For Dad - "My First Christmas in Heaven"

2009 Christmas Tree

I said I wouldn't decorate for Christmas, but this little tree followed me home. There, the tree is up, and decorated..LOL

We are not going to be home for Christmas, and there is never presents under the tree. So I had not put up a tree in the past 4 yrs.

Welcome to the world

Aubrey Ann

Born 12-09-09 @ 10:50pm. 6lbs 14oz. 19.5" FULL head of hair. After 5 minutes of pushing, she made her entrance. They were at the hospital less than 40 minutes.

Proud parents - my brother Glen and his wife Lisa

Joins sisters - Katie & Lindsey

Happy Aunt here!

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I'm sorry - but I have to engage the word verification for comments.

The SPAM Gods are in force on this blog. Making no sense, but they are still attacking me via my blog comments.

For those leaving comments - sorry you have to type in the verification now.

Mercy - my stitched part of my LHN RR.

This is what I had to finish for my Round Robin that started up when I stitched the middle.























And here it is, all together...


















I wanna thank CJ, Jayne, Teresa, Vickie, Gail, Renee, & Rita for stitching on this Round Robin. I absolutely love how it turned out!

These are the Dear Diary Pillows, from Little House Needleworks. Stitched on 28ct Monaco - Tea, with DMC Floss. Hopefully going to get it framed.

Ever wish..

to have a day where you do nothing? Like sat in your chair all day with either the laptop on your lap ... or snuggled up in a fleece blanket. Sleep in late, but still manage to sneak in a 2 hr nap. And then having someone else takes care of you for the day.

Well. Today was one of those days.

Its my birthday...

I think I will go and spend my next 14 hrs of it at work. Today better be good!

Thanks to those that already sent Bday wishes. Very much appreciated!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dean W. Mathison
Nov. 18, 1945 - Feb. 10, 2009

Happy Birthday In Heaven
We little knew that morning
God was going to call your name.
In life we loved you daily, In
death we do the same.

It broke
our hearts to lose you. You did
not go alone, For part of us
went with you, The day God called
you home. You left us peaceful
memories, Your love is still
our guide, And though we cannot
see you,

You are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken,
And nothing seems the same, But
as God calls us one by one, The
chain will link again.

Happy Birthday Dad! Miss you like crazy. Look down from heaven and watch over the brave who ride-out and continue to answer the call.

Grandma Mathison - who we lost 4 yrs ago to day - miss you both every day! Grandma Mathison passed away on my Dad's 60th bday, shortly after the last member of the family said their goodbye.

LOVE YOU!!

Katie's Sweet Girl Quilt

For my niece Katie ~

"Katie's Sweet Girl Quilt"



Made with the assistance of this pattern from Moda Bake Shop - A Sweet Baby Quilt

Fabrics used - Hushabye, by Tula Pink for Moda. 4 Charm packs were used, with left overs pieced on the backing.

Quilting was 1/4" from the ditch. Quilted with my sewing machine. LOVE the results!

I was able to finish up the hand stitching on the binding last night. Took the quilt outside for some pictures. I love it!

Lindsey's Sweet Girl Quilt

For my Goddaughter & niece Lindsey ~

"Lindsey's Sweet Girl Quilt"

Made with the assistance of this pattern from Moda Bake Shop - A Sweet Baby Quilt

Fabrics used - Eva, by basicgrey for Moda. 4 Charm packs were used, with left overs pieced on the backing.

Quilting was 1/4" from the ditch. Quilted with my sewing machine. LOVE the results!

For those wondering -

... why the glue stick was my new best friend.

I was given about 6 gallon size Ziploc bags of 3/4" fabric strips. And what to do with them.

Well, I was mentioning to another quilter about making Fabric Bowls. And well... I get to work one morning, there sit a bag of clothesline, more fabric strips, and a completed bowl, she had made. She gave me everything that was in the bag along with this book - It's A Wrap

The next day - I'm looking through the book, and looking at the clothesline and fabric strips. The glue stick that was included was mostly dried up, and of course we don't have that on hand here at the house. So we called up the neighbors, and the store downtown. Next thing we know we are on the way to the big town for a $2.49 glue stick.

And when we got home, that's when the glue stick became my new best friend.

Cause this was the result of the new friendship.

I had since made two more Fabric Trivets. They are so simple to make, and I love changing up the colors.

And the winner is....

With 42 comments produced 67 entries...

Thanks to hubby for selecting a name

from the Pincushion & Scrap/Thread catcher

Thanks to all that entered!! Its great to have you share this milestone with me!

Thanks to all that take the time to leave a comment!!!

Congrats to ELAINE!!

The One Thousandth Post

Holy Macaroni! Its here!!

1,000 Posts, last published on Nov 2, 2009, is what my blog's dashboard reads now.

It's hard to believe it's been 1000 posts already. Even though there should have been more - but life sure can get in the way... and sometimes you feel as what you want to share or post means nothing to someone else. But I'm glad I have posted.

Some of you have been here since the beginning, and I thank you for that! Some of you take the time to comment on life's little post, I thank you for that. Some of you have become a follower of this blog, I thank you for that. Some of you have me in your blog list, I thank you for that. And the friendships I have made from blogging, I most importantly thank you for that!

So, in honor of this post - I'm offering a give away. Since this blog started out mainly about life and cross stitching, and over the 500+ (give or take a few) previous posts, its found the love of quilting too.

So, I was racking my brain - what can I offer for a giveaway prize - as I have stitchers and quilters and lurkers. And the other day, I looked to my right at the sewing machine.. and the light bulb went on... (not literally...LOL)

I made a Pincushion & Scrap/Thread catcher. Its perfect for those orts, and needles on the stitching chair. And its awesome too, next to the sewing machine to hold those thread tails that were snipped, and holding onto those pins.


















So, if you would like to win this Pincushion & Scrap/Thread catcher - Please leave a comment to this post. If you are a follower (or become one), you will get an extra entry. Post it to your blog with a link back, and you will get another entry. Everyone is welcome to enter!

I'll leave the giveaway open until Friday, November 13th.

Good luck!

My *NEW* best friend!

Thanks to Facebook,

this blog gets neglected.

Ive come to that conclusion, and the fact I had no idea what to offer as a prize for the 1000th post - that I will put on this blog in a day or two, since this makes 998! - or the fact that...

Facebook sucks the time out of your day... well at least mine. He he

Cafe World, Farm Town, Bejeweled Blitz, and finding out everyone's status for the day. Its funny how someone you barely know or seen in years, you are getting to know them better thru Facebook.

BTW - the prize for the 1000th has been sight tested, and approved for giving.

So stay tuned!

One weekend + two quilt tops = DONE!

Yippee!!!

As you recall - I told you to stay tuned to what was coming of the charm packs I posted here.

Well, here are the results! I'm so tickled, on how they turned out!


This quilt top was the first of the two I put together - its for my niece Lindsey. "A Sweet Girl (actually called "baby" - but the girls aren't babies) quilt" top. The fabric is Eva, by basicgrey for Moda.

Im still playing with my camera - well I havent really even looked at the book yet - but the colors are off. So here is a close up of the blocks to show you the colors better.








This one for my niece Katie. The fabric is called Hushabye, by Tula Pink for Moda.

The Sweet Baby Girl Quilt is basically a tumbler quilt. The arrangement on both quilts had no specific order... where ever I thought the block was to lay is where it was laid..LOL I found the pattern on Moda Bake Shop - A Sweet Baby Quilt

Both quilt tops where made with 4 charm packs. Now I have to order the fabric for the binding - but I'm just going to find a solid for the back. And get to quilting it and binding - the next picture you will see of it will be with the new owners - in about 2 months - since these are Christmas gifts.

Lindsey's Sweet Girl Quilt with Eva Charm blocks

This is a WIP of the Eva - from Moda - charm pack I had pictured in a couple post below. ABSOLUTELY loving how its turning out!! I have 6 of the rows all sewn together. Tomorrow I will tackle the other 6 rows.

I even spent 45 minutes of constant ironing - ♥ to pandora.com for keeping me motivated!

BOO! Club finished.

Earlier today I put the last stitches in to Lizzie Kate's Boo Club!

I started earlier this year working on it, and Im happy to report its finished before Halloween. I just need to get the little buttons sewn on yet.

This afternoon Im going to play with these fabrics. Yippee!

Christmas gifts are...

are starting to arrive.

Too bad I gotta put them together.. Stay tuned to see what comes out of this picture!

1st Snowfall of '09

Just went outside and took some pictures of what it looks like around our yard. Your welcome to some, bring own shovel!

Final Alarm Ceremony

This past Saturday - we went to the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial Park, in Wisconsin Rapids for the Final Alarm Ceremony. Our Dad was among 5 Line of Duty deaths that happened since last ceremony, in WI.

We arrived on a charter bus - with 33 of us!

The Final Alarm Ceremony was very well attended. It was a good ceremony - despite the rain (and being cold). It was a little emotional (I'm sure it would have been different if the weather was better).

My Mom requested that she could have a picture of Dad to hold during the ceremony. So the morning of I went to get an 8 X 10" picture, and I put it in a frame. I brought along a dozen roses. I (along with my sister's help.. Thanks Amy!) put a black ribbon on each rose. one for Mom, 4 for the children, and 7 for the grandchildren (yes one for the unborn baby). We left the picture up during the ceremony, under our Dad's name.

Our Mom received a folded American flag inside a flag case with a Maltese cross on the back, and a single rose.

We left the roses under our Dad's name - that will be forever etched on the wall of the memorial.

There are more pictures of our day here - Final Alarm Ceremony - 10/03/2009

Here is an article about the ceremony posted in the newspaper - Firefighters ceremony honors those lost in the line of duty

Next year, we will be in Emmitsburg, Maryland for the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial weekend.

Uncle Kracker - Happy Hour

"You make me dance like a fool Forget how to breathe Shine like gold, buzz like a bee Just the thought of you can drive me wild Ohh, you make me Smile"

I have to say-- I can NOT get enough of this song or the whole album!! I ♥ this song, and the new album from Uncle Kracker - Happy Hour.

I give the album Happy Hour ★★★★1/2 out of 5 ★s

This cd is going to be worn out in no time (for me).

Click to see the video of "Smile" by Uncle Kracker

LK Boo Club Update

If you have noticed, and are a follower of this blog - I havent been showing much stitching lately. Honestly I was bitten by the sewing/quilting bug. And I have been trying to stay away from the Brother for a bit, and I have taken to doing some more stitching. Vickie has been waiting to see a WIP pic, so here it is.

Its been a while since I posted an update pic of LK Boo Club, and as you can see I have been stitching on it lately.

I have stitched up, Pumpkin, Fright, Brew, and Monster. Only two left to go. Hoping to have it done by Halloween.

For those counting, this makes post - 990!

Cute Handmade Fleece Kids Hats and Mittens - Pickled Beets Kids Hats

(Click on the banner to take you to the site)

Check out these ADORABLE children's fleece hats!

It just makes me want to have kids, they are so stinkin cute!

Ive known Greta for years... gosh, a very long time - grew up with her kids. And everything she does is just awesome!!

Just putting a plug in

Blue Bag

I finished another bag this afternoon - a request of shades of blue for a lady in CT.

Recent Quilt Top finishes

I was asked to make a quilt top with some fabrics that recently arrived at the quilt store (where I use to work at, it seems).

Some of the fabric collection that recently arrived is called Quest For A Cure - Cambridge Square - Brown from Northcott. I had 2187-99,2190-34,2191-99,2193-30, 2193-34, and from a different collection, of Northcott called Stonehenge, to work with.

So, with those fabrics all stacked up on each other, I went out in search of pattern book at the store that would do the fabrics justice.

Well I came across a pattern that I thought was just PERFECT for the theme of the fabric - Quest for A Cure. The pattern of the quilt top is called, My Sister's Cabin.

"My Sister's Cabin" is from a book called Blackberry Island - Gathering Friends, by Kathryn Squibb and Deborah Jacobs ©2004. I had a heck of a time looking for a link to their site. But I did find it else wheres - Blackberry Island.

I absolutely love how it turned out, and the colors! I had a challenge as the pattern was written with different colors, so I had to have a cheat sheet to make sure I had the correct fabrics in the correct spot.

I actually finished this quilt 2 weeks ago, and it was shown at the recent quilt show in Iron River, MI over the weekend.

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

Also, I came home with this Northwoods Flannel Print. So I whipped it up into a quilt top.

I was having a duh moment when I pieced the borders on. I had the border blocks in the wrong spots..LOL But they are all fixed now.

I love making these quilt tops for the shop, and I will eventually get them back after the fabric has run out, or its time to make new quilt tops. Cause I came home with Tribeca, and I can't wait to finish it.. he he

Negative

But dang it, it feels positive!

That was the result of the strep test I had done last night at the ER. It only took an hour and half to find out the results. Thanks to the DR who was dealing with another patient that had a "small procedure" to be completed.

After dealing with a temperature, feeling achy, and having pain when I swallowed. And having the nurse at work check the back of my throat for anything, only to discover there was puss and it being red. I was advised to get it checked out.

So after work last night, we headed off to Iron River to the hospital to get the results. Which were negative of strep throat. I have all the classic signs of strep, and the DR even commented that is smelled like strep..LOL (I asked him to repeat himself..LOL)

The diagnosis is pharyngitis - which just is commonly called a "sore throat". But I really puzzled the DR. Advised me to not work today, since it could be contagious.

So, this morning, I had the lovely joy of calling in sick at work. For me its like calling in dead. Cause I feel so guilty. The things you gotta do to call in sick - Inform work, call supervisor's house (who I found out is in MN this weekend), report absence to APS, call dept phone left a message to make sure she gets the message.... I think its a ploy to make you feel guilty for calling in sick (for me anyways..LOL) And I still felt like crap this morning!

So after going back to bed after all the phone calls made, we had to run to Iron River again to get the meds. I also picked up some more Tylenol. Came home, took the meds, and two Tylenol, and basically spent the next 5 hrs in bed.. sleeping. I was too exhausted to even watch the Packer game..LOL

And of course I woke up to having my throat to start to hurt again. Popped some more Tylenol, and thinking of heading back to bed.

I'm hoping that this negative goes away soon!! I'm getting sick of swallowing! (cause it hurts!)

Happy Jack!

I ♥ Saturday projects. I started this cutie about 11am, and after an afternoon nap, and few other wife duties - here he is - Happy Jack!

Happy Jack, from the "Fons & Porter's Love Of Quilting" magazine - the Sept/Oct 2009 issue. Design is by Kelly Mueller of The Wooden Bear . Im not a fan of applique... but practice makes perfect.. right?

But he turned out so darn cute!

He was alot of fun to make!!

Man oh man

Where did those 5 days of stayacation go!?!

I got alot accomplished, took MIL to the ER, spent alot of time with my Brother, worked on a model for the quilt store, and made the 3 tablerunners shown below.....and the highlight was finding the dead mouse that drug off the mouse trap - the sewing room was starting to stink!

We went shopping today - gosh, was it "annoy the heck out of Kim day" or something. I know I should have had a chill pill (and no it isnt that time of the month), but it seemed like everything and one was annoying today while shopping. Whether it was being in the way, walking infront of you without pausing to let you by, walking around the fabric dept for about 20 minutes waiting on the lady that had the bolt of batting in her cart. I must have had the slowest cashier today - and the people in front of my cart had way more items in their cart than what the amount rang up to...LOL Oh, and when did WalMart change their labels on their products - man you can look down the aisle and see what are WalMart products by the white labels..LOL.

When I got out to the truck, I said to Brian - "do you got a fork, cause I really wanna poke my eyes out right now"..LOL It was just one of those kinds of days.

I finished another bag tonight - a request of shades of blue for a coworker.

Now I gotta remember to set the alarm!!!

For those paying attention - this is post 984.

It was a ....

tablerunner kind of day.

Happy Sewing Month!!

The observance of National Sewing Month began in 1982 with a proclamation from President Ronald Reagan declaring September as National Sewing Month “In recognition of the importance of home sewing to our Nation.”

So, happy sewing month!

I know I will be spending some time with the sewing machine this month. I have a few quilting projects to work on, and a few bags to get finished.

I ♥ my sewing machine. Its a Brother CS-6001. Ive had it now for 2 yrs (doesn't seem like it). It came all the way from California to live here with me. Its gotta a good work out since its been here. Its made multiple quilts, table runners, countless QSnap Huggers (*sniff*), hemmed a few pant legs.

I got my first sewing machine when I moved up here, so that was 7 yrs ago (atleast). And it just mainly collected dust. But then one day it came to life, and I was sewing like crazy on it. So much that I had to purchase a new one.

I think I will go and spend some time with it now, hope to have a quilt top finished in the next day or two (or three).

Happy Sewing Month Everyone!!

Mushroom, anyone?

We found this in our yard! Its a giant puffball mushroom! Growing in the grass. This is just only half of the mushroom, as we sent the other half home with the nephew that found it. We looked around the yard and found 3 more growing.

Amy's "Got Jesus?" onion

Back in May - my sister was having some life struggles, and I happen to receive an email from her with a picture.

I think it was very appropriate at the time, and to this day it still is.


Amy - remember this - Your caption was -

"Look at my onion i got in my whopper. Its a sign from jesus!"