Holidays, Knitting, Threads and a Safe Homecoming

The last few days have been a whirlwind of wonderful activity.  I started and stopped dozens of things but managed to entertain myself well in the process.  I have made a little progress on my pieced border.  Below are stars that will be worked into two corners of the pieced border  Actually there are six stars but only four show in the picture.  I hand pieced two of them.  That was fun as I had not hand pieced anything for quite some time. 

Since my sister had Thanksgiving dinner I didn't feel the need to clear off my dining room table until I realized I also wanted to put up the Christmas tree and I use the table to lay all the ornaments out as I take them out of the boxes before they go on the tree.  I was amazed at all the tiny threads and fabric dust covering the table when I moved things around. 

Thank goodness for Thanksgiving dinner leftovers so that I didn't have to cook the last couple days while I turned my attention to decorating and doing a little shopping. 

 We haven't had a fire yet in the fireplace and I still need to order in a new pile of wood but the lights, greenery and village make it a cheerful place.

 I love getting out the nativity set.  This one has survived forty years now without a break.  Each year when I unpack it I love it just as much as I did when it was new.

 It was special this year because my Mom came over and stayed part of the afternoon on Saturday and helped me decorate the tree.  Dad was sorely missed but his memory surrounded us with a feeling of quiet peace.

 This is one of two wallhangings that I used the crazy quilt pattern.  You can't tell by the picture but each stocking is nicely embroidered and stitched in various patterns. 

 Not fancy at all, but the decoration that I love the most is the green china Noel sign.  This belonged to my Great-Grandma.  The letters are candle holders and she always had red tapers with them, but I don't like that look so I just use it the way it is on the shelf above my quilt.  Each time I look at it, I think of her and smile.   She was a most wonderful Grandma.  She has been gone for over thirty years but her love, sense of humor and wisdom are with me still.

In the midst of the decorating I pulled out two knitting projects to keep my fingers busy.  These are a couple of easy scarves to use as Christmas gifts.  Since I don't have a hand quilting project in the works right now I have to keep myself busy.  This way I can watch the Hallmark movies and get something done at the same time. 











But the best thing was the homecoming of my grand kids Dad.  Home safe from his second deployment in Afghanistan where he can spend peaceful holidays with the ones he loves.  The kids were ecstatic.  And you can tell by the big smile on his face that there is no place like home for the holidays!