Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Happy 2010!

A belated Merry Christmas to all my quilting friends!


Our Hallmark tree. 8 feet tall and stuffed with 20 years of collecting ornaments~


The angel tree. 6 feet tall


Christmas and New year's day have come and gone. Bob and I had a quiet but lovely Christmas at home. Alex is still in Colorado loving the snow. We spent New Year's Eve in New Jersey with Southside Johnny. Check out us out smooching at midnight. Scroll down a bit and you'll see us in the corner. Not bad for 26 years of wedded bliss. We also visited with our NJ friends over the weekend. And so, the holidays of 2009 have passed.

For me, winter should now be officially over. But since I don't control Mother Nature, I will be entering hibernation until late March. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I now will be spending more time at home and that means quilting will come to the forefront.

But first, the Christmas takedown must be done. It usually takes us about 2 weeks to put up all the decorations and trees. We start the day after Thanksgiving. I am not a fan of the BIG Christmas extavaganza anymore but my DH loves it. The reversal of this process is NOT fun and still takes about 2 weeks.

here is just a small sample of the mess right now.

I have piles like these all over the house as we box up and store all the ho-ho-ho. Since my DH loves putting it up, I have left him in charge of taking it down and I am just a helper. Once he gets all of this put away, he starts his winter projects. This year it is painting the kitchen and guest bathroom and replacing the sink and vanity in the guest bathroom. got to keep him busy while i'm quilting~

I have done a pitiful amount of sewing/quilting over the last couple of months. Here is what I did on Sunday. Two eyeglass cases to go with my sweater bag that I made last year. I am half way through a quilt top which is made up of 536 3 x 5.5 rectangles. Easy but a bit monotonous to piece so I have been doing it a little bit here and there. I also have been practicing my machine quilting on my frame with the laser and a panto which is lots harder than just free motion! But I have a panto I really like so I am determined to get good at it so I can use it on an actual quilt. I'm using some old flannel sheets to practice on.

I'm also doing quite a bit of knitting. I just finished another hat for Hats for the Homeless. I like handwork at night and want to alternate between knitting and redwork projects. I have quite a few redwork projects that I'd like to finish. I also do quite a bit of reading in the winter. I just finished Alice Hoffman's The Story Sisters. If you are a Hoffman fan, I highly recommend this one. I had a hard time putting it down.
As for resolutions for the new year, I think I'll pass this year. I didn't do a very good job on last year's list and with an increase in my work hours, I just think I'll try to finish some of my pigs that are still "in the poke".
Well that's it from the Wilted Quilter. Still inspired by all of you out there quilting your little fingers to the bone. Hope to be able to inspire you a bit this year with some finished projects.
Stay warm and Quilt til you wilt!!!

6 comments:

YankeeQuilter said...

Love that you have two trees! We have one conventional and one Southwestern! Take down is a chore though...not near as much fun as putting it all up!

The Calico Cat said...

I still haven't put up the new quilt that I plan on leaveing up for a good long while - I guess it tis a good thing that I don't have seasonal decorations...

Libby said...

For me it's always a longer process to put away the holidays . . . . there's just not the excitement around it that putting up holds *s*

Libby said...

p.s. are you watching Project Runway? As much as I'm a California girl, I'm glad they are back in NYC.

Kate North said...

Your Hallmark tree is even more stuffed than my tree - people are always amazed at how much I get on mine, but I can't bear to leave any of those ornaments off :)

julieQ said...

I love your pretty trees...and hibernation sounds good to me!

Latest finish and a preview

I am taking this one with me to Florida for Cayden who is now ON THE MOVE. Just started walking! Not sure why the pictures are so pinky! I ...