Christmas Oklahoma Star

We interrupt our regularly scheduled quilting for this special report--Christmas is coming!  In honor of the season, I turned one of my oldest UFOs into an FO--finished object.

The pattern is Oklahoma Star, from the book A Dozen Variables, by Marsha McCloskey.   It was published way back in 1987.
(Note:  If you've never read Marsha McCloskey's books, you might want to give them a try.  Her directions are always clear, and she does a lot with scraps.)
I'm pretty sure I made this top in the early 90s.  I had the center done, and just never put a border on.  It was one of those things I was going to do when I got around to it.  (Anybody else got stuff like that?)  In the meantime, I used the top as a Christmas tablecloth a time or two, just for decoration.

Last year at Christmastime, I sewed on a light print border, and discovered how much the top had stretched!  The edges are all bias, and somehow it never occurred to me that stretch happens, especially when you use the top for a tablecloth!  The light border went up and down like a wave on the ocean.  It was discouraging, and the top went back in the bin.
This year, enough was enough.  Time to get it done.  I took off the light border, and added a red one. 

The edges were still stretched, and I had to deal with it severely, but at least it lays mostly flat.  It measures 53 in. x 76 in.

The back is a holly print, which I cobbled together out of leftover yardage.

I quilted a 2 in. grid in the center, and diagonal lines in the borders.

There are fads and trends in quilt fabric, as I'm sure you know.  This even holds true with Christmas fabric.  Back in the day, Christmas green prints were dark.  Today's are lighter.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to get a near-matching dark green for the binding from modern Christmas fabric.  So I used a scrap of forest green probably from the 90s that was in my stash.  It's not a Christmas print, but it will do.  (Plus it used up a scrap, and didn't cost anything extra!)

Bella and Little Buddy were kind enough to pose for me.

Here's a detail of the top, before it was quilted.

I wish I could say this was my only UFO from more than 25 years ago!

In other news, vinegar.

My homemade vinegar is smelling great, and in bottles.  The color is lighter this year because I used just apple cores and no apple peels to make it.  Click HERE if you'd like to read last year's post about how it's done.

We got the holiday decorating done this week, with Little Buddy's enthusiastic help.

Yesterday we put up the tree.  Above you can see an ornament I bought at the Patched Works quilt shop soon after we moved here 28 years ago.  The owner then was Trudy Hughes.  I still have all her books, and refer to them now and again.  The design on the ornament is her "around the twist" pattern.  I used it to make my son's Christmas quilt (back in the late 80s), seen below on Little Buddy's nap bed.

I've never had one of those neatly organized Christmas trees you see in magazines or on TV, the ones where all the ornaments are the same, silver balls or red ribbons, etc.  We have a really messy looking tree, covered with homemade ornaments and things we've gathered up over 43 years of marriage.

The ornaments with the photographs are my favorite ones.  Many of them were made in school or preschool by our children or grandchildren, and all of them bring back fond memories.

This week, I'm wishing you fond memories of times past, and good new memories to make.
Thanks for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy 
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Tis the Season

I must confess, this used to be me.  I was a Grinch at Christmas.  Mainly, this was because I was a working mom with a job I obsessed over (school librarian, K-8, at two schools), living with a family that still wasn't used to me being back at work and not home all the time.
My life was already maxed out.  Christmas just made everything ten times worse.  Every one of my three kids needed a present and/or cookies for everything they belonged to--scouts, sports, clubs, etc., and nobody seemed to be able to tell me these things until the night before they were due.  And then there was the decorating, the shopping, the wrapping, Christmas cards, and all the crazy pressure to make the holidays "perfect".
Well, I'm not perfect.  I cracked.  I complained.  I even said I hated Christmas.  Definitely a grinch.  Maybe my heart shrunk, I don't know.
Eventually,  I learned to slow it down a little, and to skip some things and delegate others.  My kids grew up, and instead of everybody stressing out and spending a fortune, we decided to draw names among the adults and limit the amount of money spent on the present (we're up to $25 as of this year).  Our focus is on spending time celebrating together.  Oh, and eating.  Lots of eating. 
Things are better, and I'm enjoying the holidays again.  I now think of Christmastime as a season, not just one day, and we do little fun things as we go along from Thanksgiving to New Years Day.

This week, we finally put up the tree.  Little Buddy loved helping.  (A few ornaments may have been slightly harmed in the process, but we're okay with that.)  The first thing he does when he gets here in the morning is flip the switch to turn on the tree lights, even if it's bright and sunny outside.

Can you guess what this is?

It's a tea wallet!  I made it as one of several little gifts for my Mom (I drew her name this year), and put in some of her favorite decaf teas.  I got the free tutorial online from Fanny Lu Designs HERE.  It was very fast and easy.  Now I need to make one for me!

On Monday, I decided my apple core vinegar was ready.  It has been smelling very vinegar-y for several weeks, tucked away in a dark cupboard.

I got these three bottles of vinegar from it.  They will be useful in cooking and baking this winter, and they cost practically nothing, being made from apple cores, water, and a little sugar to get the fermentation started.

Good news!  I finished the Christmas quilt this afternoon, after Little Buddy went home.  It feels so good to have this one done before Christmas this year, since the top was left over from last year.

It's a big quilt, 83 in. x 93 in., which is just gigantic for me.  I did the quilting with Mrs. Pfaff, she of the built in walking foot, and made all the markings with soap slivers.

On the left you can see the backing, a wide back I ordered from Connecting Threads last year. I quilted a gentle cable in the outer border, an easy one I've done several times.  The binding is completely by machine, which is now my go-to method.
Everything isn't done yet for our holiday celebrations, but we're making progress.
Better still, we're enjoying the journey.
I'm wishing you the joy of the season (and none of the stress!)
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Linking up with:
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at Soscrappy