The time has come! A new year is almost upon us, you are working on your upcoming projects plan and this one definitely needs to be on your list. So many of you have been patiently waiting for the big announcement and finally that day is here. The Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin 2013 sign ups are now open!

The 1st Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin was very popular and a total blast. There were 32 wonderful mini quilts created and this year's round robin promises to be even bigger and better.

Based on feedback I have received there are a few changes to the rules/guidelines so please read them carefully and thoroughly before you submit your name.

Sure I love Christmas and getting presents but every year, after all the excitement has died down and my kidlets are snuggled up warm in their jammies ready for bed, I enjoy my absolute greatest gift of all.....

My 2 precious babies!

This time of year brings back some very strong memories and feelings for me. The year my nephew Danny was killed in the car accident the week before Christmas was the same time we were starting IVF treatments in the hopes of bringing home a baby. Of course it is obvious that didn't work out, but it was the start of us finally realizing the dream of becoming parents.

Today is a very special day for us. Not only is it the 3 year anniversary of receiving our referral for our daughter but it is also the 6 year anniversary of the day we sent our application to Vietnam to adopt our son. The date December 29th will forever be one of the highlights of our year.

Two and a half years after starting on our road to parenthood, our tiny 5 month old baby boy was placed in my arms for the first time. Today he is this adorable 6 year old boy who just lights up our world.

At this glorious time of the year, my family wishes all of you the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yeah I know this is a few days late. I did have all the best of intentions of posting it Monday night before I went to bed. But by the time Santa got things completed and the evidence hid back away, it was almost Midnight and I was just bushed.

We weren't awaken until 6am, which is the typical time around here. The kidlets had a glorious time opening all their presents. The rest of the day was so busy that I never got a chance to even get near the computer.

On Wednesday I worked, even later than normal and then yesterday was almost equally as jam packed. I spent part of the morning researching a new point and shoot camera. Santa didn't bring me one but it isn't his fault since I never told him exactly which one I want. Since Jammer dropped my old one on a concrete floor at culture camp last summer, I've been using the really old one and I desperately need a replacement. Then the rest of the day was spent clearing all the piles of gifts from my great room, breaking down all the packaging (my recycle bin is filled to the brim) and clearing away the 7+ inches of snow that fell during the day.

My studio hasn't seen much of me lately but I plan to rectify that over the weekend. I can't think of a better way of finishing off this year than to spend some Me time doing something that I love so very much.

I hope you have a terrific day too!

Each year as I set out my beloved nativity set, I chuckle as I remember the "other" little story that goes along with the familiar players that has been in our family for many years.

You see, when my niece was about 4 (she's 30 now) she and my mom (aka Nanny) were helping Aunt Janet move into her new house right around Christmas time. On the way over to her house to help assist with the first bit of unpacking they picked up lunch. The movers hadn't arrived yet with the furniture so they spread a blanket on the floor and ate their meal. Little niece added the perfect little quip when she declared

"We are having a picnic just like Baby Jesus".

She had been looking at Nanny's nativity set up and obviously figured out that was what they were doing. From that moment on, anytime someone is enjoying a picnic, we always say "just like Baby Jesus."

Do you have any cute little holiday time family tidbits like this that have remained for years and years?

Just over a week ago I was contacted by Fons & Porter and asked if I'd like to review their new ebook Build Your Best Log Cabin. It is available for free download on their website. My first thought was "I have absolutely no time for this at the moment" but after looking at my To Do list and seeing that it wasn't too bad, I emailed back that I'd love to review their book as long as I didn't have a deadline to work with. Thankfully they obliged and since I'm home again today with a feverish little girl (those nasty infection filled tonsils can't come out soon enough), I have plenty of time today to thoroughly lookd this over and get this review completed.

There are also a number of interesting projects made using these blocks. By far my favorite is the Linked Chevrons quilt. I can just imagine this quilt in a totally different colorway making itself onto my Must Make list. And since I've been hunting for just the prefect pattern for some special quilts for family members, I'm thinking that I just found one that will work very well indeed.

Plus there are a number of complete patterns for you.

I really like this Woven Log Cabin one and it is another that will be added to my To Make list. Can't you just imagine it done in either pastels or brights with a white background? 

Tuesday, December 18th, there will be a blogger day of silence. If possible, please try to not post anything other than the above button (feel free to right click and save the above image if you want to upload it to your own blog).

  

Money is also being raised that will go to an organization in the memory of this tragedy. The organization is called The Newtown Family Youth and Family Services. Here is the official description of the support service being donated to:

ANY DONATIONS MADE TO NEWTOWN YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES WILL BE DONATED DIRECTLY TO THOSE EFFECTED BY THE SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING."

Please visit THIS PAGE to make your donation.
And please feel free to copy and share.

Or to say it correctly "Nothing".

I have nothing pretty to show you today. No works in progress, no finished projects. Zilch!

The reason? Since the rush job quilt top was completed and speed delivered to my quilter, I've not stepped into my studio, except to iron a few bits of clothing here and there (I hate wrinkled clothes).

December is way beyond busy in this house and I'll be lucky to make it through until New Year's with my sanity intact. Besides work and gift shopping, we:

*Celebrated my daughter Sunshine's birthday last weekend (she is all about being a big 4 now)
*Had her in school birthday party on Monday
*A visit to our wonderful ENT on Wednesday to discuss and schedule her tonsil removal next month (not fun but very necessary)
*The school winter concert last night and the rush to get them there on time (why they did it on a school night is beyond me)
*Tonight is the adult holiday party at the firehouse
*Tomorrow is the kid's firehouse party plus Hub's work party
*Jammer's birthday happens during the school break so his class party will be next Tuesday. We'll be decorating cookies in class. Yippee! 22 five year olds, icing and sprinkles. Should be interesting to say the least.
*Both kidlets have their class Christmas parties next Thursday and then
*they are off from school for 12 days! Juggling work schedules are a must.
*My company's Christmas dinner party is next Friday
*The road trip and extended family (my side) Christmas is next Saturday
*We'll celebrate Jammer's birthday on his actual birthday
*His big party will be the weekend after Christmas
*The anniversary of receiving Sunshine's referral is at the end of the month
*And my bestest friend and her family are coming for a visit too

So as you can see, I'm beyond crazy busy. I really want to get some sewing done but I don't know at the moment when I'll be able to. I'd really love to give my sisters a special paper pieced project this year but I'm not sure if I'll get the time to make that happen.

I did manage to pick up the 4 quilts my long armer finished speedy quick. Two are my sister's quilts. I rushed them back out the door to send to her without taking pictures as one is a gift that she needs to get bound and sent off. I've asked her to share some pictures once the package arrives today.

The other 2 are my quilts, the Dots in the Wind baby quilt and the rush job quilt, which has to get the binding completed and out in the mail to it's future owner fast. I promise to share pictures of the completed quilts as soon as I can.

For now I'll leave you with many happy wishes for a stress-free-as-much-as-possible rest of your holiday prep time. Because of the fact that both of my kids were born right before Christmas I don't think my Decembers will ever be stress free!

An email arrived in my In box recently from a fellow adoptive mom asking if I'd be able to whip up her daughter's 100 Good Wishes Quilt in time for it to be a Christmas gift. Sure! Why not add a little more craziness to my holiday season. A couple of back and forths and before I knew it, the box of fabrics had arrived on my door step.

There was no time to waste so I sorted all the fabrics into color piles. Let me tell you there is definitely a huge variety of colors and prints in this stack. My eye just couldn't find a layout that worked for me so I called my new-quilter-graphic-artist friend and hollared "Help". She came over and assisted me in coming up with something that worked. Here is a tiny portion of the plan.

The blocks came to me rough cut to 8" and needed to be trimmed up and squared.
Now all nicely trimmed to 7 1/2" each.
Lots of chain piecing commenced.
More chain piecing.
Eleven rows of ten each.
After 14 hours of prep and sewing, in between work and normal family stuff over recent days, it was done. I'm not going to show you the completed top at this point. The mom also sent 4 different fabrics as options for the 2 borders requested and here you can see the watermelon paisley and back background floral that I chose.
The completed top and pieced backing was literally sped over to my LQS on Tuesday where I met up with my quilter for the hand off. Thankfully she is able to squeeze this project into her schedule and I should have it back by next Tuesday at the latest. I am very lucky to have a quilter who is able to do these fast turn arounds for me when I need them.

Because he brought me these!

My excitement upon having these on my doorstep when I got home yesterday was over the top! This rather large-ish box from Fat Quarter Shop was pretty heavy because it contained all of the backing fabrics that I purchased on Black Friday. Take a gander at this pile of lovelies.

All told there is 24.25 years of fabric that I paid a whopping $96.30 for. Now that is my kind of shopping! With the exception of the Veranda yardage (that quilt isn't even started yet), all of the others are backings for the UFOs that I'm going to actually quilt myself (a first for me). I really am anxious to get working on it but they will likely have to wait until after the holidays are over. There is way too much going on during the coming weeks.

While that 1st box was fun to open, the 2nd box was the one I was holding my breath for. This one is from Julie at The Intrepid Thread. Inside were two beautifully wrapped bundles (sorry forgot to take a picture in all my excitement). Just look at these to-die-for gorgeous fabrics!

This massive stack of lovelies will become a quilt for our king size bed. Yes I am rather petite but hubs is 6'6" so a king bed is a requirement in this family, not a luxury. And with 2 kidlets typically crawling in the middle sometime during the night, it does tend to get pretty crowded quick.

Now I totally understand when other quilters say they pet  caress their beloved fabrics. I find myself doing that now with this fabric. The feel is so luxurious and wonderful.

All you fabric hoarders out there will be shocked to learn that I actually can't wait to cut into this stack. Yes it is so beautiful to look at but it will be even more beautiful made into a quilt for our bed. The shame is that I don't have the time at the moment to actually get started on it. I have way too many other projects that are much higher on the priority list. So until then I will spend more time enjoying its gorgeousness but hopefully before long, they will be cut and pieced together into something even more gorgeous to snuggle under.

I'm not looking at any more huge fabric sales for the rest of this weekend!

My wallet took a big hit yesterday. There are so many great deals all over the online quilt shops but I spent enough that now I feel a tad guilty. But just a tad. The poor mailman is going to have his work cut out for him when he delivers those packages. There is a lot of fabric coming into this house this coming week.

I did buy with very specific plans in mind. Not once did I buy something just because I liked it. I purchased backings for 7 quilts and with the awesome sales, I averaged $4.83 per yard. Prices like that are definitely hard impossible to resist.

I am soooo excited too! My current obsession fabric is also coming my way.

Last you saw of these blocks and this future quilt was during the Dots on Dots Blog Hop. I had completed 6 blocks and had another 6 started. Well life and work, specifically our fiscal year end and all the work that comes along with getting everything ready for the tax return prep done, kept me from getting back to this project. This is where I left off, the remaining 1/2 square triangles sewn together.

Once I put the groups together and sent out the lists, it was time I made my own center block. Coming up with this Round Robin idea was the easy part. Deciding what sort of block to do was much tougher.

I pondered for days and days....what colors to use, what block pattern or design to use, go wonky or not...so many choices and so little time to decide. In the end, I decided to create a block that really spoke to who I am and this is what I came up with.
A rainbow of color, my favorite and just a bit off kilter, so like me. It really summed up my personality....when you first glance at me quickly I seem straight and normal  (the accountant part of me) but when you stop and look a little closer, you see that I'm typically just slightly askew. It is such a better way to live....a tad bit unpredictable.

This little block traveled literally around the world! It stopped at 5 destinations in the US including Georgia, Illinois, Utah, Montana, and North Carolina plus it flew across the pond to France and down under to Australia.

It is no lie that when the package arrived back home, I was extremely nervous about opening it. Seeing the return address, I knew exactly what was to be found inside the padded envelope. Being the master list keeper of all the destinations, I knew where each block was on its journey each month but not once did I ever attempt to suggest or influence what my group mates added to my own little quilt. So I had absolutely no clue as to what this would look like. When I finally lifted the flap and unfolded the contents, this is what I found:

Hi! I'm Lisa Cox. I live outside a very small town in rural North Central Missouri.
I'm rather new to quilting. In fact, last month I finished my second quilt. I'm a total

I started out with a block called the Amish Twist. It was supposed to be a paper pieced

block, but I hate dealing with paper, so I put it on thin white fabric. I think someone told

me once that is called foundation piecing? This is a picture of my center block after the

borders have been put on. It never occurred to me to take a picture of it before I sent it

off. LOL

When I received my little block back, tears came to my eyes. You guys ROCK!!! It is so

beautiful! And so many different borders. I was trying to figure out how I was going to

turn it into a wall hanging when my husband saw it. He immediately said how cool it was and

how he thought that it would be great as the center of a quilt for our bed! It is the right colors.

Now, my husband is not into quilts at all. He can't visualize what anything will look like just

by looking at colors or patterns. He has to see the finished product. So for him to say that it

was cool! And that he wanted it for a quilt is amazing.

So, I'll say again. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

This is a picture of my block with all the neat borders. Sorry for the horrid pictures, but I didn't

have time to iron it after I got off work. I wanted to make sure Michele got this in plenty of time.

Lisa

It is so neat how each addition to the quilt changed it. I really like the addition of the bright green, it really makes the quilt! I haven’t yet decided how I will finish it, I have debated between keeping it a mini quilt or adding large pieces of solids around making it into a larger quilt. I can’t wait to join the fun again when it opens up next year.

Renae