Christmas Quilt Top

It's Sunday afternoon, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it is time to think about Christmas.  I am sitting here on the sofa wrapped in my Christmas blanket, Geeps is building me a nice fire, the rain is falling, and so are the temps.  I am watching a recorded Christmas movie while I post.
Our Thanksgiving was small, and relaxing.  We have ordered our Thanksgiving meal from Marie Callender's and Polly's the past couple of  years. This year, we decided to try Stater Brothers, as we heard it was
very good.  We ordered both a turkey meal, and a ham meal.  They were both fabulous!!  We all thought everything was delicious.  I also made a big tray of cornbread dressing.  We had to have that!   My daughter brought appetizers, and my brother and sister in law brought pies, and Drew's girlfriend brought dessert too. We were sure to eat well.  I kept it very simple...and even used paper plates, which I NEVER do!

There were only 13 of us this year.  Some sat at the table in the house, and some sat out on the patio.  It was, after all, nearly 90 degrees!!!

All of the food had to be heated through, which meant my double ovens were on all day.  It felt like summer. I never wound up putting on my cute Thanksgiving apron.

Drew's girlfriend Christine, and her twin brothers joined us.  Their family was out of town.  There was plenty of football to be watched.

My granddaughters even had Dusty playing fetch IN the pool!!  I didn't get any photos of that, I was too busy in the kitchen.  Our meal was delicious.  The company was fantastic, and a good day was had by all.
This morning, I began to gather up all of our Fall decor and prepare to box it up until next year.

And just like that, my much loved Fall is gone.  Ready or not, Santa Claus is coming to town!
I spent all day yesterday putting the borders onto my Christmas quilt.  I am thrilled to my toes with how this turned out.  This morning, before the skies turned to grey, I put it out on the clothes line to photograph it.

What fun this quilt a long was to do!  I eagerly anticipated every block as the instructions were given by Lori via InstaGram.  
I love every block, but I do have a few favorites.  The basket block was fun to do.  The original pattern called for an applique heart in the basket.  But instead, I put two candy canes, a piece of candy and a heart.  I used the blanket stitch on my new machine to stitch them down.

The wreaths, with their pretty red bows....swoon!!!

The string of vintage Christmas lights, so fun!  I stitched a swirly swag from light to light, to suggest that they just came out of the box, after being tangled up all year.

Waiting for the next block to be revealed, and then selecting the fabrics for it, was kind of like receiving a gift, every other day or so!  I couldn't wait to "open" it and see what I would be making!  I enjoyed every moment of making this quilt top.  We are not done yet.  Lori will be posting the label for us to make on Monday.  then of course, it needs to have a back for it, and the quilting.  Finally, after the quilting, I will put a binding on.  And then, we can enjoy it!

I will be getting into my Christmas bins this week, and beginning to decorate for Christmas.  But I am going with a "less is more" theme this year.
I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!  We sure did!
See you soon!
XO  Kris