Is Reading a Craft??

Emma was wondering how should could contribute.  Well this is her look after a complete day with her nose in a book.  My kids grow into bookaholics as they age.  I set and watch other children in the family and they always have their nose in a book.  But for Christmas Emma got this book and she was so excited to be able to finish a book in a day.  Now I get to read it because there has to be a Mr. Darcy in it with that title.

Lark got a nook for Christmas and is beginning to be a book snob, too.  She excited to begin her reading on a regular basis.

Three Tree's

This year I learned a new craft.  It is the art of paper piecing.  I found this pattern on the website here.

I really had fun learning this craft.  I gave this picture to some close friends along with the book.  It turned out to be a really fun gift.  In keeping with the theme I did three tree's in my home this year and thought I would share them with you.

This is my Disney Tree.  The bed skirt was a last minute addition.  I found the Minnie Mouse polka dot just made a circle added the ruffle and the large ric rac.

My next tree has been my traditional Delft Blue tree with our dutch ornaments.

We changed the position to in front of the big windows.  The entry was festive with garland on the stairs. And most importantly the Nativity being the focused as we came further into the house.

Our last tree is the traditional childhood memories tree.  This tree had all the childhood ornaments and balls.  The top of the tree is adorned with the "Christmas Story" star.  But no this star is the Anderson family star.

For years as a child this star (one similar) adorned our tree.  I remember grandma working with it year after year, adding glitter, changing the bulb,  making it work just one more year.  They bought a star just like this one the first year they were married.  It was on the tree every year while I was growing up.  After we moved back to Mesquite while Darryll and I lived in the old house in Mesquite, I was called to help clean out a house that had a lot of bottling jars in it.  I opened a large tin that was filled with Christmas decorations.  When I cleaned it out in the bottom of the tin was this star.  It was just like new.  It has now been atop our tree for 20 years.  I am sure buried in Mom's Christmas decoration is the original Anderson Family star but this is the Dodenbier Family Star.

Quilting as of Late

 I took on some holiday quilting projects this year. I'm making the rounds with sibling Christmas gifts, and this year was Adam's turn. 

 The pattern is called a snowball block. It comes together really fast! I wanted it pretty scrappy and casual.

 The back is pieced. PS, I love the apples and cherries on this print. Perfect for Washington! 

 I also attempted this stocking pattern I found online. I made some minor changes, but it's almost like the original. I love these prints.

 To embroider Annie's name, I just used a heat transfer pencil then did a backstitch around the letters.

Easy peasy. So fun. Now I want to remake the rest of ours too.

I'm excited to hear from everyone on this blog. Yay!

Why this blog???

To all the family (our numbers are many),
Grandma would love to see all the fun things we do.  Everyone of us have been given a great heritage.  This is being established so that we can share our fun idea's with each other and mainly so grandma can see all the fun things we do that are truly a heritage from her.  We would like everyone to be able to share crafts, quilts, recipes and whatever else you like to with one another.  Grandma gets leary of the computer so I thought if she could follow one blog on the internet she would. Have fun, post as frequently as you would like.  Mary is helping me since she it the queen of blogging and I know very little.  So with her help we will a lot of fun.