Mesdames et Messieurs.....

Presentation... du Cirque du Soleil Quidam!

My DD gave me tickets to Cirque du Soleil for Christmas.  We went to see it last night.  It was fantastic!  Dancing... live music... rope skipping... aerial acrobatics... clowns... juggling... audience participation... Chinese yo-yo skills... gymnatics... and so much more.

Quidam is French and it is said to mean no one and everyone at the same time.  The Quidam of this presentation is a headless man, carrying a bowler hat and an umbrella.  There is lots of thunder and lightening and other light and sound displays.  The singer was live and she was terrific! 

It's a story about Cloe, a young girl who is bored.  Her parents live their own lives and don't pay much attention to her.  So she dreams up a world of fantasy and imagination to keep herself amused.  Quidam is the person who sings, cries out and dreams in each of us.

 

Christmas Greetings

Hey Felix.  Come here and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. 

"Mew.  I can't."

Why?  What are you doing?

"Shhhhhh.  I'm sleeping.  Purrrrr."

But why?  It's too early to go to sleep now.

"I'm not taking any chances.  I want Santa to come and bring me treats, purr, purr."

Good idea!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

The Reindeer Have Landed

One of my quilty friends asked if she could see my reindeer.  It's Deb from Patchwork Sanity - A Women's Piece of Mind.  She has some deer in her yard too.  Go check hers out.  They are so cute!  I put mine out on the front lawn today.  These things are getting really old.  I hope they survive the winter.  I made them about 10 years ago (maybe even longer) when I saw some on somebody's lawn.  I didn't have a pattern.  I just drew the shapes on a sheet of plywood that was 4 by 8 feet.  It was a little bit tricky because I had to fit all of the pieces on.  I then cut them out with a jigsaw.  

My neighbour stood in his driveway and watched me, shaking his head the whole time.  Several years later I found a pattern to make these things.  The reindeer in the pattern were much nicer than mine, so I filed the pattern away in a 'safe' place and now I can't find it.  Don't you hate when that happens?  I would like to made a new pair of reindeer some day if I can still cut things out with a jigsaw.  My disability is making things more difficult for me.  I used to love working with wood.

And I thought you might like to see a shot of Mimi.  I haven't featured her on my blog for quite a while.  She is a real opportunist.  I had folded the flannel quilt and placed it on the coffee table.  As the sun moved around and started to come into the living room and shine on the quilt, Mimi saw her chance and decided to take a relaxing nap.



Doesn't she look comfortable?  Shhhh!  Don't wake her.  She hates to be disturbed when she is napping.  Oh, oh.  I guess the camera made a noise.  Did I wake you Mimi?

"Meow!  Go away and leave me alone.  Can't you see I'm taking a nap?  The sun is so nice and warm and this quilt is perfect for napping.  Turn that camera off and go away!  Right now! Meow!"

I guess I'd better do as I'm told.  Can you tell who the boss is in our house?  Certainly not those nice, quiet, well behaved reindeer.  I really should make some more of them.......

A Finished Christmas Tree

A few weeks ago I inherited a huge amount of scrap fabric that had belonged to a fellow quilter who passed away.  Included in those bags full of scraps was a partly finished quilt top.  I thought the quilt was cute - cute enough to finish.  So I took a few seams apart, fixed a couple of crooked patches, appliqued a star on top of the tree and resewed a few seams that had nonexistent seam allowances.  Then I sandwiched it, quilted it and sewed the binding on.  I also put a sleeve on the back so that I can hang it up.  And this is what I ended up with.   

I think my quilty friend would be proud and happy to see her quilt top finished and hanging up for this festive season.

If Life Gives You Flannel Scraps..........

.. make a flannel quilt.  I have come to be known as the 'Scrap Lady'.  Not that I mind!  I keep getting those great scraps given to me.  And I've never met a scrap I didn't like!  There were a lot of flannel pieces already cut into squares in the last batch of scraps.  I added a few of my own and came up with this. 

It's lovely and warm.  My husband was eyeing it last night.  So I decided to make him one for his very own.  There were some wild, outdoorsy flannel scraps in that batch.  I had to change the pattern because there just weren't enough of the 4.5inch pieces.  This will take me awhile because I still have a lot of Christmas stuff to get finished.  And it's already December 1st!  How did that happen?

And lastly, a shot of one of my Christmas Cactus plants, blooming in a gorgeous creamy/peach colour.  My red one has already been in bloom for a couple of weeks and the pink ones are starting to bloom too.  There are still lots of buds, so I hope to have lots of colour for Christmas this year.