Happy New Year

Can't believe another year has come and gone.  This has been a difficult year having broken my ankle in the spring and not being able to put any weight on it for 9 weeks.  My surgery went well and I was doing great until I started physical therapy and did something to my back.  For five weeks I was in terrible pain and it seemed to set me back.  Slowly, the pain receded and I was able to get back on the road to healing.  I really missed Spring and Summer and being outside in my yard and garden and am looking forward to being out there again.

I also missed being able to get down stairs to my sewing room to work on my quilting projects.  Thankfully, I was able to work on my stitcheries which helped pass the time.  

Although 2019 held many challenges it has ended on an upbeat note.  My son and his wife just announced they are expecting their first child and the due date is just three days away from my birthday.  2020 is going to be a good and exciting year!!

New Project!

Today I traced off a new stitchery to work on. 

With the weatherman forecasting heavy snow New Year's Day, I decided I needed to begin my "basket" project.  Can't be housebound without something to keep me busy!  I had purchased this pattern and fabric for the stitchery a couple of years ago while at a local quilt show.

There are 20 baskets and I hope to stitch 2-3 a month or more if possible.  But, with the BOM project I've ordered and the quilting projects waiting to be done, it will probably be a challenge to meet that goal.

I'm finding its rather nice to be stitching something different from the snowmen I've worked on for the last couple of months.

Today's The Day

Normally, I wait until New Year's Day to take down my Christmas decorations but this morning, with fresh snow or the ground and very cold temperatures, it seemed like today was the day to put Christmas away and bring out the snowmen.

I love my miniature Snowmen quilts.

This last little snowman with the birdhouse and birds was my Christmas gift from my sister this year.  I love all the little bird buttons.  The bird house is made from a piece of our Mother's suit, so has special meaning to each of us. 

Where Did Christmas Go?

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone.  And now it is time to put everything away and get ready for January.  My snowmen stay out until the middle of January when Valentine's decorations appear.

I'm quite excited for Valentine's as I have signed up to make a mystery Valentine Quilt.  Can't wait to see how it will turn out.  The fabric is beautiful and as soon as it arrives, I'll post some pictures

Thought I'd post two last quilt pictures.

This is a Gail Pan Design

Snowflakes

These will join other Christmas and winter quilts and make an appearance

next year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I'm looking forward to the New  Year and all that it will bring.

Another Christmas Tradition

For a number of years now I gather my grandchildren and their parents together to make candy for friends and neighbors.  I look forward to this time together each year.

This weekend we made our traditional truffles:  orange, peppermint, cherry and chocolate flavors and then dipped them using chocolate melts.  We also made caramels and wrapped them.  We added pretzels drizzled in white and dark chocolate and topped with peppermint bits.  We also made pretzels topped with Rollo's and M&M's.  We soften the Rollo's for 2-3 minutes in the oven and then press a M&M into the top.  We used to do a half pecan but with so many having allergies, this is safer.

Plates were filled with goodies and delivered to friends bringing a close to another fun-filled day with my family.  Not sure how many years we will be able to continue this as the grandkids are getting older, but I will always hold dear these times we spend together working, laughing and just having a fun, happy time.

Winter Flurries

Last year, I decided to make "Winter Flurries", a mystery quilt from https://fortworthfabricstudio.com/.  At first I was a little hesitant as I am not a big fan of using black with Christmas.  But, it didn't take me long to fall in love with the fabrics.  I even purchased more of the black to be used in some other projects.

I really like how the black pieces seem to "pop" and enhance the other colors of fabric.  It now adorns my kitchen table.

"Winter Flurries"

This picture really doesn't do it justice.

Winter Forest

Years ago, when I had my business, I made these trees and sold them in a set of Five.  They were a very popular item and took quite a bit of time to sew and stuff.  Because of the time involved, I only kept them available for about a year. 

Every year I can't wait to get them out and find a new spot in my home for them.  They make me happy whenever I look at them and also bring back memories of a earlier time in my life.

Nativity

My mother did beautiful handwork and created many pieces that now adorn her children and grandchildren's homes.  She was also a wonderful quilter and quilted her pieces by hand with such small stitches.  I have never been able to match her stitches.  She was truly a perfectionist in the work of her hands.

This year I have placed her "Nativity" over my mantelpiece.

She actually created this from several patterns.  I've often wondered if she kept track of the hours she spent designing and stitching.  The detail is amazing.

I'm so grateful that I inherited this when she passed away.  It is one of my favorite Nativities that I have displayed around my home.

Sorting, Filing and Shredding

I often have to be in the mood to clean, sort and throw away quilting and stitchery patterns that have sat in my filing cabinet or closet for years waiting to be made into something wonderful.  It is very hard to part with some items but when I look at the date on them and realize it has been at least 10 years since they came into my possession and I haven't done anything with them, then it's time to say "goodbye". 

Last Spring I got a good start on my cupboards eliminating many patterns, books and kits donating them to a local charity.  I felt good about what I was accomplishing and then I broke my ankle and everything came to a halt.  Today is the first time I have felt like getting back to sorting, filing and shredding things I know I am never going to make.  Many items no longer interest me and I can't see just letting them set around for my children to get rid of when I am no longer here....not that I'm planning on going anywhere soon!

It didn't take long to fill my wastebasket.  Many of the things I eliminated were patterns I had printed off the internet over the years.  When I first started blogging there were so many wonderful designers who shared their patterns, had BOM projects, etc. that I just knew I had to make.  Many I did make, but others kept waiting for that special day and time that never seemed to come around.

It does feel good to see shelves and drawers of my filing cabinet not so crowded.

And, I don't feel so overwhelmed and guilty that I haven't made everything.  I also cleaned out a filing box and thought I would use it for 2020 projects that I would like to work on.

I hope after the holidays are over and everything is put away that I can sit down and plan projects for the next few months.

2019 Snowman

When I saw this snowman stitchery on Plum Cute Designs, I knew I had to have it.

It brought back memories of when I was a young girl.  My next door neighbors' Dad flooded their back yard and made an ice rink.  All of the kids in the neighborhood would congregate there and skate.

I did not have skates, but Joan and Mary Jane would let me borrow their double runner, strap-on skates.  What fun we had!  Since many of us didn't have skates we would just slide on the ice in our shoes or boots.  Everyone would hurry home from school, do whatever chores we had, then rush over to Luke's to get in as much skating as we could before dinner or before it got dark.

When I was in my early teens, my sister bought each of us a pair of ice skates.
What a treasured gift! We would go ice skating together.  One of our favorite places was near Park City just off of the old highway.  A small pond there always froze over in the winter and was ideal for skating.

We never became great ice skaters, but we sure had fun creating treasured memories!

Scandinavian Christmas

Can't believe I've made it to day 15 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  It has been fun but also a "challenge" because for the first time in ages I have not done any Christmas quilting.  But, I have done a lot of stitching.  So, I've been posting things I have made in the past and it's been fun to think back on each piece and how it came to be.  So, today I'm continuing with that theme.

A few years ago I was fortunate to win Lynette Anderson's Scandinavian Christmas pattern.  I was so excited to make this and collected the necessary fabrics, but due to some circumstances, I wasn't able to make it right away.

Finally, the time arrived when I could create my own Scandinavian Christmas.  A dear friend and I worked together making us each a simplified wall hanging.

It has become one of my favorites.

More Snowmen

When I looked on the back of these snowmen, I was rather shocked at how many years have passed since I made them as a gift for my mother.  After she passed away, I brought them home to enjoy.  She, too, loved snowmen.  Maybe that's where I get my love from snowmen.

Had so much fun stitching these different snowmen/snow lady ornaments for my

 tree six years ago.  They are all done in redwork. 

It seems like yesterday when I was working on these projects.  

It's Evident that....

...I love snowmen.  If you look around my home, you will see snowmen in almost every room, from ornaments, to pillows, to wall hangings, to figurines.
It seems that every year I add another snowman project to my list of things to made or do.  So today I thought I'd share a few of my snowmen projects:

This was also made for neighbor gifts

Pillows for my son and daughter

This snowman mini quit was a "project a month" block from my local quilt shop

This little guy was so fun that I made one for my daughter also

Snowman pattern and kit from my local quilt shop

These are just a few of the snowmen projects I have made through the years.  I love having them out from the time the snow flies in late November or early December until the end of January when it is time to decorate for Valentines.

“It's raining, it's pouring ... ”

BY MOTHER GOOSE

It’s raining, it’s pouring,

    The old man’s snoring.

He got into bed

    And bumped his head

And couldn't get up in the morning.

It's a cloudy, dark and dreary day today.  Rain all day due to mild temperatures.  We've already had a third of a inch of rain.  But  that will change as temperatures drop tonight and rain will change to snow.  How much snow will we get????  

 

Christmas Greetings

I love Christmas cards!

I love browsing through the boxes of cards always on display at the local shops.  I love sending and receiving them and adding a short note. Often Christmas is the only time I hear from some friends and distant family. Sadly, I think fewer and fewer people are sending cards.  It is so much easier and quicker just to post a quick message on Facebook or some other social media that reaches "all" your friends or send off a quick text. I hope the tradition of sending Christmas cards never goes away.

Through the years we have recycled our Christmas cards into small origami boxes after the holidays or prior to the next Christmas.  We had a lot of fun making them and trying so hard to get just the right design on the top of the box.  We would fill a small basket with the little boxes or place them indiscriminately on the Christmas tree.  We would often invite friends and family who came to visit, to select a small box to take home.  

Do you still send Christmas cards?

  

Sun-Shiny Day!

Today was a bright sun-shiny day.  After all the fog and inversion, it was wonderful to see blue skies and sunshine.  It seemed to invigorate me and I found myself doing some cleaning and organizing.  The room I worked in was sadly in need of "help".  That particular room had collected more "stuff" than usual since I broke my ankle and ended up with back problems from physical therapy.  It seemed to be a convenient drop off spot when I couldn't get around easily.  My family was great about helping with the cleaning, but now that I am up and about, it felt good to get in there and deep clean.  Love walking by now and seeing a happy, organized room. 

Had a couple of dear friends stop by to visit today and they brought me this sweet little gift.

Love the thought and the reason for the season!

Sweet Smelling Sprays

Today I was able to wrap, package and mail Christmas gifts.  So nice, that I can cross that off my to-do list.  Also, packaged my neighbor/friend gifts although they won't be delivered until closer to Christmas.

This year my daughter and I made room sprays using Essential Oils.  We wanted to do this last year, but it just didn't work out, so I'm delighted we were able to order the spray bottles early and make them.  Thanks to my daughter, she printed off cute stickers and tags for the bottles.  These smell so very yummy!

As the days are slipping away so very quickly, I'm grateful to be crossing off projects on my Christmas list.  Am hoping that the last week can be spent just enjoying the wonderful Spirit of Christmas.

To read other bloggers posts who are participating in the 31 day writing challenge go here:  http://muppin.com

Santa Quilt

I spent almost a year in 2007, stitching this "Santa" quilt working on and completing one block a month.  The Santa's were fun to stitch as each one was different.  I had a friend who was also making one for her and we kept each other motivated to get the blocks stitched and assembled by Christmas.  The quilt was completed in November--just in time to hang for Christmas.  Wish I had kept track of the hours spent stitching.

This quilt has been a favorite of my grandchildren with all the different Santa's.  I think their favorite is Santa holding his list and seeing their names stitched on the "nice" side.

Hopefully, this will become a heirloom to be treasured when I am not longer here.

December's Sue

I love Sunbonnet Sue and this little stitchery always finds its way out of storage to greet the month of December.  I can't help but smile each time I look at it.  I love the simplicity of it. 

As she places her gift beneath the tree I always wonder what could be inside her present.  It's fun to think of all the things she could select and wrap to place under the little tree and who the gift might be for. 

And speaking of gifts, I was able to complete two gifts today.  Yeah!  I have one more waiting to be finished and it should be completed on Monday.  Pictures will come later.

Pre-Christmas Gifts

The tradition of giving a small gift as a pre-Christmas present was started by my Mother years ago and my sister and I have carried this on with our families.  The simple gifts are often given at the end of our Thanksgiving celebration or the first of December.

One thing I have done since my grandchildren were little is give them a Christmas ornament.  I try to find something that depicts their interests or hobbies.

Chinese Take Out Ornament

Christmas Calendars

It is always fun shopping and trying to find just the right ornament.  Another tradition is giving them a Chocolate Countdown Calendar.  This year I almost decided they were getting to old for the calendars, but my daughter reminded me that it was a "tradition" and that the kids would be disappointed if they didn't receive one.

A few years ago, I also made place mats for each of the grandchildren.  Using a "snowman" font, I embroidered each of their names.  Each snowman depicted a letter in their name.

This is always a much anticipated activity with my family, one that we all look forward to.

Cold, Dark Days of December

This morning I woke to a continued inversion and light rain---making for a dreary day.  Last week we had heavy snow and now with the rain, it is quickly disappearing.

As I sat in bed I thought of a cross-stitch sampler my Mother did years ago that talked about the cold, dark days of December. 

It reminded me that even when it is cold and dreary outside, beautiful things can be found, even the song of a bird, that will brighten our day.  And sometimes, the things that cheer us are truly magical and sweet to remember.

Day 5 of 31 day writing challenge

Day 4 Writing Challenge

I Love Traditions!

And Christmas, to me, is a time of traditions shared with family.  When my children were small, we started a tradition of reading a Christmas story after dinner every evening.

At the beginning we did not have many books, so reading was done nearer to Christmas.  But, when reading together seemed to bring us closer together as a family, I started buying a new Christmas book every year.  Some years it was more than one.

Through the years our collection grew until we had one or more books to read each night in December.  These books are truly treasures and I miss that nightly sharing now my children are grown and have families of their own.

For a few years I have not pulled out my books and I have missed reading these delightful stories.  So this year, while my daughter was helping me decorate, we selected several books and added them to the bookcase.  Just seeing them sitting there brings back such sweet memories of a time past that I decided it was time to refocus on that tradition and so each night I am reading one of my treasured Christmas books.  Such a delightful way to spend a evening!

You can read more blogs here:

31 Day Writing Challenge

Day 3 Writing Challenge

This little quilt has hung in my home for many years and it is one I treasure as it is one of the first Christmas quilts I made.  As I look back now, I wonder how I ever managed to piece it together.  It was a busy time for me with a small family and a newly formed business, "fun things".

I had started a mail order, home-based business making and selling fabric and wood items.  We produced a small catalog, placed a few ads in magazines and

it took off much to my surprise and delight.  We were soon picked up by some wonderful individuals who represented us at national gift shows. Orders kept me and my family very busy as well as friends I hired to help me. 

Time for doing the things I wanted to do for myself was limited and when I saw this little quilt, (can't remember where or who pattern was by) I knew I had to use some of my fabric and make it.  It just seemed to speak to me and has brought me much joy and happiness year after year.  I love the simplicity of it and of course, being a lover of anything hearts, these small hearts just added to the beauty of the design. 

I love the traditional red and green of Christmas and these prints and colors just spoke to me and they still do.  This little quilt will always hold a special place in my heart reminding me of a time gone by, one that was filled with challenges and many blessings.

Day 2 Blog Writing Challenge

Do you want to build a snowman?

Spent such a fun day on Saturday with my daughter and grandsons who came to help me decorate my home for Christmas.

Unbeknown to me while my daughter and I were bringing up decorations, the boys were outside building me a snowman.  Over Thanksgiving we were inundated with snow---lots of heavy wet snow.  It was perfect for building a snowman. What a fun surprise!  I loved it!  Brought back so many memories of when my children were little and couldn't wait to get outside to play in the snow.
What made this snowman even more special was that the hat placed on top of his head was one of my mother's hats. 

Thanks to their help, my home is now decorated for Christmas and every time I look out my window, a smile lights my face and warm fuzzy thoughts of my grandsons invade my soul.

 

2019 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

This morning while browsing through my emails, a post from TuningMyHeart/ caught my attention as she mentioned one of her goals was to become a better blogger.  My sentiments exactly as I recently posted.  She mentioned a 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge that Cheryl Sleboda  http://muppin.com/  has set up.  Thinking this might encourage me to be more faithful in posting, I decided to accept the challenge. 

I look forward to reading other bloggers posts.  It is always uplifting to see and read about what others are doing. 

Tuning My Life - A qulters 

Never-Ending Job

I love my Maple and Ash trees except come late fall when the leaves start
to drop.  Then it becomes a never-ending job of raking, mowing and blowing the leaves.  So appreciate my grandsons and their help.  Along with another brother and their parents, they spend part of their Saturday's helping me with yard work

    

When they were younger it was so much fun having them come and "play" in the leaves, jumping and even burying one another in the deep piles of leaves.  I miss those days, but am so happy they still "play" while raking.

Apology In Order

Today I decided to look over my blog stats and was saddened to see that there were many comments left waiting to be moderated and I had not checked them out.  My excuse, if I can have one, is that I've not blogged for ages and when I did post a few times this year, didn't feel well enough to look and see if anyone had left a comment.

So for you who were kind enough to leave me a comment, please accept my apology for not responding.  It was not intentional.  I surely hope to do better in the future as I love hearing from you.

Found this little snowman I had started some time ago, and since I had finished my fall wall hangings, decided it was time to complete some of these UFO's. This pattern comes from Kathy Schmitz.

Hope you have a great day stitching, quilting, or doing whatever brings you "Joy"!

Fall Projects

While visiting one of our local quilt shops awhile ago, I saw this adorable fall panel and knowing I would never take the time to piece/applique something similar, I purchased it and hand-quilted around each motif. 

   

Pulling from my fall stash of fabrics, I pieced this fall pumpkin.  Although they will only be up until just after Thanksgiving, I am enjoying seeing them hanging in my home.

New Adventure

Day 1:  New Adventure

While visiting with my daughter the other day, I expressed to her some feelings I had been harboring and the frustration I was feeling at not being able to find “joy” in some of the things that normally brought me happiness.  I felt like I needed something “new” in my life to bring back that spark!  So being the wise woman she is, she began suggesting things I might want to do that I had not done for a while but adding a new twist or challenge.

Thus the idea of writing and posting on my blog was discussed as well as starting an Instagram Account and posting there.  As we talked about this, I began to feel some excitement.  So, to make a long story short, I took a little time to think about it and with her help, I’m off to a new adventure.  A new name was needed for the Instagram account and after a little searching the title “Life_Sew_Joyful” came to be.  My reasons for this being:

“Life” is precious to me even though it has not always been easy and many times more challenging that I would have liked.  Thought it would be a great board for sharing thoughts and feelings about what is going on in my life and perhaps getting feedback from others who might read or see the post as to what they are facing and doing.  Life is short and we need to treasure every day.

“Sew”.  I love crafting and sewing; especially quilting and embroidery and have missed being able to get downstairs to my sewing room.  Reading and stitching were lifesavers while I was recovering from a broken this spring.  I’m hoping that as I move forward, I can share some projects that I’m working on and see what others are crafting and creating. 

“Joyful”.  A few years ago, I chose “joy” for my word of the year because I wanted to find “joy” in my everyday life.  To help me keep my focus I stitched and framed “choose joy”.  It sits where I can see it daily and continues to remind me that I have a choice and can choose joy.

I'm looking forward to writing and sharing once again.

Happy Monday Morning!

As I sit here looking out my window enjoying my blossoming spring plants I am grateful to my daughter and her family for taking such good care of my yard.
Although I am now walking, with the aid of a walker, I am not able to get out in my yard and garden.  Have really missed being outside but know that this year I will not be able to do a lot.  However, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the beauty I
see out my window.  Love observing the little robins as they visit searching for yummy bugs.  Their morning chorus is a delight to wake up to as they serenade me from the tree outside my bedroom window.

Finished another of my "Flowers Around" baskets.  Now have done one of each design and have four left to do.  Perhaps by the time I finish my outpatient physical therapy (which begins tomorrow) I will have them stitched and can get to my sewing room to find fabric in my stash to complete the table topper.

Quick and Easy

My daughter was able to bring some of my "stitching" fabric and light box up from my sewing room so that I could work on some projects.

I have been wanting to get to Gail Pan's "Flowers Around" tabletopper.

It is six embroidered baskets with flowers.  These will be appliqued to hexagons and then assembled.  Thought it would make a fun summer topper for my kitchen table.  Don't know if it will get done until I can get to my sewing room and dig through my stash for the fabric., but I can get the embroidery done.

Was able to trace off one of the baskets and stitch it.  Very quick and easy!

Hopefully, today I can trace another one.  It was so fun to do, but I must
remind myself to take "stitching" breaks and exercise my arm as it is not good to sit for long periods of time holding the hoop.

Life-Saver

Although I have not been able to get to my sewing room for the past few months, I have been able to do some stitching thanks to a dear friend who traced some patterns off for me and a couple of projects I already had in the works.  They have been life-savers in helping pass the time.  One can only read and watch so much TV especially when you aren't a big TV person. 

A couple of stitcheries are not completed and none are pressed as I can't get to my iron. 

So very grateful for handwork to help pass the time and make me feel like I am accomplishing something.