First Holiday Without Felix

My first holiday without Felix will be just fine thanks to some wonderful friends who have invited me to share their Thanksgiving with them. I'm truly blessed!

In the meantime, I worked on making a big bunch of binding to get put onto my Arkansas Crossroads. My dear friend, Maureen, who is a wizard at bindings, agreed to do the whole thing for me and I was grateful to accept her help. She did a beautiful job. Here is the finished 82" square quilt.

On Thursday, I took my dear friend and neighbor, Ilse, and her two house guests, Rosie and Leon, over to the Senior Center for their holiday meal.

The food was delicious and the weather was perfect! I enjoyed their company, too!

We all liked the group painting unveiling that the senior artist's project did. It was very dramatic when it was revealed. They did such a good job!

May you all have a healthy and blessed Thanksgiving this year, surrounded by loving family and friends.

The Last Quilt Felix Admired

One of the hundred things that I dearly miss about Felix being gone is his constant encouragement and praise for my quilting. He was always so free with his compliments. He was very taken with my work on my Arkansas Crossroads and liked it very much. Although he is gone, I want to finish it for his memory. Here are pictures of today's quilting session on the Arkansas Crossroads at the Ellen Peters studio in Laconia, NH.

Ellen loads the backing first.

The quilt top is loaded next, and then the batting is carefully loaded in between the two layers. Here she is smoothing out the top over the batting. After she stitches one row of stay stitching across the very top, then I'm ready to quilt.

The quilting thread is a light antique tan for both top thread and bobbin.

The quilting is a very simple loop-de-loop so as not to distract from the pieced pattern.

It was easy to follow the rows of the piecing to keep the size of the loops consistent.

Each loop is roughly 4 inches around and the work went very quickly.

It was very relaxing to swoop along with the whir of the big machine getting into the rhythm of the work.

This 82 inch square quilt was done in a little over an hour and it only used two bobbins.

Additionally, I've been finishing up a couple of pairs of my sawtooth star potholders.

They are ever popular during this gift-giving time of year.

Lastly, I wish that I could've shared this pretty sunrise with Felix this morning.

Rest in peace, my honey. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.

Happy quilting and remember to hug your loved ones!

RABBITT!

Halloween was a complete wash-out with strong winds and heavy rain. Not one trick-or-treater showed up and I don't blame them! But today, the first of November, was sunny and mild but windy still. Matthew and Bella, my young friends, showed up with their kids to visit and to show me their wonderful costumes.

Bella brought me a wonderfully decorated Halloween brownie, too! Yummy with my vanilla cappuccino coffee.

I did go to the Golden Gese quilt shop for Friday quilting and was very impressed with Maureen's newest quilt!

She was attaching the binding of a lovely red floral and then was able to spread it out for a better picture.

Nice work, Maureen! Maureen also worked a little bit on her table runner with matching placemats in all bright strips. So pretty!

My work was on assembling some pieces for a set of two matching potholders for Ilse to send to Germany for Christmas presents.

These two are my favorite Sawtooth Star pattern and will be quilted with Insulbrite and a layer of regular batting.

On Tuesday, I enjoyed giving out some extra fabrics to the gals at the Senior Center and taking pictures of their neat projects.

And, as always, the Senior Center's Tuesday breakfast was delicious! This was a fried egg on half an English muffin, topped with sausage bits in gravy. yummy!

Hash browns, cantaloupe and yogurt made it a meal to remember.

As the days get shorter and fall winds blow, I hope that you are warm and well and enjoying your quilting!

Happy quilting!

Christmas Quilter's Poem

Twas the night before Christmas,
And the quilts were not made.
The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed.
The stocking weren't hung, the pantry was bare.
The poor weary Quilter, was tearing her hair.
Stacks of fat quarters, tipped over in streams.
Visions of Log Cabins, had turned into dreams.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
But a bus full of quilters with all of their gear.
They went straight to work with just a few mutters,
Sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters.
The patterns emerged from all of the clutter,
Like magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter.
Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese & Bear Tracks
Each quilt was a beauty-even the backs.

Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed.
The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed.
Their work was all done, so they folded their frames,
And packed up their needles, without giving their names.
They boarded the bus, and checked the next address.
More quilts to be made, another quilter in distress.

She heard one voice echo, as they drove out of sight,
Happy quilting to all and to all a good night!
~Author Unknown

Pumpkin Festival!

On Friday, my wonderful brother-in-law, William, and my wonderful sister, Suzanne, took me out to eat at the Water Street Cafe. They offer a delicious prime rib dinner with rice pilaf and butternut squash cooked with maple syrup. I ate my fill and had extra to take home for lunch today. Here's a picture of Suzanne laughing as I snapped her picture!

After that good meal, we stopped at the Laconia, New Hampshire, Pumpkin Festival for a quick peek at all the Jack-O-Lanterns carved by the local school children. They were amazing!

On the way home, we had a sing-along and laughed at the cold winds that were blowing. I am so blessed to have dear family near me who care so very much about me!

At the Golden Gese Quilt shop, we wished Sue safe travels as she leaves for Florida for the winter. She was making a pretty apron all in pinks and purples. Nice!

Maureen has started sewing a strippy table runner that will have dramatic black borders. Looking good!

Happy quilting!

A Milestone

Today is my 70th birthday and that is quite a milestone! I'm enjoying good health and fitness in spite of missing my dear Felix. I was sixteen when I met him and instantly fell in love with him.

The weather is a grim rain with high winds today and I'm lucky to have power to write this. Earlier this week I took some pictures of the pretty Fall foliage that has now been taken away by the storm.

These were taken right along Route 140, which is my street, but about 5 miles away in Alton, NH. The water is Lake Wentworth by the Alton fire station.

No pictures of it yet, but I've started a couple of sawtooth star potholders for Ilse to send to her sister in law in Germany for Christmas.

Happy quilting!