The long return...

Forewarning: This post is loaded with images. If you come here to read primarily about quilts, feel free to scroll all.....the....way....down.... Otherwise, be prepared to read all about my family.

I inadvertently took a long Christmas break. It's been two weeks (!!) since my last post. I don't blame you for being annoyed - I am slightly annoyed too (only at myself). But I'm back now, and one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more constant with my social media opportunities.... so here's to that!

We have only had one ornament calamity this Christmas. Sadly, it was a dear one....

I should be knocking on wood right now, since the decorations have yet to come down and be put away (hopefully later today). This is my youngest's Christmas ornament from two years ago, and she was overly eager to help decorate the tree. Glass ornament and hard floor met, and tears resulted from mommy and daughter. I really need to grow up when dealing with these kind of things.

Remember the quilt that I finished in the last post? Had I mentioned that it was a gift for my Dad? He had asked for one, but had been told that it wasn't going to happen for Christmas.

This look makes the extra work to surprise him totally worth it.

I don't know how it is with the men in your life, but I find it difficult to elicit a large level of excitement from them over gifts they have received. So, with the photographic evidence from the picture above, and the picture below, I will chalk this Christmas up as a success in the "eliciting excitement over gifts" category.

This is my husband expressing his happiness over the box of cigars that were brought back from Dominican Republic for him by my parents.

While at my parents, my sister took the opportunity to try out the new equipment for her camera that she got as a gift. I happily obliged by allowing my children to be photographed....

Khyler

Campbell

Graydon

Scarlett

Our Christmas days (we have three days to celebrate with different families) were spent happily in the most predictable ways. Eating, visiting, playing outside, hunting for a gift in an elaborate scavenger hunt my wonderful in-laws planned, playing games.....

And overall relaxing..... (a sleepy boy, what is better??)....

The week between Christmas and New Year's was spent doing as little of the activities that resemble normal life as possible. I treasured the days off with the kids, and made a point to steer clear of the sewing room (as much as I love quilting, I needed the quantity of time with my family).

We spent three nights, including New Year's Eve, out at sled camp. I can't help but relax when I'm there. Last time we hadn't brought the sleds out, but this time we had five. We took the kids on a trail ride to see Kakwa Falls. I didn't bring my camera along for fear that it would get broken (I'm not such a great sledder and didn't trust myself not to crash the sled and in the process wreck my camera... Writing this down makes me feel a little silly...). The falls were frozen, and since I didn't have a camera, go here to see approximately what they looked like. For some reason, I had expected them to look like water falls perfectly frozen straight down, without that huge pile of ice leading up to the top. I guess I hadn't put too much though into it.... You learn something new every day.....

The kids thought it was fun just to sit on the sleds....

And pretend they were racing off into the great unknown on their own.....

My parents came out to spend New Year's Eve with us.

And we made sure to teach the kids some important fire safety and outdoor skills (aka fireworks at 8:30 pm).

Our New Year's Day brunch.... Tower o' Pancakes.

That's all I have for our Christmas break. Now those of us who live in this area settle in for the long hibernation that lasts until the snow melts in April....

Now, finally, for those of you who scrolled all the way down for the quilty goodness. This last week has been a stretching one for me on the creative end. I took on a quilt intended as a birthday gift for a friend, ordered by her husband (who felt very proud of himself for knowing she wanted this). I love custom projects, and I love a challenge, but once again I found myself questioning my sanity while attempting to quilt a queen size quilt on a standard machine. I can only handle a queen size about three times a year, because by the end of it I am ready to never see a sewing machine again! Okay, that's exaggeration..... That feeling goes away once it is done and I see the finished product - beautiful as always (sorry if that sounds braggy). I learn something every time that I stretch myself, though... so I think I need to keep on making it difficult for myself.

The finished quilt - picture taken before the sun had come up since it came out of the dryer half an hour before this picture and had to be delivered half an hour after this picture. Talk about cutting it close...

Final measurements were approximately 100" x 100". Mammoth. This is why there is no full picture of it. I learned something else too - I don't have a 100" x 100" spot in my house to lay out a quilt. That makes life interesting when one is trying to baste a quilt by stretching it out on the floor. Mental note made....

Here is a detail of the binding. I tried something new - the zig zag. I'm digging it. You?

Close up of the piecing. The quilted lines are purposefully very organic and randomly spaced (I guess I feel like I need to point out the purposefully part so that you don't think I can't sew a straight line for the life of me).

I'd like to do a post with a collage of all the quilts that I completed in 2010. My goal (or last year's New Year's resolution) was to finish 20. I know I passed that goal, but I don't know by how many. This year I plan to try new patterns and techniques, as well as expand my online presence. Any requests for things/quilts you'd like to see?

I've learned so much these past three months - that's about when I got quite busy with custom orders. Timing, my likes/dislikes, my kids' ability to put up with my work schedule..... The learning curve has been steep, and there are a few people that I could not have coped without as I added this sometimes full-time job to my already full-time stay-at-home mom position. My sister, Erika, has often insisted (against my protests) that I drop off a kid or two at her house so I can get my work done. My mom has randomly picked up a child or two and dropped off miscellaneous groceries. My dear friend Dara (please check her out here) has been a faithful ear for venting about home-based business start-ups. And Krista, whom I think of as a sister, has fully acted like family and stayed my friend even when I haven't had the time to act like one.

I'd like to thank you, my readers, for simply reading my ramblings... I like this thing we got going.

More soon....