Redoing Your Home Before holiday and Loving The Magic Only Christmas Can Provide

This is just a portion of the Christmas tree in my Christmas quilt on my diningroom wall. Included are the ornaments that our family loves. My tree is always packed with tons of ornaments. I adore them and so does everyone who see my tree! This year I will be showing a variety of trees with many different ornaments in a new class I am teaching (Oh Christmas Tree). It is awesome to have these to hang during the holidays and it is a keepsake for someone lucky enough to get it once you are gone....

No Christmas quilt would be complete without a Nativity scene. This is all decorated with bugle beads and it shines beautifully when it hangs. I love the smile on Jesus and the angels above . For surely where God is there are angels nearby. My youngest daughter at the base of the tree with her favorite doll she got one year. Note all of the black buttons on the tree stand. Great texture and whimsy.

One thing you will find Is that I often make myself with different colors or hair and since I always wanted to be little (like 5 foot) I decided this was my chance!

I beaded the entire background of this quilt and tied three knots under each bead so if one broke they wouldn't all go. After I got it 3/4 done I thought about cutting them all off because I was so tired of sewing on beads. But when I saw how much time it would take to cut them off, I kept sewing them on and now I am glad.

The ball below made a silly little Christmas ball but the design was so sweet and the word "Home" is always lovely....

As many of you know, I am sold on Hoochy borders for my story quilts. So many good colors and textures out there in fabrics. This sets a lovely color palette for your story quilt or whatever you decide goes into the quilt. If you haven't taken a class from me, you would find that you chose fabric differentely than you usually do and colors too. I love to teach what you are missing in your stash and what to add and take away to make it better! Such fun. I will be teaching a Christmas tree class in 2011, maybe you might like to take it to make a memory of your Christmas or a Christmas in your head (creativity) which can be even more fun!

When my Mother died, I couldn't bear to put anything out that reminded me of not having her here. This year I decided to get out her china (Spode) that had greens, reds, and soft golds prainted on them. The pattern is called "cowslip" and it is the most beautiful old china ever. Every holiday dinner my Mother cooked was placed on these wonderful plates. My daughter in law moved furniture around and put the plates into my red cabinet. It looks so lovely in the diningroom now. She then suggested that we leave this wall for a story quilt and change them out. So naturally we put the family Christmas story quilt out and it just fits the wall. Very fun. So, I bought a new computer and my son and his wife came over. While he installed the computer, my daughter in law (who had painted my walls last week) came over and redid all of the furniture and all of my "stuff" everywhere. This is not a good photo of her but you can sort of wee what she did and the mantel which is lovely is caught in the mirror behind her. We took down my old drapes and I am ordering new blinds and putting up a black and white polka dot valance. We are painting my French doors black and putting up light above that doorway which leads to a large deck. I love the colors and the way she knows what to get rid of and what to keep. She is a dream and so good to my son, their children and our whole family.

I took this photo while I was in Switzerland during Christmas time. Isn't this a charming picture?

I love how this captured the warmth, the giving and the tree and Santa relaxing after getting all of those gifts to the children who believe.