The year of the Quilts (and other projects)

This year I decided I was going to make everyone in the Family

a homemade gift....and because I love quilting so much,

most of the Family would be receiving a nice warm quilt

to keep them warm while watching TV or just snuggling

on the couch reading during the cold wintery days ahead. Now I can finally begin to show some of the quilts I made.

This one was for Grandson Ben in Vermont..

He's a Freshman at a Community College in New York State and

absolutely loves golfing. (brag..brag...and happens to have won

many awards at this sport!)

so...he got one with a golfing theme...

Grandaughter Jenny who is an Accountant in Burlington, Vt. saw

this pattern while visiting here this summer and

fell in love with it....so, naturally, I just had

to make one for her.....

Grandson Chad is a Junior at Castleton College in Vt.

was quite a football player in High School....

so his has footballs all over it...

My Grandniece who lives in Atlanta, Ga.

is a lively first grader who has just learned to read..

I heard that Livy loved the Dick & Jane quilt

along with the book and was busily reading

her quilting book....

My Daughter Melinda loves snowmen

so I made her a set of 6 snowmen placemats, napkins and mini

mittin napkin ring holders.

I think it took me just as long to make this set

as it did to make a quilt...

and the little table runner went along with the set

Melinda will look so nice in this bright red
hand knit sweater.....

Another snow storm:(

We got another snow storm on Sunday

This one brought us about 16" of white, fluffy snow!

We'll probably keep this picture on our desktop for the Winter,

reminding us why we leave Maine from end of December

until beginning of May....

Guy was so pleased he got to shovel out before

leaving for work on Monday morning....

Last December his snow blower bit the dust just before we

headed south and he vowed he'd never have to use it again!!

Believe me, he wished he'd had it that morning..... Even though we had the driveway plowed during the night, it

drifted and piled up right in front of the garage door:(

Guess we won't be using the grill for awhile!



Here's a view from our deck to Julie & Paul's deck next door.....
I think it's going to be another long winter for those left behind.....

Ice Storm

Our Hero!

We woke up early this morning with someone banging on our back door. Our neighbor's cellar was flooding because we lost power during the night so he couldn't use his sump pump. Guy and Paul brought our generator over so he could start getting rid of the water.....

Sleet and freezing rain caused power outages up and down the coast...there were as many as 225,000 homes and businesses left without power...

Guy decided we should go out and check out the area and stop somewhere

to have coffee and a bite to eat.

This is Mill Creek Park....there were branches and trees down
all around South Portland.. and not a single place to get a cup of hot coffee....

The ice was so thick and heavy it just collapsed trees....

We drove over to Portland and couldn't find a restaurant that didn't have

at least an hours wait to get in......school was cancelled, daycares were closed

and parents were bringing their children in for something to eat....

and to get out of their cold homes....

After driving around for about an hour, we finally settled

on a McDonalds for lunch!

When we got home, Paul and Guy decided they had better

bring the generator back over and start taking care of our refigerators

and freezers.....and then hook it to our furnaces to heat the house.

The weather forecast is for a drop in temps tonight

and we needed to get warm!

Thankfully, we were able to turn on our gas fireplace....

Meg's car...notice the thick ice on the windshield

and those icicles....

I dragged my chair in front of the fireplace,

wrapped myself in a couple of blankets

put on a couple of jackets....

and did some knitting....

Our power came on about 5'ish this evening...

we are so grateful for heat and electricity...

It's amazing how much we take it for granted.....

Quilting on a cold Sunday afternoon

Rita hosted our Sunday afternoon Quilting Bee...

She made a delicious white bean chili chowder...

It was perfect for the cold day....

We decided to cut out our table runners.

The outcome all was determined on the angle cuts we did..

It seemed like a pretty simple project

when we were introduced to it at our Quilting

Retreat this Fall....

But then...our Instrustor was there

to quide us every step of the way...

How many women does it take...

to make the right angle cut???

Nobody was willing to take the first cut...



we even referred back to the notes we took earlier....


Out came all the angled rulers....

Let's just do it!

It's really neat...

Depending on how you cut the fabric..

depends on how it turns out!

Christmas Decorations

We got the first snowfall of the season this week..

not quite an inch....but we know there's more to come....Time to start putting up the Christmas decorations!

Last year we skipped Christmas and it won't happen again!

We left for Florida on Dec. 20th and it just wasn't the same....

Christmas is my very favorite Holiday and over the years

I've managed to accumulate quite a few decorations and seem to

find a place for all of them.

This year we're leaving for Florida on the 27th, so I promised

my Husband that I'd only put up what I could take down

and put away in 2 hours!

It was quite difficult to decide what to put up

and what to keep stored away....

This is what I came up with....

My theme is built on trees...

and every tree has its own theme....

I have been know to up up as many as 15 trees!!!

I bought this snowman last year in Cracker Barrel on

our way down to Florida...it was on sale for $10.oo and

I just couldn't resist it!

Of course, Guy couldn't understand why

I would purchase such a large item when we barely had

enough room for us in that loaded Van.....

Tree #2


Tree #3



Tree #4 Our Family tree
There's a picture of everyone in our
immediate family on it....





Tree #5

I bought these bells when I was in California

visiting my good friend Cecile.

I just had to have these bells and her husband Gary

was kind enough to mail them to me later...

Tree #6 my Jingle Bell tree

#7...Ok I know I'm pushing it...but it's still a tree, right?

#8...kind of a scrawny one..but it's still a tree!!

#9 Santa Tree

#10...Guy's Fishing Santa collection

(and there's more not unpacked!)

I bought these guys when I was doing the

Christmas Craft Show circuit...

I think I spent more money on the other Christmas booths

than I actually made in my own...

My Santa Chefs....

New wall hanging...to match the Christmas

quilt I made at the Quilting Retreat I

attended this Fall in China...

#11..Oh what to heck! it's still a tree

sitting on the matching table runner.....

Christmas quilt sitting on the back of the couch....

These were one of my biggest sellers at the

Christmas Craft Fairs I worked over the years.

Personalized Snowmen Families...

Can't live in Maine and not have a Christmas moose!

One of my very favorites..

Christmas Angel handmade by my Mom....

Cute Santa I got at the Boston Craft Show last year.....

I LOVE Christmas and so happy to be able to spend it with our

Families this year...

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Guy:)

Tuesday, Dec. 2nd was Guy's Birthday!

We had a last minute impromtu little Birthday gathering.... Guy, Wes, Julie
Sister Betty and Pat Thomson

Jim Thomson

Frosty and Guy

Couldn't fit all the candles on the cake, so just settled with a few....

We all helped him up after he bent down to blow out the candles....

Many family and friends called during the day to wish him

Happy Birthday