MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

from the farmer and me.

May the season be bright with the spirit of Christmas.

 

No snow here, but we did have some rain last night, much needed rain, and today the wind is howling from the west, so we know winter is coming tomorrow.

 

I finally got the Christmas tree put up, fake branches fluffed out and old decorations hung around it.  But this year it has a little something special added:

 

 

a circa 1940 train set,

 

 

 

with signal lights and barriers.  I added three little village buildings, a fence with cattle, trees, and children playing in the snow.  Can't you almost hear the train whistle as it rolls through the countryside?

 

There is a story about this train, similar to the story of the country mouse and the city mouse.  When the farmer was a boy, and the fields along the creeks were plowed each spring for crops, he and his brother could always find really nice arrowheads in the turned dirt.  They saved them until there was a small bucketful.  Meanwhile, their city cousin had this train that he no longer played with, and when he saw the arrowheads he suggested that they could be traded to him in exchange for the train.  It seemed to be a wonderful idea to two country boys who had only dreamed of ever having a train set!  So, the trade was made, and I can only imagine the hours of fun they had with the train.

 

The farmer looks back now and thinks it might not have been such a good trade on their part, but I'm glad he has the train.  Of course the electrical part doesn't work anymore but it's a great connection to his boyhood and I'm glad he brought it out of storage for our Christmas.  But -- don't tell the American Pickers we have it!

 

Charlotte 

 

 

 

Maybe you can help me

decide what to do with this quilted piece:

 

Are you familiar with whole cloth quilting?

 

Whole cloth quilts are created from one single piece of fabric; unlike patchwork, a whole cloth quilt is not pieced at all.  The design across the surface is made entirely from quilting stitches.

 

 

They were traditionally made by women who had money enough to purchase wide pieces of fabric.

 

From Day Style Designs, "This really is an amazing quilting style that deserves a try at least once in your quilting journey."

 

O.k.  Now I don't know what to do with it since it is only about a fourth of a quilt top.  It makes me think of a recipe: I've tried it; don't care for it; won't do it again.

 

But, it was too much work to throw out; any suggestions as to a use for it?

 

Charlotte 

 

 

Doll Quilt

 

My latest finished doll quilt, in the traditional Courthouse Steps pattern.

Paper pieced and hand quilted

Approximately 16 inches square

 

I'm slowly making progress on the works in progress list.

 

Charlotte

 

 

It's Time For Santa Letters...

 

and it seems Santa is already busy, reading and filling those requests.  Our local paper tells us, "Kids, it's time to start making those lists and getting those Santa letters in so they can be published and Santa and his helpers will have plenty of time to start filling those Christmas orders."

 

I don't remember writing letters to Santa, but I think I will write one now:

 

Dear Santa Claus,  I know you read my blog; I've seen you sitting at the computer, smiling at my words and stories, my Christmas memories of years gone by when five dollars worth of presents were under the tree for me.  My how times have changed!

 

I have tried to be good this year, with the exception of my yelling at the abandoned dogs, and in spite of my "old" age, I've continued to do my share of the farm work and  gave of my quilting time to open and close gates and shuttle the farmer back and forth between tractors while we feed cattle.

 

I'm not asking for big things, nor things that money can buy;  I already have plenty of "stuff".  Instead I'm asking for things that come with the price of that precious possession you have, called TIME.  So, here is my list: 1)Trim around the window and door in the bathroom; it's already painted. 2)Hang curtain rods and the little shelf in my bedroom. 3)Put glides on my closet doors; they've been swinging for three years now. 4)This request could cost money: either fix the potty or buy a new one to stop the screaming it makes when flushed! 5)How about a trellis for the clematis vine?  The lattice board was bought years ago.  I won't ask that you paint the bedroom because I know you don't like to paint.

 

Now Santa, if you don't have time or energy to spend on doing these things, perhaps you know of an elf who would.  Since you don't eat many cookies anymore, how about a baked sweet potato?

 

Love,

Charlotte

 

 

 

 

December ~~ Little Quilt

 

December's little quilt is actually a little quilted wallhanging, made up in redwork embroidery and patchwork.

 

Designed by Cindy Taylor Oates, the pattern was featured in the December, 1999 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.

 

Another of my works in progress, finally finished.

 

Charlotte

Kitchen Quilts

Perhaps the fact that I grew up in a home where every penny was pinched is the reason I like to take care of the things I have.  I guess we always knew that once we got something nice we'd better take care of it, because it might be a long time, or never, before another could be bought to replace it.

So, even though the saleslady said the table had a tough finish on it, one that could withstand hot bowls and scratches, I still felt better to put some sort of protection under them, and a lot of the time that protection came in the form of a magazine which was close by.

When the December, 2001, issue of American Patchwork and Quilting came, there was an article about kitchen quilts, another name for the ordinary potholder.  To qualify as a kitchen quilt, a potholder had to have a flat fabric top -- whether whole cloth, pieced, appliqued, or embroidered -- be layered with batting and backing, and be quilted and bound.  One of these would look much better on the table than a magazine! 

 

Two appliqued kitchen quilts,

 

 

two pieced kitchen quilts (the one in front isn't quilted yet)

 

 

Now whether it's a bean pot,

 

 

or a tea pot, the table is protected from heat.  And they look much better than a magazine, don't you think?

 

These measure approximately nine inches square.

 

Charlotte

 

 

 

November ~~ Little Quilt

Here we are again; we have the beginning of a new month, and the eleventh little quilt of the year is ready.  Where has the time gone?  It's cool enough now to need quilts on the bed, especially if you're like Teddy,

 

who seems to have a sore throat and fever.  He drinks hot tea and then snuggles all the way up to his chin underneath the warm quilt.

 

 

I even made new flannel sheets and a pillowcase for his bed.  Doesn't he look comfortable?

 

 

I made the quilt from a pattern in the book Liberated String Quilts, by Gwen Marston.  I do my string piecing on a paper foundation, rather than cloth, since I hand quilt, and it means one less thickness of fabric to stitch through.  I like the Scottie dog print for the backing; the quilt could be reversed if Teddy thinks baskets are for girl bears.

 

Enjoy,

Charlotte