I want to share some of my treasured little wall hangings from a dear friend.

 Yoshiko Kurihara lives in her home country of Japan.  She is a dear friend who belonged to my quilting bee group about 20 years ago. She and her husband moved back to Japan about 18 years ago and we have stayed in contact with each other.  She won the grand prize at the Tokyo International Quilt Festival 2006.  She makes amazing art quilts.  I feel honored to have received three of her Christmas wall hangings.  The one above is this years gift.

This is 2009 wall hanging

This is 2008 wall hanging.  Not only does she make charming little wall hangings, she also makes delightful Christmas post cards.  I will share those in the future.  Yoshiko also makes charming small bags, even one that just fits my ipod shuffle and it's tiny.  She has such talent and imagination.

Georgia, the beautiful tiny kitten, grew in the past six months.  She thought all the pretty shiny round things on the Christmas tree were hers.  She kept us busy all season trying to protect the decorations.

Atlanta had a white Christmas, the first in about 100 years.  We felt lucky to have it fall on the proper day, it never did amount to much, except it was beautiful while it was here.

The two grandchildren 4 and 10, who live in Georgia visited us for a day during school vacation.  Natalie sat very patiently adding macaroni while I put the drop of hot glue on the tree form.  She did very well for a four year old.  A good coat of silver paint and ribbon finished her tree, a gift for her Mom.  Austin worked on the candle for his Dad.  I remember almost everything about using crushed ice and a milk carton except for the wick.  We should have used a real candle in the center because the wick burnt up in a very short time.  Believe me whipping that hot paraffin made one big mess on the counter where there were no papers.

The most fun on Christmas Eve is exchanging hand made or free gifts.  Looks like the children had their share.  Free means anything you have gotten as a sample, premium, etc.,  nothing of much value usually, except for the fun of opening it.  I managed to get robes made for both children for their hand made gifts.  Think the final stitch came about 9PM on the day before Christmas Eve.  I'd rather make quilts!

This is just a small part of the new library in Burleson, Texas where our daughter, Cathy is librarian.  We visited the week of Thanksgiving and were fortunate to get the grand tour of the school.

Everything is bigger in Texas!

Christmas 2010

Ikea has the neatest things.

The mobile turns when the fans in my studio are on.  The bar can be hung straight or at an angle and you just adjust your the lengths of beads to where you want them with enclosed clips.  Thanks Ikea!

We have a new kitty at our house. Her name is Georgia.

We have welcomed Georgia into our home.  Her mother was lost or killed and a young woman found her and two other kittens under a bush.  She is about 5 weeks old and the vet says she is very healthy.  Our cat, Dallas, 16 years old, died last year and it has taken us a year and a half to be ready to welcome another cat into our lives.  She is just as sweet as can be and purrs when we pick her up, I think she'll be great fun to have around.  She is getting to be very playful and loves being on her back.

Travel in Italy

My Drex and I traveled to Italy June 11 and returned June 19. Italy countryside is very beautiful. We stayed the week in a villa in Castellina in Chianti with 13 other people. We all knew John and Beth Neidel, but did not know each other. We celebrated John's birthday and soon became friends with all of those there. Drex and I enjoyed the small villages. We saw so many beautiful buildings, flowers, and lots of good food. The people are friendly and if they didn't speak English, they always made a gracious attempt to help if we needed something. The main thing that I wanted to see was the tower in Pisa. It was magnificent and well worth the drive. The tower actually has a line of quilt blocks surrounding the first level. Who knew that way back when, someone choose to add quilt blocks in the marble.

Should it snow after Spring has begun?

It's now Spring, we had some beautiful weather last week, then yesterday it began to rain and was gloomy. The wind began to blow and the temperature dropped to "needing a jacket" weather. This morning while driving to the gym at 7:20, snow flakes began. We are lucky because it did melt as it touched the street. The Bradford pear trees choose today to burst into full bloom. Mother Nature should have let them know that cold weather returned. We'll see how the temperature goes tonight.

It is a good day to try and finish up my latest quilt project. The body of the quilt was finished in January and the sashing has been stuck up on the design wall since then. Today I think this small quilt may actually get sewn together.

Easter will be here in less than two weeks. Where does the time go?

Happy Spring, I hope it gets back in Georgia really soon.

I'm thinking in circles

I have finally cleaned one section of my shelves and have fabrics in order on this section.  If a shelf falls in the night, you know it was overloaded.  It's still too full, but at least it has been straightened up by necessity.  Also has some new supports underneath.
I've been working with circles.  My husband gave me a wonderful Olfa circle cutter.  It's a great tool, cuts circles in seconds.  It's so much fun, I find myself surrounded by circles.  Now what to do with them once they are cut?
I do have a plan, so I must get busy and get it organized into a quilt.

Outside my kitchen window 02/13/2010

February is moving fast

How can February be half-way over?  Celebrating Valentine's Day was the first big clue February was moving too fast.  It's a short month, but it could slow down a little.  We've had snow, which for Georgia is not common.  At least not three inches of snow.  But the grandchildren loved it, the remains of their four snowmen still remain standing if not a lot skinnier and shorter. 
The sun catcher that activates spinning when the sun hits it began sending little rainbows all around my kitchen walls and ceiling.  It was beautiful to see the colors again.  The sun has changed it's direction and now shines directly on the catcher.  Could that mean Spring may really appear in March?  Longer days mean more beautiful rainbows on my ceiling.
I've not been working on my quilts as much as I should.  Seems there are things that get in the way.  But tomorrow is a new day and I have a border to decide on for my challenge quilt for our guild.  I will get busy.

MY WINDOW ON THE WORLD OUTSIDE MY STUDIO

 

 My husband, Drex, who supports me in everything that I try to do.  He's my biggest fan.

Family is very important.  We have three children and eight grandchildren

 This is Glenn's family.

This is Cathy's family.

 

This is Steven's family

  

 

We were all together in Texas for Easter last year.  Glenn's family lives in Plano, TX, Cathy's family lives in Burleson TX, and Steven's family lives in Marietta, GA.