Our Christmas Houses

I enjoy seeing posts about Christmas decorations, especially the ones with oldies, but goodies in them.  So I thought I would share one of our favorite decorations that we put up each year.  It's these little houses.

There's a little dog up near the church's steeple. 

These houses have been part of my Christmas since I was...oh I would say about 4 or 5.  As children we would set them up, trying to be careful to put the little Christmas lights in the houses without poking them through the paper windows.

As children, my sister and I collected and added little animals to the houses.  I don't remember where they came from, and it is totally silly to have a buffalo and a zebra in the village. However, I remember as a kid thinking it was so much fun to have the animals.  Best of all it still delights my daughter and she sets them out among the houses. (There are also monkeys, a cow, a couple dogs, and even a tailless tiger.  I don't know why it's missing a tail.)

 Each year it's set up differently, in different places. We have such a good time discussing where the hippo should live this year, or the little man with only arm. I love that it brings us together and provides us with joy.

This year we added the Abominable Snowman - yes from the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer story.  I think he fits right into to this silly village.  (See top picture - right side)

I thought we were the only ones silly enough to add "extra" to our houses, until I went to McDonald's today and saw a Christmas Village display. They had added polar bears!!  

Okay - that bear is a little too big for the houses.  But isn't it cute!  How fun is that?

Merry Christmas!

Linda

Little Bitty Betty Crockers Making Cookies

Do you have any nuts you need chopped?

Do you have any cookies you need mixed?

I've got two little sous chefs available!  My little grand daughters came over on Saturday and we decided it was time to be "Little Betty Crockers".  Did you notice that BIG knife Scarlett is using?  See how her fingers are away from the blade?  And little Violet was running the mixer like a pro.  Although I didn't allow her to run it with the spatula in the bowl. (or those fingers either!)

We made several different kinds of cookies in the hopes that Santa Claus will be hungry come Christmas Eve.  I'm rather hoping he's not, I would love to eat the cookies myself.  Hmm...I suppose that is a bit selfish of me isn't it?  I'm probably on the naughty list now.

Merry Christmas,

Linda

Flying Geese Book & Ruler by Eleanor Burns Review

Oh I have something so exciting to tell you.  I'm practically jumping up and down because I can hardly wait to tell you this is just so neat!!


Do you all know who Eleanor Burns is?

She's the one that came up with the "Quilt in a Day" concept.  Okay, for those that may not know, there was a time when quilter's used scissors and templates, a very slow and time consuming process.  Using Eleanor's unique methods, quilts can now be made in a fraction of the time and possibly in a day, hence the name Quilt in a Day.   


I was asked by Quilt in a Day if I would like to review a book and ruler.   I jumped at the chance!  (Can you believe that?  How exciting!!)  But that's not the most exciting part - it's actually using the ruler.   It's so fun!


They sent me free of charge: 

And the flying geese ruler. (Rulers come with a complete set of instructions. Yay!)

Large Flying Geese picture shamelessly taken from "Quilt in a Day". 

I bought (separately, and unbeknownst to the Quilt in a Day folks) the mini flying geese ruler.  It also includes this niffy fussy cut ruler, which should come in very handy.

Mini Flying Geese and fuzzy cut rulers with instructions.

I thought it would be fun to have Hubby make a flying geese quilt using the book and large ruler. He is a babe in the woods when it comes to sewing and quilting.   In the meantime, I would make one using the mini ruler set.  

Now for the Review: 

Oh my gosh, this is the easiest quilting book I've read.  The instructions are so easy to follow with plenty of pictures and photos.  There are pictures or photos for each step.  I like that she just has simple step by step of instructions, not lengthy paragraphs to wade through.  

Flying Geese Quilt in a Day book has quite a few different Flying Geese quilts (I didn't count them) which includes yardage amount charts for each quit in the book for each size quilt, crib, lap, twin, queen and king.  Yay! Super easy to figure out.  Let me tell you, this was great when I was at the quilt store and slightly confused because my husband kept adding fabric after fabric to the basket. :-)

I was so pleased Eleanor actually explains exactly how to cut the fabric.  So nice for teaching hubby.   

He Cut

He sewed

He made flying geese!!

And lickity split using the mini flying geese set I did too!

These mini ones are the cutest darn little things!

I think I should have ironed those to make them look better. 

 The mini set makes 4 different sizes, the large two different sizes. 

I'm totally impressed with the book. I really liked that the rulers are so clear for viewing the fabrics while squaring up the geese, the "geese" lines are easy to see.  I've made flying geese many different ways, and I must say this is the most fun I've ever had making geese.  

Hubby had a blast making these and can't wait to make more. 

That's what it's all about right?  Having Fun!!  

Hubby is working on one of the quilts from the Flying Geese book - there are several nice ones that he wanted to make and I'll show you his process as he goes. 

Quilt in a Day did not ask me to give them a positive review.  Only to review the book and ruler.    Thanks Quilt in a Day!  Ya'll Rock!!!

Update:  At the request of Kim C.  I have added the link for Quilt in a Day. 

Linda

Mustache Party

Mark had his birthday this week.  DD2 said we should have a mustache party.  Oh what a good idea!  While we were in the restaurant, and he was not looking we all pressed on our mustaches.  He looked up, saw us and burst out laughing!

It's one of the best jokes we've ever done!

Life's so sweet when you are being silly isn't it?

Sad to say, I look better here than on my driver's license.  LOL!

Linda

As promised...Christmas Tree Quilt

I added the stripped fabric to make it slightly bigger to match the size of the border blocks.

I'm very happy with the way the Walmart fabric looks in these blocks

. 

I still have the buttons and beads add. And during lunch I ran over to Joann's and found this really cool itsy bitsy trim.

Mine sure looks different than the original.

Here's the pattern again.

I've also been busy with real a Christmas Tree.
My daughter always wants a tree as high as the ceiling.  Kids!  Don't they realize I would have to get on a super tall ladder to decorate it?  So I picked the spot were the ceiling is the lowest.  (Ha! Don't those kids know we (parents) are smarter than they are!)
Here's our tree this year.

I love having a Christmas Tree in the house.

Merry Christmas and Happy Sewing,
Linda

A few more things sewn...

I was really having fun in my sewing room.  I made this little thread catcher.  

I didn't have three buttons the same (for each of the sides) so I used red on one side.

And these cute little turquoise butterflies on the other two.

See inside? There's some thread in there.  I wanted to be sure it worked. HeHeHe.

I started again on my Christmas Wall hanging.  I started it last year, Nov. 2010.  

This was November's UFO.  Which I didn't even start on until December! 

I changed it up a bit since I had this Christmas Tree and presents that I could applique on. I'm going to add beads for the Christmas lights.

And then I realized why I never finished it last year.  I don't have any Christmas red or green fabric.   Don't you just hate it when that happens?  

Well, I was at Walmart shopping for groceries - and look what I found!!!

 I just love this cheerful fabric.  

I cut my squares and sewed them up - but forgot to take pictures.  

Tonight I'll take some okay? 

Sorry, I'll have to leave you in suspense...

until tomorrow!

Merry Christmas and Happy Sewing,

Linda 

Found that Sewing Room...SHRR, 4 Patch Posie

I found my sewing room again!  And I finally finished the triangles for the Stay at Home Round Robin.  (I wouldn't blame Sunny if she thought I had quit on her - it took me so long to get to this point!)  I had so much trouble with this - first I cut my triangles too big, then too small, then bought more fabric - then decided to cut down the center.  Whew!!  You would think this was hard but it's not.  It's just one of those times when the brain is not working right.  When I completed it I remember the triangles should only be 3 inches!  Yikes!!  What's wrong with me??  Thank goodness Sunny's not the quilt police! 


Okay - on to the next project.  After Thanksgiving and all that traveling and yummy food, I just wanted to do simple sewing.  


I pulled out my 4 patch posies quilt.  

 Don't you just love this fabric?  For this I had to find the repeat (in this case, 12 inches) then cut 4 strips, pin through all 4 pieces in exactly the same spot to get them lined up exact and keep them steady.  Then cut 3 1/2 inch squares.  


It didn't take long to get a nice little pile of 4 patches. 

Each 4 patch is completely different.  It's fun to see the different designs.  

Some are more spectacular than others - but all are pretty neat.

And all so fun and simple to make.  I love them!

I can't wait to get back to making more of these!

Merry Christmas, 

Linda