Pages

Monday, December 2, 2013

Eleven down, one more to go!

It is amazing to me that this year is coming to an end so quickly. While I am glad that the hectic and hair raising, October whizzed by, I am not thrilled that there are only a few weeks until Christmas. I dread Christmas. I don't really have a really good reason why, I just get stressed out about it. I know that it comes every year and that somehow, I survive it, but every year, I get stressed anyway. I know I stress about the money issues, the time issues, the what do I get everyone issues, and there are some family issues. I'm one of those guilt ridden folks. And no one is to blame, but me. Honestly, I do most of it to myself.  

So November..... We were still pretty busy, right up until Thanksgiving and now it will be pretty slow until March.  Wednesday (Thanksgiving eve?) was a terrific day. I took the day off from work to spend time with my best friend. We've been friends since grade 10 and she comes home to Florida a few times a year to visit her family and friends. We had a great time at Rainbow's End Quilt Shoppe. If you are ever in the Tampa Bay area, I highly recommend the trip to Dunedin. It is a huge store. The other two LQS were closed, but we got all caught up and had a splendid time. 

Thanksgiving was OK. I would have been thrilled to sit around in my PJs all day and sew or cross-stitch without a care in the world, but Bruce had to have a turkey. And invite his mother.  Here they are in my tiny little kitchen. (and yes, that is a 70's Avocado Green oven you see - it's original, as is most of the kitchen)

Don't take that the wrong way, I like his mom. I just didn't really want to spend half the day cleaning while he cooked, then spend the evening cleaning dishes and entertaining. And did I ever mention that I work for Bruce and his mother? We'll just leave that at that and move on.... 

With all the work stuff and holiday stuff, I barely had any time for fun, crafty, sewing stuff! I did manage to start one new project, which I submit for Catpatches November NewFO party.
 
http://catpatches.blogspot.com/p/f-youre-like-me-you-havent-been.html

I saw this Folded Star Ornament tutorial on A Spoonful of Sugar and wanted to try it. I followed the instructions and it came out pretty good.

 Except that there was a 1/2 inch gap between the two halves when I used a 3 inch ball.
 So I tried again on a 2-1/2 inch ball and it came out better.
 And here are a few I have assembled. I still have to put the ribbons on them and a hanger, but hey, this is for projects started. Finishing is not required! We'll just see if they get finished in time to give them to anyone, this year... Ha ha ha.

 Here are the fabrics I bought on my wonderful Wednesday wanderings with Stella. I'm hoping to add them to the other purples and blues for my niece's quilt. I had hoped to get it done for her birthday or Christmas, but I didn't put any deadline on it. I promised her a quilt, but was sure to tell her she would get it when she gets it. I don't always have the money to buy fabric and I certainly haven't had much time for sewing these past couple of months.


Lastly, I am remembering my sweet buddy Bob today. It was the Monday following Thanksgiving last year that he went missing. I will always wonder what happened to him. He was a sweet cat who liked to wander, so I tell myself that someone took him in. After all, who could resist that fluffy charm ball?

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

6 comments:

  1. I lucked out as my home and kitchen is way to small to host any of the family dinners. It was great not doing the cooking or cleaning plus she gave us leftovers to take home. Your Ornaments look really nice and so do your new fabrics. I couldn't resist that fluffy charm ball. My grandson was staying with us for the summer a few years ago along with his cat Junior. Junior must have gotten out when someone wasn't paying attention and we never found him. I told myself the same thing, that someone took him in. He was a beautiful Main Coon and was very well behaved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know exactly what you mean about stressing over and dreading Christmas. I do that to myself to and never enjoy the holidays. I bet there are a lot of people out there just like us. The ornament sure is cute, but not as cute as that avocado stove!! lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your ornaments are too, too cute!!! They will look amazing on the tree :*) Bob looks like such a sweet cat - we lost our Sable just before Thanksgiving two years ago. You never forget them, but you do learn to look back with a smile and a joy that you were allowed to share your life with them for a while. Hugs!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your ornaments are gorgeous. I can totally relate to feeling disappointed at having to do a traditional home Thanksgiving feast on a year when you really need a nice trip to a terrific holiday buffet so you can enjoy some downtime at home. Bob sure was a beauty. I just lost my Koko a week before Thanksgiving. Sure am thankful for the years I had with him. They are awesome, aren't they? And hey - the retro 70s kitchen is actually kinda cool!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was looking at that avocado oven and wondering if I should comment on it. It looks like you co-ordinated your kitchen quite well with the use of accessories and cabinet color. Until a year ago, we still had the original 1966 Harvest Brown wall oven with an avocado handle! Now we have NO oven but my countertop Oster toaster oven. Better than nothing, and the remodel is on indefinite hold. A friend taught a group of us to make those quilted ball ornaments many years ago, and I still have them. I just put all mine in a wicker basket by the fireplace at Christmas. I made some in the bigger size, but don't recall now if I moved the rows further apart or added yet another row, and they likely won't be coming out of storage this year to check. Your kitty resembles one we also lost about 2.5 yrs ago. Same thing, went missing, but we fear more dire circumstances as we're near a rural area where there are coyotes and they've been in our neighborhood. I still like to think better thoughts though. Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete