Snowed In

I've been snow bound here in my "little cabin in the woods " for 11 days now and no end in sight. This is the most snow we've had in many years and I wish it would go away. We're going to have a White Christmas that's for sure. John (DH) has been calling for weather reports daily as he is due to come home Christmas Day for his two months off the ship. He's in Portland where they too are having record snowfall while his big 4WD truck sits here at home in the driveway. On the way home his last visit the starter went out, it rained buckets and he couldn't get it fixed. It's now ready for this winter driving via a tow to the local Ford Dealer.

I'm surviving thanks to my brother who delivered a care pkg of M & M's, (Marlboro and Miller) and picked up the quilt my sister had me quilt. Another care pkg arrived via my Bil and sis of coffee, kitty food and a few other supplies as they needed to pick up yet another quilt I had quilted for her. Both Xmas presents for her Son and GS. Aren't family great. Its not that I'm afraid to drive in this weather, it's the other drivers on the road up here on the side of a mountain that worry me.

While being cooped up I finally finished handquilting this top. It's a kit quilt from years gone by and was completely embroidered when I found it in my MIL's attic. It's all washed up and ready to put on my bed come spring.

this is my first attempt at doing a large quilt. It's not fancy just big meander with curly cues in the red center blocks. I'm still in the learning process but with several more tops in the wings will have good practice.

As the year comes to an end we all think of our goals for the coming year. This year I hope to complete all my goals while not making big unrealistic demands on myself. Last year my goal was to finish all my UFO's which I never accomplished as life took on a life of its own. Instead I did a lot of cleaning out and getting rid of those I no longer wanted to do.

My goals for 2009:

Organize my sewing room to be more user friendly and clutter free.

Machine 7 of the 8 tops I have in a tote.

Hand quilt an antique wedding ring top.

Only start one new quilt for a friend.

Use up my stash for backings.

A fabric Diet only batting.

If I manage these then I can always add something else. I want to have a feeling of accomplishment as next year comes to an end rather than feeling there were way to many things left to do.

I'm thankful for:

Family that makes sure I'm taken care of when DH is on the ship.

For care pkgs during this snow storm.

All the wonderful friends I've met over the net.

Having electricity, so many have been without in this cold weather.

My wood stove that keeps me warm and toasty.

Another month and more has passed since I updated my blog. I just haven't been feeling like blogging. Don't know what's the matter with me these days. This past year has been so long for me with so many family and friends passing away. Just recently my youngest son's half brother commited suicide. He was only 43. It's so heart breaking to know he was so troubled he took his own life. He didn't leave a wife or children to mourn but he left siblings, nieces and nephews who will miss him.





My sisters and I finally finished Mom's Duds quilts and are passing them out this coming Sunday. We were rather naughty and called our out of town siblings and told them they had one more gift coming from our Mom. Only one asked what it was and we just said "you'll have to come collect it to find out" so all of them will be there to get their gift along with the remaining settlement from the estate. It will be a nice get together before Xmas for a bit of catching up with all of us.










The past few days have been spent finishing up with blocks to do a jewel box for a friend of ours. I still have a small border to add then it will be complete and ready to quilt. I hope to get the border on tomorrow, do up a backing and be ready to quilt it soon. I'm calling this one "scattered" as it started out controlled but ended up every bit as scattered as the girl it is going to.














My youngest sister has recently caught the quilting bug. All us sisters shared the quilt blocks our Mother had made and never assembled. Her first attempt at squaring off, laying out and assembling is quite the maverick. She's using her blocks to make quilts for her children and grandkids for Xmas so they will have a quilt from their grandma. She's very talented in every way. Ask her to lay a floor, climb up on the roof, fix a car, she can do all those things. I laugh when she tells me I have no business up on the roof. What, she thinks I'm old and feeble, but yes, balance is not my strong point and I certaily would fall off the roof were I to get up there.






I've learned a very valuable lesson recently. Having some "fire retardant" gloves I loaded the wood stove for the night. Laid the gloves next to the stove and promptly went off to bed. Very shortly I smelled smoke and got up to see what was going on. Walked into the living room to a cloud of smoke hanging near the ceiling, flames shooting from those gloves and the wood trim on the slab scorched . Grabbed up those gloves and into the sink they went. Opened all the doors and on went every fan in the house. Realizing I could have burned the house down I had a very hard time falling asleep that night.


Gratitude
Sisters to share quilting nights with.