Back to Quilts.....

Now that you have a sugar buzz from all that gingerbread, I can take us back to quilts.  First of all, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate).  It would seem that our Thanksgiving was all about the Hubs.  He wanted stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer....which I made.  He wanted oyster stuffing....which I made.  You may think this is no big deal, but I have to tell you...they were fighting words!  My favorite part of the meal is the stuffing, so that is one recipe I like to keep the same every year.  But, I am such a great wife (just ask me!) that I made the stuffing.  I must say, both were a HUGE hit!  The Oyster Stuffing doesn't taste like oysters, it just gives the dressing more 'depth'.  Fortunately, we weren't overwhelmed by leftovers.  Really, the only problem I had was finding room for me AND my Thanksgiving meal in my slacks on Monday morning.

I have finished the two custom quilts that needed done before Christmas.  *whew*  Now, all I have due by Christmas are allovers, which I can handle.  More being dropped off and picked up today, so I will have to bake cookies in between somewhere.

No, I am not re-posting one I already did.  The quilter liked how the first one turned out so well that she made another!

Update:  The name of this pattern is Emma's Hope Chest.  It is by Kay Gentry of Noble Needle.  www.nobleneedle.com

The back........

Did any of you make the Cotton Club BOM?  This quilter did.  She was pretty relieved to get it done.  It looks to me (and, No I didn't make one) like if you got a chance to do a couple of blocks at a time, it would go pretty quickly. 

This is the back.  I enjoyed quilting this one.

And last, but not least.....I did get this one all quilted and bound.  I opted for an allover, just because the quilting really wouldn't have changed it much.  It is pretty busy.  I did take a close-up of the border fabric for you.  I just LOVE that fabric.  It reminds me of the ocean.  Below is the back of the quilt....bubbles.....you know, like water bubbles.....ocean.....water.....stay with me!

I ordered some new allover quilting designs Weds.  Still waiting for the zip files to come to my mailbox, so I can do one of the quilts I have in line. 

Have you started decorating??  Not me.  We may jump in and do it Saturday.....then again, I would like to hang out in the sewing studio.  Decisions....Decisions...

Have a blessed day!

Gingerbread.....LOTS of gingerbread!

We will start our conversation today talking about gingerbread.  On a trip to Tami Longaberger's "mansion" with a GF, Tami showed our little group some gingerbread houses she had made with her children.  After going into a long story about carrying on the family tradition of gingerbread houses, I nodded my head in shame.....I wished I had made gingerbread houses with the kids when they were younger.  Every year I would tell myself....this is the year.  It never happened.  Fast forward to this week.  Hubs has been coming home at least once a week telling me about one of his customers:  Roberts on Miami in Urbana, Ohio  http://www.robertsonmiami.com

Hubs has raved and rattled on about the gingerbread village Chef Robert creates every year.  It sounded impressive, but honestly without seeing it....well, how was I to get excited?  To prove his point, he jumps up one morning and tells me he wants the "big" camera.  He was going to see Chef Robert and his impressive gingerbread village and wanted to show me the awesomeness that I have now come to know as a REAL gingerbread village.  All I can say is, "Tami Longaberger--with all your impressive money--eat your heart out!"  Chef Robert spends WEEKS working on this village.  Well, let me show you some pics and then we will continue our chatter....

Chef Robert hard at work.  His wife thought she may be hiding from the pic?

We are in progress here......

Chef Robert putting the finishing touches on the chimney.  Gotta keep the church warm!

It's like Chef Robert KNEW it had to have quilt blocks to make it to my blog!

Could YOU have spent this much time making each and every block and brick by hand???

I want to live in this one.  The ripply brook.....how DOES he think all of this up?

Let's stroll down this street and do some carrolling.....

Time for Christmas services at the church!

Disco Snowman!  He is Chef's favorite!

You know....when in Ohio....you must have a Buckeye fan!

The Hubs' favorite.  Looks like you can slosh right through the snow!

Icing lattice....really?  However does he do this????

This just shows the attention to detail.  Bricks are made individually.  Icing is piped in between.  Gumdrops are hand cut in half to create the colorful stone sidewalk.  This bicycle is also made from icing....hopefully I got the side pic of it to load!



Yeah!  The other view of the icing bicycle!

Don't you just love the name of this church??

Sadly, there are more pics on the computer than there are on the blog.  It kept blowing up because I was evidently exceeding some super secret limit on how many pics you can post.  Whatever!  All I can say is WOW!  Money just cannot buy the amount of talent and dedication it takes to create something so absolutely artful and heartfelt.  Much like we get with some of our older UFOs, Chef Robert is wondering whether he will tarry on and do this again next year.  I have but a simple request....if you live locally, stop in and see the true talent of a dedicated food artisan.  Show your appreciation and let him know how truly special this is.  There are two villages on display in the restaurant.  Much like Macy's does the robotic Christmas figurines in the windows, Chef Robert creates his gingerbread villages.  Take the kids/grandkids, buy some cocoa or enjoy his incredible menu of food offerings and just take it all in.  Sometimes we don't appreciate the joys of smalltown USA and forget to appreciate what is right under our nose...

Thank you Chef Robert for the inspiration and spirit of the holidays.  Hubs and I will be up in the next few weekends for lunch....cocoa....and eye candy.  (pardon the pun)

Good Tidings!

Can you believe it is almost time to decorate for Christmas?  It seems like we just finished with Halloween.  (insert giggle here)  I can always tell when it Christmas is coming...the Christmas presents start showing up to be longarmed!  That's where I have been.  No time for the computer, just a longarming fool!

I did finish quilting and binding this little number.  It is called Good Tidings by Country Threads.  I haven't even thought about hanging it (or any other quilts for Christmas as far as that is concerned) or where it will end up.

I stitched-in-the-ditch around the letters, candy cane stripes, stocking and contents.  there are some vertical quilting lines in the background fabric.  Originally, I echo quilted in between the candy cane stripes, but it looked horrible, so I ripped it all out.

I did get another large quilt all quilted.  I'll upload a pic of it once it is bound. 

I have two more custom quilts to finish, then nothing else is due before Christmas.  That will be a huge load off.  I had 13 days of vacation to take off or I would lose them, so I am taking Thanksgiving week off, a bunch of Fridays, and a little time around Christmas.  :) 

I'll fill you in on the wedding later....I have to head back to the longarms!

Blessings...