Cats Christmas Countdown..."JOY"

 Hey quilter's....hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone "JOY." I know that I "blog" about not being stressed with the holiday rush so to speak, so my wish to you is Joy. We are all going through difficult times and even I lately forget to take time for myself. My daughter alway's tells me that I'm no good for others if I don't take care of myself. I get caught up in the "chaos" and get stressed but I need to realize that I'm Blessed to have this chaos. I know sounds weird but it's true. So my wish for everyone is to take a few moments for yourself...read a book...walk in the park or by the lake and remember that "You" are what brings "Joy" to someone's life. Remeber...if you're still trying to find that special gift for someone..."Quilt-it-Forward"....pass your creativity on...to me that's the greatest gift of all.

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Cats Christmas Countdown..."Cozy Tomato Basil Soup w/Cornbread Croutons"

 Hey quilter's ...hope your holiday season is going great. I know day's are getting shorter and Christmas is upon us so I wanted to share a fast & easy recipe w/ y'all. This recipe is so festive with the bright red color and a splash of gold with the cornbread croutons. You can easily double this recipe so it would be wonderful to take along to a "Quilt Pitch-In or Pot Luck." I love this time of year when the weather is still a bit uncertain if it wants to be sunny or cold so this is definately a great soup for a cozy night watching Christmas movies. Pop on over to my cooking blog for this fast & easy recipe. Enjoy!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Cats Christmas Countdown..."More time 2 Quilt"

 Hey quilter's...hope y'all had a great weekend & your Christmas projects are coming along well. I believe everyone knows by now that I took an unexpected "trip" & Christmas presents are a bit "delayed" this year. I saw this quilt humor recently and it really hit home. If I could turn back time is what I usually say but lately it would be wonderful to have more quilting time before Christmas. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks that...right? Although I have used my "downtime" to design my Christmas Quilt-a-long for next year that I am really excited to share with y'all. My design will be easily enlarged and I will be posting smaller projects along the way as well. I'll be doing mine in Christmas Scraps but you can easily do your own spin on it with the fabrics of your choice. Y'all know me, "One Design...Sew Many Ways." And yes...we'll be Christmas Quilting all year in 2022. Well, I'll be anyway...#lessonedlearned :-) 

In the meantime...here's a little humor below for less-stress-quilting.

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Cats Christmas Countdown..."Quilted Tree-Skirt"

 Hey quilter's...hope your weekend is off to a great start. While searching the net for some quilting humor for some stress-relief, I seriously laughed out loud at the one below. A few yrs ago my daughter wanted a tree skirt for a new tree she was doing in her formal living room. I thought...no worries...I'll make you one to coordinate with your design...isn't that what all us quilter's do? Then...reality hit....all that hard work doing points for a "rounded tree skirt"....and the thoughts of all my hard work being covered up. No way...seriously mentioned to her that thought and she just shook her head. I know she was thinking...my mom! Well...then a few days later she called and said what clever idea she came up with to use as a tree skirt. She bought fabric that coordinates with her theme and scrunched it up around the bottom of her tree. I have to say, what a clever idea! I might one day suprise her with a "Christmas Tree Skirt" but I can definately say it won't be a "Prize-Winning" one like Mrs. Bobbins :-) Oh my goodness...mine would be simple...too much work to be covered up :-) Have a great weekend!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Another favorite below in case you missed it :-) Gotta love Mrs. Bobbins!

Cats Christmas Countdown..."No Ugly Sweater Party Here" :-)

 Hey quilter's....hope y'all are enjoying the Holiday Season. I thought I'd share a little "quilting humor" to get us through the day. I saw this one while searching the net and had to laugh. I'm sure we all have gone to a "ugly sweater party" by now but if you've made it, how can it be ugly. Seriously all the work that goes into quilting much less sewing a garment cannot be considered ugly in my book. But if you are thinking about wearing a "quilted vest" to a ugly sweater party then here's an idea so you don't ruin your original hard work...

First...grab your Christmas Stash pile & "fussy cut" some fun christmas shapes out...you can even use your cookie cutters :-)

Second,,,Pin them to your vest throughout using your "quilting basting pins"...a bit safer and you don't need to worrry about being poked while you're having fun.

Third....have fun & if you're able grab someone to wear matching ones like the pic below. I laughed so hard when I read it and that's what actually inspired my creativity to "decorate a quilted vest" :-) I love Mrs. Bobbins. Who knows...this might stay a "fashion trend" :-)

Have fun & remember...Stress-Free Quilting.

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Cats Christmas Countdown..."Santas Favorite Quilter"

 Hey quilter's...hope y'all are doing well. I had to share this sweet story with y'all. As I was viewing some "quilting humor" for us all, I saw this one and almost cried. A few years ago I had made a Christmas quilt for my grandson...he was about 4ish and he asked me if the elf's helped me 'cause he didn't think Santa Claus quilted. Well you could only imagine my face. Let me back up to the beginning of the story of what I told my grandson and probably shouldn't have. I might have mentioned to him that I was needing a few extra "hands" to help finish his quilt on time. Oh and it was also over the phone. Who would have thought he would have remembered the conversation at such a young age to actually question me when I delivered it in person. Hmmm....never under estimate the knowledge of a "grandson." So....as I was looking at him and he was looking at me wating for my reply....I calmly said yes...and didn't they do a great job. His reply was "cool." 

Every year when I'm spending Christmas with them and I see that Christmas quilt it brings back that sweet moment of when "Gege" realized...."be very careful of what you say." I'm sure we all have those sweet terrifying moments with our loved one's but I wanted to share this story in case y'all needed a little "stress relief." I don't want to remind him of that moment 'cause I'm afraid he might ask more questions now that he's older :-) I'll just wait until he goes off to college or something. Ha! If he's anything like his "Gege" he believes Santa will alway's be forever in our hearts. After all it is the "most magical time of the year!"

Remember no-stress quilting...You got this :-) You have plenty of time...it's only Dec. 2nd :-)

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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Cats Christmas Countdown,,,"Gift Inspiration"

 Hey quilter's....well it's here...December first and the Christmas Countdown begins. My anxiety went into overload at midnight. I'm excited but my wheels were spinning for another creative gift idea. We all love a handmade gift but was looking at my "rulers" and was inspired. I have quite a collection from large to small...the basics and then some shapes when I get a bit creative. Rulers are not cheap and they can be used for any type of crafting/ quilting. So I picked out a few that I felt that I could part with and wrapped it quickly before I changed my mind. :-) I'm not a hoarder but I do love my rulers. With my gifts this year I'm writing notes of what inspired me to give the gift I picked for them. I'm actually having fun. I did realize that I didn't have wrapping paper on hand which was a bit frustrating. But....yes I did....I wrapped the rulers in Scrap Fabric. :-) :-) win...win...

Sew...sometimes having to think out of the box can be exciting. I might not be "chilling with my quilting gnomies" but let the Christmas Countdown begin!

Blessed Quilting from My Home to Yours,

Cat

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