we gather together

I hope your Thanksgiving was great. I know I have much to be thankful for, and Thanksgiving is a good time to be reminded of the goodness all around me.

Here are a few glimpses into our day:

Initially, I was going to fill these jars with nuts and twigs. But it donned on me, while making a last minute run to the grocery store, to use some Arizona citrus that is plentiful and in season right now.

I copied this polka-dot table runner from Jordan. I used a fingerling potato cut in half, instead of my finger, for the painted dots. It was the perfect size. Super easy.

 The adults ate inside.

The kids ate outside.

The kids enjoyed playing tetherball, thanks to Mark and his cement mixing skills just a few days ago. Grace has been begging for this for months and months, so Mark and I thought it would be fun for the cousins at Thanksgiving. We borrowed the idea from some friends, who told us all you need is a 10 foot pole from Home Depot, a nice man at Home Depot to drill a hole at the top, an eye-hook, a shovel, some cement, a wheelbarrow, another helpful friend to bring over his level, and VOILA - a fun sport for the whole family! (Also a nice place filler for the empty spot where our trampoline used to reside. It now resides at the dump.)

The kids also played croquet. The weather was perfect.

The women-folk posed for photos. In bad lighting. It wouldn't be a family get-together without that.

I love Thanksgiving. It is inching up to be my favorite holiday.

these colors remind me of a j crew catalog

There's just something about a patchwork quilt that I love. Oh, and polka dots.

This quilt is for a friend whose baby girl {Emma} is due in about 3 weeks. The dots and stripe are by Michael Miller {can't find an active link} with some Kona solids mixed in.
Here's a view of the back.

Time saving how-to: With a rotary cutter, cut fabric into long strips - 4 1/2 inches x width of fabric: 6 white, and 5 patterned. Then, using a quarter inch seam, sew each patterned fabric strip to a white strip. Iron seems open, or to one side (the patterned side). Using your rotary cutter, cut now-sewn strips into 4 1/2 inch pairs.  Cut your extra white strip into 4 1/2 inch squares. Use these to fill in where needed. Layout squares how you want them on the floor. Sew together using 1/4 inch seams.

This quilt is 9 x 10 squares. Gray, citron, pink and white.