Snowy, Snowy Day

With over a foot of snow on the ground and more still falling, both our house and the juniors' house have decided to wait it out a few hours before taking to the roads.
Probably a very smart move as son and daughter-in-law live east of the city and have gotten even more snow than we have here. The few extra hours of down time this morning means I can actually catch up on some blogging. Life gets really crazy in December, and this year was no exception. I do hope you all had a very happy holiday and that this next week leading up to the new year is one where you too can find a few minutes of solitude.
I am hoping that for 2011, I will find more quilting time than I did in 2010. I've already determined which 4 projects will be the focus this year, one being The Civil War Bride Quilt from Threadbare Patchwork and Quilting. I have been accepted to blog about my progress here and intend to post my first completed block very soon. My (monthly)Sunday stitching group has already decided we will finally work on Welcome To the North Pole by the Piece of Cake gals. We have been talking about this now for about 2 years. I'm glad that we are finally going to put our fabrics where our mouths are (so to speak!). I did make up one little block yesterday, just to see if the back basting method is the way I want to go with this project, and the answer is a resounding YES! Many of the pieces to be appliqued are quite small, so doing this method helps me be as precise as I'd like to be. I'll be embroidering the "impossibly small" pieces, and others in that category will have wool or ultra-suede as the fabric. I'm excited. I do love Christmas quilts and this will be such fun to work on with the other girls. We do have one non-quilter in the group, but maybe we can change her mind if we carry on enough. If not- we will just appreciate her cross stitching masterpieces! My other 2 projects for this next year will be from the "Finish This" vault! One is Birds of a Feather by Blackbird Designs, and the other is the long overdue "Wedding Quilt" for my son and DIL: Vintage Valentine. Most of the blocks are either done or in the process of being done, and I would really love to cross it off the list of things that need to be finished! I will have to be really organized to accomplish these particular goals over the next year. I also have Cheri Payne's Folk Art Gathering ( see Cheri's blog!) started and will continue to work on that as well. I do so love my applique- thank goodness!

Now for just a few catch up items! Remember the stars in this post? Well I can finally show you the finished project! It was given to my sister on Christmas day and she was thrilled with it! I'm so glad. I loved this lap quilt and since I still have another unused jelly roll sitting around gathering dust, I just might make one for myself!



Here is a close up of a star. I hope if you click and enlarge the photo you can see some of the fabulous quilting done by my machine quilter. The photos aren't the best I've ever taken. I will have to take my camera along next time I visit the sister and see if I can get better shots.



And for now, that is that! I should go find my boots and go help the hubby make headway with some of this snow. I at least need to find my car in the driveway and get it shoveled off....but before I go face the elements, I want to leave you with just a glimpse of this Nana's special little Elf. This is truly what Christmas is about- the joy of a child's discovery. This is my favorite of all photos taken over the holiday, and probably the best reason of all to go out into this snowy, snowy day.
Until my next post- stay warm, stay dry and above all, stay well.