47,916 inches...

...in the last

few minutes

of the final hour...

.

of 2010

i collapsed

in a good way

surrounded

by bolts and bolts

of fabric

never in my wildest

imagination

would i have predicted

that would happen

i have been blessed

beyond measure

this year

in so many ways

yet how do we

measure success

in 1,331 yards

47, 916 inches

sold in one week

i think not

it is in the faces

of the people we have met

it is in the hands of the

the quilters we have greeted

it is in the hearts of the

friends we have made

such an amazing year it has been

thank you to everyone

who has been apart of our journey

see you next year

sweet confections..

so cute

are these little

bags finished

.

they look so sweet

sweet like candy

good enough to eat
almost

zippy strippy by

atkinson designs

now onto finishing

the next...

hallmark says it best...

a half century...

happy birthday

to my

amazing hubby...

.

a man who deserves

so much more

than he receives

yet rarely complains

a man who dedicated

his life to a daughter

others might wish to ignore

a man who makes time to

cheer his

children on from

the sidelines

both stages and stadiums

a man who has built

an enterprise worthy

of passing onto

the next generation

a man who supports

my interests

and need for creativity

a man who puts

the needs

of his wife and children

before his own

a man who is willing

to reach out to friends

in need

a man

who is not afraid

to stand up for what

he believes in

happy birthday honey

i love you more

than ever before

snuggles...

i'm sure

loving

this snuggle

.

baby pink

for this project

so soft and

cuddly...

zippy strippy...

i am digging

this clever technique...

.

using fusible fleece

and lots of little

strippys...

a passion for paisley...

i'm often asked

to pick a

favorite fabric...

.

i would never

be able to choose

just one

yet all the best

would likely be

a paisley

i just love them

the randomness

the swirls

the overlapping

and touching colors

the dots

this one from blush

by basicgrey

would be high on my list

i guess that's why it is the backing

on the lastest quilt

fini...

there is

something

magical...

.

... therapeutic actually

when the

needle comes up

for the last time

through the binding

a project

complete

done

fini

finished

accomplished

ahh...success

my new briefcase...

as i was

gathering

what i needed...

.

to bring home for the weekend

i realized this is my new briefcase

i've traded the leather coach

for a

35th anniversary moda market tote

i've replaced mountains of paper

with piles of fabric

i've traded highlighters

for

rick rack

i've traded legislative reviews

for

patterns

i've traded ap wire newsfeeds
for

creative blogs

i've traded power suits

for

paisley tunics

i've traded

system crashes

for

jammed sewing machines

i've traded industry conferences

for

international quilt market

i've traded

complaining co-workers

for

happy customers

how very, very lucky

and grateful

i am

loving shock...

today it was

snowing

and blowing...

.

and downright frigid

the first for us

in cleveland

this year

i did not get out of the store

until well after six

and then i had to run

to the post office and

the grocery store

my body hurt and

my head was aching

it was almost 7:30 when i opened

the garage door

i had to do a double take

blink my eyes

three or four times

standing before me was

my oldest son

on a clear garage floor

he was even directing me to pull in

on the clean floor

i couldn't do it

not without taking a picture first

it has been three

long, cold, snowy years

ever since we had to move

the contents of the entire house

out here

after discovering

the great water fiasco of '07

the day the family room

became a swimming pool

it will seem so strange

to be able to get right into

my car in the morning

no scrapping ice off the

car windows

no need to preheat for ten minutes

such a treat

i'm in shock really

love that son of mine

thanks tj

in a manger...

so sweet

this

baby is...

. laying in a manger...

hand stitching...

it has been

a long time

for me...

.

hand stitched applique

the look is so clean

so fresh

so appropriate for this

newest project...

creating memories...

i have

photos

that are...

.

tj and sarah ~ 1993

priceless to me

some remind me

of a certain

day or event

a holiday

and then there are

the extra special ones

that remind me of

something i've created too

with my hands

and the god given talent

that i'm so grateful for

i can't imagine life without

creativity

happy thanksgiving everyone

sweet cravings...

oh i love

having

a really good...

.

... reason

to make all things delicious
like my favorite

hobble cobble

there is a new little

addition this

year

do you see it...

dating myself...

oh silly me

what was

i thinking...

.

i walked thru the doors of

three big box stores

in search of a boom box

a simple cd player

with speakers

they thought i was joking

just download your cd's

put them into a computer

the first guy said

and then what

i asked

upload them on your mp3 player

oh seriously

i'm going to spend all that time

to just listen to a

few christmas cd's

in the next store

they thought i was

...well...

old

like ancient history

in a time warp

out of touch

at last i found this one

it will also play my ipod

which i do own

although it's a hand me down

from my oldest son

the very first model

i just don't want to

take the time to put a bunch

of holiday music on it

hmm...

maybe i am dating myself

but then i have to ask

if it involves six

different steps

twice the amount of time

and three pieces of equipment

is that progress

all backed up...

it's been lurking

in the back

of my mind...

.

it just makes sense

but then so do many things

that never get done

until i read two blogs

who had horrid things happen

like sweetwater

and

en who's laptop

went swimming

in wine

oh that could have so been me

just last weekend

and then the new virus

coming through sites like yahoo

that was enough

i ceased work on my computer

until last night

when my sweet honey

hooked me up with

an external hard drive

my new best friend

i'm all backed up

and it's always working

any time something new

hits my keyboard

it goes directly to

that external hard drive

so now i ask

how safe are you

please get yourself sometype

of backup

just for peace of mind