Vintage Christmas.....

Janice, one of our bee members, shared some vintage Christmas items with us at our gathering yesterday. We brought our 'favorite thing' that we have ever made to share with everyone. Janice brought some felt ornaments, circa '80s, to share and also a photo that she found in an antique store, entitled 'Lyle Lovett Christmas'. Hint: notice Dad in the background ! I was also given a vintage apron as a hostess gift !

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......at my house!

Yesterday our sewing bee met at my house for our Christmas celebration and it was fabulous! The food was great and the presents from everyone were outstanding. We made one exchange item and of course there were some that didn't follow the rules, so they made something for all of us! That was a big 'Win' for me ! My gift was the snowman in the mitten,made by my friend Doris. She also made the embroidered bee cushion that is hanging on my hutch. She embroidered a different piece for each one of us. Thanks Doris!

Snow.....in ATX.....Yes!

We are expecting snow in the morning and this is a big event in our part of the world. I have a backlog of photos to post so I am going to start with my Christmas quilts for 2009. I finished three and only because my local quilt shop rents their longarm by the hour and I have been practicing on it for the past month. It certainly cuts down on the completion time and that's a good thing........One of the quilts has been pieced since 2005, another is Basic Grey 'Figgy Pudding', and the third one is Crabapple Hill's 'Over the River and Through the Woods'.

Thanksgiving '09, Round 1

That's right! Yesterday we had our first Thanksgiving lunch and it was so yummy! Just a few photos to whet your appetites. This was the first year in a very long time that I cooked a whole turkey and used the brining process. It was the best turkey I have every cooked, sorry no photo, and I will definitely do this again when I cook a whole turkey. I think you can use brining for other meats as well. I used the mix from Williams-Sonoma. I also tried a pumpkin pie recipe that used sweetened condensed milk instead of the regular evaporated milk plus sugar. The pie turned out great!

Hope your week is a good one.........

Something else pumpkin.......

Besides finishing the pincushion, I baked pumpkin bread with cranberries and walnuts today........I'm off to watch Mad Men......if you don't have time to read, check out this site www.cartenoire.co.uk/persuasion , and sit back and enjoy!

Biscornu Pincushion

Derived from French adjective meaning skewed, quirky or irregular, a bisconornu is an eight sided pincushion. I have admired these on some of the blogs that I follow and decided to make one when I found this pattern from http://www.sweethearttree.com/ . I love pincushions, so this just adds to my collection. Another post .........another day.

Off the needles......

That's right. I completed my first pair of socks last night! I followed two different sets of instructions, so they are slightly different. Both are a simple sock pattern. When I finished the first one, it was too long in the foot and leg, so I changed the sizing on the second one. They are both slightly slouchy, so you really can't tell the difference. I'm off to get started on another pair with the intention of finishing them before the end of the year........

Coming along nicely.........

I'm having so much fun making these 'mini' stockings ! Will do a few more.....then on to something else, like finishing the socks I started last year......

Rhonda, textile artist and runner.......

I met Rhonda the same way I met Janice and Doris. We have taken classes together at the local quilt shop and also attended workshops with Gwen Marston through the Austin Quilt Guild. Today she shared with us a hexagon quilt that she is working on using an assortment of beautiful and colorful fabrics using the English paper piecing method. I think she plans to make it on the design of a 'Grandmother's Garden' quilt. It is going to be beautiful. We are also following her progress on her 'Wave' crochet blanket in some fabulous colors. She brought along some sweet pin keeps and a cross-stitch piece that she will be making into a needle book as well. Oh.....and did I mention she is training for her first marathon in the new year! She is running approximately 12 miles every other day and if you follow the weather in Austin, we have had record heat all summer! We are all amazed at what she accomplishes .

I am very blessed to know Rhonda and Janice and Doris. I hope you have enjoyed our 'show and tell'. Until next month.......

My friend Janice.....

I previously mentioned where I met Janice but I didn't mention that she taught me everything I know about hand applique. I took a Baltimore quilt class from her and then a Dear Jane class. I finished the Baltimore quilt, but Dear Jane is still waiting.....Janice's hand applique is beautiful and she also favors hand quilting. She has inspired me to improve my hand sewing skills and introduced me to the world of reproduction fabrics. Today, for show and tell, Janice brought a pumpkin table runner and a pumpkin quilt that we had seen at the Austin Quilt show last year. She has also been working on a punchneedle pumpkin piece that she shared with us and a new 'Wave Pattern' crochet blanket that she recently started.