Year End Clearance!

Inventory Reduction!

SALE!

40-50% off ALL ITEMS!

You have no idea how I LOVE those words, even look forward to them. I look forward to seeing them in print and getting emails that contain them. They make my heart race. They make my mind start planning and plotting. They inspire me to fill virtual carts all over the internet.

This year though, those words taunt me. I should probably just ignore all the emails and store fronts. I should concentrate on using up the fabric and scrapbook supplies that I already have. I feel bad for the store owners. They are making an effort to bring in some much needed money, clear out their inventory for tax reasons and make room for new things to come. I understand that. I understand too that I can get some incredible deals on things I have long admired. It usually benefits both parties. I don't want my favorite stores to go out of business, whether online or brick & mortar. The thing is I just have to show some restraint this year. More than I have in past years. I am fortunate to have a stash of fabric that I can pull from to continue sewing and an abundance of scrapbooking supplies to use. Maybe I should spend more time at my sewing machine and my scrap table and less time on the computer being tempted.

I hope to make a big ol' dent in all my supplies before the next year end. I hope that this economy has turned around. I hope that our house has sold. I hope that all my favorite shops will be in business still and sending out those ads and emails and that their store fronts have those words I love so well.

Praise - I thank God for the abundance that He has showered upon me and my Prayer is that I would remember that. Day by day, moment by moment I need to be thankful for what I have. Prayers too for all the small businesses that are trying to make ends meet.

Some last minute gifts

Happy Day After Christmas! Some people refer to it as Boxing Day but I never really got that. My sister would call today Merry After Birth - but that's just wrong on so many levels. She is twisted that way. ;)

I did venture out this morning, not too early though - to WM where it was not crowded really and the cashier said that it was the busiest it had been all day. I got some lights for 50% off and a big red metal tray and a red metal 'tub' (also 50% off). I plan to plant bright yellow and orange flowers in it this spring/summer! Then I went to the LQS, where all fabric was 50% off. I think my college girl and I were the only ones in there. All I wanted was a yard of some beautiful red wool that I saw on Black Friday but didn't get. I looked at all the other fabric anyway but I resisted. For now. The sale DOES go until the 31st ;)

After reading this apron tutorial by JonaG, I decided to make a couple of her aprons for the gal that owns the gym that I go to and the gal that teaches classes there. A couple of fun gals and I wanted to give them a little something. I made them on the 23rd and we went in on Christmas Eve, on our way to the movie and set them on their desks.

I have some more aprons to sew and I should be working on them now, so I guess I will push myself away from the computer.

Praise - all the holiday travelers that I know arrived at their destinations safely and before Christmas. Prayers - for safety for all those dealing with the unusual weather. Many family and friends are getting snow instead of their usual rain.

Merry Christmas!

I do hope that everyone is enjoying a day with loved ones celebrating THE reason for this season.

It has been snowing here all day on top of the 2' of snow that we already had. Nice quiet day at home.

Looking forward to tomorrow and the LEFTOVERS!

Praise - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life - John 3:16

So we need a larger angel

but my son has always been partial to this one for some reason. I don't even care if there is an angel on top of the tree but he always wants this one up there. She looks so teeny up there and it all looks out of proportion.
At the peak the ceiling is 13.5', my son who is trimming the tree there is 6'5". I TOLD you the tree was big!

We are still enduring BITTERLY cold temperatures. Right now, at 11pm it is ONE degree. Today was beautiful though, sunny and blue skies, with a high of maybe 12. At least it wasn't windy. I went out in the shop to find a piece of fabric to use for curtains for my son's room. OH.MY. It was really cold out there! I was all bundled up but that didn't seem to help at all.

In our last house my huge stash of fabric was stored in the garage, which never froze or had moisture in it. I assumed the shop was going to be the same but the walls behind my boxes of fabric had ice on them (or a heavy frost) so when that melts....ugh. I am thinking I have to get that fabric OUT OF THERE! But where am I going to put it??? That is going to be my project this coming week I think. Make some room in here for it. It is going to be a complete hassle to find anything if it is in here. The closet goes way back in and the boxes are going to have to be stacked to the ceiling - so to find anything it will mean taking out all of the boxes because you and I both know whatever it is you want, it is always in the very last box. :) I am not thrilled about this and I didn't need a new project.

I finished another apron this morning and got it off in the mail for a after Christmas birthday. I made it out of that cute Alexander Henry Starling fabric that I got on Black Friday.

I haven't been getting much sleep lately so it is off to bed for me. No Sunday school tomorrow so we can sleep in a bit. Christmas caroling tomorrow night at the LifeCare center. We usually go carolling in a neighborhood and I am so glad that we have other plans. It is WAY to cold for that nonsense.

Praise - the college girls got home safely. What an ordeal that was. Prayers for my friend who is selling a house and has an interested party.

In case you don't have any

of your own snow to gaze upon;


Hubby took that picture on Monday. Wednesday we woke to snow and at 1 a.m. on Thursday it is STILL snowing. It really didn't amount to much on Wednesday as it was just a very fine snow. I think that is going to change overnight. Hubby will take some new pictures in the morning while he it out plowing.

I finished an apron for someone and got that off in the mail and I have another project (that I can't talk about) all finished too!! I am in the process of making another apron now. I am really just in the cutting out phase. I hope to have this in the mail by Saturday though (weather permitting). I love having my college girl home as she is a great model for the aprons. I did take a picture and will get that posted soon.

Oh yeah, we got the tree decorated finally! The real trees just don't' handle our heavy ornaments quite like the artificial trees do. We left quite a few ornaments OFF of the tree this year because of that.

Prayers - two young ladies from our church will be trying to get home from college on Thursday afternoon. One of them already had to be rescheduled due to the weather. Prayers that their flights are not cancelled, that they arrive safely and then the drive from the airport is safe as well. Prayers too for hubby as he is out plowing. It is soooo cold and plowing here is so different than the last house (drop offs into pond and creek and the main road with a bad curve right near our driveway). Praise - my son is FINISHED with his 3 college classes and he did really well in all three of them :D

We've got MUSIC!

Boy,oh boy that takes a lot of time too. I finally used playlist.com and added a player to this blog. Des at Quilt Taffy was the primary inspiration for me to do this. It wasn't hard to do at all but time consuming to find the songs. It is NOT on auto start so if you want some music (right now it is Christmas music) then just scroll to the bottom of the page and hit the play button.

That's it. No sewing news (although I did sew today) and no pictures. Hey you get music!

Prayers for my friend, PINK. She is having some issues with some individuals at work. Scary stuff. Praying for her safety.

Cancelled!

Yeah, they give us a winter storm warning and then they cancel it! Phooey! I was all stocked up for the long haul - food and fabric. Yes sir, the basic necessities.

This was taken yesterday about 3 in the afternoon. It started snowing at noon! It was piling up fast. The darkest tree right behind us is our Christmas tree.


It snowed for a long time, maybe until 10. But when we woke up this morning it had snowed some more over night. Hubby had to go out to plow. His first time at this new location. He said it is going to take some getting used to, more hills, more drop offs (into a creek or the pond) and he was still trying to figure out the best place to put all of the snow. He took a few pictures before he got to work on the plowing though.

This is looking up the creek. The rocks piled with snow look like marshmallows in hot chocolate. :)


So it looks like close to a foot of snow on the picnic table.

It looks so pretty out there. When hubby was finished plowing he and our son brought the tree in. It is BIG! It took some adjusting of the furniture and some pruning of the tree to make it fit. While I made a pot of potato soup and a pan of cornbread, hubby worked on the lights. Why are they always such a trial? Dinner done and the lights are on the tree. Maybe we will decorate it tomorrow after church. College girl is relaxing, my son is working on his last speech for his class on Tuesday and hubby is catching up on his email. We are going to watch a movie together later on. I am going to cut out some fabric for a project I can't reveal here just now. ;)

The last time I looked it was 15 degrees outside. It is supposed to get down to -2 tonight and the HIGH tomorrow is supposed to be 3. Yeah, you read that right, THREE degrees. Stay warm! That is what I will be doing.

Praise - we got SNOW!!! Praise that the young lady from church did not need surgery - yet. She has a baseball sized tumor though and is in a lot of pain. Prayers for her, for comfort and relief from the pain. Prayers that the tumor would shrink and surgery would not be necessary.

It isn't even winter yet

but today we got almost a foot of snow! It started at noon, right before I woke my college girl up. Then the two of us went downstairs to wake up my son. He was trying not to be excited that it was snowing. Boys. He couldn't fool us.

So the plan was to cut down our tree before the storm hit and well that didn't quite happen. The tree was covered in snow and it was quite the job getting it on top of the suburban. I finally stopped giving 'suggestions' and got back inside the vehicle. My hubby appreciated that I think.
Hubby wanted to bring the tree into the house so that the snow would melt off of it. Bad idea I said, how about the garage? Then mopping up all that water won't be such a big ordeal. The guys still think the tree is too big although I pointed out that THEY chose this tree after vetoing my pick (yes IT was too big). When we got home and put the tree in the garage (whew!) hubby came inside and measured the ceiling. I told him that our son measured it the other day, kind of, and figured the highest point was approximately 13 feet. Hubby measured it at 13.5 feet. He went to the garage to measure the tree. 14 feet. Not bad! We can make this work!

We did take some pictures out in the snow today but of course they aren't on the computer yet. Maybe tomorrow. It looks like we won't be going anywhere tomorrow anyway so I can surely get someone to download/upload, whatever it is called the pictures from the camera to the computer.

In the meantime two more treasures that I got at the LQS Black Friday sale;

The construction fabric is Michael Miller. It reminds me of when my son was little and played with his Tonka trucks (which I have saved, by the way). The first fabric that I picked up and actually had cut to go with this was green with a small white dot. It was okay but not WOW! When I was on my second or third turn through the store I saw this orange dot. Someone must have had it at the counter and it had been put back. It is also from Michael Miller. Doesn't it just say TRAFFIC CONE to you??

Today, while we were out and about, I had chicken breasts cooking in the crockpot. Five boneless, skinless, frozen chicken breast, one cup of chicken broth and one package of Taco Seasoning. Cook that on low for 6-8 hours (I had mine on high for 3/4 of that time and then low). You just take the breasts out and fork shred them. Chicken Tacos! It smelled so good when we came back in the house this afternoon and knowing that dinner was pretty much done, ya gotta love that! You can double this too and then freeze portions for an even quicker meal one day. I also made a cherry pie (from those cherries we picked this summer) for dessert. Youth group for my son was cancelled so we all watched some movies together.

Maybe tomorrow we will get the tree up in the living room and get that decorated! I mean come on, it IS almost Christmas!!

Praise - that my girl got home safely and before the storm hit. For the beautiful snow!
Prayers - for a young lady at church (my daughter's age) that is facing possible surgery tonight. She is undergoing tests now. Also for safety while out in the snow, especially for all those workers that have to be out there - plow truck drivers, police officers, mail carriers, utility workers and the likes.

Three days in a row!

Almost like the days when I started blogging! I should make it a goal to learn how to take the pictures off of the camera and put them on to the computer. Hubby has this whole 'system' though of how to categorize them. I am sure I would fall asleep during that lesson. Sometimes though I have something I want to post about but the pictures I want to use or not available. :S

So here is another peek at some of the lovely fabrics I got on Black Friday. I have admired the Farmer's Market fabrics but really wasn't sure what to do with them. At 50% off I figured I could find something. ;) Again, I wanted MORE of the prints from this line but I resisted. I listened to the voice in my head. Oh I argued with it, but in the end it won.

I had this magazine already and they have a CUTE apron made up in these fabrics. They are by designer Cindy Taylor Oates.

Actually it is a mother/daughter set of aprons. They did use the blue background big dahlia print in the magazine but the LQS only had the green. The clincher was that the LQS had a sample made up and hanging there. I got enough to make a mother/daughter set. No idea when I will make them or who it will be for but I am prepared.

I got a text from my daughter when she was at the train station and then a phone call from my friend that dropped her off. She said there were lots of college students boarding the train. So many parents waiting for their children to come home tonight or tomorrow or in the next day or so. So many children anxious to be home with their families for the holidays. It reminds me of the movie White Christmas when they are on the train. I LOVE THAT MOVIE! We will be watching it before Christmas. It is a tradition. We do fast forward through the 'Choreography' number - it is just strange. The kids and I laugh when Danny Kaye pretends to have twisted his ankle. We will also watch Miracle on 34th Street, The Santa Clause, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas and maybe It's a Wonderful Life. It is not a favorite of mine at all. I know. HORRORS! Can you believe I am even admitting that on the world wide web??? My kids tried to watch it years ago and thought there was too much talking. Maybe it is time to try it again. We will get some other Christmas movies from Netflix too. I like Polar Express and Christmas with the Kranks and a couple of the Home Alone movies. I have some older movies on reserve as well. What is YOUR favorite Christmas movie??

Prayers - continued prayers for Freda's Hive and all that is buzzing around there. Again prayers for safe travel for my college girl.

So I have some catching up to do

Just because I haven't posted in awhile doesn't mean I haven't been busy! Of course there is still unpacking but I am pretty tired of that. I have done a little bit of Christmas decorating and more needs to be done. I find that I am usually way behind in that department and then it seems it is time to take it all down. I think my reluctance to decorate for Christmas is because it means I have to put the fall stuff away and it still IS fall. Fall IS my favorite after all.

I made this tote and checkbook cover for a gal that missed getting the other one that I made for an online auction. This one is very similar, although not an exact copy. I have some aprons to make as well. When I have aprons and bags to make I get to shop for fabric!!!! Mmmmmm, I love shopping for fabric. Online or in person doesn't matter.

Speaking of fabric shopping the little LQS that is half a knitting store had a great Black Friday sale. If you were a key chain holder you could get in at 6 a.m. and shop until 8:30 a.m. and EVERYTHING was 40% off. Well you KNOW I am a key chain holder and I would get up that early to shop for fabric but not for plasma televisions or Nintendo games or bicycles. I mean I have priorities! Since I had no guests for Thanksgiving and college girl was not home I was free to get up and go (figuring the guys were going hunting anyway). Man it is dark at that hour! I pulled into the parking lot just at 6 and there were already quite a few cars parked out front. A clerk met me at the door and handed me a little slip of paper and said the sale was actually 50% off of everything!!! OH.MY. My heart began to race. I think THIS is an aerobic workout for me!! I kept saying to myself 'I have to be good, I can't spend too much, I must use restraint'.
There were lots of ladies there and ONE clerk cutting and the owner at the cash register, but it went much quicker than if I had been at JoAnn's and there were 4 cutters and 4 ladies on cash registers. Everyone in line was having a good time, talking, commenting on fabric choices etc. As soon as a fabric was cut a runner would take the bolt and get it back on the shelf. Over the next few days I will show you some of my treasures. This was one of my favorites. I had NEVER seen this print before, at that store or online. I have seen it since then though. Isn't that funny how that works?
This is from Alexander Henry and is called Starlings. It is so bright and cheery and makes me smile.


Here is a close up of one of the little birds. The paisleys and red swirls....mmmmmm.


My college girl is OFFICIALLY finished with her first quarter!! WOOO HOOOO!!! She will be getting on the train Thursday afternoon and will get home early Friday morning. I can hardly wait!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It SNOWED here yesterday afternoon. Not alot but enough to cover the ground and it is mostly still here. A mile down the road - no snow.

Praise - college girl has made it through the first quarter of college away from home! My son made it to town and back, driving his truck on wintry roads for the very first time.
Prayers - again, for safe travel for college girl to get home. Also, prayers for the household of Freda's Hive. I don't know specifics and I don't need to know them - God knows! Nanette you are in my prayers. I am also praying for Dong Yun Yoon, the man that lost his wife, two daughters and his mother-in-law when the jet crashed into his home. My heart breaks for him.

Happy DECEMBER!

Okay, so it is already the 9th and my first post this month. Time just slips away from me.

I have spent TOO much time trying to re-do my blog picture. It still doesn't fit. When I have it auto-fit it is too small. ARGH! I am done. So it hangs over a little. So do I! Heck, I hang over a lot.

We are HOPING for snow today! They have been forecasting snow since Saturday night and yet we have NO snow. COME ON!! It IS December afterall.

I will post again later on. I just wanted to say HI! I am still out here and I wanted to get a new wintry scene posted.

My college girl comes home this week!! WAHOOOOO!!! We are all soooo excited about that.

If you haven't been over to Freda's Hive what are you waiting for??? BIG Blogiversary Giveaway going on over there. www.fredashive.blogspot.com.

Prayers for SAFE train travels Thursday night. That is how my college girl will be coming home. I think that will be exciting for her. Prayers that my son would be diligent with his college classes that go a week after his sister arrives home (and is lounging around). Praise - our house is on the market and it has already been shown AND the guy was pretty excited about it! He needs to bring some others to look at it - so prayers for that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The pie is on the cooling rack, I am going to start peeling potatoes soon and then I will put the dressing in the crockpot. I have a small turkey to cook so it doesn't have to go in the oven quite yet. The sparkling cider is chilled and the crescent rolls are just waiting their turn in the oven.

Missing my girl but I am so thankful that she has a wonderful family to spend the day with. We will be seeing her VERY soon and we can hardly wait. When hubby and my son return home from hunting we will have our dinner.



I hope that you spend today thanking God for every good and perfect gift. That is what I will be doing.

But I still have so much to be thankful for

The plan was for our friends to come over for Thanksgiving. They have come maybe 5 or 6 of the 8 years we have been here. They were going to bring our daughter with them.

Plans have changed. My friend's brother in law in GA has been told he has 3-4 days to live. They are in a holding pattern, trying to decide to fly to GA now or to wait. There was so much indecision. They wanted to come here, they wanted to bring our daughter home, if they had to fly out then what....they would have their dog and our daughter to get back to the big city. The thought was that my daughter could drive their car back home but....they only have cars with stick shift and she has never learned that. She has also never made the 6 hour trip alone and there is a big pass in the way. A big pass that could get snow at any minute.

We are ALL sad! Our friend's youngest boy was very disappointed. He loves to come here during hunting season.

When all is said and done though...in 3-4 days, God willing, we will still all be alive. We aren't losing a beloved family member. The sick man, who is about 48 years old, has two very young children. He has a wife who is scared of what lies ahead. There is a big family that is going to be attending a funeral very soon unless there is some miraculous healing.

So yes, our plans have changed and we are disappointed but at the same time we are also so very thankful for what we do have. AND our daughter will be heading home for her Christmas break in a couple of weeks. She has already made arrangements to spend Thanksgiving and the day after with her best friend and their family.

Praise - God is in control. Nothing takes him by surprise.
Prayers - for that young man in Georgia, for a miraculous healing if it is God's will. For all of the family members, for comfort and strength to get through this.

I think it is the perfect one

I saw it yesterday while we were giving the real estate agent a tour of the property. I opened my mouth to say 'HEY! There it is! We need to cut that down' but then I clamped my mouth shut. I didn't want the real estate agent to reprimand me for taking a tree from our property that will soon be listed. So I didn't get to show it to hubby. I think I can find it again. You know how in nature the trees look like they will fit in your living room just fine but then in reality not so much? Well guess what!? The new house has a REALLY high peaked ceiling in the living room. We are getting a BIG tree this year.

Hubby was walking around the new house last night trying to decide where to hang his deer mount (ugh). He ended up in the living room and I said well maybe but not until after Christmas because that is right where the really big Christmas tree is going to go. He just rolled his eyes and walked away.

It looked something like this;


I wonder just how high the ceiling is in the living room. Hmmmmm.

My daughter wants us to wait to cut it down when she is home in December. That would be on the 12th. If it snows too much before then it could be a problem. I will have to take hubby out there this week and show him the tree and at least tag it. I will let him worry about how to transport and set it up in the living room. I did the hard part, I picked it out!

Fabric Friday!

Yes, I know it has been OVER a week since I last posted. CRAZY! I hate that I haven't been here. I hate more that I haven't been sewing. In my spare time (that means when I am not unpacking, cleaning the old house or doing the daily routine in the new house) I am trying to keep up reading my fave blogs and perusing fabric sites. I am usually too pooped to sew by the time I get to sit down here for any length of time.

I DID take pictures of my room in the TOTAL DISASTER state. I will post those soon. I am not ready for the after pictures yet but it is better. I can walk in here. I can find a chair or two. I do not have to straddle piles of fabric or boxes to get to my tables. I still do not have my 'new' sewing machine out. That is going to take some doing to get it out of the closet. Who had the brilliant idea to put it in the closet first? I am thinking it was my hubby. He must have figured if I couldn't get to it I would do other things. Hmph.

I so LOVE when Nanette posts pictures of wonderful fabrics - ALWAYS on Friday and sometimes on some other days. I tried 3 times to link to Nanette's site and it won't work. It is www.fredashive.blogspot.com if you don't already know. I mentioned in my Quilt Show post that I had gotten some special fabrics and would post a picture. Well can you say FINALLY?

This first print is by Alexander Henry and now I forget the name of it. Sheesh my mind is like a steel trap - all rusted and corroded. Anyway I think it is ADORABLE and will really have to talk myself into cutting it. Purse? Tote? Apron? Something quilty??


And then looky here! Look at what I scored!! Ohhhhhhh, how I have loved when others show their prized pieces of Summer in the City birds. When I saw it at the show I think I was looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was going to grab the bolt before I did. I bought all that she had, which wasn't much. I think there is just over a yard. I did buy some of that companion fabric too.

Mmmmmmmm. It makes me smile. So, any suggestions on what to do with it?? :D


I hope to be here more often. I have lots of sewing projects on my planner now. I will be sewing up a storm between now and mid-January. I think it is going to be great since we have chosen to have a VERY low key Christmas. No pressure to do the sewing while trying to shop and ship and so on.

Praises - The old house is EMPTY and 90% cleaned! We met with a realtor today to show her around. That my daughter is doing well at school, will be home on TUESDAY night for Thanksgiving. That my son is doing well in school. That my hubby is strong and healthy and able to fix most anything (well except for the carpet steamer ;) ). Prayers - for safe travel for our friends and my daughter next week. That the house listing/showing and selling process goes smoothly.

No pictures today

I am home alone. Home alone in a new house. A new house with NO window coverings. I feel like a fish in a fishbowl. So I am on the laptop in my bedroom. The only window in here is onto the deck. The deck can only be accessed through the house. Unless Spiderman or Batman are nearby. So I am using LogMeIn and am able to have MY desktop on this laptop. Pretty sweet. Well except for the flat keyboard and the mouse issues. I was TRYING to upload some fabric pictures but that just was not working. No idea why. The windows would resize. I would lose what I was working on. I gave up.

So, I sat in here while Rosie vacuumed the floors. Rosie is the Roomba's name now. You know, Rosie the maid from the Jetsons? That is where I got the name. It was kind of great to be sitting with my feet up, typing away, reading blogs, and yet the vacuuming was getting done. Sweet. Now if they had one that did the dishes. Rosie got in BIG trouble last night though. She almost lost her job, let alone one of her appendages. So she is scheduled to vacuum in the late evening when we are all most likely downstairs - sewing, scrapping,dinking online or watching something on the big screen. No one heard her vacuuming. We were oblivious to the trouble she was in. Since this house is so much smaller, finding a place to line dry some laundry was tough. I set up a collapsible dryer rack in the guest bathroom and that seems to work just fine. Well almost. Note to self: put dryer rack away OR close the bathroom door before Rosie vacuums. Hubby and son went to bed about 10. I stayed up until about midnight. When I came upstairs the dryer rack was in the hallway. Huh, not where that goes. So I turned on the bathroom light and see Rosie up against the tub, battery dead. This is not good. So I pick her up and UGH....she found a sticky pest trap that the previous owners left under the sink. It still had lots of stick to it and now it was all over one of her wheels and all over her little brushes that she feels with and sweeps stuff with. I mean this is BIG TIME sticky! Poor little Rosie had tried to get out of that bathroom but must have just been going in circles or just stuck in one place until her battery gave out. I rescued her, turned her upside down and tried to clean her. I finally gave up and wrote my hubby a note and went to bed.

In the morning when I got up I saw that Rosie's brushes had now been removed and there was a note from hubby. He said clean the sticky stuff off with Skin So Soft (works great on tree sap too). Great. Do YOU know which box the Skin So Soft is in?? Me neither. So I left her there and went to town to do my grocery shopping. Well I visited the one small quilt store (she opens at 8!) and the craft store. I just needed a fabric fix. I didn't buy any though. ;) I know, hard to believe.
Hubby finally found the box that the SSS was in and he cleaned Rosie up, reattached her brush arm and put her back on the charger. She was working like a champ tonight and yes, we closed that bathroom door.

I did sew yesterday and today. Last year, when my brother in law and his brother in law came here to hunt they really liked the fleece pants that I made for my hubby and son. They wanted some! They wanted me to go into production - uh no. My brother in law drove back to the big city only to return the next week to hunt some more BUT since it was then the day after Thanksgiving and JoAnns always has a big sale, he was there at 6 when they opened. He bought enough camo fleece for two pair of pants. So you would THINK that I would have sewn them right up and taken them to him on one of our numerous trips. Oh no. Not me! Well the guys were SUPPOSED to come hunt next weekend - the 22nd/23rd. I figured I would have time to get my sewing room set up and get those pants ready for them. Change of plans! They needed to come THIS weekend! Now I took pictures of my room (the BEFORE)and I will post them next week but it is really so much worse than it looks (if that can even be possible). Trying to get to the boxes I needed - what a exercise in balance and flexibility. I could not even get to my new machine. I settled for using my old one and my serger. That was tough enough to pull off.
The pants got finished and hubby and my son took them to the old house to meet up with the hunters. I HOPE that they fit them!

I wonder if they make a Roomba that unpacks and organizes. I need one of those.

Prayers - for the hunters for the next few days. For their safety and for a successful harvest. Praise - for my hubby. He has really been working so hard on getting us moved and setting things up. He even tackled our son's truck and got that fixed.

This has GOT to give me more sewing time

So it has been 11 days or so since I blogged. That can't be good. I miss being on the computer. I really miss sewing! My craft room is a disaster. Oh I have sewing that I SHOULD be doing. The thing is I am STILL waiting for the previous owner to fix a hole in the ceiling in here. He did have some dude come by to patch it, but no one has come by to tape it and mud it and paint it. It is directly under where my sewing table should go. Of course it is. The first dude that cut some dry wall made a huge mess that he didn't' clean up. I am NOT setting my machine up under there and then letting dude #2 show up to make another mess. I can't set up my table until it is in place because it has these BIG and HEAVY drawers which are full of fabric and patterns. This situation does not make me happy.

We went away this past weekend, to see my daughter for her 19th birthday. We took a couple of her friends from here along. We stayed with friends, took them shopping, ate, partied, caught up. The adults went to a semi-formal event for Families Northwest where John Tesh was the entertainment. That was a lovely evening.

The day we took all the girls shopping hubby and I went to Costco and got this;

I have it on the charger right now. I can't wait to let it do its thing! I figure it is one less thing I will have to do. I am going to schedule it to clean every single day. Otherwise the dark wood floors that show everything are going to be the end of me. Anything to create more sewing time is a good thing...RIGHT??? :D

My son and the guys we visited all made a music video this past weekend. It was so much fun to watch. Any chance my son gets to make a movie he jumps on it. This is what he wants to do after all. Good thing his friends are all hams and enjoy being in the movies.

It was so hard to say good-bye to my daughter again. She didn't want to go back to school. She wanted to hang out with us, not have studying to do. I suggested she drop out, move back home and get a job in this podunk town. She figured she'd better go back to school after all. Thanksgiving break is coming up soon and then after that she has a couple weeks and then she is home for her winter break and Christmas!!!!

I had minimal time to spend in TWO Super JoAnns. They were having a huge sale but having just about 20 minutes in the one store and seeing the very long lines, and not much longer in the second store and having three bored young ladies trailing me....wahhhhh!!! I saw so many things I would have liked to get. Did any of you get to their sale??

I am still not totally out of the other house, or unpacked of the boxes and boxes that are now in this house. I'd best get a move on. I just wanted you to know that yes, I am still alive. I did get two aprons off in the mail last week! Those were the final items to be sewn in the old house and then my room could be packed up.

Praise for safe travel to and from the big city and for my awesome hubby who makes the drive basically alone while the rest of us sleep. Prayers for my daughter as she hangs in there for a few more weeks until the end of the first quarter. Prayers that my son would continue to be diligent with his schoolwork too.

It'll be over soon

Right? I mean the packing and the moving. Oh yeah, the cleaning of the new place BEFORE we move in and the cleaning of the old place once we are out. It can't go on forever. Can it? It just SEEMS like it is never ending.

Hubby and son got all of the dining room (hutch and table and chairs and bench) and main living room (couch, love seat, chair and ottoman, rocking chair, end table, lamps) moved yesterday. It is all set up. I like how it looks! I was putting stuff back into the hutch and came across a big leaf bowl so I set it on the table and scattered some silk leaves around it. Almost looks like home.

Last night while hubby and I were at Bible study my son went to the new house and set up the media 'stuff''. He was so excited to get that going. So he called and left a message on hubby's phone and when we got out of study we went to the new house and watched a movie with him. Finding Nemo on the big screen. I took us a bit to notice that the clown fish were blue instead of orange, and the water was a brownish orange instead of blue. My son switched a few wires and it was then in living color. On with the show.

Okay, break time is over. Back to the packing and moving. I really would rather be sewing.

Praise - the move is going well, my son did great on his speech yesterday and got a super score on his English essay. My daughter got the okay to do a classroom observation at a local elementary school next week! Prayers - for patience and good attitudes during the move. That we get travel arrangements figured out to bring college girl home for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Carving 2008

My son likes to carve pumpkins. Which is pretty funny considering that when he was little he hated to touch the gooey pumpkin guts (he got his ideas from his big sister ). But now he knows that if he is going to carve the pumpkin HE has to deal with the guts. It is a pretty cheap medium too. $3 at WalMart for a pumpkin! We got him two but the second one was weird. It was soooo hard he could hardly cut the top open. I got him another one today for another project and they had been reduced to $2.50.

So here is the 2008 pumpkin;


I think it is so cool! He is pretty patient and sure handed.

So Happy Halloween. A few days early ;)

Praise - tomorrow the house deal should be DONE WITH! We should have the keys to the new house. Prayers - that yes, indeed, it actually happens and then for the moving part.

I miss him

Today was my dad's birthday. He would have been 94 today. I really miss him. He passed away the year before I got married. I so wish he could have met my children. He would have loved them. They would have loved him.

This self portrait was taken in 1960.


Hug your fathers and grandfathers if you still have them to hug. Tell them you love them.

It was a Quilt Show Saturday

My friend and I started out early, after all we had a 1.5 hour drive ahead. My friend's sister who happens to be a quilter was going to meet us there. These gals were GREAT Quilt Show companions. They were funny, they were appreciative, they were very much into the detail and workmanship that had been put into the quilts. We looked at EVERY quilt displayed. Here are just a FEW pictures. The photo of one of my favorite quilts did not turn out so great so I am not showing that here. Taking photos was not easy with so many people there and the lighting was an issue as well. Anyway, on with the show!

Most of the flowers in this quilt have a raggy edge (some pinked) that is not attached. You might be able to see it better in the second image.


I call this one the tearjerker quilt. It is a lovely photo quilt that anyone could appreciate, then I read the entry card. OH.MY. The quilter's younger sister was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at age 53. The quilter made this as a gift for her sister, to help her remember people and events. She stated on the card that it helped her to accept what was happening to her sister as well. She said making the quilt brought on many tears but also smiles and laughter.

I didn't get a picture of the whole quilt here but I just LOVED the border and the quilting!!

This is one of those itty-bitty, never in my lifetime quilts. It was MAYBE 12" across.

I just LOVED this quilt!! It is just so darn cute, little paper doll dude. It makes me smile. :D

The photo does NOT do this next quilt justice. It is called COPPER PENNY and it was just gorgeous! It had a beautiful depth to it as well as some shine.

I am not sure if this qualifies as a watercolor quilt but I really liked it. Each of those squares is a flower.

A log cabin with a tulip growing from the center. The center square is also not the traditional log cabin center shape. I loved the color scheme of this one.


I really liked this saying;


There were MANY MANY quilts featuring applique this year. I don't know if this is a new trend or if I just didn't notice them before. Another trend, machine embroidery featured on the quilt. It did not change my mind about selling my embroidery module.

I was a little disappointed in the vendors this year. First of all, I did not see ANYONE demonstrating the new Bernina 830. I was sure someone would be there to do that. I was wrong. I have seen the machine demonstrations in the past, even when there was not a big release coming up soon. Secondly the booths themselves didn't have that over the top inspiration that I usually love about them. I am used to seeing purses and totes and aprons and quilts just spilling over each booth, so much so that I tend to miss things on my first go 'round and discover more when I make the rounds again. I wasn't WOWed by anything in the booths that I can recall. Thirdly, the fabric. Let's say the LACK OF fabric. Oh there was fabric but really, nothing NEW and EXCITING! Some of it was fabric I saw at last year's show. There was not a whole lot of the new fabrics that I know others are able to get in their local quilt store. I was really looking forward to seeing it all in person. The one exception was seeing some of 'Recipe for Friendship' in one booth. I was surprised to see how big the paisleys were, not how I envisioned them at all. I still like that print but was just surprised. ONE booth had some 'Ava Rose'. Some. Phooey. None of the red or grey. I went with a list of things to look for and I didn't get one thing from my list. I'll show you later this week what I DID get! I need to take a photo.

It was a long, fun day. My dogs were barking after all that walking. I dropped my friend off at her son's house and then I went to a quilt store. They did not have 3 of the items on my list that I thought they might but they did have the miniature vacuum attachments for machine cleaning. I bought that. I stopped at a Hancock's after that and just spent time looking at pattern catalogs and home dec fabric. I did get some fleece that was on sale so it wasn't a total loss. ;)

Praise - that my trip to and from the Quilt Show was safe and uneventful. That my son had the time of his life helping out on an infomercial shoot. That my hubby was safe helping someone bring in their hay. Finally that my daughter had a TERRIFIC time at the retreat! Prayers - that we would get final approval, this week,to move ahead with the new house.

Sewing for Christmas

Yes, you read that correctly. I am sewing for Christmas. The thing is, these are not gifts for me to give to my loved ones. Nope. I am sewing these to auction off. This is the third or fourth year that I have participated in this auction. The funds raised go to help parents give their children some Christmas presents that they would not otherwise be able to afford. There is always so much participation and it is great fun. Everything must be handmade and there are so many talented contributors.

So yesterday afternoon and today, this is what I made;
from BHG Quilts and More Fall 2008, the Pick-a-Pocket Tote. I made the matching checkbook cover using the directions found at Amandajean's site.


This little Halloween purse was made using Amy Butler's In Town Bags pattern. I spent some time making sure the little kids would be centered but then...argh! As you can see I should have put that print at the bottom and the dots at the top. I had no clue until it was time to cinch up the drawstring. Yeah, I know. It was the first time I used beads too. I need some pointers on that procedure. If you have any tips please share. The ribbon that says 'Happy Halloween' is just fine in real life, the flash makes it look smudged.


Another bag using that Amy Butler pattern. Again I have to admit I have no vision. I was just happy to make a candy corn colored purse. It made me smile. I planned to enter it into the Candy Corn Contest held here. When I cinched it up. OH.MY. Now it REALLY looked like candy corn!!! Someone else, you know someone that had already made one of these purses (yeah, that would be ME) should have figured what the shape was going to be. I think all the head shaking and eye rolling has done some serious brain damage.


I also submitted this Metro Blue checkbook cover that I made and posted awhile back.

I feel like I could make a few more things but of course I waited until the last minute and I won't be home tomorrow. Where am I going you ask??? Well to the BIG, held at the fairgrounds, Quilt Show!! I love this quilt show and I can't wait. I have my camera ready to go. I am going to make a list of yardages needed for some of the patterns I have on hand and carry a little spiral notebook. This year a friend is going with me. I hope she 'gets' it. I hope she isn't ready to leave thirty minutes after we arrive. I hope she doesn't have to walk home. I hope she is still my friend on Sunday.

Fortunately for you I did NOT take a picture of my sewing room. It is insanely messy (and I am not talkin' 'Nanette' messy ;) ).

Prayers - for my daughter. She has a dorm retreat this weekend. I pray she can relax, have FUN, make some connections. Prayers for the big decision she needs to make. Also prayers for our house buying situation. It has not all been approved yet and it is really causing a lot of tension in this house. Praise - That we are in the situation to buy a house at all, that we have a roof over our head and food to eat and that we have good health. My son has an opportunity to help on a film shoot tomorrow and he is excited.

Two WEEKS??

How could I have gone TWO WEEKS without updating my blog? Sorry. I HAVE been busy though. Unfortunately it has not been at my sewing machine. Well I did sew one purse. An exact replica of the pink and brown purse that I made for my daughter. Other than that, I have been packing, deciding what to pack, what not to pack, throw it out, give it away.

This is a picture of the family room a few days ago. There are three times as many boxes in there now. Most of them are filled with books, some are filled with videos, others are packed with photos.

My sister who lives 6 hours from here decided to come for the weekend and help me pack. She drove over all alone - which is really unlike her and we packed. We worked on the kitchen, the laundry room and my daughter's room. Here is a picture of the entryway when we had done SOME of the kitchen.

There are MANY more boxes now. My sister took some things home with her and she helped me let some other stuff go. There is a trailer in the garage that we are filling with trash and giveaway stuff. It seems there is soooooooo much more to do.

My sewing room. Should I save that until last so that I can sew until the last minute? My son thinks I should pack it up now, along with my computer then I can't do anything BUT pack. Silly boy.

I am off to cut out an apron. I might get to sew sometime today. We shall see.

QUILT SHOW this weekend!! WOO HOOO!!

Praise - that my sister was willing and able to drive over here to help and that she had a safe trip here and back. Prayers - that my daughter would find her groove at school. She doesn't 'love it'.

I didn't like it ONE bit!

That was THE most difficult thing I have done in my life to date. I would rather give birth every day. And trust me, that girl was no easy labor! 18 + hours!! So this was like a birth of sorts. 18 years and a few month later and she is pushed out. Out of the nest this time. Or maybe she jumped. I am pretty sure that I was not pushing. Here she is in her dorm room, well in a portion of it. She has a double and anyone that came by commented that they had the biggest room in the dorm and that they should ENJOY IT! I think they will.

I was pretty good during the two days of meet and greets and various functions we had to attend. A few tears were shed but I expected that. When it was time to say good-bye I still thought I was going to be able to hold it together. We hugged and hugged and hugged. She got teary before I did but then that was my undoing. I cried as my hubby and I drove away. I woke really early the next morning and could not control the tears, so I just let them flow. I tear up when I think of her not getting daily hugs. How sad for all college kids. NO HUGS! My friends that live nearby to her have orders to give her hugs on my behalf. It won't be the same but it is better than nothing. I miss her hugs too.

She says she is doing pretty good. A video sent by phone from her brother set her off a bit. Seeing him AND hearing him was too much I guess. Her roommate is very homesick. Her family is back home now too. Many more miles and hours away than we are. My daughter says she feels like she is just at camp and the reality hasn't set in yet. I told her by the time that it does it will be time to come home for the holidays. She will be pretty busy since the school is on the quarter system.

After seeing the survival kit that was posted at Covered Porches and Screen Doors a few weeks back, I decided that I needed to do something similar. Into a big ol' popcorn tin that I had, I put in these items. I gave it to her before we left but told her she couldn't open it until Sunday or Monday sometime.

Two different devotionals, if and when she has time for them;



Some of her favorite candies;


This set of Sharpies that she would fondly look at in the store;


She loves canned chicken noodle soup and doesn't get it at home;



and just in case she might forget...

The shoes are teeny, made for a little, little girl. But a perfect size to have as a little reminder, on a shelf or in a keepsake box.

I miss her lots. She is going to do GREAT and I am so excited for her. I will really be looking forward to her birthday in November. We are going to see her then. I have told my son he is not allowed to leave home. He just rolls his eyes and says "Whatever, Mom".

So we came home late Saturday and hit the ground running. We had a wedding reception/potluck at church on Sunday. We had 'guests' move into the guest house on Sunday night. Family of church friends that are getting married THIS week. The only sewing I have done is adding some netting pouf to the bride's slip. What a job that was! So much netting, slippery fabric. I ended up having to HAND SEW the netting to the slip. Ya KNOW how I love me some hand sewing...NOT! I ended up sewing it to my jeans TWICE! I finally quit for the night and finished this morning. I was able to secure it all with a machine zig zag this morning. Reminder to self: do NOT go into the wedding dress alteration business.

The weather was GORGEOUS here today! I made a list of things to do today and I think I have gotten them all done! Oh yeah! That's a great feeling. Sewing will be on my list for later this week. A little packing or organizing each day too.

Praise - our travels to and from college were safe. Our daughter is happily moved into her dorm and underway with her classes. Prayers - that we would be an encouragement to her, although we all miss her terribly. For the weddings this weekend. Our daughter will attend one there and we will attend one here. That the young people getting married would truly strive to have Godly marriages. Also praying that the weather would cooperate for the Idaho OUTDOOR wedding.

This is it

The day that I never really thought would arrive. The day when my oldest, my daughter, leaves home. We will all drive to the big city today, spend the night with friends and then move her into her dorm room tomorrow. I had trouble sleeping last night. Her life was flashing before my eyes, running through my mind. Little images of her through the years. I couldn't turn it off. Sweet memories.

She is a beautiful, Godly, young lady. I know that HE loves her even more than I do. I know that she belongs to HIM. But, but, but this day arrived too quickly! I can't even write this without getting teary eyed. I am going to be a wreck on Friday afternoon when we finally say our good-byes. I am already looking forward to early November when we go see her for her birthday, and then Thanksgiving when she will be home. Not long after that, just a couple of weeks and it will be time for Christmas break.

I am so thankful the technology that we have today. The dorm doesn't have one phone in the hall to be used by dozens of girls. My daughter has a cell phone and she can call or text and she can take pictures! She can contact us via messenger and email and even with Facebook. She has a webcam on her computer so that we can see her lovely face. Using some of that technology my daughter has already gotten to know her roommate.

The suburban is packed to the gills. I am not sure what we would have done if we had just a car. I sure hope there is room for everything she is taking. Well I guess we will just bring the overflow home. To her almost empty room. :(

She is ready and excited. A new chapter in the story of her life. I'm excited for her. It is going to be a great adventure.

I will post some pictures when we get back home.

Praying for safe travel today. That we would show each other love and patience as we get my daughter all moved in. Prayers for the adjustments that need to be made - those that my daughter has to make and those that my hubby, son and I need to make. Prayers being said for her school year. That she would do her best, have fun but most importantly honor God with her life. Praise to God for giving my daughter the skills and talents that HE did. That we are able to send her to the college of her choice.

It has been a GOOD WEEK!

Good but very busy. I have been stitching away on that binding. There were moments that I enjoyed it. MOMENTS. Most of the time it was just 'get er dun' thinking. I had a deadline! My daughter leaves for school on the 24th. I didn't even sit in front of the tv. That would require moving a comfortable chair and a good light and all my 'stuff'. I just sat in the chair in my bedroom and put on some music and stitched. And stitched. And stitched some more. I finally had to put in the mouth guard that I bought the other day when I realized that I was clenching my jaw. Hand sewing is NOT relaxing to me. ;)

But before the binding was finished I remembered to call and order some bobbins for my machine. My daughter picked them up for me on Thursday at the LQS. The Bernina repairman makes a stop there each Thursday and had some on hand so he brought them. Now I can use different colors! Now I don't have to unwind other bobbins so I can sew in a different color! How liberating a few bobbins can make me feel. :D

Then, I had a good mail day! WOOO HOOOO! Who doesn't love a good mail day and then when that mail day means FABRIC, all the better. The rest of the Andover Halfway Cafe fabric arrived. This is for the Galveston Quilt (free patten on the Andover site). I wasn't able to find the brown Dimples fabric that the pattern called for but I found a good substitute last week. I just need some time...

THEN look what I got. FINALLY! I have been stalking Tanya's site to see when she would have the new patterns available. It seemed forever since her last post and then FINALLY a post AND it was about her new patterns. I got an 'old' pattern too. Again with the time requirement...

All the while that I was stitching the binding I was thinking about a quilt label. I have never made one before. I have never labeled a quilt before! Des from Quilt Taffy had told me she was making one the other day. I thought about NOT making one. I thought about making one. I thought about HOW to make one. I thought about how to attach it. I thought about what it should say. All that time to bind a quilt sure allows for a lot of thought. Binding DONE! Label made and on!! Here is what I came up with. I am not sure that I LOVE it. I am not sure that I did it correctly. Seems a little bulky to me. I know some people put the fabric used and the pattern and where the pattern came from. That would have taken the entire back of the quilt. I kept it short and sweet. So what should I have done differently with the label? You know, for next time. (note - the one line I 'smudged' on purpose in photo editing, for privacy)

Now for the washing and drying. I am a bit apprehensive about this. I LOVED the quilt all smooth and pretty. I wasn't sure it was the style of quilt to be wrinkled and puckery. I wasn't sure that I was going to like it still. I wasn't sure that all the colors weren't going to run. I wasn't sure that the binding wasn't going to come undone. I wasn't sure that the label wasn't going to fall off. I forged ahead. I said a little prayer. It seemed so much smaller when it came out of the wash. All the colors were still in place, as was the label. Now for the dryer. When I opened the dryer - puckers! I really liked it! But would my daughter??

YES!! My daughter loves it! She likes the puckers and wrinkles. She LOVES the love note on the label. :D

The quilt top went together pretty quickly but the rest of the process seemed to drag on forever. I am glad to have the hand sewing of a binding under my belt. I won't have to put it off so long for the next quilt. I'm not afraid of that part anymore. I don't LOVE it but I know that I can do it. Next challenge will be machine sewing the binding on and getting those corners right. Always something.

Prayers - I have a LOT of packing to do! That was hanging over my head while I was sewing. For me to stay focused and on task as I get that huge job underway. Prayers that the entire house buying process goes well and we are able to close in early October. Praise that the quilt turned out just fine. An answer to my prayer before sticking it in the wash.