Hi tootswisc, nice to know you want to visit my country. If you ever will, drop me a line and I'll see you around town. Air fares are not that bad if you don't try to travel around Lunar New Year :-). Once you're in country, you can take the coach (in fact many foreigners do this,they see more of the country that way). Vietnam has the most beautiful beaches if you care! And it's sunny all the year round (except on hurricane days!) With regard the violets, I just leave them in their reservoir all the time like that, making sure they're never out of water. To make the AVs healthy and produce flowers, I add fertilizers to the water though. Should you want more info re AV culture, check the AV forum. It's real fun. Xuan

I found this one online. It is kind of long, but maybe you can use it, or parts of it, to make your own. Print out the letter below or make up your own, grab a candy cane, and include a homemade star ornament or picture. Then put them all in a little gift bag or basket and leave them on someone's front steps - don't let them see you! Print out and include this letter: The ghost of Christmas Present has come here, To leave you some good old Holiday cheer. Don't be an Ebonezer, oh boy Continue this greeting, this Christmas joy. First, put this greeting where all can see, Try to leave it there on Christmas eve. It will pass good will to all who visit. Be sure to join in, you won't want to miss it. Second, add a candy cane and a Christmas star. Deliver it to a neighbor, maybe near, maybe far. Don't let them see you - be sneaky - no doubt, And make sure they find this greeting out. Next, you have only just one chance, so be fast. Leave it at the door where joy needs to last. Leave it at dark when there isn't much light. Ring the door bell, run, stay out of sight. And last but not least, join in this season. Don't worry, be happy, you don't need a reason. This is good for all, and just trying to say, Merry Christmas to all and have a great day.

It's done!!! Only took 94 hours. (I keep records of all my projects.) That doesn't include shopping for the ooodles of fat quarters and other fabric, washing/drying/ironing them all. Fits nicely on our bed, with matching pillow: Here's the detail of stitching around the red squares: I used a very utilitarian three step zig-zag stitch (two rows vertically and two rows horizontally) on the split star blocks. The triangular pattern echoes the triangles in the block. You can't see the stitching unless you get about two feet away from the quilt. The blue thread "reads" as a neutral from a distance. Here's the backing fabric with just the top of my label (didn't want to show my full name,) which was ironed on with fusible webbing. My Viking does programable (sp?) stitching. I am a bit of a renegade when it comes to attaching binding. I put it on backwards of most instructions...sewing to the back first, then turning to the front and machine stitching. I just don't want to take the time for all that hand slip-stitching: I won't post a pic of the stitching in the log cabin blocks since I posted that one way back on Jan. 23 (bridging stitch.) I didn't want to turn corners while quilting, so I stitched all in one direction from one side of the quilt to the other, using my thread cut button and "fix" (stitching in place to secure) button on my machine. The down side of that is having to cut all the threads on the back, when I was finished quilting. Even though the thread cutting feature is a blessing, it still leaves 3/4" threads on the back. Good feeling to get it done:))) On to something else. Julie

I went to an estate sale recently and out in a dusty, forgotten corner of the garage found a large JC Penney box FILLED with very carefully kept greeting cards dating from the 1930's to the 1980's. Every card that this couple had exchanged--and they had celebrated every holiday you can think of with very nice, expensive cards--had been lovingly saved. I absolutely could not bear the thought of just tossing the record of a 50 year love affair into the garbage, so I bought them. I had no idea what I would every do with them. I find myself going through them once in a while, reading their little notes to each other and later, the long, chatty notes from their son and daughter after they had married and moved away. The cards mark the time span from their engagement right through their marriage, into the later years and failing health and hospital stays. I finally took several of the more stunning cards and decoupaged them onto glass blocks and lit the inside of the block with clear mini lights. They look great decorated with ribbon and other vintage trim, and now these great cards can be enjoyed for a long time to come. :) This might be an idea for some of the cards you want to display all the time or use as holiday decorations.