Let's be happy..................

I recently read about a person applying for a job to be a happiness blogger and I thought WOW what an amazing job. Next thought......why can't I do that so as we head into the new year I am going to try to post a quote or something to make you smile as smiling is one of my favourite things:

Here is today's thought

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain

On a quilting note I have most of step 1 and step 2 completed on the RRCB mystery quilt from Quiltville, it will be very interesting to see the final result.

Mystery quilt finally started

Finally gave in to temptation and started the mystery quilt from Bonnie Humter's website. There have already been 6 clues and no one can figure out how it goes together but should start soon as there are only 8 clues. I have all my fabrics selected and I started with clue 3 which is string blocks because they look like so much fun (and they are). We have to make 60 of these blocks and I have 8 done. I have attached pictures of the blocks before they are trimmed and they sure don't look like much but I love them after they are trimmed. Now I just have to pull the paper off the back. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Hawaii pictures

As I mentioned yesterday here are a few pictures of December in Maui.

some surfers

one of the many gorgeous flowers I saw

It is so amazing to watch the sunset; it happens about 5:45 pm this time of year and it goes down so

quickly .....you can sit for 15 minutes and watch it move and then sometimes the colors after are breathtaking.

I hope these pictures give you something else to smile at as you make holiday preparations.

Christmas is almost here.......

Another month has gone by since my last post but I'm back. I spent an amazing 2+ weeks in Hawaii; Maui to be exact and it was great. It was our Christmas present to each other and we shared most of the time with our son and a week with my sister and her husband. We had a few rainy days but it was still so very warm that it was great and the rest of the days were gorgeous. I will try and post some pictures for your enjoyment.

Now home to spend Christmas with our daughter and her husband, Victoria came out today and helped bake and decorate. It is so great to have time together.

There is a new mystery on Quiltville that I am dying to start; but I have to finish some other quilts first and finding it very hard to control as starting something new is always so much fun.

I hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying the Christmas preparations. Take time to smile and enjoy all the blessing we have.

Craft Sale # 2 completed

Fri, Sat & Sun I had a booth at the All Sooke Arts and Craft Sale; while it didn't seem very busy I sold three lap size quilts plus a few pocket kleenex holders, potholders and snack bags so not too bad overall. Ruth kept me company and sold a scarf that technically wasn't for sale ( a different long story). Attendance at next years sales is up for debate but I have the chance to put a couple pieces in a gallery located at a local bakery for a month long art show so we'll see how that goes.

They were to be dropped off today but we were hit by a snow storm........that is not supposed to happen here. Snow storm only means 3 - 4 inches but considering we don't usually have snow it seems like a lot and with the humidity extremely icy especially on the hills which most roads are. It is also much colder than usual. So if they get the roads cleared and sanded tomorrow I will go drop the quilts off at the gallery. Wish me luck.

Craft sale - interesting experiment

My sister and I got a last minute chance to have a table at a large craft sale and although in the back of my mind thought why would there be a table available at the last minute without a waiting list but what the heck, you never know. So away we went for Friday nite and all day Saturday which was an interesting waste of time but fun to spend time together. Ruth sold a very cute little cosmetic bag and I sold a few kleenex pocket paks and snack bags but not anywhere near enough to pay for the table. Anyway, lesson learned and we will not go back to that sale although we got lots of compliments on wonderful quailty work for what it's worth.

Onward to the All Sooke Arts and Craft sale next weekend, the table was not too expensive and it is three days but we will see how it goes and that may be the end of craft sales. It would be nice to get back to sewing whatever i want for me and probably do some charity quilts. Everyone will be getting a cloth grocery bag with kleenex pak and potholder for Christmas :)).

Finally back to some sewing tonite, I had great plans to sew most of the weekend but my back had other plans. I raked leaves earlier in the week; you could say trying to pave the way to sewing time by contributing to outdoor work. Spent the morning Saturday dusting, vacuuming and various house cleaning preparing for guilt free sewing all afternoon. At lunch I felt a few twinges in my back which turned into muscle spasms by mid afternoon but thankfully after lots of heat; some muscle relaxants and 2 days of doing nothing it seems to be better.

Therefore, this evening back to the sewing machine and completed 4 shopping bags that I wanted to complete for craft sale in just over a week. There are always more ideas than there is time but I have completed a number of smaller projects with 2 rag quilts left to snip and wash so that should be easy to finish. Here is hoping it is a well attended craft sale (and it usually is) with lots of shopping getting done.