Starting Out In 2012

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. 
~Hal Borland

Happy New Year!  I'm back and ready to get back in to posting and reading all of my favorite blogs out there.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  Our was a little quieter than normal but I'm certainly not complaining about that.  Our New Year's Eve was not what we had planned.  We spent over two hours at the emergency vet.  Little Weasley had over a two hour episode of focal seizures.  He has a history of infrequent seizures during the past three years (usually not longer than 15 minutes in duration) but nothing like this.  We had to leave him at the vet's overnight :(  Happily, when we checked in with them the following morning they had good news - no more seizures, he was able to walk again, and had eaten breakfast.  We immediately picked him up and are so glad he is back to normal.  Poor little guy's body was worn out after such a long episode and he pretty much slept the day away.  He had another short seizure last Friday (about 5 minutes) but was back to normal and running around within 20 minutes.  Certainly makes you realize how precious life is.  Okay, enough with the drama, it's time to get going with 2012!

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LITTLE FACT OF THE DAY

I just couldn't come up with one topic I wanted to share today.  As a result, you will now be blessed with some truly strange and completely useless facts:

* Tiger shark embryos fight each other in their mother's womb. The survivor is born.

* Bone is five times stronger than steel.

* Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never telephoned His wife or mother because they were both deaf.

* It would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes, each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood.

* "Bookkeeper" is the only word in English language with three consecutive Double letters.

* Over 4 million cars in Brazil are now running on gasohol instead of petrol. Gasohol is a fuel made from sugar cane.

* 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

* 40 percent of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

* The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

* Elephant teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.

* Giraffes can not swim.

* In the late 19th century, millions of human mummies were used as fuel for locomotives in Egypt where wood and coal was scarce, but mummies were plentiful.

============================ A GARDENER'S JOURNAL While I wasn't blogging I was getting some sewing done.  I put together all the pieces of the Gardener's Journal - and there were lots of small squares in this one. All of the little squares were cut at 1 1/2" each and there were 210 of them.  The, of course, there were large squares and rectangles, too. Of course, once all of the pieces were sewn together, then I had to quilt it.  I took the longest time trying to figure out how I wanted it quilted.  I finally decided on stitch-in-the-ditch.  Then I had to decide what color thread to use.......cream, black, blue, green?  I ended up using a clear nylon thread for the top and a dark cream for the bobbin.  That way my mistakes are glaring and everything matched.  I did use a smoke nylon thread on the borders to hide it a little better against the dark fabrics.  Now to put the binding on and a label and I can call it FINISHED!  I'll post a picture when I'm done with it.  It will be finished in time for our local quilt guild's quilt show - I even submitted an entry form on Thursday!  My first show ever.......I'm very nervous. ============================= BLOCKS RECEIVED Over my Christmas break I received 6" blocks from my swap partner, Maria, in the 6" Block Swaps Australia. Aren't these such happy blocks?  They will work great for the eventual Loving Hands quilt I will create.  Thanks, Maria!     ============================ TODAY'S GOAL Today I hope to have most of the binding finished on the Gardener's Journal quilt.

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GIVEAWAYS

Primitive Betty's is having a giveaway.  You could win a pin box with the top covered in some beautiful primitive cross stitch.  This giveaway ends Wednesday, January 11.

Hawthorne Threads is having their weekly giveaway.  You could win a layer cake of Sunny Happy Skies.  This giveaway ends Wednesday, January 11.

Our Busy Little Bunch is celebrating her birthday with a giveaway.  You could win a fat quarter bundles of Patricia Bravo's Bespoken fabric line.  This giveaway ends Monday, January 16.

Cat Patches is having her weekly Fun Fact Friday Freebie.  You could win a fat quarter just for answering a question.  The winner will be announced Friday, January 13.

Blacksheep's bit of the Web is having a giveaway.  You could win a very San Francisco-esque Collection of things.  This giveaway ends Friday, January 13.

KD-Quilts is having a giveaway.  You could win a copy of Electric Quilt 7 (EQ7).  This giveaway ends Wednesday, January 11, at 8:00 pm EST.

Love Affair With My Brother is having a giveaway.  You could win a sample pack of Aurifil thread.  This giveaway ends Friday, January 13, at 11:59 pm PST.

Inch Worm Fabrics is having a giveaway.  You could win one kit including the pattern or one pattern by Bejeweled Quilts for a heart table topper.  The winner will be chosen Thursday, January 12.


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FINAL THOUGHT