December 29th!!!!

Can you believe it is December 29th already? Where did the year go? I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Isn't it exciting to imagine what a new year will bring. I have great hope that there will be more sewing in my future. 

I had a great Christmas with my family in Atlanta.  Surprisingly, we had snow on Christmas Day. Not the northeast kind of snow but it was SNOW. Everyone was very excited. Since my nephew and his family were there too it was especially fun to be greeted with a little voice on Christmas morning, saying "Wake up, it's Christmas!" No one can beat a small child for appreciating the magic of Christmas. 

I was one of the lucky ones who had good travel in spite of the snow. I had booked a flight yesterday to come home and happily it went, only 45 minutes late. A little glitch when my plane landed at the Philadelphia  airport. The extra volume of travelers meant that I had to wait 45 minutes for my car but when I finally got home, I found that my neighbors had removed the snow from my driveway and sidewalk. They were dry as a bone. You just can't say enough about good neighbors. 

As you can see, it was an American Girl Christmas. The girls wanted their dolls to join us at the table but settled for the dolls to have their own table for the meal. All the dolls were very well-behaved. 

Since I was working 7 days a week, the Christmas cards I planned to write did not get finished. I'm happy to say that they are out in the mail now. I sat down and wrote them out the day after Christmas. I do believe in the 12 Days of Christmas so I consider the cards to be very timely. 

My final goal today was to organize my projects. These are my before and after pictures of the process. I had cleared the cutting table to use for gift wrap. It is such a great height for standing and wrapping. Now my projects are all in order. I have 4 going right now - layer cake quilt along as well as BOM's from two different shops and the blocks from my quilt group. I am thinking I best get cracking!

Happy Sewing in 2011, everyone!

Getting there

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Packages are mailed to points far away which is a huge job to check off my list. I am so happy to have that finished.

My last day at the Christmas Village is tomorrow. It will be bittersweet for me. I will be happy to sleep a little later, to be warm most of the day instead of freezing all day long in the tent, and to look forward to spending time with some of my family for Christmas. I will be sad to say good-by to the terrific people I work with, to miss meeting and talking with some interesting customers every day and to not be surrounded by the beautiful things at the Kathe Wohlfahrt (Okay, so this one won't be too bad since I have bought many of my favorite items and added them to my collections!)

Since I have nothing sewing to share, I thought I would show you some of my decorations/collections. I am so glad I had everything decorated before we started to set up the store. It would never have happened if I had waited.

Part of my snowman collection

Most of these were bought at the store.

Come on in and have a seat

The second fireplace mantel. So lucky that it opens on both sides. More decorating options. Just love mantels. 

The kitchen tree stays up year round. Really started when I couldn't find a place to put the tree away. Necessity is the mother of invention. 

A spot for some of the snowmen

The hutch

Waiting for Santa

Gingerbread tree in the kitchen. Definitely not good enough to eat. 

Snowmen on the landing tree

I can't wait to get back to sewing and finishing some of those many projects I started oh, so long ago. Keep an eye out. They will be here.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, magical Christmas and a Prosperous and happy New Year!

What I'm seeing every day...

Just thought I would check in quickly and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. My schedule has forced me to monitor and adjust my expectations.
Here goes -
1) Finishing two quilts for gifts - now the goal is Valentine's Day
2) Writing Christmas cards - not yet but I have until Epiphany, right?
3) Wrapping gifts - partway done and will finish as needed.
4) Now what was # 4? There must be one but I adjusted it so well, I can't remember what it was.

As I mentioned before, I have been working seven days a week at the Christmas Village in Philadelphia. I love being down there, since I have great co-workers and the customers are also very special. And did I mention, I'm surrounded by Christmas when I'm there! I will surely miss it when I finish.

The downside of this is no time here at home. Finishing up a few things, getting gifts ready to ship to some of my family in Chicago, and making lists so it all gets finished. And somehow it will.

The picture above shows what I see every morning as I wait for the train. It tickles me because it reminds me of the signs in London. Somehow I like Mind the Gap better.

Taking that to a different level, I am looking for the gap in my day to get things done. I'll let you know if I find it.

A meeting, a name and fabric HELP needed

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted anything. I hope you are all still out there. Working 7 days a week has kept extra activities to a minimum but I can't tell you how much I am enjoying myself. As I've said before, the customers are great and I couldn't ask for better co-workers. It's exhausting but so much fun.
I've borrowed the top picture of Laura and Fran's blocks from a BOM at a NJ quilt shop. I'm doing them too but they are in the to-do pile which just keeps growing.

Part of the no-posting is nothing quilty to write about but tonight our quilt group met and at least they had some sewing to share. As we've done before, each person made the block from the previous month. They did, I didn't. We have six (5 for me) completed and can't wait to see how it all looks together.

Cindy showed us our block for next month. I made this one when I first started quilting so it looks like an easy one. To catch up I will do two blocks and then it's my turn to plan one for the group. I'm happy to say I will have time once Christmas is over.

We did name our group tonight. At least I think we did. Our decision was The Good Enough Quilters - those who are quilting in the Land of Good Enough. If any of you are reading and I'm wrong, please let me know.

Now for the last part, the plea for fabric HELP. As you may remember from a few posts ago, Laura is making a beautiful blue and white quilt for her mother but unfortunately she has run out of the white fabric and can't find it anywhere. There was no selvage so she doesn't have any name to go on. Please look at the close-up and if you have any information about where to find it, please let us know. Her quilt is so beautiful and she only needs a bit to finish. HELP!

We ended our sharing with a gift grab. These were the gifts each person brought and everyone enjoyed making a choice. They were all wonderful and there weren't too many steals. What a nice, considerate group.

Hope to be back real soon.

Happy Friday!

I'm not working today and this weekend which will be my chance to catch up. On my list today is sorting gifts, grocery shopping, washing and SEWING! I am making the promise to myself that I will get to some sewing today, whether I need to or not. And I really need to!

I am having a great time working at the Christmas Village in Philadelphia. Yes, if you live in the Philadelphia this is the one that caused a great stir when they removed Christmas from the name. Thankfully some reason prevailed and it is still Christmas Village. I just love going to work each day but it will be nice to have some time to get some things done.

As I've said before I love working and will miss it while I'm away. Here are a few pictures from inside the store. Aren't I lucky to be surrounded by such pretty things - and GREAT people!

If you live in the area be sure to come and see us. Many people have told us that this is just like the Christmas Markets held in towns and cities all over Germany this time of year. And you can have the experience without the cost! It is the third year and bigger and better than ever.