Belated Christmas

I know, Christmas is already over and I'm just now getting around to the Merry Christmas post. oops... Better late than never, I present my wall of small Christmas quilts. And Pokey:

Going clockwise from the left: I made the red and purple christmas tree quilt in 1994 from a pattern by my beloved Gwen Marston. I did Joyeux Noel during my time in Paris. I've never shown HoHoHo before on the blog - I made it for the book but the chapter got cut due to page limitations.

Skip the next two and you hit my Noel sampler which IS in the book and then the Joy banner my mom made by hand in the 1970's.

These two are crusties:

Crusty is the name I've given to a technique I learned from Susan Shie. The Better Not Pout girl was made by my incredibly talented friend Rachael. There is a lot of work in it - seed beads and french knots etc. I made the red Christmas tree crusty.

Despite the decor, it hasn't felt like Christmas here. You know the song lyrics "It won't be Christmas without You?" Well, turns out they're true. My husband is away for work so we won't be celebrating until February. I intend to leave the decorations up until then, but I might get sick of them.

So besides having my sweetie home for Faux Christmas in February, I'll also get to "unwrap" my present then. A two-day class with Gwen Marston. Woohoo! It's taking place on the other side of Florida and should be fantastic. Speaking of Gwen, part two of her hand quilting tutorial is up on her homepage.

Another reason it hasn't been Christmas? It's Florida. Palm trees just don't have the right vibe, although I enjoy the kitchy element.  My new flamingo ornament:

Not that I'm complaining about Florida or the weather. Believe me, I prefer this to snow, especially blizzards. I'm so happy to not be in an airport right now... It's finally gotten colder. I actually had to wear a denim jacket out. Here are all four cats getting the first sunlight of the morning: that's Lily on the big box (my new crockpot), Pokey, Howler and Habibi.

Howler had his annual visit to the vet. Woohoo, clean bill of health this year although he has managed to gain an additional three pounds. Yes, Howler now weighs 25 pounds. In the last month he's had a much harder time getting out of the cat tree - and not even the top bit but the round bed. He has to get over onto the window sill and then down...

Hmm, just what is that on the design wall???? Here's another hint, because I just think this pic is a hoot:

Baby Pokey had great news from the vet as well. Her blood work came back the best it's been since we discovered she had kidney problems. Woohoo, she continues to improve just by bitty bits, but improve all the same.

Hope that all of you who celebrate it had a great Christmas. In case I'm a bad blogger again, best wishes, health and happiness in the New Year.