Karrin's Crazy World: 2023

Sunday, December 31, 2023

HQAL, Slow Sunday Stitching

It is hard to believe that this will be my last post of 2023. This year has seemed to fly by. I have been MIA the last couple of weeks trying to get Christmas things finished. When I was at one of my retreats recently they gave everyone microwave popcorn bags, so I made my family bags and put them in their stockings. You can find the directions here.

Also while I was at retreat, my roommate had a cloth bag to put her dirty laundry in. I decided that with the traveling my family does I would make them laundry bags and also put them in their stockings. I cut out the Dirty Laundry out with my Cricut and used iron on Vinyl.

We choose names in our family for gifts and this year I chose granddaughter Kyleigh's name. She asked for a table cloth. In addition, I made her a table runner from an old Debbie Mumm Christmas book. I also made two colors of napkins.

I also embroidered 3 types of Christmas ornaments for my family. The designs I purchased from Embroidery Library.

I also made myself a sweatshirt to wear to the Christmas guild meeting. I cut out the design on my Cricut and and used iron on Vinyl.

I also embroidered tea towels.

Grandson Jaeger cut me out his brand on his Cricut.

We had a nice Christmas dinner at daughter Kristen's house. My sister Mary was here, and stayed with Kristen, and brother Allen was here for 5 days staying with me.

Kyleigh and her 2 grandmothers

Our whole family and SIL Jeff's parents

Kyleigh and boyfriend Drew

While brother Allen was here we went looking at living room furniture. I have really needed a new sofa and chair for at least a year. The sofa with the chaise I usually sit on to do my sewing needed a new chaise cushion, and was coming apart on the arm. Plus I was feeling the framework on my back cushion. I have not been doing much handwork recently because I haven't been comfortable.

Anyway I found a new sofa and lounge chair. I arranged for Habitat for Humanity to pick up my old furniture, and my new furniture delivered Saturday.

I'm now sitting back by the window and John's desk with my plants.

What I will be working on for Slow Sunday Stitching will be my sunflower quilt. I really need to get this quilted. I would like to enter it in our guild show in April.

Check out the Hand Quilt Along links below.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I will be linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. Head on over and see what everyone has been up to.

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year.

Monday, December 04, 2023

Virtual Cookie Exchange, Day 2, My Day

The Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange and Christmas Blog Hop started yesterday, hosted by the fabulous Carol @Just Let Me Quilt. Many thanks to Carol, this is one of my favorite blog hops of the year and this is the 5th year I have participated in it.

The challenge this time was to "share any of the items listed below:

A Christmas recipe, (cookies or something else food-related)

A favorite Christmas memory

Christmas Quilt, project or gift idea."

As I have mentioned in prior years, I usually make 10-12 types of cookies, and gives boxes out to family and friends. I usually like to try 1-2 things new.

This year my recipe is for Caramel Pecan Turtles: I got the recipe at Creations by Kara here: My picture isn't as pretty as her is though. Although mine aren't very pretty, they taste fantastic.

In 2018 I gave my recipe for Fudge and Crunchy Peanut bark here.

In 2019 I made Gingerbread reindeer.

In 2020 I made Chocolate melting snowmen.

In 2021 I tried a bunch of new recipes including Buckeye cookies.

German chocolate truffles, found at Tastes Better from Scratch.

In 2022 the new to me recipe was the Andes Mint Cookies from the Recipe Critic.

Be sure to visit the other bakers/makers listed below who are be sharing their Christmas spirit.

DECEMBER 4

Saturday, December 02, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

It's been a busy week, getting the Christmas decorations up. I will show more of that next week during the Virtual Cookie Exchange and Christmas Blog Hop.

The only sewing that got done last week was on Wednesday when our guild's Community Service has a sewing day. It comes on the months that have a 5th Wednesday. We rent a room at a local church and sew community service projects from 9 am to 2 p.m. We also have a potluck lunch. We work on pillowcases for local children's hospital, quilting on small quilts that we donate various places, including dialysis and hospice units. We make small four patch quilts that are donated to nursery schools along with a book and stuffed animal.

This is our setup at the church. It is a large room and we put tables near the walls so we will have a place to plug in.

Friday I went up to Safeway to get some items to make turkey enchiladas for my family with the last of the leftover turkey. I did my shopping and went out to my car. I was about to back up and noticed the people in the SUV to my right were putting their groceries in the back. I waited for them to load up their car, then walk across the lot in back of me and put their cart in the rack. Then I waited till they walked back to their car and were getting in. I looked in back of me to make sure it was clear, and then started backing up slowly and making sure the people next to me weren't in the way. A car in back of me was apparently backing up at the same time and blew his horn which I didn't hear. I gently smacked his passenger mirror and broke my tail light. There were maybe a few scratches on their car.

The guy got out of his car and started yelling at me, telling me he blew his horn. Then he proceeded to interview the guy in the car next to me asking for his contact information, before he would give me his information or let me give him mine. I was really shaken up, thankful that no one was hurt. This was the first time I have been in an accident in 35 years, and I am still shaken up.

What I will be working on for Slow Sunday Stitching will be this hand-appliqued sunflower quilt again. I really would like to put it in the quilt show next year, so I need to get busy.

I'll be linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Next week is the Virtual Cookie Exchange. Next week I will also be working on my Christmas Cookies for my family. I like to make boxes and hand out to friends and family.

I found these next couple of things on Facebook this week and found them funny.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

One Monthly Goal, December

Many thanks to Anne-Marie @Stories from the Sewing Room for the monthly motivation and link-up for One Monthly Goal.

In October, I had planned to make a small wall-hanging using my Accuquilt sloth die for my granddaughter Klara's birthday. I made her some sloth PJ's and I wanted to give her the wall hanging too. Unfortunately when I was embroidering the components on the background, my embroidery machine decided it needed a spa treatment, and was gone for 5 weeks.

My monthly goal for December is to pick up this project again, and finish it for Christmas. I have 1 sloth done, I need 3 more, and then quilt the project.

I'll be linking up at Stories From the Sewing Room.

Thanks for stopping by.

Virtual Cookie Exchange Starts Next Week

The Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange and Christmas Blog Hop starts on Monday hosted by the fabulous Carol @Just Let Me Quilt. This is one of my favorite blog hops of the year and I am looking forward to it.

The bloggers who will be sharing their Christmas spirit are listed below:

DECEMBER 4

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

One Monthly Goal, November

Many thanks to Anne Marie @Stories from the Sewing Room for continuing this monthly motivation and link-up.

I actually finished my One Monthly Goal for November. I stated my goal in this post here, which was to quilt my Scrap Dance Quadrille and bind it. This was a mystery quilt by Carole @From My Carolina Home earlier this year. I gifted it to an old friend of mine who has been undergoing a difficult couple of years. I actually sent it to her, and had to have her take a pictures because I sent it off before I took a picture.

I will be linking up at Stories from the Sewing Room.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

Hope everyone that celebrates had a Happy Thanksgiving! In preparation for Thanksgiving I participated in the Turkey Trot Blog Hop hosted by the fabulous Joan @Moosestash Quilting. You can see my post here.

In addition last week, one of the major highlights of my week was to meet our very lovely Kim @Sarah Lizzies. I found out she was coming to San Francisco to visit her daughter prior to Thanksgiving and just after. In fact she is flying back to Tasmania today. Several years ago Kim had a giveaway of one of the Parisian boots she had made, and I was the lucky recipient of one of them. You can read about it here.

I had wanted to give her something I had made, and I had an idea in mind. Many years ago I had taken a Judith Baker Montano class at Empty Spools in Asilomar and had started this piece. I was able to finish it up, and gift it to Kim this past week.

I live about 2-1/2 hours from San Francisco, have never driven in San Francisco, but I made it there OK and back. Kim and I had a lovely lunch and visited some afterwards and the time seemed to fly by. I hated to leave, but Kim's daughter was coming to pick her up, and I needed to get on the freeway again and make my way home before afternoon traffic. Traffic was a mess and took me about 4-1/2 hours to get home, but it was the highlight of my week and an absolute delight to meet Kim, and I wouldn't have missed the opportunity for anything. One of the kind servers in the cafe we were at took our picture before we left.

Then it was time to get home and get prepped for Thanksgiving. We had a full house this year, with my two daughters and their families, and my stepdaughter Dawn who stayed with me. We were able to get some family pictures in the park across the street.