White Christmas Dinner Guest

It's been snowing since we got up this morning and it is absolutely beautiful outside. It feels a bit odd to say this (since we moved south to escape the winters) but...I love it when it snows here!



This was a painting project with my pal Rochelle (the painter). We used light bulbs as the base and Rochelle took me step by step through the painting process. This is the only one I have left...the rest where gifts.

Merry Christmas To All

I ment to make a special mention of my 100th blog...Oh well...Happy 101th Blog!

The angel guards our front door...another Waterford ceramic piece from the late 90's.

I wish you all a safe and joy filled Christmas!!!!

Quilted Shawl Is Finished - Ready For Show & Tell

Now I have two things to bring to the next guild show & tell. I'm really pleased with the binding...will have to find some more of that fabric. Also, I'm happy that I have more of the top fabric...think I'll use it to back the runner made from the Thanksgiving place mats.



Another Waterford Santa...this one has been unfinished for years...I did paint a little on it after we moved down here, but was stymied as to the last little details. Maybe I'll just get some more gold and silver paint...silver sleeves and gold gloves followed with a gloss finish. Should I antique it first?


I've thought about putting more detail into his robe...??

Farmer Santa

Farmer Santa was also done while living in Waterford, WI. He was already fired when I bought him, so he required several coats of paint and a spray sealant (matte).



The weather here in the mountains of North Georgia is playing havoc with our new workout routine and my Christmas shopping! Things earlier this week were closed down for two days because of snow, yesterday we didn't go shopping (40 miles away) because of an incoming ice storm. This morning we left the house after 10 a.m. because the Rec. Center (gym) wasn't opening until then just to give the roads time to clear up. Our gravel road was a thick sheet of ice and when we got to the top of the first hill we could see two vehicles in the ditch, so...we just turned around and came home.

Working out and shopping will have to wait until tomorrow...hopefully everything won't be as icy tomorrow morning. It finally made it to 52 degrees late this afternoon and it's suppose to be 31 overnight.

Donation Quilt Done

I finally got around to putting the binding on this donation quilt...needed something to take to our next guild show and tell. This is the one that I made my first ever stencil for. I may have the quilted shawl done by then...what with our weather delays around here.




Love the stripes for the binding...this is my best joining seam. Hhhmmmm...I think I should have trimmed up the quilt a little more to eliminate floating stitch line.




This is the worst joining seam....but it was at the very end where you're twisting the binding around trying to join them together. Should have cleaned up those frayed threads before I took a picture.

Christmas Hostess Gift

Friday we had some of our friends over for cards. As usually when we gather, everyone brings their beverage of choice (usually wine) and a food contribution. Appetizer/finger food was to be served, so I baked a brie in dough and wrapped cocktail wienies in the extra dough and baked them up.

Saturday evening we went to friends house for dinner and cards. I baked a creamy pear pie...a big hit!


I needed a hostess gift and didn't feel like running into town to shop for one, so I headed up to my quilt room after the pie was in the oven. I don't have a big stash and have just recently added a few pieces of Christmas fabric.

Fortunately, I have quite a bit of Insul-Bright left from when I made a heat proof table pad, so I double layered the Insul-Bright, adjusted the tension, quilted it, and put the binding on with time to spare.

The hot pad was unwrapped and went directly on the table to replace a folded green tea towel!

Another Christmas Decoration Project

Here's another Waterford ceramic item. I'm pretty sure that I didn't pay more than $25 for the base and tree (including glaze and firing) and now they cost about 2 to 3 times as much (at least in Illinois), plus they're smaller.

I never was happy with the wimpy little light that came with the tree because it really didn't light up the top of the tree. So.....



...Sweetie put this light in the base...now that baby really glows!

Christmas Decorating (quilting distraction)

The day after Thanksgiving, I started dragging the Christmas decorations out of the little eve storage areas in my quilting room. It really didn't take that long since I'm not an overboard Christmas decorator. Since we didn't decorate at all last year because of the move, I felt the need to get them up as soon as possible.

The two Santa's above were made by my DD and I in the late 90's, when we were living in Waterford. Waterford is a small town in southeast Wisconsin and like a lot of small towns the shops in its little downtown areas was continually cycling through different proprietors and contents. In the late 90's, one of the larger store fronts contained a combination pet store and ceramic shop. They poured slip into their own molds and had an area in the back of the pet store/ceramic shop where you could prepare your purchased green ware for firing and painting or glazing and firing.



The Santa on the right was done by my DD and mine is on the left.



Being that they are tall and rather light weight, they are also very unstable and prone to tipping over...which they have done several times and sustained varying degrees of damage. My Santa broken in half in one fall (you may be able to see a crack running thru his star if you enlarge picture) and DD's Santa has had his bottom quarter pieced back together (minus a few chips of plaster..see darker spots of red).

I've always tried to keep them out of harms way (pets, small children, a breeze) and even used Gorilla Grip, that securing putty.


This year, while I was dragging out the decorations, and idea came to me as I was taking these guys out of their bubble wrap....they need a stand. Downstairs I went, with Santa's in hand, to find Sweetie and explain his next project. It became our next project.

Out came the left over wood from the lazy susan (more on that in another post) and we marked the oval the size that I wanted. Sweetie then cut it out, sanded the cut sides, and then routed the decorative edge. I sanded it, put on stain, and three coats of poly (with sanding in between the first two coats). The next morning, I used a little steel wool on the 3rd coat and finished it off with a coat of butchers wax. It's not one of my more stellar finishing jobs...but it still looks pretty good and is exactly what I envisioned.