Boreal Witch

Last year I managed to piece together one quilt. I'm still embarrassed to admit that. But I blame pregnancy, water retention, and a baby. So there.

Dear readers, you'll be impressed to know that I have tripled my productivity this year! Three whole quilts! I assure you, however, that I have thought about and planned many, many more. Including one for a dear friend whom I have known since high school. Her quilt is now two years late. Fortunately for me, the top is now finished, but I need to piece together the batting and purchase the backing.

But let's not dwell on that now. Let's see the finished products!

Quilt #1: Pinwheels and Triangles 
I can't recall where this pattern came from now. I found it while browsing an old quilt magazine at my grandmother's house before her funeral. When I returned, I vividly remember storing the pattern directions in a large Ziplock bag along with all of the fabric scraps for the quilt. I must have thrown the pattern out after completing the quilt - something I don't normally do. It took me forever to piece it. I managed to finish all of the blocks the summer of 2011 and sew it together in the fall and quilt it at the very beginning of this year. Like most of my larger quilts, I got tired of it hanging around, so I made the quilt smaller than the original design. There were so many blue and green triangles left over that I made a zig-zag boarder. The quilter said that "made the quilt." I agree completely. It's my favorite part of the quilt. I made this for a wedding gift for my friend Shannon, who was my VISTA volunteer for a year. She and her husband both loved it!    

Quilt #2: Rectangle 9-Patch
My friend Mona went to Hawaii for the summer of 2011 and returned with a stack of rectangles for me, all Hawaiian-themed. I was pretty excited because I knew that I would be making Mona a quilt from those scraps of fabric. I decided on a simple 9-patch, but I would keep the rectangular shape instead of cutting the pile down to squares. The quilt was a breeze to put together. I even found sea shell fabric for the backing. The quilter said that she never would have dared to use the mustard-colored fabric for the sashing and the boarder, but that was beautiful. We decided on a floral design for the quilting and a maroon thread. Mona loved it! She didn't want to use it because she said it was too beautiful, but was afraid to display it because she didn't want it to get dirty. Mona moved this fall, and I was so happy that I was able to give her such a lovely gift before she had to go. I even had enough rectangles left over for another quilt for a dear college friend who will be getting married soon...the question is: can I get it to her before the wedding? 

Quilt #3: Bear Claw Wallhanging
My mom asked me to make her a wallhanging to display her employment pins. Her favorite color is blue and I was able to piece it together quickly. It was a bit trickier to quilt it, since I don't get much regular practice, but it turned out very pretty (even though there are more than a few mistakes!). It was one of the easiest quilts I've made in a long, long while! Mom loved it.

 Next year, I plan to do something monumental: I want to make a quilt for myself. I have already decided on the pattern and the colors. It's going to be beautiful and a lovely addition to the bedroom. Not to mention a godsend in the summer when it gets unbearably hot, yet I can't not have a blanket covering me. I also hope to finish two wedding quilts, a wedding wallhanging, and a quilt for a friend who moved but moved back.

Well, I'd better get started!

Blessed be.

I love Yule. It is perhaps one of my favorite holidays.

My fondness began about ten years ago when Robinson and I were newlyweds. We wanted to blend Christmas and Yule traditions (a la Chrismukka), so we burned a Yule log (before we sawed the bottom of the Christmas tree it was christened the "Holiday 2x4"), created ornaments celebrating the most important events of the year, and made "Yule wishes" for the next year. We also celebrated by eating two large, festive meals and opening presents. 

Due to this massive celebration, Yule and Christmas became important means of closing out the year. It's fun to reflect on all of the interesting things that happened to us over the course of a year. We aren't so good at celebrating other holidays (except for Halloween), but I love our traditions.

When Robinson and I had Arthur, we decided not to indulge in the Santa myth. We felt so strongly about it, that I even told my mother (who at one time had a collection of Christmas-themed sweatshirts that would have made Santa himself envious) to not send presents that were addressed "To: Arthur, From: Santa".

This year is the first year that Arthur really realized that there was a guy named Santa and that this guy brought GIFTS to good kids! The funny thing is, though, he never seemed particularly interested in learning more about Santa, never asked us about him, even though fist fights were breaking out in preschool over whether or not there was, in fact, a Santa.

Even when asked if Santa brought him gifts, he answered "No," directly and forcefully and then went on and on about getting lots of gifts from family. It took a few people aback. Even after that, he didn't ask about Santa. Had he asked us, we would have answered truthfully. We don't want to purposefully lie to our children and we've already had to deal with some difficult issues (such as Oldma's death).

Arthur's favorite present by far was his new shovel from Great-Grandma Trask. I hope this boy is as passionate about shoveling snow when he's 15 as he is now. The Legos from his Auntie Blythe were a close second. Balin loved the Clifford books from his Auntie Becky and his Great-Aunt Gloria. When he unwrapped them, he sat in my lap and demanded to read them!

It was a lovely holiday. We were thankful for all of the lovely gifts that our families and friends had gotten us.

Blessed be.