Ring Bearer's Pillow

For the wedding, I was asked to make a ring bearer's pillow.

Going with the theme of fire - I made this ring bearer's pillow. It was so easy and fun to make. I studied the one that they had at WalMart, and the hardest part of it all, was getting the heart the right size from cutting it out on paper.



I made it so it had a little handle so the ring bearer could hold on to it.

Ahh -

I think I'm back.

I needed this break. Life has been giving me bumps lately - and it really has shown me to take life at its best. I cant always control what is going to happen in my day - but to tackle it like it could be my last.

I have been dealing with alot of emotions lately - I wouldn't call it depression. I just needed a mental break. I have been dealing with work issues, and while it may have been getting better, they are still there. And with Father's Day coming up on Sunday - I have been thinking of my Dad alot lately - well I really have thought of him everyday since he left us. And I have to say I miss him so much!

I have had some family issues, both sad and happy. The sad part I'm not going to go into - but the happy part was watching my brother and his wife get married on the 6th.. and then enjoying a few days with the family after. I had to make 2 trips home before the wedding - one for a dress fitting, and another emergency trip home for a phone call I never wish to receive again.

I have been off since the 5th, and don't go back till this Saturday - so I have had a few days to myself (well with Brian here with me), and I have gone fishing, back road driving, attempted to camp, till Mother Nature thought otherwise, and left us wet. So I'm enjoying this 2 weeks of vacation.

Was suppose to go and attend a retreat in Tennessee - but a letter from the county invited me to attend jury duty.. so that put a damper into traveling. And with going out of state, Mom and I didn't think it was a good idea at the time (with everything going on).

I have a model here that is keeping me company, and the computer where I have become addicted to a game on Facebook. Last week when I was home, I went fabric shopping and purchased some fabric to make a few things with.

Its really starting to turn into summer here, and I look forward to sitting outside more and enjoying the sunshine.

I hope to get online later again, after I have a good cry and post some pictures of what has been going on here while I was quiet.

Thanks to all that have left a comment or emailed me - its so comforting to know that there are people out there that you have never met that care about you.. and to that I'm fortunate! THANK YOU!

Im off ...

to see my brother and his fiancee get married! Yahoo!!

Congrats Scott and Jenny!

Taking a break

I'm having too much life drama going on right now, so Im taking a break from stitching, blogging, and dealing with life problems.

I'm Here (I think)

Ive been checking out everyone else's blogs, and reading emails, so Im in the loop.. but some days I dont know if Im coming or going..LOL

I don't know where the time goes, but its going fast for me! I have been off from work for the past three days - but I did have to work on Wednesday at Wardo's (my part time job), and then yesterday I had to go work to take a test. I had to drive 70 miles round trip to take a 10 minute test... grr! I had to wait a few minutes so I could atleast get 15 minutes of pay. Good thing I get mileage to work, or I would have been fuming! Today was spent doing laundry for next week, as I'm going down state to get alterations on the bridesmaid dress I will be wearing in 3 weeks for my brother's wedding. And I did major stitching today.

The test was for a course that I took to state certify me to legally feed the residents I work with. Crazy, huh? But I'm sure that my CNA coworkers will be happy to have me helping out with feeding, as it get crazy.

What else... last weekend when I had off the weekend off ... well I worked on Saturday at Wardo's.. so on Sunday I sat down at the sewing machine and quilted the Fast Food table runner I had completed. I have the binding stitched on, but haven't even started the hand stitching of the binding.

Today for my stitching I worked on ABC Lessons -- I'm 1/2 finished with the design. I absolutely love this design! I have an idea for a word change, and I'm going to to do. And then I will have to show it off when I have it finished. See if you can find it.

Well, that's about it for now. I work this weekend, and then it will be a mini vacation before I work Memorial Day weekend. Gosh hard to believe its next week already! This year is speeding by! I will try not to be a stranger to my own blog.

ABC Lessons WIP

Well, since I had the camera out, I thought I would snap a WIP picture of ABC Lessons. There is more stitched to the right, but I was too lazy to take it off the QSnap, but I had more ambition to type it out to explain.. LOL I will post again when I get the rest of the left stitched.

Life Lesson #783023

Tip to the wise, since I learned from experience ----

Don't put your arm on the stove top where the pilot light is burning.. cause you might end up like I.

Don't ask me how I got it... long story

Quaker Seasons - FINISH!

YEA!! I was able to finish Quaker Seasons from My Big Toe Designs just after it began the new month. I stitched this as a 'grieving' piece in memory of my Dad.

It really got to the point where I didn't want to finish it. Its not that I'm over my grieving, but its brought so much comfort to me as I have stitched it. It even made the trip to Branson with us. The verse meant alot of me.. and made me think of seasons of our life.

So, here is the info - Quaker Seasons - My Big Toe Designs, stitched with DMC fibers on 28ct Creamy Cocoa from Sassy Fabrics. The plan is to have it framed.

For some reason - the picture makes the top look bigger than the bottom, but I guess its giving a fun house mirror affect..LOL I'm sure its to do with my picture taking skills.

Now.. I'm on to my next project - ABC Lessons

Fast Food Table Runner WIP

This WIP table runner design is called "Fast Food", from the "Let's Do Lunch" (Atkinson Designs). I had picked up the fabric for the table runner while at Hobby Lobby last week, and guess what! With the selvages strips I have - I don't have a name for the fabric. But what I needed was a stripe and a coordinating fabric... so I saw the two fabrics and it was a must have!

It was a breeze to cut out, but for some reason, the directions got alittle backwards on me. But I was able to think it out, and had success with it. I picked up the backing material today, and I had a remnant of batting here... so I hope to pin it together today, and get machine quilting with it. And then attach the binding, and of course hand stitch it.

Another laptop joined our household....

This is what our kitchen table has been looking like for the past week. Ive had the lovely job of transferring from the old to the new. And then it came time to transfer some email addresses .... and I was stumped! Thanks to short cuts that I found on the internet I was successful in the transfers.

LOVING the new laptop. Brian has taken claim of the old laptop (which was the plan). Its been well broken into.. so much that the cover has to be propped up to use.. LOL

25 Years Ago Today

I was in the first grade, and we had just moved to Winchester in February, and for some reason, we had the day off from school.

It was Friday, April, 27, when I had my first experience with a Tornado that was the closest to touch down in the area I grew up in. About 4 miles from where I was first raised, the tornado went thru the field behind the trailer park that we had just moved from. Since we were living in Winchester, our mobile home was empty. Just moments before the tornado past thru the field, my cousin witnessed the neighbors house crumble to pieces. My cousin along with my other cousin, and my aunt took shelter in the basement, of their home.

I know we were in my Dad's office, which was a cistern. I remember going down in the basement as there was a tornado warning, as we had heard over the tv, and then at the time had the radio. I cant remember if we lost power, but I do remember to this day what the sky looked like after we were given the all clear to leave the basement.

I remember seeing the destruction first hand. Seeing the house next to my Aunt and Uncle's, second story destroyed. I remember seeing the barn across the street from the trailer park were I grew up, gone. A mile away, down Oakwood, a home's roof gone. A barn totally gone... and the cows (from what I was told, were found scattered thru out the area). I remember seeing the house where one person lost their life, as they were heading downstairs to take cover. I remember the few other houses that were moved off their foundations.

And I remember going with my Dad as they set fire to a home that was destroyed by the tornado.

And here it is... 25 years later! I had seen it on the local news this morning, brought back memories.

Catching up on this Saturday

WOW, amazing I have been home since Wednesday, and finally getting a chance to update. For those that didn't know - I was in Branson last weekend, and I had the wonderful opportunity to take the trip with my Mom, sister, Amy, her two girls, and my future step niece. We had a blast! We left at 10pm on Thursday and made it down to Branson around 9:30am, Friday morning. Driving at night was the best, but when we came home we were able to see what we missed along the way.... seems like a bunch of wind turbines..LOL

We were able to check into our hotel about an hour after we arrived. If you have never been to Branson, you will soon find out that its very hilly. Our hotel was on the 4th floor, and from ground level, we only had to go up one flight of stairs. The bad part of the hotel was that there was NO WIFI in the room itself. It sucked! We had to go outside and sit in a corridor to pick up the internet from the main building. Friday afternoon, the little girls of course had to go swimming. We were able to sneak in some sight seeing, ate at Joe's Crab Shack, explored Branson Landing. Friday night I met up with Vickie and her Mom at a Cracker Barrell, and after went back to her hotel room to exchange our goodies. She brought with her ABC Lessons from Lizzie Kate - its a kit I had her purchase for me at her LNS.

Saturday morning, Mom and I had to go to our presentation - gosh they are suckers! Cant take no for your final answer. What gave me a red flag is when I asked to see a local map of the area, they didn't even have a map.. LOL Crazy! After we were finished with that, we went back to the hotel to find the girls just waking up, and we had to meet up with Vickie at 11, and they had 10 minutes to get ready! We went to Celicia's Samplers in Branson. I purchased a piece of fabric for ABC Lessons, and LHN - Yesteryear chart. I didn't buy much as I really didn't have time to look around and explore. And besides I already have enough to stitch for a lifetime! After that we went to Olive Garden for lunch. Vickie and her Mom took off after lunch, and we hit the outlet mall. We went to the Disney Store, and to Old Navy. After that we did the Ride The Ducks, we had a blast on the Duck. Natalie even got to drive the duck in the water. Lots of laughs were had on that attraction.

We walked into Old Navy in Branson, and Kaylee's mouth dropped! From watching the commercial, she couldnt believe what she saw! She had to have her picture taken with her new friend! She even had to touch their feet to see if they were real or not.. too cute!! I wonder if we were the only ones to have pictures taken with store displays..LOL

And - for fun, we took a drive down to Arkansas. My future step niece would love to visit every state in the U.S. So she was able to visit AR for about a minute... LOL We came back to our hotel, and rested for awhile, and then went to eat at Shorty Small's which was a good place to eat.

We had a funny thing happen @ Shorty Small's. As part of the meal, they served me pork n beans, well Kaylee wanted some of my beans. We were not served any spoons, and my Mom asked a waitress for a spoon, and the waitress didn't understand my Mom, and said back to my mom, "a spoon, whats a spoon"? We didn't know if she was serious, or playing with us, come to find out she was serious.. and we just cracked up laughing. I apologized when she came back with the spoon. It was one of those moments where you had to be there.

Sunday morning we were up early as we wanted to drive atleast half way home, and spend the night. Of course, about two miles out of Branson, the Expedition started to act up! It was something to do with the acceleration, were were thinking (Mom got it checked out when we got home - all it needed was a tune up! All my praying paided off, I suppose!) Half way put us in Springfield, IL. We ate at Cracker Barrell, and I had the best dinner there!! We spent the night at the hotel next door, and it was much better than the one we stayed at in Branson, for sure! I woke up Natalie, Monday morning, letting her know that Bart Simpson had called to talk with her, but I told him that I wasn't waking her up... LOL And she believed me!

We arrived home on Monday afternoon, and I had direct orders that everyone was going to go and pick up Princess and P.J. from the kennel - boy was Princess happy to see Mom!

Tuesday was spent shopping and going out for Chinese. And I even came home with a new laptop! Now I'm working on getting the files off the old laptop and on to the new. I came home on Wednesday after going to Alltel to get my Dad's phone disconnected :(. But I was happy to find out that Mom and I were able to stay on the same plan as we had. And - I got my name changed for caller ID on my phone. Wont show my Dad calling when I use my cell phone. And my mom treated me to T.G.I.Friday's.

I stopped at a LQS while I was waiting for my sister to get up on Wednesday morning so I could say good bye to the girls, before I headed home. I picked up "Let's Do Lunch" from Atkinson Designs, and then of course I had to stop at Hobby Lobby to pick up some DMC, and some fabric to work some patterns with that I found in the book.

I had to work on Thursday and Friday... and here it is Saturday. I slept for 13 hrs last night, and we had some bad storms go thru. So far, I have played on the computer, and working on laundry, and picked up the house.

Gas for trip to Branson - $200

Meals in Branson - $300

Ride The Ducks - $92

Shopping at Celicia's Samplers with Vickie - $36.78

Spending time with family - PRICELESS

Live from Branson

After the 12 hour car ride.... which I drove the whole way!! Nonstop, except for potty breaks of course! We arrived yesterday morning around 9:30am... and we have been none stop since!

So we are having super fun in Branson! Thanks again to Vickie for making the trip over to meet up with my family! We had alot of fun!

Vickie - thanks for the tip to hit the Disney Store... the girls got new Minnie's. And we left alot of plastic in that store - but saved alot!

Grandpa's Girls

Feeling really bummed yesterday as I was at work... I had texted my sister to send me a picture to cheer me up. Well the picture never was received, and I found out later it was a picture of my brother's butt crack (so typical of my family).

And this morning I went on Facebook, and I found the picture that just melted my heart.

Here are Grandpa's Girls, visiting grandpa at his grave. They left him bears and bunnies for Easter. Don't they ALL look cute!!

The New Toy!

Im so excited! Can you tell!

The new toy is here!! Its a 2009 Polaris Ranger XP. Too bad it has to be parked at BIL's...LOL

Braided Starburst Wallhanging

I finished the hand stitching of the binding for the Braided Starburst wallhanging that I recently finished the quilt top for.

I pinned it all together on Wednesday, had it quilted that evening. Worked on the binding and the hanging sleeve yesterday. Got the binding and sleeve on the quilt top yesterday, began the hand stitching.

And finished up the hand stitching this afternoon. Its now hanging in our bedroom.

While I was taking the picture... Brian came in and wanted a picture of me with the wallhanging, not the best, but I will post it here.

Brother made the local news

My sister sent this to me... how exciting is this! You will have to click on the picture to enlarge it to read it.

Our Dad would be proud! Along with the rest of the family!!

There is a Black Cat and Spiders on my blog!!

With a half hour to spare, I was able to finish up on my monthly commitments for stitching. I worked on the Halloween Double flips from Lizzie Kate. Sunday night I stitched on the border, as I was too lazy to look for the previous chart to line up the next design.

Monday was spent stitching on 'Black Cat'.. all I had left to stitch was the "lack" in the black cat design. Tonight, I finished up on the "lack". Then I moved on to 'Spiders'. Was a super fast stitch! Of course you cant see the web, but you cant always see the webs either in real.

Thanks, and a Quaker Seasons Update

Almost 7 days ago, I got the inspiration to work on the picture tribute, and according to YouTube.com, the For Dad... video has been viewed 492 times! Amazing! Thanks to all that took the time to watch the video, and share your kind words with me. They have meant so much to our family. Its great to have friends such as you!

Since my Dad passed, my Mom has been wanting to get another dog. It surprised me that she was ready for another Pug to join the house. It was something she has wanted to do for awhile. And Thursday I got the call that she was going to go and pick up a Pug puppy. Friday she came home with P.J. - (Prince James) He was born on Feb 1st. He joins Princess (also a Pug) at home. He is adjusting well with Prinny. And Mom is adjusting to having a puppy in the house. Here is a picture of PJ taken last night, while visiting at my brother's house. Isn't he adorable!!

Well, I had to take Quaker Seasons off the Qsnaps, so I thought I would snap a picture. I'm totally loving stitching on this design. I actually ran out of floss on the bottom middle motif. And wouldn't you believe it.. I didn't have another skein to use to stitch.

Can't wait - in three weeks, we will be making our way home from Branson, MO. It will be a sad time, as this was a trip that my Dad was excitedly looking forward too. But we will share our great memories with him.

For Dad.... A Picture Tribute

The YouTube direct link to the video is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrurozaSFFI

I have been wanting to make a picture tribute with pictures of my Dad. Well last night I was wide awake, and suddenly had the inspirations to do it.

Please sit back and I hope you enjoy the pictures. As much as this video has brought comfort, it shed tears along the way.

So, this is dedicated in the memory of my Dad. Miss you Dad, love you!