It's beginning to look....

.....a lot like Christmas, and I should hope so, seeing as tomorrow is Christmas eve!
Wow! Where did the year go???? Has anybody seen it????

Actually we had the tree and lights up pretty early but of course it's everything else that I put off to the last minute that catches up with me. I did get several batches of cookies made and I still have some sugar cookie dough to be rolled out and baked, and frosted, and eaten!
I was able to use ground shipping this year so that's an improvement over years past when I was scrambling to get things ready for fed ex... perhaps there's still hope for the queen of procrastination!
Oh but wait...I didn't mail any Christmas cards this year for the first time ever! Drat!

I did make some gifts, but wish I would have started earlier and made more ......double drat!

We're having Christmas brunch here at our house for just a small group and so I do need to get the house tidied up and I so wish I didn't have to work tomorrow ..... oh well, it'll all get done and if it doesn't look absolutely perfect so be it....I am going to enjoy the miracle that is Christmas, and the blessings of family near and far ( pouty face) and if I see a dust bunny or cobweb bouncing off a sunbeam I will smile and be thankful for the sunbeam. I hope that you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.......

cozy..... and quilting

Look what we found just outside our front door yesterday morning.... we have had very cold weather, by south Florida standards anyway, in the 30's overnight brrrrrrr and double brrrrrr.  I don't know who made this cozy little spot during the night but I took a peek late last night to see if they had returned to it again and it was empty. It only measures about 4 or 5 inches across so I'm puzzled as to what was snuggled down there. Maybe I should leave a little quilt outside :)

We've been hauling out the quilts this week to cozy under and there's also nothing like a pair of warm and cozy socks when it's chilly along with a mug of hot coffee or hot chocolate. Tonight I'm going to make cozy food....a yummy old fashioned tuna casserole, mmmmmm.

I also just finished making a cozy new bathrobe to replace my old favorite that has been used up.
I wore it last night for the first time and it is oh so cozy and I will most likely wear this one until it is all used up too.

my old favorite...bye bye

Although I used to make quite a few garments, my stitching time has been devoted to quilts for many years now. I still prefer making quilts but this robe project wasn't so bad.

my new favorite!

When was the last time you made a garment for yourself? No, really.
 
I hope that you are enjoying all of your cozy favorites this time of year......which brings me back to quilting and a return to my stitch-a-long. 
The final design element for the stitch-a-long quilt is the option of scattering some appliques across the quilt.

 

I made a daisy-ish  applique using fusible web on the back of them. I made 11 appliques and scattered them randomly across the quilt.

scatter appliques randomly

I have posted the applique design for you on my website as a free download. It's a very simple design and you could draw one of your own designs too.  Use as many appliques on the quilt as you like. You can use one of the fabrics from your original choices or make them with several fabrics or a totally different fabric. Have fun with it. I will then machine blanket stitch around the appliques .......and yes this time I will do it before I sandwich the quilt!!!!!!  (see post on  8/24/2010 )
With Christmas just around the corner and with the hours I have been working I don't know how much I will get done, but I would love to see how your quilts are coming along.
Leave me your email and I will contact you to get photos of your projects or leave a link if you have a blog. I'm so sorry that it has been so long since the last stitch-a-long update. I hope you didn't give up on me :)