It's A Party!

The Henry Glass designers are having a party over on the HG Blog all this week.  You will want to stop by because there is some holiday fun there!  Today is my day to be featured, so you can go there to read a little about me and even enter to win prizes.  For the Blog Party, I am giving away not one, but TWO fabric bundles--one here on my blog and one on the HG Blog.  So you have a good chance of winning a whole bunch of fat quarters from my Poppy Patio collection. To enter here, just leave me a comment on this post.

Visit the Jillily Studio Facebook page for another chance to win.  Just "LIKE" the page and leave a comment there and you will be entered.

Now let's get to the fun stuff!  I wanted to have a few decorations up to make my post a little bit festive, but I am no way near done.  I don't like to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, so I just got started.  We went and cut a tree on Friday, and put it up on Saturday.  It took me all day to decorate it, not that it is so great, just that I am so slow.  UP and DOWN that ladder a million times, but it is coming together.  Just as I was finishing up, it started to tip over.  YIKES!! I caught it just in time and had to hold it there until my screams woke up my sleeping husband (it was 1 in the morning) and he came and rescued me!

He tied it to the wall with a lovely yellow rope. (Being as that was all we could find at 1 in the morning.)  He is going to replace that rope with a nice silver wire, but I think the yellow rope is quite interesting, don't you?

I love winter and the beautiful snow and ice. It is just so pretty.  So my tree has a few icicles and snowflakes on it.  Many of you know that our family always cuts and hangs paper snowflakes from the ceiling.  (See a post about how to do it here.)  This tradition started at our wedding--Dec 17 is our anniversary, and our reception was at my home.  We covered the whole entire ceiling of our home with hanging paper snowflakes.  It was magical.  Thirty seven years later I am still married to the same wonderful man, who occasionally rescues me from falling Christmas trees and such.

Well, I don't have that done yet, but we have started cutting them, and I will get them up this week.  My grandkids cut a few snowflakes last week, and we cut a few more Sunday night.  I have a stack or two ready to hang, and I will show you a picture when I get them up.

 I wanted to explain why it takes me so long to get the Christmas decor up.  Many of you know my mischievous son, Jordan, who is 29 now, but has only the mental capacity of a two year old.  JoJo LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Christmas!  And he loves decorating for it!  He thinks if he decorates for Christmas, it must be time for Christmas!  And that means all the family will come and we will have a big party.

So all year long, JoJo is trying to decorate for Christmas.  We have hidden, and locked and strapped and employed every device you can imagine to try to keep the decorations from him.  But he is a crafty little elf, and he finds a way.  So when I really do want to get out the Christmas stuff, he has-- let's say, rearranged it a bit.  It is quite a trick finding all the parts and pieces.

Saturday, when he saw that I was finally doing it, he got busy, too.  He did the front porch for me.  It is quite festive, and he was very proud of himself.  I may have to rearrange a bit so our guest can get in the  front door, but that's just the way it is around here!


I hope this post gets you in a festive Christmas mood.  I'm sorry it is not more quilt related (Hey, I did starch and iron all those snowflakes, that should count) but the fabric I am giving away--it truly is quilt related, and you could win it!  Don't forget to leave me a comment here and for a second chance, on Facebook.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, since Christmas is coming, I am putting several gift items on my website on sale starting today for the next week.  The Patchwork Place 2014 Calendar, and both of my books are 20% off.  Click here to go right to my shop page.

Head on over to the Henry Glass blog and join the Party!