Lazy Sunday Afternoon

 I finished quilting my friends quilt.  It's a cute baby quilt for a her soon to arrive niece.  I love the bright stars.  I know I've mentioned before how much I love the soft Minky fabric on the back of baby quilts.  So glad she had some for this quilt.

 I've been working on a baby quilt.  I had a bundle of fat quarters that I did in a Buggy Barn flower pattern.  I got the idea from my sister, Tracy, and did quite a few quilts years ago like this.  I found my packages of sew on chenille for the centers when I was cleaning my quilt closet a few weeks ago...and it gave me the idea to use it again.  It's really so easy to sew on.

 Then brush it with a stiff brush.  I really love the fuzzy look!!!  

 And here's the reason for the lazy Sunday afternoon....a real snow storm!  It started out as a rainy day and turned to snow...Yay!!  This has been the mildest winter I remember.

Happy Birthday Eden!!

 I still remember the day she made her arrival into the world.  She had the prettiest lips I've ever seen on a baby.  She melted my heart.  She made me a Grandma.  Can't believe she turned 9 yesterday (February 1oth)  Eden loves to read.  Sometimes when she comes over she has her head in a book the whole time.  She giggles as she reads.  She's also very artistic.  She can create anything from cardboard, glue, colored paper, and pom poms.  She couldn't say "grandpa" when she was little so she called him Papa.  That's what all the grandkids call him now.  (Have to say I'm a little jealous that he has such a cool name and I'm just grandma).  Happy Birthday Eden!!  Love you so much!

I was feeling a little stressed about the job situation this last week.  I made a Voo-Doo doll to take my frustrations out on.  He's taking the blame for everything....right through the heart with a pin.  After I took this picture I went a little crazy and added some more pins through the head, stomach, foot, etc.  Whew...feeling much better.

Car Quilt

 I started this quilt in the summer.  I didn't have a pattern and just made it up as I went along...which turned out to be a problem.  Lots of unpicking.  Wishing I would have done a few things different.  But overall I'm happy with it!!  (Or just relieved it's done)

 I fussy cut the cars out of the fabric.  I'm sure my sons could tell you which cars are in this quilt...and so can I.  Red cars, orange cars, blue cars, and green cars.          Ha ha!!  

 I love this orange flame fabric for the back.  

I've been wondering this past week what I want to be when I grow up.  Too bad I'm already middle-aged and haven't figured it out yet.  I thought I knew, thought I had a good career in medical transcription.  That is until India entered this field too.  Found out this week that the hospital corporation I work for is doing away with our jobs and outsourcing the work.  I'm just sick about it.  I really love my boss, in fact followed her here to this job.  There are a lot of things I wish I could say, but can't. {At least not until my final check from them is in the bank.} Actually saying nothing at all is better.  Period.  Just time to get on with life.

Journals for the New Year

 I made some Journals for the New Year to give to some family/friends.  I got the idea here.  They weren't too hard to do.  I always have a stack of composition notebooks.  Love these notebooks!  I use them all the time for projects and writing notes.  I think the blog where I got the idea used the little notebooks, but I liked the big ones.

 What a fun place to write quotes, thoughts, goals, and life's happenings.

I put them in a bag with a horn and a popper.  Think this is going to be a yearly thing.

I really have been doing some quilting.  Hopefully I'll get my latest project on here in the next few days.  It's been a crazy week.  Some life changes going on that I'm still processing.  Ugg!!  I really hate change.  

One Word Goal for 2012

A week ago my friend from work challenged me to find a one-word goal for 2012.  One word?  That's quite a challenge to find just one word to sum up a year.  I searched the internet hoping to find some inspiration.  There are lots of words that would be a good goal for the year:

Balance, kindness, commitment, priorities, dream, succeed, focus, opportunity, grow, organization, joy, hope, love, nurture, comfort, fearless, acceptance.  

While all good goals...none of them really set off a spark in me.  I thought "dream" was too fluffy of a goal.  Really need something with some grit in it this year.  Balance?  Well not sure if I can find balance in life right now.  

Then I finally stumbled on the word.....it just felt right.  Determination.  

de-ter-mi-na-tion (noun):

• The act of deciding definitely and firmly; also the result of such a decision.
• Firm and fixed intention to achieve a desired end.

Synonyms of determination:  Firmess of mind, purpose, resoluteness, self-confidence, purposefulness, bravery, fearless, willpower, spunk, stamina, perseverance, steadfastness, fortitude, and tenacity.

Black and Red Baby Quilt

 I put this top together a while back.  My friend's daughter is having a baby boy this month and loves black and red.  So glad I had the top done and could quilt it up real fast in time for the baby shower.  

 I saw a post here and thought it was a good idea for Jaycee to make to give her friends for Christmas.  We had a hard time finding the clear glycerin.  We found ours at Michaels, but it wasn't as clear as I hoped.  Next time I would probably order some on line.  The fish are from 

Oriental Trading.  

 I think it would be a cute idea for a kids birthday party too.  Jaycee and I are pros at doing them now...haha!!  They worked better if you didn't fill the bag too full.  She made tags that said 

"Merry Fishmas" 

Angel Topper

 Can I tell you how excited I am to have this new Angel for our tree??  My parents have one just like it that they got the first year they were married.  They have used every year since.  I remember it from when I was young and still at home.  We went to the antique store looking for a few new antique ornaments for our tree.  We found one like this but dirty and grey.  I almost bought it, but didn't know how to clean it.  We went to another antique store and as we were about to leave I saw this one on a shelf.  Woo-hoo!!  It's in perfect condition except the corners of one wing is bent.  I could hardly wait until my parents came over for Jaycee's birthday....waiting to see if they would notice it.

 My Dad added another snowman to our collection.  It's the one in front with the stripped scarf.  I think he makes 40 or so every year for all the kids, married grandkids, and neighbors.

 He also added 2 pieces to our nativity set.  It's fun to see what we get every year.  He's already started the camels for next year.

 It's almost time to take down the Christmas quilts and put all the decorations away.  Funny how anxious you get to decorate for Christmas....and then how you can't wait to put it all away and get back to normal.

 We've had this poinsettia for a week....and I haven't killed it yet!  ha ha  Maybe we can enjoy it for another month or so.