StitchinByTheLake

BOM Disease

2012-01-26T16:11:00.000-06:00

I'm not very good at keeping up with BOMs. Not good at all. I started Barbara Brackman's Civil War blocks....love, love, love them....but only did four. Life got in the way. But I printed all the patterns and someday I'm going to make that quilt.

This year I decided I wasn't going to do any BOMs. I'm pretty sure BOM is a disease and my immune system is a bit down right now so I decided I just better not read any blogs that have a BOM so I won't catch it. Know what I mean?

But then I accidentally saw Promises and Borders by Jenny of Elephantz. I didn't mean to, really I didn't. She does the most beautiful things and this was no exception...I was hooked. Okay, I decided, I could do one. No more than that though.

Then, I'm not sure how it happened, I saw Harrington and Hannah by Michelle at The Raspberry Rabbits. I fought a hard battle with myself, but I lost. I mean this is the cutest thing ever!

So far, so good. I know it's only the first month but the month isn't over yet and I've done them both!

If you're as susceptible as me to BOM Disease, don't go visit these two blogs. I'm pretty sure this disease is catching.

Sometimes You Need A Friend...

2012-01-22T14:12:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you need a friend to help you learn commands. Sit, for instance, works best with a buddy.

Whimsical Garden #2

2012-01-19T13:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't been in the sewing room much at all this week. It's funny how some weeks just seem to race past me as I plod along in my busy mode. I've had a meeting at church and a Bible study class and physical therapy and yesterday something I love more than I can explain, the friends in my small stitching group came for lunch and an afternoon of sewing. I've done some hand sewing; I stitched down the binding for the Hooty Owl baby quilt and for the Valentine table topper and embroidered the verse from Jenny of Elephantz's Promises and Borders first block. I'll work on the flowers on that block tonight I think. But as busy as I am, and even though I'm doing hand sewing, I can hardly wait on the days I know I can get to the sewing room. Today was one of those days. I put together the second block for My Whimsical Garden and did some free motion quilting on a patriotic panel that will eventually become a wall hanging. I love how the Whimsey blocks make me smile.

You can't see the stitching on this because I'm using a straight stitch with invisible thread. I'm not sure I like it as much as using a blanket stitch. What do you think? When you do machine applique what's your preferred method? Do you like to use black thread on the whole thing, giving it a sort of primitive look and feel? Or do you color match the thread to the piece? I'm not too far along that I couldn't go back and redo...but I hate the thought of redoing anything just as much as I hate unsewing. Decisions, decisions.

Hearts And A Flower

2012-01-16T01:00:00.000-06:00

I wanted to make a Valentine table topper and when I saw this one designed by Barb at Bejeweledquilts by Barb I thought it would be perfect.

Isn't it the cutest thing? I love her choice of fabrics and the way the hearts are interwoven. She very kindly sent me the pattern so I promptly started on the hunt for fabrics similar to hers.

I couldn't make anything go together. I must have auditioned 20 fabrics but nothing struck a chord. Finally, I dug to the bottom of the pile and found several I thought would work. I started tracing the pattern on my fusible only to realize that I didn't have enough fusible to make this and another project I'm working on both, so I had to make a decision. When I was in education we used to chant..."monitor and adjust"... over and over. So that's what I did and this is what I came up with.

I used Barb's heart pattern and made the 28" circle she suggested and this is what happened. Pretty cute I think! I stippled the center, did 2 outline stitches inside the hearts, and free motion quilted hearts and vines in the white outside.

My speed is getting better...I've slowed down a lot...but I'm still not consistent. And I often forget to leave my hands in place until I actually stop stitching so I end up with some jump stitches. Progress though, I'm making progress.

Temptation

2012-01-13T11:43:00.000-06:00

I'm SUPPOSED to be working on UFOs. But I so wanted something bright and cheerful to put my coupons in.

I had no idea what I was doing, which is quite obvious, and it's a good thing perfect isn't part of my vocabulary or expectations, but this works for me. :)

Tool Time

2012-01-11T01:00:00.000-06:00

Are you looking for me? I'm over at Sew We Quilt with a post on my favorite tool (or two!). Come see me there!

A Little Whimsey

2012-01-09T08:17:00.000-06:00

Some of you may remember last summer when I posted that I had fallen in love with this quilt:

I took this picture with my phone in a quilt shop in Lafayette, Louisiana. I moaned and groaned because I didn't have any bright fabrics. Seriously. I'm mostly a Civil War reproductions colors kind of girl. I love cream and navy and turkey red and deep green...you get the picture. At that point I hadn't branched out much from that general colorway except for the occasional special project. You'll be proud to know that I have expanded by view of the world by buying other things when I'm fabric shopping these days. Back to My Whimsical Garden. Several of you, my blogging friends, promptly sent me sacks of bright scraps. Honestly, scraps is all you need to make this quilt so I was in business. Except I got sidetracked once I got home from that mission trip with, well, with life I guess. But this week I made a start so I present block #1!

I'm using plain old white Kona for the background but other than that this block was made entirely with scraps you sent me! And believe you me I have enough scraps to make the rest of the blocks too. :) I'm using fusible applique, straight stitching the edges with invisible thread. Is that not the cutest little bird you ever saw?

And I am really on a roll with my UFOs. I listed several (and was too embarrassed to list them all) on my sidebar and this is my third finish since Christmas!

This Hooty Owl panel just needed borders added to it so I did that last summer...first a narrow striped border, then a wider border with cornerstones, one of them a label, and another narrow border. It languised in my UFO basket since then and this week I quilted it.

I did free motion stippling around the figures in each block, a few half circles around the whole blocks, and heart shapes in the outside border.

The binding is finished and it's been laundered. I'm ready to pack it up and send it to a sweet little one who was born after Thanksgiving.

I love winter when I stay in more and get those UFOs finished up and out my door!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2012-01-06T07:53:00.000-06:00

Do you ever get a song in your head? A song that just plays over and over and over and drives you crazy because it won't quit? You know that Julie Andrews song favorite things...kittens and rainbows, etc.? That's the one. I can't even remember the words but parts of it just keep playing in my head. Trying to ignore it made me think of my favorite things so I thought I'd share. Maybe I'll share the song too - you'll start hearing it in your head and it will leave mine!

I have a morning ritual. I guess everyone does. Part of it I won't share - you wouldn't want that much information. :) But this one I will. I love this little devotional book! Sarah Young is the author...she has written others I know because I have two more but this one is my favorite. And the bookmark? That's a gift from a fellow blogger (Thanks Lori!)

And after I've read the short devotion I turn to this calendar. I use it as a prayer journal. Sometimes I just write a list of people I want to pray for. Sometimes I write a prayer. It's a type of journaling I suppose. It's not so big a page that I'm overwhelmed by the space - I tend to think if there's a blank page I should fill it up. :) I love the verse that's on the front of this year's version.

Here's something I can't do without! It stays on my bedside table and it travels with me. My eyes get really dry in the middle of the night. Why is that? I have no idea but every time I wake up I grab this and put a few drops in. It feels wonderful!

This is a new favorite. I don't use it on my lips. Nope, nothing ordinary for me. It stays on my bedside table too and just before I turn off the light I spread it on my cuticles I have this dry thing going on all over my body and my cuticles can get really bad. This not only softens, but also heals!

This is my favorite Sunday-go-to-meeting purse. It was made for me by another blog friend (thanks, Dawn!) a couple of years ago and I still carry it almost every Sunday. The yarn has gotten all soft and fuzzy and I just love it.

This is my favorite every day purse. Every. Day. I've made myself several other purses and I've bought several other purses. I have two big tubbies of purses in my closet. And I try to change purses occasionally. It never works. I always come back to this one that I bought at Wal Mart three years ago. I remember the day because I was babysitting for my newborn grandson and it was our first outing together. I'm pretty sure if it ever wears out I'll cry like a baby. But it just might last longer than me. After all, it's denim so I could just patch it, right? Tell me I'm right. Please.

This clock hung in my mother's house for so many years I can't remember how long. It was there so long that after a while I never even noticed it. Does that make sense? After she died when I was taking it off the wall I found two things hanging on it. One was the tassel from my high school graduation that I had no idea she'd kept. The other was a third place ribbon for a quilt of hers that I'd entered (without her knowledge) in a county fair. She was such a shy person that she would never have dreamed of entering anything she'd made. Maybe not shy, but more that she had little self confidence. She was totally amazed to have won anything at all. Now it hangs on the wall in my bedroom, where I make sure I notice it often.

Last year when we were in Israel I picked up this rock on the shore of the Dead Sea. It's a funny little thing and has several small rocks fused to it's side, or maybe it just somehow got carved out that way, but it's not your ordinary rock. When we got to The River Jordan and I stood in the water to renew my baptismal vows I carried this rock with me. Now it lives on my desk so I see it all the time and am reminded of what I promised.

And the last thing I'll show you today is this - the view outside my bedroom window. When I was very young and we were camping on a river in north Arkansas my mother-in-law kept telling me I should get up for the sunrise over the river. I was young, with three children, and I just wanted to sleep. But now that I'm older and I wake up early anyway, the first thing I do is open the blinds so I can see the sun rise. The mist on the water makes shadows that dance and bob and the light makes it all sparkle like diamonds. God does mighty good work.

I loved showing you these things....just a few of my favorite things. I'd love to see your favorites too. Anybody else want to use this idea for a blog post?

Frustration

2012-01-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

I'm working very hard to get some UFOs finished this year and especially the first three months of the year. I'm moving right along on that effort...just finished quilting both a table topper and a lap sized quilt and sandwiching a baby quilt and a crib quilt. Wow - yea me!! Since the table topper was really just a practice piece for some free motion quilting I can't say too much about it - I threw it on a table to show you but I haven't laundered it yet so it will be better later, but I did an awful job on the two fmq patterns I tried. That's okay because it's a UFO completed and because it taught me some patterns I don't want to try on anything else!

The frustration came when I started quilting the lap sized jelly roll quilt. It wasn't the quilt that was the culprit, and it wasn't the pattern I used. I actually think I did pretty good with the loops for the first time ever doing that, although I'm not sure I'll ever get even stitches. I think I quilt the same way I drive - way too fast for doing a good job. :) It was the thread! I found this thread somewhere in the last few months on sale and though it would be great. I love the color but the thread, not so much.

Normally I use a much lighter weight thread but the color drew me in, lured me to try it. By the time I figured out I shouldn't have used it I had quilted too much for me to be willing to take it out. There was so much lint that I had to stop and clean out my machine 5 times while I was quilting...and this was just a lap sized quilt! Because this was a heavier weight thread it didn't take much to fill a bobbin and I used 12 bobbins of thread on it...and this was just a lap sized quilt! Did I say that already...this was just a lap sized quilt? :) It did turn out nicely though for an we're-gonna-love-snuggling-under-this quilt. I've already laundered it and it's ready to throw over the back of the couch.

If you're a member of the quilt police please turn your head. :)

The quilting isn't too bad for a first time doing loops...

Now the most important question. What in the world can I do with the rest of that thread? There's a lot left on that spool!

Desperately Searching

2012-01-04T11:30:00.001-06:00

UPDATE: I'm so excited! I e-mailed Arlene per Robin's comment below. I had e-mailed her months ago and apparently had the wrong address because this time I heard back within the hour. She has offered to sell retail to anyone who can't find her patterns in their area - I'm doing a happy dance! By the way, she has a fabulous new blog at www.quiltingwithrabbits.com which I have put on my reader - she has such beautiful things there. Give it a try - I bet you'll like it. Thanks!

I've been looking for a shop in the U.S. that has a copy of Arlene Neely's patterns Summertime and Tea in the Garden. She designs embroidery patterns like this one

which is on her website The Rabbit's Haven. Summertime is a current pattern but Tea in the Garden is no longer showing so it must be discontinued. Her website is wholesale only so I can't order from her, though I sure wish I could. But I'd gladly order from someone else if I could find these. I've completed her pattern Precious Memories and am ready to put it into a quilt but I want more! Any help out there?

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:04:00.000-06:00

I don't usually make it until midnight and it's looking as if I won't tonight either. It's not yet 8:00 here and already I'm yawning! Oh well, it will still be 2012 at 6:00 a.m. when I normally wake up so I'll celebrate then with a glass of orange juice. :)

I've made no resolutions for the new year. I haven't chosen a word to focus on either. But I've lifted up a prayer to my Heavenly Father asking for His blessing in whatever way He thinks is best for me, for increased faith and a greater openness to His path. When I count the blessings of 2011 they almost overwhelm me. We are healthy, we have wonderful children and grandchildren and a warm home with plenty to eat and clean water to drink. We have close family members and friends we love. We live in a country that allows us to worship in any way we choose and a church home where other members have become our second family. I can see and hear and walk. We live in a beautiful area where we see God's handiwork every day. I have a sewing room and I could make quilts for all of 2012 without every buying fabric! I've always told my husband I will be happy as long as I'm not hot, cold, broke or stranded. I'm happy! I can't think of one thing that I need that God has not provided. I'm not rich, I don't live in a big house and I don't have a job with power or prestige. Heavens, I don't even have a job...and I'm very happy about that! :) Those things aren't important...and I am thankful for that as well. My prayer for you, my blog friends, is that you will have the most joy filled year ever and that you will be given the strength you need in hard times by the grace of our Lord, and that you will love others and will be loved in return. Happy New Year!

Blessings, Marlene

This and That and A Small Giveaway

2011-12-28T19:14:00.001-06:00

We went to church, we welcomed family, we opened presents, we ate too much food, we laughed and we cried. I love Christmas. :)

I'm not sure why but when all the celebrating is over and all the family members have returned to their respective homes I always get the urge to clean and organize. I want to clean out drawers and closets, weed out the old and the outgrown and the why-in-the-world-did-I-ever-think-I-wanted-that stuff. I really, really need to go through every single thing in my sewing room and I might just do that in the next month when the weather will keep me indoors. But for today I have a few patterns that I've either made already, or never will make, that need new homes. If you're a follower and you think you might want one or more of these leave me a comment with the numbers of the one(s) you want. If more than one person is interested in one of them I'll draw names on Sunday. If only one person is interested you'll automatically get it. And if no one wants it (poor rejected thing!) I'll put it on the giveaway table at guild.

Won by Mrs. Pickles!
#1 Santa's Midnight Runner (this is a long, skinny wall hanging that I've made and which hangs in my sunroom) It's about 17 x 52 and has both piecing and applique.

Won by Sheila!
#2 Lilly Mae's Basket Quilt...I haven't made this one. It's a little quilt about 18 x 23 and is pieced.

Won by Carrie!
#3 Peace, Love, Joy...Pincushion I've made this one - it's a small wool pincushion, is fast and easy, and has both applique and embroidery.

Won by Lea!
#4 Abbey Lane "The Bungalow Bag" I made this last summer - it's roomy without being bulky and I love it! It shows bought handles but I made fabric handles and used a bright spring fabric that's really cute.

Won by Gill!
#5 Old Crimson Clove...a Sue Spargo pattern...36 x 31...I haven't made this one. The background is pieced but it's mostly applique.

Won by Sharon at Vrooman's Quilts!
#6 Sage Country Christmas Tree...I haven't made this one either...it's 48 x 63 and appears to be intricate piecing. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner (which is why I didn't make it!)

If you're a follower and you want one or more please leave me the numbers of the ones you want - it will help when I draw names. And stay posted - I plan to have more in the next couple of weeks!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T13:03:00.000-06:00

More Cute Stuff

2011-12-21T17:29:00.000-06:00

One of my daughters pointed out this cute idea on Pinterest recently:

It's a travel pillowcase with a handle and a pocket for keeping books, IPods, etc. How cute is that! The original post came from Amazing Mae. I have 5 "young" grandchildren and 3 "old" grandchildren. I made pillowcases for the 5 young ones and got each a new pillow. I think they'll love this!

And then I spied some of my Ghastlies fabric that I hadn't used and made this for another grandchild...one of the "old" ones:

It's a roll-up carrying case for knitting needles and other necessaries for that craft. Don't you love the knitting aunts? :)

I don't want to say it too loud but I think I've finished my Christmas sewing. Knock on wood. Cross my fingers. And it's not even Christmas Eve!

I'm Pretty Sure...

2011-12-19T10:35:00.003-06:00

I'm pretty sure that I just made the best Potato Soup I've ever made. Have I told ya'll lately that I'm a terrible cook? Truth. But this stuff is good. Really.

First I put some butter (the real stuff) and some bacon grease in a pot. No bacon - I don't like bacon in my potato soup. I just like grease. I can't believe I said that - don't anybody e-mail about that because I know those two things are terrible and awful and probably were the true cause of WW II or will lead to an invasion of aliens or something. I don't care. Well, maybe I care because I don't want to be eaten by an alien but I'm still gonna' use butter and bacon grease because I'm from the south and it's genetic. Then I sauteed some onions and celery and carrots for a few minutes in that brease. That's my new word for butter and grease.

I added some potatoes that were beginning to get crinkled I'd had them so long and two cans of chicken broth. One of them was fat free if that makes you feel any better. I have no idea how that got in my pantry. Then I added a little leftover Almond Milk that I had. A friend told me it was good to drink and good for you but I bought the wrong brand I guess because it wasn't. I've been sneaking it in things I cook so my husband won't know it. And I mixed up some dry milk because I'm trying to save a little money and added some of that. When the vegetables were done I added about 4 oz of cream cheese because I had it leftover and it needed to be used and about 8 oz of Velveeta.

Potato soup is comfort food. Potato soup is good. My potato soup today is the best ever. I win. :)

Edit: Oops. Forgot to tell you I added some potato flakes to thicken it before I put in the cheeses. That's all. Unless I forgot something else.

One Thousand Blessings - Day 29

2011-12-18T06:56:00.000-06:00

1001. Christmas music
1002. Having the sun come out after several rainy days, especially in winter
1003. Pictures of children with Santa
1004. Children dancing
1005. Freshly laundered sheets
1006. Pinterest
1007. The smell of cookies baking
1008. Christmas cards from old friends
1009. Daydreams
1010. Pinto beans, turnip greens, cornbread and the memories of Mama cooking
1011. Spray starch
1012. Hands when they're folded in prayer
1013. Hot Chocolate
1014. Bookstores
1015. Birds on my window sill
1016. Magnolia trees
1017. Fog on the lake outside my window
1018. Physical therapists
1019. Sand and sea and sunshine
1020. The ability to remember good times and loved ones no longer here...I don't want to forget them

Can You Say Addicted?

2011-12-15T09:34:00.000-06:00

I think I'm as addicted to making these as I am to Pinterest!

Well, maybe not quite as addicted. But close. Really close.

I Just Love This!

2011-12-10T15:06:00.000-06:00

Is this not the cutest thing?

Made in a couple of hours using a white canvas bag I bought at Hobby Lobby - a ruffle around the bottom, a little polka dot ribbon, a monogram on the front and a sweet little tie to match the ruffle. I also covered some foam core to make a bottom that matches the ruffle and tie and added some pink stitching on the handles. I know a little girl that's going to love this at Christmas! One down and two to do. :)

The Lost Is Found

2011-12-03T10:13:00.000-06:00

The Christmas Tree Skirt that I mentioned in my last post is now found and under my tree. My mother made this at my request probably 30 years ago. She made beautiful things, often without a pattern, and always by the tried and true old methods. I bought her a rotary cutter and mat several years before her death but to my knowledge she never used them. She pretended to so she wouldn't hurt my feelings but I found her newspaper templates all over her house and her tiny bits of fabric cut sort of close to the size of the template. She rarely measured and mostly just "eyeballed" her pieces. She had absolutely no color sense most of the time, maybe because she was so determined to use true scraps. When I asked for this tree skirt I envisioned red and green and maybe gold, Santa or reindeer or peppermint sticks. This is what I got.

Yep, those are calicos in red, yellow, navy and brown. Every time I look at it I smile. It was so typically her. And it's a very high loft batting that puffs up between the quilting lines. The quilting, by the way, is by hand using what I'm sure is polyester thread and the stitches are about a quarter inch in size and distance.

While it's not what most quilt lovers would consider to be a beautiful quilt I found myself welcoming it back to it's rightful place much like the father of the prodigal son. I wasn't home when my husband found it and put it on the dining table to wait for me. I'm sure my eyes lit up and a smile graced my face because it surely came immediately to my heart when I caught sight of it. Like that prodigal son, who wasn't the best of sons by any stretch of the imagination, it was welcomed back for itself, a beloved member of the family. The fabric doesn't matter. The colors don't matter. It doesn't even matter that there's nothing Christmasy about it. It's the love and the memories that count.

And to top it all off, because the skirt brought all of that to mind, this morning I put on the one outfit of Mother's that I kept. She died in 2003 and I gave her these slacks and this shirt at least 5 years before that so that tells you how old it is. I wear it once in a great while when I'm missing her the most. I put my hands in the pockets and what did I find? A $5 dollar bill! Oh I've worn this before so I'm sure I left it there myself, and that Mother didn't. But just the same I feel her smiling at the "found" money and the tree skirt that I adore. What a wonderful Christmas gift. :)

It's Christmas Already?

2011-12-01T16:06:00.000-06:00

I remember when I was a child and hearing my parents and grandparents talk about how quickly time passed. I didn't understand that at all because it seemed to me that summer lasted forever and then it took forever and a day for Christmas to arrive. But these days it has become quite clear to me that they knew what they were talking about. Christmas was just last month, wasn't it?

I'm slower than I used to be, and not as strong as I once was, but I love Christmas as much as ever I did. I've narrowed down my decorating choices to things I love, with the emphasis on the memories they involve. Many, if not most, are things I've made, or the children gave me. I've asked everyone I know for some fresh pine and by the weekend I should have some to put here and there but for now I've brought out a one or two favorites for my own pleasure.

I've made a "few" Christmas quilts, or table runners, or pillows, or candle mats, or...fill in the blank. This "Santa is a Star" has a fussy cut picture of Santa in the middle and looks wonderful on my burlap table cloth.

Winter Wonderland lives on my bed each year from Thanksgiving until February - after all January means snow, right?

And there are a couple of wall hangings that are perfect above the two patio doors in my sunroom. One is Santa flying across the sky and the other...

is a terrible picture but is an embroidery piece of all the reindeer and their names.

I'm very sad because right now we can't find the Christmas tree skirt my mother made me about 30 years ago. I'm sure it's there somewhere - in the decorations I didn't use this year - but it's hiding from me at the moment. :( And one box of my Christmas tree decorations got wet somehow so I've lost a few. Memories.... even though the ornaments are gone they're still in my heart. There was a time when I was broken hearted when something got broken or lost but not so much any more because I've kept them all right here inside where they mean the most. It was a hard lesson learned but a good one. It's not the things that matter - it's the love you feel and the memory that thing invokes that you want to hold on to.

This poor "Santa's Wild Goose Chase" has a wrinkle down the middle. :( Hmmm, guess he's getting the same wrinkles I am!

This table runner is one of my favorites - can't remember the pattern at all, but it works like it is now without the leaf in the table, and even when the table is at it's longest.

A little blurry I suppose (to my wonderful photographer friends I promise I'm going to try to take a class next semester!) but this wool Santa candle mat was a joy to make.

And because Santa looked a bit lonely I made a few snowmen too. Oh, and yes my coffee table is made of wooden shipping pallets. We added wheels underneath and glass on the top and I'm totally in love with the whole thing. It's 40" x 48" and my grandchildren can clear off the top to play games here - such fun!

This little pillow is a reminder to me of the reason we celebrate.

Of course there are more I haven't shown you and I admit that these on the chair I've not yet found a place for. Do you think it's time to share with my children? The not so funny thing about our quilted creations is that sometimes giving them away it like giving away one of our children! Or is that just me?

Old friends are brought to mind when I put out other bits of decorations....like my Merry Christmas letters

and this small church/candle holder, as well as my dishes (a gift from my children).

This, however, is a gift to my husband - a little reminder of the season as he builds me a fire!

At heart I'm still a child, so this little sign peeking down from the top of the china cabinet says it all for me. How about you? Do you still believe?

One Thousand Blessings - Day 28

2011-11-22T16:26:00.000-06:00

911. Books that strengthen my faith
912. Books that teach
913. Books that entertain (I'm sensing a pattern here!)
914. Meals shared with people I love
915. Emergency personnel
916. People God has healed this year - either through the wisdom of medical people, a miracle given by God, or through His perfect healing through entering their heavenly home
917. The means and ability to cook Thanksgiving dinner
918. Family, warts and all
919. Gifts and prizes I've received from blogging friends
920. High school girlfriends who remain in my life
921. Physical therapists
922. Frost that glistens in the sun like diamonds
923. Clear, crisp fall days
924. The smell of pumpkin pie cooking
925. Leaf blowers, and the people who use them
926. Ruffles and lace
927. Puppies
928. Wind in the leaves
929. Pansies
930. White Christmas lights
931. Live nativity scenes
932. Christmas music
933. Meditation
934. Kitchen appliances
935. Reading glasses
936. The drawings of children
937. Windmills
938. Fried pies
939. Pinterest
940. Hearing my child say "I feel better"
941. New makeup
942. Butter Bowls
943. Pretty Scarves
944. Chipmunks
945. Chocolate milk
946. Business cards
947. Coupons that work on sale items
948. Angels
949. Beautiful old clocks
950. The sun on the lake

2011-11-17T21:30:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love the block tutorials going on over at Stash Manicure this month? I love seeing the different blocks and reading the tutorials but I didn't really plan to make any of them. After all, I have this promise to myself hovering over my head - "start nothing new until you've finished at least half of your UFOs". I refuse to tell you how many UFOs I have. You can torture me and I won't tell. Well, maybe I would depending on the torture. But when I saw the tutorial by Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts I was smitten. Not the Improv Block, altough I loved her bright colors. It was the Christmas Tree Block that caught my eye. So I broke my promise to myself and made this:

It's just perfect for this little corner of my kitchen window. And the colors fit right into the color scheme I have in there. I mean you can see why I had to do it, right?

And on a different note do you Pinterest? Because I'm seriously addicted and I'm spending way too many hours there. If you want to see what it's about click on the Pinterest button over on my right sidebar. Anyway, I saw these wonderful scarf pins made out of buttons and a light bulb went off....I have buttons! So I made these:

I only burned my finger once on the hot glue. That's a record for me.

I Love A Finish!

2011-11-16T10:01:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love getting finished with a quilt? And when it's a holiday quilt, just in time for that holiday and not a month after? I'm best known for the month after. :) There were many "joys in quilting" on this particular piece - I described a few in the previous two posts - but those pauses in my sanity have passed and I'm in love with this quilt! I have no idea where it will hang because it is much too big for my front door as I had planned but you can bet I'll find a place. I added a pin stripe binding and I think it was just the right one. :)

I stippled the background and I can see a lot of progress over the last several months - finally!

More on the Joy of Quilting

2011-11-12T07:22:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love how God sends us some beautiful flowers just when we think there won't be any more flowers until spring? Goes to show what we know. :) What does this have to do with the joy of quilting? Well just look at that and try not to smile, I dare you.

And don't you just hate when you don't think to take a picture of flowers until it's dark?

Following the rules from my last post I'm machine quilting a wall quilt for Christmas that grew from the 30" x 40" I had planned to 42" x 70" when I wasn't looking. How in the world does that happen you ask?

Well I saw this Christmas Tree quilt on the internet...twice...in two different places. Which meant it was like lightening struck. I had to make it. I had no pattern but how hard could it be? It was all made of circles and I had a circle die for my Accuquilt Go! I looked really hard at the ones I saw and they had 4 different sizes of circles. My die had 3 sizes...about 2", 3", and 5". So I looked around for something to make another size circle and found a saucer - 7 1/4" This was my first "joy of quilting" moment with this quilt. I should have looked for a smaller circle, like 1", but that just sounds so little. First I ironed Steam a Seam 2 to the back of some red fabrics. This step is important...don't wait until after you cut the circles unless you've got the fine motor dexterity of a monkey. Trust me on that. I counted all their circles and I cut out that number. When I started pinning them to my design board I came up with this:

Great shape, right? Right. But that bottom row is about 2" from each side of the width of fabric for the background! And height...it still needs a star and a pot...well lets just say it's going to be a little large for my front door, which is where I planned to hang it.

The next thing I had to do is to find a star for the top and a pot for the tree to sit in. Well the pot wasn't hard. I cut a square and then angled the sides. Done! But the star. I searched my books for a star that was big enough and couldn't come up with one. "Joy of quilting number two" - I did find one I liked but it was too small. Did I tell you I used to teach algebra? Surely I could figure that out! I dug out some graph paper and used the Pythagorean Theorem, a side-angle-side geometric rule, and Fibonacci numbers....just kidding ya'll.

I drew the small star on the graph paper, added an inch on all sides with my trusty ruler and yippee! a perfect size star to use as my template. Again I say, iron your Steam a Seam 2 to the back of your fabric before you cut out your star. You'll be sorry if you don't. Really sorry. That was my "joy of quilting" number three.

Okay, all right! I have all my pieces pinned to the design board when I realize they have to be transferred to the background fabric. This picture is after I did that but the moment when I realized that I didn't put the background fabric up first was my "joy of quilting" moment number four. I spent a good half hour arranging all those and I knew there was no way to replicate it when I moved them. I took a picture on my IPad and tried to do it from there but the patterns of all those fabrics didn't show up very good so I just crossed my fingers and moved them. And moved them. And moved them. Finally I had them arranged where I wanted them and I moved to the ironing board to press them on.

This step went beautifully except for the "joy of quilting" moment number five when I forgot to press and ironed instead. A couple of the circles didn't appreciate that enthusiasm and curled their edges on me. Nasty. But all in all that went rather quickly and I proceeded to sandwiching. We won't talk about that because I can't count that high. But finally we made it to the machine.

How in the world do you manage all that quilt! It just wads up all around. I've tried rolling but I'm not too good at rolling. One time I remember some friends and I tried rolling a boy's yard but we got caught. Maybe I'm intimidated by the whole idea of it. Scarred by the memory, if you will.

I decided to stipple. I love stippling. And no, the fact that it's the only free motion quilting I can do had no impact on my decision.

I've stippled for five hours and I'm half way through. I don't like stippling nearly as much as I used to. I'll be back later to show you the finished product. Maybe 2012. or 13.

Marlene's Rules For Free Motion Machine Quilting

2011-11-10T14:12:00.000-06:00

I used to be afraid of free motion machine quilting. I mean like frozen in my tracks scared. If I even thought about free motion quilting, and I tried not to, my stomach would get in knots and my hands would tremble. But I want to report that I have conquered that fear! I made up a few rules that have helped me and in the spirit of giving for the holidays I'm going to share them with you.

1. Never, ever, under any circumstances, let go of your fabric when the machine is still running. That could be compared to letting go of the hand of a five year old while standing in Times Square. Imagine that scene...you letting go, child in wide eyed wonder stepping off the curb weaving his/her way among the honking yellow cabs, strolling down the street gazing happily in windows and ending up at Grand Central Station peeping over the stand at the coming trains. It would be like that. Imagine Family Circus...how the child steps in every puddle, climbs every tree, pets every cat and talks to every neighbor on his/her way home from school. Your stitches will be in a giant zigzag here, there and yonder.

2. Your machine will not stop running unless you let your foot off the gas. All the way off the gas. So when you want to stop, get your foot OFF the pedal. You can't lightly touch it like you do your car at a red light so you can inch forward until your bumper is scant inches away from the bumper in front of you. While your foot is just lightly touching the pedal the fabric is still moving under the needle. And what do you get? Another zig. Without the zag.

3. If you still believe in quarter inch seams, triangle points that meet and seams that align then you need to go find something else fun to do. The goal of every free motion quilter I've met seems to be even stitches. There's no such thing. That's a story mothers tell their children at bedtime that sounds great in theory but doesn't work in real life. And it's not supposed to. For example, if you see two 80 year old women standing side by side and one has smooth, flawless, unwrinkled skin and the other looks like a normal 80 year old woman what would you think? That the first woman has had an inordinate number of face lifts? Yea, me too. She's not real. She's not beautiful. It's the second one that draws your eye. Oh the character in her beautiful, wrinkled face! Picture Mother Teresa...did you ever see anyone more gorgeous? You can see her life written there, on her face. Well, that's the way quilts should be. They should have life written on them. A few tiny stitches here, a few long stitches there, and a lot of fairly normal ones in between. Trust me on this. Quilts want character.

4. God made your hands the size He did for a reason. You can only control the amount of fabric that will fit in between your hands. If you try to put your hands too far apart so you can quilt a larger amount of the quilt before you have to stop....well, you'll just lose control of the whole darn thing. Quilts are like kids. You can only control them if you've got a tight grip. Loosen your grip and they're going to wiggle their way loose.

5. Use thread that is the same color as your background. Thread should be inconspicuous but always there in the background impacting the beauty of the quilt. Kind of like when you're a mother-in-law. I mean we all know that mothers-in-law have to fade into the woodwork the moment the wedding is over but if you work it right you're still in control...the kids just don't know it. :)

6. If it's 2:30 a.m. don't swear under your breath that you're going to finish this or die trying. Because you will. Quilts hear everything and they love a practical joke so they will silently fold themselves under so that just when you think you're finished you'll discover you've quilted one corner to another corner. And while that might be unique in a finished quilt it will be hard to bind.

7. Don't drink red wine while quilting. Or grape KoolAid. Or Mtn. Dew. Or Red Bull. All of those things will make you think you are the greatest quilter who ever lived. But you aren't. I'm just guessing about the red wine and the Mtn. Dew and the Red Bull but the grape KoolAid definitely is banned from my sewing room.

8. The definition of stippling is something like "sewing in a meandering way without ever crossing any of the previous sewing". I didn't I didn't look it up and I didn't write the dictionary but that ought to be close. If you're stippling and you like loops, add one or two or seven. If you want to cross from here to there do it and smile. And if you end up with a particularly weird place on your quilt then point it out to the recipient and say, "every time you see this think of me - I was waving my hand and winking at you when I sewed this so you'll always remember me." And they'll go "Awwwww, so sweet."

9. If you think that wall hanging will take you about an hour to quilt, add three to it and you might have it right. Give yourself plenty of time because if you rush you won't take your foot completely off the pedal (see number 2 above) and you'll forget that you have red thread in the bobbin until you've finished the quilting and turn it over to see the white background. Oops.

10. This is the most important rule of all. Put a lock on your sewing room door. Husbands, children and pets should be banned from the sewing room when you're quilting. They have urgent requests that you won't be able to ignore. And even though you think you can quilt and answer, I repeat from number 7 above, you're not that great a quilter. And besides that their requests aren't really urgent. If they tried they could find the milk in the refrigerator, the dog in the backyard, and the clean pair of jeans folded on their bed.

Okay that's all the rules I have for today. It's 2:30 a.m. and I've got a quilt to finish quilting. I think I'll have some KoolAid to take to the sewing room with me.

The Money That Doesn't Exist

2011-11-05T17:39:00.000-05:00

A friend and I were having one of those heart-to-heart discussions this week that women often have. We vent to each other because universally we understand that despite the fact that you're complaining about your husband you still adore him and think he's much better than the person's husband you're complaining to. You do understand that, right? She was bemoaning something her husband had bought her that was totally useless, unwanted, and even a bit bizarre. His heart was in the right place. Maybe.

According to her they have available money in three "places" when they want to buy something. First is, as you would think, the checking account. The CA as we'll call it was to be used to pay the normal monthly bills, buy groceries, purchase necessities, and occasionally splurge on a new dress. Second was the credit card. This was to be avoided unless buying on line where it's virtually the only safe way. The credit card bill was to be paid out of the checking account each month.

This all sounds wonderfully responsible, right? But I mentioned three places....what's the third place. Number Three is the Savings Account, which gets a regular deposit each month. Again, fiscally sound. However, according to her, once the money is deposited into the Savings Account it then becomes "the money that doesn't exist." The "money that doesn't exist" disappears from his mind. The "money that doesn't exist" isn't available because it...well, it doesn't exist. Their stove went out. It was an old stove and this wasn't unexpected. But rather than take money out of the Savings Account and buy one he surmised, because that money didn't exist after all, that they should just eat out until they had saved money from their checking account for a month or two or three, and could pay cash for the stove. In his mind they had no money to buy a stove with. You don't charge things when you don't have to. The "money that doesn't exist", doesn't exist so you can't buy anything with it. Ergo, you save until you have it. But you can't put that money you're saving into the Savings Account because if you do it becomes "money that doesn't exist".

Is this a male thing? For me, all money exists and is waiting for me to access it. But I wonder if that groaning I hear coming from my husband occasionally is his reaction to me using some of the "money that doesn't exist". :)

Ghastlie Day Ten!

2011-11-04T00:01:00.001-05:00

It's been a blast but as they say...we really have to go. Today's the last day of the Ghastlie Blog Hop so be sure you don't miss a one!

ON Friday November 4th

Mrs Nan Ghastlie

Mrs. Gmama Jane Ghastlie
Mrs Joan Ghastlie
Mrs. Nancy Ghastlie

Ms Susan Ghastlie
Madame Ghastlie

Ghastlie Day Nine!

2011-11-03T00:01:00.002-05:00

Oh no, tell me it's not true! Today is the next-to-the-last Ghastlie party! Don't miss a one of these:

ON Thursday November 3rd

Mrs. Sharon Ghastlie
Mrs Corrie Ghastlie

Mrs Cheryl Ghastlie

Mrs. Linda Ghastlie
Mrs. Suki Ghastlie
Mrs. Pickles Ghastlie

Ghastlie Day Eight!

2011-11-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

We're counting down to the end ya'll - that makes me sad. :( But we still have today and two more to see the wonderful, amazing, Ghastlie creations that have been dreamed up to delight you. Check out these today!

ON Wednesday November 2nd

Mrs. Jane Ghastlie
Mrs. Laura Ghastlie

Mrs. Mary Ghastlie

Mrs. Michelle Ghastlie

Mrs. Dawn Ghastlie
Mrs Mary Ghastlie

Ghastlie Day Seven!

2011-11-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, November 1st (Can you believe it's November already?) these Ghastlie posts will amaze and astound you!

Miss Daisy Ghastlie
Mrs. Dana Ghastlie

Mrs. Elaine Ghastlie

Mrs. Gramma Sheri Ghastlie
Ms. Suz Ghastlie

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

ON Monday October 31st
Day 6

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

Have fun on your Ghastlie tour today! Be sure to comment on every site so you can enter the giveaway. Each Ghastlie sister will submit one name to Madame Samm and from those six names one grand prize winner will be chosen. The winner just might be YOU!

My Winner

2011-10-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of my mug rug and Ghastlie fabric is Vicki T - congratulations Vicki! Vickie doesn't have a blog but she really should. Her comment was funny and a delight to read. :)

The name I sent to Madame Samm was Lavender Dreamer who does have a blog....just click here to visit her. And you really should. She has a perfectly gorgeous picture as her header. I don't know yet who won the grand prize for Friday but Lavender Dreamer you've made it to the semifinals. :)

Ghastlie Day Five!

2011-10-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

It was a perfectly Ghastlie night here on the lake....rainy and cold and shivery. But this morning the sun is shining and I'm ready to sit down and visit with a few Ghastlie friends! That means I should grab my IPad and read a few Ghastlie blogs to see what they're are up to today. Now where could it be...I know I put it somewhere here...oh there! In my Ghastlie IPad purse!

It's day 5 of the Ghastlie Blog Hop so let's take a look at Sew I Quilt and see if Madame Samm's listed who's posting today. Oh yes, there's the list...first up is

Miss Trudi Ghastlie

Ms. Deonn Ghastlie

Mrs. Marlene Ghastlie

Mrs Kim Ghastlie

Mrs Tammy Ghastlie

Wait...uh oh...who's that one in the middle there? It's me! I'm supposed to be posting on this Ghastlie day!

Okay, I can do it. But first I need a cup of coffee and a muffin. I'll eat my muffin and drink my coffee and then I'll write that post. I better grab my Ghastlie hot pad so I don't burn my fingers.

Is that Albert Ghastlie? Oh dear, I'm not sure. No one's introduced me you see. But let's get closer...maybe you'll recognize him.

Well whichever Ghastlie he is he'll save my poor fingers from getting burned when I take my muffins out of the oven. And the coffee is ready so let's get out the mug rug and sit on the deck for a few minutes. I think I'll read everyone's Ghastlie posts and then I'll write mine.

Ahhh now this one I recognize...Uncle Rufus Ghastlie! He pretends to be a vampire but the gossip is that he's really an accountant, or a computer programmer maybe. I saw him once on a street corner in New York City. He's really quite a handsome guy, don't you think?

But I do wish someone would tell him that capes are, well, a bit passe.

I really can't keep reading blogs...it seems I get started and hours pass before I know it. Does that happen to you? I read and comment, and read and comment, and forget what I should have been doing. I better grab my Ghastlie purse and head for the grocery store.

Oh sew easy this was to make! A Ghastlie friend told me the secret - a canvas bag bought at the local craft store, a few Ghastlie ruffles and a bit of ribbon! Aunt Gertrude is peeking out to see where I'm going! But before I leave I better iron these jeans I want to wear. That's not going to take long if I use my wonderful lavender scented starch.

Hmmm, I wonder what the Ghastlie girls are whispering about. And where my iron is. Those girls are so bad, I guess they've hidden my iron. But what's this strange looking thing here?

Oh, I remember! I took my iron to guilt guild yesterday and it's still in it's caddy.

Isn't this fun? It's all wrapped up safe and sound so I can carry it back and forth. And it's insulated in the bottom so it won't burn me if I forget and put it in there when it's hot!

Now I'm all ready to go, jeans ironed, purse in hand. But I seem to be forgetting something. I wonder what it could be? Wasn't I supposed to be doing something? Oops, a post! I was supposed to write a post! I'll go do that right now! And I better not forget to do a giveaway. Everyone loves a giveaway. Wonder what I should give....I know! A Ghastlie mug rug and a yard of Ghastlie fabric. That will make it a Ghastlie gift!

If you'd like to win the mug rug and the fabric too,
just let me hear a comment from you.
I'd love it if you were a follower because that's super sweet,
but I know you can't follow everyone you meet.

Blessings, Marlene

It's Day Four - Another Ghastlie Day!

2011-10-27T06:25:00.000-05:00

Here's where you Ghastlie fans want to go today - don't skip a one because they're all Ghastlie fun!

ON Thursday October 27th

Day 4

Mrs. Katherine Ghastlie

Ms Sharon Ghastlie

Mrs. Gooden Ghastlie

Ms. Selina Ghastlie

Mrs. Melinda Ghastlie

We've already had lots of winners, just take a peek:

On Monday for the Ghastlie Fabric Giveaway....Alexander Henry....

the Lady of the Cloth

from Mrs Kirie Ghastlies Shape MOTH.blog..)

On Tuesday the Wheeled PINK Sewing BAG went

to Cherise from Mrs Annies Ghastlie Fans...

On Wednesday theGhastlie fabric went to Sheri and Jackie

from Mrs Penny and Mrs Karen Ghaslties

And you could be next! Be sure you visit everyone and comment - you know you want to. :)

Day Three

2011-10-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

It's Day Three of the Ghastlies Blog Hop ya'll - don't miss a one because you know you want to win a prize!

Here's today's Ghastlie Blogs:

ON Wednesday October 26th

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

Ms. Jen Ghastlie.

Ms Penny Ghastlie

Mrs Rhonda Ghastlie

Day Two Ghastlies Winner!

2011-10-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

Day 1 Ghastlie Giveaway

the WINNER for this prize
is........Lady of the Cloth ( from Kiries blog)
Emil the bat remember...?

4 Yards of this GHASTLIE

Collection from our sponsor

Alexander Henry Fabrics...

They are sporting a BRAND NEW look too.!

YOU can VIEW these from samples they have posted!

http://www.ahfabrics.com/collections/category/101-a-ghastly-night

http://www.ahfabrics.com/collections/category/100-ghastly-forest

http://www.ahfabrics.com/collections/category/102-a-ghastly-clover

http://www.ahfabrics.com/collections/category/98-ghastly-bramble

And it's on to our next Ghastlie sisters:

ON Tuesday October 25th

Mrs. Annie Ghastlie

Mrs Doris Ghastlie

Mrs Brandie Ghastlie

Ms. Alidiza Ghastlie

Mrs. JudyC Ghastlie

Be sure and visit each one so you can be eligible for today's giveaway - you're going to love this:

DAY 2 Giveaway!

OH Yes this BRIGHT PINK BLUE FIG

Wheeled Sewing BAG for you...

The PINK goes sew well with GHASTLIES.

Check out all our Ghastlie Sistahs Blogs today..

and see what they CREATED.

( Blue Fig will be mailing directly to you.

no shipping cost for this win)

Here Come The Ghastlies - Are You Ready?

2011-10-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

Welcome GHASTLIE FANS

Behind the scenes we ( 54 ) Ghastlie obsessed

Stitchers have been rather busy, you could say. We've stitched lots of fun stuff for you to see, and some of it is even going to be given away! You're going to want to visit every day to see the cute things we've come up with and the great prizes our sponsors have provided for YOU!

If you have this thing for Ghastlies

and they have tied you in a knot

and you wish you could get them out of your mind

than this may be a thought.

We heard her plea for a cure

Mdm Samm was pos/it/ively sure

that we could stitch the nights away

in hopes that we MAY----???

( all 54 of us)

BUT....

The side effects are Ghastlie

there is no mistaking too.

if you don't run this very minute

YOU too will catch the FLU...

We suspected all along

this was her master plan

she did not want to be alone,

with all YOU Ghastlie FANS...

(I suspect there will be a CURE somewhere

in one of these blogs...)

HERE is OUR Schedule.....

each name will link you to my Ghastlie

Sistahhhhhhhhhhhhhs!

ON Monday, October 24th

Mrs Kirie Ghastlie

Ms Carol Ghastlie

Ms. Wendy Ghastlie

Ms. Carrie Ghastlie

Mrs Holly Ghastlie

ON Tuesday October 25th

Mrs. Annie Ghastlie

Mrs Doris Ghastlie

Mrs Brandie Ghastlie

Ms. Alidiza Ghastlie

Mrs. JudyC Ghastlie

ON Wednesday October 26th

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

Ms. Jen Ghastlie.

Ms Penny Ghastlie

ON Thursday October 27th

Mrs. Katherine Ghastlie

Ms Sharon Ghastlie

Mrs. Gooden Ghastlie

Ms. Selina Ghastlie

Mrs. Melinda Ghastlie

ON Friday October 28th

Miss Trudi Ghastlie

Ms. Deonn Ghastlie

Mrs. Marlene Ghastlie

Mrs Kim Ghastlie

Mrs Tammy Ghastlie

ON Monday October 31st

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

ON Tuesday November 1st

Miss Daisy Ghastlie
Mrs. Dana Ghastlie

Mrs. Elaine Ghastlie

Mrs. Gramma Sheri Ghastlie
Ms. Suz Ghastlie

ON Wednesday November 2nd

Mrs. Jane Ghastlie
Mrs. Laura Ghastlie

Mrs. Mary Ghastlie

Mrs. Michelle Ghastlie

Mrs. Dawn Ghastlie
Mrs Mary Ghastlie

ON Thursday November 3rd

Mrs. Sharon Ghastlie
Mrs Corrie Ghastlie

Mrs Cheryl Ghastlie

Mrs. Linda Ghastlie
Mrs. Suki Ghastlie
Mrs. Pickles Ghastlie

ON Friday November 4th

Mrs Nan Ghastlie

Mrs. Gmama Jane Ghastlie
Mrs Joan Ghastlie
Mrs. Nancy Ghastlie

Ms Susan Ghastlie
Madame Ghastlie

Don't forget each day we will have a giveaway...

Some of my Ghastlie Sisters have made very special

projects to giveaway and we will have daily BIG PRIZES

from these sponsors....to sweeten the CAULDRON....

Some of our Sponsors

Alexander Henry Fabrics- lot's and lot's of Ghastlie Fabric

Colonial Needle -sewing basket

Janes Fabrics -Kona fabrics in PINK -fat quarter bundle

Reliable Iron - orange Velocity 50

IHAN ( kelly )- aurifil threads

Coeurdalenegifts- 2 sets of Halloween lights

Forth Worth Fabric Studio - gorgeous gift set of Ghasltie fabric

Creative Grid -3 Rulers their top 3

Blue FIG- wheeled bag in PINK

Don't miss a day visiting The Ghastlies - they might just come and haunt you! :) But for sure you'll miss out on a chance at the daily prizes!

Did You See?

2011-10-18T15:29:00.001-05:00

Did you see that new button over there on the right? It looks sort of like this one below..... :)

It's there to remind you that YOU could win this Pfaff Sewing Machine this Friday, October 21st! Just be sure you go over and visit Stash Manicure that day (Sew We Quilt) and comment. Follow any other directions very carefully because you don't want to miss this opportunity! And ya'll the shipping is free on this one. :) If you haven't registered it isn't too late - just e-mail me with your name, e-mail address, and telephone number (so they can call you when you win!) Madame Samm, this is over the top - thank you!

http://sewwequilt.com/

One Thousand Blessings - Day 27

2011-10-17T00:15:00.001-05:00

881. Autumn leaves
882. Pumpkins
883. Fire Fighters, paid and volunteers
884. Slow rains that last all day
885. Mums in bright, vivid colors
886. Cool nights and warm days
887. Friends who know me and love me anyway
888. Honeycrisp apples
889. Teenagers in tutus and striped leggings
890. Cake donuts
891. Lawns covered with falling leaves
892. Night sounds
893. Fresh basil
894. Church bells
895. A newly washed car
896. Puffs Plus with Lotion
897. Flannel pajamas
898. Apple Fritters
899. The Rocky Mountains
890. Aspens when their leaves change colors
891. Seeing a bear when in the wild
892. Hummingbirds on my deck
893. Phone calls from my children
894. Watching a granddaughter run a cross country race
895. Glow in the dark fabric
896. Sharing an ordinary supper with my husband
897. Finding a great new website
898. High school reunions
899. Little boys with dirty faces
900. Facetime
901. Fresh country eggs
902. Bassett hounds
903. Quilt shows
904. New Bibles
905. Good praise music
906. Shawls
907. Halloween decorations
908. Good face cream
909. Corn on the cob
910. Full moons that are gold when they first come up

Dried Up Stuff

2011-10-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

When we went to Israel last spring - notice how I'm just throwing that casually into conversation as if we just run over there every other day? - we went up on Mount Masada. Way up. On a monorail. Made out of glass. But that's a different story. Anyway when archaeologists explored those ruins they found dehydrated wheat that had been stored as part of the food available for the soldiers/families who lived there a couple of thousand years ago. They took it back to the lab and it sprouted! Not only that but dehydrated wheat found in pyramids has also sprouted! People have been dehydrating food to last from one summer to the next ever since man figured out how to do it. Even during World Wars I and II Americans dehydrated food because of the shortage of canning supplies. All of that has been rolling around in my brain until I finally came to this conclusion: if they could do it, I could do it. And not only could I do it, but I should do it. I can stuff - especially love tomatoes and green beans and soup canned, and we love having it in the winter long after the fresh vegetables are gone. I haven't done as much lately since #1 I've gotten older, #2 it's harder to find farm fresh vegetables where I live now, and #3 I work at a mission in Louisiana in the summer and I'm not at home. Dehydrated foods take up much less space than canned foods and last longer - if stored correctly some can last 30 years!

So first I bought this:

I know this is hard to see but it's black. And that's hard to get a picture of for me - I'm photography challenged. It's an Excalibur 9 tray Food Dehydrator. It's supposed to be the best. My sister told me that. It's about the size of a large microwave but doesn't weigh as much. I can pick it up and move it, which I have to do because I don't have the counter space to keep it out all the time.

It comes with 9 plastic trays that slide in after you put the food on them. You turn on the dehydrator, wait anywhere from 6 to 30 hours depending on what you're dehydrating and it comes out all dried up. The trays look like this.

This is right after I washed them yesterday when I had just dehydrated a case of pineapple slices. Yes, a case (12) cans of Libby's Pineapple Slices in juice (drained) makes 2 quarts plus 1 pint of dehydrated pineapple. And it's a wonderful snack - healthy and delicious. Plus when rehydrated I can make Pineapple Cake. My husband loves Pineapple Cake. I know because I made it once when we were very young.

We plan to make deer jerky soon because we have some meat left from last year and it's time to deer hunt again. I've also dehydrated all this.

There's broccoli, okra, hash brown potatoes, zucchini, onions, corn, apples, celery and more. The small jar in the front - I also dehydrated the apple peelings, ground them up in my blender, and this will make apple tea. You can get frozen vegetables on sale and dehydrate them - put them on the trays frozen! That's how I did the potatoes and onions. I have some real sweet potatoes to do tomorrow and some real white potatoes (not frozen). But I'm going to do some more apples, celery and broccoli for sure because fall is when they're pretty cheap. You can do pumpkin too! And also I'm going to make tomato leather - tomato sauce dehydrated and broken into pieces will store great. I'm going to put it into Food Saver bags with the dehydrated veggies to make soup in a bag. To store dehydrated foods you must seal them in bags (I put an oxygen pack in mine to take out all the oxygen left after I've sealed it) and store them as much out of the light as you can so they won't lose their nutrients.

If you've been thinking about trying to store extra food in case of whatever - times when the electricity might be out from ice or tornadoes, etc. this is a great way to do it. It takes less time than canning, it takes less space, and it takes less $ to prepare. It costs about a nickel an hour to run the dehydrator.

Does anyone else dehydrate? I could sure use some tips. :)

Oh, and that apple tea? I'm not doing that again. That powder flies everywhere when you're grinding it in the blender and I'm not that Martha Stewart anyway.

It's Fall Ya'll!

2011-10-12T07:58:00.001-05:00

We've finally had some cool nights here and we haven't had the air conditioner on for a couple of weeks - yippee! I'm bringing out a few of my fall decorations, including this tea towel I like to hang on my stove.

But the darn thing fell on the floor every time I opened the oven door, or even if I brushed up against it while cooking. I hear you out there - she said she doesn't cook - na, na, na, sometimes I do. Not often, grant you, but you should see my husband and me, we aren't starving. :) So clever me, I did this:

Can't see it? You aren't supposed to! I sewed a narrow black ribbon on each side, well really 4 ribbons counting the back part, and tied them together. Since they're black, and the stove is black, they disappear! Disappearing ribbons - maybe I'm a witch and didn't know it. :) Anyway it never falls off now!

This is one of my very favorite wall hangings:

It's a Country Threads pattern that I made several years ago. My husband hates hanging it but if it said DEER HUNTING I bet he wouldn't mind at all. :) Just kidding - he doesn't mind hanging things for me but he would like it a lot better if I didn't want them up near the ceiling!

Ar you just drooling over this wool piece? You better not drool on it! Lots of little pieces hand appliqued but really easy to do and gorgeous colors....this picture was taken on the floor at the mission where we work in the summer so that means I finished it while I was there. I should take another of it on my table but this one will have special memories for me so I think I'll keep it. This is a Primitive Gatherings pattern.

And last for today is this one:

I finished this last year and love it so much it's hanging in my dining room. Yep, dining room. Hand embroidery is so soothing, especially when it's simple things like this. I'd tell you who made the pattern but I loaned it to a friend last week and can't remember.

And for those of you who have made it all the way to the end of this I hand embroidered this snowman in a sunflower patch a few months ago when I thought it was going into a month by month quilt. I'm not going to do that so he's getting lonely hanging up on my design wall - anyone want him? Just leave me a comment and I'll send him your way. If more than one person wants him I'll throw your names in a hat and draw one out.

Update: Rhonda from Cobblestone Quilting won the snowman - congratulations!

Sunday Sewing

2011-10-09T14:46:00.000-05:00

When we were in Colorado I bought some fat quarters of white Glow-In-The-Dark fabric. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it but I knew it would be fun to have. The first fat quarter went into this pillowcase.

I did the embroidery on the Glow fabric and it wasn't hard to needle at all - I thought it might be.

I have a couple more fat quarters of this so I think I'll try some applique on it next.

Not too long ago I asked if you Pinterest....a fairly new website where you can "pin" pictures, websites, blogs, etc. on virtual Boards so that you can go right back to them when you want to be reminded. I find Pinterest easier that bookmarks. It seems I look at a bookmark and the title/name doesn't tell me why I wanted to mark it. :( Anyway one of the sites I pinned recently was Perpetual Plum who made a really cute fabric storage cube. Today I went back to that site (I had pinned the picture on one of my boards and it was so easy to find!) and made one of my own.

It was so easy to make and with a little help from my husband (he put in the grommets for me) I had it done in about an hour or so. I did learn a lesson while making it - this would be best done with two cottons, not one cotton and one cotton flannel. I'd forgotten how much flannel likes to stretch!

It's a beautiful Sunday, the sermon was great, the laundry is almost finished, I got to sew a little, and I might even get a nap. :) How was your Sunday?

Just Yesterday

2011-10-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

Just yesterday I was 17 years old sitting in my parents car on the McDonald's parking lot wondering what I was going to do with the rest of Sunday afternoon.

Just yesterday I was 18 and he was 19 and we were standing in the chapel of our church saying, "I do", and crying like the babies we were.

Just yesterday I got home from a doctor's appointment to see him peeling potatoes because we were having company for dinner and I was late, and stopping abruptly when my very first labor pain hit.

Just yesterday we were holding hands walking into the first, but not the last, house we ever bought.

Just yesterday he moved me and our three babies to a town four hours away from family where I didn't know a soul, but it was okay because I knew him.

Just yesterday the first child grew up, then the second, then the third, and we were left with each other wondering "what happens now?"

Just yesterday we held our first grandchild and wept for the joy of it.

Just yesterday we held onto each other as we watched our parents die and his cancer appear.

Just yesterday we went on a mission trip and felt called together to continue on that journey.

I remember all the yesterdays, and especially the one 47 years ago when we stood in a chapel holding onto each other. I remember them with joy and sometimes tears but always with gladness. I hold the yesterdays in my heart but I'm in love with today and can barely wait for the tomorrows. I'm so glad we began this journey in God's house and that He has walked each step of it with us. And that when this part of the journey ends we will still be together in His presence.

2011-10-06T06:08:00.000-05:00

New Life On A Homestead had this recipe on her blog and it sounded so good! I present Breaded Parmesan Chicken:

I don't fry at my house much any more but this was delicious, fast, and easy. Those are the three necessary ingredients for any meal that I'm fixing.

And because I had a coupon, and because they doubled it, and because it was senior citizen's discount day and I got 5% more off it I tried this:

I know you've probably all had Stove Top before but I hadn't. I won't again. It was okay. If you're hungry. And don't mind all that sodium.

I hate to cook. I'm not very good at it because I don't enjoy it. But I do it because there's someone in my house who wants to eat. Two someones. Today I'm cooking a beef roast in the Crock Pot. What's for dinner at your house?

He's Not a Scary Cat!

2011-10-04T16:49:00.000-05:00

Okay I'm patting myself on the back....I pulled out a book I already had, wool scraps from thrift store garments that I had cut up and washed and felted, and stitched with my Vinca thread. That means this was free! Well no I don't count the cost of the book, or the thrift store garments, or the thread, or the electricity for the washer and dryer. Would you?

A Great Find

2011-10-03T08:04:00.000-05:00

I have only a small pantry inside my house. It's okay for day-to-day stuff (I've shown it before) but I like to buy by the case when things that I use a lot are on sale. Storage of these things has always been a challenge. On my carport I have two large closets - they only have tiny "shelves" which are formed by the two by fours which the closets were built of and in one of them we have an extra refrigerator and a freezer. In the other I put a large shelf for my canned goods. That worked okay but it was hard to see things and to find what I was looking for. Last week I ran across a shelf someone was getting rid of and I immediately brought it home with me. I was like a kid saying "it's mine...don't touch it!" This is the result.

Having canned goods outside isn't ideal but this closet has the carport on one side and a porch on the other so the sun never even touches the walls. With the concrete floor it stays cool in the summer. And in the winter with the overhead light on it stays warm enough to keep anything from freezing. Am I organized or what? :)

Do You Pinterest?

2011-09-30T17:46:00.000-05:00

The new button on my sidebar is for Pinterest - which some of you may already do but which is fairly new to me. But I think it's the best thing since sliced bread! :)

Pinterest is a website that you register for (free) and which allows you to collect things you see on the internet, blogs, etc. that you want to remember but never do. Or is that just me? On your page on Pinterest you have bulletin boards where you can "pin" these things you see and want to remember...like recipes, quilts, tutorials, crafts, ways to organize, furniture, anything! When you put the "pin it" button on your tool bar you just click it and it will "pin" that website to whatever board you designate. You can follow people who have similar tastes as you or you can just jump around and look at other's boards by searching for whatever category you want. I recently searched embroidery and found some great ideas!

I'm probably not explaining it very well but take a look at it and if I can answer any questions just e-mail me. I don't know much but I'm learning. I don't get anything if you sign up, I just love it and think you will too.

If you want take a look at my boards to see what I mean: http://pinterest.com/mbushretired/. Click on the thumbnail pictures to see them a little larger. But beware, it's addicting!

Bats In The Belfry

2011-09-30T07:55:00.000-05:00

A quick and easy Halloween table runner/wall hanging. I made this in a couple of hours yesterday - how great for a simple but cute gift! No pattern really....I used a dinner plate to make the circle for the moon and found a bat outline online. The background fabric is Moda but I forget the name - it's a night sky with stars and quarter moons. Do you decorate for Halloween?

Clever...Very Clever

2011-09-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

We stopped at a roadside park in Oklahoma today where I saw the following signs. I couldn't resist getting a picture!

I laughed and laughed...someone is very clever! Can't read them? Let's see if this helps...

Don't you love it! I wonder if this means Oklahoma dogs can read?

2011-09-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

We try to come to The Rocky Mountain National Park at Estes Park, Colorado every year - we love it that much. It's been two years this time since we visited here and I see a few changes. The pine beetles have killed a huge number of pines but I know that's nature's way. Some day there will be a forest fire that will eliminate the dead ones and new ones will sprout up. It will take years - it won't happen in my lifetime - but someday the forest will look just as it has the last few million years. Meanwhile it's still stunning beyond belief.

We've seen amazing sunny days where it started out at 26 degrees in the morning but by noon it was 80!

The sunsets still take my breath away.

These two pictures were taken late one evening after a beautiful sunny day when the clouds descended unexpectedly and dumped snow on the mountains.

We had driven over the mountain and were on our way back when the snow started...I was glad we were almost to the bottom because it's a very long way around if you can't get through because of snow!

One of those sunny days I looked up to see jet trails forming a cross in the sky, almost as if God were signing His handiwork.

Another change we saw this year was that there were fewer elk down in the meadows. I've been told that because of overpopulation there was a large elk hunt recently, which took the numbers down some. But I tend to think we saw fewer because it was warmer than usual and they aren't quite all the way into the rutting season yet. But there still plenty of them roaming around - bulls with their harems!

We were treated to a wonderful visit with this guy this year - the first time we've seen a bear here. He ate berries about a hundred yards from the road for over an hour, totally oblivious to his many admirers standing with cameras and binoculars just down the hill.

This beautiful bird joined us for a picnic lunch in the park one day. He was quite demanding, chattering away when we didn't feed him as quickly as he wanted. We only gave up a crumb or two of bread but it was clear he was used to having his meals catered by the many visitors.

A little hard to see but this is Mama Moose and Baby!

This has been a great trip with my sister...we don't get nearly enough time together! Her Mike was our picture taker so I didn't get a picture of him. Sorry Mike!

Note the dress - my husband, Jerry, in a short sleeved shirt and me in an undershirt, a long sleeved tee shirt and a fleece jacket. Typical!

And this is me saying Bye Ya'll...I may be in Colorado but I'm still southern!

Stars For A Soldier

2011-09-21T21:17:00.000-05:00

John'aLee of The Scrappy Appleyard has posted a request for 8.5" star quilt blocks. Her DD's fiance, Chris, was killed in Afghanistan shortly before he was due to return home. Chris was buried just days before what would have been his and Tory's wedding day. John'aLee would like to make quilts for her daughter Tory, Chris' mom, his two brothers, and his best friend who was in Afghanistan and with Chris when he was shot and killed.

Quilters have the biggest hearts - If you are at all interested in participating please read John'aLee's post at The Scrappy Appleyard. Our military folks do so much for us...this is just a small thing we can do to help repay one family.

Tuesday in Kansas

2011-09-17T19:16:00.000-05:00

We left Arkansas on Monday headed for Estes Park, Colorado by way of Winfield, Kansas. We always stay at a small campground in Arkansas City, Kansas, far away from the crowd of the festival. There’s been a horrible drought here and there’s little to no water in the ponds; even the rivers are showing lots of sandy bottoms with small streams still flowing down the middle. Oddly enough the sunflowers/black eyed susans are still blooming beautifully, as are a few other wild flowers.

Because we were here early we went to the movie on Tuesday night. Saw “The Help” by the way and thought it was a great movie. The theater was quite large I suppose – 8 theaters. There were a total of 7 people, including us, in “The Help” and no one in any other theater. No one. Nada. It was eerie it was so empty. Tuesday night in Kansas is silent and dark and there are few people out.

We stopped and bought festival tickets at their down town office.

There’s still a real down town in Winfield, and in Arkansas City too. Small, but hanging in there! Driving around you can still see traces of what it was like in the fifties. Picture the shaded streets and sidewalks of your childhood and you’re seeing Winfield. There’s a nice, small college here which means they have all the fast food you want on the main highway; but off the highway it remains almost in a time warp. I love that. We visited the college coffee shop and McDonalds to read e-mail but didn’t want to waste much time on that.

It got cold and windy and rainy. Even under the roof of the grandstand the rain blew in. I wore long underwear and jeans, a short sleeved tee, a long sleeved tee, a sweatshirt, a coat with fleece lining, ear muffs and a hat, gloves and covered with two blankets. Oh and opened the umbrella in front of me to try to keep the rain off! And I was still cold. The music was good, the food wonderful, the friends worth all of that! This picture is of my sister and me...she's on the row above me. Only my eyes showing!

When we drove by the campground next to the fairgrounds this is what we saw - and we were so glad we didn't try to camp there!

Back in the camper I have this great “coffee table”.

We found the basket at WalMart a few years ago and Jerry put casters on the bottom for me. You’d be surprised at all that it holds!

The pink sack contains the patterns I bought this week in Newkirk, Oklahoma at a little quilt shop I found there.

Underneath is my iron, a top I’m working on, my Featherweight and all the things I need to sew with.

My dining table is perfect for that!

I’m making another jelly roll strip quilt, this one from Moda’s Favorites of Kansas Troubles line. I should have it finished in another day but I brought another jelly roll with me, just in case. And of course, lots of hand work.

Right now DH and I are riding out a terrible storm in McDonalds. There's a tornado watch until 4:00 a.m., it's hailing and the lightening is awful! Wonder how long they will let us camp out here using their internet. :)

Anybody miss me? I’ve been gone nearly a week already! J

Somebody Please Tell Me You've Done This Before!

2011-09-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

Boiled all the water out...every last drop. Eggs burst, some with shells browned. Hmmmm, now what?

Cornucopia

2011-09-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

I finished another table runner - and if I do say so myself my machine quilting is getting better. I'm no expert but I can at least see improvement!

We've had a regular visitor the last few mornings. Can you see him? And yes I know my swing is turned backwards and the chairs aren't straight....they just got a new coat of stain and, well, they need "arranging". But it seems the swing needs a couple of bolts so I'm waiting for that before I put things back together. It's time to add some mums out there too!

He's way down on the corner of the dock keeping watch over the lake. Can you see the mist rising off the water? When the mornings are cool it does that...or late in the evenings when it's hot and up at the dam they open a gate so that the really cold water off the bottom of the big lake comes down our way. It's another of those physics things, which I don't understand, but that's okay, I can still enjoy the beauty of it.

I know, not easy to see. I'm not sure what he is - some kind of crane maybe. I've named him Harold. Not that he knows or cares but I just thought if he was going to hang around I needed something to call him. :)

Unexpected Blessings

2011-09-08T08:41:00.000-05:00

This week my husband and I are with our church team in Baldwin, Louisiana at the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) mission (Sager Brown) where we worked during June and July. Last night we went out for dinner to a nearby town to eat at the local diner. Jerry and I always try to eat here at least once while we're here because we love their fried shrimp.

There were six of us from the mission, most in UMCOR tee shirts so we were easily identified when we entered. We all ordered and were waiting for our food when the waitress came back to tell us that our meal had been paid for by a woman who was a regular patron of the diner. Ms. Sheila always pays for an UMCOR group if they come in while she's there - she does it often. We have no idea who Ms. Sheila was since she did not identify herself and had already paid and gone when the waitress came to tell us. What a wonderful blessing and surprise for us! We left a thank you note with the waitress to give Ms. Sheila the next time she comes in, but also with a determination to "pay it forward." It's fun thinking about ways we can do that and I've thought of several already - but I'd love to hear some suggestions from ya'll. What would you do to pay this forward? And I'm wondering if we all could determine today to do some little thing to brighten a stranger's day....just think how many blessings that would be!

Just Exactly What Do Retired People Do All Day?

2011-09-01T20:52:00.000-05:00

Does anybody ever ask you that question? I get it, in one form or another, quite often. Sometimes it's subtle - "oh I could never retire, I'd be so bored!" Sometimes it's kind of nasty - "I can't retire; I have too much still to offer/do." Sometimes it's true curiosity..."what exactly do you do with your time?" It occurred to me this week that maybe I could just explain what I do.

I start my day with Bible study and a Diet Dr. Pepper. I know, Aspartame, but I don't drink coffee. That's my excuse. :)

Then I eat breakfast and if there's time I scan this:

That happens about once a week. I make my bed, read my e-mail, sweep the kitchen, and start the laundry.

I'm not sure how it happens but we generate more laundry now that we're retired than we ever did when we were working. I think it's because when I was working part of my clothes went to the cleaners and also it might possibly be that when I was working I wore one set of clothes a day. I came home and went straight into my pajamas as soon as I could! Now I might get dressed, clean house, get hot and sweaty, shower, change clothes, go run errands, change clothes to something more comfortable, etc. You get the picture. And husband is the same....I can't always keep up!

Next are the errands that have to be run:

This is the pretty lady who gives me an allergy shot, and this is me getting said shot.

Both arms...yuck!

If I'm lucky I get to go have a manicure and/or pedicure here:

from this sweet lady:

Back in the car to stop at the pharmacy - I'm a coupon queen so I'm always looking for bargains whether I need them or not. :)

By this time I'm getting tired and need a pick-me-up at my favorite spot. I promise I don't do this every day, or even every week. I do, however, keep a gift card well supplied just in case I am overcome with the craving.

My car needs an oil change. This cute young thing carefully drives my car away. Somewhere in the distance a minute later I hear tires screeching. It's not my car, it's not my car, it's not my car. I repeat that over and over.

I take my I Pad with me, and my chai tea latte, and read blogs while I wait. Then it's time to pick up a few groceries.

Finally, I head home. But on the way I remember I need some tabs for a Bible I bought last week so I whip in here.

Okay, errands done for the day! I should go to WalMart but it's past noon and I'm tired so I put that off for another day.

Pulling into my driveway this is what I see. I take a minute to stand and admire this beautiful tree in my yard. I do believe this is the most beautiful it's ever been!

When I get home I put away the groceries, change clothes and start the next chore:

I make my own laundry detergent.

And my own fabric softener. I saved the Downy container and just mix it up in that. The detergent I make in a big bowl, then store in plastic containers with lids.
Finally, I grab a few minutes to do this:

I'm working on something special but I can't show you now - it's on to the next job: supper. I hate to cook but my husband loves to eat so it's a necessary evil. I cook, we eat, I clean up.

It's 7:00, I'm tired, and it's time for NCIS. It's always time for NCIS. So I sit down to watch and stitch for a couple of hours.

Somewhere mixed in all that I talk to my sister and my friend Connie and my friend Jo and my friend Sandy (I have lots of friends!), and my aunt Joyce. I make a to-do list for tomorrow, I read a few minutes, I shut the cabinet door my husband left open, close the drawer my husband left open, pick up the newspaper out of the floor beside my husband's chair and throw it away, reboot the wireless router twice when it goes off and on multiple times, chat with my husband about the above cabinet & drawer & newspaper, :) start the packing for an upcoming camping trip, sweep the kitchen again after husband comes in from mowing the yard, make a reminder on my calendar to return the library books and pay the Visa bill, .....you know by now that I could add to this list many more little things I've forgotten.

Now the most important question of all: how did I get all that done when I worked? How do you get it done if you're working? Is this some sort of natural phenomenon that has an explanation involving physics and gravity? Because I honestly don't know the answer! If you know please tell me. But if it involves physics and gravity don't bother. I'm too tired to understand that stuff. If it involves math, go ahead and tell me. I can still add and subtract.

A Book Review

2011-08-30T18:59:00.000-05:00

Recently I was given the book Spiritual Warfare For Women Spiritual Warfare For Women by Bethany House Publishers in exchange for writing a review of it. I was given a choice between several books but chose this one because it’s a subject that isn’t talked about much in my church but really ought to be!

The author, Leighann McCoy, started her foreword by reminding us of the mayhem taking place in our world today and wondering if Satan could have anything to do with it. We know that Satan exists because he’s mentioned even by Jesus (John 12:31; 16:11), but just how is he working in our lives and how can we guard against his invasion?

The book is divided into four parts beginning with a discussion of the love of God, our most powerful weapon of all, worked through identifying the enemy and how/what Satan targets in our lives, and ended with how to defeat him.

There’s a lot of good information in this book but my favorite section was identifying “who my enemy is.” I drew a double line under the statement “There is no opposite to God. The devil is an opposite only to the archangel Michael. He is a created being. Remember two-thirds of the angels are on our side!” This advice was given to the author by her pastor and is a great reminder that Satan can’t compete with our God!

In several sections Ms. McCoy focuses on relationships and how Satan tries to demolish them. We women are so dependent on relationships…with our husbands, our children, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors…because they seem to define us, that if we’re not careful Satan will try to undermine them, and thus gain entry into our lives.

This was a good book, easy to read and understand, and will give you ammunition for the battles Satan wants to fight.

2011-08-28T16:38:00.000-05:00

I started my week last Sunday by going to see these two pretty ladies - on the left is Anne (I went to high school with her) and on the right is my sister Sherry. Anne's house in northwest Arkansas is halfway between Sherry and I so we met in the middle and got to spend three days with each other and with Anne. Anne and Sherry both had husbands who worked for the railroad when they were young-just out of school-raising kids, and became fast friends when their daughters took dancing lessons together. We all share the same faith, the same memories, the same friends - which of course means we laughed and we cried and we told secrets...none of which I will share with you here. :)

Driving up to Anne's means going through the mountains - a beautiful drive no matter the weather. The whole time I was there it was cloudy with a few showers and every once in a while a glimpse of the sun.

The roads were curvy....

And I had to go through this tunnel....

that is really dark and scary inside!

But besides the great visit I also got to see this gorgeous chapel in Bentonville - an unexpected treasure in that small town.

When I got home on Wednesday I was just in time for my husband to take off for the deer woods. Yes, I know it isn't deer season but you see here in the south there's this phenomenon that I call pre-season madness where they all go to the camp to "get it ready." I'm not sure what they do there, and I don't really want to know, but I think they mow and put out corn and rebuild winter weathered deer stands, and eat and tell lies. I'm positive about the lies.

That meant I got to spend three days in the sewing room. I've had this project on my mind for a while so I focused on it the whole time and ended up with these table toppers:

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

Summertime

Autumn Leaves

The other three are completely finished - binding and all. This one is about 3/4 finished...I've done the blanket stitching but haven't finished the embroidery. The others were done completely on the machine but this one is hand appliqued and embroidered. My goal is to do one for each month so I'm well on my way. I already have a July one but I just can't decide on September - when I do it I'll have one for each of the last 6 months of the year. The first 6 months won't be too hard to pick I don't think - snowmen for January, hearts for February, kites for March, flowers for April, ??? for May, and something summer for June. Got any suggestions for me? I mean seriously, I could use some ideas!

And this week I'm going to clean out the camper, scrub it from the winter, restock the pantry, put in my winter duds, gather up some stitching and the lawn chairs, and be sure I have lots of quilts. In a couple of weeks we'll be heading to Winfield, Kansas for a bluegrass festival and then on to Estes Park, Colorado to spend hours in the Rocky Mountains watching animals and shivering beside the camper visiting with friends. The night temperatures there are in the forties - yea! And the bluegrass festival in Kansas - so fun! Lots of contests...fiddle, dulcimer, guitar and more. Lots of festival food....turkey legs, roasted corn, ice cream, funnel cakes. Hmmm, I better be sure I have plenty of Tums. :) I'll take some pictures of the camper when I get it all cleaned. It's a wonderful home-away-from-home...two recliners, a king sized bed, a full sized shower, and the most important thing of all....a bathroom!

One of the blessings of my life is that I have generous family and friends who are willing to house sit, get my mail, sit on my deck, water my flowers. Of course, it helps that we live on a lake. :) Tell the truth, you'd want to sit out here and watch the world go by too...right?

Do You Use Space Bags?

2011-08-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

Why is it that stuff in my linen closet seems to multiply when I close the door and it gets dark in there? I confess I usually have nice, organized (sort of) closets. In my linen closet I even have labels that say, "twin sheets", "double sheets", "beach towels", etc. I know, sickening isn't it? Anyway I also must have a bit of a hoarder in me because I just can't get rid of sheets. They're perfectly good and I might need them one day but since I went from a 5 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom plus sleeper sofa house I don't need them all at once. And since my grandchildren and my children come to visit I need extra pillows. Say "yes, you do Marlene". I needed a solution to the overflow. So this week I drug out the extras and dumped them on the floor.

Four Pillows

One set of twin sheets and four sets of queen sheets plus three flat king sheets.

And then I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond (love that store!) and bought space bags. All those extras now look like this:

I closed the closet door and haven't looked back. I mean I really haven't looked back. I'm scared to. What will happen if one of those bags springs a leak? Will it blow up when I open the door? It won't knock the house off it's foundation, right? Say, "No, it won't Marlene."

Summertime Quilting

2011-08-21T00:01:00.005-05:00

I love this quilt! It's one of those easy jelly roll quilts where you sew all the strips together end to end, cut off the first 18", then put the two ends together and sew the length until you come to the end and do it all over again. Make sense? Anyway, I made this one in April at our Quilt retreat (I love it! I was previewing this when I realized I typed guilt retreat instead of quilt retreat! Freudian slip?) but this week I finally got it quilted. I did a very simple wavy line in every strip, then an extra wavy line between every other line. I just wanted it to have a little movement and I think that did the trick. It isn't the oldest top I have that needed quilting, but it just screams Summertime to me so I loved working on it. The binding is strippy, made from a few strips I saved back for it.

Edit: if you are interested in making this quilt look at this link: http://blog.heirloomcreations.net/?p=1897

Hmmm, a little out of focus? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? With the aging process I never know. :) This wholecloth pillow is the one I finished on the mission trip this summer. I washed it, put the backing on it, bled on it, washed it again, and finally stuffed it and stitched it closed. It's very plain but if you could see it the stitching isn't bad!

I made this Autumn table runner this week too. I did a machine blanket stitch around each letter and each leaf, then to quilt it I did an outline stitch around each leaf. I thought it didn't need much quilting so I put the binding on and called it good. But I didn't like it and it kept fussing at me. I'm not sure how that works but it's like things yell at me when they aren't finished. You understand that, right? So I went back and stippled the whole thing...well not the leaves, but the whole background.

Now it's happy. Or at least I think it is because it's silent.

I've done a couple of other little things this week too...appliqued my initial on my quilt wrap, traced off the ingredients for a table topper for Thanksgiving (cornucopia) and chosen the fabrics for it, found backs for two quilts, one table topper, and two baby blankets and stacked them neatly on my sewing table so they can wait for me, and worked on my embroidered Twas The Night Before Christmas. Whew!

And this morning I'm leaving....not on a jet plane (do you remember that song - can't get it out of my head) but in my trusty vehicle, to meet my sister at a friend's house in northwest Arkansas. I plan to hit at least four quilt shops. Can you say, "hold on to your wallet!" Honestly, I only need one or two small things. I have a list. I will stick to my list. I will stick to my list. I will try to stick to my list.

I'm leaving hubby at home. I will try to stick to my list.

Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, Pioneer Woman, and Me

2011-08-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

I can't cook. I've told ya'll that over and over. I hate cooking and my kitchen hates me. I swear, that room is haunted by the first three of the above names. But my husband's mother could cook. That woman could cook really good stuff. She made stuff I'd never heard of when we married but that I learned to love and miss to this day. She made Okra Gumbo to die for and this stuff called Turnip Stew that sounds perfectly horrible but oh my it's good. I don't eat Bell Peppers but I loved her Stuffed Peppers - I only ate the filling but she didn't care. And every Friday night during football season (my husband was a ball player and then a coach) she made pimento cheese sandwiches. Lots of pimento cheese sandwiches. Everybody she knew would come looking for a pimento cheese sandwich and she made the best. Now I make them for my quilt guild's snack supper and someone always asks me for the recipe. Oh, and when my children have been especially good I make them, or if my husband asks for them, or if the sun shines, or if it rains.....we just like pimento cheese!

I start off with 2 lbs. (yes, I make a BIG bowl) of grated Cheddar Cheese. I prefer to use one pound each of mild and sharp but if I can't find it or don't have it I use mild or medium or sharp or whatever says Cheddar on it. This bowl was my grandmother's - I love it, crack and all. It's my pimento cheese bowl and my bread bowl and my bowl I use any time I need a really big bowl.

Add two of the big jars of pimento. Except they really aren't big - have you noticed that? There's a small jar and a big jar. The small jar is about the size of a quarter and the big jar is about the size of a half dollar. Well maybe that's an exaggeration; they could be a little bit bigger. But not much!

Boiled eggs: add some. I think I might have put 5 1/2 in there. I boiled eggs and the grandchildren love them so I had to boil more. Except they only eat the whites. The 1/2 came from the one the little guy took one bite out of and put back in the bowl. I cut that half off. Or did Grandpa eat that one? Maybe I put 5 in there. Chop them up some but don't grate them or make those tiny little pieces that you aren't even sure they're eggs any more. When you stir this up those little pieces tend to disintegrate.

Chopped celery comes next. I prefer the inner stalks, leaves and all, chopped fairly fine. But if I've already used those I'll use the bigger stalks. Just be sure you take most of the strings off and chop it pretty fine. If the pieces are too big they'll get stuck in your teeth or something.

Isn't this gorgeous?

This part is tricky. I add mayonnaise, light mayonnaise, and/or Miracle Whip. I have no idea how much or in what combination. Whatever is in the fridge is what goes in. And then call in your husband to stir it up because it will make your arms really tired if you try to do it yourself. Be sure you put in enough of that ~~fattening stuff~~ mayonnaise/Miracle Whip to make it pretty moist because after a day in the refrigerator it soaks it up. And when you make this much, unless you're feeding an army, it will last for a while.

I made 20 sandwiches for my guild and there was enough left to make probably at least 10 or 15 more. It's super food - good for making sandwiches, wonderful on crackers, even better in celery sticks, and you could even ice a cake with it. Except I wouldn't eat the cake if you did.

Tion.....

2011-08-17T18:25:00.000-05:00

Relaxation: a nice soft "egg crate" foam, one of Grandma's quilts, a couple of fluffy pillows, a wonderful lake view, and the television is about 3 feet in front of her!

Cooperation: It's hard to spread one I Pad among three children when they all want it at once but one time, and one time only, I caught the two girls actually helping the little guy play a game.

Anticipation: she's patiently waiting and watching for big sister to vacate the pallet so she can take it over.

Instruction: Grandpa was making hamburger patties. I'm not sure what the little guy was telling him to do but he sure was intense!

Stupefaction (bewildered): I've been in this car for two hours - where in the world are you guys taking me?

Transition: moving kids from grandma's car to mom's car. We had fun, but it was time. :)

Do You Know What Happens When You Get Too Much Butter In The Cookie Mix?

2011-08-14T19:38:00.000-05:00

They flatten out like a giant pancake. :)

And the ones in the middle don't get done. But the outside edges are quite crispy. Can you say "fried"? I don't like raw cookie dough but those outside edges were quite tasty. Ask me how I know. I tried to eat my way around the outside so....the ladies in my quilt guild will be a few cookies short tomorrow night.

And someone should tell Paula Deen that despite her opinion, you can sometimes get a little too much butter.

The Help - A book, A Movie, and Friends

2011-08-12T11:30:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl we were very poor. I know a lot of people say that and a lot of them were far worse off than we were. We had a house to live in and I remember well when we moved into it - my sister was 4, my youngest brother was 5, I was 6, and my oldest brother was 11. It was a four room house having a living room, two bedrooms and a kitchen. Oh and a bath. One bath. My sister and I shared a bedroom, my two brothers shared a bedroom, and our living room was also my parents bedroom. I'm almost 65 years old and I can still tell you the address (I lived there until I got married at 18) and I can still tell you the telephone number we got when I was in the fourth grade. Sometimes my grandparents lived with us. The first time that happened Grandpa and Daddy built two rooms plus a big storage room on the back of the house. Then my sister and I moved back there and our parents got a bedroom of their own!

My mother wasn't always well. And when that happened there wasn't always food in the house. But we were always surrounded by women who loved us and watched after us in one way or another. Grandma was one, neighbors were others, and once there was Miss Mary who came to iron. I have no idea how Daddy managed to pay her anything at all on the little he made but I remember well her setting the ironing board up in the living room and ironing all those 100% cotton shirts and pants of Daddy's. I didn't appreciate it then but I sure did later when my husband and I married while he was still in college. Money was scarce for us then so I ironed shirts for guys in the dorm for ten cents apiece. You read right - $.10 apiece! Miss Mary ironed and watched tv and loved on us all at the same time.

When my second daughter was born, and the first was four years old, I was blessed with a second Miss Mary. She came to my house to keep my kids, she cleaned, she ironed, and she mothered me quite sternly. She taught me how to clean a house because that wasn't something my own mother ever learned. She worried over my husband's health if he got sick, and she disciplined my children as if they were her own. That was in 1968 and I paid her $25 a week.

From the beginning of time women have been caring for others. A woman rarely cares if it's her own child or someone else's who needs something; they just do what needs to be done. From breast feeding to caring for the deceased women in times past did it all. And as a matter of fact still do.

I put off reading The Help for a long time because it is painful for me to read of injustice, but when I finally gave in I was glad. I hated the reminder of cruelties that took place, but I loved the memories of women who loved me that I revisited. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

And when I visited Cheryl's blog called Mammy Stitches recently and saw this:

I couldn't resist buying her. She is completely hand made, hand stitched and precious to me. The details are amazing - bloomers, petticoats, skirt, apron, crocheted shawl, bandana with hand-sewn white hair peaking out, and ya'll she's piecing a quilt!

Maybe it's my age - I'll be 65 on October 1 - but even though times were hard, so hard sometimes I thought I couldn't bear it one more minute, I remember the safety I felt when I was with one of the many women who cared for me. I remember my grandmother sewing on the treadle machine making my school clothes, I remember a neighbor giving all the neighborhood kids Kool Aid on a hot summer afternoon, I remember Miss Mary teaching me to iron, and another Miss Mary showing me how to get old wax up off linoleum. Women need women. And I thank God for those women friends He placed in my path both then and now.

2011-08-09T11:17:00.000-05:00

Three grandchildren, one grandmother. We started out like this:
First Andrew wanted the "little bed" (a loveseat that makes a twin bed) with the picnic quilt. I won this quilt from Nan Slaughter over at Pots and Pins several months ago and it has fast become a family favorite. :)

But honestly, no one could possibly expect this little guy to be still for five minutes right? So next was the biggest sister taking her turn with the picnic quilt.

Littlest sister was perfectly content sleeping in the big chair with the pinwheel quilt. After all, she's a tiny thing and fits just fine. And as long as she has the IPad she can stay for hours in that one spot.

But then it came time for lights out. Andrew elected to sleep with Grandma. The girls were just fine where they were. The french doors were open between them and me so they could see me and hear me. This would be perfect, I just knew it would, and I would sleep so good. And I did. Until the two girls decided that they really needed to be in bed with me too. That happened about 30 minutes after lights out. Biggest sister was across the foot of the bed, little brother in the middle, littlest sister on the other side. I dozed. A little. Until 2:00 a.m. when brother needed milk. And he must have needed it really bad because he yelled milk over and over until I got it. Then at 2:30 a storm blew up. Only wind, no rain, but trees waving and dancing and making lots of noise. I moved to the little bed where I slept until grandpa got up at 6:00. Where was he all that time? Oh he was in the back bedroom on the other side of the house sleeping soundly. Anybody want him? I'm giving him away for free.

There's No Place Like Home

2011-08-08T07:34:00.001-05:00

It was good to get home Friday night, even if it was 111 degrees on our deck. I'm not kidding - that was the temperature. The sun went behind a cloud and yippee the temperature went down to 109! We stopped to get milk and bread on our way home, thinking we could survive if we had those two items and the pavement when we opened the car door, well let's just say I closed the door quickly and told DH I thought I'd just wait in the car with the air conditioning on thank you very much. He didn't agree. I swear the bottoms of my feet burned through my shoes!

Saturday morning I woke up with a migraine. Never having had one of those before I inquired of my husband if maybe I'd had a bottle or six of wine the night before and just didn't remember. The light hurt my eyes, my hair hurt and the skin on my head was way too tight. Good grief. A couple of Aleve later I was functioning....slowly. I unpacked some in between rest periods and even made a trip to Sam's. And it was tax-free weekend. Everyone and his brother and two old maid aunts was at Sam's. But with three grandchildren coming on Monday I had to stock up on nutritional snacks like cheese dip and chips, chocolate chip cookies and whole milk. Yes, I did buy whole milk which hasn't been seen in my house since my youngest, who is now 35 years old, was a teen. Every time I look at it I gain 5 pounds.

And speaking of weight I weighed when I got home. Big mistake. Eating in a cafeteria for 9 weeks, where the food is delicious but preserved in sodium, I had gained a bit. I'm having to soap up my hands to get my rings off! I'm hoping that after drinking a gallon of water a day for a month that will come off. As soon as the children have come and gone I'll be back on Weight Watchers. Or fasting, depending on how many of those cookies I eat.

On top of all that our internet is only working from 6:00 - 8:00 a.m. I have nothing good to say about that. You can imagine what I'm thinking though.

But the best thing of all, well maybe the only good thing, this weekend was Sunday afternoon in the sewing room. My trusty Janome was waiting patiently for me and sewed like a dream. Lots of half square triangles were made - 60 to be exact - for an exchange I'm participating in with my guild. The final product is to be presented a week from today (it's a surprise) - yikes! Can you imagine me trying to finish this with a 2 year old, a 5 year old, and a 10 year old? Me either. Wish me luck. Or come over here and help me babysit.

Just a Reminder - and Important Information for the Wanttobe Quilter Campaign

2011-08-07T07:23:00.002-05:00

If you haven't submitted your name for the Wanttobe Quilter Campaign yet - why not? If you're having problems figuring out what to do here's one way to do it:

GET a GOOGLE account

Google accounts are free and simply allow you to have a second e-mail address to use for contests if you don't want it to be your main account.

Don't be a No Reply Blogger

Comments on Stash Manicure automatically go into Madame Samm's e-mail inbox. But if your settings aren't correct she can't reply to you. Here's how to fix that - to make sure you aren't a No Reply Blogger:

Here is what you can do:

In blogger.com, click on Dashboard.

Select Edit Profile.

Check the box for "Show my Email Address."

Save changes.

Easy...right? :)

REGISTER IN this Campaign

Either leave a comment on this post telling me you want to enter the campaign and I'll e-mail you back or e-mail me directly at mbushretired@gmail.com with your name, e-mail address, and telephone number. This information will be sent to Madame Samm but it will be destroyed after the campaign.

Comment on the Appropriate Posts

If you are a Wanttobe Quilter (have no tools or experience) or a quilter who does not have a blog you comment on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

If you are a quilter with a blog you can comment on Tuesday and Thursday.

Be sure you are a follower on this blog and on Stash Manicure and that you also follow each of those who are posting on Stash Manicure. Some of you don't like to "follow" I know - you prefer bookmarking. But just for this campaign you will need to follow. You can always "unfollow" later. :) And when you win you will need to pay for the shipping but:

YES! YOU CAN WIN MORE THAN ONCE

and we ship the lowest rate possible

( may take longer but we have

everything insured)

My Basket Grew!

2011-08-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

I showed a picture of this whole cloth pillow top earlier before I finished the stitching but here it is finished. I took the last few stitches last night - almost the last night we'll be here at the mission (leaving tomorrow).

I should know the answer to this but I don't. I know I have to wash this to get the blue marks off but exactly how would you do that? Should I just throw it in the washer - this came preprinted and I didn't keep the package. Should I maybe put it in a lingerie bag and wash it? Should I hand wash it? I'm planning a throw pillow, not a pillow cover, so I can't wait until it's completely done. I hate when my brain goes on vacation.

Yesterday and today I've spent a little time packing up for the trip home. Don't tell my husband but this basket, it might have been empty when we came down here.

In my defense remember that I won a $100 gift certificate while I was here from The Borne Quilter in Lafayette. Maybe I might have bought a few extra things above that $100. :) He will say, "How am I going to get all this in the car - we're already full!" and I will say, "All those fat quarters will just tuck in anywhere!" and He will say, "mumble, grumble, #&*". And I will smile. And he will fit it all in.

The Passing of a Storm

2011-08-02T18:48:00.000-05:00

Sunday evening storm clouds gathered and the rains came forth. And forth. And forth! It rained so hard I couldn't see my car in the parking lot just a few feet away. It rained so hard that the already saturated ground rejected the offering and cast it up onto the sidewalk and the steps and nearly into the front door. But then the rain abated and eventually dwindled to a sprinkled drop or two as if God's hands were wet and He shook them to get off the last drops. And finally it was gone.

We were left with the most amazing clouds and the softest of colors. Those colors, if I could have captured them, would have been the ones I would choose for a nursery. Soft blues and pinks. It was just a whisper of a color really, not even a full blown color.

A rainbow was birthed by two clouds and if you look closely you can see the very beginning of it peeping out and beginning to wind it's way down, slowly, ever so slowly.

And then the rainbow was gone and the sky glowed. It was as if the light we saw was an echo of some other light somewhere we couldn't see. Perhaps it was a preview of Heaven.

Wanttobe Quilter Campaign Is Here!

2011-08-01T13:20:00.000-05:00

Today's the day! The first day of the Wanttobe Quilter Campaign at Stash Manicure.
I posted about this last week but here's a reminder of what to do so you will be eligible:

Everyone is eligible! There are two categories: the first is for the new quilter, the person who wants to be a quilter but who doesn't have much in the way of equipment or supplies. There are prizes that will help you get that start you need...everything from thread to rotary cutters, from rulers to sewing machines. The second category is for the "old" quilter, the person who's been quilting for a while but who would love to win some great prizes to add to their stash.

Both groups of quilters register in the same way - you send your name, e-mail address and telephone number to a blogger who has the Wanttobe Quilter Campaign button on their blog, like the one I have posted. You must follow or subscribe to that person's blog as well as to Stash Manicure (www.stashmanicure.blogspot.com). Then beginning next Monday, August 1, Stash Manicure will begin giving away prizes, five days a week for three months. Three months!!! On Monday, Wednesday and Friday all you new wanttobe quilters should read the post and COMMENT so that your name will be entered into the drawing. If you sign up with me you must leave my name in your comment every time...that's so I will also be eligible to win. :) If you're an experienced quilter you must comment on Tuesday and/or Thursday's post, also leaving my name. If you don't comment you don't get entered that day.

Because all of the prizes are being shipped from Madame Samm (that's where all the sponsors are sending the goodies) you will have to pay postage because heavens, with that many prizes, there's no way she could afford all that postage. I'm just so thankful that she has come up with this wonderful giveaway and is donating her time and labor to coordinate it - what a blessing that is for all of us!

I've got lots of followers out there that I haven't heard from and I know you all want to win some of these prizes! So e-mail me your information (I promise not to share it with the world!) and then be sure you follow Stash Manicure so you can comment and win. You can e-mail me at mbushretiredotgmaildotcom. I want some of my friends to win...and I'm hoping to win something too. :)

A Time For Everything

2011-07-31T16:08:00.000-05:00

We're winding up our last couple of weeks here at the mission so I wanted to finish up this little quilt that I started earlier in the summer - Paganini by Carrie Ross (Schnibbles). I have the book, which is one of my favorite night time browsing books, and a couple of individual patterns. Love her stuff! Last summer I made a couple dozen pincushions from one of her patterns and gave them away before I left here to folks who work at the mission. I loved making this and when I get home and get it quilted I'll scallop the border and bind it and use it on a small table beside my husband's recliner. And before you ask, yes I'll put glass on top of it because he's notorious for spilling coffee! I did a little more hand quilting on the pillow I showed you last time but ya'll....my fingers are sore! I had to stop quilting last night because of it. My thumb and forefinger feel bruised. :( Not to be stopped from stitching I started the bottom panel for Twas The Night Before Christmas - it didn't hurt to do embroidery. Not sure what's up with that.

This week will be bittersweet - the last week we'll be here for the summer. We're coming back for one week in September with our church team, but in this job, well it will be another year before we do this again. I love it here. I know I've said that over and over but it's true. It is truly sacred ground and lots of good work is done for people all over the world by people from all over the United States.

The other side of that coin is that I miss my children and my grandchildren, I miss my friends and neighbors, I miss my house and my sewing room and I miss my routine. I also miss my bathroom which I don't share with DH. I miss that a lot. :)

But like it says in Eccliastes 3 there is a time for everything...which means there was a time to come here and there's a time to go home. The time has come.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I'm a Six

2011-07-28T13:31:00.000-05:00

I am a 6. A pretty consistent 6 really. Well, except when I'm a 5.5. I used to be a 10. I know some people who are 12s and once I even saw a 14.

This is a whole cloth pillow in the making (it's not really blue - that's a shadow). Part of my problem is arthritis in my hands which results in very little strength. And part of the problem is that I prefer not using a hoop of any kind because of the arthritis (see previous sentence). Hoops make my hands hurt worse. When you use a hoop you can rock the needle and get smaller stitches. If you don't use a hoop you pretty much have to do a running stitch. I like doing the running stitch, really like it a lot actually. It's relaxing and I don't have to think about it. And I guess I don't really mind being a 6 too very much. After all it's not about the numbers, right? It's about the process. If I say that often enough maybe I won't think about the fact that I'm a 6 these days. I can't hand quilt large quilts any more either because of the weight of the quilt. I'm more than okay with that because I'm enjoying the machine quilting but on the other hand, there are some quilt tops that really cry out for hand quilting. Sometimes the aging process makes me shake my head in frustration and sometimes it makes me laugh out loud at the things I have to do to compensate for what I can't do any more. Being a 6 makes me do both. I bet when I get to Heaven I'll be a 20!!!!

Anybody else a 6?

More About The WantToBe Quilter Contest

2011-07-25T18:20:00.001-05:00

I've had some questions about this WantToBe Quilter campaign so I'm going to attempt to answer them the best I can.

Everyone is eligible! There are two categories: the first is for the new quilter, the person who wants to be a quilter but who doesn't have much in the way of equipment or supplies. There are prizes that will help you get that start you need...everything from thread to rotary cutters, from rulers to sewing machines. The second category is for the "old" quilter, the person who's been quilting for a while but who would love to win some great prizes to add to their stash.

Both groups of quilters register in the same way - you send your name, e-mail address and telephone number to a blogger who has the Wanttobe Quilter Campaign button on their blog, like the one I have posted. You must follow or subscribe to that person's blog as well as to Stash Manicure (www.stashmanicure.blogspot.com). Then beginning next Monday, August 1, Stash Manicure will begin giving away prizes, five days a week for three months. Three months!!! On Monday, Wednesday and Friday all you new wanttobe quilters should read the post and COMMENT so that your name will be entered into the drawing. If you sign up with me you must leave my name in your comment every time...that's so I will also be eligible to win. :) If you're an experienced quilter you must comment on Tuesday and/or Thursday's post, also leaving my name. If you don't comment you don't get entered that day.

Because all of the prizes are being shipped from Madame Samm (that's where all the sponsors are sending the goodies) you will have to pay postage because heavens, with that many prizes, there's no way she could afford all that postage. I'm just so thankful that she has come up with this wonderful giveaway and is donating her time and labor to coordinate it - what a blessing that is for all of us!

I've got lots of followers out there that I haven't heard from and I know you all want to win some of these prizes! So e-mail me your information (I promise not to share it with the world!) and then be sure you follow Stash Manicure so you can comment and win. You can e-mail me at mbushretiredotgmaildotcom. I want some of my friends to win...and I'm hoping to win something too. :)

This Is So Exciting!

2011-07-25T00:01:00.007-05:00

Hello friends and followers! I would love to welcome you

to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over at Stash Manicure ( http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com).

They will be giving away quilting supplies 5 times a week for 12 weeks! That's right, 12 weeks!

These supplies will have you quilting

before you know it...everything from sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines...everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

Even if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too...Tuesday and Thursday are days for us..

All you have to do is give me your name and phone number

and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win

anything I can win something to! (And I love winning!!)

All you have to do is be my follower and a follower

over at Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure....

That is all! There are over 49 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love being a QUILTER!

( p.s you will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with a blogger where you see this message)

Ya'll please, please tell your friends, tell your sister, tell your neighbors....send them here to my blog, show them how to become a follower, and then have them send me their info (name, e-mail, telephone). I'll e-mail them with a few more instructions and reminders along the way. We all love winning and I did the math, if they are giving things away 5 days a week for 12 weeks that's like a million chances. Well, that might be an exaggeration. :) It's more like 60 chances but that's a lot! Join the WantToBe A Quilter campaign - you know you want to. :)

A Gray Day

2011-07-23T20:07:00.000-05:00

My husband and I took a little drive today. This little town in south Louisiana where the mission is and where we are working right now is only about a 30 minute drive from the Gulf of Mexico. We've never been to Cypermore Point, which is a state park where you can swim and fish and picnic. I forgot to take my camera but managed to get these three pictures on my phone. Unlike much of the nation the temperatures here haven't been too awful for the last week or so, and in addition to the temps in the low nineties we've had rain almost every day for a week. My office window looks south and each afternoon I can see big clouds rolling in off the gulf. It rains for 20 or 30 minutes and moves on. Today it was cloudy and gray but we still enjoyed the scenery. I was amazed that there are wildflowers blooming alongside the road this far into the summer.

This is a view from my car looking out on the gulf near a fishing pier.

See what I mean about a gray day? What you don't see here are the families having a picnic near by and you don't hear the children squealing with laughter. It reminded me that we make our own joy....the day doesn't have to be sunny to be happy. Our lives don't have to be perfect for us to have a positive outlook. It's all about attitude!
I've forgotten the name of this tree/bush but it was really lovely.

It had beautiful blooms on it but as much as anything I loved the shape of it.

I got to do a little sewing this weekend. First I made this quilt top. I don't have a child picked out yet for Hooty Goes Night Night (Riley Blake Designs) but I bet I can find one!

And then I made a bunch of these:

I'm hoping some time in the next few days to turn these into a top using a Schnibbles pattern, Paganini.

And finally, as promised, I picked a winner for the giveaway today:
Sharon from Camp Gramma you're the winner! I'll be e-mailing you to get your address. Congratulations!

It's Four O'Clock

2011-07-16T19:16:00.000-05:00

This little bush is what my husband's mother called four o'clocks. I have no idea if it has another name - surely it does. She had one beside the steps outside her back door for all the years I knew her. It looks like this all day and then late in the afternoon, about four o'clock, the blooms open up and it looks like this:

There are several of these here on the campus at Sager Brown where we volunteer in the summer. They get huge and have to be cut back, especially when it rains enough to water it frequently.

Something that has surprised me this summer is how many people from "up north" get out of their cars upon arrival and immediately ask me what this tree is:

To those of us raised in the south this is an everyday sight. It's called a Mimosa tree and when it blooms you'll likely see hundreds of hummingbirds drinking from it..it's one of their favorites.

The little apartment we live in is small but comfortable. Each time I come I try to do something to brighten it up a bit. This year they put new carpet in the bedroom and this week they added this:

We had a microwave before but it sat on the counter to the right of this. With the old microwave, the coffee pot and the toaster we had about 12" of counter space. Now we have about 36"! It's amazing at the difference it made - it looks like a real kitchen now.

I finally finished the last of the right panel of Twas The Night Before Christmas.

I can't decide whether to start on the left side, which is as long as this one and might take me another year to do! or to do the top and bottom panels, which are much smaller and would be not-quite-but-almost-instant-gratification. I do love finishes....they make me feel like I'm making progress. So maybe the small ones. I wonder--if you have a big project and a small project, which do you do first? And why?

And last, but I hope not least, this is my 600th post! Oh my goodness, I never dreamed I had that much to say. Well probably I didn't....I just say it anyway! That means that I need to have a giveaway so if you're interested in this little wool candle mat with holly leaves and berries, just leave me a comment below. Oh and this is just for my followers and/or subscribers so you don't have to blog about it. I'll draw a name on Saturday, July 23rd.

Bulldozers and Brights

2011-07-09T10:23:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I got this cute quilt top put together - My 2 1/2 year old grandson will get this for his birthday when he turns 3. It will probably take me another 6 months to get it quilted but since his birthday is New Year's Eve I should make it. :) And what little boy doesn't love dump trucks and bulldozers!

I went to The Borne Quilter in Lafayette last week to spend the $100 gift certificate I won....fun, fun, fun. When I went in my eyes went immediately to this quilt they had hanging on the wall:

I have this pattern at home - I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it because 99% of my quilts are not these colors. I do dark. I do reproductions. I do wool. I do navy, forest green, burgundy, khaki...get the picture? But I fell in love with this quilt! Every once in a while I go in the sewing room and just look at it. Why do I just look and don't start? Because I have no bright fabrics. None. So this is what I spent my $100 on:

This is a good start don't you think? Of course I need more...many more. Anyone have any bright scraps they want to share? :)