consequences of tampering with his porridge.

You can read more here: The Legend of the Nisse or Tomte.

The whole gang~

My dear friend, Jill, celebrated Christmas the Nordic way too and loved all things ginger.  Here is a little quilt she made me.  I just treasure it as I do our friendship.   I miss her so much this time of the year.

I think she'd love that I paired with my leg lamp this year.

I'm late to the amaryllis party this year but finally got one potted up.  Looks like I'm having twins.

My cactus is blooming early and looks beautiful in the morning light.

Have a happy week!
xo

It's all Good

Vintage Ceramic trees keep popping up at my house.  This one is special because Norma custom made it just for me.  

On the kitchen counter.  I went to 2 Christmas Fairs before picking up Mr. Hip.  Is that wrong?  ha ha  I got this great table cloth for only $8.

Thank you all for your kind comments wishing Mr. Fun good luck.  The hip surgery went well and he is doing really great!

Can you believe how many meds I'm keeping track of? 

 I've been busy working on my Yellow Whig Rose quilt.  I'm well into the 3rd block.  I'm thinking about how to set them and what to do with the borders.

 Here are some ideas.

Do you rough sketch?  What does this even mean?

2019 Sew Along!

I excited to participate in in Barbara Brackman's 2019 Sew Along.  The quilt will be 9 paper pieced blocks and the border blocks.  I stink at paper piecing, so I thought this would be good for me.  Oh yeah, and fun.

Kevin the Quilter asked me to demonstrate how I arrange things.  My first ambition as a child was to be a window dresser.  I do love to arrange objects and set up displays. 

It is mostly intuitive for me, but there is some thought and design process involved.

I started with the tree and the little quilt.  I added the troll and the Avon bottle because they are of the same time period; 1970s.

I added the mini tea set because it is Christmas themed like the tree.

I added another dolly to make them a group of 3.   Three is always a good design number like 1 (tree) or five (the items in the tea set).

 I added the black miniature dress form and sewing machine, which also tied in the black on the nesting doll.

 **Forming relationships between items is key for me.  They have to relate to something else in the grouping, tie in an object or create balance.**

I added the little mushroom pincushion because my friend Pauline made it and I love it. It also plays off the red and white little quilt in scale and color.

 The tiny camper and spool/tree were added for kitschy fun and they both have blue.

 They also create balance with the mini sewing items.

 Here you can see I arranged things from tall to small.  I also created a triangle with the 3 Christmas tree items.

Viola'
Back to charting meds and Holiday Decorating.  Hope you enjoyed this surprise Sunday post.
xo