It Was a Very Good Day

 My wonderful son with his beautiful boy.

Indeed, it was a very good day....our hearts are full.

And of course, here are a few pics, of the quilt I made for him.

The Pros and Cons of Blogging....My first year

It's official I've been blogging for exactly one year....time to take inventory. I remember how fearful I was pushing the publish button, for my first post. If it hadn't been for Lynne of Lily's Quilts I might never have...she gave me the nudge I needed. To think I might have missed out on this experience...so thanks again Lynne.


Pros

• I have found a wonderful sense of community......when everyone else gets tired of the quilt talk, somehow you guys never do.

• I'm quilting more...seriously my production is up, at least the starts are, I'm not so sure about the finishes.  No, actually I think they are up as well.

• It's like having a journal, of my quilt life...I've never been able to stick to keeping a journal for more than a week or two, at a time. A whole year and close to 200 posts, it's exhilarating

• New friends...from all over the world, including, my own city.

• I'm more motivated to push myself artistically...I love showing you my work and you help motivate me to continue on.

• Most of all I'm still amazed that you read and comment...and all your comments are so supportive and positive and best of all you often make me laugh...fall off my chair laughing.

Cons

• So happy to say, there is nothing, under the cons list. Seriously you've all been so wonderful.

Am I up for another year??....you bet I am. Have I felt pressure, keeping up with it??...I can honestly say no. The pleasure far outweighs the work.  


Thank you for letting me share a piece of my life with you.  From my the silliness, to the fabric addiction, to the artistic endeavors and back again.


I know many of you, do give aways, for occasions, such as this, but I thought I would follow Leanne's (She Can Quilt) lead and make a donation to my favourite charity instead. One of my favorite Charities is World Vision....I'll be calling them next week, to sponsor a child, in celebration of one year of blogging.


And because I can't have a post without some pictures, here is my finished baby quilt....that I started late, yesterday afternoon. 

 Bound and washed!!

Whoops, I photographed the giraffes upside down. Time to get back to some more adult type projects, although the kids stuff has been fun.

Still in Grandma Mode

As if I don't have enough on the go, I thought I would quickly put together a small quilt for my little grandson, who is due this spring. After all, I had four pieces of Minky left and the operative words are small and quickly. It's not like I had to go shopping for fabric or anything.

I wasn't sure how well the Minky would take to the spiral quilting...

Not Bad

These little stuffed animals came with, two squares of Minky......you are actually supposed to cut the animals in half and sew them to the fabric some how. Yikes, that's not happening in my studio. I used two for doll quilts and joined the remaining four and made a small baby quilt.

I also made pillows and mattresses for my little doll beds.

All I have left to do is the binding on the baby quilt and I'm done....so happy. 

All that and I still had time for a Christmas lunch with my fellow blockheads....some days are just way more productive than others.

 I'm motivated because my daughter flies in from Montreal tomorrow and she takes after her father (Mr. Christmas) so there could be a flurry of activity around here for the next ten days...I can't wait to see her.

And still More Cirlcles...QAYG

As I go through my quilts, I'm rather surprised, at how many are QAYG. The circles on this quilt are inset rather than applique. The quilt is all flannels, except for the binding and the joining strips. In my earlier QAYG quilts, including this one, the lattice or joining strips are very obvious
.

I just can't seem to get enough of spirals....easy when you are quilting the individual blocks.

 

Quilt Back

Paige and Elliotte



Paige's Quilt




As the year draws to a close we like to look back at all that life has brought our way. For me the biggest blessing was the births of my two beautiful granddaughters, born two and a half weeks apart.  Paige and Elliotte you light up our lives. 



Elliotte's Quilt