~ There is More on Instagram! ~

If you have noticed a decided decrease in posts here ... there is a reason.

Although I have NO intention of turning my back on my blog, I am putting pictures much more frequently on my Sea Quilts Instagram account.

@seaquilts

Please follow me there for more of a daily (eh, 3-5 times weekly) report on my quilting pursuits.

And please ... don't forget to check back here.

P.S. The quilt pictured above is an enlargement (24" x 24") of the mini piece (10" x 10") that was featured in the October issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

~ Coastal Sunglass Cases ~

So ... I have been busy.  Busy picking a new set of fabrics every 30 minutes which pretty much put me in a heavenly state.  The picking of fabrics is my favorite part of this process, although all the others fall closely behind.

I have been busy making eyeglass/sunglass cases that are now for sale on my Etsy Shop.

First: Octopi, as seen above.

Next: Sea Horses.

And last but not least: Surfboards.

And just in case you were wondering ... the tornado that attacked my fabric shelves during this process ... was tamed.  

It was a very good week.

~ A Happy Mess ~

A work in progress.

Surrounded by mess.

Note to self:  Clean Studio.

Later.

~ Just Nesting ~

Happy New Year!

It was an absolutely magical Christmas for me this year, both in my own home and in my 10 days of travel.

When I first put up my decorations, I felt a panic about the shorter season and told myself that when I returned (on January 1st) I would give myself permission to leave the tree and the decor and the lights up for longer if I wanted to.

Yeah ... I took them all down within 24 hours of my arrival home.

I'm like that.

Well, I hope you revelled in a wonderful season yourself.  I also hope that if you want to leave your decorations up that you will indeed.  And if you want them down, I wish that process to go speedily.

Don't you love my nesting dolls?!? I have collected them for years, but these are very special ones.  They were personally hand picked (duh ... look at the colors) for me by my son and his wife ... on a trip to Russia this fall.

So curl up or clean up.  Just look ... up ... in 2014!

~ Namely ~

One of my favorite parts of my Christmas decor are my grandchildren's stockings with their names on them. Making these constitutes one of the rare times I use the embroidery module on my Bernina.

It is all worth it.

My own children's stocking are made of felt and yarn and ... soot.  They were made in the late 70's and early 80's and they have seen a lot of Christmas eves on the fireplace.

I still love them dearly.

Also back in the early 80's, I made many a stuffed, fabric ornament.  Some of them are shaped like ornaments and I hand embroidered the names on.

When the grandchildren came along, I made one for each of them.  You can probably tell by the fabrics, which ones were made when.  

I do not have a grandchild name Falalalala, but ... that's OK, because ...

I do love Christmas and the decking of halls.

~ For the Birds ~

Sometime in September, when stores were just beginning to put out their Christmas merchandise, I found these mercury glass bird ornaments and was instantly smitten.

I found them at Tuesday Mornings.

I bought them and then started thinking about all of the bird ornaments I had collected or made over the years. I decided that my main tree would definitely have a bird theme to it. In fact you could say that for the last couple of months I have definitely been "bird brained."

Four or five years ago I made a variety of stuffed, fabric birds for a class I was teaching, so I was good to go with them.

 

Sometime in 1981, I sewed a ton of different ornaments for our tree from a Vogue pattern.  They included these white doves that have some lovely embroidery detail on them.  I knew they would be perfect also.

 

And then one day I was at JoAnn's and spotted these wooden birds ... for a song.

My intention was to paint them ... probably white ... but I came home and promptly forgot about them until I got them out to decorate the tree.

At that point I was SO glad that I hadn't painted them.  I absolutely love their rough, natural state, which gives a somewhat natural look to my decidedly fake tree. 

Did I mention ...

I just love Christmas!

~ Coastal Christmas Colors ~

So I freely admit that I have jumped on the bandwagon this year and gotten a head start on the decorating.  I actually finished it all before leaving town for Thanksgiving.

Upon arriving home ... I was so thankful that I had.

I love my new Shell Tree, full of my new ornaments ...

... a sparkly starfish on the top ...

... a few snowflakes to remind me that even in southern California, we can always dream ...

... and some sparkly birds.

And just in case you would like such a beachy tree for your own home, here are my resources:

Snowflakes: Crate and Barrel
Starfish Ornaments: TJ Maxx
Birds: Michaels
The pattern to make your own shell ornaments: My Etsy Shop.

Oh how I love Christmas!

PS ... Thanks so much to Maya at Completely Coastal
for featuring me on her delightfully coastal blog!!