Christmas!

Dear Friends,
I hope that you all had wonderful Christmas celebrations! I know I sure did. Every year I try to have all the shopping done before Thanksgiving so that when Christmas comes around, I can just enjoy the holiday. Every year, including this one, I'm wrong. Yes, the shopping was done by my deadline, but for some reason, Christmas time still is incredibly busy and for some reason, it's you...my blog friends...that get neglected. However, I'm back and have some things to share with you!

First: My yearly Christmas card picture

Maybe not this exact shot because you can't see my eyes...

...but same pose.

Second: The tree in the above picture morphed into this:

It looks like the leaning tower, but this girl didn't notice the funny angle when she took the picture...what ever are we going to do with her???

As you can see, Santa was good this year :)

...or Katie REALLY like wrapping presents and wrapped every little thing individually!

Third: Somehow I found time to make this for my Grandma for Christmas:

It's just a little guy but boy was he time consuming!!! Grandpa told me the other day that they're taking it in to be framed....guess the liked it!

Fourth: These were so hot off the press when I took them to Civil War Tribute club last night that there was still steam billowing off ! I didn't think I would have time for them, but....ta da! I pulled it off :)

Once again, there is something seriously wrong with the photographer...another crooked picture...grrr!!! I'm going to have to do something about that!

Finally, my birthday party was a lot of fun and thank you to all who came and stitched away the day with me! I designed a little wool pincushion and gave a kit to everyone who came that day. However, I "accidentally" cut some extra kits so I could share them with some of my blog friends. So, stop back often next week because I'm having a give away one day...can't tell ya when because it's going to be a surprise! You know, like a surprise birthday party :)

Merry Belated Christmas!
~K

Under the tree

Stitcher's Club is a new club starting at the shop this year. We will be using a Glad Creation's pattern and working one step a month till we have an awesome finished quilt in a year!

I took this great picture of the bundle available for the club under my tree...

Don't you want one under yours too???

Yeah...I have a cat so most of the ornaments are a foot off the ground....

she hasn't ever bothered anything yet....YET....just trying to be safe is all :)

And here's the pattern:

Note: No curve pieces :)

I'm excited to get started on this project!!
Enjoy the day!
~K

Winter 2012 Newsletter

Good news quilting friends.....the Winter 2012 newsletter is ready for you!

Just click here to see all the new clubs and classes.

Also, did you notice how different it looks???

Yep...new logo and layout. How fun is that!

Over the next couple weeks I hope to feature some of the new clubs offered

and show you the awesome projects they will be working on.

That's all for now-

Stay warm if you're in S. Minnesota!

~K

ps: Did you read up on the big sale happening soon at the shop??

~*~ You're ALL Invited ~*~

This is an invitation to:
~*~ My Birthday Party ~*~

For my Birthday, I have reserved the classroom at the shop to host an open sewing day and you are all invited to come and sew with me (and my mom)!

Wednesday December 14

9am-9pm

Come when you can! Morning, evening or all day!

 All food / meals will be provided

PLEASE NO GIFTS...You're presence is enough...pun intended :)

Please RSVP your approximate sewing hours

so I know how many to count on for meals. You can do this by either:

1) leaving a comment on this post

2) sending me an email katie.zenk@hotmail.com

Hope to see some of you there!

~K

Finishing....

First off, let me just say how stinkin' excited I am that it finally snowed last night. You see, unlike a majority of Minnesotans, I actually LOVE snow and can't wait for it to come each year. We didn't get much, but they say we're getting more on Saturday. It finally feels right to decorate for Christmas.

Now for the sewing stuff. Last night I was about to cut into the pretty Butterscotch and Roses kit from a few posts back so I could start stitching away on the sample. But I decided I better finish an already started project before I start another one. So, I got my finishing kit for my 2011 Calico Hutch BOM all ready to sew. PS...I love that this year we got to choose our own finishing fabrics from anything in the store!

Here's what I came up with:

My blocks...all but the December installment

And my finishing kit

Light: narrow block sashing

Gold: Sashing corner post star points

Red: Corner post star centers

Brown and green: wide sashing.

I had just the brown for shashing, but then wheels started to spin. I did some math and I discovered I had enough for an outer border too (which is why I felt the urge to buy more than I needed....just in case ). Then I figured out that if I put green sashing around the edge and brown in the middle and then add a light narrow border (like my narrow block sashing) around the whole top I can have my brown outer border and hopefully it will turn out as pretty as the mental image I have. However, I think I'll make just a couple green sashing blocks and try them out before I go all hog wild. Sometimes my ideas aren't as awesome as I build them up to be in my over active imagination!

Oh yeah, also by adding the extra narrow inner and wide outer border, It makes better use of my backing fabric...instead of 61" wide, the top should now measure around 75" making perfect use of my backing width!

Hopefully tonight I'll get a chance to turn on my sewing machine and start working!

PS: When did Mc D's stop making cherry pies?....I'm slightly irritated. I don't eat them often but I want them there waiting for me when I have the sudden urge to consume hundreds of empty calories!

In pieces

~K