Happy New Year!

Thank you for the Christmas wishes - we had a wonderful day! I spent a few days before and after Christmas nursing a head cold but it's finally clearing out.

I'm here to wish you and yours the very best in the new year. I hope that 2010 will be full of everything wonderful and delightful.

Personally and outside our home 2009 has been challenging for many. My family and I are very happy to see 2009 coming to an end and have high hopes for new beginnings in 2010. I could go on and on about the distress and challenges we faced in 2009 but that wouldn't change anything and only fill me with negative feelings. Sigh!

I try to choose a word every year that I carry in my heart and mind. In 2010 I want to focus on two words..... "Gratitude & Generosity".

I'll be back tomorrow, January 1, 2010 to issue a small challenge. I hope you'll check back with me.

I'm very grateful for your visits and comments! Thank you!

In Friendship and Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

In Friendship!

Happy Birthday, Mary!!!!!!

Please visit Mary at Quilt Hollow to wish her a happy birthday!!!

Christmas Surprise!

This Christmas Surprise arrived last week from Mary at Quilt Hollow! This little quilt will look adorable in my home; Mary remembered that my favorite colors are red & blue - PERFECT!

Mary, thank you so much for your incredible generosity - you've made my heart smile.

Christmas is coming whether or not we're ready! LOL! Don't stress, enjoy the season.

Thank you for stopping by to visit - come again!

In Friendship!

Dear Santa,

It has come to my attention that you have Elves assigned to The Fat Quarter Shop and they will pay attention to my wishes for Christmas.

My biggest wish is that all my bloggy friends receive everything their hearts desire.

I have very simple wants and wishes and would be very happy with a few Moda precuts (I love Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Honey Buns, etc).

One of my desires is Civil War Homefront by Barbara Brackman for Moda - it's YUMMY!!!

I've tried to be a very good girl all year but please bear in mind that I Can Explain! :-)

Thank you for visiting my blog Santa and I remain.....

In Friendship!

A Heartbreaking Day

:-(

These Gingher embroidery scissors were a Christmas gift from my Dad in 1987. My parents were divorced when I was a baby and I didn't have a relationship with my Dad until my daughter was born. I'm sure there were gifts from him as I was growing up but these scissors mean the world to me because he really encouraged my love of sewing and such. I love scissors and have a delightful collection but these have been near and dear to me.

Oh the memories! They have been with me through many handwork projects - the silver is worn off in the fingers holes and that makes me smile. :-)

I didn't cry but I wanted to - why? Yesterday I was moving my stitchery project and the scissors slid off my hoop and hit my tile floor - they are ruined - one tip is bent! Huge sigh!!!!

I plan to put them away in a special box with a note in hopes that one day my daughter will find them and realize that my Dad and I are smiling down on her. :-


I will look through my collection of scissors and start making memories with a new pair. :-)

Thank you for letting me share about my heartbreak.

In Friendship!

The Sweetest Things

Recovering from the Ornament Exchange Party, a little shopping, enjoying our colder temps and a little stitching will account for happenings the past week.

I finished my Holly Jolly Cameos quilt top the week before the ornament party but I haven't quilted it yet. Why? Well, I love it but I want to 'age' it. I think it would look wonderful with a coffee and/or tea aging. I'm not sure how to do it - should I age it before or after it's quilted, would you just spray it with a mix or would you dunk the whole thing in a mix? Help!!!!




Sweet package arrived from Carrie at A Passion for Applique. I was instantly in love with the tissue wrapping paper, the tag, and tiny ric-rac. :-)


And, when I opened it I discovered an adorable embroidered, felted wool mitten filled with more tiny ric-rac and a candy cane. There was a fat quarter of red fabric (she remembered that I love red) and chocolate. Carrie, thank you so much for your thoughtful gift.



Another sweet! Years ago we discovered that all of our Christmas decorations and such had been stolen. I won't bore you with that story again this year! I did lose some collections - Santas, ornaments, cookie jars, feather trees, etc. Every year since then we've purchased a few new things and began making new memories. It was difficult the first couple of years but I finally moved on and we have treasures we enjoy. I discovered Thelma's blog (Cupcakes'nDaisies)recently and she showed her wonderful collection of Christmas themed cookie jars. Inspiration! Here's the first of a new collection - he makes me SMILE. :-) BTW, Thelma and I agree that we don't have to fill the jars with cookies. LOL


I've been doing a little stitching in the evenings. I'll share soon!
*
These are busy days - take a few minutes to enjoy your needle and thread.
*
I appreciate your visit - thank you and come again.
*
In Friendship!

The Party's Over

Yes, the Christmas Ornament Exchange Party is now history but won't be forgotten. :-) We had a fabulous time and wish YOU could have been here.

Father Christmas waited and anticipated everyone's arrival.

And, Santa watched over everyone from the kitchen!

The Gingerbread Men were ready to stand guard over all the sweets.

Santa and his helpers have been busy baking cookies and such!

Father Christmas had name tags for all 29 guests!


The Snowman Tray was ready with 11 ornaments so a "Holiday Eye Spy" game could be enjoyed! They laughed, snickered & giggled while the game was played. LOL
There were three winners so the ornaments were split between them. :-)

After the "Holiday Eye Spy" game we played the planned ornament exchange game. OMG, we laughed so hard. Our guests had been instructed to bring their ornament wrapped and in a brown paper bag. The bags were passed out, their name tags and bags had been numbered so they were to verify that the numbers did not match. I wrote my version of T'was The Night Before Christmas" and basically had Santa driving through our community making lefts and rights to visit each guest. Everytime the words "LEFT"or "RIGHT" were mentioned they were to pass the bag to the left or the right. There were several times when someone either didn't have a bag or someone had two or three because lefts and rights were being confused. LOL When my story was over the passing of the bags stopped and they were to double check their numbers and make sure they didn't match! The variety of ornaments was incredible - cute, beautiful, sweet, adorable, were adjectives we kept hearing. :-)

Good food, good friends, laughs, giggles, hugs, kisses, etc were shared and enjoyed.
*

I had party favors to send home with everyone - we spent Thanksgiving afternoon assembling the Chocolate Molten Cake mugs.
They had arrived with a brown paper bag and were leaving with the surprise mug in a brown paper bag. Married guests took two bags and single guests took one bag.


We spent lots of time preparing for the party and are happy to say that it was a success. They are all reserving the Monday after Thanksgiving next year so we can do it again. :-)
*

In closing I'd like to add - this party would not have been such a success without the incredible support and assistance from my sweet husband, Ron. And, I need to acknowledge the help from my daughter, Kristie.
*

And, now life gets back to normal and I'll continue to prepare for our family's Christmas.
*

Thank you so much for visiting with me - I hope you'll come again soon!
*

In Friendship!