little scene

Merry Christmas to All!

This is a fridge magnet cut out from a teacup. Does anybody know which china this is from?

Thank you all for commenting on my blog, lo these many years, and especially for saying that my son's emails/phone calls/letters are funny :-) . His little college friends have been running around playing football games down by the pool and such, but Timmy forges on at Parris Island. If anybody knows what they usually schedule for the recruits on Christmas Day, do fill me in so I can visualize what he is doing.

Maybe they will give them their other winter glove? Or would that be an out-of-control excess of Christmas spirit?

o happy day

Here I am, walking out of school at 3:40pm yesterday with two weeks and three week-ends ahead of No Day Job and Decompression:

Meanwhile, here is what I made for the LQS Christmas party pincushion swap:

The little "yard" is a pincushion as well as the little Renee Plains bird (who has a needlekeep under his wing). I received this wonderful wool crow:

He is so firmly stuffed and very steady on his candlestick. He will be a pleasure to use. However, we are to turn in our pincushions for a shop display. I don't want to turn in my crow! Maybe they won't miss it....not.

The Stickles must not stop just because it is Christmas, you know:

I don't want to discuss that dent in the upper right side that extends precisely to the 1/4" seamline. I shall ignore it.

Oh, Rembrandt, where are your feet?

Blockety Blocks

Managing to keep up with the Stickles:

Our Les Fleurs class met yesterday afternoon, which concludes the classroom festivities until next month. I didn't take pictures of the others; maybe next month. We all have a great start on this interesting quilt:

We are all to make a sawtooth Quilt of Valor block for next Repro Divas:

And since I don't want to miss out on the holiday frenzy, I began this group of blocks in order to work on a red and green quilt during Christmas, er excuse me, Winter Holiday break :-) :

This uses two Rouenneries, a Grunge, and an Aged Muslin for the background.

P.S. Dear Santa, please please bring me the

from: FQS . Thank you, Santa, and hope your holiday is also merry. It's nice of you to remember the big girls as well as the little children :-).

Letters from Boot Camp #3 and #4

Received two letters in one envelope, recklessly addressed only to "Mamaceta":

#3

Timmy: !Hola Mamaceta¡

Home has:	Parris Island has:
1) Family	1) Drill Instructors
2) Home-Cooked Thanksgiving Meal	2) Dehydrated, Reprocessed, Cafeteria Thanksgiving Meal
3) Laughter, Smiles, Wine	3) Blood, Sweat, Tears

Really, the only thing Parris Island has going for it is the whole "they gave me an assault rifle" thing.

Today is Thanksgiving, Mama, and it is the first one I have spent without my Mama and the cats [editor's note: this is not actually true, since we had a full childhood of post-divorce holiday visitation scheduling, but I think he is experiencing some Boot Camp delirium in more ways than one].

All the depressing "I miss you"s aside, Boot Camp is going pretty well. We have graduated from Phase 1 to Phase 2, meaning we're starting to move past all the c**p and on to the Cool Stuff. Last week, we did the Rappel Wall, which was awesome, 75 feet straight down [oh god not my baby].

We also "learned" how to use our gas masks, meaning we got shoved into a room full of CS tear gas and had to figure out how to use the mask real fast. It was so cool. However, I would advise you to stay away from riots and drill instructors in possession of said gas.

Yesterday, we hiked out to the rifle range. We are learning to shoot our rifles. I am so pumped. So far we have only done virtual firing, but if the simulation is correct, I am a crack shot.

Forty-three days and two major holidays away from graduation. Miss you, Mama, let me know the news from the homefront.

#4

Hello again, Mamaceta. It is December now and bitterly cold here in Parris Island. We got issued our Cold Weather Gear. I expected high-tech military grade thermal jackets. What we got was a skullcap and one glove. Not a pair of gloves, just one glove. Motivated.

We finished Rifle Range and hiked back to Squadbays. I barely qualified at Rifle Range. You might wonder why, since I said that I was a crack shot. I'm going to explain what happened in a crude diagram:

Notice the strikingly handsome stick figure firing at target #3. This is me. Notice that he is on crutches. This is me on crutches.

I had a bout of cellulitis, a form of flesh-eating bacteria [panicky shrieks from Mamaceta], in my foot. I was on crutches for a week; fortunately, I still managed to qualify.

[editor's note once done keening: Don't the crutches look just like Tiny Tim's?]

We did Swim Survival. I am 2nd Class Swim Qualified, which is the highest available and only a dozen kids out of 300 got it.

Looking forward to cooking Thanksgiving Part Deux with you in January. Love your son Timmy

It Was Cold at Valley Forge

Last night, our Repro Divas leader took us on a visit to Valley Forge, Christmas Time; we heard about George Washington and especially about how Martha Washington was there during that terrible winter and did so much to help out (from the New York Times, 1899):

In fact, Martha came to visit us in one of her loveliest dresses!

Martha made every stitch of the garments she is wearing herself, exactly according to the most popular and typical fashion of her day.

She brought us Shrewsbury Cakes, Joe Froggers, and mulled cider, just as she was doing for the troops. She showed us all the details of her outfit, from panniers to chemise to corset, which she would not have done for the troops. She also showed us this lovely quilt she made using the Hunter Star ruler sent to her from the future:

note the lovely Watteau pleating in the dress back...

Our leader, Kathy, made this patriotic quilt for her husband (who loves to read about history) for Christmas:

Show and Tell followed; this gorgeous quilt is a Christmas gift:

a Hunter Star table runner:

We had a suggested theme of red and green for this month's Show and Tell:

Cute!

Here is mine (28" x 32"). The background is a washed-out green:

We exchanged huswifs!

This is the one I brought home, made by N. Thank you, I love it and will love using it!

And finally, Martha and George (aka Noble Leader Kathy) gave us each the assignment (written on parchment, rolled and tied) for next meeting: make something using the fabric gift below:

This oughta be good! Stay tuned (by the way, any ideas for what to make with it?).

Patterns and Stickles

I have two new patterns. The first is Sewing Needfuls, a sewing huswif and a pillow/pillowcase pincushion:

The second is Holiday Houses, a wall hanging of three houses with wreath on each house that has room for a stamped, inked, or printed scene within:

And on to Stickle blocks; one square...

and one triangle...

The triangle, LS05, is supposed to look like this:

I can't explain it, those skinny spikes just gave me the creeps, so I edited them out :-).