On the level now

With all my blocks sewed into rows and my rows sewed into the quilt top I told hubby that he could have at the sewing table and he got right to work! Measuring and masking off the area;

Hole cut and building the shelf to support the machine;

Looks like he's might be doing an oil change here or some fine tuning of the machine shelf.

All ready to go!


I'm so excited that it is done! Hubby actually wants to build up the machine shelf area so that I can use the plastic 'table' that came with the machine. It would then sit right on top of the table and I wouldn't have the small space in front of and behind the arm. The cut out area has a base built to it so that when I want the machine up on top of the table I just plop it back into the hole and I have a smooth table surface once again. SWEET! It is so nice having a handy hubby, he has built quite a few things for me over the years (including the 8' long sewing table that he is modifying).

I must get to bed! I need to be at the church for VBS registration by 8:30. I can hardly wait to get home and get my quilt 'sandwiched'.

Praise - that hubby IS handy and capable to make repairs, build things from scratch and maintain items around our place. That he had a great Father's Day just hanging out with the family.

Prayers - again for hubby's job interview Monday morning, for college girl's first day on her new job, for my son to be comfortable playing guitar for the VBS song time and that he would be safe when he goes to cut firewood.

Pinwheel Baby Quilt - Update

The Moda Bakeshop Pinwheel Baby Quilt is FINISHED!!!

Here are some pictures of the progress - bad photo taken when all the stippling was finished;


The binding sewn on - another first for me (so much in one week!). I printed out and used Heather Bailey's tutorial for sewing the binding on. Thanks Heather!


the binding all sewn on by hand now and you didn't even hear any whining about that beforehand! No one was home to help me get a better picture though;


The quilt has been washed and dried now and it is all crinkly and wrinkly now. Mmmmmm. I will get a picture taken of it tomorrow. By the time it was out of the dryer I would have had to use flash and I don't think that would have been the best lighting. I'm REALLY happy with it though. I did NOT make a label. Bad me. I thought about it but I really just wanted to be done. So I can regret that after I hand it over to baby Jack on Friday.

Now a question for you. I am considering a clear acrylic extension table for my sewing machine because when working on this small quilt I really put a lot of pressure on the plastic table shown on my machine. It just isn't very strong and I really don't think it is going to last. While talking to my hubby about the acrylic table it came up that maybe dropping the machine down into my existing table might be the way to go. Hubby has a friend with the right tool to use and some expertise in this area so he could help or advise. I looked around online at sewing cabinets and they don't seem to fit tightly around the machine like the acrylic table does but would that matter? I am thinking it would not be an issue but am I missing something??? Give me some feedback here! The sooner the better :D If hubby is going to do this I would love for him to do it before I start quilting the Red Barn Quiltalong quilt.


Praise - College girl is DONE with her first year of college!! WOO HOO!!!

Prayers - that college girl would get a good night's sleep and feel better tomorrow and that she would have no problems packing up all of her stuff. For the kids in our Truth Project group, that each of them would continuously strive to honor Him with their lives.

Time to rein him in and for me to pay the piper

Today was the first day of school for my son. It is so tough to ask him to be inside all day, sitting still and reading books. I am thankful that we homeschool and that he has more freedom than if he was in a classroom but still...the boy likes his outdoors! He started the 11th grade today and on Wednesday he starts college classes at the satellite campus in town. He did start one online college class today. He says it is going to be a long year.

This is what he would rather be doing. Well this is ONE of the things he would rather be doing. This was taken on one of his backpacking trips this month. I don't backpack with the guys but I sure love seeing the photos. Of course if I had been there he would NOT be jumping across this huge canyon to get to the other rock. WHAT is my hubby thinking allowing that sort of thing?


Here is the scenery from the top of their 'day hike'. A day hike is what they do AFTER they hike a long way to get to their camp. They hang out, eat dinner, sit around a campfire, sleep under the stars and then the next day take a 'day hike'. To the top of the tallest point. Their camp was by that lake.


I am feeling bad for my son because he has a full load of school and hunting season starts on Friday. Hubby is making plans for a weekend hunt and my son knows that he really can't swing it. At least he realizes that and I didn't have to point it out.

So, I am on a self inflicted sewing/scrapbooking restriction. No sewing or scrapbooking for me until ALL of the 2007/2008 grades are recorded and entered and reports are printed out. I was lazy and let it go. Ugh. Just knowing that my new sewing machine is up in my sewing room, all alone AND that I have fabric there too. LOTS of fabric. Just knowing that. I got a good portion of the grades entered today. I have some that I have to 'find'. My son was lazy too. He didn't enter all of his grades on the handy dandy grading sheet that I make up for him. Now we have to spend time and find the assignments in question and fill in the sheet. Ugh. I won't do that again this year. Kids are so different. My daughter never had any problem getting her work done, setting priorities, filling in the grading sheet. She doesn't have any desire to jump across huge canyons from rock to rock. I love 'em both. I love that they are different. But man, I sure wish they were the same in some areas.

Okay, back to work for me. I am REALLY hoping to be back at my sewing machine by Wednesday.


Praying tonight that my son would have a great school year. That he will just take it one day at a time. Set his priorities and stay on task. Pray that I would stay on top of my duties and be an encouragement to him (rather than a nag). Praise - I am so very thankful that God has given us the opportunity to homeschool all these years. It has been a wonderful adventure to spend this time with my children.

Olympics (and not a whole lot else)

That is about all that has been going on around here. My sewing room is a long way from the television. My family gathers to watch the Olympics. Together. We have even been recording them and are a couple of days behind. We are fast forwarding through commercials and replays and heats, and semifinals of sports we aren't crazy about. We still aren't caught up. I whined before that the network coverage of the games was biased (swimming and gymnastics and beach volleyball). Where were the equestrian events and sailing and boxing and weightlifting and such? Now I am so glad that all of the sports were not getting heavy network coverage. I would be watching recordings of Olympic games for MONTHS! My new sewing machine would feel neglected. My new fabrics would be out of sight and out of mind. The excitement of a new project would be lost. It was so exciting to watch Michael Phelps (and his mom) and the women's beach volleyball is growing on me. The gymnastics has been exciting and frustrating. I can only imagine how the contestants feel. I have been proud of the USA team members that I have witnessed. I love to watch them during the medal ceremonies. I get choked up even when they don't. I won't be sad when the games are over. I have things to do!

Prayers - for an online friend whose husband is being deployed this week. She will be a single parent to their four children for the next year. Prayers for his safety as well.

FINALLY - WAHOOOOOO!

This is what I did while I was waiting for UPS. Amy Butler's Frenchy Handbag purse with the purse straps. My daughter wanted it to be a shoulder bag but wanted the smaller sized bag. Amy Butler fabrics as well. It went together very easily. It was the first time I had used that pattern and I would use it again. I liked everything except the final step and would find a different way to secure the lining to the bag for future purses.

Yes the machine did come yesterday. Hubby went right to UPS to pick it up. Our friend had kept it from going out on the truck. Then hubby was helping paint a shop, then he came home and we ate lunch and watched the Olympics. Finally, he carried the box upstairs and opened it up. I took everything out of the box, looked at each thing, sat to read the manual, watched the DVD. That is as far as I got. I think I was a bit intimidated by it all. What to do first? What to sew? I am going to my sewing room right now. I am going to plug it in, wind a bobbin, thread the machine and sew SOMETHING! Maybe just a test of all the different stitches. If you don't hear back from me, send fabric!

Why I've been MIA - UPS a no show, a rabid bat, lightning strikes

So I thought I would take a day to get some things done, and another day to drive my quilt to the longarm quilter and do some window shopping and sew that purse. Little did I know that I would be away for so long.

My machine was scheduled to arrive Friday. It didn't. You would think it would be here for sure on Monday then right?? It didn't arrive Monday. So SURELY Tuesday. Nope. Not Tuesday either. Nice, huh? I didn't think so either. I am of the frame of mind now that when it shows up it will be a big surprise. I am no longer holding my breath.

I did sew that purse for my daughter Thursday evening. I can't believe that we haven't taken a picture of it though. I will try to get one tomorrow and get it posted.

Friday - after the huge disappointment of the machine not arriving, hubby and son head out for a two night backpacking trip. This was going to be my 'free' weekend to enjoy that new machine. Phooey. Remember - God laughs when we make plans. Received a phone call Friday evening informing me that a bat that was discovered on a gal at the church campout last weekend was rabid. NICE! My daughter was in that group of people. There was some mild hysteria and lots of confusion about the need for the rabies vaccine. HOURS spent on the phone with numerous different people about this. Then sometime around 10 p.m. it started to lightning, off in the distance. To the west. It got closer and closer. We turned off the computers. During one phone call I told the person that I HAD to hang up as the lightning was all around the house and being on the phone was not smart. I thought I had heard that somewhere. When I hung up the house phone my daughter's cell phone rang. I told my friend the situation and she said well at least get away from the windows. Uhhhhhhhhh, she has seen my house. That doesn't leave a whole lot of area to go to. My daughter and I stayed on the cell phone (no idea if this is safe) and went to the stairwell leading to the basement. The lightning was all around us and right on top of us. Front yard, back yard, driveway side and kitchen side. It was the most incredible lightning and thunder storm that I have ever witnessed. While talking to my friend about the rabid bat situation there was a very loud and bright explosion. My daughter screamed, I dropped the phone and my friend could be heard yelling for us. We have no idea what happened really. Did something explode? Was the house hit by lightning? Was it a power surge or a power outage? Now there was an insanely loud, repetitive ticking coming from the t.v. room. I was sure the t.v. was going to blow up or something. My daughter was shaking like a leaf. My friend's hubby got on the phone and instructed me on how to turn the power off to the room with the loud ticking. Whew!
We spent the next 40 minutes or so huddled on the stairs, clutching our flashlights (just in case) and taking phone calls (yeah, STILL!). Finally the storm moved on. NOW we started praying fervently for the backpacking group that was in the mountains to the east of us, where the storm was headed. We had NO WAY to contact them to tell them what was coming. I am not sure it would have helped anyway.

At this point, my daughter and I discover that half of the house is without power and our landline does not work. None of the three bathrooms had electricity. My son's bedroom, the living room and my bedroom had no power. My alarm clock was buzzing loudly. I unplugged it. The buzzing didn't stop. That was just a little too weird. My daughter's alarm clock was all messed up too, displaying parts of numbers. We finally got to bed but it took a long time to fall asleep. I watched the lightning for a long time, off in the distance, and prayed for the backpackers. I woke at 3 a.m. because the dog was barking. Someone was driving up the driveway. At first I thought it was hubby and son but then I realized they would not have hiked down in the dark, it would have been too dangerous. Strangely enough, having someone turn their vehicle and light up my front yard was the least nerve wracking thing that had happened all day. I assumed and hoped it was the power company, although I had never seen them stop at the house like that before. They usually have to drive on past the house to access the power lines.

7 a.m. Saturday arrived way too soon for me. My daughter and I had agreed to head to the hospital about 1.5 hours away to see about the rabies vaccine and what they thought of her requiring it. Or not. But first we had to spend 2 hours on the phone. Lots of confusion again about the bat incident and false information. The worst part was not being able to talk to hubby about all of this. The power situation is the same as when we went to bed and a phone call to the power company gives me no information. It was them at 3 a.m. Now we see the microwave and the trash compactor don't work either. Although the computers work we have no internet connection. I have no idea if the dish got hit, if it was their antennae on the mountain or if it is an equipment problem. Really though, it is the least of my worries right now.

The long trip to the hospital, hours in the ER, no vaccine required, a stop for Orange Chicken and Fried Rice at Panda Express (mmmmmmmmmmm) and the long trip home. With no internet, no t.v. (Olympics) and no sewing on an old or new machine, my daughter and I decided to head to bed. It was 8:30! But we were beat and slept pretty good that night.

Sunday morning it was just like a college dorm as my daughter and I were both blow drying and curling our hair and applying make-up in her room. My alarm clock was still buzzing and yes, it was still unplugged. I had the inkling to check the circuit box before we left for church and saw that some of the breakers were tripped so that was PART of the power problem. Easily fixed. No idea why I didn't check that out sooner but really, electricity is not my thing. Church was great. A time for fellowship and worship and some great teaching. Just what we needed. The guys got home about 4 p.m. and then we had to relay the entire story of our weekend to them. Then they got to tell us about their trip. They had a little bit of rain and no lightning right on top of them. An answer to many prayers. Hubby started working on the electrical problems.

Monday hubby stayed home to deal with the power mess and I took the kids shopping. For college textbooks and clothes and new phones. Yup, all of our phones were fried. Hubby called us while we were on the road and said the phone company had come and that was the verdict. He has installed the new phones and says there is STILL a problem. One computer was fried. My computer speakers were fried but my sound card was okay. Hubby's sound card is fried but his speakers are fine. The microwave and trash compactor were fine after all, just needed the GFI to be reset on their outlets. A receiver used with the t.v./stereo is toast. The loud ticking you ask?? It was from the massage chair!!! Toast. At bedtime Monday we still had no internet connection.

Tuesday - the internet provider showed up and replaced some equipment. We have a connection again, although it is sketchy for some reason. It may be that some cables need to be replaced. UPS showed up but brought a teeny box that I don't think anyone retrieved from the back door. Hubby opened up my alarm clock and took out the battery. It stopped buzzing. He has a collection on the floor of his office of all the things that need replacing. I should take a picture of it.

It is probaby a blessing that my sewing machine didn't come on Friday. I either would not have gotten to it because of the rabid bat incident OR I would have had it all plugged in and it would have been fried too. So ya see, I wasn't just loafing around and not blogging. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Praises - Although my hubby was not available this weekend my brother-in-law was. He is a doctor and speaks to me in words I understand, he is calming, he is logical and he is wise. He and my sister-in-law have been on the other end of the phone with us during many medical emergencies and we sooooo appreciate that. God saw us through this wild and wacky weekend. All of us. He sees us through every weekend but this one was especially tough and there were times I was really wondering how it was all going to end up. To God be the glory!

and the Winner is.....

This is what I TRULY wanted. I only know about them from other quilters, from reviews I have read online and from the comments and emails I received from you. It should be here Friday. I am SOOOOOOO excited! Do I need to take a class to sew on it? Can I figure things out on my own?? I do know two gals from church that have this machine so I guess if I get bogged down I could give them a call. I have heard that the manual is very detailed. I think I will just GO FOR IT! Did I mention how excited I am??? :D

Not much going on around here to report. The Lakeside Charm quilt is all set to go to the longarm quilter. I made the binding after getting a call back from the quilter. I stitched the backing together and trimmed it down and I bought the batting. All stacked up nice and neat and ready to go. Hmmmm, I WAS going to do that on Friday. Well maybe if I take care of that Friday morning I won't wear away the carpet by the door waiting for UPS. He never comes until afternoon. OH! I just remembered, hubby is going to UPS bright and early to get a backpack he is expecting and then heading out on a two night backpacking trip. I wonder if the machine would be there at the same time!! OH. MY.

I have the pattern all traced and cut out for an Amy Butler purse for my daughter. I thought she wanted the smaller bag but it looked SO small so I had to wait for her input before I cut anything out. She wants the smaller bag. Off I go to my sewing room. Maybe I will have a picture to share soon. I have this issue...do I sew on this OLD machine or do I wait for the NEW one to arrive. I know. Kinda weird. I recognize that.

Prayers for a lady that lost her husband in a motorcycle accident yesterday. I don't know her, but she is friends of some friends. My hubby and daughter saw the aftermath of the accident on their way home yesterday. Life is so fragile and you just never know the time or the place.

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.