Some Spring Surprises....

Pink Carnations are such happy flowers and they are the current arrangement on our dining room table. These ones are such a rich pink color.
 One of the things that I love about carnations is that they will stay fresh for a couple of weeks before they need to be changed.

 Recently I managed to get rid of all the vestiges of winter in our house. I took out the bunnies and the other Easter things. I found this lovely antique bowl- not sure where I got it from but I thought it would look lovely with the Easter eggs in it.  Did you notice the black one with the hand painting on it. It is a Ukrainian Easter Egg. We live in the North Central part of Alberta. There were many Ukrainian immigrants that came to this area at the turn of the 20th century. There is a very large land mark Easter Egg in Vegreville. It is quite the landmark - Google it if you are curious to see what it looks like!

My sewing room is looking messy and somewhat forlorn these days. School kept me busy for most of the month of March. I have finished up all the reports and met with my families last week. Hopefully this week, as I am on spring break from school, I will get a chance to get back sewing and working on some quilts.
This machine is my quilting machine. It is a baby lock quilting machine which is quite similar to a Juki. It goes very fast (1100 stitches per minute) and is really easy to quilt on.
I don't piece on it - just machine quilt. My sewing room is in the gables of the house.

As well as having a busy time at school, we had a wonderful surprise visit from our son, Kevin and his girl, Roseanne. He is going to school in Charlottetown PEI . They moved to Prince Edward Island at the beginning of August. PEI is about 4000 miles from us. Kevin was on mid term break so they thought they would surprise us. We were gob smacked when our front door opened and we heard Kevin's voice and footsteps at midnight. They were here for nine days and it was a blur of activities and times out together. He also took a. side trip to visit my parents in Red Deer, who were thrilled to see them both too. We enjoyed having them here and look forward to the next time they can return. 

One of the things that we did while they were here visiting, was go out for a very nice brunch with my sister in law, her husband , their two daughters and their spouses,and the lovely baby, Annabelle, who will soon turn one
. I took this lovely candid of the two of them, in the restaurant. While they were here visiting, they announced their engagement.

What a lovely ring he chose to express his love for her. I love this photograph of their hands together. His large hands remind me of all the men from my mother's family- We hope that they will be very happy together for many years to come. The wedding date is yet to be determined.

 

A photo of the four of us together. I am the shortest one and I am not that short,( 5'5') but compared to the rest I am a little low to the ground. LOL

One of the things that Kevin brought in his suitcase was this new cat house/tree. He designed and built it and then took it apart and put it back together when he got here.  Mars heartily approves of her new perch. My husband has since, bought her a basket for the top, that she can often be found sleeping in, during the day. The morning sun streams in the window and she can observe the birds and squirrels from the large living room window. You can see that she has a food bowl inside the enclosure. She can climb inside to  get to, but our dog, Dusty, can not.
Mars can not jump as well as she used to, so this is a great arrangement for her. Now if she could just convince Bruce that she does not want any other kind of food but regular Whiskas- everything would be perfect in her eyes. They are having Whiskas wars- so far, my money is on Mars. She managed to leave the designer cat food in the bowl and eat all the Whiskas food  bits without even leaving drool on the designer cat food. She definitely has her own preferences!

 I have finally decided to make one larger one of the lattice quilts and one throw size quilt. I have enough fabric to make 9 more blocks and that will be enough to make one 4X5 and the other 3X4. I am still hunting for the perfect border but I am sure I will find something that will work. I know that it looks black in the photograph but it really is a deep chocolate brown. I have been trying to get started on it this week, while I am on break, but so far I keep getting distracted by other things. I have managed to do some cleaning and get rid of old papers and clutter in one room. I still would like to tackle my clothes closet but we shall see. One of the joys/ challenges of living in a small old war time house is that the closet and storage space is really limited. I drool when I see those houses with walk in storage- I don't even have a broom or linen closet!

 As there is not much quilty content in this post,  I thought I would pull a quilt from the vaults. I made this quilt about 5 years ago. This quilt belongs to Gary who loves the sea. If you look closely at the prints you will see that all the fabrics are nautical in theme. It is a variation of yellow brick road with an asymmetrical mariner's compass on it. He recently celebrated a birthday so I thought it might be a nice one to share. I designed the layout and the compass block is paper pieced from a Carol Doak pattern.

I am still trying to figure out how this new layout and posting works with Google Chrome. I have moved the pictures around as  I type and am not sure where they are going to end up.

 Last weekend I went out to find a few things for school and I found this Starbuck's cup for Bruce. It was in a second hand shop and was the perfect sized cup for him. Now if it only came with a lid. Drinks and computers can be a bit of a hazard ....

It is very late here so I will say good night. I hope that life is treating everyone well and that spring has sprung in your neck of the woods ( if you live in the Northern Hemisphere) .We have had a couple of spring snow storms but the snow is starting to melt off again and it won't be long before there are lots of mud puddles for the little ones to play in - I can only hope that the school fields are dry, before we return to school next week.
Warmest regards,
Anna

The world is turning upside down...

My mother says there could be days like this... One day not long ago, it had been a pretty hectic day in my kindergarten and I came back and found the world globe turned upside down...it made me laugh so I had to take a photograph of it.. I love purple flowers and these alstroemaria with babies breath are a slice of spring on our dining room table- or at least until Mars the cat tries to eat them..
One of dear school colleagues recently brought me this lovely little wall hanging- She found it in her travels and said it made her think of me-- Wasn't that a lovely thing to do? I plan to hang it in my sewing room.. It says:" good friends are like quilts, they age with you, yet never lose their warmth"
There a number of quilt rings and forums around. I belong to one on Quilt with Us which can be found on the Connecting Threads company web page. It is easy to subscribe to - you just go to the freebies header and register on it. I chose to joined the Quilting Canadians group. Recently we decided to have a little fabric swap. A few packages have begun to arrive on my doorstep. We were asked to list some fabrics choices so I decided that I might need some neutrals and Christmas fabrics. The ladies did a fabulous job of choosing fabrics for me. Don't you love getting packages in the mail with fabric in them ?
You probably know that I love participating in giveaways(occasionally I host them too) Recently this beautiful bag arrived from Lila of Lila Tueller designs. She creates fabulous fabrics and patterns and recently had this wonderful giveaway. I am so looking forward to using this funky bag in the summertime. I love turquoise and flowers.
Look at these beautiful details she added to the bag- The carved button
and the grand toggles, grommets and beads.. I do love the bag and Lila's one terrific lady. Go and visit her blog and see her beautiful projects, patterns and fabric line..
Life has been pretty full the past couple of weeks. I finally finished my report cards this week. This morning, I went out to a memorial service for a work friend's father. After the service, I stopped to do some errands that needed to be done. I went looking for a couple of things for school at a local thrift shop. While I was there, I found these fun fish oven mitts. Don't you love those great embroidered eyes and the rich lush colors...They were a great price so, of course they came home with me..
I also came across these pieces of cotton and thought they would work great in some quilt. The light flowers are so airy looking- very pretty and the brown one will look great in a fall quilt..
Do you ever go seeking some inspiration in books or magazines? I recently ordered these quilt books for that very purpose. Connecting Threads often offers books for 40% off so the prices were very reasonable. There are some very fun patterns in each book- the trick is to just pick one...
Judy Laquidara of Patchwork Times has recently published a new book for creating pieced borders on quilts. She has a wonderful blog where she shares some of her cooking, quilting and knitting projects as well as telling about her life in Texas. I love her color choices and the interesting designs. Do go and check out her site- you are in for a real treat...
Here is the reason that I am looking for inspiration. I want to use these coffee cake batiks. The color palette is a bit limited but I am sure they would make a great pattern- I just haven't found it yet- Perhaps these books will help me get this quilt started...
In the meantime, I am continuing to work on the Sunset quilt- I have decided that I better trim the blocks so they will fit together more accurately.
Perhaps I will have finally chosen a pattern by the time of my next post.
The full moon is rising and the clocks are changing this evening to Mountain Daylight time. I hope to get some time tomorrow to quilt.. Springtime is coming to Alberta- maybe the world has found a way to return to its normal rotation...
Warmest regards,
Anna

Flora and a Quilt Workshop...

If you have visited my blog before, you are probably aware that I love flowers. Presently in our home, we have a few kinds of flora blooming. These beautiful pink lilies are from Valentine's Day. They are stargazer lilies, and have some pretty babies breath with them(The babies breath has stayed reasonably well, considering Mars the cat's, penchant desire to eat it. She also used to like to eat any dried flower bouquet that she found in her travels around the house! Aren't the lilies pretty? The Christmas poinsettia does not seem to know that her season is over- she still looks gorgeous. I love the pretty pinky- red edges to her leaves..
And not to be left out, the Christmas cacti in our kitchen window continues to be covered with buds and blossoms. The flowers are fantastic- this photo does not do their rich color justice!
Below are some of the lovely things that were on the table waiting for me, on Valentine's Day. Bruce and I had a wonderful dinner at a local Cajun House. The food was yummy and the company divine. One thing that he found for me was a new issue of the quilt magazine, The Quilt Almanac. It has some terrific patterns in it. A couple of them piqued my interest.

I have been looking for a new quilt pattern to use with a coffee cake of batik fabrics. ( A coffee cake is just like a jelly roll -2 and a half inch strips only in comes in a box.) Don't you wonder who came up with all these different names for the precut fabrics? ( jelly roll, honey buns, layer cakes, turnovers, etc) I rarely buy precuts, but I really liked the colors of the batik coffee cake, they were a great price and I thought they would make a great quilt for someone. It will, if I ever find a pattern that I like, to go with the fabric. One of the reasons I think that I have struggled with it, is because I usually choose the pattern first, and then, find the fabrics to go with the pattern. Reversing this process of fabric before having the pattern, has really mixed me up.... So I am still looking... What about you- what do you choose first - the pattern or the fabrics?
Mars loves quilts but it appears she also liked the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Perhaps she just wanted to lay on Elizabeth's quilt one more time?
I was so happy to have finished Elizabeth's quilt and was able to give it to her before spring time. I hope she will enjoy it for many years and know she is wrapping herself in a loving hug. To me, quilts are like wrapping the people we love in the warmth of a big hug.
Last week, a dear friend and colleague, Peggy celebrated a special birthday. She is a special lady and my classroom partner. We are so fortunate to have her at our school and I celebrate the many gifts she brings to us all. Happy birthday, Peg!
I thought it must be time to show you something new- This is my new project- it is a lattice scrap quilt that I started in the fall and then ran into some cutting issues (or so I thought) I am left handed and sometimes,I find using the angles on the ruler a challenge. When I laid the first pieces of the this block together, I was sure that I had really done a poor job of cutting. This past weekend I went to a quilting workshop, and got some assistance from my friend and mentor Linda. She had me sorted out in less than 10 minutes. Before I knew it, I was off sewing happily for the weekend. The net result was 25 blocks. I am still toying with my layout choices. I don't know whether to make one big quilt or make two quilts - one bigger and one twin. There is a hitch- not enough fabric for borders if I make more blocks. I am not finding it easy to find something to put on the outside of the blocks that will not take away from the central design.. Decisions , decisions... While I was busy making blocks, some of my other quilty friends were making some wonderful pieces...Wendy is going on a trip to China soon. She went looking for a travelling bag and couldn't find what she wanted, so she came home and created this lovely piece. The fabrics are gorgeous and its a great design... Have a great time in China, Wendy!
Here is one of the quilts that was worked on at the workshop. I love the colors that she chose- its a limited palette and the quilt turned out beautifully.
Linda worked on some blocks for a new quilt- she used every shade of green imaginable and they all looked great together..
One of my quilty friends found this very fun piece in a local thrift shop for the princely price of 3 dollars. It is such a funky design - Someone created such great liberated trees ...


Spring has yet to appear - the groundhog did warn that there could be 6 more weeks of winter, in some parts of the country. It has snowed the last couple of days, but the temperatures have been so mild, so it is melting off quickly.
Work is about to get even busier. This week, I am busy with some assessments with my students, after which, I need to complete the second term report cards. Next week's agenda includes our annual teacher's convention. The convention is always a great time: a chance to see old friends, attend some good sessions and to play in the shopping area.

Recently Bruce and I went to see the Titanic exhibit at the Telus world of Science. The exhibit had crockery and items that they had brought up from the sea floor off the Titanic. In April it will be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ship. We all got to pretend to be passengers on the ship and were given a passenger's ticket- I was one of the fortunate ones. My passenger's ticket was a baby that ended up being the last living survivor. Bruce's boat passenger's ticket was not so fortunate, and did not survive the boat's disaster.. We also saw the Imax film Titanica which showed them retrieving the items from the ocean floor. It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

There are new giveaways on the blogs and lots of interesting posts to read. However, for the next couple of weeks, I have to focus on my work- I will stop by when I get the chance. I appreciate the comments that people do leave- please check and make sure that you leave a return address so it is possible to reply to any questions or comments. No reply blogger will send a response into the internet ether so you may need to adjust your settings.

Take care of yourselves until we cross paths again.
Warmest regards,
Anna

Is spring just around the corner....

Some years by the time February arrives, I am wishing that the dark of winter is over(though, so far this year, we have had mild temperatures for Western Canada). Winter is not my favorite season and often, I long to see the sun and the new buds arriving. February is too soon for either here in Alberta. Recently, Bruce brought home these purple tulips to brighten our table.

Don't you just love the first signs of spring ? I love it when the first buds appear, the ground has some dry spots and I can see the tulips and forget me nots poke their heads through the soil. I am told that the groundhog did not see his shadow here in Canada, so that would mean spring is just around the corner???

I have finally finished Elizabeth's quilt, complete with the label. Somehow the label takes me longer than it should. I hope that I will get this quilt to the E. girl soon-
To make the label, I use a permanent fabric marker to write the information. I always include the date, the owner's name, the occasion in which it was given, my name and where it was made. I usually add that the fabric content is 100 percent cotton. The label is fused on, as well as sewn on the quilt.

Last weekend I had the privilege of meeting up with a local quilter, Burtine that I met through the Connecting threads quilt forum " quilt with us". Burtine and I had only met one other time, but this time we came away with a plan to meet much sooner. It was grand to meet with a new friend and share our passion for quilting. I highly recommend getting together with other quilters - I have met a few new quilt friends through blogging and the quilt forums. Burtine is a talented lady- she knits, makes dolls and quilts-- We found lots of interesting things to talk about and share.

Here she is with Raggedy Anne and Andy - these two friends came home with me- I have a special purpose for them. They are really beautiful dolls and I hope that they will be well loved. Thank you for sharing them Burtine!

Not long ago, I took this tessellation quilt to school to spray baste- I wish that the colors on the camera were more true but it is the best that I can do..

I managed to get the tessellation quilt quilted a couple of weekends ago and have now got it bound as well. In retrospect, I am wishing that I used a black tone on tone as an outside border to the quilt. The black that was showing in the first photograph is the batting. The last border is a busy one and suits the central body of the quilt but may have been a little too busy without the extra black..

Does that ever happen to you- you get the quilt finished and then wish that you had done something differently? I could take the binding off and add another border but I don't have enough time to do so .... Decisions... decisions...


Today is my sister Denise's birthday.. My sister is one talented lady who has a couple of fur babies as well as two grown daughters and two granddaughters. She and Ron are particularly fond of this fur baby in the photo whose name is Buddha. Happy Birthday Sis- I hope you have had a fabulous day...
I wrote a piece a couple of years ago in celebration of my sister's birthday. The link will take you to the post and you can see the two quilts that were made for her and Ron.
Denise loves flowers and is a terrific photographer.

In the meantime, the first month of the year has flown by. It soon will be time to do more assessment and write report cards at school. We have had some professional development time to explore some new ideas and revisit some old ones too. I am looking forward to the annual teacher's convention that will be held at the very beginning of March. It is a chance to reconnect with old friends and take in some interesting sessions.
We attended our great niece's baptism a couple of weekends ago. It was a lovely afternoon and we are thrilled to have her and her parents living close by. Babies grow so quickly..

Valentine's Day is just around the corner- the classroom has valentines to make and stories of friendship tell.. 'Tis the season of friendship indeed..

Warmest regards,
Anna

Special days and colorwash....

Do you like colorwash designs? It is not as popular a techique these days, as it was a few years ago. Recently, I had a friend say that she didn't enjoy creating colorwash and was not going to make anything ever again that required using two inch squares. I quite enjoyed this technique once I got the hang of it. At first, I had lots of trouble sorting values of fabric, which is the real trick to making a great colorwash. This particular pattern was also made easier, by using a fusible grid to lay out the squares, prior to sewing. The pieces stuck on the grid but were moveable prior to heat pressing them in place. This Colorwash quilt was made for my grandmother to celebrate her 85th birthday. The central medallion block has 30 X40 2 inch squares. The quilt resides in my home these days, as my grandmother passed away in the fall of 2003. Sometimes I wrap myself in it, when I want to feel close to her again. She loved the quilt just like she loved us all- all encompassing and unconditionally.

You may have noticed that Mars the cat likes to test out my quilts- She was not at all interested in the cat mats, that I posted about last post. We were quite surprised by that, as she is often the tester of all my quilts. Here she is on Elizabeth's quilt, before I finished binding it. Notice the perfect donut shape Mars made and how neatly she fits in the circle areas! This quilt for Elizabeth is now complete- including the label which I put on this afternoon.

Winter has arrived here in Alberta- Last week was very cold and we had indoor recesses for the whole week. The temperatures dropped and the wind came up - when those two combine, it means long days for everyone at school. We play lots of movement games, dance and use the smartboard to keep us busy during our break times. I was glad to see the mercury rise today and am hopeful that my kids can get outside to play.
This morning, Bruce saw this hare hopping about in our backyard. He is a big fellow and often likes to reside under our deck in the backyard. He is pretty hard to see but you can find him right under the post that is close to the bottom of the antennae. We live fairly close to a ravine and the river valley and often see hares hopping about the neighbourhood. There coats change with the season- white in winter and brown in summer. Mother Nature has some amazing tricks for helping keep animals safe from their predators.

When I was digging around in the scraps upstairs, I found these little treasures. Here is the first thing that I ever remember sewing, besides a half apron which I also still own. I made the kangaroo stuffed toy in Grade 7. One day when I was looking in some old patterns in a second hand place,I found this pattern and had to buy it. I doubt I will ever make the toy again but it was nice to have the pattern as a keepsake. I have no idea where the toy is - long gone for sure. The other patterns are some embroidery patterns that my mother liked to make, when I was a kid. She did beautiful hand embroidery and taught me a number of stitches like French knots and lazy daisy, as well as the necessary running stitch. I haven't embroidered for a long time but you do see lots of beautiful stitcheries in quilts these days. Perhaps I will do some embroidery yet. Hmmmm... The last pattern is my tree pattern that I started before Christmas, which I had misplaced. It is now with the rest of the quilt bits so I can continue when I get a chance.
When I was at my parents, I turned these two beads into pendants that now can be worn. I love the colors that the artist used to make them. I have left my camera at school, so I can't show you the finished project- Sometime soon, I will try and take a photograph of them. Beads are such a fun distraction when I don't have a lot of time to play. Quilting takes a block of dedicated time before you have finished product. Beading is a great alternative to feed my creative juices when I have less time and feel the need to make something.

Here is a link to an earlier post that I wrote about my beloved Gran I think of her often and miss her presence in my life. Just recently, one of the other bloggers posted about pink cake- I stayed with my grandparents many summers on their farm. While I was there, we regularly took food to my grandfather, who was working in the fields. My Gran was a fabulous cook who could make something delicious out of a few basic ingredients. One thing she often made was white cake with pink icing decorated with coconut. It looked so pretty and tasted pretty good too. Whenever I see pink cake I automatically think of Gran and her cake. Today would have been her 95th birthday...



Last evening,I was out to a Lunar New Year dinner. It was a fun evening that was a fundraiser for a local service group, the Rotarians. The money raised, was going to help women who were in need of a safe living place. For dinner there were 10 dishes. All were delicious with some interesting ones like shrimp with peaches, and a three seafood dish. They also had ginger beef and singapore noodles. Part of the event was a silent auction as well as a live auction. I did bid on a few items but was not the winning bid for any of the items this time. I went with some ladies from my school staff, great fun was had by all. Some of our students created some dragon pieces to be auctioned at this event. This lunar New Year is the Year of the Dragon. The Rotarians awarded some individual prizes to the various school students, as well as a donation to the participating schools. Their generosity is much appreciated.

Tomorrow we have a niece( she turns 30) and a nephew(turns 20) celebrate birthdays. Happy Birthday to both of them. How is it that I am old enough to have nieces and nephews that are in their early thirties... Yikes time does indeed fly by.. Next weekend we will go to our great niece's baptism.. January is full of special days it seems...

I have been having some trouble commenting on some blogs and finding that somewhat frustrating- not quite sure what blogger is doing or how to solve it. Does anyone have any idea what to do? In most cases I can get to the blog and read the post- I just can't leave a comment on their post... the screen is just white All suggestions gratefully appreciated..

Time for me to go and get finished some cutting for my new quilt project. I have had most of the quilt cut for a couple of months now and this project has risen to the top of my pile..Perhaps next time I will have begun to sew some of the pieces together...
Wishing you joy,
Regards,
Anna

A New Year - Wishing you Joy......

I have been meaning to write a new post all during the Christmas vacation. I can hardly believe that I have been back to work for almost a full week without a post written. The Christmas break was quiet but full. One of the surprises of this winter is that our winter, so far, has been mild(warm temperatures have set new records on a couple of occasions) and we have very little snow especially for January. We recently returned from a trip to my parents who live in Red Deer(100 miles south). This is a photo of the local community gold course. As you can see there really isn't much snow! The golf course is down in the river valley and the skyline is some highrise apartments that over look the river valley.
One of my favorite quilters is Ruth McDowell who I had the privilege of seeing a number of years ago in Calgary. She recently offered this book " Art and Inspirations" on her website for a very reasonable price, so I put it on my Christmas list of books. I was very happy when it showed up in yesterday's mail. I believe that it is out of print except from Ruth, and I am thrilled to own my own copy. Do you have quilter's that make you want to explore new techniques? get quilting? start a new project? What are your favorite quilt books? There are so many wonderful quilters that are inspiring. My favorites include Jinny Beyer,Paula Nadelstern, Carrie Nelson of Schnibbles patterns, Kaffe Fassett and Ricky Tims. There are many other talented quilters out there. Who inspires you?

You may recall that our son Kevin, and his girl, Roseanne moved to Charlottetown,PEI over the summer. As travelling across Canada is quite expensive (especially during the Christmas holidays) they were not able to be with us during the holiday season. On Christmas Day,we enjoyed some face time with Kevin on my husband's I phone, which was a particular hit with my parents. It can be quite mind boggling to see the technology at work. Kevin was able to assist my mother with a computer problem from 4000 miles away in the blink of an eye- but I digress.. During the holidays, Kevin built a cat tree for their cats, Freddy, Lucy and Lily. They sent me some fleece, batting and measurements and asked me to make some cat mats for the cat tree. You can see that Dusty approved of them. She reminded me of the Princess of Princess and the pea fame laying on top of the five mats. I wonder if his cats will be as fond of them?
You can see that Dusty leads a hard dog's life in our house! My dear friend, Lou made me some beautiful quilted things for Christmas. She gave us this pair of navy batik pillowcases that are perfect for our bed. Don't they match our quilt perfectly? The quilt pattern is a feathered star that I made many years ago now- Each block had 150 pieces in it. I altered the design so that it became a medallion quilt with a chain border. It seemed easier at the time LOL...

Lou also made me this fabulous thread catcher with a sunflower pincushion. She has been exploring free motion quilting and did a wonderful design on the bag in variegated thread.

Right before the break, I took this quilt for Elizabeth to school to spray baste. Once the holiday festivities were over, I had a number of days to play and visit with friends. During the vacation, I was a home body most of the time, and had some dedicated quilting time. In the close up, you can see that I made some spiral flowers in her quilt blocks.
I still need to bind the quilt but I am pleased with the way that it quilted up. I took it to my folks to show them my latest quilting project. Hopefully, it will get finished this weekend so that E can enjoy snuggling with it. It is a good double sized quilt in size.
A while back a local quilter was looking to trade some fabric so I ventured up into my scrap bin to find some things for Michelle. I have been quilting for quite awhile now( fairly steadily since 1996) and the scrap bin often gets over run with bits from various projects. I periodically play in those bags, and cut up strips for scrap quilt projects. but somehow the bags take on a life of their own... They remind of Strega Nona's pasta bowl that continues making more and more pasta until there is pasta everywhere
Michelle and I spent a lovely afternoon with her two little girls at Tim Hortons. Nothing more Canadian than going to Tims for coffee or tea and donuts.. The little girls were wonderful and it is always great to get together with another quilter. I hope that Michelle and I will get a chance to meet again. Do check out her blog and see some of the things that she is busy creating... You can find Michelle'sblog here.

While I have not been commenting on many blogs lately, as the New Year arrived I was reading posts about words that would describe your hopes for this New year. I found this little quilt like Christmas card and loved it. The word Joy is a word that resonated with me. Living life with Joy, and finding joy in daily life, seems to me a great way to live.

Life can sometimes be very challenging. Recently, some dear friends both near and far, have been struggling to cope with the loss of loved ones. It is hard to find ways to live with joy during those difficult days. While there is no way to take away the pain of the loss of a loved one, my wish is that there will be things in one's daily life that can be a day brightener. To me, that is what living life with joy is about- finding the little things that helps to lift one's spirit even if only for a brief time. As we begin this New Year, may you find things that help celebrate the day.
Warmest regards,
Anna