Goodbye 2010

I can't say I am sorry to see the end of 2010. It began rough and ended the same way, with much heartache in between. I am sorry to say that Bud and Rachel will not be staying married. Their divorce should be final in just a couple of weeks, and though it is heartbreaking to see a family end, I can not allow it to cause the suffering it did last year this time. On to a new year....2011. What will it hold? It will hold whatever I allow it to....good or bad. I plan many good things this coming year. I pulled out my journal and began to write my 2011 goals.
I make 1-3 goals in several different areas of my life.....10 to be exact.
I won't share them all with you but I will touch on a couple. This quote, which a friend shared on facebook, is key in my 2011 Spiritual Goals:
"To escape the error of salvation by works we have fallen into the opposite error of salvation without obedience." - A. W. Tozer
I plan to read through the Torah (though I am a total "grace" believer, I have never given any attention to God's law....time I look at it deeply). Also, I am seeking His direction in other areas of obedience in my own personal life...nothing salvation based....more obedient based. In my Personal Development section I plan to work on my problem of "worry". I am a total worry-wart. That HAS to change. I have a plan on how to do this.
I am setting a goal to do "something" with my soap and candles in 2011. Sweetheart invested a great deal of money into my candle business a few years ago, and I was not a good steward of his investment. I have the never changing goal of weight loss and clean eating. My quilting goals are massive, though I am motivated to complete each and every one of them...those will be listed on my sidebar very soon. One of my homemaking goals is to stock my new full sized freezer (my Christmas gift) and pantries. We received a 1/2 a beef, and I am planning to use the money saved to stock up on things when they are on sale. This is something new for me, who was raised to not look at prices and shop several times a week. I also plan to do a big shop twice a month and just grab milk, and perishables on the off weeks. Exciting goals for me....what goals have you set?

Once the sailboat quilt was done, my hoop was empty....GASP! I never did give the table runner for a grab gift. I could not bring myself to machine quilt it. I felt I would just ruin it. It is now in the hoop.I am also working on the next phase of the BIG project. I will be able to talk about it very soon. For now, you will just know this next phase consists of 1,018 pieces of yellow.Our Christmas was nice. I was not in the "mood" at all. It was not a happy time here as it was our first holiday without Rachel. The grandkids came Christmas day and have been here most days ever since. They are staying with their Daddy til Sunday...it was "his week". He had to work Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, so they have spent those nights here. I have sure enjoyed every minute with them! Here is a pic of TJ opening his quilt. He did LOVE it! He kept saying, "It was for me????!!!"Sassy enjoyed her first Christmas....officially her 2nd, but she was only 4 weeks old last Christmas. She loved the boxes!!!And found a quiet place to sleep when the house was full.Christmas Eve, my entire family came for dinner. I treasure those times of family. Here is a picture of my mom, my aunt, my sister, and me.This is what matters....love.

I will end this post, and this year, by sharing a couple of prayer requests. Please pray for my mother's cousin, Elsie. Her daughter died in her sleep last night. She was 47. Elsie is heartbroken and this is her second daughter to pass away in just a couple of years. Also, my Uncle Laddie is in the hospital. Please pray a fast and full recovery for him.

Time for me to go put my sweet Emerson nigh-nigh.
May the new year bring you abundant blessings!!!!

Christmas Blessings

Blessing number 1: You Float My Boat is finished! I am thrilled with how it turned out.
I am giving TJ and his Daddy quilts this Christmas. That is an extra blessing.
Blessing 2: My mother. My sweet, sweet, mother came today and wrapped gifts for me.

One of my least favorite things to do, and it was like the wrapping fairy showed up and took over. She is a professional at wrapping...NO seams. She was wonderful. She stood on her feet for a good couple hours wrapping each and every gift for under the tree.Blessing 3: My grandbabies. They came last week and made Christmas cookies. It is a tradition here for them to make cut out cookies and decorate them. Emerson got to join in this year. She LOVED it.TJ did too. What wonderful children they are.They will be here Christmas Day to celebrate with us.Blessing 4: Love mail. Joann sent me a beautiful box with gifties inside. Beautiful fabric bundles...
A box of dish cloth yarn for Charlotte (most of it is already dish cloths), footies to warm our feet, candy canes filled with chocolate treats for the kids and grandkids, and this gorgeous plaque that graces the wall in my studio.Melzie also sent me a box with a beautiful necklace with a charm stamped "Sassy". Very cute. I am truly blessed, not by the material gifts, but by the heart behind them. Thank you.

Blessing 5: I am not in jail. Yes that is a blessing. Today I saw the womb standing on a street corner. For 10 years I have visualized what I would do and say when I ran into her. It has changed over the years....I started with the idea that I would lose control of my car....oops. Over the years that has evolved into many different scenarios, all ending with her mortally wounded, and me needing bail money. Of course, I have prayed. I have prayed that God help me to forgive her. I have over and over again placed her and my rage and hatred of her deeds at His feet, only to pick them up again and then ask for a "do over". *sigh* Today, as I sat at a red light (in the red light district) and saw her standing on the corner across the street, I was shocked at my own reaction. I was dumbfounded to realize I had none. Nothing. No anger. No hatred. There was no love, mercy or overwhelming feeling of anything good either. Just. nothing.

I'm ok with that. So it truly is a blessing I am not in jail....nor held captive by the chains of hatred. Praise God!

Blessing 6: My bed. I am thrilled with the idea of bed time tonight. I still have lots to do before I can climb between those covers, but it will be a blessing when I do. Sassy agrees! Look at that yawn!
The BIGGEST blessing of all: My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The King of Kings. Jehovah, Yahweh, Adonai. It is He who sits on the throne who is the greatest blessing of all. May you all know that same blessing as we celebrate this Christmas.

A Quilty Post

I finished the table runner top...it measures like 25X43. Not a tiny little runner.
I plan on...get ready....are you sitting down?...machine quilting this in the ditch. There is zero time to hand quilt it and it has so much going on, the hidden quilting will be enough. It will not go on my table....nope, I will have to make another one for me. I am putting it in a gift grab for Christmas.
Yesterday was Kyle's appointment with the blood specialist. Everything is just fine and with an adjustment in his medications, all will be well once again. I am praising God for that!
The mailman brought me 3 packages yesterday. One was from Winona. She made me this gorgeous wall hanging. It is beautifully hand quilted and I can see the love in every stitch. The back gives you a better idea of how heavily it is quilted.It hangs on the wall in my eating area, well seen from the kitchen and family room also. I just LOVE it! Thank you Winona!
Another package was from Debi. Debi makes pillowcases for the kids every season....I think all the seasons are covered now! This package contained Christmas cases. One for all of us!

The little gingerbread men are sweet. Kyle's case is different, but I didn't get a pic cause it was already on his pillow. He told me this morning, "I slept so much better with the pillow case Debi made me, Mom." heehee...gotta love that boy!

The next package was a box. I was from my real life friend Sue. It is actually a 50th birthday gift. I was stunned!It is a beautiful cover up sized quilt. It is such a pretty quilt...very feminine...totally "me". I used it last night as Sweetheart and I watched Survivor. She says she prayed for me with every stitch. Just look at that hand quilting.....So much texture. I just love it!!!

Thank you ladies, for making my day so special.

I have been quilting on TJ's sailboats. He had a change of heart when I told him how big the Rainbow quilt would be, and that he could have it when he had a bed big enough for it. When he said he wanted the boats, I told him I would "think about" giving the quilt to him....;) I have exactly 8 more stars to quilt on the red border and then I can get those waves on the outside border....those will go super fast! The stars are quite tedious and there are SO many of them. It takes about 15-20 minutes to do a star, so I should have no trouble getting those 8 done today....if Sass would move her large frame off the quilt!Thanks for visiting! I am thanking God for every remembrance of you all.

Tis The Season

My Aunt Pete called to make sure everything was fine here. It had been too long since a blog post! LOL Everything is fine, just busy. I spent some time in the new studio working on a table runner. It is one I have made before as a gift, and loved it so much I promised myself I would make one for me one day.
I also whipped up a fleece blanket for my nephew for Christmas. I made him one a few years ago and he carries it everywhere with him. It is way too small now, so he needed a new, larger one. My grandchildren came and spent the night with us last night. TJ helped me make cookies. He has his own apron here...one he made himself.I love that kid!!! Grandma's guy. He sat next to me last night while I worked on the sailboat quilt. He looked at it and said, "I'm glad that quilt is not for me Grandma. I LOVE the rainbow quilt. Can I have the rainbow quilt? I really really want the rainbow quilt, Grandma. I would LOVE the rainbow quilt. I hope the rainbow quilt is for me, Grandma." Crap. The "rainbow quilt" is my new 7000+ piece project.....he can have it when I die. I have no idea what to do now......*sigh*
Emerson was a joy! She loves to play the piano. She looks up at the picture of Jesus when she plays.Or she giggles at Uncle Kyle....She was having a bad hair day....Grandma sprayed it and put it up for her. She played cars with the boys for a while.

Then she got a hold of my purse and carried it around for a long time.
She is a beautiful girl. I adore being her grandma!

The house is decorated for Christmas.

I am not in the Christmas "mood" like I usually am. Mostly, I will be glad when it is over...not a bah humbug, but certainly not singing Christmas Carols either! I am looking forward to a new year. 2010 was not the best of years around here, and I am anticipating 2011 will be MUCH better. I am already thinking about my new goals......

Are you starting to think about the goals you will set for 2011?

I'll be back to share more on mine.

Have a blessed weekend and thank you for letting me share my week.

Building Houses

The grandkids spent 4 out of 5 afternoon/evenings at our house last week. Mom and Dad were working and so we were able to spend some extra hours with TJ and Emerson. Last night I had a couple of gingerbread kits for them to all work on. They had so much fun!!! Emerson did not get the concept and ate all the candies she was suppose to use to decorate.
She thought it was unwise to stick a gum drop on the roof of a house when it was much better in her tummy!!! TJ kept saying, "This is fun, Grandma." They especially loved the gingerbread version of SpongeBob's pineapple house! It was well worth the cost and mess to create these memories with the kids.
Emerson was in this pic, but ducked out of sight just as she snatched Rudolph from the roof of the gingerbread house....he never saw it coming! It was a quick and painless end for the little guy. I am still hand quilting on the star border of the sailboats. I also have the new project in a holding pattern until I get more fabric....I need a total of 4 yards to do the next couple of rounds, which equals $40 in quilt store fabrics, so with Christmas here, that will wait a bit...no problem. It is meant to be a long term project. In the meantime, I am itching to work in my new sewing room!!! I decided that maybe, just maybe, mind you, I would try Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery quilt. I pulled the fabric she called for that I had in my stash and I think I may be able to pull it off....a few fat quarters could end up on my shopping list, but nothing of any real cost. Hmmmmm. Busting stash is always good! Are any of you doing this new mystery? I know Libby is! Step 3 has already been posted and step 4 is going up on Friday. I am waaaay behind already. Plus, my printer is not working so I have to WRITE the directions out!! It will keep me busy this week, right!?
While pulling fabrics, I found another piece of a fabric I have been looking for.

This is the vine in the Underground Railroad Sampler and I need to use it for the leaves. I have one piece, but it was not enough. I was going to have to use a different fabric, as the shop no longer has this in stock. Still, I am thinking I won't have enough. If anyone out there has the dark green Maywood Studio fabric, 7763 Ohana, I would be willing to buy it from you!!!
Sassy sat and watched as I pulled fabrics, always giving me that "Are you nuts?" look.She hasn't been around long enough to know just how nuts I am!