Return to Toyland

Hello Everyone,

I love putting my Toyland Tree quilt on display every Christmastime.  I feel as though I am returning to Toyland as a child.  𝄞 Once you pass its borders, you can ne'er return again 𝄞 

I think I return to Toyland almost every day while decorating the cabin and spending time with all of my favorite material and "toys" in my sewing room.  Who says we can never return?  I'm living in Toyland each and every day.

The quilt hanging behind the headboard is called Christmas Windows by Brandywine Designs. I made that quilt years and years ago before I started designing.  My Country Courthouse design is on the bed.

I only use wool batting in my quilts.  It gives them added loft and warmth.  It's a good thing they are warm since it is 25 degrees this morning.  The snow we received yesterday is going to be frozen solid this morning.  We will have to be extra careful when we venture outside of the cabin today. Talk about walking on thin ice!  I may have to break out the ice skates that I posted about the other morning.

Remember this as you go about your day.

𝄞 When you've grown up, my dears
And are as old as I
You'll laugh and ponder on the years
That roll so swiftly by, my dears
That roll so swiftly by𝄞 

Soon,

Lynn

 

Visiting Another Gold Rush Town

 

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, Mr. Joe, my sister, my cousin and I headed out to the little Gold Rush town of Jackson to do some Christmas shopping.  The foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range have a rich history of historic, small mining towns along historic highway 49.

This has become an annual event for us.  We love to stroll through the downtown area while listening to the traditional Christmas carols piped outside the downtown area by the local radio station.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Brickhouse Brews in downtown Jackson.

Now I have to get busy and wrap what I bought.

There were considerably more people yesterday than in the past two Covid years.  It is so nice to see the economy returning.....and we helped it out!

It rained for most of the night, and at this writing this morning, it is starting to snow.  This is just the beginning of a series of storms poised off the coast bringing us our much-needed rain and snow.  The storms are dropping out of the Gulf of Alaska and joining up with an atmospheric river from Hawaii.  We need absolutely every drop of rain and flake of snow possible!

I doubt we will be building a snowman in the meadow, but it is a nice thought.

Soon,

Lynn

Skating on Thin Ice

Hello Everyone,

Another little corner of the cabin is decorated for Christmas.  I have just way too much fun creating these little areas of joy.

The ice skates belonged to my mother.  She brought them with her when she moved from upstate New York to San Mateo, California in 1942.  My mother, my aunt and my grandmother, came across country on a troop train of all things, to join my grandfather who arrived earlier to start a business with his brother.  I guess my mom thought she could go ice skating in sunny California in an indoor rink, as it doesn't snow very much, if at all in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The skates haven't been used in over sixty years, but they certainly make a nice decoration.  The last time I went ice skating was at Squaw Valley in the late 1960's.  I fell, split my pants, and haven't put on another pair of skates since.  It was quite embarrassing when my date saw my pink, long underwear that I had borrowed from my grandmother!  Yes, that same grandmother from the troop train.

The quilt in the background is my Crossing the Pond quilt hanging on a ladder.  There is enough red in the quilt to make the cut for Christmas decorating.

A few years ago, I designed this pillow pattern called Checkerberry.  I set up a scene outside, in the snow for the pattern cover.  The skates were the perfect addition along with the Flexible Flyer sled.

This is real snow on the pillow, and this shot is the actual pattern cover.  If you look closely at the right-hand side of the picture, you can see the flakes falling.

Speaking of snow, it looks like there are going to be a few snowflakes headed our way next week.  Quite often during the first snow of the season, the Internet will go out along with phone, TV, and power.  If you don't hear from me, here's proof of my alibi for not blogging.  It's going to be a cold, stormy week, just perfect for writing Christmas cards by the fire with a latte in hand.

When I look at the 21-degree temp next Wednesday, I'm thinking I may have to put on the skates for a spin around Snowflake Lake.  In no way is that going to happen!

Soon,

Lynn