Whirl Into Winter Giveaway

And the WINNER IS ..... Priscilla, from New Zealand. I've e-mailed you and as soon as I receive your mailing address, your package will be on it's way!!

Thank you everyone for visiting my blog and participating. Feel free to visit again any time!! I have so many new blogs to visit now, how will I ever find the time!!
It's time for the Whirl Into Winter Quilt Bloggers Giveaway and I'm so excited to participate!! As a brand new blogger, I was the winner of TWO prizes in the Fall Into Fall Giveaway in October, so this is my chance to pay it forward a little bit.

Since I didn't finish my Christms gift sewing until Christmas Eve, I haven' t had a chance to get my project for this giveaway done yet, but I'll be working on it in the next few days and will have a picture of it up by Monday ... I promise.

So (drumroll please.....) I'm giving away a table runner, the one on the left in the picture below.


Made from these fabrics ....

Along with some other quilty surprises.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post between January 1 and January 15, telling me what you are most looking forward to in 2009. You do not have to have a blog to win, but please leave me an e-mail address where I can contact you. I will ship internationally, so wherever you are, I'll get it to you. On January 15, I will have Honey draw a name to choose a winner.

Please remember, comments posted before January 1 will be deleted and will not be eligible to win.

Check out the Whirl Into Winter Quilt Bloggers Giveaway blog for links to other quilt blogger giveaways. There are over 50 bloggers participating and I'm sure it will be LOTS of fun!!

Good Luck Everyone!!

Terri

Christmas Quilts

I wanted to get some good pictures of the quilts I made for Christmas gifts before I gave them away so I recruited Honey to hold them up for me before I wrapped them up.

This one is for my uncle. It was a last-minute gift and I didn't have time to piece anything elaborate, so I kept it simple. He'll be confined to a wheelchair for a while, and is in a rehab hospital. I wanted to make him a lap quilt to help keep him warm. The front is made with a burgundy fabric that's shaded a bit so it looks kind of like suede. I used a burgundy and beige gingham for the accent stripe and the back. It's machine quilted with wavy lines from top to bottom with varigated thread, and after washing, it came out crinkly and soft. We're taking it to him in the hospital this afternoon and I think he's going to love it!!


This is the rail fence throw quilt I made for my sister. I used some of the extra fabric from the blocks to make a pieced back and a coordinating striped fabric for the binding. I made a big boo-boo on this one ... sewed the bottom row of blocks on upside down, and I honestly didn't notice it until I looked at this picture!! No time to fix it, so she got it as is. I'm disappointed, but she loved it, and even with the mistake, it will still be nice to cuddle up with on those cold northern Michigan winter evenings.

This one I made for the Poet and his fiance who live in Florida. I used a Hoffman Fabrics Bali Pop in Butterscotch and used the extra to piece the back. This quilt was made from a tutorial on 2nd Avenue Studio . It was a lot of fun to do, and I think I like this one best of all. I wanted something sort of modern for them and this fit the bill perfectly, and the colors will coordinate with their living room furniture.

They haven't received it yet. They're flying up from Florida on Sunday to stay for a week and I'll give it to them then. They're in a wedding on New Year's Eve, so I don't know that we'll see a lot of them while they're here, but I'm always excited to see my first-born when I get the chance!!

We have a quiet day planned today. A trip to the rehab hospital to see my uncle, and then a Christmas dinner of turkey breast with all the trimmings and pineapple upside down cake for dessert for me, Honey and the Wonder Child. The Big Guy has to work (he's an EMT and works for an ambulance company), and KT is spending the day with her family.

Wishing you all and peaceful and happy day today, whatever your plans.

Terri

Merry Christmas from Our House to Yours

December Swap Til You Drop Quilt

My partner received her quilt for the December Swap Til You Drop, so I can post pictures of it now. The theme for December was Sweet, Sour or Savory. Since it's December, and Christmas is coming, and visions of sugarplums are dancing in everyone's head, I figured everybody would do something sweet. Wanting to be different ... I chose savory. It was a good excuse to practice my paper piecing and do these chili pepper blocks. I found the pattern free on line last month. So my quilt is "Hot Chili Peppers."

In doing some research, I found that the chili pepper is a traditional Christmas decoration in Mexico and you can buy chili pepper ornaments for your tree.

The chili pepper is a southwestern American tradition symbolizing warmth and friendship. Clusters of vibrantly colored chili peppers, called chili ristras, add a zesty flair to home décor. When hung near the door, chili peppers ensure a bountiful harvest and when placed in the kitchen, they bring good luck in cooking. Chilies are a spicy addition to many cuisines worldwide

I even found a dark chocolate bar with chili to send along!! I bought one for myself to try, just to make sure it wasn't awful. It's a rich dark chocolate with a little bit of a bite. I wouldn't eat it every day ... but it was a nice change and I did enjoy it. . I also included a couple of fat quarters and some Christmas coasters I made a couple weeks ago.

So that's my December effort ... Hot Chili Peppers.

The theme for January is Sing It, Watch It, or Read It. Hmmmm ... that's going to take some thought!!

Terri

Snow Report

It continued to snow throughout the weekend, and was pretty windy Saturday night and Sunday, so we have drifts of snow everywhere. I did have to go out to the grocery store on Saturday though, and fortunately, the main roads were cleared pretty well, so getting around wasn't too much trouble. The parking lot was a mess though, with mountains of snow that they had plowed to clear the lot.
This is a drift right across our back deck.

And this is the patio table ... I kind of use this as a measure of how much snow we've had. If you look hard, you can see the path Honey had to shovel so the dogs have somewhere to go when they go out!! We had a blast yesterday watching the cats in the snow. They were chasing each other all over, and pouncing out from behind snow banks. They don't stay out very long, but they sure have a good time when they're out there!!

A Serious Sewing Weekend

I got some serious sewing time in this weekend and turned this ....
....into this.
And this ....
..into this.
It's a big weight off my mind having them finished. since time is getting short. I have one more to sandwich and quilt before Christmas and one pair of flannel lounge pants to finish and then I'm done!! I'll have to start earlier next year! I haven't done too badly though. Since October 1 I've made six mini quilts, two for swaps and four just because, three table runners, three throw quilts, four fabric baskets, one fabric bin, one set of coasters, six dishtowels, one apron, four hot pads, two knit scarves, a pair of drapes and a Christmas tree skirt. Whew!!

I already have a list of projects for the new year, and I'm looking foward to getting them organized and started, now that I'm not under the gun!!

Have a great day!!

Terri

Snow Day

We got about 12 inches of snow today. All the schools were closed, and most of our clients were too. It was a good day to stay inside and take a nap!! This was the view out our front door this morning.
And this is Honey's truck.
The deck in the back. This was taken about 9 this morning and the snow on that table is twice as deep now. We had to shovel a path for the dogs so they have somewhere to go when they go out to potty. The snow is higher than they are!!
We're supposed to get snow for the next five days, so it will really be piled up by Christmas!

I've been busy this week talking to contractors getting estimates to have a wheelchair ramp built and some other modifications done at my aunt and uncle's house to make it wheelchair accessible. He's doing very well in rehab, but it will be a couple of weeks before he's ready to come home. Since my aunt spends her days at the hospital, I've been contacting the builders to take that burden off her shoulders. She and my uncle are so cute. They've been married nearly 60 years, and they're just so sweet to each other.

I still have some gifts to finish for Christmas, so I hope to get a lot of sewing time in this weekend. In between, I have laundry to do, gifts to wrap and this place could use a little sprucing up!! But come Wednesday, I'm in holiday mode and plan on doing a lot of relaxing!!

Terri