ay the borders look. Thanks so much to Becky, Pat, and Melissa for helping me pick out the perfect borders.
atch up with them. Hubby and I came back on Saturday, spent Sunday with his family and it has taken me the last two days to get all of the Christmas decorations put away and our returns made. I have to go to the grocer
y store today to get the makings for Hoppin John and greens. Then it is off to the sewing room.
Santa, so this is going to be fun! So, Santa...here's a few things on my wish list right now.
I think that Santa will probably notice a trend here, I definitely have a thing for Civil War repro fabrics. I live in Atlanta, the city that was given to Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas present. What better way to celebrate than to ask for my own little piece of the Civil War. Merry Christmas everyone.
The Christmas Cookie Club is another new holiday book this year. I can definitely see a sequel to it. I enjoyed the characters and would definitely like to know more about them.
I never know if I am going to like the Elm Creek Quilter's books or not, to me they are real hit or miss. This one I really enjoyed, you were able to finally get to know the new characters and revisit some of the older characters. It is also a very quick read.
The tree is up, finally. I love having a real tree! Last year for the first and I hope only time we had a "fake" tree, there was just too much going on to try to get a real tree and keep it watered. Some people want a tall and skinny tree, I am more of the round fat tree kind of person. This year we have a Frasier Fir, and as you can tell our tree doesn't have a theme, our decorations are a little bit of everything.
Last night while working on Carolina Christmas, I felt like one UFO was starring at me, there was a quilt that had three of the four borders on and it was making me feel guilty. I stopped what I was doing and finished it. It is a Bonnie Hunter pattern, Stepping Stones. Earlier this year my friend Kristie organized a fabric swap with several of the Thimbles members for this quilt, the only fabrics of our own that we were to use were the black and white cornerstone pieces. I didn't get to work on mine right away since my fabrics "went missing" for a while, our wonderful leader Pat accidentally took them home with her and it was a while before I got them back. At her suggestion, the quilt is now named Amazing Grace, what was lost is now found. I do fell great getting something accomplished at this time of year. Who knows when it will get quilted.
Christmas is my all time favorite holiday. I shop for Christmas year around, work on Christmas gifts year around and plan my decorations. I decorate every room in the house. I started decorating over the weekend, I don't have my tree yet, since we get a live tree, that will come next week. I did get out all of my nutcrackers, or the little wooden b*******, as my hubby calls them. I really think that he hates them, he has even had nightmares about them. He shouldn't dislike them so much since he started my nutcracker collection. The first Christmas we were dating, I found one that I liked and he bought it for me. That one was followed by a couple of others that same year. 
One of my favorites is the little one int he photo above, a friend of mine brought it to me from Germany. I actually have three from Germany that friends have brought me. 
It seems like forever since we have had a Thimbles sewing weekend. Of course I probably feel that way since I didn't make it last month. I had a great time. Our fearless leader started the day describing two of the quilts for our next quarter. They are both stunning. You can see them in the background. The one on the left a Hunter Star pattern and the fabric is from Moda. The one on the right is a scrap quilt from the book 40 Fabulous Quilts. The quilt for March will be a surprise.
There were some great quilts for show and tell, the star quilt above was one of Pat's. The blocks were a swap in her sewing group. I really like star quilts
Where else would the Quilting Cowgirl spend Friday night but at a Bull Riding Competition? You don't get the chance to do this very often in Atlanta, this isn't exactly the bull riding capital of the world. This weekend, the PBR came to Atlanta for the weekend and hubby and I went last night. It was a great time. We had great seats, right by the shutes. There is an event tonight and tomorrow night that I would have loved to have attended, but Joe left today for Virginia and I didn't want to go without him. I got hooked on bull riding several years ago when we went to Cheyenne Frontier days for vacation. We have been several times now and are talking about going back next year. I would love to live out west, maybe someday.
Yesterday I tried to catch up on all of those things that I had not done all week. When we have our book fair, I don't do much of anything when I come home in the afternoon. I went shopping yesterday morning, I think I am finished with my Christmas shopping, I still have to go through everything, but if my lists are correct I am done. I still have some birthday shopping to do, Joe, my mom and my great niece all have December birthdays. After shopping I raked leaves, the trees have almost dropped all of their leaves. After all of this I decided to try out two new recipes. Joe found one in Field and Stream, (yes, Field and Stream has recipes) for Venison and Pumpkin Stew, and I had one a teacher had given me for Topsy Turvy Apple Pie. I don't eat venison so it was hard for me to tell how the stew was going to taste. I didn't really think it had much taste, Joe was of the same opinion. That recipe was definitely a failure, what he didn't eat went in the garbage. The pie on the other had was a success. This recipe is definitely a keeper. As you can tell from the large missing piece, Joe really, really liked it. The one thing I wanted to do yesterday was some sewing, but it just didn't happen. The only sewing I have done all week was to seam up a pair of pants for a teacher. Hopefully this coming week will bring some sewing time.
What a difference two weeks can make. Two weeks ago when we were at the cabin all of the trees still had leaves. Saturday morning there was probably about three inches of leaves on the drive way, there are very few leaves still on the trees. Joe and I had dueling leave blowers, he did the driveway while I did the porch and around the house. We shouldn't have to do it again. 
After leaf blowing Joe took a nap while I finished a hat that is one of my mom's Christmas presents. Her hair has started coming back after the chemo but not enough that she will be able to go without a hat this winter. She wanted one that would go with her red coat and her green coat, so I thought navy would work. Hope she likes it. 
Do you ever feel like you are stuck in a rut? Lately I have definitely felt that way. I think part of that comes from an even that will take place in a few months, a birthday - the big 50. My hubby and I try to get out and I try to get out with friends but sometimes I am just too tired after work or with the economy the way it is you don't want to go out and spend a ton of money. Well last night I had the best time and it was free, yes free. As you know I love to read, and I found out that one of my favorite authors, Kate Jacobs, was going to be in town promoting her new book, Knit the Season. I couldn't find anyone to go with me, so I went by myself. I had the best time. It was at one of our local libraries, sponsored by the Georgia Center fo
r the Book. I really enjoyed listening to her. Her new book, Knit the Season came out on Tuesday and we were the third group on her promotion tour. She is a wonderfully warm and funny lady. I had taken my copy of her book, Comfort Food, and while there I purchased a copy of her new book to give my mom for Christmas. The Georgia Center for the Book has wonderful authors scheduled for the next few months, you can bet that I will go listen to some of them. 
I just barely got this one finished. I started it a couple of weeks ago and just really haven't been in the sewing mood. I am happy with the way it turned out. This will be the new tote bag I carry to my sewing group. There is plenty of room for all of the stuff that us quilters carry around. This is the second bag I have made from this pattern it goes together very quickly (if you work on it). Happy Halloween.
Can't believe that it is already Halloween, (it will be in a couple of hours). This month has just flown by. After a really busy week at school, I am looking forward to a quiet day tomorrow. Halloween is one of the best times to share "scary stories" with the kids at school. I have had the best time this week reading The Tailypo to our fourth and fifth grade students, it isn't too scary but I don't want to take a chance and really scare any of our students so I save it for the older kids. I have a sore throat from doing the creepy voice of the "mysterious creature'" but it was well worth it. The kids and teachers have had a blast this week. Now for a quiet relaxing weekend, Hubby is out of town so I plan on getting some sewing done, I have to finish some of my Christmas presents, time is running out. I have a doll carrier that I need to finish for my great niece, some boxers for my hubby, and a couple of bags that you heat in the microwave, I forgot the official name for them. I might take a break and go to Sweet Home with Becky, I never turn down a chance to go to a quilt shop. Happy Haunting everyone.
Several people had emailed me asking about the pattern for one of the quilts from the Mountain Holly Quilts Show. The name of the pattern is Pumpkins and Crows, it is available through Log Cabin Patchwork in Hiawassee, GA. I believe that it is one of their original designs. I am looking forward to getting mine made for next fall. Happy Fall.
Where else would a Quilting Cowgirl spend her weekend but at a Cowboy Symposium. The Booth Museum of Western Art had their annual Cowboy Symposium over the weekend. It was very, very good. The museum is awesome by itself, plus all of the extra exhibits and programs going on over the weekend. The museum is in Cartersville, about an hour north of Atlanta, that is taking traffic into consideration. The art on display is magnificent, if you like western art. There is something for everyone, from bronzes by Remington, to a special exhibit on the President's of the United States. There were also special exhibits outside the museum this weekend, there were arts and crafts, a chuck wagon serving up great food, and a reenactment of the shootout at the O.K. Corral. Hubby and I had a great time, needless to say there was no sewing this weekend.
I went to my stash and found fabrics that would coordinate with it to make a double border. It is a small quilt, but big enough to snuggle under while watching "The Great Pumpkin."
I even put a "fancy" label on it. I have always loved this saying so I found a graphic and printed it out on the computer. I really want to work on making better labels.
I love log cabin quilts and the one above featured sampler block in combination with log cabin blocks. The name of it was Jamestown Sampler.
Love this Halloween quilt. I took about ten photos of it, thinking I would love to copy it, then went I was looking at the different vendors I found the pattern. I decided that would be easier than making my own pattern, not cheaper but definitely easier.
This quilt definitely stood out!! It was done in black and white and was the quilter's first attempt at long arm quilting. I think she knew what she was doing.
