"The Tree"

Today we went on our annual Christmas Tree hunt. We found "the perfect tree" ... a seven and a half foot Blue Spruce which we cut ourselves at Liberty Acres Tree Farm, carried home and now is set in the living room awaiting our tree decorating party which will be later in the week when we can again assemble the family. Now our home is scented with fresh cut spruce.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm .... divine!

:) Pat

Falling Slowly

This is the view from my backdoor today. I love the fall!

I am fortunate to live in an area with many Fall Quilt Shows happening around me to enjoy and inspire. Last weekend I was able to visit two different Quilt Guild offerings on the same day. As usual, I found many beautiful quilts and enjoyed their boutique sales, raffles, cafes and vendors.

One of the shows was the Tewksbury Piecemakers ...

http://www.tewksburypiecemakers.com/

... annual display. One of the highlights of this show is their wonderful raffle baskets. There are only twelve offered per year, each with a monthly theme. These are never your average recycled basket of scrappy fat quarters and thread, but are filled with fabric medleys, gift certificates and special little gift items. This year I was the very lucky winner of the "July at the Beach" Basket ... and here it is ..

... a folding beach chair with a handsewn and quilted beach towel and matching quilted beach bag filled with everything from sunscreen and bubble bath to novels for summer reading, two beautiful floral fabric medleys, a quilt pattern, button embellishments, notebook, a candle, suncatcher, and much more. Here is a photo of just the bag and the beach towel folded for travel ...

Best of all ... this win included a $40 Gift Certificate for a professional machine quilter ... and ... a $25 Gift Certificate to Sew Together, a new quilt shop that has just opened up nearby!

I have looked at all the beautiful fabric in their shop on their blog ...

http://sew-togetherblog.blogspot.com/

... so I am already happily planning my next quilty adventure!

;) Pat

My Quilty Home for Fall

The air is not cooler here at all now that it is fall. The dry summer-like weather hangs on and the pollen count must be high today. Ah-choo!

Time to make my home all quilty and comfy for Fall. I made both of the quilty things in these photos at least two years ago, but they are still among my favorites.

The photo below was taken many years ago when my boys were teens and my daughter a tween. We carved pumpkins and added them to the count at the Great Pumpkin Festival in Keene, NH. This place holds a special place in my heart as both of my boys were born there. I can still recall the first year we took our boys to trick-or-treat in this lovely town center ... when my oldest paraded as Big Bird and the youngest was "Little Bird" and carried in a pack on his Daddy's back as he was not a year old yet ... the boys were so cute in homemade costumes I fashioned from yellow plush. There were only a few pumpkins laid along the edge of the sidewalk that year ... it was before the actual "Great Pumpkin Festival" was born, but from those small seeds a mighty festival grew.

Now there is a huge scaffold which can be seen in the background and the festival is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. For more information, check this link ...

http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/

My daughter framed this photo for me as a gift once as she knows how much I love these memories.

I hope you enjoy them, too! :) Pat

Fall

I shall be happy this year to see the summer allergy season come to an end. It has been a long, hot, dry summer.

Life has been in the way far too often to the past few months and I have not been sewing. Usually everyday troubles make me wish to see the pretty fabric flowing through my fingers and soothe and smooth away the wrinkles, but it just has not been sew.

I am hoping the cooler weather will bring more than a change in the seasons ... a new beginning rather than just an end of something ... "seasons change and so do I" ...

I am hoping there is time left for you ...

........... Trivia Time: Name that song ;) ...........

The Choice is Mine!

... For the Theme for the June Charm Swap on Block Central!

These are 6" Square Charms.

I have chosen a Black/White Theme ...

one black-on-white print charm
and
one white-on-black print charm

I hope everyone likes my choice. :-)

I have had a lot of fun with these quick and easy swaps. Members take turns choosing the color choice or theme and each of us send two different 6" squares directly to each swapper. This is great way to use up stash and gather fabric for a charm quilt. If you have what is needed in your stash the cost is only a .44 cent stamp to get two new charms. It is always fun to see what others will send and I have really received no duplicates of fabrics in all the months I have been playing.


With these black/white prints I have a plan to add some of the bright colored charms I have received in previous swaps and make a bright and bold quilt.

If you would like to join in the fun, sign-up here ...


http://blockcentral.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7411044763/m/645105973

New swappers are always welcome!!


On the home front, I have had a very nasty summer cold that just does not want to quit and I have gotten very little done this past week. Nor was I well enough to go to the quilt shop yesterday to use their long-arm as planned to quilt a couple of quilts. I do not even really feel like going on a quilt shop adventure today although my hubby would like to go on an excursion. Last weekend, before my cold became full-blown, we did have a lovely outing to a quilt shop on the way to the beach where he added to His Oriental Fabric Stash and then we journeyed on and indulged in a real treat ... a huge, yummy Fisherman's Platter at the best place on the northshore of Boston for fried fish. Mmmmmmmm!


Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful long Memorial Day Weekend!