Winter Blues

Yep, we all have them. After the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holidays, the cold sets in and we get the Winter Blues.

I live in the Sunshine State, but we have not had a lot of sunshine nor warmth lately. Which makes me just a tad blue. So can I share some nice warm pictures with you, and we can all sit back with a hot cuppa and dream of the Warm Days ahead :-)







Okay I had to add a picture of a quilt from an outdoor show.

Now take a deep breath, and remember that Spring is just around the corner ;-)

Happy Quilting

Mug rug........ Mug MAT

Have you figured out yet that quilters are the nicest people. Recently I was visiting A Legacy of Stitches, and I left a comment on a very cute mug rug she had made. Sandi quickly sent me an email asking if I would like to have the scraps from the coffee fabric she had used. I told her YES, as my daughter loves coffee, and it would be fun for her to use one with the coffee theme.

So a few days later, this comes in the mail

What a nice bundle of fabrics. Way more then I thought her "few scraps" would be.

So this weekend I just started working with the fabric, and not only did I make a nice mug rug,

(sorry about the pins, I am still working on the binding)
BUT.......... I had enough fabric to make a Mug Mat!

Perfect for when we have a little more then just a cup of coffee going on :-)

Thanks Sandi!

North Star

Today, Barbara Brackman released her second block on the Civil War Quilts blog. The block is called North Star. It's been so interesting to read the stories behind the blocks. And Barbara also has a link for Google Books.

Here is my North Star

As I was digging around in bags, and closets looking for the right Civil War fabrics, I thought it might be a very good idea to collect my CW fabrics and organize them together on a shelf.

There may still be a few strays hiding around, but at least I can put my hands on CW and Repro fabrics when I need them.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Happy Quilting!

A Little bit of History

Barbara Brackman has written a lot about quilts and the Civil War. In honor of the 150th anniversary Barbara has started a separate blog called Civil War Quilts, taking stories and patterns from her books and block-of the-month patterns. You can go to Barbara's blog (Material Culture) and read about how this all came about. Then you will want to jump over to Civil War Quilts and learn more about this war and make a block every week. At the end of the year we will have 52 blocks to make a quilt. Here is the first one

Catch Me If You Can

Let's sharpen our American history lessons skills this year :-)

Thanks Barbara!

One Word

Kelly over at Charming Chatter has challenged us to come up with a word for the year. I've been thinking and pondering what my word for the year might be. I know what my word was last year. It was contentment. With all the changes that have been going on for the last couple of years, it was my goal to be content in the little things, which hopefully led to contentment in the bigger things.

But to graduate beyond contentment is a tall order. I am in such a new place in my life. After schooling my children for over 20 years, they are all grown. Not exactly empty nest, but they are young adults with goals and dreams of their own.

So where does that take me? What word would propel me into the next phase of life. If there is anything that I have learned as I've gotten older, it is that the plans I've made, or thought about don't always come to pass. Or there are detours that take me down a different path. So perhaps my word for this year should be..........

JOURNEY

We are all walking different pathways, and as we come to the next bend we have choices to make. My quilting journey has been a start and stop, start and stop venture through the years. I was always the last one working on a quilt, and I mostly have ufo's because of time constraints. However, I've always tried to work on projects that I loved. I love Darlene's word "heart" because if you don't love what you are doing, it because a drudgery, a job.

Visiting over at Ali Edwards blog, her post about One Little Word 2011 directed me to my word.

One Little Word
Can make
A
Big
Impact
on
Your
Life

at the end she wrote Join the Journey.

So my word for this year is Journey. It is a journey where we all fill the days with thoughts and plans, but in the end my Journey takes me on the path to build my character and faith.

What is your word for 2011?

Just one more thought

It seems like the holidays came on us like a steam engine train. Fall came and went, and before I knew it Christmas was here. And now that we are 5 days into the New Year, it is time to start thinking about new projects and finishing up ufo's.

But before I put it all behind, I wanted to share some very pretty tables that we enjoyed this holiday season.

Not to mention the food and family that we had the pleasure of enjoying.


I hope your holidays were as blessed as ours was.

Happy Quilting!

Getting started

It looks like everybody is off to a great start in the New Year. I am so inspired to see beautiful new projects being posted.

Oh and what have I been doing, you ask??

Well it has something to do with lots of containers, and organizing, and storage, and getting the house back to normalcy.

But I did have to make a shopping stop here and there. You know those gift cards just start burning a hole in my wallet. Simple addition is when JoAnn's has a super sale + an additional 20% off my total purchase = great value!

JoAnn's put this great Ott light on sale after Christmas. I was holding on to a 20% off mailer coupon for just the right purchase :-)

And while we are at it, let's warm up the library with Pat Sloan's Fast Forward Quilts.

Someone posted this pattern on their blog, and I fell in love with it.

I thought Welcome to the Neighborhood would be a nice quilt for our new home!

So what have YOU been up to as we start up the New Year!

I hope it is has lots of Happy Quilting ;-D