Merry Christmas!

My sister made Christmas cookies and sent us a tin full.

Aren’t these adorable?

There are more, but they’re still in the tin, individually wrapped, and I don’t want to disturb them ... quite yet.  

Do you, or did you ever make these? (decorated, cookie cutter Christmas cookies)?  As kids, our mom baked the cookies and we kids decorated them. It was fun, and we got pretty elaborate with some of them. (remember those little silver balls that practically broke your teeth when you bit down on one?) Anyway, my sister (with her kids)  has carried on the Christmas cookie tradition for many years - minus the silver balls. 

I have been sewing a lot. I finished my bedspread top, which for me is huge. I’m so glad it’s done! Now I have to figure out how to get it quilted (ie: find the right machine quilter) because I don’t think I ccould handle it. I’ll wait to post a picture til it’s completely done and on the bed!

Meanwhile I decided to make more of these:

I still have lots of orphan blocks, partial blocks and various bits and pieces, along with several bags and bins of scraps to use up. Haha, as if that’s possible, right? This is a fun project to work on when I don’t feel like working on something else. I know some of these blocks look like they’re a lot of work, but the process is actually very freeing because they don’t have to be perfect. Don’t forget I did not start from scratch as most of these started with “something “ already made. 

I’ve also finallly moving forward on making a postage stamp quilt, which something that has been on my bucket list for a long time. I’ve been saving 1 1/2” squares forever and have recently started sewing pairs together as leader/enders. Once I finally figured out a method to sew them all together so they consistently nest at every stage, I made some blocks and laid them out on my wall. 

My method, if anyone is curious, is to start with four-patches, making sure the seams all “spin” in the same direction - let’s say, clockwise. Then sew the four-patches together into 16-patches, making sure the outside seams are still all going clockwise. Then combine those into 32-patches, and so on. This way I can work block by block, and I can turn each block any which way whenever I put them all together. 

Well that’s about it for me.

I hope you all are enjoying your holidays, whatever way you can. I highly recommend zoom get-togethers, if you cannot gather in person with friends and family. I believe 2021 will be another tough year, but the tide has turned and there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We just need to preserve through the rest of this dang tunnel! 

love,

Sandy