Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Before this Christmas I knew nothing about the Wii entertainment system. Amy bought Keri one and gave it to her a couple days early...and we all played bowling and tennis and golf. What a blast this is!!! Here's Terry showing us his form :)



What Amy didn't know was that I had bought her one...so on Christmas Eve she got hers...and we bowled some more. On Christmas Day Jeff found his game after a few frames.

And on Monday when I went to Target to get the girls a game for the Wii's...they were selling a new shipment of machines....so, since Terry had such fun (me too!!!) I bought one for him. Below is my son-in law Mike throwing another strike! It is so realistic and great exercise.

I hope to have other pictures soon...Amy has to send them to me....Keri looks and feels great...she napped a lot. They are now in Lancaster, PA with Mike's family.

Marcia

Our New Display Cabinet

I just love this new cabinet from Crate & Barrel...and the old armoire looks great in the bedroom. All of my collectibles have been switched and the decorating is done.

I made a couple stockings this year forMike (Keri's husband) and Jeff (Amy's boyfriend).....just because. We will all be together this year for Christmas....we ar very excited. Very exciting is the news that Terry and I are going to be first-time Grandparents in June...let the spoiling begin!!!!!

This cute little wreath is a gift from Toyoko and Yoko, our dear friends from Osaka, Japan. They are CRAZY Disney fans...that is where we met eight years ago, at a Disneyana Convention in Walt Disney World.

Putting in the larger cabinet made it necessary to move around the paintings. I now only have room for two...so I told Amy she can finally have one. These were done by Keri for three Disneyana Conventions....based on their themes for the year. They held silent auctions for all the paintings (done by many artists each year) and the proceeds went to local charities.

Five words......I had to have them!
This is the one Amy wants...The Fox and the Hound.

This is Goofy's family from the theme year "Reunion". Goofy is Keri's favorite character of the fab five.

I can't remember the name of the movie this is from...cute, huh?!

Today it's cookies day....gotta be strong and not eat any though...I've lost 30 pounds and I intend to keep it off and lose more.

Marcia

More Christmas Decorating

I have been looking for a larger cabinet to display Keri's designs that I have acquired over the years....so I went to Crate and Barrel this week to check out one I had seen in their catalog. I loved it, and it will be delivered on Monday. So I had to empty this cabinet out (I put this armoire in my bedroom for my clothes...love it.) I thought I'd get a picture for you...she started designing for Disney almost 10 years ago...so I have a few things :)




These two elves are very special to me....I bought these years ago with my friend Cheryl, at the Hancock Shaker Museum Show in Massachusetts. They are made by June Weaver (Out of Knowwear) from recycled clothing. I also have four santas done by June. Cheryl and I used to fight over who would get these...all in good fun.

The amount of work in these elves is amazing... in person, the face (mostly eyes) on this one reminded me so much of my brother, so I had to have this one.

I made the santa holding the tree about 10 years ago. The santa in the back center I purchased from an art student at Buffalo State College 23 years ago when I worked at a fabulous quilting store there. It was made with Jinny Beyer fabrics, which were a new phenomenon then, and the shop owner challenged this girl to use them...I BEGGED her to be able to buy it.

This four-foot tree is covered with very special ornaments. They were gifts, handmades, travel keepsakes etc. I wrap a sheet around this in January and put it away like that...emptying it every year is not an option :)

And this little tree sits in the kitchen corner...it has minis, handmade swedish paper stars and handmade beaded snowflakes.

This is a closer view of the Disney ornament tree...mostly to show the folded paper stars, beaded snowflakes and icicles, and beaded garlands. The garlands are so easy to make (just string beads), and really add a nice touch to any tree.

Marcia

Decorating for Christmas

I am 90% done with my decorating....I always do it early (although more and more people seem to decorate early now). It is a labor of love for me. I used to put up about 8 to 10 trees of different sizes...now I'm down to four. I collect trees and santas...nothing outrageous, just enough to make a nice small collection. The first photo is my mantle....featuring a sleigh and reindeer by artist Jim Shore...who incorporates quilt patterns into his carvings.


This is my small grouping of Byer carolers...many were gifts. They sit on my beloved antique family furniture from Kentucky.

I made these ceramic carolers in 1971, when I took a class with my Mom in Buffalo. I just love them, they are very special to me. The white tree was made (in early 70's...by me) from styrofoam trays cut in circles and then cut again...very hard on the hands and hard to explain!

These ornaments were all designed by Disney artists, and many of them are signed. Ever since my daughter became a Disney artist I have collected the ornaments that the group of artists she works with designed. There's about 6 of Keri's on here.

And lastly is my staircase...I really should have cleared off the stairs before I took this...oh well.

All I have left to do is my big tree....should be done tomorrow.

Marcia

Houston...Final Shots

The last pictures I have from Houston are the dolls....what an amazing array of handmade, quirky, beautiful dolls. I have to say I never had a desire to make anything like this, and after seeing these...I don't think I'd have the patience...they are incredible. I'd rather sew the clothes for them :) Click on the pictures to see them up close.

This last picture is Lorraine Torrence's jacket, for which she sells the pattern and everything you need. She had a great (and large) booth with many samples, jackets and vests for sale, many patterns of her own designs and fabric to complete them. And she is a wonderful person to know...love her.

I had a fabulous time in Houston...can't wait to go again.

Marcia

Houston...Part 3

When you stand on the second floor of the convention center, you can look down on the show floor...this is about 1/3 of the vendors...the quilts used to be integrated with the vendors...but now they are in a separate area....as big as the vendor area. It is laid out beautifully.

Here are a bunch more quilts...click on them to see more detail.



This quilt below was an interesting piece...the color grabbed me.

Caryl Fallert won another major prize.

This prize winner (below)was beautifully done, and....mmm...different :)

Love the fabric in this one...gave me many ideas.

This was the view from my room...the convention center is on the right...connected by a skywalk.

A few more next time...dolls, vendors and displays.

Marcia

Amazing Houston...Part 2

The Bernina Fashion Show!!!! This was the winning outfit...a beautiful dress by Starr Hagenbring. I think this dress is spectacular....I do love organza...and it has hand-painting and stitching splashed across the many panels of different colored organza.

Starr was also a vendor, and I bought one of her kits for a great jacket....she has a very unique way of preparing and packaging her kits...I can't wait to make it.

Five more of the outfits that I got good pictures of...I thought all the items in the show were great.

Great beadwork!

Starry, Starry Night!

Still more tomorrow!

Marcia

Amazing Houston...Part 1!

I haven't been to Houston for the big Quilt Show in many years....and it's more amazing than ever! My legs ached and I had 7 bandaids on my feet...but it was worth it....WOW! So many vendors selling so much great stuff...and so many lectures and tutorials and hands-on experiences. I had such a good time....and I ran into some old friends and made some new ones. Below are some of my favorite quilts, some of the winners and a couple pieces from the cloth exhibit curated by Jane Dunnewold.



Love the dyed fabric in this quilt!

This was quite cool....something about Monet's garden.

I LOVED this winner, and I told her so....it was so unique and fresh....the shadows were created with stitching....my favorite of the big winners.

This was one of the artcloth pieces.

Another artcloth piece, done by Jane Dunnewold.

Best of Show by Hollis Chatelaine.

Click on this to see up close.

A quite impressive piece.

Another piece by Hollis...I'm a little partial to this piece...wonder why :)

This was a cool piece...love the fabric.

More tomorrow...

Marcia