It's all about the Fabric

It has been important to the members of my sewing group to keep Mary a part of our circle of friends. Mary's family gave us a lot of her fabric stash. We have been using it for gifts for her family , and to add to the sewn items that we create for our donation quilts or items. It keeps her a part of our lives. Seeing her fabrics helps remind us of her presence, and we often feel the spirit of her guidance, steering us to just the right project. We decided to each pick a small amount of her fabric and use it for our Christmas gifts to each other. We each made something, wrapped it up special, then drew high cards to choose our packages. Here are pictures from that night.

This present is still unopened, and Mary Beth is the recipient. After she opens it I will add her picture. Made by Berny. I will say that the present I sewed was made with fabric that was all Mary's and it was made using a pattern that Mary taught us. I finally mastered the "trick" of the pattern in this creation. I plan on trying to make a few more for Christmas gifts, I loved how this one turned out. Hope you will enjoy this Mary Beth (as soon as I can drop it off to you..very soon)

Melann received a lovely table runner, with some 3 dimensional prairie points sew into the seams. The secret about this one is that underneath the prairie point is a matching center to a flying goose block..pretty cool idea. Mary's fabric is the backing center piece. Made by Lisa



Jane chose a package containing 2 smaller table runners, the center print block, on the holiday runner, and the center floral block on the dark runner were Mary's fabrics. The center block with the wording looks so rich in color in the holiday runner. great idea. Made by Melann





Wow, what a treat I received. A snowman painted on canvas with lights shining through, and a beautiful star block that was stretched over an art canvas. What a cool idea. Mary's fabric was everything on the star block except for the green fabric. I can't wait to set this on an easel to display . Made by Lois.

Lois chose the "proxy" present. Mary Beth was unable to attend, so we used a packaging cube from Jane's birthday gift iron box to represent the gift made by Mary Beth. Lois jokingly placed a deck of cards in it. Her picture will be posted later also.

Lisa received a beautiful large table topper. The center light fabric was Mary's. Jane made this beautiful topper. I love how the printed light fabric makes the batik blue fabric POP! it was a definite WOW!

What a JOY it was to be able to share a Christmas with Mary in this special way. I will forever treasure the moments of fun and laughter these gals bring to my life. Thanks to you all.
We have learned through the years, it's not about the presents (but we LOVE them!), it is about the bonds that are created, and the times spent together. Merry Christmas Stitchin B's, we will keep putting one foot in front of the other, and "moving forward" as Mary wanted us to.

Whew!

Whew, When, Why, Whatever, Willy Nilly, Wiley,
Sometimes, the words and ideas flow
sometimes, the ideas flow
Sometimes, the idea and words flow but the mind does not

Whew.
Random silliness

Sometimes I wish I was BOLDER, BRAVER, STRONGER

Whew......
Single worded questions , sometimes do not need an answer, they just need to be said.
WHEW....single worded single minded, better than simple minded.

A post to make you wonder,,,,what is that about and it is about nothing but WHEW!
Accomplishments and simplicity... WHEW!

Friendship

I've been thinking a lot about friendship the last few weeks. The joys of having a friend that you can say what's in your heart, and know they won't judge you for it. To know that they are there for you, and you return the favor for them. What creates that bond? What makes us drawn to someone and they to us as a friend. It's different than a spouse, (I don't mean that your spouse isn't a friend, or your best friend, it's just different between women that are friends. Here are a few of my favorite quotes about friendship.

*A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else.

*A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

*A friend is someone who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love, and encourages you with hope.

*Best friends are the ones who can be the farthest away but there the fastest when you need them. (Moms are like that too!)

* If you're alone, I'll be your shadow.
If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder.
If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow.
If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile.
But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me.

Fall

Just a few thoughts about FALL. IT"S here...love the freshness in the air. But I am not liking the shorter hours of sunshine, and the threat of what is to come....cold, winter, and ice. So, I'm looking carefully for all the things I like to make sure they don't slip by me too fast before winter. One of my favorite things in the fall is to take pictures of the beautiful leaf colors on the trees, shrubs and flowers. Just beautiful brilliant colors. I also like to walk when there is a brisk breeze with freshness blowing all around. Very invigorating. Another favorite is going out at night after dark and seeing the brilliance in the sky. The stars are flickering and glimmering much brighter this time of year. Just AMAZING. So, take a walk, take a camera, and ENJOY some of this special time.

The Kaiya-nator

Kaiya thought that the new "cat bed" I got for Riley was a snugly place to sit with her "baby". Riley, our Siamese Himalayan cat doesn't fit in it anyway. I loved the print and the soft fabric, but "the cat's too fat". So go ahead and enjoy Kaiya!

This weekend the girls came home for a Scrapbooking Weekend for my birthday. They as usual accomplished more than I did!, But I did have a lot of fun times, and some extra Kaiya time too. I remembered that we still had the little kitchen play station that used to be Chelsee's --Kaiya thought it was great!

Kaiya also discovered that make up is FUN! She loved putting make up on...as you will notice in several of the pictures, she has very "make up dark" eyes. She looked so cute and funny.

The Trundle Bundle!

I finally made a decision on very needed "sleep" beds for when the kids are all home. For the last couple of years we have been using air mattresses when they come home because we did not have enough beds for everyone. The air mattresses work, but are kind of a hassle. I have been looking at futons and sofa sleepers. A while back Kristin suggested a trundle type bed to me. So when I was able to go to Nebraska Furniture mart I compared all three items, and decided the daybed with a trundle underneath it would work the best for the space I have. I love the look of the day bed. I covered it with an old hand quilted Dresden Plate quilt that I purchased on an auction for $7.00. Amazing. The quilt is so comfy, and I know has many stories of its own.

The amazing thing about the daybed/trundle is that it can work as a single bed, or pull out and lift up the trundle bed and have a queen sized bed, or it can also be 2 separate twin size beds, separated between the beds. It worked great this weekend.

Kristin also brought a new book for me to read, and I thought it looked great laying against the pillow on the quilt. The story title certainly fits. So, many thanks to Kristin for the idea, I think it's a winner!!!

Precious Pink Pig

It was about this time last year that several weeks of silliness began. It is a tradition in my Stitchin' B group that all birthday's are very special, but the 50th is one that is celebrated with much enthusiasm...... This pink pig was part of the celebrating, along with many other little piggies used for a scavenger hunt at our victims, I mean birthday celebrants home. Just in case you want to make this little cutie, all you need is an old Clorox bottle, be sure to rinse it out. I painted the pig with brush on craft paint, but spray would work great too. I glued on some button eyes, painted little black dots on the nose, and added a tulle bow with black ribbon. There is also a pink curly tail made out of pink fuzzy pipe cleaner. I glued spools of thread on for the legs. My husband says that when he was in grade school, he made a "piggy bank" out of a Clorox bottle, so he gave me lots of ideas. I don't think his piggy bank looked as pretty though!!!

So I guess you could say "party till the pigs come home" if it's your birthday!!!

Red Headed Chicks

This picture makes me chuckle because it's a fib!!! Neither my Mom or I are red headed Chics! A little computer enhancement made us both red heads so that we would fit in with our little granddaughters red head..our little miss has wonderful red curls. Today I dedicate my post to my Mom who celebrates 79 years of wonderful life memories. How can time fly away so fast? It pains me to see my Mom aging before my eyes. She has taught me many things through my life. She has the wonderful ability to see the good in just about any one. It always amazes me. She does not "judge a book by it's cover". She is wonderful at avoiding any topic she does not want to talk about...like the fact that smoking has bad health side affects, but she will tell you just about any bad side affect of anything on the market today. She loves her kids and grand kids and her face lights up when she talks about them. I remember what a hard working farm wife she was. We always had a very, very large garden, and she was responsible for canning the produce from it. Oh the wonderful aromas that used to come from that kitchen. She never complained that I ever remember ...about the fact that we lived in a house with no running water, and no telephone. Many times we did not have a tv. We spent a lot of time playing outside with our parents sitting on the front steps watching us. We played lot's of games and cards...Parcheesi, Rummy, Slap Jack, war, checkers, Monopoly, and many more. I credit her with my love for reading. She was always reading a book, and never said lights out when I stayed up late reading. She always encouraged my brother and I to read, and we both still love to read.

My Mom always was there when I needed her, especially through the pregnancy of my 3 girls, very difficult pregnancies. But she came and took care of me, and never complained about it. I LOVED going shopping with her. We usually went once or twice a month to Fremont, and sometimes Omaha. We would "shop, til we drop". It was some of the most enjoyable shopping. So, a big Happy Birthday MOM...Love you so much, and thanks for everything.

Reflections

Lunch at the park was such a uplift for me today. Puzzling over some life situations in my mind. Because there was not much of a breeze, there were beautiful reflections in the lake. I love trying to capture reflections with my camera. I even tried my timer on my camera to take a picture of myself. I'm not very brave about taking pictures of myself, but my daughter Kristin has shown me what fun that can be. She has a great eye for photography. She is of course, a much better subject for photo's than I am!!!

Back to Reflections, in life...BE FEARLESS, DON'T LET YOUR FEAR HOLD YOU BACK FROM TRYING TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL. There may be ups and downs along the way, but hang onto the Up moments to get through the Down moments. There is a quote by Teddy Roosevelt "We have nothing to Fear, but Fear itself. " and he is so right. We create so much fear in our mind that it makes us not capable of keeping oneself free to move forward. So I am working on letting go of my fears, and working on positive thoughts for what I want.

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

"Life is Tough, but I'm tougher"

Ok enough quotes..but that's how I roll, quotes and sayings help motivate me!

Hollyhocks

I'm wishing these Hollyhocks were in my yard. I took this photo at a wonderful Garden/shop called TLC by Hooper Ne. My hollyhocks did not do very well this year. I need to start a new patch in a different location. My yard needs so much attention. I have a railroad tie big square flower bed that needs to be taken out. The RR ties are falling out of position. I have decided I want to do a landscaping brick circular design, maybe a different location, just need TIME. Hollyhocks have always been a favorite of mine. They were a favorite of my Grandmother Mary Westerman's too.

I had many wonderful times staying with my Grandparents. We would go for walks, hunt for "pretty rocks" enjoy the flowers, make just about anything possible with apples from their apple trees. I peeled so many apples back then. I wish I would have had my Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer back then!!!. We also played Rummy a lot. Grandma would get annoyed when Grandpa would help me out. Grandma was also the first person to get me interested in sewing. I am still looking for a sewing machine like hers. It was a New Home in a wooden treadle cabinet. She used to let me sit on the floor beside her and use my hands to run the treadle while she was sewing.

Enjoy all the wonderful rich colored fall flowers and foliage. Beautiful photo and memory opportunities outside right now.

"Memories are the heart strings that keep us connected to our past."

My Peace

I found this bookmark in a local bookstore and liked the prayer. I would like to share .

Oh, Dear God I am so stressed.

It has been such a long time since I've felt your peace.

Come into my heart and warm my soul.

Like a soft glowing light release all my tension.

Help me find you again, Lord that I may feel true serenity.

Willow Creek

Cousins....Amber and Jodie with Kaiya at Willow Creek. Great fun!

We had a wonderful surprise when we got inside the first building at Ashfalls...there was our niece with her boyfriend. So we toured together, and actually went to the Willow Creek Lake and picnicked and relaxed together also! Willow Creek is an amazing, restful lake. We spent a lot of time sitting on the rocks out on the jetty and just visiting and relaxing. Kaiya enjoyed the beach area and walking in the sand. Great place for a family picnic !

Ashfalls Fossil Beds

A little restful bench to view the scenery

WOW...this was an awesome fossil

Lonnie visiting with the paneologist that actually discovered the fossil beds

Little Miss Kaiya enjoying walking around on her own

Off the the dig!

Scenic backgrounds!

A man, that from far, and from the back looked similar to Lonnie! or so we thought! haha

A Family Outstanding in a Field

Native Nebraska Grasslands, Ashfalls Fossil Park, Willow Creek Lake Park, 2 parks, one day, lots of driving, lots of visiting, food, and fun. We headed up to Ashfalls Fossil Park by Royal first. I made sandwiches and Kristin made snacks, so we picnicked at the park before visiting the fossil beds. It is a really neat place to see. The small world is what we all said when we discovered our niece Jodie and her boyfriend Austin there also. After checking out all we could there we decided to head to Willow Creek by Pierce NE, with Jodie and Austin in tow...right behind us. We picnicked there also, and walked along the jetty, sat by the waves on some rock banks, and walked in the sand by the beach. All in all a wonderful day, but there is more to the story...continued next post!

Life is Like Jam

Sometimes life's best lesson are learned through some of the simplest everyday tasks. Saturday Chelsee and I made homemade Peach Jam. Through the process of preparing and making the jam I felt like there was a little lesson to be learned. Not just in the jam making, but a life lesson. Preparation, having a plan, adjusting the plan if needed, having all the ingredients needed, and of course enjoyment of the finished product. We haven't made jam for a couple years, so the search was on for all the utensils. Once everything was gathered, and the instruction read, we began. Most of the process went pretty smooth, but there were some little bumps along the way. No matter... we worked it, figured out how we could adjust and kept going. That is exactly how life is. We have a recipe, or plan for our life. Many times along the way things happen that make it necessary to adjust or change our plan. If we let it happen, we find that the change or adjustments actually can be challenging, but often work out very well. So, enjoy the process, and have a slice of fresh Peach Jam, and don't let the "sticky" times keep you from enjoying your life.

Puppy Vision

Cash was having trouble coming back to us when we called him outside. So we decided to try the "Hide & Seek" method to see if it would help him. We started with Chelsee hiding someplace in the house and then whistling and calling for him. It did not take long for him to figure this game out. Since then he has improved greatly on returning when called outside, but still has not perfected it. This morning I decided to play Hide and Seek with him..I had been sitting by my computer in the computer room. I called him to me a couple times, then praised him when he came, and then returned him to a different room. The third time I hid on the left side of the doorway, then called for Cash. He came running right away and went right to the last place he had found me, which was by the computer. I purposely left a picture of Chelsee holding Cash up on the monitor. I couldn't believe his response. He looked at the screen and noticed Chelsee right away, and did the cute ears up and turn the head side to side look, then he did a little yipe bark at her picture. So cute. He did find me after I called him again. This game seems to greatly be improving his return to us when called. So I give it 5 Doggie Treats rating with 5 as the top!

ATTITUDE

Something a friend emailed to me reminded me of this quote. It is one I have liked for a long time, but sometimes have to be reminded of it.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of Attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the Attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our Attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...you are in charge of your Attitude." Charles Swindoll

Puppy Energy

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

That is what my brain is thinking. Our Johnny Cash "Cash" has soooooooooooooooooo much energy. How will I ever keep up with him when Chelsee goes back to college. He is so sweet sometimes. But we can tell when he is getting tired for the night, because he gets naughty. So then it's to the bathroom outside..and kennel up. So far he has been really good about kenneling up for the night..not much whining..in fact hardly ever. Let's hope I didn't just jinx that by saying that. Some of Cash's favorite play things are:

Chewing on his little squeaky mouse

Chewing on "chewies"

Chewing on cardboard boxes

Chewing on small tree branches

Chewing on water bottles

Chewing on toys

Chewing on tennis balls

Are you noticing a theme here...Chew, Chew, chew...which we expected. I know puppies tend to chew...the next thing he likes is digging holes in my lawn. We will have fun filling in all the dips. Some are pretty deep, and Cash likes to bury his stash of "chewies" in them.

He also still likes to play in his blue wading pool, which helps keep him cooled off.

Chelsee has done a great job training him so far. He learned to let us know when he needed to go outdoors for "his business". He has learned to sit, lay down, roll over, and shake hands. We had trouble getting him to come when called. So Chelsee and I started playing hide and seek with him. I think that has improved his response greatly. Chelsee also taught him to go back up to the house when he is where he doesn't belong by saying loudly..and pointing...GO HOME. Works most of the time.

Cash had his Dr. Vet check up on Tuesday, he now weighs 20 lbs and received his Parvo/Distemper and Rabies shots. So I guess we are set for awhile. We also got him the Heartworm tablets. Definitely do not want him to get heartworm, awful looking what it does to the doggie heart.

So, any ideas on puppy training, let us know.

Cuming County Fair Super Saturday

Every Cowgirl needs her own cowboy hat, and Briana even had cute pink top leather cow"girl" boots. She didn't call them cowboy boots, they were cowgirl boots.

Alyssa, Lonnie, and Briana enjoyed watching the Bull Riding and cheering on the cowboys

These little guys look like they are anxious to give bull riding a try, or dreaming of the day when they can.

Ok..explanations here...the picture above is the shot I was trying to get, of the cowboys, (local and from elsewhere) getting ready for the bull riding right before their names were announced to the crowd. Well, I was taking pictures without my glasses, (which apparently is just as bad as when I text without my glasses) and zoomed, but did not see what was being zoomed in on, I just kept shooting pictures, because with the bright sunlight, you can not see the screen on the back of the digital cameras..so I kinda lined up and shot pictures. The lower picture is what I got...believe me, I did not mean to take it, but Briana saw it and thought it was hilarious...ok..seriously MB....I feel a book mark "Cowboy Up!" design developing !!!! just kidding.

Cuming County Fair Friday

My top two favorite finds for Fair Friday were easy to spot. My number one find was the book " Images of Nebraska State Fair" by Mary Maas. The author was sitting in a shady spot welcoming anyone interested in her book. I was lucky to get to chat with her for a bit, and she also autographed my book. The book is full of interesting facts and photos from years of Nebraska State Fair. One of the most interesting facts so far is that the Wright Brothers brought one of their planes to Nebraska and performed at the State Fair. Pretty cool.

I have always wanted to try Watkins products. I've heard by word of mouth of the quality of this product. Since there was a local vendor of Watkins with a booth at the fair it was easy to check it out. My Mom wanted me to pick up a container of Watkins Cinnamon for her, so I thought it was about time I tried it. As you can tell by the picture I splurged a little bit. I just love the look of the containers with their nostalgic design. Also, Watkins has a "gold" card that you get a punch for the items you buy and when it's full, you get $10 off of their product...that's a great BONUS!

Cuming County Fair 2011

Today was opening day at Cuming County Fair. My two favorites of the day, (other than the Pork Burgers with sauerkraut on them). #1 The windmills that were part of the Cattleman's Ball were lined up all together, it looked so neat seeing all the tops of the windmill blades blowing in the wind.

Also a favorite was the cake that the daughter of a friend of ours made for her 4-H cake entry. She won Grand Champion with it. When I went to look for her cake I didn't know what her design was, I looked and looked and did not see a "cake". Finally here MOM gave me a clue..and there it was ....a "cake" box of popcorn. The cake looked exactly like a box of popcorn, and she used fondant frosting to form the "popcorn", very realistic looking. Congratulations Kaylie on a job well done.

Hoot Hoot whose Quilting!

My Granddaughter Alexa came for a visit to the farm and brought along some fabric. I was surprised when she said she had brought fabric to make a blanket. Made me feel so good that she brought it without me suggesting. That let's me know she really wanted to sew and not just because I wanted her to sew!!! YEAH! Her fabric was a busy print of trees with owls perched in them, really cool colors. For the backing she chose orange minkie. I let her rummage through my batik fabric and she found most of her accent colors in there for the block border. We tried to keep it simple, so had her sew 2 different sets of 3 rows of different fabric, then cut them to 6" widths. That made putting the outer block border together pretty fast and simple. We did not put any batting it, the minkie had enough body and it has a wonderful feel to it. I did sew on the binding just to wind things up. To make it an even more fun day, Chelsee was sewing also. She is making a batik tridazzle type quilt using purples and blues for the main blocks, and creams for another block. Beautiful batiks! So all in all a fun Monday and Tues of sewing at the farm. Alexa was excited to be able to take home her quilt and show it off to her Mom and Dad.