My Favourite Room in the House...

... is my family room right off the kitchen.

What's that mess on the right, you ask?

This is where I "work" in the evenings,

curled up on the loveseat,

surrounded by stitching supplies and magazines for inspiration.

 I can watch videos, travel, or home decorating shows on my very small screen TV.

Can you find it?

 But now it's morning and after what seems like weeks of rain,

the sunshine is streaming through the window.

And for that I am so very thankful.

Making and Remaking

Another week, another project completed.  I finished this wool "Sweet Sampler" by Threads that Bind and love how it turned out.  The instructions were to frame it but I decided to make a pillow instead.  Perfect for spring, which can't be too far away now, right?

One of my goals for this year was to redo the master bath.  After 20 years of looking at these pink flower stencils, I was ready for a change!

 So, first, it's off with the wallpaper, which, thankfully, didn't fight me too much.

 Soon, it's all on the floor and I'm ready for step 2.

I think I'll dig out all my old issues of "Country Sampler" for ideas to decorate.

Any suggestions?

What next?

Okay, let's get the not-so-good news out of the way first.  Hubby Ben had the nerve tests done on his arm yesterday and it appears there's been no healing. So learning to live with his damaged arm is likely our new reality and now we'll have to figure out the next step as far as his employment goes.  A scary thing to be facing when he's within a few years of retirement.  How life can change in a moment!

And now, some good news.  After my website disappeared without a trace into cyberspace a couple of months ago, it's finally back up and running again.  I signed on with a new host and rebuilt the thing from the ground up.  What a lot of work!  There's still some posting to be done but if you'd like to check out what I've done so far, here's the link: http://www.countryquilts.ca/.  What do you think of it?  As a little celebration present, I'm offering free shipping on any orders within the US and Canada placed from now to the end of January 2011!

Some more good news... I've designed another Block-of-the-Month pattern and Kansas City Star Books has agreed to publish it in book form later this year!  The pattern is called "Welcome Home" and features a lot of house blocks which I love.  I'll update you on the book's progress so stay tuned!

And finally, I've finished the little quilt project I started in my last post.  Here it is ready to be hand-quilted.

 And here it is, finished.

I enjoyed making it so much and there was so much extra fabric in the kit, I was able to make a second!

 I made this one without the woolen circles. 

 I can't decide which one I like better.  Which one gets your vote?

First Project of 2011

I love the start of a new year, when it seems like anything is possible and I haven't screwed up (yet) in any major way.  It reminds me of when I was a child starting another grade in school and I opened a new notebook (do kids still use notebooks?), all fresh and clean, with no crossed-out mistakes or eraser marks to spoil it. 2010 had many wonderful moments but it was also a hard year for me in many ways, as I know it was for so many people.  We dealt with health, financial, and relationship challenges in our family and will continue to do so into this year.  But I'm also excited about the possibilities this year holds. 

I don't set New Year's resolutions but I do like to set goals for myself.  (Nothing to do with exercising or losing weight--these are doomed to fail before I start.)  So here, in no particular order, are some of my goals for this year.

1. I want to redo my master bathroom, which has stayed the same since building our house 20 years ago! 
2. I have several new projects and patterns in the works which I want to finish and send off to book publishers and magazines for possible publication.
3. I want to get my website back up and running ASAP. 
4. I want to travel somewhere on my bucket list. 
5. And I want to continue doing what I love.  With that in mind, here is my first project of the year--a little quilt pattern kit I bought at Primitive Gatherings quilt shop when I was there last year.

Here's why I love this kit--the gorgeous colours of the fabric and wool. 

 And it's small so I can squeeze it in between other bigger projects.

I've cut out the little wool circles which I'll whipstitch together while watching TV tonight.

I wish you all a new year filled with days of doing what you love!