Happy New Year

What the new year will bring, we cannot know.  I think of the year that has been, folded away in time.  There has been much good in it, although some sorrow.  But there are always, in any year, many lovely memories, and I shall cherish them.  Life is not, for most of us, a pageant of splendor but is made up of many small things, rather like an old-fashioned piecework quilt.

As the clock moves irrevocably from yesterday to today, I go out on the terrace and fill my heart with the intensity of the winter moonlight.  This is the time when the heart is at peace and the spirit rests.  Silently I say, "Happy New Year to all of us, all over this turning earth.  And may we make it a year of loving-kindness and gentle hearts."

Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Calendar

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New Year's Eve

A Big Bear New Year's Eve tradition: the torchlight parade down the ski slope.

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Looking back

I completed 59 quilt projects in 2011, including 27 comfort quilts.  This used 314.50 yards of fabric, which was offset by the 185.25 yards I purchased.  I'm OK with the incoming fabric though, as long as I use more than I acquire.  Of course I'd love to spend more time quilting, but I have been getting a lot done.  I'm aesthetically satisfied with most of the projects I complete.  I'm very comfortable with my identity as a utility quilter, not an heirloom/show quilter :)

2011 "highlights" included redecorating and recarpeting the entire second floor of the house, Dad's broken hip, and Dave and Jessica's official engagement (at looong last).  We inherited little Jake, our third dog, when my dad was no longer able to take care of him, and his perky personality is a joy.   We were delighted to have all the kiddos here for Christmas -- the whole family hasn't been together for the holidays since 2007.

I served as the Comfort Quilts chairperson for my guild, and the newsletter chairperson for the Historical Society.  I read a lot, including the 8000+ pages of the Outlander series. I cooked and baked more.  I was grateful every single day to be living in this beautiful place.   I'm totally happy with who I am, and with where I am on my life's journey. 

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Stash report - week 52

Used this week: 0.00 yards
Used year to date: 314.50 yards
Added this week: 0.00 yards
Added year to date: 185.25 yards

Net used for 2011: 129.25 yards

Here we are, at the final 2011 Stash Report.  It was an interesting activity for me -- I'd never kept track of my fabric habits before. 

I think that this was a typical year for me, in both the "ins" and the "outs" categories.  I had no idea what to expect as far as actual numbers, so it's good to see that I used quite a bit more than I purchased.  I make a lot of comfort quilts, which boosts my usage number.  In another century or so, I should be getting close to consuming all my stash :)

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Christmas 2011

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Merry Christmas!

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Last minute odds and ends

The kids will be arriving later today, and we're in "bed and breakfast" mode with bedrooms, bathrooms, meals and snacks, gifts, etc., all poised and ready.  Our next door neighbor's family already arrived last evening, and brought those five granddogs, so when Frankie and Cholula get here we'll have TEN dogs running along the fence in the yard!

Jake HATES that bad vacuum cleaner!!

Tony finished our most recent jigsaw puzzle just in time -- I need to clear the table this morning.

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If you need new quilty inspiration for next year, take a look at this project:

Just Takes 2 intro/home

Just Takes 2 blog

It's a year-long mystery quilt finishing up at 72 x 90.  It was inspired by the red and white quilt exhibit this past year, so start thinking about a two-color combo and join the fun :)

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Happy solstice!

Happy solstice! This is a busy time of year, but try to spend a few minutes today quietly enjoying the beauty of nature: a bird, the bright sky. Relax, take a deep breath, and go forward feeling peaceful. Winter is a time of rest and renewal.

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Tuesday

GRATITUDES

1.  Dad had a minor surgery done yesterday, and everything went well
2.  Christmas baking and wrapping right on schedule
3.  Latkes for supper tonight, another holiday observance we enjoy each year

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Stash report - week 51

Used this week: 1.25 yards
Used year to date: 314.50 yards
Added this week: 0.00 yards
Added year to date: 185.25 yards

Net used for 2011: 129.25 yards

Almost all the fabric I used this past week for those comfort quilts had already been counted earlier, so this week's report just includes a little cut for one of the bindings and a feeble start on some Lincoln's Platform blocks. I think with the holiday activities coming up next week I'm probably pretty much done using fabric for the year.

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Prairie Christmas Stars

Several people have asked about the quilt on the bed with the dogs in yesterday's photo.  I didn't realize that I hadn't "featured" it in recent blog years -- I made it way back in 2003.  Ha, obviously I had a wealth of scraps even back then! 

It's from a pattern by Lynda Hall called Prairie Christmas Stars.  Lynda has wonderful quilt patterns, and I've been strongly influenced by her "prim" style.  I've made MANY of her pieced designs through the years.  She's been featuring quite a bit of applique in her more recent patterns, though, and I'm *not* an appliquer :)

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Up next

Now that I've finished the Christmas quilts and the comfort quilts, I couldn't resist pulling fabrics for a new project!  I decided to jump ahead to February with pinks and reds.  It's another inspiration from Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine called Lincoln's Platform.  Hmm, since Abraham Lincoln's birthday is in February as well as Valentine's Day, it'll be a multipurpose quilt, right? :)  Realistically, I won't get much done on it until after the holidays, but I was just itching to dig in those stash tubs today.

I'm also stewing about the little house project.  If I'm going to do the 366 block-a-day version, I need to decide pretty soon.  They'd have to be small blocks -- not much bigger than 3 or 4 inches -- to all fit in one quilt.  Or I could just make *some* houses ...

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GRATITUDES

1.  Flannel sheets
2.  Tamales for supper -- it's the first day of Las Posadas in Mexico and here in California (haha, we celebrate everything!)
3.  My buddies in the sewing room

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Done!! (and more B-a-Ds used!)

So, remember last week when I was talking about the domestic violence shelter needing more comfort quilts?  Well, I've been busy up in the sewing room, and got these three cranked out in short order!

When life allows me the time, I'm a FAST quilt maker!!  Here's a look at my process:  as you can see, all three were absolutely "quick-and-dirty" projects.  All the related fabrics for each quilt were already in kit bags, so no decision-making about colors, etc.  The pieced blocks were from Block-a-Day, and besides that I just added width-of-fabric strips.  Ha, the blue and yellow one is just strips, can't get any easier than that!  I didn't calculate any sizes for anything -- however wide the narrowest w-o-f turned out to be is how wide each quilt became.  And lengths were "whenever those fabrics ran out" :)  No pieced backs, either, since I was already working with w-o-f.  Very simple quilting, about an hour apiece, machine stitched bindings, and : taadaa, three comfort quilts! 

I'll  be dropping them off at Doves this afternoon, and am pleased that I could brighten someone's holiday season.

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Thursday

I forgot to show this photo earlier ... the finished quilt I was working on last month from Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.

GRATITUDES

1.  Sitting in the sunroom watching the action outside at the bird feeders
2.  Havarti cheese on my sandwich
3.  Friendly courteous delivery drivers -- UPS, FedEx 

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A little sidetrack

It all began innocently enough.  Earlier this year, I started following Kathleen Tracy's blog, A Sentimental Quilter.  She is the author of several books, including the recently published Civil War Sewing Circle.  I've long admired Lucy's, Lori's and Kathie's small quilts, and thought I might like to create my own collection.

Via Kathleen's blog, I discovered her Yahoo group, SmallQuiltTalk.  I joined and am enjoying keeping up with lots of chitchat from this large active group.  Among other things, they work on small quilt challenges offered by Kathleen, and I just finished up my first one -- a doll quilt done using 4ps in any desired arrangement.  Mine is machine pieced and hand quilted.  It crinkled up a LOT after washing, and finished at 16" x 19".

Many of the members of the Yahoo group have been discussing an interesting project they will be participating in next year. A specially-created blog,  Building Houses from Scraps, gives all the info. (Scroll down in each entry to get to the English translation.)  Basically it involves piecing a 3" house block for each day of the year in 2012.  Because it will be a leap year, that's 366 teeny-tiny  house blocks.

I did sign up, and we'll have to see how far I get with all those little houses.  Since I did make it all the way through my B-a-D series in 2010, there's a decent chance that I can do this one in 2012.  So this whole thing has morphed from enjoying a book to joining a doll/mini quilt group to signing up for a block-a-day activity for 2012.  Ha, the internet is an enabler, isn't it?

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Recent finishes

I finally finished the binding on this holiday quilt,  just one week into December so it's not really tooo terribly late :)  It's my version of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts weekly series.  Coincidentally, the red I used for the setting triangles is from Barbara Brackman's Civil War Reunion line.  I had at least a half-million yards of it already in my stash, and it was a good color ... so: Go Brackman!  Go Civil War repros!

And here's a very purple Block-a-Day block set that became a comfort quilt last week.  It's already been dropped off at Doves, the domestic violence shelter.  I still have about 12 or 14 B-a-D block sets remaining, but slowly they're getting whittled down.  Two more sets will be turning into more Doves quilts this coming week.  Sad that they need more quilts, but happy that I can provide a few for them!!

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Stash report - week 50

Used this week: 10.25 yards
Used year to date: 310.25 yards
Added this week: 0.00 yards
Added year to date: 182.25 yards

Net used for 2011: 128.00 yards

I cut and pieced the backs and prepped the bindings for three comfort quilts this past week.  I actually thought I was done with quilting for the year, but Doves, our local domestic violence shelter, unfortunately has a full house this month ... I want to get at least these three quilts delivered to them as soon as possible.

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Tuesday

It's COLD here!  Temps have been down around zero the past several nights, and just up into the twenties during the day.  This is great weather for our ski resorts -- they can blow snow 24 hours a day when it stays so cold.  With the roads being clear and dry, and the snow base on the slopes increasing, the community gets zillions of guests, which is wonderful for the local economy!

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GRATITUDES

1.  Holiday party season -- had a lovely time at the guild dinner last night, and the museum dinner is tonight
2.  Silly emails that make me smile 
3.  Most of the holiday decorating around the house is done, and we're feeling festive!

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Stash report - week 49

Used this week: 9.50 yards
Used year to date: 300.00 yards
Added this week: 0.00 yards
Added year to date: 182.25 yards

Net used for 2011: 117.75 yards

I sewed up some curtain panels the other day, so that boosted my usage number for this week.

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December

It's hard to imagine that it's December already ... the year has gone so fast! We're having a snow day today, staying in and enjoying the winter wonderland outside the window.  I have a chicken roasting in the oven, my sewing machine's been humming, and nothing urgent needs to be tended to, so life is good this afternoon!

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GRATITUDES

1.  The hush of falling snow

2.  A stack of magazines and mail-order catalogs to browse through   

3.  December 1st means we get to open the first door and have the first little chocolate from our Advent calendars, a tradition we've kept since Nick and Dave were babies.

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