The pug always gets top billing...and he loved his raccoon! See how proud he is!

The before:

Twas the night before Christmas, and the goodies were actually wrapped!

The stocking were hung by the chimney with care (using my new best thingies, easily removed “command strip” hooks):

I promise...the stockings really are there, just off to the left....

The during:

That's Paul's hand in the lower right--he tends to glare at the camera so I mostly take pictures of the boys, when they tolerate it....

We had a lovely Christmas and hope you did, too!  I recently killed my beloved Panasonic DMC FZ-30 camera.  The first death blow was when hiking about 3 years ago and I slipped and the camera banged against a rock hard enough to chip the metal on the rim…miraculously, the camera still took good photos…good enough that all the studio / in progress shots in my book are taken on that one “after the fall” (and no, I didn’t get but a scrape…I was a lot more upset about the camera)!…the final death blow was a couple weeks ago when it slipped off a pile of fabric on my work table.  I had moved it, foolishly, to the top of a not-terribly-stable or flat pile to make room to cut something.  Then I bumped the table.  Ooops.  Landed lens down, and that led to a repair that led to the front of the lens coming off.  Erg.  So I bought a Canon G12 as a carry-around camera (not one of the fits in a jeans or shirt pocket size, but fits in a jacket pocket or purse easily) and have discovered it takes AWESOME pictures.  These were almost ALL taken *without* flash and handheld…. I could never have done that on the old camera!

The not-roast beast:

Thumper had to check out Paul's gift of salami, which beloved SIL Joyce sends from California since we can't get this here on the East Coast

We will only touch briefly on the fact that Paul left the salami on the table and the next day the pug, temporarily persona non grata, helped himself to one of them.  Including a lot of the paper wrapper.  Astonishingly, the pug was not sick. Paul was a bit queasy about the loss of the one salami, but he didn’t ask the dog to return it.  Ahem.

Are you done taking pictures yet?

After snapping about a dozen pictures of the boys and Paul, I hit their limit….. but I DO like the camera!

Here’s what we woke up to this morning….much more snow than anticipated…WOOOHOOO!

Looking over the front lawn to the street

The front porch...hmmm....

The driveway---or it will be once we shovel!

And a perennial favorite of mine, snowy woodpiles!

Eli helped a lot… it is so wonderful to have someone else in the family who totally “gets” the tree thing, and the tradition, and is interested in which ornaments came from where (literally all over the world!) and when…. and that would be me and Eli!   We assembled the tree (more on that in a sec) and got the lights on over the weekend, and the ornaments on yesterday!

The tree!

Here’s a close-up.  Even *I* will admit my ornament collecting (it was supposed to be one a year, but is usually more what with gifts from friends and my inability to stop at one of the purchased kind too….).  We’re hoping in the new house (moving locally in late January, fates willing) that the tree will be in a spot where we can reach the back side of it so we can spread out the ornaments!

LOTS of ornaments! On the center right, a chola from La Paz, Bolivia, on the center left one Eli made, the red reindeer is from when I was in about 1st grade and to his left a painted lantern from my last overseas trip with the Foreign Service to Moscow. Tthe tin reindeer is from the Waterford Craft Fair in Virginia, Top right has an orca from when we lived in Friday Harbor; the cub scout is Joshua back in first grade (and it was a Cub Scout project). There's a trillium stained glass on the lower right from my assignment to the US Consulate in Toronto (Trillium is the official Ontario flower), there are miniature Bolivian hats here and there, and in the top right a wooden US capitol purchased when we lived in DC on Capitol Hill. And sort of in the center, Eli's origami bat (made in school) and a little foamie mousie he made, too! Our life, on a tree!

As for “assembling the tree.”  You might wonder why a family that lives in the Pine Tree State would have an artificial tree.  Well, when you are in the Foreign Service and live all over the world, you had best take your Christmas goodies with you.  La Paz, Bolivia, for example, was in the barren, nearly treeless, Altiplano.  The next overseas assignment was in Gabon, in Central Africa.  LOTS of trees….jungle!….there.  But Christmas trees?  Not quite.  So we had an artificial tree that traveled all over the world with us.  And by about 1995 it looked like it had been around the world.  We donated it to a charitable auction (they decorate trees and auction them) and bought a new one on sale after Christmas.  It was also larger, to better house the growing ornament collection.

Fifteen years later, I think I need to prune what goes on the tree every year! Even the larger tree is crowded.  That’s in part because Mom sent me ALL the ornaments I had sent mom and dad over the years.  The good news is that when the boys have their own homes, I can divide up everything into three piles, and each of the boys will have  a matching set since I usually bought one for mom and dad and another of the same for me—two sets!  Good thing we didn’t have three kids!  So that’s my story…  after nearly 30 years, we’ve had two trees.  I like them. They’re part of the family tradition just like the ornaments.  Enjoy the love and the lights of the season, Sarah

OK…this was too adorable not to share!  This version is shortened because parts of the original (see link below) have songs that aren’t exactly used according to copyright.  But I’m putting this version instead of the silent, longer one since I love the animal sounds:

PS…I originally saw it at http://www.wimp.com/swimmingpiglet/ where it has a fun song track, so click on the link if you want the whole shebang.  Enjoy!

detail from the most recent free motion sampler--should be clickable for a larger view in most browsers

In my previous post, I shared The Ginormous Quilt (I may have to actually NAME it that!) inspired by Jenny Bowker’s quilt sampler and my variation on her theme.   I was able to see Jenny at Quilt Festival in Houston, have supper with her and Aussie friend Lisa Walton (of the gorgeous hand-dyed fabrics, here), and Jenny invited me up to her class one morning before the class began to see her other samples.  I thought I should try a few variations on the theme myself but, unlike Jenny’s samples in Houston, introduce some curves into the process.  Here’s my original variation on Jenny’s idea:

And here is the most recent one–and yes, *I* actually *pieced* that!  What’s become of me?

Free-motion sampler, before washing

Since I have the Ginormous thing, I wanted to test out various battings before spending a bundle to have it basted on a longarm.  The good news is that wool batting does not alter the whiteness of the sashing enough to be noticed, so if I want to I can use a wool or wool-blend batting. In this sample, I used Hobbs Heirloom Wool, which is quite puffy.  To use a Pamela Allen (if you’re not familiar with her work, click on her name to visit her website and prepare to spend a good long while being inspired!)  word, I like the “puffosity” of it.  The bad news is that you need to baste MORE with wool batting than with cotton or  you get some slippage and bubbling.  Ahem.  Basting is NOT my strong suit!

Since the Ginormous Quilt is to be a used bed quilt, with cats sleeping on top of it and getting it seriously hairy, I need something that will wash up nicely and easily without fuss.  So I tossed the sample into the washer and dryer with the regular washing.  As you might gather, I’m not a fusspot about some things.  This is what it looked like straight out of the dryer….gulp!

After machine washing and drying, wool batting (shrinkage expected!)

I took it upstairs, misted it with water and pulled it out a tad—here are back and front before ironing:

After machine wash and drying. Misted with water and pulled out a little.

Back view, after washing, drying, and a light mist of water prior to ironing

After ironing, it is much better and an inch smaller than before washing/drying:

After washing, drying, misting and ironing. Notice the ripply straight grain bindings. This is why I ALWAYS make bias! This was as a sample of why I don't like straight grain....

I REALLY dislike straight grain bindings, but given how little of the fabric I had left, I decided to do a straight grain binding.  This sampler is a perfect example of why:  ripples.  UGH.  The teaching part of this section of the quilt is “why I don’t do it this way”.  Ahem.

The bottom line:  despite the apparently horrible crumpliness of the quilt straight out of the dryer, I think this soft, light, drapeable wool batting (Hobbs) could work.  I would simply tumble dry to “damp” instead of “dry”, then let it air dry the rest of the way.  Of course, there is the question of whether or not it would fit in a home dryer! My sample was just under 18 inches before quilting.  It was, after squaring up after quilting, 17 inches with binding.  After washing, it is 16 x 16  inches.  This shrinkage was expected and planned for in constructing the top, which I made oversized so that when hubby and the cats hog the covers I will still have enough quilt  left.  Smile!

I have at least one other wool batting sample, by Pellon, and plan on also making a comparable size  with the Quilters Dream Wool and another with their cotton batting, which is one of my favorite cottons.  All samples will be machine washed and dried…I am absolutely NOT going to fussy-wash a quilt that is nine square yards huge! When I get them all done (probably in about a year…sigh…) I’ll share the final comparisons.