Border, border, border !

I couldn't believe it when I looked through my rubbermaid tub and found a piece of yardage that was just perfect for this quilt's border......Praise the LORD !

I think that the quilt is a much more usable size now, and I hope that the hand-quilting will be enjoyable.  Do I make myself wait until the Monster is finished?  Nah........... but I do need to save it for doctor's appointments and other times of waiting.  Better concentrate on finding a back for it now, though.  I don't think I'll want to make a pieced one, even though they are my favorites, because the extra seams are horrendous on hand-quilting.

As you can see from this photo, the wind is up today....

....March is trying to go out like a lion, but with two days to go, and 70's predicted for Wednesday, it may just have to settle down and go out quietly, like a good little lamb.

Sometimes you don't have to say a word.......

.......I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths......(Psalms 30: 1)

You know that I was just itchin' to make something out of that 'faith' fabric !  
I had a checkbook in mind, but realized that if I used more than one fabric, I might could manage to squeeze a purse out also.  I think I have just enough fabric left for the checkbook........we'll see.  But for now, I'm carrying this sweet little thing everywhere I go, and letting it speak to the world !

From conception......

To completion.....

A peek at the lining.....

(you're probably noticing that I forgot to sew the ribbon loop into the top seam and had to stitch it on later !)

.....and, last but not least, the back !

By the way, if you take a look at some of my favorite things from Etsy, over there in the sidebar, you'll see a tee-shirt with the saying "I don't know what the future holds.......but I know who holds the future."  I ordered one for myself yesterday, painted on a long-sleeved navy tee.  I can't wait to get it.......this is the first thing I've ordered from Etsy in over a year. 
Today is also the one year anniversary of Hubby's last two strokes.....February 17, 2009.   He's a little sore from too much walking without a walker before he was ready.......a little setback that I'm sure he'll recover from soon. 

Looking at Christmas gifts from 2009

I wanted to share a couple of my favorite gifts..........we were so blessed this year with time spent with friends and family, in person and on the phone...and my husband having been baptized earlier this year, sharing with me the truest gift of Christmas.......that, of course, will be remembered as the biggest treasure from this Christmas.


But on the material side of things, I just had to share a few photos.
Voted most humorous was this gift from my sweet friend, Mary, back in our quilting group in Oklahoma. She took the time to machine-embroider me a set of tea towels and a framed picture with the word "Outlaws", to remind me of our little renegade group of quilters. (I hand-embroidered the maw and paw potholders over 30 years ago, for my daughter's hope chest, but she's too city-fied for them, now.)

Hubby and I laughed and laughed at the 'double meaning' (friends and family who know what I'm talking about, forgive us our 'off' sense of humor) and we promptly put them on display in our kitchen and living room. It'll be interesting to see if people comment, or just ponder. I can just be so inappropriate sometimes........but if you don't laugh, you're liable to cry, right?

Then, for a heart tugger, little Christopher called me Christmas morning wanting to know if I was coming over to PappPaw's for dinner. I said, "yes, I'll be there", and he said, "good, I got you something". His Mimi got on the phone and said that he had insisted that she help him buy something for me.......no one else, just me.

This is it.........this is what he got me !

He stole my heart..........AGAIN !

I took him home with me after dinner for a couple of hours of play at my place, and, as we left his PappPaw's, he said from the backseat, "Aunt Dolly, I love you"........(he's 7). I said, "You do? Well, that works out real good, 'cause I just happen to love you too !"

It's been a most wonderful Christmas that I won't soon forget !

But, the sewing bug calls, and taking a look at the sorry, stained shape that my potholders were in (why do we not notice this sooner?), I decided to take a couple of hours last night to whip up some new ones. Poking around in the 5-cent teacups at the second-hand store this week, I picked up this little sunflower beauty. I've never collected cups, but at 5 cents, I couldn't resist their fragile beauty ( I got another one with Violets).

Having a few sunflowers about my kitchen already, I decided that the new potholders should match.

Now, I thought that I had all kinds of yellow sunflowers in my stash, but the prettiest fabric I could find last night was this one with white flowers, which I guess might officially be called daisies. Anyway, they jumped out at me, and I'm tickled with the finished pieces (wish I'd bound the mitt in the same black polka-dot -- I made it first).

Oh, well.........'til next time.........