The first cattleya flower is starting to open! We have twins! I did not expect the second bud behind it. The color will intensify over the next day or two.

Back to the garage for a quilt sandwich session. I missed the warm weather so waited until it was at least warm enough to heat the garage with a portable heater. For a big quilt, I find this step exhausting, like doing mountain climbers for an hour and a half. Now I can move on to the quilting!

Cattywampus adjective In disarray or disorder; askew. I have a cattleya-wampus. Bulbs going every which direction and upon checking, 4 of them have bud sheaths. I did the best I could to stake everything up before the flowers emerged. First one (middle) is poking its little ruffles out!

❌🧊

Repeat visit to Longwood today to see the Christmas decor in the light of day.

Why, oh why are my images not loading?

An amazing article. Life would be better if everyone could just be who they are. share.inquirer.com/Rnl4OE

Handbag #2 is done. Whew! The batik was much harder sewing than the crazy patchwork one. I added a zipper that I had to sew through in an already bulky area. Result: 3 broken needles for one bag. 🙄 But it all worked out in the end. Sewing details in the Alt text.

I put up another post with quilts from Carrefour European Patchwork Show. Loved seeing quilts from all over the world! #quiltsky #opquilt

And Done! The binding looks purple in the pic, it's actually dark blue.

I've made more than a dozen handbags and always end up with some quilted fabric/foam body material left over. Even if it's only a thin strip I somehow can't throw them out. I made modifications to the pattern for my most recent bag and wanted to test them before the gift bag, so... A scrap version!

Bag making day today. I started a small handbag for my son-in-law's Mom, and it's getting closer to completion. It's actually starting to look like it might turn into something.

One more Longwood Merry Christmas post with some pics from the new Conservatory...

More from the main conservatory at Longwood. I want to go back during the day to see all the colors in the light!

More Christmas from Longwood Gardens, with a project that I thought might be fun for my grandkids when they get older. One of the big trees in the main conservatory had resin ornaments made to look like slices of geodes. The instructions are in the Longwood Blog. longwoodgardens.org/blog/2025-11...

More Longwood Christmas outdoor photos, around the conservatory and the visitors center. It was a lovely night! I'm going to show the resin bonsai to my son-in-law and see whether he can pull one of those off in his 3-D printer. 😄

We made a spontaneous (for us) trip to Longwood to see the Christmas lights tonight. It was busy but not the insane level of crowded that it will be closer to Christmas. A few pics from the outdoor walk.

A very happy little orchid on Thanksgiving. 🥰

Pepper purring up a storm under the quilt while I read.

I’m dreaming of a trumpless Christmas 🎄 just like the ones we used to know 🎵

I'm making a small handbag for my daughter's MIL, and taking an unreasonable amount of delight in the just-finished little log cabin block that will be on the front flap. ☺️😄

I would never wear this one, but I could make my own version that says, "QUILT, PEGGY". 🤔

Six more blocks done for the New York Beauty quilt. Now I have to put this away for a while and work on something a little less insane. 😄

I'm up to 6 completed blocks and one more almost done on the New York Beauty. Good heavens these take a long time to make. Only 57 more to go. 🫣😄

Worked as a poll greeter for 4 hours today for our election of local and school board positions, and retention of PA judges. The turnout felt to me almost like a presidential year. We had at least twice as many voter guides printed as normal and they were in constant use. Lots of younger voters!

Fire pit, tall trees, almost full moon, and a warm Fall night.

Daylilies nestled all snug in their bed. I like doing some of this in the Fall, makes Spring a bit easier! My daughter called me and was in a chatty mood. I put my earbuds in and weeded, raked and mulched while she talked. 3 hours and 23 minutes on the phone, a new record. 😂🤪

Got another NY Beauty block done today. It's a different gradient pack - yellow to blue. The yellow ray is a bit standout but I think it will just look interesting when it's incorporated in the quilt. Now back to our regularly scheduled wedding ring to keep the deadline project moving along.

I originally designed the NY Beauty quilt with 9" blocks, then decided that since I already had 8" templates made, that I would use those and add a border to get the quilt size. Didn't like it, back to 9" blocks. Today I made the new templates and re-made yesterday's block in the larger 9" size.

I usually have 3 or 4 quilt projects going at a time so that I can switch it up when I get bored or frustrated. Decided to take the plunge and start the New York Beauty quilt today. Block #1. Some mistakes and I may replace it in the quilt but I think it got me in the groove.

I for one think the Epstein Ballroom will be magnificent. I love the decor theme of “what if Uday Hussein ran a Ramada Inn.” And giving it a theme song everyone will associate with it is a stroke of brilliance! “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” is very catchy.

All the curve sewing is done, starting to square up blocks and assemble.

Look around. Every corner of this country is awake. People flooding the streets not out of hate, but out of love—for each other, for freedom, for the idea that we still matter. They want us to be afraid. To stay home. To be quiet. We refuse. This is what democracy looks like.

I don't usually give life advice but: Live your life in a manner such that other people are not hoarding champagne waiting for the end of it. I saw a sign today that said "I have never been so disappointed in cholesterol".

Ready for tomorrow.

If we are taking in “trillion” of dollars in tariffs: 1. Why haven’t we paid down a cent of the debt? 2. Why can’t we afford to not fuck millions of people over with expiring insurance subsidies? 3. Why is none of it being used to help the abysmal job market?

I dropped my sewing machine off for routine service without an appointment so I was without it for a week. 6 months old and more than a million stitches. 😳🤩 Now it's back and I'm on to the next project, a Metro rings queen size for a wedding gift. Here's the box of parts.

The Proud Boys From Brazil

Resist!

I'm sitting in my sunroom chair catching up on texts and email and all of the sudden the cat crashes into the wall behind me and starts batting it like crazy, growling and howling all the way. 22 year old Pepper is going nuts. It was a spot of sunlight reflecting off my cell phone on to the wall. 😂

Fair season continues in Lancaster County with the Ephrata Fair this week. I entered my quilt that I call "Nana's Scrap Box" (posted on Bluesky earlier) with good results - Best in Show Quilt! I also entered a day pack/shoulder bag & got 1st in that category. 😊 Can't believe I hated Home Ec. 😄

I entered my "Mod Mod Whirled" quilt in the Solanco Fair and the results are in!

Dessert mode ACTIVATE! It's too late to eat dessert so I'll write about it. Best pie: Peach Best ice cream: Mocha chip Best donut: Apple Cider (cinnamon cake donut if it's not Fall) Best bar: Lemon bars Best cake: Hmmm. Aunt Kassie's mayonnaise chocolate with butter cream icing Best other: baklava

Sewing the binding on my quilt so I can enter it in the community fair next week.

The point we are at:

Center blocks done, yellow border done, orange border done. One more to go. Woo hoo!

I'm having a surge of spam email right now, which is kind of a pain. On the positive side, about 95% of the spam coming into my main bill paying email account is in Italian, which makes it very easy to spot.

All of the spiral arms are finished, working on quilting the yellow squares now.

For the most part my garden has been poor this year. Too much cold, too much dry, too much wet, too much hot. At least the lantana are happy and I had a gorgeous swallowtail butterfly today. Longwood is always gorgeous though, so here a few of their waterlilies.

This is how I look when I'm trying to queue up my next podcast and walk at the same time.