Count Down for Christmas Quilting

I guess you can say that I've already started organizing Christmas this year. I despise shopping at the last minute. I did commission DH to make these beautiful spool, thimble, scissor and needle holders for my friends as Christmas gifts. He used walnut, cherry and/or maple, which created contrast. I was complaining to him how it was undignified for me to have such an hideous looking gadget that was mass produced. So dh made some significant modifications and came up with what I consider a work of art.

I just love dh's work. He also turned some pepper mills as gifts. The pepper grinder he made for a dear friend as a house warming gift can be viewed here:

That's beautiful, Carole! Do you have pics of the notions-holders, too? I'd love to see them. :)

Sandy, here is a rough picture. He still has to put some finishing touch on them. The round dot holds a super dooper magnet (a LeeValley special) for the needle. It is so powerful that the whole to place needles is also magnetized so it holds you needle up. There is a place for your scissors and you can have the spool either on the sides or upright. I just love the thimble holder. At least now I won't be embarrassed when I do hand work! lol ;o)

Carole,

Thanks for the link, I didn't even know they made such things, WOW! I don't have to worry about where to get them now, nor do I have to go bug our renters. I am kind of lucky, we have one renter that is wonderful, that actually makes me really lucky, but he is also very handy and will do anything for us. If he sees my dad out in the yard having trouble with his lawn mower or anything such as that he bounces right over here to help him. He has also taken an old house, that we didn't even want, we just wanted the land and considered the house a bonus or headache maybe, and made it into a beautiful house that if he moved out today we could double the rent on it. He does this at his own expense also, but I admit that every so often I give him a free months rent. Well actually his wife normally pays the rent and some months I tell her to keep him for herself. LOL he asked me one day why I never told him to do that when he came to pay, only her. I told him he didn't pay it often enough for me to do him that way. We just bought another house this week and I so hope that we can get a good renter in it too. We are considering calling the local state police post and asking if they have anyone needing a place to live and let them live in it for upkeep and such and to protect the neighborhood, or should I say country side since we live out in the country.

Jacqueline who has typed your leg off. Jacqueline

Howdy!

Nice work, Carole; again, kudos to your DH.

Meanwhile, here's some of Gene's wood craft> Sandy, here is a rough picture. He still has to put some finishing touch on

That pretty much describes my dh. Our house is around 150 yrs old and we are always doing something to improve it while keeping with the period. We redid the extension and dh kept the wood beams from the old kitchen and garage and made a beautiful piece of furniture for the kitchen (what he calls my dumping ground). He build the addition himself (kitchen, 2 car garage, upstairs is my sewing room and his shop). When we go for walk, if he sees a cut branch that may have some character, he brings it home for turning (hence where the pepper mills come from). He's always on the lookout for the perfect piece of wood. Honestly, quilting and woodworking are very similar. He is presently designing a barn that we will be building next year. He is now looking for fieldstones for the base. We will be having a barn raising so I guess I need to get busy on the protocol of barn raising (food etc) ;o).

Carole

That's gorgeous.

I am currently working on various designs for beaded/jewelled chatelaines as I too like to have "nice" tools for handwork. Unfortunately as fast as I make them I think of another mod and I give away the "old" one. I have been eyeing off timber jewel boxes to fit out as a sewing box (my current box is a biscuit tim LOL). Maybe DH could also make you a sewing box eventually. I had a lathe myself and had just got into making bowls and candlesticks when I had to give it away as my eyes deteriorated. Sharp woodworking tools and lathes do not go well with poor eyesight - and I have the scars to prove it!

Lucky you to have such a talented and supportive DH. I hope you get your dream shop and go online so we can all have the opportunity to buy from you both.

Polly, I loved going shopping for that stuff. Is there anyone else y'all know of who could do with some stuff? Could your DD do with some extra "pretties"?

ROFL - I used to pride myself on having all my christmas pressies, bought, wrapped and tagged by end of May. Then it was end of October - now it's Christmas eve!!!

Nice work! Hey I can send you a pot pourri of wood shavings! LOL DH is always bragging about his wood curls. In the beginning of spring DH was working with teak. My favorite brother (as he likes to be referred too) needed some wood work for his sailboat. Teak really has a distinctive smell compared to other woods. You know when teak has been cut!

How very kind of you, Sharon, but we're about 40 miles from the flooded area and I don't personally know of anyone. Housing is still the major struggle. So many are simply gone from here. Many more are living in trailers and they don't have room for an extra loaf of bread. Thank you so very much for offering. Polly

Warning about doing that! DS always says- you shouldn't do Christmas Shopping until Christmas Eve. One year his firm let everyone go home at about 2.30 so he went shopping. Unfortunately all the shop keepers had done the same with their staff! We had rather late presents that year!

-- Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)