Sneak peek.....

I just finished making my sweetie some chocolate chip cookies, thought I would surprise him with them when he comes home from work!

It has been a productive 4 day weekend!  Cinnamon Twist is now quilted and has the binding sewn on.  I can finish tacking the binding down tonight while watching "24".   I have to say that "24" and "American Idol" are the ONLY things I like about January!

And here is a sneak peek at the quilt I am getting ready to quilt next, On Eagle's Wings by Laundry Basket Quilts.  It is a paper foundation flying geese pineapple, and let me tell you, I nearly went crazy tearing all that backing off.  Instead of using paper, I thought I would try the stuff you can buy at JoAnn's.  It sews very nicely, easier than paper, but what a pain to tear off!  It does not tear off easily at all!  I am so thrilled to have it ready to quilt!

It's in the mail!

It's finished and in the mail!  My niece had a baby in April 2009, and it has taken me this long to get it completed.  It's winter, and I am sure he will make good use of it now.
Baby John lives in Virginia, so hope I will have a picture of him with his new quilt to show off later on! 
This is my first finish for January 2010! Hope to have a couple more before the month is over.  The OPAM project such a good idea!

Winter quilts

The rest of the Christmas Decorations came down last weekend. It is really one of my least favorite things to do...the house always seems so forlorn! And there are so many to put away! I only have myslef to blame.....love my Snowmen and Santas. I am leaving out a couple of my "winter" quilts for at least another month.
I saw a darling little snowman door handle decoration on Mama Pea Quilts blog, and it reminded me that I have that pattern in my "To Do" notebook. Actually, I have two binders full of patterns I would love to do someday, and it is doubtful that it will ever be empty!

I have decided to get a head start on Christmas 2010, so I have started stitching this adorable little piece that I found on Gail Pan's blog...you should check her out. She has lots of fun quilts and stitchery pieces.

This quilt hangs in my dining room. It is the "Winter Quilt" from the book "Snowbound" by Jerry Kimmel, Linda Brannock, and Jan Patek. I made it about 15 years ago, it was one of my first attempts at hand applique and it is hand-quilted by me. It is a special quilt that comes out at Christmas time and stays up until the end of February.

Baby it's cold outside!

Oh my! Look at these poor little things! This was taken about 6 miles outside of Tarkio, Missouri. How do they surive this cold and where do they get food? BRRRR!

It is about 5 degrees here in KCMO and there is a light snow falling. Tonight there is actually a wind warning because of the subzero temps and the high winds that are expected. A couple more days of this and then it will "warm" up...crazy when one thinks that 20 is warm!

This afternoon will have to be spent in my warm and cozy little sewing room...not complaining at all! A cup of hot tea and my sewing machine....pure bliss!

Snowy afternoon

It is so nice to have Wednesday afternoons off, especially today with the snowstorm coming in this afternoon! When I got home, I was greeted by my grandsons, Jack and Caleb, and daughter, Mary. They all came over in their pajamas and we had a pajama afternoon together with pizza and cartoons. Everyone was getting a bit of cabinfever at their house.

As you can see, I am still in the process of putting away Christmas decorations! I like to put the "noisemaker" decorations on the stairs, so that Jack can make them sing. He eventually had all of them going at one time....Mr Santa Frog croaks Jingle Bells quite loudly!

After they left, I sewed a few more little churn dash blocks for my Cinnamon Twist quilt...I think I only need to make 6 more and I can get it set together on Friday! ....after I finish putting away the rest of the Christmas decorations.

Cinnamon Twist

After church, I was able to grab a couple of hours this afternoon in my sewing room, working on my little quilt. The design is from Jo Morton's book Remembrances and it is the Peppermint Twist quilt. A few years ago, our Jo's Little Women group did a churn dash block exchange at a quilt retreat with Jo. I am finally getting something put together with my blocks. Since I changed from pink to red for my setting blocks, I decided to change the name to Cinnamon Twist. I'm loving the little flying geese border around the applique block!

Hopefully, I will have this done by the time we have our retreat in February. With all the cold, snowy weather we are having, I think it will happen!

A new year

This decade has certainly flown by fast! When this new millenium started, little did I know how many changes would come about for me and my family. I lay in bed thinking this morning of all the new titles I had aquired in the past ten years.....widow, grandmother,great-aunt, mother-in-law, fiance, bride, wife, step-mom and step grandmother. I moved from the country to the city, traveled outside of the United States for the first time, was baptized and became a member of the Community of Christ, bought my own home all by myself, and many new friends came into my life. Wonder what the next decade will bring? Am I ready?

"The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year.

It is that we should have a new soul."