A little something

The astute among you will have realized that I'm losing it (if you've read to the end of this post and realized that I repeated the exact same quote as I gave you last time!!).  Yep,  not only can I not remember WHY I've entered a room, but I can't remember quotes either!!!  Sheesh.

Over the past couple of days I've been making this pillow to go along with the Super Mario quilt and bed pillowcase I already made.  It will be a themed Christmas for our littlest grandson it seems!

I used a coloring page I found online for the pattern and then appliqued the pieces in place.  

- I particularly like the red sweater pattern in THIS assortment of free ones.

- There's a fun 'Countdown to Christmas' quilting pattern series happening HERE (thank you Jeanne for the head's up on this one!).

- A set of THESE would make a nice gift!  As would THESE!

- Have a look through the galleries of THIS amazing artist!  (it takes a second to load so be patient, and be sure you hover over each of the pictures because the artist tells you what materials she used).

- AND, go and have a look through THESE!!!!  Prepare for cuteness overload!

Today I have the final (at least for now!) in the little series I've been sharing..."As I get older I realize getting lucky means walking into a room and remembering why I'm there"

A little bit of stash reduction

Over the past couple of weeks my knitting needles have been busy creating these two cowls made from mohair I had in my stash for far too long.  All that knitting though - and I only decreased the stash by one single solitary ball!!!!

The patterns are pretty generic  - the beige one is simply 5 rows knit and 5 rows purl, rinse and repeat.  The ivory version was a little more complicated and was a pattern from one of my stitch books.  Unfortunately the design is pretty much lost in the fuzziness of the yarn so if I do more I'll probably stick to the beige version.

- HERE is another fabulous idea to use buttons!  I wouldn't use real greenery though - it would be better with artificial so it could be used more than once.

- Karen Ruane has announced her latest online course called 'The Little Book of Sewing' and, as always, it sounds very intriguing.  Go HERE for further information!

- There is a new free knitting pattern available HERE every day this month.

- Pattern HERE for a really cute Christmas stocking!

And another in the little series of quotes I've been sharing..."As I get older I realize that getting lucky means walking into a room and remembering why I'm there"

Sorry folks!

Sorry to say there's nothing of interest here today.  No photos.  Nothing to show.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  

That's not to say that here at Chez Magpie there aren't things happening.  It's just that I can't show you those happenings - yet.  I do, however, have some links for you and, of course, the quote of the day!

- There are some fun Christmas decorating ideas HERE (I especially like the first one for displaying a village scene).

- Have a peek at the galleries of THIS artist.

- Some pretty winter snowflake patterns HERE.

- There are lots of ideas HERE for gifts-in-a-jar. And there are more HERE. 

- THIS is a great project to use up some of your button collection (hmmm....I wonder how many of these *I* could create from my button collection???)

Another in the aging quotes...."As I get older I realize that wouldn't it be great if we could put ourselves in the dryer for 10 minutes and come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller?

A small update

I've been spending a lot of hours working on the latest landscape and here is some of the progress...

This is NOT a great photo - for one thing, it's very dull here today and difficult to get decent pictures AND I've cropped it so you can't see the area I'm currently working on (nothing exciting as yet anyway!).  At this point I will ask you to wait to see the finished project because I'd like my client to be the first to see it done.  I will post another photo once it has been delivered to her.  Hope she likes it!

- There are some great ideas HERE for stained glass quilts. 

- THIS would make great Christmas gifts (at least for those in cold climates!)

- If you're searching for some different cookie recipes for your Christmas baking, have a look at THESE.    There are more HERE.  And HERE too!

Another in the getting older series of quotes..."As I get older I realize that even duct tape can't fix stupid, but it can muffle the sound"

Two days

Here you can see the result of my having two entire days at home and being able to spend them working on this project (those days are definitely rare!)...

The trees have been thread painted (a solid day of work there alone!) and now I'm working on the borders.  The picture isn't the greatest but you can get the general idea I think.

- If your iron gets as gross as mine sometimes does, perhaps THIS cleaning tip might come in handy!

- With all the gnomes that are popping up lately, perhaps you'd like to try your hand at making one of THESE.

- There are some really cute snowman patterns HERE. 

And, another in the getting older series of quotes..."As I get older I realize that when I was a child I thought nap time was punishment.  Now it's like a mini-vacation"

Landscape progress

On Tuesday afternoon I was able to make good progress on the landscape I'm working on...

and I was lucky enough to have the entire day at home on Wednesday (a rare occurance!) and I was able to get a bit more done...

The grass is pretty much done and I've added the treeline.

  

- There are a number of DIY ideas for Christmas gifts HERE.  And more HERE. 

- And HERE are some great ideas for clutter free gifts.

- I like the simplicity of THIS - and I don't see why you couldn't use popsicle sticks or something similar from the dollar store.

- Llamas (and sloths) seem to be the thing right now, so HERE is a cute pattern for a llama someone might like under the Christmas tree.

- There's a pattern HERE for a really sweet Christmas stocking, as well as patterns from the two previous years.

- HERE is another quick gift you can make.

Here's another in the series of getting older quotes...The biggest lie I tell myself is "I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it"

A little catch up

Today I will share a few projects I have completed recently.  First up is a twin-sized quilt featuring Super Mario's outfit.  Can you see it?

Maybe now?

Our #2 grandson will be getting his room re-decorated for Christmas and they're using a Super Mario theme and a special request was made for Grandma to make him a twin-sized quilt.  Of course, what's a Grandma to do but oblige?  While I was at it, some of you might remember the pillowcase I made to go along with the quilt....

and, if all goes well, there might just be a throw pillow too.

I also just put the finishing stitches in another wee sweater for our expected grandbaby....

The colour here is definitely off (sorry, dull day...again)

but it's using the same yarn as the previous sweaters.

Pattern is the 'Room to Grow Baby Sweater' by Laura Marconi-Cox

and can be found HERE.

Over the past weekend things started ramping up in the kitchen of Resident Chef and one of the creations was a batch of 'Carrot Cake Jam' from THIS recipe (scroll down for the recipe).  Oh boy....yummy stuff!  I haven't done the labels yet, but here's what's going to a few people for Christmas this year...

And here is one of the lace cards I made that will be heading off to live in Australia with my cousin who just happens to own a really cute Scottie dog named Maggie...

And, finally, these three fabric postcards were created...

Very simple, keeping in mind the fact that

they should have been in the mail two weeks ago!

- There's a pretty stitch-a-long happening HERE.  Check it out!

- Have a look through the gallery of THIS artist.  Amazing work!!

Today's quote is a continuation of the series...."As I get older I realize my people skills are just fine.  It's my tolerance of idiots that needs work"