Menorah, Thanksgiving, and Insanity

I'm finally taking some much-needed time out to 1. show you the completed Menorah quilt, 2. tell you about my fabulous Thanksgiving, and 3. explain about the insanely awesome happening that has been keeping me so very busy.

1. I've kept you waiting far too long to see the completed Menorah quilt! It took a bit longer than I'd planned, but that was all my fault. I decided to make the Menorah two layers and it took quite a while to cut each piece . . . twice!

Layer 1

And then layer two

Plus the candles and flames. The menorah, candles, and flames
are made by layering a top fabric, batting, and backing and then
satin stitching the edges before stitching the to pieced quilt top.
So, technically, each piece of the menorah, candles, and flames are quilts!

Finished! Hanging in my hallway for picture taking before
packing and sending to its new home!

Close-up #1

Close-up #2

 I truly loved making this special gift and hope the recipients love it as well!

2. Thanksgiving was a delight - I hope yours was as well. Michele decided that she wanted to make dinner to give me a little extra time to prepare for #3 below. I tried to insist on helping, but she would have none of it! It was just the two of us for the first time in a long time, so that was a nice treat - and it made it so that we could have whatever we want (when we have company we try to introduce folks to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, vegetarian-style). This year we had vegetarian meatloaf topped with barbecue sauce we made and canned over the summer, whipped potatoes, corn, cider glazed carrots, dinner rolls from Michele's grandmother's recipe, and pumpkin pie with real freshly whipped cream. I cannot tell you how delicious it was! WOW! Michele will be cooking a lot more often - this is a skill that she has been hiding under a bushel for the 13 years we've been together!

Dinner was SO yummy! And I enjoyed the leftover "meat"loaf
on dinner rolls for the rest of the week - little meatloaf sliders! YUM!

Pumpkin is Michele's favorite pie, but I am not usually a fan.
Boy howdy, I really loved it this year! I'm now a fan!

3. The insanity that has been keeping me so busy is that I have what Michele is calling my "one woman show" coming up on Friday! I was chosen as the featured artist at a local gallery for First Friday festivities! First Friday here in Rochester is when all the participating galleries open late and have wine and nibbles while folks browse all the gorgeous treasures. My show is called Quilted, Quaint, and Quirky: Stocking Stuffers and Fashionable Finishing Touches. I am over-the-moon excited! It's really an amazing accomplishment and I keep pinching myself that it is actually happening! You can check out my and many other artists' shows here. I'm at the Crocus Clay Works, which is the seventh gallery on the list on the left of that website. So, needless to say, I have been working like crazy to be ready for what I am referring to this amazing opportunity!

This is the bookmark that I made and handed out at the MayDay Underground show.
I think it's adorable!

Happy Easter

And wouldn't every Easter be a little happier if we all had a cookie like this one baked by my neighbor, Rita, for her little niece? It's actually the size of a small basket and has a real egg baked in the center of it. Rita says it's a traditional Italian Easter cookie and she told me the name of it, but I cannot remember what it's called. Whatever it is, it's pretty cool, and likely tastes delicious! And what fun for the recipient! I hope everyone has a lovely Easter!

Thanksgiving Thankfullness

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We did here in the Wescott house. Normally, Michele and I get up early and start cooking together, but since this year we didn't know when she'd be home, we planned a simpler meal. I slept in, then, around 11, made the pie and cranberry sauce. At that point I didn't really know what else to do. Everything else that was planned took an hour or less to make and Michele wasn't going to be home until 5 or 6, so I took a few hour break. . .and then, around 4, I worked like crazy to make everything else - pretty poor planning on my part! It all turned out great, though - even though at one point I had to leave everything cooking away in the oven to go get Michele from a truckstop because she couldn't get her hitch lock working so couldn't drop her trailer and bring the tractor home (long confusing story). Dinner was perfect, indeed! And our annual day-after-Thanksgiving 6am trip to Joann's was even better because it was Michele's idea - I was willing to forego it this year, but she claimed she was excited about it and wanted to go with me! All in all, it was a wonderful two days and I hope yours was just as great!

Crazy Busy

Wow, suddenly life as a shop owner is spiralling into insanity! The holidays are a busy time for me normally, but as a shop owner, it's getting really crazy. I'm loving it, though! It's so much fun to connect with other sellers and buyers, but my favorite part, of course, is making things I love and packaging them up for someone else who loved them enough to buy them! What an awesome feeling! And soon, I'm really stepping out there and will be doing a show! My first show will be December 13th here in Rochester: The RNEST Winter Fest! My local Etsy team has arranged it, so I figure I'll be surrounded by friends and that will be a good place to get my feet wet! So, I am crazily making loads of beautiful things because, in addition to the show, several other fabulous artists and I are having a Holiday Open House in our Etsy shops and I'm trying to get stocked up for that, plus I have my own Christmas gifts to make, plus I need to get my Pay It Forwards done and sent by the end of the year! So the next two months will be pretty crazy, but I can't complain: I'm doing what I love!