I've gotten some wonderful pictures lately! These two are from Eddie Landreth.

He writes, "Remember back in late 2011 when I told you that I was going to be starting a Winter Garden quilt?     Well, I thought you might like to see some pics of the completed quilt.  I call my version of it "Blackbirds In My Winter Garden".  I wanted my quilt to be king size, so I added borders to the original design and those borders are from the same book using the borders of the "Autumn Thistle" quilt.  I decided to change that up a little and add the berries in the border, as well as adding the date on the bottom border.  I quilted it on my longarm, and finished binding it New Years Eve."  (This quilt is in the book, When the Cold Wind Blows, published by the Kansas City Star.)

Love the addition of the bird and vine border Eddie! Actually this was one of my favorite quilts to make. The shapes were large and easy to applique. Barb designed this one and I would call her after finishing each block and let her know how much fun I was having.


Lida Kunkeler from the Netherlands sent the picture shown above.

Katrina Devine sent the picture of her sampler shown above. 

She writes, "I wanted to share with you and Barb my Dear Friend finish!!!!!  I wanted to give it to my mom for Christmas so I changed "Dear Friend" to "Dear Mother", added her initials and since I am the oldest child, the year I was born.  I had to play a bit and move a motif around but I am so happy with how it came out. 

Look forward to getting my Violet's Blue chart.  I can't tell you how sentimental that chart is for me, my Grandmother, Audie Pearl, lived in a
little pink house and grew violets.  They were all over her home.  Can't wait to stitch it :-)!!!!!!"

     Goodbye to the old year and hello to the new one! Once again we've circled the sun. It takes 365.25 days to accomplish this feat and I'm exhausted just trying to imagine the whole thing! At least I didn't have to pack a bag and get to the airport an hour early. We travel around the Sun in an orbit about 584 million miles long at roughly 66,661 miles per hour. Whew! We made it again. Happy New Year!

     My past couple weeks have been taken up with cleaning, cooking, reading, and visiting with friends and family. My latest reads dealt with time. (The Age of Miracles by Karen  Thompson Walker and Spin by Robert Charles Wilson...both are excellent by the way.)


We had our annual gingerbread house party. It's fun seeing the creative ideas these kids come up with! The 2 above are getting ready to graduate from high school and go to college.

This sweet one has developed spaces where Santa needs to bring front and bottom teeth. (The roof on his house is a snowman's face.)


Cole's house is ready for an airplane landing. He now sports braces and has grown at least a foot taller. 


Laura likes hugs.


Jeff likes to balance gingerbread houses on unsuspecting heads.


Josh has great ideas that Laura likes to copy.

And we all enjoy a bit of sweetness in our lives.

     The ground is covered with a bit of snow and it's cold here in the Midwest. Barb has been dreaming of Spring with this new release. Her pink cottage is perched upon a hill and is surrounded by giant violets. The large blooms add a touch of whimsical folk art. Barb celebrates the year her parents were married in this piece. We've added a chart of letters and numbers so you can personalize your own piece. This pattern will ship out to the distributors the first part of next week.



     Did you make a resolution for the new year? Mine is cleaning out the studio and I need your help. I would like to donate some of my extra fabrics to a good cause. I'm willing to ship the fabric but only here in the states.....these boxes can get heavy.. I have enough for 2 or 3 causes. Please leave a comment if you have one I could help.

Until later!

Alma