Nine...

The countdown continues.... Here is today's project (and tomorrow's, and the day after tomorrow's...) - my dad's Christmas or birthday quilt, depending on when it gets done! These small stacks of squares are just making me so happy right now, I almost don't want to start sewing them together. I am making a checkerboard quilt for him - each alternating square will be white. So I sewed strips of color to strips of white and have cut them into these squares. Now I'm gonna sew those suckers together into strips again. I think it will work up fairly quickly, so a Christmas finish date is most likely possible.

I'm also showing you the tray that I keep on my sewing table. It holds all the odds and ends that would end up on the floor if I didn't have a place to throw them. A spare foot, seam ripper, hand sewing needle, my labels, containers of safety pins.... all get thrown in there if they are in frequent use. It keeps it close without being in my lap.

How's your Christmas shopping going? I think I'm done. No, wait... one more gift to buy for my brother. Yep, that's it! I spread out the gifts in my laundry room today to see if the gifts for my kids were "even". You do this too, right? Make sure that you haven't inadvertently over or under bought for one kid? They are all fairly even, but (and I do this every year) I want to buy more! We made a decision to keep things simple this year, and each child is getting something they really wanted... but I love giving (and the shopping, I love the shopping)!! We'll see if I can make it through the next nine days with my determination intact.

Here is what came in a package today. It's not the last package I'm expecting, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all the packages will come on time! I ordered this book for my son from one of amazon.com's affiliate sellers. My son has borrowed this book out of our local library so many times - I think every other time we go he chooses it again. Now it can be part of his permanent collection.

"Under a Prairie Sky" is beautifully written and illustrated. It thrills me that he loves this book so much (and that it's not some character from tv). The story has a rhythm to it, not rhymed, but lyrical and poetic nonetheless. I'm sure there is a word for that... but I don't know it. I sure hope he is as excited to receive it as I am to give it!!

Oh! Did you see all the snow through the window in the first picture? It's been really coming down here - oh! how I love it! The roads aren't that great, but it is just so Christmas-y! My favorite thing is having the tree boughs weighed down with 6 inches of snow, and seeing it through my front window.

I'm off! Gotta get something done to show you tomorrow!