Re-purposing A Panel

During a trip to the frozen North (The Mister's home town) a few years ago, I accidentally bought two Advent calendar panels.  I say accidentally, because the fabric was not on a bolt and I thought that it was just a Xmas print with squared motifs that might be cute for making ornaments. I asked for half a yard and the quilt shop lady told me it was a panel, but she had an accent and I didn't really understand her and somehow I ended up buying two panels. 

Last week, I was going through my bin of holiday fabrics and an idea occurred to me that would put the panels to use, without ending up with calendars that I really wasn't that keen on.  

In the 70's, my family was introduced to Husker Du.  Not the band with the "thrashing tempos and screamed vocals" (Wikipedia).  No, this was the matching game "where the child can outwit an adult".  My mom saw it somewhere and thought it was such a great idea that she set out to get one for each family on her gift list and, of course, one for us, as well. (Maybe she saw the "controversial advertisement"!)

I decided that my advent calendars could become  Holiday Husker Du!

I cut the pocket designs out and quilted each one to a piece of batting and backed it with another Xmas print fabric  that was languishing in the bin.  There were 25 pockets on each panel and I made a few more squares from other areas of the panel so that I ended up with 30 pairs. I divided them into two sets of 15 pairs to make two games to send off to some little girls that I thought might have some fun with them. 

Fabric right sides together, stitched around with a gap for turning, then top-stitched.

I am sure their mothers will recall how to play the game.  If not, I will email the instructions!

As for the rest of the panel, I cut it into strips and added them to my giant knitted rug project that I will share another day.  

I am glad to have it out of the stash and made into something fun (I hope)!

Eventually, I finish things...

Sometimes it takes me a while to 'circle back' to a project. Sometimes, it is a long while...

This is one of those projects!


These tea towels were part of my Christmas gift to Dearest Sister. When she and her guy first got together, she moved into his house, which was heavily influenced, decor-wise, by the mountainy outdoors. After combining their things, it was less of a focus, but still predominates, as they are both mountainy outdoorsy people.

A few years ago, I was preparing needlework projects for travel and decided to stamp a few tea towels to throw in the bag. I had picked up the Aunt Martha's "Northwoods" transfer set with them in mind and had a few tea towels in the stash, so I picked out my favorite three of the seven days-of -the-week designs (because who really needs seven tea towels?) and stamped the towels. They are not complex designs (although I did consult a bird book for ideas on the colors of the geese) but I started and finished several, well...many, things before I finished up all three.

Sometimes I get frustrated with my scatter approach to projects. And, when it is to be a gift, that sometimes means I have to keep the secret a loooooong time! But it feels good to finish and send it of to the intended giftee.

(And she might have just been flattering me, but DS said her guy thought they were nice, too!)

Christmas Redwork

I hope everyone had a great holiday! The weather prevented one of our guests from arriving. She will get here late Sunday, if all goes as 're-planned', so we will have a bit more Christmas to celebrate with her.

Now that the hand made gifts have been opened (except the one that was finished too late to send...)I can share the redwork project that I worked on a couple of weeks ago.
I showed a sneak peek here, but now I can reveal!

This motif is from the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad. It is meant to be a occupational representation of K - Dearest Sister's first girl. I am not really sure what she does at her work, but it is scientific in nature, so I thought this would be appropriate. (I am sure she will be too kind to tell me if I am entirely off base, which is quite likely!)

This one is for V, the second of three. The design is from the Sublime Stitching 'Vital Organs' collection. V is a nurse and works on a floor that has neurological patients. I don't really think that she stabs needles in their brains. Again, it is a representation.

For B, the third girl, I chose these little sister fairy girls. (The design is from Annie Oak Leaves.) B's main occupation is mother to two little sweetie pie girls. She does other work, but her main job is mama.

I stitched the designs on these totes that I got on sale (of course!) a couple of years ago. They have been waiting on the shelf for inspiration to strike and this was the year.

I really have entirely too many 'gift blanks' in the closet - items bought with embroidery projects in mind.

I think that I better get started on next Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a happy holiday, full of peace and joy!

Image from "Christmas Magic - The Art of Making Decorations and Ornaments" by Margaret Perry (no relation)

Holiday Flowers

On Monday, Sister G and I visited the Bellagio Conservatory to see the holiday floral display. It was gorgeous, as usual. There are five displays a year, spring, summer, fall, Christmas and Chinese New Year. This is the fourth Christmas version that I have seen and each one is different, spectacular and amazing. Sometimes elements are 're-purposed' and sometimes there are entirely new elements.

The constant...

...the tree. About four stories high, from Mount Shasta.

New this year...

... the polar bears. Made of 36,000 carnations that have to be changed out once a week!

Mama Bear takes 12,000 carnations, Papa Bear needs 16,000. Baby Bear (not pictured) uses 8,000. They are surrounded by white poinsettia 'snow'.

The rocking horse is back...

...but this year, it really rocks!

There are always crowds of tourists in the conservatory, most of them taking photos of each other. I thought a Monday afternoon might be less crowded, but no, it was just as busy!

After we watched the fountain show, I took her to another 'can't miss' place. For Christmas, or anytime - In 'n Out Burger!

Christmas - part one

I am passed the Christmas rush! I took a vacation day from work on Friday to finish up all the loose ends and get the out-of-town packages shipped. It was kind of a frantic day of looking for gifts that were purchased early and then misplaced, (I still haven't found one of them!) and getting everything wrapped and packaged for shipment. The post office web site was down for purchasing on the internet, so I had to go and stand in line, instead of just printing the postage at home and dropping the parcels in the bin. It wasn't too bad when I got there, though the line was twice as long when I left. Timing is everything!

Saturday evening, we had a Christmas gathering with part of the family. Sister G is visiting the desert, staying with L the doctor neice, through Wednesday. She and I hung out most of Saturday, though, and had a good visit.

We have plans to get together on Monday to go see the Bellagio holiday display. We might also go see the new City Center that has opened in stages over the past couple of weeks. It is a shiny new complex of everything you can think of that rich people might want to see and do. There is quite a lot of public art at the shopping mall that I would like to see, though. (The mall is made up of shops from Rodeo drive, but the LV versions are bigger than the LA versions...)

Donald Trump publicly dissed the whole project and called it 'a catastrophy'. The head of MGM, which owns the City Center (in partnership with Dubai), said he 'couldn't imagine an opinion that would matter less'. I take that to mean that he would value my opinion over The Donald's! I must go see it and put my two cents in!

Holiday Spirit

This weekend, I intended to accomplish some holiday gift goals - and I did! Not my original goals, I had to scale back my plans a bit when I realized there was no way I was going to get everything done, unless I adjusted. So, I adjusted.

I can't show you the finished effort, yet, though. I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise. Here is a peek, though...

I love redwork and these look really cute !



I had to finish them all today, though. My fingers are going to be too sore tomorrow to do any more stitching, for awhile!

The fabric is heavy, so lots of pulling on the needle to get it through the fabric. On the upside, though, I didn't have to use a hoop!

I also finished piecing the blocks for my quilt! For class tomorrow, we were to have 25 blocks ready to put together. The instructor said, "if you want to sew it together, go right ahead". So, I did.

I ended up adding an extra row. Since my seams run to the narrow side, I ended up with it a bit longer than the pattern intended, anyway. I figured I would have to adjust the measurements for borders, etc either way. I checked to be sure that I would not run short of border fabric, but there is plenty. Now, it can be a baby quilt, or a lap quilt, instead of just a 'project'.

It is such a good feeling to start the week with some things checked off the list. Now, I can start looking forward to Christmas!

Good thing, since it is right around the corner!

The Farm Journal Christmas Book

This past weekend, while I was out and about, I stopped in at a thrift store, just to poke around, you know. Like all shopping establishments, they were gearing up for Black Friday and had a whole shelf of Christmas books. I picked up a few interesting ones, a couple will be xmas gifts to some small girls in the family.

This one turned out to be a treasure trove of fun ideas and vintage goodness!

The copyright date is 1970, but the content is from The Farm Journal from 1948 through 1968! It is interesting to see the differences in the older photos. I think that between '48 and '68, there were some major technology improvements in magazine color printing. Still, the older ones are very fun to look at.

Some of the projects are very agricultural, making a Christmas tree stand from an old plow disc, for instance...

...and this tumble weed centerpiece!

Some years back, I heard a radio program about a woman and her daughter, from Wyoming, I believe, who had started a mail order business, selling tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds were apparently very intriguing to folks who do not see them regularly...

This is one of the older projects in the book. The topiary is made from... egg cartons!

I thought this project might be something that I would try. I have picked up several fat quarters of holiday fabric and of course, all the holiday prints will be on clearance in a few weeks. I am thinking this might be the perfect project to practice applique. The detailed instructions in the back of the book suggest not worrying about making the circles perfectly round, as "they are more interesting if they are not perfect"! Sounds like just the thing!

This page of projects illustrates the transition into the '70's. Crazy 'mod' colors and motifs! The purple candle holder is papier mache over paper plates and bowls with a 'Coffemate jar' and a canning lid thrown into the mix. The turquoise 'vase' in the upper left is a barbecue sauce bottle. If you look closely, you can see the plastic forks that make the design around the base.

Lots of fun ideas! I don't really need additional holiday decor at this stage of life, but there are some edible projects and things that might be fun to do with the smalls. Or maybe I will perfect my papier mache technique and make candle holders for everyone next Christmas!

(I think Dearest Sis has been knitting all year towards holiday gifts. She and I are not alike in that way... I may have to shop at AtomicSisters, this year!)

A bird in the hand

Ms A has promised me my own bird necklace as my Christmas gift from her! I am very excited because her bird necklaces are her signature pieces, much admired by all! Her holiday season was very hectic, due to the busy gift season and a move to a new apartment before her visit here, so she gave me a promise instead of the real thing, but I know that she is good on her word! She showed me photos of some that she had consigned at a gallery holiday sale and I picked a "blue" one. Not a blue bird. She told me what kind of bird, but I forget. It had a lovely blue breast, though.

These are some pictures that I took of her senior exhibition in 2007. The words of the chain are what the bird calls sound like. My necklace will not have words in the chain. I am not a words in my chain kind of girl.



This one says "do you see, do you hear, do you believe?"

(I am not sure what type of bird it is)


Song Sparrow
"Madge, Madge, Madge, put on your tea kettle!"


Barred Owl
"Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?"

Sorry for the uneven quality of my photos!
I will try to take a better photo of MY bird necklace when it arrives!

Holiday Visitors v 1.1

The first of our visitors flew out today, in two different groups. A morning trip to say goodbye to the Washington and Kansas crews and an afternoon trip to send the Florida girls home

We had a good time with the smalls et al:

Making and decorating gingerbread cookies with edible water colors and googly-type eyes.

This is the police bear. He has a gun. (or so I was told)

The children's museum had lots to entertain smalls and moms...

One of my favorite places to take visitors is the conservatory of the Bellagio. There is always a seasonal floral display (extravaganza, really). It is changed out about 4 or 5 times a year and is always breathtaking. There are elements that are re-purposed, but many new elements are added to each season's display. The Christmas display was resplendent!

It is always stop and go, because everyone is posing their groups for a photo in this most "Kodak-ian" place! Us too!

The tree is as tall as the two story ceiling. The giant round ornaments are about 5 feet across.

I had read that there was a machine that made indoor snow over the snow family, but it was not in operation when we were there. The snow people were made of white carnations.

The soldiers guarded the bridge with a canopy of greens and arcing fountains.

After the conservatory, we watched the dancing fountains. The smalls were skeptical when they saw a calm lake. (They were a little disappointed in Hoover Dam - mainly because they were counting on seeing "the beavers". I think they felt I might be trying to sell another sham point of interest!)

I was hoping for one of my favorite "performances" - Aaron Copeland's "Simple Gifts" from Appalachian Spring, or the piece from Rodeo whose title escapes me. (All I can think of is "Beef - It's Whats for Dinner"...)

It exceeded my hopes -The Hallelujah Chorus! Such a stirring piece and the dancing fountains just amplified the impact! The smalls pronounced it "tight"!

All the way home they sang "hal-le-lu-la" in the back seat!

My reputation as tour guide was redeemed!

Well, we survived the day!

Everyone arrived safely and relatively on time. The first guests, G and C arrived on 12/24, so we had some charming moments before the others arrived.

We don't have a lot of toys at our house, but old school Cowboys and Indians fascinated for awhile....

I wonder if Precious C will remember Grandma and Grandpa's house as "the place with the green men"!

Later in the day, the fun began. Of course, keeping track of who got what and how to make it work was a job for the Super Mom's!

Old school video games created a bonding moment for the cousins.

Yesterday was kind of hard on everyone as anticipation rarely meets reality when you have been traveling all day after getting up early and missing lunch!

Today, though, everyone has been enjoying getting re-acquainted and catching up.

Tomorrow, we are weighing the option of Hoover Dam or the outlet mall sales. Modern Wonder of the World, or Kaybee Toy liquidation sale? That is the question! I will let you know what wins!

This is the last quiet minute...

...before the holiday guests begin arriving. Lovely G and Precious C arrive tomorrow from Florida and thus begins the fun and chaos of having the children and the grandchildren in the house.

We will have a series of guests from 12/24 through 1/6. I am sure when they are all gone, it will be nice to have the house back to just the kitties, The Mister and myself. Right now, though, we can hardly wait to see everyone.

There are still several details to finish up before the morning, so I will leave you with a few of my favorite ornaments...

Dearest Sister made me a set of tiny patchwork ornaments about 25 years ago. They were designed to hang on a Swedish Dowel tree, but I have always hung them on the regular tree. It is good to have unbreakable ornaments to hang on the low branches, when toddlers are about.

This cutie-pie ceramic mouse was made and given to me by DS's, Grandbebe's Mama when she was a young teen. It seems like it was only a few years ago, but it must have been 10 or 12. It always reminds me of the great big gatherings that we used to have when we all lived within a half day's drive.

Of course, this ornament was created by Ms A. It was probably a Girl Scout project, or perhaps made in school. The media is plastic ball with glitter and markers. Now, Ms A makes her living from her fine arts training, and her media of preference has evolved....

This is an ornament that she made several Christmas's ago. It is prismacolor on copper and it hangs on the kitchen curtain rod most of the year. I just can't pack it away!

Her work is more sophisticated now, but I still love the plastic ball!

I hope everyone has a joyous holiday,surrounded by those they love!

Merry Christmas,

Jan

Handmade Christmas...

...has a long history in our family!

This photo is from the classic "Animal Print Garments For Everyone" Christmas, 1966. Mother found a great bargain on 10 or 20 yards of the fabric and decided that everyone could use a jumpsuit or bath robe or ...something out of leopard print!

First Niece, L the Dr. is the little one on Brother's lap. Dearest Sister and Deeply Missed sister are in the back and SIL who shares my name but spells it differently, and I, are on either side of Brother.

Wisest Sister must have helped Mother with the marathon of corduroy animal print sewing, as I don't remember seeing her in leopard print...

The corduroy was very small wale cotton, so it was comfortable, although DMS always looked cool and comfortable. That was her style!

Here she is with her knitting, probably continuing the handmade Christmas tradition.

(Notice the liquid soap bottle doll "caddy" over her left shoulder. Is there no end to the clever crafting in our family?!?)

I had great plans to sew gifts this Christmas, but having an unexpected trip to the Frozen North set back my timetable. I don't think it would be good for the Mister's blood pressure for me to persevere with the idea, since it would undoubtedly include last minute late night sewing. He likes to have things done well within deadlines.

This year the extent of my handmade gifts may be knitted dishcloths. But on the upside, I already have several things in progress for next year!