It's All About The Fruit

 Hello again!  Hope everyone is safe and well this week before Christmas!  

I got behind on my Christmas cookie baking because we were renovating the dining room.  Who knew I was storing that much crap in the china cabinet!?  I had dishes stacked all over my office and kitchen counters.  Then there was the dust to deal with.  Didn't want to add 150 yr old drywall dust to the Snickerdoodles.  I did pare down on the amount I baked this year.  With Rich being quarantined until Christmas and my office has everyone working remotely, I wasn't sure how much to do.  Instead of my normal 20 batches, I downsized to 15 and it feels weird.  No pictures, but the cookies finally got done and shipped/ delivered to various destinations today.

I'm super happy with how the dining room turned out!  I chose blue to match Rich's Grandma Betty's china.  The lighter color made such a BIG difference in the room.  The large peony picture was my Grandma Deveda's.  Both Grandmas are well represented.

I had always wanted Judge's paneling in here but these pre-made frames fit our budget & skill set better than true Judge's paneling.  It was a real challenge to get the math right to go around all the air vents and electrical outlets.  Three outlets, all three at a different level on the wall.  One is crooked to boot.  Yeah for old houses and the DIY'ers that got here before us.  I got some new brighter drapes.  They're wildflowers and birds, a very French feel to them.  Even the cabinet looks better with the blue.

Here's a picture of Rich in the thick of it.  You can see how he had to sand down the bottom part smooth.  It took us 11 days, start to finish.  We basically worked on one step per day.  The funniest part?  I was going to do the whole thing by myself in January!  Ridiculous, right?  It would have taken a month at least on my own!  Rich has one more week of quarantine, and I'm going to let him do what he wants The whole week.  Big of me, don't you think?

While I was "supervising" the renovations in the dining room,  I did have some time to stitch.  I started the Mary Simon quilt that the DAR has.  It's been on my bucket list for years & figured, I've got the time now.  I can see in the picture that some of my rounded edges need smoothing.  I'll have to go back over it & fine tune some things.  I enjoyed this more "organic" block to the red & green quilt I started months ago.  If something is askew, it's not so obvious.  I also feel like that pineapple fabric is genius.  Were those supposed to be peaches?  I made them peaches.  Berries?  Okay, sure, those can be berries.  No idea what those pod things are but why not have pods.

Did I share this already?  TAS is doing a monthly sew along with Kathy Delaney.  I struggle when things don't look like I feel they should.  The 30s artwork isn't screaming apples to me.  I did the first block and then kind of forgot to keep joining in.  I was supposed to do Apricots? this month.  Well, maybe next time I'll be ready... Apparently, it's all about the fruit right now!

TAS had Rita Verroca speak at the meeting in November about Baltimore Album quilts.  I had to watch the video after but man, was that ever inspiring!  So much eye candy!  She's an excellent speaker & a real delight to listen to.  It really made me itch to get my needle out again.  Here's hoping that lasts!

Next time, I'll share what I made the kids for Christmas.  Much to Rich's dismay, it involves epoxy resin!

Until then, may you have the brightest of days, the merriest of Christmas's, the holiest of Hanukkah's and an epic freakin' New Year!