Christmas/Gift Giving account is ready

Here is the front of the first quilt I finished last night
And the back, done in a soft cuddly flannel

It's a good thing we are not wealthy people or I would have run out yesterday and thrown down $25,000.00 for a long arm quilting machine. Free motion quilting is HARD work, my arms and shoulders are killing me after 11 1/2 hours of quilting, but it's DONE!! I have to run out this AM to pick up a little more fabric to piece the backing on the second quilt (why do my quilts always grow?) then it's back to the workout again. On breaks from the sewing machine I have started taking down Christmas decorations, I want everything cleared out before New Years day so we can start the New Year with a sorta clean house!

We opened our Christmas/gift giving account yesterday with a refund I received from returning a Christmas gift Hubby bought me, we also had a check from DD#1 reimbursing us for gifts hubby picked up for her at Christmas so she didn't have to get out with the little ones. Our account now has $777.00 to start the year off with, we will also throw vacation $$ into this account. My hope is by having a separate accounts this year for gifts and vacations things won't be so confusing. Until hubby receives his first pay in 2012 I have no idea how much I will regularly put in the account, for now it will just be found money!

Another area that will need to be funded is our charity goals. I received my senior name yesterday for the Senior Angel Project, thankfully it's a lady!! I find shopping for men very hard, many things that are on her profile she enjoys as small gifts are on clearance right now, gonna keep my eye out for some little prizes to send during the year. The organization requests you send a card or letter at least once a week and a small gift once a month, maybe a little something extra for Birthday's.

I am also challenging myself to one "Quilt of Valor" each month. Quilts are NOT cheap endeavors!!! Our big box fabric store is running a 50% off sale Friday/Saturday on batting and thread, you can bet I will be in line for that deal. Quilt fabric must come from a quilt shop, the big box stores fabric doesn't hold up to the wear and tear a quilt gets. My quilt store gives me 25% off fabric for "Quilts of Valor" which will help but I check out the clearance fabric first to get the best deal I can on quality yardage. I also have set a goal of 12 "Linus Project" quilts, I have lots of fabric I picked up last year on clearance that should give me a good start, I will have to watch the sales for some flannel backing.

"For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48
We believe strongly in this passage but along with that we try to be good stewards of what we have been blessed with, sales, clearance, coupons and rewards points help us find the balance with savings and giving.

Have you started your goals for 2012 yet? What the heck have another cookie or piece of fudge and shoot for the moon, with a little bit of planning you can do most anything!!!