Christmas Recap.........

Hey Everybody!

I surely hope you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as me and my family did!

Come along with me as I recap!

I feel so blessed to be able to go home to such wonderful parents.

The girls LOVE going to Grandma and Grandpas too!

Christmas Eve found us reading the Christmas story

at my sister's home.

We had a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner courtesy

of my friend Mike.  He loves sharing this with our family,

and we LOVE eating it!

Here he is cooking up the flounder, shrimp, and scallops!

YUM!

My dad practically dove into the mounds of seafood!

Santa found Mom's and Dad's stockings!

He also found Sophia's and Gracie Lu's......

but, there was no chance of getting clear photos of 

those little girls with their new Christmas treats

and toys!

We woke up and went to church and then came back

to a delicious Christmas dinner my mom prepared.

Christmas ham, deviled eggs, broccoli and cheese casserole,

mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, rolls, 

my chicken and dumplings, and a delicious salad my sister made.

For dessert we had my mom's cherry streudle,

and my sister made her famous Red Velvet Cake.

(See how my brother in law photo bombed this pic???)

Then....................

it was time to open some gifts!

I must warn you, I am going to be showing some

pretty hilarious photos.........

In the spirit of full disclosure,

if you are offended by practical jokes....

you probably don't want to read any further!

You also may want to put your cuppa down,

and not eat anything......

I don't want you to choke from laughter!

I am laughing right now as I type this post!

First off.............

my sister is the best...........

She had this wonderful sign custom made for me!

I! LOVE! IT!

It is already hanging in my studio!

What wonderful thought went into this, and I will 

treasure it forever.

Good sister, right?

And, you are probably thinking here, well what 

did you get your lovely sister in return?

Hmmmmmmm..........

Well, you see............

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

playing tricks on my sister......

it is something I have done

ever since I can remember?

Do any of you out there have

a brother that finds joy in

playing practical jokes on you?

It truly is a sign of love!

OK, so, I digress......

Since Mike was coming to spend Christmas

with our family, he asked what the family members

would like for the gift exchange......

My darling sister suggested she would like

a new night gown......

REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?

My sister is going to tell my best friend she

wants a night gown???????

Ummmmmm.......

TOOOOOOOOOO EASY!!!!!!!!!

NO NO NO NO NO She isn't easy!

The practical joke!!!!!!

You see where I am going with this???????

Merry Christmas Sis!!!!!!

If you can't tell, that is a little risque nighty!

Here she is thinking this is for real......

not knowing it was all a joke!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.....................

matching..............

you get the point!

Needless to say, when Sis did find out that it

was all a joke, you could hear us laughing

from miles around!

My Sis promptly dug a hole in the floor and crawled away!

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Thanks for letting me share this Christmas gift prank with you all!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

And just to let you know,

I did get some very nice gifts for my sister!

So, what else did Ole' Kevin the Quilter receive?

Regardless of my pranks.......I was a good boy this year!

Oh yeah!  A cone of Aurifil!

A great pair of gingher scissors

so I can cut through that scrap stash!

Ooooooh!!!!!!

Look at these little gems!

I can't wait to start reading them on the plane!

Clockwise starting from top left.....

"Strip your Stash" by Gudrun Erla

"Savannah" pattern by Red Crinoline Quilts

"Treasures from the Barn" by Linda Collins

and

"Small & Scrappy" by Kathleen Tracy.

I also received the following 2 shirts.....

"I quilt because the voices in my head

tell me to"

LOL

and 

"Quilting is cheaper than therapy"

LOLOLOLOL

And before all of this merry mayhem.....

You may find everything about this mystery by clicking

HERE

Bonnie gave us clue 5 early as a gift!

64 half square triangles done!

To see what quilters from around the globe

are making with this mystery quilt, I am

Linking up with Bonnie's

Mystery Monday Link Up Part 5

I am also linking up with my QOV quilting buddy,

Alycia's Patriotic Mystery Quilt.

I am curious if there will be a fast and furious end to 

this mystery as in year's past, or if Bonnie has

something else up her sleeve?????

HMMMMMMM?!?!?! 

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

We certainly did!

Especially my sister! LOLOLOL

Have fun!
Go Quilt!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Kevin the Quilter

Merry Christmas........

To all of my blogging friends worldwide.............


I would like to wish..........

Merry

Christmas!!!!

May there be...............

Thanks for being a friend!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Kevin the Quilter

En Provence Clue #4

Seasons Greetings from the Quilt Cave!

I hope you all are staying warm if your weather is cold!

Most importantly, I hope you are staying safe while making outings!

I hope EVERYONE is quilting no matter where you are in the world!

En Provence Clue #4

For the dark purples I have chosen to do navy.

Keep these easy clues coming Bonnie!

More tri-recs units for this weeks clue.

80 to be exact!

I have found En Provence

extra enjoyable due to the ease of the clues thus far.

Of course, I always challenge myself to stay on top of

the clues.  It's just a personal challenge to myself.

I know, I know, it isn't a race, and trust me,

I am enjoying myself!

You can find all of the clues, and everything you need to know about this mystery quilt

HERE.

To check out my QOV quilting buddy's progress,

check out my patriotic mystery link up with

Alycia Quilts.

Also linking up with Bonnie's

Mystery Monday Link Up Part 4.

It's so much fun seeing what quilters from all over the globe

are doing with this mystery quilt!

My area was recently gifted with a surprise black ice storm!

I was out Christmas shopping, and was only 25 minutes

in normal traffic and road conditions from my home.

It took me 2.5 hours to get home!

Thank God, I was safe.

On a funny note, while stuck in traffic, I was next to

a semi, and I could see he was talking on his radio.

I waved him to roll his window down to see if

he had any info on the road conditions ahead.

He looked REALLY familiar!

Come to find out, I had graduated high school with him!

I hadn't seen him in 25 years!

FUN!

When Bonnie posted THIS blog post the other day.....

I HAD to laugh!

I have been going through my red scraps all week

enhancing my 2.5" strip bin that was empty of

reds from making Ann's mystery!

We scrap quilters are truly cut from the same fabric!

In other news..........

This little stinker found her Christmas present!

LOLOLOLOLOL

My Sophia Annabella!

She wanted to open it, but, I told her

she has to be a good girl until Christmas morning!

I truly hope you are finding peace this Christmas season.

I know I am!

Merry Christmas to all!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Kevin the Quilter

Party Hardy............

Holiday time is a time to celebrate with friends and family.

It's especially fun when you can celebrate with quilting friends.

December birthdays provide a great backdrop for entertaining as well.

Come join me in my past week of partying.........not quite like a rock star!

Clue #3

It was another 4 patch party with Bonnie this weekend!
It's so great being able to share this mystery "party"

with quilters from all over the world!

All of the information about Bonnie's mystery may be found 

HERE

Bonnie provides such helpful hints with these mysteries.

My Accuquilt Studio helped me breeze through

clues 1 and 3!

I am very curious how these 4 patches are going to play in the quilt!

HMMMMMMMMMMM?!?!?!?!

4 patch units ready to be sewn at the machine.

Patriotic mystery quilt version link up with

Alycia Quilts.

It's so much fun seeing Alycia using a patriotic color pallet!

Linking up with Bonnie's

Mystery Monday Link Up Part 3

Thanks to so many of you who commented on the

"Oh, Christmas Tree"  mini quilt tutorial I shared last week.

I have enjoyed seeing several of these

being made by various blogging friends

over the internet.

I was able to travel down to the boot heel of Missouri

to celebrate my friend Flo's 80th birthday.

Her family threw a wonderful party for her.

As some of you know, in my former life, I worked

with the Miss Missouri Scholarship Pageant.

Flo introduced me to the organization.

It was great visiting with her, my friend Jackie, and

several former pageant contestants.

What a difference Flo has made in so many people's lives,

mine included!

I was also able to host the Christmas party for

my quilting group in Troy, Missouri.

Here we are holding up the mug rugs

that we exchanged.

The lovely Marcia shows the mug rugs displayed on my

design wall.

This is the mug rug/candle mat I made for the exchange.

There was a ton of good food!

No taste testing ladies! LOL

And we were able to work on a take away project

and play several games.

Here is the Christmas ornaments we made.

I found out about these through my friend Cheryl of

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting.

She had one of her groups working on them and they

looked like so much fun to make!

You may find the video tutorial on how to make them

HERE.

A wonderful time was had by all!

In other news...........

Christmas has come a little early to me this year.

My quilting buddy Bev is moving to Texas.

She and her husband Tom have been so generous to me

as they are downsizing.

This is a wonderful counter and cabinet unit that is going

to work out great in my studio!

There are many more additions they

have made to my home here at the Quilt Cave

and I can't thank them enough!

Thanks for being a friend Bev and Tom!

And my friend Ann of 

Attic Threads & Quilts

revealed her mystery quilt

A Scrappy End

Here is the layout I chose in

a patriotic color scheme.

I love this design!

This will be another Quilt of Valor!

I hope you all are enjoying this Christmas season!

Keep on Quilting!
Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Kevin the Quilter

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Christmas Tree.........

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Christmas Tree,

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Christmas Tree................

LA LA LA LAAAAAA, LA LAAAAAA, LAAAAAAAAAAAA

Yep........the first two lines are the only words I know to this song,
yet, I have been humming it a lot here lately.

Why?

Of course you all know.......

My first Christmas at the Quilt Cave!

After being "homeless" last Christmas season,

it was wonderful being able to go

through all of my Christmas decorations again!

My fireplace provides the perfect place to

display all of my nativity scenes.

After all, the Nativity is what Christmas is all about

in my opinion.

I love this welcome sign I found at an antique mall recently.

Ummm, Dad.........shouldn't you be decorating the tree

instead of ME!

Gracie Lu!!!!!

I love being able to have a table to decorate again!

I am just so full of joy right now!

I have a home I love.....

It has a studio I love to create in.....

Sooooooooooooo........

I want to share some of that creativity with you all......

"Oh, Christmas Tree"

Mini Quilt

I am going to share the pattern I came up with

for these great little holiday presents.

I hope you enjoy it, and make some for your

friends this Christmas season.

They are quick, easy, AND.....

they use up the smallest of bits in your scraps!

You can create a mini quilt like I have here 

(always thinking of my blogging friend Janet,

the master of mini quilts when I make a mini now!)

You could insert some insulbright to make them into potholders.

Perhaps you could make a potholder style quilt like

my blogging friend Wendy does?

There are a ton of different ways to embellish

or display them.

I hope you enjoy this mini tutorial

and whip some up for your quilty friends this

Christmas!

You all KNOW I am NOT high tech!

Fortunately, this little project isn't either.

I haven't a clue how to make a pdf

so you can just jot down the measurements.

For each "Oh, Christmas Tree"

mini quilt

you will need the following.....

working from your smallest bits of scraps......

For the Christmas tree.....

1: 1.5" square of yellow (star)

1:  1.5" square of brown (trunk)

14: 1.5" squares of green (branches)

For the background.....

I used neutrals, but, you can use any color...

(I probably wouldn't use green though! LOL)

2: 1.5" x 8.5" strips

4:  1.5" x 4" strips

2:  1.5" x 3.5" strips

2:  1.5" x 3" strips

2:  1.5" x 2.5" strips

2:  1.5" x 2" strips

Each tree block will be roughly 

8.5" wide x 8.25" height
before quilting.
Lay out block before assembling. 

Assembly:

These are your top and bottom rows.

2nd row from top.....the star

3rd row

4th row......isn't this fun?

5th row

6th row using up all those bits of green

7th row.....the trunk

You can strip piece 1.5" strips if you would like.

I just enjoyed working from the very

bottom of the scrap chain using 

little bits.

Do what works best for you, but, 

use variety!

Sew strips together in the proper order.

Here I sewed two strips together at a time.....

And before long.......

TAAAAAAA DAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!

A cute litte Christmas tree block you can have fun with.

To finish mine, I cut a 10" square of backing fabric,

and a 10" square of batting

then I stitched in the ditch on each of them.

Squared them up, and then

I used 1: 2.25" strip width of fabric to 

bind each little quilt.

These will be great little gifts for 

some of my quilting friends.

I hope you make some for your friends too!

ENJOY!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!
Let me know if you make some!

In other news...........

En Provence Clue 2

was posted on Friday.

You may find everything pertaining to Bonnie's mystery quilt

HERE.

We worked with the Tri Recs rulers for this clue.

Neutral triangles cut.......

Corner pieces cut from red constant......

(Bonnie's magenta)

And before I knew it, I had 100 of these babies made!

All ready to be trimmed this week.

YEEEEEEEHAW!

Patriotic mystery quilt version link up with

Alycia Quilts

Linking up with Bonnie's

Link Up Monday Part 2

Ready for clue 3 now!

Thanks again Bonnie for ALL you do for

your friends, and followers.

I hope you ALL enjoy

this blessed time of year!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on quilting!

From the Quilt Cave,

Kevin the Quilter