Wrapping up another year...

Are you working on your New Year's resolutions? I just about the pro's and con's of resolutions on another site and find myself still undecided.I didn't do well with my list of quilts I wanted to finish this year. I did get the important ones finished- like my Guild's donation quilt and a quilt for my brother - but I have a lot of "almost-dones" that need to come off the pile. (or in most cases just have the binding put on!)

However I did do pretty well on working towards getting my Appraiser Certification with AQS. I took some classes at Paducah, went on regular rounds of the antique malls, attended lots of auctions and major quilt shows. My application was also accepted to sit the exam in April. On a totally different note: Dobby is growing by the minute. He cycles through "eat, play, sleep" about every 8 hours. He is getting to be handful but always fun. When he arrived he fit on this little bed...now it looks like something from an old B horror flick...the kitten that ate the house!

Happy postman....

My poor mailman. He knew I was waiting for a couple of packages and was starting to get concerned...wouldn't you know it they both showed up on the same day! Whooo hooo! (He really earned his box of cookies this year!)

Thanks you Jane from Sew Create It for the wonderful box from your anniversary give-away. Love the V&A calendar. I've been to the V&A a dozen times but never seem to see it "all." It is one of my favorite places in London (which is one of my favorite cities! and that is saying something...)

There is even a box...which for Dobby is almost as fun as a sock! He has been playing with this box since I unpacked it (and hopefully will play with it for quite awhile and give the other animals a break!)

The second box contained a gift for my DH. It was replacing the original with arrived a month ago broken...for weeks they have been telling me a replacement had shipped but looking at the label this box only left their distribution center on Monday...hummmm. Oh well, at least it is here!

A small Christmas miracle...I've been looking for a specific piece of blue batik for the past couple of months to finish a UFO. Several quilters in my guild thought they had it in their stash but to date - no fabric appreared. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box from Jane and there it was...
just enough to finish the last few points on my strippy blue batik star! How wild is that? Thank you Jane!

Good weekend to be in the kitchen

I came back from my visit up to New England only to find it rainy and cold here in Georgia!
So Saturday was spent taking care of Dobby the kitten (we now can have our two cats and the kitten in the same room without a hissy-fit...that is progress!) I also got a start on my Christmas cookies with two batches of biscotti and the batter made up for the molasses cookies (stays over night in the fridge.)

Today I got the Christmas tree which we will put up tonight while eating lots of cookies and chili (not at the same time) and keeping a close eye on the animals as they adjust to a new "thing" in the house. We are taking bets on how long it will be before Dobby breaks and ornament...

Hopefully I will be able to get back to working on my Cotton Boll mystery quilt tomorrow when all calms down again...

Word Play Quilts...

Tonya's book is now available...

I can't wait to get my hands on it!

I met Tonya about ten years ago (yikes) when I moved to Georgia. She was teaching a class at our LQS. I was new in town and so happy to meet another quilter (who didn't take themselves too seriously! she is the unruly quilter after all....)
Our "styles" couldn't have been more different. I was still working on a Baltimore Applique and collecting Antique and Vintage Quilts. Tonya was already piecing without measuring and antique stores made her sneeze! But we became friends anyways! Now I make an occasional wonky-freestyle quilt and Tonya almost bought an antique quilt at Houston....

Mystery quilt temptation

I know I am supposed to be finishing up UFO's but I went ahead and started working on Bonnie's new mystery quilt anyway. No excuses.

This time I am using the same colorways as Bonnie. It takes some of the stress out of a mystery! I cut up a lot of the pinks that weren't quite right (at least I didn't think they were) for some reproduction projects and leftovers from some Moda projects from years ago. Some of this fabric is more than a decade old!

Things came to a screeching halt last night though...I cannot find my easy angle. Let me restate that - either of my easy angles! (The last time I couldn't find it I went out and bought a backup.) While I was cleaning up for Thanksgiving I distinctly remember taking them out of the basket on the kitchen counter and putting them someplace safe. Ya, good luck with that.

This morning I have found dozens of quilting acrylic rulers in a wide variety of sizes in some of the strangest places but as of yet not the size I need. A quick prayer to St. Anthony and I'll move on to the next step of the mystery and hope he gets on the case for me!

Dobby, our new kitten is settling in pretty fast. Our cats aren't interested in him and have gotten to the point where they will eat in the kitchen while he is eating on the other side of the room...of course Macbeth, my Scottish terrier, sits in the middle of the room like a UN peacekeeper. He has lost 3/4 of a pound since Dobbie arrived - not a bad thing for the old dog.

I am a bit worried about just how big a cat Dobby may turn out to be. I swear he grows by the hour! And his paws are growing at twice the rate of the rest of his body...yikes!

And just for grins..."Rocker Dobby"....

A start and a finish!

Macbeth has a new kitten...meet Dobbie! In less than 24 hours this kitten has turned out house upside down. He has stolen Brownie's food, taken a bath in Mac's waterbowl, and made a mess out of my DH's favorite blanket (what was he thinking holding a kitten that long after it ate?!)
Mac isn't getting much sleep. He follows Dobbie all through the house. The cats aren't too sure they like him yet so Dobbie still spends lots of time in his "own" room...good thing kittens need lots of sleep. BTW, he was named Dobbie because I put some old clothes from the "rag" bin into a basket for him to sleep on. When we came back he had crawled into an old white sock and just his head poked out. And a finish...finally got the binding done on this quilt. Just in time too! It is a pattern/technique from Bonnie Hunter's website. A great way to use up scrappy strips. Now only 4 more quilts to bind! Zikes.....