Something to show!

I'm typing on the ipad blogger app, which has very limited functionality.  So pardon the spacing, etc....

I have actually managed to finish a few things the last week or so.   The above piece was from a class i took with George Siciliano over three years ago.  You may remember I spent all three days of the February retreat this year making three of the blocks for this.  Three days!

It's finished now.  I finished the quilting before the class with wendy Butler berns, but i never consider a piece finished until it has a label and sleeve.  Problem was, I didn't have a name I liked for it.  So i put a picture on facebook and asked for suggestions.  My friend Terry suggested "Mystic Thistle", which I loved!  

The dress I made on Saturday.  I started at lunchtime with three yards of fabric.  By dinnertime I had a dress.  I wish more projects could be finished that quickly!  (I should note there is no zipper in this dress.  It's a very easy pattern!)

Shoot, these are out of order.  I quilted the tree project, which also needs a name.  I love how it looks on the back.  I may have goten that from my BFF Mary, who always looks on the backs of her quilts to see how she's doing. 

I added the leaves since the background has flowers in it.  So obviously it is a springtime scene.

I was thinking of adding some beads as flowers on the tree.  I laid them on in the picture below.  So, beads, or no beads?

The raffle quilt top is finished at last.  This is only part of it.  I was marking the quilting on a sheet of vinyl to test out some ideas and spacing.  It's going to be hand quilted.  So we need to get started very soon.  The quilt show is just under a year away.

Thinking "green" this week brings me to the Holiday shopping season.  The stores are jam-packed with stuff they think we want and/ or need.  It's the same garbage every year: decorative tableware, fake pine wreaths and garlands, serving pieces, kitschy little decorations....

 First, in spite of what Martha Stewart would have us believe, we don't need ANY of this junk to enjoy our holiday.

Second, if you do "need" to decorate everything, why can't you store and reuse the same stuff?  Your guests won't care if the napkins are the same ones you used last year, will they? (Note i am assuming you are using cloth napkins?)  it's the people who aree important at holiday gatherings.   NOT the stuff!

I am grateful for:

The time of year when being warm feels good to me.

Potato soup

Finishing things

Crawling back into the covers on a cold morning

Admitting defeat