So Long 2010

I can say I am glad 2010 will be heading on its way out.  If I had to sum up the year in one word, I guess it would be formidable.

Work was  is challenging because of the reductions-in-force (a new meaning for the word "riff" this decade. Also used as a verb "you've been riffed"). I figure the remaining staff is all doing 2-3 people's jobs plus new initiatives added monthly.  Another year of no cost-of-living pay raises.  Thanks Gov. for 8 years of no raises remember some of those years were "good" years.  So glad to see you go. Oh I forgot we are all supposed to just be thankful to have a job. 

I did resign from my second job in April after 8 1/2 years at Starbucks.  I really miss the good things about  working there--my fellow co-workers and regular customers--but do not miss the damage to my health, relationships, and well-being.  It took me until August to recover.  I hope I can make it through 2011 without having to go back. We'll see.

On to better things...2010 was another year of being inspired by all the fabulous creative quilt blogs out there. New fabrics and more time to quilt.  I'm really looking forward to sewing my way through 2011!

Everyone (2- and 4-legged) in the house was healthy all year.  Please let this be so in 2011!!

 In March, my niece was born and after a rocky start she is a happy healthy baby that has brought so much joy to my family!!!!   She visited her first quilt shop at 6 weeks old and as you can see, we still drag her to quilt shops.  She loves fabric and seeing all those colors!!      

 My dad taught her to stick out her tongue and blow "raspberries" LOL!

Hope everyone shares the rest of this year with family and friends! 

S. and I will be staying in (we always do) with dinner and wine from Whole Foods and movies from Netflix.  The cats, most likely, will be snoozing like this.

May 2011 bring all of you (and all of us) peace, health, love, and prosperity!

Limbo Week (no not the dance...)

Yes it's the week between Christmas and New Year. I don't know why I've been so slack in blogging; I just it's just the slow-down-quietness of the week.  I've been one of the few people at the office this week (I love driving to downtown Atlanta during Limbo Week--no traffic :) Trying to get projects done before the end of the year when the phones and emails are quiet.  I love Limbo Week.

Let's see what have I been up to...

working on the gazillion of 1 1/2" finished half-square triangles for the Bonnie Hunter mystery. I have 240 of the 600 needed so far. I'm using Thangles to make these and it may never end...




Here are a couple of cool lucky wins I won right before Christmas
from Sinta and Sherri's Le Petite Projects of the Year monthly giveaway a gift certificate to Quilt Taffy.  Here's my loot with a sweet note from lovely Corrie.  You can visit her blog here and the etsy shop at the link above--great prices and fast shipping gotta love it!






and a giveaway from the most wonderful Alma of Blackbird Designs
Little bitty cutie charm packs of 2-inch squares of their new line for Moda called Antique Fair.  These are too cute and precious to open! 

Ah hem I also bought a wee little bit of a present or two for myself during those great holiday sales that kept overflowing my inbox (I have no willpower....)
A fat eighth bundle of "Morris Tapestry" (I CANNOT resist William Morris fabric especially in purple and especially with the Strawberry Thief design) and a couple of charm packs of the new Kate Spain "Central Park" (great new line love it!) from Crazyquiltgirl Fabric Shop (another great shop with super fast shipping!)  And a couple of patterns from Fat Quarter Shop's sale.

And lastly, a recommendation of an excellent book for history buffs.  I borrowed my copy from the library but lots of you bloggers out there got those spiffy new e-readers so you may want to check it out electronically. I really enjoyed Simon Winchester's previous books:  Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded;  The Meaning of Everything:  The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary; and A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. If you like well-written, accessible, and interesting  history, science, natural phenomena, weather, naval history, military history, social history, oceanography, biology, anthropology, and many many other ologies, you will probably enjoy this book.  I like lots of ologies but that's just me.

OK I think I'm all caught up.  One more day of 2010 to go.

Christmas & Boxing Day 2010

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!  And a happy Boxing Day!

(I just love this antique print I found online with dogs and cat conspiring to get into the Christmas pudding.  It's called "Christmas Day--The Uninvited")

It has been a very low-key and lazy holiday here at Chez Stella Bella.  Lazing around under quilts, frequent snacking, reading, and dozing off. Actually, it was a typical day for the cats lol!

The cats enjoyed their new toys and we watched with amazement as snow fell in the ATL for the first time on Christmas since 1882.  There is about an inch here at my house but other areas in Georgia have more. 

Today is bitter cold and windy so I'm not leaving the house and am working on the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.

Tomorrow is back to work. Boo.

Happy Christmas!!

A Merry Christmas to all who celebrate from our house to yours!

Holiday Baking or My Kitchen is Covered with a Fine Layer of Flour & Confectioner's Sugar

I meant to post this last night but was too tired by the time I got back from delivering goodies to my Starbucks peeps.  I definitely got my bake on yesterday and by mid-afternoon my little kitchen was covered with flour and confectioner's sugar and the kitchenaid got a work out.  I started the morning making cranberry bread pudding to take to Starbucks along with cookies.  (I had homemade rolls in the freezer and milk I needed to use up so bob's your uncle...bread pudding.)

Next was cranberry-orange tea bread for my vet.  Every year I bring treats and coffee to my veterinarian's office as a thanks for keeping the four fuzzy ones healthy.

I only made a few types of cookies mostly to give away or take to the office next week because we definitely don't need to keep these around the house:  chocolate thumbprint cookies (left), a gazillion sugar cookies (above), and gingerbread cookies with lemon drizzle (below).

Today is one last batch of cookies and ham dinner (ham, mashed potatoes, corn, okra, homemade whole wheat rolls).  Rest of the weekend is sewing time woo hoo! 

The cats are being extra good today so Sandy Claws may visit after all lol!

Lunar Eclipse/Winter Solstice and Black Cats Do Not Mix

Lunar eclipse/full moon/winter solstice and black cats do not mix. 

Thanks to Morpheus, I've been up at 3AM for the past 2 nights (er mornings). I appreciate his interest in astronomy and the passing of seasons, but really a calendar is fine.

This is not my photo of the eclipse; it's from NASA.gov.  

I didn't even go outside to see it because I was too busy telling a certain mr. cat that he was not getting any Christmas presents (or winter solstice presents for that matter). 

If you are keeping track (as I am) only Stella and Gomez are being "good."  Edgar Poe and Morph better be on extra good behavior these next few days or Sandy Claws will not be visiting.

Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt RRCB step 3

Instead of working on my to do list yesterday, I goofed around and played with fabric and surfed around blogland before scrambling around to get the laundry, housework, cooking, and oh yeah picking up S and E at the airport.
I worked on my Le Petite project Saturday night and now just need to do the borders. 

I also worked on Step 3 which is 60 - 8 1/2" string pieced blocks.  I had two boxes of neutral scraps of all shapes and sizes so got those out....

and made a huge mess!!!  Poor Stella nearly got lost in it.

I am so happy to use these scraps up! What was I thinking saving crazy bits and pieces of all sorts of sizes???!!?? I now cut scraps up in usable sizes and sort by size rather than color. 

I have 10 blocks made (you can always tell when I take late afternoon photos in winter).
And 50 more to go...