Will December ever arrive???

A few more peeks at what I've been up to in the studio:

Cute snowman fabric on the back:

These were already given to my sisters for Christmas when I was in California last weekend.

And, I finished my first, ever, Christmas Tree Skirt! I am debating putting ties on it, we will see if they are necessary.

A VERY scrappy backing:

(This was sort of a bear to bind, so I'm glad you can't really see it up close).

And here is sweet little Brian, who came to play at Grandma's:

The Holidays are Here...

I can't believe November zipped by so fast! The holidays are officially here. I must say I am quite excited about them - all of my children will be here with their families for Christmas this year!

I am cooking Thanksgiving, with a little help from the close-by kids, and Mr. Handsome, of course. Yesterday, I went out and bought a turkey breast, since I don't always have great luck with whole turkeys (I only like the white meat anyway - and of course, it's all about me). One year, the turkey didn't quite finish cooking and we had to get it done on trays in the microwave, once I managed to cook it upside down and couldn't figure out why it looked funny - you get the idea.

Anyway, this turkey breast cost a fortune! More than an actual whole turkey! It's either super expensive or we are going to have enough meat for the whole neighborhood. I am also mentally gearing up for the once-a-year gravy making nightmare/I mean experience. Let me just tell you, there is a lot of standing over a hot stove, and stirring going on and it always takes way longer than I think it should. I think I'm going to run back to the store and buy some jars of gravy and add little of my own gravy fixings and call it good. (Shh, don't tell)

I am excited about a fantastic looking peanut butter, cream cheese chocolate pie that I found the recipe for - that will be delicious, no matter what happens to the turkey and gravy - it's "no-bake" - doesn't that mean "can't fail"?

I always love seeing everyone enjoying themselves, even if Amanda is a wee bit cranky about having to say "what she's thankful for" at the table. I love to see the kids spread out on the family room floor, with all of the sale ads spread around, plotting their course for the Black Friday. Mr. Handsome is putting up the Christmas lights on Thursday and the weather should be fine for that - I LOVE to see the house all lit up!

Well, off to finish up my Christmas Tree skirt...

P.S. Just got back from a super quick, super fun trip to California (Saturday night to Monday morning) and the only picture I took was of this great (giant) potato masher that my mom gave me - it will be put to good use on Thursday (Shane can't wait)!

Amazing...

We headed down to the condo this past weekend and although no Christmas sewing got done, it was nice to get away. On Saturday, we did a fun hike out on the backside of St. George:

Beautiful scenery, fantastic rocks to jump around on:

I am very sad to report, that when I was here 10-15 years ago, I did a lot more jumping around - I guess getting old is kind of stinky.

The dog didn't think much of the hike -she kind of dragged her feet all the way up, she was much friskier on the way home. We only hiked a little over 4 miles - and I always wonder when I do something like that, "If I did this every day, could I eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight?"

We saw two movies this weekend - "In Time" with Amanda Seyfreid, it was a good movie, but that gal has the boniest knees I've ever seen on someone older that 11! We also saw "Tower Heist" - also enjoyable, but be warned, Eddie Murphy is a little on the crude side (no surprise, actually - but lately I'm just used to him as "Donkey" on the Shrek movies).

Now back to work and sewing and shopping - but first a nice soak in the jacuzzi...

Meanwhile...

It's turning into a regular Santa's Workshop over here (or so I like to think): I got this quilt out of the dryer this morning - I had washed it to remove the blue grid lines (for placing the flowers/circles). I usually don't wash quilts before gifting them, because, heaven forbid some color runs (I am not a pre-washer of fabric) or it doesn't look so new - BUT - this quilt is so nice and soft, I think I am changing my mind and am going to wash up all the gift-y quilts I'm giving this Christmas.

Just got back from the annual Quilt Retreat - it was in Park City this year and it was fabulous, as usual! We quilted and ate and slept and quilted some more and we laughed like nobody's business. (Pretty much ate junk food like nobody's business too) There were about 70 ladies having a great time and making beautiful quilty items. We stayed at the Marriott - very nice. It was so amazing to wake up each morning (4 days!) and not have to worry about anything but maybe how many pieces of bacon to take from the breakfast buffet or which project to work on first. No dishes, bed-making, going to work, etc. - just fun! Got lots of projects finished, now on to quilting them!

Here's Kathy as the "Beverly Hill Billies Quilter" ready to take off - she actually got ALL of her stuff onto this bottom rolling cart - we can only assume she made it all the way to her car, intact. Earlier she had shared how she was performing this trick at another retreat, and coming out of the elevator EVERYTHING spilled all over.

We all had a great time, but it's good to be home too. Now, onto the holidays...