FYI: This is not quilt related. And kinda personal and sappy.
First a confession.
I love Christmas.
I love everything about it. I love that it's a beautiful time of year filled with hope and joy. I love the traditions, the hymns and carols. I love the food and indulgences. And I'm going to get real, I even enjoy the crazy chaos that seems to enter my life at this time of year.
As I was sitting in our great room with a gray kitty purring on my lap, the lights off but for the tree and garlands; a sappy Hallmark moving playing softly in the background I spent a little time reflecting. I have a man that loves me, even the icky parts; I've had another birthday that reminded me I'm still cancer free and here. (That alone is a miracle - not once but three times) I have friends that have become my family; I have a tribe of friends that support me even when I don't know I need it or deserve it. I'm beyond blessed. Truly blessed.
What I chose not to focus on is the brokenness in my own family. The people that are supposed to love you but don't. The people who are supposed to have your back but will sometimes take up sharp objects instead. Or sharp words. Friends too. People that let you down. I've made peace with them and all of that "stuff" and honestly, I choose joy. Very few of us have a Hallmark family. But we have a choice and I choose not to own that stuff. Not my dog, don't have to walk it. It's part of life for many of us. But instead of dwelling on what a loss those things are to me, I choose to focus on the wonderful people that have become my family. I think God did an amazing thing when he created us to have friends. Friends are the family you choose.
A couple of weeks ago I got out my mother's recipe box and started pulling out the cookie recipes that have been made in my family for decades. I love baking and giving them as gifts just makes me happy so I wanted to be sure I had all the supplies I would need. I lost my mother when I was in a senior high school on the 12th of December. She was sick and battled breast cancer from the time I was 9 years old. Pulling out those recipe cards well worn and stained, written in her hand was beyond bittersweet. As luck would have it, it was December 12th. I was alone as my ski racer was out of town on business, I had sappy Christmas music on the stereo, the tree was lit up and well it just sort of hit me...I was a hot sobbing mess and I couldn't stop. I'm pushing 60 so when this happens it's a shock after so many years. I'm convinced when there is grief like that, there has been great love.
Some years are like that.
After my meltdown I was so thankful that the person who shall not be named did not toss the box when she married my dad just a few short months after my mom died. I'm so thankful I have those cards - such a small thing but they are a reminder yet again how blessed I am. Even though I had her for such a short time she made her mark and so many of the things I do today are things she taught me or things I watched her do. She left a legacy that I'm grateful for. And recipe cards.
After my evening of quiet time I realized that the lights on our pre-lit tree had partially burned out. I was a bit shocked because it's only the 2nd Christmas. Since I'm hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinners and a brunch on New Years I wanted to get the burnt string replaced. My Martha Stewart was showing.
It's 6 days till Christmas. I hit the first store and didn't realize that there were both warm and white LED lights. Yep you guessed it, I bought the wrong ones. So the next day I head over to our local grocery-everything store and figure they would have them. Nope, not an LED light to be had. Ditto with Lowes right next door, ditto with the local Ace Hardware so I figure I have no choice but to drive across town to the Menards where I bought the wrong ones and exchange them.
I spent a whole afternoon in search of LED lights and I realized that this is what happens to many of us during the Christmas season. We are searching for perfection. We have some idea about what needs to happen before we can celebrate. Before we can enjoy the real meaning and hope of the season. Isn't that an ironic thing? We are all broken in some way, some more than others, just like the lights on my tree. Perhaps it's between friends or family, or it's our health, our our finances or even a pre-lit Christmas tree. And yet we waste precious time chasing that perfection or trying to fix it when, in the big picture it never mattered to begin with.
On my way back to Menards I was sitting at a light in a part of town I would not normally be in after dark and I looked over at a building I had been to a couple of times. It's a shelter for women and children that have been through some tough stuff, whether it's drugs, abusive home situations, homelessness or any other thing you can think of. We've partnered with them many times. I saw a vehicle pull up to the door that had some years on it, a slight woman jumped out and grabbed a couple of clear garbage bags full of wrapped gifts. I could only assume they were donated for the residents of that shelter. A man with a "security" vest on came out to help her unload her vehicle.
My first thought was how awesome there are still people in the world who choose to share the blessings in their life with those who have less or in some cases nothing and my second thought was to pray over those gifts that they would be a bright spot in the life of the recipient. My last thought was to look for more ways to share not only what's in my wallet but also my life. To listen for those little voices that prompt me to send a card or a small gift...or even my homemade sea salt caramels. To find more ways to give my time. My skills. And perhaps, even the reason I have hope. My faith. And all of that came out of my search for light when in fact it's already the most important part of my life and all this other stuff is just details, even the broken bits.
May the light that shined over that manger a couple thousand years ago be visible in new ways to you this Christmas. Even if you believe differently than me, may that belief bring you to a place of joy like you've never felt before. And lastly thank you for being part of my life.
God Bless and Merry Christmas.
Love Linda
P.S. I may or may not get that string of lights replaced before our guests arrive. I've decided to spend the rest of the weekend baking gifts to take to some seniors who might enjoy a sweet surprise and just the thought of that makes my heart happy.
Wait! It never snows before my birthday!
By Linda Thielfoldt
It's December no wait scratch that! It's November 7th and it snowed in the Mitten today. It never snows and sticks before my birthday so this is rather unexpected. I have to admit it was pretty on the trees behind my house, you know the trees that still have their leaves. Yeah read that one again! LOL
Anyway it's put me in the mood for Christmas! I K R!
So I thought since it was early enough to talk about working on Christmas projects I would share a really fun one I did a year ago at this time.
We were married in 1994 amidst all the gobs and gobs of lace, sequins and puffy sleeves that were so popular at that time and oh yes, yards of fabric for the train. Yep! I loved my wedding dress but I was so sad that it's sat in a box, sealed up for dear life for the past 25 years.
We have moved three times and each time we move the giant hermetically sealed box. I don't have a daughter. Even if I did I'm not sure she would want to wear a dress that weighed 35#. Seriously it did. And then there are those sleeves.
I love this pic with my sweet sister Em. She was so happy and was so loved by both of us. You can see a bit more of the dress. (remember this was before digital pictures)
New house, new tree and theme.
We have always had theme trees. Pigs (for my farm boy) angels and collected treasures. I used to put up three trees every year. But smaller house, simpler decor. I wanted something fancy, something decorating magazine worthy. So I started buying fancy ornaments, mercury glass, crystal, white, sparkly...you get the picture. I got most of them on sale after Christmas and finally had enough to do our 9' tree.
Then came the reality that my quilted tree skirt would not go at all with the new tree. Pretty as it was, it just didn't go. So I knew I needed to make a new one. We had moved a few months prior and I was once again faced with the huge hermetically sealed box containing my wedding dress.
BINGO! And idea is born.
My dress was a mermaid style with a really full skirt that extended into a rather long train. I thought the skirt would be perfect as my new tree skirt. So I dug out the huge box and was delighted upon opening that the dress was just as pure white as the day I wore it. Guess that preserving stuff really worked. Anyway I laid it out and got the scissors.
The dress had a lining, the skirt a stiff crinoline and another underskirt. TONS of fabric. So I cut the skirt off and realized that it was rather plain. All the bling was on the dress part and the sleeves. Ah yes, those sleeves.
Here
is the skirt pile. And you can see how much fabric was in that mermaid
skirt. The great thing about this was all along the bottom edge of the
skirt was this beautiful lace. So I left that and cut the skirt the
right height to allow that to be the hem. Bonus - no hemming!
Next up to figure out how much of the yards and yards of fabric that made up the skirt would be needed to make my circle tree skirt. You can see here how long the mermaid part was before it expanded into the train. So much fabric. No wonder it weighed 35#!
Once I got that figured out and had a plan I kept the crinoline and the lining intact and basted along the top edge to hold the three layers together.
Next up was to deconstruct the bodice and remove the lace appliques I wanted to add to the skirt. This was so tedious and time consuming but the results were worth it.
This was from the bust and the back of the dress. The back was mesh all the way to my waist and had so many lace applique pieces that there was a lot to choose from. It was just a matter of cutting away the mesh. So many beads and sequins!
This is one of the sleeves. The open work with the lace applique was so beautiful I knew I had to use it. Cutting it off that ruffled satin was tricky but the results were worth it.
This is what I ended up with after I destroyed the sleeves.
RIP big puffy sleeves!
Next up I had to put the skirt together. I went with the zig zag stitch over string method as there was so much to deal with that a big basting stitch was not going to cut it.
Once
I got it gathered I realized that there was a bigger hole in the center
than I wanted so I cut off some more of the skirt edge and made a
gathered insert to make the hole smaller. Bonus was a bit more bling with the hem lace in the center. I was loving this. Next I started adding the lace applique pieces. This photo shows what I took off the center front, this was the bust area. So beautiful. I actually sewed the ruffled insert to the underside of the skirt and then flipped it to the front thereby finishing the inner circle edge at the same time.
I used my zipper foot and clear thread to zig zag stitch the appliques to the skirt only. I left the crinoline and lining free. That was a fabric explosion under my needle for sure!
I added them evenly around the skirt but planned to have the bodice applique be to the front after it was installed under the tree.
You can see in the pic below that I was able to use many of them. I just love how blingy it is and so perfect for my "fancy" tree.
Photo bomber is Winnie 😸
And here is my fancy blingy silver and white theme tree! I love that I can use my wedding dress tree skirt every year and reflect fondly on how amazing my life has been since I married this guy. I had no idea I would be this blessed.
BTW
I should tell you that my MIL was horrified that I cut up my wedding
dress! Better to enjoy every year than sit in a sealed box in the
basement don't you think? She has since changed her mind after seeing
our tree.
Even though it's only November my wish is that you have a
blessed Christmas (or whatever you choose to celebrate at this time of
year 💗)
Blessings,
Linda
