Merry Christmas!

From my house to yours, I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Lorette

How "Merry Christmas" is said ..... Afrikaans: Geseënde Kersfees
Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees
African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Milad Majid
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Sheng Dan Kuai Le
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri'cho o Rish D'Shato Brichto
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Hungarian: Boldog Karácsonyt
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Kurdish: Serî sallî nwê pîroz
Lao: souksan van Christmas
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar
Luxembourgish: Schèine Chreschtdaag an e gudde Rutsch
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Philippines: Maligayang Pasko!
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese:Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele or Craciun fericit
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig Chridheil dhuibh
Serbian: Hristos se rodi.
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Switzerland (Swiss-German): Schöni Wienachte
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Tamil: (Tamizh) Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Z Rizdvom Khrystovym or S rozhdestvom Kristovym
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

Threesome!

THE BIG REVEAL: my vision of  Counterpoint using Downton Abbey fabrics!

Once quilted, I will bind it with the dark red fabric. This was an extremely fun project to make and I am so pleased with how it turned out. Still planning quilting designs in my head... perhaps I'll load it on Lolah... she's been awfully lonely lately!

On the home front, DH is working his last day!! RETIREMENT starts today at 5pm!! Cannot wait!!

And we're very close to the end of negotiating the sale of the house! As the saying goes, things happen in threes! Well this could be the day for 3 wonderful endings!

Have a great weekend everyone! Take time to tell your family and friends you love them! And to my own family I wish you all a safe holiday season on the roads and at home!

Toodles!

Lorette

Another without you!

Dad, today you would be celebrating 94 yrs! How you loved family celebrations! 

You were a terrific son, brother, soldier, husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather! 

You had a wonderful sense of family.

 You provided us with a wonderful home full of love!

You even built us our own little play house!

How you loved to play with your toys! Some for summer...

 

Some for winter...

Some you made were favored by all! You even joined in the fun!

Although we hated to say goodbye, we knew it was time for you to rest! In your honor, we planted new roots!

 We're happy to report those roots are thriving.

We miss you very much, think of you every day and pray you and our family in heaven are watching over us.


With much love from all of us!

Lorettes
aka LVP

Stripping therapy!

The past two days have been quiet on the home front! Lots of time spent in the studio working away at my vision of a Downton Abbey quilt. I cut out the fabric late Monday afternoon and sewed a few units into the early evening.

There are a lot of HSTs (half square triangles) in this quilt but it's all easy work. Although the pattern is listed as an intermediate quilt, I believe a confident beginner could easily make this quilt successfully. 

HSTs are easy to make; I mark them before sewing... I blogged about them here.

These are leftovers after trimming the HSTs; they will make a cute little quilt someday!

The units are all ready.

My floor space isn't large enough in the sewing room anymore!  So I had to lay out rows 9 & 10 off to the side. The picture on the pattern sheet was used to help with layout of the 6 different fabrics that comprise the large units.

How do you mark your strips, rows, blocks when preparing to sew them? I use freezer paper pieces which I number and iron at the top of each strip. No pins to poke you when handling!

Once the strips are ironed and ready to be put together, I hang them up in order of sewing sequence.

Stay tuned for the quilt top reveal.

I have to prep the house today because we have another showing this afternoon! Can you tell I needed some sewing therapy?

Toodles,

Lorette

Nervous reflex!

Definition of REFLEX:

noun:

1: an action that is performed as a response to a stimulus and without conscious thought

2: a thing that is determined by and reproduces the essential features or qualities of something else

Case in point:

Broker's Open House was on Friday December 13th from 11-2 pm. The house looked great, the sun was shining and it was warmer than it had been in about 1 month. All good signs!

So what was I suppose to do during those three hours?? My mind was definitely not on Christmas shopping. It's hard to concentrate on anything when your thoughts run through the images of your home wondering what a newcomer will see and think when they visit. 

My soul told me to go play with fabric. It's a nervous reflex. There's something calming about designing whether it's a garment or a quilt. Looking at a particular fabric can instigate the beginning of an idea which quickly blossoms into a doable project. Have I ever told you about my "fix" when I'm in a slump or designing drought? I visit my local JoAnns, grab a cart and head for the quilting cotton section. There I will browse until I find a fabric that speaks to me and drop it in my cart. Along with that one fabric, I will choose coordinating ones and put my mind through a pattern slideshow. Sometimes it doesn't take long and I have a dozen fabric bolts in my cart with a clear picture of what I want to make. 

Then comes the hard part: I visualize my own fabric supply and try to figure what, from the cart, can be substituted and I replace that bolt on the shelf. There are times when I've completely emptied the cart and left the store to rush home and get started pulling the fabrics from my shelves. Some days, I've found myself at the cutting table with the whole lot. Rarely have I left the store without feeling "refreshed" and no longer suffering from designer's block. I do love buying fabric but I've also been extremely happy on those days when I leave the store without buying knowing that I have something in my stash that will work just as well. Sometimes too, just exercising my brain this way is enough and no quilt ever comes of it.

Friday, my soul needed a good feed! I visited my favorite local quilt shop: Quilt Emporium. I've been curious to see the new Downton Abbey fabrics having seen them online which really doesn't do this fabric line justice. The fabrics are luscious. Do visit the link to Quilt Emporium to see the Downton Abbey display at Quilt Market Houston 2013! 

Sunday December 15th was a special day at QE: a Downton Abbey Tea where representatives from Andover Fabrics displayed garments, hats, totes, ornaments and quilts made with their line, gave a presentation on costume designs and even showed a video of their visit to HighClere Castle. Guests were treated to tea and cookies, a sold-out event I'm told. Congratulations Quilt Emporium! Unfortunately, I could not attend! :(

Fran showed me her quilt made using a pattern called Counterpoint as seen on QE's Quilt Market page. It is magnificent! Great job Fran! Love those colors in the pale violets. I wanted a different spin to the quilt so I set out to flip the colorway to dark sashings. We'll see if I can accomplish how my mind sees the quilt. I do love these colors. The ecru fabric at the bottom will be used as backing.

The following cuts aren't from the Downton Abbey line but I want to include them as they fit the color scheme I have in mind.

This is the pattern designed by Kari Nichols; it's an intermediate pieced quilt.

Added to the stash was this green which I depleted working on a Christmas project I will share with you when the recipient has opened the gift! The bottom fabric is a possible Yoko Saito Quilt Mystere background! Love those lines...

My love of plaids and patterns was soothed too. I find I don't have enough grey fabrics! I must start to fill a shelf with them soon!

Quilt Emporium has a wonderful tradition: In December, in celebration of 12 days of Christmas, they offer a new stocking stuffer at a reduced price each of the 12 days! This needle threader was featured on a day last week and I went to the video to see how it works. Turns out it's a fabulous tool to own. As I get older, the hole in the needle gets blurred and I find threading becomes a challenge. This should help with the task! And I love how you can store your needles in this case! It even has a little cutting blade so you don't need scissors to cut your thread and a magnet to pick up the needle. All in one versatility!

Saturday, one couple who happened to drop in during the Open House returned for a visit accompanied by their realtor and their adult son. They were here for almost 2 hours! Then silence!! Isn't waiting for news the hardest part of buying and/or selling? So yesterday, in order to keep calm, we joined our friends for a bike ride along Santa Monica beach... the weather was wonderfully warm and dry. Love those Santa Ana winds that clear the air of pollution and brighten the view of the mountains.

Today, we have an offer! Wish us luck in negotiating the next steps of this nerve-provoking process! I hope to be able to devote enough of my energy and concentration to get this new quilt top made in the next few days. I love sitting at the machine to just sew; it's when I am most successful at finding solutions to any problem that may arise! I think my reflex on Friday was a good one! Expensive but it felt great! Thanks for your help once again Fran!

Now series 4 of Downton Abbey can't come soon enough!

Toodles!

Lorette

Dear Viki!

You would be celebrating 67 yrs today! 

Your sudden death this year has created a void in our lives...

You are dearly missed... 

The generations skip a beat... the beat of your heart!

Your sisters miss you dearly!

Your daughter, son-in-law and grand daughter are coping the best they can! But it's been a hard year of first! Firsts without you beside us!

RIP Viki! 

All my love

Lorette 

PS: We do have happy milestone to report today: nephew Jason is celebrating his 34th birthday...

       Big hugs and kisses from your godparents Jason! We are proud of the beautiful man you have become!

 Love you!

Oncle Bill and Tante Lorette

It's good to be back again!

In the sewing room that is! Yes I must say I feel a bit more relaxed as I sit and sew; whether by machine or by hand, it matters not! Just creating makes me happy.

Today I bring you finished blocks from the Deauville to Cape Cod Quilt Mystere, a wonderful design by Roxane of Scrap Quilt and Stitch.

Block no 2

I chose some earring findings for the wheels of the bicycle, memories of the peace movement in the 60s and 70s.

 Block no 3 

I don't think I'm done with Block no 3... it's missing something and I haven't quite decided what to add to it yet. I've seen some wonderful examples on Roxane's blog... do go see them! I particularly love what L'Atelier de Fille Ainee did with hers... love that beach bag, book, glasses, flip flop! SOOO creative!! Her blocks are beautiful!

Block no 5

I decided to go ahead and sew Block 5 and 3 together as they appear on the diagram provided with the instructions. These blocks are located in the lower half of the quilt. When I am reunited with my supplies once the move is done, I will add a jewel for the eye of the fish.  

Roxane chose to give us block no 5 before no 4 because it was a simple one quickly made up as not to interfere the holidays. Very clever and considerate of her!

As for the sale of the house, the listing went up on Friday afternoon close to 4 pm; by 5:30, someone had called to make an appointment to visit Saturday! We were thrilled! Then Saturday morning while having breakfast, the sign went up! We couldn't believe how quickly that company moves... all for the better! It has produces several phone calls already.

In the early afternoon, we went for a drive while our realtor showed the house and in our travels, we happened to be following this man and his dog.

Had to laugh at how this dog was just hanging there in the space between the mirror and the door. Here he is watching two men on bicycles on the other side of the cars in the right lane. We had just gone past a large park when he quickly withdrew and found his toy which he dropped in the driver's lap! He knew what he wanted! Too funny!

It was just a short time later when our realtor called us to tell us the appointment was over and the visitor had left with his agent. Driving home, we spotted them outside our neighbor's house still talking; this would have been impossible to see from our house. We hung back until they left not wanting to interfere.

It's stressful to sell a home, the waiting, the hopes, the dreams all produce their own energy. I choose to release my stress with sewing. It's always worked wonders for me... you might want to give it a try someday!


Toodles,

Lorette

Work done... staging begins!

As you can see, our lives have been busy boxing and storing most of our belongings. Those items we chose to dispose off were donated to my favorite thrift shops by the carload! 7 carloads to be exact! Not much more can fit in this storage unit except perhaps another tower of boxes in that wee space in front which we may do soon. 

Today the realtor and stager arrive with furniture in the 2 rooms we emptied completely. Tomorrow the photographer comes and the listing will go online! Exciting for us! We are thrilled with the progress we've made and although it was a lot of work to get this far, we know that when the time comes to empty the house, it'll be so much faster and easier... I figure one week and we could be out of here but 3 days is more like it! 

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family...

Our crepe myrtle is in its fall glory! reminds us of the colors of home in October... something we will definitely enjoy once again! 

Today and for the next week, the weather is to be colder than usual and perhaps a little rain is in the cards. Very close to freezing at night... feels like November in New Brunswick! That's OK... anything to make it feel like Christmas!

I even got some wrapping done! I'm happy to report too that the tree is still drinking lots of water! So happy for that! I fill the container with 1 gallon every morning! Only 21 more days... haven't even thought of Christmas cards yet! As for quilting, well, let's just say I'm in withdrawal! Can't wait to get back to regular days spent in my studio. DH has 12 days left to work before he's fully retired!! Reminds me of 12 days of Christmas... :)

As for my December Daily, I haven't worked on it yet but I journal and take photos everyday! Only once we are totally done with the staging and photography sessions will I be able to work on it. I plan to enjoy some scrapping time this weekend as DH is working his last on-call schedule EVER!!! So excited for him!

Progress is ongoing on the old farmhouse in NB too, our future residence... the contractor has checked in a few times: the windows and doors are all in rendering the house secure, the old porch has been demolished and work on the new one is well underway with the flooring done and some walls up. Weather hasn't cooperated this week with rain and this morning freezing rain and snow but there's finish work inside that continues. We're really getting anxious for this move! 

In the meantime, we're enjoying the process of finishing this career and starting a new chapter in our lives! May our angels in heaven help and guide us through this transition and if they can, send us some buyers!! :)

Toodles,

Lorette