Christmas Cookies are Baked and Decorated!

 Today my daughter and I baked cookies.

We had a great time decorating the cutout cookies.  What better way is there to spend a cold, snowy December day?

We even shared some with the neighbors.

Monday Design Wall

I've made a little progress on my blue green quilt.  But because of this holiday season, I haven't had a lot of time to be creative.  I did do something with this:

And this:

And the fake fruit tree was full of robins one day early last month.  Sadly, when I went outside to take a picture, they all flew away.  And even though I patiently waited, they didn't come back.

But yesterday, the tree was full of little birds, feasting on the fake fruit.  I suspect the robins are gone until spring.
To see what others are doing on their design walls, click here to go to Judy's blog.

Blue and Green Monday

The blue and green quilt is back up on my design wall today.  I have sewn together all the center blocks and started piecing bits for the inner border and frames for the appliqué blocks.  But wait!  What is that monstrosity?  The one in the upper right corner?

Oh!  It's the result of Extreme Hubris, Inattention, Arrogance, and Egotistical Pomposity.  This is what happens when a block is designed in EQ7 and the designer of said block doesn't bother to really read the measurements but just goes ahead and starts cutting and sewing stuff together.

This is what it is supposed to look like.

To see what other people have on their design walls today, click here for Judy's blog.

Blizzard 2010!

I had a couple of requests for my snow pictures.

We have been under a blizzard warning for the past 24 hours.

We received only eight or ten inches of snow, but it was preceded by a lot of rain, so the snow really stuck to the branches and is weighing them down.

The stupid fake fruit tree is really beautiful with all that snow.

The only sport is clearing the driveway.

Rosie loves this weather.

After the sky clears, it's beautiful.  But really cold.  Brrrrrr...

Moons, Spots, and Polka Dots

I was at a meeting last month that involved some show and tell.  A piece was shown that had the most wonderful fabric with what looked like little moons on it.  I just had to know how she did it and, like most dyers,  she was kind enough to share her technique with me.

So I took some hand-dyes that lacked oomph and folded them up.

I got out the little clamps that I purchased when I started hand-dyeing (but never used).  They have little squares and rectangles where they clamp, not circles, so I raided my parking meter change for quarters.  Then I poured black dye over them.

And I got these cool pieces.

Been Too Busy

to be a good blogger.  With the end of the year holidays and all the responsibility that comes with them -- I have been rather neglectful of this blog.

First of all -- this is a postcard I received in the mail from my friend Beth, who blogs here.

So cute -- a crocodile!  Look at the teeth!

Also, I received this a while ago and didn't post about it.  Beth and I exchanged ATCs (the whole sordid story is here) and I neglected to share.  Look at the lovely stitching on the envelope it came in.

Finally, I am a winner!  I won this wonderful batik FQ pack at my local quilt store, Stitcher's Crossing, during their 30th anniversary celebration drawing.  I love these colors!

Next: some dyeing stuff...