Countdown to the New Year

I don't know why I dislike New Year's Eve so much. Is it that it officially ends the Christmas Season just as I was getting into the spirit of it with the pressure off? Is it the finality of it all? An old year ending -- a new one beginning? I don't make New Year's Resolutions because I know I will never keep them. I just want to enjoy life and not put any restrictions on myself because I made a resolution to do this or not do that!

I could restrict myself on my fabric purchases - that would be a life-altering experience, but would I be happier because of it? Probably not. I do think that I will put off buying any new containers to store it in -- maybe that will force me to use what I have before buying more, but then the stock of Rubbermaid and/or Sterlite will probably go down - sorry guys.

As I look back at 2006, I have noticed a repeating phrase that I have used over and over again -- "Why didn't I start sooner?" or "What am I waiting for, Christmas?" Yes, that will be my goal for 2007 -- stop procrastinating. This could be a life-altering move, it would save my sanity, and I would get things done in a timely manner. I find that if I just jump in and do something, it's never really as bad nor does it take as long as I have made it to be in my mind and, I usually end up enjoying doing it.

Happy New Year -- and to New Beginnings in 2007.

Saturday Ramblings

Here it is the 30th of December -- the 5th day of Christmas -- where did the month of December go? There are only 36 hours until we ring in a New Year -- 2007. Yikes!! Tick-tock!

I had such plans for this week off from work -- but, so much for my good intentions. The house has stayed neat and tidy, and if you knew me well, that is a feat in itself. But, I want to be sewing, so why am I having such a hard time trying to get back into it? My sewing room is neat and tidy, too. Do I not want to mess it up? I think I need to remedy this and soon!

I received some FQ's for Christmas, I bought fabric at Joann's the day after Christmas, and I was in Hancock's last night and bought more fabric -- did I really need them? No. Could I resist purchasing them? No. Yes, I'm weak when it comes to fabric.

Here's a photo of my Mom, me and my darling grand-daughter modelling our aprons. I already have plans to make more for next year and the time to start is NOW and just put them away for next year. Surprisingly, they bust a lot of stash - each apron uses between 1-3/4 to 2 yards of fabric and some of that "What was I thinking fabric" really makes a nice apron. I'm going to force an apron-wearing trend on folks whether they want to wear one or not (he-he). I already have a box started with Christmas gifts for 2007 -- mostly stocking stuffers that were picked up at the after-Christmas sales.

The aprons that I made as Christmas gifts were very well received - I even included a gift tag that said "Tie one on for Christmas" and I discovered that I really like paper crafting. Another hobby? More supplies? What's not to love, eh? I've been keeping a daily journal for three years now and I love blogging -- so why not start another hobby???? I picked up a magazine called Paper Made Easy and sewing is the hot trend zigzagging its way across paper projects everywhere. Using your sewing machine and all those fancy stitches to create more designs on the paper -- too cool -- this sound right up my alley!

My plan is to do a lot of sewing in 2007 on my new sewing table. I always start a new project on New Year's Eve - it's become a right of passion - a new tradition that I've imposed on myself for a new beginning. Like any tradition, I have lots of things that I've started on NYE and still haven't finished - so this year - should I dig out something and finish it or keep the tradition of starting something new -- time will tell -- I still have a few hours to decide.

In the meantime, I have new fabrics that have just been laundered, needing to be pressed and then, I'm going to cut into it. I'll let you know what I picked to do first -- sew many choices~~~sew little time....

A Very Gingerbread Christmas

I was very nervous about upgrading Blogger - I didn't want to lose all of my posts, and I had heard a lot of horror stories, but everything went very smoothly. The only problem that I had was my age -- Blogger made me 252 years old -- that would probably make me the oldest blogger on record. Thank you Blogger.

I'm going to share a little of my Christmas decorating this year - I thought simplicity was best. I had the hardest time getting into decorating and now I'm glad I did -- I won't have much to put away!!

I'm a Gingerbread collector. Most of my gingerbread collection stays out all year.

Unless it looks terribly Christmas-y, like these placemats. The nice part of having a collection like this and a December birthday is, I get a lot of gingerbread related items.Yep, I do have a lot of gingerbread!

But, I also collect Santas, Snowmen and Nutcrackers. Most of my snowmen I leave out until Valentine's Day, since we seem to get most of our snow in the January-February timeframe.

Now, here are some of my Christmas gifts - starting with my new Horn Sewing Machine Table. Thank you, Mom. Let's just hope that I can keep the room looking as neat and tidy as it does right now.

I'm asking myself the same question: Why am I blogging, when I should be sewing? I'm waiting for some fabric to come out of the dryer so I can start on a fleece jacket. Not quilty, you say -- hmmmm....it does have a binding that goes around the whole thing -- sounds quilty to me!!

I also have to share this "Money Shirt" that I received from my group at work. It's a color that everyone loves and it always fits. I am also thrilled that someone made something for me, it's so creative and not something that I would have ever thought of.

Here are a few more of my Christmas gifts. Yes, I have been blessed this Christmas.

And, let's not forget Bailey, he wasn't slighted in the least. Even he had a Christmas stocking that was full of presents that he loved. I think he loved Christmas so much that he is still sitting on the back of the chair, hoping that Santa will come back again real soon.

Yes, I'm already loving the new blogger, I can add as many pictures as I want!!!!

The Day After Christmas

As I look at all of my Christmas gifts, I feel so blessed. Mom gave me a Horn Sewing Table, which I can now use without feeling guilty -- or should I say, now I can feel quilty!! and Gift Cards for two of my favorite stores - Joann's and Borders.

Bob gave me a new digital camera and photo printer, which I haven't even fooled with yet. First I have to read the directions - it has so many more "bells and whistles" than my previous digital camera and it's so much smaller.

After everyone left on Christmas and I returned home, I was pleasantly surprised at how neat and tidy the house looked. Bailey had a wonderful Christmas, too, but he was one tired pup; and so was his Mom.

My favorite part of the day after Christmas is checking out the sales. And, since I was armed with gift certificates for Joann's - what better place to start. Traffic was unbelievable on I-95, but the stores didn't seem that crowded and the sales!!!! Oh-my. I'm not usually that good at math, but I can calculate 60-70% off in my head like nobody's business. I did manage to stock up on tissue paper, Christmas tins and some stocking stuffers for next year.

Did I buy fabric? Of course. The Christmas fabric was pretty picked over, but I did find a few pieces that would make great aprons or gift bags for next year. I also picked up the "Handmade Country Christmas Crafts Collectors' Edition" which has some "must do's" for next year. As I have said before, I just love these Australian magazines because they combine my two loves - embroidery and quilting - together.

There is just something about wandering around in Joann's that gets my creative juices flowing and the cart laden with goodies that I just can't pass up. I'm going to be one busy bee and I just can't wait to get started -- but where to start?

The day after also left me with two disappointments: I have a strand of lights out in the middle of my Christmas tree and my microwave died -- it could be worse.....

The Joy of Christmas

For all of my fretting and rushing around and worrying that something wasn't done in my attempt to make it the "Perfect Christmas", everything just fell into place. What got done was done and what wasn't done, wasn't going to get done -- so no sense worrying about it and just accept it for what it is.
The only one that knew it wasn't done - was me.....

Once that part was behind me, it turned out to be one of the nicest, most relaxed Christmas' that I can remember. My Mom came over on Christmas Eve to spent the night. After I picked her up, we visited the cemeteries to lay wreathes on the graves, then unloaded Santa's sleigh (um, my car) of packages and placed them around the tree.

The house looked clean and festive (what more could you ask for?) and we had so much fun baking and cooking. When we finally sat down later in the evening, we watched the White House Christmas on HGTV and cracked open a bottle of wine. We ended up sitting and talking and laughing and talking until 1:30 a.m. -- way past my Mom's bedtime, but, hey, we were having fun. I even finished wrapping the stocking stuffers!

Christmas Day was rainy and boy did it rain -- most of the day and night, but at least it didn't start until we got home from Mass.

We opened our gifts, cleared out the wrappings and straightened up the living room before Bob, Lesley and Kylie arrived for more unwrapping. Thankfully, this year everyone was healthy, happy and hungry.

It was just a perfect day. Lots of laughs, good food, good company, wonderful gifts and the Eagles game. I even relaxed my rule of "No TV during dinner" since the Eagles game came on at 5 p.m. Bob was at the foot of the table this year- so he could watch his precious Eagles on TV with his Eagles jersey. The whooping and hollering scared Mom a few times when the Eagles scored - and we did hold off singing "Fly Eagles Fly" until the end of the game (didn't want to jinx them) -- when the Eagles beat the Cowboys!!!

Yes, Christmas just doesn't get any better than this -- thank you elves!!!

Ready or Not -- Here it Comes

After a terribly dismal day yesterday and more than an inch of rain, we have sunny skies and 60-degree temperatures today. I have all of the windows in the house open to air it out while I clean, clean, clean. It must be something about the sunshine that keeps me going, because I couldn't seem to get out of my own way yesterday.

All of the gifts are wrapped (yippee) except for the stocking stuffers - which get wrapped haphazardly with tissue paper and I can do that as late as tomorrow. The spare bedroom has been cleaned, the kitchen is clean -- all that's left is the dining room. I won't talk about the basement or third floor - they look like a tornado swept through those areas, but noone (and I mean noone) will see them except for ME after everyone leaves.

My New Year's Resolution is to clean house and trash a lot of this junk that I don't know why I hold on to.

If I don't have a chance to post before the big day arrives .. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a most Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Three days until Christmas....When I was a child that would have been magical. Now, as an adult, it means oh-no -- crunch time! Why did I wait until the last minute to wrap gifts, clean, decorate and bake. I thought I was going to be "on top of things" this year since I didn't have to spend a weekend in December picking just the right tree, chopping it down, dragging up the tree stand, arranging with someone to help me put it up -- I caved in last year and joined the rank and file of those with artificial trees. No, it's not one of those fancy 7-foot jobs with the prelit lights - uh-uh, I have a small woodland tree that I strung with lights a few years ago and I just put a big black trash bag over it - so ta-da that part is already done. So why did I wait so long to put it up???? The ornaments!! I thought it looked just fine with lights, a homespun garland and dried cranberries, but I didn't want anyone to think, poor Kim -- that's her pathetic tree. So, I drug out the ornaments and started decorating -- there must be 500 little itty-bitty ornaments on that tree now.

I have spent the better part of today cleaning and all that I have finished is the bathroom (the smallest room in the house) and some of the gifts wrapped. Everytime I think I'm making some headway, I get sidetracked with something else - argh!!!!!!!!!! Gift wrap central is my sewing room. My cutting table is just the right height and perfect for wrapping gifts. I won't say that I dislike wrapping gifts, but, here again, why didn't I start sooner??? The hard part is my new Horn sewing table is just sitting here and I want to be using it. Oh, well -- only 3 more days.

They Say It's Your Birthday....

Well, it's my birthday too! Right smack in the middle of getting ready for Christmas. But, it's my birthday and I'm going to enjoy it if it kills me.

I've had a wonderful weekend. I got to have dinner with my son and granddaughter twice this weekend, my Mom joined us last night, and I even had a birthday cake. I was so touched. I also received gift certificates to my three favorites stores: ACMoore, Kohl's and Joann Fabrics -- it doesn't get any better than that! And, won $10 on a scratch-off lottery ticket...

My Mom gave me a Horn sewing table for a combined birthday/Christmas gift and it arrived Friday - woohoo -- I just can't wait to start using it -- I am so itching to start stitching again. But, I must finish decorating and cleaning for Christmas. I have put it off as long as I possible could and now it's crunch-time.....

The weather was just perfect today -- sunny and 62-degrees - IN DECEMBER!. It's the first time that I ever remember being able to work in my garden on my birthday. I wanted to plant some daffodil bulbs, but just ran out of time.

Christmas Elves

Yes, the Christmas Elves are busy being mischievous and not getting a whole lot done. The clock is ticking away until Christmas, so much to do, and then, as if by magic, everything all comes together.

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

I'm still waiting for the magic to happen.

Today is Cookie Baking Day

I took a day of vacation to stay home and bake Christmas Cookies. My mother hosts an annual Cookie Swap, which will be this coming Sunday, so I need to bake 9 dozen cookies. It always amazes me how you can end up with powdered sugar -- EVERYWHERE!

It's a good day to be stuck inside in the kitchen. The high temperature is only going to be 35-degrees with a wind chill of 6-degrees...brrrr...that's cold, even by my standards. However, with the oven on and the heat kicked WAY back, it's pretty toasty in there. I sure wish I had my helper like I did at Thanksgiving. Bailey takes care of any crumbs that hit the floor, but Kylie kept me on track -- I miss her being here.

It took me all day (I'm not speedy in the kitchen, but I am organized with minimal mess) and I have 12 -dozen Peppermint Snowball cookies made for Kylie and 12-dozen Santa's Whiskers made for me for Sunday's Cookie Swap. I also made 4-dozen Cinnamon Nut Spice cookies just because I had all of the stuff handy. I started baking at 8:30 a.m. and finally cleaned up the kitchen at 6:30 p.m. I'm kinda sick of looking at cookies -- so there is no temptation to eat any of them.

I still don't have my tree up, nor any decorating done except for the wreath's on the windows. One of my neighbors has one of those deer that lights up and the head moves -- Bailey just loves it and stands at the fence mesmerized by the head moving. I'm still thinking about going out to buy one for him, if there are any left in the stores, otherwise, he can just enjoy my neighbor's.

I went out to do a little Christmas shopping tonight and ended up buying stuff for myself. Did I really need those teal Isotoner gloves that match the trim on my coat? Of course.

Time to Start Pulling Out the Christmas Decorations

December 1st has passed and it's officially time for me to start decorating for Christmas. I have my gingerbread flag outside and the wreath is on the front door. So far, that's all that is done unless you count the fact that I have clean windows -- whew, what a chore that is. It's one of those thankless jobs that no one notices when your windows are clean, but they sure do notice when they are dirty. For me, I love having clean windows.. It's one of my Christmas rituals.

As you can see, Bailey was none too happy about posing for this shot, or maybe it's just visions of sugarplums dancing in his head. I know he's thinking that he deserves a cuppa tea after this photo session rather than snatching mine when I'm not looking -- yes, Bailey loves to drink tea, especially out of my tea cup!!

Yesterday, December 1st, we broke a record with 74-degree temperatures. Last night's storm of rain and heavy winds have changed the temperature drastically to more December-like. Hopefully, this will inspire me to pull out a few more decorations. I like to work out of one box at a time, bring it down, empty it out and then put it away before bringing on the next box.

On today's agenda is to put away the turkeys and Thanksgiving decorations on the mantle and do some cleaning before putting up the Christmas mantle decorations. I'd also like to get the wreathes on each of the windows - now that the wicked wind has died down.

I'm still busy working on aprons and trying to use up some of this stash of Christmas fabric. These aprons are supposed to be gifts, but I love each and every one of them -- it's going to be so hard to give them away.

A Lazy Saturday

I'm amazed at all of the people that took advantage of the gorgeous 60-degree weather and put up their Christmas decorations. It just seems too early for me. Instead I stayed inside this morning and did some sewing. I made another apron for a Christmas gift and I really liked the way it turned out. It was another new pattern. I'm not going to post photos since they are Christmas gifts -- I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I also finally sewed together the blocks on my log cabin quilt. I still need to add a border and decide how I want to quilt it. But at least the body of the quilt is together -- not an easy task when you have a Yorkie sitting in the middle of it posing for a picture. No matter where Bailey is in the house, as soon as he hears the camera, he comes running.

I stopped in Hancock Fabrics today and picked up some Kona cotton that was on sale for 50% off. Then, I needed to straighten up the sewing room.

I had high hopes to get another apron cut out, but it just didn't happen.

My First Meme

Since everyone is doing it, here's my latest meme....

1. FIRST NAME? Kathleen

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My mother and grandmother.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? About a year ago.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes – I went to Catholic school where penmanship was a subject.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Oscar MayerBologna

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS
WITH YOU? I think so, I'm a good and loyal friend

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? You're reading it but I also keep a written journal with notes, planned future projects and whining.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope, had em out when I was 7

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not now, but I may have when I was younger.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Honey Nut Cheerios

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I don’t wear tie shoes – fear of commitment.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Headstrong.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Vanilla

14. SHOE SIZE? 9

15. RED OR PINK? Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I procrastinate WAY too much and I’m always late..

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Brett

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No, but I love reading these little insights about everyone else on their Blog.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans, off white T-shirt and no shoes.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Lasagna

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Sex in the City.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Turquoise.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Vanilla or freshly squeezed lime

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Mom

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes and personality type.

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I'm sure I do but I don't remember who it was :)

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Tea – both hot tea and iced sweet tea.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? I like watching baseball.

29. EYE COLOR? Bluish green

30. HAT SIZE? Don’t know – I seldom wear a hat.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, glasses

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Kisses!

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Peanut butter pie

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Nothing at the moment.

l41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? Nothing

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Grey’s Anatomy

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The extreme quiet when snow falls.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Florida

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I'm very intuitive and a loyal friend.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Wilmington, Delaware

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I snagged it off someone else's blog, don't remember who.

The "Day After" -- aka Black Friday

Now that all of the cooking and baking are done - I'm dog-tired and so is my dog!!! All of this Holiday hub-bub has just worn us out -- and it's just starting!!

I thought about getting up early and joining the rank and file of people Christmas Shopping, but that's as far as I got -- I thought about it. Instead, I just surfed around on the internet and came up with this delightful quiz, which by the way is "dead-on". People always tell me that I have an accent, but can never quite place what type of accent it is....

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The South
The Northeast
The Inland North
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I have more aprons to make, so maybe after one more cuppa something (coffee or tea), I'm gonna get started on them. However, the sun is shining today (after two miserable days of rain), so I may have to go out and just enjoy the sunshine for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. The Holiday Season is finally here and we have so much to be thankful for. This year, I would like to take the time to enjoy the Season rather than be caught in a whirlwind and before I know it, it's over, and wonder where it went.

I certainly did enjoy spending time baking with Kylie yesterday . We took the time to have fun, break things down into manageable tasks and yet got so much done.

I guess that when you look at things through the eyes of a 10-year old, you gain a new persepective on how to do things and make new memories.

Bailey took on the job of supervising Bobby, as he carved the turkey and he was ever so thankful for any scrap that hit the floor.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and be thankful for all of the joys in your life. Also, remember to take the time to have fun in the process, they are the memories of tomorrow. .

T-minus 1 -- and counting

Thanksgiving is almost here -- ready or not. Today was baking day. What is it about the holidays that makes you want to bake?

Kylie came over today to help me do the baking for Thanksgiving. I finally finished another apron and it was just so cute that I gave it to Kylie and she looked adorable in it. Here we are all ready to start baking -- or should I say mugging for the camera just before we got started.

We started off making cranberry-orange bread then pumpkin bread. Did you know that ripe cranberries bounce? We had a lot of fun trying to bounce cranberries into the pie plate, but I digress. Then, we moved on to baking the pumpkin pies. The weather outside was dismal, but it was a good day to be stuck inside baking. This year, we moved the chairs away from the dining room table - so we didn't have a repeat performance from Bailey (eating half a pound cake like he did last year).

My goodness, baking sure does dirty a lot of dishes! We had to run the dishwasher after the breads were in the oven; and we still had a lot of baking left to do.

While waiting for the pies to finish, I hand-washed the rest of the dishes (yuck) and we we sat and played a few games of cards. Then, it was time to make the chocolate chip cookies. Kylie and I both agreed that eating the dough is better than the cookies. When I told Kylie that she could clean the bowl -- she was one happy camper.

I just about had to pry the bowl away from her to make the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

The Holidays are Approaching...ready or not?

Thanksgiving is almost here and my Christmas Cactus is in full bloom. So, is it a Christmas cactus or a Thanksiving cactus? Not only does it bloom at Thanksgiving, but it blooms again in January and if it stays cold, sometimes it also blooms in February, too. That cactus is as confused as I am at this time of year.

I just love gingerbread men. Here is a photo of my gingerbread apron. My first apron attempt. The one that I think is too long. It's to my knee and I'm tall -- so I guess I have to keep this one for myself. I also made some stuffed gingerbread men and found a cool technique to paint them with antiquing gel, burnt umber paint and water. I threw some greenery in a basket along with a few old spice tins, measuring spoons, and a cookie cutter. It looks pretty cute, as is, so I think I have a centerpiece for my kitchen table.

I was cleaning out my spice cabinet yesterday and I read in a magazine that any McCormick spices that are in a tin and made in Baltimore, MD are at least 10 years old -- too old to use for baking. It's a shame that they don't make tins any longer, but rather than throw them away, I thought they would look cute in my gingerbread basket. I don't know if you have looked at the prices of McCormick's spices lately, but the tin of ginger was priced at 79-cents!!

The basket is sitting on my Christmas tablerunner that I have been trying to finish. The top is pieced and the borders have been added -- now what am I waiting for??? Please don't say - Christmas!

Team Apron, Anyone?

My Indygo Junction Reversible apron pattern came today - so I'm anxious to get started on it. I bought an aqua kitchen-y print on the remnant (3 yards is a remnant?) table and a flowery print to coordinate with it. I'll post a photo of it, when it's done.

Still Tying One On

I made another hostess style apron for Mom. After I made the first Christmasy one, I thought it was a little too long, so I modified the pattern a little and came up with this one -- that may be a little too short. Bailey was not too thrilled about modeling this one, so I decided to try taking a photo of my self in the mirror. This is how the apron looks on me -- too short? I think it looks just right in the picture - now I don't know which one I will keep for me.

I'm definitely on an apron kick now -- Kylie will need one, too. I'm actually looking forward to doing some baking for the holidays in my smart-looking apron -- gotta have style.

I was up in Lancaster, PA on Thursday and trooped through the rain shopping for fabric. I didn't purposely go to buy fabric, really I didn't. I went with a friend to do some Christmas shopping and to a Holiday Open House at one of our favorite stores, In Grandma's Attic. The weather was horrible and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse -- it did, but we made a pact to have fun, even if it killed us. So, there we were trooping around Intercourse, PA in the pouring rain (luckily we didn't know we were under a tornado watch) trying to shop and spend money. Since a lot of the stores closed early because of the weather, where else was there to go and hide out to escape the rain, except fabric shops??? And, who can be in a fabric shop and now buy something? Zooks had all of their Christmas fabric 20% off -- and I bought some great prints that will make cute aprons. I really didn't need any Christmas fabric, but I just couldn't resist. I have aprons to make -- hello, Team Apron, here I come to join!

Tie One On

Since the weather is dismal today, it's a good day to stay inside and do some sewing. I knew the gorgeous weather from the previous few days couldn't last -- it's cold, rainy and just plain ugly. The picture that I took of the park yesterday with all those brilliant colors of leaves are now lying all over the park and the street -- the trees are now practically naked -- which means winter isn't that far off.

I have always had a "thing" for aprons -- Me -- who doesn't like to cook, but hey, you have to look good if you're going to attempt it, right.

There was an article in the newspaper last week about aprons and it even mentioned someone from the blogger community about being an apron afficianado. Bree, from Desperate Housewives has also made wearing an apron stylish again. But, did you ever see the price of aprons in those fancy kitchen stores???? What better way to start using up some of this fabric than to try my hand at making some. I think I'll make a few to give as Christmas gifts with the catch-phrase of "Tie One On" for the Holidays!

I have a few apron patterns, but I was having a hard time deciding which kind I wanted to make - heck, I want to make them all, but I need to pick one to start. I llike the kind that goes around your waist, but I'm not that adept in the kitchen, so I know something will go flying and hit my white T-shirt, so maybe I should start with a cover-up apron, but, I really want one of the other ones.

OK, decision has been made, start with the waist style first. I cut one out of a piece of fabric that I bought at Wal-Mart for stockings -- WOW, aprons take a lot of fabric -- who knew??? Of course the one I picked takes bias binding all around the edges (which I was trying to avoid), but, hey, I can do this.... The bias binding went on pretty smoothly -- what was I dreading?

After making the Christmas apron, I decided that I really needed to make ones for Thanksgiving -- it's less than two weeks away.!! I really liked this Thanksgiving fabric, but after I cut out the apron and pocket, I didn't have enough fabric for the bias ties, but I wasn't going to let that get me down, I used another piece of comparable fabric and it turned out looking good. I couldn't find anyone to model it for me, so Bailey agreed to it. I like the kind of apron that covers most of your body.

Happy Veteran's Day

Many thanks to all of those serving in the military, both past and present, for providing a blanket of security that we may live in freedom. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

This is November?????

So far the month of November has been warm. Today we have 70-degree temperatures, the windows are open with a gorgeous breeze waifting through the house.

It's also our Christmas Bazaar today -- who can think about Christmas when it's 70-degrees? Not me.

It's a wonderful day to do some yard work -- you know this weather can't last - so it's a fine time to take advantage of it and be outside. My geraniums are still blooming along with most of the stuff still planted in the front yard. I don't think we have had frost, but a few of those cold nights have caused a few things in the garden to bite the dust.

This is the view from my front porch. The colors are really spectacular this year - especially the yellows and oranges. I don't ever remember the park looking as beautiful as it has this Fall.

We have had more than our share of rain this year and more is on the way tonight along with another cold snap. This make today even more enjoyable.


After I put the Halloween decorations away, I decided to bring out my collection of turkeys and pilgrims to decorate the mantle.


Not only am I enjoying being outside working in the garden, but my little buddy, Bailey is keeping me company, and mugging for the camera. Look at that toothy grin - I think he is smiling!