The new year is coming......

and I had a post that I was about to share with you all but was it was really a sad, emotional diatrabe about my life and loss with John.  I now feel that after almost four years I should be moving on to a new part of my life. 

So - I AM EXCITED - I have a bunch of stuff that I want to do, a huge number of quilts that I want to design, a newly organized studio and a lot of new quilts that need to be sewn together.  This New Year is going to be very good - come and join me and I will share everything with you! 

Happy New Year everyone - isn't it exciting to have schemes for going forward?

Look to the future, learn from the past and truly be happy - welcome to 2013. And never take your loved one for granted - to be loved is so special and you need to love them.

Thank you  to the Engineer who changed everything. 

Enough......

So this is Christmas......

and almost another year done.  I am not sure where the time went or why our lives are flying by so quickly. 

I had a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas day with the engineer and his family and I had a much better time than the last few lonely and empty years.  My thanks and love to him and gratitude for filling the void. 

I still have moments (many of them) when I miss John with all my heart and soul - how can you be happily married for almost nineteen years and not miss your soulmate?  It has taken a lot of thought and consideration to make the move to another relationship.  At times it has felt like being a traitor to what we had - a life together and total trust and joy.  But he is gone and would not want me to grieve forever.  I really could and I actually dreamt about that a few nights ago and awoke to the feeling that I could not ever love again, but I lay awake in the early morning light and decided that I needed to live and love again and this man is special to me and is time to move on to a new life.

So it is time for a New Year - the world did not end on December 21st and may not end before the end of my life.  But that means that I need to live my life to the fullest before I reach the end of my time here on earth, so here goes making the best of everything that I have......

Back to quilting in the next few days.

So we are all still here....

and the world is still turning. 

So tonight is all about John Barrett and everyone who is missing someone desperately over this Christmas.  There is something about this time of year - the consumer excess and the emotional duress that seems to begin in September and bombard everyone's emotions for months on end.  It does seem that so many tragic events occur near Christmas, but in reality they occur year round but seem more emotive during this time of year. 

All the quilts needed as gifts have been completed and I even managed to squeeze in an extra one today.  I have been working on a secret project and it is progressing well - just a few more hours.  And it's been the kind of project where I have had a lot of time to think.  Generally I have a reasonably positive outlook on life - I survived a divorce when my son was 18 months old, I coped with being a single parent for the next 10 years, I had a good job and owned my own house and then I met John Barrett.

I actually had a date with John a few months after we met while we were both working for Fuji Photofilm.  But it didn't amount to anything and despite him calling me every day at work to ask me for another date, I always declined (every working day for 3 years!).  Then I left Fuji and lost touch until a mutual friend told me that he had been in hospital for surgery.  So I wrote him a letter to ask how he was doing, and he replied but that was the end of that.  Then I was asked to return to Fuji and after a few weeks of working and him calling me, on May 9th (his birthday) I joined him for lunch and agreed to a date - we were married 3 months later. 

My son was 12 years old and as a package I think we were a bit of a shock to John, but he was a trooper.  He may never have been a father but over the years he was a father figure and a mentor to lots of children.  They all kept in touch with him and he loved them all - my son, Michael, gave him 'Father of the Groom' cufflinks at his wedding (not to his real father) - it meant a lot to John. 

John was not a veteran or a hero, but he was a good man.  He was not perfect, but he was laid back, calm and understanding.  Since I am a workaholic we had to work things out - once he thought I had been working long enough he brought me a glass of wine - my trigger to quit for the day.  He loved to shop (I hate shopping) and given a list he could go to any store and ignore the list completely! 

We didn't do a whole lot together - he loved to watch TV and I hated that, so we worked it out and I did handcrafting work and read a lot.  I wish now that I had been more patient and more relaxed - what is so important about work that it is more pressing than spending time with your loved one? 

Contact with John's family has become a little sketchy because of the distance.  I miss talking to his sister and his niece and wish that the miles between us didn't keep us apart.  The same goes for my own family - my son and his life seem a long way away and things happen without communication.  In fairness, that works both ways, out of sight is truly out of mind.  I have been too busy to pay attention to them, and they have a life that makes it difficult to pay attention to me - it's the price to pay for choosing to live so far away.  John and I discussed this before moving to the US, but it seems entirely different since he died.

In truth, I can't go back to the UK - my life is tied up here in the USA.  I love the area, the weather and my lifestyle. I also have more opportunities here and I can fulfill my ambitions.  The visa issue every five years is a pain, but one I will continue to endure so that I can stay.

So - to close - I miss my husband more than I can say - we were soulmates, team mates and partners.  We loved, bickered, planned, conspired and succeded together and had a lot of fun that I never realised.  Never take love for granted - it's a rare and special thing. 

Getting close......the Christmas Party, Color Me Rad and Furry Friends.

and still on target for all the Christmas quilts - yeah!

The Christmas party was a great success - some were too shy to want to be pictured in the blog, but most were fine!

 

Karen snuggling a soda (or a beer!).  Miss M.A. - thank you for coming!  And Jeeves with a shy husband who can't be seen.

 

A shy L. with a smiling R. behind the chair, the lovely Lindsay and yes Karen it is a beer!

 

Umh - meat and the handy slicer Mr. R.!

 

 

Just in case you drop something Mr. R - drop something Mr. R, pleeeeze!

 

Ms. J.P.'s lovely husband with soda - really it is soda.  Somehow Ms. J.P. managed to avoid the photo session - she was still working in the studio!

 

Karma Sensation Two again, but what a sensation this one is going to be when it's finished - watch this space.

 

The youngest guest at the party who obliged by saying cheese!  What a cutie.

 

                                         

 

The engineer took pictures at the 'Color Me Rad' 5k race that was in Columbia a few weeks ago so that I could post them! 

 

 

All nice and clean and ready to go!

 

Notice the sunglasses on the top of my head - to protect my eyes while they throw colored cornstarch and squirt colored liquids on you throughout the race.

 

Absolutely no comments about the rear view - I'll bite you!

 

 

Finally for today - I will post pictures of finished quilts later - the Hawaiian is coming along nicely.  All the bark work is complete in the blue and I am past the half way mark with the background echo meandering and the borders. 

 

 

Looking good to get it off the frame tomorrow so that I can load a very secret project that has been in the pipeline for quite a while and will be the basis of one of the next series.  So look out for the Karma Serendipity series (1 - 6) and Karma ??????? (1 - 6 or more) at the beginning of the year. 

And really finally (well almost) - a major meeting with the CPA on Thursday to discuss going forward with the PQ3000, the visa application for next year and some major plans for expansion in the quilt studio - it's going to be an exciting year and thanks for the visit today to S.H. (my favorite guinea pig) who, along with my mentor and chief cheerleader R.H., really motivates me and gets my creativity going!

 

Remembering the 'Maggie Moo' who died peacefully and at a great age last year - my favorite photo of the two of them.  There were (and still are) two holes in the screen door at the two different nose levels.

 

And not to be left out - the engineer's cat!  Wine calls.

The meat is in the oven........

and smells wonderful.  The engineeer dropped of the cake this morning on his way to work and Jeeves brought a huge bottle of wine, so we have meat, cake and wine - not sure what else is required really!

The Hawaiian is coming along.  The formal echoing in the blue gradually turned into tree bark as I progressed to the bigger spaces and I love how it looks.

 

Almost to the middle, so three more days for the blue before restarting in the white and finishing the borders. 

 

And the next Karma Sensation Two is being constructed and is going to be another stunner. 

 

 

Just a few of the block centers!  More tomorrow.

 

So off to the party which should be a noisy and happy affair.  It's a chance for us all to get together and chew over the last year and laugh at the comedy of errors that life can be on occassion.  Most of the Pet-A-Coat Junction and Threads and Traditions family will be here - Laurin has to study for a final exam tomorrow, so she will be missing, but M.A. is home and is going to come and I'm so excited!   Off to check on the meat and tidy the house - and the sun is shining (but it's cold!).

 

 

 

So winter finally arrived....

and it was really cold and gray today.  The temperature is 45F right now and feels like a lot less!  And I like my sunshine - still it should be back tomorrow.

The Hawaiian quilt is coming along.  There is a lot of work to do, all the blue areas will have a formal echo pattern with a less formal meandering echo that will feature in the background areas.  This first part has taken all day so I have a feeling that this one will be around for a while yet - although I did do the top border.

 

We had a few visitors at the studio today.  A couple of ladies came down to pick up their quilts from the town of Ninety Six SC.  Then Miss I. came by to pick up and drop off.  And Oh Boy you should see what she dropped off!!

 

 

It's a Dear Jane quilt and those blocks are 4" square!   It is so beautifully made and only took her a year to complete.  Trust me, that is very impressive and I am highly honored that she has trusted me with the quilting.

 

And check out the borders of this puppy!  All those diamonds.  I am so excited to get started, but it will have to be later in January after the Hawaiian and a couple of others that are needed soon.  The rest of the Christmas rush and the allovers is going well and we are still on track to finish in good time and have even taken on a couple of extras!

 

So I'm off to supper with my favorite New Yorkers and then tomorrow night is the staff Christmas party - the engineer is making a cake, a cunning move that will put him top of the chart with the lovely Lindsay!

 

 

The quilter's dog has had a busy day and is totally exhausted - someone has to hold down the floor! 

 

Another day done and it is quite disconcerting how fast the days are flashing past.  I wonder sometimes whether it is the TV that measures our lives in half hour slots or whether I am just getting older!  Maybe we should turn the TV off in the studio, but then how would we know how crash test dummies are made, all the wonderful things that are going on out there in the universe and how to install a kitchen in two days?

 

Stay safe out there in the cold and enjoy the festive season (and be good at parties!).

 

 

We fixed a PQ.......

One of the PQ3000s that we sold had a wonky rail so it was sticky.  The engineer and I went out and fixed it with a quick realignment and all is well - and then we went out to dinner!

Karma Sensation Two is finally put together - just needs to be quilted.  The binding will be in the dark purple to frame out the quilt.

 

Very pleased with the way it turned out - the next one (one is never enough) will look entirely different!  That is what I love about designing quilt patterns - no two quilts look the same. 

 

 

This is going to be a stunner.

 

Moving on to the quilt that is on Nora right now - a genuine Hawaiian quilt!

 

 

The loading - it's a huge quilt.

 

It's on!

 

So we are on top of the Christmas rush and actually ahead of the game - a wonderful position to be in at this time of the year.  The staff Christmas party is on Thursday night and should be a really good time.  Since the engineer fixed my oven I will be cooking the meat and everyone else will supply the rest of the food.  In past years it has always been a noisy and fun evening, so this year should be no different - just more people! 

 

Anyway - to work......

 

 

 

 

So Christmas is almost upon us.....

and we are sooo busy.  But not so busy that I didn't pause for thought today to think about the reason for the season. 

Growing up as the child of a (poor) exiled immigrant to Wales, this time of year was always very tense.  My father was always thinking of the family and country that he could not talk to or visit and there was very little money for the things that the children wanted, only what they needed.  So we got school sweaters, clothes that we needed and oranges and nuts in our stockings.  And I don't remember being unhappy with those gifts.  I do remember that we made a list of all the gifts and who had given them, so that we could write thank you letters after Christmas - much simpler and more polite times. 

It seems to me that it was a time for family gatherings, telling of (sometimes tall) stories and the fireplace.  We were a dysfunctional family, but we somehow made it work or told a story about it!  There was the epic Christmas when my mother dressed me up in a sort of fairy costume (bearing in mind that I was very short and very chubby) and made me a crown with candles all around it which were then lit just before I carried the turkey to the table.  And I didn't lose my hair....some sort of Scandinavian tradition!

And there was the Christmas that my mother (after a few sherries) dropped the gravy all over the kitchen floor as she was attempting to put it in the gravy boat - now that stuff will turn the kitchen floor into an ice rink!!

Tradition had us putting up the decorations on the morning of Christmas Eve.  My father topped one of the pine trees in the back kitchen garden and we hung the decorations and got everything ready so that we could go to midnight service at church.  Then all the decorations were taken down and put away on January 6th - twelth night.

I do think that whatever our faith we have probably allowed consumer pressure to hijack Christmas or the Holidays.  And it's probably what makes the economic world keep turning and without this holiday and all the other occasions that have been taken over by shopping we may be in a worse recession than we are, but I hate buying stuff just because - I love all my family and friends and can wish them a Merry Christmas without a card or lavish gift.  If they need something, if I can, I can help whatever the time of year.

So - make some eggnog, cook a wonderful meal, eat too much and have fun, but don't hurt yourself financially just because the kids keep on at you, or you want to give the biggest gift.  That's not what it is about.

I'll get off the soapbox now - and enjoy the holiday season.