It's almost December!

Hard to believe we've gotten to the last month of 2025 already, but we got a dusting of snow overnight Friday night into Saturday, so I guess it really is that time of year.  It's pretty but cold!  

I guess that means it's time to bring out the mittens - that is, the December heart mini quilt which has some pretty red mittens stitched inside it!

All twelve hearts that I stitched last year have been finished and displayed on my entryway chest this year.  It's been a really fun project for the year!

I'm just getting started decorating the house for Christmas, so the December heart isn't on the quilt stand yet, but I will share a photo when it's ready.  

Once the December heart was quilted and bound, I went back to stitching on the Turkey mini sampler and started embroidering another redwork doodle.  

Mr. Turkey only needs a few more stitches.  

Will I finish him tonight (Saturday)?  

I did, and here he is - finished just a couple days after Thanksgiving!

Gobble, gobble!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

When one project leads to another...

 a November Table Scraps project!

I was just finishing up Starburst when I started to think about this month's Table Scraps Challenge project, and the leftover blue Grunge in "Sea" that I used to make the quarter star blocks was still out.  Further back than that, I originally used this Grunge for the sashing and binding on Pieces of My Life, finished back in February.

November's extra challenge from the Joyful Quilter is to make something inspired by our favorite book or movie.  Reading is one my most favorite activities - I can't remember a time when I didn't love books and reading - so I knew I was going to go with something about books.  But - what favorite book?  There are too many to name!  So I decided to make something inspired by my favorite book source - our local public library!

I started by making two bookshelf quilt blocks.  The blue Grunge became the bookshelves!

When planning what this was going to turn into, I decided to only put the end of the shelf on one side of the block.  That's because I sewed them together into a panel, then sewed up the sides and boxed the bottom, so it would stand up.

Then I got busy and didn't take any more photos, but I did add shoulder straps and a lining, and turned these scraps into a book bag, to carry books to and from the library!

A view of the other side of the bag - I like that text fabric!

And here are the three connected projects!

Since this is the Little Penguin blog, and there are penguins on the book bag, I will share a favorite penguin book with you!   Click on the link for a little summary of the story from Goodreads.

Goodreads

Linking up with The Joyful Quilter for the November Table Scraps Challenge.

And at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! 

And at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday.

I Like Thursday #460

 

Wishing you a wonderful day, however you are spending it!  It will be a quiet day at our house.  Older son has opted to stay home with his girlfriend and her family, and is cooking a turkey breast for the first time.  I'm looking forward to hearing how it all turned out! 

We've continued to see the wild turkeys around town.  It's always fun to see where they turn up.  These two don't seem too worried about ending up as someone's dinner!

I made a pumpkin pie today (Wednesday), and it turned out very good.  We couldn't wait to have a *little* taste of it!  It has been many years since I baked a pumpkin pie, so I wasn't sure I knew what I was doing.  But - it's good!

Thankful for all of you, my blogging friends.  

Thanks for visiting here!

Joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

Midweek Update

It's a busy week!  Even though we aren't traveling for Thanksgiving or having a large group to our house, it seems like there's lots to do anyway.  Some of it is completely fun - I went with a couple friends to see "Wicked: For Good" Monday and loved it!   I always love musicals. 

Today (Tuesday), I met a friend to go for a long walk.  She was one of my longtime teaching partners, but moved to another part of the state a couple years ago.  We try to get together whenever she is back in town to see her parents.

But there has been time to work on the projects on my list from last week.  Christmas Cats was a quick finish, and I am so happy with it.

Isn't this an awesome backing?  I shared a peek at it when I was working on the binding, but here is the whole thing.

I did finish my November Table Scraps project, and here's just a peek of it.  I'll share the complete finish on Friday.

In thinking about what I really want to work on in the next few days, I remembered that it's time to finish up the last little heart quilt for the quilt stand display, so that I can change everything over to Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving.  I already had sewn on the borders - it just needs quilting and binding.  I think that will be doable by December 1st!

On today's list - bake a pumpkin pie!  I'm off to do just that!

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

Redwork and a turkey...

In last Sunday's slow stitching post, I shared some redwork designs from PinkernPunkin that I had traced,  and this week I stitched them up!  Instead of trimming them to be squares, I used my quilt-as-you-go hexie template to turn them into hexagon shapes.

Gail, of the Cozy Quilter, gave me this idea when she commented on last week's post where I shared the little hexie tabletopper I made.

So, why not turn these into a Christmas themed topper in the same size and shape as the pumpkin-themed one?  I thought that would be a fun idea!

I'll need seven hexagons to make the tabletopper, but have only stitched four little embroideries, so I'll need to pick out three more to trace this week.

Meanwhile, it is Thanksgiving week here in the US, and I felt the need to stitch a turkey!  Again, from Melisa's treasure trove of designs, this is the Mini Turkey Sampler.  Of course, I left the turkey for last, but you can see him starting to emerge!

Plenty to do for today's slow stitching!

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Christmas Cats

This turned out to be the perfect next project to focus on this week, and it didn't take long to sew up the top once all the pieces were cut out.

These quarter star blocks were made with scraps from a 2024 Christmas gift, and once I decided to make the Starburst blocks with the blue background, these became orphans.

It feels good to use them up!

I even managed to do a little multi-tasking.  As I sewed the Christmas Cats together, I sewed a few star blocks into rows!  I guess any project can be a leader/ender for any other, if you plan it just right!

The last few days, I've been quilting this little project, and the binding is on, too, ready to handstitch down.  It's going to be a quick finish!

I found a great backing for the Cats in my Christmas drawer - I think it might have come from one of Nann's goodie boxes.  Thank you, Nann!

Sharing at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.

And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday

I Like Thursday #459

Turkey Day is coming!  This is my little homemade turkey, made from a pinecone and pipe cleaners.  I'm not sure where it came from,  or even who made it.  One of my kids? Maybe years ago in Cub Scouts.  I get it out every year around this time.

Have you been watching Ken Burns' The American Revolution on PBS?  It's been on every night this week.  I used to teach colonial American history in 5th grade, so this is fascinating to me.  There's still lots to learn!

I finished a really good book this week.  It is historical fiction, about the development of the Space Shuttle program in the 1980s, and specifically the first women to become astronauts.  It's a very powerful story.

The weather has been so unusual here that I have played golf twice in the last week.  It has been so fun to be outside with friends, getting in a good walk, lots of conversation, and now and then hitting the ball in the hole!

I think the weather is finally supposed to change to something more November-like, maybe even some snow, by tomorrow.   We could definitely use the moisture!  

 Joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.

Midweek Update

Starburst relaxing in the living room!

After a finish that has occupied my brain and sewing room for weeks, I always have a hard time settling on what's the next thing to work on.  Does that happen to you?

So Sunday afternoon I just went through some project boxes and baskets, and thought about what I want to focus on next.  My other RSC block set for 2025, the 16 patch stars, need to be sewn together.  I'm going to contribute these to the current Many Hands and Many Hearts block drive.  I'll send them as a completed top only.

I've gotten a start on my November Table Scraps project with these strippy pieces.  This one does have a deadline (self-imposed, mostly) of the last Friday of the month.  At this point, I'm just hoping my idea for this project works out!

I Spy penguins!  Thank you, Libby!

I got all the pieces cut out for the little Christmas version of the quarter star blocks.  I'm going to call this "Christmas Cats," because this setting makes me think of cats peeking out a window.

It occurred to me that I should finish this up and 

send it to my older son and his girlfriend 

who have two cats who are very entertaining.   

Which gives me another deadline!  Well, decision made, and once I started sewing, it didn't take long to make progress on the Christmas Cats.

Sharing at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And at Alycia Quilts for Finished or Not Friday.

Some binding, some hexies, and a new project...

This week in slow stitching - 

I have been so excited about finishing the Starburst quilt this week, and that included hand stitching the binding down as the last step.  So I spent a couple evenings on that.

You can read my post about the quilt finish here.

There was time to sew the quilt-as-you-go hexies into a small tabletopper, too.

It fits perfectly on this little wicker side table that I think I've had since I was a teenager.  It's where my husband sets his camera for quick pick-up in case he wants to take a photo!

The new project is some Christmas redwork embroidery designs that I found at PinkernPunkin.  Melisa posted a whole parade of her cross-stitch and embroidery designs for the holiday season.  Thank you, Melisa!  Some redwork embroidery sounded like just the thing for this busy time of year.  

And got a few stitches in it already this evening (Saturday)! 

Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Just finished!

Starburst is a finish!  It began with the pink blocks I made in January, inspired by the blue sashing fabric I used in Pieces of My Life.

One hundred quarter star blocks - using 100 different fabrics - were sewed for this quilt all throughout the year, and this month I pieced them into the top.  I have been quilting it this week, and got the binding on Wednesday afternoon.

A couple evenings of hand stitching the binding down and voila!  Starburst!

Aren't scrappy quilts just the best?!

I love this backing!  So glad there will be more to use for future quilts.

I think this might be the first time I have ever finished a Rainbow Scrap Challenge in the month of November, in the year I started it!  (I'm such a slow finisher...)  I'm not sure if Starburst will be given away or live at my house, but for now I'm just going to enjoy it right here.

Sharing this finish at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!

And at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Melva Loves Scraps for Sew and Tell Monday 

Patchwork and Quilting with Frederique

I Like Thursday #458

You guys!  We saw the Northern Lights at our house Tuesday night!  It was amazing!  Definitely a first for me.

Front yard

Back yard

And there were wild turkeys in a neighborhood we drove through, going from one part of town to another.  They are so fascinating - and so big!  We have a couple flocks that we see around town, but you never know where they will show up.

LeeAnna's question of the week is about how we decorate for Thanksgiving.  For several years, most of my "decorating" has been with quilted things.  I love tabletoppers and runners and have made many.  Here is our dining room table this year - with my hexie topper that I made during Carole's Fall Fortnight.  There's a pumpkin, and some angels, and a candle for the season.

I zoomed in on this little angel because he is one of three that were gifts from a long ago 5th grade student.  There's one for Halloween, this one for Thanksgiving, and one more for Christmas.    They are holiday favorites of mine!

Joining in with Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.