Hi.  How are you?  Did you enjoy your holiday?  We did.  It was the best of everything - family, food, fun.  Of course, the stomach flu that came with my parents from Chicago traveled with us to Florida and is now making its rounds through the other side of our family.  That part is not so fun.  So far, Kate, Fatty, Evan and Kenan have been hit.  It's making for a very low key vacation - lots of TV and down time.  All good.  I'm washing my hands a lot and hoping that it is going to bypass me.  Cross all your fingers for me, would you?

I'm gearing myself up for a good New Year.  I've got all kinds of ideas and am itching to start putting it all into action.  But for the moment, I am on vacation and I am trying to embrace the calm and relaxation that comes along with that.  Reading a good book, daily napping, taking photos, hanging out...it'll be over before I know it.  I'm determined to enjoy every bit of it while it's here.

I want to thank you all for stopping by my little space, saying hello and reading what I have to say.  I am so appreciative for the support you give me and the time it takes to keep up and comment on what I have done.  I feel blessed to have this little outlet of creativity and am so honored that you have joined me on this adventure.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  This crafting/blogging community inspires me daily and for that I am extremely grateful.

I'll see you all in 2009.  It promises to be a good year.  Really, it does.

It's Christmas Eve and I think I am mostly ready.  Mostly means I have a hat to finish knitting and gifts to wrap and groceries to buy....all very doable in the 8 hours I have until we go to church late this afternoon.  My fingers and toes are crossed that my parents and uncle can get here from the land of snow.  No snow here, just rain.  But my new gutters were installed yesterday so I'm okay with the rain.  Don't get me wrong - I would rather have snow.  But I have gutters and that is an improvement from yesterday.

I beaded and sequined these little ornaments for an ornament swap that Linda invited me to join.  Heather, I have so much respect for you and your hearts.  Wowzers.  That is some fussy sewing.  Once I got in to a rhythm, I rather liked that fussy stuff, just to be clear.  I sent off 6 little Joy pillows and kept one for myself.

My paperwhites started blooming Monday.  That made me smile.

Many of you asked about the big spool of red and white twine.  Every time I post a photo with twine in it, the emails start coming.  I should have known better so here is the info a little late.  It came from Tilda's  which Laurie pointed me to a long long time ago.  You can get it in blue and white, too.  I wish they had green, but no such luck.  And the brown paper?  I got that at Target - in the gift wrap section.  I also use just packaging paper which can be found by the heavy duty tape and boxes.

I think that just about covers everything.   I hope you enjoy your holiday, whatever that might be. 

Happy Always and Merry Everything!

A few of you guessed what I was up to.  Some of you knew.  So, yeah, I made a quilt for the craft swap.  And I really, really love this quilt.

It's throw size - I forgot to measure it.  I think it ended up around 50" x 60".  I made the six colored blocks on Monday night.  I was in a piss poor mood and playing with fabric changed my frame of mind completely.  I used the same paper bag method that I learned at Denyse Schmidt's studio in November.  I loaded the bags with 5 solids and 6 prints.  I can't tell you who made the solids, but all the prints are Amy Butler's Midwest Modern that I had in my stash.

I pieced the blocks in about an hour and a half.  I made myself move fast so I wouldn't overthink.  I knew that it would be cohesive because I had loaded the bags with the fabric myself.  I kept going until I got tired.  On Tuesday morning, I got up, looked at them all and started adding the dark green around them to make a rectangle.  I then used large strips of green to make the quilt top bigger.

For the back, I made a small horizontal patchwork strip and sewed it between the orange and darker pink solids.  I couldn't resist putting a piece of this cute little house print in.  It's Japanese and came from Purl.

I quilted it with a green thread that matched the lime solid.  I chalked lines 4" apart and free-motioned loops below each line.  I bound it in the lime solid, using a zig zag stitch.

This block is my favorite.  Something about it just speaks to me.

So there you go.  The craft swap quilt.  I really do love it.  So much.  In the end, though, it went home with someone else.  And I let it go willingly.

If you want to see the rest of the goodies that were swapped, and the very cool piece I ended up with, go visit Caroline's blog.  Everything was fabulous - I would have taken any of it willingly.  Caroline tells the story so so well - play by play, actually.  Plus, she took photos and I didn't.

Have a great weekend.  I think I have one or maybe two more posts in me before I disappear for the holidays.  See you soon.

For back-tack, I was paired up with the lovely Theresa.  She sent me some beautiful goodies which I promise to share soon.  I still need to get decent photos (that darn winter light!).  For her, I made a simple throw.

When I found the very last piece of this fabric in my studio, I knew it was meant for Theresa.  I considered making a bag out of it, but I just couldn't cut it.  It is a wool cashmere blend and I had just enough to squeak out a 60" square throw.  I used a Japanese polka dot to bind it.  Simple, but luxurious at the same time.  I hope she enjoys it during these cold winter months.

I sent some other goodies as well - vanilla tea, sea salt caramels and an ornament.  I never tire of brown paper packages and red and white string.  That is my go-to wrap this year.  Speaking of which....time to get back at it.

Last night, I started a new project.  I think this will be the last big sewing project of 2008.  It's for the craft swap on Thursday night and there is only one.  We all draw numbers, open a gift and then steal from each other - lots of fun.

I have to keep it under wraps until Friday, but I am pretty much in love with it.  So in love that I am hoping for the last pick so I can steal it back for myself.  That's allowed, right?  I knew you'd back me up.

Today is rainy and supposedly will turn into freezing rain and ice as the temperature drops.  Fun.  I did the requisite grocery store stop, filling up on baking supplies and bread.  I stopped by the quilt shop and picked up some goodies there too.

If the roads are bad and school is canceled tomorrow, I'll be ready.  Cookies and quilts - what could be better?

Thanks for the great info you guys gave me on the silk.  My goal is to take care of that today as I spent yesterday in bed and then on the couch after staying up all night with a stomach bug.  Fun stuff.

Before the sickness hit, I finished up these two pillows.  I DID NOT knit them.  The kindergarten teacher at my girls' school gave me her mother's Christmas sweater to make into pillows.  I cut the front from the back of the sweater and then stitched (with the sewing machine) around the images.  The knit tends to pull alot so I sewed it on to some muslin to stabilize it before sewing it to the back of the pillow.  I must admit to being a bit scared about cutting this up, but once I started it came together pretty easily.  I think that it was a great idea, too.  There are plenty of Christmas sweaters out there that no one wears, but would make great pillows to be pulled out once a year.  Great gifts for moms and grandmoms too.

That's it for today.  Have a great Thursday.

Just another thing that making me feel festive:  I love twinkly lights and Christmas trees.

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Help!  I'm looking for some silk charmeuse - about a half yard or so.  Does anyone have a good internet source?  Or one that I can call and mail order?  Or any on hand that they would be willing to send me?   Any shade of blue, green, pink, or red would work.  Even black or gray.  I need it kind of quick - by Monday at the latest.  I'd be happy to do a swap or pay.  Thanks.