End of October

Even though the weather is sunny and warm, fall marches on.  The beautiful trees I posted last week have lost almost all their leaves.  It happened in about four days and it wasn't even windy.  Still, the weather makes it hard to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up.  The thought of a day shopping at the mall makes my blood run cold, especially when I could be quilting.  The gift-buying will be nearly all on-line this year.  I love the idea of buying a gift when I think of it and shopping in my bathrobe.

About 30 of us from my guild went on Quilt Retreat last weekend.  The retreat center is only about 30 miles away, the setting is lovely, the staff hospitable and the food really good.  (Yes, I say that about most any food I don't have to cook, but the food WAS really good.)  I made some progress on a Christmas quilt that will be a pattern next year, took pictures for the guild and did a little embroidery.  But the best part was hanging out with other quilters.  It's fun to get to know members of the guild better and enjoy their talent.  I belonged to the guild for about five years before participating.  What was I thinking?

I've just finished quilting a project I started last year.  It was a kit I bought at the Northwest Quilt Expo. I rarely buy kits, but this one was so cute and the price quite reasonable so I went for it.  I finished all the piecing last fall and then put it away after Halloween.  All that's left is the binding.

The new Christmas quilt is a row quilt.  It was initially inspired by some great Christmas fabric.  One of the fabrics in the group is a print of 3-inch squares, which made it a perfect place to start.  The great thing about row quilts is that it's super easy to make them whatever size you need.  Time getting short?  Just stop, add a border (or not), quilt it, bind it and call it good.  Nobody has to know what the original plan was or how big you thought you would make it.  The pattern will be available next summer.

About the holidays in general:
The first year I was married, we lived a couple thousand miles from family and it occurred to me about the week before Thanksgiving that it was up to me to make the holidays special.  There are always a million cool projects and not nearly enough time to do them all.  For a couple of years I actually candied my own fruit for fruit cake.  It made the house smell marvelous and I still have the recipe, but seriously, there aren't enough minutes for that kind of thing anymore.  And I wondered why the holidays became more stressful than fun.

So here's some good advice from someone who's just learning to take it.  Do some things you love and the rest of the stuff the easiest way you can.  Also, delegate.  There's no rule that says you have to do everything.  The season is supposed to be fun for you, too.