Have a great Christmas week. I have to work Wed., Thurs., and Fri. Then I am off for four days. Hooray!
The entire family, with the exception of one great grandson, including my three brothers and all their children, me, my sons, DIL and Mr. E made it to the service in MN. Mr. E had his second airplane trip and loved looking out the window the entire time. He also got to spend time playing in the snow. Here he is being King of the Mountain.
And trying to make snowballs.
It was the first time in 25 years the entire family had been together so we took the opportunity to have family photos taken. Here is my wonderful family (left to right): Brandon, my youngest son, The Hotel Man, my DH, Mr. E, me, Tasha, my DIL and Geoffrey, my oldest son.
Mr. E surprised all of us with his newest behavior: saying "Cheese!". He started doing it while we were having family photos taken. He stood in front of everyone who had a camera, posed and said, "cheese". He had everyone laughing!
My whole family
This is my lovely mom. Isn't this a fantastic photo of her?
If you've made it this far I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you Happy Holidays!
I also made a pot of Thanksgiving Wassail and enjoyed it all day long.
I crocheted a hat to go with a scarf I made for my DIL
Side view of the hat
What are you working on this week?
Here is the back of the bag. I love the fabric she chose to use.
Here are the rest of the goodies: there is a package of teddy bears to stitch, red floss, a package of sewing themed buttons, pins, a stitchery calendar, a beautiful red plate and Christmas candle, an adorable angel and chocolate. The cookie recipe sounds yummy and I hope to try it soon. Thanks, Sabine!
Have you received your Winter Tote?
Here is my SSCS present . . . don't you love surprises?
This is not Coffee Time Studio,
Yesterday afternoon I took an afternoon off from Christmas sewing and had ME time. On Sunday I found a gorgeous set of snowflakes to embroider at Polka and Bloom. I had to order the set and when I came home from work on Sunday night I transferred the pattern and yesterday started stitching it. I'm using a over-dyed blue and lavender thread. I'm thinking of adding beads to it instead of the french knots the pattern uses.
Well, the mailman just brought my 3-2-1 Winter Tote Bag package from Sabine. I'm going to sign off for now and open the package.
My second finish was a coffee-themed table topper. I bough the panel about three years ago. The borders were added about two years ago. I was going to hand stitch it, but when I was cleaning out my stash closet I decided to machine quilt it and finish it. It is now on our dining room table.
I received two swap packages recently. The first one was a Scavenger Hunt package. My partner sent me four balls of Knit Picks allspice yarn, two hanks of hand spun yarn, At Knit's End book, spice drops, jelly beans, crochet labels, coffee and a small round frame.
I also received my FRIENDS swap package from Pam at Versana.
And here are the gifts: F was fabulous fabric. R was jar filled with red buttons and chocolate and topped with a red pincushion. I was an Indigo Bag and a skein of blue yarn. E was an embroidery book (and a Fair Isle crochet book). N was "Needful" things - two skeins of Caron Watercolor floss I need to work on a project. D was delightful cinnamon jelly beans.
S was this stunning silk painting Pam made for me. Isn't it fantastic?
And, just for fun, here is a recent photo of Mr. E and I.
Tomorrow I'll post about my Process on the Swap packages. I've been able to sneak in work time between working and taking care of Mr. E.I, Sweet P of Coffee Time Stitches, pledge to talk more about my creative processes, even when I can't show and tell every step of the way.So, where do I start with the pledge? I have thought about this for a few days. It's next to impossible for me to describe every action or step I take in working on a project. I create under one of two circumstances. I'm either creating because I have a deadline (usually a swap deadline) or I'm creating because my muse has told me to create a project.
Although I have written directions for every project, I often make my own set of cutting notes in a format that's easy for me to follow. This allows me to jot notes or changes I make to the project. Here is one page of notes for Project A. I have a similar page for the goodie bags.
Project B's directions were written well enough for me. I was able to start cutting the fabrics and pinning a few blocks before Mr. E woke up from his nap.
That's as far as I got on these projects today. I hope you continue to follow me as I work on these projects.
Kits #3 and #4
Kits #5 and #6
Mr. E graciously let me take a photo of him trying on his pumpkin sweater before I put the final trim on it. It is big enough that it will last him a couple Halloweens!
I'm off to clean the house and work on swap packages. I hope everyone is having a great day!
Isn't this cupcake fabric yummy? It came in this week and two yards yelled at me to come home with me. I couldn't resist. After all, cupcakes go well with coffee you know.
My MIL sent me a wonderful birthday present last week. It started with the lovely sewing basket. Inside the basket I found a gorgeous seam ripper, a small pin and a glass thread bobbin for hanging in a window.
This small box was also in the basket. It's the perfect size to sit on the sofa table next to me and hold the items I don't want Mr. E to get into: my camera, our Flip video, cords for those items, my small notions tin, a container of stitch markers and any small items to keep out of little hands.
I finished my mittens earlier this week. I love how they turned out and they fit perfectly. I have one more end to weave in and they are ready for winter. I have enough yarn leftover to make a beret and hope to have it finished soon.
We had our first Nor'Easter of the year yesterday. Lots of rain, wind and snow in the higher elevations. Today the sun is shining, the sky is blue, but the wind is still whipping around. I'm off to play in the studio for a few hours before I head into work this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm off. It's the first Sunday I've had off when I can watch all of the football games! Hooray!
Mwah . . . blowing kisses across the miles
I can see you and touch you . . . but I can't feel you.
Ethan likes to Skype with Grampa. Sometimes he has more fun playing with the keyboard than talking with Grampa, but it's still a lot of fun.
Last week I finished the Snuggle Sacks for our new nephews. Since I haven't had a chance to deliver them here is Hero modeling them for me. The pattern came with two designs. I made one of each design for them. This one is for Cooper and is made with Sensations Lodge yarn and Lion Brand Homespun Yarn.
Matthew's is made with Sensations Lodge yarn.
And finally I finished my first mitten. The pattern is Ravelry download. The yarn is from NH Knitting Mama in Purple Haze. The pattern is easy and allows you to custom fit the mitten to your hands. I've already started the second one and should finish it the next day or two.
Yesterday was a sewing studio day. I actually made two knitting needle cases. The first one didn't turn out as well as I had hoped so I made the above one. Then, on a whim and because I love the variegated thread I was using, I pulled out a UFO from about three years ago. I quilted it and sewed the binding on the front. Today I am hand sewing the binding and another project will be done.
