Merry Christmas From Our House to Yours!

To all my friends, new and old, far and wide, 

Merry Christmas!

Welcome!

  

Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Visit to Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia

Every Christmas my husband and I take a little trip as a gift to each other.  

For years we've been visiting Cape May, New Jersey - 

which if you've never been to this Victorian town -its a must - 

especially at Christmas!!  

Here's some pictures from prior years spent in Cape May:

Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May, New Jersey

This year we decided to go South and spend a few days in Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia. The weather was beautiful - it felt like spring, not the beginning of winter!

Storefront in Yorktown, Virginia

Waterfront, Yorktown, Virginia

Mid December and they still have gardens blooming!

Why....I think that's General George Washington!!!  Who is that speaking to him?

Its my hubby speaking with General George Washington and Count Rochambeau of France at the banks of the York River!!  Discussing a strategy as to how to beat the British at Yorktown (October, 1781).  Do you think they'll take his advice?

My hubby is SUCH a good listener and so gifted with discernment, wisdom and GREAT ideas!

Looks like they've got a winning plan!

This historic meeting ends with a handshake among friends!

I LOVE pansies ~ especially in the winter :)

Yorktown today.

Love the paint colors and brick on this store front.

Had a wonderful lunch at Nick's Restaurant riverside.

Our table-side view!

Our dream home!

Colonial Williamsburg 

Camilla in full bloom ~ its December!!

Colonial Williamsburg - love the cotton bolls!

Winter garden in Colonial Williamsburg.

What a wonderful way to begin the Christmas season visiting such a beautiful colonial town! And so glad hubby got to help the General out with a winning strategy!  Who knows how things might have turned out without his help!

Well! Time to bake the cookies!!

Love,

Pat

Christmas WIP Wednesday!!!

I have been working on a table runner and 2 wall hangings as presents for Christmas - here are my "in progress" pictures:

The table runner was made using a free pattern I found on the internet.  If you click here you can download their PDF of the pattern:  www.quiltbug.com   

The blocks are called "flying stars" because they are made with three dimensional flying geese. Each of the red star points are actually folded triangles and they are not sewn down.  In order to understand how its done, you best go to the directions and read them.  Click here.

I modified it a little so that it would fit on the coffee table of the person I am giving it to for Christmas :)

I don't have any pictures of the tiny wall hangings in progress - only finished:

Just for the fun of it, here are some pictures of my sunroom/sewing studio taken today:

I have 2 more sewing projects left for Christmas, but they aren't needed till after Christmas - phew!  

Need to take the night off cause the rest of the week I'll be cooking and baking!!

Thanks for visiting - Come back again soon, I'll be posting pictures of our all dressed up for Christmas.

Pat

I'm linking to Ester's WOW - WIPS on Wednesdays

An 18 Year Old Work in Progress

 Eighteen years ago, I belonged to a prodigy.net quilting board.  

One of the projects I participated in was a block swap with 12 other women whose first names were "Pat".  

I originally started to quilt it by hand.  I ripped all that out and quilted by machine - just want to get it done and enjoy it!

Each of us in the block swap picked what colors we wanted our blocks to be.  The "Pat" that coordinated the swap was wonderful.  She sent out letters to each of us all over the United States with a list of who each Pat was, her color choices and her address.  We all made a block for each Pat, in her requested colors and then mailed it to her.  It was so much fun to make the blocks and even more fun to get 12 beautiful blocks in the mail.  

I have always loved the look of red, green, black and cream together in quilts - quite bold for a girl who was stuck on mauve and blue for ages (ugh!!)

After adding the black sashing that holds all the blocks together, I added the batting and backing and started hand quilting it.  Then, life took over and I stored the quilt for slower days when I could go back and finish it.

Well, many, many years have gone by, and now I'm determined to finish the quilt and enjoy it.  Its nice and bright and perfect for using while sitting and reading or bird watching from the sunroom windows.

One of these days I'm going to make an attempt to find all the Pat's and share pictures of our finished quilts.

All I've got left to quilt is 2 hearts on the Cats block and I'll post the finished quilt for you to see!

After all these years, I still love the colors. The quilt matches the red chairs in my sunroom perfectly - so I can enjoy it year round!

And so - another ancient WIP that will finally become a "finish"!

How old is your oldest Work in Progress?

Many blessings,

Pat

I am joining Esther for WIPs on Wednesdays