Sometimes It's Just Hard

I've been meaning to update my blog for a while in fact I have even sat down and started writing out blog post only to leave them unattended until they are no longer relevant.  Things here have just been hard lately.  It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is just a few short days away.  Don't panic it's not here yet but I am sure I will be putting the finishing touches on presents on Christmas Eve.  A few of those gifts are actually surprise gifts that I am very excited to be gifting.  Not that I don't always put a lot of thought into my gift giving but this year there are a few that are pretty sentimental and I'm hoping the recipients will love them as much as I do.  Plus this is the first Christmas with my nephew so I am super excited to see the joy through a little ones eyes this year.

This is what my tree currently looks like, it's only about 1/2 decorate because I just wasn't really feeling it this year.  Like I said it's been hard.  I had the tree about 1/4 of the way done when we had to take our bulldog to the emergency vet.  Unfortunately she never got to come home with us and so like I said it's been hard around here lately.  After that I managed to get enough ornaments on the tree for it to not look too sad and I've managed to wrap the two gifts you see there.  I guess I better get busy and wrap some more since Christmas is almost here.

Denali Snowberry Boyd July 21, 2005-December 5, 2011

I have been making some progress on a few projects.  I started slowly sewing together my hexagon charm quilt.  I decided to just go with an all over scrappy look.  It's very slow going and I'm not very good at it so I'm just hoping and praying the darn thing will stay together when it's finished.

Hexagon Quilt

I also managed to make a few of the blocks for my chasing chevrons quilt along quilt.  The quilt along is actually wrapping up but I'm still working away at it making blocks.  I've been sidetracked some by projects I can't share here just yet but as soon as the presents are opened I promise to write about them here.

Chasing Chevrons

Wishing you and yours a very     

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Departure from the Norm

 How is it that about this time every year I get quilting ADD. Okay so I know I have it all year but right now I should be putting finishing touches on Christmas gifts and making sure everything is ready to go.  Instead I'm busy starting new projects.  I told you if I could eek out some time I was going to join in with Jennifer on her newest quilt along.  Immediately I thought it would be a good chance to use some of the Garden Party I have slowly been collecting.  But when I pulled out my collection I realized it was a lot smaller than I thought.  I actually have a pretty good mix when I add my Garden Party and Good Folks together and since I know I will never manage to collect all of the pieces to either collection I decided to mix them together and use them for this quilt along and then swap out anything I have left when I'm done.  If your looking for either one let me know and I'll put you at the top of my list.  Be warned though I'm not sure when I will actually be done with this project.

Okay so I went into the store planning to be just plain jane and pick up some Kona Snow.  It's a safe choice and I use it in just about everything and since I couldn't remember exactly how much I needed if I bought a little too much it would be okay.  And then I saw this really pretty hand dyed fabric in this deep burgundy purple.  Then I saw the price tag and though hum my rough guess was 4 yards and this stuff is almost $15 bucks a yard.  Needless to say I didn't buy the hand dyed fabric.  I probably would have invested if it was a quilt that I had a plan for and new for sure it would work but I wasn't totally sold on the fact that it would look good with the fabrics and I don't really have a plan for this quilt it just looked like it might be fun.  Instead I took the hand dyed fabric back over to the Kona wall and settled on Kona Garnet.  Now this is such a departure from the white, off white, and gray that I've used in past quilts where a solid was required.  I made up a few blocks tonight when I should have been making pot holders.  I'm going to let them sit on the wall for a few days and see if I still like them.  But I'd love your feedback.  Is it too much?  Do you like it?  Do you not like it?  Would you scrap it and go back to Kona Snow?  Is there another color you would suggest?

To all of my US Friends I hope you all have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving and stay safe if are going to brave the crowds on Black Friday.

Sometimes It's Just Life

I got to work and open my lunchbox only to find that the milk for my cereal that morning had spilled in the bottom of the bag.  I cleaned up the mess and contemplated what I would eat without milk for my cereal.  As I loaded the rest of my lunch back in the bag my peach that was way too soft already and should have probably been thrown out hit my water bottle and exploded.  Yes exploded!  It was a mess and I was angry.  I grumbled under my breath about what a great day it was going to be.  Yup that pretty much sums up the way my days have been going as of late. 

I haven't been sewing very much and the few things I have been sewing are for Christmas presents so I haven't been able to blog about them just yet either.  Now no excuses, it annoys me when people don't blog for a while and then apologize and promise they will do better so I'm not going to do that because reality is with it this close to the Holidays and less than 1/2 of the items on my Holiday Sewing List complete I probably won't have much time for sewing things I can share in this space so it would just be an empty promise anyway.

If I do find some time to sew just for fun I fully intend to participate in this quilt along.  It looks like a lot of fun and having used Jennifer's last quilt along to sew up my Spring Weekends quilt I know her instructions will be easy to follow.  I even picked out my fabrics already.  I'm planning to make use of my Garden Party fabrics with a lovely gray I think.  Of course I may change my mind twenty times between now and then.

Also over at the Old Red Barn Quilt Along Group we are just gearing up to make Dresden's.  I am considering making a few of these blocks for some Holiday Throw Pillows.  Or I might just make some everyday throw pillows for my living room.  It's pretty plain right now and the place could use a little jazzing up.