New Year's Eve!

 

I don't want to brag or anything but I've already picked out the pajamas I'm wearing for New Year's Eve  😄

My husband gave me this shirt for Christmas and I love it!  It's really warm too!

We always stay in New Year's Eve but there are a lot of fun things we can watch on the tv.  Bethlehem is the home of Just Born Candies including the Peeps that most people know.

In Bethlehem they have a 400 lb. Peep and it drops instead of a ball.  This happens in early evening so kids can see it!

In Allentown we have the puck drop outside of the hockey stadium.  The puck is 20 feet long and has to be powered by car batteries because of the long fall:

I doubt I will watch the puck drop though.  That happens at midnight and I will never make it.  This is the joy of being a senior.

I'm currently cooking some of our dinner tomorrow at Mom's. 

 Wishing you safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Poodle Tree and a Long Year End Summary

 

My dog loves my brother Jim.

Lucky will jump onto Jim's lap, even if it means jumping into car.  I didn't know what to make Jim for Christmas this year and then decided to make him a poodle Christmas tree.  I was reorganizing my sewing embellishments and found a small bag of poodle charms.  I have no idea where I got them but I've had them for a long time.  So I made Jim a poodle tree!

2025 was pretty tough in so many ways.

But sewing wise, the most important thing was that I started hand sewing again--without pain!  I'm going to focus on that as one of the good things this year.

I also reduced my scraps this year and that is very satisfying.

Specific gift quilts.  One for my brother and one is a memory quilt for Jenny:

Kids' Quilts:

Baby Quilts:

And lots of smalls (many I didn't photograph).

As I already mentioned, I just want to have fun with my sewing now.  No resolutions just sew as much as I can.  That is not always as much time as I like but I'm happy it does relieve some of the stress.  

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

End of Year Countdown

 

How are you doing?  So many of us aren't excitedly celebrating the holidays but just "getting through" it.  Hope you are doing okay.

We had an ice storm on Friday night.  People in the neighborhood are already grumbling.  We had a lot of ice last year and I wore out a pair of Yaxtrax last year.  Yaxtrax are chains you add to your shoes that act like cleats and...most importantly, work.  Lucky won't go to the bathroom in our yard.  He'll only go if he walks so Yaxtrax are indispensible.  

This is the time of year I like because so many people are sharing what quilts they made this past year.  I might do that tomorrow.  I am sure I didn't take photos of everything.

I'm excited to start the new year and new projects.  I've been doing some clean up and finding projects that I would like to finish before 2026. I'm binding a Christmas quilt that I'm pretty sure has been sitting here for at least 11 months. 😮

Are you working on cleaning as well?  Are you going to have any resolutions for the New Year?  I'm not, just more having fun with my sewing.

Have a safe and happy day!

Happy Boxing Day and Happy Kwanzaa!

 

Happy Boxing Day to our friends in the UK, Canada, and the other Commonwealth nations!

Happy Kwanzaa for all of you who are celebrating!

How was your holiday?  Ours was quiet and fine.

Today we are preparing for the impending storm.

Unfortunately the storm includes not only snow but freezing rain and sleet.  Ice upsets everyone.😟

This morning I will make sure Mom is settled and has everything she needs.  The precipitation isn't beginning until late afternoon so we have some time to make sure she is doing okay.  The whole family has agreed to stay home tomorrow and be safe.

I'm praying we don't lose power and I can sew a bit.  What is the weather where you are?

Have a safe and happy day!

Merrry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful day!

Christmas Eve

 

Happy Christmas Eve!

I'll be finishing wrapping presents today and baking some more cookies for dinner tomorrow.

Above is a vintage postcard from Bethlehem, PA where I was born and spent most of my childhood.  I know I have mentioned before how magical the city seemed to me.  

Bethlehem is considered "Christmas Town, USA" and really goes the distance for the holiday.  I found a video about the holiday here and thought you might enjoy seeing some of the magic.

You can watch all the festivities here.

Have a safe and happy Christmas Eve!

Officially Winter!

 

Well it's officially winter!

One of my friends said the other day that she just wants the holiday to be over.  I know she is super stressed right now.  It's different now that the kids and even grandkids are grown.  We'll spend most of the holiday with mom and my brother. 

I'm looking forward to the hibernation season (January to March).  It might as well be called the sewing season because we seem to get so much done during those months.

I'm not really sewing right now but putting together kits of projects for the new year.  First up is two sets of orphan blocks.  I'm just cutting fabric and putting everything in baskets until after the holidays.

I've decided against doing a temperature embroidery piece.  I decided I didn't want to do that because there are so many other hand pieced items I want to make even more.  My husband said, "just put the data in you calendar."  It's a good idea so I will.

One of the things that really amuses me these days is the upset over the Pantone Color of the Year.  I've been seeing a lot of rants about this because the color they chose was "Cloud Dancer" aka "White".

"Bits and Pieces" is a youtube channel I enjoy.  Michelle  has a lot of free patterns that she demonstrates.  She also offers free patterns on her website.  One that I would really like to make in the new year is called "We Will Remember".  You can see here patterns here and her channel here.

What kind of projects are you looking forward to in 2026?

Another Apron

 

Most of you know I'm fascinated with all the different variety of aprons that have been used--especially during the first half of the 20th century.  Some new ones occasionally surface on different feeds like the Girl Scout one above...isn't it cool?

I recently found another kind of apron--the Pullman Apron.  Have you ever heard of it?  Here's the ad that piqued my interest.  It was from a 1917 Needle Art Catalog:

As usual, I couldn't find it when I searched online for the apron but I did find lots of articles in old newspapers.  I have to say that as I researched, I found myself getting more curious about it.

This kind of apron is for travel and in particular, toiletries.  All the ads and article below are from 1917:

I was really curious about the strings attached to the apron.  Was this really meant to be worn?  As it turned out, one ad suggested that was the case:

This article provided more information on using the apron:

I guess this was how the ladies carried their toiletries.  I scoured the internet looking for a photo of a woman wearing one but couldn't find one.  What do you think of the Pullman Apron?

Have a safe and happy day!

Sew Snowing!

 

We woke on Sunday to snow on the ground!

We didn't get a ton but it was enough that the side roads weren't plowed here for some time and we stayed home instead of going to mom's.  She never wants us to drive over there in bad weather anyway.  It's clear today so I'll be heading over there in a few hours when she wakes up.

I did get some sewing in though and that felt good.  In the foreground you can see the bowl cozy I made for my brother.

I also finished binding this quilt:

I also machine quilted two wall hangings--one for mom, one for me.  I'll have photos of those tomorrow or Wednesday.

Did you get snow this past weekend as well?

Have a safe and happy day!

98 Days

 

98 days until spring.  

I figured since folks countdown the days until Halloween, I can countdown the days until spring.

However--I don't want spring to come too soon.  I want to hibernate for the first three months of the year and sew as much as possible.  

Are you thinking about your 2026 projects or just focusing on finishing 2025 projects?  I am but not in a pressure way, just excited to be over the holidays and on to sewing.  

Out in the garden...

The rabbits appear to be all around the garden and eating all the plants I didn't cut down.  I didn't feel like working in the garden but from now on, I'll say I did that on purpose.  However the rabbits are driving Lucky a bit crazy....

The squirrels continue to eat the Beauty Berries.  The ground is frozen solid so any food they had buried is unavailable.  😟

Here's a fun fact but I don't know if it's true.  I couldn't find any basis for this except that the call of the birds denotes territory.

Bird calls at sunrise are called "Dawn Chorus" a phrase I just love.

How are things in your area of the world?

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Stop Doing That...

 

Still so many things going on here.  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel...perhaps we will be through all this paperwork stuff by 2026.  And I'm still caregiving.   Yesterday morning I woke up sick and it was a relief that Brad had to walk the dog and I needed to stay home.

I absolutely need to clean out my sewing room...again.  Fabric I know I had is missing.  I had bought new penguin Christmas fabric...and it's AWOL.

I suspect that I inadvertently put it in a bag with the fabric I donated for the quilt guild show. 😖

Now an older piece of Christmas is MIA...a vintage holly fabric that I had some yardage in.  😟  I'm really hoping that surfaces somewhere.

I need to stop doing this.

The office outside the sewing room is a mess too.  At this time of year, I'm rushing around so much, things just get stacked in there until I can get to them...whenever that happens.

Do you have those issues too?

Hope you have a calm and happy day!