Happy New Year

It's 10 p.m. New Year's Eve. Do you know where your quilting friends are? Well, this one is home, posting on her blog. I had hoped to post a photo of the quilt I made this evening. However, I decided to add some foiling, and the glue is drying. As I wait, I will watch old Honeymooners episodes with my husband, or Victor Borge, ushering in the new year laughing.

My quilt was inspired by the realization (thanks to Deborah mentioning it on her blog, While I was Waiting) that we are having a blue moon this evening. I even wrote a poem that I thought of as I was sewing.

Happy Christmas to All

I started my granddaughter knitting a pair of fingerless gloves on double-pointed needles. I forgot how hard that can be for an inexperienced knitter. She's in the hospital and needs something to help pass the time.

On my way home, I got off the subway at 5th Avenue and walked up to Rockefeller Center so I could see the tree. NYC was mobbed today. Very exciting. It was dark and cold, and piles of snow remained at the sides of the roads--a bit grayed, to be sure. I found this image on the internet, as I only had my phone with me to take pictures.

I won't have time to post tomorrow, so I want to wish everyone a lovely Christmas, if that is what you celebrate. If not, I still hope you have a lovely day.


 Christmas at Rockefeller Center Photo by Bryan Bedder 
Click here to see more images and read the article at examineer.com

When you're dealt lemons...or ice

We all know the expression, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
Well, I just came across a blog that shows how to make something very special when it's colder than cold out. Check out resurrection fern's blog

Almost everyone has posted photos of snow--we certainly got a lot. I think we need to be "making lemonade" of that snow. I wish I weren't so busy this week: I'd do some snow dying.

Here's my white Christmas cactus.  Most of my cacti are at the tail end of their blooming time.

Santa Lucia Day

No quilting posting today. Instead a special remembrance of Christmas past.

Today is Santa Lucia day in Sweden. The oldest girl in the family wakes early and, wearing a crown of candles, serves Lucia buns to her family. My husband took part in the annual Lucia Festival as one of the little "elves" when he was a child. Belonging to a Swedish church, we celebrated Lucia Day year after year.

I'm remembering today a Christmas spent in Sweden when my children were little. They were able to meet distant cousins and experience different traditions. We ate and ate, decorated the house, Tomten visited bearing gifts, and we went to church.  On Christmas morning we walked in the pitch dark through the snow, carrying torches as are seen in this video. It was barely light at all at this time of year. We sang Swedish Christmas carols, which can bring a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat when I hear them--especially if they are also Norwegian and bring back my own childhood memories.

By the way (or BTW), I have made those delicious Lucia buns in the past. They have a particular "S" shape, contain raisins, and are saffron-flavored.

A Great Day in Guilford: CT SAQA meeting

December 5 was an exciting day in Guilford, CT. The Connecticut SAQA's general meeting was held at the Guilford Library. On the walls of the library's meeting room are the Photo Challenge quilts of Sisters in Cloth, which will be up until the end of December. Martha Seilman gave a talk and slide show presentations on her book, Masters: Art Quilts. Then followed lunch, arranged by Sisters member Barb Adams, and viewing of the SAQA Trunk Show B, and show and tell. SAQA members and friends in attendance were enthralled by the talents of everyone in the room and the trunk show.

Next was a drawing of gifts and gift certificates donated by local merchants--yarn, fine craft--thanks to the efforts of, again,  Sisters in Cloth members. Next, maps in hand, everyone left for the merchants and for the Guilford Art Center to see the SAQA exhibit, Transformations 09: Reflections. And, of course, to shop at the art center's holiday sale of fine craft, Artistry. It was a most inspiring day.

Most of my few photos are not of good quality, but shown are Debbie Bein, talking about her show and tell; CT SAQA representative Kate Themel admiring a book quilt by Sally Brown (details here); Barbara McKie showing her newest quilt; and the attendees in rapt attention.

You've got to love blogging...

Sometimes I happen upon a blog that really impresses me. I am inspired or in awe, or I read a sad story or a happy one. I get daily Google Alerts for art quilts, and have occasionally seen mine listed or that of a friend. I check out many of the listed blogs, especially if I am sitting with my husband in the evening and he is watching the "game" (insert here basketball, baseball, hockey, or football, depending upon the season). Sometimes I add my name to the followers and sometimes I copy the link and email it to friends or family. That's what I did with this one. (Click here for the main url.) If you are having a bad day, reading through this blog might be the right medicine. I called my sister last evening, and we read through much of it together--we often do this sort of thing. Sometimes we laugh so hard we have to stop and gain our composure. Her rough day greatly improved. Knowing it did was a big bonus for me, too.

P.S. The picture has nothing to do with this posting except that I have been doing a lot of knitting lately.

No sewing today; instead I'll be writing up a final exam and a review sheet for my math students.