Galena, Illinois

Good Morning, I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. 

Things are winding down for 2014. Are you getting any last minute sewing in?

I sure am.  I have been working on my Tammy Bag for our Tammy 4 All Seasons  hop coming up.

The hop will start on Friday, January 9th and run through Tuesday January 20.

I am still finalizing the schedule.  It looks like we are going to start out slow and steady, and end with a big bang.  I am so excited to see what everyone has done with their cross stitch patterns, pinny patterns and of course the Tammy Bag.

A couple of days before Christmas we had the opportunity to spend a night at the Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa in Galena, Illinois.  Our day started out sunny and bright, and ended dull and gray with a hit of rain. Weather wise we could all wear fleece jackets.  For all the predictions that it is going to be a horrible winter, so far it has been mild. 

Here is Ron and Andy at the entrance to the resort.   Eagle Ridge is laid out on 6800 acres of rolling hills not far from the Mississippi River.  Even in winter the area is beautiful.

There is a huge lake behind the resort building.   The resort is located in what is call The Eagle Ridge Territory. The acreage has been developed with trails, a marina, four golf courses, riding trails, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts.  There are private homes, town homes as well as rental homes through out the territory. They even have a small general store. In the resort  buildings there are 3 restaurants.  We chose the Woodlands Restaurant and Lounge for dinner.

In the lobby of the resort they built a Gingerbread House.
It is so cute.  They give the information of what it took to make.
There was 150 hours creating it.It is built with 600 pounds of gingerbread bricks and 450 pounds of royal icing and over 100 pounds of hard candy.  Giving it a total of 1250 pounds of edible food.

In the window box there are lollipops for everyone's enjoyment.

Here is a view of the rolling hills in the area.

The town of Galena is nestled in the hills of the surrounding area.

The main street is full of quaint shops.

There are a lot of antique shops that had wonderful vintage displays in their windows.

Here is one of the cobblestone streets. A lot of the town is built on the side of hills.

There is several breweries in the town as well.  They even have their own Root Beer Brewery.
We had a great lunch at the Victory Cafe.  There are any number of bakeries, sweet shops, and restaurants to appease any appetite.  A lot of the specialty shops were still open, even though Christmas was right around the corner.
We enjoyed our little get away.

Now to get in the grove for 2015.  Time to take it easy and relax.
Stay safe on New Years Eve.
I hope 2015 is a wonderful year for everyone.

Happy Sewing
Mary

Christmas is coming

Princess loves to check out the box sizes.  If it fits her, it is okay to use.

We went out for a little drive to see some of the wonderful decorations on local houses.
There is music synchronized to the lights.
We are still trying to figure this one out.  They were playing "Mister Sandman".
Did not sound very Christmas like to us, but was a good job for synchronization.

This house has so many things going on in their front yard.  It is packed full of Christmas decorations, and and fun to see.

We have to check this one out each year.  It is truly encrusted.
Still trying to decide if the roof was lit last year.
Got to go back back and check previous years pictures.

Still working on a few more Christmas cards.

This is the quilt I am going to send to my sister and her husband.
It is called Asian Ribbons, and I made it in September of 2007.  She had visited and seen it and mentioned that she like it.  Time to gift it to her. It is all Japanese prints.  The pattern was a great way to showcase them.

I received all my quilts back from my friend that quilts for me. Wendy does such beautiful work on the quilting. Now for the binding for them all.

Hope you are having a great week.
Mary

Christmas quilt is ready to be quilted.

Here it is!  I completed it yesterday.  I love love it.  This is made entirely from my stash, and it is mostly Christmas fabric. Each block has a different background fabric.
Some of the blocks are made from Lori Holt's "Quilty Fun" book.
Lori has a blog, Bee in my Bonnet. Some of the patterns are from Instagram.  She has posted the ones not in the book there.
The border is all scrap Christmas fabric.,  It is off to my quilter.
Once I have it back, I will have a lot of fun added a few touches to it. (Bows on the wreaths, hanger on the Christmas ball. some decorations on the tree, just a couple of accents.)

Also, in my spare time, I have been making Christmas cards. I enjoy using the iris folding technique.  I have been trying out some new patterns.

Today, Andy and I got out some of our decorations.  This leads to house cleaning.  I would rather be sewing.  I did clean up my sewing room.  Time to put all that back in order.  Now to get out the next round of fabric to play with.
I hope you are having a great day.
Mary