Nancy Halvosen

How many of you out there are like me and LOVE Nancy Halvorsen's designs? I love them and everything about them, the colors the fabric designs as well as her patterns. I love it all. A few years ago I bought the Peppermint & Hollyberries book and that stared it all. I currently have all the FQs to make the reindeer quilt (shown on the back of the book) and have had them since I purchased the book but have yet to do anything with it. Then along came Star of Wonder, 12 Days of Christmas, and this year I believe in Santa.. all books that I have purchased and yet to do projects out of.



Keith has also looked through the books and pointed out the things that he liked and well, they have in turn been added to the infamous list of "THINGS/ PROJECTS TO DO". It seems as though things are always added to the list and very rarely do things get finished to take off the list. Maybe that will have to be my new years resolution.. Its going to be that or Keith has threatened to send me to fabric buyers anonymous. Ha ha ha.. who's coming with me? It will be like a sewing bee or something like that.. a guild maybe?

Oh and did I mention that there is a new book out? Called "Sew Necessary"? All sorts of things to organize your sewing space.. and yes I will have to purchase that one too!

How many of you out there have started the Christmas Count down? Have started working on christmas projects? I would like to say that I have done the second and am trying to ignore the first but that is not happening for either of them!! With the upcoming Doctors appointment and the possibility of another surgery possibly just before or just after christmas in my head Christmas is too close!! and needs to be pushed back a couple of months.

Keith and I have purchased several of the ceramic houses and shops from the Lemax 2009 Christmas Village. If you have a chance check them out they are super neat. We purchased christmas lights to put up on the house.. that can be programed to flash different sequences (sort of) that is another story for later. We have a couple new ornaments one for our first year being married and on with an eagle and the flag. Then there is the christmas shopping... I have purchased a few things for him, some special 12 Days of Christmas goodies that I will post here when I figure everything out and can get pictures (he won't know he still doesn't know how to get to my blog) some other odds and ends and then one other thing that I put on layaway at sears for 2 reasons... 1 so that I knew that I had it and it wouldn't be sold out before Christmas and 2. so that I could take advantage of the 30 day return policy incase he wants something different. I didn't want to buy it now and then have something be wrong with it and not be able to return it.


So anyway today when I get home from work will be yet another non creative day. Unless you consider baking breads for the Divisional potluck tomorrow being creative. I still have banana and zuchinni breads to mix and bake and Keith is going to make ziti for me to take in the crockpot.

Update on Doctors and other things.

Well where to start?? We are finally getting some where with the doctors and my arm pain. Tuesday I had an appointment with the neurologist here in town and she performed an EMG nerve conduction study on my arm. This is nothing new it was actually the 4th time that they have done it twice before the surgery once last year when i returned from deployment and then a couple days ago. The last one was more indept than any of the other procedures that I have had done and they found out that the nerve that the doctors have already moved once is either still being pinched or pinched again by scar tissue. Either way we have some answers.

We are not sure yet if they are going to decide to do surgery.. I have some more follow up appointments.. and if they do we have no idea when but assume that it will be sooner rather than later because of the chance of further damage.

So in light of that I have started to get my special christmas things together because I know what happened the last time I had surgery. The last time I had surgery in October and still had a removable cast in January. I have put together gifts for the "12 Days of Christmas" for Keith and think I am still missing a few. Most of them are just special ornaments and then I will have to fill in the missing days but I think it will be fun.

Keith still hasn't figured out how to find my blog so I will be able to post them here to show everyone and share.. it will be fun!

Advent Calendar....

Taking a poll.. do you have an advent calendar that counts down to christmas? What do you put in the pockets? As a kid my mom made one that had pockets on the bottom and a big green christmas tree on the top. Each pocket had and ornament that we would velcro to the tree and the last two were always Santa and his Reindeer.

I currently have quite a few advent calendar panels and a bunch of them have pockets to fill. Just curious as to what to put in them.. I have ornaments and small candies but would really like to put other things in there other than candy.

Looking for mantle banners?

Has any one seen the holiday mantle banners? I vaugly remember seeing patterns for holiday banners that you drap across the mantle that had santa's or something on them that I'm guessing that they tucked under the things that you have sitting on your mantle.. has anyone seen these?? Or remember them?? If you could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. Keith has talked about making this Christmas special and I want to make sure that I get some things done to make them that way.

I know that I won't get to them this year but I can put the banner patterns on my wish list of books to buy. And things to complete in the years to come. I did find one in a Nancy Halvorsen book that is a santas head but I'm looking for some more as well. I would really like some snowmen or snowflakes or something .. I think that I could take the basic idea from the one that I have and adapt it to what I want but I still want other ideas.

Projects in progress and upcoming Thanksgiving

While Keith was deployed I kept looking at the Twilight Frost tree skirt in the connecting threads catalog. Finally I wrote him and sent him a picture and asked him what he thought. He told me that he liked it and so that was that I had to have it. It arrived in the mail while mom was staying with me but because we were busy getting things ready for Keith it was put away. I recently pulled it out, seperated all the fabric and it has all been cut and prepared to sew together. Can you believe that the hard part is done and yet I still haven't sewn anything.. How frustrating. There are peices currently up on my make shift design wall and I hope that after the commad potluck I will have the time to sit and sew.


I have come up with so many christmas ideas for Keith some of them that aren't going to work out this year and then others that I have been putting things away for, for a while now. This weekend I hope to be able to organize and figure out what I have left to get so that I won't have to worry about it.

We were working on planning our menu for Thanksgiving but have decided to order a Turkey meal from Omaha Steaks. Its already been ordered and we recieved it. There should be enough for us to have a nice meal and then to have sandwiches the next couple of days. There were a few side dishes that didn't come with the meal that we are going to cook. I might try to make some rolls with the bread machine I'm not sure yet though.

Halloween 2009

Well our plans of watching movies for Halloween didn't pan out we were too busy back and forth to the door for Trick or Treaters and watching all the little kids so excited to be dressed up to pay any attention to the movie at all. So we have "Monsters Vs. Aliens" to watch for another time when we have some relaxing time together.

Keith and I decided that this time instead of ordering pizza that we were going to make our own, with the premade pizza crust of course but we got to top them with everything that we wanted and didn't have to wait for the delivery guy or go pick it up.

As far as our candy went well .... In the begining Keith was being the nice guy on the corner and handing out handfuls of candy. I'm sure that the neighborhood parents were thrilled and that one day they will get us back for it. Soon we realised that there was going to be a shortage of candy and I made the run to the grocery store to get more. As I was pulling up to the grocery store the bag boys tackled some guy that I am assuming was shop lifting.. so I decided to be quick and get the heck out of there.

Over all we had alot of fun we carved our pumpkins.. I brought some of those cotton spider webs home and Keith hung them in our doorway, and to make things more festive Keith turned on the stereo in the Garage with creepy halloween music because XM/Sirus had a special channel just for that purpose parties and Haunted houses.