The Good, The Bad and the Giveaway!

Do you remember when TV shows used to say,

"We pause for a Station break"?

Well, we are pausing in my quilting story for a break.

Not really a station break. 

More like a Machine Break. 

But first, some good news.

Remember Logan's Story?

It is being featured over at  

Stash Manicure as I type. 

Take a visit and read the comments, 

everyone is very touched by his story.

Ok--now the bad news, 

but continue to stay tuned as I have a giveaway

 way down at the bottom!

If I believed in luck I might say right about now,

"I've had a good run of BAD LUCK".

But, instead, I pretty much believe I must need a lesson in patience. 

{ To you newish followers-- I just got rid of my GOOD machine that had some issues. 

A different good machine awaits me in layaway.}

Yesterday, DD came up to help me while I sewed some blocks for a block exchange. 

That should have been my first clue! 

(when do we ever not have a fiasco when we attempt to be together?)

It started with her getting a flat tire, (of course);

and moved on to something worse in my book. 

(but probably not to her).

I just sat down to THE MACHINE

(that I refuse to name)

and was struggling with it working again, when guess what?? 

That is the screw that holds the needle in place,

along with HALF of the needle holding componant part thingy. 

It is broke right in two. And, that part that looks metal?

Plastic as plastic can be. 

GOOD GRIEF.

No needle, no sew.

I  had 36 blocks due to be mailed Monday.

Here is what some would have looked like.

I had a large variety.

The nice ladies in the exchange agreed to take my blocks over

and finish them themselves.

So...with no machine...I thought,

let me cheer myself up and check out this new layer cake

that I got on sale. It is to be for a quilt for my FIL.

I opened it up...and got short-changed!

That greenish rectangle is on top of a full size brown square.

It should be square too.

I actually had planned a design that uses every single square of fabric 

in the layer cake.

Now I'll have to sub something.

GOOD GRIEF. again.

All that I have posted has happened in the last 24 hours.

So, I need some cheering up. 

How about a give away?

How about 2 brand new, never used,

baby quilt books??

(I really don't want to be interested

 in baby stuff again anytime soon!)

The rules...

1) you must be a public follower

2) leave me a cheerful comment.

Giveaway ends at midnight November 6th, 2010

Open to everyone.

My Quilting Story--Part 1

Christmas 2002 

was probably one of the best Christmases ever, as far as gifts go anyway.

Look what came in the mail:

For Seth was this cool Spiderman quilt.

This is the front and back. 

I wish I could show you more of the back;

 it hangs on the wall,  

and I tried ssssooooo hard to lift it higher, 

but my bummed up shoulder wouldn't allow it.

And since I took the picture, in the dark, with the flash going off and still didn't wake Seth--

he was no help at all!

It was labelled, "Where's the Spider?-Man!"

On the back side (well actually that's the front but Seth likes Spidey showing on his wall),

there is a small metal spider sewn onto the quilt. 

Hence the name...WAY COOL, huh?!!

This bright green spotted quilt came for Amy.

Its title--"Smiles Always"

For me was a very heavy thick warm rag quilt called,

"Yotz of Pets"

(at the time, my last name was Yotz and we had several dogs,

several horses, probably a few hermit crabs,

some pet goats, and who knows what else at the time.

This is well worn, as our late Big and Fuzzy Dawg claimed it as his. 

We even had to take it to Texas when we traveled.

(Sheesh, there I go again, tearing up, missing that big goofball. 

And all the other little goofballs we've had over the years)

When all these wonderful quilts came in the mail...

I was hooked. 

They were among the first that the quilter made,

sadly, they were among the last as well. 

I will tell more about that tomorrow...

It'll drive you Happy!

Do you name inanimate objects that belong to you?

I had a car once named "The Green Pickle"

I cannot believe I found this photo. That's my Green Pickle!

See the yellow stripe on the bottom? Mine had that too!

I like that..."It'll drive you happy."

Hey...it got me where I was going!

I have NOT named my current sewing machine.

I think I could call it a few names, but I'm a nice person.

I will say, It does NOT drive me happy!

Do you see the needle alignment in this photo?

It doesn't look like much, but it is not in the center.

 It floats. All by itself.

That is NOT good for accurate quilts.

It also tends to skip stitches, all the time.

I am still trying to get to the root of that problem.

(Possibly due to it's floating problem?)

Do you see the bad corner on this piecing?

I suppose the glare doesn't help; it is all chewed up.

And, in case you are going to ask, I had a leader piece. 

A bunch, in fact, as I was chain piecing.

I have never, ever seen a hungrier sewing machine than this!

The machine was designed for heavy sewing,

such as denim or leather.

I have never had trouble with it when sewing denim.

It's just not made for delicate work.

Meet Lydia

Oh, no, she isn't home from the pen yet.

(She's a Janome Horizon that is in layaway for those that don't know)

Why name her Lydia?

Well, I was kind of set on that name for my last baby,

but it didn't work out so good since he's a boy.

I think the name Lydia is very pretty and fitting for such a fine machine,

 don't you?

Lydia is made just for quilters, 

and do you want to know what one of the coolest features is?

 

If you don't sew, you'll have no idea what it is,

but if you do...do you see the little hole where the needle goes down?

That is a special piece that raises up to the plate when you are piecing 

so that the machine can't eat your fabric!

It will be a very, very long time until we can bring Lydia home. 

So, until then, I keep her photo on the end table.

(Right next to granddoggy Coco)

And continue my fight with 

THE OTHER MACHINE.

That's ok. I'll just appreciate Lydia all the more!

Just an afterthought...I may end up just going and getting something a lot less fancy than Lydia,

because I have a couple of quilts commissioned and I don't know if I can stand sewing them on 

THE OTHER MACHINE.

I hate making decisions!

A scratched up Order

Last week my life was 

C R A Z Y

I know that you have all had weeks like that,

so I'll spare the details.

Last week's Words of Me challenge word was

ORDER.

I wasn't feeling it until Sunday

when a particular passage jumped out at me 

when I was supposed to be listening in Sunday School.

Well, I was listening...but I did chase a little rabbit in my head.

(Sorry Gary!!)

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7

I don't need to worry about how crazy life is getting around me...all I need to do is trust!

When I sat down Sunday night to do my ATC

(which really isn't an ATC at all as I am keeping my Words of Me ATC's for me!)

I decided that I wanted to just return to my childhood 

and make a fun project. 

Not fancy, just simple and fun.

I had step by step photos, but OF COURSE,

the memory stick decided to blitz, 

so I could only take a finish photo. 

Remember when you did those scratch drawings as a kid?

I colored the whole card all over with all different colored pencils.

The fun, crazy way that I colored it was to represent how crazy life was last week.

 (Photo really needed here!)

Then, I colored over the whole card with a black crayon.

And scratched the word TRUST big across the middle.

Then I added the word ORDER (because, after all, this was the word this week)

and I scratched Phil 4:6-7.

I fancied it up with some ribbon that to me looked like little worlds spinning around.

 At least to me it is to represent that.

(Yes it is simplistic...Kindergarten simplistic...but it was fun to just scribble for once)

And on the back I wrote a bit of a journal entry,

ponders about the word "Order".

(Not pics...it's just for me)

I am not a journaling type person,

but I think I can handle this once a week. 

My first ATC

A week ago, before some crazy life stuff happened, I started following another blog. 

Well, actually, that is NOTHING out of the ordinary for me. 

I follow.

I purge.

I follow.

I purge.

Do any of you do that, or am I completely alone on this spin cycle through blogland??

In all my crazy blog wanderings, I stumbled upon this neat blog called, 

Words of Me Project.

What is the Words of Me Project?

Well, at the beginning of each week we are given one word to ponder for that week. 

I am not going to tell you what this weeks word is. 

I am not ready to blog about it. 

I'll tell you in a day or two. 

So...let's rewind a week.

Last week's word was 

BLISS

I thought about that word all week. 

I tried to think about the many times in my life that I felt total Bliss.

The first time in my husbands arms,

The first time holding my son in my arms.

A piece of fudge made for me by a thoughtful young man last Christmas

(after a very long sugar free pregnancy!)

But, really, don't these blissful moments on earth only seem to last a moment?

So, I got to thinking about long-lasting Bliss.

And I started looking up Bible verses. 

Psalm 126:3 seemed to be the one that stood out this time.

So, I looked it up in all versions.

This is from the NLT and states it quite Blissfully I think:

Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What Joy!

The verse inspired me to create my very first ATC.

It isn't much, but it was fun!

Readin', writin', and 'rithmatikin' 'round here

How I would LOVE to go sit quietly beside a stream and write to my hearts content.

Blogging has opened a whole new world for me. 

Lucky you! LOL

I have always loved to create with my hands.

I am very much a left brain person, 

but my hands try ever so hard to manipulate me into the opposite.

(In writing this blog I played around with various Right brain/left brain quizzes on the net. 

I am happy to report that while Lefty Brain is dominant,

Righty Brain does stand her ground at times!!)

I also LOVE to teach.

I always have.

Right now, my 12 yr old DS is having some school struggles.

So, for the next week

It is all about our little...

I'll be back to blog your ear off in a week or so!

Until then, it's all about Math, Science and History around here!

A Glimpse

October 16, 1945 

my beautiful mother was born.

She was beautiful her whole life.

As most would say about their mom,

She was beautiful inside and out.

And loved her children.

She loved planning our costumes.

And doing things with us.

Here we are before girl scout camp.

She was head of the PTA...and so much more!

She tried to make special moments for our family. These next two brought tears to my eyes.

I must have loved Snoopy even when I was really little, because look at this photo I found. 

It was labelled "Tonya's Party Favors"

Then, there is this photo:

It was a Christmas Eve candle light dinner...at home.

How special is that??? Look how dressed up we were!

Only, I don't remember any of this.

October 1, 1978 my mom died just short of her 33rd birthday.

I was 8 years old. 

When you say someone was missed by the whole town, it was true in my mom's case. 

Here is the evidence:

It was a time capsule they actually built into the wall of the school gym, in her honor. 

Life really changed for me. 

I mean really changed. 

I got moved to a new home, new school.

Never to see my friends or even some family again.

Much more happened that doesn't need to be told.

The events that followed my mom's death were very unfortunate, and caused me to have a brain block.

I don't remember my mom at all, except her laying there in that casket. 

That is the ONLY picture I have of her in my memory. 

To this day I am against open casket funerals.

 What a dreadful thing to be the only memory of  a wonderful mom!

Sometimes ~ like when writing this blog~ I try hard to remember her. 

But it doesn't happen. 

I wish she could be here so that my kids would have a loving grandma to take them places. 

But, God wanted her to come home and be with Him.

And that's ok. His plan is best, and she didn't need to suffer any longer. 

I just thought I'd let you see a tiny peephole glimpse into my past....

on this, what would have been my mom's 65th birthday. 

You might be a Hillbilly If...

 To my friends--in the states and abroad--I received an email the other day that I felt just had to be passed on via my blog. It is addressed to Americans, as I am fairly sure that "Hillbillies" are just an American type culture. 

But, you can appreciate the values no matter where you live....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You might be a Hillbilly if: It never occurred to you to 

be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God..' 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You've never protested about seeing 

the 10 Commandments posted in public places. 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You still say ' Christmas' 

instead of 'Winter Festival.' 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You bow your head when 

someone prays. 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You stand and place your 

hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem

You might be a Hillbilly if: You treat our armed forces 

veterans with great respect, and always have. 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You've never burned an 

American flag, nor intend to. 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You know what you believe 

and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening. 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You respect your elders and 

raised your kids to do the same. 

You might be a Hillbilly if: You'd give your last dollar to

a friend. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take a reflective look at the core beliefs of a culture that 

values home, family, country and God. 

If I had to stand before a dozen terrorists who threaten my life,

 I'd choose a half dozen or so hillbillies to back me up. 

Tire irons, squirrel guns and grit -- that's what hillbillies are made of. 

 I am proud to be one!

A Hope Chest full of Fun!

A fun pile of quilts are packaged and on their way!

Some one is going to go on an African Safari:

While someone else is going on a hunt for Egyptian Mummies:

Some little girl is going to love dreaming of sandy beaches and Hawaiian Luaus:

While another little boy is going to go on a Daring Dino Hunt!:

All of these fun quilts are from my beginning days of quilting. 

I have held on to them all this time, just waiting for the right occasion.

I have found it.

Margaret's Hope Chest.

Is an organization that was born because a grandmother was mugged and murdered.

Her grandchildren decided to do something in her memory.

They started a wonderful organization that

donates quilts to the children of inmates. 

Isn't that wonderful?

Since we live a 'prison life' as I call it

(my husband works for the state as a prison case worker,

and we live in a town that houses TWO state prisons,

pretty much everyone you know knows someone who works there),

I would love to start a similar ministry. 

I am always nervous about new things,

but after the holidays I am going to see what I can do and how to go about it. 

Amy's collection

I really miss my daughter.

She is married and lives about an hour and a half away.

Now that her husband is home from war, I never get to see her.

She is just too busy.

Recently, before her husband came home,  I called and had her come up for an 

AMY CRAFT DAY

Before she came, I had Jerry spray paint a plain jewelry box from Hobby Lobby.

First he did a coat of blue, then a coat of white.

Then I had him sand off all the edges, and lightly sand the sides.

He thought I was crazy until he saw how it looked:

The hardware was an antique finish, so I had him paint them white:

I sat Amy down with some Mod Podge,

and had her line the different drawers with favorite papers:

I think she made some pretty choices, don't you?

Then she decorated the top. 

She mod podged some paper first, 

then added an 'A' and some fun 3 D flowers.

Amy didn't want this box for jewelry.

She has a lighter collection. Yes...a lighter collection. 

These are just the lighters she had in her car the day she came over. 

No..she doesn't smoke. She's just always has thought that lighters are fun.

And now she has a pretty box to keep her pretty lighters in.

LOL ~ if you knew my daughter, you would think,

"This is SOOOO Amy!"

I miss you daughter.