Happy Thanksgiving

I finished my turkey wall hanging a few days ago, just in time for Thanksgiving.



I enjoyed finding fall colored batiks for the outside halves of the log cabin squares.



I found jewel tones for the turkey in my stash.



Hope everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Fall in the Carolinas

Last week we went to South Carolina to visit my brother-in-law. He is building a new home in North Carolina near Hendersonville. These are photos from the top of a mountain in NC. The true colors don't show up in the pictures. There were a lot more golds, greens and some reds.






This is what the mountains looked like at ground level. The steep, curvy roads almost did our brakes in.



We also visited the Clemson Botanical Gardens. I had a hard time not taking hundreds of photos. The colors were gorgeous.

We came across this fellow during our walk in the gardens. We think he may be a marbled orb weaver. He was huge, the orange part of his body was the size of a nickel.

Celebrating with Quilting Friends

My quilting friends took me out to lunch on Wednesday. Linda gave each of us a tin of Altoids Smalls which she had decorated.



My friends are very generous, I'm going to share only a few of the gifts they gave me.
Linda added to my collection of sewing Charming Tails, the cute mice are sitting on a table runner she made for me.



Elaine decorated a kitchen towel with cardinal print fabric and gave me a coordinating decorative bell.



Dena knitted me this colorful scarf. It will look great with a couple of my jackets. I think I will be able to wear it soon, we had a weather forcast of snow flurries today.



Cheryl gave me a quilt journal to plan future projects, it has plain page in the front and graph paper in the back. I like to draw out my plans on graph paper so the journal will be useful.



Amy gave me beauty supplies and a kit to make a table runner. The fabrics are batik with silver paint, very pretty combination for winter.




Pat made me a colorful sewing machine mat to use when I take my machine to quilt club or classes. She filled the pockets with neat sewing supplies.




The gifts were all thoughtful and well appreciated but the best part of the day was spending time with great friends.

Enlightening Present

I've been using the windows in the family room to trace patterns for years and had decided I should buy a light box. Almost bought one about a week ago but the box looked damaged. The next day, Tom showed me the project he'd been working on in the basement. He made me a beautiful light box for my birthday.



He made it using plywood, stained it to match our woodwork and even used veneer so the plywood wouldn't show. The box is screwed together so it will be easy to change the lights if they burn out. A very neat present, especially since Tom hates working with wood.



Yesterday a package arrived in the mail. It look like someone had stomped on it. Luckily only the pumpkin Peeps were squashed. Jenny sent me two pieces of Polish pottery as part of my birthday present. My sister-in-law, Pam had given me a Polish pottery mug earlier this fall for my birthday. I've been collecting Polish pottery and these pieces will work well with my other pieces.

100th Birthday!

Yesterday was my aunt's 100th birthday. This is the front of the birthday card I made.



Here Aunt Gertie, on the left, is sitting with her sister who is 98. They are both amazing women. They still live in their own homes and are very sharp.



I made my aunt a lap quilt for her birthday.



There are two pillow panels in the center.

The backing on the quilt is quieter, a print with birds.

Our quilt club has been working on lap quilts to donate to the veterans' hospital. I made another quilt very similar to the one above for the veterans.