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.

Harvest time

I LOVE this time of year. Crisp cool mornings, blue skies, perfect temperatures during the day. A tinge of color as the leaves are just now beginning to change. Here is the harvest from our backyard fruit trees. Apples and Pears. Now compared to some harvest pictures I have seen on blogs this year our harvest is nothing. If you compare it to the first harvest that we had from these trees though it is HUGE! The first year that we picked apples they just covered the bottom of the basket.

I may make some applesauce, just to eat fresh. Homemade applesauce and potato latkes. Mmmmmm.
Here are a couple of pictures of our new house. You can see we need some landscaping. I think it will look LOVELY covered with snow. :D This is the front of the house and in the distance is the shop.

This is the backside of the house. Closest slider is the master bedroom. It doesn't show up great in this picture but there is a creek to the left and near the creek is some tile/stonework for a little sitting area and a fire pit.

I forgot to tell you that I finally got up the nerve (and remembered the date) to attend the local quilt guild meeting the other night. I told the family what was there for dinner prep and headed out. I even checked online to double check the address and then checked a map to be sure of where I was going. I arrived at the church on time and there were only a few cars out front. Hmmmmm. I parked and went in and the only group I saw meeting was Alcoholics Anonymous. None of them had quilts. So back to the car. The LQS was closed by now. The other craft store in town was also closed. Who could I call to find out where the meeting actually was? I called my hubby and had him look up the info on the computer. I had all the info correct. The only people I could think of at that point were the two ladies that quilted the Lakeside Charm quilt for me. They said they would meet me at the meeting and sit with me. Well I was sure if they were in the meeting though their phones wouldn't be on. I called the one - ring, ring, ring. Phooey. I called the other number - ring, ring, "HELLO". BINGO!!! So I explained the situation and she says. "Well I wondered where you were last night". LAST NIGHT??? Last night?? She said the meetings are on Tuesdays. That is NOT what the website says. Darn and phooey! Now I need to wait until October and hope that I remember.

For any fans of BL, the new season starts Tuesday, Sept 16th!! WOO HOOOO! I LOVE The Biggest Loser.

Prayers - for these last few days that my daughter is home. We take her to college next week. Just that we would be loving and really cherish the time that we have with her. For her new adventure. That she would thrive and grow and learn. Also for her roommate, for her safe travel to school and for her school year ahead. Praise - The internet is a wonderful thing when two gals can get to know each other ahead of time.

Pictures - you asked for 'em

Okay, buckle your seat belts and settle in for the ride. All the pictures that I haven't been able to post are here now, in one place.
Lakeside Charm is home from the quilters. The stitch pattern is called popcorn. I just LOVE IT! Oh yeah...see that flappy stuff there along the edges...binding. Uh yeah. I am supposed to hand sew that around the back, right?? They got the quilt done early for me so I would have plenty of time to hand sew that. Uhhhhh, have I started? No. Hanging my head in shame. It is on my to do list to start it tomorrow. I WILL start on it tomorrow. I have NO IDEA how far I will get and how long the entire thing will take. I can't put it off any longer though. So when it is time to wash and dry this should I take it to a laundromat? I am not sure it will fit too well in my washing machine.

The next is the first checkbook cover that I made using some scraps of Marcus Metro Blue. You can find the directions here. Amandajean is posting quite a few tutorials for Christmas gift inspiration. You'll wanna check them out.

Then look at this lovely fabric. Mmmmmmmmm Moda Cotton Blossoms. It just hit me the other day, although I have drooled over this fabric since first eyeing it in a Quilt Market photo that it is a combination of the two companies! DUH! So I'm slow. Camille's company is Thimble BLOSSOMS and her mother Bonnie's company is COTTON Way. Put those two creative minds together and we get Cotton Blossoms. Below is a mix of the 'daughter' layer cake and yardage for the border and binding of the A PIECE OF CAKE quilt. It is even prettier in real life. This is not normally a color combination that I would be drawn to but this time I was.

I couldn't wait to get those blocks sewn together! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I have so many other things I SHOULD be doing (like that binding???). They went together so easily though I could not resist. So now they will wait, in a stack until some other things are done. I have to trim all the blocks to a uniform size but here is a rough layout of how my quilt top will look (without the binding).

When I was in the LQS recently I noticed about 4 or 5 little tote bags all around the store, all the same design. I commented on them to the sales clerk and she said that she had made them using the pattern from the latest issue of Quilts and More. I liked being able to see the tote in person and decided that I could make a few of these. I found this fabric at WM. A nice line of about 6 coordinating prints and inexpensive enough to not feel too guilty about getting a bit to make the tote. ;) Especially for a first run through. I got it all cut out and the straps ironed but then realized that I had NO dark brown thread. The new machine is a little pickier about thread types than my old machine was so....this was put on hold.

October 4th is a popular wedding date this year. We know of 4 weddings on that day and we were invited to two of them. In two different states. It breaks my heart to not go to the one in Washington. We have known the young man since he was maybe 9 or 10. We need to be here in Idaho though as we were asked to take the photos at that wedding. So for the fiance' of our longtime friend I made this apron. Her bridal shower was today. My daughter and I attended the bridal shower of the gal being married here in Idaho and I did make an apron for her as well (made it yesterday in fact) but I don't have the picture of that one yet.

Last but certainly NOT least - a layer cake of Cotton Blossoms in the 'mother' colorway. I love the other quilt top so much that I was sure I would love it even better in this colorway. It is more to my tastes with the reds and chocolates. I can't wait to get this one made up too (yeah, yeah, AFTER the binding). I am thinking now of gifting the one I have started already and then keeping this one for myself. :D


So there you have it. An update on my projects WITH photos. Sorry but I can't show you a picture of my sewing room. My mess is not anywhere near as neat as Nanette's mess. ;)

Prayers being said for all those affected by Hurricane Ike and the lingering effects that seem to be up into the mid west now.

Another week??

How is it that I have not blogged since last Thursday? Don't you hate when bloggers don't update more often? I do. I check blogs often. Sometimes TOO often. Hoping for some news. A funny story. A giveaway. Fabric images. Photos of quilts. Tutorials. I like to read how busy everyone is creating. I like to see pictures.

Well I have been busy. A little creating, a little shopping,a little buying, a little house hunting, a little organizing. NO PICTURES! Can you believe that? I know. I'm bad. I'm sorry. I will take care of that. Soon.

We found a house that we all really liked. We made an offer. The seller started to make a counter offer (which we expected) and was called away by another realtor telling him that another offer was on the way. He never finished the counter offer but our realtor saw what it was. Finally the time came for our offer to be accepted or countered or rejected. It was rejected. The listing price was changed. 30k HIGHER! Hubby asked to speak to the guy face to face. Hubby hates the back and forth. He hates the waiting and the game playing. The seller agreed to meet with hubby and our realtor. He had a counter offer ready. Yeah, I know. I am confused too. His counter (of sorts) was lower than his original asking price and well within what we were prepared to pay. Hubby was with him for NINE minutes before he called me to say "We got it!". All very confusing and stressful. We are so glad that is over. Now to get all the ducks in a row - appraisals and lending and inspections and packing. UGH. To move about 7 miles. We are not going to list this property until we are moved out. I like that part.

The part I don't like - we are downsizing. We have LOTS of 'stuff'. Too much stuff. Do we have a garage sale? Give it away? Donate it? Toss it? Pack it and move it? WHERE am I going to put everything? The kitchen is much smaller. Let's just say this guy was not thinking when he built the kitchen. He was single then. Yeah, 'nuf said. Right now I have sooooo much cupboard space and pantry space. I said it would be fine. I said I would make do with a smaller kitchen because of all the places we looked at - this is the only one that we all liked. A lot. Even if I get rid of lots of the 'fluff' I still won't have room for all of the essentials.

A little story. We moved into this house in 2000. I hated the stove/oven. HATED IT! I complained about it all the time. It was a big commercial gas monstrosity. I had never cooked on gas. I liked my prior smooth top electric. Hubby loved the monstrosity because it had a griddle. That is the only part that he used. When I would turn on a burner it would go WOOOOSH and the flames would come way up. Hubby insisted that didn't happen to anyone but me. Yeah, whatever. Finally, in 2007, hubby bought me a new stove. He was willing to tear apart the basement walls and bring in electric but to his shock I said no. I would go with a gas stove. A new, easy to clean, electric ignition, convection oven, warming drawer, gas stove. I love it. LOVE IT! Now I am moving. Guess what the new house has. Go ahead, guess. It has an electric Jenn Air TWO burner and grill stove top, electric oven. NO drawer for storage OR warming. But TWO burners AND I don't grill outside, why for crying out sideways would I want a grill INdoors??? I looked at hubby and pouted. He said we could easily bring in gas (propane) and I could get a stove just like the one I have now. :D Poor guy.

Crafty news - I made an apron last night! A young man we know is getting married soon and I am so sad that we can't attend the wedding. His fiance' is having a bridal shower this weekend so I made a half apron and sent it off this morning so it would be there for her shower. Hubby did take a picture of it this morning before I packaged it up. I just need him to take it off of the camera and put it on the computer. You just wait. One of these days the post is going to be PICTURE HEAVY!! Really!

Praise - WE GOT THE HOUSE!!! :D Prayers - We need to move into it. Prayers for our attitudes during all that lies ahead in this transistion. Prayers for all of those in the path of Ike.

Well I HAVE been productive

But I just wasn't bloggin' about it. Seems like this week has flown by. WOOOSH and it is Thursday night. If you keep track of my projects, listed over there -----> on the right, you might notice that I moved a SOMEDAY up to the QUILTS TO DO list! I ordered the layer cake, yardage and pattern to make this:



I have loved this quilt since seeing it in a QUILT MARKET photo in the Thimble Blossoms booth. I've been waiting and waiting for the fabric to hit the stores. Well my package arrived on Saturday but I didn't get a chance to open it until sometime Monday. I have got to say this is the quickest a quilt has gone from obtaining the fabric to having the quilt blocks sewn. I wanted it to be exactly like the photo but I did end up making some changes. The first one was by accident (but I'm not telling) and the second one was to give a different variety to the fabrics used. I mixed it up just a bit. I didn't even start to cut the layer cake blocks until after 4pm on Tuesday and I am sure I had to stop to make dinner, but it is all a blur now. I got right back to the quilt and sewed away. I decided I was not going to bed until the blocks were all together and that was before midnight. My plan was to iron all of the blocks last night and then trim them to the uniform size. Is that what happened??? Noooooooooo.

I had been watching this blog for her Christmas gifts tutorials to appear and yup, there was the first installment and it was a doozey! Something cute and easy and fun! The checkbook cover! The selvedge one is ADORABLE! That Amandajean is so creative :D You have got to check it out. She added a new tutorial today for little storage basket/bins. I wrote down the directions and headed upstairs. Sheesh I spend so much time trying to decide which fabric scraps go with which other fabric scraps. Go ahead, roll yer eyes. I will wait. I really wanted to use Cotton Blossoms but I haven't cut my borders or binding yet so I didn't want to chance not having enough of that. Dig, dig, dig. Turns out then I had TOO many choices. Finally I went with some Metro Blue and went to work. It went together so nicely and quickly. Everyone had gone to bed so I had no one to show it off to. I proceeded to cut out fabric for 3 more! If you make any of these, let me know!

Then I ironed all of my Piece of Cake blocks. They look so pretty! I also cut out the fabric for the tote featured on the cover of the fall issue of Quilts and More. A gal that works at the LQS had made a few and was telling me how easily they went together. The reason I haven't sewn it already is this, we have been house hunting! Hubby decided we needed to get serious about downsizing sooner rather than later.

Sorry no pictures of my projects yet. Hubby was out hunting and he took the camera with him. I will try to take pictures tomorrow and get them posted. If the blocks are not sewn together by then I will take a picture as I lay them out and decide on their placement. I am thinking very seriously of getting a layer cake in the other colorway from this line. The brown with reds - mmmmmmmmmmmm. I am thinking I might give the one I am working on now as a wedding gift. I am thinking that I would keep the other one for myself. :D

Prayers for wisdom in the hunt for a new house. It is so emotional and exciting. Prayers for our pastor and his wife as they travel to Wyoming to visit family. We miss them so much when they are gone (and she is my gym buddy). Be well!