Merry HoHo 2012

Christmas 2012 in Reno, Nevada was a success!  Wasn't sure I was going to make it in time with all the snow in the Sierras.  I had planned to leave the Bay Area on Saturday, December 22 - but the Snow Gods were intent on providing alot of snow, so no go.  Then Sunday passed with me sitting in the Bay Area while the snow snowed and snowed in the Sierras.  Finally, on Monday, the weather improved and I was able to leave for Reno.  It only took 30 minutes longer than usual.  Got to hand it to the snow removal workers on I80 - they clear those roads (over and over again...) in a very efficient manner. 

Got to Reno in time to help my DIL pick up the big present we were jointly giving her husband (my son).  A 60" flat screen (because a 42" is just not big enough!)

The little boys got their plate of cookies and milk ready for Santa and Daddy wrote their note to Santa.  New Christmas pajamas were worn by the little ones and they went to sleep knowing that Santa's reindeer might wake them up when Santa landed his sleigh on the roof.  

Very, very early in the morning, it was time to get up and survey the piles of presents.

Down they come to see what Santa has left for them.

 

 

Headlamps for all the men in the family.

 

 

A scooter and a skateboard

 



And Santa brought a white Christmas and more snow yesterday and today.  No way to practice the balance skills needed for the skateboard or scooter outside.  But Frosty, who had melted a little, was rebuilt into a new and improved version. 

One of the downsides to being a Labradoodle in the snow:

Actually, Boo doesn't think it's a downside - I just get a little tired of trying to clean him off every time he goes out in the yard.  Oh well, it's the Magic of Christmas that provided all the snow and fun, so I will take back any complaints about snow and ice covered dogs. 

Happy Holidays to all!

Aaaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.
 

It's as Easy as A-B-C

Well, it seemed easy enough at the beginning.  Let me take you back in time to the begining of the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild (otherwise known as BAM) quilt along that was started in 2011.  The idea was to make a block each month that began with that month's letter of the alphabet.  We used traditional blocks but made them with modern fabric.  Those of us particpating in the quilt along brought our blocks in each month for Show and Tell.  That was August 2011. 

Angela Obeso from the guild quickly deduced that we might need to speed up our block making process if we planned to have a quilt top with all the letters of the alphabet completed in this century....so we agreed to start making 2 blocks a month in 2012 with October 2012 being the month for "Y and Z".  (Trust me there are not many blocks that begin with the letter "Z").

I think 6 intrepid guild members completed the quilt along.  Some have already put their tops together.  Rhonda (and several other BAM friends) came over for a sew day yesterday and Rhonda finished her sashing for her blocks and will soon be moving on to quilting her top.  I have my blocks pieced together in the top and am now working on borders.  Here is where I am right now:

The top was 60x72" without borders.  I am not yet sure about the inner borders, but right now it's a white inner border before the more elaborate border is added on. More border to follow.     

I have also been busy making cookies and finishing up my Christmas shopping and going to holiday parties and generally sewing less than usual.  I'll be out of the office for a little more than a week and will not likely be doing much sewing.  My grandsons will get most of my attention - we have  our traditional Gingerbread House to make when I get there, some holiday cookies to make and then Santa leaves his presents and the fun begins!

I love this time of year!  So fun to get the presents wrapped and all the yummie food and time to laze about without feeling guilt about it!

Aaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.

I Was Waiting to Have a Finished Project...

...or a finished top before I blogged again.  Thought I should have something to show and tell, so to speak.  I see the holidays have taken a toll on my progress.

After Thanksgiving, I went to the BA Mod Quilt Guild partay on December 1, which was a combination of early sewing, partay plus meeting and then more sewing until 11:00 p.m.  You gotta love the Los Altos Library to let us stay so long.  Three of us were the partay planners, so we all spent time gathering the food and then setting up the party that day.  It was quite a success with more than 40 quilters at the partay and 32 staying to sew!

I stayed until 8:00 p.m. and finally had to call it quits, having arrived at 10:30 a.m.  I got some work done on my ABC quilt top and that was when I discovered that I had some blocks that just didn't work - mostly because they were too small.  I tried to "fix" the blocks by adding borders, but after going home and getting a fresh view in the morning when I wasn't so tired, I realized that 3 blocks had to be remade.  So, on Sunday, that's what I did and I started to assemble the top.  I decided to go without sashing.  I am putting the blocks together as they are and will then add a beautiful border (or that is my plan!).  I will show you some photos when I have the top completely together.  

Work is really busy and I have been busy with other things that I will tell you about in another blog.  Christmas is almost upon us.  I have gotten all of my gifts for my grandsons and know what I am getting for my son and daughter-in-law.  Just an implementation issue now!

Trust you are well and also busy with the holiday season.

Aaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.