Getting older isn't SO bad

I mean it beats the alternative, right?? Just kidding. I have never had a problem with my birthdays and getting older. We always celebrate our birthdays and it is a great family time.


Today my hubby and kids showered me with presents and attention and food. My son gave me a cute card that he made (with a picture of me on my 3rd birthday) and a frame with the promise to make a collage of pictures of all the things I have made for him, to hang in my sewing room. My daughter gave me a college MOM window decal and a t-shirt along with a multi page card that she made with a list of things she loves about me. My hubby gave me a card - stop the presses right there. I have known this man for 36 years and he has given me maybe 10 cards (includes valentines, birthday and anniversary). It was a hilarious Hoops & YoYo card and in it he wrote that I could have the sewing machine of my choice - price was no object. I KNOW! He said he would have liked to give me a machine but really had NO IDEA what I would like.


He was all ready to head out to look at machines. Ummmm, that requires a one-two hour drive at least. The three of them would be bored to tears. He might renege on the deal when he saw the actual prices. Too risky. Instead we stayed home and did some research online.

ANY input at all is appreciated. My first inclination is the Bernina. Pros? Cons?




Hubby said he doesn't want me to put it off and end up not getting one. It would be fun to get it sooner rather than later!

My friends showered me with presents today too. I received a new cartridge for my Cricut -FUN! Some cabin-y placemats/napkins and potholders and towels. A reed diffuser - mmmmmm, lovely scent and some Bath & Body Works Lavender/vanilla sleep lotion and bath gel and candle. I received phone calls and emails as well.
This afternoon we went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth, but NOT in 3D (podunk town) and it was pretty good. It is always nice to see a movie that doesn't offend anyone in the family. Then we went to a very nice dinner out, overlooking the lake. The place has the BEST chocolate cake but we were all so full from dinner. Hmmmm, how about cake to go?? That was the ticket. Two pieces. The kids shared one and hubby and I shared the other. OY! I really do have to get back on the diet wagon. Tomorrow. REALLY!

On the sewing front...yesterday I was able to get the Warm & White for the quilt I am working on. I hope to get that to the quilters this week or next. I need to call them about the binding. They told me one width but the instructions on the pattern call for a different width. I am ready to start on a new project (ohhhhhhhhhh, or should I wait for a new machine???), but what it will be, I can't decide.

Praises - I thank God for every day that He has given me, for the family that He has allowed me to be a part of and for His saving grace. I thank Him for my brother's recovery from surgery and the adverse reaction to his meds.

How's a gal supposed to QUILT???

I have had guests since Friday night. Well they left yesterday at 3pm. 4 kids (besides my own 2) and one mom and for one night, one dad. Everyone had a great time. The kids went to the lake, they backpacked, they made a movie. I cooked and baked for the gang. I like to bake when I know things are going to get eaten right up. I made two cherry pies one night from cherries that we picked last summer. This is what was taunting me from the front yard;

Yup, more cherries to pick! The tree is loaded. My friend wanted cherries, but she didn't really want to pick and pit them. So I tried to ignore the tree while everyone was here. Yesterday the lady I buy raspberries from called and said she had a flat and half ready for me. I picked them up last night. Raspberries and cherries and fabric. What to do, what to do. This morning and part of the afternoon (cuz I needed to wait for my son to come home from work and bring me more pectin) was spent making raspberry jam using the fresh raspberries. 10 pints. After dinner my hubby and two kids picked cherries. They didn't even make a dent in what is on that tree. I sat and pitted 2 quarts of them and then put them in freezer bags. My daughter is pitting some more now. Aren't they purdy??

So I guess that tomorrow can be a sewing/quilting kind of day. I can look forward to that. On my to-do list: cut and sew binding strips for the flimsy that I just finished and piece the backing for that flimsy. I need to get some Warm & White and then get this off to the quilters!!


I have been thinking about what I could make for a young couple at our church that will marry this fall. I think that I can get a quilt done. I hope I am not being too ambitious, since I do have a few other projects to do before I can get started on it. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Praise the Lord that all the kids stayed safe while they were here. If you could have seen all the activities they did you would understand what a huge blessing that is!

The right tool for the job - part #2

I think the picture speaks for itself. These tools are now indispensable to many quilters. Years and years ago I saw a tumbling blocks quilt and thought I would like to make one. I cut out a cardboard pattern and started tracing it on all different scraps of fabric. Then I cut many of them out. With scissors. I never finished the tracing and cutting. I never made the quilt. Somewhere in my garage there is a box of fabric scraps. All shades of blue. In the box is a cardboard template and some fabric cut into diamond shapes. Someday I might make a tumbling blocks quilt but it won't be done that old way. If I attempt to make one it will be using a pattern that calls for rotary cutting. I'll bet there are still many quilters that use the 'old' patterns and methods. I applaud them. I don't want to join them though. I would be discouraged and give up and my box of blue scraps would have lots of company.

I look forward to advances in the tools we can use to make quilts easier and quicker. I am so thankful for how far the craft has come already.

I am praying for my family and guests that have gone backpacking. I am not sure if they know that there are thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow.

Quilt Festival

First of all, thank you to everyone who responded about my quilting dilemma. It is nice to get opinions from those that have been there and done that. I respect those opinions!

A week ago, the plan was that my hubby would be gone all day today and would be coming back with our children and 4 extra kids and I would be spending the day at a Quilt Festival. Plans changed and my friend drove over here with the kids. Saving my hubby the drive and giving herself a few days of relaxation at our place. The thing is, now what about the Quilt Festival. Hmmmm. I don't have any close friends that 'get' fabric and quilting. Some of my friends scrapbook sometimes but they don't really 'get' the patterned paper and embellishment love either. Where did I get these friends??? Not at the quilt store or the scrapbooking store, that is for sure. I had a feeling that my friend was going to want to go with me. She would be ready to leave the Festival after about 15 minutes. I planned to stay for hours. So I just came out and told her. I told her that she wasn't going to enjoy it like I was going to and when she stopped enjoying it, she was going to make it miserable for me. She understood! I headed her in the direction of the Farmer's Market and the promise of going to the lake once all the kids were up and about. That sounded MUCH better to her. Off I went.

The quilt show was pretty small but had some lovely quilts. They had some speakers, someone doing some demonstrations, a sale of pattern books and donated fabrics and lots of raffle items. I took some pictures so that I could share them with you. I really like when others post quilt show photos on their blogs so finally I can do the same. I have a brochure from two gals that have a longarm quilting business in the same town that the Festival was held. I decided to scope out any of their work that might be on display. This first quilt by the name of EUREKA!, I believe, was pieced AND longarm quilted by one of the gals. I was liking what I was saw.

This black and white quilt caught my eye. That color combo is on my list of quilts to do someday. I think they are so striking.

This was just one section and border of this patriotic quilt. I love the flag style hearts and that braided border.

Isn't this raggy heart quilt cute? Not a color combo that I would necessarily choose for myself but I really do like it. There is a close up of one of the hearts too.




This little pinwheel cute was just sweet. I love how the blades of the pinwheels are raised (3-D) from the quilt. I think you might be able to see that better in the close-up.


This was my absolute favorite quilt of the show. It was done by a gal that did a demonstration on Embellishing your quilts. Her name is Dana Hobbs. I thought that Des at Quilt Taffy would appreciate this quilt after the one that she just posted using the aqua cords. This crazy quilt is made from her granddaughter's clothes that she wore from birth to age 2. Her daughter actually came to her with the idea of doing this with all of the clothes and she had to give it some thought.It made me kick myself for not hanging on to all the clothes my kids wore! It makes me want to go out and by baby clothes just so I can make one of these! PRECIOUS! The little pockets, the collars, the buttons and tags. I LOVE IT!

I left the Festival for a bit and went to the farmer's market in this town, walked to the museum where they had more quilts on display, went to a teeeeeny fabric store where I found a discontinued, hard to find Amy Butler Purse pattern for 99 cents! Then I asked where I could find these longarm quilter gals. They were supposed to be giving demonstrations in their shop. Pointed in the right direction I headed off walking through this charming town. I found the little shop, not a whole lot bigger than the quilting machine and no one was there. Strange. The front door was wide open, they were expecting to give demonstrations. Huh. So I decide to walk into the back room thinking someone is there and just did not hear me come in. So I walk into the doorway and there is a lady sitting at a table. She has her eyes closed. I spoke oh so softly and said "helloooooooooo". Nothing. Not even a flinch. So I think I should just tiptoe out and leave her be and just then she slowly opens her eyes and is so startled that I am standing there! LOL!! She gave a start, I apologized for startling her and we had a little laugh over it. She came out into the machine room and proceeded to give me a demonstration. WOW! I want one!!! :D Yeah, right. Like that is going to happen. But how cool! Some ladies stopped by to talk about the quilts they had left there and then were on their way. The other owner came in and the three of us talked about my quilt-to-be and the possibilities for it. I left there with some instructions and excitement. Armed with the opinions that you left for me and their opinions, I think I am going to have them do the quilting for me. I might even have them do the binding. If you have any opinions on that let's hear 'em!

Oh yeah. These two gals encouraged me to attend the quilt guild meetings here. They said they go to them but would miss the August meeting. They said if I was shy about going alone that they would let me sit with them at the September meeting. I thought that was so sweet of them. I just might take them up on it.

I headed back to the Festival in time to listen to two speakers that I wanted to hear and in time for the raffle drawings. I liked how they did the raffle. Each item had a little bag in front of it and you dropped your tickets into the bags that were for the items you were interested in. So I didn't have a chance of getting a book or a pattern that I wasn't interested in. Even more exciting, my name was called! I forgot to take a picture of my prize and hubby has already gone to bed. What I got was a painted wood sign. It is a dark, barn red with cream letters and it says "Blessed are the children of Quilters, for they shall inherit the quilts" :D

Praise that my friend got here safely yesterday bringing 5 kids and a dog along and that her hubby and a son got here safely tonight.

Houston - we have a Flimsy!

Of course it took me WAYYYYY longer to accomplish this, but what's new. I am excited about it. I don't think the pictures show off how pretty the colors really are. Taking the pictures is not easy either, is it?? My hubby took these, so he got an aerial view. He did need to use flash though since the light in the room was not the greatest.

Now I am wondering. How to go about quilting it. I don't have a fancy quilting machine. I have a sewing machine. I DID just get a darning foot in the mail today and I am thinking about ordering a walking foot. I am NOT going to use the darning foot on this quilt. I would like to practice with that first. A lot. Soooooo, opinions on using a walking foot on this as opposed to just the regular ol' foot on the machine.

What about opinions on how to go about quilting this. Stitch in the ditch? All the ditches? Stitch diagonally across the squares? Something else? Part of me says take it to be quilted (which I have never done) and part of me says I should quilt it myself. I want to send this off to school with my daughter in September so that is a factor.

Tonight's project - cut out fabric squares for a project I want to do with a little friend that will be visiting for a few days. She is 11 and has recently started sewing. I hope it goes well. I also need to get a grocery list made. I will be feeding 6 kids, Friday night to Wednesday morning. :0 (well some of the meals they will prepare themselves, but I need to get food for them!)

Prayers for my friend who will be driving here tomorrow (6 hours if you don't stop) with her kids and my kids.

A flimsy at the end of the tunnel

I can see a flicker of a flimsy at the end of the tunnel! If I had gotten an earlier start today. If I had taken fewer breaks today. If it hadn't been so hot in my sewing room again today. If. If. If. I DID get all of my rows sewed together. I DID get all of my sashings and border strips sewed together. I could not bring myself to iron. It has cooled down in the room now but now I am tired. My plan is to iron all rows, sashings and bindings in the morning, then sew the sashings to the rows and iron again. Then I can sew the borders on. I will have achieved FLIMSY status!

I WAS going to post pictures of the tote bag that I made for the swap, since my partner received it. I WAS going to post a picture of the apron that I made for the swap, since my partner received it. Blogger will not allow me to upload any images. :( Says internal error. The apron IS up there in my slideshow now. Sorry. No pictures.

I love to get mail. While I was gone this weekend a couple of packages came. That was fun to come home to. Today I got a package from Quilt Taffy. The Line by Line (or Jam Bars) pattern, the Sewing Edge (which I used today...LOVE IT!) and a yard of an Allspice Tapestry fabric. Mmmmmm. My apron swap partner notified me that she has mailed my apron! WOOO HOOO! I can't wait to receive that package.

Prayers for my nephew and his bride, for their marriage - their future. Praise God for safe travel to and from the wedding. Prayers for my kiddos, as we left them in the big city with friends for the week.

My worlds collide

I know that God has placed each planet exactly where it belongs, and that He has named each star and that nothing happens without His knowledge. I know this. The planets have always been in alignment. So how is it that my worlds are now colliding. It is hard to tell one from the other. MY worlds? What am I talking about?? My two favorite hobbies! Scrapbooking and sewing. My love of the fabrics and the papers. I have loved fabric for ohhhhh so many years. My love for patterned papers is much younger in the grand scheme of things. But now the line has begun to blur. Although I had never really turned my back on sewing completely I had put it on the back burner for a time and that is when I started to spend more time scrapbooking (or at least collecting scrap supplies). I fell in love with this line of paper from Daisy D's.

Imagine my surprise while surfing the world wide web when I came across Sis Boom Girlfriends Fabric by Free Spirit!

The next surprise was after I had admired this line of paper, called Jitterbug, by Cosmo Cricket;

and then I find out that Andover has come out with fabric by the same designers and by the same name - Jitterbug.

By this time I had taken sewing and fabric off of the back burner and was spending as much time looking for fabric images online as I was looking for scrapbooking supplies. I came across Heather Bailey's blog and heard of her plans to enter the scrapbooking industry. This collection has just recently hit the stores;

And although there are a few images in paper that are not in her Freshcut fabric line (I wonder if they just got left on the cutting room floor for some reason) they are just as beautiful.

I think it was just before Quilt Market, when I was scouring fabric sites and blogs for any news of what was to be released that I saw this at the Moda site - Urban Couture by Basic Grey, a very popular scrapbooking company and line. WOW! That is going to be beautiful in fabric!

My most recent discovery made me gasp. I am adding this quilt to my SOMEDAY LIST there on the sidebar just as soon as I finish typing this post. This was shown at the Cherry House Quilts blog, once again by the Cosmo Cricket designers and Andover . The paper line and fabric line is called Halfway Cafe;

This quilt is called Galveston. Isn't it GORGEOUS?? I can't wait to get my hands on that fabric and make that one! Whew!

Now when I look at fabric I wonder if anyone will make it into scrapbook paper and when I see great patterned papers...well you get the idea. For instance, I think POSH would be a great scrapbook line and I think some of the ME fabrics would be so great for scrapping!

Sometimes choosing between scrapping and sewing can be difficult now. At least I know that whatever I choose to work on, I have the chance to work with some beautiful products.

Oh yes, one more thing. I have another quilt to add to my TO DO LIST. I bought the LINE BY LINE pattern from Quilt Taffy this evening. :D As well as some Allspice Tapestry fabric for the binding of said quilt. I am going to make the Jam Bars quilt from the pattern with two jelly rolls of Allspice Tapestry. I think I'd better get busy on my projects!!!

Long post. I guess I made up for missing a day. ;)

Praise and Prayers tonight - one of my brothers had a heart attack today. Within two hours of the attack he was recovering in ICU after two stents had been inserted. I thank God and praise Him for the chain of events that allowed a successful outcome. I'll be praying for my brother's recovery. Prayers also being said for the Saturday wedding of one of my nephews. (sorry to hear that my brother will not be able to attend).

A productive day

Ahhhh, that is good to say! A good feeling to be ready for bed and know that things were accomplished. Checked off of the ol' TO DO list.

Just what did I get done you ask?? Ohhhhh, how about my Booming Apron's Beat the Heat July Halloween Apron Swap apron! Oh yes I did! I even had my daughter model it for some pictures. Sorry, no sneak peeks. I want my swap partner to be totally surprised when she receives it. I plan to mail it out on Thursday. Once she receives it I will post a picture. After that was all said and done I tidied up my sewing room just a bit. My next project for the day, cut out the white lattice strips of various sizes for my Lakeshore Charm quilt. Kind of tedious but it is behind me now. I still have to cut out the binding but I am going to do that later on. Now I can get sewing all the blocks into rows with the white strips. Hopefully I will have some pictures of the progress soon.

Answered prayers - Young lady made it home from Africa. She has tested negative for Malaria but will need another test. She does have a bad cold. My guys made it home safely as well. Prays being said for Pink as she is traveling this week.

The right tool for the job - Part #1

I was making some observations in my sewing room the other day, about how in just a few short months I have added some tools that have made a BIG difference. You know, if you have the right tools the job can be easier, more enjoyable, and be done more efficiently. I am finding this out slowly but surely. I would say that THE best purchase I have made in the last year for my sewing room would be this;

This cutting table has been a back saver for me. I was working on something not too long ago on my other work surface and after bending over and cutting for a long time I could NOT stand up straight! That was really going to put a crimp in my sewing time. Not good. I had seen this table advertised in quilt magazines and catalogs and even the JoAnn's ad many times but now I knew that I NEEDED one. Not too long after that they were on sale for 40 or 50% off at JoAnn's. The thing is, the nearest JoAnn's is just over an hour away from here. I called them, they had one and they would sell it to me over the phone and hold it for me! My back loves me for this. I can stand at it for hours! I can move it around easily! I can fold down a portion of it! I wonder why it took me so long. The cutting board on top there I found at a garage sale, probably a decade ago. It still has the price sticker on it - $4. I don't love it. It doesn't always lie flat, it isn't that nice self healing stuff that an Olfa mat is made from but it works for now. I have a smaller Olfa mat that I just move around under my fabric. An Olfa type mat to cover that cutting table is pretty expensive. Maybe someday.

Long weekend is over. Guests are gone. Time to get back into a routine here.

Praying for my guys tonight. They went backpacking with some friends. First time this summer. Also for a young lady on her way home from a mission trip to Africa. She got pretty sick just the other day and they have not determined if it is Malaria or something else.

Summer Stinks

No really. Think about it. How many scents or smells do you associate with summer?? Just today I experienced - hay, sunscreen, watermelon, toasted marshmallows and a campfire. Yup, summer stinks. Isn't it so cool how we associate smells with memories? I love how a whiff of sunscreen can take me from north Idaho to a beach in southern California and also take me back a couple of decades at the same time. That is some GOOD sunscreen! :D

On Thursday I got the fabric for the We the People Tote Bag Swap and yesterday I was able to cut the fabric out and get a start on the sewing. Well this morning my guests headed to the farmer's market like they planned so I had some time to sew. I finished my tote!! WOOO HOOO! Here is a sneak peek at it;


Next, I will be sewing my swap apron.

Time for bed. I have Sunday school and church in the morning. No idea what the plans are for the afternoon. We do have some cooler temperatures forecast for a few days and that is a huge relief to me.

4th of July

well maybe when this gets posted it will say the 5th of July. I just realized how late it really is. The fireworks show was great!

Here is my patriotic picture for today:




Homemade Cherry Pie! This is the first time that I have made cherry pie. Those are little stars cut in the crust. I used a recipe from allrecipes.com and I was pretty pleased with it. Gauging by the amount of little green cherries on the tree in the front yard I should be making these about once a month.

I did get some time in my sewing room today (with a big fan in the doorway). I got my apron pattern traced (which is all I was hoping for today) and then got the apron fabric cut out! BONUS! Then I started working on my tote bag and made pretty good progress on that. At that point my guests were in and out so I left my sewing for another day. Maybe Saturday. My guests are going to a farmer's market in the morning so I think that I will work on the tote while they are gone.

A big THANKFUL praise to God tonight. He spared us from what could have been a terrible boating accident. I don't even know what else to say about it. It was a total gift that He gave us.

4th of July Eve

Just doesn't have quite the ring to it as Christmas EVE or New Year's EVE. Oh well, my neighbors must like the 'EVE' because they started celebrating already. Fireworks make me a little nervous when I live in the forest and things are a bit crispy. I would rather go to the town sponsored events and see the BIG fireworks and be safe. Our plan for tomorrow is to go watch some that will be set off from a barge out in the lake. I think that will be pretty as the fireworks will be reflected in the water. More bang for the buck!

The only thing 'crafty' to report today - I went to the small fabric store in town and the craft store that has a fabric section. Mmmmmmmmm, how I love to spend time looking and feeling new fabric. Better even if hubby is not sitting in the car waiting for me. I was alone today. It was perfect. I did get fabric and trim for my Beat the Heat July Halloween Apron Swap apron AND I also found fabric for the Tote Bag swap that I am taking part in. The gals that worked the fabric counter in the craft store were ooohing and ahhing over the pattern I chose to use and the fabric combo ;) No pictures today. Maybe next week I will post a teeny, partial sneak.

Have a safe and sane 4th. (do the fireworks still say that on them??? They always did when I was a kid). If you served or are currently serving in any branch of the military, or have a family member that has/is - THANK YOU! For your sacrifice. I appreciate it.

I've been BLINDED

and that is a GOOD thing! My husband measured my sewing room window (94" inside measurement) and I looked at WM. No blinds that wide, but what about two side by side that measure 47"??? Would that work? Not sure, so I didn't buy them. Then I looked online and the price for custom blinds was too much...well the SHIPPING was too much actually, so we decided to try the WM blinds. Called the kids while they were in town and had them pick them up. My hubby installed them this morning (he is pretty handy that way). They don't look terrible. Where they do 'meet' there is a teeny gap but a 'lattice' from the window is right there. Room darkening shades! They should help keep SOME of the glaring sun and heat out of the room. Maybe I CAN sew in July and August after all. If this doesn't work I am seriously thinking of hauling stuff down to the basement - it is downright frigid down there (year 'round).

We have a busy holiday weekend coming up, really starting tomorrow evening. I am not sure I will be in my sewing room at all. I hope to get the white lattice and borders cut out soon and then assembly on the Lakeside Charm quilt can start. I am anxious to see it come together. I am putting aprons in the mail tomorrow for two little girls and their AG dolls. There are a couple of surprises in there for them too. Once they have received them I will add them to my slide show (I think) or post a picture of them. Here is a sneak peek. :D The fabric is Metro Blue by Michele D'Amore for Marcus Fabrics.

I'm in a JAM

It's that time of year again. Raspberry season! I love fresh raspberries. My kids love fresh raspberries and the entire family loves raspberry jam. Weirdly enough we are almost always just leaving town or just getting back into town during prime raspberry picking. I get my berries picked for me and boxed up by this great lady by the name of Millie. She calls me when my berries are ready and asks if I need more. She keeps a BERRY LIST by her phone. She knows my name by now, since I have been getting them from her for about 5 or 6 years. The price is incredible! Oh sure, there are U-Pick places but seriously folks - it is not worth it to me to pay just a little bit less, fight with the bees, stand in the sun and not get nearly as many nice berries. Millie is my go to gal for the berries. So today I made 10 pints of raspberry jam. But guess what! These were from last year's berries. Millie taught me early on that since it is insanely HOT during berry season that the best thing to do is freeze them and make them in the fall or winter. Millie is a smart cookie. Me, not so much. I DID make some jam last summer with the fresh berries because we were out of jam and then, because we had vacation plans, I froze many gallon bags full of berries. I intended to make jam all fall, then all winter and then in the spring. I never got around to it. So, in my moderately HOT kitchen this morning (not as bad as the other day), I made jam. Isn't it purdy???


I like making and canning jam and I always think of one of my SILs. She wrote in a canning cookbook that she gave me one year for my birthday (many moons ago), "Be quick, be careful, enjoy canning". I repeat that to myself many times during the process, usually when I am pouring the hot jam into the jars.
I am not sure what I will do with the fresh berries this month. Make some jam right away and be done with it (I will just crank up the A/C and bring a fan into the kitchen) or freeze them as I am on my way out of town again next week. One of my nephews is getting married.

Here is a little dress/top I whipped up for my dd. It is that pre-shirred fabric, just had to sew a seam up the side. We decided a strap would be safer than no strap. ;) New summer dress less than $5 .


Answered prayers today, my friend and the mission team were able to get out of Mexico. I don't know all the details yet but the photocopies and the police report must have done the trick. Pink survived her root canal and is eating on the right side of her mouth for the time being.