A Quilter's Christmas

Did you see? . . . . .

2011-10-25T11:38:00.000-04:00

The top of this blog says there are only 61 days left until Christmas! Oh, my .....

So to recap, the last Christmas crafting party didn't go as well as the first. It was supposed to start at 10:00 but no one showed up until 12:30. Then I spent a good bit of time "catering" to the daughters and a guest . . . . .you, know . . . . hey, mom, do you have an extra pair of scissors? - put my stuff down, go find the scissors, get back in the chair, pick up my handwork, . . . . hey, Cathi, I forgot my ecru floss, do you have any? - put my stuff down, go upstairs to get my floss stash, get back in the chair, pick up my handwork . . . . hey, mom, can I borrow your Ott light? mine is in the car . . . . . repeat, repeat, repeat.

Last month I was out of town for Rudy day at a quilt show.

Today I am home and getting ready for another show BUT I am sneaking in some Rudy anyway. I HAVE to. We are running out of time, people!

So what are these pictures on today's post? Just random things I happen to have that are Christmas-y on this laptop. My PC has all but shown the blue screen of death so I am working from my laptop for now. Hoping Computer Geek can come over and get it up and running enough to back up one more time before we send it to the computer graveyard. I did some backups last week but not of the emails, and contact lists.

Maybe I need to ask for a new computer from Santa! Have a happy and productive Rudy Day!

Blessings, Cathi

Another Christmas Crafting Party . . . . .

2011-08-31T09:47:00.001-04:00

I'll be hosting another Christmas Crafting Party tomorrow with the same people as before, my two daughters, myself and my friend Jennie. I almost had another one coming but she doesn't retire (for the second time) until September 30th.

This time I will remember to get the Christmas mugs out of the attic before it gets too hot! Come back tomorrow and visit!

Blessings, Cathi

Happy Rudy Day . . . . .

2011-08-25T16:03:00.001-04:00

I had plans for today that didn't include Rudy Day. But that doesn't mean I forgot about it!

I went antique shopping with a friend for a few hours in Chester, South Carolina. She had been to an antique shop there in the former Hall Lumber Company building on Hudson St. (for those that want to go) and thought I might like it. Boy, did I! Besides some other non-Christmas items, I found these . . . . .

I found this tablecloth for only $3.00.

I'm sure it isn't an antique but it is pretty. It has a few stains on it. I am thinking of giving it a good tea dye bath and then making it into a tree skirt since I don't have a round table and it is round. Hey, for three bucks . . . . .

I also found these two for only $2.00 each.

The pink ornament is only about 2" in diameter and the turquoise about 3-1/2" long. Maybe not old but the perfect aged patina.

Off to the grocery store because we are out of food. Not because I enjoy going out in the heat in the afternoon with all the screaming elementary kids that just got out of school (we started back already). When I get back I will check out the other blogs, the forum and try to do something Christmas-y before the day is out.

Blessings, Cathi

There's still a week left . . . .

2011-07-22T08:48:00.002-04:00

There is still a week left if you want to throw together your own Christmas in July party. Just call a few friends, grab a Christmas project (either a decoration or a gift), add a few Christmas DVD's and you're all set!

I told some peeps that I would be back with another post last night. Oops! I finished what I had planned but not until midnight. I finished all the embroidery around the "Let it Snow" quilt. Now just the quilting, buttons, snaps and binding.

and I finished the tote bag I made for The Married One. The handles are wide webbing attached with some older pink buttons. She loved it!

The Married One packed up before I had a chance to take a picture of her pillow tops. She still has to do the machine work. She doesn't procrastinate as much as I do so maybe a finished picture soon.

The Wild One started on a Prairie Schooler Santa that she (meaning me) will make into an ornament. I think she is going to make 4 of them.

No, she didn't get far but most of it was prep work ..... counting, fray check, finding the right colors. Now that she has started, she should just whip right through these - I hope.

It's too hot out to do anything else, so why not stay inside and dream of a White Christmas or at least a cooler one!

Blessings, Cathi

So far, so good . . . . .

2011-07-21T14:36:00.000-04:00

Jennie just left and we are taking another breakfast casserole break. Thought I would post a few pictures.

The Wild One working on some new cross-stitched Christmas gifts.

Jennie is smocking the yokes for her granddaughters' Christmas dresses.

The Married One is outlining a snowflake pattern that she will be appliqueing onto cable knit wool pillows.

Me? I've been fussing over them mostly and making sure they have everything they need. I have sewn the binding on the tote that I showed the other day. I have a few more words stitched on my "Let it Snow" quilt.

We've watched 2 movies so far.

Picking movie number 3 next!

Blessings, Cathi

Just waiting . . . . .

2011-07-21T09:18:00.000-04:00

I have the breakfast casserole in the oven, the fruit has been cut, the coffee is made. I'm just waiting for my guests to arrive.

I even got a little decorating in .....

I was going to put out the Christmas coffee mugs but it was just too dang hot in the attic to go get them. I'll add in the Christmas notebook to get the mugs down next year on any cool day we have ..... even if it's a month early. Better yet, keep them downstairs all year long!

Blessings, Cathi

Almost ready ! . . . . .

2011-07-19T11:31:00.001-04:00

My two daughters and a friend of mine are coming to the house on Thursday to have our annual Christmas in July crafting party.

Two years ago, DD#1 (the Married One) started her own Christmas notebook. The scrapbook paper she chose for it looks a lot like the fabric I chose to make a tote bag for her.

She can use the tote to carry her notebook and whatever else she needs for her Christmas crafts.

I hope this will be a surprise for her. She never reads my Christmas blog unless I tell her to specifically.

Hope to post more on Thursday! We'll be eating our Christmas breakfast casserole, some fresh fruit and coffee. And of course, watching Christmas movies all day.

Come back and visit then!

Blessings, Cathi

2011-06-26T20:11:00.001-04:00

Didn't get to finish much Rudy stuff yesterday. If this is the only blog of mine you read, you may not know that I have lost my job do to the wonderful economy 18 months ago. It's getting better.....yeah, right.

Anyway, since I am over 50 and my field is all but dead (land development), I have decided to go in another direction and make my own career hand-dying wools for use in quilt appliques and rug-hooking.

With all that said, I spent a good bit of the day working on samples for my vendor booth. One of them that I finished this past week that is Christmas-related (after all, this is a Christmas blog and I need to show something Christmas-y!) was this Holly Wreath Penny Mat made with my hand-dyed wools.

Hope you had a good Rudy Day. Next month, my two daughters and I will be having our annual Rudy Day of crafting together! Can't wait!!

Blessings, Cathi

2011-06-25T10:20:00.001-04:00

Well, I sure dropped the ball last month with Rudy Day. I was probably working on my business since I had a show the next week.

Today, Dear Hubby and TurfBoy (son #1) are playing golf. I think I will take advantage of the quiet and do some Rudy Day.

I started this quilt last Saturday . . . . .

I borrowed this picture from the Farmhouse Threads website, the designer of the pattern. Below is what I have finished so far. . . . .

I want to get the machine sewing finished so when I go out of town again, I just have handwork to do.

I think I will also work on my Christmas notebook today. I haven't kept it up very much over the past year and a half due to life hiccups. We didn't send out Christmas cards last year. This year we need to do that and that may be a good thing to work on today.

I'll be back later today so check back by!

Blessings, Cathi

2011-04-25T20:49:00.000-04:00

I think I did pretty well today. I stayed off the computer as much as possible, finished all 11 blocks and started putting rows together.

I watched all of "White Christmas" and most of "Christmas Vacation". I had to stop at the part where Uncle Lewis set the Christmas tree on fire with his "stogie". Love that movie! Anyway, I should be able to finish the movie up in a few minutes and maybe another row or two. Had to take a dinner break!

Hope you all had a productive Rudy Day, too!

Blessings, Cathi

2011-04-25T11:28:00.001-04:00

I changed my mind about what to do today. I've decided I NEED to finish a project without starting another one. I am determined to get this top finished today.

It's been hanging around much too long. As of this morning, I had 11 blocks left to make. I have finished 4 already. I decided that I would set the timer in 45 minute/30 minute intervals. 45 minutes to sew and 30 minutes to do other chores including blogging. So with 20 minutes left until I can go back in the sewing room, I better get the floor swept and some cleaning done.

I hope you will find something Christmasy to do today. Will post more later!

Blessings, Cathi

2011-04-23T15:11:00.001-04:00

Yes, It's been a month already. I am enjoying an Easter weekend at the in-law's house but with an eye towards Monday. The next Rudy Day. . . .

During the last month I put together the rows of my "Thoughts of Christmas" quilt. I still have the border to go but I think I will save that for another Rudy Day.

This Rudy Day I will be making a snowman doll that I have had the pattern and fabric for more years than I want to mention. The pattern is at home so I can't show a picture yet. Join me on Monday to get another little piece of Christmas finished. You thank me later!

Blessings, Cathi

So how was your Rudy Day? . . . . .

2011-03-25T21:18:00.001-04:00

I got a few things finished. I watched the movie "Call Me Claus" with Whoopi Goldberg. Cute movie.

I made several ornaments two years ago with baby socks. I bought enough stuff to make 12 ornaments but for some reason only made 7 of them.

This was still in my Rudy box. . . . .

Halfway through the movie, I had this finished. . . . . . FINALLY!

These were also taking up room in the box. Not sure why. I think I thought one of the letters was missing but apparently not.

So I decided to make a little bag out of flannel to store them in. . . . .

Also, watched part of "Elf". I just love that movie! I went through my quilt and craft Christmas patterns to try and decide what my next project will be for next Rudy Day on April 25th. I probably should finish one of the many Christmas quilts that I have started!

Blessings, Cathi

I'm back just in time . . . . .

2011-03-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

for the March Rudy Day! I've neglected this blog long enough. Time to have some fun.

Today is a furlough day for Dear Hubby. He teaches at a local high school. Our school district was given (or taken) 10 furlough days which means no school, no baseball games AND no pay. But it's nice having him home.

So while he is in the garden cleaning out the vegetable beds from last year . . . . .

I'll be working my way through this . . . . . my Rudy Day box . . . .

That's filled with this . . . . .

Past projects that I said I would make for "next" Christmas. The basket is full and it's high time I cleaned some of it out.

Hope to post more as the day goes on. Maybe, maybe not. I've waited 8 months to post on this blog again. We don't want to over-do it!! LOL

Blessings, Cathi

Gonna have to temporarily shut down . . . . .

2010-07-25T09:03:00.000-04:00

I don't know about your blogs but this one has been hit with over 50 comments from non-speaking persons just since January. The last post on June 25th had 12 alone!

If anyone knows how to stop it, please let me know. For the time being, I am going to stop posting on this blog until I figure out what I want to do. Hope you understand!

Blessings, Cathi

Happy Rudy Day . . . . .

2010-06-25T19:07:00.001-04:00

Oh, how I wish I could say I did something for Rudy Day today. But alas, we are still working on our downstairs flooring (see my primitive blog for an explanation).

There is no bathroom downstairs or tv. The kitchen is at the most bare minimum. But after a long day's work today, I think I may talk Dear Hubby into watching a Christmas movie later on in our room. Anything other than Christmas with the Kranks.

Although he is a big Tim Allen and Jamie Leigh Curtis fan, he just doesn't believe a mother would really act that way about a daughter being gone for Christmas. But then again, he isn't a mother.

We would also have to stop whatever movie we decide on to check on the Clemson/Univ. of SC baseball game.

They are one of the biggest rivalries in the South . . . . but usually for football. It's just amazing that they are both even in the College World Series. And for both of them to make the 'final four'. Both my boys went to Clemson as well as one of my brothers so you know who we'll be pulling for!

I hope I can do at least two things tonight while switching channels . . . . . going over the Christmas card list from last year and planning the 'project' for Christmas in July on July 25th with my girls. Maybe I'll even have the brain power to think of the on-line Christmas in July project for all my bloggy friends.

Hope you are all doing something Christmas-y today. Maybe dragging it on all weekend!

Blessings, Cathi

Christmas Quilt . . . . . one month at a time. . . . .

2010-06-12T16:16:00.000-04:00

I won a quilt pattern from Paula the Quilter's blog last year. Since it was a Christmas pattern, I thought I would treat it as a BOM (block of the month for you non-quilters). So I started last September with the first row.

I think I have done a pretty good job keeping up with them. If I don't finish one a month, I at least do several the next month to keep caught up.

I think I am still missing May which is a row of presents. June is supposed to be the sashing and July the borders. That gives me several months to get it quilted before I start Christmas decorating.

Oh, how I hope I have it all finished in time. I know I have the time but maybe not the will power. Usually I run out of steam before the end!

Blessings, Cathi

Wow, It's been a while . . . . .

2010-05-27T11:03:00.000-04:00

since I posted on this blog. Right after my last post, I was laid off from my work after 23 years. Needless to say, I was a little bummed for a while. Okay for a long while. But I am much better now. If you follow my other blog, Shakerwood Primitives, you know what I have been up to.

But with only 7 months left until Christmas, I really need to head things up into high gear.

I missed Rudy Day this month and can't make it up with only a few days left. BUT I have big plans for June and July including a Christmas in July party. I may have to make it an on-line Christmas in July party !!

Anyone game ?

Blessings, Cathi

My Very Favorite Ever Christmas Book.....

2009-11-19T18:33:00.004-05:00

I don't know who bought this book for me. It is copyrighted 1963. But it has been my most cherished Christmas book. It's called Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry. It's in pretty bad shape but I would never dream of getting rid of it.

I noticed inside the front cover that my brother had scratched my name off and written his. Possession is 9/10ths of the law. In this case, 100% !!

It was finally reprinted several times the latest being 2000. And it is available on Amazon. It didn't surprise me when I read some of the reviews (which were almost all 5 stars). Just about everyone remembered reading it as a child like I did.

The cover has changed but I don't think my kids would mind. My Dear Daughters don't remember reading this when they were little but I can start some new traditions, can't I?

It's the story of Mr. Willowby who received a Christmas tree one year. It was too tall for his parlor so he lopped off the top. The discard made it's way to Miss Adelaide, the upstairs maid. Then off to Tim, the gardener, Barnaby Bear, Frisky Fox, Benjamin Rabbit and finally to Mistletoe Mouse who, of course, lived with Mr. Willowby.

A cute, cute Christmas tale of sharing for children of every age.

Blessings, Cathi

24 Days of Christmas.....

2009-11-05T12:00:00.001-05:00

Last year I came up with a calendar of events that I made for the family. It was totally volunteer since my Dear Kiddies are all supposed adults and Dear Hubby has a crazy basketball/wrestling schedule at his job (one of the local high schools).

So I thought I would share.....notice there are a few blanks so if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. I might have to check on going to the Biltmore House. We have been before at Christmas but it is pretty pricey (as in $52.00 a head just to get in the door). The dates that are in red are the nights that Dear Hubby isn't home so whatever I do, I will be doing alone.

Dec 1st - continue decorating

Dec 2nd -

Dec 3rd - mail Christmas cards

Dec 4th - finish decorating

Dec 5th - Holiday Fair (craft show) in Greenville

Dec 6th - Christmas shopping

Dec 7th - fireside dinner

Dec 8th - tag making night

Dec 9th - gift wrapping night

Dec 10th - Daniel Stow Botanical Gardens

Dec 11th - last minute Christmas crafting

Dec 12th - Quilt group Christmas party (daytime) and Office Christmas party (evening)

Dec 13th -

Dec 14th - Christmas movie night with popcorn and hot chocolate

Dec 15th - mail cards to nieces and nephews (they get money for Christmas from us)

Dec 16th - Dear Hubby's office party at our house

Dec 17th - Christmas movie night with homemade pizzas

Dec 18th - Christmas cookie baking

Dec 19th - finish Christmas cookie baking, Drive around to look at lights

Dec 20th - visit my brother and last minute Christmas shopping

Dec 21st -

Dec 22nd - Hand Applique group

Dec 23rd -

Dec 24th - Church, open Christmas Eve gifts

The cookie baking may change. I just found out from the doctor that my cholesterol is above borderline and into the high bracket. Uuggghhh. So we may have to rethink some menus like the pizza on Movie night :>(

And the trip to the craft show may change if our high school does well in the football playoffs. We are 10-0 right now. Dec. 5th is the state championship game. We've been before and have even been state champions twice in the last 10 years so it is a very good possibility we may be back.

And the pictures, well just because I like them. I got them from somewhere off the internet but don't remember where. Feel free to right-click and save them to your hard drive.

Blessings, Cathi

Trying To Catch Up.....

2009-10-20T11:29:00.002-04:00

With Rudy Day just a few days away, I really need to start kicking it into high gear. With the big birthday bash behind me now, I can really start getting some things marked off my list. Dear Hubby and I are going to Boone for a much needed break so I will be on the road Rudy Day. And he will be with me! Two months in a row spending Rudy Day with Dear Hubby! Can he stand it?! Can I?!

I will be taking my Christmas Notebook with me. I have a few decorating dilemas that I have to figure out before all the boxes come out of the attic.

First is this area.....

Since The Wild One moved back home, some of my things from my sewing room had to be moved into different places in the house. I now have my button collection up on this computer cabinet along with my nesting boxes I made since last Christmas. I can fit the feather tree up there again but not the wagon so I have to find a new place for it.

And since last year, I have repainted this cabinet to have a red beadboard instead of white. I am guessing the red accents won't stand out as much as last year so I need to find/make some white or cream accents. Another excuse to hit the Hobby Lobby! Maybe I could put all my snowmen here together. Here is what it looks like now.

I also have gotten rid of this table since last year so I need to find another place for my wool table runner. This was a sofa table that was behind our loveseat. We gave away the loveseat so we could fit a wingback chair (mine) and a reclining leather chair (Dear Hubby's) in the living room.

And the biggest adjustment will be to accomodate the new boys and their wild tails! I don't know how they will react to a Christmas tree. When they get started wrestling with each other, they can be so much fun to watch ....... as long as you stay out of their way. Our dog fence is 80% complete. I hope letting them run in the yard will help them burn off some energy so they won't want to wrestle in the house anymore!

So far the fall decorations that I put out have survived. I haven't put all of them out and don't know if I will. One of my couch pillows has been eaten and a few other things have been carried around until they saw me coming.

Think they will grow out of it in the next month!?

Blessings, Cathi

September Rudy Day.....

2009-09-29T09:33:00.008-04:00

Well, I talked Dear Hubby into joining me for Rudy Day! We watched It's a Wonderful Life....one of his favorites.

I addressed our Christmas cards. We discussed how to sign them this year. The Wild One has moved back home but she is 28 years old. So do we include her? Do we include any adult children that aren't married or do we just include the ones living at home or do we just put the two of us? Decisions, decisions...... We finally settled on anyone living in the house. Us, two adult children, the two new dogs and the cat! Then on to the picture dilemma.

I really want a picture of our two new boys (the chocolate labs) with reindeer antlers or Santa hats but could we really get them to sit still for that? What about the dogs and the cat? HA, they don't exactly see eye to eye yet.

I also finished the first row from my new Block of the Month Christmas pattern. This was an easy row. Next month and November are each rows of paper pieced trees and houses with lots of little pieces.

Hope everyone had a productive Rudy Day. It was really nice to include Dear Hubby with me this time.

Blessings, Cathi

Getting ready for Rudy Day.....

2009-09-24T14:15:00.005-04:00

I have a plan for tomorrow that I hope works out.

Still haven't 100% convinced Dear Hubby that he needs to join me in the Rudy Day festivities but I'm wearing him down!

Back in August, I won a BOM quilt pattern from Paula the Quilter.

I have it all planned out so that if I start this month, I will have the top finished next July. Just in time to get it quilted and the binding on for next Christmas. So far so good. Only 6 days left in the month and I am almost finished the September block. All the units are made......just have to put them together and set in the center square. I haven't set in a piece in quite a while so that may take a little longer. There are 8 of these blocks but in different colors.

Where did August and September go?.....

2009-09-17T14:17:00.007-04:00

Obviously they went somewhere without me! Well, you know that I have been posting more on my other blog. I have been in a little of a Christmas funk lately and I am sure it had something to do with the weather. Just couldn't get in the Christmas spirit.

But now I am back and ready to get going.

Here is the shortened version of what I have planned to do each month. You can go back to a post I wrote last April to find the detailed list. Anyway, I haven't kept up with it too well this year. Since Rudy Day is on a Friday this month, I think I can get caught up with most of it over the weekend. I really only need to do July, August and September.

* May is List Month

* June is Decorating Month

* July is Crafts Month

* August is Christmas Cards Month

* September is Baking Month

* October is Calendar Month

Dear Hubby does NOT have a football game that night. For some reason they moved it to Thursday. He will be home with me but I think I can talk him into watching a Christmas movie. I may even be able to talk him into helping me with the cards and the baking/menu lists if I bribe him with something chocolatey!

I have been working on some crafty things.

I made this Christmas quilt back in July......

The pattern is "Christmas Morning" by Cheri-Saffiote Payne but I changed the muslin block to applique (she had a stitchery) and have renamed the quilt "HoHoHo".

These three quilts have been tops for more years than I want to say outloud! All of them just need a little quilting and binding. I think I will move these guys up the quilting ladder, so to speak, and see if I can't get them quilted before Christmas!

What are you doing this Rudy Day? Only 8 days to decide!

Oops, I forgot.....

2009-08-03T11:09:00.002-04:00

I forgot to show what I did during the Christmas in July party. Silly me!

This is a picture of just one section of my notebook.....the decorating section. I had all the pictures printed a few weeks ago and finally put them in my notebook. I have a page in page protectors of all the decorations I put up for two reasons.

First, I put notes next to each picture of what I like and don't like or what needs to be fixed or bought. It helps with shopping BEFORE I even take decorations Thanksgiving weekend. And if I want to make something for a particular spot......

Secondly, if I can get someone....anyone....to help put the decorations up, they have an idea of what goes where. It's better than yelling from another floor or another room, "Hey, Cathi, where does this go?!". And someone could help out if I'm not even home!! There's a concept. I'm not naming names, I'm just saying.......

Christmas in July Party.....

2009-07-27T19:26:00.008-04:00

Well, we didn't get as much finished as we wanted but we did make a mess!!

We started much later than the other years. I had a company picnic I had to go to first. When I finally made it to the house at 3:00, we left right away to check out Hobby Lobby. They have most of their Christmas stuff out already. We thought we may need to cruise the aisles for some inspiration first. By the time we finally got started, it was 6:00.

The Wild One decided what she wanted to do but didn't have the supplies she needed so she worked on her Halloween cross-stitch.

The Married One started her Christmas notebook. She definitely has her momma's organizational skills !

Because we felt like we had just started (the Married One finally left at 11:00), we decided to do this next month, too. But next time we will do some pre-planning planning so we can get more work done. But we had a good time anyway. I really enjoyed having time with just us girls. I'm so glad they have some crafty bones in their bodies!

Visions of Christmas Past.....

2009-07-20T17:05:00.006-04:00

I am still working hard with Christmas in July, just not ready to post things yet. I am still trying to come up with a project for the CIJ party this Friday. The problem is that both DDs and I have VERY different tastes. That's why the altered clipboards worked so well last year. We could make them our own. I thought about the altered Advent calender on cookie sheets but it is still a countdown like the clipboards last year. I am sure I will come up with something at the last minute. I do my best work under pressure!!

Here is a picture I found this past weekend from Christmas 1963. I'm the cutie with the really bad haircut. This was before sibling 4 and 5 were even born!

And here is just 6 years later. My how we had changed. Remember the fishnet stockings? The Christmas stockings were made by my mom and me. She sewed the red blanks and I cut and glued all the appliques. Sibling 5, sitting on Dad's lap, was born after we made them so he got a store-bought stocking embellished by me. I guess with five kids, Mom didn't have time to sew another blank!

More soon on what I have been doing Christmasy around the house but haven't quite finished it.

Christmas in July Party.....

2009-07-14T10:47:00.003-04:00

I've had a Christmas in July party for the last two years. I was hoping this year (since it was on a Saturday) to have it on July 25th. Everyone that I spoke to either can't make it or looked at me like I had grown two heads. What???...thinking of Christmas now? Are you nuts? It's 90 degrees outside.

So I will go back to my tried and true two daughters that think I am perfectly sane. Last year the altered clipboards were all the rage. We had a great time making ours.

This year we will have our traditional breakfast casserole, fresh fruit and coffee (they are both BIG coffee drinkers) after we make a trip to Hobby Lobby. We just need a little inspiration first. Then pop in a good Christmas movie (I think last year we watched 4!)and work on some craft project that I come up with. I just want to make someting that takes about an hour or two. More on the craft project I pick on a later post. After that we will work on whatever we want of our own. DD#2 made Christmas cards two years ago and I think she will make new ones again this year.

Too bad more of my MHH friends don't live closer!

So many goals, so little time.....

2009-07-07T12:25:00.007-04:00

I have been trying to figure out how to make the most of CIJ (Christmas in July) and haven't really come up with a solution. The month is almost 25% over and I feel like I haven't really started!

Really the first step is making a list of goals. Perfect! I'm a great list maker! Not a great list do-er but a great list maker. But I have to start somewhere so here goes......

I HAVE to catch up with my notebook. I have a really nice notebook that I started last year. I kept up with it until the week before Christmas then......who knows. It's not in bad shape but just not very current. I caught up with the Christmas card list but not the gift lists. I hope I remember what I gave to each of the kids. How embarrassing to have to ask them what I gave them last year! They know I'm the queen of detail (compared to them). They will get a good chuckle out of it.

I HAVE to come up with some definite craft ideas that I want to make. Lord knows I don't NEED more decorations but I really like doing them. So I have to make me stop oogling over the books and patterns and start something already. There, I sufficiently yelled at myself.

This is one of the many things I came up with last year, inspired by a picture I saw on the internet. Apparently this picture inspired others by the emails I received about it.

Next, I HAVE to come up with a plan for the Twelve Days of Christmas. Last year's was such a hit that I want to do it again. But to keep their interest, I need to come up with another way. And this one HAS to be started early to give enough time to have 60 items to give out. It's not that hard.....just takes a little planning.

That's all I am going to put for now. Three little goals. I just have to keep repeating to myself.....baby steps, baby steps.

If I just spend 30 minutes in the evening working on these things AND I finish them, I can add to the list next week. Like I said.....so many goals, so little time!

Santa visits the Antique Road Show.....

2009-07-03T18:12:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, my DD #2 had tickets to the Antique Road Show being held in Raleigh. When she asked what she could take, I didn't hesitate........the family Santa.

This fella has been in our family for as long as I can remember. Dad told me it had been around the house he grew up in as long as he could remember and he was born in 1926.

As you can see, he is made of wicker with marbles for eyeballs. He even has a wicker tongue.

See his ears? Such detail....

Unfortunately, the dude that DD #2 spoke with had absolutely no clue about him. When she pulled it out of the bag at the "sorting" table, everyone gasped. No one had ever seen one before. Not even the staff....and neither did the appraiser dude. He guessed it was from the 50's or 60's which would put Dad's story way off. But Dad probably didn't pay attention to what his mother decorated the house with at Christmas.

Does anyone else have a clue? I'm thinking of sending the picture in to Country Living or something like that.....but any help from blogging world would be much appreciated.

On the First Day of Christmas.....

2009-07-01T12:19:00.005-04:00

This past Christmas I tried out a new tradition with my family. I had blogged about it on my other blog but didn't mention it on this one. Silly me!

I wanted to do something that would extend the holidays a little longer. All of my children are adults now (at least chronologically-speaking) so sometimes doing cutesy things doesn't work so well with them.

So I decided the Twelve Days of Christmas would be perfect. Every day from December 26 until January 6th, I gave each of the 4 quasi-adults and Dear Hubby a gift. If you do the math, that is 60 gifts! Good thing I started collecting gifts back last July. Some were only a $1 at the Dollar spot section of Target.....some were as much as $5.00 ($5.00 DVDs at Wal-Mart are great).

Each gift was put in a white lunch sack with a note stapled to the front about a different meaning for each day. Something I got off the internet. Each bag was stamped with their initial and a star(s) for whatever numbers of days it was (bad english, I know....can't help it).

I had a lot of fun collecting the goodies. Suprisingly, everyone really enjoyed it. Even the boys! Dear Son #1 went back to his home with all 12 bags in tow and told me he did not cheat by opening all of them at once.

And the best surprise was.....after Dear Hubby learned what I was doing, he went out and quickly bought 12 little gifts for me so I would have something to open, too. Isn't he just the sweetest guy? He didn't exactly go by the rules. Most of his gifts couldn't fit in the white lunch bags.

This year I hope to do the same thing but I'm going to really put my thinking cap on to come up with a different way to present them. Gotta mix it up!

Rudy Day in June.....What happened to May?

2009-06-25T20:40:00.005-04:00

May Rudy Day was on Memorial Day. I remember I was busy that day but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Must have been a "senior" moment!

I had to work today but that didn't stop me from having a mini Rudy Day. I googled for free Christmas movies on-line and hit the motherload (sorry, don't have the website saved here at the house). I watched the "Grinch", "Frosty", an old Sherlock Holmes movie set during Christmas, Bing and Bowie's famous duet of Drummer Boy, Karen Carpenter's "Merry Christmas, darling" among other clips and shows.

I had hot chocolate at work that was oh, so yummy. I work with all boys and it is so cold in there.

I also FINALLY put all my digital Christmas pictures from this past year in the same place. I have a habit of having copies of everything everywhere. So I organized them by year and copied 2008 to my flash drive. I need to take them to get prints made to put in my notebook.

This is what I had scheduled for this month from last year's TO DO list. Since it is going to be so hot here this weekend, I think I will get the prints made tomorrow and work on the notebook and craft ideas on Saturday.

June is Decorating Month
*go through each room's pictures from last year and see what's needed for each room
*update decorating section of the Christmas notebook
*make shopping list for crafts and room decorations

Hope you all had a great Rudy's Day and hopefully it is spilling over to this weekend!

Happy April Rudy Day.....

2009-04-26T08:46:00.006-04:00

Just a couple of hours late....I meant to post this last night but you know how things go.

I spent the first half of the day in the yard. My outside job is cutting the grass. I really like it since it doesn't take much brain power to do it.

After lunch, Dear Daughter #2 and I put in Little Women. The movie pick of the month was A Christmas Story which I'm not too keen on.

While the movie was playing, I started cutting out more pieces to a quilt that I am making for a Christmas gift. I can't tell you what pattern or who it is for because that person sometimes reads my blog and I don't want to take a chance on them finding out. Especially if I don't finish it! If they find out and I don't give it to them, then I'll really hear it. But here is a sneak peak.....

Last evening while switching between the NFL draft and M*A*S*H (guess who had the remote and by the way owns the entire M*A*S*H collection but had to watch it on tv anyway!), I worked on my Christmas Wish block for this month. I want to wait until all 9 are finished until I decide how to put them together.

Last year I came up with a pretty good list of what I wanted to do on Rudy Day's and it worked out pretty well so I will do it again this year. Here is next month's To Do List.

May is List Month

* work on gift lists
* stocking stuffer lists
* 12 days of Christmas list
* work on budget
* update budget and gift sections of the Christmas notebook

And since next month, Rudy Day is on a Monday, it should be pretty easy to do.

Blessings, Cathi

Antique Postcard.....

2009-04-16T10:18:00.005-04:00

I found this postcard amongst my late Dad's stuff. It was sent to my grandmother in Staten Island but I don't know who it is from. No siggie. But the postmark is December 24, 1908. Pretty cool!

Blessings, Cathi

March Rudy Day.....

2009-03-26T12:20:00.004-04:00

I now have time to get on the Rudy Day bandwagon and will start posting again on this blog....at least on or near the 25th.

I sat in my new bedroom last night watching Home Alone 2 - Lost in New York. It wasn't the movie on the "official" Christmas list over at MHH. That was White Christmas but my DVD player doesn't work on the archaic tv we have in our bedroom so I am limited to whatever is on cable. Glad a semi-Christmas movie was on. I finally got around to checking off which Christmas cards I received this past year. I have about 7 on the list that I received from but didn't send to. I probably need to add them to the send list for this coming year. But there were many more that I sent to and didn't receive.

I also FINALLY put the binding on this quilt from this past year. This is a picture of it without the binding. The binding is the same green fabric that I used for one of the borders. I put on my other blog that I would put the binding on the weekend after I posted about it.....way back in January. Guess I told a little fib. Glad the blog and quilting police don't know where I live!

I'll have to post later what my plans for April Rudy Day are.....'cause I don't know myself!

Blessings, Cathi

Now that Christmas DAY is over.....

2009-01-02T10:35:00.003-05:00

I was going to say "Now that Christmas is over" but it isn't. Christmas DAY is over for 2008 but not Christmas or the spirit of Christmas.

But since the DAY is over for this year, I will be putting this blog on hiatis for a while. Please visit me over at Shakerwood Primitives to keep up with my goings on including Rudy Day.

Blessings, Cathi

Merry Christmas to all......

2008-12-25T20:31:00.001-05:00

May the spirit and peace of the day be in your heart all year!

Blessings, Cathi

I hope the birds like me.....

2008-12-23T09:20:00.000-05:00

Dear Son #2 and I made filled the orange "bowls" tonight with homemade suet.

He's concentrating really hard.

Here are a few of them finished and ready to hang. There are 14 in all.

A not too clear picture of the tree after I put the orange cups on it. It was dark and my camera doesn't take pictures too well at night.

And finally a picture of the cups at work. The mix has lard, wheat flour, corn meal, sugar, bird seed, peanut butter and dried cranberries. Who could refuse a meal like that?! I hope we have some visitors soon.

Blessings, Cathi

Holiday Tour of Homes .... Day 4

2008-12-21T20:22:00.009-05:00

I'm finally feeling better enough to post more pictures. These are some of the upstairs trees. I never did put up the tree in the boys room. Dear Son #2 hasn't cleaned his room enough for me to make my way to the other side of the room without the possiblity of breaking my neck. But I just refuse to clean it for him. He's 19. Let him live in the mess....I'll just shut the door.

This is the upstairs landing. These stockings I made for the kids about 15 years ago. I only fill the last 3 since Dear Daughter #1 is married now with a home of her own. But the others use theirs. The key to a good stocking is making it LOOK big but in reality doesn't hold very much. They don't get anything exciting, just a Christmas pez, cracker jacks, some other candy and socks usually. Dear Son #1 asked for fingernail clippers in his this year. I mean really, son. They are only a couple of bucks at just about everywhere. Kids are funny.

Here is a close-up......

This is the tree in our bedroom. I don't have a tree skirt on this one yet. On the list for next year (that's what I said last year!)

I did spend the weekend baking. I made 20 dozen cookies. I don't think I ate any real food this weekend, just cookie dough. I think I need some real food. Tonight I put tree #7 out on the back deck with lights. I cut 7 oranges in half, scooped out the inards and dried the shells in the oven. I hope to make some suets tomorrow night after work, put them in the orange shells and hang on the outside tree with some red bows. I think the birds will like it and the cat will enjoy the entertainment.

Blessings, Cathi

Holiday Tour of Homes .... Day ??

2008-12-19T08:45:00.002-05:00

Sorry I didn't post the past two days like I thought. I've been fighting a cold for over a week and the cold finally won. I was out of work all day on Wednesday and had medicine head all day Thursday. I did make it through the whole day at work (trying to save my vacation time for next week). I hope to post the last of my pictures this evening or tomorrow.

Blessings, Cathi

Holiday Tour of Homes .... Day 3

2008-12-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

This one will be a long post. I have so much stuff in the living room and I love it all. I just didn't know where to stop! I have really mixed up the decorations this year which is why it took me so long to decorate. I just didn't know where to put it. But the light bulb finally came on.

Here is one end of the living room.......

And here is the other........

And the mantle in between..... Notice the big white spot in the middle. That's where the famous (or is now infamous) snowman wallhanging goes. Still not quilted. I'm still having faith in myself that it will be done by Christmas Day!

And all the details for you to enjoy.....

Dear Hubby made the dry sink and the shelf above it. The Noah's Ark bird house was a gift from Dear Hubby one Christmas. He is so talented ;>)

This great looking guy was a gift from my mom many years ago. She got him from a craft show in Pennsylvania. His coat is made from an old quilt. He is my absolute favorite Christmas gift ever and my most favorite decoration.

This snowman was a gift from Dear Daughter #2. What I like the most about this little vignette is that Dear Hubby made it all by himself. I asked him to put something together to put over the tv cabinet and this is what he came up with! And he says he isn't creative.

Don't quite remember where I got this little guy but I do remember the sleigh was bought at the state fairgrounds in Raleigh. If you are ever in North Carolina on Thanksgiving weekend, make an extra effort to go to the Christmas Carousel Craft show that is held at the fairgrounds. It's one of the best I have ever seen.

This stocking doesn't look too primitive but it is sentimental. The fabric came from Dear Daughter #1 and is my favorite newest color, "grinch green". The ribbon is from her, also. But what is sentimental are the buttons. They all came from Sweet Granny's collection. She passed away over 10 years ago now. She had quite an extensive button collection and it all came to me.

Another Saundra White pattern.......

I just love working with wool........From one of the Need'l Love Books

You can't see him in the bigger overall pictures but he is to the left of the french doors guarding the rubber tree plant.

Over the computer cabinet.........

And finally my new little woolie pillow that Dear Hubby fell in love with. I had made it for a boutique sale at our quilt guild's quilt show but Dear Hubby asked me to keep it instead of selling it. How could I say no?!

Hope you enjoyed the packed living room. Tomorrow the upstairs.....

Blessings, Cathi

Holiday Tour of Homes .... Day 2

2008-12-16T06:00:00.002-05:00

I hope you are enjoying the tour so far.....

Today is the kitchen, guest bathroom and the foyer (which I should have included with the dining room).

We remodeled the kitchen last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas (what we were thinking!!). The decorations look so much better in a newer kitchen!

I love this cabinet which I think I mentioned during the Fall Tour of Homes. It's always changing.

This is the foyer, quite different from last year. I moved what was on here to the top of the new computer cabinet. I wanted to make gingerbread men to hang on the Swedish tree (made by Dear Hubby, of course!) but haven't gotten to any baking yet. Maybe soon. The wallhanging is from one of my favorite designers, Cheri Saffiote-Payne. And, as usual for me, the snowman is a favorite of mine.....the uglier the better!

The guest bath.....

Another one of Saundra White's I Done My Best patterns. Too bad you can't find them anymore. I have a bunch of them. And if anyone has any they are willing to part with (hint, hint)

And yet another shelf made by Dear Hubby...aren't I a lucky duck. Completely changed from last year so still a work in progress.

Tomorrow will be the living room.

Blessings, Cathi

Holiday Tour of Homes .... Day 1

2008-12-15T06:00:00.011-05:00

Over at the Magical Holiday Home Forum, we are having a tour of homes for Christmas just like we did for the Fall. Head on over to Cathy's blog, Pumpkins and Reindeers, to see the links.

I plan on showing you a few pictures at a time. I decorate a lot. I have tried to cut back before but some people complained that it wasn't Christmas unless I put it all out. So here goes......

First the dining room

This table centerpiece is new this year and special to me. My grandpa was a carpenter by trade. This was one of his original tool boxes that he used.

Of course, all of this looks much better in person and wonderful at night.

Tomorrow, the kitchen and guest bath.

Blessings, Cathi

A wonderful gift from .....

2008-12-09T19:28:00.001-05:00

....my ornament exchange pal. I belong to another Christmas forum (surprise, surprise) at My Merry Christmas . I signed up for an ornament exchange and got mine in the mail today. Isn't she cute?

Thanks so much, Lindsey!

Blessings, Cathi

My MHH Card Exchange.....

2008-12-07T14:33:00.005-05:00

I belong to a Christmas forum called Magical Holiday Home (MHH). A bunch of us are exchanging Christmas cards. I thought I would share some of the cards I have gotten so far. There will be a total of 40 in all, some from as far away as Scotland, The Netherlands, Australia and Canada! Really cool.

Blessings, Cathi

Monitor and adjust ..........

2008-12-02T09:09:00.005-05:00

Dear Hubby's favorite motto.....monitor and adjust. Just what we had to do to get the tree up this year. I think I had mentioned that we have a new computer cabinet in our living room this year. Right where the Christmas tree was sitting last year. If we were ever on one of those HGTV shows where we are trying to sell our house, the first thing they would ALL say is........Way too much furniture in this room! Well, I can't help it. Dear Hubby makes the nicest furniture for me and I can't part with any of it. I think we just need to double the size of the living room. But that's another story.

Anyway, we couldn't figure out what to do with the tree. After about 30 minutes discussion with Dear Hubby and Son #2, we decided to just put half the branches on the tree and shove it up against the wall. If we had let it stick out farther, the person sitting on the end of the love seat couldn't have seen any of the bowl games. AAGGGHHH! So here it is.

The picture isn't too good. Still having trouble with the settings on my camera. The popcorn garland isn't finished and I have another "cheap" ornament in the works but you get the idea. I will beat this camera thingy and have a good picture in time for the Tour of Homes (more on that later).

Blessings, Cathi

Eight little trees .........

2008-12-01T09:45:00.003-05:00

Okay, so they are not all little but I will put up a total of 8 trees this year. I had hoped to have all the decorating finished by last night. That didn't exactly happen. Friday I went to work but that afternoon did manage to get the wreaths up on the windows. Thank goodness I did. Here in our neck of the woods, it turned cold and rainy all day Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we got the big tree in the living room up, the feather tree in the foyer and the small tree in the guest bath finished along with several vignettes here and there. Sunday, I was lazy. Dear Hubby and I decided to venture out in the weather to Target and the mall......just to wander. I took a nap when we got back to the house. I finally started around 6:00 pm. UGH!!

The camera is not behaving right now so I hope to have pictures up tonight or tomorrow if I can get the camera to cooperate. It actually works but it's not giving me what I want. Why can't it read my mind?

Blessings, Cathi

Happy Thanksgiving.......

2008-11-27T14:09:00.005-05:00

Blessings, Cathi

Losing one of my favorite trees.....

2008-11-26T09:57:00.006-05:00

Since 2003, I have had a Christmas tree in the boys room with just purple and orange on it. That was the year that Dear Son moved away to the college of his dreams.....Clemson. Every year, I have bought him a new Clemson ornament. Fortunately he graduated last December and found a job right away. But this year he wants his tree in his apartment. Can't say that I blame him. It's a 1-bedroom apartment with just enough room to turn around in so this tree will be the perfect size. It will be going back with him tomorrow afternoon after the Thanksgiving dinner (along with lots of leftovers!)

So that leaves a void in that room. Dear Son #2 still lives in that room. As you can kind of see from the picture, it is painted to look like a log cabin so I think the tree from our bedroom will look perfect in there.

But now there is nothing in our bedroom. Darn, I'm going to have to start a whole new tree (wink, wink). Something romantic this time....

Blessings, Cathi

New cheap ornaments...........

2008-11-23T21:27:00.004-05:00

I love making things out of scraps and these little dudes are no exception. I made these this weekend out of left over muslin, some stuffing, discarded buttons and some thread from my vast collection of No. 8 perle cotton.

Besides these, I made some other ornaments from oranges I dried last year after Christmas. I hope to give my tree a little more primitive pizazz for cheap. (Is it possible for primitive to be pizazzed?) I am going to have one of my daughters make a popcorn and cranberry garland. We used to do that for years but then she moved out and it kind of fell by the wayside. She told me that she misses doing that so I'm definitely going to let her have at it.

Blessings, Cathi

Hello, nonreply-comment bloggers!

2008-11-20T12:30:00.000-05:00

I don't know how the rest of you feel about comments. Sometimes I get frustrated when someone leaves a comment and I can't send an email back because they are a "noreply-comment" blogger. And they don't even know they are. Case in point........ME. I left a comment for myself on one of my blogs. Sure enough, a few seconds later the email comes to me and it is from "noreply-comment@blogger.com" After what seemed likes days of searching, I found out from Amanda at notsoextraordinary.blogspot.com, that all it takes is a little teeny tiny click of a box on your blogspot profile to fix it.

Now maybe you don't want people to reply to your comments and that's fine. But I love getting (non-spam) emails. I would even love to comment back to some people but can't find an email to send back to them. If you would like to join the non no-reply world, here's all you have to do....

Go to your dashboard
Next to your picture, click "edit profile"
Click the teeny little box (third one down) that says "show my email address"

So simple.....I feel so silly. I swear I looked everywhere for that little toggle. Now I know.......now you know.

Blessings, Cathi

What too much planning will do........

2008-11-18T10:11:00.007-05:00

I changed up the colors of my living room Christmas decorations two years ago. We had the others for more than 10 years and I was ready for a change. You can really see a difference between when the lights are on and off on the tree. I thought I had enough ornaments on the tree until I turned the lights off. See how dull it looks.

And with the lights on it is so much nicer.

But I still think I planned it too much to the point that it looks boring. My goal this year is to buy different types of ornaments but stick with the three colors......grinch green, red and pearl. I'm more of a primitive person, too. And this looks like it is going too much in a sophisticated direction. So I think we will be adding some more prim. Any suggestions?

Blessings, Cathi

The 12 Days of Christmas and my Christmas notebook.....

2008-11-12T09:47:00.007-05:00

Thought I'd give you an update on the Christmas notebook that I made to keep in the car with me. (Click here for the original post) It is in the car with me and I have all the pages labeled. This year I am doing things a little different with the gifts. Can't give too much info because both my daughters know about this blog! How often they check it is something else. This year, in addition to the regular gifts (which has been cut back due to economic stuff), I am doing the 12 Days of Christmas for each of my kids and Dear Hubby. Each day from Christmas to Epiphany, they will each get a small gift bag with a treat in it. Some days will be bigger than others but each gift has to fit in a white paper lunch bag. I am NOT tying each gift to any symbolic meanings.....that requires too much thinking on my part. But I will put a note in each one explaining some historical meaning to each day. Found some good stuff on the internet.

Back to the notebook. Boy, has the notebook made it easier to keep up with the 12 days gifts. There are 4 kids (DD that is married is sharing her gifts with her hubby.... in case she reads this) and Dear Hubby. So that is 60 gifts to keep up with. The girls are so easy to shop for. Two boys, 19 and 24, not so much. The big thing I have to remember is cost. Even at $1.00 each, that's 60 bucks. And I don't want everything from the dollar store.

Other pages in my book are:

A master shopping list
Gift page for each person
Decoration page (as I see something I like, write a note as to where and price)

There are enough pages in this book to last me several years. Project for January......put tabs in the book.

Blessings, Cathi

Only 46 days left.....am I ready?

2008-11-09T18:17:00.007-05:00

Are you? Of course we aren't! If we were, we would just have to find something else to do. It's just the way we are.

DH and I went to Sam's earlier today. I managed to talk him into going into Garden Ridge which just happens to be next door. I shouldn't say I talked him into it. He really enjoys Christmas very much and wants to be involved. I wonder if it is because he secretly wants to keep me in check?! We bought a few little things for the house that I was looking for last year. We haven't really done any gift shopping. Two years ago I had all the shopping finished by the first weekend in December. I was so proud of how organized and efficient I was. A week later, DH asked when we were going on our annual marathon shopping day. In all my proficiency, I forgot that DH had really looked forward to doing most of our gift shopping on one day in the midst of the craziness. Well, I didn't really forget, I just didn't realize how much he looked forward to all that. Lesson learned.

So I don't get all my shopping finished early, but I can get all the other stuff done that I always do by myself. Like the Christmas cards, stockpiling food for the many larger meals I have to cook, baking lists, etc. I have my cards finished already. We usually put a picture of us in with them but this year we decided to put a picture of my Dad in with them. Dad passed away in the middle of September. No one had a recent picture of him so that is what we will do.

Blessings, Cathi

I miss this one too much......

2008-11-06T09:32:00.008-05:00

I thought I would try to convert to just one blog. The other one is doing great, looks great and fills a need for me but I just can't let this one go yet! Maybe 'cause Christmas is just around the corner. But for now it will stay up.

I thought I would show you a little sneak peak at why I call this "A Quilter's Christmas". I actually quilt more than I do anything else. I have noticed in this blog that I never really mentioned that little tidbit or explained why I chose this name. But there ya go. I have several Christmas quilts started but not quilted. Actually I have a lot of all kinds of quilts started but not quilted. That's for another day on the other blog. This little one is a top I just started and finished within the last few weeks. I just have to find time to quilt it!

Blessings, Cathi

The new Blog is up and running

2008-10-16T22:12:00.002-04:00

The new blog went live yesterday. I hope you visit me there. It will have the same side links as this one but will include much more than just Rudy Day. So check it out!

Shakerwood Primitives

Blessings, Cathi

Fall Tour of Homes

2008-10-15T12:30:00.011-04:00

Tomorrow is a Fall Tour of Homes, thanks to Cathy over at Haunted Hamlet. First thing tomorrow morning, you will be able to go to Cathy's blog to get the list of the "tour". See you then.

Other news......I am changing my blog in the next few days so that I can encompass all my passions.....my family, my quilting, Christmas and the Fall. At first, the plan was to have a series of blogs, A Quilters Christmas, A Quilters Garden, A Quilters Family, A Quilters Fall. Then I figured, "Hey, I'm having enough trouble with just the one ! How am I going to do 4?" So I'm not. I'm going to have the one with lots of pictures and more posts and lots more links to the blogs and shops I love. Hope you'll join me on this new adventure.

Where have I been.....

2008-09-23T18:55:00.006-04:00

So much has happened.....and not happened ......since I last posted. I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since my last post. Four of my five kids (including son-in-law) have birthdays between Sept. 12 and Nov. 2. We decided last year to have one big birthday party for them. We all love the fall so much and all the food that goes with it! I will decorate a lot and invite their friends (all adults so they eat a lot of food !) have games and pumpkin painting for the little ...and big....kids. Anyway, a lot of planning and doing and cooking.

But also, my father passed away last week. Quite unexpected. He lives in another state from me that none of my siblings live in, either. Makes you stop and think of the things you want to do and just keep putting off.

Below is a picture I found of myself at Christmas when I was almost 3 I think. Thought it was appropriate for this blog. What a cutie I was !!

I need to get back on the Rudy Day bandwagon by starting with finishing the Christmas cards I was supposed to do last month. Christmas is less that 100 days away!!!

The Last Christmas in July project...but the cutest!

2008-08-07T10:19:00.019-04:00

I have a friend named Sherry that hates my style of decorating. Most of it anyway. We have a running discussion all the time about my snowmen with teeth and my pumpkin with teeth. They creep her out. For me, the uglier the better.

I love this little guy. He is the final project that I worked on in my Christmas in July party. Yeah, he is ugly but that's what makes him so cute!! I think I'll name him (or is it her) Sherry.

Altered Christmas Notebook

2008-08-05T11:42:00.009-04:00

I went shopping at Staples the other day and came across a wonderful new find. They are now carrying eco-friendly notebooks that have plain kraft paper covers. They had spiral notebooks in several sizes, composition books and a few other items. I was so thrilled to find the spiral notebooks that I didn't really check out the others. Just inside the front was a page with pockets. I thought this would be great to carry with me in the car to jot down notes. I'm always seeing a great idea in a store and then totally forgetting the details about it when I get home. This notebook will be great for writing down ideas or recording what I have bought for everyone, including the price and where I bought it. The front pocket page would work well for putting receipts.

It's not a real fancy cover but then I didn't want a lot of embellishment on it. I can see it getting knocked around in the car and having buttons and baubles and bows all over the floor of the car. I'm sure I'll add to it sometime.......I just can't leave well enough alone!

Christmas in July Party

2008-08-03T19:00:00.016-04:00

.......was really held in August but two days late isn't so bad. We had a great time. Not as many came as I had hoped but I guess not all are as "organized" as I am or as excited about Christmas all year as I am. Not that I don't enjoy all of the holidays but there is something so special and sentimental about Christmas.

I decorate a lot at Christmas. I tried to downsize one year but my 2 (adult) daughters, neither of which live at home anymore or help to decorate, had an absolute fit. So I have created a monster and have to live with it for a while.

Back to the party.......we watched 2 Christmas movies, ate breakfast casserole, and crafted for about 4 hours. After they left, DD27 (one of the above mentioned whining daughters) stayed for 4 more hours and 2 more movies. We had a great time.

The snowflake clipboard was made by DD27. Mine is the other one. I think she is going to have mom's creative gene! She did a great job! We both want to add a few embellishments but probably need to go shopping first LOL. Some projects have to sit and "simmer" for a while before they are complete. These were so fun and quick, we just HAVE to make more for our friends.

Christmas Countdown 2008

2008-07-17T15:32:00.005-04:00

Here is a copy of my Christmas Countdown 2008 that I made in Publisher. Feel free to use it. I have done other sheets for the index, divider sheets all in the same style (See samples on my Christmas Notebook post in April). If you would like a copy of the forms in *.pdf format, post a note and we'll see what we can work out.

Day 15 - Christmas in July

2008-07-15T19:10:00.010-04:00

I am supposed to be working on something for Christmas every day in July. I had planned on posting everyday for the month but life gets in the way sometimes. The biggest problem lately has been DS 18. Not that he is a problem most of the time but he does tend to get on the computer when I least want him to. He's a really good kid but sometimes....... So I figure posting three times halfway through the month isn't so bad.

Today I spent some time reading the forum at Magical Holiday Home http://magicalholidayhome.com/. If you have never been to the website, give it a try. They are a little fanatical but that's okay because so am I. They have tons of great ideas, not only about Christmas but other holidays, too.

Finally finished my Rudy Day decoration

2008-07-13T18:56:00.014-04:00

I finally finished the door decoration that I started on a whim during Rudy Day. I had finished everything on my list early and decided to start something new.

It's made of wool and homespun plaid. I love working with wool. It is so easy to work with when doing handwork. Not that I don't love working on the sewing machine, but there is something relaxing about handwork.

The "snowflakes" are small glass beads and the "berries" on the tree are larger pearl beads.

I will probably hang this on the guest bathroom door. I have something hanging there during the rest of the year but nothing at Christmas.

I just think it turned out so cute and am now inspired to move on to the next project!

The Most Productive Rudy Day Ever......

2008-07-02T15:12:00.008-04:00

or at least this year. But there is always room to improve! This month I had the check list from below to do. Considering that Rudy Day fell on a Wednesday, I was really skeptical about getting anything done. That paying job can sure get in the way of the fun sometimes but it is also what pays for the fun.

I updated my Christmas Notebook with pictures I had taken from last year, separated them by room, made notes on each page as to what I liked and didn't like about each one, wrote suggestions for this year. Then made a list to put in my small Christmas notebook of what I needed to buy for each idea. I even had enough time to start one of the craft decorations that I had picked out.

During lunch I went to Wal-Mart to look for a Christmas movie to watch but they didn't have any. I did find two movies in the 2/$10 bin that I could use for DH and DS23's Christmas stockings. I went to the library instead and checked out "A Christmas Carol" with Patrick Stewart DVD. I watched it while working on Rudy Day while drinking a double hot chocolate. How relaxing!!

I had hoped to get along enough with my craft project to post a picture. I have it all cut out. Most of the rest is hand work that I hope to do on the way to and from the in-laws this weekend. Hopefully I'll get enough done to post a picture next week.

I'm dreaming of the next Rudy......... (insert music here)

2008-06-16T13:32:00.006-04:00

So it's kind of - sort of halfway through the Rudy month. I did a little bit of Rudy this past weekend by going through all my quilt patterns and books. Really.....this is Rudy related. It's a big undertaking in itself. I had to sort through them all because I tend to like the same sort of style, patterns and designers. On numerous occasions I have bought the same pattern twice and even the same book once or twice. I guess I liked it so much I just had to get it again ! So I went through all the boxes and shelves and wrote down what I had. I had a list in an excel spread sheet and even printed it out but apparently I had not updated it lately. We are having a white elephant sale at our guild meeting tonight. Good place to get rid of my duplicates. Sure hope I don't pick up any more duplicates !

Back to Rudy... I decided to keep all the Christmas ones separate and put them in my Rudy Tote. So the next Rudy Day I can at least start one of the many cute Christmas quilt patterns I have been saving.

Sidetracking

2008-06-12T12:11:00.009-04:00

Here is a great picture of why I haven't been blogging or even on the internet in a while.......DH turned 50 last week. We had a big party for him this past Saturday at the house. His sister and her husband flew all the way in from Dallas. His BFF from high school drove 8 hours to be here. It was wonderful.

But first thing that morning, he had a Richard Petty Driving Experience at Lowes Motor Speedway. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw him grin like that. He was acting 10 years old again. Did I mention it was 100 degrees out at the track while he was racing?

May's Rudy Day.....

2008-05-28T19:45:00.008-04:00

was put on hold for a few days. I haven't been sick for quite a long time so of course I had to get my first cold in years only a few days before my first three day weekend this year. So I spent most of the weekend in bed resting. But now I am better and ready to get back to my Rudy Day. Updating my blog was the first thing on my list. In a few minutes, I will go work on my list of working on my lists. Sounds like spinning wheels but I will have something finished tonight before my head hits the pillow!

What I really did on my April Rudy Day

2008-04-25T21:22:00.003-04:00

I had a list of things to do today like we all do. Just some background info....I'm great at making lists but not so good with the follow through. I make lists at work and stick them in my bag. When I get home I plop on the couch or go out in the garden and forget to pull the list out of my bag to see what I was supposed to do. Sometimes I type my lists on the computer. Looks great and it's fun to work with the different text fonts I've found but if you don't print it out.......well you get the idea. Okay, back to today. Our office has switched to our summer hours. We work 9 hours Monday thru Thursday and work only 4 hours on Friday morning. Everyone loves it. I get to go home at 12:00 and cut the grass for several hours. It's not so bad. I sit behind a computer all day at work so it's nice to get some exercise and it's instant gratification. Anyway, I get home from work after stopping by the grocery store, change into my grass-cutting clothes and decide to check my email. Nothing, no email, no internet, and no cable tv. After wasting several hours waiting for the cable guys to come out, I was finally connected to the rest of the world. I quickly cut half of the grass and rushed inside to have my Rudy Day.

I met Cathymac's challenge and listed what I wanted to do for the other Rudy Day's the rest of the year. I put a little twist on it by assigning a different theme for each month.

May is List Month

work on gift lists
stocking stuffer lists
12 days of Christmas list
work on budget
update budget and gift sections of the Christmas notebook

June is Decorating Month

go through each room's pictures from last year and see what's needed for each room
update decorating section of the Christmas notebook
make shopping list for crafts and room decorations

July is Crafts Month

gather supplies from June's list
design and make gift tags
make at least one house decoration
update craft section of Christmas notebook
Christmas in July Rudy Day at the house on July 26th (changed to August 2)

August is Christmas Cards Month

address Christmas Cards - use leftover store-bought cards
Update Christmas card section of Christmas notebook

September is Baking Month

make menu for entire week before and after Christmas
Make grocery shopping list
Make cookie baking list
update recipes in Christmas notebook

October is Calendar Month

Finalize dates for

family Christmas party
where are we going on which day
12 days of Christmas - how will it work?
shopping days
church events
24 days of Christmas list

I decided not to include November. Just after Halloween I am ready to work on Christmas more than just once a month. Besides, November Rudy day is really close to Thanksgiving and once I get a piece of that pumpkin pie................

The tabs I had put in my Christmas notebook were glued in the first time. They all fell out. Lesson learned. I punched holes and attached them with miniature brads. Much cuter and I'm sure they will stay in.

And the big thing the today was starting my first blog. This is going to be fun!

The Notebook

2008-04-25T21:00:00.004-04:00

One of the reasons for starting a blog was I HAD to show off my Christmas notebook cover. It's taken over a year to complete it. I started with a 2" 3-ring binder that I covered with a great Waverly fabric. It stayed that way until this past January. Sometimes I have to let things sit for a while and stare at me while I stare at them. Then one day a light bulb will come on and I'll know how to finish them but, boy, it sure can be frustrating waiting for that darn light bulb to come on.

The Santa picture I got off the internet and changed in Word to shades of red (it was a regular picture with a gazillion colors when I found it). It's printed on cardstock and sewn straight on the cover. The HO HO HO is metal from the scrapbook section of a local store. The rest is sewn on fabric and the text run through the printer on muslin.

These two pictures are of the section dividers. I made them in Publisher, printed them out and pasted them on pretty scrapbook paper. They always look better in person. But all the section covers look like the one on the left.

Happy Rudy Day!

2008-04-25T20:27:00.002-04:00

I've always enjoyed Christmas. The decorations, the flurry and, of course, the real meaning but always felt let down on December 26. It was all over in a flash. All the planning and doing was gone in a minute. Finally I found the OC ...not the tv show but the Organized Christmas website. I don't even know how I found it but I did. And they had this wonderful thing called Rudolph Day....Rudy Day to most of us.....that lets you think, plan, dream about Christmas at least once a month on the 25th. And the best thing was I found more people out there just like me ! Crazy about all things Christmas. Well, almost obsessive. But to my family and friends that think I'm nuts half the time, I just want you to know there is no cure for it so don't try to find one. I wouldn't want the cure if you could find one anyway.