Deck the Halls

The house is now officially decorated for Christmas and not a minute too soon.  Stella arrives with her Mom and Dad a week from now--we are so excited!  PopPop even put lights up outside to welcome her:

Made in 1997, this was a "Cover Girl Quilt" for McCall's Quilting Magazine, December 1997. It makes the house ready for Christmas and I look forward to hanging it each year,

The mantel with a few simple quilted stockings I've collected over the years

We mix the religious with the secular

Safe for Stella, if not, I'll move them 

How to cover  mauve 1980's cushions on a very old Morris chair

My A6 ornament, a gift from my last USMC Squadron in 1979

A gray and cold day--lights will look so much better at night

Hope Stella likes the little lights

For years now I have only decorated a small tree with mostly "quilty" things, many of which are gifts from friends.  Ellen, do you know how much a part of my Christmas tree you are--bunches!  And items bought on travels, Santa bells from Mexico, wooden ornaments from Hawaii, glass quilt blocks from a quilt shop in Ohio, and on and on.  If we ever dig out the "family" ornament boxes again, it will be fun to see things I haven't seen in more than a decade.  This house just doesn't have a good spot for a large tree.  My most prized ornaments are these "icicles" made by my father:

In the early 1940's as a teenager, my dad worked at a place that made medical thermometers.  At Christmas time the employees made these ornaments from the glass used to make the thermometers.  When I was growing up we had more than a dozen and my Dad was careful to put them way up high.  Now there are only four left and eventually my sons will get to share those.  Each year it is so nice to remember my folks and our Christmas trees--always a real tree in our home.  I can still smell it...

Now that all this is done, I can bake more cookies, prepare the Cranberry Chutney, AND set up my new Bernina 765 machine!  The 630 went to a new home yesterday and my husband and I wrestled the 50 lb new cabinet into the studio after wrestling the 40 lb old cabinet to the garage--that will be delivered to the new owner this week on a day without rain.   I have to rearrange things just a bit to accommodate the larger cabinet.  Then I can give the 765B a workout.  Exciting!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, whatever you celebrate. And let's Quilt!

Barbara