Christmas Cookies and Quilts for Vets

I'm very happy to be hosting Christmas Eve dinner this year yet I'm amazed that I'm not stressing at all over it. 

Today my granddaughters and their friend frosted sugar cookies for the holiday season. It's so fun to let them do their thing. It's also a tradition that Jeff gets in there too to help. It's his favorite Christmas cookie so he's always ready to sample a few - haha!

I bought the girls goody bags for St. Nick's day and there were suckers with handles shaped like lips. They just had to try them out. 

I grabbed some quilts from my Sweet Sundays quilt group for my husband to take to Zablocki VA Hospital for veterans. His Legion Riders group goes to visit at Christmastime and he likes to take quilts along to give away. This year my group had 18 quilts for him to take.

I didn't realize until I took the photo that the quilts are sitting on my new Ikea furniture purchases. I think I will take that as a hint that I better get going on putting it together. I love assembling Ikea stuff.

The Smith-Corona Typewriter

My granddaughter Chloe loved the series Wednesday on Netflix. She seems to like characters that are darker and more mysterious. This show really fit the bill for her. It was hard to explain to her about the television show The Munsters that we watched as kids and how this was a spin-off. Like something old can't be new again. 

In the series Wednesday types her stories on an old typewriter. After seeing that, Chloe was very interested in typewriters and she wanted one. Of course the one used in the series was an old antique that would be very expensive to find as well as harder to make work. But I started searching for one anyway.  After much research, I've found that it was going to be a tough find. I started combing Facebook Marketplace, Craig's List and Amazon. I found typewriters available but they were very expensive. After a few months of looking - I really wanted it for a Christmas gift - I put it in the back of my mind.

One day while on Facebook, I see an ad on FB Marketplace for a Smith-Corona typewriter from the 70's. It wasn't as old as the antique one Chloe saw on tv, but it was exactly like one I had when I was in high school. I contacted the seller and picked it up for cheap that same day. What a streak of luck.

I couldn't wait for her to get home from school so I could surprise her. She was tickled pink. We got out some copy paper and she started typing away. It's funny what you know that younger generations don't know. Like using the return carriage on a typewriter! I had to show her how to pull the lever from right to left to start a new row. She could not figure it out. I wonder if there's a YouTube video for that - haha!

                                         

Chloe typed and typed.

Chloe shows her sister Avery how it works.

Even Peyton had to see how it worked, I think she likes the sound of the clicking.

Chloe was generous enough to let Avery give it a try.

Her first letter was to her grandpa.

After making a bunch of 3-yard quilts for Quilts for Kids, I had a bunch of leftover scraps. I decided to turn the scraps into project bags and zipper pouches. It never hurts to get ahead before the next craft fair.

I dug through my giant collection of zippers and did my best to match them to the fabrics.

I used military themed fabrics to make some larger zipper pouches and lots of smaller scraps for 4" little pouches. It was a lot of fun matching zippers to lining and outer fabrics.

My Other Projects

Last year my neighbor asked for advice on fixing some cushion covers for their camper. I gave them some advice on what to do however, I think they figured out that it was a bigger project than they could handle. I know he sews but I can't say I blame him for not wanting to tackle this project. So he brought me some canvas yardage and the cushions. I decided to reuse the zippers because they were the only part of the cushion covers that were in great shape. Plus they would be very expensive to replace and I am all about repurposing things. It wasn't a tough job, it only took one afternoon to complete. I hope they get years of enjoyment out of them.

I longarm quilted a charity quilt. for a friend from the quilt shop. It's very pretty and I recognize the fabrics because I used them in a quilt a long time ago.

I refused payment for the quilting so next thing you know, I get a Starbucks gift card from her for my efforts. It really wan not necessary. It seems now that I've learned to say no to most requests for quilting I really get to enjoy the process for the ones I choose to do. I love not having to stress about deadlines for other people's projects. 

My daughter is moving to a new place where my granddaughters will have their own rooms. They've shared a bedroom forever so we wonder if they will miss each other when they move. With more time to spare, Jeff and I volunteered to paint our granddaughter's new bedrooms. They both chose some interesting colors.

I guess after seeing this, they will be ok with being in their own spaces. 

I made some balsamic reduction. I think I should have used the entire bottle of balsamic vinegar considering how little is left after cooking. I don't know what I was thinking since I make this stuff all the time. We go through lots of it. 

Pencil Cases

I'm starting to get used to my new embroidery machine. This week I made some pencil cases using some new embroidery files I ordered online. I had two different bundles of teacher-themed fabrics so I decided to make some pencil cases using a little of the fabrics in the bundles. Thanks to ZipIt, the Etsy store that sells zippers cheap, I have plenty of zippers on hand so I can easily find one to match most projects. 

I didn't really follow any specific pattern or tutorial to make these pouches. I did look at the finished sizes of a few sewing blogs that had online tutorials and I settled on a finished size of 9" x 5". Here are the two I made. 

I discovered that I like the look of the embroidery on linen. Luckily, I have 10 yards of this good stuff. I washed it along with 10 yards of muslin to use as stabilizer on the back.

My granddaughters will give the pouches to their teachers during teacher appreciation week in April. I hope it is easy for the to decide who gets what.

A Christmas Wrap-Up

You would think that since I am retired from the workforce (well kind of, I do have a part-time job at a quilt shop now) that the holidays would be less stressful. Well, they are not. Maybe it is because I pile on more things to do than I did before or maybe it is because I am getting older and I can't get things done as quickly and easily as I did when I was younger. It is most likely a little of both. 

I started decorating my house sooner than in years' past and I loved the ease of getting it done. The outside of my house looks pretty good and we didn't break our necks to get the lights on. 

We spent an evening decorating cookies with our daughter and granddaughters. Chloe is not pictured since she didn't last long with the decorating - she hates getting her hands dirty. Avery chose to color the frosting in deep, dark colors. 

We also spent an evening walking through Oak Creek's city square. It was beautifully decorated. Since we had just finished Christmas shopping with our granddaughters with a stop for a scoop of custard, the girls had lots of energy to run around the square.

One morning, Jeff saw a story on the local news where Wisconsin State Fair was selling their famous state fair cream puffs in a chocolate whipped cream version. So we ordered some online and he drove down to pick them up. They were a fantastic Christmas season treat.

We dabbled with making old fashioneds. They seem to be most famous at bars and supper clubs here in Wisconsin so we thought we would try to make them ourselves. Since the pandemic, we've regularly tried our hand at mixing our own cocktails. Some turn out better than others. I think we will have to try again with this one, I'm not so sure I did it right.

One of the last-minute gifts I made was this bag with fabric from the television show The Office. My sister commented that her son's girlfriend would LOVE a bag from the fabric and I really didn't plan on taking the "hint" but I caved the night before Christmas Eve. I used the bag to put my nephew's Christmas gift inside. My sister was quite surprised when she saw the bag.

And today, I mailed out my last Christmas package to my son. The Oak Creek post office was so far backlogged that my postman suggested I wait until after Christmas to send the package. The package was going to my son in Colorado and I already sent him the most important gift which should have gotten to him on December 19th but arrived on his doorstep on Christmas Eve. So I had him and his fiancé covered for the holiday for the most part. 

It felt so good mailing that package this morning, like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. 

Yesterday we picked up my leftover crafts from the pop-up shop at Hillside Coffee House, it was nice to discover that some things sold there. I also finished another holiday table topper yesterday. I still have a few more works-in-progress that will have to wait until next year. But this one is done and it will get packed away for the next year's craft fairs. 

I sorted, folded, stacked all my Christmas fabrics and unfinished holiday projects and put them back on the shelf for next year.  If it weren't for my new embroidery machine, my sewing room would look pretty uncluttered and clean right now. Oh well. It feels good to wrap things up and I am ready to celebrate the new year.

Giant Hexagon Quilt

I finished the hexagon quilt today. I'm not sure what I will do with it now. It might become a charity quilt for church since I don't think it is cute enough for Quilts for Kids. Isn't this a great photo of the quilt via the pergola - ok it's really a great shot of just the pergola - haha!

I don't know what it is about the colors in this quilt, but I can't take a photo that does it justice. So I just want to mention that the free tutorial I used to make it is called the Giant Hexagon Quilt tutorial and you can find it here.

I brought my scroll saw up from the basement so I could cut out a dinosaur from a piece of wood we got at the Makers' Faire last year. There was a guy who had a full sized set up of Owen's Jeep from Jurassic World and he was dressed like Owen. My granddaughter is crazy in love with everything Jurassic World so it was fun to see her reaction to the display. The man was impressed with Chloe's extreme interest in everything he was saying so he gave her the wood with the dinosaur template on it. 

I cut the dinosaur out and hopefully I can convince her to get involved by sanding and painting it however she would like. Maybe she can draw more dinosaurs and we can cut them out together - that would be fun.

Rock Painting

My granddaughter Chloe painted some rocks. She says she is going to sell them at my next craft fair for $6 each. Not sure where or how she came up with that number but it was definitely cute when she said it. One is called Bun with Cream and the other is Tiny Turtle. Her mother works in a bakery so I think that's where she was inspired to make what looks to me like a cinnamon roll.

Chloe inspired me to work on rock painting too. I ordered some books from the local library for help and proceeded to clean and spray paint a base on the rocks I gathered from around my yard.  I used the oldest spray paint I had laying around. The paint I found was so old I had it when I lived in my last house which was over 30 years ago. When I look at the stuff that's in it, I'm pretty sure they are chemicals that are now banned so I made sure to wear a respirator mask while spraying it. The Styrofoam board I used to set the rocks on has melted! 

I'm not sure what I'm going to paint but I will definitely take photos when I'm done.

My cat decided to have a standoff with the cranes that visit us. There are two of them and they come pick the grubs out of the grass - and tear up the yard which drives Jeff crazy.  I'm certain that by the end of summer there will be 3 of them. I love when they bring their babies around. Jeff grabbed the cat and put him in the house before he got into any trouble tangling with the crane.

Kiera's Birthday Quilt

This is Kiera. She is my daughter's friend, Corina's youngest daughter. Did you follow that? Corina has three daughters who all have summer birthdays. Sometimes Corina throws big birthday bashes for all the girls and sometimes their birthdays are celebrated independently. We always get invited. 

Corina's oldest daughter, Lilly is my granddaughter, Chloe's best friend. All of the girls get along fabulously. It's wonderful to see them all play together.

Anyway, back to the birthdays. Each year I make one of Corina's girls a quilt for their birthday. I started with Lilly since she is Chloe's bff. Lilly favorite subject is the solar system so I made her an outer space quilt two years ago. Last year I made the middle girl a princess quilt and this year this little darling got a pink and purple floral quilt. I was so happy that her mom sent me this photo of her enjoying it.

Read With Me Quilt

Making this quilt has been on my to-do list for a very long time. It's from a free tutorial found at the Moda Bake Shop. If you want the tutorial, here is the link.

I finally decided to make it for a teacher at my granddaughters' school. We just love her and Teacher Appreciation Day just so happens to fall in April so it seemed like a good time to make it.

I used mostly scraps left over from other projects with a few new fabrics mixed in for color balance.

I didn't want the 'books' to be too bright and cheery. After all, books in a bookcase usually aren't very bright, especially if they are loved and used.

Making the letter applique was way easier than I thought it would be. I don't usually do this much applique on anything so I wasn't so sure what I was in for. And wouldn't you know it - easy peasy.

I used a totally different fabric not found in the quilt for the backing but I think it goes together pretty well.  I quilted it with a rainbow variegated thread so the colors would show up on the white background.

The quilt should have been gifted earlier this month but because of the pandemic, I don't know how or when we will get it delivered. Because of the quarantine, I took time off from finishing this to make masks. I'm happy that I still finished it before the month ended.

Art and a Bag

I had no idea when I took this photo that it would be my granddaughters' last week of school - most likely for the entire school year. I took the photo last Wednesday. This week is supposed to be the week before spring break starts.  Instead school is planning for virtual learning for the rest of the year. The pandemic stopped everything normal. I am so proud of Avery especially since her sister is considered the artist of the family.

I volunteer at the grade school regularly. I expected to be back this week to make the popcorn for popcorn day. It's really hard to get a grip on all that's going on. I feel stressed all the time. And worried. Avery is a type 1 diabetic. She is especially vulnerable at this time.

My sewing finish for the week is Chloe's backpack. I made it using a hand-painted fabric panel and some matching modern fabric. I didn't use a pattern, just some common sense measurements. I took her laptop and measured it. The fabric panel was a little small so I bordered it. The bag is cushioned with lots of layers of fleece to protect her electronics. There's a zippered pocket inside and two large pockets on the back for the rest of her things.

Chloe and Avery

This February has been a tough month to get any sewing done. That's because I have something much better to do - hang with my granddaughters!

My granddaughter, Avery had an overnight "camping" trip with her girl scout troop. Her mother couldn't go with her because of her work schedule so I filled in. The trip was held in a cabin in the woods at a Milwaukee County park. I had no idea place even existed even though I've been to this park many times. In fact, my wedding photos were taken in the same park just down the road from this cabin many years ago.

The cabin is set up with many bunk beds in one room for kids and twin beds in an adjacent room for the adult chaperones.
During our stay we made homemade pizzas followed by a STEM project of making cars with balloons attached that would move the cars when the air is let out. It was a good example of engineering. Then the girls made jewelry out of shaved crayons that were melted and made into a pendant. It was very pretty. There were a few other events like making a game as well.

Even though Avery was having a good time, when it came time for bed she had a meltdown and insisted on going home. She was so very upset. The funny thing was by the time I drove us down the road from the cabin she was sound asleep in the back seat of my car. I could have easily turned around and went back to the cabin and carried her to her bunk bed but I have to admit, I didn't really look forward to sleeping there either so I took her to my house and we 'camped' in my bed - haha!

Brownie Troop

 A few days after my trip with Avery, I took her sister Chloe for a haircut. Chloe absolutely hates the idea of getting her hair cut. She doesn't like pampering and just refused to cooperate. I finally talked her into going to my salon where she agreed to get a haircut. And it was just in time for her birthday.

We enjoyed an evening with family at Dave and Buster's which is pretty much Chloe's most favorite place to have a birthday. She was so lucky to have the grandpas from both her mom and dad's families. My sister was there too making for a wonderful little party. For the first year in a while Chloe didn't want a party with all her friends - it was just family. What a nice change and what an exhausting week!

Chloe's Birthday Party