Goodness! It's been over two weeks since I blogged! Just shows you how busy a person can be over the holidays - shopping, cooking, family and friends . . . . I had a healthy dose of all of these, and enjoyed every minute of it. Because I'm single, I don't often have the opportunity to cook for a group of people, but when my sister and her two teenaged children visited, I cooked breakfast and dinner on several occasions, and they actually ate it! My family teases me about how I "didn't get the cooking gene" and I'm the first to admit that that's so very true. Not because it's difficult to cook - after all, you can't eat out EVERY meal - but it's easier to prepare food for more than one person! I loved having my family around this holiday season - we all got along so well, and it was a pleasure for all of us, I think.

Some unexpected quilting surprises happened, too. As you may know, my vendor shows ended in early November with the final show of Holiday Marketplace in Gainesville. But that didn't exactly end my selling season. A very nice woman who visited my Marketplace booth called and wanted to buy a quilt for a friend of hers, and she decided to purchase a little something for herself, too. The quilt above - Cranberry Scones and Apricot Jam - has always been one of my favorite quilts, and I was somewhat sad to see it go . . . but hopefully, it will bring happiness to its new owner as it did for me. Besides, I have PLENTY of fabric from which I will make myself a new quilt (maybe to sell, maybe not). The second surprise was a call from a previous customer in Florida who wanted to buy a Halloween quilt for her daughter for Christmas. Seems her daughter loves Halloween as much as I do, bless her heart! And the third call came from a quilting customer who needed help in finishing a quilt for a friend - beautiful black/red/white quilt that we quilted in white (on a black backing fabric) that turned out beautifully.

I'm finishing a few small Fall quilts (table runners, small toppers and wallhangings) that were set aside when I was busy with my vendor shows, but as I always do at this time of year, I'll be taking EVERYTHING from the shelves, giving them a good dusting, then sorting according to project, fabric color and season - or not. I've done a pretty good job this year of keeping everything nice and tidy so I might just focus on finishing up existing projects (black and white quilt, Halloween medley quilt, a couple of panel quilts) in order to have the sense of accomplishment that usually comes from sorting . . . .

However you finish out your "old year" and begin your "new year", do so with an open mind and a happy heart, and may 2011 bring you the peace of mind that comes from living a good life, a happy life filled with work and hobbies that make you smile!