Angelic Creations

First Photo Necklace Order

2012-01-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

A dear friend of mine ordered one of the photo necklaces from me. It was my first order. It is a gift for her daughter-in-law. This is the 4th one of these necklaces I have made.

This is my friends first grandchild. They have been waiting a long time. I wanted to make them a little something extra. So, I made him a key chain and her a pendant.

Here is a picture of the necklace I made for my sister-in-law for Christmas. The large circle has her and my brother in it. On the back of that one is a picture of their two kids. The first small one has a picture of their son and on the other side is their daughter. The second small one is their dog. On the other side it says family.

Patriotic Ornament

2012-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished up this ornament for my friend. Sharon is the coordinator for the Quilts of Valor in the Idaho area. She has done so much for the organization, and so many vets have been blessed by her work. I wanted to make a little something for her.

Tatting the TIAS

2012-01-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

So Jane Eborall started here 1st 2012 Tat It And See. These are fun to do. You don't know what it is. She puts up a new part every few days. It is fun to see everyone guessing as they work on in.

I finally started it this weekend and am caught up to Day 5 and waiting for the next part. Here is mine so far.

If you want to join in on the fun.....here is the link http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/

Snow and Ice + Cactus

2012-01-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

We received lots of snow yesterday. So, hubby did not have to go to work. Well....not drive truck anyways. He had lots of shoveling to do. Watching are small dogs trying run through the snow after our golden retriever was hilarious.

Before we went to bed, looked out onto the yard and street. All the snow was now covered in a sheet of ice. Looks pretty, but......

When I let the dogs out this morning, found that a large brand of our pine tree had broke and was touching the ground, but stuck. I was worried that either the dogs or the wind would knock it down and through my kitchen window. Woke up my husband to take it down.

I have a cactus, that was given to me. It was just a little piece and was told it was a Christmas cactus. For years, it had stayed real small and now blooms. Then I sent it home with my son-in-law and he got it to flourish and gave it back. After a year we saw the first blooms. Then last year we had lots of blooms. This year we have 1 bloom. Might have a couple more later, not sure. So it always blooms mid Jan. Is it Christmas cactus?

Knitted Baby Hats and Photo Tiled Pictures

2012-01-17T09:32:00.000-08:00

The quilt guild I am in, started looking for projects we could do for charity. Our hospital said they would love to have blankets and baby hats for the babies born at their hospital. I found this pattern and could not resist. I have 3 done so far and another partially done.

We saw tiled pictures at a craft fair. My husband being a photographer wanted to try it. So did my dad. Well I found the info and the supplies. I got this 5x7 one done, with a photo I took this past fall. Then the next day my dad came down and he did an 8x10 of a flower. They turned out great. Can't wait to see what my husband does.

Cake Pops

2012-01-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

I have seen all those wonderful Cake Pops out there and wanted to try them. I was going to do them for my daughter last October, but had not sticks and could not buy them locally.

Jan 2nd, was my son's 25th birthday. Now I had picked up the sticks a month ago. I wanted to try something fun. So I decided to try and make them look like mugs of beer. I used a yellow cake mix. I added some yellow food coloring to the almond bark for the mug part. The handles are pretzel pieces dipped in white almond bark. I used white frosting on top for the froth.

Unfortunately, this is not my talent and they did not turn out the way I planned. Hubby says they look like mugs. My son is suppose to come to town tonight. I will give them to him then. Was going to drive to his work with them, but was disappointed in how they looked and did not want his co-workers to see them.

New Tatting Shuttle

2012-01-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

I have been having so much fun with my photo jewelry, that it has inspired me to use it in different ways. So, I thought......can I make a tatting shuttle from it?

My computer had printed out a test photo of some beautiful flowers. I cut it into shuttle shapes and then did the process. Here is what came out of it. And, it works. I love it.

What I worked on for Christmas

2012-01-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

What a busy end of the year. I had quilts to get done for customers, right up to Thur before Christmas. Not doing that again next year. I also was working on gifts for my family and friends. I really love the new photo jewelry I am making now. I made several pieces for family and for myself. I did not take pictures of everything, but here are a few of the things. I made hair bows for my great nieces with their pictures on them. I also made one for my dog with her picture on it. I made a photo necklace with my husband, grandson, daughter & son. I made one of those necklaces for my sister and one for my sister-in-law. I made photo key chains for their husbands. I made bracelets for several people and some earrings. I made photo votive. Lots of rings. I also made this snap bag for a friend of mine. In the jewelry I am making, there is a technique that looks like the Dichro technique. I made a piece and turned it into a button. It is sewn on the front of the bag. The Batman piece, is artwork that my niece did. I used it in the photo jewelry technique and made her a necklace pendant.

My sister-in-law and I will be doing a craft fair in Spokane, in March. I plan to have my jewelry and dog cloths for sale there. For the photo jewelry, I will be taking orders. I have so much fun with it.

More framed leaves and Christmas ornament

2011-12-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

My husband did another of the framed leaves. My daughter keeps saying "I want that one". It did turn out nice.

Here is an ornament I made for some friends of mine. This is a picture I took at their wedding

What I have been making for Christmas

2011-12-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have been learning new techniques. It has been fun. I have been quilting, quilting, quilting. Only a few more customer quilts to get done before Christmas.

I learned how to make these wonderful ornaments. They are a Japanese Kimekomi. I loved how it turned out. I made it for a gift exchange at my quilt guild, next week. Don't want to part with it. Oh well.

Made another tatted ornament for my women's ornament exchange at church. It was a big hit. I love this pattern. I also tatted a snowflake.

I learned how to make photo jewelry, and have been busy making some for me and some for gifts. Will also be taking orders after the holidays.

My sister-in-law started making these wonderful pictures with the skeletal leaves we brought home from MN. So my husband started making them too.

We are just having so much fun making gifts for everyone.

Annual Mutt Strutt

2011-10-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

They have an annual Mutt Strutt in Pullman. http://www.firstgiving.com/wchsmuttstrutt The had photos, costume and look-a-like contests. They had a form of musical chairs. There were lots of vendors. So many different dogs to see. It was fun, but oh soooooooo hot. Unfortunately the canopy's they set up for us, kept people from coming in. It was too stuffy in them, plus it was too small of an area too keep the dogs from getting into little tiffs.

I was able to get a few things sewn for sale. I sold a few of the kleenex covers and bandanna's. I made three different sizes of the bandanas. They slip onto the collar so they are easy to change. Some of the smallest, were sold to people for their cats. I put the smallest ones on my Maltese, the medium on my Morkie and the large on my golden. With this nippy weather, my dogs are already wearing their cloths.

Here are a couple of pictures of the collars and bandanna's.

Tatting this month

2011-10-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

On the trip to Minnesota, I brought my tatting along. I had Ruth Perry's Celtic Cross but had never made it. I decided to make one for my aunt. She loved it and then asked me to make one for her sister. So I did and got hooked on the pattern. I have been tatting them up like crazy. Here are some pictures of some of them. I used Yarnplayer's HDT for all but the teal one.

Speaking of Yarnplayer's HDT......I saw her profile picture and loved the colors. Being a WSU fan and having a d-i-l there, I always look for these colors. I asked Marilee about it and she died some new thread in Crimson and grey. I can't wait till my order gets here. Go Cougs! To purchase her threads, go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/yarnplayer?ref=em

Here is some other tatting I have been working on. I am tatting up seahorse bookmarks for an upcoming event. The pattern is by Jane Eberall. Here site is http://www.e.n.e.btinternet.co.uk/index.htm

Fun 3d card

2011-10-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

After I got home from MN, I found this fun card tutorial at http://extremecards.blogspot.com/. I thought it would be perfect as a thank you for my Aunt & Uncle. I used pictures from the reunion.

I made it larger then the instructions. I added a little pocket under the cake picture that I slipped in my thank you message and added a tassel on it. 1st picture is the inside. 2nd picture is the outside.

Busy Summer

2011-10-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well I had a busy summer. I caravaned with my children, grandson, parents and my brother and his kids, to MN. We had our first Henderson family reunion. It was a blast. The only down side to going back there is that now I miss every one. On the way there, my 15 month old grandson did good. On the way back he was not too thrilled to be in the car. We drove straight through both ways.

We went to Como park zoo. It was my grandson's first trip to the zoo. Still to young to fully enjoy it, but it was fun.

The next day we went to the caves in Wisconsin. That was a great day, also.

One night was White Castle night.

The last night we had a fun game of spoons. Only a little blood was shed.

We spent 2 days at the Minnesota State fair, and only saw about a third of it. This is a picture looking down the street in the fairgrounds.

The Piney Woods Tatter: October Give Away Event

2011-10-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Piney Woods Tatter: October Give Away Event: The October Give Away Event Goodies Are: Up for grabs this time are: 6 balls of Majestic size 80 tatting cotton in color #s 830, 831, 833,...

Giving your dreams to God

2011-06-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Stressing and stewing........Every moment was thinking about this. On Sunday as I got ready for church and at church, thinking what I would do on Monday to make things work. Pastor had a word that someone in the church was wondering if their dream was their own making or from God. They did not know what to do. Trying to make things work on their own. He said that God wanted them to give it to Him. That He would make it clear to that person. That if it was His dream he gave us, He would make it happen. I knew that he was talking to me. I said "Lord I give it to you" If I am meant to have this machine, you will provide away. If not....." Every time it came to my mind, I said no I gave that to God.
Monday morning started out the same I would start to think about it and say no I gave it God. Then later in the morning, I got a message from my friend saying she could purchase my machine. She would have the money to me that day or the next. I wanted to jump up and down. I was so excited. I said can it really work that fast? I just gave it up yesterday.....well......later in the afternoon I got a call from the bank and they approved my loan. They just needed the invoice faxed to them. Asked about the terms, and it was going to be more than Gammill. Since we are a small town and the people in the bank know us.....I was wondering how to tell them I was going to go with the Gammill loan. Tuesday morning I got the contract from gammill emailed to me and then the gammill loan rep called me. I told her I was waiting to get the money from the sale of my machine then I would fill out and sign the loan contract with a check. She said that the dealer had faxed them the invoice. That is why my bank had not received it, and that was ok with me. Something to tell my bank
Then it was getting late on Tue. and still had not heard from my friend or received the money. I instant messaged her to see if we were still on. Nothing..... Trust God I said. Then Wednesday there was silence again. Thursday the same. My mom asked "Did you get the money?" I said no. She said what are you going to do. I said "Trust God". Kept putting it out of my mind. Then on Friday morning she got back to me and said she could not get the machine at this time. Wow! What now. Trust. I said to my husband "If I get enough money today, for the down payment, I would finance the whole thing with Gammill." Then a customer came to pick up quilts. She brought me other customer checks and unexpected money. I now had the down payment. So I filled out the contract. I had to trust that the money would be there to make the payments. I sent it off. I emailed a few friends to get the word out about my machine to their guild members. I placed an ad on a local site for $10.00. Then I kept debating if I should list it on a longarm site that you pay $35.00 for 4 months to advertise your machine for sale. I finally decided too do it. I advertised it for the price I originally wanted to sell it for. Then I kept putting it out of my mind. Saturday morning I received 2 emails of ladies interested in my machine. The 2nd lady came up and drove it and we discussed it and she said yes. She gave me a down payment and will give me the rest this week. I can still quilt on it til my new machine gets here
So it was a roller coaster ride of trust. But in the end, the machine is going to a great lady. I got the price I originally wanted, which was more than with my friend. I a wonderful story to encourage others. I even contacted the longarm site that I listed my machine on and she had not posted it yet, or charged my credit card. Another win!

New Longarm

2011-06-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

I have been dreaming of a new longarm for years. My Gammill is wonderful and has given me many years of great work, but it does not have a stitch regulator. Just last month I got serious on my search. One lady was kind enough to let me come drive her Gammill Vision. She told me about her dealer. So I contacted her dealer via email. It turned out he had a 3-1/2 year old gammill for sale. Great price and he delivers. Yes. So off to get the financing. Applied with Gammill. Got approved that day, but the payments were kinda scary. Thought I would try my bank also. Then a friend said she wanted to buy my machine. Now she had to wait for her financing. Yes this would be great down payment on my machine. I gave her a better deal on the machine then I would have liked to sell it for. It would help her and help me. So a week went by and nothing happened. Then another week. I wanted to get this settled. Then she informed me that she would not be able to purchase my machine. So I would not be able to use the new quote I got from Gammill that made the payments less, because of the amount down from the sale.

So trying my bank again. If anyone has dealt with Chase, you know that there is always problems. So it was one thing after the other. Looked like Chase would be a no. They wanted me to get my dealer to send them the invoice for the machine to keep working on it. So on Friday I left a message for the dealer to send the invoice to my bank and gave the number. I kept stewing on all of this and wondering what I could do to make all of this work.

DIY the Dish give aways.

2011-05-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

For all you crafters out there. You have to check out the DIY the Dish. Not only do they have great projects that they show you how to make, but they have great give aways every now and then. The one this week is amazing. You only have till May 13 to enter.
http://www.thediydish.com/2011/05/its-our-birthday-and-were-giving-you-the-presents/
Feeling lucky?

Trusting in Him and to sell or not sell

2011-04-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

My business did better last year, then the year before. Not by much, but it must have put us in a higher tax bracket. I don't understand how that can be as my husbands company gave all the employees pay cuts. My business did better than 2009, because that year I had back surgery and did not quilt as much. But 2009, my husband did not have his pay cut. I don't understand it. But what it boiled down to was that I owed 900.00 to the IRS and I have been paying $300.00 quarterly to them to not have to owe. Now my account says I have to pay $500 quarterly. So I started to panic. I have enough trouble trying to pay the $300 quarterly let alone $500. And 900?.......

So I think great, how do we come up with the money. We still have not sold the puppies, so if we could sell them, that would help. But, I have become use to having them around. I have lots of work, so I am working away. I keep reminding myself I have to trust the Lord. He will provide. But but but..... Trust. I even tell my son that. So we go on. Waiting for the customer checks to come in. We get till the 18th now. Yahoo. Will it be enough? Trust. By Monday morning we get enough customer checks in plus money out of savings to send off the IRS payment. But wait........I have to write another check for taxes to Idaho. Not enough there. Got to get it in the mail anyways. Still left with needing money for the $500 quarterly check that is do at the same time, plus regular monthly bills, plus need to pay the quarterly sales tax for my business. Trust. Received an email "can we come see the puppies". Yes. In the last couple of days we have received 3 emails about the puppies, but they want to pay 200 for them and we have spent way more than that on the process. So we have had to tell them no, and why. Well the email to come see them was from one of them that is now willing to pay what we were asking. Then 2 customers come pick up their quilts. I know have enough to cover the checks that went into the mail today. God is good!

So, yesterday the couple came and looked at the puppies. I have been afraid of the day someone would buy Caddy. He is the cutist and everyone is drawn to him. But my Bently is quieter and the little one and comes running to me when he gets hurt for loves. It has been so long with no interest, that I just became use to the fact that we had two more dogs in the house. We got a call from someone else and they are coming for the other one today. I was surprised in the interest in the last couple of days. Well the lady fell in love with Bently. They will be taking him home on Monday. Out in the mail, I received 2 more large checks from customers. The money is coming in. Thank you, God!
I was fine for an hour after they left, busy with the grandson. Then started having panic attacks. Someone is coming to look at Caddy today. Will more than likely purchase him. So I awoke at 3:30 this morning and could not get it off my mind to go back to sleep. I finally had to give up as I got upset and went to try and sleep cuddled with their momma. Which only lasts for a few minuets as girl dogs are very independent. Am I wrong to sell Caddy? Having 4 dogs in the house has been way too much. Especially trying to house break two of them. But, three might be fine. MerSadies loves to wrestle with Caddy and they are always playing together.I was upset for a few days after the little girl left at 8 weeks....I have had the boys 11. I delivered these guys and have grown to love them. Will I regret it? Or will I be OK? The money is coming in from my business. Should I tell this other person, who has not seen them, that I have changed my mined. Or is this all God's provision.

MerSadies and her boys sleeping, today.

Vests, leashes, baths and the boys.

2011-04-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

It was another busy week. On Sunday we decided to take the boys and their momma for a walk. Their collars don't fit yet, so I made these matching vests and leashes. We had a nice little walk.

Today the boys had their first baths. Neither was very happy. But, after blow drying, combing and treats. They were ready for a round of play with momma and each other.

Tomorrow they turn 9 months and here is their picture.

24 hour Quilt

2011-03-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a quilt that took me 24 hours to quilt. The quilt was pieced by Sharon Ledbetter. It will be a raffle quilt. I told her I already want tickets.

My quilting business is doing awesome. I can't believe the number of quilts I have to work on. I love it. Job security, and a job I love.

Breeding is not for the weak!

2011-03-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today I found out that is me. I knew from the time MerSadies went into labor, that if she popped out a little girl, she was sold. So out popped the first.......a girl Harley. MerSadies did not know what it was and tried to bury her. So I had to get her out of the sack, suction her out, get her breathing, dry her and cut the cord. Never done that before. I know the new owners and will see her from time to time, but....today as I did up a little birth certificate, I looked through all the pictures. She was three days old when I took this picture of her with her mommy. It made me cry. Today I took her to her new home. She was crying when left. Now I am having a hard time today. I don't know how it will be when we finally sell the boys. I know that I don't like this, and we are getting MerSadies fixed. We have several people who love the puppies but only want a girl. They want us to do it again, but my heart can't handle it. It was an adventure.

Puppies turn 6 weeks.

2011-03-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast the time is going by. My puppies turned 6 weeks yesterday. Harley's new mommy came for a visit. She can't wait for two more weeks, when she gets to take her baby home. Have not received any nibbles on the boys yet. I hope we sell them soon, as I am becoming very attached to them. The boys are so loving and cuddly.

Charity Work

2011-02-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

I like to help out with some of the charity projects around here. Relay for Life & Quilts of Valor. We have a new one in town. No Longer Orphans. It was started by a couple in our church, after they adopted their daughter. You can read their story and see what they are doing to help others adopt at http://nolongerorphans.blogspot.com/ They just helped their first couple reach their goal to bring their kids home.

On Saturday, February 12th, they teamed up with our youth group. Our youth group has a team going on a mission's trip to Swaziland. They had a wonderful Valentines Banquet and auction. So many wonderful people donated items for both the silent and live auction. It was a wonderful time, good food and great entertainment by the youth. I made a lap quilt for the auction. Here is some pictures. It was hinted by the men that they would like to see a man quilt up for auction next year.

They made an amazing amount of money between the auction items and the tickets to the event. At the end of the night, they announced their next couple. Here is their website. http://warwickadoption.com/ If you would like to help, you can go to either of these sites. You can also "like" No Longer Orphans on facebook. You can see when they have an upcoming event and attend.

Some of the tatting I have done in the last month.

2011-02-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

The ball was for a women's Christmas ball exchange and dinner. Pattern is by Nancy Tracy at http://www.be-stitched.com/. Because I did not like how far it hung down on the ball, I added a tight row of beads at the top to make it smaller. I also used a couple of dots of glue to hold it in place. I added a chain of beads on the inside with a cross dangling down. It was a big hit, and I left there with a order for 2 more. This was my first time to make one of these.

The orange and black crosses are from a pattern by Patti Duff. We had some Chaplains coming through town on their Harley's. Members of our church set up a BBQ for them and I decided to make the crosses. I am not a orange person, so had no orange tatting thread. Being a quilter and machine embroiderer, I took several different spools of thread and wound my shuttle. I ended up having one left over. When a friends husband died, I gave it to her in a book that is being passed around. They rode Harley's and she even put his ashes in a Harley Cookie Jar. It was perfect. Love this pattern and make it all the time. I make them for my dad to hand out to patients in the hospital where he is the head Chaplain. I don't know how many hundreds I have made.

I made these two necklaces from Marliee's new book "Up and Tat 'Em". They were made as Christmas gifts for my two daughter-in-laws. One of them is a graduate in Nuclear Science working on her PHD. So of course I had to tat her the Atom. I did it in her school colors. My other daughter-in-law is the mother of our twin granddaughters. She is a beautiful young women. Her smile lights up the room. She likes it simple and fun. So I made her "Belle" I used one of Marlee's hand died threads.

I decided again to use the cross bookmark, for a Relay for Life Fundraiser. I made these Postcards to raise money for our hospital team. I used Marlee's Peace Rose thread. Made up this card with a picture of the Peace Rose. On the back it had a place for TO: From: and blank lines for a message. They went like hotcakes.

Here is a different cross I made, using the Peace Rose hdt.

Morkies????

2011-02-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

When we first decided to get a small dog, my daughter wanted us to get a yorkie to breed with her male yorkie. We started looking around on the internet, and I found Maltese. I read that they were a much sturdier dog. Since we have a golden retriever that is almost 100 pounds, we thought the maltese might be better. I also had seen one many years ago and wanted one, but did not know what they were. I decided to see if people cross bred them and what they looked like. Hence I found Morkies. So cute. We decided that was the route we would go. So as you have read before we got a maltese and named her MerSadies. After she was 1 and went into heat again, we bred her to my daughter's yorkie. Follows the story.

It was a scary time for me. I was not sure I wanted to. I had read so many horror stories and complications with small dogs. Read everything I could get my hands on and talked with local breeders. I stud my golden out to a golden breeder in town. That is the easy part. Having the female is not. I constantly worried about my baby. I knew that she was due on the 8th of February. I started feeding her differently following all the instructions. I had heard it was good to have an xray done to make sure that the puppies weren't too big for her to deliver. C-sections so common with small dogs. My vet did not have the equipment, so we had to find a different one to do it. Out of town. They usually only do them on the 55th day, but I was going to be in town that Sat (53 days) and they said they would go ahead and do it. So we took her in and they examined her and said she looked great and healthy. The xray showed 3 puppies and not to big. They gave us a cd with the xrays, so we could show everyone, like expecting parents. Which I did on facebook.

That was Sat Jan 29th. Then on Tue Feb 1st, I had a feeling we were in for puppies. MerSadies was restless and kept needing to go outside. She was very clingy and got upset when dad left for work. She was not eating much and threw up. All day was hectic. I told called my husband at work and said I believe she is in labor. I told him I needed him to get home so he could help out.

My daughter kept calling to discuss the price of the puppies because she had someone who wanted a female. I told her now was not a good time. Let me get through the delivery and we will talk. Seems the person wanting to buy the puppy (I know her), was asking her son if he had ever heard of Morkies. She was researching puppies on the Internet and had decided that was the kind of puppy she wanted. Her son was talking with my son-in-law and said that we had a litter on the way. She could not believe it and grabbed the phone and told my son-in-law that she wanted a female out of the litter. She would pay right now. How weird is that, that the day we are in labor with them, she starts talking about them.

She had not had them by the time we were going to bed so we put the whelping box in our closet and put her in it and went to bed. She kept waking me up, so I moved her and me to the living room. Put her whelping box next to the couch and lay down. I knew we were there was she yelped. I checked and sure enough one was crowning. Then she jumped out of her box and got into bed with my golden retriever. I don't think so!!! I put her back in her box. She jumped out and went to her bed. The baby started coming out. I thought....,..I am not moving her again, it can be washed. Out it came in the sack and she started licking at it and then tried to bury it. She had no clue what was going on. I read up on this and moved in. I opened the sack. Took the sucky thing and suctioned out the nose and mouth. Did all the things the vet showed me to do. Got it cleaned up and cut the cord. I got the whelping box over to the heat lamp and tried to get MerSadies to nurse. She was freaked out and would not calm down. She kept trying to get away from the puppy. So I got my husband up and he tried to calm her down, but baby number 2 was on its way. Again she would not have anything to do with it. Left it when she dropped it. So my husband took care of her and the first one while I did everything to number 2. After cleaning that one up I knew that he was a boy and the first one was a girl. Hubby got her settled down and she started nursing the first one. He went back to bed. Then baby 3 was on its way. She jumped out of the box again and over to a pile of towels and squatted. But then the first two started squeaking and she ran back to the box. Then out to push and then squeaking and back to the box. So I worked at trying to keep the puppies quiet while she was pushing on the towels. Baby three made an appearance and I saw her chewing and munching so thought she finally was doing it her self. So I concentrated on keeping the other 2 quiet. After a time, I checked on her and she was doing nothing. Baby still in sack. She was done. So I went about getting him out and suctioned and cleaned. I cut the cord and she came over and took him to the others. I did not see the placenta/afterbirth on this one so was worried. I stayed up awhile and then went to sleep on the couch. When I woke, everyone looked good. I called the vet and she told me what to look for and what to feed her. I worried about it. Plus, they were 6 days early. She had two huge lumps down by her hooha. I thought maybe this was everything slid down there. Then I got real sick with cold/sinus thing going around and spent several days in bed. The vet came over on the following Monday and checked everyone out. Removed dew claws. Seems that it was MerSadies milk glands on her bottom two teats that were swollen and causing the long weird lumps. But everyone got a perfect from the vet. I started hot compresses on the lumps and massaging them. Made sure to put the puppies on those teats. They went away in a day. Yeah. Now I felt better. What an experience. Took pictures to our annual church dinner and business meeting. Showed off my 1 week old puppies like a new mommy.

The female was sold before she was even born. Her new mommy comes over weekly for visitation till she is 8 weeks and can go home. I sent her pictures after she was born and she was in love. Since mommy is MerSadies and daddy is Ducati (which is a motorcycle), we named them Porcha, Bently & Caddy. The female (Porcha), has been renamed Harley by her owner. All are doing great. Harley & Caddy (1st born and last) started out at 6½oz. or now 1 pound. Bently started out at 5½ and is now 14oz. Caddy's eyes are starting to open today. We can see one corner. Love it. They are trying to stand on all 4 and walk. In another week, we will be having to move them to the swimming pool. When they can get out of that, we will move them to the pack-n-play. Have not had and calls about the boys. I don't care either way. Would be nice to sell them, but also will have a hard time parting with them.

Now it is just taking care of them and mom. Mom does not have he best hair. Could not take her to the groomer while she was pregnant thought it would cause too much stress. Since delivery, she has become quite matted. I have been working on it, a little at a time. Took the scissors to her myself . Just chop chop chop. She does not look the best, but I am getting rid of the mats and getting her combed out a little each day. She is starting to look better. It is cooler for her with her hair whacked off. The heat lamp was causing her to pant all the time. Next week we will be able to turn the lamp off. Yeah, as it lights up the house and filters into our room. I like a dark room, but we have french doors to our bedroom.

Mexican Cruise

2011-02-15T11:54:00.000-08:00

In Sept, my parents took us on a Mexican cruise. We had a wonderful time. We celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary. My parents, grandmother, cousin, sister and her hubby and my hubby. Got a tan and felt good. My 90 year old grandmother (Nana) went parasailing with my cousin. We went sea kayaking. I got sea sick on the small boat ride to the island. I was fine while were kayaking, but when we had to stop and wait for a couple that had turned over, I started feeling sick again. Was not looking forward to the boat right back to the ship.

We went to a couple of small family run tequila farms. Learned all about the process and had lots of tasty samples. Every night at dinner, we had wonderful food and entertainment. The waiters and matradee danced and sang for us. I tried new things. Had escargot & calamari.

At the end of the cruise, my hubby flew home and I drove with my cousin to her house to visit with her hubby and my great aunts. Then I drove with my parents back to their home in AZ for a week. While there, helped my mom get some projects done, visited with my Nana and got to sing with my dad at the Friday night sings. Got lots of tatted crosses done during the trip for my dad. He is the head pastor at the hospital down there. He gives them to patients. I was able to go to water aerobic classes with my mother. My mother and grandmother love to go to the casinos. So on the way from CA to AZ we stopped at a couple. On the day I was going home, my flight was several hours after my dads flight to MN. He was going their to preform one of my cousins wedding. So we dropped him off and then mom & nana took me to the casino. We had fun.

Oregon Coast

2011-02-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

We made the trip to the Oregon coast that we have been wanting to do for years. We first went to Vancouver for our nephews wedding. We took are little Maltese on the trip with us. Made reservations at pet friendly hotels for our trip. It was fun and she was a conversation starter. We had her in a little summer dress for the wedding.

After the wedding reception, we drove to Salem to my sister's house. My parents and grandmother were already there. We got to go with them to their church and meet some of their friends. We had a nice time.

We went to the Tallamook factory. Here is MerSadies and I enjoying an ice cream.

Then on Monday we left for the coast. Boy did we enjoy ourselves. We are goonie fans and so our first plan was to find goonie things. We found out that since they had just celebrated their 25th anniversary, that the paper had done a hole insert on them. We went to the newspaper and purchased a copy. Then got a map of all the places from the movie. Started going to them.
At the jail, we ran into another goonie fan (fanatic) from Canada. We talked with him for a long time. He told us he had started out his goonie adventure at the chamber of commerce, where they had lots of souvenirs. So we headed there. Got stuff for us and the kids. It was so much fun going to the beach. My little 6 pound Maltese did not know what to think.
Especially when she got caught by the tide. We can't wait to go again.

Should have been posting.

2011-02-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy several months. I have been so busy. I have been tatting, quilting, taking care of my grandson some, teaching water aerobics and church.

It has been fun watching my little grandson Koa grow. Every month, my husband does his pictures. It is amazing how much they change. He is almost 8 months.

Yes I am still here.

2010-05-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well, as always, I have been busy. Thankfully my business is going strong. I have also been busy with quilting, teaching water aerobics 4 nights a week, getting ready for grandbaby #7 who is due end of June, and tatting crosses for a fund raiser.

I also made this bed for my little Maltese. She loves it. Poor baby is in heat for the 1st time. It has been fun dealing with this as my almost 100 pound golden retriever is going nuts. We breed him, so he is drooling and sniffing everywhere she goes. They are very close, so this is bugging both of them to be seperated all the time. Wish it was over.

Also, got to see our twin granddaughters earlier this month. They are getting so big.

It has been awhile

2010-01-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well, I have not posted for a long time. I have had a lot going on. First I was in the middle of getting customer's Christmas quilts done. During this time we also got a new fur baby. Well really it is hair. She isa maltese and just sweet as can be. She is 3 pounds as of her last check up. It has been interesting to learn how to train and take care of a small dog. Our golden is a lot easier. Her and Jack (our golden) love each other. We have had to teach him to be gentle with her. Here is a picture of her sleeping on Jack.

Was also busy going back and forth to Pullman to see my father-in-law who was in a nursing home. We unfortunatly lost him this month, due to the person who had the power-of-attorney. It has been a struggle to deal with, but we are getting there. Be careful who you give a power-of-attorney too. If you are too much work or costing too much, they can let you die and no one can do a thing about it.

Then on a good note, I was able to spend time with our middle son Dom and his wife and our two month old twin granddaughters. We were also able to spend time with our oldest and her youngest.

We are praying that February will be a much nicer month, around here.

Easy Dinner Planning

2010-01-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

I have not been inspired to cook for some time now. Then I found this website on Dave Ramsey's site. I previewed some of the menu options and since it was so inexpensive, decided to give it a try. We have been doing it for a few weeks now and love it. I am cooking again. We are using the Menu for 2 plan, but there are plans for family and low fat. Just thought I would share something that is making it easier for me.

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Water Aerobics and a Crown

2009-11-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

I have been going to water aerobics since I was released from physical therapy. It has been great. I have enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. It has helped with the recovery from back surgery.

Then my instructor asked me if I would like to teach. She said they would need someone local to fill in during bad weather or someone sick. I said yes and went though all the procedures to get hired on by the hospital's physical therapy department.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, I taught my first two classes. A little scary, but the classes were small. During my Wednesday class, the ladies were all talking about a surprise party they were planning for my instructor. She had reached her goal at Weight Watchers, and nothing was said they just dropped her from the program. So they wanted to do a tah da party. Everyone was suppose to bring something for her, plus they wanted to get her a burger king crown to wear during the party. I told them I would make the crown, even though I had never made one.

Of course, I googled it. I found this wonderful site.

http://creativechaos.typepad.com/creative_chaos/2007/05/crown_tutorialp.html

I then proceeded to think on it all week of how I wanted to decorate it. I wanted something sexy, different and fun. I kept imagining the hour glass figure. Weight Watcher ads always have a person with a tape measure around their middle, so I went from there. So here you can see the little figure I created for my focal. I left the crown unfinished til the party. I did mine a little different then the websites. I wanted a band that went around the head instead of ribbon to tie it on. At the party, I put double stick tape on one end of the band and then wrapped it around her head. I then cut off the excess. It was fun. Here are some pictures.

Happy Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

My Veteran's Day Present. Today our daughter-in-law gave birth to our twin granddaughters. Payton was 6p 9.9oz. Cheyanne was 4p 12oz. The girls are identical twins. Both babies and mother are doing fine. What a nice present for this Verteran and their US Navy dad. Oh yah, Grandpa too! I played around in the photo program and gave them a patriotic border. Wish we could be there to hold them.

Quilt Ribbon

2009-10-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not posted for awhile. My quilting has kept me very busy. I have also been pondering a decision about my business. I have had my mother, husband, peers and others telling me that my pricing is too too low. For me this is a hard thing. Then one of my own customers/friend told me I need to. So after much researching on her part, I have done it.

Well on the fun part. My friend Sharon Ledbetter entered one of her quilts in the Washington State Quilters, big quilt show. This morning she showed up wearing to big ribbons on her chest. One for her and one for me. The ribbon is for first in class. She was just beaming. I am too. She said to my husband, as she drove away "Now she can raise her prices" Does anyone else struggle with raising your prices?

I don't know if you remember this quilt, but here is the winning quilt. My friend took a picture of me standing by it. They did not put the ribbons on till Sunday, but being married to a photographer, any thing is possible. He took a picture of it on the ribbon on the green screen, and I was able to put it onto the picture of me and the quilt. You can see closer pictures of the quilting on my webshots.

Last weekend was very busy because of my business and my husbands. His name is getting out their for portraits and we went out into the country to take senior portraits of one of my husbands classmates son.

Fair Theme

2009-09-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

So this last week it has been quilting, quilting, quilting.

This weekend, my husband and I spent getting our entries ready for the fair. I will post pictures after the fair, but had to share these.

Our fair theme this year is Fair -E- Tail. Every year, there are areas in the different departments that you can enter something that shows the fair theme. This year I decided to dress up my dog and enter in the Fair theme picture contest. He is a fairy princess. The first picture, I brought his picture into the computer and enhanced/changed the colors and put a castle picture behind him. In the second one I just took a picture of him in front of our grape vines. Don't know what the judges will think.

New Dog Vest

2009-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is another dog vest I have made for the Yorkie. My son-in-law is in a motorcycle club. I have been embroidering their shirts with their logo. So the other day I thought it would be fun to make a vest for the Yorkie, with the logo, so he would match dad. My daughter loved it. They have a motorcycle ralley coming up and are so excited for him to wear it then. I will enter it into the fair first.

Special Votive Holders

2009-08-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

I made these to decorate the tables at a BBQ tonight. The BBQ is to thank our city workers, firemen, emts and police.

I love making these things.

A little tatting

2009-08-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a little tatting. I signed up for the tatting design class, but don't want to show that here.

I also am working on some of Linda Davis's flowers for a spray. Will show that when it is finished.

I saw the several tatters had made Vicki Clarke's Ruffled Heart. I just had to try it and got addicted. Not sure what I will do with them, but can't seem to stop making them.

Colors of my Rainbow.

2009-08-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

Your rainbow is shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

http://spacefem.com/quizzes/rainbow">Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Funny Card to Share

2009-08-19T13:47:00.001-07:00

A kid my husband works with, had a 4 wheeler accident. Seems this is his 3rd 4 wheeler accident.

I decided to make him a get better card. I had never made one of the cards, but found the instructions on the web. I chose this kind, because of the animation with the 4 wheeler rolling over. We live in wheat country, so found a picture of this for the background. I then found a picture of a guy, that I added to the picture to make it look like someone upside down in the wheat field. I then found a picture of a 4 wheeler. I can't believe how easy and fun this kind of card is.

Here is a picture of the finished card and the inside.

Wedding Done

2009-08-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

The Bride & Groom

Well it was a beautiful wedding. One of the hottest days of the year, here.

Just a few days before the wedding, my daughter still had not picked out a song to walk down the isle with. She had one picked out when it was suppose to be her biological father (aka sperm doner my Xhusband). But 2 weeks before the wedding he called her and told her he would not be coming. So now, it would be my husband, the father that had raised her. I was listening to the radio as I worked and a new song by Keith Urban came on. I got tearing eyed, and goose bumps. I found the song on You Tube, and played it for my daughter. Perfect she said. So now to purchase the song. So now my son taught me about purchasing songs online. If you have not heard Keith Urbans "Only You Can Love Me This Way", go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCd84rUMnnY

My dad is a pastor, and my daughter wanted her papa to officiate her wedding. Everyone had a hard time keeping dry eyes.

It took me a few days to recover from the wedding. It drains ya. The following week, we animal sat as the kids went on their honeymoon. Then last Sunday, I spent the whole day working with a program called "Windows Movie Maker". I never had messed with it before. I took pictures from the wedding day (getting ready, wedding and reception) and added captions and animation and made it into a movie. I was able to bring in the songs from their wedding to play during the movie. When you burn it to a DVD, it is just like a DVD you have purchased. You put it in the DVD and the screen comes up with a picture and the movie title, play button and selection button. What fun.

Here are some pictures.

Bride with her papa - The Bride - My husband walking her down the isle - Our family

Super Vest

2009-07-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

My daughter has a yorkie. When it gets cold, he is cold all the time. When it is hot, he is miserable. I make him little vests with fleece on the inside and cotton on top, for the winter. Well I decided to make him one for cooling. I only used cotton, and then added pellets inside. I figured if it worked to make neck coolers for us, it would work in his vest. You soak the vest in water for a few moments and the pellets expand. I used superman fabric and put a little red cape on in.

Did not have him here to model it. I put it on my cat. I don't think she was very happy.

Baby's and weddings

2009-07-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Well a busy couple of weeks, was had.

Last week my fourth grandchild was born. A girl. So now we have two of each. Here is our little Rileigh.

I also became a great Aunt again this week. Wow.

Last week I also finished up physical therapy. Went for a followup with the surgeon and he said I am doing fine and don't need to go back to see him. Was told to keep up those exercises to keep improving. I still have inflammation across my lower back and they said this will take probably 6 months to heal. Appears that my line of business slows down my healing. I find that I can't quilt for long periods of time yet. I get kind of frustrated.

This week it was more wedding preparations. My daughter loves frogs, so when my husband saw these bobble head frogs he had to get them. He painted them in colors that would go with their decorations and made a top hat for the groom one. I then made a little tiara and veil for the bride. I even gave her belly button bling.

My daughter does not like anything girly, and has made comments about things I have made for her cousins, sister-in-laws, and sisters wedding, so I was not sure about some things. But since she loved the garters I decided to make her wedding hanky anyway. I did not make it frilly. I tea dyed it so it would not be white and then crochet the edging in a thread that was colored like camo fabric. I then made her card with colors to match. I was worried, but she loved it.

Wedding Preperations

2009-07-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

Well I have not been blogging for awhile. Busy, Busy!

Our youngest daughter is getting married in August. They have been together for 7 years, and we thought this would never happen. But they announced their engagement, and then we had 6 weeks to plan it all.

First thing we did was go looking for her dress. Both of our men figured we would come back bald and one of us dead. We don't tend to agree on much. It was a miracle. First dress at first store. It is beautiful. We did not buy it then and there, as she decided to try on a few more. She then found another she liked also. So they took pictures of her in both and emailed them to me. She wanted to find out what my husband thought before we purchased it. Her and I were leaning towards the first one. My hubby picked the first one also. One thing down.

Now I have been making a few things for the wedding. It is going to be simple and outdoor. They like the camo stuff, so I have added that into things I have made.

Here is a picture of garters I have made. One to keep and one to through. I have also made luminaries that will go on the tables. They are also into motorcycles and Chinese symbols. This one is the symbol for love.

Better, Bored and Tatting

2009-06-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well it has been 4 weeks today since my back surgery. Getting better each day. Last weeks MRI showed some scaring might be causing the problem. I go to see the surgeon tomorrow.

I am getting kind of antsy. I am tired of not being able to do much of anything. I have not quilted for 4 weeks, and don't know yet when they will let me start again.

I have been tatting and knitting. Here is a picture of what tatting I have been working on. I am tatting the angels to give to the nurses who took care of me at the hospital. They were so sweet and caring. I made one of Ruth's new butterflies, but could not do the special stitch on the wing. Another Teapot from Martha's book. Jon's new Mother's day Heart (had trouble with the picots. Also, I tatted Wally's Butterfly.

I finally made all my Thank you cards. These I am giving to the ladies who brought food for my hubby and I after my surgery. Also, for those who sent flowers. In the days of recycling, I have made a matching little strip of paper, with one of the tiles on top. This is what I wrote my message to them on and then stuck in the card. (The pink color you see is just a piece of paper I put behind the slip and card to make the slip show). I did not write on the envelope and so told them that this was so they could use the card to send to someone else. They loved the idea. The artwork that I use to make the teabag folding cards is from Ruby Burns http://pages.prodigy.net/rubyburns/index.html. I have purchased several of her sets and love making cards from them.

Surgery and Tatting

2009-05-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well I had my surgery 2 weeks ago today. I am getting better day by day. The first week was a nightmare. I ended up with the flu and sinus trouble. The flu flared up the back and my nerve down my leg is giving me trouble. But I am better and able to walk at a good clip.

I am not aloud to do much of anything except walking, so I have been doing lots of reading and tatting. I have gotten hooked on yarnplayers hand died threads. I make the rose teapot from Martha Ess's new book Tea is for tatting. I gave it to a friend of mine, to thank her for bringing her quilts to our quilt guild and doing a talk and show and tell.

Here I made two of Yarnplayer's crosses. I used her hand died thread for the rose and then DMC in cream for the cross. I put black ribbon through the loop on one of them and attached it to the envelope of a wedding card.

I also made this teapot bookmark from Martha's book. I used a variegated Altin Basak.

I am currently working on another rose teapot using a Yarnplayer hand died in blue white and yellow. I love that pattern and that thread.

Been Awhile

2009-03-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have been busy getting quilts done, and managing the pain from my back situation.

Saw a specialist and it has been determined that I should have back surgery. So that has been scheduled, some of my customers and the quilt shops have been notified. I will try to get done the quilts that are in the house before the surgery. I won't be able to quilt for up to 2 months after the surgery.

I will have lots of down time to get UFOs done. Some tatting, knitting, and finish hand quilting a quilt that I started many many years ago. I also purchased some new Machine quilting tools and training DVDs for new techniques. I will have lots of time to practice drawing the designs. Practice practice practice.

Here is a sneak peek at a show quilt I am quilting for my talented friend Sharon.

Making Jewelry

2009-02-23T08:24:00.000-08:00

I have been attending a women's bible study called Captivating. During this bible study, I longed to make something......with the words captivating. I searched the web for jewelry findings that said captivating. I found nothing out there. I then discovered some online tutorials for making your own pendents with pictures, glass tiles, scrabble tiles & diamond glaze.

The first one I made was with the glass tile. I loved the colors and the look from my copy of Captivating. So I scanned in the cover and created my necklace. It is the one with the blues and purple. My friend who is co-teaching the bible study, loved it. She thought they would be great for all the women in the study. She wanted one, but more in the colors she would wear. So in my graphics program, I designed hers. She loves scrabble, so I made hers with a scrabble tile that has the initial of her first name on the back. To learn more about the book "Captivating" http://www.ransomedheart.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=43

Next I made a necklace for my sister. I used a glass tile and a picture of her and her 2 daughters and her granddaughter. Then one of just her granddaughter on a scrabble tile with her initial. The picture is not very clear, but in person the pieces are very clear.

These are so fun and easy.

Quilting for Auction

2009-02-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

7 local Churches, different denominations, are all going on a mission trip together. It is amazing. Sunday a friend and I started talking about the auction that is coming up this Sunday. We decided to make a quilt for it. So we started it Sunday night, during the Super Bowl. Yesterday I quilted it and sewed the binding to the front. Last night we had our annual business meeting and dinner at church. I brought it with me and 3 of us sewed the binding to the back during the meeting. I finished up the binding this morning and it is now ready to go. The pattern is the disappearing 9-patch. It is so easy and so fun.

Tatting I have done lately

2009-02-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

This first pattern is by Jon Yusoff. I am in a women's bible study called "Captivating" I thought this design fit the study. I used a variegated Altin Basak. Jon site http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/2009/01/hearts-entwinedcrowning-hearts.html

This next design is also by Jon called "Quantiesque' Snowflake. I used Altin Basak again. My favorite thread. The red and then the silver and silver metallic. http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/2008/12/quantiesque-snowflake.html

A little tatting thrown in

2009-01-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well most of my time is spent quilting and working on the house, but did manage to get in a little tatting. Here is a heart called "Paw Prints on my Heart". I saw this design when Gina had done it, and ordered the pattern. I have a friend who lost 2 cats this fall. Old age problems. One was orange, and I did not have orange thread, so I died some. Not the right way, but gets the end results. The other cat was grey, so I have one more to do.

Using Recycled Materials

2009-01-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

Well I love to use the fabric samples, from the furniture store. They are great for making all kinds of things. I have used them to make and sell Check book covers, small purse Kleenex covers, etc. Doing a little of the green thing. Before Christmas, I got ready for my quilt guild gift exchange. I thought about making a gift bag out of the sample fabric. Then it would be reusable. So I played around. I cut the fabric and then embroidered the snowflakes. Then I started sewing it together. I decided to create the folds in it, so it would fold up easy like a paper bag. I love it and plan to make more.

Then my mom was talking about wine bags, so again I played around. Got ideas from others online and here are three of the bags I made.

Busy December, Quilting, Tatting, Sewing, Cleaning

2009-01-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

Boy, did I have a busy December. Besides my business being very busy, I was trying to clean out my house, make gifts, and lots and lots of snow.

Here are some of the gifts I made for my family.
1st, I had gone to the bead stampede, and saw these wonderful crystals. They look different, depending the color you are wearing. I decided to make necklaces for my mom, sister, s-i-l, grandmother, & myself. I spent the day at our local bead shop, and the owner helped me pick out beads to go with it. We used Czech glass and Swarovski crystals. I sat there and counted and out and strung the 5 necklaces. She finished them off with the hooks and chains. Here is some pictures of the crystals on different colors and one of the finished necklaces on white and then on black.

I also made a quilted bag for my mom. The pattern is by Debra Geissler. Her website is at http://www.debrageissler.com/ . She has wonderful designs for quilters. I have purchased many to use in my quilting business. I do not have a computerized quilting machine, so I just quilted each piece freehand. Her pattern for the bag, has pockets on the front and the back, but I decided to only put it on the front. The inside pockets are done on both sides of the inside, but I only put them on the back. Here is a picture of the front, you can go to my webshots http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/225606433DdgiXj and see the sides, bottom and inside.

When I went to a quilt show in October, I found this pattern called Freedom. I immediately thought of my dad. It fit him perfectly. He is a Christian, a chaplain, a cowboy and patriotic. He also served in Army. So this was my Christmas present to him.

My son had his birthday this week. He loves those books about a dragon. Eragon and the rest of the series. I decided to tat him Anne Bruvold's Flying Minor Norwegian Dragons

Did you say snow?

2008-12-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well it has been snowing on and off since last Fri night. Stopped on Mon and hit again Tue evening and yesterday. On Sat. I took a picture of my bike in the back yard. Today I took another. Look at the difference in the amount of snow.

No Tatting to Show and snow

2008-12-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Well.......been too long since I blogged. I have done some tatting, but forgot to take a picture before it went off for my ss.

Mostly I have been knitting scarfs to give to a group of college students that have been coming to our church. Last Sunday we were going to hand them out with cookies and it snowed so hard, church was cancelled. I have also been knitting Prayer Shawls. Love them. I love working with the homespun yarn. It is so soft and squishy.

Today it started snowing again. All day!!!! So now our quilt guild Christmas party was cancelled.

My golden retriever, Jack has not been out as much as he likes. The temperatures have been very chilly. On one website, they said if the snow makes crunchy sounds when you walk on it and your dog keeps holding his feet up.....it is too cold. The website has a pattern for making simple fleece dog boots. I had seen it before, but figured Jack would not keep them on. At first he rejected them and now he loves them. I found another website that says you can make them from upholstery fabrics. I was given lots of fleece fabrics and lots of the upholstery fabrics, so I can make quite a few. When he comes in out of the snow, he does not have all that compact snow between his toes. I just take off the boots and hang them on a hanger to dry. I think I will make them for muddy weather and rain also. A lot less mess to my floors. Here is the website and a picture of Jack in his. http://domestikgoddess.com/sew-your-own-winter-dog-boots/

Candy Corn Cookies

2008-10-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well I made these cookies for the first time, last year. They were such a big hit at the last year Halloween Outreach, so I made them again. They are so much fun.

Corn? & Quilting

2008-10-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well, last year I shared with you a picture of my broccoli growing experience. Ha Ha. This year I decided to plant some corn. We did not have a very long growing period and produce did not do well this year. First off, only one corn stock grew. I was told since only one grew, I would not get any corn because the stocks cross pollinate. I decided to let it grow anyways because it added a fun look to the yard. It only reach about 2 feet tall, but it did grow a ear. We left it alone till the first frost came and then picked it. Here is a picture. I plan to have a full garden next year. I hope I can find something I can grow.

Usually when I am working on a quilt, I try to match the bobbin thread to the backing. I decided with this one to use matching top and bottom thread. I like how the front and the back turned out.

Busy Weeks

2008-10-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Boy of boy, have I been busy.

Last weekend was our annual town festival. I was not too busy with quilting, so I decided to have a booth again this year. Well when it got near that time, the quilts were coming in like crazy. I took a couple of days to make things for my booth. I also got my husband a gig, taking pictures at it. We set up a area at the library. Used a green screen and let customers pick their background from a select few. I did lots of promoting for him, and did the computer work, collecting the money and email addresses, and printed out the pictures. A friend and I did our booth together. Her and I worked it on Friday, and I worked with my hubby on Sat.

By the end I was exhusted. Monday started quilting again, then got sick. I spent all day in bed on Tue, most of Wed, and then did quilting and resting on Thur and Fri. Hubby feels I over did it and took too much on. Won't repeat that again.

Well yesterday I finished a quilt I had been working on while resting last week. I love the way it turned out. Since the fabric had tulips in it, I purchased patterns at digi-tech http://stores.digitechpatterns.com/ that went along with it. I quilted them into the open squares and triangles, and then added outlining and feathers to fill up the space. I traced the large black pineapple diamonds in center and the tips, then traced part of the designs into that template to create the quilting pattern. Here is a close up of one of the squares. Go to my webshots http://community.webshots.com/user/tamidra to see the whole quilt and a close up of the triangle.

Blue Star Banner

2008-09-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well this week I did some quilting, but mainly got all my stuff ready for the fair.

I made six of these Blue Star Banners. You can read the history of them at http://www.legion.org/national/supporttroops/bluestarban ner . They are for immediate family members to have in their window when they have a military member in harms way when we are at war. My niece's husband just left to go over there, so one is for her and one is for my sister. Then our middle son is over there, so one is for us and one is for our daughter-in-law. One is for my friend Teresa, who's son is over there also.

I did not tell my friend about it, I entered hers into the fair with a information sheet that will be posted on the wall next to it. It tells about the banner and then at the bottom tells who it was made for. So I only told her that when she goes there to look at the quilts and read all the facts about them. I hope she will like it.

The ones I made are quilted ones and the pattern is at http://www.quilterscache.com/H/howtomakeanarmedservicesflag.html

Yesterday, I spent the day at the fair grounds entering mine and my husbands things, and taking in others entries. I am the department head of the Knitting, Crochet, and Lace Department. It gets your juices going to see all the things they bring in. Spend time visiting with those who I only see at fair time.

Usually today I would be there already, handing items to the judges and putting the ribbons on. But, the judge came late last night, so I got to stay home a little longer. My friend Alex and I will be out today putting the ribbons on, and decorating and laying out our area, then hanging the quilts tonight, with my quilt guild.

I love fair time.

Some Stuff

2008-08-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well hubby has been on vacation this last week, so I did not get too much quilting done.

Last night I finished the Beaded Candle holder I was working on. I sure wish the camera would show how pretty the beads are. They are iridescent and show different shades of color.

I also made a couple of these Aero Pacs. One is for my mother and the other...... Just have to wait and see which one my mom wants. They are great. The back side has 2 vinyl pockets for your ticket and your passport. The front has two pockets for other things. It just hangs around your neck. I found the pattern at http://www.studiokatdesigns.com/. They have a lot of wonderful patterns. This one is a free one, but there are several bag patterns I want to buy.

Here is a picture of a customer's quilt I quilted this week.

Taking It Easy

2008-08-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well it has been so busy, that I have had to take a break. I am working on the Beaded Tea Candle Holder by Sabina Carden-Madden at http://paradisetreasures.com/. I have a little boo boo in it that I need to fix. I did not do any quilting in the last few days. Start that again today. Started reading and interesting book called "The Truth About Beauty" Transform your looks and your life from the inside out. It is very interesting and makes sense, so far. If you want to read more about it go to http://www.informedbeauty.com/

The weekend before last, we had to drive to a family wedding 3 hours away. My husband was the photographer so we were quite busy. Had lots of fun at the wedding and lots of dancing. Next morning we had a large family breakfast at the lodge we were staying at.

Congratulations Lisa and Justin!

Last Saturday we went to they Fairchild Airforce Base "SkyFest". That was great. We got to see the Blue angels perform. I also got to sit on this Sheriffs Bike. My brother new him, so my s-i-l said "She wants to know if she can sit on your bike" He said sure. N I C E!

On Sunday we had another long drive to see our grand babies. They were in Sandpoint for a wedding at their family lake place. Here is a picture of hubbie with our grandsons and our granddaughter with her first birthday cake. We had a birthday party for the 1 year old and 3 year old.

Power-Pops

2008-08-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a video about one of my favorite treats. They don't cause me to gain weight, they give me energy and vitamins and they have chocolate flavored ones. We also have kids vitamin pops. It is a fun way to get them to take their vitamins.

To order or read more about it, go to http://www.power-pops.com/tld

Lavender and Quilting

2008-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well, of course, I have been quilting. It has slowed down some, so I have been able to play a little.

A friend was looking at my lavender, and told me about lavender wands she had made. I had never heard of that, but as soon as she left, I looked it up on the Internet. I tried to make one, and failed. I gave up for about a week. Tried again one night while watching a movie. Nope. The next day I sat on my porch with a bunch of lavender and tried again. Here is a picture of my success. The white one is the first I made. Then each one in the row.

On Monday I rode with my husband all day. He drives truck. On Tuesday afternoon, I finally got together with a friend to do some fabric coloring. I have been intrigued with Irean Blums quilts, and had purchased her book and kit. http://site.irenabluhmscreations.com/index.html My friend purchased a kit also. I have been waiting to have some time to work on it. The kit comes with a 11x11 piece of quilted fabric. I decided I did not want to practice on that one, so I embroidered out a couple of different designs to work with. One is a Holice Turnbow design. The other is from some clip art I purchased from http://www.designstitch.com/ It is a butterfly and flower. I digitized it in my Bernina embroidery software and then embroidered it out. We had lots of fun, but my friend exceeds at it. You should see how hers turned out. But she is an art major. Here is a before and after of the one I did.

I was able to get only 15 of the crosses done for the young lady going to Africa. She left on Tuesday. She was happy to get them.

Busy Week and Weekend

2008-07-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

I need to get organized!!

Quilting: Quilted 6 customer quilts and 1 QOV quilt that I pieced

Here is a picture of one of the QOV quilts I have finished, except the binding. I still need to sew the bind to the back. I love this pattern and will be teaching a group of women at our church so we can make many. The pattern is by Alycia at http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2008/05/not-so-top-secret-project-intro.html 08/05/not-so-top-secret-project-intro.html. I have another done in blue, beige and green. Still need to quilt that one.

Tatting: I completed another wedding hanky. This was for a young women that I had worked with. I was still sewing the tatting onto the hanky as we drove to the church. Did not plan that well. So no pictures.

I also played around with a edging pattern that is called Entwined Hearts Edging. It is by Barbara Hevener. It is a pattern that is being used for the 2008 Tat-off at Palmetto. http://www.palmettotatters.org/ Here is a picture of what my attempt looks like.

I have also been working on the crosses for a young lady who is going on a missions trip to Africa. I looked up the country and found that their flags are Black, Red and Yellow. So I am trying to get as many of them done as I can before she leaves in 2 weeks.

Jack keeping Cool

2008-06-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, today has started out hot. It is quite muggy. Jack has decided he likes to be outside more and more on his leash. I decided today I would set up his pool and fill it. Last year he had to be coaxed into it and then he would be in it for a little while. Today he just jumped right in as I was filling it. I actually had to keep getting him out of it, so I could get it placed where I wanted it.

He was so cute playing with his soccer ball, that I decided to video him. HERE IT IS!

Lions and Tigers and Sewing...oh my!

2008-06-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a busy week! Hubby was on vacation, but I still managed to get 6 quilts quilted.

Friday we decided to head up to Spokane, and go to Cat Tails. You can see more about it at http://www.cattales.org/ We had so much fun. Seeing all the large cats and learning their history. They have a lion there that has been in the movies and is now retired there. The people are so friendly. There is a school there and it is a year long. If anyone is interested. I told them I was too old and they said no we have 40 something mother of 2 here. I said well I am a 40 something grandmother. Tempting........no time. They have 4 baby tigers there that are 7 months old. So cute. Here are some pictures.

On Sat we ran around from town to town delivering the quilts I had finished.

On Sunday....our historical society, had their annual Ice Cream Social. It is held at the first house in our Town. It is a lot of fun. Their is a band and singers, old cars, demonstrations, ice cream & homemade pies, etc. Some are dressed in periodic cloths and their is a fashion show. This year our quilt guild decided to participate. We had some red white and blue quilts, some where hand piecing, one was hand quilting, and I brought my treadle down. I was piecing and QOV. We passed out information about the QOV organization. http://www.qovf.org/ It was a lot of fun. Here are a couple of pictures of us.

Another Wedding Down

2008-06-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well I have been busy quilting and getting ready for my nieces wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. It decided to rain during the ceremony. The place it was at had umbrellas. At least it was not a downpour. We had fun with family and and met knew people. I actually got to dance and have fun. My back did not give me one once of trouble. Yahoo!!!!!

Here are pictures of her wedding hanky and card I made her. The edging on the hanky is tatted. Also, I made her a bag for the wedding dance. It is made with satin on the outside and cotton for the lining. I used my embroidery machine to embroider the design and added their initials. I sewed on 164 silver beads. Added 20 crystals. Sewed cording up the 4 seams. I did not have the right size cording for the straps, so took the small cording I used on the seams, with a length silver thread and made a twisted cord, doubling it. It worked perfect.

Finished the Tat it and See

2008-06-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Well I finished her. They are so cute. You will have to go to Jane's blog and see all the other finished darlings.

Tatting? Knitting? Quilting Yes

2008-06-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well as usual, I have been busy quilting. My back has been doing great, so I have been able to get a lot finished. The quilt I finished this week was quite the challenge. The blocks where machine embroidered blocks & heirloom sewing technique blocks. It is a wedding quilt. I did not make the quilt, a customer did. I had fun trying to figure out how to quilt each block. Here is a teaser picture. You will have to go to my webshots and see the rest. http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/562883335bdGzuF?start=24

Since my back was bad there for awhile, I was reading some books a friend gave me to read. They are murder mysteries with knitting thrown in. Author is Maggie Sefton. Titles "Knit One Kill Two", "A Deadly Yarn" & "Needled to Death". There are patterns and recipes in the book, also. Gave me the knitting bug, and I have been working on a scarf while watching TV. http://www.maggiesefton.com/knitting.html

I have managed to do a little tatting. I am still working on my nieces wedding hanky. I have tatted up some more of the crosses from Patty's book. These will be for giving away.

Also, am working on Jane Eborall's newest Tat it and See. http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/ She is on Day 9, I am still working on Day 8. Don't know what it is yet?

I get bored easily so work on many projects at a time.

Using embossing powder on art from your printer?!?!

2008-05-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we had a women's tea and luncheon. This was put on and attended by women from all the Churches in town. This was the second year we have done it. It is always wonderful. My Pastor's wife was the speaker this year and she did a wonderful job. She was in charge of getting ladies to host tables and all the other things that went on.

I hosted one of the tables. When you host the table, you bring plates, napkins, table cloth, pitcher, teapot, teacups and saucers, a center piece, and small party favors for your guests. You never know who will be sitting at your table till that day. I had purchased a silver teapot at an antique show, last month. Instead of a center piece, I made some more of the votive covers. I love making these. This time I did not have rubber stamps for the look I wanted, so found clip art. When I printed the teacups on the velum, I decided to see if the embossing powder would stick to it. What do you know, it worked! You have to be right at the printer with the powder and be sprinkling it on as it comes out. Be careful not to get any in the printer. Then use your gun to melt it into place.

For the party favors, I made a little book, that can be used as a bookmark or hang from something. It actually has a poem in it. I found the directions for making these at http://shala.addr.com/print/minis/index.html I then embroidered and made these key chain flip flops. They were a lot of fun. Directions and the design for these is at http://www.pawdesigns2.com/. Here is a picture of my finished projects.

Tatted Seahorse

2008-05-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

With every thing else, I have not been able to tat. I am working on a wedding hanky for my niece, but wanted to do something just for fun. I decided to make one of Jane's seahorses. I have been going through withdrawals. NEED TO TAT.....

Long Time No Posting

2008-05-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well I have been so busy, I have not posted.

After my steroid shot, I had three wonderful weeks with no pain. Then one morning, my back went pop pop, but no pain. Had an hour drive to a meeting, and when I got out, I could hardly move and so much pain. So one week in a lot of pain and using a walker to get around the house. Next week less pain. This week has started out better.

During the last few weeks, I have been making things for my nieces bridal shower and a baby shower. I have also been doing lots of quilting. My nieces has always been petite. I have called her my little mouse, so I have embroidered cute mice on different things throughout the years. So, part of her decorations where crochet lace mice. I crochet them with white thread then stiffened them over their molds. Then glued the pieces together and tied black bows on their tales. I forgot to take pictures. Then I made these votive decorations for the table also.

I was in charge of the games for both the bridal shower (for a lady at church) and my nieces bridal shower. For the prizes, I decided to make cards. I love to make cards and ad the teabag folded designs. I ended up making 17 cards. I packaged them in sets of 4 with the envelopes for the prizes. The designs for the cards came from http://pages.prodigy.net/rubyburns/ This is my favorite Teabag folding site. If you have not tried it, you should. It is addicting. Here is a picture of the cards I made for it.

I also crochet this cute thong for my niece. She is so funny. Every Christmas my mom would put undies in all the grandkids stockings. Bre would get this funny look on her face and sit on them as quick as she could. She would do the same when I started embroidering their girls' thongs and the guys boxers. I draped the thong over her presents on the table. She walked past it a few times and then did a double take. She said "A u n t T a m i". She knew who had done them. She thought they were a decoration. I told her no the pattern says they are real. They are to wear. Who knows. It was fun and was quite the conversational piece.

One of the games that I did at both showers, was bingo. You make a bingo card, and then have the guest number it 1 - 24. As the gifts come in, you put a number on them. As the bride or mother-to-be is handed a gift, the number is read off of it. First to get a bingo wins. Here are the bingo cards I made.

I had never done games for a baby shower, so I looked them up on the Internet. As you can tell, I like to do things funny, or weird, how ever you look at it. So I decided on a game that is the dirty diaper game. You buy a package of disposable diapers. You use 4 for the game and give the rest to the m-2-b. On the 4 you kept, you put a letter on each, A-D. In each diaper you will open it and put in a piece of candy bar. Use 4 different ones. Melt them in the microwave. Give each guest a piece of paper and have them put the 4 letters on it. Then pass the diapers around one at a time so that they can guess what candy bar is in each diaper. It is so funny to watch. We took pictures of the ladies smelling this dirty diapers to figure out what was in them. They looks so realistic. Here is a picture of one to prove it.

Etsy Store

2008-04-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Well I decided to start a Etsy Store. It is a place where you can sell patterns and handmade items. I only have one thing listed, so far.

I few years ago, I had told my husband that I wanted a small bird house that could go into my house plants. He did some drawings and then made me a bird house. I loved it. I took his drawings, and did up the pattern. We then made several of the birdhouses in different colors and glued little mushroom birds on them. I sold them at craft fairs and to a local florist. They were a big hit.

I had printed up many copies of the pattern, but never did anything with them. I decided to try selling them on Etsy. We shall see how it goes. http://TamiDra.etsy.com

2nd WS Sampler Quilt & Four Legged Grandchild

2008-04-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well this week, I finished quilting the 2nd WS Sampler Quilt. This one belongs to Jill. It was a big hit at quilt guild on Wed. The quilt was too big for hubby to hold it, so that you could see the whole quilt.

Some fabric was given to the guild. We were each able to choose the fabrics we wanted. We are to make a charity quilt, and then do what ever we want with the rest. There were even some fur fabrics, so now I will attempt to make miniature fabric bears.........when life slows down. I have 43 quilts on my list and more coming each day.

Here is a picture of my 4 legged grandson. His mom has him very spoiled. He gets all excited to come and see me. One day my daughter came over with him to see me. I was not home. She said that he was upset that I was not there. When she took him home, he pouted for the rest of the night. This is a picture at my place. Daughter was using the computer for a job search. Dicoti got tired of his mom not holding him. He kept whining, so I put him in the hood of her sweatshirt. He is so cute.

Tatting and Quilting

2008-03-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Since Martha has shown pictures from her new book, her are some of her new designs that I tatted. This was a lot of fun. I have her new book and will now have something to tat for each season. I have a teenager at church who wants to learn to tat. I think these would inspire her. Hope that I can teach her.

I have been busy quilting. In a earlier post, I shared with you pictures of the quilt blocks we did as an exchange. 2 of the 17 who participated in this, have brought their finished quilt tops for me to quilt. I have just posted pictures of the first one I quilted. Here are a couple of tease pictures....... to see the rest of the pictures of this quilt, go to my webshots http://community.webshots.com/user/tamidra look in the Customer Quilts 2008 folder.

SNOW IN MARCH???????

2008-03-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well I can't believe we keep getting snow. It is the 27th of March. Yesterday the snow was coming down so hard and the flakes were as big as silver dollars. Jack was jumping and biting at the flakes. For the rest of the day it was sunny. Snow melted way. My husband said their was a bad hail storm on the highway, and several cars and trucks ended up in the ditches and on their tops. I went to sleep, listening to the pouring rain.

Today I woke up to 4 to 5 inches of snow. The snow plows are out and about.

Shot, Bunny, Helper

2008-03-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well last Friday I went to get my shot for my back. The roads were horrible. It was snowing bad. Cars in the ditchs. Made it up there safely. I find that in most doctor offices, they just do things to you and don't tell you what they are going to do. I am so glad this was a chatty nurse. She started telling me what she was going to put in my IV and I said hold it right there. She was going to put a drug in the IV that the last time sent me to the ER. It is in my records, for pete sake.

She had a terrible time getting the IV in. In one arm pull out try another direction, again and again. Did not work so tried the other arm. Same procedure in, not working, out turn. Finally success. Good thing I am not afraid of needles. The shot was not so bad. Done and out of there. A little loopy for the rest of the day and slept a lot. I am actually starting to feel human again. The shot was sooooooo worth it.

I started crocheting this bunny a couple of weeks ago. I finished making the pieces week before last, but always afraid of putting them together. Worried that I won't get the face done right, so I put it off. Well yesterday was Easter, and I wanted him done. So here he is. Hubby took nice photos.

Had to add this picture. I was looking through my tatting books and patterns, to find my next project. My cat "Miss Hemmie" decided to help. She is a little hard to see through.

Just In Time For Easter

2008-03-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

I finally finished this egg cover. It is a pattern by Terry McGuffin. I decided to add a crystal and tassel at the bottom.

Too Busy to Blog

2008-03-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well have been very busy.

The quilts have been coming in like crazy.

My back is still not good, so it is taking me longer to do each quilt. I finally saw a specialist, and he has scheduled me to get a steroid shot in the effected area. My MRI shows a bulging disk. It is pinching my nerves which is causing the pain all the way down to my foot. Frustrating thing I found out is that the MRI for 2 years ago shows the same thing, but not as bad. At that time the docs said that nothing was wrong with my back. So as a last resort they sent me to a OB-GYN, he decided that maybe I had endometriosis, so they needed to preform a hysterectomy. So I went through that surgery for no reason, and now deal with Hot Flashes.

Well now onto better things. I have been working on some tatting and also more miniature critters. I like to do too many things. Here is a picture of what I tatted. I have wanted to do this pattern for awhile.

As for the miniature critter, I am working on a bunny, and will post pictures when I get all the pieces together.

And FINALLY........THE LAST OF THE SNOW HAS MELTED from my yard. I am feeling spring.

I hired my adult daughter to come and clean and organize my house. Boy did she do a great job. Everything is organized and I can once again get in my sewing room and sew. Only down side, trying to find what I am looking for. I have to keep calling her. I also gave her the ok to throw things out. I am bad about that.

Doctors, Quilting & Tatting

2008-02-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Well I started Valentines day off by going to the doctors. Now broken out in hives. Great! Since my back is still not better and it has been 3 months, he referred me to a spine specialist. So I go see him in March.

Valentines day got better when I got home. There was a beautifull purple flowering plant from my hubby and a wonderful card.

Was able to quilt more this week. I quilted 4 quilts and 4 pillow shams.

I did more test tatting this week. I also tatted up another one of Jane's patterns. This frog is for my daughter. Being valentines week, I also tatted a heart from a pattern I had been wanting to tat for a long time. It is by Sue Fuller.

Tatting and Cards

2008-02-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

Well I am still dealing with back pain, so I have alot of down time. I have been occupying my time by test tatting for one of the Tatting Artists. Can't show those pictures, but here is a bookmark I made for my daughter-in-law for valentines.

I have also been quilting customers quilts when the pain allows.

I also had a friend in OR who saw the Hanky Card I did for my d-i-l. She loved it and was making a couple of wedding hankys. She asked me if you could purchase the cards from me. So I embroidered two cards for her and put them in the mail. Here is a picture of one of her cards.

Too Much Snow!

2008-01-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well it just keeps snowing here. It seems as soon as my hubby shovels it has another couple of inches. While I was out today, a lady's cel phone rang. Someone in her family was telling her that the road to their house was now closed. Wonder what she will do. They say the storm is suppose to hit us on Thursday. We are already getting more snow than we usually do. Here are some pictures I took today. The first two are of my back yard. You can see the snow piled on the fence. The 3rd picture is of my grape vines. The 4th is my front yard.

Tat it and See Complete

2008-01-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

Well I finished the TIAS. Jane says it is a hippo. I had been guessing a hippo or rhino. I think mine rather looks like a weird bulldog.

Another Motif

2008-01-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

I did another of Jane's design. It is her Celtic Motif. It was fun to do. I am still working on her tat it and see.

Jack

2008-01-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

I was asked recently about new pictures of Jack. Here are some I took today. See the one were he is smiling. He smiles a lot. He is almost 14 months now.

Tatting this week

2008-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Well I had fun with a little tatting this week. I tatted a snow flake with my new thread. The thread is so pretty, but I find working with the metallic sliver running through it kind of a pain. I had a terrible time, with the outside round. I kept going in the wrong direction. Had to keep cutting it off and trying again.

I have been working on Jane's Tat it and See.

Here is my work so far.

I also decided to try the camel. Mine looks more like a horse. It was fun. I used different colors. No matter how many times I started over again on the leg I could not get it right. So mine is facing the opposite direction. I think it was one of those weeks or all the medication I am on.

Playing with Minitures

2008-01-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

I love to crochet and always wanted to try doing it with thread. I found a couple of sites about it and a pattern. I love the bears. My daughter collects frogs, so I purchased a pattern by Edith Molina. Since I have been dealing with my back and sickness, I have not been able to do much, so I thought now was the perfect time to try them. The bear is a free pattern from Edith Molina to get you started. I had no problem crocheting the parts. The bear I had trouble keeping the arms being the same size and the legs being the same size. When it came to puting them together, it took a few days to get up the nerve to attempt it. I put the frog together first. Then a couple days later the bear.

You can go to http://www.squidoo.com/groups/thread_crochet_bears to see Edith's Bears.

I joined a group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tmcritters/ The group has lots of patterns and very helpful members. I can't wait to try more.

Here are pictures of my first 2. I put my bear next to a bottle of nail polish, so you can get an idea of the size.
The bear is 2½" sitting and 3 standing. The frog is 1-3/4" sitting (top of eyes to seat). 4¼" from top of eyes to tip of toes.

A quilt for me

2008-01-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Well I was very surprised. A friend/quilt customer called and said she had two quilts for me. She lives an hour away, and happen to be comming to town. I was not home so she left the quilts with her mom and left a message. It took me a few days to get there to pick them up. Her mother said "You really need to look at the purple one." She knows how much I like purple and would love to see her next quilt. She is quite the quilt artist. I always tease my customers that when they bring me a purple one they might not get it back.

Well I got home and opend the bag and there was a quilt I had already quilted and it was finished with it's binding on it. On the label I found that it was for me. I do all her quilts of valour quilts and she decided to do one for me. I love it. Here is a picture.

Another Son Married

2008-01-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

Well the wedding was beautiful. We had lots of fun. Fortunately my back held up. It was wonderful to see our grand babies. They were all sick though and now we suffer with the crud they have. Hope I get over it soon.

Here is a picture of us with the bride and groom. Doesn't our son look handsome in his Dress Blues?

Wedding Hanky

2007-12-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Well I finally finished the wedding hanky for my d-i-l to be. I will presenting it to the bride, tomorrow, her wedding day.

I embroidered this card and then you slip the hanky in.

Inside it has the poem. I also put in a copy of the instructions on making it into a bonnet when the time comes.

AZ, Parties & Red Bell

2007-12-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

Well we went down to AZ and visited my folks & grandmother. We had a wonderful time, except for my back kept me from doing much. Got a little sun burn. Delays getting home, do to Denver weather. Arrived in the middle of the night to 14 degrees and a frozen car.

Since we have been home it has been party and work and rest. Still had some customer quilts to finish, but can only stand for so long before I have to rest my back.

Last week I had a quilt guild Christmas party. We had lots of wonderful food and fun. We also exchanged our friendship blocks. Only 17 of us participated. We had to make 17 blocks. I chose to make a Christmas Stocking and I embroidered their name on the cuff. Here are pictures of our blocks.

Saturday was up to Spokane for wedding prep with my d-i-l to be. Then back home to clean up and dress for my husband's company Christmas party.

Sunday I had a Christmas brunch to go to with the quilt shop I work part time for. We did a gift exchange. I tatted another bell for the employee whos name I had been given. I did this one with red thread and red and white beads.

Another Bell

2007-11-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the bell I just finished. I is one of my favorite bells of Terrys to tat. It will be going out in the mail to................

Still working on my d-i-l to be's hanky.

Snowflakes, Flowers and Kleenex Things

2007-11-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well I have been so busy, I have not had time to update my blog. This is the busy season for my quilting business.

Plus having a son getting married in December.

Their wedding colors are navy blue, white and silver. I embroidered out lots of snow flakes to decorate the reception area.

Then I tatted her some flowers from Linda S Davies' book "From Petals to Pearls" These will go into her and her bridesmaids bouquets. I will leave it up to her how she wants the flowers to look. The are bendable.

I am still working on her wedding hanky. Here is how her edging looks so far.

I also made a Kleenex case for the mother of the bride.

Broccoli, Teaching & Baby Quilt

2007-09-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

What a week I had.

I tried to grow broccoli for the first time this summer. Since my husband and I and our golden retriever love it so much. Well it likes cooler weather, and this year we have 105 days. So I crew weird broccoli. Here is a picture of what I harvested off of 4 plants.

I had to wait for the thread to come in, so that I could finish quilting the Latte quilt. Finished it on Friday. While I waited, I worked on sewing projects with three young ladies. (8, 10 & 13). They wanted to sew something for the fair. I thought we could do potholders, but the girls wanted to make wall hangings. Each picked a different kind. The 8 year old was doing dimentional pinwheels. The 10 year old was working on a patriotic friendship star. The 13 year old was doing some fusible applique cats. We worked from 1-6 for three days. We had lots of fun, but the teacher was drained by the end of the day. We have three happy new quilters who will have wall hangings to enter in the fair.

I finally finished the binding on our new granddaughters quilt.

Quilting and Baby Cloths

2007-08-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Finally finished an outfit for our new granddaughter.

I have also been working on a customers "Latte Quilt" for the last 3 days. Here is a sample picture of just the center. Almost done and ran out of thread. Now I have to wait for the shipment to get in.

Jack at 7 months

2007-08-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

I was asked about an updated picture of Jack. Here he is. He is 7 months old and weighs a ton.

Tatting and Sewing

2007-08-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quick stop into the blog to show what I have been up too.

Here is a Seahorse I finished last night.

Here are a couple of a purses I made in the last two days. I use fabric sample swatches from the lazy boy store.

This month our first granddaughter was born. Here are two pictures of my husband and I piecing it on my treadle machine. Hubby only did a couple of pieces, but it will be great for the baby book. I will post pictures of the quilt and the Kailie when I get the binding on.

Busy Couple of Months

2007-08-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well I have not posted for a awhile. It has been a busy couple of months. In June, my parents took my sister, brother, and I with our spouses on an Alasken cruise. My grandmother was also on the cruise. We had a blast and it was over way to fast. This was my husband and I's first cruise. Alaska was beautiful. Here is a picture that one of the ships photographers took. Also a picture of some of the family on our 15 mile bike ride at one of our stops.

I have not done as much tatting as I would have like to. I have been busy working on Customer quilts. Here are a few pieces I have been able to get done. I am working on a quilt for our first granddaughter who was born this week. I am also working on a crochet outfit. So busy busy busy.

As of Late

2007-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well as usual, I have been busy busy. Last weekend we had a birthday party for my father-in-law in the afternoon and then a going away for our middle son, who is leaving for the navy.

Here is a picture with my f-i-l, 2 of our kids and our d-i-l.

For mother's day, hubby had taken me to an early dinner and then we went looking at lawn and garden things. We found this beautiful plant and my husband bought it for me. I haven't killed it yet. It has the most beautiful flowers and they last over a week at a time.

I have been busy quilting and embroidering. Here is one of the towels I did for the business. I digitized their logo and am embroidering towels and a jacket.

Here is a card I finished for a wedding we have this afternoon.

This is a picture of some of the quilting I did on a my mom's quilt. She has been working on this quilt for over 5 years.