'Twas the Night Before Christmas . . .

and I'm glued to the tree.

Wondering what Santa brought just for me.

Could it be fat quarters or a pattern or lace?

Or even quilt kit? (with a grin on my face)

And that's when I heard him -- "Hi Santa" I said.

"You know, good little girls should be in their bed."

"I know I should Santa and now I've been caught,

but I was just so excited to see what you've brought."

"Well let's take a look in this room where you work."

He took a quick peek, then turned with a jerk.

I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear,

"You've got way too much stuff, I'll see you next year!"

I found this cute little poem posted by Natalia on her delightful blog called Piece N Quilt. I know not everyone sews (gasp!) but if you do, you should check her out. She has charming projects with LOTS of tutorials.

I have lots of "Santa stuff" to work on today. While remembering of course the real reason for our celebration -- Happy Birthday Jesus! Blessings to you and may your Christmas be magical.

Miles and miles of ruffles . . .

Well, maybe not miles but a lot! It's a display sample so I can't take credit for the adorable choice of fabrics. Isn't it funny how we have our comfort zones? I usually gravitate towards bright and bold colors. If I'd been doing the picking, I would have had to think harder to come up with this pastel-ish group, but isn't it perfect?!

This skirt went to the Illinois store but I'll be repeating it for St. Louis - in an assortment of really bright fun colors. And even a cupcake top to go with it! So cute, I can't wait to dig in on that. Alas, it's not next on the list - but that could be a good thing -- an incentive to keep me going!

The pattern is from Pink Fig patterns - NieNie skirt #18. Designer Chelsea Anderson donates a portion of the proceeds to benefit Stephanie Nielson. Do you know about Stephanie? She and her husband were in a horrific plane crash a bit more than a year ago. It's an amazing and inspiring story of faith, survival and positive thinking. If you caught Oprah on Thursday, it was a repeat oncore presentation of her interview with Stephanie. What a remarkable woman. Her blog, in case you're interested can be found here. Her entries are touching and inspiring and most importantly a reminder to slow down, to relish and enjoy the gift of life God gives us each day.

Thank you Stephanie. I have so very much for which to be thankful.

Tis the season

. . . to sew and make gifts! I haven't done nearly as much as I want to. I'm still in _s_l_o_w_ motion. On Tuesday I thought I was getting better but I was mistaken. Anyway, enough of my whimpering.

Here are a couple of my Jackmans projects I mentioned in the last post. These are for kids' classes coming up over the Christmas break.

6-pocket tote. When the coordinator suggested making this in a kids class I was thinking, hmmm (I mean, this is age 8 and up). But this will be fine. It's such a simple bag that anyone can do it.
The second class will be this slumber party set. A pillow case and a duffel bag to carry sleeping bag and other necessary stuff. I love this fabric collection.

Kids classes are hard work but I do enjoy it. I can't imagine how thrilled I would have been to have taken a sewing class when I was a kid.

In the back of my mind I had thought that it might be nice to try to complete a small quilt for Preston while he and his parents are staying with us. When his mother Jamie expressed an interest in "learning to sew" while they were here, I found some fabrics, dusted off my Yellow Brick Road pattern and helped her do the piecing. Then I quilted and binded it. I thought it came out cute. As you can see Preston wanted to help too. Of course! He's almost 2 you know and 2 yr olds have to be in on all the action.

And lastly a fun paper project. Jamie's birthday was actually in October but we had her gift waiting when they arrived in November. Golly, that was a long time ago. I have been out of touch haven't I?!


It's such a simple card but I like the way it turned out.


Hope you are snuggled in, warm and protected from this frigid weather. Blessings to you and yours.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

I know -- long time, no post! It's been crazy around our house. My dad is home but very needy in terms of time and attention. Throw in a couple of sewing deadlines and deliveries to Jackman's and I've been quite busy. We also have house guests for several weeks -- my stepson, his wife and almost 2-yr old son - who arrived with a whopper of a cold and a racking cough. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a germ magnet so it is a minor miracle that I managed more than two weeks before I came down with it. But oh yes, I do have it now.

So what a blessing it is that I managed to get my decorating done last weekend. Here are a few of my favorite decorations this year . . .

I have a dear young friend who always gifts me with the most delightful pieces to brighten my home. Doesn't this jolly fellow make you feel whimsical?!

Who knew the Cricut would be this much fun? This is cut from white vinyl (alright, it's actually cheap contact paper!). But what a perfect accent to this french door which is visible from the three rooms we use most. (The text cut is from the Simply Sweet font cartridge, the snowflakes from Winter Woodland.)

These cute little snowflakes were die cut with a Sizzix Originals die. I think they add so much to these ornaments hanging in my front window.

And last but not least, I needed a couple of cards for early December birthdays. Although it doesn't show up in the photo, the white insert is embossed with Happy Birthday sayings.

Wherever you are, I hope you are safe and warm and making good progress towards a very happy Christmas.

I'll catch you later. Sooner this time, I promise.