whirlwind weekends . . .

Y'all . . . whirlwind doesn't half describe the past two weeks! I was completely absent last weekend . . . but for very good reason!  Joc, Ellie and I traveled to the Northern Neck of Virginia for my niece Cecilia's wedding!

She was a beautiful bride and she had a very handsome groom, too!

The whole affair wore Miss Eleanor out.

LOL! This is post-wedding/pre-reception, while we waited for all the family pics to be taken. She perked up for the "party". . . she was very interested in the wedding cake. Her mommy was interested in the cream cheese mints we carried to Virginia for the party . . .

Poor Joc.  she had to travel 750 miles to get some more cream cheese mints!

We drove up on Friday, the wedding was on Saturday, and we drove back on Sunday. I'm telling you -- whirlwind. Monday was my baby girl's 30th birthday!

She is such a beautiful young woman -- I'm so proud of her! Speaking of which, I've been a little remiss in sharing something here. Joc has started up her own business called Pearl's Pegs.

Aren't these just darling? She does incredible work.

Ellie and Evey love them -- and already she's 4-6 weeks out on orders!  Yes, very proud of my girl!

Yesterday, Todd and I headed down to Shocco Springs -- the Baptist Retreat Center outside of Talladega, Alabama, for our annual Mission Service Corps Missionary Retreat and Training.  

We enjoy the beautiful grounds of the center *and* the great fellowship! Yesterday was also Kim's birthday . . .

She celebrated waaaaay far away in California -- the first of their birthdays to be celebrated out there! But Sawyer was not far behind . . .

He turned SIX years old today. Gosh, look how grown up he looks! Sweet fellow! Todd and I sang happy birthday to him and enjoyed some FaceTime. It was a bittersweet day . . . as much as I'm happy he's six and happy it's his birthday, it was sad to me that for the first time since he was born, I didn't get to at least give him a hug or kiss on his birthday.  *sniffle, sniffle* :)

I chased my blues away by doing a little shopping with Todd at Bass Pro Shops on our way home from Talladega. I got my first pair of Crocs!

LOL! These are so comfortable--why did I not know that?? Plus, they don't hit the scars on either side of my right foot, which are still (even after six years) very sensitive. Aaaand, these Crocs are really CUTE!  I may have to invest in a couple of more pairs. Haha!

I haven't done anything quilty in I don't know how long . . . and my stash report shows it, too.

Aaaah well . . . sometime in the next month or so I may get a free weekend to do something of significance!

I did manage to sneak enough time to cut out some Christmas fabric for another yo-yo ornament. I loved the tree so much, I'm going to do another one of those. I have the charms all ready to go, too.

This will make for the perfect slow Sunday stitching project!

Spring is finally making its way into the camp. As we drove up the drive today, I was happy to see that the daffodils were out in full force.

They have such sunny, sweet faces! We have one rogue yellow flower in the midst of the paler variety . . .

The little purple flowers are blooming all over the turtle sanctuary . . .

And the Lamb's Ear is starting to make sporadic appearances, as well:

And I do believe that about does it for me. A lot of pics and a lot of words...that's what happens when I don't blog for two weeks. I'll link up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts tomorrow! Don't forget to change your clocks tonight . . . Spring Forward!

:)

stash report and *so* much more . . .

This past week has been so busy . . . probably the busiest of the season so far!  And even though today has been busy too, it was good to stop and celebrate my favorite Sunday in Advent . . .

The Sunday of JOY!

My Stitcher, etc. Christmas party was Tuesday evening and that's where the nominal change in my stash report occurred.  (And can you believe we're at week 50?!?)

The bottom line didn't change, because there was an even exchange of fat quarters. We do an ornament exchange and the "wrapping" is a fat quarter of Christmas fabric.  Here's mine ready to go in Christmas plaid (with a bonus yo-yo candy cane ornament):

And here's the pretty fat quarter I received:

I also received a darling little teapot ornament from my darling friend Kari:

Isn't it sweet?!  I opted to 'spruce' up my tea corner with it, instead of putting it on the tree. This sweet little thing may stay out year 'round!

With regard to stash, thanks to all of you who share input on de-stashing.  I've got thirteen days over Christmas, and I have decided for sure to spend at *least* one of those in the Nook, sorting and reorganizing (and de-stashing)!

I had a little time to get in some handwork in spite of the busyness.  For example, the yo-yo candy cane ornie was finished, and I stitched up another wool tree . . . this one in pinks, white and red.

I think I like this one even better!!  The white and blue one I gifted to our hostess on Tuesday.

I also will be working on some more felt poinsettias.

I've always done these in regular craft felt, but I think they'd be pretty in wool felt. I may have to try one out. The hardest part of finishing these is trying to decide which button to use for the center! I'll probably do a little slow stitching on those to carry me through my Sunday evening!

Wednesday we had church and packed Lunches of Love, Thursday we had our MSC missionary Christmas dinner, Friday I finished wrapping anything that had come in late, boxed it all up and got all my out-of-town gifts in the mail!  Whoa!  Is this really me?!?  Ha!  Speaking of gifts for out-of-towners, we also got to do a little FaceTiming with this crew . . .

Their first California Christmas tree!

Sawyer and June were busy 'working' on colorings for us.

Liv was happy to blow kisses to Neesey and Pawpaw!

Saturday was an outing to Miss Mary Bobo's, in Lynchburg, Tennessee.  A group of ladies from Wears Chapel have now made this trip two years in a row!  

The food is always excellent, and it was fun to walk around the square of Lynchburg (home of Jack Daniels), too!

Then today, after church, I met Jocelyn, Ellie and Joc's mother-in-law, Marilyn, at the Von Braun Center for the matinee performance of The Nutcracker!

Ellie was really excited to see it again and told us her favorite part was the Mouse King!  She really was entranced with the ballet and watched through the whole thing quite intently!  I think this year was even more enchanting for her, because she's been taking ballet lessons!

And she was able again this year to wear the pretty little Nutcracker dress that I hand-embroidered the "E" on!  In another year or two, Everley will be able to wear it, too!

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts.  And I'm off to see what little stitches I can make before bedtime!

Have a fabulous week!

:)

'tis the season . . .

It's been a busy, but happy week.  We got out the Christmas tree at work and decorated there . . .

I love decorating the work tree . . . that have big HUGE ornaments, and I love to tuck them in here and there.  Plus, since the RV tree is tiny (20"), this gives me a little bigger playing field! 

I finally finished up Mr. Snowbuddy.  I'm *so* pleased with the final product:

Isn't he just festive and handsome??

I should have moved on to the wool final snowman I have . . .

He'll be a doozy!  But I felt like playing with something a little smaller, so I pulled out these two mini yo-yo ornament kits I picked up in Paducah a couple of years ago . . .

The yo-yo's whip together quickly, and in no time I had a finished wreath:

My *intention* was to finish the candy cane, next, but I got distracted on the internet and came across a darling wool ornament tutorial on Camellia Rose (by way of Buttermilk Basin):

Yes, I was so enchanted with it, I had to stop what I was doing and make one for myself (see above)! So now I don't know whether I'll be making mini yo-yo candy canes, white wool Christmas trees, or a big ol' woolen snowman for Slow Stitching Sunday . . . but I've got options!

Of course, the day isn't really a 'slow' day.  This afternoon we're headed out for an adult Sunday school class party.  It's Mexican (food) themed, and I think we're going to have a great crowd!  

I've made guacamole and Mexican Wedding cookies for my offerings.  *Spicy*!!  But we'll be home before seven, so I'll have some quiet evening time to sit and stitch.  :)

My stash report hasn't changed a whit since last week.  

Again.  More often than not this year, that's been the case!  I need to get into my stash and thin it out a bit.  There's a lot there that I'll probably never use. What do you do with fabric you know you'll never use? I'd love to hear some ideas!  I'll be linking up to the stash report at Patchwork Times and to the Slow Sunday Stitching linky party at Kathy's Quilts.  

That's it for me this week.  Our Stitcher's group has its Christmas party on Tuesday, we have our MSC Missionary Christmas dinner on Thursday, our church ladies' Christmas dinner at Mrs. Mary Bobo's (in Lynchburg, Tennessee) on Saturday, and then Joc, Ellie and I are going to the Nutcracker on Sunday.  'Tis the season, right?!

Have a blessing-filled week!!

:)

cruddy, but not unproductive . . .

I woke up yesterday morning feeling downright cruddy. I'd hit the trifecta of cruddiness - sinuses, some cold/allergy thing, and an asthma episode. Blah. I suppose I could have pulled it together and gone to work, but I'd just have been miserable, so instead, I called in. I hate calling in sick. Not including this summer when I was out with my accident, and then with the spider bite, I've called in sick *maybe* six times in the last 13 years. Including today. I'm not a call-in-sick kind of person.

Anyway, I was at that spot where I couldn't lay in bed any longer, so I got up and let Todd baby me by making my coffee, then our breakfast (he's such a darling husband). I took some medicine and started to feel a little clearer-headed, and there were still things that needed tending to, so I got dressed and started tending. I put some laundry in, did some dishes, and then went back to my sewing table while I waited for the washer/dryer to finish.

I went ahead and stitched up the extra set of hexagon sides I'd played with last week.

I really to like that layout a lot!

Then I went ahead and stitched up my strips, so they're ready to cut into triangles.

I think this grouping will be very pretty in the hexagons I'm going to use them in.

Then, since I was just sitting there anyway, I went ahead and put together the other three sets of Christmas fabric I'd cut for the Arrowhead block.

This block is so very easy. Sew, cut, press and piece. I love it!

Of the four blocks I did, I think this combination of fabrics was my favorite:

It still blows my mind that someone thought of this method! It's so cool!

All cut and ready! One thing's for sure; I've got a LOT of pressing to do before I can do any more work on any of these projects!

Since I had the mat and rotary cutter out, I went ahead and cut out my DVD faces, too.

I've gotten a lot of new DVDs over the past couple of months, and I've not been good about putting them in my DVD binder. The DVD cases take up too much precious room, so I cut out the front face using my 4.5" square, and then file them alphabetically in the DVD binder.

Like I said, I've gotten a bunch in the past few months. :)

Last, but not least, I printed out a template to cut and use for my yo-yo snowmen, which I think will look very darling on Christmas tea towels.

And then I took a NAP! Gosh, I should have, shouldn't I? Imagine what I could have accomplished yesterday if I was feeling good! Haha -- I'd have accomplished nothing (at home, anyway); I'd have been at work! :) I did slow down in the afternoon and rested on the couch. And while I canceled my physical therapy and didn't go to my Stitcher's Group get-together, I did make a good dinner, so I'll call it even. After a restful night's sleep, I'm feeling much better today!

Forward. March!

:)