Hello once again, it’s that time for me to pop in and say hello and leave you with some goodies to browse through at a later date. Christmas has come and gone, and with a little whimper at our place. I was happy for that. I had a melanoma dug out of my shoulder on the 21st, and was feeling very sorry for myself. Luckily it was a level 2 and all “margins are clear”. Which I’m told is the good news I was hoping for.

So for part of the week I’ve mooched around, downing pain killers. But the last few days have seen my mojo return and I’m back (well almost) to being my old self again. Thank goodness. I was beginning to dislike the sooky Judie!!
So having been laid low, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And I’ve decided that 2012 is going to be a challenge year for me. I’ve been flicking through pages and pages and books and books looking for ideas of inspiration and I’ve finally found what I’ve been looking for. Have you seen the book titled Dutch Treat by Judy Garden? Well, I’ve had this book in my quilt library for some time. Anyway, long story short, I’ve decided to have a go at making a quilt very similar to this one that Judy has made. I’ll be making some changes (of course, can’t help myself).

I intend on writing an article about the commencement of this quilt, and I’ll keep my readers up to date with how it’s going. The goal is to complete it by the end of 2012. Yes 12 months to get it finished. Not sure what I’ll do with it then, perhaps raffle it for charity. Keep your eyes out for that article which I will post in the next few weeks.

Last Sunday I posted another Basic Blocks Plus article. The pattern this week is Clays Choice pattern which has been around for a very long time. This block is presented in 6, 8, 10, & 12” instructions for cutting. Here’s the link: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art174334.asp

I’ve posted a question on the forum this week, and started the ball rolling with my quilting goal for this year. If you’d like to contribute and tell us what you quilting goals are for 2012, pop over to the link here: http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/735864#Post735864

So onto my little surprises for you this week. Have some fun with them.

http://turkeyfeathers.typepad.com/turkey_feathers/state-flower-quilt-project.html anyone interested in stitching the State Flowers?

http://www.craftpassion.com/2011/07/zip-itself-coin-purse-tutorial.html these gorgeous little pyramid purses are so sweet

http://www.travelfoodartanddesign.com/2011/06/color-palettes-and-yarn-storage.html a great idea for those errant flosses!!

http://6dukes.blogspot.com/2011/08/fort-building-kit.html here’s a fort building kit for your little soldier

http://www.freshlypickedblog.com/2011/08/how-to-make-travel-scissor-case.html a great idea for your precious scissors

http://bluebirdsews.blogspot.com/2011/08/stashtacular-tutorial-shrinking-squares.html a great tutorial on a very quick and neat quilt

http://www.crafttestdummies.com/craft-projects-2/how-to-make-a-chronicle-quilt-recycle-craft/ a novel idea – using newspaper for batting!

http://heartsforchristchurch.blogspot.com/2011/09/home.html how beautiful is this, and it’s still growing!!

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/08/sew-simple-star-pincushion.html OOOPS, that one slipped through!! LOL

Well, my dear friends, I going to say cheerio for now, and I’ll see you again next week, in the New Year. I would like to end by sending my best wishes to each and every one of my subscribers to my newsletter. I do hope that 2012 brings everything that you wish for, and especially happiness and good health. Oh, and lots and lots of spare time to do some quilting!!

Love


Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

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