Happy New Year

Just a couple of hours left in 2012, it has been a good year!! Hope 2013 is a good one too!!!  Wish everyone a happy and safe New Year.

2012 UFO's

I can believe that 2012 is almost over.  My mom was right, the older you get the faster the years go by!!!!  (I don't know if that is good or bad, nothing we can do about it anyway) For 2012 I had listed 10 different UFO's that I wanted to finish.  I got off to a great start, a finish in January, February, and March, then things started slowing down.  I did manage to finish 6 of my UFO's.  6 out of 10 isn't too bad, considering I started several new quilts and managed to finish a couple of them.  I realized while looking back at some of my photos that I need to make sure I always take a photo of my completed quilt.  Now to start thinking about UFO's for 2013.  I'm sure there won't be a shortage of things to choose from.

This is Neighbor's Fence.



This was my next finish, A long Road Home.  This was a trade.  Love this one.



March Finish, Lap Quilt in a Hurry, this was a Moda Bakeshop pattern.



This is a fat quarter friendly pattern, Short Stacks.  It was a Christmas present for my brother.

Huckleberry Pie, probably my one and only purple quilt.

 



Putting Christmas away

Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely love Christmas!!  For as long as I can remember I have been a Christmas fanatic. When growing up, I would start right after Halloween asking my mom when we could start decorating for  Christmas, she always made me wait until after Thanksgiving.  We always cut our tree from somewhere on our property, except for the few years we had one of those silver aluminum trees.  Since we had a real tree we usually waited until about a week before Christmas to put it up and it would come down the day after Christmas.  Now I put my tree up right after Thanksgiving, but still take it down the day after Christmas.  I always think a tree looks sad with no presents under it.  This year I had two trees to take down, the one to the right is in our house in Atlanta, it is an artificial tree, and I could leave it up but like I said it looks sad with no presents under it.  I took all day today but it is down.  Nothing is back where it should be, but it is down.

This was our tree at the cabin, where we actually spent Christmas, this one was real.  We put it up the weekend before Christmas, and it came  down the day after Christmas before we left to head back to Atlanta.  I loved decorating two trees, but don't like to undecorate them.  Once everything gets back in place tomorrow, I can get back to sewing and quilting.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a safe, happy, and healthy Christmas and New Year. 

New wools

I have been at it again and having a great time doing so.  This wool dyeing is a lot of fun!  I have  a  new logo that is much improved over my old one. (you can see my Pig in a blanket to the left)  After some trial and error with different types of fabric I have determined what dyes best and what to stay away from.  I have listed lots of new wools  on my etsy shop.  I hope to have some more spring colors available after Christmas. 

Country blues 4 9x12 pieces

Iris, 4 9 x 12 pieces

Mint, 4 9x12 pieces

Sunshine yellow textures 4 9x 12 pieces. 

Quilts of Love

Two of my favorite things together, Christmas and quilting.  During the Christmas season I love to read any type of holiday book (sometimes I even read them in the summer).  While at the browsing at the library a few weeks ago I came across a new series, Quilts of Love.  Each book is written by a different author, with a quilt somehow featuring in the story,  this one was A Wild Goose Chase Christmas.  It was a very quick read and very good.  I don't usually read books that are labeled inspirational but I am glad that I made an exception for this one.  I will definitely be on the lookout for other titles in this series.



12-12-12

Yesterday, 12-12-12 was a big birthday for my DH.   I wanted to do something really, really special for him (especially since the anniversary present quilt from earlier in the year was such a flop).  I thought long and hard on what to get him, talked to a couple of his friends and it finally came to me- a wild boar hunt.  He went on one several years ago and has been talking about going on another one.  I did some research and finally found one that didn't cost an arm and a leg.  I paid for the hunt and he will be able to call and make the arrangements to go whenever he wants.  I always give him a Christmas ornament, so I found a pig one, thinking that would be perfect.  Once he opened the ornament, he got this really strange glow on his face and started smiling.  I think he knew what was coming.  Yep, he guessed.  I think this was the best present I could have given him.  I have definitely redeemed myself from the quilt fiasco. 

Garden of Lights

Orbs pulsating to Christmas music.

Last year the Atlanta Botanical Gardens started a new tradition in Atlanta, Garden Lights, Holiday Nights.  We went last year loved it and decided to make it a tradition.  If you live in the Atlanta area I would highly recommend this for your family.  There are Christmas carolers, a smores station, two bars, a toy train display, you are also able to go into the Orchid House, and the Tropical House. 

Christmas tree made from poinsettias.

Orchids in full bloom.

This is my favorite photo, the tree of lights with the glowing orbs.

Kindergarten Fun

I love Christmas, and there is no better place to get in the Christmas spirit than an elementary school.  All of the kids and teachers are so excited about Christmas!!  All of our kindergarten teachers are using the elf on the shelf to bribe their students into being good.  Each kindergarten class has a special elf in the room, (you can't touch it or it looses its magical powers!)  the elf leaves after school each day to report to Santa and comes back in a different spot each morning.  The students in each room have named their elves.  This is Zoom, Zoom 

This is Max.

This is Belle.

 Sometimes the elf doesn't work and teachers have to change tactics.  This teacher uses a Frosty the snowman hat and when a student has Fabulous Frosty Behavior they get to wear the hat.  Too Cute. 

Finally Made it to Easy Street

I love it when Bonnie Hunter starts a new mystery, I don't always get them finished in a timely manner, but I get them started!!!  When the directions came out, I thought getting paint strips from the hardware store was a great idea to decide on color.  DH and I were at Ace and I picked up some stripes, very similar to the ones Bonnie is using.  Later that day while walking in the woods up at the cabin I noticed all of the great greens, reds, and cheddars.  It came to me, why not use those colors.  If they are found in nature they should work in a quilt.   When getting home I went through my stash and came up with some great reds, greens and cheddars.  I was stuck on the background color, didn't want to use gray.  I had a perfect piece of chocolate brown but didn't have two yards of it.  I guess I would have to go shopping, something I am trying really hard not to do.  I decided to for the lights to use shirting's in neutral colors.  After getting everything together except the constant, I was looking forward to the first set of instructions, well one thing lead to another and I didn't get started right away.  Lucky for me.  I saw in the second set of instructions that you really didn't need two yards of the constant fabric, which meant I could use the chocolate brown piece that I already had.  Yeah!!!!

Some of step one, these are the first ones I did.  It took me two nights to finish them.

Now on to step two.  Sometimes it pays to be behind.