Daisy Chain Progress and Snow

This is what is currently happening outside........it is snowing! We had a green Christmas, free of any hint of snow, but now it is snowing.

I am currently on vacation so I don't have to go to work. I don't have any appointments anywhere. The pantry is fully stocked so I don't have to go shopping for groceries. I don't particularly like snow but I am not stressing over it today because I don't have to drive anywhere!

This is perfect weather to be inside quilting. I am continuing to work on my Daisy Chain quilt today.

This is a picture of the first 5 blocks as they look finished.

Last night I finished off all 48 blocks for this quilt. Today I will be working on sashing and assembly of the row.

..................let it snow!

Daisy Chain

I have some time away from work between Christmas and New Year's. Linda and I have plans during the coming week to start and work on a new quilt together: Daisy Chain by Atkinson Designs. This is a picture of the finished quilt taken from the pattern jacket.

These are the fabrics that I picked for my version of Daisy Chain. The fabric on the left is a Moda Marbles in pale green. I am using this for my background. The pattern calls for 96 - 4.5 inch squares of prints. I am using floral fabrics for my prints. By the look of this picture there will be a few very light florals that won't make it into the quilt. The next three fabrics are my accent fabrics--purple, yellow, and green. The purple fabric reads blue in this picture but it is really purple.

All my fabrics are cut and ready to go. Tomorrow we sew!

Christmas Day With Family

My husband, daughter, and son's girlfriend had to work on Christmas Day. Every one's schedules were different. As a result, we ended up having our Christmas turkey dinner at 5:00 pm and then we opened our gifts later that evening once everyone was home.

In the afternoon we watched a couple of classic Christmas movies.

Once the gift unwrapping started, the paper quickly piled up in the center of the room.

I made my aunt pillowcases from the cutest Christmas cat fabric.

My aunt was able to join us this year from Saskatchewan. This year the weather was very cooperative making her journey stress free.

My daughter's boyfriend was without a stocking so part of his Christmas gift was this Christmas stocking that I made.

This is my son with his new quilt. He had asked for a quilt big enough to fit a queen size bed for when he moves out on his own in 2010.

My mom was surprised when she unwrapped her Daffodil BQ2 quilt.

We all had a great day--hard to believe that Christmas is over for another year!

Christmas Eve With Family

Last night--Christmas Eve--was spent with family.

We were able to see and hear my brother thanks to Skype.

My daughter and her boyfriend.

My son and his girlfriend.

My parents and my son.

My daughter and her godmother, my aunt.

My husband and I.

Reindeer and Lights

Last night we visited a local garden supply store to see the reindeer and light display.

Last night was the last night that Dancer and Vixen would be visiting our community before they had to head back home to the North Pole to go back to work with Santa Christmas Eve.

This was my first time seeing reindeer. The two reindeer on display were both females--a mother and daughter. Usually the female reindeer do not shed their antlers. However, one of the reindeer was without one of her antlers because our climate is warmer than she is used to.

In past years, the light display had been set up outside of the garden supply store. This year, the lights were indoors and interspersed amongst the plants and displays. We really enjoyed walking through the store looking at the lights.

After enjoying the lights, we had a nice supper at a local restaurant and then headed home. What a perfect low stress way to spend an evening enjoying the sights of the season.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Quilt, Quilt, Quilt

I have been busy in my studio since we came home from our holiday in Alaska this fall. I have quilted 9 quilts for customers and 4 quilts for myself (Fall Warm Wishes, Daffodil BQ2, Rooster Strip Twist, and Dryer Sheet Diamond String).

Most long arm quilters would not feel that quilting 13 quilts in 3 months is that big an achievement, but keep in mind I have a full time day job on top of my quilting.

These are pictures of the customer quilts.

All quilts except one were quilted using Circle Lord's templates.

The squares on this quilt were quilted in the ditch using my Bernina dsm.

I still have some customer quilts to finish, but thankfully, everything that was required to be completed prior to Christmas is now finished! I am now working on deadlines for after New Year's.

Birthday Celebrations

My birthday was November 24th. Since I was out of province on business on the 24th, we celebrated my birthday on Saturday night.Tradition in our family was always an angel food cake for on your birthday. This year was no exception to that tradition.

This is my DH and me. The photographer was my son.

After supper we retired to the family room. It was a nice relaxing way to celebrate a birthday.