Miraculous Sewing and NTT

Hey friends!  Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday.  As the post title suggests, it's a miracle with an 8 month old puppy, but I've been able to get LOTS of sewing done this week and actually finished a quilt top!  Most of it was over the weekend when I'm not the only one at home and therefore not the only one responsible for puppy duties, but I'll take what I can get.

This is a brand new design (one of the ones I worked on last fall before the holidays), and I really love how it turned out.  The stars have a fun, mid-century modern feel that I really like.  I already have the plan for the backing, so I'm hoping for a timely finish for my first quilt in several months.

I also visited the lovely ladies of the Sherwood Park Quilt Guild in Canada last week- virtually of course!   I presented my trunk show, "Show Your Back Side: Quilts From Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs" and it was lots of fun.  I just love that I can present anywhere in the world with the magic of Zoom!  If your guild is looking for fun and unique programming, please send me an email and we'll chat!  I would love to visit you- either virtually OR in person!  

In other big news, the cover for my upcoming book is finalized, and I'm so excited to share it with you!

You might notice that the cover has the numbers removed from the Twelve Days blocks, and that is for a couple of reasons.  First, the book gives the option for making the quilt without the numbers if you prefer, so I wanted to show that.  And secondly, in this digital world, a book's cover has to look crisp and vibrant not only in real-size, but in thumbnail-size as well, since this is how many people see book titles on phones as they shop.  When the quilt is shrunk down to that size, taking the numbers out allows the block designs to stand out better.  

It makes me so happy to see that the designers followed my request to "lean into the Christmas" theme of the song and quilt, even though the blocks themselves aren't all red and green.  The book will be released late this spring, with plenty of time to start a Block of the Month Quilt Along for Christmas in July!

Okay, y'all!  Let's get down to business with this week's party!  But first, a few highlights from our first party of 2026 last week!

Linda at kokaquilts linked up a recap post of all of her 2025 quilts, and this one is just so lovely.

These sweet butterflies are from Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting and Stitching-

And finally, Yvonne at Sew Yummy shared this vibrant quilt-

Okay, friends!  It's time to link up!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Kicking Off 2026 and NTT!

Welcome to 2026, my friends!  If you missed my last post way back in November, I decided to take a blogging break for the rest of 2025.  I usually take a break during the month of December and adding most of November to the break wasn't my intention, but things just came at me fast in those last six weeks of the year.  In addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas, my husband and I also celebrated our 27th anniversary, his birthday, and hosted a huge Christmas party.  

And if that wasn't enough, I ended up doing the final draft reviews of my Twelve Days of Christmas book, which is a line-by-line check of every word, number, punctuation mark, photo, illustration-  ALL of it...twice (once to mark any edits/changes, and then a second time to ensure all of those changes were made).  It's a huge job, but my publisher will be sending the book off to the printer in a couple of weeks for a release late this spring (yay!) so it had to get done. 

Oh, and amidst all of that, I had jury duty, AND then was down with Covid for an entire week.  Miraculously, I got Covid during the only week I could without missing any events or travel, so thank goodness for small mercies.  All of that said, it was still a fantastic holiday season.

I'm so happy to be back though!  I went to my local quilt shop today and purchased this lovely bundle of fabric for a fun new design-

If you recall, for most of 2024, I sewed quilts entirely from fabric I already had, and as a result, I completely emptied out my fabric stash.  Then, at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025, I made my first two quilts with purchased fabric in almost a year (two Twelve Days of Christmas quilts).  After that, in spring of 2025, I worked to sew up all of my scraps, which I have (mostly) done.  I also traveled for five weeks straight, and then came home and wrote a whole book. lol!  All of that is to say that the first half of 2025 was super busy for me...and then we got a puppy and all of that productivity came to a screeching halt.

Tucker completely consumed the last half of 2025 for us, and I wasn't able to sew anything at all, and because I had literally NO fabric or scraps on hand, even sewing something small seemed difficult.  He's 8 months old now (and about 60 pounds), and though he still requires a lot of attention, I am ready to start sewing again.  I'm sure it will be at a slower pace with lots of playtime breaks, but I'm looking forward to creating something more than a design on a computer (and getting to shop for new fabric!).

Okay, y'all!  I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season as well, and I hope your own reflections on 2025 make you smile.  It's time to get our party going!  I know you have lots to show off.  And since our last party was so long ago, we're just going to jump right into our very first NTT of 2026.

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Bring on the Holidays! and NTT

Hey there, and welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, my friends!  I have finally finished all of my Christmas decorating, and I'm cautiously optimistic about Tucker's ability to stay out of everything.  He was all up in the middle of things as I was putting it all out, but now that it's done, he seems to be less interested in it, which is a trend I hope continues.  

Here are photos of all six of my trees, plus some of my other favorite decor.  Of course, this isn't all of it!  I decorate my entire house and I can't possibly show everything, but you'll definitely see why it's such an undertaking.  These are all unedited photos, with the exception of the first one.

Our main tree-  This tree holds all of our vacation ornaments, as well as lots of "other" ornaments I've collected over the years that don't fit into any of my other themed trees.  This one is in our main family room, and I love that it holds so many memories.

Vintage aluminum peppermint tree-  This tree is from the early 1960's, and though I do have the color wheel that was traditionally used to light these kinds of trees, it gets very hot, and is noisy.  So instead it is lit with spotlights from below.  Since the tree is metal, it isn't safe to string lights on it.  This peppermint tree is in the corner of our dining room.

LSU tree- This tree is just so much fun and though my Tigers are disappointing me this season, I still bleed purple and gold.  I love the way the purple and gold ornaments stand out against the white tree.  This one brightens up my breakfast nook.

Santa tree- I love Santa, and my late mother-in-law shared that love.  In fact, she had Santas that she kept out year round!  When she passed six years ago, I inherited most of her Santa collection, including most of the ornaments on this tree, prompting the addition of this tree in 2020.  Usually, I use a flocked tree here, but I did a little tree switcheroo this year, and you'll see why!  The Santa tree is in the formal living room, but we're not very formal people, so this room actually houses our pool table.  

Winter Wonderland tree-  Here is the flocked tree!  I think the flocking looks amazing with the icy winter ornaments.  This one is full of feathers, deer, snowflakes, icicles, owls, white birds, and lots of berries, branches, and pine cones for a perfectly snowy woodland feel.  This tree is in my bedroom, which has a very colorful Anna Maria Horner quilt on the bed, so the muted tones of this tree are a perfectly peaceful addition to the room.  I love reading a book in bed at night with this tree lighting up the room.

In years past, I have used a super-slim pencil tree in this spot, and don't worry, that tree hasn't been cast aside.  It has been moved, and is now a brand new themed tree.

The Twelve Days of Christmas tree- Yep!  After I made my Twelve Days of Christmas quilt last January, I decided to start collecting ornaments for a Twelve Days themed tree.  It is in our foyer, so I knew it needed to be a super-slim tree for it to fit.  The one that was formerly my winter tree in my bedroom was the perfect size, which prompted the whole Christmas tree shuffle.

The Twelve Days tree is so much fun to look at, but much better up close.  Each ornament is one of the Twelve Days figures, so I included a couple of close-up photos of it.  Twelve Days of Christmas themed things are usually so colorful, so I trimmed this tree in jewel tones, which is totally different from the rest of my trees.

I can't possibly forget the quilts I hang on the wall.  Santa's Christmas Forest hangs in my main family room-

And of course, new this year is my Twelve Days of Christmas quilt!  This hangs in my formal living room, on the same wall as the Santa tree.  You can't tell from the photo, but this quilt is directly across from the Twelve Days tree.  It would be great to be able to have the tree and quilt together, but the Santa tree is too wide to move into my foyer, so the trees have to stay where they are.

Also in my family room are the fireplace and shelving unit.  I completely remove every bit of regular decor to make way for the Christmas stuff!  The Santa collection on the top two shelves is so neat.  They're Santas of the 20th century, and each one represents a decade in his dress, as well as the toys in his bag.  For example, the Santa of the 1970's is wearing bell bottoms, a big butterfly collar, and platform boots.  He holds a disco ball, and and has an eight track tape and a yellow smiley face in his bag.  Each one is so detailed and unique.  This collection has been my dad's for years, and this year, he decided to go ahead and pass them to me.

And here's the other side of our fireplace, with the mantel and our childhood stockings (the stockings are centered on the fireplace, it's just that the photo is very slightly angled)-

I also love Christmas trees!  I have a couple of different Christmas forests in my house as well.  This one is on the dresser in my bedroom-

And this one is really special to me.  With the exception of one tree, all of these ceramic Christmas trees have been made by my grandmother, the biggest one way back in 1970.  I love this collection, and it makes me smile every time I walk into my kitchen.

Well, now you see what I've been busy working on for the past couple of weeks!  It is so much work to do it all, but it makes my heart happy for my whole house to be so festive.

And now, let's check out just a few highlights from last week!  This beauty is from Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting-

This cozy quilt top is from Maggie at Making a Lather-

Myra at Busy Hands Quilts shared these cute Christmas projects-

And finally, Sew Preeti Quilts linked up this cheerful quilt-

Okay, friends!  Let's party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

November and December are jam-packed with my husband's birthday, two major holidays (accompanied by visiting family and travel), our wedding anniversary, and parties/events throughout the season.  

This year, I also have another major thing on my list- the review of my draft of my Twelve Days of Christmas book!  For a late spring/early summer release, the book will be sent to the printer in January, so I have to go through line-by-line and check every word, number, punctuation mark, and illustration before Christmas (and then again right after the New Year).  This is a major undertaking, and it could not possibly come at a busier time.

So, NTT will be taking a break through the rest of 2025, and I'll see you again in the New Year!  Happy Holidays, everyone!  :)

Needle and Thread Thursday

Hey there and happy November, my friends!  Around here, November means Christmas decorating, and believe me when I tell you that it's currently in full swing.  My house is in disarray while regular, non-holiday decor gets taken down and Christmas gets put out.  In addition to six full-size trees (some are slim trees, but all of them are 7-7.5 feet tall), I change art on many of my walls, put away everything that normally sits on shelves, and even switch out my dishes for the entire season.  It is a TON of work, which is why I start so early.  I want to be able to enjoy it for a good long while before I have to put it all away.  I'll have lots of photos next week when it's finished!

Last week's party was fantastic!  I love this quilt linked up by Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting-

Julie's Quilts and Costumes showed off this amazing quilt, made entirely from bonus HST's that she won through her guild!

And finally, check out this fun scrap quilt from Deb at A Scrappy Quilter-

Okay, y'all!  Let's get our party started!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

An Eventful Weekend and NTT

Hello there, my friends!  Welcome to another Needle and Thread Thursday.  This has been a super busy, but awesome week for us.  Centenary College, where my husband and I met way back in 1995, is celebrating its bicentennial this year, and last weekend we traveled to participate in an alumni event for Homecoming weekend.  It was so much fun!  We got to get all dressed up, catch up with friends we hadn't seen in years, and sing some of our favorite pieces in the alumni portion of the choir concert.

ps- if you're looking for me, I'm a little to the left of center, about halfway up (next to the lady in the green dress).  Since my hubby is 6' 6", he is always easy to find on the back row (on the right side).

We had alumni parties on Friday night, rehearsal on Saturday morning, the concert Saturday night, and then drove home Sunday, so it was a quick turnaround, but definitely worth it.

If you can believe it, this week I'm starting to pull out Christmas stuff.  Life with a puppy is never dull, and my plan is to put up trees (I will have six this year), light them, and leave them up without ornaments for a week or two.  That way I can hopefully teach Tucker to leave them alone before they are covered in breakable ornaments.

So, let's get to the highlights from last week's party.  I love this one from Linda at kokaquilts-

And this beauty from Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl-

Sandra from mmm quilts showed off this lovely quilt-

And finally, this quilt shared by Gretchen's Little Corner is so pretty-

Okay, friends.  You know what to do!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Happy NTT!

 Hey there, my friends!  Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday!  This month has been all about travel and doctor's appointments.  It seems that all of my annual appointments fall in the month of October, and that makes life hectic.  Add in a trip to Louisiana last weekend to visit my family, and then another this coming weekend for an alumni event, and life has been moving pretty fast.  

Oh, and how could I forget our latest puppy drama.  Tucker has injured his knee, and we're concerned that he may have partially torn his ACL.  Even if it were completely ruptured, we would have to wait until he is fully grown for surgery, but right now he is doing okay with anti-inflammatory meds.  We don't think it's completely torn because he is bearing weight on it, and doesn't even limp when on the meds. But, that is making it harder to keep him from injuring it further.  Do you know how hard it is to discourage a six month old puppy from getting the zoomies?  I tell you, it's a revolving door of excitement (both good and bad) around here.

Anyway, I'm excited to show you some of the fantastic things linked up at our last party, which was a couple of weeks ago.  This quilt from Rebecca Grace Quilting is an absolute stunner!  I have always loved this pattern, and her quilting is just amazing!

This cheerful baby quilt is from Julie's Quilts and Costumes-

This lovely quilt is from Sew Preeti Quilts-

And finally, if you want to see a whole parade of quilty eye-candy, check out these seven (yes, SEVEN!) quilts shared by Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting-

Okay, y'all.  Let's get our party started!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Needle and Thread Thursday

Hey there and happy October, friends!  I've been doing lots and lots of designing for the past couple of weeks, in fact, I sort of went down a rabbit hole and have lots of new designs to sew once I get back into my sewing room. Alas, that hasn't happened just yet.  So instead, let's take a look at some of my favorite projects linked up at our last party.

I am in love with this scrappy pineapple top from Time 4 Stitchin'.  The scraps just sing against the black background-

Deb at A Scrappy Quilter linked up this pretty quilt top-

And Anne-Marie at Stories From the Sewing Room showed off several quilts in her post, but the quilting on this one is just so beautiful!

Okay, y'all!  It's time to get our party on.  Let's do it!

Okay friends!  Let's party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)