My First Christmas Gift

all the way from the Netherlands. Thanks Simone! "It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas."
Yesterday I was out shopping from 9:30AM until 4PM. I got everything done and found some great deals. There were a few things I could not find in stores but found on the internet which I also found some deals.

Now to get the Christmas tree.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

2011Christmas Quilt Show

I thought I would enter a quilt in SewCalGal's 2011 Christmas Quilt Show. You still have time to enter your quilt too. I have been visiting some of the links and there are some really fabulous entries.

My entry is a wall hanging that I made for my mom in 2009. It was a free embroidery BOM from Gail Pan. It was a fun project to work on. My mom keeps it hanging all year in her sewing room.

I pulled out some Christmas decorations this morning but have not really started putting them in their places. I also did get to do some sewing today. I will be prepping some more leaves for my Hop To It block while I watch TV tonight. Tomorrow I plan to do some Christmas shopping. Got lists from the kids. Maybe I can find some deals!

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Country Girl

Yes, there is no place like home but it is fun to visit other places. This country girl went to the big city. My oldest son and his wife live in the DC area. They both work in retail so they did not get much of a holiday vacation. They invited my husband and me to come visit them this Thanksgiving. This first photo is the highway as we got into the area. On the left hand side there were three accidents. Our side of the road was good but people slowed down to see what was going on over on the other side of median which slowed traffic way down.
We went straight to where my son works and got the key to his apartment. Before we went to the apartment we went into a Barnes and Noble bookstore. This is the view from the second story.
This is a window of the store that my DIL decorated which is next door to the bookstore.

My son had Friday off so he took us down to the waterfront of Old Town. It was very crowded with shoppers. Some of the storefronts had some really pretty decorations outside of their shops. The sidewalks were all made of bricks.
On Saturday my husband and I went to Annapolis, Maryland. I can now say that I have visited that state. We walked the Main Street which was also packed with shoppers. It was a warm sunny day.
I did find a quilt shop in Annapolis called Cottonseed Glory. As you can see they had a ton of fabric.
I didn't buy much fabric. I did but these fat quarters from a line called New London by Faye Burgos for Marcus Brothers. I took some handwork with me to work on. I got a little bit more appliqued on my Hop To It block.
Today was spent washing clothes, getting some groceries, and running other errands. I also went to check out my veggies. They are looking good. I will be picking all the kale in the left hand picture for dinner tomorrow. I am so excited to see how everything is growing. We are going to get some cold weather this week so those veggies are going to be nice and cozy in their little hoop houses.
This country girl is glad to be "home sweet home" from the city. I have nothing scheduled on my calendar this week so I am planning to get some sewing done. I will share later.

Now it is time to start the Christmas planning. I might pull out some decorations tomorrow too.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!...Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Psalm 107:1-2

Giving Thanks
For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" -
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

author unknown

Wherever you may this Thanksgiving I pray you enjoy everything about the day. We have a lot to be thankful for. I will be enjoying time spent with my family.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Teaching Classes

Look what I have to show you all. Some works from the students in my classes. This first photo was a 6 month BOM that I did with three students. This student finished her top and brought it to the shop when I was teaching on Saturday to show it to me. Check out the rainbow rick rack she is going to add to the top after she quilts it. The pattern is from the New Applique Sampler by Piece O' Cake Designs.
The same student got the four blocks done from a Celtic applique class I taught last month. She has some really great fabrics for her borders too.

This pattern is Celtic Sampler by Rosemary Kurtz. It is so exciting to see this student's finished tops. Well done! Debra!

One day this week I taught two classes back to back. One was the Celtic applique. The above photo is from three students. Interesting choices of fabric for their knots. Below is a photo from a student taking my pinwheel table runner class. The darker green and red are some of her blocks.

These photos are from five students that took my beginning applique class. We met a few weeks ago and they had homework to do. The homework was stems and circles. This past Saturday they made the sunflower, hearts, and baskets. It is always so much fun to see what fabrics each person will use. This pattern is Spring Valentine by Susan Brubaker Knapp. You can see my version up in my header.
Well done ladies! I am so proud of you all. Keep up the good work.

I hope these projects will now inspire you to go do some quilting for a while.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

ps I almost forgot to tell you about this awesome BOM that is from Dorothy Baker's pattern. If you haven't read about it yet you can go here to see the first block on Dorothy's blog that was made by Denise.