The New Year Is Upon Us

I know, I know--we all make resolutions each new year and we mostly mean to keep them. Every year I am convinced that I will actually be organized enough to start on Christmas present making and shopping around January 5th and my good intentions maybe last three weeks or so--until life just happens and all of those good intentions fly out to the great beyond.
Dare I say that this year will be different? I sure hope so because I'm running out of opportunities here. BUT, this year my resolutions are going to be somewhat different. With the economy the way it is, many of us have been forced to rethink what we have and how we use the things that we do have. I don't think that I'm alone in being guilty of purchasing somewhat expensive "toys" and then putting them aside for some nebulous time in the future when events in our lives won't be quite so busy.
So, I've been thinking--a lot--about what "toys" I have and just when I'm going to get around to using them. Most of my under-used things center around the computer and, thus, I have chosen that area to concentrate on this year. I bought the Viking Embroidery software almost 2 years ago and got frustrated with it right away--mostly because it was so different from the Bernina software I had used. I haven't used it any more until this Christmas and now I have made a real commitment to become proficient with it--which means that I will pretend that I do not own the Bernina software and thus will not use it as a safety mat when I want to do something easily and quickly. I've also signed up for classes to help me improve.
Along with learning the embroidery software, I will also be spending time with my unused Corel Draw software and the new version of Photoshop Elements. I've been producing my own quilting patterns for a while now and these two programs will make them a better product. (I'm getting ready to do a pattern on quilted mirrors!) And, hopefully, by the time Christmas 2009 rolls around I'll have learned a lot--including more discipline in carrying out my resolutions.
So, wish me well on my new resolutions and I'll certainly do the same for you.
One last bit for 2008. I opened my mail box the other day and looked down into the drawer and saw my quilt looking up at me. I knew this was coming, but all the same, it took me by surprise. What an honor to have my quilt, Magical Thinking, on the back cover of the NQA Quilt Journal.

Gifts Galore

I have been busy, busy, busy this season because I've made most of the gifts that I'm giving. I'm doing that because I really don't have too much choice this year--a huge credit card bill on January 15th is not something I want to look forward to. However--like so many things in life--this has really been a great blessing to me.
I haven't had any time at all to work on my "art" as I've put it aside to work on presents and, at first, I thought I was going to be grouchy about that. But it has been quite the opposite--I've felt my spirit calm and my heart soften as I've taken the focus off of myself and thought of others as I've made each gift. And, in addition, I've gotten to know the "workings" of my sewing machines better as I've used techniques that I don't normally use in my own personal quilting. It's a true "win-win."
So here are a few of the things I've been working on the past week or so:
This first small wallhanging resulted from a snowman block exchange our Mt. Pleasant, group did a couple of years ago. There are 12 blocks but I thought these 4 would made a great little quilt for my niece who is living on her own now and probably could use some Christmas decor assistance.
This next heart quilt was made from some leftover blocks from a larger one I made several years ago. This will go to my other niece who is still in college and could maybe use something that looks a little jazzier.
I started this Log Cabin w/stars at TTT this fall. It is a Thimbleberries pattern and was supposed to have appliqued pumpkins, vines and leaves. When I got it together, I felt the colors were really too bright for the added applique, so I used a border that was very un-Thimbleberries. I then washed it and dried it in the dryer and ended up with a very soft large lap quilt.
These pillowcases were a lot of fun to make and will go to young nieces and nephews. In doing this, I pulled out my Viking embroidery machine and became reaquainted with it. It does such a nice job embroidering--actually better than my Bernina--that I decided to work learning my Viking software (but that's another story). Next on my list will be a chef's apron for a male friend who's visiting for Christmas and maybe some quilted hot mats and embroidered dish towels. Who knows? But I can guarantee it'll be fun!

Such A Sweet Season

One of the things that I enjoy during the Christmas season is making sweet things that I would NEVER make the rest of the year. For some reason, I unreasonably think that calories don't count during December--just like I believe that there are no calories in uncooked cookie dough! It's the oven that activates them (Isn't it nice to be able to delude oneself so completely?)
Anyway, one of the things that I've made the last few years is caramels. Yum, Yum. They are somewhat tedious to make but, boy, do they taste good when they're finished. After measuring all the ingredients, the cooking process itself is about 2 1/2 hours--with about an hour or an hour and a half of it standing and stirring constantly.
After it reaches temperature, you pour it out into a pan. The bad part is that you can't scrape the pot to get all of it into the pan. The good part is that you then HAVE to eat what's left in the pot so as not to waste it! It then sets for about 24 hours before you cut it into pieces.
And this is where my husband comes in. He's the muscle to do the cutting. You have to spray the counter with a vegetable spray as everything is a bit sticky. And if you cut and then don't wrap almost immediately, everything kind of sticks back together. Finally, you wrap and wrap and wrap--with parchment paper that you've cut into smallish-sized pieces. and THEN you end up with a huge bowl of the best pieces of chewy candy that you will ever put into your mouth. ****One note of warning however. Two friends came over on Tuesday to make a batch together and she ended up at the dentist that afternoon after helping to "clean" out the cook pot! Care with chewing for those who have somewhat loose dental work is absolutely required.
For those who still want to make caramels after reading this description, here is the recipe. If y ou double-click it, it should be legible. For a clearer copy, it can be found on Martha Stewart's website under the name Golden Caramels. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

TTT Christmas Celebration

This year, the TTT gang decided to exchange Christmas presents. And today was the day! I had bought an issue of Quilting Arts magazine that had a lot of gift ideas. After looking through it, I decided to try to make mirrors based on the one in the magazine. Of course, mine look nothing like the one there and I did change the way it was constructed. It called for using heavy card stock as the foundation for the mirror itself and the quilted fabric. That just seemed too flimsy to me, so I used foam core--which was really too thick. On the next go-round, I think I'll use masonite which is thinner, but also strong. And, fortunately for me, I am blessed to have a husband who is more than willing to cut out that masonite into the sizes and shapes I want.
Here are some of the mirrors I made:




They were a lot of fun to design and create.







I took a picture of the TTT trailer with all of the gifts laid out--before we opened them but the gremlin got into the picture and it didn't turn out. However, I did capture the unwrapping process. Although it's not the best photo in the world, I think you can see that we were having a great time discovering what was in each package. For a detailed list of what each person made and for a look at Corky's beaded scissor fobs, please go to: http://fiber-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-is-in-air.html. All in all, it was a most wonderful day!