Happy New Year!

Before jumping into my list of resolutions, I just want to take a moment to thank each and every blogger/quilter who has stopped by to visit me this year. Although I started my blog with the idea of it being more of a journal or record of my quilting, it has really turned to a more social outlet for me. I love sharing with you and reading your comments and in turn, visiting everyone and learning not only about your quilting but about your lives and families. You have become my friends. Although I have not met anyone face to face, you have become a part of my life that I cherish. So to everyone, good luck on your resolutions and a happy, healthy new year!

So here is my list of resolutions on the quilting front for this year:

1. NO NEW CHALLENGES or SWAPS! Last year I got myself in a real bind between my guild's quilt challenge and doll swaps and postcards, etc. I definitely bit off more than I could quilt! The exceptions for 2008 are the following: Sharon B's Take it Further challenge,a postcard swap with 6 ladies in the UK, and my LQS's redwork Snowman BOM which I think starts in February, but that's it!

2. KEEP CHRISTMAS ALL THRU THE YEAR - I had a hard time with Christmas this year. Not much spirit and lots of stress so I thought I would try to keep the spirit of Christmas in my heart all year long and at the same time get some Christmas projects done BEFORE CHRISTMAS! My idea is to complete one Christmas project by the 25th of each month. My hubby, also known as mini Santa, thinks this is a great idea! I have lots of patterns for wall hangings and different decorations that I would like to make and by the beginning of December I will hopefully have 11 new gifts and/or decorations ready to go.

3. FINISH ONE UFO EACH MONTH. I know some of you have a list as long as your arm, maybe longer! My list is under 25 which I think is quite reasonable and I am looking to keep it from growing too much longer. I have the list made which is the first step. Now to jump in !

4. USE THE STASH BEFORE SPENDING CASH! I don't feel overwhelmed by my stash but in the spirit of trying to be more "green" (help save the planet!) I want to use what I have before buying new stuff. I also admire the ingenuity of the ladies "down under" who recycle fabric through the op shops. I have some great blouses and skirts that would make great additions to my quilts. And I have some really beautiful fabric in my stash. Now is the time to set it free instead of keeping caged in my closet. Here's a green sewing blog. Check it out!

5. ADD SOMETHING QUILTY TO MY BLOG EVERY WEEK. I admire all of you who are able to blog every day! Unfortunately, I'm not able to do that right now but I think I can manage a weekly posting, if not two.

6. DO MORE HANDWORK. My DH and I watch lots of TV, mostly basketball in the winter, so I have plenty of opportunity to do handwork. I love redwork and knitting so I will try to keep a little basket of projects next to my chair. My hubby gave me a lovely book of stitches for crazy quilting and embroidery. I really admire Debra's work so I may try a little CQ while I'm at it!

7. TRY SOMETHING NEW. I have had a subscription to Cloth, Paper, Scissor for the last year and have not had an opportunity to try any of the wonderful projects. This year my goal is to experiment with 3 new concepts/projects.

On a personal level, I also have a few things I hope to do (it goes without saying that eat less, exercise more is on this list, AGAIN!):

7. READ TWO BOOKS A MONTH. This is a mutual resolution for my hubby and I. I'd also like to share what I am reading on my blog. I have found a couple of great books from fellow quilters and had some interesting dialogue about the books so I will be adding my book list to my blog.

8. LIVE A LITTLE GREENER. My DH has always been a big environmentalist so it was bound to rub off some. I bought reusable bags for the grocery store this year which I use quite faithfully. We recycle and have a compost pile which is used April through the first freeze. I will be looking for other ways to leave a smaller footprint on this lovely planet.

With this list, I should have a little time left over to clean my house occasionally, do some laundry, feed my DH and the kitties and go to work! LOL!!

363 days until Christmas!!!

My DH reminded me of that this morning! He is really Santa at heart. This Christmas was not one of the best. Unfortunately, family squabbles on hubby's side of the family disrupted the holidays. But my little family enjoyed a quiet day with one of DH's brothers and his family. We also got to see my brothers and their families on the 23rd. Here is a picture of some of the nieces and nephews. The triplets will be 13 in February. The littlest one is actually my great niece, Avianna, who just turned 3. The little blonde in pink is my little god daughter, Bridie.




My son got home on Dec. 24th about 3 pm from Vermont. Luckily, his Christmas present arrived by UPS about 20 minutes earlier. I was sweating that one out! He wanted snowshoes which were ordered from LL Bean on the 12th! I'm not sure how I can mail FQs to England and have them arrive in 5 days yet something coming only 4 states away takes 2 weeks! But he was really happy with them. I got lots of quilty things from my hubby including a lightbox which I had hinted at and he actually found! He had to call a quilting friend to figure out what it was first! LOL. I got Hubby a digital frame for his desk at work. He loved it. I spent a good part of the day on Monday loading photos for him, including this picture of Alex when he was about three



and this one of my DH from college during his DJ stint at the college station.



Yesterday, I did all of the returns and exchanges, just a couple really and DH and I hit the Hallmark stores for our special ornaments at 50% off!! It's always a gamble that there will be any left but we were lucky this year and found all the ones we wanted.

I am on a much needed vacation this week. The last few months at work have been difficult. I think my boss knew when I asked for the week off that this was very necessary. I am enjoying some time with my son and puttering around in the sewing room. I've got two of my "Pay it Forward" gifts ready for the mail. We had lots of rain last night which turned to ice so I am waiting until tomorrow to hit the post office. I hope to get a quilt on my frame and quilted in the next couple of days. I am also mulling over some quilting New Year's resolutions which I will share after the weekend.

Hope that everyone had a Christmas that was homey, happy and bright!

Dan, you will be missed

For many of us, music is an important part of life. Music adds "flavor" to events and happenings. Just hearing a certain song can take us back in time to an important event - a first date, our wedding, the birth of a child. We all have a favorite band or singer that "speaks" to us. For me, back in college, that person was Dan Fogelberg. His music lead me to the first true love of my life, Richard. Although my relationship with Richard ended many years ago, my relationship with Dan continued. So it was with great sadness that I read today that Dan Fogelberg had died at the very young age of 56. He had been fighting prostate cancer for several years. I had seen him in concert many times, the last time being in 2004. His voice was as sweet as ever and took me back to days gone by. Thankfully, his music will live on. Dan, you will be missed.

Holiday greetings from across the Pond

Over the last couple of days, I have received unexpected surprises from my internet gals in England.

I received this lovely Postcard from my friend, Christine, who was my exchange pal in ArtWeMail over the summer. She is the gal who sent me the lovely bag and beautiful Liberty fabric. She is super talented as you can see!





I also received this lovely snowflake card from my blogging buddy, Kate North. If you have not checked out Kate's blog, please do!! She is a really creative lady! Her card arrived ironically on my doorstep yesterday afternoon following my 2 1/2 hour drive home from work in a snowstorm. It started snowing around 11 am and when I left work at 1:30 there was about 4 inches on the ground. I arrived home at 4:00 to Kate's Snowflake card.




I also received two lovely redwork patterns from Anne at Quilting Bebbs. She generously offered them in exchange for fabric. They are absolutely adorable and if I start them right now I might even have them finished for Christmas! Christmas of 2008, that is!! If you follow Anne's blog you know how super busy her life is with kids, a DH and a job. How she finds time to quilt is beyond me! I think she might have found a quilting elf that comes in the night and helps her! Is that true, Anne???


The first storm has passed (which was called "Winter Storm Alexander", we like to name our storms in the U.S. for some reason)and we have shoveled out but there is another storm expected on Saturday night which the weather guys are calling a Nor'easter. This one will be a mixed bag of snow, sleet, and ice. Oh the joys of living in the Northeast!


Thanks for all of your great comments about my Convergence quilt. I didn't know that there were others who were not familiar with Ricky Tims. He came up with the convergence concept. Check out his blog!! The quilt that I did is based on the traditional convergence which takes four pieces of fabric which are joined then cut into strips vertically, moved around and sewn back together vertically. After that you give it a quarter turn and you cut it into strips on the horizontal, moving them around and sew them together. The book is called Convergence Quilts. My DH shook his head when I explained it to him. He doesn't "get" the cutting up and sewing back together concept!! LOL


I have a pretty long list of errands today and I am having dinner with some quilting friends tonight so I better scurry!!

Thanks again to my English friends for adding some special cheer to the last few days!! Happy Christmas to all of you!

And, I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

A Snowy Evening - Challenge quilt revealed

Last night was our guild's Christmas party. It was great to get together before the holidays with ladies that all share a love of fabric and quilting. Of course there was lots and lots of food and chocolate, etc and good conversation. The party was held at Cheryl's house, a member who opens up her beautiful home to us every year. She is the only female in her household with four boys and her hubby but it has to be one of the feminine looking homes I've ever seen. She loves the Victorian era and her house is a real showcase! Of course it was decorated for Christmas and was really beautiful.


Now, for the challenge!!! I received this year's super secret challenge soon after our June picnic. The challenge was called A Snowy Evening. and was based on Robert Frost's poem "Walking by Woods on a Snowy Evening". The quilt could only be 24 inches wide but could be as long as you wanted. It is and has always been one of my favorite poems and ideas immediately started to swirl around in my head.



Here is my entry which I called "Mr. Frost Converges with Mr. Tims on a Snowy Evening". I had never done a convergence quilt before and I am hooked!!

My original inspiration fabric was a landscape piece with white pines on it but I had a hard time finding any other fabric to go with it. I stumbled onto the Hoffman batik with the trees in a shop in Greenfield, Mass and the other pieces were right next to it.

My drawing skills are kindergarten level at best but thanks to good old Google I was able to find coloring pages of a horse and sleigh to use for the silouhette.The words, of course, were running through my brain the entire time I was putting the quilt together. I had such a great time making this quilt. .

The gal who comes up with these challenges couldn't be there last night which was a shame since there were some fabulous quilts. She is always trying to get us to stretch our quilting skills and our imagination. One gal is a fabulous hand quilter. She had always wanted to do a whole cloth quilt. Her entry was white with trapunto snowflakes and exquisite hand quilting that looked like swirling wind. Another gal got around the width issue by making a book! She had pages which depicted the different parts of the poem and it was all bound together on a white pine frame! Lastly, a gal did a circular quilt in the shape of a snowflake. The center of the snowflake showed a little town in the distance and the road with the horse. It was made entirely of felted wool. Everyone agreed we all stepped outside of the box on this challenge.

Of course, forgot my camera! But another member is going to send me pictures which I hope to post soon!

Well, that was my last major quilting obligation. Now I am going to take a little rest from quilting and pull out the knitting needles. I have a couple of scarves to finish for Christmas. Now, is it knit 1, purl two or purl two, knit 1??

I've opened the Door to Christmas

I have opened the door and let Christmas in! There are things about the holiday season that I don't like, which I ranted about last week. But I am taking a good friend's advice and just concentrating on the parts that I love- the decorating, the baking, the music, and the joy of sharing gifts with the important people in my life.

My DH and I went to see Wynonna Judd's Christmas show on Thursday night. It was really great. She has a wonderful voice and sang lots of classic carols. It was a nice way to start the Christmas season.

We have just about finished our decorating. The trees are up and so far the kitties haven't attempted to climb them. Here they are being angelic!! They usually sleep together then the mutual licking begins which always ends with someone biting someone and then the wrestling starts just like siblings.

Many of you have been sharing your favorite ornaments or Christmas decorations. I found this when we were decorating. I have it hanging in my sewing room where I can see it. It has been with me for 49 years - My first Christmas stocking! I retired it from active duty several years ago and I have another for my goodies. This one really brings back my childhood holidays. All of my brothers and sisters had one but I think I am the only one who still has the original. My mom always put a quarter and a tangerine in the toe of our stocking. We may not have received much some years but those two items were always there. We were allowed to open our stockings before Mom and Dad got up. The stockings were always put at the foot of our beds. I think it was Mom's way of grabbing a few extra minutes of sleep before we attacked the presents under the tree.

Today I am home finishing my super secret challenge quilt which will be revealed tomorrow at my guild's Christmas party. I am also making Magic Cookie Squares. Thanks Libby for the idea. They are super easy and super good!!

We had an ice/snow/sleet storm last night so the roads are pretty bad but luckily I switched my off day with another gal in the office and don't have to leave the house today, which is ok with me!!

Everyone have a great day!!

Holding on to Autumn

Here is my journal quilt for September. This is a combination of techniques. I used felt and yarn for the trunk with my felting machine. I used the "snippets" technique for the leaves and did lots of free motion quilting. The date is NOT on the quilt. LOL.I used my camera at work to take this pic. We need to date all our photos. Anywho, I love autumn, the colors and the smells. Autumn doesn't get as much recognition as it used to what with Halloween in the stores in July and Christmas shoved upon us in September and October. For me, autumn is a time to tidy up the nest, inside and out, to enjoy the last days of strong sunlight, and to settle in for winter. I really do hibernate! I don't like the cold, never did, even as a child. I venture out only when necessary.



I am trying very hard not to get caught up in the "media blitz" of Christmas. I was pretty upset when I went to the mall to return something five days BEFORE Thanksgiving and they were playing holiday music! I know the setup has to be done but can't the music wait til the day AFTER Thanksgiving!!

I enjoyed "sharing" everyone's Turkey Day with your pictures and such. We spent the day with my brother's family. He is the one with triplets who will turn 13! in February. It's hard to believe how grown up they are. They also have a daughter, my godchild, Bridie, who is 5. My son, Alex, and his SEVEN loads of laundry were home for a week. It was a wonder he could close his trunk! LOL!! He is pretty stressed out trying to finish his senior thesis and set up his internship for next semester. He got some much needed rest and I sent him back loaded up with clean clothes and provisions for the refrigerator. He will be moving into another apartment about an hour from school and even further north! He will be working at Jay Peak, a ski resort about 2o minutes from the Canadian Border in Vermont. Don't know if we will see him but for a few days at Christmas.

I am soo very busy at work! I have very little time for quilting. I continue to work on my winter challenge quilt. I'm excited to show it but need to wait til the challenge date, December 12th. Maybe I can give you a peek at the fabrics I am using! They are fabulous! I'll do that in my next post. I am working on some Christmas projects and my PIF gifts are coming along.

I guess I will have to open the Christmas door soon. It's not that I don't love Christmas - I really do! I guess I just long for the simpler days. I want to try to recapture some of that feeling that I had as a child at Christmas time. It's hard to escape the barrage of commercialism that has a hold on this country at this time of year. It starts earlier and earlier.

Woww, on rereading , this post is a little solemn. I guess I feel like the last leaf on the maple tree about to fall to the ground. It's goodbye to Autumn!

Forgot my camera!!

Yep, left in the morning and forgot my camera. But that was ok, had a camera at work that I could take to the meeting. Yep, left work and forgot the camera! so no pictures of the Pigs today.. but, one gal was organized enough to have her camera and took pictures so she is going to send me the pics and when received I will post them. We had a tremendous response to our PIG project. There were 5 gals who participated with 2 of these ladies finishing 2 or more UFO's as they are commonly known. We had a viewer's choice award and all participants got FQs of Olivia the Pig fabric!

My mom is coming to town to visit on her way to Florida for the winter. I won't be seeing her for the holidays so we are getting together this week so not much sewing will be done. Back after the weekend!!

Fiber, Fiber postcards

I spent much of Saturday and Sunday trying to come up with an idea for my Fiber postcards. I don't usually have a problem generating ideas. Usually I have a hard time deciding from a dozen or so ideas. This one was tough for me. I finally decided on using my felting machine and came up with these two lovelies. The sunflower has a hand dyed background and the flower is made of wool roving and some yarn and beads. The flower trio is on a wool felt background. The flower heads are wool roving and yarns and the stems are wool felt. I blanket stitched around the stems to add some interest. In the process of making two, yes only two, postcards, I ransacked my sewing room. I wish I had taken a picture, the place was a wreck!! It took me a half hour just to put everything away.


But these cards are on their way to Australia and Holland.









I have pulled my fabrics for my Guild's Super Secret Challenge which is due December 12th. There are only six members doing it. Mine is, as I often say, "done in my head" so that's half the battle. The size restriction is that it can only be 24 inches wide but it can be as long as you like. There is a theme but it's a secret. Just like last year's challenge, which you can see here. I really loved making last year's challenge so I was the first to shoot my hand up in the air for this year's challenge. You don't know what it is until AFTER you sign up! The gal that comes up with the challenge has not disappointed. It's a good one!!

Seww, that's the next project on my plate. I also have Pay it Forward gifts that I would like to get out by year's end and 4 months of journal pages.

My back has been really acting up the past few days. So much that I wasn't able to go to my Journal class on Saturday, the driving was too far for me to sit in one position and then sit in class for another two hours. But I am sticking with the exercises and will return to physical therapy. I have to hope and pray that it will provide some relief. I really don't want to go to the next step - epidural injections.!!! Yikes!!

Well, tonight is our guild meeting and the Parade of Pigs! I'll have some pictures tomorrow.

Round Robin roundup

Well, I have finished the last round of the Round Robin that I started with three other gals from my guild back in the spring. We had good intentions of completing it by August but, as always, other projects, such as family, life, vacations, etc. kept us from finishing sooner. But these ladies are as laidback about quilting deadlines as I am , so no worries. We will get our tops back on Tuesday. But I thought I would share my contribution to this one with you. The last round's requirement was a border with squares and rectangles. I just did two alternating four patch blocks to make a checkerboard border using the fabrics that were used throughout the piece. I think it came out pretty good.

My DH is out with buddies tonight so I have a free evening! Yeah!! I am putting the finishing touches on my fiber, fiber fiber Postcards, working on my journal quilts which I am hopelessly behind on and hope to start my December challenge quilt this weekend.

My back is feeling a bit better. I have a great physical therapist who is really getting the kinks out and getting me mobile again but it's a lot of work! I have a problem sitting for extended periods of time so my desire to sit and sew for hours is not a good idea.

I had promised myself not to start any new projects or challenges but I got an invite to do a class with Tonya at Lazy Gal Quilting and couldn't say no! So I will be sketching some ideas for that project this weekend also. Hope everyone gets quilty this weekend. Next week, I'll post pictures of all the Round Robin tops as well as the Parade of Pigs!

Top 10 Reasons Why I Have Not Posted in over a Month

It has been over 30 days since I last posted to my blog which is just TERRIBLE. But here are the Top 10 reasons why I have been MIA!!

#10 - It took me a week to get all the laundry and unpacking done from our vacation.





#9 - My son came home for a weekend and I had MORE LAUNDRY to do in addition to catching up with him.


#8 - I went to see THE BOSS! Who was fabulous!!





#7 - I made my "Taste of the Orient" postcards. These were mailed out a couple of weeks ago~

This is one of the cards. I made 7 cards with different backgrounds and kimonos.

#6 - My back pain has been acting up so I am back at physical therapy 2 days a week hoping that it will help!

#5- I finished my PIG (Project in Grocery Sacks) for our annual Pig Roast. I started this many years ago when I took an applique class and decided I didn't like doing hand applique sewww it got shoved in a grocery sack and has been aging in my closet. I decided to finish it on the machine and I am really happy with the result.

#4 - Work is insane! We had to fire a gal who was with us for two years. So I have been weeding through piles of resumes and interviewing. We hired a gal who only stayed two weeks. Hired another gal last week and she started this week so I am training her and we are hiring another gal so I am interviewing AGAIN! Good news is that I will be going part-time, 3 days a week, after the first of the year!

#3 - My nephew and his new bride, the couple whose luggage was "misplaced" on their honeymoon to Italy are EXPECTING IN JUNE!! I am going to be a Great Aunt for the 2nd Time! So I have been perusing books to make a baby quilt! #2 - I still have to feed my Hubby and my kitties which involves food shopping and cooking!

#1 - I have been totally tied up with BASEBALL! As some of you may know, I was born and bred in Massachusetts and have been a die hard Red Sox fan for my entire life. It's a gene which was passed down from my dad to me. My DH is also a Red Sox fan so we have been watching every game all season. It was touch and go with Cleveland but once we got to the World Series we swept the Rockies!! Being an official armchair coach, I have not had much time to blog!!

And that's why I haven't posted in sewww long! Whewww!! But I have caught up on all of your comings and goings and quiltiness and have been leaving comments here and there. I am now working on the last round of the Round Robin (note to self- no more Round Robins- UGH~), getting caught up on my Journal quilts ( I'm 4 months behind!), getting my last postcards out the door, and starting my final challenge quilt which is due in December! Hopefully it won't be another 30 days before I post again!! I haven't forgot about my "Pay it forward" gals and have something special for you in the works as well. I won't be getting out by the end of October ( my original plan) but hope to have it in the mail right after Turkey Day!!


Thanks for the emails from many of you wondering about my whereabouts~ It's nice to know that there are gals out in blogland looking out for me!!