The Saturday After…

The Turkey Coma Aftermath!

Thanksgiving comes and goes – much preparation and anticipation.

The menu planning and yummy smells in the kitchen.

The greeting of friends as they arrive carrying side dishes and beverages and…..oh my goodness, how are we going to eat all of this food?

The calling to the men folk to CARVE THE TURKEY!

I swear, the hardest part is having it all done and ready and HOT at the same time -- with one oven, one microwave and a bevvy of crock pots.

The setting of the table, my great-grandmother’s crystal goblets ringing like bells as ice is added to each glass.

How long does it take to eat a Thanksgiving feast like this?

All of about 20 minutes. 

But it was lovely with the 6 of us!

And the three of these!

You would think all three doggie babies were the ones under the spell of turkey induced comas as we settled in to watch a movie in front of the fire!

Who is this new little guy?

Max is Mona’s grand-dog and she is fostering him for the next while as her daughter is unable to keep him.  He and Beanie have been good companions for each other, and now Sadie (who wasn’t so sure at first) is now enjoying another pup to play with.

Or hog the couch with?

The sunrises on the ridge have been magnificent.

The weather has been absolutely perfect – in fact today it is supposed to reach into the low 60s.  I’ll take it.

With the release of part 1 of our On Ringo Lake mystery – everything going as planned – I feel such a sense of calm.  It’s here.  It’s happening, falling into place with everything else, and such great news about my brother, Dave’s dad being put to rest with the honors he so richly deserved after a long and fruitful life – there are only TWO things left on my plate still in the “urgent” column.

I leave on Tuesday to see my my brother and my dad in Arizona.  Getting there is the stressful part, once I’m there the celebration begins.  I’m looking forward to it.

December 2nd has me leaving Arizona for the 3-guild make-up teaching days.  I’m hoping the weather holds out for that one, and then I have 3 weeks to get this book manuscript nailed.  We can start 2018 wide open.

In other news:

Bonus Buddy Singles!

If the FedEx notification I got is correct – these have arrived!

The Bonus Buddy originally came as a bonus in the Essential Triangle Tool package! You asked for it to be available as a stand-alone product and we listened!

Easily mark diagonal stitch lines, sew, and cut, and you get a bonus HST unit from your leftover corner cut-offs. No wasted fabric! The Bonus Buddy doubles as a seam-guide marking tool for your machine and is also a handy 1” x 5” ruler. Designed by Bonnie K. Hunter, this will be your new favorite piecing tool.

If you already have the Essential Triangle Tool, you have one of these.  If you don’t, now you can!

Use the needle holes in the tool to help fine-tune your seam allowance, giving you the unit size you need.  Use the magic line on the ruler to properly place a second seam any time you do flip & stitch corners to give you a bonus unit in an already-to-use size (no odd sizes requiring sliver-trimming!) so you can use every inch of that $12.00+ a yard fabric!

The Bonus Buddy comes on it’s own instruction card so you’ll be making bonus triangles right away.

More Simple Folded Corners Rulers are on their way, but won’t be in stock until I get back from Oregon, so if you want that also, you may consider waiting and adding your Bonus Buddy to that order when in stock.

I choose the best method for working with stitch & flip corners based on the size of my unit.  If I want to save bonus units from 2 1/2'' squares or larger, I use the Bonus Buddy.  If the stitch & flip is from smaller than 2 1/2'' squares, I'll use the Simple Folded Corners ruler so I can use the Essential Triangle Tool to cut the corner triangles the correct size and stitch them in place on the units I trimmed with the Simple Folded Corners ruler with very little waste on the base unit. (There is no waste on the corner triangles, they are already the correct size.)  I need them both in my arsenal and use them both all of the time.

It's like having a regular head screw driver, and a Phillips head when you need it.

Along with the Ruler Stickers, these make great stocking stuffers and gifts..  And they are on sale in the store for $1.00 off retail.

Scrap Basket blocks from the March/April 2011

Addicted to Scraps Column!

These baskets were made using the bonus triangles that came from 2 1/2’’ stitch & flip squares.  The Bonus Buddy will help you make these in the right size!

*NOTE*  Since Quiltmaker joined with other magazines into one big website, The Quilting Company – My Addicted to Scraps tab on this blog needs to be redone.  That’s several years worth of links and images.  I’ll be working on that over the next several weeks and hope to get it caught up to date.  The links under the tab do work and will redirect you to the new website where images of the blocks can be found.

As for my stack of blocks?  I’m working on a fun lay-out to actually get them to quilt status!

Last night’s view from my hoop.

All is quiet here at Quilt Villa.  The boys and Rick & Mona, Beanie and Max left yesterday after lunch.  It’s just a normal Saturday on the mountain.  The plan is to head to town for a Lowe’s run.  I want vertical blinds for the sliding glass doors off of the dining room and the master bedroom, and some pull down shades (Nice ones, not that roll of vinyl stuff) for the two other bedrooms.  It’s been on the list since we first bought the cabin in March, and today is the day we start in on this.

And sewing.  I need time to be one with the machine.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

I so agree! I am blessed, honored and privileged to be able to spend time every day creating with fabric and thread.

And don't forget that All Digital Patterns are on sale in the Quiltville store, using code DIGITAL25 at purchase.  Code MUST be used at time of purchase for discount.  This sale only goes though Cyber Monday, so you can pick up the patterns you forgot to get last time!

Have a lovely pieceful Saturday, everyone!