I...like everyone else...cannot believe Christmas is almost here! I still have some decorating to finish...and hopefully I will get some pictures of it all shared on my blog. I am always tweaking my displays.
I just finished a three-day retreat at my local quit shop. The quilt shop has a separate class room space a few doors away from the actual quilt shop which can be rented out by groups. This is my, "Sisters," retreat group that was started by three sisters. We meet four times a year.
I went with a kit I had completely cut and was ready to stitch...and I finished it!
I am calling it, "Aurora Bear." It is a panel from Northcott that was released at least two years ago. So perfect for Alaska. The pattern is, "North Star," by Laureen Smith of Tourmaline and Thyme Designs. The pattern was excellent...no issues putting it all together. Finished size is 57 x 69 1/2- inches.
I also finished quilting, "On the Go," another panel quilt. I still need to get the binding sewn but it is not a present for Christmas so I have lots of time to get that done.
This was a kit. The fabric line is from In the Beginning and I'm pretty sure it was a free pattern. I did make one change, I made mitered corners. This will go to my grandson. He turns three in a few days.
I made a little ornament for my retreat sisters, a triangle tree. I was determined to make something from my plentiful stash of fabric and crafting supplies.
I think I have had those beautiful jingle bells for 20-plus years. You are seeing the front side and the backside...reversible! I spent a day looking at ornament YouTube videos and found one that sparked my interest,
Denim Tree Ornaments.
I finished two cross stitch pieces, Priscilla Pilgrim...
and John Pilgrim.
I got stalled out on finishing them when I had to visit three different Michaels to find enough skeins of matching DMC floss to make cording. There are two Michaels in Anchorage and one in Wasilla. By the time I found all the skeins it was past Thanksgiving. I also signed up for a stand-up finishing class that was held this Saturday and figured I might learn something that would help me with these stand-ups. I haven't viewed the class yet...East coast times for the class didn't jive well with Alaska's time zone...but it will be available for the next 30 days.
There are several buttons from Just Another Button Company that enhance each pilgrim.
They are going to be really cute...some day!
Granddaughter Hannah needed a stocking at her other Grandma's house. I picked one of my most precious vintage kits with tons of details.
"Christmas Cookies," from Bucilla, 2008.
Santa's apron is so sweet...he even has a candy cane in his pocket...always prepared!
Santa's elf is busy too!
One of the most challenging steps was making the paint brushes.
And soooo much satin stitching. The top row of cookies had lots of satin stitching.
We are in the darkest days of winter so no critter photos...I've only spied a squirrel running around my snow covered flower beds. We had several days last week of warm temps and rain which is so painful when it is dark. A lot of our snow melted but with frozen ground temperatures we were cursed with lots of ice. Now we are into single digits...about 5-degrees when I went for my dogs walk today. We did get a couple of inches of snow so everything is beautiful and snow covered again...such a relief!
We also had a 6.0 earthquake on Thanksgiving morning...a pretty good shaker but no major damage. Just knocked a few things over on my shelves. There have been two other earthquakes in Alaska since then...bigger ones but both were pretty far away and I didn't feel them. Earthquake forecasters say there is a 95-percent risk of a 7.5 between 12/9 to 12/10 in our part of Alaska.
I will be praying this doesn't happen. The 7.0 from 2018 was beyond scary.
