Almost back

I don't quite have the feeling that I'm "back in the swing of things". As soon as the jet-lag wore off enough that I could get my bearings I realized we are traveling again later this week and I had a ton of stuff I needed to get done.

I've been busy quilting and piecing some new versions of quilts from Seamingly Scrappy for the MAAFRA show next week. I'm almost done piecing the second top and I want to try to get another one done tomorrow... We'll see.

But anywho, how was your weekend? We had a couple nice picnics with family and it was great to just relax, even if for a short time. It was a little chilly around our places so it wasn't the typical "start of summer" we're used to. It was a bit rainy and breezy, but we were still able to enjoy the company.

Growing up, I didn't have a relative that had served for our country and looking back I can honestly say I was blind to the true meaning of Memorial Day. Now that I married the son of a Marine, that has all changed. I was able to talk with my F-I-L yesterday and catch up a bit. He's a truck driver and is on the road quite a bit so we don't get to see each other much, but we can still talk from time to time which is nice.

It's definitely different from the 5 1/2 years he spent driving truck in Iraq. I was just looking through old pictures and found these from when he first went over to Iraq.

We're so glad he made it home safe as well as his twin brother (who also drove truck in Iraq for about a year or so). I know it was rough for him but he made the decision to go and we supported him. He met many fine servicemen and women while he was gone and man other fine citizens who chose to work in a warzone. Sadly, not all of them were able to make it back home to their families.

As much as I would like to think I understand the meaning of Memorial Day, I know I will never truly understand the sacrifices made like those that have lost loved ones. I would like to thank all of those people that chose to make the sacrifices for freedom and pray for the fallen.

Christmas Pickle

Does anyone else have a pickle ornament? We do at my Mother-In-Law's house:

Here's the story to the Christmas pickle if you haven't heard of it before - the pickle ornament is hidden on the Christmas tree somewhere. There's a special prize stashed away just for the person who is the first to find the pickle. We do this every year just for my nephew since he's the only kid. Even at age nine he still enjoys it.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, we're off to celebrate one last Christmas with relatives that just came in from out of town. It should be a fun night!

I finally downloaded all of the pictures off of my new camera and I'll be sharing more of those with you starting tomorrow. There's a whole mix of things I'm sure you'll enjoy. Back tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

And in true spirit of how my family gatherings have been going, I have to ask you a question:

"Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"

We love goofy movies and this one surely fits the bill for this season. Now I have my own rendition for how my day today has gone so far:

"It's Christmas and I'm sewing!"

Reading back, I think that super large tray of Christmas cookies is starting to get to my mental state, oh well!

Have a wonderful and safe holiday! Toodles!

Machine Quilting: Christmas Cardinals

Nancy is a part of the Marti & Me Club at Cottonpicker's Quilt Shop. One of the more recent projects her group was introduced to were the Interlocking Hexagons and she chose these fabrics to make it with:

 The colors and textures she chose work so well with the cardinal fabric within the blocks.

I tried a new design on this quilt and it's becoming one of my new favorites (disclaimer: every week it seems I have a "new favorite"). This design is simple yet elegant which I foresee working well in the future for "non-gender specific" quilts. You know, the one for a couple or maybe even for a guy that you don't exactly want paisleys and flowers quilting...

Nancy did a great job on this quilt and I believe she's going to get the binding done just in time for the Holidays. Thanks, Nancy!

Machine Quilting: Christmas Runner

So I have this awesome Nana that loves to quilt just as much as Mom and I do. We got her hooked on the Rapid Fire Hunter Star and she's made a bunch of them (like this one or this one) and now it continues.

She made this adorable version of the Hunter Star tablerunner. With that pop of red in the stars and the inner border all I could see were poinsettias, so I quilted them as such.

 I quilted half poinsettias in the cream areas, full poinsettias in the dark green areas (which are really hard to see) and made petals out of each star point. I also quilted small circles in the small border and double circles in the large border, almost like ornaments or holly berries.

You can see a bit more of the quilting on the back of the tablerunner here. Sorry for the bad lighting, with many gloomy dark days here in Ohio, it's hard to get good pictures most days now.

I'm working on more quilts, many of which I can't show since they're Christmas presents, but I will show more as I can. Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet? I know someone out there probably already has their tree up, right? Not me, I'm waiting until next week, or later, we'll see.

Merry Christmas!!!

I know I'm a little behind on this one, but I took off a couple days to spend with family and family alone. It was WONDERFUL!!! No computer, no e-mail, nothing... Just family and good times.

So, from my family to yours, I hope you had a wonderul Christmas and look forward to an amazing New Year!!!

Sincerely,
The Silbaughs

O Christmas Tree!

I did it! I decorated already and about 95% of my gifts are bought and wrapped. Don't you just love the little things?