Bits & Pieces!

The last couple of weeks seem to have flown without getting much accomplished, but here's a little bit of what I've done!

Quilts & Projects! Our local quilt guild did a quilt display at the library and I had a bunch of my quilts and projects there for display. Just last month we took those down and now I've got to stash all that stuff back where it needs to be. All my finished projects/samples needed to be resorted anyway, so this was a perfect opportunity.

WARNING: VBS Spells Very Balanced Stack (and is at any moment threatening to fall over!) Yes! I have multiple table spaces and floor space covered with VBS supplies. That will most likely continue through the end of July.

One of the guys from church dropped by our house last week and brought me these cigar boxes. They are perfect for some future craft project!! What project that will be, I don't quite have figured out yet....but will at some point in the future. They're nice boxes with a hinged lid. I'm sure I can come up with something.

Buttons...buttons...buttons! I'm sure never to need another button in my life! :) (Saying that and knowing myself all too well, I know that I'll have ever single one except the very perfect one I need!) Anyway, someone gave me a ton of buttons..all colors...all sizes! And each organized in their very own little box. :)

Grandma's last jar of pickles! Ahhh...how I've enjoyed that last jar! Somehow this summer I've got to figure out a way to grow or obtain tons of cucumbers just perfect for pickling! And then head over to Grandma's for a day of canning pickles.

Kentucky Trip Part 3: Sewing, decorating, shopping and "Well, this is embarrassing!"

I shipped my machine, so I knew I had sewing planned. It arrived perfectly, except for one little piece of plastic that was broken on the door of the case that holds my feet, but that's not too big of a deal. Ryan and Krissa both laughed at the crate it came in, but it served it's purpose.

As I unpacked that and prepared to stitch a few things, I began to think of where I was going to put my machine. I considered the floor, as I have done that before, but it's rather difficult to have a sewing machine on the floor with a foot petal stretched one foot in front of you, trying to make the machine go. Scratch that idea. Use the kitchen counter. Yep; that works!



We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday shopping, decorating (you'll never believe what we came up with!), cake testing (that was fun!), bridesmaid dress hunting (got that accomplished!), shoe scavenging (that it an ENTIRE story in and of itself - thanks to the lost phone-speak to me baby!-Claire-DSW Shoes-strange phone conversation episode!) and gift registry planning (quite the adventure!).

We did some trial and error decorating at the church and reception area. Oh my - that was a blast! We tried a little bit of this on the railing...and I think we've got that figured out!


And then we tried this decorating style....now just what would you call this??

All of us (except for Jena! :)) came to the conclusion that this is better!! :) lol!!! It actually started this way because I needed Jen to hold the fabric at the top so we could try wrapping the columns. Well, how can you wrap fabric without wrapping her in it?!?! ;)

Perfect!!! Now just stay there all night, Jen!!! :)

I know, I know...if this is the only idea we had, we are in huge trouble! :)

After spending the morning/afternoon shopping with Emily for dresses, we needed a lunch break! Especially Ryan! He endured hours of dress shopping with us! :)



And then Jena brought out her iphone (love that little piece of technology!) and we started watching youtube videos for advice and inspiration. Really!!! You wouldn't believe what's on youtube! Just as you can google anything for an answer; if you want a visual guide, youtube it! :)


So our next planned activity was gift registry shopping! You have no idea how Krissa has looked forward to touring Bed, Bath & Beyond with that little scanner in her hand! I'm not sure she was ready to let go of it when we left! But she had plenty of items to add to her list!

Believe it or not, Ryan did get a chance to scan in a few things!! :)

The hard part - decisions! But there seems to be enough choices, don't you think?!


And after those jam-packed full days of activity, how did our evenings usually end?? Yep, computers, facebooking each other in the same room (I know, it's silly, but we have fun with it!), talking, laughing, watching Andy Griffith....


....and oh, yeah....the "Well, this is embarrassing." message! I could try explaining the meaning of this, but it really wouldn't make a bit of sense, unless you were there. And when you are at the point of laughing so hard as we were, anything and everything seems funny! :)

Shipped....to Kentucky!

It seems like the past few months I've had my sewing machines coming and going from my sewing room and this week has been no different, although for a much better reason than all the previous times! Since Krissa doesn't own a sewing machine and I'm supposed to be doing some sewing for her, I'm shipping one of my machines to Kentucky.

Jena and I are planning on spending a week with her this month and I'm sure I'll be doing some sewing as well as several other things while we're there!

Anyway, I was a little reluctant to ship my machine, but I really couldn't see any alternative, so Dad used an old toolbox he had and padded it with foam so it just fit my machine with room for a few sewing supplies as well.

It seemed to fit very snuggly and once we had it full, we snapped the lid shut. And when UPS picked it up, he asked me, "Is it a sewing machine?" Lol!!! He knows me all too well!!! :)

Hopefully I remembered to pack everything I'll need. More than likely, I'm sure there will be something I'll be wishing I had packed from my sewing room, but at least I know the most essential item will be there. :)

From 2000 to 2010; what a difference 10 years makes!

2009 is gone and 2010 is here! As I've been thinking back on the last ten years (the last five especially).....oh, so much has happened! Our family has changed dramatically, friends have come and gone, jobs have changed and so much more!

In that year of 2000, who knew that...

...I would work at Southgate Fabriques for 7 years, starting out knowing so little and working my way to teacher, store manager and now owning my own business in that same field.

...the statement I made the summer before would be proven totally false. Yeah, I only stated so firmly to my sisters, "I enjoy sewing, but it's not something I would want to do every single day."

...my first plane flight would be to Washington D.C. for a Bernina sewing machine convention in 2001. And that was before 9/11 and all the security was of the utmost importance.

...I would buy my first sewing/embroidery machine - a Bernina 180, soon to be followed by three other machines.

...a car phone the size of a letter size sheet of paper would turn into a cell phone that could handle photos, texting, email and much more only being the size of a credit card. And that we have become so reliant on that piece of technology.

...Jena would graduate as a LPN and later as a RN (well, we did know she would eventually do that!), work at at the Women's Center in Dodge and then work at Meade Hospital, all the while loving her job!

...Krissa would decide print journalism was her field of expertise and would attend BJU.

...we would spend hours on the road taking Krissa to and from BJU and attending her graduation. I can so clearly recall Mom looking forward to that moment and then as it turned out, she wasn't here when she graduated.

...we would move in a three story house just down the road and Dad would remodel it to use as a rental house.

...Grandma and Grandpa would celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and then Grandpa would only be with us for a few months after that.

...our family would be hit with a huge blow of discovering Mom's brain tumor and three months later watching her step into her eternal home. Only 10 months after Grandpa was gone.

...Krissa would move to Birmingham, Alabama (Mom would have loved knowing Krissa was in the same city where she lived for several years.) to intern at Southern Accents for 6 months.

...I would buy my very first laptop computer. And now to think I can't live without it. Well, not that original one.

...technology could change so much. To the point where it would be the basis of my business; from buying and selling to teaching online to students in other countries.

...watching Dad loose Mom would be the hardest thing I've ever been through. And how that loosing someone changes your entire outlook on life.

...I would unexpectedly find "someone just like me", named Joanna, in the most unusual circumstances, proving that God brings just the right person into my life when I didn't even know she was needed.

...Krissa would travel to California before settling in Lexington, KY, working for of all things - a farming magazine. She can't seem to get away from "the farm".

...Jena would move to Oklahoma City to fulfill her dream of working in a NICU at Children's OU.

...attending Camp Good News every summer would still be happening. Even though it's dwindled to only me, myself and I instead of all three of us.

...a certain person named Ryan would come into Krissa's life and our family would return to the happy number of five. (Becoming official this year!)

...and through it all God has remained faithful!

God has allowed hardships and struggles in our lives and yet in so many ways blessed us as well. As I look forward to the next year and following years after that, I can't begin to imagine what they will hold. Just as 1o years ago, who would have known the above. I'm thankful that even though I don't know and nor care to know, God does. And through the fun times and difficult moments, He continues to be the same unchanging, awesome God that He is.

Hmmm...the last few weeks!

What happened to the last few weeks?! That, I'm not quite sure I have an answer to. As I looked at my last blog post, I could hardly believe it was early December. That seems quite a while ago! Here's a quick recap!

- Bernina 830! - Recently I purchased a new sewing/embroidery machine which I am totally loving!!! It has been a bit of a challenge learning all the new features and threading techniques (don't ask me why I had bandages on two fingers for a couple of days....! :)). I took a couple days off from work and just spent that time becoming familiar with my new 830. Ahhh...I just love it. And thankfully when I'm in doubt about something, Joanna is just a phone call or email away. :)

- Sewing projects! - Yes, I had some of those. Actually I've had quite a fun time stitching several things for Christmas this year with my new machine. But as usually seems to happen, I had a couple projects where I was on a Christmas deadline to complete. The final one, an embroidered memory cactus quilt, was finally complete on Christmas Eve. And yes, I have photos of my projects from this month and hopefully will upload them to my website and embroidery blog in January.

- Ryan & Krissa - As it turned out, Ryan and Krissa decided not to come home for Christmas for several reasons, so I boxed up a rather large box to send to them. Ahhhh...was that fun! I get the greatest joy out of decorating a box to be mailed or putting fun things inside for the recipient to open. I spent wayyyy tooooo much time one night printing labels to put on all the items I sent, but it was great fun! And as they opened the box and the toilet paper flew out, I can just imagine the surprise on their faces! How I would have loved to be a fly on the wall! :)

Here's a pic of what I sent:


My favorite has to be the Joy dish-washing soap! :)


- Jena - Dad and I were by ourselves Christmas day since Jena had to work, Krissa and Ryan weren't home and we were getting together for Christmas at Grandma's on Saturday. As it turns out, Jena had a Christmas to remember...spent at the hospital! Christmas Eve day, Oklahoma City was pounded with 14" inches of snow and blizzard conditions that closed all roads coming and going everywhere.

Since the day nurses on duty couldn't leave (the hospital declared a disaster) and the night nurses couldn't get into work, the nurses who had already worked a 12 hour shift were left to continue on into the night. She did manage to get a quick break, but ended up being at the hospital for 36 hours and working almost all that time before she could go home to her apartment. She was never so ready to sleep in her own bed!

- Christmas! - Saturday evening we went to Grandma's and spent the evening with all of Mom's family from around here. Jena did make it home to Kansas that afternoon and it was fun to get together at Grandma's again! Especially since we had Grandma's pickles for dinner! Ahhhh...that would be worth just about anything! :)

Jen and I spent the weekend watching the Christmas Shoes, chatting, laughing, facebooking Krissa, remembering fun times and eating white trash candy mix. (If you haven't ever tried that stuff, you should! It's the new candy I made this year!) The only thing we missed was our annual pitch game since there were only three of us around. No hilarious, funny videos this year! :)

No matter what happens...

...God is sovereign and fully in control of each and every little thing. I know that, but to keep trusting that fact and not worrying about things has been easier said than done the last couple of months.

Yesterday afternoon I had the all-too-familiar-situation of having my embroidery machine turn off without success of turning back on...again. And then the same all-too-familiar-situation of packing it up, loading it in the car and taking it back to be repaired...again. The last two months I've dealt with this over and over again.

Needless to say my frustration level has gone from minor worry to major panic several times because I didn't have a machine to embroider or stitch what I needed to do...all with deadlines creeping closer and closer. It seems that one area of my machine would be fixed and then something else happens. Right when I seem to need it the most.

As I walked in the store, dragging my machine behind me, one of the ladies that works there said, "Well, at least you're still smiling."

Ummm, yes, I was smiling and at the same time thinking that looks can be deceiving. Can I honestly say that's the way I felt at that particular moment or that afternoon as I watched my machine turn off again? No, not really.

But when I'm at a total loss as what to do and not particularly liking the situation I am in, I know there is Someone to whom I can turn. Someone to whom I can pour out my thoughts, feelings and frustrations when everything seems to be going wrong. Someone to whom I can trust every single day even when I'm feeling overwhelmed with everything that is happening.

Taped to my computer screen is this little saying that reads, "Don't worry about tomorrow...God is already there!" He is! He created me and loves me! He's allowing these situations in my life to cause me to lean and depend on Him more and more.


When things like this happen that I have no control over, I have no choice but to fully rely on Him. Continually praying and asking Him to help me take one day at a time and quit worrying over tomorrow, the next day or next week. How privileged I am to have a great God who is in control of everything!!

In one word: crazily busy (Ok, maybe two!)

Yes, that seems to be the defining two words for last week, this week and next week. All I can think of is getting this one thing done I'm working on and then moving onto the next. Crazily. Hectically. Late nightsly (ok, maybe that's not a word, but you get the idea.)

Last week and this week I've spent getting my online class lessons finished up. Since my machine has been seemingly crashing every computer board it runs on, it's been out of my possession for over a month, which has put me behind schedule. So last week was big time catch-up week. Thank goodness for a fabulous Bernina dealer and a loaner machine! Ahhh!

Saturday morning I had planned to attend Erinn's baby shower (friend from church) which I think I was there a total of about 5 minutes. As it turned out, we had a funeral dinner at church which I was asked to help serve, so I was busy with that. But I did get to sneak in on the shower a couple of times.

Kid's Klub has started and it's been a fun time! I know I really haven't posted anything yet on that, but I will once I get a chance. Since we've started a new program right after school with a new time frame, it's taking a while to gather a group of kids. We only had a couple the first few Wednesdays. But praise the Lord for a group of 7 kids last week! Erinn and I were thrilled and excited! Although that's been one more thing to cram into my already crazy week, it's always a fun couple of hours spent at church. And that time spent is of lasting eternal value.

Fall seems to have finally arrived! It's been cold here. Well, it feels cold to me anyway since it's been in the 60's. But we've had some cloudy and windy days which makes it seem even colder. Plus Dad started the fireplace last week, so that really makes it feel like winter. I guess capri and flip flop wearing weather is over....*sigh*

As for this week! Exciting news! Jena and Krissa are coming home for the weekend! Whoohoo!!! I'm excited!!! Krissa hasn't been home since March and it's always more of a challenge for her to come home since she's 15 hours away, but that's the plan. It will be fun to have a little more excitement in our house for a couple of days.

Although there are days that Scamper and Skittles have enough energy during the day and night to cause ALL kinds of excitement. The unwanted and frustrating kind. ;) Do you know what it's like having a cat trying to catch a fly at night, on the ceiling, right above your bed? Not pleasant!

But since my sisters are coming home, that means I probably should clean the schoolroom so there is more than just a one foot path to walk though all my SS and Kid's Klub stuff. And I'm sure they would like a room to sleep in, so that means moving my stuff off the bed. And in addition to that, it would be much easier to navigate downstairs without boxes at the bottom of the stairs, thread strewn all over the floor and the chaos of last week still evident.

They don't ask for much, huh? However, I'll gladly comply to have them home for a weekend!

What happened this week?

Good question! Lots! August turned into September which has brought some cooler days than we've had in quite a while. Dad had the doors and windows open for a couple hours in the morning several days this week. The cooler weather has been nice after those hot summer days.

Plus Jena, Krissa and I have had several conference calls and skype meetings (still working on the skype thing - web cams have issues at times!) with each other and that's been a blast! The trying to get it all figured out has been just about as fun (there have been some not-so-fun-moments) as actually talking to one another. :)

Monday - the 31st. I spent the day getting last minute details uploading for my online classes. I started a second Latte Quilt class with over 100 students enrolled. I'm thrilled beyond thrilled! I can't believe all the interest in this quilt! Keeping up with two large classes in addition to everything else will be a challenge, but exciting!

Tuesday - The dentist. If there's one thing I hate doing, it's having dental work done and my mouth being numb. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. I went in with the thought of having only part of my mouth without feeling and ended up getting out of there with both my right and left sides of my face numb, even up to my nose and ear! My mouth still isn't quite back to normal almost a week later.

Wednesday - Sorting and organizing orders and inventory. With the start of a new class always brings an increase in orders, email and inventory. Which all has to be sorted, filed, packed and shipped. Some things I've just managed to get in and it ends up going right back out the door. Email can always be a challenge to stay on top of each day, but so far all has gone really smoothly!

Thursday - Planning future classes. My local quilt guild had their meeting that night and I had paperwork to plan, prepare and get ready for a couple local classes I am teaching there. It's been a while since I've taught a local demo class, so I'm looking forward to doing that in November and March.

Friday - Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Friday is my normal day for doing laundry and my weekly house cleaning chores, but for some reason I was on a cleaning spree. Much to my delight I got lots of it accomplished! More than I planned on getting done.

Saturday - Fall decorations! I took down all my patriotic stuff last week and had gotten a small start on fall. And then finished it today! Ahhh...my favorite season of the year! In between putting up leaves, wagons and pumpkins, I was also trying to help Jena recover her phone that died. But the decorations are up and at least now Jena has her old phone working so she's not totally without one.

That mischievous cat of mine!

I'm not sure I should leave Scamper alone with my machine while it's stitching! :)

I know, it's been a little while....

....since I've written anything here and no, it's not a lack of things going on....it's the fact that there's not been enough time in the last 10 days to actually finish a single post!

For some reason everything came all at one time, even though I was planning otherwise (like that's a surprise!). Last week we moved Jena to OK City (pics to come!), followed by several things I had to have completed and ready for a Vacation Bible School meeting (oh....I've got fun pics on that too!).

Then I had to finish up some camp memory work and lessons (I know, it's not here til July, but I had to get stuff in early for the staff books). And then in and amongst those things, I was trying to finish my spring cleaning, plus I spent one day at Grandma's washing her windows. So much for getting my spring cleaning done by the 20th...it's still not complete.

After finishing several sewing projects for customers and time spent hunting down fabric for several future projects for customers, I finally was able to stitch a design on a quilt block I needed to do last night. And what do you know - I stitched it in the wrong color. Not because I threaded the wrong color, but merely because the colors were not grouped correctly.

I gave up.

I want to bed.

Today has started off to be much better.

Sometime, I think the issue is that I set unrealistic goals.

And now that Scamper has quit jumping up onto my lap and on my keyboard - btw, I already deleted her keystrokes in this post - I can finally "Publish"!

A glimpse of my day through photos

fresh cinnamon rolls

sink full of clean dishes

bowls of pancake flour

fresh fruit salad

clean folded laundry

finished quilt block

my babies!

Guest room is clean and furniture has arrived

Our converted guest room is on it's way to being completed. It's cleaned and painted and the furniture was delivered a week ago. I even bought pillows and sheets last week since the sheets we have are too small to fit the deeper mattresses.

I also ordered blinds which should arrive this week. And then I have to decide what to do for curtains. But before I decide that, I have to decide what quilt I'm going to put on that bed. It's not like that is a must-have-tomorrow decision, but I've been thinking about it.

My first choice would be to put my Latte Quilt in that room, but that's not going to happen now since that quilt will not be complete until next year when my classes are finished.


Second choice would be my burgundy Beyond the Color Purple quilt. Jena thinks that quilt is hers, since it's burgundy, but it's still mine. Maybe I'll give it to her as a wedding gift one of these years.
Third choice would be my yellow/purple MJE quilt. I'm staying away from this one just because the colors are really bolder than what I want in that room.

Fourth choice would be my pink MJE quilt. That is my number one pick right now as it is the best match for the paint, the quilt and shams are complete and it's a soft color tone for that room. I'm just not too thrilled about doing pink in that room. Hmmm.....


What do you think? It's not like I don't have any choices or anything....:)

And if you are wondering what happened to all of Jena's stuff that she had in that room.....it's now in....

...the schoolroom and...

...in Dad's room.

And in another month will be hopefully out of both rooms! Not that I'm trying to get rid of Jen or anything, but since she made the decision to move, she can take her stuff with her. ;)

To Colorado and back

My Easter weekend trip to Colorado turned out to be fun and exciting as usual! I had several reasons for making this trip to CO and was able to get all those accomplished. Hooray!

Snickers - Joanna wanted one of my Siamese kittens and since she didn't want another Skittles (have I mentioned that Scamper is the exact replica of Skittles??), Snickers is the one! He did really well traveling the 6 hours and the trip went by really quickly. The fact that my attention was on this little four-legged furball probably helped that fact greatly. He was a little fussy getting started, but soon settled down on my lap, above my head or around my neck and was content.

Here are some pics and yes, I did take these while I was driving, but I was careful! :) My only fear is that I would get stopped and a police officer would see this cat near my head. I'm sure I would have been in trouble...more pics are here....

he started out in my lap...

then moved to the headrest...

and onto my head for the remainder of the trip!

He's adjusted very well at Joanna's house. It took Zippy (Joanna's cat) a few days to adjust to this little white rat running around all over her room, but they seem to have become friends. As long as Snickers doesn't steal all of Zippy's places to sleep, he'll be fine. And Zippy latched onto Snicker's toy mouse that I brought. :)

sleeping with Joanna

sleeping on top of us while we were watching a movie

Denver Fabrics - How can I not go to Colorado and not visit Denver Fabrics? I suppose it is possible, but that would be disappointing. But I did really have a valid reason for going. Really. Honestly. And it wasn't just more fabric for me, although I did find some. Don't laugh, cause Joanna found some too. :)

I managed to get a couple pieces for a bedspread I am stitching for a customer. And I found the perfect combination of fabrics for bathroom curtains. I've looked all over here and online and haven't found a thing. But what I did find was perfect and I love it and the stripe fabric was even on sale (reg. 22.00, sale 7.00)! How fantastic is that?!?! I was hoping for something striped, but didn't think I would find it.

Fabric for bathroom curtains - see that stripe?! I love it and it blends well with the green solid and towels (it looks better in person than this photo!)

Ok, I will admit, I did find some pieces for me. I'll even show you what I bought and it's not that much. Plus I can't get quality, inexpensive garment fabric around here, so I stock up when I can.

Black with pink stripe - What can I say - it's black! And you know I never have enough black stuff to wear! But this has a pink stripe which makes it unique.

Black sparkle sheer - I'm not sure what I'm doing with this, but I loved it. And if I didn't get it, Joanna was going to, so of course, I did. ;)

Gray plaid - Joanna actually picked this one up and then decided that she didn't need it since she had like 8 yards of it at home, so I took it.

Brown embroidered suede - This just feels so nice and I love the embroidery!

Now this is not typical me. The eyelash knit caught my eye because of the color - a beautiful aqua/blue! It just looked so spring looking. Then Joanna found the wild print on the left to go with it. It's quite bold with it's large yellow, orange and green floral print, but it does match the blue really well. I'm still not sure about the print and looking at it in this photo versus in person is not improving my opinion on it. But I'll make a skirt out of it and see how it turns out.

The Thorn - Ok, perhaps my main reason for going to Colorado was to see the Thorn, which is a theatrical production depicting Jesus' death and resurrection. It was excellent! If you ever get a chance to go, you should!

I planned to go to church Sunday morning with Joanna and then start for home, but the weather did not cooperate with my plans. Joanna kept saying on Friday that I would get snowed in and wouldn't be able to return home Sunday and guess what happened? Yep, you couldn't have planned it any better, Joanna! ;) (btw, I know she's reading this! lol!) We ended up getting a full 8" of wet, heavy snow and we did not go anywhere on Sunday. Monday morning was bright and sunny and was the perfect weather for driving home.

My car was covered with snow; of course it was the one with the most!

And while we were getting snow in CO, it was pouring rain here in Kansas. Yes, pouring! Dad said we got 2 1/2"! Praise the Lord for that because we needed it so badly!

Skittles and Scamper back home were a little lost without Snickers and of course, me. The moment I walked in the door, Skittles was in the kitchen to greet me. As usual, she looked thinner than when I left. She's most certainly a one person cat and if I'm not home, she's not happy. Especially if Jena is home.