Happy New Year!!!

We went to see National Treasure yesterday afternoon. Oh, that was so good! Just as good as the first one. These movies appeal to me because I have a fondness for American history. It's probably the same reason I like antiques so much. Moldy Oldy stuff as my sister puts it! Anyway, it was a very enjoyable movie. We went for dinner afterwards and when we came home, just sat and watched TV.

Sharon B. has announced the theme and color scheme for January for her Take It Further Challenge. Sharon's theme for January is "the feeling of admiration for another". I spent my morning thinking about this and was at first, a bit lost. I can't say I have a feeling of admiration for another person. Every person on the planet has unique gifts and abilities, no one greater than another.

I went through a list in my head of family members, friends, actors, singers, show hosts and I just couldn't think of anyone who I truly admire in any special way.

I finally just decided to put it out of my head for awhile knowing I would eventually think of something and if nothing else, Sharon also offers a color scheme to work with although for me, that feels like a cop-out. What I really want to do is to work with both the theme and the color scheme. So, I put it out of my head and started straightening up.

I sat down on the chair in the living room for a moment, looked over at my antique crazy quilt on the quilt stand and suddenly, I realized who I admired. It isn't actually a single person but rather a group of people, an era so to speak. The Victorians!

Now I can't say that I would want to actually live in those times. I really enjoy my modern day bathroom facilities! But the Victorians had a sense about them. A sense of style! They had a great love for ornate objects, beauty and elegance. They had a beautiful sense of fashion and etiquette. In the Victorian days, everything that had function also had form. Victorian women had incredible needlework skills, skills for the decorative art of needlework rather than the functional aspect of stitching and sewing. I truly admire the Victorians for their love of beauty and elegance.

So, my first block will be a tribute to the Victorians. I will find a photo of a beautifully dressed Victorian lady and use it as a focal point. I'll work around it using the colors from the palette that Sharon chose and I may even incorporate the years of the Victorian era 1838 - 1901 which are of course, the years that Queen Victorian reigned. Thinking about it now, perhaps I should just use a photo of Queen Victoria. It was really her love of ornate things which started the trend of that era. Something to think about. Of course, it was also Queen Victoria who said, "I take a bath once a month whether I need it or not". Ok, so I don't love every Victorian trend!

I'll need a sewing day to put my block together. I actually have a few things that need finishing and a few other blocks that need sewing up as well so perhaps tomorrow would be a good day to run my machine.

In the meantime, I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!