Catching up....

This could be a long one, so put your feet up, get your Christmas Cookies and cocoa.....

So what's been going on with me.   Earlier in November I took a 5-day weekend trip to Massachusetts to visit my daughter for her 40th birthday.   What!  I have a 40 year old kid! and she is not the oldest.   Argh!

Alright get over it and suck it up buttercup timing is marching on.

From start to finished we had a great time.

This is just MY stuff all queued up to load in the car before work on Wednesday morning.

(take notice of the large steamer trunk to the right.....more on that below)









Thursday morning, Heather and I left Philly at 7:50 and sped north ahead of a nor-easter all the way up to the Boston area.   Looks like I've got a little bit of room for Heather's things.  In my defense, some are presents being delivered and a couple of boxes from my brother's estate for Amy.

We stopped at Rein's Deli off of 84 in CT for a special lunch.   Special indeed, my PenPal and I got to meet.   Shirley was even more lovely in person.  It was so nice to put a face and smile and hug with the person I have been emailing for several years.   We truly are kindred spirits and she is definitely one of my 'tribe'.  I am so lucky she reached out to me and we started corresponding.  As we drove away I realized we never took a picture of us together.   Bummer!    Well I guess I will just have to meet up with her at Rein's Deli on another trip north.

Before getting to Gloucester to the house Amy rented, we stopped to visit friends in Peabody, shopped at Wegman's and hit the liquor store.   We finally arrived, were unpacked, had a slice of pizza and glass of wine in our hands before the first snowflake fell.

In Peabody, at Staci's house, she had a wall full of potholders.

 She is the ultimate, most fabulous crafter.   She sees something and then reverse engineers it to create it.

She crocheted these potholders.

There was also a stained glass window which she would like to commission a companion window from me.   What year will I fit that in?!?!?

In Gloucester, we had the cutest little in-law apartment with living room, kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms and two baths.   This was how I watched the world come alive each morning with my cup of tea.

The owner, "the Gloucester Quilter" and her daughter were  crafters too.  Mom made all the gorgeous quilts on the beds and around the house.   The daughter made the macintosh rose glass inserts in the china closet.  (hmmm, maybe I need to put her and Staci in touch with each other.)






















This was one of our work stations for the 5 days.   Cutting, ironing and another machine were on the kitchen counter and table in the living room area.  You can get so much more done if you have a work area you can leave 'active'.

I did mainly finishing work.    I deconstructed this finish from several years ago and put it back together nicer than I had originally finished it. This is an oldie, Witchy Washy by Raise the Roof.

I finished these three Halloween ornaments.   The designer is Tiny Modernist.  Looks like I am already for next Halloween!






























I finished this EGA project into an easel finish.

More finishing re-dos.    For Uncle Sam, I took him apart to give him a better base and attached his flag.   For the two pillows, I downsized the red portion on the Bent Creek Uncle Sam and the blue portion on the Little House July.   I like the proportions better.   Doing this re-make I barely removed any stuffing so they are now nice and tightly packed.   These re-dos have been on my to-do list forever.  I am happy with the results and it feels good to cross these off my to-do list.

For William, I made these happy pillow cases.   Not necessarily the 15 minute pillowcase as described on the internet but EZ-PZ just the same.

Here's a quilt top that Heather finished piecing and assembled.

On Sunday, friends came over for wine, cheese and a big pot of chicken chili.  We caught up and laughed and just enjoyed each other.  Staci treated us all to a English paper piecing project.  This is from Lucy Bolton from Alewives.com    She made us all templates for a bit of fussy cutting to yeild cool results.  I need to add the lower left and lower right 'petals'.   Moving and arranging the pieces remind me of playing with a kaleidoscope. Working with the paper piecing really got me wanting to dig back into my hexagon quilt.   It could be the perfect lunch time project or work in the car.










Amy worked on her whimsical wildlife quilt completing the hedgehogs and she started the fireflies.  II think they are butterflies.)  The last of the animals.   Next stop, assembly, probably on the next girls weekend.  In addition to our annual 4th of July sew-a-thon, we are thinking of a long weekend in the Rhinebeck, NY area.   I'd love to visit that area and check out Hyde Park, FDR's home, The Culinary Institute,  as well as a the Hudson River Valley.

Here's the pattern she is using.  

Sunset in Gloucester, Mass

What's girl time without animal face masks?



















Then home and quick turnaround for Thanksgiving.  We had a great Thanksgiving with Mr. William and his family.    I know I have so much to be thankful for and I am....family, health, friends, bills paid,  good job and so much more.

We made cookies

 ...and practiced our 'angry' and 'happy faces'

And I'm Irish!   I never knew this.   I was excited to find out and may have an excuse for green beer on St. Patrick's Day.   There is no confusion on my mom's side, straight from Scandinavia.  I always thought we were Scotch/English on my dad's side.   If I would have thought about history and Robert the Bruce it seems unlikely to be Scotch/English.   My son is super into Ancestry.com and we did a bunch of input over the holiday using papers I found in my brother's things.     It started after we noticed the name stamped on the end of the steamer trunk in the foreground below,   F. J. Ramage.   I recognized the name as it was my father's middle name.   We sat around the dining room table with the laptop and started noodling around.     We found out my father's family was from County Derry.  The trunk was my brother's now has a place of honor with my son in State College.   BTW, this is Etta patiently waiting for her master to return.   Well, maybe not exactly patiently.

My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming like crazy.   Did you know there are Easter Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus and Christmas Cactus?    I did not know this.  The shape of the leaf will tell you what kind you have.  https://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/christmas-cactus-thanksgiving-cactus-and-easter-cactus

I created this needlework accessory for our holiday exchange at EGA.   The design is from this year's  Christmas edition of Just Cross Stitch.  The intention is to use it for the exchange but I just may keep it myself!

I also finished my Thanksgiving piece from Summer House.

I redid the year "1621" in a brown instead of the green.   I ironed interfacing on the back to firm it up.








I also lined the shaker box and finished the turkey to for the top.  I didn't want to mark up the beautiful shaker box so I cut out a circle in the center of the mat board that I use to mount the turkey.   I set the magnet into the hole in the mat board.  Now I can change out the top of the box. (Really?  Am I really going to create something for each holiday?   In what lifetime?  Let's be honest here.)

 Check out Mr. LeHays' website.   He is a one-man operation in Maine.  He takes you through cutting the trees, drying the wood, assembling and painting or staining.  It's no wonder the shaker tray I ordered in June at PSS has an approximate delivery date of December or January.

And I finished up this oldie.   Stitched years ago but never finished.    I got the idea of using the nun stitch and fraying the edges as done on the  Thanksgiving piece to make it look like a bedspread with fringe.


One thing for sure, that basket of items to be finished items has gotten smaller.


Better get the iron out and press the 'wild' fringe into place.

For my current stitching piece, I have been concentrating on Hands On Design Mend pin cushion.    I have finished the sides and am working on the top.   I have buttons and charms picked out to attach.   I stitched this on 28 ct Maritime White from Lakeside rather than the called for 28 ct dusty miller.    I changed up some of the floss colors to better suit the linen color.  This is my #2 project for my EGA Monthly Challenge.   I just may finish the stitching before the next meeting!

Lot's of busy times ahead between now and the first of the year.  And a big decision needed after the first of the year.  My retirement plans have hit a speed bump.   Mr. W. will loose his company sponsored insurance January 1 when he goes on MediCare.   I've got to decide if I will continue to work or go on COBRA or get my own insurance.   In a perfect world if I could work a 4-day work week, work 8 to 4:30 and not 7:30 to 5:30......I might be convinced to hang in another year.  Sounds heavenly but a fantasy for sure.    I'll keep you posted on my decision.

Thank you if you have hung in long enough to get to the bottom.   Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching and have a blessed holiday season.