Waking Up The Blog

When it comes to blogging, I have fallen asleep on the job!!! The grandkids have been here a lot this summer, and I have treasured every minute! Now I am on a 3 week withdraw! I learned just this morning that TJ lost his first tooth....I didn't even get to see it wiggle :( One more week and I will see them again!

In the meantime, we have stayed busy here. My mother and I took Kyle, Charlotte, and Zach to the Discovery Center one day. They all loved it! Here are some highlights.....
School officially starts for us in the next couple of weeks. We are planning a trip to Galena with the kids before our start date. Charlotte has been working hard to start her Freshman year....Zach starts 5th grade. Where has the time gone? Oh...Charlie starts piano lessons tomorrow. She is THRILLED!
I never did show you pics of my new sewing area. I am so happy I moved it back downstairs. It is a little different than last time, but I like it better this way!My Grandma's hutch is in the far corner, where it was before, and it is filled with pretties and old antique quilts. I added this cupboard to the room....it will hold bigger pieces of fabric.
On the quilting front....lets just say I have been in a rut. Not for long though. I am still appliqueing leaves and then I can get the UGRR in the hoop. I am also playing with my 9-patches. I bought this yardage of red and am toying with the idea of using it for alternate blocks....but I think I may do a fence rail in between them. Either way, it is next on the list!!!
(Blogger keeps leaving big spaces and if I close them up, they go right back....Blogging has been frustrating lately with all the Blogger glitches going on)

I broke in my new sewing area with this little runner. I even machine quilted it in the ditch *GASP* That won't be happening very often!!! LOL

Lots of Spiritual growth here. Attacks from all sides and God showing me exactly how to handle them at the exact right moment it needs to be handled. Pray for our neighborhood. We are in a battle to keep our children safe. We know and TRUST that God is in control and I am so thankful that the Lord trusts me enough to give me this task! I love it when he clearly shows me HIS way verses my own way.
More times than not, in difficult situations, we see through a cloud and are not quite sure which way to go....this time the road was well marked!!! Praise GOD!!!

I will try not to stay away so long. Now that our schedule is back on track, it should be easier to keep up this little blog! Thanks for stopping in!

Making Things Pretty

As I dusted my family room, I was thinking about a post I read with my coffee this morning. My friend, Copperswife, shared a quote in a post titled, Gracious Living. It was a simple, yet powerful quote and had me thinking as I polished my tables. When I came to "my" table, this is what I saw.....
I sit next to this table and do all my hand work...applique, quilting, binding. That little brown pottery bowl holds ALL my supplies for all of these tasks. The dip container (I know...kinda tacky) holds my prepped leaves for my current applique project. Note the little papers from last night's finished leaves. I decided to make this area look more "gracious". The dip container gave me an idea..... My Mother-in-Love had bought me this beautiful set of ceramic bakeware and included were 2 small dip bowls with rod iron/wicker holders. They are very pretty. I pulled them out and filled one with all my applique supplies. The other holds all my hand quilting supplies and I left my binding supplies in the brown ceramic bowl. Right now I am only using the applique supplies, so the other bowls are on my sewing table in the studio, ready to pull out when I need them. The area looks much nicer and more inviting than the "Helluva Good Dip" container sitting there.
Gracious Living....it is in the smallest of details. Go read the quote....I am writing it on a card and posting it on my frig!
Yesterday, I did go back to the dry cleaners, and yes, the same lady was there. Zachary and I entered the store with a smile and and a cheerful hello. I chatted with her while she completed my order and again, thanked her for being so kind as to forgive my harshness from the last visit. She was very sweet and treated me with the utmost kindness. I wished her a very blessed afternoon and left with a smile, and Zachary with a sucker...compliments of the lady. ;) Making that phone call was NOT easy for me. It was a big slab of humble pie and I did it KNOWING she was wrong and I was right...at least in theory. I read this post after dinner last night and my attitude about making that phone call changed instantly. I was so glad I did it.
My mom and the kids and I went garage sale-ing yesterday. I got some great stuff. I don't buy junk...usually. This item, may appear to be useless...and in my home it is.
It is an old bag filled with old time clothespins. I have no clotheslines...that is another rant, but I will keep it to myself...and there is no usefulness to this, but it makes me happy. It looks quaint hanging in the laundry room near the washboard my Father-in-Law gave me years ago. It is the washboard used to scrub diapers in their home some 60 years ago.

I did find some wonderfully useful items. These books were a treasure to find!!! At a buck 50 each I could not pass them up. Little did I know the value that would be in those pages!Great American Quilts 1989 caught my eye, because it is around the time I started my first quilt. It has patterns for so many quilts I could see myself making! Lovely stories of quilt-makers and their designs from the 80's. A perfect book for my library!The Bazaar Patchwork book is loaded with "Gracious Gifts", a gorgeous sampler quilt and some great Christmas projects! I plan to try a few of these soon. Look at that cute heart and hand needlebook in the lower right-hand corner. Too cute!And who can pass up an Amish/Mennonite Cookbook??? Especially one filled with quilts!!!! I plan on using some of these recipes very soon. The photography in this book is incredible!!
There were some other wonderful purchases made, especially one from my mother for Charlotte, but you will have to wait to see that one. ;) Kyle and Zach came home happy too. Kyle with a couple of movies and a WoW Worship CD, and Zach with a new-to-him baseball glove (that was like new anyway) and a softball, so now he can throw the ball with dad and big brothers! It was a good day for all of us.

Today will be sweltering hot so I plan to finish up my dailies, get my laundry done, and applique leaves! I am on side 3, and hope to see side 4 before bedtime!

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

She Perceiveth That Her Merchandise Is Good

The grandkids are gone, and though I am sad, Sassy is thrilled! Emerson decided Sass needed to be in her litter box at all times....meaning whenever she saw Sassy, she would pick that kitty up and drag her to the box, saying "Kitty go potty" all the way!!!! Sassafras was NOT amused...at all.

I put my desk chair from the man room, into the studio. It makes a WORLD of difference in my ability to sit for longer periods of time at the machine!!! Zach and Em tried it out for size.
Emerson loves to watch me sew and hands me pins as she declares "I sew too." Yes, she will be a quilter!! Don't worry..the machine was not on!
I am getting ready to finish up a round of my latest, and largest, piecing project. This quilt has, and will, consume many hours of work. I anticipate some late nights with it in my hands. The next round calls for ORANGE!!!!! A light and a bright on a white background.
This passage of scripture from Proverbs 31 reminds me of the work being done on this quilt.
"She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." Though my fabric purchases were made at my local fabric shop, these cuties were ordered from Daisy Cottage Quilting.The blue, floral, stork scissors are mine, and the angel scissors are for Charlotte. She LOVES them. She is really working hard at her embroidery and she is making an afghan for a sweet neighbor who gave her a bag full of wonderful yarn. If you haven't visited Sharon's shop, click on the link. She has a wonderful inventory, and my scissors arrived in record time!
That is all for now. Have a blessed Lord's Day , and I'll see you next week!

Catching Up

It has been a while. I thought I would share the highlights of our last couple of weeks. Mother's Day was fun. We had a cookout with my mom and sister. I love family get togethers. The very next Sunday, Zach was baptized.I had shared how I visited a new church, but we ended up going back to the one we had been "visiting" for months. The kids love it and I find the doctrine to be sound and the Pastor and his messages to be an inspiration. I just could not connect with the ladies. On Easter, I watched my mother, who was visiting the church, visit with many of the women and she seemed to connect just fine. After discussing it with a sweet friend, we figured out that maybe, just maybe, it was me....go figure. Maybe my face carried my nervousness. I made certain to relax my face and smile more and you know what....I had more women than I could count come up to me and greet me! That was a life lesson!!!!

Over the past 6 months or so, I have been dealing with increasing fatigue. I was getting concerned and thought maybe it was a thyroid problem, or worse. I found out yesterday, I have a severe Vitamin D deficiency. I am to take a prescription supplement for 20 weeks. I am praying I will see some improvement in my energy level!

I have made myself get things done, and even did some spring cleaning! I did my walk-in closet, which needed it desperately!!! Boy does that feel good!! I got all my winter clothes on one side.......and my summer tops, dresses and skirts on the back wall. The 3 baskets are for dirty laundry. How do you keep the laundry situation organized at your home? Here, each kid has a hamper and then I have these 3 baskets in our closet for towels, lights, and darks.
I got the shoes all weeded out and put back on the rack.Sweetheart asked me NOT to weed out his wardrobe. I know he was afraid I would get rid of things he wanted to keep. He is correct. I left his side alone, except for the shoes and making his side look "neater".
I found my favorite cleaners at Target. My sinks are all shiny and I bought the wonderful smelling hand soap for next to the sink.It hasn't been all work and no play. I have gotten some sewing done. I will be able to show you the progress soon.I had some special time with the grandkids on Sunday too...least we forget the important stuff!
Hopefully, my boost in Vitamin D will allow some major workout sessions to help me drop the extra weight I am carrying. My food diet has gone well and I have lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks. Now I am off to pick up the car I bought. Since Sweetheart has been working, and our oldest son is using our Jeep, I have had no wheels! That changes today!!!!

Have a blessed day!!!!!

Tis The Season

My Aunt Pete called to make sure everything was fine here. It had been too long since a blog post! LOL Everything is fine, just busy. I spent some time in the new studio working on a table runner. It is one I have made before as a gift, and loved it so much I promised myself I would make one for me one day.
I also whipped up a fleece blanket for my nephew for Christmas. I made him one a few years ago and he carries it everywhere with him. It is way too small now, so he needed a new, larger one. My grandchildren came and spent the night with us last night. TJ helped me make cookies. He has his own apron here...one he made himself.I love that kid!!! Grandma's guy. He sat next to me last night while I worked on the sailboat quilt. He looked at it and said, "I'm glad that quilt is not for me Grandma. I LOVE the rainbow quilt. Can I have the rainbow quilt? I really really want the rainbow quilt, Grandma. I would LOVE the rainbow quilt. I hope the rainbow quilt is for me, Grandma." Crap. The "rainbow quilt" is my new 7000+ piece project.....he can have it when I die. I have no idea what to do now......*sigh*
Emerson was a joy! She loves to play the piano. She looks up at the picture of Jesus when she plays.Or she giggles at Uncle Kyle....She was having a bad hair day....Grandma sprayed it and put it up for her. She played cars with the boys for a while.

Then she got a hold of my purse and carried it around for a long time.
She is a beautiful girl. I adore being her grandma!

The house is decorated for Christmas.

I am not in the Christmas "mood" like I usually am. Mostly, I will be glad when it is over...not a bah humbug, but certainly not singing Christmas Carols either! I am looking forward to a new year. 2010 was not the best of years around here, and I am anticipating 2011 will be MUCH better. I am already thinking about my new goals......

Are you starting to think about the goals you will set for 2011?

I'll be back to share more on mine.

Have a blessed weekend and thank you for letting me share my week.