It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like....

Slowly, but surely, I'm getting into the holiday mood. The very first item that I take out on Thanksgiving Night is our Christmas Toile quilt. It's one of my very favorite quilts. On Black Friday, while others shopped, I used some of the extra fabric from this quilt to make pillowcases for our bed. The quilt and pillows make me smile each morning. I'm so happy that I finally finished this quilt. Sadly, this is the only Christmas quilt that is finished. I can think of at least two other projects that are aging in plastic containers. There might be more than the ones I remember :) One of my goals for 2010 will be to complete those other Christmas quilts.

Melisa at Sweet Home collected pillowcases for the ConKer Cancer organization. It was fun sewing these holiday pillowcases. Hopefully, it will bring smiles to a child this holiday season.

A Late Birthday Treat

For my birthday in June, I received a gift card to Amazon.com. I've been waiting for just the right item to use my valued gift card. I even lost the gift card for a day or two so I decided that it was time to buy something. I searched through the new fictions titles and the quilting books. When I discovered that the Jelly Roll Book folks had a new book, I knew that was what I would order. I don't like to purchase a quilting book sight unseen, but I took a chance on this one. I'm pleased with the book. There are at least two or three quilts that I would like to make. The best thing is that I didn't feel that I had to use special Moda pre-cuts for these projects. I felt like I could use some of my existing fabric and add to it with yardage from my favorite quilt shop, Sweet Home. I'm thinking that Melisa has this book on order. She stocks the other two books by these same designers. Make a trip to her shop or visit her online. You will be happy that you did.

Pumpkin Decorating Contest

It has become a tradition at our elementary school for each classroom to decorate a pumpkin as a character from a book. The students bring coins from home and vote for their favorite pumpkin. The money raised from this event is given to the American Cancer Society. Each year I'm amazed and marvel at the creativity of the students, teachers, and parents as they transform ordinary pumpkins into works of art. I just had to share these creations with you. It's a celebration of creativity! Hope you recognize some of the books and characters from those books. Some of the books are classics like Charlotte's Web and others are new hits with our students, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Franklin's Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois

Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Gracias, the Thanksgiving Turkey by Joy Cowley

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems

Friday Favorite

Melisa at Sweet Home Quilt Shop has a special give-away on her blog on Fridays. Visit her blog to enter her give-away this week - Shangri-La charm packs and yardage. Visit and enter, but I have my fingers crossed wishing for this one!