Gifters Block

I'm out. Finished. Done. Washed up! Oh, the shame!

Christmas is coming, my favorite holiday. I listen to Christmas carols all year. I decorate my house with no less than 4 Christmas trees, our outdoor display is Scott's pride and joy, and at last count I had over 30 nativity sets. So with all this you may ask "what is your problem Allison?" (you know, this time).

I have a reputation for giving well thought out gifts, scrapbooks that make people cry, treasured eBay scores, etc. I carefully begin plotting and planning these gifts, literally months in advance. And this year...I've got nothing!! Christmas is five weeks away people, and I have gifters block. Oh, it's been building for months, I have racked my brain, but to no avail. I peaked to early, burned my self out, set the bar to high, and now I have nothing to offer.

I should have known this day was coming, but it is still pretty humiliating. I've tried to let people know, tried to warn them. I gently suggested to Nancy the other day that she might just get something simple from me this year like an Applebee's gift card. She looked at me as though I had just ruined her Christmas morning. She stared at me and gave an indignant huff, it only served to make me more humiliated. Now what? I'm scrambling, desperate, grasping at gifting straws. What will Christmas morning be like this year? So, if any one has any leads....ideas....anyone?

Goin' to use it for everyday

I'm a Mormon (Sorry, I'm supposed to say "a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" because that is the real name). Anyway, my family lineage goes back nearly the entire span of the the modern church, on both sides. My mother belongs to the Glorious Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, which rumor has it requires a DNA test to join, and apparently I'm eligible to join as well.

It is my personal belief that something happened on a genetic level as those pioneer ancestors crossed the plains, probably somewhere around Council Bluffs, that created some sort of quilting gene mutation. You see, I know how to quilt. Not fancy mind you, but basic keep your family warm, thanks for the baby blanket type of quilting. It has been handed down for generations in my family. I even have a quilt that my great grandmother made. You see, all the women in my family can quilt and truly appreciate the effort real quilting requires. Over the years as I have heard women in my family discuss this or that about quilts, they will occasionally say something like "she had that gorgeous quilt Great Aunt So&So made, just out on her bed for every day!". Apparently some quilts are not for every day.

Anyway, when I got married, one of the many things my Mother, Aunts, Grandmother and assorted other relatives did for me was make me a beautiful quilt. I think the pattern is called a Cotton Blossom. It is pink on one side and burgundy on the other. It was hand quilted, and I even helped a little bit between a grass taxonomy lab and a lizard dissection.

Over the years this beautiful quilt has been displayed a few times on a quilt rack that Scott made, but for the most part it has been tucked away in my Hope Chest or in a cedar linen closet. But the other day I was changing out my summer linen, (waiting until I can put on Christmas linens) when I saw that quilt. I decided to put it on my bed. So there, after 20 years I'm going to use it for everyday!