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….

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…..

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

Companion Ruler is here! Time to start cutting geese.

It is here…. Any question as to what I will be doing tonight? Getting step 2 completed so that bright and early tomorrow I can start on Step 3.

Happy sewing!!!

Be Kind…

Faith

Christmas Joys….

Many years ago I purchased a little book…

There are 432 things to do for yourself and others that just might make this the best Christmas ever.

I haven’t read the book cover to cover in many years but every year I pull it out and just flip through it to get some ideas and have some laughs.

Here are a few that I enjoy:

• #169 – Stock your freezer with meals for the holidays by doubling or tripling recipes for spaghetti sauce, casseroles, and other foods that freeze well.
• #80 –  Remember that the best solution for holiday blues is to do something for someone else.
• #36 – Try at least one new recipe and one new decorating idea.
• #165 – Tie a red plaid bow on your pet’s collar.

Antlers work too.

One of my all time favorites – because my father read it to us when we were young.

• #248 – Read to your family “ The Gift of the Magi” by O’Henry.

Another favorite:

• #278 – Read “The Littlest Angel” by Charles Tazwell to a child.

My grandmother gave this to me when I was 3 or 4.  I still have the book and it means so much to me.

I will continue to post some of these in the next few weeks.  They make you stop and think about why we do what we do at this time of year.  I think in many cases we need to step back and remember what we need from the Holidays and what is really important in our lives.

Be Kind….

Faith

Bonnie posted the the second step in the Easy Street Mystery Quilt last Friday. I pulled out my purples and black on white background fabrics. Dug out my rulers and was ready to start cutting. After careful inspection of my rulers I realized that I had one of the rulers (the Easy Angle Ruler) but I didn’t have the Companion Ruler. Major Frustration!!!!!  The flying geese shown above look good but just don’t measure up.  They need to be 1 1/2″ x 3″ to fit properly in the quilt.  Mine just aren’t right.  Always be sure to check and measure your completed units before you really get going.  If I had continued to work with these sections as they are I would have had a mess eventually.  Measuring as you move along is so very important.  Remember measure twice cut once.  In this case I needed to measure more than twice.

Ready to be cut into 2″ strips.

This step requires 128 flying geese. To accomplish that you start out with alot of 2″ strips. I am cutting the 2″ strips at this point. Then I will cut the “wings” of the geese out of the black on white background fabric. I will use the Easy Angle Ruler to finish this.

My new Companion Ruler has been ordered from Keepsake Quilting and should arrive within the next few days. You know that as soon as that ruler is in my hot little hand I will be cutting geese so that I can get this step completed.

My fabrics are pulled and some of them are stripped.

Enjoy the process.

Be Kind….

Faith

I am a member and currently the President of Evergreen Quilters. We are a chapter of The Pine Tree Quilt Guild, which is the state of Maine Quilt Guild. Last night was our annual Pot Luck Holiday Party/meeting. One of the things that we really enjoy doing is helping the less fortunate. Last night we were told about an article in the local newspaper. There is a children’s home in Waterville, Maine called Maine’s Children’s Home for Little Wanderers, because of the donations to Sandy their donations this year are drastically down. They are concerned that they will not be able to provide the Christmas gifts that they usually do. One of our members brought this up at the meeting last night. We passed a basket and collected $213. It was such a nice end to our wonderful party.

We have such an abundance of blessings – sometimes we have to stop and think and share those blessings. We also filled the back of an SUV with homemade tote bags and for the Battered Woman’s Shelter in our county. Because we do this, the shelter is able to use some of their funding for other items that the woman and their children will need.

Many of us are very blessed – we just need to pay it forward. When you pass the Salvation Army bell ringers drop a dollar in the red kettle. When you go shopping grab an extra can of soup or tuna or a box of Mac and Cheese and drop it in the collection box at the front of the store. Every little bit counts. There are so many who need help, the smallest deed when done by many can really add up.

Share your blessings and be Kind…

Faith