Happy December 26!

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I last posted 10 days ago (that’s a long time in blog-world) but this was an intentional choice on my part. I wanted to take a small social media break. It was nice! What wasn’t so nice was that during these 10 days many of the women in my family came down with a head cold. Mom, at 83, has it the worst. She slept through Christmas, but is showing signs of improvement today. The rest of us are more on the mend.

Despite the colds, Christmas was lovely. Jeff flew in from NYC on the 23rd. I love it when they are here! On Christmas Eve, Chris and Lorna and the little kids joined us for church and then dinner and some presents.

On Christmas morning there was more celebrating. Jeff had already told us that our gift was going to be a summer vacation with him. He sent us on a scavenger hunt Christmas morning to find out where we are going. I am lousy at deciphering clues, and Steve wasn’t much better, but after many hints we found our last clue. If you are a Die Hard fan, this at least is an easy clue:

WhereIsHansGruberFrom

We’re going to Munich with Jeff next summer! He has been there before and have lots of ideas about what to see. There will be castles! This is something wonderful to look forward to and Steve and I are both very excited. Being female, I’m already thinking about what sort of clothes I need to pack :-).

Steve and I then went to Chris and Lorna’s where her family and more friends had gathered for breakfast and their gift-a-palooza. Bear may have been the happiest with his Octonaut Octopod and various Gupps.

After lunch, Steve and I and Jeff headed to Oklahoma City for more celebrating with the other half of the Goldsmith clan. We ate too much, exchanged stories and gifts, and just generally had a good time.

I have lived through Christmases that were less happy and relaxed so I really do appreciate this year’s celebration. If mom had been better it would have been perfect. Luckily Christmas is an annual event and we can plan better health for next year. (Note to self: lots more hand washing and never touch my nose.)

I hope your Christmas was all that you hoped it would be. If you are on the road, safe travels.

PIE NOTE: Because it’s Christmas, I made pies, which I’ve posted about before. I realized that the gluten free pie crust recipe I posted in October 2013 had a pretty significant transcription error. You add 2 TEASPOONS of lemon or orange juice with the egg, not 2 tablespoons. Deep sigh on my part. The old pie crust recipe I posted will work, it’s just not as good. I’ve corrected the recipe on the older post, but here is a link to the corrected pie crust recipe. I’m sorry for any baking inconvenience that I have caused you to have.

Show and Tell…

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PatriciaFayeMcLaughlin

PatriciaFayeMcLaughlin

Patricia Faye McLaughlin sent me a photo of her Backyard Birds quilt, saying:

I wanted to share my completed Backyard Birds Quilt that was our 2015 project on the Quilters Club of America Applique’ Group.
It is one of my very favorite quilts.  I did the FMQ on my domestic machine.  Thank you so much for such a fun quilt pattern.

I love it! Well done, Patricia!

A peek into Linda’s stash…

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Linda sent me this photo of her fabric stash. She is using hanging shoe and sweater organizers and they look a lot better than I thought they would. In fact, if I did not already have shelves in my own fabric closet, I’d use this system. I like the way the fabric is compartmentalized.

Linda's Fabric Stash

Linda’s Fabric Stash

Linda has a lot less fabric than she used to have, and a lot less than I have. But you know what? This looks like a really good size for a stash. I know I have too much fabric (again). It’s too hard to find what I’m looking for, especially when I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Having too many choices can make choosing harder, not easier. I am looking at Linda’s very tidy closet with envy :-).

In other news, my foot is doing really well! The doctor had me cut the bandage to relieve the pressure on my foot on day two and that took the pain away. I can even put a little weight on it today (as per doctor’s orders). I’m still only allowed to be up only 5 minutes at a time. The rest of the time I have to sit with my foot up. The better I feel, the harder that is to do, but I’m sticking to it.

This is me…

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All of my author pictures, my driver’s license, and my passport, show a short-haired me. But this is me, now.

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I’ve been growing my hair for about 10 months. I took this (quick) self-portrait for my 52 Week Photo Challenge class. I didn’t spend enough time on the assignment because we spent most of last week in NYC with Jeff. I didn’t want to spend time taking a picture of myself during our visit! But this photo does show me as I am now.

I need a new author photo for a book. Do you think this will work? Trust me when I tell you that the black and white version is better than the color version.

Show and tell… my Mom’s Welcome to the North Pole!

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My mom began this quilt in May of 2012. The finished quilt went on her wall a couple of weeks ago…

MomsNorthPole-13

Mom chose some fabric from my stash and then I brought more fabric. I offered to give her ‘help’ but she was very happy do make this on her own. She did it her way and it’s perfect!

The top was finished in time for it to hang on her wall last year, un-embellished. I quilted it this summer and she spent the following weeks adding embellishments. Can you tell that my mom really likes sequins :-)?

MomsNorthPole-26

None of this was easy for her. She struggled with her glasses, arthritis and neuropathy in her fingers. Threading the needle and dealing with the little sequins and beads was a challenge—but she did it! Click the arrows on the slideshow, below, to see more of the blocks.

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Have I said that I’m proud of my mom for sticking with this? I am! It has a folk art vibe that just can’t be beat. Way to go, Mom!

 

Show and tell…

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Susan sent me photos of her lovely Backyard Birds quilt. Isn’t it lovely! Way to go, Susan.

Susan-BackyardBirds-2
She said:

I have sewn for years but as I work full time I have never had the opportunity to develop my patchwork skills beyond a simple sampler quilt. I am undergoing medical treatment since July and I am using my time off work and getting treatment to patchwork, learning new techniques and work on creating some wonderful quilts.

 

I quilted the blocks separately. I attended a quilt group at Coles Sewing Centre,  Nottingham England, and my lovely teacher Gilli Theokritoff helped me through the tricky bits!! I had never done free motion quilting before and Gilli pointed me in the direction of youtube and watching Leah Day. I started off just drawing, then practising on practice blocks and can say after a lot of effort I now have a work of art on my wall. When I read Linda’s intro in the booklet and the comment re getting through  cold winter and difficult times I really wanted to agree I cant wait for the spring when all the treatment is over and the song birds return.

Susan-BackyardBirds-3

I like this choice of background fabric. I don’t know that I would have chosen it, but it’s very pretty. Susan also included a photo of her detailed documentation patch. I’m impressed!

Susan-BackyardBirds-1

Susan added:

I am getting on well with my treatment looking forward to the spring when I get back into work, with some wonderful skills learnt, new friends made and several quilts sewn.

And this…

Breast cancer, 1 in 10 women my age get it…Luckily I had a routine screening in May and something was picked up,
My advice to you all is if you have any concerns, LUMPS bumps whatever as soon as you can go to your doctor. If you get the opportunity to have screening Take it. I am so lucky routine screening found it, and it’s treatable. Don’t be frightened to say I am worried about this. Do something about it. With love, Susan

I agree with Susan on this point. I’m a big believer in treating your body like a used car—one that you want to drive forever. If something isn’t working, get it looked at.