Today we had frost on the grass when I woke up. It was beautiful and made me excited for the snow that will surely come soon... Then I'll really have a pretty picture to post!!
Our lights are up outside, thanks to Case ;-) He does all that honey-do stuff without too much fuss. Am I lucky or what???? And now on to the decorating inside... by myself ;-(
Casey will help me get the lights on the trees but from then on, it's all on me. I miss having our girls and their families with us to do this. Nothing would make me happier than to see all of the trees decorated right at the grandkids eye level if you get my drift ;-) When our girls were little, our trees only had decorations at the 3-4 foot high level for years on end-- only as high as they could reach and it was ADORABLE!!
I joined a Seasonal Swap with my on-line rug hooking group and this is the mat I made for my "Winter" partner. It's 8" square and I hooked it in a size 8.5. The background is supposed to be a whiteout with snowflakes falling. The snowflakes are wound strips of white wool that I sewed in from the back of the canvas to secure them. They don't scream at you but you know they're there ;-)
This was a fun project. It went quick and I'm thinking I'd like to do one for me too so this will be my January quickie.
The next swap is a Spring theme and I'm thinking of doing a _ _ _ _ _ _ _. I can't tell because I don't want to give it away in case my new swap partner is reading this ;-0!!!
As for this little mat, I decided this would be a great "Beginner" class project. Since I plan to start teaching again after the first of the year, this little bird is going to come in handy ;-)
So, ok... on to my other projects-- Here is the progress on my ATHA rug. I did the house a while back. I did the windows first and now I don't like them. I'll assess it again when it's all done and see if I need to take them out and re-do or not. I really don't like "un-hooking"!!
As I was hooking this house I decided to leave a light on upstairs. This house reminds me of a house we lived in a while back and our bedroom was upstairs but on the opposite side. Since I had already made the upper left window black before I decided this represented our old house, the right window light is the one that's on instead now. Shhh... Only you and I will know that little secret. *wink
In this picture the windows show up pretty good actually, but when I look at it without a flash on it, they don't. Email me your opinion or leave a message for me on here. I'll take another consensus. You know how I love those feedback comments!! Really, I do. I listen and I learn ;-)))
BTW, I still need to name this one so keep those ideas coming ;-)
I've been busy in between the hooking and the punching, doing a little "Modern" quilting. Here are some of the fabrics that I'm working with... Oh, and don't worry, they won't be side by side like this. I haven't arranged them all how I want them yet. I've only cut pieces out of the fabrics I want to use. I haven't cut the solids out yet either. Looks like Sunday will be the day to start working on this project. I have a lot to work with so I think my projects are going to be FUN!!! And the pattern I've designed is E A S Y ! ! ! I hope the girls like their presents ;-)
And last, but not least, I also made "retreat" ironing boards for a couple of close friends that I like to get together and sew with. The boards are 2' X 2' and a fat quarter fits on them perfectly, so they aren't too big or too small. I have a couple of 4' X 2' boards that I use here at home and they really are fabulous to work on. You can also pin into them for applique` blocks or to actually block things with steam such as punch needle projects and finally, it's so incredible to block rugs with!!!) I don't know what I do without them-- finishing my work would be WAY harder, I know that ;-(
So, I'd love to hear all about what presents y'all are making. I am constantly amazed at how creative people are and I am inspired by so many of you ;-)
Christmas Blessings,
Debra <3
