Merry Christmas

 

It's Christmas Day!! How did this happen? Where did the year go? OK - we won't go there! It's been an extraordinary year!

Here's a family photo to share with you. And why do those dogs outshine the people? 

Merry Christmas from Lexi, ME, M, Bear, and Murphy

Yes - a family member is missing, but he'd never opt to be in the photo. We'll just pretend that he's taking the picture - NOT! 

At first sight, this looks like a normal photo. But notice that I'm holding onto Murphy, so she doesn't bolt to grab the cookie that has her attention. Bear had to be photoshopped because, well - it's hard to get two people and three dogs to all look at the camera at the same time. But he looks normal. 

Let's say that M and I are NOT smiling for the camera. No - we're in hysterics at the photos as someone did NOT want their picture to be taken. 

Lexi is MAD

OH MY GOSH -- Lexi looks MAD. She did NOT want to be in the picture. Murphy was just happy to be part of the whole thing, and Bear - well, he's getting tired! 

When I tried to shut things down, he wasn't having any of it. He loves to have his picture taken!

Where are the lights? Where are the cameras?

Why did we do this? It was for you, but not just you! And trust me - it was a LOT of work to get all those quilts downstairs. We had to move a LOT of furniture in the living room to make it happen. And those quilts basically stretch from one wall to the other. We had to do the photoshoot on the main floor because Lexi would NEVER go upstairs. So instead of carrying her upstairs, I tossed all the quilts over the railing. Then I had to fold them all. Let's say that it was quite a task! 

Speaking of carrying, I had to carry Lexi to the photoshoot - she doesn't like anything out of the ordinary! Oh no - NOTHING can change. 

I must grab one of the other photos with her MAD face. It's hilarious. And Bear? He's asking - where are the cameras? I'm waiting!!

I'm waiting!!!!!

The upstairs hall was empty. 

Not a single quilt to be seen

See - the entire wall is filled with folded quilts. Ten quilts were missing from this stack, and all the small things were not here either. 

Wall to wall quilts

Can you guess how many quilts there are?? Way too many for one person to be sure. I'm going to actively start selling them. Not all of them, but as many as I can. So that's partly another reason we had the photo shoot and more on that in the new year. But let's just say that M and I, the girls and the boy, had a great time setting it up. Now I have to slowly tear it down and put everything away. 

I'll wait until M leaves in a few days, and then I can put things back on the Princess and the Pea bed. 

The sad thing is that there's also THIS wall at my house. 

TWENTY tubs of quilt tops

These are the tubs of quilt tops (with binding and backing) that need to be quilted. I did a quick count this morning, and OH MY. If I were to quilt ONE a week, it would take me FIVE years to get through what's here!!! Well, that's a sobering thought. 

Let's not even go to the number of UFOs in the house. That would be equally sobering as it's probably in the same neighborhood as the unquilted quilt tops. I know - how the heck did that happen?? 

But in the finished department, there are about 180 quilts in the photo. I know - that's obscene!!! And I'm going to guess another 50 smaller ones strewn around upstairs and downstairs. I've no idea how that all came about. There are a few that I purchased or won (especially in the small ones), but I still made the majority of them. 

I haven't made many to give away. I make to keep, or so it seems. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a catalog of all my stuff? Well, I might just do that! It would be fun, and it really isn't difficult anymore with all the digital books you can make. I can make books with 50 items in them, and that way, there's always room for the new projects because YES - there will always be new projects. But the catalogs would be a great idea. I can start with the small ones as they will be easy to photography. 

Whoever asked for a white Christmas got their wish! It started to snow about 6 PM last night, and well, it snowed. I don't think there's a lot to shovel this morning, but it sure looks like a winter wonderland out there. 

A winter wonderland

And here are my Christmas cards. Not strung up on a string, but placed on the mantle. I'll show you some of the cards and envelopes another day. Thanks to everyone who sent a card. It was so much fun to walk to the mailbox to see what new surprise awaited me!!! 

My Christmas cards

There was even overflow, and those went onto the bookcase. It really was a lot of fun, and well, some of you will be getting a card from me - it might be a day or two late. I don't know why I can't be on time with anything!!

More Christmas cards

Don't forget that it's our mini Zoom Christmas cheer this afternoon. The Zoom session runs from 1 PM - 3 PM EST.  Here's the link. You can just pop in to wish a Merry Christmas, or you can stop by and sew for a bit. I'll dig out some handwork that needs to be done. And while I'm Zooming, I'm going to try out my Christmas present to myself. You have to wait until tomorrow to see, but I'm pretty excited about it.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85071932657?pwd=cWtIYXFPZkw3WEhNdlVKVjVXaTlWQT09 Meeting ID: 850 7193 2657 Passcode: 872754

We went out last night, and I'll share what we did tomorrow. We followed pandemic protocols, so don't think we were getting out of line here!

But we decided that Christmas should be about PRESENCE, not PRESENTS. We spent the day doing things together as a family - well, DH did not participate in the photoshoot, but that was his loss. I did NOT buy a single present, and M didn't either. DH just had to be the rebel in the scheme of things.

Today, we'll take it easy, and I have nothing on the schedule. OH - we're going to rent a movie and watch that since we can't go to the theatre!

We're a small but mighty group!

On that note, I'm out of here!!! I hope to see you later today, even for a quick HELLO.

Have a great Christmas Day!!!

Ciao!!!