My best wishes.......

My best wishes to all my friends in Blogland for a very healthy, peace-filled and happy 2012.

This is my last "finish" for 2011.....a quilt that is made from blocks done in a swap I hosted awhile back.....too lazy to go look up the date!!!  LOL   Ebony Love (Love Bug Studios) did a nice job of quilting it for me and I put the binding on today and got it all washed and dried so it would be nice and crinkly....just the way I like it!

I did get a lot of quilts completed in 2011 and hope I do as well in 2012.....but I really need to sift through my UFO's and decide........Finish?........Give away for someone else to finish and keep?........Trash?    I have way too many and some of them no longer appeal to me, I am sad to say.  I may have to offer some on my blog as a giveaway, so keep your eyes open!  Maybe there will be something that appeals to YOU!

Happy New Year! 

Loving my books!

Recently, there was a big blog hop with more than 250 blogs participating.  I did read ALL the blogs, but I controlled myself and only entered 20......the ones that had the prizes I thought I would be most likely to use.  I didn't want to win something that would have been more important to someone else.  I really didn't think I'd win anything by entering only 20 out of the 250...and considering how many others also entered those 20 giveaways, but.....much to my surprise, I did win on two of them!   I won this really nice collection of books and a set of postcards about quilts that are in the Michigan State University quilt museum.  This was from the Quilt Doctor blog.

I also got this very nice book from Janet K......and I am tearing my hair out looking for her blog name.  (My email is acting up on my computer BIG TIME and many things are not accessible to me right now, including my exchange of emails with Janet that has her blog name in them!)  This book has a lot of great applique for various seasons and holidays....all shown as table runners/toppers.  I'm not so great on applique but I like several of these enough to give it a try.  NOTE: Edited to add the name of Janet's blog ..... A Hug Delights. 

And....on Christmas morning, I got these 3 books AND a nice Amazon gift certificate to order more books for my Kindle.  I love to find ways to cut and make traditional quilt blocks using my GO! cutter, so the two quilt block books will be a terrific resource for me!  You can see I have lots of fun hours of reading (and quilt-making) ahead of me over the long, cold months of January and February! 

Peace, love, joy, and good health.....

May the blessings of peace, love, joy, and good health be with all of you now and in the upcoming new year.  (This is a photo of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Lewes, Delaware, taken last winter during a pretty rare severe snow in this area.  It is where I will joyfully participate in the music for two services this Christmas Eve.)

Ahhhh......smooth hands and feet!!!

There was a post about homemade hand cream recently by online friend and quilting blogger (Judy Laquidara.....check out her blog by clicking on her name...she has another book coming out....with LOTS of great borders!!!!)  She said to get 16 ozs. of baby lotion, 8 ozs. of vitamin E cream, and 8 ozs. of vaseline....and it could be store brands (which cost about $1 for each of them).  You then mix it all up together and get a very nice product.  The picture here shows what I bought.  I got baby lotion with cocoa and shea butter and I think it made mine a tiny bit greasy, but......after a few minutes, that absorbed into my skin and it feels WONDERFUL!  (Next time, I'll get regular baby lotion.)  For now, I just need a teensy-tiny bit and it goes a long way.  For $3.50, I got solidly-packed nice-sized Rubbermaid container of cream that will last me awhile.  I think I will start collecting fun jars and then make some for gifts!  Thanks, Judy....for the great idea and for the nice soft, skin I have after using this!   (Be sure to see the second photo below, too.)

 

My previous post showed my daughter's and granddaughter's reactions to the quilts I made them for Christmas.  I knew I had a photo of my granddaughter sleeping that night with hers but was unable to find it.  I found it now and it is below.  She had to sleep on the pullout sofa in the living room that night as "her" room here was in use by someone else.  She wasn't too crazy about that, but we told her we'd leave the tree lights on for the tree in that room while she went to sleep, so she took her new teddy bear and her new quilt and went very happily to bed looking at the lights on that tree.  I snapped this photo a short time later when she was fast asleep and all wrapped up in her "Snack Attack" quilt!!!   (She told me last night on the phone that the quilt is keeping her very cozy...which melted my heart, of course!)

They loved their quilts.....

Last week we celebrated Christmas with Tara and Jessi.  They loved the quilts I made for them.  Here are a couple of photos showing their reactions....Tara with her quilt (named: "I Just Want Salad"...her usual choice at a restaurant!)

 And Jessi after opening "Snack Attack"  (popcorn, pretzels and cheese fish on main side with added donuts ice cream cones and cupcakes on reverse side).  She slept with it that night here....and when I find the picture of that, I'll post it here soon!    

Need ideas.......

What is your very best "company" main-dish casserole?  Not fond of mushrooms or many seafoods, so would prefer something else.  I'd love to hear some of your ideas (and a link to the recipe or a description of it in your comment)!   I'll be back here in a day or two with a regular post with photos.

Secret Santa package......

I was at the grocery store this morning and when I returned, my husband said there was a package for me and he'd put it on my computer chair.  SO....I raced down the hall to see it.  This is what I saw....

....a box.....a nice-sized box...with MY name on it.  I was trying to decide if I'd open its contents now or wait until Christmas.  I decided to take a peek inside the box...and was still undecided if I'd open what was in there.  Luckily for me, I didn't have to decide as the items were not wrapped, so I got to see them now!!!  Yippee!!! Here is what I saw in that box when I opened it.........

......OH, MY.....lots of good stuff in here....so I took it all out and lined it up nicely for you to see........

....and here is what was in there.......2 bags of Hershey kisses (YUMMMM)......a nice caramel pecan scented candle jar.......17 (yes...I said SEVENTEEN) fat quarters of fabric.......a package of Timeless Treasures printable fabric (YAY for that.....I am trying to make labels for all my quilts and really need that!!!)......AND the cutest Christmas ornament you ever saw because (as you can probably see) it says "Eat More Candy!"   That sure gets MY vote!!!    Thanks, Secret Santa.......I love it all!!!  The box did have a first and last name on the return address, so I now have to go through the blog list on the SSS post Suzanne made and see if anyone there has that name.  I know sometimes folks don't put their names on their blogs OR my SS might have had a friend put HER name on the return address instead, so it might not be easy to find her.  I will set aside time late tonight or at some point tomorrow to put on my detective hat and try to figure out who this is so I can go to her blog and thank her.  And...thanks, Suzanne, for putting this together!  It was a lot of fun.