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Ya’ll need to go to Alex’s website (the link is under her photo in the site header). Her newest podcast is a phone conversation we recorded where she interviewed me about how this whole site developed. I talk about the seeds that were planted over a year ago, the vision and evolution of the project, and what we are attempting to offer. I listed to it today and I must say, “I do got an ack-sint, and I hope ya’ll kin understand me! Go give it a listen!” Hey I’m a Texas boy transplanted to Colorado.
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This was how the gallery looked yesterday when we arrived home! Gallerygal, Gretchen, shoveled for three hours just to get a clearing!

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How can two kids come out of the same oven and be so different? Both good, but REALLY different! Raise your right hand if you can relate. Growing up I was sure my daughter, Adair, was destine to rule the earth. My first thought was President of the United States. No, she didn’t like that because people tend to talk bad about you. I then thought a lawyer would be a good way for her to go, because she could argue anything in her favor. No, a lawyer wasn’t quite right, judge seemed more to her liking. I suppose if I think about it, she has kept this vision in mind as an 8th grade teacher. Let me comment that she is tough, fair and loves her kids to pieces. Over the holidays, I got to attend the play Edward Scissorshand with her class in SF as a chaperone. Delightful could only describe the experience. What a wonderful group of kids she has. The hardest part of the day? Calling my baby Miss Anderson.
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Photo: Miss A looking ahead and wondering what her future holds.

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Well, Justin and I left Tinker Bell and the rest of the family (see previous post) and made the nine hour drive back to La Veta today. There was no getting into the snow-ladened driveway until we went to the hardware store to get the new snow blower that arrived the day we left. Thank goodnes for the snowblower!

We will be starting our Chat and Forums very soon. Regarding the forum (message board) I thought it would be good to get your input. What topics would you like to see in the Forum? We will create several categories and sub categories. This truly is your community so your two-cents worth of advise and suggestions are important! Post to the add-comment at the end of this message.

Finally, I’d like to say that it is great to see so many quilts and member’s photos. Please don’t be hesitant to post a photo of yourself. We love to see you and every photo makes our site more and more personal - more and more connected.
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Yep - Me! My hair style has come full circle!

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In case you can’t tell, Alex and I are sharing some personal information to let you get to know us a bit better. If you are wondering if that is all you’ll ever see in this blog, the answer is no. The blog will be driven by news from the quilt world. But for now - we’re just all getting acquinted and letting you get familiar with the site. For best results take two doses of The Daily Blog with your morning cup of coffee! mmmmmmmm - Ricky

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Okay, I’m beat! As you might expect for our big site launch, I was up all night - well, until 5 am, and got about 2.5 hours of sleep before waking up to your very enthusiastic outpouring of support. I was still awake when the first members started to join. You might be wondering who was our very first member (besides our staff, who joined a day early to test the system), it was Barb Lewandowski! Welcome Barb! - and all 625 of you as of this posting. WOW! Can we grow our World Quilt Commuminty to 2000 before next week? Tell your friends. The Chat is coming VERY soon. I’ll tell you the specific date when the web master gives me the go-ahead.

I’d like to congratulate the following people who were the ten selected for free First Season memberships. These people all correctly guessed Alex as my co-host prior to the launch and their names were randomly selected from nearly 2000 others. Congrats to: 1. JoAnn Hoffman 2. Linda Steller 3.Jane Wineteer 4.Marguerite Morris 5. Carol Pepper 6. Lynn Feldman 7. Jacqueline Halberg 8.Marilyn Withrow 9. Laura Cobb 10 Patricia Hanscom

The snowstorm in Colorado is over and we will head home and try to dig into the house. Forty-eight inches of snow should be interesting. I hope the new snow blower that came in the day we left has not been sold out from under us. I’ll post a photo of what I find when we get home, so check back tomorrow.

Here’s a photo of my great niece Macy in her new Tinker Bell outfit that she got for Christmas. What a doll!


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How fun yesterday was! Watching everyone log in and join our World Quilt Community. Many of you I know, and it was like walking into a surprise party with old and new friends. Please do take time to fill out your online profiles, strut your stuff, and that would be your QUILTS.

On a family note, this past year has been delightful. What I didn’t mention in yesterdays blog was that, while I was being voted off the HGTV island, everyone in our family’s boat was in a similar situation. I remember John saying, “2006 is going to be interesting”. Well, it certainly was!

First with my son, Joey. He is finally settled with a great job, learning the ins and outs of retail. The company he works for takes new employees thru a sort of boot camp. After an intense 5-6 months intense training, the new employees have a boat load of incredible experience. He is now working with several stores, helping them to increase sales. Better than just an intense year of learning for him, he loves his job! In addition, but more importantly, he got engaged to a young lady who we love and adore. Unfortunately the wedding isn’t until 08, but I hear patience is a virtue. When we met her family this fall, I fell in love with them also, but with such a wonderful daughter, why be surprised? After all, they raised her.

As for my daughter, I would have never ever guessed her landing spot for 06. People are worried about the youth of today. Oh really? Stay Tuned!
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Caption: For now, I am a proud Dogma to Joey and Shelly’s baby, Penelope

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WOW! We’re thrilled with the overwhelming number of new members arlready! Thanks! We’d love to hear from you so just go to the Contact Us page and give us some feedback. Also, Gold Star Members can see the top 100 newest members on the search page. It’s time to have some fun!!! Upload your photos! Go to Update My Profile and Upload Photo - it’s easy, and we can see what you look like!

We are THRILLED that you have jumped on board! We need you to help us make this community grow. Tell your friends. Chatting and Forum will begin soon and we need lots of members to make that successful.

We’re also tending to little bugs in the system, nothing big, but as this is the first day we are live, we ask for your patience and understanding.

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It’s a new day, its a new year, Colorado just got a huge load of new snow, and I’ve got a new side-kick, Alex Anderson! No! This is not a photo of Alex, this is Wanda, but I’ll get to the puppy in a minute. Alex and I can’t wait to show you the good things we have up our sleeves and we hope you will join us and start building the largest quilting community in the world!

I cannot tell you all the hard work that has gone into this site. Today, you will be able to enjoy many of the features on the site. We are putting some of the finishing touches in some areas and we’ll use this blog to let you know the significant changes as the occur over the next few days.

It is also important to us that you visit our sponsors on the left side bar. We are very grateful for their support, for without it, this dream would not have become a reality. Please visit their sites.

I’ve been in Texas while our home in Colorado has been covered in about 45 inches of snow. Part of me wishes I was there to see it all, but I was here for my dad’s 80th birthday party! My dad, you may know is a quilter. He and I made a quilt togther called Dads Lone Star. Anyway, I could not take photos of this snowfall, at least yet, but I did take a few photos of the new pups in the snow that fell ten days ago. The photo included here is of Wanda. She is six months and very sweet. Loves the snow.

Ricky

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If I can do it, so can you! x

Just to think, about a year ago I was voted off the island (fired, let go, axed, downsized, canned, what ever you want to call it) and yet excited about what 2006 would bring. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the unimaginable. A year ago, I didn’t know what a podcast was, let alone a daily blog. It is safe to say I was a technological dork. This past year I went digital, learned to pod cast and discovered Skype. Did you know you can call your Skype buddies for free and video conference? And finally, Power Point is in my life. No more shuffling around slide carousels. For my birthday last January, John gave me an ipod. Intimidated by such great technology in a little package, now-a-days white buds are always dangling from my ears. Little did I anticipate what 06 would hold and frankly I am so excited about this next year it is hard to wrap my brain around the possibilities. From a year ago to now it has been a whirlwind journey of learning.

I would like to be the first to wish you a Happy New Year. Do stick around; together we are going to have a blast discovering the advantages of the Internet. Possibly the most exciting part of our World Quilting Community is that we are going to build it together.

For my first couple of blogs, I plan to give you a little peek into my family whom I love and adore. They really shape who I am and because of their continued support, this blog and so much more, has come to fruition.

As an aside, I found a horse shoe embedded in a fireplace log we were burning today. I think this means good luck!

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Story Submitted by: RickyTims

I try to be a young grandma who wants the kids to have fun when they visit my house even allowing (oh, no!) things not always allowed at their homes. Each Christmas, I spend a ton of money on toys, but it is the new pillows with grandma-made pillowcases and the resulting pillow fights that the kids like best. Last Christmas, grandson Tommy at almost 2 years old was outgrowing his crib, so he got a quilt for his big-boy bed. It was his favorite Christmas present. How did I know? He spent the rest of the day jumping up and down on his new quilt laughing and screaming, "Jump on bed. Jump on bed."