I'm THANKFUL for you!

Here I am, alone on Thanksgiving Day because my kids are at their dads. I'm sad to not be with them, but I'm not sad to be alone. I just have soooo much to be thankful for. On days like today, I'm thankful for YOU!

Because of you....

• I've kept my mind busy today thinking, planning, designing new items for you. It feels good to be wanted.
  
• I'm able to be a Work at Home Mom (WAHM).
• I'm able to be with my children full time as a mommy and because you buy my designs, I can be daddy too and support us.
• I can use the talents God gave me and enjoy what I do for a living.
• I can feel confident in my work from all the sweet emails I get from you that encourage me to do more.

I am most thankful for your friendship(s). May God bless each of you.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Oh I "love" the UPS man!!

Well besides him being sexy in his cute brown uniform, I like to see my UPS man coming because he has goodies for me.

I received my donation box from OLFA and June Tailor. They sent me products to test and use in photography of my instructions. June Tailor sent me the largest cutting mat and an ironing board cover that has measured markings on it. It'll be helpful when pressing quilt squares.

I got all of this from OLFA plus an extra large cutting mat!


Christmas came early for me!!

We called it Calf Slobber

What... you didn't call it that? LOL Growing up, I didn't care for homemade meringue, I preferred cool whip. Now, as an adult, I can at least tolerate it and I ONLY include it for the appearance. My brother-in-law repaired my car and asked for a chocolate pie in return so one chocolate pie with extra calf slobber coming up.

FREE Dr. Pepper for everyone in America

Well Dr. Pepper is holding up to their comment about promising everyone in the USA a FREE Dr. Pepper. You can call 1.800.696.5891 or log onto their website at www.drpepper.com and register so they can send you a coupon for a free 20 oz. drink.

Ahhhh, I love my Dr. Pepper and I want it full strength and not the "unleaded" version. LOL

I feel like baking....

I just got home from teaching at The Fabric Store and decided I was gonna bake a cake for Linsey before she got home from school. I'm making a "Velvet Cake". Yes, that's minus the red food coloring LOL.

As you can see, I use clothes pins for lots of things. Talon helped me by pulling all of my pots and lids from my lower cabinet to the middle of the floor. He made some beautiful, LOUD music for me too by clanging the lids on the floor then to each other. As I got out the spatula from the drawer I remembered when my mom would bake. We called this utensil the "child cheater" because it scraped the bowl just a little too good. I made sure I saved me and T some to lick. From the look of this pic it seems he loved it!

We then waited on the cakes to cool so we could ice it. I got Talon all cleaned up then I went and precut some fabrics that I plan on using for another Lone Star. He tagged along and helped me there too.

ZZ just got home and loved her surprise. Well I'd better get ready for tonight's class back at The Fabric Store.

Lone Star Block, Bread and Thread

Yes block and not Lone Star Beer and Bob Will music. LOL I'm showing my age by knowing that song huh? I love Texas Swing music but I actually like it quiet when I'm working.

I had a VERY productive weekend. I totally cleaned the house super good so that I could take this week to focus on things that need to be stitched out. I tested my sample Lone Star quilt block that I pieced with my embroidery machine. I developed a NEW PITH technique that I'm currently working on getting patented. Yep.. I love this new invention I came up with in the hoop. Here's a lookie-lou at the unfinished top. Currently it measures about 20". I'm going to add some kind of border and I'm leaning towards piano keys. I'm stopping for the night and will take a fresh look tomorrow.

I used Thimbleberries Subtle Solids by RJR

I also made some homemade white bread today. This was my first loaf of the year and definitely not the last. I slathered mine with real whipped butter while everyone else smeared red plum and strawberry jam on theirs.

Oh.... this past Friday was like Christmas for me. I received 24 spools of embroidery thread and stabilizer from Floriani. I really like their stabilizers for the PITH method. I'm testing a new product that the have released. It's a fusible wash-away. So far I like it. I will let you know how easy it is to wash out when I get to that step.

I'm finding that writing a book can get you lots of goodies. Olfa and June Tailor are sending samples to try out. I received my fabrics from Moda and RJR and cotton thread from Superior Threads. I'm working now on getting a loaner machine from either Bernina or Brother/Baby Lock but perhaps from both so that I can test in different formats. This is all still so surreal for me. Well it's morning time here in Texas and I'm signing off and "two stepping" outta here.

Displaying My Quilts

My cousin gave me this idea and I just had to do it. I went to Home Depot and purchased a 1 x 2 for only .99. They came in 8ft lengths so I asked them to cut them in 1/2 and they did so for no additional charge. Then I rounded up some "chip clips", aka clothes pins and some Gorilla Glue. I glued the clothes pins to the board and allowed to dry over night. Something I didn't know was that Gorilla Glue expands, so I'm telling you this so that you won't use as much as I did. The next day, I screwed them to the wall and clipped my lil quilts in place. This method of hanging them allows for quick changes anytime I want a new scenery to view. I'm going to spray paint them white to blend in with my wall. I think this will allow my quilts to pop off the walls more.

My sewing area is complete... YEAH!!

I work sooo much better when there's little to no clutter. It's also nice to know that everything is in it's place. Now that hurricane season has once again flew over us I have another year to rest. Well, I'm off to watching some TV with Linsey. Monday nights she want's me to watch Dancing with the Stars with her. I generally don't watch TV but have to admit, I got into this show. LOL. I'm gonna go microwave some buttery popcorn and have our mommy-daughter time.

Is the weekend reallly over?

Man, I was one busy momma this weekend. I'm actually glad it's over because I pooped form getting so much done. My car is at the doctor. It seems my distributor is out so ugggggg. I'm not sure when I'll get it back but it should be sometime this week. Thank goodness my family lives near me so they can shuttle me around. I spent most of my Saturday over at my baby sisters house. My older sister drove up and momma was there too so it was like a mini family get-together. It's nice to have everyone together other than for a holiday or a funeral.

Well Sunday rolled along and I was up at 5:00am courtesy of lil Talon. After we did our morning routine I commenced to tackling more cleanup. The only sign that Ike was here is the "shoddy" porch my landlord re-installed. My house is all cleaned up from the water that got under the front door. I have 90% of my sewing area back in order and that's a HUGE sigh of relief. Now, I can get back to working in a nice, organized area rather than a make-shift office. I even cleaned out the utility/storage area. I went through every box and if I haven't used it in 6mos, it was tossed in boxes to give away. I knew it wouldn't be long before I had to get out the Christmas boxes, so I reorganized that area as well making them easier to get too.

Linsey is pestering me to go ahead and put a tree up and even though I generally wait until the day after Thanksgiving, we just might do it early. I joke about my Charlie Brown artificial Christmas tree to my family. It's limbs are spread out and you can see the trunk through-out. Linsey picked it out last year on a trip to Hobby Lobby and later I fell in love with it. I like the fact that the lights are built-in so lets just hope that it cuts on cause I hate stringing lights.

Speaking of Christmas, it's hard to believe that before we know it it will be here. It's gonna be a little different being just us three, but I will make the best of it! I'm even gonna plan a small meal and get Linsey to help me cook. I think all Talon will be interested in is pulling bows off presents and learning "no-no" as he approaches the tree. He will be one year old on the 29th of this month and who knows if he'll be walking by then. He's getting close.

Well, I'm am slap wore out from all the work and organization I accomplished today so I'm gonna go soak in some bubbles now that the kiddos are in la-la land.

New Blog Setup

I'm glad I just got started because it seems that most use blogspot.com and I found that is was more user friendly than wordpress. So, I moved my previous posts over to this new one. I hope you enjoy the "newer" look.

It takes one to STENO one…

I know that was corny but hey, that’s me. Don’t you just love this steno pad cover? Sandy K. of Magnolia Springs, TX made this for me using one of PITH blocks… the log cabin. She even embroidered my name on it. WOW!!! What a nice gift huh!!?? I just had to share this with you. Thank you dear Sandy. I can’t wait to see you again.

I’m also happy to report that I made a little more progress on my Ike cleanup and reorganization of my sewing area. I actually have a place to walk now. I also have all of the Hidden Diamond blocks uploaded. I started mine in 5″ but I’m starting over to do the 10″ block. Once I have the top done, I’ll send to the quilter and then I’ll snap a photo to share. It’s a little after 10pm here so I’m gonna call it a day and just relax some and take some pain meds for this nasty lil nerve.

Pinched Nerve

I do not know how it happened but I know it feels horrible. About 4 days I woke up with a burning in my left shoulder and when I moved, sharp pains jolted me. I finally went to the Dr. a couple days ago and he gave me a cortisone shot which hurt pretty bad itself! Well, it’s day two after the shot and I’m still hurting. The burning sensation is gone but the sharp, piercing pain is there when I lift my arm. This is not a good time. I’m soooo behind on getting things uploaded for my Hidden Diamond group. I also started a big mess in my house trying to utilize the space I have. Me and my kiddos live in a 2bdr. duplex so that leaves only the living room for office space. As you can see from the picture below, it’s a mess! I finally got things cleaned up from IKE’s nasty mess, now I just have to reorganize my sewing area.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY!

Happy Halloween everyone. This turned out to be a fun festivity with my kiddos. Don’t you just love Dorothy & Toto? tee hee

Dorothy & Toto

The Journery Has Just Begun…

I am on a new journey, one that I have never traveled before. I am about to embark on a project that has already begun to change my life. I submitted a book proposal with Krause Publications and it was approved with “great enthusiasm”. Not only will I have a book to work on but it will also arrive with a DVD. This is all so surreal. The book deal alone is monumental for me but there’s more. The DVD will be recorded with Nancy Zieman! I will be working side by side with her on a Sewing with Nancy series. Wow huh!! Can you see me smiling? LOL
I’d love to have you come along with me as I write as often as I can on all the happenings whether work or home related. After all, I’m a single mom of two children (Linsey 7 & Talon 11 months), THE breadwinner, a creative designer, entrepreneur, web builder, quilter, embroiderer, bread maker, country cooking, making sure Linsey has clean clothes and Talon is not out of diapers, “Jill of all trades.”