"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." ~Goethe~

28 December 2012

Gifts...

There were a few gifts that were made around here during the last few weeks here.  Gifts that were very loved when completed.

This was a quilt that Em gifted to herself for all the hard work and thoughtfulness she has passed on to others this year.  She had been patiently gathering all the right bits for this quilt since the beginning of the year.  After all the creating and giving to others she finally has her wonderful snuggly quilt she has been dreaming about.  Well done Em!


Then the next day she started on another for her little sister B.  Little B asked what she was doing and how wonderful it would be to have her very own quilt like Em made for herself.  That is when Em told her it was another quilt for herself and would B love to help her pick out colors.  B helped happily always saying that it would be a very beautiful quilt with those wonderful colors she helped Em pick out.  B watched patiently for a week and a half as the quilt was put together always admiring it.  Then when Em was finished sewing the binding and signed the back of the quilt, it was quickly washed and dried so that B would get her very special Christmas present early from her big sis.  Let's just say she carries it everywhere in the house and is never seen without it.



I was finally able to start and finish a gift to Mom just in the nick of time for me to get it mailed off in time for Christmas.  Nothing like waiting till the last minute.  A nice big hot pad trivet for her table.  The pictures are terrible with the lack of light that was going on the morning it was sent off. 



Now there is another special request that has come in from one special little niece that needs something for her special princess baby doll after she saw Mom's table trivet.  Apparently it is just the perfect size for a special baby doll.  Better get moving on that now.

~*~

27 December 2012

Memories...

Christmas was quite wonderful with our special little guy staying with us a few days this year.  Such beautiful moments with this little man.  Making cookies and sneaking a bit of dough here and there.  Eating a chocolate ornament or two off of the tree just because.

Looking at his favorite dog book with Auntie B.


Always stopping for a quick moment to look at what seemed to be his favorite ornament, Santa.


And his most favorite thing to do with the tree, blowing on the tinsel.  The absolute cutest thing ever!  Fun to see that the tradition continues as it did with my three.  :)


Then the all important reindeer food.  Even if he didn't quite understand why the girls were doing this, he had fun throwing stuff around.


These kind of memories are the best.  There is nothing in the world more magical or important than times like these.

My Mom shared a fond memory with me last week that nearly made me cry about her childhood.  She was born in Germany and I tend to think that she has the greatest memories ever from a time that was much simpler and less materialistic.  We were speaking about making Christmas cookies and all the baking that I still needed to do.  She started to tell me about when she was 6 years old or so and how her Mom would pay a small little fee each Christmas to use the big bakery in town to do all her Christmas baking all in one day instead of days on end in her kitchen.  My Oma would make sure all 10 kids were bundled up, pack the sleigh with all their needed supplies and head down for the day to do the all important Christmas baking.  Then when everything was finished everyone bundled up again, packed the sleigh with all the goodies and headed home at the end of the day all happy and tired.  To listen to my Mom speak of all the smells she remembers, the warmness of the bakery, the time with her Mom and siblings was absolutely beautiful.  To imagine all the goings on on those days, trying to envision all those kids bundled up, walking in the snow and just enjoying one another just melts my heart.  I hear all kinds of stories of the simple, loving  things my Oma did for her children and each one makes me so proud and humbled to be related to someone who was so kind and loving to her family.

These are the memories that are the most important in life.  And I'm so glad that I try to make an honest effort to do simple memorable things with my children and now my grandchild.  Life is not about material things at all.  It's all about the smiles you put on your kids faces, the things that make them dance and twirl, and the love you put into their hearts.

I hope you and your family had a very memorable, lovely Christmas just as we did.

Now I must be off to go make waffles with the girls for lunch just because we can.

~*~

24 December 2012

Merry Christmas!!!

All the special request cookies have been made.


A special batch of personally decorated sugar cookies were completed this morning with a special little helper on the side.  Lots of jabbering, laughing and dough tasting was going on in the kitchen.


The certain special little helper couldn't keep his fingers off of cookies that we thought were finished with all their sugars and sprinkles


and kept adding his own little touches here and there. 




Now we are all sitting back waiting for tonight.  Sharing time with family and friends, eating yummy little snacks and sharing presents with one another.  Keeping things simple and making memories.  That's what it is all about.


Merry Christmas to you all!

~*~



16 December 2012

My wall quilt...

I woke up very early this morning just so I could get working on finishing my quilt for the dining room.  It was a nice surprise to open the blinds and see snow.  There was a wonderful feeling that settled in as I was stitching the last bit of binding down while peeking out at the snow every few minutes.  That is my kind of Sunday.  Just plain wonderful.  Simple.



Now that the quilt is in its new home, there is more cutting to be done for a smallish person so she can get a project finished.


And then I'm starting on another project in which I was inspired by this wonderful book.


But first I need another mug of hot chocolate to get me through more of this snowy little day of ours.

~*~

12 December 2012

Binding...


Moving on to the scrappy binding.  My most favorite kind of binding.

11 December 2012

What to say?


What is there to say about the things that have been happening with me in well over a month.

I've been so completely disgusted with the path this country is going down.  So utterly pathetic to say the least without ranting and raving for days on end.  I could just spit.

Heavy hearts have been the norm around here all due to a child who is suppose to be an adult, age wise at least, but refuses to be one.  It had me questioning everything I had ever done for this child to try and understand why they are the person they are at the moment.  But after much thought and discussion with dear family and friends, it is all due to the unwise, irresponsible choices that has lead this child down the road he is on.  Not due to anything I have done.  I can do no more.  I am tired of 'banging my head on a wall' trying to get through to someone who could really care less about how hard he is making life for himself.  I have to move on in order to save my sanity and the rest of the family's.

So with that I am really trying to get out of this funk and focus more on myself and the rest of the family who cares about making the most out of life.  Thanksgiving was a bust around here but Christmas will not be the same way.  Routines will be put back in place.  Traditions will be celebrated with nothing but happiness and joy.  And focus will be put on those who matter the most.

Here's to happier days ahead!
I need it.

~*~


30 October 2012

Em's quilt

Em decided that she needed to enter a quilt contest inspired by Dana.

She knew exactly what she wanted to do.  Use all the polka dot fabric that she has been collecting for quite some time and cut them into triangles.  594 triangles.  Yeah.  More ambitious than I have been for sure.  Now it's just a matter of deciding what the back should look like.  There's a huge debate going on about that.  



And it was all thought of after she saw the picture below.
(from design seeds


Can you believe she said she is bored at the moment and really needs to get going on the back of the quilt.  Determination.  Gotta love it!

~*~


12 October 2012

Planning...

I'm finally biting the bullet and will be cutting into my lovely bundle of Flea Market Fancy.  I've been putting it off since Spring.  Nervous.  Not wanting to totally ruin it with one wrong cut.  I'm weird like that.  I can't help it with prized little treasures.

So I have finally decided (after millions of mind changing episodes)  to make a wall hanging for the dining room, inspired by Blue Elephant Stitches.


Then with the leftovers of the above stack and with the newly found most awesome of awesome purchases today (Vintage Flea Market Fancy!!!  SQUEAL!!!!!), 

(photo from etsy)

I will be planning, ever so carefully, my course of action in order to make a quilt big enough to fit on my bed from the following inspiration from this book.


Now that I'm all giddy and have all this adrenaline getting me going I better put some of that energy towards a wee bit of yard work before I absolutely lose control and hibernate here in the craft room and completely forget about what needs to be done around here.  It happens, trust me.

I'm so excited!!!

~*~

08 October 2012

Smiling...

Pleased to pieces as to how this little project makes me smile every time I come into my craft room now.




Now something for the walls.  :)

~*~

07 October 2012

This weekend...

After a couple of corrections in the placement of squares (not sure what happened there) and completing the quilting yesterday,


the binding was added this morning.  


This weekend has turned out to be pretty darn great as far as the productivity of the desk quilt is concerned.

But a break must be taken so some time with my favorite peeps can be spent at the book store, lunch somewhere and a little stop at the park.

I can't be totally selfish and make the weekend all about me.  
Maybe another time. 

~*~

06 October 2012

The desk...

Things are starting to look better in the computer room.  The beast is in it's new home.  Things are somewhat set up for usage.  There's more tweaking to be done to make things just right for Glenn.  But at least the desk is finished and moved in.  Now Glenn just has to figure out what to do with all those drawers that he can put things in.

We are amazed at the color that it is now.  Like I said before we couldn't even see all the grain due to the dark color and the years of grime that was on this thing.  It looks like a totally new piece of furniture now.


Some of our favorite spots are the sun burst looking grain on one side.  That had to be placed in just the right place so it could be seen every time you walk into the room.  Request made by Glenn.


The top is my favorite.  Never knew it would look like this.


This project turned out better than I had imagined at first.  


It's amazing what you will find when refinishing an old piece of furniture that looks drab, dirty and yucky.  I'm glad we tackled this project and went for it.  Turned out to be a great treasure.  At least for us.

~*~


01 October 2012

Refinishing...

Just thought I would share with you on what I have been up to since last week.  Oh you think I was working on the little patchwork project for the new desk in the craft room.  I wish. 

Well, that came to a screeching halt the middle of last week when I could no longer stand seeing the million pieces of the behemoth desk sitting all over my family room.  It drove me insane!  So I recruited some help in dragging all those pieces out to the garage and proceeded in refinishing this monster.  The guys at the local hardware store just smiled and laughed when I told them the project I was going to tackle.  Maybe that was a sign that I should have said the heck with it and turned around and went back home.  But they know me be now and that I don't come in looking at starting easy little projects.  They always chuckle when I come in.  Awesome, huh.  

Let's just say that sanding the old crud off of a nearly 100yr. old desk is no way any fun at all.  We didn't want to use chemicals due to the fact that we had a little visitor most of the weekend and didn't want him around that stuff.  I now feel like I have depleted the country's supply of sandpaper after all of this.  And I can barely move after all the sanding that had to be done.

  We had never seen this much grain detail on the desk top before.  Only bits and pieces due to all the dark stain and shellac on it.  Who knew really old shellac will gum up a piece of sandpaper in mere seconds.  Awesome.  Gotta love that shellac.

And who knew the desk top looked this great without all the crud on it.


So now after days of sanding, staining was completed yesterday and the first coat of new varnish was applied today.  I actually thought I heard angels singing.


Glenn actually thought he was a comedian at one point yesterday and asked "what happens if I want to change the color of the stain in the future?".  He got the biggest stink eye I could muster up and quickly stopped asking ridiculous questions.  Plus the fact that I was holding the electric sander while he was asking the ridiculous question may have scared him a bit while I was giving him the stink eye.

Refinishing this monster is not an option, ever again.  At least not by me.  Ever!
God bless furniture restorers.  I'm just saying.

Completion pics in a few days.  I hope.

~*~

22 September 2012

My turn...

The past few weeks I have spent time focusing on projects/gifts for other people.  The latest was another stripy blanket for a friends birthday.  Now with that finished it's my turn for something.


Not to sound selfish in any way because I have not forgotten about my new desk.  But I just needed to make something for myself to go along with my desk.

You see, the last week since starting to use the desk, I have been really protective of the desk.  I have gone so far as to placing runners and cloths on it to keep it from being damaged in anyway.  And yes, coasters are being used under individuals glasses when in the room.  The girls have small table cloths they picked out for their areas and I dug out an old runner to use on my area.  I won't speak on any length (maybe just a little) about my reaction on the first full day of usage when I saw a pencil smudge mark in one area.  Let's just say it wasn't my finest hour.  



While the old runner serves it's purpose, it just doesn't proclaim bright and cheery by any means.  So I went to my fabric stash and dug out a little bundle that has been hoarded away for what seems forever.  It is finally going to find a purpose in life.  A very important purpose indeed.  To be an ever important cheery protector for my desk.  Not too much to ask of it.  At least I don't think so.

Inspired by a book that I've had for a while, a patchy creation will be started this weekend. 




I'm hoping that no one is expecting too much of me the rest of the weekend once I get started with this.  

Dinner is now being put into the crock pot so no one starves around here.  Planning is essential. 

~*~

20 September 2012

Smoke...

Yesterday started with an orange glow streaming through the windows.  Another smoke filled day.  For whatever reason it did not fill the house as the breezes were meandering around.  Glad for that because we truly love having the windows open in the morning.


This morning, much more smoke.  No orange glow streaming through the windows.  There's so much smoke in the sky it just looks very overcast,  


with our pink sun peering through the trees.


If one can put in a request for the weather, here is mine...

Rain and snow up in the mountains.  Please!  That is all we want.  

And for no more lunatics purposely setting fires because they think they need attention or something.
Really?????

We are all sick of it already.
Sick of it.

~*~


18 September 2012

My new space...

You know how I teased with pics of the mess left behind from the behemoth partners desk (the one we have is not as ornate) that use to occupy my craft room.  I have to stop and say that I'm glad that it is finally out of my room.  When it was first bought years back, it served it's purpose and I liked it a lot.  Then when homeschooling the girls started it became greatly dysfunctional and took up way too much space.  It just made the room one big unhappy place to be in.  Not great for creativity to flourish in you know.

So clear out the monster and all the junk that surrounded it.


Buy some wood.  Build a massive, strong frame.  With the help of a super nice friend.
This thing will not be ripped out of the walls anytime soon.  I don't think it could be.  And not that I ever have plans to.  :)  It was tested by a few people to make sure that nothing was going to pull it off the walls.  ;)  I winced a couple of times during the testing session.  But all is good.  Too bad the house isn't as strong in some places.


A little primer and paint.


And moving some things back in.  
It makes for a much more enjoyable space for the girls and I to be in now.  The last two days have been so great!  Night and day difference with functionality and happiness.  Everything is at our fingertips.  Computer (which was in the computer room before and not near us), school books, supplies and crafty stuff (sewing machines, fabric, yarn, etc.)  Let's not forget about the ever important space that everyone has now.  It's everything I imagined.  Love It!!!  I even laid in the middle of the floor and did a "carpet" angel to show how happy I was.  



There is still some tweaking to be done but I'm so dang happy with how it's all working from the get go.  And let's take a moment to mention how wonderful it is to have big blankets laying across the desk top while weaving in ends.  It's just so awesome!!!


There is still junk to go through and have out for trash tomorrow and next week.  How does one collect so much crap? I'm not quite sure.  But it's not coming back in my room.  And as for the big behemoth desk, it is going out to the garage to be refinished and placed in Glenn's computer room.  He wants it.  It's all his, to do with what he wants with it.  Better in there than in my room.  I'm not fighting him for it.  :)

~*~