The clock is ticking - Hope and inspiration

It is the beginning of Christmas break and my thoughts turn to actually getting our home ready for Christmas- such is the way it is for me, at this time of year. I did put up our Christmas village and the Christmas stain glass a couple of weeks ago, and we have some beautiful Poinsettias sitting on the dining room table. However, the baking and presents and wrapping and putting up the Tree are now moved to the front of our agenda for the next few days. As I said before, buying for the two most important men in my life( my husband and son) has only begun... I am still looking for inspiration or maybe the belated Christmas letter to Santa...:D)

The weather has turned even colder with significant wind chill, so I am happy not to have to go out except for one big shopping trip. I know that the shopping will get done and so will our tree. We have always had a real tree in our home. Some years, we have had a big tree trimming gathering with many friends. This year we will have a scaled down version and invite a few people to come and decorate it. Life brings changes and sometimes keeping things simple is the best way.


http://with-heart-and-hands.blogspot.com/2008/12/thankful-for-those-who-rekindle-my.html


My friend Michele has tagged me so I will do my best to play the game.

I have posted about this quilt before- it was an anniversary quilt for my inlaws 63rd wedding anniversary that I made two years ago. It happened to be the fourth picture in the fourth file of my photos. The other photo is a picture of a sweater that my mother in law received that same year. My inlaws loved birds and the border of the convergence quilt so matched the quilt- it was astonishing.

According to the rules of this tag game, I was to choose the fourth picture of the fourth file in my photos. I was then asked to choose four bloggers who inspire me- that is a bigger challenge.
I have been inspired by many quilters over the time that I have been commenting on the blogs. I was a lurker long before I began my blog in September.I have found that quilters are keen to share their ideas and projects. If one is looking for new ideas, or to see the newest techniques and materials, blogland is the place to visit. I have seen many quilters who post daily and produce wonderful pieces of work. There are people who create gorgeous art quilts and others who create equally beautiful pieces that are meant to be used- both will be treasured by those who are fortunate who come to own them.
My side bar has a long list of bloggers that inspire me each and everytime that I visit them. There are quilters and non quilters alike who are from all over the globe. I am going to take the simplier way out and suggest that anyone who would like to play the game consider themselves tagged- I like Michele's concept of Heart math- the more the merrier I say.

This past week I was fortunate enough to win a giveaway prize from my friend Deb who is a quilter who lives in Alaska. She makes beautiful art and I am honored to be a winner of one of her prizes. You can find her here: http://akquilter1.blogspot.com/
Last post I shared a pinwheel quilt that I gave to my friend Jan. I thought you might be interested to see two of the other quilts that are the same design but look quite different.
The batik one is owned by my father. He is a fabulous gardener and loved the bright colors. I think he was very surprised when I gave it to him a few Christmas's ago. The other one is owned by a dear friend S.- It is seems muted compared to the batik versions but is not as soft as the one that Jan had. The fourth one in this series is a slight variation to my father's and is owned by the man who was the best man at our wedding.
My husband Bruce and I will be married 28 years on Boxing Day(December 26th.). More about that in my next post..
Today I will close with a wish for all who visit this post- May you find yourselves surrounded by your family and friends enjoying happy times with one another this holiday season.
To me Christmas is about Hope and Wonder... It brings the promise of the New Year...May you find yourself filled with Hope and Inspiration during this Christmas season...
Time to make my lists... check it twice ...
Seasons greetings to one and all.
Regards,
Anna

Quilts of Friendship...

Boy it is cold outside today (-25 Celcius and there is a cold north wind)and yet, my dear friend L.,and I braved the cold and wind and did some errands and had lunch and tea together. We did visit some of our favorite quilt stores (though not all of them) and I managed to buy (mostly anyway) fabric, that has a particular purpose for some more immediate quilts. I even managed to go into a fabric store, twice in the last two weeks, without buying any fabric or sewing items.(Now that is some kind of a miracle...LOL or, maybe I have reached fabric stash satisfaction/satiation HMMMM....)

Today, I also got some Christmas shopping done, and found some things that will be part of my Secret Santa gifts for our Secret Santa week at work. I still am struggling to find things that I would like for my husband and my son- I have things for other dear people- I guess I am saving the best for the last...

My friend L., is very generous with her time and we always have fun looking at fabric and checking out patterns. I can hardly wait to see the current quilt that she is working on. It is a pattern called The Long and Winding Road (The Quilter magazine- January 2004),that, I have made twice before. The pattern is a bargello pattern that makes a generous queen sized quilt. L.'s fabric choices are all batiks and I am sure that it is going to be stunning. Another day I shall post my versions of this particular quilt.



Today I have posted a quilt that is soft and muted. It was part of a series of 4 pinwheel quilts that I made around 2004-2005. I started out making floral pinwheels and this particular quilt ended up being a very light quilt. It was a template quilt, where I happened to get overzealous cutting the pinwheels. I ended up with enough blocks for two quilts that were floral pinwheels and two that had batik pinwheels.(I need to practise my counting skills :D)

I gave this version to a dear friend, Jan, who has since lost her battle with ovarian cancer. It will two years this week since she left us and I still miss her presence in my life. When she was first diagnosed, we were preparing for some fundraising events so that our boys could go overseas to attend a Boy Scout Eurojam being held in Chelmsford, England in the summer of 2005.(My son did end up attending the jamboree and loved it. Unfortunately her son, was not able to enjoy that same experience).
During the last two years of her life, Jan and I spent many happy times together enjoying old movies, cups of green tea, and endless conversations about our families, life and the world around us. She taught me many lessons about the importance of living in the moment and appreciating the beauty in that surrounds us in everyday things. I miss her sense of fun and interesting observations.

Making quilts for others is a pleasurable experience for me- Today I bought fabrics for a texture quilt that I saw posted on adventures of a quilting diva blogspot(link is on the sidebar). I want to make this quilt for my mother in law, B. who has Alzheimer's. The fabrics I bought are not the typical kinds of fabric I would buy for a quilt- there are sparkly fabrics and bumpy fabrics and lacy ones too -most of them will not be cottons- It will be an interesting challenge for over the Christmas break.

Last night I had the privilege of going to a concert with my good friend, V. We enjoyed some wonderful seasonal music and time together. Bruce kindly acted as our chauffeur as I do not enjoy driving, especially when the weather is inclement and unpredictable.
The signs of the seasons are beginning to surround us- the houses in the community around us are covered in Christmas bulbs and decorations. Pink and red poinsettias provide rich color in our home..

I feel blessed to have such wonderful family and friends- They fill up my life's quilt with sumptious colors and patterns. The caring and kindness of loved ones is the true gift of this special season - I hope that your circumstances are equally as fortunate...

Happy Quilting
Regards,
Anna