Whole Lotta Nuttin

That's what I feel like doing.  It's been COLD this week and I haven't gotten into a rhythm yet.

Here is what's on the design wall:  Boy blocks and three completed Alice Payne blocks.

My daughter requested a "real" potholder for her house at collage.  I got out my original 1960s loom and cotton loops.  My father made me the long handled hook from a sturdy coat hanger, it works great.

 My husband made these in the 60s too.   Did you?

 I made 3 and now I'm almost out of loops.  I hope I can still find them on line.

My original amaryllis finally bloomed.  It was worth the wait.  It is a beautiful shade of ruby red.  (doesn't it look cold outside?  It is!)

I received a wonderful surprise this Christmas.  My friend, Mary B, sent me her American Doll to join my doll family.  Apparently she was feeling a little lonely by herself in Illinois.

My Annie was so surprised to see her

 She gave her a warm embrace and they spent some time catching up.

Annie decided it was a great excuse to get the whole CT gang together for a big celebration. Invitations were sent to the basement.   Everyone got dressed up and had a wonderful time together.

Champagne and treats were served.

Everyone was on their best behavior this time as baby Emily was there along with other small children including some visiting pets.

What a great party!!  Welcome to the family Kit.  We're glad you are here!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.....Stitching, napping, tv watching, book reading, chocolate eating.....you know January stuff.

It's Practically Here!!

Christmas is less than one week away!  Yikes.  Everyone seems to be running late and I am no exception.

I managed to squeeze in some time and finish my "Hot Flash" quilt.  I attached an extra wide binding, which finishes at 3/4" inch.  I love the way it looks.

 The backing is Nancy Drew fabrics.

It's a really fun line and the colors go perfectly with the front.

Last weekend, I rushed to Ohio after Hanna had an emergency appendectomy.    She missed most of her finals in a Percocet haze.....We made do at the hotel with quilts from her school collection, bad TV and my Alice Payne applique'.  Thanks to my FB friends for your support and good wishes while I was there.

A Nor'easter blew through while away resulting in this disaster...

After the initial hysteria and panic....everyone did their bast to get through it.

 We will rebuild!

Connecticut Strong!

My first amaryllis was a disappointment so I bought this beauty a few weeks ago at the grocery store.  The first one is showing promise so I'm nursing it along.

 Could this be the craft I was talking about in my last post?

 No, but it does look festive in the meantime.  It's how I imagine they decorate a hunting lodge.

Thank you Rich for taking photos this week before work and for my family's support of my crazy ideas and projects.  I'm so grateful for you all.

I thank you all too, for your encouragement, comments and enthusiasm.  You really make Fun With Barb fun for me.

If I don't make it back here, Merry Merry Christmas to you all!

Domesticity

Happy Wednesday!

I changed the quilt in my sewing room to "Friends and Neighbors" 2004.

This was exchange with my Illinois friend, Mary Pat W when I moved to NJ. Some of the liberated houses are mine and some are hers.  I still love this quit and remember it being very fun to make.

The back is all household related print fabrics.

I'm finally marking my big star quilt.  Great News!!  I'm having 2 versions of my over sized baptist fan stencil manufactured and I'll be offering it here on the blog for purchase.  They are also manufacturing another one of my designs for their catalog. (my room is a mess - again)  At least the dolls are behaving.

On other domestic fronts:

I turned these

Into this

a Food and Wine recipe for Tortilla soup.  click here for the link.

I did a little "fake baking".  I added vanilla and some oatmeal and viola'

I inherited Jill's extensive collection of doilies, aren't these pretty?  Warm fake bake is better than no cookies, right?

The hummingbirds area gone, but the winter birds are here at the kitchen window.

This year I moved the whole feeding station up to the deck where I can see them.

I don't know if this is a red-headed sparrow or a purple finch, but he's handsome.

First cardinal of the season.  He's a handsome fellow too!

I've planted an amaryllis and paper whites.

I'm uploading lots of reading for my ipod.

I finished my first block of the Alice Payne quilt.

I found my name tag collection.  I'm off to my second meeting with my new guild tonight.

If I'm not back, have a Blessed Thanksgiving next week to my US friends.  Hope you are staying warm and find time to stitch, read, bake, cook or watch the birds.

Happy 2012!

Just popping in to say Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a peaceful (and pieceful) holiday season.

I'm enjoying a bit of a blog break while my birds are in the nest.  I look forward to catching up with all my blog friends and seeing what you are all up to.

My latest quilt was for my son's best friend, John.  He was surprised and thrilled.

Based on the photo, the size fits him perfectly.

My pal, Mary, popped over on Christmas Eve for our traditional fruit cake snack and champagne toast.  It was so great to see her and catch up.

I was welcomed home from Illinois by my blooming amaryllis.  It's a beautiful pink!  Thank you E for the lovely gift, it was well worth the wait.

This morning there were even more blooms.  It is a double, which means I'll have 8 blossoms.  What a lovely way to start out the year.

So now I'm wondering when the elves will come and pack christmas away.....good thing there is still a bottle of bubbly in the fridge to help me with the job this weekend :)

I'm working on my new long term applique project (not the Hawaiian as planned) and look forward to sharing it in my next post.

Happy New Year Sewing to you all.

Elfing Around

Greetings!
I've been busy with all the usual holiday stuff, but I finished my gift quilt and wanted to share it.

I used Jay McCarroll fabric and pieced the back, and pieced the batting, and made a scrap binding.  Waste not, want not.

For the quilting, I stabilized the block then added the wavy lines and also quilted the circle centers.

How wonky is that?  So funny.  The large print was not really on grain, so the whole back got thrown off.  I'm okay with it.

No peeking until Christmas.....

I really liked these colors and thought they were an unusual combo, until one day while looking at my inspiration board I saw all of these.  They are of similar color combinations.

I've finished 2 more stars -

What a nice model.  Thanks Coco.  She'll be turning 2 on  Christmas Day.  What a good girl she's turned out to be.

I'm prepping a couple of more.  I'll be making 12 in all.

And finally, I'm having twins!  I received this amaryllis as a hostess gift and it was asleep so long, I thought it would never get going.  I'll post what color it is when it blooms.

Kids are coming home tonight!  Hope you are having fun with your family and friends during this season.