Christmas through the year--2012!!!

It's that wonderful time of the month!  Christmas through the year...2012 style has commenced!  Special thanks to Cheryl and Darlene for coordinating the program this year!  I know we all appreciate your inspiration and encouragement! 

I'm still on track with using up what I have and making do.  So here are some of my January projects:

I've been making seasonal placemats for my daughter-in-law; its' so nice when my girls actually tell me what they like.  These are what I have done so far.

Also made some Christmas penny pockets.  I have tons of accessories and embellishments and these seem like a good way to use them up:

So I also made some that could be used for Valentines too.  A couple of years ago, Sandra visited and brought a bag of craft things.  She said, "look through it and what you don't want, donate."

So I kept some buttons which I knew would come in handy some day!  Look at these little cupids, aren't they the sweetest?  Thanks Sandra :)

Have a great day ya'all and keep sewing!

"Pop" goes the appliances...

Ever have a string of similar problems?  Right now my challenge are electrical things.  Fortunately if things come in three, then I am done.  First my sewing machine jammed so I took it to be repaired.  I got it back on Friday and guess what, it jammed again on Saturday.  The repairman called yesterday and apologized, he has now figured out what is wrong and replaced the part.

Then the printer/scanner died.  It was less than $100 when I bought it about 7 years ago, so we got our money out of it, I just wasn't expecting to deal with that kind of problem!

And of course, I went upstairs to the sewing room last night, turned on the light and there was an awful "pop"!  My old beautiful light has finally died and I am so bummed about it.  The fixture was from the original  electrification of the cottage and was a thick beautiful glass piece with floral basket design inbedded in it.  Mr. 3PandN says the base is shot and that is all there is to it.  :(  I'll keep the glass and try to figure out something to do with it:

Anyway, at least I can post one transfer I got scanned.  If you right click it, you should be able to capture it pretty well.  I think it would be cute on a bib.  Anyway, I'm off to look at light fixtures for my room.  Hope I find something wonderful!
Hugs to all and have a great week!

Transfer Tuesday

 How did you learn to sew?  For me, I was about eight years old when I first picked up a needle and thread.  Embroidery was my first love and I almost always have a project by my sitting chair.  I was also fortunate to inherit a lot of transfers from my grandmothers.  This year I am determined to get things out of storage and use them or lose them so I thought I would share some of my transfers each Tuesday.  This week I am just scanning them and sharing them as is; next week, when I am not down and out with a cold, I'll try to share cleaner pictures.  Let me know if you enjoy them!

This is my project for this year, I'd like to finish a block a month:

In honor of a new year and some new babies coming into our lives:

Have a great day!

The 366 Challenge

Gayle at Garden of Daisies has started the "366 Day Challenge"  She is encouraging us to get rid of one thing a day through the 2012 year (it's a leap year, hence 366 days).  I love this challenge and have been telling my friends about it.   I am very much ready for this because I missed most of last year while caring for my mother.  Now that life is getting back to normal, I am excited to clear things out!  If you are interested, check out her blog, she has a lot of great ideas!!!

Fortunately, my quilt guild is having a show this May and we are encouraged to donate things to sell at the boutique.  I already took a load over Tuesday night and today, I packed up a bunch more things:

This past week I made a ton of teddy bears and premie quilts for the hospital.   I did have a picture with more bears (a couch full) but I can't figure out where the pic went.

This year I would like to NOT buy fabric if at all possible.  For a while I was buying  fabric because I was concerned that the price of cotton might get too high.  I realized that if I did less impulse splurging and only bought what I really needed, it wouldn't matter what the price of fabric would be--I would still have more cash in my pocket.  So this year I am going frugal...how about you?

What in the world is happening in Allentown PA

First off, we have two happy dogs who are enjoying their treats:

Thanks Auntie Lu and Uncle Mike!!!

And then there is what is happening in the backyard:

This is an early blooming jasmine in our back yard but in January???? 

And there are signs of awakening on the rose bushes as well (little shoots are starting): 

It sure is a weird year here in Pennsylvania.  Maybe that October snowfall was the extent of our winter (oh wouldn't that be lovely?).  Hope you all are having wonderful weather!

Word for this year...

"Wrap yourself in the cloak of quietness, and reacquaint yourself with your dreams."

                                                                                             --- from Moments of Beauty

Today I noticed a post on Allie's blog about an idea called "Word Up".  Essentially, you choose a word that you would like to have more in your life.  Allie suggested looking at Kelly's site and I think there is a wonderful amount of wisdon in her posting about her word for the year (especially for those of us who do too much).   What do I need in my life?  My word choice is simple:  Peace. 
What word would you choose?

Do you know what time it is?

It's time to buy some Christmas mugs for next year!!!  They are on sale everywhere and you can get them for as low as .25--although this is up from last year when I got a bunch for only a dime.  Still, it is good to think ahead.  Without a doubt, a mug with a rug was the most favored gift item this year.  So get them now while they are highly affordable!!!

Congratulations Adele!

It's here!!!!  At long last, Adele's book is published and just arrived at our home.  For those of you in blogland who haven't seen Adele's website, http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/ , you are missing one creative woman.  My husband and I both followed her website and then my husband got the people in his office to follow her blog.  I adore this as a grandparent and am buying another copy for friends who are about to become grandparents.  If you have a chance, check it out!!!

Poodle endorsed :)



Use it up...

This is going to be a busy year for me.  I have specific projects to accomplish and also wish to catalog my collection of antique quilts.  I'd also like to use up the fabric I have--instead of figuring out where to store any additional fabric.  As for quilt tops?  They have to be completed or used for something else like what I am doing with these:

I was putting together a quilt for my Nana when she passed away last year.  I did finish the memory quilt I was making for her 90th birthday (she passed two weeks before her birthday) and we displayed that at her funeral.  

Anyone who knew Nana knew how much she loved all children.  She thought kids were about the best way to spend one's time and the only thing she loved as much was her husband, Pop.  I made these bears (and have a bunch more to finish) for our guild; we donate them to the local hospitals for sick children who are in the ER.  As I was sewing bears last night,  I thought of my Nana and concluded that she would love that her quilt had found a purpose of comforting sick children.