Happy New Year Eve!!!!!

Hard to imagine but it's almost 2011!!!!!
To begin the year off with a new goal I have signed up for another online challenge:-)
Notice the button on my blog listed sketchbook challenge.....
Well to prepare for the start date of 1/1/2011 I gathered up some of my sketchbooks a few old, a few partly used...and lol a couple completely empty books I discovered in my MI home's basement packed away in boxes unknown a drawback of living in limbo for the last 7 years.... (notice the cute cute funny face pad in my photo.)
So now let the fun soon begin.....happy new year to all!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wonderful Christmas

So we made it to MI and the holiday so far has been very blessed! I can finally post some photos of some of the quilting I completed during the month of December....thankfully though my back was probably the worst it has ever been I managed to create 4 different quilts and a few 10 minute holiday runners ...I love that quilting worked as my ART THERAPY! Thankfully it made me feel better to be creating ;-)
So one quilt I had a lot of fun making was for our family gag gift exchange....3 years ago my daughter had drawn my name and gave me a group of photos printed on fabric to as she put it to "show me support in my desire to focus in art quilting"... ;-) It was a very cute gag gift at the time and the photos are atrocious... my kids had posed in silly close up facial poses. To add to my idea for the gag quilt if you recall I attended some classes last summer w/ Nancy Crow and anyone that has taken classes with Nancy knows that you spend time creating FABRIC lots of fabric!!!! ;-) So I had a stack of fabric that I had sitting around my studio crying out to be used in some kind of creation! Next enter the fact that I drew my lovely college niece's name and having drawn her a few times in the past I was struggling for something new to surprise her with????? I decided she would be the perfect recipient for this special creation I had in mind. ;-) So I gathered the fabric photos and the Nancy Crow fabrics and began to design....My niece attends college in Upper MI where it is quite cold so a quilt could/would be a handy item to keep in her car in case of break downs ;-) or in a cold apartment and to make sure she understood my reasoning I had a lot of fun in my free motion quilting including the lesson I wanted her to take to heart ;-)
"COUNT ON FAMILY TO CYA".... ;-)

Thankfully she appreciates her God-mother's sense of humor.

and the other 3 quilts I completed during the month of December were:

Quilt on left is a large 9 square block scrap quilt, the quilt on right is brown lap quilt Christmas 2010 present

Christmas present to my daughter-in-law's mother



Surprise/specially designed lap quilt for husband Christmas 2010 present
The large middle square fabric are cut from his deceased mother's house coat (a treasured memory)
He was pleasently surprised.



Okay so placed it right at top for the time being!

We are headed up north to celebrate the holidays with my folks and most of the family. Will be a quick visit with many time demands if we're to get to visit with as many relatives and friends as possible..some reflective time, possible some a sad farewell to someone special to my husband that the Angels might be calling home far too soon. We hope to get in some kisses and hugs from a couple of the grandkids and if we're lucky Santa will find us and leave plenty of surprises. whoops and we get to celebrate my parents 65th wedding anniversary!! just that alone shows how blessed we are!
I'd like to take this time to wish all a very blessed Christmas and Happy New year!

which before I sign off it brings me back to my title :-) I have been meaning to commit to participating in the sketchbook challenge! Thus my new added button on the blog. funny it seems I have a stack of many sketchbooks all scattered about,always told my students how important sketching is, so I am hoping this challenge will help me become a little more organized. I must admit that though I felt I had not completed my other two challenges I hooked up with this summer I did complete two Christmas quilts as presents thank to the nine patch square challenge this summer and I sadly need to look up the name of the other sew along. Sadly thanks to my injection yesterday my brain is feeling like mush today on recall...something about that twilight they give you...leaves me loopy for days :-)
Leaving on a good note...I have high hopes RE: my injection....time will tell.
Merry Christmas!