Quilting makes me calm, except when it doesn’t.

 CALM - - for the 2021 Holiday Photography Challenge (See sidebar for full list.).

 

Hobbies are soothing. At least, they are supposed to be.

 Generally, I love creating quilts. I tend to keep them simple, sticking to basic patterns and using lots of squares, rectangles, triangles, and strips. I assemble my quilts by stitching them up on my sewing machine, rather than by hand. And I frequently yarn-tie them, rather than quilting through the many layers.

 This Christmas season, I decided to whittle down my holiday fabric remnant collection by putting together a fun and festive quilt. I enjoyed creating the many squares and strips, using my rotary cutter and cutting board. I took my time sorting and setting out the color and design patterns before sewing the whole cover arrangement.

 

What fun!

 Then it was time to create the “quilt sandwich” and top-stitch through the layers (for loft and durability).

 

That’s where fun became not-so-much.

 I pinned the quilt (poking straight pins through all layers) edge and corner and at every intersection of every fabric piece. 

Then I wrestled it through my traditional sewing machine for hours and hours. These stretched into days and weeks, as my patience frayed more than an unfinished hemline.

 As my smartphone piped cheery holiday music into my basement workshop, I piped up at my sewing machine with less-than cheery vernacular.

 At last, I came to the end of the last top-stitched line of quilting. I tried to stitch-in-the-ditch, but occasionally missed the mark a bit, wrangling the bulky project.

 

The next (and final) step is to wash and dry the completed quilt.

 This will puff it up (making it fluffy and concealing where my top-stitching might not be exactly straight), while also removing multiple bloodstains on the back side, where my pin-pricked fingers soiled the fabric.

 I’m just grateful that I finished – and that I didn’t opt to make this one a full bed-sized quilt! And I’m thankful that I have a pair of compression gloves to relieve my sore hands and wrists.

 After the dryer cycle completes, I’m likely to be calm again, curling up with a cozy Christmas quilt and a good novel. 

And maybe I'll nod off with visions of long-armed sewing machines, rather than sugarplums. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

 

Image/s: Personal photo/s. All rights reserved.

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Lights bring horsey memories to life

 LIGHT - - for the 2021 Holiday Photography Challenge (See sidebar for full list.).

 

How many Christmas trees do you put up each year? If you’re like me, your answer is greater than one.

 Working from my home office, I enjoy having festive holiday décor near my desk. Located in an upstairs bedroom in our house, I enjoy glancing at bright holiday loveliness as I tap on my keyboard.

 Our larger/primary Christmas tree, displayed in the living room downstairs, boasts all classic clear lights. The wreath on the front porch is similarly lit. But up in my office, I relish multicolored strands on my much smaller tree. 

This arrangement features all of my horse and horse-related ornaments, collected over many years of equestrian pursuits.

 Groupings include likenesses of my own horses, as well as a couple of famous racehorses, a tiny stick pony, a couple of rocking horses, several miniature cowboy boots, home-sewn horses, a little cowboy hat, a carousel horse, and more.

You might say my office allows me to horse around a bit, while I work. Because it somehow helps not to take every project too seriously.

 Sometimes a few sparkly bulbs can lighten our lives – at least during the holiday season.

 
 

Image/s: Personal photo/s. All rights reserved.

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter. Like this blog?  Check out Practically at Home on Facebook. You are invited to visit my author page on Amazon.com.

Whimsical means wacky and weird, but witty and wonderful

 WHIMSICAL - for the 2021 Holiday Photography Challenge (See sidebar for full list.).

 Please allow me to introduce you to a long-time friend of our family.

 

Meet Ben Dablé (pronounced dah-blay).

 Ben Dablé (The Bendable Santa) made the scene many Christmases before Elf on a Shelf was ever anyone’s notion. And he’s been a family classic ever since.

 Not exactly roly-poly like the popular images of Santa Claus, Ben Dable is merry and mysterious at the same time.

 I’m pretty sure Ben arrived in stores in the late 1970s. He probably cost $1 back then. His matching counterparts have all but vanished, although they may be found via online resale marketplaces. 

(I did find a set of smaller bendable toys, featuring Santa and Rudolph and Frosty, on Amazon.)

 Our extended family used to have a tradition of drawing names for filling Christmas stockings (for the grownups, that is). Somebody tucked Ben Dablé into one of those, reading his name creatively. 

And he became a hit.

 Molded of rubbery polyester and wire-filled, this Christmas character has the ability to contort into all sorts of crazy positions and to hang around just about anywhere in the house.

 Four generations of our family have enjoyed this little guy so far, and we’re just getting started.

 Whimsical? You bet.

 

Image/s: Personal photo/s. All rights reserved.

Feel free to follow on Google Plus and Twitter. Like this blog?  Check out Practically at Home on Facebook. You are invited to visit my author page on Amazon.com.