Christmas Eve, 2009

Well, sorry about the red eyes, I haven't figured out how to manipulate these photos yet. At least I finally figured out how to put pictures from my new camera onto the computer. It wasn't hard at all, I just dreaded sitting down and doing it.
Anyway, this is a picture of my daughter and son, we are at my mother's house for the Christmas Eve gift exchange. The doggie is our part time dog. He is actually my sister's dog, but stays with us when she is working out of town. I hope you are enjoying the end of this fabulous year. We certainly are. Thanks for visiting!
Julie

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a glorious Christmas. Here in Alabama it was rainy and cold. I enjoyed time with my family and did lots of cooking. It is so nice to spend time with everyone.
On a lighter note, my ex-husband came by to pick up the kids after breakfast this morning. He actually had the nerve to ask me if I had anything he could eat for breakfast. He wanted me to fix him breakfast. Can you believe it? Well, anyway, I said no, of course. LOL.
Julie

Welcome Friends

This is an old photo of a punchneedle project I did last year. It was before I had mounted it into the frame and so looks rather lumpy. I wanted something to welcome you to my new blog. I am so excited. Now I have to get my new camera and figure out how to download pics from it to my computer. I am dreading that part, hence the old photo above.
Today I bought major groceries, hopefully enough to get me through the holidays. I try to avoid the stores from this point on. I bought myself some earrings yesterday from a local jewelry store that is going out of business. Diamond studs for half-price! I also bought some nice gold hoops while there. So, I will be broke for the rest of the holiday season, but who needs money? All my gifts are bought, bills are paid, and I have laid-in a good supply of groceries. All that is left is to have fun and enjoy being with family. I hope that you are having a wonderful Christmas season as well.
Julie

Marion's Christmas Mystery Quilt

I never posted a photo of the mystery quilt from Marion at Villa Kunterbunt. I temporarily misplaced the photo - don't ask how - I just couldn't find it and then tonight there it was again. Well, here it is! I still have to quilt it but it is a lovely top! Thanks, Marion, for the little Christmas Mystery. I really enjoyed it.
Julie

Some Quilty Gifts for Family

I made a couple of couch caddy pincushion/pockets from Helen Stubbing's Stitchers Angel Swap free pattern for my mom and my sister-in-law. It seems that they are pleased with them!

Let the Holidays Begin!

We are finally out of school for Christmas holidays. I feel like it is REALLY Christmas now. Here is a photo of our tree. We put it up right after Thanksgiving (at my children's insistence) and have been enjoying it since then.
Here is Cabalito, the trusted assistant. He makes sure we do everything right. He is such a good boy! Oh, I forgot, he was a bad boy last night. He found a giant Hershey's kiss (the really huge novelty size), that my daughter didn't know was in her room, last night. He ate some of it and was running around with it in his mouth. It was almost as big as his head. Since chocolate is poisonous to dogs we were a little concerned and had to catch him to take it away. But he is fine.
I made this small quilt several years ago. I could not resist because it says "Joy" and my daughter's name is Joy. I love that the letters are made from Christmas objects.
Isn't my Christmas cactus beautiful? I bought it this year and it has bloomed constantlIy for about two weeks now. I have four different colors now. Red, fuchsia, lavendar, and white.
I found out last night that my SSCS benefactor is Jodie B. from Australia. I cannot wait to open my gift but I am holding out until Christmas Day. Jodie, if you are reading this, I cannot tell you how excited I am!! I will post photos of the gift as soon as I open it.
Julie

And I thought Hawaii was part of the USA!!

Didn't you think Hawaii was the 50th state? I know that it used to be. What happened to it? Was there a revolution and Hawaii won its Independence? The reason I ask is because of a message left on my cell phone today. I tried to order some candy to send to a friend that lives in Hawaii. I went online last night to Heaton Pecan Farms (Clanton, Alabama) and placed an online order. Today they called. Their message said, "Hello, Mrs. Stewart, this is Heaton Pecan Farm. We only ship to the United States so we won't be shipping your package to 'Hiwarya'. Please call 1-800 etc.. if you have any questions." Of course, I would love to call them back and tell them that "Hiwarya" is in the United States but they are on Central Time and I can only make calls during my planning period which is between 7 AM and 8 AM Central Time. I had an appointment immediately after work today and didn't get home until after they closed. I am amazed at the ignorance of some people. Today I contacted another company and they have no problem shipping to Hawaii. Good!!
At the top is a Santa Quilt I made in a class at Quilts and Fixins in Jonesboro, Georgia. It is one of those fusible grid quilts where you place all the squares of fabric on the grid, iron it down, then sew across all the grids. It was fun to do but not fun enough to do again!
Julie

December is Here!

Here is the December block from my Sunbonnet Sue Throughout the year quilt. Isn't she cute? We put our tree up today after school and it is decorated!! I bought a few gifts already. I just love Christmas! And, only 13 more school days until Christmas Break!!!
Julie

The Christmas Season is Upon Us!

I have finally recovered from all the food and fun of Thanksgiving. Wow, it was a lot of work. There is so much preparation work - my sister and I started 2 weeks beforehand getting things organized and ready. It is so nice around here now. However, I am getting stressed seeing all of my hard work undone by 8 twelve year old girls who are here for a sleepover. They are all my students and are friends with Joy. They are currently running up and down the stairs. Fun!! I can handle it - I just barely remember how I used to like to scream and run around and act silly at that age.

I decided to share some photos of my favorite Christmas quilt. This was a paper pieced BOM and was one of my very first quilts!! My kids LOVE it when I pull this thing out and hang it up. It is a sign that Santa soon will be here.