Things that make me .....

I finished my word quilt this past weekend!!!

The blue fabric is hand dyed fabric in my stash 

and the background fabric is snow dyed fabric

 I created when we had snow last winter!

This winter I haven't been able to snow dye...

I played a lot with free motion quilting...

it's always easy to experiment on small projects.

The binding is some of the hand dyed fabric

 on which I had stenciled

with iridescent fabric paint... 

I am happy to have finished this word quilt

but it is a little more monochromatic than I am used to creating

so it may need some embellishing...

not sure yet.

This past week was 'winter break' in New York State schools.

Not really in need of a break from winter 

but Sugarbaby and I made our way down south to warmer and sunnier Florida

for a little R & R...

I always find plenty of inspiration in the little things...

flowers...

leaves...

raindrops...

seashells...

ocean waves...

French desserts...

and sunsets...

Feeling happy!

Swirling as a cinnamon girl...

Warning....

I couldn't find anything interesting to talk about 

even after yesterday's rendition of These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Maybe it's because I don't have much creative to post about today...

I spent a good deal of time shoveling my way out of  my parking spot

when the wet snow got packed under my car 

as I attempted to back out...

(maybe the motorcycle wouldn't have been such a bad idea)

and by the time I broke free, 

I was drenched from the rain (not snow!)

and then I had a 3 hour lunch with an old friend!!!

So back at the ranch....

when I opened up my new bread maker

that Nature Boy gave me for the holidays...

it made me think of a fellow Canuck and his song,

Cinnamon Girl...

I am sure you are scratching your head...
and are now convinced that the madness of last night 
has continued!!!

Well...

I looooooooove the taste of cinnamon!!!
I especially loooooove the taste of cinnamon bread!!!

Luckily my new bread machine came with a recipe
for cinnamon swirl bread....

that's when tune of Cinnamon Girl started singing in my head!!!

"..I wanna live 

with my cinnamon swirl

I could be happy 

The rest of my life

with a cinnamon swirl...."

Don't say I didn't warn you....

Step away from the microphone!

(PS ...one of my blog readers (I think I have a few)

 asked if I would 

post about my studio and working there...

great idea, Kathy!

I just have to get there!!!

so stay tuned.....)

.

Failed.... again!!!

I tried and tried... but I just couldn't do it.... 31 consecutive days of blogging, that is.

With weather like this in December in upstate NY...

who could blame me????!!!

A failure is not always a mistake, 

it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances.

 The real mistake is to stop trying.

-B. F. Skinner

Failure is really a harsh word isn't it???

I have made many mistakes this year

but I now realize that 

it was really simply the best I could do at that moment in time

Those mistakes are done

and I need to focus on the joy of the present moment!!!!

(this was my word for 2014... I am working on one for 2016, how about you?)

And yes, there were presents lol!!!

This week, I couldn't blog about my latest projects 

because these projects were under wraps (so to speak)

... or should I say, wrapped!!!

There was a pillow to commemorate a beloved pet...

cookies in a jar to layer...

pouches to fill with junk...

a shawl to knit and knit and knit...

and

cookies to bake....

(wait!!! I didn't bake those cookies!!! the kids did!)

Even with all the hubub going on here,

Amazon left a new house for Olive...

Now that those projects are in the hands of loved ones,

I can move on to the myriad of unfinished 

and unstarted projects

and I will surely have plenty to blog about!!!

Wishing all of you peace, joy, love, and new projects this holiday season!!!

It's kismet...

You may or may not know this...

but I am not a huge fan of winter...

Sure fresh snow is pretty and all..

but the cold temperatures and the long winter season

can get downright depressing!!!

HOWEVER

this year, 

I decided to embrace the frigid season

and make friends with Jack Frost..

so I bought some snowshoes...

and it's December 11th....

and feels like spring in upstate NY!!!!

blogus interruptus or Quilters Take Manhattan take 3

Yikes!!!

Right after I made a come back to the blogging world

I disappeared again!!!

I kept thinking about blogging

but life got in the way and

the days kept rolling by...

As Albert Einstein once said...

"Life is like riding a bicycle,

to keep your balance, you must keep moving."

so, I am moving on...

(from a recent Color Me Rad race)

trying not to choke in the process...

(just didn't want to eat the colored powder they were throwing our way!)

and somewhere I will find balance!!!

In the meantime,

back to...

Day 3 of Quilters Take Manhattan...

 which started with a talk by Alex Veronelli of Aurifil Threads

He entertained us with a running commentary and video 

on how they make their threads.

Very interesting!!!

and we each got a package of threads of the various weights!!!

He shared with us

which needles to use with the various weights of thread

as well as what kind of bobbin thread to use. 

Then we got to see a few samples of the various threads at work

including this piece that I had seen on Facebook

by Shruti Rohit Dandekar of 13 Woodhouse Road

and a close up...

Of course,

what is a blog post about NYC without a few photos of the colors of the city???

and some doors...

and some of the beautiful architecture of the city...

I finished the weekend with a workshop with Earamicha Brown

on embellishments...

The original workshop was supposed to be led by Frances Holliday Alford

but Frances was recovering from surgery 

and sent trays and trays of goodies to use in our projects..

These days,

I have warmed up from a weekend in the Hudson Valley

at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival

which featured

small, cozy cabins for 4..

some good food

majestic fall trees

and dare I say,

snowflakes???!!!

cute animals...

and some yarn, of course!!!

Now..

 I am back in the studio

creating a series (at least, I think it will be a series)

with some 

and

Stay tuned....