A Belated Birthday post...

My dear friend Bev lives in Pittsburgh...and recently I had emailed her about how the Pittsburgh accent was voted the ugliest in the US this year.  I don't hear an accent when we talk...although she does insist on calling soda POP.  Well, I roared when I opened my birthday card from her...with this Pittsburghese.  I realize my birthday was in November, but with the holidays & fighting the crud that Phil brought home from work...I'm just getting around to sharing some very cool gifts with all of you.

This was the amazing pile of birthday goodies I got to open.  I didn't take pix of everything...but here are some highlights...

 

First...these adorable ornaments Bev made for me.  They're from salt & pepper shakers with little art charms dangling from them.  They have a swirly wire hanger at the top...so very cool.  They're out in my studio to brighten it up for the holidays.  Maybe if the kitties settle down by next Christmas we can have a tree & these will find a home there.

This adorable cat ornament was one of my gifts, too.  I love love love it...and it has a permanent home in my studio.  This kitty makes me very happy each time I see her. 

 

There were goodies from IKEA...these tags & paper clips...along with some journals I didn't photograph.  A girl can never have too many tags or paper clips or journals.  There are rumors here in Clevetown that there just *might* be an IKEA here in the near future.  That would certainly make living here a bit more tolerable. 

 

And then there were these quilt block kits from 1998...and a challenge.  For over a year now Bev & I have been talking about doing a long distance quilt block a month challenge.  It's almost January...which means the challenge will be starting.  Soon.  Very soon.  I have lots of quilt projects in the works...but I'm accepting this challenge & will post each completed block as the year goes along.  The kits have pre-cut pieces...certainly a nice touch.  The instructions call for machine piecing...but I'll be hand piecing my blocks as I really like the calm of slow stitching. 

 

So...there's a little glimpse into the fun I received from Bev for my birthday...thanks, my dear!  Oh...today the mail guy brought some home baked cookies from Bev, too...YUM!  I'm sure they'll be gone before I ever get to take pix...they're quite yummy...especially since I didn't have to bake them!