Happy Birthday Dear Christi.....

Today is my firstborn's 41st birthday.  I can hardly believe it.  We had a wonderful birthday celebration on Sunday and I took some really great photos...........which I accidentally deleted from my camera while attempting to download to my computer.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.......a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  Anyway, I love you, Christi!

I know that I said I wasn't going to reorganize my sewing area.....just use things up and let it "reorganize itself" by depleting the amount of stuff that I have.  Well, that wasn't to be.  It is my other daughter Ashley's fault.  You see, she had bought these cubbies, and she ended up not being able to use them.  The result is a much better organized sewing area for me; it makes me smile when I walk in to use it......and it is so much easier to see my fabrics.  It is easier to be productive.  So, it was worth the better part of the day I spent doing it.

It started here.....

So much better!

Then, on Saturday, my sister, niece and I went to Scott's Antique Show in Atlanta, and I found this wonderful wire basket which is just perfect for holding my scraps as I cut.  I figure that when the basket is full, it will be time to press, sort and cut the scraps for recycling into scrap quilts.  The basket (I really don't know what it is or was originally used for) was a little rusty, so I ran by Family Dollar on Monday and found a laundry bag which worked perfectly!  How cool is that?  (I know, it doesn't take much, does it?)

 Yesterday I completed the top for the mini quilt of the month from my Yahoo Small Quilt Talk Group.  It is Crosses Mourning Quilt from Kathleen Tracy's (the list mom) book Prairie Children and Their Quilts.  I used a tiny bit of blue and white seersucker from my mother's morning coat in the block in the lower right hand corner. (The borders are really not wonky, I just didn't crop it evenly.)  I ended up tea dyeing the whole thing in order to make it work. No one else would ever notice this little odd scrap, but it gives me a warm feeling to know it is there.  I can't decide if I will hand or machine quilt this one.....maybe hand since it is special.  It is all from scraps and stash.

I also finished the first block in a BOM challenge for my primitive group.  I started getting Over the Meadow from Jan Patek last year.  I absolutely adore the blocks in this quilt thus far.....they are sweet and naive.   The BOM challenge for the year was the nudge I needed to get started.

A lot of bloggers that I read have chosen a word for the year...something to live by and reflect on.  After much pondering (and seeing how it works for Jeanne on her blog), I have decided on GRATITUDE.  I have so very much to be grateful for.  More than I deserve.  I plan to journal some of my gratitudes at the end of my blog posts.

Today I am grateful for:  My beautiful daughter, Christi, whose birthday is today.

The sweet chirping of our little finches.

Our warm home on a chilly day.

Take care,

Jennie