Merry Christmas

May your day be filled with the love and joy of the Christmas season with those you love.

A Few Things Made

I have really been struggling to do much of anything this year!  As we turn the calendar to 2020, I will be starting year four with my father.  While I would never make a different choice, being away from my husband and home for this long is quite unexpected and it has been hard for me.  My husband, bless him, has never once said anything about putting my dad in a nursing home so I could come home!! 

However, when one has grandchildren, one must do something!!  My 2 year old grandson is obsessed with dinosaurs!  I follow Pasture Deficit Disorder on Facebook and her husband is an amazing woodworker!!  I ordered a set of 5 dinosaurs from her and she sent them directly to my daughter for me!!

The ones I chose were a different wood, therefore a different color, but they are so cute and I know GS#1 will love them!!

Last spring I tested a pattern for Tammy at https://www.tamarinis.com/.  She designs fabulous paper pieced patterns and I had fun with this one...except I did have to employ Jack the Ripper a few times!!!  I used one of the blocks I made to make a table topper for a dear friend who was at my first birthday party!!  We have been friends a very long time and I cherish that friendship!!

I did finish the binding before I gave it to her...promise!!!  She loved it!

My two granddaughters...well, they were to be with their dad during the first week of Christmas vacation, so I wasn't too worried about mailing the few things I had for them early.  That all changed.  On Thursday, 12-19-19, their dad was having surgery to re-attach a muscle he had ripped off the bone (his pec).  At 38, he had a heart attack on the table and didn't survive.  So their world has turned upside down.  I am so very sad that I can't go to be with them...at 12 and 6, I feel like they need lots of support from loving family!!  I hope these two little stuffies, made and filled with love, will help them, even just a little!

Even though they will not make it in time for Christmas day, I don't think they will mind.

May you be blessed with the presence of those you love as you celebrate the holidays.

Merry Christmas and may God bless each of you in the coming year.

Season of Giving

Caring Quilters is a charity quilt group somewhere close to Denver, Colorado.  They make quilts all year long and donate them.  One of these wonderful quilters is a friend of mine named Teresa.  A few years ago Teresa lost her husband and I think this group has helped her through her grief.  Today she sent me an email telling me of the big fling they had today.

"Our charity quilt group had a big fling today. This morning we took 80 quilts to Ronald McDonald house.  One was given to a tiny little girl before we ever got inside the door.  She and her family were on their way out heading for surgery.  3 more were given to another mother who had a child who had been in the hospital since before Thanksgiving so her 3 kids could have a quilt each.  That still left enough for 1 quilt for each room. 

Then we headed over to the dialysis center that my late husband went to.  We took 55 quilts there.  This was enough for each staff member as well as each patient to have a quilt.  There were thank yous and hugs for us. 

It was a very good day. 

Our group made 267 quilts this year, and every one has been delivered now.  So 3 of us have empty closets to start the new year with."

She sent me pictures of 58 of the quilts that she personally quilted.  I can't put 58 pictures in one post, but I'll show you some of their work...

Wonderful job, Caring Quilters!!!

Finished or Not Friday

I am linking up with Alycia of Alycia Quilts and actually show off a few things I have actually finished!!

My dad is on hospice and has a nurse who comes to check him out once a week.  He also has a CNA who comes in twice a week to give him a shower.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate these ladies and the support they give to me as well as him!  I can call their office 24/7 and get help if I need it.  When my mom was sent home from the hospital on hospice, she came home on a Saturday morning at 10 AM and she went to heaven on Sunday evening at 5 PM.  Hospice was so wonderful at getting her what she needed for the short time she was home.  Dad is really getting so much more from them and I lean on them so much.  Anyway, I wanted to make them a little something to show my appreciation, so I made them table toppers.

Simple 4P turned into a 9P with a border and corner stones.  Very simple quilting on my sewing machine.  I gave them to them on Tuesday so they could use them during the Christmas season.  Today the CNA came and the first thing she did was to show me a picture of her table topper out on her coffee table, all decorated for Christmas.  She was so incredibly thrilled!  She said she always put the same decorations out on the table but that the table topper just took the whole display up a notch and she was so excited!!  Our quilted gifts, given from the heart, do not have to be over the top to be appreciated and used by those we give them to.

I love giving gifts to those who are not expecting it.

The Winter Blues Blog Hop

I've emailed Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks to participate in her blog hop in January!!!  If you would like to join us, pop over and follow the instructions to sign up!!  The last blog hop was a blast and I just happen to be currently working on a quilt that includes blues - a mystery done by Alycia of Alycia Quilts!  We are only on the second clue, so if you are interested in joining us that is the link to the second clue...easy to find the fabric requirements and first clue from there.  This mystery only requires about a hour a week to complete the clues.

Great Blog Hop and the Avalanche

The Stitch It & Gift It blog hop is over and it was so much fun to see what everyone as made to gift away.  I know I had several "I want to make that" moments this past week!!

The avalanche...not snow, but comments!  For the last year and a half, comments were going who knows where, but I wasn't being notified by email nor was I able to see them when I checked my blog administrative page.  After a friend notified me by email that she had commented, but it never showed up (thank you, Susie), another friend (thank you, Susan) found over 80 missing comments, going back to summer of 2018!!  Well, I'm going through each one, reading them and responding...but it is going to take me a few days!!  I am so very sorry for not responding to your comments when they were made...I really don't like it when I comment on a blog post and get ignored (unless there is a giveaway - those can get crazy).  I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my blog and post a comment...I try to show that by replying to every comment.

It is almost Thanksgiving...

Stitch It & Gift It - Friday, November 15

This is the final day of the blog hop.  There have been so many great ideas for gifts, large and small!!  Which is your favorite idea and what are you going to make as a gift??

Today's bloggers are:

Inquiring Quilter
Just Because Quilts
Ms P Designs USA
Seams To Be Sew
Quilted Delights
Susie's World
Creatin' In The Sticks

I hope you have had as much fun as I have on this blog hop!!  Thank you again, Carla, for hosting this fun hop that lit a fire under me to get some Christmas stitching done!