I am glad you enjoyed the story. No my sister did not teach me to applique, that I taught myself. Yes it was a busy Christmas that year and also last year. I made a quilt for each of my grandsons with pillow shams to match. They are somewhere in my thread if you want to take a look. They were so much fun to do and the boys loved them. They wanted to sleep with them but my DDIL did not want them to ruin them. I guess I will have to make them each a scrappy quilt to lay around on. LOL