Such A Happy Christmas -

This was the scene that greeted us as we arrived at Jeff & Ashlyn's yesterday afternoon.

Talk about a blast from the past!

ALL of these stockings are those I made over the years - The ones on the far right made when the boys were tiny - I made them for all of the nieces and nephews at that time, too.

I think the pattern may have been a Debbie Mumm - but I can't be sure.

The ones with names on the left - the ones with string piecing and embroidered names came later.

At some point I had sent Jason's to him so he has it  but these others?

They were long forgotten in boxes of "Christmas stuff" that Jeff picked up a year ago November when we sold the Wallburg house.  

The boxes marked "Christmas" that contained all of the ornaments and lights, and other decorations that go on the tree that they also adopted.

My heart swelled to see that they had included us so much in this special Christmas that our stockings too were full - and the tradition continues!

Along with some NEW ones!

Forget the Christmas Turkey - This is North Carolina where ribs are put on the grill and slow cooked for hours.

Ashlyn and her sister had cooked for two days - and there were only 7 of us to make a dent in this spread and it was SO delicious.

Besides the ribs there was a spiral ham baked with pineapple rings, cherries and cloves - the way my mom used to do it.  It brought so many memories!

There was sweet potato casserole, green beans, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, stuffing, rice, corn on the cobb, baked beans, corn bread, broccoli - the buffet counter went on and on.  

For 7 people? They are going to have a week's worth of meals at the ready.  At least.

As we were doing dishes I could see that Ashlyn was exhausted - and I said to her what I have laughed about for every holiday meal I've prepared over the past 40+ years. "2 days to cook it all, gone in 20 minutes."  But it was wonderful, and I am so happy to pass the baton to the younger folks in the family.

My contributions were a simple green salad (No one had room for it on their plates!) and a crust-less pumpkin pie. 

Spray whipped-cream in a can was the most fun for Casden.

We all needed naps after.

Playing Operation with Casden.

Zoey does NOT like the buzzing sound that comes from this game!  It sounds too much like stink bugs buzzing by.

Jeff and Casen putting together the Hot Wheels track!

Sorry for the blur - it is so hard to get anyone to stand still for photos!

At one point we had 2 cars making the loop one after the other - add a third, and they all crash, and that was fun too.

Cheering on the winner!

I think Jeff liked this as much as Casden did.  LOL!

It was a wonderful day spent together.  We had to leave in time to make it home by dark - that steep drive had me a bit concerned the whole time.

It was slippery getting down.  I knew it would be hair raising going back up late in the day.

Temps never got above freezing so there was no chance of a thaw.

We made it - but it was iffy on that steep hairpin turn.

Now that Christmas is over I'm ready for all of this snow stuff to just go away.  Thank you very much. But no thanks.

On the hand quilting front - last stitches were taken!

And the "knife edge" finish has begun.

Here is a recap on how I did the same for Jason's quilt HERE.

A quick peek at the underside.

I love this finish for  things like this - These hexies already have their seam allowance turned under from the English Paper Piecing assembly. They are only 3/4'' per side so adding a separate binding would be overkill to the size of the hexies themselves.

With this kind of finish there is "No Binding Required". It's just going to take a while to get it all done.  

Slow stitching the week between Christmas & New Years?  Perfect.

I hope you had a marvelous holiday and are able to breathe a bit easier now that we are on the "other" side.

I know I am!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Take a good look at these pinwheels.⁣ What do you see?

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Beauty in imperfection!  Happy Accidents. 

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REAL.

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Have a great Day After, everyone!