The first of the three sets of Christmas postcards are done! I've been wanting to do a bird postcard for a while but just hadn't found the right bird, until a few weeks ago.
​

Just to be totally transparent, and I've said this before, my postcards are almost never original ideas. I have a germ of an idea but I search the internet for images that I can use. This card started with the Merry Christmas  ribbon so I searched for a bird that would work with the rustic palette that I wanted to use. Once I had an image I could resize it in Gimp to get it to the size I needed. Then I was able to trace templates from that. After that it was just a lot of cutting and stitching and then a serged edge.
​

Right before I serged the edges I painted a black eye on each one. I had some suggestions to add a white dot to the eye but I felt that took away from the rustic look of the cards. 
​

I made 26 of these cards. I think I'll be addressing all of the Christmas cards by this weekend!

Kim and I had a great week at the river with Anne and Weesie. We all made a lot of progress on our projects and I think we wore Weesie out. Anne said she slept the whole day after I left. One of the projects that I worked on was this crochet cape. I finished it Sunday while I was watching football and I started another one. From The Heart put out a call for wheelchair capes. I had one already finished, this one is the second and I'll try to get one more finished before I deliver in a couple of weeks. This cape works up really quick.

This is a "pattern" that I made from combining some other patterns and the directions are here. The yarn is Lion Brand Mandala Ombre and I think it makes a pretty cape.
​

I accomplished all of the stitching on the postcards that I could while at the river and I did some of the finishing this weekend. I had to stitch the berries at home because I didn't take any red metallic threads with me. The color I used here is kind of a copper color. I wish I had used a more textured background with these but it's too late for that!
​

This is the stitching that I got done on the other two designs. The trees will get some crystal but I'll add those after I stitch the edges. I got the birds outlined and the ribbon added.
​

Yesterday my birds got painted eyes and what a difference that makes!

Now I'm ready to fuse the backs and serge the edges. The end is in sight!
​​

I also brought home a little toy to play with for the next few months. Anne bought this Sashiko machine secondhand in the Spring. She will be out of town for a few months so she let me bring it home to play with until she returns. 
It's a really interesting machine. There's no top thread, only a bobbin. It may look like a sewing machine but it doesn't work like one at all.
​

This is what the stitching looks like. You can adjust the size of the stitches and spaces separately. I'm not allowing myself to play with it until the Christmas postcards are all in the mail.

​This week I will get the cards finished and I want to get 4 veterans quilts quilted.

After cleaning up from Thanksgiving and putting up the Christmas decorations I got busy on the things I wanted to get done. First off, I wanted to get a couple of veterans quilts quilted. Both of these quilts are square-based patterns with no borders and that allows me to quilt them really quickly with the wavy crosshatch.

I'm not sure who made this one but I think it might have been made by Gwendolyn.

This is a pattern that I like to use when I have lots of scraps in a similar colorway or pattern, like plaids, batiks or patriotic. I cut this one out earlier in the year and Laura pieced it on vacation in August. All I have left to do is binding.
​

Then I got on with the postcards. They are all fused and I've gathered a bunch of threads for the stitching. I'm taking these to the river today to work on this week.

​

Usually Tuesday is reserved for my newsletter but there's no newsletter this week. It being a holiday week here in the US and all the Black Friday sales going on, I expect that there's very little attention for fabric. I'll be back to normal Tuesday posts next week.

Yesterday I finished quilting Kim's quilt. This is a pretty quilt and will be a lovely comfort quilt for her friend while she's going through chemo and radiation. I think it's about 70" square.
​

I used a pantograph called Fluffy Clouds with King Tut and SoFine threads. The quilting really shows off in the sunbeam.
​

I also continued progress on my postcards and have worked out the second design. I bought the ribbon at JoAnn and used that as the jumping off point for my color palette. Now there's just a bit of cutting out left to do. The idea for the third design is percolating. I think I can have these ready to take to the river next week for stitching.

Today is a follow up for my annual physical and running a few errands but I hope I might have time to load the next pair of veterans quilts for quilting and also cut out bird parts for the postcards.

It was a good weekend here in many ways. For one, it was windy so I couldn't do anything in the yard. The wind mostly took care of many of the remaining leaves. The end is in sight for my autumn leaf blowing work.

We attended a memorial service for a hunting and fishing buddy of Chris' who was well known as a long-time high school coach in Richmond. He was the high school coach for a current NFL quarterback and he received wonderful tributes from that player and so many other people he touched in his life. It was really lovely.

On Sunday we delivered brownies of a couple of friends. For some reason, people really love my gluten-free/vegan brownies. I don't think it's the recipe. It has more to do with the $10 of specialty cocoa that I use in each batch. I love delivering them to people who need a little pickup. The funny thing is that I don't love them as much as everyone else. I prefer chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies.

I still had a lot of making time in the weekend and one project I finished is this wheelchair lap blanket that I will donate to From The Heart. You might remember all the blankets that I've been making for the men in my life. They all use Cascade Cartwheel yarn. I don't like having leftover yarn bits so as I finished each blanket I added it to a corner-to-corner blanket project.  It actually started with the blue in the upper right corner. That was the first blanket I made with this yarn and it was also a corner-to-corner wheelchair blanket. I used the leftovers to start this blanket. I fell in love with the yarn on that project and then I bought tons of it on sale, and as I've finished each blanket, this blanket has been growing. I thought it was going to be kind of ugly and thought it might end up being a pet blanket. But, now that it's done, I think it's kind of pretty. It's about 27" x 36".

I also got all of the pieces for the holly cards cut out. I think I even have the ideas for the 2 other designs. I want to get the pieces cut and fused for all of the cards by Sunday so I can take them to the river and do the stitching next week.

​Then I did some quilting!

Both of these veterans quilts were made by Carla. I really like both of them, especially the bandana fabric.
​

They are quilted with the square spiral pantograph in red thread.
​

Next up is this quilt that my friend Kim made for a friend. Her friend is starting cancer treatment soon so I want to get this one done quickly so she can send it off before treatment starts. I'm almost halfway done and hope that I can finish it before the Eagles game tonight.

This week involves a doctor's appointment (physical) and Thanksgiving at my brother's. All I have to prepare is a batch of cookies. Chris has to make 2 pies. I'm sure the only reason we are invited is for Chris' apple pies! He's famous among our friends and family for his apple pies.

Today and tomorrow I want to finish this quilt and work on the postcards. Those are my main goals.

Our last day at the beach was chilly and rainy so we enjoyed a day of watching college football and I made more hats. I took my sewing machine but was never really in the mood to sew. I was happy to sit on the porch and crochet. I shared most of these last week but decided to put them all in one post so I could have one place for the links when I want to make more of any of these.

On the top row are 3 hats I made for my nephew's wife. She's the expectant mother and she happens to have a small head. She says it's impossible to find hats that fit. I made 3 hoping that they fit and that she will like at least one of them.

The blue one is this YouTube tutorial from Spiffy Handmade. I like this pattern a lot. It's also the pattern I used for the purple one below. Kim liked the purple one because it matched her coat so I gifted her that one. For the blue hat I used Lion Brand Jeans yarn and an I hook. The purple one is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice and a J hook.

The gray mottled hat is a pattern that I've had printed for a while but it doesn't seem to be available online anymore. It's a standard DC increase rounds and then straight with back post DC. It's a very flattering hat. This one is made with Yarn Bee Velvety Smooth and a J hook.

The gray specked cuffed beanie is made with the Crochet Baby James Beanie from Daisy Farm Crafts. The yarn is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice using a I hook. The pom poms for the blue hat and this hat are from Amazon. This is the 5th hat I've made with this pattern.

The pink baby hat was made with this Crochet Shell Hat Pattern and the headband was made with the Blueberry Dance Headband pattern. The yarn is Brava Worsted from Knitpicks and I used a I hook.

The purple and tan hats are going to be donation hats and they are made with super bulky yarn and a N hook using a BagODay Youtube tutorial. It's a super simple single crochet spiral pattern and it's a very warm and nice looking hat.
​

This week I have got to change my focus to Christmas cards! I also have some veterans quilts to quilt.
​

Yesterday we expected worsening weather. It was supposed to be cloudy and windy in the afternoon with possible rain.  I headed out early for a walk so that I could catch a little sunshine.
​

There weren't any stranded jellyfish today but there were a lot of cute shorebirds. They aren't shy around people at all.

One of the cool things about this beach (Emerald Isle, NC) is that most of the houses are still nice, modest homes and not the mega homes of places like the Outer Banks. Both are fine and both have their place but here you can still rent a nice,modest beachfront home.

The sun was still shining when I returned so I sat on the back porch and finished crocheting this hat that I started Thursday. This is a super fast hat using only single crochet. The pattern is from BagODay from YouTube.
​

Well the clouds never really came in so I grabbed my chair and headed out to the sand with my audiobook. I decided to set an alarm because I had already spent an hour in the sun on the porch. The alarm was good because I had a great nap on the beach!

In the afternoon we had a nice visit from some friends of Kim's. Throughout the day I worked on this hat. It's another pattern from YouTube from maker Spiffy Handmade. I was making this from my niece with the small head but it's going to be too big for her. It fit me but I'll probably add it to the donation pile. 

I haven't done any sewing yet. It's easy to crochet on the porch and neither of us has been motivated to sew. We might sew today. We might not. I might keep crocheting. We'll head home tomorrow in the rain.

I had a long but rewarding day at the precinct Tuesday. We have an excellent Chief and a great team. That is very helpful for a day that starts at 5 am and ends at 8:30 pm. I was exhausted when I got home but I was up early Wednesday so I could get on the road to the beach. It was about a 4 and a half hour drive and here's where I headed 15 minutes after I unloaded the car. It was a beautiful day and we spent a couple of hours sitting on the beach.
​

I always enjoy watching the shore birds feeding in the retreating waves.
​

Yesterday we were expecting afternoon clouds and a pretty windy day so I got out early to take a long walk. I almost had the beach to myself. In one hour I saw maybe 6 people.
​

There were a lot more beached jellyfish than people.
​

The afternoon actually turned out nicer than forecast and we spent most of the day right here. Kim was reading and I was listening to a book and crocheting.
​

I made a hat and a headband for my Grand Niece who could arrive any day now. The hat was made with this Crochet Shell Hat Pattern and the headband was made with the Blueberry Dance Headband pattern.
​

Then I started a hat for her mother. Ashley has a very small head so she can't buy hats that fit. I'm making a few for her and this one is in a chenille yarn. I ran out of yarn so I'll finish this one when I get home Sunday. 

Today we are expecting some rain so I expect we'll finally break out the sewing machines. Or we might not . Mostly, we are just relaxing and enjoying every minutes of it.

It was a beautiful weekend here in Virginia and, of course, I did a lot more leaf blowing. But we also had a fun sewing weekend and I got to reconnect with a friend I hadn't seen in over 10 years. Also, the Eagles squeaked out a win so the weekend was a big success!

On the quilting front, everything was all about veterans quilts. I'm really happy to be back to quilting them. They are quick and stressless. These two were brought to me by Ramona. I love the bright geese in this one. I could see making this in my Shades Packs or a Gradient.
​

I decided on just a touch of custom on the geese. It was very fast to quilt.
​

This next one also came from Ramona and I find it really soothing. 

I quilted this one with the Square Spiral pantograph.
​

This is the top that I pieced at sewing this weekend. It's one of the kits that I had pre-cut over a year ago. I only have two kits left so this Spring I will need to cut a lot more kits. I really like that approach. It makes getting ready for the sewing weekends very easy.

The blue fabrics in this quilt are all from the remnants of dyed veterans quilt backs. I save all of the excess fabric and try to use it in other veterans quilts. The color fabrics are hand dyes from my stash. I really like how this looks but it was kind of hard to piece. I had way too much trouble keeping my fabrics in order! But even with all of the unsewing, I pieced the whole thing in 2 days (about 7 hours).
​

I got the next 2 veterans quilts loaded for quilting. Both of these were pieced by Clara. I'm trying to decide between red and blue thread but I will not get to quilting these until next week.

Tomorrow I will work the voting precinct all day. We will setup tonight and will be there tomorrow from 5:00 am until about 8:30 pm. It's a long day but I really enjoy it. Then Wednesday morning I'm going to the beach! My friend, Kim, got a beach house for the week and invited me to join her. I'll pack up the blue quilt and some crochet and head out early Wednesday. I'll post from there but probably will not post again until Thursday.

I had a little panic a few days ago when I realized that I needed to get a birthday card in the mail to my SIL the next day. I didn't have an appropriate card in my stash for her. I had some of the Martian cards but I had already sent one to my brother. One household can't have 2 of the same cards. I had to make something quick.

I walked into the sewing room and saw the stack of bonus HSTs left from the blue bowtie blocks. Since the quilt is for her, it seemed just right to make a card from these little blocks.
​

I just randomly sewed a bunch of them together. The fact that there's an arrow in the middle is a complete accident. 
​

I didn't want to have to be fussy to try to center the card on the pieced fabric so I took the easy way out and set it totally off kilter. I like it enough that I might make some more of these!  It took less than 30 minutes from the moment that I walked into the sewing room.

Yesterday I started quilting some veterans quilts. Today and tomorrow are sewing days with my quilt club. I have a new veterans quilt kit to start and it's very bright colors. I hope you have a great weekend.