prayers, thoughts and strenght needed.....

this post is to please ask everyone to please send prayers to the family of jen of taylorsfarmhouseattic as her nephew has passed away yesterday in a terrible accident and her brother has been hospitalized, grief has overcome him....all the strenght of many will be needed to help heal and guide the family through this horrible nightmare from which they cannot awaken....the shock of it all is so raw right now and i'm sure that they are surrounded and being comforted by many but a day will come when many need and just naturally move on with every day life and they are still struggling with how to have a life again....please keep this thought and reach out every now and then as a reminder that he has not been forgotten.....

not much sewing

quilts wating to be stitched....

not much sewing....

as i was printing off my 12 days of christmas pattern this morning i read a few after christmas posts....what is with all the creativity right after the holidays so fast again, i feel lost & going to be left behind as i sit here with boxes around me waiting to have trimmings put back, house a complete mess, quilts waiting to be stitched and a husband home from work all week how am i to find the time to create!
instead i'll spend the day as i did yesterday having fun shopping at Country Loft with my mom, sister & greg, today lunch again with mom & old friends, tomorrow lunch with thursday's quilt group and think about the sewing stuff after the new year!     enjoy your stitching, cheri

Christmastide

just a reminder to follow along with Temecula Quilt Co.'s blog for their 12 Days of Christmas applique quilt....day 1 was today.....be sure to check it out I'm printing the patterns for a must todo project....
                                                        enjoy  cheri

family

oldest son matthew & family....
matthew, heather, cooper, lisa
portrait handdrawn by cooper age 6

family

middle son todd & family at legoland
          todd, gabby, sofia

family

my son michael who lives in mo., building a new home....
          michael, mareshah, dominic & olivia

family

my youngest katilyn, dennis & nola

family

greg's daughter hannah with a friend savannah
family photos with family hand decorated frames....our most treasured presents this year....my joys are plentiful

baby green worm...

our new baby worm!

tale of the blue worm....

when i told about our family Christmas traditions i did not include that giving of the blue worm since i thought that tradition in an unfortunate accident ended last year & i even had a moment of missing that tradition as greg & i drove to Christmas breakfast with everyone....but the tradition lives on, here's the tale.....
probably seven years ago my creative daughter katie hand drew & colored a gift tag for all, lots of time went into this anyway todd's tag was a reindeer with a blue saddle which someone had asked "what's this the Christmas Blue Worm?"  of course all laughed, made jokes & teased about the blue worm jokingly "todd you'll have to pass the blue worm next christmas"..... well all forgot but todd & he did put a blue gummy worm into ed's breakfast burrito & the tradition was born & has been everything from artwork, on t-shirts to glass blue worms untill matthew's passing onto katie the obituary of the blue worm's passing by being squished sad but funny because it looked like the real newspaper article.....
low & behold left on todd's doorstep for someone to find the baby of the blue & one night stand with a yellow worm....the green worm!!!
everyone was pleased as punch with katie's ingenuity in bringing back the Christmas Green Worm.....gabby found her & will pass her on next year......
our family as usual had a wonderfully funny, loud, cherished Christmas Day   cheri

To you & yours...

A Happy Happy Christmas
and a Merry Bright New Year
       how sweet the
Kind Olde Greeting to every heart and ear
         enjoy it all   cheri

Rain Rain Go Away....

It's raining, it's pouring & it won't stop....this is now where the chickens have to lay eggs, I'm building an ark for me and the animals....water & mud, mud and more mud! Couldn't even sleep last night for the sound of raindrops constant, tossed & turned, fussed & figgited worrying about how bad it would be for the poor animals....mucked the coop, set out buckets, did the best I could supposed to stop sometime tonight, PLeaSe....tootsie is living in a huge mud puddle but she is a pig, they like that sorta stuff....supposed to be dry Christmas Day, this Santa has alot of presents to deliver....

Saltine Toffee Cookie

An easy tasty treat....
Preheat oven 400'
Grease cookie sheet line with one sleeve of saltine crackers
In saucepan combine 1 cup butter & 1 cup dk brown sugar bring to boil & boil 3 mins. Immediately pour over crackers, spread & bake for 5 mins.
Remove from oven sprinkle with 2 cups chocolate chips let melt, spread & sprinkle with chopped pecans
Cool completely & break into pieces

New do....

Ready to go out on the town! Cooper & Lisa did grandma's hair today, don't you think it shows off my best features....LOvE BeINg GraNDma  so so much fun....  enjoy your inner child time

Clean sewing room....

Tomorrow is our trash today so on wednesdays i have to clean all coops, pens & cages, also i had to weatherize for rain so no animals or food gets wet....we may actually be getting some rain here....know that most of you get weather much more drastic, but since it's usually so lovely here rain means preparation time....since i was in the cleaning mode also tackled my sewing room, definitely needed a good vacum....but first i needed to put this quilt top together so the floor would be empty, vacumed, then put some applique pieces on so it's ready for stitching, will still get borders probably and now my floor is ready to be filled up again with new beginings....definetly need to lay out Folkart Gatherings for new additions....got my fire started, all animals fed and ready to start stitching....hope your day was filled with some good accomplishments.....    enjoy cheri

Wrapping, wrapping, wrapping....

Started the process of wrapping, my favorite part but with so many to do it can be daunting & i can procrastinate till right before Christmas....so i told myself one or two a day early on....recycling newspaper for paper, buckets and grocery bags.....still have a room full to go & i've already done the wrapping & sending to son & grandkids in missouri....best get back to task...

small moment or thing.....

i was looking at the Real Simple magazine last night...."what is the one small thing that always makes you happy?"   i'm a ruminator, hhhhmmmmm......my earphones when i have the music going doesn't matter the activity or mood i'm happy!     more ruminating......comfort food definitely pancakes makes me think of my grandma easter......the smell of the pavement when slightly damp after a light rain.....
                                        share the small things that bring you joy.....

Drumroll Please....

I feel like the host of a gameshow!  The winner of the Primitive Crosstitch Ornaments is....Quilting by the Lake....Congradulations!
please send me an email with your address so that i can put them in the mail to you......enjoy, cheri
i will post a primitive giveaway each month next year.....having so much fun giving away treats....

A little glitzy...

All dressed up for Greg's Holiday work party held at the Photographic Museum in Balboa Park...what a fun idea for the party venue....there was an exhibit of K thru 12 grades works that was amazing, thought provoking and even emotional Loved It!  Party was entertaining they had a tango dancers preformance also Sexy!!!  Food was fancy not alot veggie so after we got home had to snack on real food!   It seems like everyday I live in sweats....so it's a treat for me & Greg to get dressed up...doesn't he look dashing!

Ribbon Embriodery

A second closer look!

Christmas Party

Dana made us each a fun little quilt, several decorate my home, I picked one of the more tea-dyed primitive ones....I was also so surprised to receive a couple of thank you gifts for my baking treats on quilt class day, how sweet are Linda & Susan to think of me....a fun little patched quilt and I must admit I almost peed Dana's couch in my squealing fit when I opened this ribbon embroidery piece from Susan, she had made one for her anniversary and I admired her work "so easy" she said  "yeah right" I said, no way could my natually primitive stitching hands produce some that delicate....WoW now I have one to admire every day....FriENdS are wonderful!  Thank you all

Christmas Party

Thursday's Quilt group had our Christmas Party yesterday....I know that everyone has talented quilt friends but I must say I'm always grateful & happy to belong to this group of particularly, uniquely creative women....we crafted, ate, watched our local news broadcast of the "bomb house" in town be burnt to the ground all went well and the house is no longer thank goodness!  Then  came of course the favorite time of all opening gift exchanges Cyndi picked my gift, so I got to go next....checkout my choice a beautiful penny rug, already hanging on my wall yes wall I don't want to take a chance with Spud our kitten who loves wool, this was handmade by Rose who hands stitch the most delicate stitches I could only imagine..... so lucky am I to be on the receiving end of those stitches

Home for the Holidays

Tomorrow Stacy of Buttermilk Basin will finish off our Holiday blog hop I'm sure it will be a perfect end to a perfectly wonderful holiday fest of crafts & cookies....my hat is off to you Stacy for all your good works, keeping all us crazy artists ladies in line and on task!   Enjoyed every minute would do it again in a heartbeat..... cheri

Thursday Quilt Class

This is my teacher Dana's gift....

Thursday Quilt Class

This is the little quilt I made for the gift exchange....

Thursday Quilt Class

My gift is all wrapped up and ready to go....the wrapping is my favorite part, doesn't it look primitive....the idea of wrapping the little quilt around the spool came from the Temecula Quilt Co.

Primitives Giveway

It's my first ever giveaway, so excited!  I stitched up these two primitive ornaments for someone.....will have greg pick a number for me next sunday from number of followers...... thanks to all for making my entry into the blog world such a good experience, cheri

Making Christmas Ornaments

Sofia & Mommy

Making Christmas ornaments

Nola & Lisa getting creative

Family Christmas Ornaments

Our handmade ornament party....pompoms, pinecones and glitter glue always the favorite!

Christmas Spectacular

Such a fun day today took Sofia & Lisa to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes....such an experience
We dressed up "fancy" as the girls would say, went out for lunch and then to the show, arrived early enough to use the restrooms, walk around and find our seats then the wait, the longest 30 minutes for two little girls, only 3 & 4, I kept assuring not much longer the Rockettes had lots of fancy sparkles to put on....then I used the line that we needed to wait for everyone to find their seats, couldn't start the show before everyone was seated  Lisa stood up leaned over the rail and said loudly " everyone find your seat & sit down I want the show to start"  LOL 
The show was spectacular and the excitement, awe & sparkles in my granddaughters eyes brought tears of joy to mine......
Now both girls want to be Rockettes when they grow up....so would I!
Enjoy, cheri

Home for the Holidays

It's day 10..... Tara of Sew Unique Creations has yummy cookie recipe & a snowman penny rug to add to your winter decorations.....hop on over!
       The doll is my newest addition to my holiday collection  "HoLLy" is her name & she's handmade by Sharon from Mustard Seed.....