Happy New Year!

Phew!  Made it through the marathon of the holidays and back to reality.  It's January 2nd and normally I'd be discussing my new year's resolutions in the hope that committing to them publicly would force me to see them through.  I floated my idea of a single resolution to "do better" to my sister thinking she would be impressed with its cleverness and simplicity.  Instead she informed me that it was a vague and non-committal resolution and clearly not destined for success.  So now it's back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to do a little show and tell of the handmade gifts that my mother, sister, daughter, and I exchanged for Christmas. 

First up is the beautiful cathedral window pillow that my mother made for me.

Isn't it pretty!  My mom is sooo good at cathedral windows.  Once upon a time she tried to teach me how to make a cathedral window wall hanging, but sadly I didn't inherit the gene and my attempt is packed away in a closet. 

Here's the gift that my sister made for me...

It's a crocheted infinity scarf!  You loop it around your neck twice and it keeps you cozy and warm.  I love the puff stitch that she used and believe it or not, this is her first real attempt at crocheting!  Poor thing gave herself carpal tunnel syndrome crocheting one for me and one for my mom.  That's love.

My daughter made this adorable wool applique wall hanging for me...

I just love that the snowmen don't have any features except for their noses and how she tacked the scarves down with a sweet "x" stitch.  When I opened the gift my daughter said, "Aren't you proud of me -- I used real binding!"  I have to say that I got a little choked up.  Could it be that someday she may become a quilter after all??

Finally, here's a shot of the gift that I made for both my sister and my mom.  I found this adorable pattern in the current issue of Primitive Quilts & Projects magazine.  The "Slim the Snowman" pattern was designed by Rhonda McCray of Farmhouse Threads. 

 

This is my sister's snowman.  She loves the primitive look, so I used weaver's cloth for the snowman, denim for the background, and a plaid wool for the scarf. 

 

 

Here's a close-up of his face...

Definitely plan on making one of these for my house too!


I'd include a picture of the pecan pie that I made for my dad, or the death by chocolate trifle that I made for my brother-in-law, or the cinnamon-raisin bread that my sister made for my husband, but sadly they are no more.

And now I'm off to come up with some better new year's resolutions.  Happy New Year!


New Year's Resolutions

As you may recall, my family brought home a puppy the week before Christmas.  Things are finally beginning to settle down a bit, but following Casey around trying to prevent accidents seems to be impeding my ability to focus.  Normally I try to start a new year off with a big list of resolutions complete with action plans, progress charts, and, of course, an incentive program.  But thanks to my foggy brain, this year, the only resolution I've been able to come up with so far is to floss every night.

I decided to ask my family for resolution suggestions and here are some of the highlights...

My husband's contributions were:  "Always cut on the bias" and "Make liberal use of interfacing."  While I admire his grasp of sewing vocabulary, somehow I think his heart wasn't in it.

My youngest son's suggestion was:  "Stay quilting my friends."  Great idea, but I'm a little disturbed that he's referencing Dos Equis beer commercials at 10 years of age.

My oldest son was right on the money with his idea:  "Go big and bold!"  Probably not a bad idea for me to try something other than my usual muted palette and small scale fabrics.  At least I think he was referring to quilting...

My daughter, a fellow crafter, had a couple of useful suggestions:  "Finish your UFO's" and "Wear comfortable shoes."  She also came up with my favorite idea:  "Less talky, more quilty."  Enough said.

Still searching for ideas, I approached my mother and sister.  My mom informed me that she was thinking about not buying any more fabric until she has used some of hers up.  Clearly, and much to my husband's chagrin, I'm not even considering this resolution.  My sister plans to be mindful and to record a year in the life of her family by taking a photograph a day and scrapbooking it.  As good as it sounds, I'm not sure it's possible to be mindful while raising a puppy.

So now that I've surveyed my family what are my resolutions for 2012 going to be?  Well, I'd like to train the puppy to go outside only 10 times a day instead of her current average of 20.  I'd like to exercise more, drink more water, and eat more fruits and veggies and less chips and queso.  I'd like to get organized and up my productivity -- less talky, more quilty!  I'd like to continue to write a post for my blog every Monday (oops, please disregard that today is Tuesday!).  And finally, I'd like to see what I can do about the quilt pattern book idea that was rolling around in my head before Casey came to stay. 

Ambitious?  Yes.    Possible?  Maybe.    Healthy gums?  Definitely.

Happy New Year!

Casey's latest mug shot.