all i want for christmas...

is my two front teeth... and two bottom ones too please!

ho ho ho!

merry christmas eve everyone!

today, my son's photo is the photo of the day, or rather...a photo he took is.

we're off to start the rounds of visiting family, but i thought i'd leave you with a sneak peek of the finished wonky quilt.

what a day....

today really was a whirlwind of a day and i never left my little city attached to a big city. first it was the navy homefront talk show. then i received a little sponsorship from one of my field employees, and she was more generous than i was expecting.

then i came home.

my hubby brought in the mail. he asks me: "why is the office of the CNO sending you something?"

it's not the office of. it came directly from the big guy himself. there's embossing on the flag in all colors. there's a double watermark for his stationary. and INK! he signed it.

click and you can read it bigger.

and since i realized i had not posted this link before, here's an unsteady video clip of my award and quilt presentation. forgive my dear hubby...he was holding my regular camera in one hand and the video camera in the other.

navy homefront on blogtalk radio

mom... since you might be listening to the navy homefront show on blogtalkradio and i just gave out the blog address.... do NOT read anymore! stop. find another blog. come back next week. :)

i'm on blogtalk radio - right now actually! if you read this later, you can always listen and download the show anytime.

Introducing Navy Wife and Quilter Jennifer Schaudt!

thank you beth, sara and suomi for the opportunity to talk about QOVF and the quilts i've been making for our wounded. it's been a fun experience and i will talk to everyone and anyone about QOVF to spread the word.

super saturday happenings

as much as i despise shopping at any big or popular establishment in person after thanksgiving, we braved the houston freeways and went to ikea. early. when there is still parking available.

i had to return some dining room chair cushions that seemed to be about an inch short, but at the store today, they had one on my style chair and it fit perfectly. maybe i had defective cushions? no idea.

at ikea, instead of putting the decorations on the christmas tree and finishing the storage shed in the backyard while we had sunlight, we bought this:




the norden occasional table. minus all the stuff....



my cuisinart finally has a real home! look - it fits and so do all 10 blade attachments! now i just have to use the darn thing.

and because i must be insane, or at least a glutton for punishment, i got the back of my mom's wonky log cabin christmas quilt finished and basted it all together about 10 minutes ago. the cat is helping of course. i started this last weekend and intend to finish it before christmas.



i had some issues last night with this quilt, so i set it aside and steamed instead. me that is. same with trying to decorate the christmas tree.... the boys attempted it while i cooked, but i had to take nearly all the ornaments off so i could rearrange them in a proper fashion. i haven't put them back on yet. that's later this evening and tomorrow.

i think this is the latest i've ever decorated the tree. tradition in my family is around my sister's birthday (the 15th) and i'm a few days late. we wanted to get one last weekend, but was busy with the shed and the trees at home depot looked dead. then on tuesday, i sat in the hospital with my dad waiting while my mom was in surgery. tooooo tired after that long day waiting to get a tree up.

dear santa,

dear santa,

i've been a good girl this year. i have attended almost all of my son's cub scout meetings and functions, dealt with his silly teachers with a smile on my face almost all of the time, sat in one too many emergency rooms and hospital surgical waiting rooms with various family members and most important of all: i have been addicted to making quilts of valor for our sailors.

for christmas, i would like some neat quilty things to make for myself (or family).

this very pretty quilt panel (or the quilt kit) could be used to quickly make up a pretty quilt or wall-hanging as a 2nd anniversary present to myself and my hubby (cotton is the traditional 2nd anniversary present ya know....). maybe a matching jelly roll or a couple packs of turnovers to go with it? how could you go wrong with l'amour? love....is in the air....

i've been eyeing this jelly roll over the last week. it might look very good as a QOV. see! i can't even ask for fabric for myself without looking for fabrics for them. i HAVE been a good girl!

ok. back to me.

maybe this bali pop used with some black kona cotton to have a batik quilt that "pops" out at you. there are some lovely bright colors in this mix and a braid pattern or something fun would sure look good in my house. especially after i'm done painting colors on wall.

i'm a simple girl. i'm happy with fabric period.

merry christmas santa! i'll leave some carrots for the reindeer next week and some cookies for you.

(and to you dear readers...if you need a little holiday assistance, go over to the jolly jabber and ask them to send your letter on to santa too)

finishing up for the holidays

the adorable sweater i've been knitting for the last 5 months is not going to work out. i have this vision in my head (and yes, i told snappy it) that if i send it, then i will be the aunt who made the pink bunny suit.



so this is what i'm making instead. same yarns: blue cotton and silvery gray bamboo/silk blend....what's left of them anyways, made into a cute stocking cap for my nephew. this bit of blue is actually a different dye lot, but was NOT marked as such. so when the last bit of knitting to the dang sweater is the front, along the top of the sleeves, shoulders and neckline...a different shade of obvious blue is not a good thing.

last week, while i was home sick as a dog after my whirlwind trips to california and washington, d.c., i finally finished stitching the binding to my wonky log cabin that i did with quilt dad's quilt along earlier this fall. i had it sewn on, but not turned and handstitched for a couple of months. i know...shame on me... but i was doing good things! QOVs instead!

quilt front

click on these pictures to see the fabrics better. the tree fabrics are just too cool and i'm glad i finally got to make my christmas quilt after purchasing the tree fabrics 6 years ago.

quilt back

i'm proud to say that this quilt is almost entirely made from stash fabrics. i bought a fat quarter each of a red and a blue fabric and about 3/4 yard of another red fabric to use in here. when i bought all the other fabrics over the years, i did not expect to do a log cabin and need more variations. i still think i should have had one more white or blue to mix in, but i love it. even if my first attempt at free-motion quilting needs a lot more practice. oh - and i bought the white kona cotton for the sashing since i was out of plain white. that same white kona was also used in 2 more quilts and i have a 6" wide piece left of my 6 yards.

now, i only have one more quilt to make before christmas. two if i count boo's cat-in-the-hat quilt that i swear i started handquilting again last week. it's just coming along slowly. and i'm knitting a baby blanket for my best friend's baby due in late december/early january.