Happy New Year's Eve ~ Ring in 2007!

I decided to leave a little bit of holiday glitter out to ring in the new year . . . the bird is from my pattern No 136 Sweet Redbird and the glass glitter star ornament is some Wendy Addison bling! Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve.
xoxx, Renée

Workshops at The Country Loft
February 23 & 24, 2007


Stars & Stripes on Friday evening
This little quilt was in the 2006 American Patchwork & Quilting Calendar for July



Patriotic Beulah on Saturday

I am really looking forward to seeing some of my darling friends that have joined me before for workshops at the Country Loft. It is a treat to visit with all the wonderful ladies that make this shop so special and definitely at the top of my very favorite shops list. Make sure to plan a visit to the Country Loft whenever you are in the San Diego area.
xoxx, Renée

Almost everything back in place . . . .

Christmas is over and most of the decorations are neatly packed away in their red & green storage bins. I spent all day yesterday taking down, sorting and packing my Christmas treasures. Some of the bins are neatly stacked right next to the garage door so each time I leave or come home I get a glimpse of Christmas treasures. I did find time for a quick trip to Frances to get a few decorations at 50% off including this SOOOO CUTE Cody Foster house.

Here are my new kitchen chairs - they were unfinished school house chairs. First I painted them dark brown. Next I painted over the brown with a mustard color and the last step was to sand them for a distressed look. My friend put numbers on hers, 1 - 6, they looked way cool so I decided to stencil our birth dates that way there would be lots of numbers on each chair. I was a little apprehensive to stencil the numbers but it was so easy - I was pleasantly surprised.



Now it is back to work . . . my Quilt Pink top is almost all cut and ready to sew together. Next the Cotton and Chocolate Quilt Shop projects - Sally if you are reading this I promise to call you this week.

I will also be teaching at the Country Loft in La Mesa, CA February 23 & 24. A little pieced and appliquéd quilt on Friday evening and on Saturday a doll, Martha celebrates Flag Day - I will post photos of them here in the next few days. I hope some of you can join me.

xoxx, Renée

Cookie Exchange . . .

mmmm delicious . . . I made peppermint chocolate wafers and gooey butter cookies for Sandee's cookie exchange today. This was my third year to attend and it was really fun. There were so many different kinds of cookies. Not as many ladies as last year which made it easier to maneuver as we filled our trays with goodies. Bob and my sons will certainly enjoy them. I am going to try to resist . . . so far not very well!

Finally I have stopped decorating . . . and will start wrapping the gifts. Maybe I will try to make that sort of a decorating thing. Usually it is the eleventh hour once I determine that each one has an equal number of gifts and too much has been spent. hmmm . . . I think I'm there!

I hope you are enjoying Christmas . . . only one more day and then it will be here. So much anticipation . . . so much fun . . . so many decorations. Merry Christmas!
xoxx, Renée

Twelve Drummers druming . . .

the last day of of my twelve days of Christmas decorating - YAY finally I was able to upload a photo . . . not sure what the problem was but here is an adorable Cody Foster snowman - isn't he cute? This "Bethany Lowe" Santa is new this year and he already had a bottle brush tree - very nice since I have been so complusive about the trees. He fits right in! Yahoo I made it - 12 Days of blogging all in a row - a record for me.

xoxx, Renée

Eleven Pipers piping . . .

This cloche has a paper maché house that I painted and then added glitter glass. A little wreath would be nice above the door . . . I will have to find one and add that. Usually I am not too much of a glitter girl but I quite like all the glitter on vintage Christmas decorations. I now have five jars of glitter glass for anything that looks like it might need a little sparkle. The snowman and trees are reproductions and the sheep is vintage.

This little red and green quilt was in the American Patchwork & Quilting Calendar for December 2005 and this was the perfect spot for it. Hailey is wondering why I am taking so many photos lately. She would rather that I just sat down and played with her.
xoxx, Renée

Ten Lords a leaping! or day TEN . . . wow this is a blogging record for me.

These are two little vintage houses - I LOVE the sponge tree with the red one. How cute is that? I wonder if it is some sort of floral sponge.

I got this terrarium yesterday on sale (making it irresistible) at Smith & Hawken - the house (an ornament with a music box) is from Target this year, the snowman is a Backporch Friends ornament & the trees are reproduction ones. I think this might be the last terrarium this year though I find them quite addictive because they are soooooooooo adorable.

We are going to see the new Will Smith movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness" this afternoon - great reviews . . . hope it isn't too crowded.
xoxx, Renée

Nine Ladies Dancing . . .

We had our Circle of Friends Christmas party on Thursday night - what a wonderful time! I am sooooo lucky to enjoy the company of these darling ladies. Everyone in the group either taught or worked at the Quilted Apple in Phoenix when Laurene Sinema owned it. Actually there are a few that just plain begged their way in to the group. We play a Christmas gift exchange game picking or stealing a wrapped gift - way lots of fun. After the last gift is picked then we open them one at a time. So many fabulous gifts! I was so lucky and delighted to get this little Noel quilt from Tonee White - she had made it from my pattern and was a bit worried when I kept trading to get it. It was wrapped in Honey & Me Candy Cane fabric (darling!) with an adorable mitten and a stitchery pattern tied on. SOOOOOO CUTE! I kept saying it was "sooo me!" Anyway I loved getting it - mine is always traveling for trunk shows so I am flattered Tonee made it and very happy to have it! Thank you Mz Tonee!


I bought this little chest of drawers today for a nightstand . . . not sure what I will put in the drawers but it will be nice to have some more storage space. Yay never too much storage and it will be very accessible! xoxx, Renée

The Eighth Day of Christmas . . .

This is my first amaryllis plant - my sweet friend Janice brought it to me. Thank you Janice! It must be a very hardy plant since it managed to bloom even without a green thumb. It's beautiful don't you think?

This is my guest bedroom . . . I think it needs an antique quilt on the wall. Maybe a really nice red and white quilt. xoxx, Renée

On The Seventh Day of Christmas Decorations . . .
















This two tiered plate thing is another fun new decoration this year . . . the snow really made it and I love the way the oversized reindeer make it very folksy. It is one of my favorites.



















Here are some more favorites as in my three sons, Jake, Travis & Brett . . . posing for a Christmas photo op. They couldn't keep from laughing when I pointed out some portrait tips:
tilt your head slightly, hold your head up high, lift your chin up and out
. . . Axel & Hailey thought it was a game of sorts too - all of this didn't equal a perfect Christmas photo but it did provide some Sunday Family Dinner fun.
xoxx, Renée

Day SIX for Christmas Vignettes . . . .
This is the Santa Terrarium - I had Bob cut the little ball feet off this one (it came from Target a few years ago) - I like it soooo much better now that it sits flat on the tray.

The Christmas Tree looks better at night when the white wire isn't as apparent. In my opinion it certainly isn't worth taking off all the Shiny Brite ornaments to change the lights. Especially since they don't seem to show as much in person as they do in this photo.



This faux feather tree (from The Apple Tree) has one of the upside down metal funnels to cover the base. I love the way it looks and if I ever decide to do some canning there are four funnels to use. I would even know where to find them in one of the Christmas decorations boxes. Until tomorrow . . . xoxx, Renée

Five Golden Rings
or the 5th day for my Christmas Vignettes. The icicle lights on the Christmas Tree worked out very well except that the wire is white . . . it would be much better if it was green. So be on the look out for green wire icicle lights - very hard to come by here. There will be a photo of the tree in tomorrow's post.

The base of this silver tree is an upside down milk strainer that I cut the wire mesh out of. I have several upside down metal funnels used to cover tree bases too - find them at flea markets or antique malls. I will take some pictures of them tomorrow to show how cute they are.

This is one of three little glass cases - this is the snowman case in the kitchen . . . they are so much fun to make. If you have an old terrarium, some little bottle brush trees and a little house try it!

HO HO HO . . . see you tomorrow!
xoxx, Renée

The Glitter Vignette!
This is sort of my glittery shabby chic area. I bought the Wendy Addison glitter numbers and star at Melrose Vintage (a fabulous shop) in Phoenix. The wreath garland came from the same shop. Are you thinking how many Christmas decorations does a girl need? I am wondering the same thing! Seems like you just can't have too many bottle brush tress, cardboard houses or angels - at least that's my story and I am sticking to it!

This is a better view of the Colonial Bread rack decorations. On my daily trip to Target I snagged the last box of icicle lights and now it is time to start decorating the tree . . . I am going to try the icicle lights on the tree and will let you know how that works out.
xoxx, Renée

Three French Hens
My son, Jake, went with me today to pick out our tree . . . it is in the urn and ready to decorate - maybe tomorrow. Bob (my husband) was soooooo happy to have the tree here without having to go to a crowded store or tree lot. Way to go Jake! This year I am going to try using icicle lights on the tree (my friend Cindy's great idea) so that will be yet another trip to Target. It seems to be a requirement to make no less than 10 trips to Target for Christmas supplies.

The white sideboard is in the dining room and the stockings are hung on the living room fireplace. How is your decorating coming along?

I plan to cut out my "Quilt Pink" auction quilt this week so it can be pieced and ready to be quilted next week. Sounds a little optimistic during the holidays!

I decided to call these Christmas posts "The Twelve Days of Christmas" making this day 3 or Three French Hens - so come back for a visit tomorrow - Four Calling Birds.
xoxx, Renée

This shade of green (Martha's green) is my new favorite color - especially for Christmas. mmmm extra delicious with red! I will post a close up photo of the "Colonial Bread" rack with all the decorations in the next few days but this one shows little Axel in the kitchen . . . and he is just too cute not to be in the picture. I hope you are enjoying decorating for Christmas as much as I am! Maybe I better start shopping so when the tree arrives there will be something to put under it.
xoxx, Renée

HO HO HO!

Merry Christmas
Isn't it fun to see how everyone decorates for the holidays? I will post a few photos each day of little Christmas vignettes . . . This year I decided to take photos so it will be easier to decorate next year. It would probably have been a good idea to take photos before all the fun holiday stuff was set up so I could remember where it all goes when it is time to put Christmas away until next year.

xoxx, Renée