New Years Wishes (No Resolutions)

It was a very quiet Christmas for us.  I had to come down with a virus of some kind, a horrible headache along with both ears aching for days.  I was living on ibu and aspirin.  DH put up a poodle tree for us to enjoy, next year I hope to put up the big tree.

My big goal for this year is to have more fun with my sewing skills. That means finish quilt tops, and (why not) start a couple of new quilts. Yes I have lots more wishes but I'm  not wanting to get ahead of myself and be unrealistic about what I can truly accomplish.

These kitty blocks have languished (8+ yrs!) in a baggie and on my flannel wall for way too long.  I'll sash each block with a narrow solid black but have used up all the black yardage in my stash.

  I do use lots of black so will have to re-stock soon.

This past summer I tried my hand at tote bag making (thank you for the inspiration Sandra).   Well, I quickly figured out that my computerized Viking is not happy to sew thru thick layers of interfacing. Heavy lining fleece is needed to give the bags structure and my fav is fused on along with a woven fused interlining.   I read that vintage Singer machines can handle extra fabric thickness so I'll be setting one up, maybe the Rocketeer (503a model).

These hunt scene pieces (for tote bag fronts) are from a yard of old Alexander Henry fabric. Funny how the black shows up blue in my photo.


New Years Day we woke up to a light dusting of snow that quickly melted.  Friday sunrise revealed a heavy frozen fog that lasted until late morning, then it was a sunny cold day.  Very unusual for us to have this weather phenomenon, it's happened maybe 2 or 3 times before in our ten+ years here in Arizona.

 View (or should I say no view) towards Huachuca Mountains.

Saturday was sunny but excruciatingly cold (to us).  It never did get over 25 degrees and overnight temp was 17.   Our Poodles get rowdy in such nippy temps, they all had been racing up and down the barn lane, nipping and barking.  Gypsy and Chel are the only ones I dared let thru the gate with loose horses.

Gypsy's body is clipped the shortest so she wore the pink jacket.
Yes, the little blip of a white dog is the Nogales rescue.  Explanation of why he is still here another time. :-)