I hope your Christmas

I hope your Christmas or other holiday was as happy as mine. We were lucky that all the kids and grandkids were here for Christmas Day and most for Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is usually all finger/snacky foods-shrimp, 3 kinds of meatballs, cheese and crackers, chips and dips, mozzerella sticks, fudge, ham and cheese sandwiches, and anything else the kids find in the fridge not scheduled to be part of Christmas Day's dinner. Then Christmas Day we have Thanksgiving all over again. Turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, several veggies, and a number of different sweet breads and rolls. The only difference in menu is on Christmas we usually have cheesecake or a fancy chocolate mousse cake--no pumpkin pie. We all eat til we're stuffed and then the men do the dishes. I love that part of it.

This year I tried to make all my gifts and was fairly successful. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures as I finished, so unless DD remembers to take them later, I'm out of luck.

For DGD, I made a jumbo tote in blues and greens for her to carry her soccer gear in or to use as a weekender bag. Regretably, the only pics I have are of Patsy playing in it. Good thing she's so cute, or I wouldn't even have them, lol.

For some of my quilty friends I made paper-pieced mug mats to go along with new hot chocolate mugs. I love paper-piecing, now that I know how to do it. It seems like it takes me forever to get a piece done, but it's so much fun! I made this Christmas tree for Mary, and a Gingerbread boy for Carol M, a Diamond Pane for Lynne, and a snowman for my Secret Pal, Ann.

I made up this little bag for a young friend who wanted a purse for Christmas, and added a built-in pen holder. She was so happy with it, I was glad I took the time to make it for her.

Since I did get some gifts made this year, my goal for next year is to finish up as many of my UFO's as possible, so I can give them as gifts in 2011. I've corrected my UFO list to reflect some of the older things I've found hidden away in boxes and bags in my sewing room. Now I just have to get to work on them and try NOT to get involved in too many new things this year. Yeah, sure!! (Well, there's always hope, ya' know, lol!)

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie and Patsy Cline (otherwise known as the Devil kitty!)

New holiday projects from the

designers at Henry Glass.
This event will run from Dec. 1-7, 2010. Each day, there will be several designers posting her holiday stories and her free project, plus some great giveaways. The logo can be printed out as a cover to make the projects into a booklet you can keep forever. Today is Day 3, but you can still get the previous days' projects. Just what we need--more new projects to get done before Christmas, lol!

This year I tried to limit my swaps, but Aunt Pitty Pat had several I just couldn't pass up! The first was a Halloween Tote swap, with a hand-made Halloween tote bag filled with lots of little Halloween notions and fabric bits. Here is the neat bag I received from BettyAnn. I love that little pincushion she made me--I've started collecting them lately.

I made my tote from the pattern we learned at our QB2 Retreat in Ohio in July. I changed the size of the charms from 5 inches to 3 1/2 inches and added the same size top border, the way my quilting buddy, Diane S, did. By copying how she made hers, mine came out really cute and a great size for every day use. Here are my step-by-steps. This is the outer bag. These are the pockets I added. The pattern didn't have pockets, but you can't have a bag without pockets!! So I put 2 pockets on each side. This is the lining-inside out-ready for the bag to go into it. Now the handles are added, the magnetic clasps I used on the sides and front are inserted, the lining is attached, everything is stitched around and then turned right side out thru the opening in the bottom of the lining. Then a piece of heavy cardboard is cut to fit the bottom of the bag, sewn into a pocket cut to fit of lining fabric, and pushed down into the inside base of the bag. VOILA!!! All done and ready to fill with goodies. I love making these totes with charm squares. You can make them any size by changing the size of the charms and by adding a top border.
The pattern is called "The Big Bag Theory" and was designed by Penny Sturges. The original pattern made a huge bag that would hold a rolled up quilt to take to Show-And-Tell or could hold a change of clothes for your carry-on bag on a plane. My DD wants one for a weekender--whether she gets one for Christmas remains to be seen, lol. Maybe if she's extra good, Santa might bring her one.

The other Halloween swap was for 12 inch blocks done any way we wanted. We signed up for specific blocks--mine were witchey hats with a dangling spider. Some of the blocks were simply fabulous--but I can't show you 'cause I forgot to take pics of them. So you'll have to wait to see them when I get the top all together. Sorry!

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Thanksgiving leftovers

are all gone!! Two days of leftovers that were still yummy (and my favorite meal of the year) have been gobbled up (duh!) and are now just sweet memories...until Christmas day--yeah! It seemed strange not to have any of the kids or grandkids home this year, but we still had seven for dinner. Everyone left with a full stomach and still had leftovers to take home for the next day, so we were all happy. Katie and Patsy Cline both had a few pieces of turkey, so they were satisfied, too.

I haven't been keeping up with the blog much since Patsy came to stay with us. I had to feed her from an eye dropper when she first came, then she graduated to a syringe, and finally to a doll's baby bottle. It was a long process and very time consuming, but so worth-while. She weighed in at .5 ounces a week after Hubby brought her home,
and now is up to 2 pounds.
She eats anything in sight--whether it's good for her or not! Now that she's learned how to climb up on the kitchen stools, her favorite play consists of climbing up on the island and batting the wrapped hard candy out of the candy dish. So far, we've found candy pieces in the bathroom, our bedroom, and even down cellar! Hubby has started calling her "Crazy" after her namesakes' best song.

The Quilt Club Gals have been busy lately working on seasonal and Christmas gifts. Here are a few of their projects.


I am so lucky to have such a talented group to sew with--they are all so inspiring.

Next time I'll show you pictures from Aunt Pitty Pat's 2 Halloween Swaps that I participated in. Until then...

Happy Quilting from Sharon and the TWO Marmalade Cats, Katie and Patsy

From Our Home to Yours


From Hubby and Quiltingmama20


and Katie


and Patsy Cline

We all hope you have a safe and happy day with family and friends.