Catching up...

I really want to be part of the blog community; online quilters and crafters are some of the coolest people I have ever *met*. I got a bit off course and haven't posted for awhile. I decided (and therefore, my husband decided) to do some quick reno's in our house in time for Christmas. Our kids are grown and now they are bringing home boyfriends and spouses so it was time to get the family room more updated and do something to bring in additional seating to our living room. Of course this meant we had to redo the floors which led to repainting...you get the idea. I offered up my sewing space as a storage repository for displaced furniture and my office was taken down to accommodate the installation of new flooring. Everything is pretty much back together now and it looks fresh and so much brighter -I'm very pleased.

So now it is time to get back into my Christmas workshop. One tradition around our house is opening stockings on Christmas morning. I grew up in a home where my father's German heritage led us to open gifts on Christmas Eve - there were certainly no stockings. I married into a family that embraced the stocking tradition and I have to say, I really like it. Somewhere along the line, my kids started to say "stockings are our favourite part of Christmas" - that just helped me to enjoy the process even more. I put all kinds of things in stockings and, truth be told, they probably add up to just as much as a gift, but it's so much fun. This year, my kids are students or newly relocated and money is tight for all; we drew names for gift giving, but the stocking tradition will go on as planned. I am actually really excited about this is less time hunting down gifts means more time planning neat ideas for the stockings.

Last year, my daughter asked for a new stocking. She wanted something modern, so I came up with this one. She loves it. In fact, she has it hanging on the door knob of her bedroom so she could look at it all year. I also made a stocking for my new daughter-in-law in a less modern aesthetic. This year, there are boyfriends (who I think are here to stay) and friends with nowhere else to be on Christmas and another daughter asking for a new stocking. A co-worker is looking for one as well. The elves need to get to work!

Of course, I may not be playing by the rules when it comes to giving gifts this year...quilts are coming back from the nice lady with the longarm so I'll be happily handstitching binding on a few projects before the big day arrives. The best part about that our evenings are chilly so having a quilt on my lap for binding is not a bad thing at all!

I love Christmas; I love getting ready for it. We don't go crazy with elaborate preparations but we put love into everything we do and it's perfect for our family. I hope your plans - whatever they may be - are coming together well!

e.