It's so fun to decorate...

...but I definitely need a bigger house with more rooms! I have loads and loads of ornaments that I don't presently use. Most for trees that don't get put up at the moment. They are waiting for the larger house again patiently. For now I am perfectly happy having up what I do and enjoying remembering all the things I tuck away around the house and all the special things I've collected over the years.

It wasn't until I saw Libby's new banner that I remembered the Christmas stocking above that I always hang. It's 3/4 inch thick and painted, darkened with brown glaze and sanded to look old and worn. It stays tucked away on a nail inside my craft closet with the front door wreaths I change all year. It was made years ago by a good friend. I love Santa on the toe.

This simple white church is another item that means a lot to us both. My hubby bought it from the gal he works with about 15 - 20 years ago I think when she brought it in one day. He immediately loved it and brought it home for me. I stays every season on the kitchen counter and stays lit from sundown to bedtime. It just wouldn't be Christmas without this church.

This view is what makes it super special! This year I also got a few things from my Mom that I'll show in a later post. Special things that I have enjoyed all my life and will cherish using for years.

Trees Up...

My fingers are bloodied and battered, but the tree is up and the lights are on! Seriously, blood was drawn! This new tree is so much fuller and has a lot more branches than my simple old one, but it looks nice and cost next to nothing so I'm happy. I also got the tree skirt down on the floor and it took about 6 seconds for Pixel to find it.

After all that work the ornaments will have to wait for tomorrow. Should be fun. I love finding them all again each year as I open the boxes.

Still plugging away

I'm here, but spending time decorating and getting some thing finished up around here. Hubby started vacation last Thursday and is off until the 17th so we are laid back and fancy free for the whole next week. Finally after a few minutes here and there I finished the first section of the needlework bag I'm working on currently. It the same bag Libby brought to Primitives last year and I fell in love with it! It's a pattern from Bare Roots.

It's been on the hoop since July and I grab it every so often and put in a few stitches here and there when I have nothing else to do... or nothing else I want to do. It's good tv work. This makes the outer most pocket, and I still have another pocket/edging to make before I can assemble the bag.

I also finished the tree skirt and I'll show that when I get it around the tree base this afternoon...after the tree goes up. That's the last thing to be put up and then I'm done for the year. I really don't have lots of Christmas related quilts to put up so I've been looking, thinking, and planning my quilts to make through the year for display next year. SO many ideas to pick from...and a whole year to find the time!

Christmas Creations...

Well the Christmas Tree quilt top was done Monday night and I still haven't made the backing yet. See, as I sewed the tree quilt I was also stitching a few things here and there for the tree skirt. The one cool thing about the FQ's used is that you will have a nice wide strip of pieces left over from the sides. I even cut mine a tad larger than the estimated 12x18, instead adding another half inch or so to the size on each side. So as sewed I made some pieces out if the smaller strips so I could start the tree skirt trees. I continued to sew yesterday until I had the regular Tree Topper pattern and then I put it on the design wall to decide how to enlarge it even more so I wasn't square, and was a little bit bigger.
Then I got the idea! Make it more octagonal and use more of the left over strips!! After making a freezer paper template I started making pieces and the tree skirt is all done, except for quilting and binding, of course! I left open the flap on the bottom all the way to the center and once I see how big the new tree center is, I'll cut a circle and bind it up. This is Marcie's pattern just jazzed up a bit by me!

Now I better get back to finishing my tree quilt. I sewed it together Monday, leaving off the last side row, thinking about just how wide I wanted it to be. It still seems far wider than needed and too wide for the length, but I'm satisfied. My cut blocks turned out to be 9 3/4 x 14, but they looked so leggy that I trimmed them to 13.5". Now I wish I had kept the extra 1/2 inch, but what do you do afterwards, huh? It's still a cool quilt.

Thanks so much for all the comments! I am really blushing! Next picture...all quilted and on the hanger! Next to the tree and the new tree skirt!

Tree's a poppin'...

After a sewing debacle yesterday that involved several hours of un-sewing 3 sections to get back to where I goofed, I have finally finished the tree blocks. So much for quick sewing! If you make one of these make sure to keep the parts in order...the right order! Not backwards order. You'll be sorry if you goof...I promise you! You can't just reshuffle the fabrics. *S*

Imagine another row on the bottom. Didn't quite fit on the design wall! Now off to sew the rows, then stop and rest for the night.

Z&S bundles...& paper piecing...

Wow, am I glad I ordered that bundle when I did! Sorry for those who didn't get one. When I went to look right after posting they were gone and 2 of the fabrics were gone too! Never fear...Homestead Hearth still has bundles. FQ, 1/2 YD, and Full Yard for a little more than Z&S, but worth it. They are gorgeous fabrics.

Mostly what I wanted to explain with this note was about the Tree quilt. Alison from My Little Stitching Corner said she loved the pattern, but never liked nor got the hang of paper piecing. This pattern is NOT paper piecing. The top paper is only to guide you where to make the cuts. You pull that off once you get to that section and you are then sewing just 2 pieces of fabric together. All you need to know is how to measure a 1/4 inch tip...and that's not even needed really. You are simply assembly line sewing. Sew A to B, press. Sew C to A+B, press and so forth into the last 2 big chunks and you have one large block.

I just didn't want anyone shying away from a pattern thinking it was paper piecing when it's not. Oh and Alison, you might want to think about turning on your email. I could have answered you right from your comment. If you don't want a public email listed, get a free hotmail account or something. It's simple.

Now back to sewing!

Answers and goodies...

First the goodies! I ordered this FQ bundle Wednesday at 3:30pm and the UPS guy brought it Friday at 5:00pm. How's that for service! Yummy!! Scarlets from Old Sturbridge Village collection! Some are the same pattern as the blues, but lots are new patterns and so pretty. Z&S is the place for the best bundles!

Now answers...Yes, leave it to me to complain first and find answers later. Thanks Mary! Mary said that the picture thing is a problem they are working on, so I'll give them time. I don't always open the larger view, but sometimes it's kinder to use smaller pics in big posts and let you open them if you really want to see the details and this makes it a bit harder to do that. So hopefully they will get it worked out soon.

The tree pattern is from Pieces from the Heart and called Trees UP! Light's ON! I think it was on about page 18 - 20 of the pattern pages. You have to scroll through them , but it's worth seeing all their great patterns. I loved the old fashioned spools!

Sew Create It - Jane asked how I got the tree blocks so even and uniform looking. Well, mostly I suffer from a curse called pickiness and I keep my little 2.5 inch ruler square next to me and make sure that when I put the 2 sides together I have that 1/4 inch tip hanging exactly off the edge before I sew. YOU don't have to line them up so well. It won't effect the pattern, you just get a smaller block in the end. One thing about sewing them is that you trim off the straggling edges before you add the next section. Plus, you make them all at the same time. I chose to do the colors as three batches, but you could do them all at the same time. You sew them in sections...like A to B, then add section C. Sew D to E, press and then sew to ABC. Get it?

When I made the first batch, I was matching the outside edges and some of the tree points got chopped as a result. SO for the next batch I followed the pattern directions and worried more about matching the INSIDE edges and not the outside...better tree points, but slightly smaller finished block size. It's a very well designed pattern too.