I'm still here...

Please don't faint and fall over because I'm posting.  I know it has been FOREVER since I was on here.  I'll just put it down to that time got away from me. So please excuse that this post  may turn out to be a bit lengthy.

 First of all, I did get all of those stockings finished....I even threw in a few extra for the teacher's daughters and the girls I keep after school. Having them hung on my design wall, it sure did look like a lot of stockings!  Each one was stuffed with a pencil, a couple erasers (hard to get away from being a teacher), a candy cane,  and a sticker.

For Christmas, I made all of the adults in the family  and my granddaughter's teachers, quilted trays. Everyone got one out of fabric that seemed appropriate to them, including the quilting.  This is the one I made for myself.  I had to try it out didn't I? I'll be making some tweaks should more be needed..

I  had to dig out the baby quilt pattern that LaDonna had posted about earlier and make baby quilts.  One of my former students became a daddy for the first time.  He was one of those children that touched my heart and had always kept in touch with me. So his little boy got a quilt.

Of course the month of December was packed but not with any quilting.  My son and daughter-in-law were able to fly in from California for a few days at Christmas.  It had been two long years since we had seen them and so it was a wonderful few days! After they left, it was hard to get back into the swing of things so during that time, my sewing machine went in for it's check up.

While my machine was in the shop, I used that time to go through, throw away, clean, reorganize and then mess up again by cutting out a Valentine quilt for myself and Granddaughter's Kindergarten teacher.  She is one extremely awesome lady. I used a pattern (Ragged Hearts) I got from LaDonna years ago but never got around to making. Over time, I had gathered fabric together to make  a 'kit' but just never got around to making the pattern.  Something else always got moved in front of it. When we presented the wall hanging to the teacher, she just sat there rubbing it and smiling it...which I took as a good reaction.

So now you are basically caught up on the quilting that I've been doing.  As of today, I am tweaking the arrangement of quilt blocks for a quilt for my mother-in-law.  The blue flowered one that I made her a few years ago was looking rather worn last summer when we saw her.  As soon as I get an arrangement that I am satisfied with, I'll begin trying to quilt it.  Don't know how long that is going to take...I do tend to obsess about such things...right after I decide on pattern and fabric...which is an entire other story!

~Diana