More quilting

 Our quilt guild has over 100 members and is a very active group.  I am privileged to be a part of this guild and have made some great friends.  I don't think one is ever to old to learn and I am learning new things constantly.  At the 2nd meeting of the month, we have a series of "clusters" which are groups of people learning new techniques from wonderful teachers.  There is no cost, unless a pattern needs to be purchased for a larger project.  The ornaments in the top picture are completed "cathedral window" examples, all of which can be incorporated into a larger quilt.  I have done the cathedral window quilt in the traditional fashion and it is very time consuming and uses a lot of fabric.  This technique is so much faster and more economical! The second picture shows one method of turning back the "windows and the bottom picture shows all four.  There are only two different patterns, but depending on how the stitching is done on top, the end result is 4.  I have ordered a pattern for a large quilt and will have at least two more "cluster" sessions to complete all of the techniques. 

Top and right squares are the same and left and bottom are the same. They are just tacked in different places.

On a totally different note, our daughter lives in Washington and has been without electricity for at least 5 days.  Finally she and her husband got power on today.  We forget what we have until we lose it.  But she got her fridge cleaned out at least.  Gotta find at least one good thing.  They did have a wood burning stove, so were not without heat, but really....it would be tough to be without for that long. 

Craft and crab

 So when we went to Wash state for Christmas and went to Boston Harbor, we met this family with a small boy who was out for the day.  As we had informed them that we were from Wyoming earlier, we heard the mother say "Show it to those people from Wisconsin."  I turned and said that we were from one of those "W" states, but not Wisconsin.  Anyway, they had spotted a couple of crabs clinging below the pier and after a little prying, the boy's father pulled this one up for us to see.  We got a lesson on "sexing" them which I can't remember.  It was something about the number of stripes on the belly.  But it really was the first crab I had seen.  Actually our daughter had just picked up a 3 lb crab for our dinner, but unfortunately, he was wrapped in paper and I didn't see it again until he/she was ceremoniously dropped into the pot of water, screaming and kicking that night.  YUM!

I am embarking on another of many projects which I have wanted to do for a very long time. This is going to be a penny rug.  However, as with most projects, I tend to jump in without a lot of research 'cause I am so anxious to try a new craft.  After carefully stitching these black wool "pennies" onto the wool background, I  realized that I need to complete the pennies first. DUH! Did you know that since these are so large, they are derived from early American coins.  Their pennies were much larger than modern pennies. Women used these large pennies as a template to draw around the wool scraps.  Fortunately, my quilt guild has an opportunity table and someone left a box of wool squares in beautiful colors.  Yeah!

New year resolutions

 With the onset of the new year, gardening is tugging at my soul.  These wonderful clay or stoneware plant markers were a gift from my daughter.  Note the detail on both the front and back of the 12 plus inch babies!  They are almost too pretty to poke into the soil, but alas, in they will go.  Won't my herb garden look spiffy?  In fact, I have a couple of buckets of clay and still have not decided to put my kiln up for sale, so I may have to put my own spin on this idea.  I have a stained glass project waiting in the basement to be foiled and some quilt projects needing attention also.  Gotta get in gear!

And speaking of quilt projects, this is another table topper which I made for another friend for Christmas.  It was like a puzzle getting it put together, but apparently I did get everything cut properly and stitched correctly as it all went together just fine.

As for the new year and the resolutions.  When you get to be 65, as a lot of baby boomers know, you need to change a lot of things; one being the way you choose your insurance.  One big thing we have discovered is that some plans offer some advantages over others.  The plan we choose this year allows me to go to a fitness center for no charge.  The other thing that happens after 65, is that some of us discover rolls of excess fat that just magically appear.  How did that happen?  So, I am hoping with my resolution (get better FIT) that my rolls will shrink.  Today was my orientation on the many machines that will offer enough resistance to strengthen my flabby muscles.  Indeed, I have gotten lazy.  If I can remember how each machine works, and I am finding that the memory also gets flabby,  I hope to keep this only resolution this year.  Wish me luck!

The next day after the next day of Christmas

 Whaaat?  Actually we were gone for those "next days".  We trekked with the two little furkids to Washington state to have Christmas with our daughter and her husband.  It was wonderful and although our son and family couldn't make it, they had their holiday with family also.   I got an Ipod which my son-in-law and daughter helped me to understand. (difficult for ol' dogs to learn new tricks) and some really wonderful clay-fired plant markers. We also saw some sights there and the weather cooperated.

So speaking of the furkids, Hildy had to stay in the kennel here, but she does really well and we feel that we have her in a caring and safe environment.  Notice that she has decided to sit in little Spencer's bed to view the world outside and this morning she climbed up into his bed!  I barely could believe my eyes when she hopped up, turned around a time or two and plopped her 50 plus pounds in his 15 pound bed!  Needless to say, he was a little confused and kept looking at me for some explanation. They are so funny!



On one of our trips out while we were in Washington, we went to Boston Harbor.  Yes, there is a Boston Harbor there.  We had picked up some shrimp and crab for our Christmas eve seafood boil and walked out to view the sights.  We encountered a family there and after prying this fellow from his grip just under the surface, we were given a lesson on how to tell a male crab from a female and quite frankly, I don't remember which is which.  The one we ate was much larger and wonderful! 

On the next day of Christmas?

 This is Hildy watching a neighbor's cat watching a squirrel watching a flock of birds at a bird feeder across the street.  Notice that she is sitting in Spencer's bed! The squirrel escaped the cat, but managed to get a full tummy of birdseed before he left.  This is only the 2nd squirrel I have seen in this neighborhood since we have been here, but I bet he will be back now that Christmas breakfast is being served daily.

This is a table topper that I made and quilted for a friend for Christmas.  It actually turned out pretty well.  Last night we did the Christmas light tour.  I had taken a trolley tour a couple of nights earlier so knew where the BEST tacky light displays were.  One place here had 80,000 lights with a Dec. electric bill of about $600.00.
So much for conserving electricity, but I love, love, these displays.  It so reminds me of my childhood.  We had a very sparse tree with only a few lights, but we did drive around and look at other displays and it was always a thrill for a small child.  The children on the tour I took were so in awe at some of the lights.

On the 7th day of Christmas

 On the 7th day of Christmas...this is the tree that sits near the dog's dish. The dogs' tree!  The ornaments on it are for the most part animal in nature and not breakable.  Some are very old and dear to my heart.  I always put a spire ornament on my tree tops..not an angel or a star.  It is what always graced the top of our tree at home and I have collected several over the years.  This topper was given to me for Christmas last year by a young man we have known since he was a wee one.  It is plastic and I am pretty sure it came from a shopping trip at a flea market.  I love those.  It shows some wear where it was perched atop a tree in years past and was perfect for this tree.

We took our dear neighbor for lunch this week..our Christmas to her and she wanted to bring presents to our furkids afterwards.   Spencer, who really doesn't know how to play with toys did take this terry cloth bone and spent some time licking it.  (He has always licked Hildy's face..he cleans her ears, her eyes, her mouth and her teeth.) ? For whatever reason he gets great pleasure and Hildy tolerates it for the most part.  So when he decided it was OK to lick the bone, it must have been a sign of approval.
He will take the bone and put it on his footstool and lay on it, but even though the other two dogs got their presents too, Hildy would probably destroy Spencer's bone, so we make sure he is the only one to play (lick) it.  Funny critters, those furkids!

On the 6th day of Christmas

This little rustic wreath is one of only a few surviving decorations left from the Christmas gifts when I worked with school staff.  Every year, I received handmade gifts from children and friends as well as the plates of goodies and other tokens of the season.  This particular wreath is small, only about 6 inches, but it has survived the test of time and moves from one home to another. Given to me by a staff member, I cherish the memories of those Christmases at school and am thankful that after all of these years I am able to stay in touch with most of them. 

Little Spencer isn't feeling too perky tonight as he was due for a Rabies and other vaccinations and although our vet, paraded him around to all of the staff with his Christmas "gear"  as she called his kerchief, he was none to happy with the experience.  He is wanting some attention and since we have spoiled him mightily, I am off to accommodate him.