Thank you and Happy New Year!

Thank you all for supporting me during this rough year. I'm happy to report as 2019 draws to a close that I've come through it feeling stronger, more independent, and more joyful than ever, thanks to your comments, emails, cards and calls. There's nothing stronger than a safety net of women (and a few good men)!

I found a lot of solace from inspirational quotes, so I started collecting them this year. I printed them out and posted them around the house to make myself feel strong. Here are some of my favorites.

In the beginning, I had to remind myself of this Mary Oliver quote a lot. I've finally stopped worrying.

Also in the beginning, I couldn't imagine ever feeling joy again. But now I am, indeed, "in love with being alive again."

I took this quote by Joseph Campbell to heart. Every time the pain became overwhelming, I turned to the joy I find in color and quilting:

"Find a place inside 

where there's joy,

And the joy will

burn out the pain."

I kept sewing and looking at beautiful colors throughout the year as a form of art therapy. I made this quilt that I titled "Choosing Joy" because that's what I chose to do this year. I only used colors that make me happy.

I'm so grateful for my friends and family who kept telling me that I was stronger than I thought I was. I felt so lost and sad the first few months that I finally decided I might as well believe them because I had nothing more to lose. And they were right! 

Thank you. 

Here is my resolution for 2020 

-- to be like a rainbow.

And here is my wish for all of you!

 Namaste

and

Goodbye, 2019

Christmas with Julia and the rabbits

My crazy fun daughter.

I just got back from celebrating Christmas with my daughter in Spokane, and we had a blast! She's crazy, funny, and pulled out all the stops to make it special for me.

Her color sense is impeccable, if I might so say. Pink was the color for this Christmas, with pink sparkly flying pigs, vintage pink beaded garlands, a vintage pink and white quilt, and the centerpiece vintage tinsel tree.

She sells vintage items on Etsy, and one of her favorite items to buy are these lamps studded with colorful beads. It added a nice ambience to the kitchen at night.

When I arrived she was at work, but she left an array of favorite snacks and Christmas treats ...

... and birthday presents (I'm a December baby). Pink wrapping, of course.

 Christmas Eve was cozy and traditional. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care ...

... and the children were nestled

all snug in their beds.

Christmas morning the first thing we went for were the stockings. Ever since Julia became an adult, she has stuffed my stocking! These are hand knit by my aunt and my mother, and it wouldn't be Christmas without them.

We gave each other fun socks -- hers says, "Go away I'm introverting," and mine is all about chocolate.

She also lined up colorful Christmas activities, like decorating sugar cookies. We had plans to make a gingerbread house but ran out of time since she had to work three of the days that I was there. We're thinking of doing the house this summer for "Christmas in July."

But the stars of the show were the rabbits -- all five of them. They have their thick, luxurious winter coats and they love being petted, so that took up a big chunk of the visit and was incredibly relaxing.

Cutie pie Charlie peeks over Julia's shoulder.

 Have a colorful day

Winter Solstice, darkest day

We've finally reached the turning point in these long, dark days: Winter Solstice! 

We only get a little over eight hours of daylight now in the Northwest, and those hours are hardly light. This view out my kitchen window shows how it looks almost all day, compounded by the relentless rain. I turn the little white lights on as soon as I get up and they stay on until I go to bed.

Today the sun rose at 7:55 and will set at 4:22.

I made both of these quilts in the depths of winter. The cold blues of "Midnight Run" speak of a dark forest under moonlight, and the fiery quilt below burns with Solstice bonfires.

Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, people mark this darkest time with celebrations of light. Last week, the Lighted Boat Parade brought beautiful, shimmering light into the dark harbor. Previously black water danced with every color of the rainbow!

Here is a detail from my "Winter Solstice Spirits" quilt, with fiery orange piercing the icy grey and dark purple.

Joy gave a special Solstice yoga class this week, with candles and lines of poetry.

She offered this one from the 14th-century Persian poet Hafiz:

"I wish I could show you,

when you are lonely or in the darkness,

the astonishing light

of your own being."

After class, we went to Davenport for coffee and snacks. It was decorated with lighted stars hanging above us.

Turning to the sun, which will start coming back slowly tomorrow, I offer this card (above) that my friend Sheila sent for my birthday, which is Dec. 20. It shimmers and sparkles with such joy that it makes me want to dive right into sunny colors, like those in my quilt below titled "Light." 

And speaking of my birthday, the Feet & Forks went to see the movie "Cats" on my big day yesterday. After lunch at Green.house, we split a flourless chocolate cake drizzled with caramel sauce and garnished with whipped cream and candied nuts. Oh happy day!

Let there be light!

 Have a colorful Solstice

Woolies party

My Woolies group got together this week for our Christmas potluck and had a very colorful day!

We made little gifts for everyone, including Karen's cute thread catchers (above), Judy's zippered vinyl pouches (below) ...

... Nancy's decorative clip to hold open the pages of a book, and Mary's wool mitten ornaments. There was more, but this gives you the idea.

Then there was the food, THE FOOD, starting with Mary's star bread.

It was all so delicious! I made spinach balls from an old recipe of my mom's that she got from a Pittsburgh cook book ages ago.

Pam's house was beautifully decorated, with some old-fashioned ornaments ...

... and, naturally, Christmas wool quilts and this mitten table runner.

Next up was show and tell. Here are just a few, starting with Pam's project. She dyed those luscious blue and green background pieces.

This soft, neutral-colored  flower quilt is by Judy.

Carolynn had two finished projects, a bird table runner ...

... and a cactus quilt.

Audrey's quilt isn't wool, but it is appliquéd and she ice-dyed the leaf fabric to get those beautiful mottled colors.

That wraps up our party report! I'll leave you with another gem from a Facebook post:

 Have a colorful day