Happy New Year!

Here's what my kitchen window vignette was all season.  This little tree I have had for many years and it has moved all over the house.  I think I like it best here! 

The ornaments came from Nancy Halvorsen's "Here Comes Santa" pattern book.  I love her designs.

My sister and I spent a great deal of  December 31st working on the quilt for our friends.  Kathy accused me of taking too many breaks, but everyone needs to eat, blog, and relax, right?  She brought over King crab legs and she and Grant and I ate our New Year's Eve dinner standing over the sink, dripping with melted butter!  Yum.  Then we put together a jigsaw puzzle with our Uncle Fred while Grant watched sports and more on TV.  Talk about a wild party!  Shortly before 10:00 pm I finally got the last of the binding sewn down on the quilt and she took Uncle Fred home. 

Above: Blocks sewn by SIL Laura before borders were sewn on by me.  For our throw size, we made 15 blocks from the Turning Twenty pattern.

Above:  After quilting.

Above: some fun stitches and colorful thread were used by Kathy for the quilting portion.  I did the binding.

Above:  Backed with Minkee (aka Polyester Lithium)

I posted my last Travelogue and then Grant and I rang in the New Year alone; he took his drum set's cymbals outside and banged on them a few times to make some noise.  It seems we were the only people outside this year on our block, though we could hear noise of people shouting and firecrackers nearby.  We had our New Year's kiss outside under the full Blue Moon.  A lovely end to a long and full year!

On reflection of all the "bad" that happened in the world in 2009, and the shiny New Year before us, I can only say this:  It's a crazy world, that's for certain.  The "good old days" rarely stand up to that phrase.  There will always be violence, politics, disease, poverty, and misery in the world.  There will also always be joy, hope, love, creativity and generosity.  Here's to less of the former and more of the latter category.  From my corner of the blogging world, I wish all of you happiness with what you have, power to change what you can, and the recognition of the amazing capacity of the human being to do good for fellow inhabitants of this planet. 

As for me, beyond the usual list of resolutions I renew annually such as "lose weight, get organized, and exercise more", I desire to become a little more like my Grandmother and use some of my free time and sewing skills to create for charity.  I also plan to stretch myself and join a group to do just that.  Not being much of a "joiner" and tending to work alone, it will be a challenge to me. 

 From my family to yours, Happy New Year!