Happy You in 22 on Instagram

Happy New Year! 2022 and we’re still wearing masks!



Things that I am thinking about for the new year!

This is an Instagram positivity challenge organized by Tracy Verdugo, Lori Siebert and Kenzie Elston. I love that they gave us 2 days to produce something!

1-2 Joyful and Ecstatic and one of my happy places…the garden. Slaying weeds!

3-4 Peaceful and Calm…reading and a Chai Latte

5-6 Energized and Excited - created a Sweet Pea garden with month and a half seedlings!

7-8 Authentic and Genuine- in my drawing studio at home



9-10 Adventurous and Brave - Do Something Scary Every Day! Take risks! Be brave!

11-12 Intuitive and Flowing - that’s my imagination! Stay tuned for the next group. 

Thinking about doing the 100 Day Project again this year and pondering themes. 

Vessels

Doodle Mania

Housewares

Inside my House and Studio

Books I’ve Read this Year

2021

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah 500+ pages (beaches in Seattle)

Book 18 The another Woman by Daniel Silva 520 pages

Small Cures by Sella Hicks Wilson 168 lovely poetic pages of love❤️

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts 366 pages

Book 20 The Order by Daniel Silva 448 pages

Book 1 Dublin Murder Squad - In the Woods by Tana French 496 pages 

Book 2 DMS - The Likeness by Tana French 470 pages

Book 3 DMS - Faithful Place by Tana French 438 pages (did not like)

Book 4 DMS - Broken Harbor by Tana French 451 pages

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 450 pages

10 Feb 7

Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths 323 pages

Sorrow and bliss by Meg Mason 346 pages about depression

The Authenticity Project by Clare Poole  357 pages meh

The Restoration of Celia Fairchild by Marie Bostwick 391 pages❤️

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths 316 pages

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue 383 pages Book Club

The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs 360 pages

Other People’s Houses by Abbyi Waxman 334 pages

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab 444 pages - I Remember You - such a good book - oh my! ❤️❤️

Between You and Me by Susan Wiggs 358 pages

20 April 3

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel 390 pages - excellent book

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson 689 pages

The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen 401 pages - so wonderful 

The Over Story by Richard Powers 502 pages - BOOK CLUB

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron 265 Pages

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 390 pages ❤️❤️

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave 310 pages ❤️

800 Grapes by Laura Dave 263 pages about Sonoma wine making 

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis 306 pages NF so good

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed 284 pages Pakistan 

30 May 15

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev 482 pages

The Hangman by Louise Penny book 6-1/2 97 pages

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean 323 pages

Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand 339 pages ❤️

A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand 405 pages

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley 342 pages

The Sunday Lunch Club by Juliette Ashton 265 pages - sib drama/happy end

The Girl from Berlin by Kate Hewitt 443 pages WW2 historical fiction 🏆📚

The Edelweiss Sisters by Kate Hewitt 442 pages WWII historical fiction❤️

The Other Mrs by Mary Kubica 439 pages a page turner/thriller🔥

40 June 17

Into the Darkest Day by Kate Hewitt 414 pages

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid 371 pages - soon to be on Hulu ❤️

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Reid Jenkins 352 pages -soon to be on Amazon Prime

Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Reid Jenkins 97 pages

After I Do by Taylor Reid Jenkins 352 pages 

The Sixth Wedding by Elin Hilderbrand 76 pages and too short

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths 251 pages ❤️

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams 367 pages - so good 🏆📚

Somebody’s Daughter: a Memoir by Ashley C Ford 213 pages

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron 394 pages- excellent!

50 July 8

The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams 308 pages

The Whispered Word #2 by Ellery Adams 298 pages

The Book of Candlelight #3 by Ellery Adams 294 pages

Ink and Shadows #4 by Ellery Adams 294 pages

The Cellist #21 by Daniel Silva 472 pages - so good 🏆📚 in pandemic times

The Paper Palace by Miranda Crowley Heller 389 pages NY meh

It’s Better this Way by Debbie Macomber 311 pages trite

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn 376 pages fun

Book 1 On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle 276 pages - coffeehouse mysteries 

Book 2 Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle 276 pages

60 August 12

Book 3 Latte Trouble 238 pages

Book 4 Murder Most Frothy 230 pages

Book 5 Decaffeinated Corpse 287 pages

Book 6 French Pressed 

The Winner by David Baldacci 528 pages

Book 7 Espresso Shot 334 pages

Book 8 Holiday Grind

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 436 pages❤️

Midnight Library by Matt Haig 289 pages BOOK CLUB I didn’t like the message that in order to be happy, you have to be married and have a child

Book 9 Roast Mortem 354 pages

70 September 3

False Witness by Karin Slaughter 440 pages riveting

Triptych (Will Trent Book 1) by Karin Slaughter 484 pages wow❤️

Book 10 Murder by Mocha 366 pages

See Jane Snap by Bethany Crandell 336 pages

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty 469 pages

Book 11 A Brew to a Kill 371 pages meh, not my favorite

Fractured (Will Trent book 2) by Karin Slaughter 516 pages a page turner

Undone (Will Trent book 3) by Karin Slaughter 440 pages wow

Broken (Will Trent book 4) by Karin Slaughter 503 pages so good

Fallen (Will Trent book 5) by Karin Slaughter 387 pages

80 September 29

Criminal (Will Trent book 6) by Karin Slaughter 427 pages

Unseen (Will Trent book 7) by Karin Slaughter 380 pages

The Kept Woman (Will Trent book 8) by Karin Slaughter 455 pages

The Last Widow (Will Trent book 9) by Karin Slaughter 448 pages very suspenseful- bit my fingernails over this one 

The Silent Wife (Will Trent book 10) by Karin Slaughter 490 pages powerful, stunning and guessed who the murderer was at 380 pages

Book 12 Holiday Buzz 372 pages

State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton 500 pages ❤️

Cleaning the Gold by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child 83 pages

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Reid Jenkins 343 pages

Blindsighted (Grant County book 1) by Karin Slaughter 462 pages

90 October 26

Kisscut (Grant County book 2) by Karin Slaughter 500 pages

A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County book 3) by Karin Slaughter 501 pages - wow

Indelible (Grant County book 4) by Karin Slaughter 477 pages with long backstory about Jeffrey and Sara

Faithless (Grant County book 5) by Karin Slaughter 554 pages - religion, guns, murder, sex, drugs, beatings all controlled by men who beat up and murder women. Sick bastards all in the name of religion. 

Beyond Reach (Grant County book 6) by Karin Slaughter 578 pages - oh my! White supremacy and meth

Dutch House by Ann Patchett 338 pages. Re-read for book club. Resentment, a house, abandonment, joy. Expectations bring disappointment

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter 485 pages - a gem - soon on Netflix

Blond Hair, Blue Eyes by Karin Slaughter 103 pages prequel to Pretty Girls

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter 535 pages - great twists and turns…wow!

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter 513 pages - intriguing characters and she is an amazing author!

100 November 12

A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie 198 pages - cozy mystery #1

I’ll Be Seeing You: A Memoir by Elizabeth Berg 207 pages

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica  338 pages too choppy

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell 39 pages loves Jello. Wear a mask.

Doctors and Friends by Kimmery Martin 373 pages Covid 19

Go Tell The Bees that I Am Gone (Book 9) by Diana Galbaldan 968 pages❤️

Lucky by Marissa Stapley 268 pages

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier 342 pages

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier 313 pages - never saw that coming

The First Wife by Jill Childs 242 pages

110 December 30

The most books I’ve read in one year! 

Home Mailbox Redo!

I decoupaged this wooden mailbox decades ago. It is so faded and grungy now

I sanded it and painted it with Gesso

With a pencil and really not thinking about where the center line was, I sketched out my design. Awful. Move it all over!

Rough paint job so far, but I like how it looks!

Posca marker hit the scene for my classic black outline in all of my work

It’s coming together!

It made my mailman smile! 

It’s been varnished, but frankly it might need another layer. It made it through the rainstorm this week. So happy!

So Thankful

Nothing like getting together with friends. Jill Berry from Portland and Libby Williamson. We had a fine day walking around downtown Orange and having lunch together! 

Tried a new coffee, courtesy of my daughter who found this shop after she got her booster shot in Santa Ana

And together we went to this gem in Garden Grove. Good coffee and pastries. We sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air!

My Thanksgiving post! So thankful! 

Desserts for Thanksgiving. My daughter made three pies, and happily I didn’t have to make one!

One of our traditions is to put the lights on the house the day after Thanksgiving. Daughter and her boyfriend took the reigns! They did an excellent job!

What could be better than pumpkin pie and coffee for breakfast? Sitting across from my daughter was the best!

One of our house guests. Meet Sam. The sweetest pup!

The Pod House. Pods and seeds from Wisteria trees. I had no idea that they are poisonous. We spent many days picking up hundreds of pods and seeds so that the backyard would be safe for Sam. Next year, I am going to cut the pods off before they do their bursting show.

And now the season of Christmas can begin. The girls are out and ready to greet guests! I didn’t make them and was sad to see when I bought them that there were no maker tags. I would love to know who made them. Such treasures.

Duncan Phyfe Table Re-Do

The beginning. Not in the best condition Duncan Phyfe table

It really needed some help. It’s a fabulous table with the drop leaves, and you can add another leaf in the middle!

I actually took the legs off and it needed a special wrench that I had to order, but it was nice to be able to get them tighter

Underneath, the flaps are blue. In hindsight, I should have painted all of this blue when the table was in this position

The table top has been painted with Gesso as my primer

I painted the flowers on in January


Started back up in November to just get it done. Added more to the flowers, used a Posca marker for the outline work 

I love how it looks! Three coats for Gloss Varnish! Yay!

I could not be happier with how it turned out. It will get some use during the holidays! And it’s a nice showpiece doe the living room! Woot!

Quilting Arts Holiday!

So delighted and honored to be included in this holiday issue!

And they used my wool pieces for this page! 

Here’s the actual pin cushion that I use in my home studio. Flower Power! Look for it in your favorite store! Woot!

Got Back on the Horse

This week I decided that I wanted to make a wall quilt 18” square. So, I used one of my watercolors as a jumping off point

I also made by work space on my design table larger by moving everything to an IKEA cart

Quilt #2 fusing fabrics together. The prints that are outlined in black are from a digital panel that I had done a couple of years ago. I use Mistyfuse as my fusible web. It’s the best because it doesn’t change the hand of the cloth

The irons and the houses are also from the digital fabric. It felt good to be back on the horse

Parts of the digital fabrics

Starting Quilt 3. Making the landscape

The black is wool blended felt from National Nonwovens that I use as the middle layer, instead of batting

The house on the hill. The hill is a combo of Hopscotch by me and RJR Fabrics

It is like putting a puzzle together 

More collating of fabrics which is the fun part

Quilt #3 is finished and I love it


Three wall quilts so far for my Fingal Funky Town, mostly based on my watercolors. It’s kinda fun to see how I have evolved in one week after getting back to myself in my quilting studio. Now they need to be quilted!