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December 2007

December 30, 2007

Not Exactly what I meant.....

We seem to have a communication problem here in the Johnson family unit....

When I said I thought we should put an addition on our cabin in the woods, this is not exactly what I meant:
Snowfort
and when I said we should have a nice Sunday dinner, this is not exactly what I meant:
Sundaes
So I guess there's some important lessons to be learned during this family time together:

    1-- say what you mean and mean what you say
    2-- a dash of the unexpected keeps everyone on their toes
    3-- nutrition can take a short break too.

I guess a little reminder to make fun part of our daily lives is a good thing...especially in this time of resolutions.

I hope the New Year brings you quiet moments of peace, loud moments of fun and more moments than you can count of love from those you hold dear.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 28, 2007

Ain't Technology Grand??

I don't usually react well to gifts prefaced by "don't be offended" but YAHOO, this was a good one!
Vacuum_2

I have a strict "No Cleaning Products" rule when it come to the DH and kids, but this came from my parents so they get special dispensation.  They were saying something about more quality time with the kids, but I wasn't really listening, I needed to QUICK, get it plugged in and get this baby started.

So today, while we relaxed, the newest member of the household went to work, evoking some odd reactions....Twin#2:  "Mom, it's following me", DH:  "is it actually doing anything?" and Kitty#2: Hisssssss.

But no matter what they say, I gladly welcome this little robot to our house and thank God for technological advancements.

Hope you got some gadgets too...

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 26, 2007

Quilty Post-Christmas

We had a most wonderful and exhausting Christmas with both sides of the family and today we rest and play with new toys, eat leftovers and catch up on couch-potato time.

And now I'm looking at some little projects to work on during this holiday, kids home all the time, week.

Kathie made me this little (14" square) quilt top for Christmas, so I think I'll hand-quilt it this week, it's a good time for handwork in front of the fire, while the kids play in the Adirondack snow(if there is any!)

Kathiegift_2

and maybe work on some tree blocks...

Trees2

And with the year coming to an end, I've been thinking about my many new friends that I have found by starting my blog this year.  So I made a little gift for one of you which I might also hand-quilt this week....
Blackandwhite
As you can see, there are still remnants of my black, white and red period....

So just leave a comment before January 1st and I'll put your name in a drawing for this little quilt. 

And as always, thanks so much for visiting me...

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 24, 2007

Just in the St Nick of Time

The last of the projects was finished last night.....a lap (or nap) quilt for my brother-in-law.

Richardquilt
The quilt goes to him, but the little Inspector Kitty stays with me.

So now the table is set, the gifts are wrapped,  and in a few hours the invasion of the families begins.

Part of our Christmas Eve tradition is to take the kids to the corner around 7:30, where they stand in wait for Santa to come by on a firetruck.  That's right, Santa rides around our town on a firetruck on Christmas Eve and hands out candy to the kids and tells them to be sure to go to sleep so he can stop by later.  For my little boys, what could be better?----Santa, firetrucks and candy!

I hope Santa brings you joy, peace and maybe a little bit of candy....all my best for a safe and happy holiday.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 22, 2007

Down to the Wire

Sure I've been gallivanting around with friends this week when I should have been home finishing projects, but I have faith...I have time...I have caffeine, so it's off to the races for the next few days, the whirlwind of holiday activities and project finishing.

This morning, before the crack of dawn, I finished the binding and wrapping the MIL table runner...she's got a big farmhouse table so this will fit nicely on the center of the table.

Table2

And now all I have to finish is the brother-in-law quilt and 2 American Girl Aprons.

Last Christmas I made my little 4 year old niece a nap-time quilt (larger than a baby quilt, smaller than a  twin) and a matching one for her American Girl doll.   She knew to look at the back of her quilt for a label---fortunately it was there--and then.....OMG, she looked for a label for the doll quilt.  Yikes, no label.  She would not leave my house on Christmas Eve til there was a label for "Hopey's" quilt.  So here I am elbow deep in dirty dishes and instead, sewing on a quilt label. You Go Girl!...she stood her ground and forced me to document my quilt.

I hope you've documented all of your quilt gifts this year.....you never know when a 4 year old will put you in your place.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 19, 2007

Fabric Shopping as a Team Sport

Yesterday was the Big Game of Fabric Shopping for us.  Our wayward friend from across the pond flew in on Monday and we whisked her away to Lancaster PA for a day of catching up, shopping, eating, laughing and taking a break from the holiday madness.  And taking it all in, I realized that fabric shopping is alot more fun as a team sport. 

So we had the pre-game work: 

  • examine the stash----what am I shopping for?
  • determine which stores can we hit and make it home in time for dinner
  • prepare snack basket for mid-game energy boost (sure the others made fun of me for bringing        along the snack basket, but they both "hit the basket" during the day)

and then the Big Game----get the kids on the bus and off we go and 2 hours later we arrive at our first stop---Sauders.

Shopping1

OMG, all budget and stash strategies go out the window momentarily, oxygen administered where needed, and we dive in....."
        "I need some of this"
            "what will I do with this"
                    "this is a great border fabric"
                        "there's a discount if you buy the rest of the bolt"
and then the cutting table where the cheerleading begins.  We stand at the cutting table and as each bolt is cut, we gaze upon each other's selection and say "I'll take a piece of that" or "take the whole bolt, you'll use it for backs and borders".

and it takes practically no effort to convince each other that we really NEED to have all this.

Shopping2

And we cheer as we watch the "scoreboard" and hand over the credit cards.
Shopping3  

Back to the car to the next stop --Burkholders--where our team grew to include other shoppers.. and they joined in the "I'll take a piece of that" play and some directed us to a great re-fueling spot.

By now, the clock is our enemy so we decide to have a post-game meal and head home, where we find our cheerleading friends from Burkholders finishing their meal.

We arrived home victorious, exhausted and with that new fabric buzz. 

But the best part of the day was just being part of the team.

Shopping4

Hope you have a team to shop with....

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 13, 2007

Present Frenzy

Yikes, I have a bunch of gifts to make, QUICK!  And in the midst of this, I took a little quilt-related excursion....just looking for a little inspiration and to confirm, you can never have enough gadgets. 

I just love templates from Come Quilt With Me.   I have the pyramid, the tumbler and the ridiculously small tumbler, and now I have the snowball template.

Snowball

And since I really should be making gifts instead of trying out new gadgets, I figured I could kill two french hens with one Christmas stone....

and now my little "try-out" blocks will turn into a tablerunner for my MIL (I guess the one I gave her 20 years ago needs a little updating, so she requested a new one).

Snowblocks

Now I just need a little inspiration for finishing this tablerunner.....mmmm, maybe a trip to the LQS is in order????

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan


December 11, 2007

Carols

Last nite was Decorate the Tree....otherwise known as the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Ornaments Nite.  Popstick

We bring out all those spray painted gold macaroni ornaments, the portrait of our family made out of craft foam and other assorted school projects.....

 

 

 

and sometimes I look at some of these with new inspiration....let's see if I can translate this into a quilt....
Redornament





And while we all decorated and listened to Christmas carols, I heard a line from Do You Hear What I Hear...."He will bring us Goodness and Light" and looked at my three miracles hanging ornaments on the tree and thought....
                                   ....He already has.

Hope you see your miracles in the season's light.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 09, 2007

Trees, Trees Everywhere....

Our little cabin in the woods has no lawn, just dirt driveway, the campfire pit and trees.  Trees everywhere, big trees, small trees, and even trees that block our satellite TV. It seems only fitting that I should celebrate the season with trees and someone talked me into Another Project!

Today I finished the second block of the Festival of Trees quilt by Karla Menaugh and Barbara Brackman (when I was supposed to be cleaning or some other nonsense)....

Festival_of_trees1
As you can tell, these are fast blocks....I like to do some simple ones first before I go on to the more complex ones and very rarely do I ever embark on a project according to the instructions.  This pattern calls for the quilt to be made in wools, but I'm looking towards the stash for this one.

I think I'll aim for next Christmas for completion of this one...for now I'm just happy to have hand work to do while I sit and admire the tree in the living room and listen to music of the season.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

December 06, 2007

What are they teaching in school?

I took the kids out for White Hot Chocolate at "the D's" (as they call Dunkin Donuts).  On the way home, all sugared up, they started to call each other names.  Trying to stay true to my "call me if there's blood" mantra, I remained silent.  This goes on for a bit and continues to get louder til Twin # 2 finally says "I'm a strong person, you can't hurt me emotionally", to which Twin # 1 responds "then how about this?" and slugs him in the arm. 

Well, I guess the touchy-feeling teaching only goes so far.....a case of nature vs nurture?

Anywho....the Amazing Jeanne from Cover Me Quilts finished my tumbler quilt and it is gorgeous!  She did an allover in variegated beige thread.

Tumblersdone
Don't you just love the feel of a freshly quilted quilt?

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan