Hello Friends. Wouldn’t you know it, just because the hubby and I are not going on a winter vacation, Mother Nature has sent us into a deep freeze. Or its always like this at this time of year but we are on a beach and miss it. Whatever the case, cold and crunchy is life in my neck of the woods. We, being all the folks, I talk to, are hibernating until this streak of unbearable cold passes. I’m a tough northerner but we have out limits. What do you do in such cold weather? Quilt, Stitch, play with fabric, pull out fabric bundles, count your UFO’s. Yup it’s that time of year when we look at our stash and wonder where it all came from. I swear fabric has the ability to propagate. But never the less, at -30C, I don’t have to go to the quilt shop to look for something to quilt with.

It is usually at this time of year when I am assessing how things have been going at the studio and what kinds of things I want to do, that I try to come up with a word or phrase to keep me on track. I have decided that this year’s word will be Intention.

Intention: a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought. Wikipedia

On any given day I can have 3 – 4 different quilting project ideas. Several projects on the go and just as many scheduled commitments that have to be taken care of. So, I will TRY to set my days with intention. Plan what to work on each day and carry them out that commitment. Ok, I hear you laughing, but I did say “try”! If your like me and feel the need to get it together drop me a comment and let me know if you will be trying some new motivator this year.

With the days speeding by, Symposium will be here before we know it. I have had an overwhelming response to this year’s guest and workshop topic. Sherida Giddings will be teaching the paper piecing leaf series by Judy Neimyer. Space is going fast so don’t delay Sign up and join us for a great weekend.

For more information on this year’s Symposium click HERE.

Now for some exciting news, yours truly was asked to make a profession guest appearance on a CBC series called “Back in time for Winter”. This is season 2 of the series which follows one adventurous family on the time-travelling journey of a lifetime as they take on iconic trends in food, design and domestic gadgetry, beginning in the 1940’s. Each week the family from Sudbury Ontario will live through a new decade of Canadian food and domestic trends. I was asked to teach the mother, two daughters and the grandmother how to hand quilt. My dear friend Daintry, just so happened to have a period quilt which we used so the family could hand quilt on. I am so grateful to have had her help and expertise in this adventure. I will let you all know when it is to air but am told most likely winter 2020.

Since I brushed up on my hand quilting skills, I thought I would put my efforts to good use and come up with a few new classes for spring of 2019. An heirloom hand quilted pillow top or framed piece and since we are quilting, a small piece to get you started on Big Stitch Quilting. I will keep you posted as to when these classes will be available.

Lastly, Thank you Lise for sending in this picture of your finished quilt top from the November workshop. Looks beautiful! Well, time for me to snuggle on the couch and R&R. Thanks for dropping. Until next time, stay safe, stay warm and go play with your fabric stash.