I've got my house ready for the holidays – had to because we had a party last weekend. Nothing like a deadline to get you moving! I'm not particularly good with centerpieces and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on flowers that I knew I couldn't arrange well. Instead I used glass pieces I already had with sparkly inexpensive garland and glass ornaments. Here's a grouping that ended up on top of my grandmother's china cabinet in the dining room:

And a close-up, below. What's nice is that I can move them around from place to place as needs change.

It has taken me years to figure out that if you keep the color combinations fairly simple (in this case red and white and clear glass) it looks planned and more expensive. I used the color combo throughout the house except on my tree where the lights are multi-colored and the ornaments span the ages.

We've had this tree for more than 20 years – it's become a member of the family. I've spray painted and glued glitter to it in recent years and it fits our space really well. Why mess with what works?!

Jack, my grandson, is 3. Chris and Lorna moved him into a regular twin bed a few weeks ago and I promised to make a bed quilt for him. Jack is all boy and needs a quilt that he (and the dogs) can play on. Probably with his shoes on. This was not the place for an applique quilt – or even for one with much piecing.

I have had a cotton tablecloth with a map of the United States printed on it in my stash for quite a while. I think Moda made it. I bought it in a kit with a coordinating stripe and some huge blue rickrack. I added some light-wieght denim for the outer borders to make it fit the bed. (FYI – the denim is not this dark in person.) It took me 2 days to set together, baste, quilt, and bind it. Lightning speed quilting!

I didn't quilt this one heavily because it just didn't need it. Let me also add that the fabric is thicker and 'shifty-er' than regular cotton. You have to becareful not to stretch it out of shape while you are working on it. I took this photo before quilting on my design wall and you can see that I didn't get it all the way straight. Here's a closer shot before quilting.

Jack LOVES his quilt! I was going to hold it until Christmas but he needed it now and I couldn't see a good reason to make him wait for it. He has firetrucks under the tree and he will love them too.

If you are interested in making a map quilt of your own, I did a google search and didn't see this exact tablecloth, but there are others.

Don't you love elves too! This elf in particular? I made 22 elves just like him to give as gifts this year (I make an new ornament every year). This elf pattern was designed by Tami Pfeil and is in Quilting Arts GIFTS magazine. I used her instructions (with minor changes as noted in the video on this page)

We'll send out our next newsletter on Monday (or maybe later today if Linda gets the office computers hooked up) but I wanted to share the felt news with you before that. If you go to our home page you'll see lots of links that will take you to all the new felt stuff.

In addition to the elves, I've made 2 charm bracelets (one for Linda, one for me) and an eye glass holder. I'm ready to start on some earrings. I can honestly say that working with the felt balls is fun and kind of addictive. You can make some lovely things in record time which is very nice at this time of year!

There is a wonderful quilt shop in McKinney, TX, just down the road from me. Susan Allen, the proud inmate/owner, has a new block of the month that features blocks from our book Applique Delights.

Susan's blocks are embroidered (rather than appliqued) which is an excellent way to stitch these designs. She set them together with a cheerful flying geese border.

This BOM, called Meadow Circles, is available at the Quilt Asylum site. Click here for the details.

We are all very aware of Breast Cancer and if you are like me you donate to help find a cure. Men's health issues are not really on most people's radar. The Movember Foundation is working to change that. I have a husband, two sons, and a grandson and their health is important to me.

Movember is about raising money and awareness through the growing of mo's (mustaches). Movember Mo Bros raise funds by getting friends and family to donate to their Mo-growing efforts. The rules are simple: register online at Movember.com and start the month of Movember clean-shaven, then grow a moustache for 30 days. Last year, 255,722 men and women across the globe raised $40 million (USD) – all through the power of the Mo. Movember funds raised in the US benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.

Our son, Jeff is growing a mo (he's looking a little scruffy here) and you can donate to support him and/or his team. Click here to go to Jeff's page.

Help spread the word and perhaps next year one or more of the men in your life will grow a mo for the cause!

GF – that's gluten free for those of you not used to looking for it.

I've been gluten free for 2 weeks now and I can now report that I've found a marvelous GF cookbook: Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts. And I just found her website – oh happy day!

Baking season is here at my house. I've already make the yellow cake from this cookbook for Elanor's birthday and it got rave reviews. Not just 'gee, that's great for gluten free' but 'wow, that's a great cake!' If you are going to go to the trouble to cook from scratch those are good words to hear.

This cookbook is well written. The instructions are direct and short. If you follow the directions it's all good. I could not help myself, today I made chocolate chip cookies

In the past I've made cookies for Lorna and the grandkids substituting GF flour for regular flour. I know now why those cookies spread out too much and were crumbly. GF flours require changes in the ingredients. I gotta tell you, these cookies are just as good as regular cookies. And these are a little easier to make :-). Steve's going to makethe cinnamon rolls for me next weekend!

For those of you who are now very excited and ready to order the cookbook, also order some of the special flour mixes she recommends from Authentic Foods: Superfine Brown Rice Flour and Superfine Sweet Rice Flour. There are other flours you may want but this will get you started.