Archive | December 2012

SNOW DAY…

It started to snow yesterday around 4:00 and snowed until this morning. This time it was just snow so it is the light fluffy snow. I love to see the tree branches coated with the snow in the morning light.

Big Old Oak tree

I love the way the snow just sits on top of everything it lands on.

Front Light

I love the snow before we walk in it, or plow it out of the way. It looks so pristine and fresh. It is almost time to un-decorate the house. I will do that tomorrow – I was talking about taking it down in bits and pieces but I know that will not happen. Once I get started I will not stop until it is all packed up and put away for another 11 months. I have promised myself to get started on my Christmas shopping and sewing much earlier in 2013. It should be interesting to see if I actually do it. It is not a resolution but it is something that I would like to accomplish.

Front Yard

I was thinking about going snowshoeing but the wind has really picked up and I really don’t like the feel of snow whipping into my face so I will probably wait until the winds die down a bit.

I have 2 loaves of honey Oatmeal Bread in the oven and it smells soooo good. I am thinking of making some Clam Chowder to go with the soup for later. I will get some sewing done and watch some football. It will be a lazy day and that is good. Homemade Bread and chowder, a fire in the fireplace and football on the TV. Sounds like a plan to me.

Have a nice winter day!

Be Kind….

Faith

Walk on the Beach….

Dec28

Do I really want to go swimming today?

On Christmas morning we went for a walk on the beach. It was snowing alittle bit and it was cold but it was so refreshing and such a nice way to spend some family time together. There were very few people on the beach so we took Gracie off of her leash. She was one happy dog! You could almost see her smiling.

Happy dog!

When I saw Chuck take Gracie’s leash off the first thingI said was “I wonder how long it will be before she is in the water?” I don’t think that I could have counted to ten before she was bee lining towards the water.

in she goes

We had such a good time letting her run – and run she did! She darted in and out of the water, she ran towards us like she was going to run right smack into us and then she would veer off. This dog was Happy, Happy, Happy! The perfect Christmas present for Gracie.

We are so blessed to live so close to the beach. We can go for a walk by the ocean everyday. Of course we need to dress a bit differently at this time of year but that is OK we love it.

Flotsam & jetsam & snow on the beach.

We got a good amount of snow yesterday and hopefully we will go snowshoeing this weekend. They are talking about another storm on Sunday. I would love it if we got more snow. Another walk on the beach might be on the TO DO list for this weekend. In addition to taking all of the decorations down and cleaning the house.

Have a great day….if you live in an area where you have snow go for a walk in the brisk winter air.

Be Kind….

Faith

EASY STREET PART 5….

Dec27

Phew….. just in time! I just finished part 5 of Easy Street by Bonnie Hunter. (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/easy-street-part-5.html) This has been a busy week and I just didn’t have the time or the energy until today to get this step done. It was not a difficult step it was just that I hadn’t had a moment to get it done. Until now….

Here are some pictures of my progress on Easy Street Part 5:

starting to sew

I cut all of my pieces and got going this evening.

Trimming first Triangle

Here is the finished step…..

Easy Street Part 5 complete

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas. We are in the midst of a big storm. We live near the coast so we have been having a little bit of everything coming out of the sky. Rain, Sleet and Snow. It is snowing now but it is supposed to wind down overnight. Thankfully the wind has died down as well so it seems like we have lived through another storm without the generator going on. That is always a good thing.

I hope you enjoy Easy Street – I can’t wait to see what the next step is tomorrow AM. I will have more time to work on it this weekend. My only project this weekend is to undecorate the house – which of course includes cleaning it as well.

Be Kind….

Faith

Post Christmas…

Dec27

At the present time there is a Nor-Easter raging outside. It is an ever changing day here, one moment it is raining and the next it is snowing. I do anticipate that we will lose power at some point in time because the winds are really howling. It doesn’t seem to take much to make the power go out these days, and our area is always one of the areas that gets hit with power outages. I am so glad that we had the generator installed. No worries when the power goes out. We have heat, hot water, some lights and my freezer and fridge have power so I don’t lose all of the food in my freezer, I can cook because I have a gas cooktop so we will be just fine.

I have family flying out of Albany, NY today – flight is delayed at this point. Hopefully they will be able to get safely off the ground soon winging their way to sunny Florida.

Island Star for Charlotte

This is a quilt that I made for Charlotte –it is a flannel quilt because Charlotte, like many of the young ladies in our family, is always cold. It is named Island Star. The pattern is from a book written by M’Liss Rae Hawley called More Fat Quarter Quilts.

Island Star Blocks

I didn’t use fat quarters but I did use leftovers and some scraps. I love making flannel quilts but you have to be careful not to use a pattern with too many small pieces. It is hard to get your points sharp when you are using flannel.

Close up of Island Star

Since it is a stormy day here – I will probably work on the next step of Easy Street so that I can share it on Bonnie Hunter’s page later today. I will start planning some new quilts that are bouncing around my head and I will think about dinner tonight. I love to cook hearty meals on snowy days. At this point the plan is Penne ala Vodka and a pork tenderloin. If the power goes off that will probably change since I will not be able to roast the tenderloin.

If you are in the Northeast stay safe and dry.

Be Kind….

Faith

MERRY CHRISTMAS….

Dec25

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family spread here and there. It is very early on Christmas morning. The rest of the house is very quiet, not at all like when the kids were younger when they woke us up before dawn. They would be so excited they could barely stand it. Those days were wonderful and that is what makes Christmas so much fun.

I have to say that I love this stage of Christmas in my life. We sat in the sunroom last night, after a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, we listened to Christmas music and talked. We told old stories about Christmas pasts and we laughed about each other’s memories. We talked about what our favorite Christmas memories were, we talked about what our best ever gift was. It was relaxing and enlightening and wonderful.

My daughter Elizabeth and I will watch “A Christmas Story” today. It is one of our traditions that started many years ago – Elizabeth was sick one Christmas and we sat and watched it together. That started the tradition. We will open gifts, eat a big breakfast, watch sports and Christmas movies, eat too much dinner and too many cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies

We may take a walk near the ocean either on the beach or along the ocean. We will be together, we will laugh, we will tease each other and we will make new memories.

I hope that you have a day worth remembering at a later date, a day that will stay with you throughout the year to make you smile in a quiet moment. A day that is not about the gifts, or the menu but about the time together. Enjoy, and take the time to appreciate your blessings.

Be kind….
Faith

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY……

Dec19

Christmas came early…..

So Chuck, my dear husband was in Albany this week and he delivered some Christmas presents. Nadine was the first to open her present – some back history – Nadine just moved into a new house, she is of course decorating it, making it her own. Nadine has an inspiration item that she is planning her room around; she loved the colors of this mug.

Nadine’s Dream Room

So my plan was to make her some pillows to get her color scheme started. I dug through my stash and this is what I came up with. Since Nadine opened these the other night I am able to share them with you.

Nadine’s Pillows

I downloaded the pattern for these pillows at this site: www.modabakeshop.com. You can also find it here –

http://quiltingintherain.blogspot.com/search?q=Strippy+Pillow

The original pattern uses jelly rolls strips

Moda Jelly Roll

– for those who are not quilters – jelly rolls are fabric strips of 2.5” x 42”. They are sold in rolls of coordinating fabrics.

The next gift that was delivered went to our daughter–in-law Mari. Mari uses placemats on her table rather than tablecloths. This way you can see the beautiful wood of her dining room table. I made her 6 placemats and napkins. Here is a picture of the front and back of the placemat. The napkins are made of the same fabric as the back of the placemats.

Mari & Dan’s placemats

I made these by using a method called String Piecing. I had a lot of strips of Christmas fabric from other projects – I also cut some new strips to match the fabric that I was using. All six placemats are similar but not the same. I had used the same method to make the stockings that I posted earlier.

I really love making homemade gifts. I am able to be creative and give a one of a kind gift. I have several more gifts to complete. I will post those after they are given. That may not be until after Christmas depending upon when I finish them and get them delivered.

Enjoy the rush of the season. Try to make it simple and fun – it isn’t about the best gift – it is about the best use of your time with those you love.

Be Kind….

Faith

EASY STREET PART 4

Dec17

EASY STREET PART 4……

Front Yard

It is a beautiful snowy Monday morning in Maine.

After a wonderful weekend with family, and some serious Christmas shopping in Freeport, ME

LL Bean sled

I spent yesterday afternoon doing step 4 of Easy Street. (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/easy-street-mystery.html)

Easy Street Part 4

It was an easy step because we had already tackled the flying geese in a previous step. Each time we make flying geese they will get a bit easier. I have always loved the way that they look in a quilt but I have hesitated to make them because they were always so time consuming. With the Easy Angle Ruler and the Companion Ruler it is so much easier and faster. So much fun!

All Parts kept safely together!

I am very happy that I am doing this mystery. It is my first Bonnie Hunter Mystery and I have to say the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Checking out everyone’s blog posts is also a lot of fun. Seeing all of the different colors that people are using and checking out where everyone is from is so interesting. I really like the fact that I am working on a project while quilters from all over the world are working on the same quilt. It makes a very big world a little bit smaller. Here is the link for the other part 4 links (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html) Enjoy!

Have a wonderful day.

Be Kind…..

Faith

Little Angels….

Dec13

Little Angels make wonderful gifts.

I am going to visit with some friends tomorrow for lunch and all of a sudden I realized that it is 11 days before Christmas and I needed to bring a little gift to the luncheon. So I dug through my sewing room for projects that were nearly complete and I found these little angels. I love these little gals. They are made with Fabric Yo-Yo’s. Fabric Yo-Yo’s are made from circles of fabric that are gathered to make a rippled circle. They are very fun and easy. So I finished these little gals and I will deliver them to my friends tomorrow.

Happy almost Friday.

Be Kind….

Faith

MORE CHRISTMAS JOYS….

Dec12

MORE CHRISTMAS JOYS….

I have been flipping through the pages of my little book and thought I would share a few more ways to make your Christmas a joyous one.

I made this in 1989.

1. Be the first to wish everyone you meet a Merry Christmas.

4. Don’t count calories from December 15th through January 2nd. (this one gets a gold star)

57. Buy more tape, wrapping paper and enclosure cards than you think you’ll need.

69. Before going to bed every night of the Christmas season, ask yourself, “whose life did I make brighter today?”

109. Remember that the more a toy costs, the more likely kids will want to play with the box it came in.

126. Put something Christmasy in every room of your home.

Gift from a dear friend

One of my own would be you can never have too many Santa Claus’s in your house!

Tigger from Granddaughter Sara

Christmas does not need to be stressful. It also doesn’t have to be perfect! Everyone’s definition of perfect is different and whatever you do to make your family’s Christmas the best will be enough. The most necessary gift is just love and time spent together. Remember to have fun, be silly and don’t have any rules. Laugh!

Be Kind….

Faith

CHRISTMAS….

Dec11

Christmas…..

I love, love, love Christmas. From start to finish I love it all.

I love the smell of a real Christmas tree in the room.

I love the twinkle of the lights on the trees.

I love carefully unwrapping the ornaments and remembering who gave it to me or what vacation we brought it home from.

I love hanging Christmas quilts on the walls and thinking about the wonderful quilty friend who made it for me.

I love planning the menus for all of the Christmas related meals.

I love welcoming family and friends into my home when it is all decorated for the holiday.

I love it when my husband sets up the nativity scene that his father bought at Montgomery Wards when they were children.

I love the lack of sleep because I am trying to do just one thing to many to make it the Christmas vision in my head.

Remember why we celebrate – we are celebrating the birth of a man who preached love and forgiveness and peace. Beyond any religion we are celebrating the birth of a peacemaker. Let’s not lose sight of that. Celebrate peace and love and forgiveness this holiday season.

Be Kind….
Faith

quiltingonthecove

A peek at my life. My quilting, my cooking and a look at the beautiful place that I live!

Archive | December 2012

SNOW DAY…

Walk on the Beach….

EASY STREET PART 5….

Post Christmas…

MERRY CHRISTMAS….

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY……

EASY STREET PART 4

Little Angels….

MORE CHRISTMAS JOYS….

CHRISTMAS….