Happy New Year Everyone!

May your new year see good health, good fortune and most of all, love, for you and your family and friends.

The Pile is Getting Smaller ....

I have been able to get quite a few quilts loaded on my longarm and top quilted in the last couple of weeks thanks to my wonderful Christmas pressie from my dear hubby!  It really feels so rewarding to finally finish these quilts that I made so long ago and have been simply awaiting the finishing touches!

Our quilters' guild members are very active in the community making quilts for a large number of charitable organizations.  Our members make the quilts from start to finish ... some members like to piece the quilts together, some like to top quilt and some like to sew on the binding.  One quilt can see as many as 4-5 members working on it which is wonderful.  Now that I have a longarm, it is not only helpful to the guild to be able to top quilt some of these but it allows me much-needed practice.  Here are two of the community quilts that have been made by other members and that I have just finished top quilting and binding ...

Guild Community Quilt

Guild Community Quilt

Very simple meandering on community quilt

More simple meandering on community quilt

 I have also been able to top quilt 3 other of my quilts ... they were the biggest quilts I have done so far but went fairly quickly - again with very simple meandering ... I am working my way up to the "feathers!" LOL

Lauryn's quilt (stack and whack)

Made for one of the spare bedrooms

This is probably one of the most frustrating quilts I have ever made!  It is made using a lot of my African prints ... would you believe I made two identical quilts ... one for each of the beds in one of the spare bedrooms!   The pattern is called "Blooming Nine Patch!"  I almost lost my "blooming" mind making them too!!! LOL  

Another Wonderful Christmas!

It was so much fun for our family to gather at daughter Briggy's home this year to celebrate this wonderful holiday.  Instead of having the usual roast turkey with all the fixins, we choose to roast a massive baron of beef and serve that with dipping juice.  There were lots of wonderful appies and desserts too ... we came home stuffed to the gills !! LOL

I have some wonderful videos of the day - one of the many highlights is our dear grandson, Ozzy, singing Justin Bieber's song "Under the Mistletoe."  Needless to say Nana had "dust bunnies" in her eyes while listening to this young man singing with his wonderful voice.  I have to ask permission from him to post here ... if he says yes, you are in for a wonderful treat just as we were!

Blessings to all !

Happy Birthday Dear Lissy!

Our eldest grandchild, Lissy, became a teenager a few days ago and we celebrated over at her home.  I can't believe Lissy is 13 years old!

There are a number of significant ways that make December 23rd as special as it is !  Of course it is our dear Lissy's birthday.  Every year it also marks another anniversary --- December 23rd, 1963 is the first time I met Gerry.  This year it would have been 48 years to the day that my Father brought Gerry home to celebrate the Christmas holidays with our family!  The rest is history!  This time of the year also marks another anniversary and one that is equally as wonderful ... it was at this time of the year that I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  What a reason to fight with the impending birth of our first grandchild!  I am so blessed to say that each year marks another year of being cancer-free ... how great is that!!!

Two Proud Nana's

Lauryn and Birthday Girl Lissy

Brayden (blue) and Austin (red)

Mason (our next hockey player!)

Emma

Daughter Jen

From Back to Front - Emma, Lissy, Mason and Lauryn

All the grandkiddies with Austin and Brayden in this photo

Present Time

Auntie Dee Dee giving Brayden and Emma a cuddle

Daughter Traci with son Ozzy

Miss Lauryn

Wow ...  is that $100 bill for real, Nana???? LOL

Auntie Traci and Emma

Nana and her little boy Mason

Brayden playing the ukelele

Our daughter Jen with her birthday daughter Lissy

What a Hockey Tournament!

What is better than watching one grandson playing hockey in a tournament but TWO of our darling boys!  They play on the same team as each other with Austin's Daddy as the coach and Brayden's Daddy who helps out where needed.  It was great fun to watch but Nana cringed everytime one of the players from either team fell on the ice ! ;-)  Oh, most importantly .. our team won 3-2 ! YAY!

Nana and Mason

Lauryn and Mason

Emma and Lissy

Emma ... nicknamed Miss Smiley!

Brayden

Austin

WE WON!  Our team on right

The winning team ... Coach Blaine Fadear to the right... Congratulations Coach - well deserved!

Brayden and his Dad

Austin with medals

First Quilt off the Longarm!

Hot off the press ... first quilt finished on the longarm.  I struggled a bit in the beginning with balancing the tension, but once I got it, it worked like a dream!

I did a very simple design for my first run out of the gate.  I  have another quilt loaded right now and will try something a little different with this one.  Still not brave enough to try my feathers yet ... ;-)

My biggest fans and constant companions!

Peek-E-±Boo

At last ... here she is!!!

At last I have my Handiquilter longarm installed ... wow - it took what was the equivalent of a whole day to set up!!

Tomorrow ... you know what I'm gonna be doing!!!  I 'm so excited - there'll be no stopping me now! ;-)

A Proud Moment!

What a proud moment for us on Friday ... our dear grandson, Austin, aged 11 years, gave his first singing recital at McBurney's Coffee House in Langley.  He has the voice of an angel and moved Nana AND Poppa to tears with his performance!  How proud we are of him!

The coffee house was absolutely packed and when Austin saw how many people were there, his little face went white! I am so proud to say that he overcame his stage fright and went on to sing so beautifully and at the end to listen to a thunderous applause!!  Well done, my darling!!