More Christmas Blocks

Good morning.  I have been busy with the Christmas Quilt Along that I posted about in previous post.  I am enjoying it so much!  There was one block that I wasn't happy with on the fabric I chose. So I did decide to redo it.  Which meant ripping out several seams, because the section it was in had already been put together.

Here is the mug of cocoa with the new block I did.  You can see the old block in previous post.  I am so glad I took it apart and changed it, or I would have never been happy with it.  My new machine has a blanket stitch on it, and I have been practicing with it.  I always did this stitch by hand before.  Which I like too, but sometimes, you just want to be able to do it by machine.  Going around all of those tiny curves can be tricky.  Here is the basket block with the little candy canes and heart and candy piece, done with machine blanket stitch.

You can see on the red candy cane where I went off a bit on the inside curve!  Darn!  But I am getting better the more I do.  Remember when I did that Halloween piece with all of the black shapes so that I could practice the blanket stitch by machine?  I put it into a frame when I finished it instead of binding.  But I took that out of the frame and went ahead and put a scrappy binding on it.  I don't even want to call it a quilt.  It was just a piece of fabric with some appliques I put on it to practice the machine blanket stitch.

I bound it with some left over Halloween binding and another left over piece I had, but I didn't have enough of either binding to do the whole piece, so I cut it apart, and mitered it together again to use both pieces for a scrappy binding.  For the back I used a piece of Lynnette Jenson's Thimbleberries fabric.  I just love this print.

It was a challenge going around those tiny pieces with the blanket stitch, but a fun thing to use for practice.  I will use it next year as a table topper somewhere.

I put my little Tom Turkey in the kitchen, tucked up under the clasp of my dishwasher that doesn't work!

We have done 14 blocks for the quilt along so far.  The most recent being this darling stocking.

In addition to the stocking, is a wee little piece of candy.  I love the 3D tab on the stocking too.
We have been given instructions to sew two of the sections together now.  Here they are, sewn together, along with the other blocks on my design boards.

For the string of vintage Christmas lights, I used one of the decorative stitches on my machine, that to me, kind of looks like the cord attached to the lights, that is always all kinked up when you take it out of the storage box.

Lori said that there will be one more block, and then we will work on the borders and a label.   I just love walking through my new sewing room, first thing in the morning with the sunshine streaming through the windows, and my blocks all on display on design boards.

I am getting ready to host Thanksgiving here at our house on Thursday.  A smallish group.  Mom is on a cruise in Panama.  It will only be about 13 of us.  I am thankful for so many things!  First and foremost, for my Mom's health, with her recent scare.  She is doing just great!
We had to put our Wheaten down on Saturday.  He had numerous health issues, and they were getting much worse.  He was Greg's dog really.  Greg is very sad.  For that I feel so badly.  But he was not well, and had taken to relieving himself all over the house!  He could not be adopted out, and so he was put down.  Dusty doesn't seem to be confused at all.  I am surprised about that.

Dusty has been my shadow since we got him, almost one year ago.  He is a good boy!
I have been cooking up some good stuff lately.  Sorry, no photos.  I made a meatloaf with homemade bbq sauce last night.  Mashed potatoes and veggies.  Beef barley soup the other day.  Cornbread in a cast iron skillet....Mmmmmm!!  Time for that good old home style cooking.  I even put some new flannies on the best yesterday too!
So, not a whole lot of new stuff going on here right now.  But there will be in the weeks to come.   There are a lot of festive things coming up.  Like the Newport Beach Boat Parade on my brother David's boat.   My First Annual Siblings Only Dinner!!!!  I have invited my brothers and Uncle Johnny, who is like a brother, as he grew up in our home too, to go to dinner with me, no spouses...just us.  We are going to The Summit House, which is a lovely restaurant that sits up on a hill with a spectacular view.  I can't wait.
I am having a Christmas Cookie decorating party with my grandkids and daughters.  I will bake up all of the cookies, and have the icing ready, and when they come, we will make beautiful cookies and memories!!!
We will do our annual enchilada making party here again.  We make dozens and dozens of enchiladas!  Everyone wears a holiday apron, and gets in on the action.  It is fun, messy, and we all take home dozens of enchiladas to freeze for later, and we eat a Mexican Feast on Christmas Eve, starring our enchiladas!!!
What about you?  What do have to look forward to this holiday season?
Tootle Loo
Kris