Oh Christmas Tree . . . .

This time last year I was working on "Oh Christmas Tree" by Farmhouse Threads. It was a great December project and this weekend I enjoyed going back and reading my December 2009 posts. That's one of the many things I enjoy about having a blog, it's such a great reminder of the highs and lows of my quilting projects, this project was nothing but highs.

Oh Christmas Tree is home from the quilter. Dawn, at The Sewing Basket, did a wonderful job of bringing this tree to life.

The back shows the amount of detail and thread that went into quilting the tree.

The detail on the front is amazing too,

the star shines brightly,

and the trunk looks like it was just cut.

And if you look real close, you can spot a few gold ornaments hidden in the tree's branches.....

Whoops, one ornament fell off somewhere between Dawn's shop and my house!

I've got to do something about that....

As soon as I finished Oh Christmas Tree on the first day of 2010, I immediately starting thinking about how I would display it, and I thought about it for 11 months....

It's wonderful to have this quilt home and hanging,

right where I wanted it . . .

This is lifetime quilt number 53, it finished at 66" X 75 ", and has approximately 4,950 pieces.

To read more about Oh Christmas Tree, select "Oh Christmas Tree" from the "Categories" list on the lower right of my blog.

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One Last Christmas Tree . . . . . . .

Hello!! I am so glad it's Monday, the Monday after the holidays. Oh I had a great time and all, but I'm a schedule type of person, and I've not been on my schedule since December 23rd. I've been on everyone else's schedules. Well things are getting back to normal around this household and I'm feeling good about having some time to myself. Although, wouldn't it be great if Christmas and New Years Day always fell on Friday? Wasn't it nice to stretch out each holiday over the weekend?

Surprise, I finished "Oh Christmas Tree"! I did not get it done on New Years Eve like I had hoped, but did finish it up New Years Day. I'm happy with the end result.

This quilt deserves the name, "Oh Christmas Tree". It's as regal as the song. But to me this quilt will be "Little Bits and Pieces" because I made this quilt from little bits and pieces of fabric using little bits and pieces of time.

I started this project December 1st. It was the perfect project to work on during the holidays. I'm lucky in that I have a dedicated sewing room, so while the rest of the house was undergoing a Christmas makeover and hosting guests, friends, and family, my sewing room was unaffected by the brouhaha.

This was a perfect project for sewing in small intervals. I never had to stop and figure where I was or what needed to be done. It would take around 15 minutes to piece one row. Sometimes I wouldn't have 15 minutes to spare but would at least select my fabric and be ready to sew a row when I would have the time. On the days I had more time, I connected the rows. I loved watching the quilt grow, row by row, branch by branch.

Squeezing in a little sewing time through the hectic days of December was therapy for my soul. The biggest lesson for me, who usually sews at least 2 hours everyday, is that doing a little bit really adds up over time. I would not have been able to finish this quilt on New Years Day if I had not made an effort to do something, even if it was just a little something, through the month.

When I started I was not 100% sold on my greens. I had a hard time coming up with good greens. I didn't have the number I thought I needed for a good scrappy look, but I'm happy with it now that it's done.

The creams were a breeze, I had plenty to spare.

I think this quilt would be also be cute a tad smaller, by leaving off the bottom section of branches. I would make it 5 fewer blocks on each side and the length would change from 75 inches to 63. ( I bet you're wondering how I did this....I connected the rows in sections and while I knew I wanted to make the original size, I moved the bottom section up on my design wall just for this picture.)

I've already decided what I'm going to do with this quilt. Next year I would like to hang this quilt on the wall next to the mantle, to the left. This picture only shows a small portion of that big blank wall. It goes up another 6 feet.

How I'm going to get that quilt to hang there I don't know, but I have 11 months to figure it out.

This is Quilt #54, is 66 X 75, and has 4,950 pieces.

If you were too busy to read my blog as I worked on "Oh Christmas Tree", select "Quilt # 54 Oh Christmas Tree" in the Category List to the right.

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Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

First I would like to say "Thank You" for all the wonderful comments on my Christmas decorations. Some of my decorations are ages old, plus I've pretty much done the same decorating in this house for the last 5 years, sharing them with you this year made them all seem new and fresh to me again. I've enjoyed it so much.

Before the big "Oh Christmas Tree" reveal I thought I would share my Christmas dishes. Now you're not surprised I have Christmas dishes are you!

The Friday after Thanksgiving I get these dishes out and put my everyday dishes up. We eat every meal off theses dishes the whole holiday season. I've had them for ages.

About 5 years ago I thought it would be fun to have Christmas china for our Christmas dinner. After eating off these dishes for weeks, using them for Christmas dinner didn't seem all that special.

So after looking for several years for the perfect Christmas dinner china I decided on these.

We even have something for Santa to eat off of!

OK, are you ready, here we go .....

First I had this....

Then worked up to this..

And this is where I am now.....I've finished 42 rows, 33 more to go! I'm still loving it!

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Progress . . . .

I had a very productive day yesterday. It didn't get off to a great start, for some reason I woke up at 2 am, and then started counting the days until my daughter gets home for Christmas, the 23rd. Then I started worrying about all the things I needed to get done. Why is it that problems seem to be magnified in the middle of the night? Anyway, I finished up my shopping and got my presents for friends that live not near but far in the mail. I didn't even have to pay extra for air, I had enough time to pay less for ground shipping, guess I wasn't as far behind as I thought.

At any rate, I feel more in control of my To Do list and expect to start sleeping better. I didn't get any time in my sewing room, but that's to be expected this time of year....I guess....

To bring you up to date,

This is the top I'm working on now.

This is where I stood the last time you saw it.

This is where I am now!

(wow, the sun must have been out when I took this picture)

I went ahead and added the star while the quilt top was a manageable size.

I'm still loving this pattern and these small blocks.

At first I had this quilt hanging over the bannister in the living room, then I decided that was just too much for that room so I replaced the red and cream quilts that are normally in the sunroom with it.

About 10 years ago, my daughter and I went to one of those ceramic places for an afternoon of crafting and girl fun. This was before I started quilting. I thought ceramics might be my artistic calling.

We didn't do this, but it's cute, don't you think?

We did this! Ash and I split up the ornaments. For some reason we felt compelled to use every odd color in that store! I still remember how much we laughed and enjoyed doing something different together. Just a few more days until she's home again, I'm ready!

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Tree Update and Mail Call . . . . .

I'm squeezing in a little sewing every chance I get.

I could not be happier with the first 5 rows of "Oh Christmas Tree". Only 68 more to go!

My row/bargello method of piecing this quilt is working out great.

The pattern called for one fabric as the background, I'm going scrappy and am pleased with my decision.

After I got the first 5 rows together, I decided instead of using a solid fabric for the border per the pattern, I would add more 1 1/2 inch squares with a scrappy red zig zag pattern. So now I'm making red and cream strip sets.

This quilt will have almost 5,000 squares. I don't think I've ever made a quilt using such small pieces but I really like it. And it's easy, but don't get easy confused with fast, it's not fast, but I'll take easy.

I've had a couple of amazing mail days. I won these lovely things for posting a comment on Rene's 50th post on her blog Rene Creates.

She sent some Thimbleberries charm packs, some great red fabric and some cards that Rene made herself. I already raided the charm packs of their greens, I was really needing some greens for "Oh Christmas Tree" and these were a perfect match.

Isn't this the coolest card, it matches Rene's blog. Go check out how she got them.

Rene also sent THIS!!

It's the first time I've seen this, how perfect is that, a cupcake calender!

Here it is, all ready for the new year. Thank You so much Rene.

I also got a box of goodies from Allyson at Fat Cat Quilts. Allyson and Nicole are hosting the Red and White Snowball Challenge. I finished my challenge top before Thanksgiving, making me the first one done.

Allyson sent all these goodies for finishing first! I vaguely remember Allyson mentioning prizes as part of the challenge, but I didn't expect to win all this!! The ornament in the upper right says "Alaska". This is the first ornament on my tree from Alaska. I'll think of Allyson every year when I decorate the tree.

I put my "Quilting Queen" sign right here, for everyone to see first thing.

Have you ever seen chocolate letters? I hate to eat it, it's so cute. I guess I could eat the chocolate and save the box! That's as close to getting something with my name on it as I'll get!

Allyson, thank you so much. I feel like a double winner, to have my quilt done and to get all these wonderful things.

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Oh Christmas Tree . . . . . . .

Finally, some sun, I was able to get some pictures yesterday. I could probably have a post with no pictures but I tend to babble, and I think the babble is easier to take when it's broken up with pictures. See right now, I'm babbling and you're thinking "where's the pictures, Thelma get on with it"......

So when I'm not decorating, or shopping, or baking, or doing all the normal things I need to do when it's not Christmas, like walk the dog, I'm sewing! I'm not getting a whole lot done but every little bit helps keep me centered and balanced and happy, most importantly happy!

Now before I go into what I'm working on, let's pause for a little commercial break.......I'm probably giving you all you need to know to make this quilt, you could probably look at the pattern on the designer's website and figure out how to make this quilt, but here is a little reminder.......

'nuff said.....OK, back to normal programming....

So here is what I'm working on now. As I mentioned before, I'm in the mood to work on a Christmas project. I saw this quilt on the Temecula Quilt Company's blog and fell in love!

This pattern is by Ardie Skjod, of Farmhouse Threads. I immediately ordered the pattern, I live in Illinois, the pattern was coming from California, but I was wanting to start on this pattern now. It's Christmas, who wants to make this pattern in say July?

So I took a good look at the pattern picture and thought, oh this is easy, this is a bargello pattern. Is that what you thought too? Just a few strip sets in cream and green and I'm good.

So I started cutting and sewing, confident when the pattern arrived it would tell me how many greens and how many creams to use in each row.

So the pattern arrived, and guess what.....Surprise, Ardie had a whole different way to make this quilt!! She makes this top using 9 patches!! Yes, nothing but 9 patches! That's how they are arranged.

But I had already made beaucoup ( that's French for boo coo ) of these strip sets.

I made all sorts of sizes so I could easily assemble my rows without much repetition in the fabric.

Same with the greens. (See the red squares, I'm adding a few here and there, surprised? I didn't think you would be.)

And in my mind I figured once you pieced the correct number of greens, all you needed to do was add a little half square triangle to each end, then you would have the angle you needed for the branches.

Ardie goes about making those branches a whole different way! I imagine Ardie is real nice person, and you can tell by looking at this pattern a very creative person. But there's no going back for me. I'm sticking with my bargello approach. I had to figure the number of creams and greens in each row myself, but in the end, all that matters , is that I have a Christmas Tree. Stay tuned for further updates!

Can you stand just a couple more decorations......

This is just a little knick knack box that I set out on an end table. I just love the detail of Santa's beard, plus his expression is perfect!

When you remove the lid there's a little surprise, (no not chocolate, does everything have to revolve around chocolate!) a sweet little teddy bear...why I don't know, but he's sweet just the same.

My daughter gave me this pudgy, Victorian coat and hat wearing, skate carrying snowlady. She has sparkles all over her, and when I get her out, I get sparkles all over me, we're a sparkling pair. She's one of my favorites!

Thank You Baby Girl!

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Sweet . . . . .

Look what showed up on my doorstep.........

A box of chocolates from Recchiuti Confections.

My daughter's special fella' sent it as a little thank you for a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Seems like we should be thanking him for putting that smile on our daughter's face.

This is what it looked like when my husband got home.......yip, he bought it!

I got to spend a little time in my sewing room this past week.

I'm still in the mood to work on Christmas projects. I saw a really cute Christmas pattern and ordered it online. While I wait for it to show up, I'm going right ahead with how I think it should be made.

I think I need 1800 1 1/2 inch cream squares. I'm going scrappy.

Here's some 1 1/2 inch hsts. I think this project has the smallest pieces I've ever worked with.

There's just something about small pieces that makes them look so cute. (like shoes, why don't the 10s look as cute as the 6s?)

I hope I get the pattern before I get this project finished! It will be interesting to see who does it right!!

I'm still decorating.....

The tree in the sunroom (the room with the red couches) is a theme tree. All the ornaments are either snowmen, have snowmen on them or make up a snowman, like snowballs or snowflakes. I started collecting snowman ornaments 12 years ago. The first tree was a 3 foot skinny tree, we've grown into this 6 foot tree. I've collected so many that a new addition has to be pretty special for me to buy it.

Forgetting the sentiment of some ornaments, here are a few of my favorites, based on cuteness alone.

This one is hand painted, from the INSIDE!!

There are several things about this ornament that appeal to me, the polka dots, the red color, the pudgy snowlady wearing earmuffs.

Here's businessman snowman, all dressed up for work. I really like the dog hanging out with him.

This is my second most favorite, I think it 's the red coat. I LOVE red coats. (I'm sure you're shocked!)

But this little guy is my most favorite, yes, he hangs upside down, but he sure looks happy about it. This is how I feel most of December, upside down but happy.

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