Welconme to 2016!

(Queen size, French orange peel back from longarm quilter, waiting for binding)

 

Okay, so you lost me for a while.  Things got a little crazy when I squeezed in a couple of road trips, a girls' weekend, trips to Houston for Quilt Festival, and a week and a half in Florida.  (Shop 'til you drop, baby).

16 hours after getting back from the airport, I hosted darling daughter's 'Reveal Party' (it's a girl!), which resulted in a toss all other projects aside to make our first flannel baby quilt, a mad rush to host the family for Thanksgiving which, being so late, results in the FRENZIED 'hunt and kill a tree/decorating/baking/shopping/entertaining/send cards/wrap gifts/make my first Springerle cookies/not make the gingerbread house/only use things from 10 of the 30 totes of Christmas gear in the basement' Christmas Rush.

Oh, did I mention that on Black Friday I also started Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt, 'Alietare'? And that I decided to use French fabric that I again purchased in Houston, having used up all of the French fabric I purchased in Houston 6 years earlier (photo up top)? Or that I didn't seem to have quite 'enough' French fabric, which resulted on a whirlwind tour of quilt shops in two states trying to supplement, with no success, until I had the idea to look to see if the vendor I purchased from had a website I could order from -- they did.  (Not exactly a wasted quilt shop tour as of course, I purchased other fabrics).

So here I sit, January 3rd. two Christmas trees to take down (yep, only 2...I took a break this year from the usual 12 trees--sooo glad for that unusual display of good sense). I'm on Part 4 of Alietare--the rest of the world is on Part 6 (the last part), and many have even finished their quilts. (Over-achievers!)

I've got at least one baby quilt that needs to be sandwiched and quilted...

 a Christmas applique wall hanging that never made it to that stage...

 

and a small embroidered winter banner I mostly did on the plane rides, also waiting for quilting

A glutton for punishment, I told a friend that I would make her a quilt, and she asks every week if I have started on it yet :)

And did I mention that I'm hosting the baby shower mid-February? Or that I need to learn how to embroider on my Bernina (that I purchased specifically with a future grand girlchild in mind)?  Daughter has sent over practice pieces. Thankfully she isn't requiring progress reports.

 

Looks like this year is going to a major test of my juggling/organizational skills. All I can say is thank God my first grandchild isn't a boy, which would then require me to make the nautical quilt I purchased this fabric for in Houston.