I've been thinking

quite a bit about what my NY's resolutions should be. Two words sprang to mind - FOCUSSED and EFFICIENT. I tend to spend too much time faffing around and not getting anything done. And I don't have time to waste. So the F word and the E word are going to be my 2010 words.

Before I tell you more let me show you the dessert I was cooking on Christmas Eve.


Rosewater meringue - good to eat, hard to cut. We had a very pleasant Christmas Day. How about you? I hope yours was wonderful too.

Now yesterday when I was thinking - staring at my Frida Kahlo calendar - my NOS sauntered in and reminded me that it was actually from 2008 not 2009 - quite right - I didn't get around to buying a new one so I reused it. Well the paintings are beautiful so why not? But I was thinking that I couldn't use it again for 2010 could I? So today the doorbell rang - guess who - yes the postie with a package (Merri stop laughing)......and it was truly unexpected. My friend Kathie sent me a wonderful calendar with a picture of her quilt on the front! Look - isn't it fabulous!

Thank you so much Kathie, you made my day - I'll be making a version of this for sure.

Now behind the calendar you can see a cabinet - this is part of the F and E mantra - I bought it from IKEA my sometimes favourite store. It now houses my on the go projects as well as my favourite books and magazines of the moment. These things usually live on the floor which means things get messy and out of control. Not very F or E.

A couple of GTASB blocks to show you today. First one from last month set into a background square (mainly for Kim since she loves these fabrics)


I think this one is called Daylily, and the first one from this month


called Baby carriage. Still one to go. And I've lost track of which month I'm up to.

Looking forward to hearing your new year's resolutions too,

Happiness to all,

Deb

Merry Christmas

Dessert cooking in the oven for tomorrow, presents starting to be wrapped, checking the list twice to make sure all is done in my little corner of Christmas Eve. Looking forward to tomorrow and seeing some of my family. And to having some time off over summer.


Thank you all for leaving so many wonderful comments and for extending your friendship to me through blogland. It has been great fun and so inspiring to peek into your worlds too.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with lots of laughter surrounded by your loved ones.

I have a couple of new quilt books that have been waiting for me to read them so I plan to do that over the next couple of weeks. I'll try and do a review at some point.

Merry Christmas to all,

Deb xoxo

It's beinning to look a lot like Christmas

well on your blogs anyway........put the tree up yesterday but that's it. Went shopping on Sunday and bought almost all the required presents, just a few more to go. What a relief - I work right up until Christmas eve so not much time for organising/shopping or having pre-Christmas fun - but never fear - I'll be making up for it post Christmas. Are you having some fun? I hope so.

Just a few things to show you today. Number one: Mary Mannakee. Can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this. But I have a question. On this block I decided to sew a big stitch to quarter the block and mark the diagonals, since I wanted to get the placement right. After removing the machine basting - I have rather noticeable needle holes - any advice as to how to remove said holes? Won't be doing that again! Here is my finished block.


Number two: GTASB. This is the final block from last month - thought I'd finished it, but when I photoed it and went to put it away I realised that it needed to be set into a background square - der - what a thicko! So I'm still to do that, probably not worth another photo unless I'm running short of photos to show you. So just imagine this is set into a background square please.



Number three: Antique Wedding Sampler. I haven't finished the previous block but it's coming along. Just thought I'd give you a sneak peek at what's coming.


Number four: My backyard. Remember some time ago I showed you this photo


well now it looks like this


not bad huh? Not quite finished either. Scary part is the MOTH said the P word - yes - painting - OMG NOT THE P WORD! It quite possibly will not be finished in my lifetime - but I don't care - I can still sit on it right? Don't you love it - I do. And so do the kids and their friends who gave it a road test on the weekend.

Finally, on my shopping trip I sneaked in to Zetta Florence and got my stationary fix


These can make me enjoy filing bills - actually that's not quite true - but you get the idea.

I have not had much of a chance to read your posts the last couple of weeks, but I take a quick look at the photos which always make me happy. Hope to catch up shortly.

Until then dear friends,

buy yourself something that makes you happy,

Deb

The secret's finally out

Well hello everyone. Managing to negotiate the Christmas rush without flipping a fuse? Well done! Last week I felt like I could spontaneously combust at any time - but things are a little less catastrophic this week. No progress photos to show you today although I do have some coming.

Over the past six months 10 women have been keeping a big secret! Hard to believe I know - but it's true the cat did not even make a meow let alone get out of the bag. On Saturday we had the Christmas party for our quilt group and let the secret out. Here's a photo



Di with the quilt that we have been making for her. She was overwhelmed and we were so pleased to have made it for her. Here's us with it


From the left: Chris, Meghan, Kerry, Ann, Barb, Sue, Merri, me, Julie.

Unfortunately Clare could not be there due to family committments which was a shame for us since she had put in so much work.

The quilt is a reproduction of one in Annette Gero's book. I think it's called Frederika Josephson - sorry I don't have it here so I can't check. It is all hand pieced. We used fabrics from our stashes mainly - picking ones that we had bought over the years from Di's shop, so that will bring back fabulous memories for her. It was beautifully quilted by Helen who is a long time friend of Di's and does such a wonderful job.

So glad to have it safely delivered. It's hard work trying to remember whether one of our conversations was with our normal group or at a secret meeting.

This week sewing priority is dancing costumes. How many sequins do you need honestly!......and feathers................

Back soon,

Cheers

Deb

I wish I had elastic days

you know - the kind you can pull from both ends so that they stretch to fit what you would like to do in a day. Nothing has moved here this week, including the ever thickening layers of dust and grime everywhere. Seems to increase in direct proportion to the number of hours DS (aka pigpen) spends at home.

Not that it hasn't been fun - just many family related activities which have kept me out of the house, NOD in dancing presentations, rehearsals and a Shakespeare play (she was sooooo funny as Stefano the drunk butler in The Tempest), NOS finishing his auditions (he was very happy with them) and NOD's birthday/party (gorgeous girlfriends). So no time to really think about sewing.

Oh yes, there is a major project underway in the backyard as well (remember I showed you a before and promised an after shot, coming soon).

In fact I have been writing this post for two days and haven't managed to finish it yet. Roll on the holidays!

So enough of my whining - I'm sure most of you are just as busy - are you?

I did manage to keep Sunday free so we could head up to Threadbears for Di's pattern launch. We had a fabulous day. We met at The Bold Garden for lunch (worth a trip for the lunch and the beautiful plants/garden art) - I think they had been "told" about us - so we had a back room all to ourselves (really noisy we were). It was great to meet Linda (Quilts in the Barn) and Bev there, albeit briefly. Hope she hasn't changed her mind about the exhibition now that she's heard us in action.

We arrived at Threadbears after lunch and the shop looked great as usual with a room set aside for Di to display her new quilt as well as some of her other recent ones. Gorgeous. And of course Corliss, Megan and Ruth were great to chat with - and who could forget Kurt (or is that Curt) either way he's a legend.

And just as we were heading out I spied Lizzie maestro of the CWB blog. Lizzie it was so great to meet you - you look just like your photo.



And I came back with a bag of goodies to start the new Ann quilt (above). Tossing up whether to start it or Phebe (detail below) first. Still haven't decided.

As testament to my busyness, this month I didn't finish the GTASB blocks before the next moth arrived. December's issue here.


Did manage to cut a few baskets for my basket quilt


and a few more.


Almost finished the MM block

I just knew those fingers would take me forever. The white part is freezer paper of course and will be removed to reveal the red underneath. I didn't need to tell you that did I.

OK that was my meager contribution for the week. And by the way - if you have emailed me and I haven't replied - a million apologies. I am far behind with my blog reading/responding and since the two email servers I use don't talk to each other, I have lost track of who I have and haven't answered. I will attempt to fix this shortly.

I do hope you are surviving the silly season and are finding some time to enjoy yourselves.

Merry December,

Deb