Merry Christmas Frohe Weihnachten Joyeux Noel

Wherever you are, however you celebrate, I wish you a wonderful Christmas Day with your families, with joy, peace and happiness for all.

Christmas Mystery

Yesterday I went to my favorite quilt shop for the annual Christmas mystery, always the first Saturday in December for a number of years - I remember going to the first one, and I think I have only missed one other since. It is a great concept - there is a mystery designed by someone different from the shop each year, this year's was done by the lovely Pam (see her smiling face above top). We all take some food to share, and the shop provides sandwiches. I look forward to this as my treat for St Nicholas ! This year there was a choice of fabrics, either the blue and white, or the contemporary version, I chose contemporary and I LOVE it ! Aren't the poinsettias fabulous ? You cannot tell from the photos that the half square triangles are dimensional, and have to be folded back and stitched down to make a curve - that way, a small angel is formed in each of the corners. As usual, I have my photos back to front, so you see the end of the mystery first - Becky chose to make her decoration with the music to a Christmas carol, the black appliques are the words to the song (not cut out and appliqued yet), and of course the notes are correct ! Roni made hers with thread painting branches at the top, and stencilling snowflakes. So we were given a lot of inspiration to make our quilts individual. I did finish my top well in time, and now I have to get the poinsettia pattern enlarged so I can applique. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year !

Brown Bag 2nd Part

For my brown bag, I received three fat quarters of batiks in colors that are not my usual style. The object is to try to do something different, and I did enjoy making this little appliqued wallhanging. I had sent some Civil War fabrics (I didn't remember though which ones) and I received a fabulous quilt back - perfect for me, exactly what I like and beautifully made, I was very happy - thank you Lynda. The quilt will be treasured. The smiling lady in the photo is Judy, who coordinated the entire exchange and has done it twice now very well, perfectly organized - and this year, 50 projects were started, and all 50 were finished - a record !

Brown Bag Reveal

Yesterday evening my quilt guild, the PQs, had their annual Brown Bag reveal. It works like this: earlier in the year, ladies participating brought 3 fat quarters of quilting fabric to a meeting, in a small brown paper bag (a lunch bag in the US). These are then swapped, with no one knowing whose fabric they have. Then we all have to make a finished quilted item with the fabrics, and we can add other fabrics as we wish. Several months later, we have a special meeting (yesterday with lots of desserts) and the finished quilts are presented and returned to their original owners - it is always fun because most of us no longer recognize the fat quarters we turned in !

Here are some photos of the finished pieces, they were all gorgeous. In a separate post I will show what I made and what I received !

Gestern abend hatte unser Quiltverein das alljaehrliche Brown Bag Treffen. Vor einigen Monaten haben wir 3 FQs in einem braunen Papiersack getauscht, ohne zu wissen, von wem der Stoff war. Wir muessen dann ein Quilt daraus machen, man kann auch andere Stoffe dazutun. Einige Monate spaeter treffen wir uns dann (gestern mit Nachtisch) und die fertigen Quilts werden gezeigt und gehen mit der urspruenglichen Besitzerin nach Hause. Es macht immer Spass, weil wir fast alle unsere Stoffe nicht mehr wiedererkennen.

Hier sind einige Bilder davon, alle waren sehr schoen. In einem getrennten Post zeige ich dann was ich gemacht habe, und was ich bekam.

Pink and Brown Scrap

Some time ago I decided to cut up all the pink and brown fabrics left over from Dear Jane and make a scrap quilt. I cut a big basket full of pieces using a tumbler template, and randomly pieced them, using some of the mediums as lights and some as darks, which wasn't as successful as I thought it would be.

BUT the pile of fabrics never got any smaller ! I have pieced about half of the quilt which will be a twin size approx., but I seem to have more fabrics than when I started - are they breeding in the closet ??? SO, of course I will have to make another quilt using those scraps, I have an idea for a great Jo Morton pattern, where I can use up the rest of the pinks and even have an applique center - but who knows how much fabric will be left over if I do that !

Fascinating France

Just had to show you a few pictures from our vacation in France. We started out in Paris, went on to Gascony, then spent a week in Provence. We were lucky to have wonderful, late summer weather (even in October) and enjoyed every day outside walking, sightseeing and eating, of course !

Hier einige Bilder von unserem Frankreich-Urlaub. Von Paris bis Gers, und dann eine Woche Provence. Wir hatten unglaubliches Glueck mit dem Wetter, es war jeden Tag warm und trocken, und wir konnten draussen sein, viel laufen, alles Moegliche sehen, und selbstverstaendlich auch gut essen.

Voici quelques photos de nos vacances, de Paris, au Gers et puis en Provence. Il y avait un temps parfait, chaud et comme en ete.

Procrastinating Quilters Guild Show and Tell

For years I have been a member of the "PQs" here in Clearwater. Thursday we met for the first meeting after the summer, and everyone was encouraged to bring something they had been working on. Have a look at some of these pictures, the quilts are gorgeous ! I couldn't take pictures of them all, imagine twice as many like this, and you'll have some idea. I apologize for the picture quality - I am short and it's hard to see in a room full of people !!

Seit Jahren bin ich Mitglied bei den "PQs" in Clearwater. Am Donnerstag trafen wir uns zum ersten Mal nach der Sommerpause, und jede sollte ein fertiges Projekt mitbringen. Guckt Euch mal die Bilder an, die Quilts sind einfach wunderschoen. Ich konnte nicht alle fotographieren, man muss sich doppelt so viele vorstellen, um eine Idee zu haben. Es tut mir leid, dass die Bildqualitaet so schlecht ist - es liegt daran, dass ich so klein bin und der Raum war voller Leute !