Beginning With a Finish and Then Beginning Again

I know I'm in the minority around here but I'm mostly enjoying

the extremely cold weather we're finally getting.  It'd be way more

fun if there was snow to go with it but the gardener in me is happy

that destructive things (bugs & disease) are getting their own taste of 

destruction while I sit inside by the fire reading a book, or cooking up

some warm soup in the kitchen, or working at the long-arm,

or working in my cozy sewing room...

(It's not hard to see why I like winter, is it?)

Actually, just this morning I decided it was "warm" enough for a walk.

What's a 19 degree windchill when a couple days ago it was below zero?

Either way, it would have been a much prettier walk in some snow.

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that 2018 has started off well.

I find the end of a year a great motivation to finish up projects

so I did just that. 

 I finished the gnome quilt on New Year's Day, naming it

(drumroll...) Better Gnomes and Gardens.

I don't know if I ever posted this next one as a finish but there was

 just one side of binding to sew down by hand and a label to add.

It's not on a time-schedule so it just sat in a corner...till yesterday.

This Little Red Riding Hood quilt would work really well

on a toddler bed but I don't know any little girls right now;

maybe something/someone will come up.

So, I'm beginning 2018 with sadly no snow, but just one quilt UFO--

a quilt top that's just waiting for the right backing at the right price.

I'm in no hurry on that one.

(Okay, if I'm being honest, I do have that one hand-quilting project from about

15 years ago--no hurry on that one either.  Some day the right time and

setting will have me bringing it back out.)

I sometimes think there should be a word for that moment when you

complete a quilt and you have this vast open space in front of you,

a blank palette on your table and an open calendar on the wall.

(Who am I kidding?  January is packed already!)

 Oh, the infinite number of possibilities...

What to choose, what to choose!?

I'm pretty sure it'd be easier to make this choice if,

yes, it was SNOWING!

I've been pouting about the lack of snow mulling that decision over

for over a year now a day and have chosen this one from Craftsy.

(photo credit)

Another choice to be made:  what fabrics?

And then I saw these scrappy versions at the end of the free pattern:

While the intended recipient would certainly love the first version,

I'm really being drawn to the scrappy ones which is what I'm leaning

toward.  It's for a Christmas gift so, with a whole year ahead of me,

I may just make two!

Wouldn't they look pretty by a window with snow outside?
Wouldn't they be so cozy and warm by the fire on a snowy day?

Maybe I should make a snow quilt...