Because of Christmas and the e-commerce explosion (I work at a post office), I kept my goal light…I really did not expect to accomplish much. I thought I just might have time to machine quilt half of The Case of the Secret Garden (a Linda Franz/Inklingo mystery from 2013).
But I put my nose to the grindstone, and quilted at every opportunity that I could, and I am so happy to report a finish!
If you click on the link above, you can find links to the beginning of this project, and each clue that I worked on it, as well as find where it originated on Linda Franz’ website, Inklingo.
Some of the pictures aren’t that great (it is hard to take good pics indoors in the midst of winter), but they show that I finished this baby!
By clicking on a photo, you can see it enlarged. This quilt was machine quilted on a domestic sewing machine.
I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal (OMG). Click on the link and see the other goals that were accomplished for December!
I dug through the blog to see when I last worked on this project. It appears it was also my goal for December OMG 2017. Hmmmmmm.
If you click on the links above, you can find links to the beginning of this project, and each clue that I worked on it, as well as find where it originated on Linda Franz’ website, Inklingo. Linda began this enjoyable mystery in the year 2013.
So, why did I wad this project up in a corner?
Partly because I went through a tough time (why do I throw my creativity aside when I need it the most…another mystery), and partly because I changed my mind about my fabric choices.
I like the fabric choices. I don’t like the fabric choices. I like the fabric choices. I can’t stand the fabric choices.
Oh brother!
But then, my Mom and a couple of sisters visited for Thanksgiving. One of my sisters said, “I really like this!”
Nothing like a little positive motivation!
So this top is pin basted, and I am in the process of machine quilting it.
I hope to complete the quilting, of course, but realistically, because it is December, and the busiest time of the year, my goal is to complete half of the machine quilting.
I am linking up with Elm Street Quilts forOne Monthly Goal (OMG). Click on the link and see the other goals for December! Maybe you would like to add a goal!
*I am posting a reprint from my blog published in December 2014.
*It is still relevant, and a good reminder to many of us who get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season.
*I no longer work 11 hours a day (we were extremely short staffed then). I do still work 6 days a week all year long (this week it was 7, and there will be more weeks like it).
‘There is a lot of buying and selling.’ -Ebenezer Scrooge ‘Is that all you can see?’ -Ghost of Christmas Past
A lot of buying and selling. Yup. To my discredit, that is all that I have been able to see.
Every Christmas season, either my husband, or myself would read aloud to our children the classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. We would read a portion every night, and then, on Christmas Eve, we would watch the movie, starring George C. Scott.
It is a tradition that our children now practice with their children.
I am a US Postal employee. I work six days a week. That’s not a holiday schedule…that is my normal schedule. Like many offices, mine is short staffed. That’s just the way it is.
However, I have been, and am, working 9 to 11 hour days. That is the buying and selling that I have been seeing. Perhaps, because I am so tired, I am not seeing the wonderful gift giving inside the hundreds of packages and cards that I handle every day. Homemade jam, cookies, toys and more, shipped to those far away loved ones.
This post isn’t a rant, or a ‘pity me’ post.
Tonight, the words have come back to me:
‘There is a lot of buying and selling.’ -Ebenezer Scrooge ‘Is that all you can see?’ -Ghost of Christmas Past
I want to give a shout out to all of those postal drivers and workers, to UPS employees, to the FedEx employees, the retail clerks, the waiters and waitresses, to the bakers, and many more who have neglected their blogs, their families, and their Christmas card list. Those who couldn’t go to the Christmas parties and plays and concerts; who didn’t have time to bake holiday cookies and fruitcakes, nor go shopping and out to lunch.
To all of those who are working so diligently to bring a merry Christmas season to many others:
May you experience the love and joy from Him, of whom Christmas is really all about. And may you be blessed with much peace in the New Year.
LC's Cottage 