Phew....4:5 of 6 done....with only hours left in 2014!!

 Christmas Eve at our house....first time in three years we could recreate the sibling photo!:)

 Christmas day at my in-laws....see that awesome quilt peeking in the mirror?  I'll have to take a better photo of it and share!

 Day after Christmas 200 miles away at my parents....Santa went a little overboard!:)

 Here, finally, is my 5th out of 6 finishes for the fourth quarter.

 The little embroidery piece  was started in Jo's class at the FQ Retreat this summer in London.

A little hand quilting with pink perle and now it's happy on our bed!

This was supposed to be the 6th finish of the 4th quarter. I did get all 48 blocks appliqued. They are sewn together in 4 sections of 12 blocks waiting to be hand quilted. Was going to have it longarmed but wasn't happy with my points ....really rough...so hand quilting.

Guess you know what is first on the list for Finish Along 2015!!:)

Thanks so much to Katy for all the encouragement this year with FA 2014!!

Happy New Year everyone and thanks so much for stopping by to visit!!

xo ~d

That Festive Time of Year!:)

Greetings all! Hope you are having a great holiday season...things are getting festive around here!

We've already had snow and ice!

 A great Thanksgiving at my parents house followed by...

(so exciting having the girl home!!)

 ...a second Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law's place. Hubby grilled the best turkey I have ever tasted. We wrapped that puppy...um...bird up and hauled it to Baltimore...

(the boy's girl, nephew, niece)

..for more fabulous feasting.  Lucky us!:)

 Next up was Miracle on 34th St, Baltimore!

 This neighborhood really knows how to put on a show!

 This is their 67th year of celebrating!

 Bike spokes....

 ...hubcaps...

 ...loads of white lights...

 ...and of course the colors of Sesame Street!!

Grand illumination night really brought out the crowds and the press!

(nephew, hubby, the girl, S-I-L, niece)

The cold couldn't keep us away!:)

Next up was the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performing a Duke Ellington Nutcracker with the Step Afrika Dancers.  The Strathmore is an amazing place to take in a performance.  

All the little kiddies were dressed in their holiday finery.

Aren't those two on the left adorable?:)

 There have been a lot of makes but of course I can't show anything but I did get this tote finished for the above niece as her birthday was this month too!

 She loves origami cranes...you can see her handiwork on the napkins above!:)

 This year's card.  Trees drawn on MS Paint...snowmen with a Sharpie!:)

 A co-worker became a grandma for the second time.  Babar taggie and book for grandma to keep at her house!:)

Here is a little peek of some of our decorations. I love Holiday Stuffies and get a new one for the collection every year.  This year it was the gnome in red cap. After bringing him home I received two surprises.  Christmas goose was given to me by my wonderful mom-in-law won at her woman's club auction and "Dolores the Angel" came all the way across the ocean from Edinburgh, Scotland!!  Our pal Jo made her as a sample for a class and not only named her after me but gifted her to me too!!!

We haven't put our tree up yet...a potted holly...but in the meantime the wonderful forest of wooden trees made by my pops keeps us in the holiday spirit!

Hope all is merry and bright!!

xo

~d

Thank you Miss Mustard Seed AND Pine Cone Hill!!!!

 I don't enter every giveaway I see and frankly even if I love an item the odds are never in my favor.  Because I loved the look on Miss Mustard Seed's post about a gorgeous set of linens from
  Pine Cone Hill celebrating their 20th anniversary I thought what the heck. There were a gazillion ways to enter but because I don't do Facebook, Pinterest nor Twitter I could only enter old school...leave a comment then forget about the whole thing. I did...forget. 

 (photo from Pine Cone Hill)

Over a month an a half later I get an email from Abby Wood, Junior Copywriter at

Annie Selke Companies saying I won and what size bedding and shams would I like.  WHAT?  Are you kidding me?  Being the cynic that I am I googled Abby....she is for real.

Winning was for real too!!!

 One week later this box arrived...at our neighbor's house.  Their wonderful son hauled it over then called to let us know it was outside. This is one huge and heavy box!

 Gleefully cutting the tape first thing that pops out is the pillow...oh my heavens!

Yep...one pillow, two sets of shams, one set of queen sheets, one queen dust ruffle and TWO queen sized quilts!!! Over $1600 worth of linens. I don't think in our 29 years of marriage we have spent that much on all our linens!  I love, love, love that golden yellow...and for sure the white one as we have something similar already on the bed in dove grey!

 Won't they go great with my Hexy MF tossed on the bed or a nearby chair?:)

I think YES!!

Thank you Miss Mustard Seed for hosting the giveaway and thanks so much Pine Cone Hill for the amazing linens and Abby for all the sweet correspondence...sorry I thought you weren't real!:)

One day they will all be on our beautiful brass bed....but right now it's packed in the basement!

Don't you think we need to get that rug too?;)

~d

Giving Thanks....Reading Partners!

This girl is finally home for a Thanksgiving...first time in four years....yep we are thankful to have the whole family together and the fact she found a job she is loving.

This girl found a service opportunity through AmeriCorps at Reading Partners. 

Reading Partners works with more than 160 schools in low-income communities    across eight states and the District of Columbia

They recruit and train community volunteers to work one-on-one with students for 45 minutes twice a week, following a structured, research-based curriculum.

The girl's job is to find those volunteers!

(Here she is at City Hall in Baltimore, MD.  Who could say no?:)

She just told us about this amazing program at Amazon called AmazonSmile.  When you sign in at smile.amazon.com and buy something 5% of your purchase price goes to your charity of choice...and Reading Partners is on the list of charities!:)

There are thousands of charities on their list so even if you don't choose Reading Partners pick something near and dear to your heart....it's a no brainer!  You just have to remember to sign in at smile.amazon.com each time and use your existing account. Wish I knew about this years ago!

As you can see Reading Partners logo is orange and blue so of course I had to get out some fabrics and play....mug rugs and runners to bring some color to their office!

Now it's time for me to go eat some pie...pumpkin, apple, chocolate chess....I can't decide so I think I'll have a piece of all three!

Happy Turkey Day....I'm thankful for all of you!!

~d

Forgot to ask you to vote and some hubby bragging!:)

Quickie post.  Nothing like entering the Blogger's Quilt Fest and not asking you to vote!!:) 

So...if you have some time go here and see the other quilts entered in the Arts category and vote for your favorite.  Doesn't have to be mine and don't feel guilty if you like something better!

 If you have even more time go see the quilts in the other ccategories...there is some amazing stuff.  You get three votes per category so it's really fun! 

You might even see some other blogs you would like to follow...I did!:)

Since I have you here I thought I'd do a little bragging about my talented hubby.  Last month on our 29th anniversary we went to an Open House where he has bascially lived for the past two month totally renovating their kitchen.

 Isn't it amazing?!!

 He did everything except the floors and the countertops.  Yes...he did all the tile work!!!  

Yep...I'm proud of him!

 They even had a cookie made especially for us!  They are going to miss him!!:)

 Finished ALL 48 blocks for my pickle dish quilt.  Didn't turn out quite how I wanted as my points don't meet.  This means hand quilting so I doubt I'll get it finished by the end of the year!

Yep...November and we still have peppers...and a new project in a pretty blue bowl!:)

Now go vote....you have til tomorrow. Sorry!;)

~d

4:4 of 6 fini!

I'm on a roll. Lots happening but I am finding time to get stuff done on my

Fourth quarter Finish Along 2014 list.

This quilt is extra special.  Last month one of the workers at our gym lost her mom.  I asked her if she wanted me to make a quilt out of her mom's shirts....she had already donated everything...or she thought she did!  Alas a couple of sweatshirts and a tee escaped the thrift shop bag.

Yep....cat behinds... I can work with that!

 There was a pink Angled Frames top waiting to be finished.  Maybe it was waiting for this project?  Sure made the finish easier, especially since I didn't have a lot to work with. 

 Sashed the blocks cut out of the shirts...add a little backing yardage....

 ...done, finito, fini, finished!

Kitty behinds...Bwhahahaaaa!!:)  Hopefully this will give a little comfort!

(coworker and pal Cathy is that blur on the right!:)

In the meantime my boss is in Houston at Quilt Festival. Here is a shot of the Webfabrics.net booth. We have been cutting and bundling like crazy to get ready for this weekend. Fantastic isn't it?:)  Sure wish I could be there but the rest of us are holding down the shop!:)

If you are lucky enough to be there stop in and say dolores sent you!!:)

Can't beat a Beautyberry bush.  It just keeps on giving!:)

~d