Ring out the old, Bring in the new. Happy 2016

It's that time of year again where we all take stock of what we made of the year gone by. Mr Wazoo and I pulled up stakes and moved to the North Georgia mountains, leaving our friends and established business behind. It was scary to start anew, but we have always been adventurous and flexible. After 14 years of the Florida heat and humidity (and bugs, gators and snakes...) we saw a winter snow and pleasant temperatures all year. Once the studio was up and running, we advertised in the paper and got our first local customer. I do have to thank my Florida customers for carrying us through the first rough months. We now have a good base of customers and I am enjoying the new arm of the business; repairing quilts and making commissioned quilts.
Five weeks ago I had a total knee replacement of my right knee. I still can't walk very well, but I did stand and quilt yesterday! I have to be better by February, so I can join the gals in Sebring for a retreat. Just about the same time, we welcomed a new grandson, Dechen, to the family. Hopefully, a trip to Boston in the near future is in the cards.
Most of the family came here for Christmas, and we are happily headed toward the new year.
My tally is as follows: I made 24 charity quilts, 17 quilts just because I wanted to make them (you know how that is) 2 show quilts, 4 quilts from stacks of vintage blocks, 6 commissioned quilts, 3 customer tee shirt quilts, repaired 5 quilts, and fixed, quilted and bound 7 vintage tops. That comes to 68 quilts!
We didn't figure out how many more we did the quilting on, but I know it is a pretty good number. Mr Wazoo really stepped up and he truly is my number one employee! Tomorrow, the tree comes down and all the frou-frou goes back into the box and into the closet under the stairs until next Christmas.
Enjoy your New Year's Eve with a slideshow and some champagne.
Thank you for being out there, reading and laughing with me.

Another picture slideshow by Smilebox

A Toe in the Water

Today I woke up feeling good enough to do some quilting. Tim had been having issues with a large quilt, so I stepped in to help. The quilt is done, despite two rather long breaks during the quilting to ice and rest my knee.

Mr Wazoo kept me company in the studio, working on this sweet quilt for a little girl.

I also finished the red and white Irish chain quilt I have been hand mending for months!!!After a wash and dry, it looks good as new. 43 replaced and re-quilted squares,  three patched holes, and new binding, too. I am so happy to have this one done, I could do a little dance...if I could.

The day ended with a lovely surprise from my quilting pen pal in Iowa! I got two sets of coasters she made; one set for the holidays and one for all year round. I plan to use the holiday ones on New Year's Eve for my champagne glass...Thank you, Ronda! I was so surprised to find them in my mail box.

Almost 2016! I can't believe this year has gone by so fast. I am putting together my year end blog post, and I even shocked myself with what 2015 held for us here at Wazoo. Stay tuned!

Oh! Christmas!!

We were chasing our tails here at Wazoo getting everything ready for Christmas and a big family gathering. I made 9 kinds of cookies and sent them to various friends and family members, as well as getting all the sleeping accommodations ready for tired travelers.
Everyone arrived, and the fun began! Kids went shopping, hiking and grocery gathering while I kept the home fire burning. The girls did all the cooking and cleaning up, which was the best Christmas present ever for me. We played games, made a puzzle, explored the neighborhood and just enjoyed everyone's company after a one and a half year period of not seeing each other.
My youngest got engaged, and brought along the fiance ...

My oldest girl and my two Arizona grandkids were here, too.

The other twin daughter came the farthest, all the way from Oregon!

My son and his wife stayed in Boston because Dechen is too little to travel yet, and the other grandma is there visiting from Japan! They had a happy Christmas, too, and we had some quality FaceTime with them. Technology is sure wonderful sometimes.

Mr Wazoo got a new leather jacket and some hand knit accoutrements, which he gladly modeled along with a funky pair of steam punk goggles...

Family game night, a Christmas movie marathon, lots of cooking and eating, and some good old goofing around filled up a week's time quickly.

Before we knew it, Christmas was over and it was time for the family to go home. One last family picture, and they were off to Atlanta and flights to parts north, south and west. I took a much needed nap and dreamed of next Christmas. Oh yes...I also finished the puzzle while Mr Wazoo drove the last group to Atlanta!

I hope you had a Merry Christmas! Now, back to quilting!