December

Hanukkah 2012 has ended and we're heading into the other seasonal holidays: the winter solstice (longest night of the year), Christmas, Kwanza (I still need to read up on that one) and New Year's.

After the 25th I'll post pictures of gifts that we hand made this year. 

Before Mom got sick we had bought a couple of gifts ahead of time. We do that, finding a perfect gift and getting it and setting it aside for Christmas or birthday.  One was a cloth doll of an old woman with a purple dress and red hat. The dress says: "People Like You Are Why I'm on Medication" or something like that. It also plays a take on "Dontcha" - the Pussy Cat Dolls number.

"Dontcha wish your grandma was hot like me? Dontach wish your grandma was a freak like me? Dontcha?"

That went to our former Red Hat Queen, Lynn. 

One change up we did was a gifting for friends that adopted us as family here (he became our handyman and then friend along with his wife). We bought two pieces of material that were going to be the center pieces of a string quilt. We didn't get a chance to buy the bulk material before Mom got sick. There's no way Jackie and I could do even a string quilt quick enough (machine pieced panels that are put on the quilting racks and yarn is sewn through about every six inches - in and up - and then the yarn is cut in the center and then the two strands are tied into a knot). So, instead of a quilt, Jackie made pillow out of the material for Chris and Georgia and stuffed them, I hand sewed them closed and did a wood burned project for each of them.

I also did wood burn projects for Jackie, my cousins and for Mom.  A turtle for Mom, of course. It just felt important to do a gifting for her this year.

We were also very grateful I had the foresight to do our cousin Chris one of my fleece blankets with the yarn trim around the edges = a Navy panel for him. I had that done before he visited us for Thanksgiving.  I think I've got a picture of it that I'll post.

Jackie crocheted Mom a long vest and liked it so much she did one for me. Mom didn't get to wear hers.

We plan on finishing the quilt Mom was working on and Jackie is going to see if she can get the hang of the rocking motion of hand quilting.  I'm good at hand sewing so I can do the piecing and Jackie can do the quilting.

We're going to give it a shot, Mom!