Thanksgiving Recovery

I love Thanksgiving -- delicious food, time spent with family, and it's the kick-off of the holiday season.  Thanksgiving is fun and festive without the pressures of Christmas.  But today is the Monday after and with a sick child at home, there is no way for me to escape the aftermath.  I just strolled around my house to assess the damage.  Here's my Thanksgiving recovery by the numbers:

1 is the number of turkey carcasses waiting to be taken to the dump -- love living in the country.
2 is the number of pounds I gained over the holiday thanks to the...
3 pies I consumed -- with help, of course.
4 weeks until Christmas -- ARGH!!  Nothing to do with Thanksgiving recovery, just a moment of panic.
5 is the number of days it's been since I've done more than the bare minimum of housework; therefore...
6 is the number of hours of bed-making, dusting, vacuuming, mopping and, best of all, bathroom cleaning I estimate I have ahead of me.
7 loads of laundry await me on the laundry room floor.
8 is the number of hours of sleep I desperately need to compensate for my Thanksgiving average of 6 thanks to turkey gravy performance anxiety and early morning hockey.
9 is the number of plastic containers of leftovers in our refrigerator that I have to deal with -- somehow pureed vegetables have lost their appeal.

BUT...

10 is the number of new Christmas fabrics sitting on my cutting table, calling my name, waiting for me to play with after I recover from Thanksgiving. 

Bring it on!

Rosebud - Free Pattern

Just in time for the weekend I'd like to share a link for a free pattern for my quick and easy "Rosebud" table runner.  The pattern is currently a "Web Extra" for Quilters Newsletter's December/January 2013 issue. 


I originally designed this quilt with fat quarters in mind, but it can be made with standard 1/4 yard cuts of fabric or scraps you have on hand at home.  If you'd like to make it with fat quarters, you'll need 5 -- 2 cream and 1 each of a rose, medium red, and dark red.  Two yards of green fabric will be enough for the blocks, borders, backing, and binding.

The "rosebud" blocks are a variation on a log cabin block.  They are simple and so much fun to make.  And with only 12 blocks and a quick strip-pieced checkerboard border, you can easily knock this table runner off in a weekend -- that is if your husband agrees to cook dinner and do the laundry and drive the kids to their activities and do the housework and...  Ok, it might take a couple of weekends, but it is a piece of cake. 

Red not your thing?  Try this quilt in different shades of plum or periwinkle or go crazy and make a garden of many colors of rosebud blocks.  Whatever you decide, have fun and happy quilting!