Monday, December 29, 2008


" snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOWWWWWW!"

Yes, I admit it.... I've watched "Winter Wonderland" one too many times this month! We had our first white Christmas in far too many years! It was gorgeous! I LOVE snow! I loved having it for Christmas!! I love the way it looks & smells & even the way it tastes! I love icicles & hoarfrost & the way it sparkles at night. I love the crunch it makes when you walk on it & the way it almost "squeaks" under the car's tires. I love the way it makes the whole world quiet & almost otherworldly! We had it for almost 2 weeks leading up to Christmas day & then the warm Chinook winds managed to melt almost every bit of it over the weekend.........sigh............... Oh well! Time to think about spring anyway! All it takes is the scent of wet earth to set off that urge to plant! I've been making lists and drawing up garden plans even before the Christmas decorations are down! We have several bushes to move as soon as the ground thaws & I'll be transplanting over 50 lavender plants. Let's hope they have a sense of humor about the move & agree to thrive in their new homes. I received my first seed catalog in the mail a couple days ago. I can't WAIT to get started! I'm going to order about 6 different kinds of sunflowers, old fashioned cosmos, delphiniums, sweet william, foxglove, & every single variety of pumpkins they carry. Several of the farmers near us grow pumpkins-I know they'll do well. We'll be able to go HOG WILD in October..... I LOVE going hog wild with pumpkins!!!! But, I have to keep reminding myself that there's a whole lot more winter left & not to jump the gun!! Probably couldn't even get a shovel into the dirt outside right now anyway! HA! So, I'll just have to stitch!





Sheila & I have just finished stitching the panels for our new "Friendship Grows Over Garden Fences" quilt. We're just waiting for the fabric from MODA to put the quilt together. The fabric line we're using is supposed to hit the stores in March so we'd better get busy! I stitched another project over the weekend (It's a gardener's angel!) that I'm going to put together with Lecien florals. I haven't decided whether to have her as a single pattern or draw up three more & make them into a small quilt. Decisions, decisions....... I was drawing furiously right before Christmas trying to get a new Christmas quilt down on paper and out of my head so that I could calm down & enjoy the holiday. I CAN'T WAIT to start stitching it up!!!!! It's more snowmen.... an alphabet ......... Christmassy........ I LOVE snowmen!!!! WOW! There's just too much to be excited about right now! Calm down girl!
Our angel.... sorry about the basting threads!
I'm not sure about the pink blouse yet... may have to take it out & re-do it!
We've received a photo to share!
This is "Heart of the Home" made by our friend Shellee Jensen from Belding, MI. She stitched it in perle cotton & it's quilted using some McTavishing....... I had to go online & find out what that was. It's a very pretty quilting technique!............. I really need to get out more! Anyway, we met Shellee in our hotel at International Quilt Market in Portland, OR last spring..... is it OK to tell this story Shellee???.... We met her (she had NO choice!) when she walked through the lobby with a big case of the hiccups. Of course, we couldn't just ignore THAT now could we???? We made lots of fun of her & she & her friends are really nice & have good senses of humor (meaning they didn't get mad at us just because we were pointing & laughing!) SO...... now she's "HiccupGirl !" & we just love her! She obviously does beautiful work too! Bonus!!!!
Well, have to go for now. The guy has arrived to clean the chimneys for the studio's fireplaces... can't have any stinky smoke in here! Bye!