Sew Blessed In Amish Country

Sew Blessed In Amish Country Has Moved!!

2012-01-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

Sew Blessed In Amish Country has now moved to http://sewbearyblessed.blogspot.com/ I hope you will join me there!!! Different name, same posts! :-)

Smocked T-shirt

2012-01-17T06:49:00.001-08:00

I finished this smocked t-shirt yesterday. It is for my Etsy shop. I made it in a 4T. The smocking plate came from a past issue of Sew Beautiful. I used rick rack instead of piping when inserting the smocking into the t-shirt.

As always, my favorite part was definitely the smocking. I could picture smock for hours. The construction is always my least favorite part but at least with adding inserts to t-shirts, the construction is minimal.

Smocked Purse

2012-01-10T10:10:00.001-08:00

I have been working on this purse for a very long time. Well, I only started constructing the purse last night, but the smocking part has been in the works for a long time. I started it months ago, but then put it aside to work on some other things. I pulled it back out and started working on it again only to realize that I had missed a row in my 2nd seashell. Well, when you are smocking three identical items, missing a row is very noticeable - so I had to cut/rip the whole seashell out and do it again. It was worth the extra work to get the finished product. I am very pleased with this purse and look forward to making more in the future.

Smocked Socks

2012-01-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

At our last Pagoda Pleaters meeting, I taught a lesson on how to smock socks. It was a lot of fun and very inspiring to see the creative ideas of the other ladies in our guild. We all smocked socks for ourselves. I made these in Christmas colors to wear over the Christmas holidays.

New Year's Organization Project

2012-01-02T10:44:00.001-08:00

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to organize my smocking floss. I should have taken a before picture, but I forgot to. I bought plastic bobbins and wound (or rewound) all of my floss on them and added the corresponding numerical sticker to each bobbin. They are all in numerical order as well. I am so excited to have them all in order. I spent a while new year's eve and new year's day working on it. First resolution - check!

Smocking By The Sea

2011-12-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

What a gorgeous week we have had along the beautiful Emerald Coast of Florida. This was my Christmas present from Kurt - to come to Florida this week to visit my parents and enjoy some time at the beach. I brought my smocking along and found there isn't a more beautiful place to smock than at the beach.

Quilted Coin Purses

2011-12-19T08:11:00.001-08:00

I had originally planned to make pieced quilted coin purses for my mom, sister and grandmother. I was really excited about them, However, my 3 weeks of being down with pneumonia sort of got in the way of those. I ended up having to cheat. I found this cute prequilted fabric at JoAnns. It looks a lot like Vera Bradley fabric. I just used the prequilted fabric and seam binding and made cheater coin purses. I think they're still very pretty - even if I didn't quilt them myself.

Timothy's Solo

2011-12-14T19:28:00.001-08:00

Some of the kid's choir did a preview song from their upcoming performance this Sunday for the Awana Christmas program tonight. Timothy did awesome!! I can't wait until the whole show on Sunday!

Thimbles!

2011-12-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

This is 50 of the thimbles in my thimble collection. I have 7 or 8 more and another display case just like this one. I have wanted one of these display cases for YEARS. I started my thimble collection well over 10 years ago, and have collected a thimble of every touristy place I have been. I had housed them in various ways - shelves - shadow boxes, etc, but never had a real display case like this one - until yesterday. Jonathan drove by and saw that someone was throwing these out in their trash, so he got them for me. They're both in great condition and look so nice. Each one holds 50 thimbles, so my collection has plenty of room to grow in the 2nd display case. I love to look at my thimbles and go down memory lane of where each one came from and remember the special times associated with that thimble.

All those shirts!

2011-12-11T13:03:00.001-08:00

Remember those 20 t-shirts I was embroidering? Well, I got them all finished with a day to spare! The kids wore them for the first time when they did a sneak preview song in the worship service today. I think the shirts look pretty good. I had a great time embroidering them. It felt good to be useful to our church!

Martha's Christmas Dress

2011-12-08T15:23:00.001-08:00

This has been a *very* busy day. I am in the midst of embroidering 20 t-shirts for the kid's choir at church. I decided to divide them up and do 4 t-shirts a day for 5 days. Today, I actually did 5 of them. :-) I also needed to make my ornaments for the Martha Pullen Fan Club ornament exchange. I dug out an old cape made of red velvet that I decided to recycle the fabric into my Christmas ornaments. I am making Santa's sacks. Anyway, while working with the pretty red velvet, I thought how nice it would be if Martha had a new Christmas dress.

I pulled out McCalls 9618 and made view C. It's a little big on Martha. I am not sure why. She is a little thinner than some 18" dolls, so I guess that is why. I embroidered a little snowman on the dress. It is just one of the designs preloaded onto my machine. It turned out pretty cute.

Oh, and while all this sewing was going on today, I also baked 4 dozen cookies - half of what I need for the cookie exchange at church tomorrow night. :-)

Portraits

2011-12-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

Kurt and I decided to get portraits done. We have wedding pictures, but we've never had any other professional pictures done. We were so pleasantly surprised with how they turned out. We went to Portrait Innovations to have them done. It was actually alot of fun!

For my Owl-fanatic Niece

2011-12-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

My 17-year-old niece has always loved owls. It's hard to find things with an owl theme, but recently I was in my local Fabric Mart and stumbled upon this owl flannel. It was the only flannel in the whole store, and it just happened to have an owl theme! I decided it would make a perfect pillowcase, so that is what I made with it. It turned out pretty cute.

Do you know what this is???

2011-12-01T14:00:00.001-08:00

This is an x-ray of someone with right lower lobe pneumonia. It's not my x-ray, but it could be. Over two and a half weeks ago I began not feeling well and running a high fever. I was totally exhausted. My doctor first thought it was viral. However, when I got worse instead of better, I went to the ER. I arrived with a 103.2* temperature. An x-ray revealed that I had right lower lobe pneumonia. They began pumping me with two different antibiotics and fluids, and then sent me home with yet another antibiotic. It's been over two weeks now, and I still am not over it. My last x-ray earlier this week showed that the pneumonia was 80% cleared. They didn't want to put me on another antibiotic so they could see if my body would just fight it off. I will go back this Monday for another x-ray. It's been a struggle. I have so many things I want to do, but so little energy. I am determined to not overdo it though because I have been told that a relapse would be worse than the first illness, and I never want to be that sick again!!

No Trick Just Treat

2011-11-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is the cover from the little booklets Timothy passed out as he went trick or treating last night. He was so cute. Before he left each house, he would give it to them and say, "Here, this is for you - it has Bible verses in it." The response was surprising. People were very sweet. I think the best part for me was to see how boldly he did it. If only we could all be that bold. He wasn't the least bit intimidated to give it to them. I was so proud of him.

October Snow!

2011-10-29T08:36:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it? Snow in October - and not just a dusting. We're supposed to get 6 to 10 inches. It's gorgeous to see the beautiful white snow mixing with the vibrant fall colors.

We were supposed to go to Adventure Day at Cub Scout Camp, but that didn't happen! We couldn't fish and do archery in the snow!

It's a perfect day for some movies, hot chocolate, a good book, and maybe a little sewing!

Tract or Treat

2011-10-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

This Halloween, Timothy is going to be none other than Timothy -- Timothy from the Bible that is. This is one of the first years in a long time that we haven't had a Halloween alternative to go to on Halloween night. Our church is doing a fall festival, but it will be Sunday night rather than Monday night.

So, we had to decide what to do. I came up with the idea of Tract or Treat. Timothy will go door to door, and not only will he be given candy, but he will give each family a cute little Pumpkin-themed tract. When else can you go door to door to pass out tract so easily? Timothy will be spreading the good news just like Timothy did in the Bible!

It's been a while

2011-10-28T12:47:00.001-07:00

For the past 8 or 9 months, I've been playing around with other blogs -- trying to find my niche - but you know what? I've come back to my beginning. Nothing was more "me" than this blog. A lot has gone on over these past few months. I am no longer employed as a transcriptionist. That's a huge blessing. I am now a full-time mom. I cyberschool Hannah (11th grade) and Timothy (4th grade -- the school had him skip 3rd grade). After several years of searching, a few months ago, we found a church home that has blessed our socks off. In fact, my next sewing project is going to be baptismal robes for the church. It's good to be back blogging again. I've missed this creative outlet.

New SAGA Chapter in Reading, PA

2011-02-10T17:54:00.000-08:00

Now that I am only working part-time, I have decided to start a SAGA chapter in my area. The nearest guild is an hour away, and on the only night of the week that doesn't work for me. I had considered starting a guild last year, but at that time I was still working full time, and there just weren't enough hours in the day to do it right.

I have been a part of SAGA chapters in both Indiana and Florida. I actually started the guild I belonged to in Florida, so I have experience in starting a guild, and it's really not that hard. I am now just trying to find members! If you or anyone you know lives in the Reading, PA are and like to smock or want to learn to smock, please let me know.

If you'd like more information about SAGA, you can visit their website at http://www.smocking.org

I'm going to see Martha Pullen!

2011-02-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today I found out that my birthday present is going to be a night-away to attend the Martha Pullen event in Maryland. I am not attending the whole retreat, but I will be attending the reception and seminar/fashion show on Thursday evening. I can't wait. I haven't seen Martha since an event on New Year's Day 2007.

I am really looking forward to my mini sewing retreat. I will get there a couple of hours before the seminar, and then won't check out until I absolutely have to the next day. I am going to bring a sewing/smocking/or quilting project to work on while I have some "me" time!!

Organizing Sew Beautiful Magazine

2011-02-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

At latest count, I have 103 issues of Sew Beautiful magazines. I have 18 duplicates.

I have spent my spare time over the past week going through each and every issue, putting them in chronological order, and then making my own personal index. I have listed each issue along with the smocking plates and any articles that I think I may want to refer back to in the future. It was a very long process, but it was a lot of fun to be reminded of all the amazing articles in Sew Beautiful. One thing that was very interesting to me was to see the changes that have taken place over the years. Sadly, smocking (particularly picture smocking) has become less and less featured. I am glad to have so many old back issues for the great smocking plates that they featured.

Tonight, I am going to go back and read an interesting article called "Know the Score Before You Smock" from the Summer 1991 issue. It's about entering your smocking into contests and how they are often judged. I am planning to have items to enter into this year's fair (August). It's never too early to start preparing.

FSL Bookmark!

2011-01-31T07:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got to embroider for the first time in a long time. Since getting a new lap top just before Christmas, I have not been able to use my Ultimate box to transfer designs because it has a serial port instead of a USB port. My sweet husband learned of my dilemma and immediately ordered me the right cable so I could do that. It arrived on Saturday and I got to embroider again. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I decided to make a free standing lace (FSL) bookmark. I couldn't find one that I liked, so I downloaded one that had a poem for mothers day (which is great for mother's day by the way), and then used Embird to edit it and put in my own verse.

I used variegated thread to do the border and it came out looking like multicolored flowers around the edge -- which was an extra bonus.

Anyway, I had a great time making this and it felt so good to be back in the driver's seat of my embroidery machine. I am going to make a few more bookmarks while I am in the bookmark groove this week. I want to find a different one to download that is not so feminine looking, and then make a bookmark for Timothy and Kurt - as well as one from this design for Hannah - probably with her name on it.

Snowy Day

2011-01-26T06:36:00.000-08:00

Boy is it coming down out there. This one caught PennDOT and the schools by surprise. Schools went on as scheduled because this started in between the time of high school and elementary school. I kept Timothy home. I didn't want to walk him to school in this, and the roads were getting pretty bad so I didn't want to drive him either.

It's a great day to do some sewing/quilting/smocking, embroidery or *something*, but I can't seem to come up with a thing to do.

I would love to do more machine embroidery, but my Vikant Ultimate Box has a serial port rather than a USB port. It was fine for years because I had a computer with a serial port. Now I don't, so I have not been able to use it for quite some time.

Hmm.... I have 2 hours and 20 minutes until I have to start working. Hmm.... what to do.... what to sew....

Not Amish Country!

2011-01-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

Nope - this definitely isn't Amish Country, but isn't it beautiful? We were blessed to be able to visit New York City this past Monday. It was an amazing experience as we had never been there before. We were able to go because we had won a trip through our church. We were picked up in a limo and driven to NYC for the day. It was an experience none of us will *ever* forget!!

We had lunch in Times Square at Hard Rock Cafe. We rode on the 3-story tall Ferris wheel in Toys R Us. We visited "Top of the Rock" (the observation decks at Rockefeller Center), Saks Fifth Avenue, the American Girl Store, and more. It was an incredible day!!

I Spy Quilt Finished!

2011-01-13T08:10:00.001-08:00

Yay!! The I Spy quilt went out in the mail today. I had a lot of fun with it. It is very simple - obviously nothing fancy, but I hope it helps this sweet little girl and her family.

Now that it's finished, I have to decide what to do next. I have several options. I have two quilts that are works in progress - still making blocks. One, I thought was a total wash, but figured out how to salvage it. The other is a disappearing 9-patch. I had been working on these quilts, but then didn't have anything to do with them once I was done, so I shelved them. I may go ahead and complete one of them so the next time I find a need, a quilt is ready to go.

Another option is to work on my I Love Lucy quilt - this one would be for myself. A while back I bought several prints of I Love Lucy chocolate factory fabric for $2 a yard. I have enough to make an interesting quilt. I pulled it out last night and think I know how I would go about it.

My other option - which can be done in conjunction with either of this is to make more quilted greeting cards. This is something I tossed around the idea of making to sell on etsy - or just to give as gifts - make sets of them.

Natural Ribbons

2011-01-01T17:31:00.001-08:00

Kurt and I went to Longwood Gardens today. It was just beautiful. We saw many gorgeous plants, but the one I wanted to share on my sewing blog was this one. I forgot the name of the plant, but I loved them because the leaves look like ribbons. The colors are great together too. This gives me an idea to use nature as my guide when mixing/blending colors for quilts and other sewing projects. I would have never thought to put these colors together, but they compliment each other so well.

I Spy

2010-12-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

I spy a pony, a doggie, a heart, an Easter egg, a snowman, a flip flop, etc. Can you guess what I am working on? I'm making an I Spy quilt. It is a surprise for a little girl who was diagnosed with multiple tumors and will be undergoing chemotherapy in the coming weeks. She is just a year old, and I thought she and her mom and/or dad can play I Spy with her while she is in the hospital.

See, I wanted to get involved with Project Linus. That was my original plan for this coming year. However, due to yet another change in my work schedule, attending the bimonthly meetings is not feasible. I have come to realize that there are enough people in need right around me that could be blessed through a handmade quilt or blanket. I don't have to be a part of an organized group to be able to do this. As I see a need, I will make a quilt/blanket to meet the need. It will be more of a Linus ministry because rather than it just being community service, it can be done as a ministry.

Getting My Feet Wet Again

2010-12-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

It's been over a year since I last made a quilt. My last quilt was Kurt's Cowboys quilt for Christmas last year. This year has been a bit busy with planning a wedding, getting married, and settling into a new way of life. Now, life is settling down. I am only working part time, we're getting the hang of married life, and now it's time to quilt.

I've never been a great quilter - I've always been a beginner. I decided that before I jump in with something big, I needed to get my feet wet with a small project. I have a very special Vermont Teddy bear - a sewing themed bear that Kurt gave me as a wedding gift. I decided that she needed a quilt to keep her comfy during this long cold winter. I dug through my scraps stash to see what I could find. I had a few charm squares and a few strips from a jelly roll that were all from the a similar fabric family. I decided to see if I could pull them together to make a miniature quilt for my bear. I loved the tape measure charm squares because Sew Bear wears a tape measure for her headband.

I started on the quilt Sunday evening, and guess what? It's finished!! I had *sew* much fun with it that I am very eager to move on to my next quilting project.

My "Sewing Center"

2010-12-25T14:18:00.001-08:00

My dear sweet husband bought me an "Ott" lamp for Christmas. It's wonderful!! My sewing corner in our bedroom gets very little light. This lamp is perfect. I am so excited to have my "sewing center" all set up and ready for me to get to work in. In the next couple of days, I am going to making a list of my sewing/quilting goals for the new year, and I will share them on my blog.

Who Would Have Thought....

2010-12-20T07:15:00.001-08:00

Who would have thought that I would be making a Barbie outfit for a Christmas gift for Hannah now -- at 15 years old?? I wanted to have a little fun with Hannah at Christmas time this year and let her enjoy pretending she was a little girl again. I bought her a basic cheap Barbie, but decided to make it special.

Hannah loves the University of Alabama. Her dad's whole family are huge Alabama fans, so.... that was the inspiration behind the outfit. I wanted it to be something she would enjoy displaying in her room.

I made the outfit, and then put the Barbie back in it's original Malibu Barbie packaging and wrapped it. When she unwrapped it this weekend (We had Christmas early because they will be in Florida for Christmas), she loved it. Her first question was "Where did you find this?" Then when I explained I made it, she couldn't believe it. It was a cute moment!!

Sew Busy!!

2010-12-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

This has been a busy week so far. Yesterday was a very cold morning. I was *sew* inspired by the cold, that I made myself a fleece hat. I have had this pattern (Butterick 4324) for years. When I was leading a homeschool girl's sewing club, we used this pattern to make capes. I was digging through my patterns and noticed the hat. I thought it was cute and decided to give it a try. I had a small scrap of white fleece that I used. It went together in about 15 minutes or less (not counting the machine embroidery). Since it was a plain white fabric, I decided it needed a little something to perk it up - and of course machine embroidery was the answer. The possibilities are endless with this little hat. I can make them with novelty or sports fleece. I can make them in various colors and add personalization with embroidery. The pattern calls for 1/3 yard of fleece, but you could make at least 2 out of that (because of the width), possibly more. I wish I would have discovered this a little sooner so I could make more as gifts for Christmas, but time is running short.

I also finished up Timothy's Christmas PJ pants. I didn't work too hard to get the stripes to line up. I probably could have, but I bought just barely enough fabric to make the pants, so I couldn't fussy cut too much. They're just PJ pants after all, and Timothy doesn't care. He thinks they're great!!

So, lastly, my current project is Hannah's Christmas PJ pants. I have had this fabric for several years. In fact, I am pretty sure I bought in January 2008 when my friend Susan came to visit in Pensacola. We went to A&E Pharmacy together. They have an amazing fabric department. This fabric had to be incredibly cheap because I bought 6 yards of it. I have no idea what I was thinking then, but now it's enough to make Hannah's PJ pants and a pair for me too - and maybe even a pair for Bridget too.

CHRISTMAS JAMMIES

2010-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

I went to JoAnns this morning to get a Barbie clothes pattern, but got something else too! I found adorable Disney Cars Christmas flannel on sale for $3.49 a yard. It's perfect for PJ pants for Timothy for Christmas Eve. Sadly, he won't be with me on Christmas Eve night. He will be with his dad in Florida (1,100 miles away), but this will be a way that I can feel closer to him and he can feel closer to me. I am going to use Kwik Sew #3042, size medium (7-8) for him.

Better Late Than Never

2010-12-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

I had planned to have my dress ornaments finished by Saturday - or Monday at the latest. However, I ended up working 13 hours over the course of this past weekend, so it just didn't happen. However, last night, I finally finished them all. This was probably my most favorite ornament I have made for the Martha Pullen Fan Club ornament exchange through the years. It felt good to smock again.

Now I am free to move on to my next sewing/quilting project. I have a couple of things to do. I am going to JoAnns this weekend to get a Barbie clothes pattern to make one or two Barbie doll outfits for Hannah. She (almost as a joke, but she will still have fun pretending she is a little girl again) is getting a Barbie doll for Christmas. I am making a couple of pretty outfits for the doll so she can use her as a decoration in her room. I don't have any more Barbie doll patterns. I got rid of them through the years, so I will have to get a Simplicity one this weekend when it is on sale.

I am also going to attempt cosmetic bags for the women on my Christmas list. The pattern looks easy enough. I will probably start those tomorrow.

Lastly, I am making a quilt for my teddy bears. Now that sounds strange to some of you, but I have teddy bears in my room as part of the decorating/charm. I've decided that just as many people dress their dolls for the seasons, my bears are going to be done the same way, and right now, they need a quilt. It'll just be a simple quilt, but still fun.

First Smocked Dress Ornament Finished!

2010-12-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

I sat down this morning to begin smocking my little dress ornaments. I decided to go for the metallic thread, even though I knew it would be a challenge. I am so glad I did though - it looks perfect with it. Now, this first one is a tad whompy, but it was a learning experience for me. I've never smocked anything on such a tiny scale before.

I will get two more smocked today and then have two to smock tomorrow, and then I will be finished. I have to work on Saturday, so I will have Kurt take them to the post office Saturday morning. This is the most excited I have ever been about an ornament for the ornament exchange. I had more fun with these than any of them in the past. It is so nice to smock again - even if it's a miniature dress!!

Mini Bishop Dress Ornaments

2010-12-01T06:13:00.001-08:00

Oh this was *sew* much fun. For the past several years, the ornament swap has been such a stress due to the fact that I was working full time. This year, I knew that I would be working part time beginning the end of November, so I would have more time to make the ornaments. I decided to do something I have always wanted to do - make miniature bishop dress ornaments. I found the pattern in an old issue of Sew Beautiful. The pattern was designed for making bishop dresses for tiny dolls, but it was just the right size for hanging on a tree. It really wasn't that hard - although sometime it was a bit intense trying to work with something so small.

I have finished all of the sewing for all five dresses. All that is left is the smocking. The dresses do not have a lot of smocking, so it won't take too long. I am still not settled on what color floss I want to use. The fabric is red with gold sparkles. I would love to use a gold metallic, but that can be a night mare to smock on. I must decide soon though because they need to be finished and in the mail by Saturday!!

As soon as these are finished, my next project is to make cosmetic bags for the girls/women on my Christmas list. I have some cute quilt cottons that I am going to use to make these.

It's *sew* nice to feel as though I have my life back with not being tied down to a desk 8-9 hours a day!!!

It's been a while

2010-11-30T15:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have been here. I have dibbled and dabbled with other blogs to try to find my niche in the web. I had a lot of fun with the Smocking Bee for a few weeks, but there wasn't enough interest or response to keep that going.

Alot has gone on since I was last here. The biggest and best news is that I no longer work full time! As of last week, I only work 20 hours per week. It has been such a blessing so far. I now have time to be the wife, mother and woman that I want to be. I work from 12:00 - 4:00 each day (still from home) and am able to spend my mornings sewing, cleaning, reading my Bible, etc.

I haven't done much sewing in the past couple of months. I helped Bridget (my step daughter) sew. She made a pillow and also a pair of PJ pants. I made an adorable top for Hannah. It was a treat to be able to sew for her again. She is now 15 and hasn't asked me to sew for her in years, but we picked out a New Look pattern together, and I had a great time sewing it. She loved it and has worn it several times. :-)

Right now, I am busy making my ornaments for the Martha Pullen Fan Club Christmas ornament swap. This is the 8th year we have done this. This year, my ornaments are minature smocked bishop dresses. I am almost finished with them. They have to be mailed out by Saturday. I will post a picture when I am finished.

The Smocking Bee

2010-08-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

Work is coming along quite nicely with my plans for publishing "The Smocking Bee" podcast. I have downloaded all the necessary software, registered with PodBean, and Timothy and I even worked on a little test yesterday evening. For any of you who are heirloom sewers/quilters or smockers, what would you like to hear in an heirloom/smocking podcast? I'd love to hear your ideas.

In the meantime, while I am still working on the podcast (and accompanying blog site), I am also working on my entries for the Denver Fair in September. I only have just over one row of smocking left on my Christmas ornament. Then I move onto a smocked doll dress for Martha (my 18" Martha Pullen doll). I will probably have to design my own smocking plate for the dress as there are so very few picture smocking plates for dolls out there. Picture smocking is my favorite type of smocking.

It feels good to be back in the swing of things with my sewing/smocking and with the Martha Pullen Fan Club.... if only school would hurry up and start -- then life will *really *settle down when I'm not trying to work full-time from home with three bored kids in the house all day! 24 days and counting!

The Smocking Bee

2010-08-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

Do you remember reading about old fashioned quilting bees? Some people may still have them. I know the Amish still do. Have you ever heard of a smocking bee? Well, me either. That is why I have decided there needs to be one.

Being in the northeast (Pennsylvania), smocking is not very popular at all. In fact, most people don't even know what it is, so I have decided that I will begin a virtual smocking bee via my blog and in the very near future, via podcast.

Once a month (perhaps more frequently in the future), we will meet together (via chat room) to smock together. We can share what we are working on, ask questions, and just enjoy one another's company.

I am also very excited about my future podcast. As some of you may recall, I published a podcast for quite some time a few years ago. It was a general sewing podcast, and I loved doing it, but life sort of got in the way. I have searched high and low and have not found any podcasts dedicated to smocking or heirloom sewing, so I decided that was the niche for me. I will keep you posted as my plans further develop.

SAGA WEB Smockers

2010-07-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I have decided to take up smocking, I would love to join a smocking guild again. I have been involved in smocking guilds in both Indiana and Florida, but sadly, there are no local smocking guilds in this part of Pennsylvania. I am considering joining the WEB smockers through SAGA. Hey - I work from home, so why not attend SAGA meetings from home?? :-)

Cable 1, Trelis 2......

2010-07-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

As you can see, Sew Bear and I finally got to do a little smocking last night. I don't believe I have introduced Sew Bear on my blog. She is my Vermont Teddy Bear that my sweet husband gave me as a wedding gift. We also went to Vermont Teddy Bear Company on our honeymoon. Sew Bear is wearing a cute little jumper, has a tape measure for a headband, and carries around a tomato pincushion. Kurt gave her to me so she could keep me company while I sew.

Last night, Hannah and Jonathan were at band, and Kurt took Timothy on a walk to the playground which gave me uninterrupted time to smock. I finished almost an entire row! This is going to be a smocked Christmas ball for the Martha Pullen Fan Club annual ornament exchange. I am getting a head start on my ornaments this year. In fact, I am thinking of making these for my family as well as Christmas gifts. That being said, I needed to get started soon, so now was the perfect time.

To Smock or Not to Smock

2010-07-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think I lost my identity in my divorce several years ago, but I think I lost more of my identity when I stopped smocking. I discovered and fell in love with smocking in 1998. My first smocked dress was Hannah's 4-year-old birthday dress. I was hooked from my very first stitch. For the next 9 years, I smocked nonstop. I smocked lots of things for Hannah, and then Timothy came along and I smocked even more for him.

Early in 2000, I set my sites on getting my smocking published in Sew Beautiful magazine http://www.marthapullen.com/sb/sewbeautiful.html). In 2002, I started a local smocking guild, The Emerald Coast Smocking Guild when the town I moved to did not have a smocking guild. In 2003, I began to pursue publication in Sew Beautiful Magazine. I was able to work with the magazine to have our local smocking guild featured in the Easter 2005 issue. I even designed a smocking plate that was featured in the magazine.

By 2007, Timothy had outgrown smocked outfits, and I put my smocking supplies away, and with that, I put a part of me away. I resigned myself to doing what most other moms do when their children outgrow their smocking..... I took up quilting. Now, don't get me wrong. I like quilting. I *love* quilts. They're works of art. However, I am not very good at it. I've been working at it for quite some time, but it just doesn't come as naturally to me as smocking did.

Now here I am -- it's 2010. I am newly married to a wonderful man who is very supportive and encouraging of me enjoying my creative hobbies. So... what do you do when you love to smock, but your children have outgrown it?

10-20-30 Minutes to Quilt

2010-07-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

Okay - I admit it -- being a working wife and mother is not as easy as I thought it would be. I know it will get easier once school starts, but for now, during this adjustment period, I am a bit busier than I thought I would be. My children are here all day long, and I am trying to work all day.

Our goal is for me to eventually cut back my hours so I have more time to be a wife and mother, but until that time, I need to figure out how to make this work.

After a week of having my kids back from Florida and working, I think I have gotten most of the daily housework routine down. Now I just need to figure out how to make time for me so I can do the things I enjoy to do alone -- like quilting.

For starters, I am researching what would be involved in starting a quilting small group at church. Our church already has a scrap-booking group, so why not a quilting group? That would give me at least one evening a month with my hobby.

However, I'd like a little more. I think I am going to begin to apply the principals from Nancy's book "10-20-30 Minutes to Quilt" so I can still enjoy my hobby. I have to readjust my mindset to realize that I can't always sit down and sew/quilt for an hour at a time. I have to just be ready to grab a few minutes here and there whenever I can.

So, here's my goal. For the rest of this week, I will spend a minimum of 10 minutes in my sewing corner each day - even if it's 10 minutes before we go to bed. In an effort to have some accountability, I will post to my blog each and every day what I accomplished during my 10-minute quilting block.

My little sewing corner

2010-07-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I actually made it to my sewing corner yesterday evening. I made 8 more 9-patch blocks. I now have 32 blocks completed.

This morning, I put up a few of my sewing-themed decorations on the wall near my sewing corner.

This evening, I plan to make 4 more 9-patch blocks. I will have some company with me as I sew this evening. Sew Bear - my sewing-themed Vermont Teddy bear that Kurt got me as a wedding gift will be keeping me company.

I can't wait to get my IPod back from Hannah. She took it to Florida with her. I love to listen to quilting pod casts while I sew. It's always inspiring.

My New Life Has Begun

2010-07-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

Kurt and I were married on June 18, 2010. The wedding was incredible. I will post pictures later today. We are now settled in our new home. My children will return from Florida this weekend, and then we will be completely settled.

I will now have time to find myself again. I think I got lost in all the hustle and bustle of planning a wedding, moving, end of the school year for kids, work, etc. Now that things are settled, I am looking forward to quilting time.

I started a disappearing 9-patch quilt some time back. I am not sure if I will pick up where I left off on that or do a quickie quilting project like perhaps a new purse or something like that. Regardless, this evening, quilting/sewing is on my schedule, and I can't wait!

My sewing corner is in our bedroom, and it's all set up and just waiting on me to sit down and get to work. Oh, and one of my wedding gifts from Kurt was an adorable Vermont Teddy Bear dressed in a sewing outfit. She is so precious and will be joining me as I sew.

I will report back tomorrow (or later tonight) and share what I accomplished!

A Beary Special Wedding

2010-05-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

Wedding plans are definitely under way. We discovered with second marriages and blending families, that the biggest part of the engagement has to be preparing for the marriage, not the wedding. We have been going through a mentoring program through the church that has had us hard at work, working through every issue imaginable. It's not been a lot of fun, but it will be well worth it in the long run. However, we are now down to 35 days until the wedding, and the fun begins!!

We didn't really plan to have a teddy bear themed wedding. It just kind of happened. We first found the cake topper that is absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with it, and Kurt really liked it too. Then came the stuffed teddy bears to use to decorate the reception table and gift table.

Then came, what I think will be one of my favorite teddy bear parts of the wedding. Timothy (my 7 year old) is going to be our ring-bearer. Rather than having him carry the dainty ring pillow, he will carry a white teddy bear (adorned with baby blue ribbons (our wedding color), and the teddy bear will be carrying the dainty pillow with the rings. It was absolutely too perfect for our wedding. Timothy is so excited about carrying the bear. He was already excited about having the job as ring bearer, but I could tell he was pretty nervous. This makes it a lot less scary when he just has to carry a bear. Not only that, but he gets to keep the bear as a special gift after the wedding.

Lastly, I was able to locate a teddy bear-themed wedding guest book. I had no idea they even made such a thing.

The best part is, I have spent very little money (considering what I have purchased). Everything I have mentioned has been purchased (brand new) on ebay. I have only spent $60, and that includes the teddy bear cake top, the teddy bear ring bearer pillow, two sets of bride and groom stuffed teddy bears, the teddy bear guest book AND shipping and handling on all of those items. I think that is pretty amazing!!

A block a day keeps the doctor away....

2010-04-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

I've heard the silly quotes that say things like, "Sewing is cheaper than a psychiatrist" or "Sewing is my therapy." I am finding that is true! Between planning a wedding, preparing to move, the lingering head cold that spread among my family, and Jonathan's bicycle accident that landed him in ICU, I have often felt as though I am one french fry short of a happy meal. I've decided that even in the midst of my hectic schedule of work, transporting kids to band practice, homework, etc, I am going to commit to making one block a day (which becomes 4) for my disappearing 9-patch quilt. Every day, I will make a 9-patch block that will be cut to create 4 disapeparing 9-patch blocks. These are simple, no-brainer blocks, but will do wonders for my mental state.

Quilting/Sewing Table/Desk

2010-04-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

For years, I have used an old fashioned sewing cabinet as my sewing table. However, it's never worked very well. I never seem to have room for whatever it is that I am working on.

Jonathan found this desk at a Mennonite garage sale for $10. It's crammed in my living room for now, but after Kurt and I are married, it will go in our room. It's perfect. I have a top drawer for my scissors, pins, etc. The drawers on either side are great for storing quilt blocks, charm packs, quilting patterns, even a work in progress. I am so excited to finally have a place to work and have enough room to spread out my projects while I work!!

Future Home

2010-03-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

Today, Kurt purchased our future new home. Actually he is moving in tomorrow. My children and I won't move in until June. Our stuff will move in the weekend before our wedding, and then we will move in after the wedding. It's such a perfect home for us. It's everything we could want and more. It's in the perfect location. It's got a great set up and plenty of room for all of us. The yard is very pretty too. It feels like it is our castle.

Kurt's realtor was amazed that I had not seen the house until today. I had seen pictures and driven by many times, but had not been inside it. I didn't need to. I trusted that Kurt would find the perfect home for us and he did.

The Battle Costume

2010-03-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

My church is doing a sermon series that cullminates with a drama presentation called, "The Battle" in April. They had volunteer opportunities for everything imaginable, including a "sewing team." I've never done sewing for church, but was excited because this was something I knew I could do.

As it turns out, most of the volunteers were not familiar with sewing from patterns or doing anything like garments/costumes. While I had never done a costume before, I had made garments and followed patterns, so I got to do one of the three main character's costumes. Mine is the bad guy's costume (it's black). The shirt was a challenge because it is a silppery, shiney fabric. It slipped and slid all over the place, but I got it done. The robe part was much easier!

I had to say that I am very excited about sewing the drama presentation and being able to see my work on stage. It felt good to be able to help out my church in this way,

AQS Lancaster Show

2010-03-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

Wow - what an experience this was!! I've never been to a quilt show or anything like that before, so this was all new to me. I was first amazed at just how many women were there. They estimated about 20,000 women attended the event.

After a few minutes of standing there in awe, I began to walk up and down the isles of vendors. There were vendors selling everything quilting related. They even had quilt-themed socks. That was definitely tempting because I just love socks, but at $8 a pair, I had to pass.

Landauer books had a booth with some great sale tables. I got two $5 books. One was for me and one was for my mom for mother's day. They also had a special where you got a free quilt-themed calendar when you spent $10 or more, so I got the free calendar too!

Then it was on to admire the gorgeous artistry of the quilts. Oh my, they were amazing!! I took lots and lots of pictures, and I wish I could share them with you here, but while we were able to take photos of the individual quilts, we are not allowed to post them on the internet. One of my favorite quilts was an "I Love Lucy" themed quilt.

I didn't take any of the classes offered, but I did attend one of the many lectures. The lecture I attended was called, "Amish Women and Their Quilts". It was taught by Rachel Pellman. She has written several books on the subject - including one that I have "The World of Amish Quilts". She even autographed my book for me! :-

Her worshop consisted of a brief lecture about the Amish in general - what they believed, how they live and why they do the things they do. Then she began explaining more about their quilts and her experiences from interviewing Amish women about their quilts. I have always been fascinated by the Amish, so I found this to be very interesting. Then she shared a slide show of actual Amish quilts and explained them in detail. After the slide show she acttually had some reproduction Amish quilts to share with us in person. The Amish are most known for just a few particular patterns. One of my favorites was "Sunshine and Shadow". I also like the simple, yet often dramatic because of color choices, "Center Diamond" quilts.

It was really a great experience. I am already looking forward to going next year.

Quilt Show, Here I Come!!

2010-03-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

In addition to asking me to marry him and giving me a gorgeous engagement ring for my birthday, Kurt also booked me a hotel room for tomorrow night so I can go down to Lancaster a night early for the big Lancaster Quilt show. I've never been to a quilt show before and this one is a doozie! I am so excited!! Kurt is going to take care of my children tomorrow evening and Thursday so I can have a little mini-vacation at the quilt show.

On Thursday, not only am I going to be at the quilt show, but I am also attending a lecture called, "Amish Women and Their Quilts." That sounds sooo interesting. I can't wait til that lecture. I am looking forward to visitng all the booths/vendors and seeing all kinds of new quilting products/patterns/techniques.

We have a date.....

2010-03-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&catentryId=6144080

We have set a date -- June 18, 2010!! The above link is to a dress that I adore. I am going to see if I can find a comparable dress at a lower price. It is the perfect style that I want.

Our color scheme will be purple because purple is the color of royalty and Kurt treats me as though I am his princess.

More details to come.....

Proposal Night at the Pagoda in Reading, PA

2010-03-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

Yesteday was my birthday. I received the best birthday present in the world from Kurt. He asked me to marry him.

He had a very romantic evening planned out. He first took me to the Pagoda - a beautiful landmark in Reading. It rests on a mountain high above the city of Reading. It was quite windy and freezing, but we enjoyed our time of taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful views.

While waiting for the sun to set, Kurt suggested we go back to his car and wait. When we got back in the car, he handed me a beautifully-wrapped box.

My first gift was a hotel reservation for the night before the big Lancaster Quilt show. He wanted me to have a night away to be able to enjoy the quilt show. I am so excited. I will have complete peace and quiet for that night. Ahhhh...

Then, I had a smaller box to open. In that box was the most incredibly gorgeous engagement ring I have ever seen. I was speechless - something that doesn't happen very often. I gave him a kiss and he asked if that meant yes.

We then went back outside to watch the sunset and take a few more pictures. It was a beautiful sunset -- absoultely perfect for a romantic night.

When we left the Pagoda, we went to "Austins" a very nice restaurant. We had a wonderful time. Our waiter recognized our goofy grins and asked if we had just gotten engaged. I guess we were both so excited that the whole world could tell. It was very sweet. I am very blessed to have a man like Kurt in my life, and I am excited about spending the rest of my life with him.

Charm Square Quilt

2010-02-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

This is what I am working on right now. It's a disappearing 9-patch quilt using charm squares. I am using the "Friends & Flowers" charm pack by Moda. This picture shows how I arranged my first charm pack. Tonight I am going to stich up one of the 4 big blocks, and tomorrow I will make that into 4 smaller blocks and post a picture of that when I have done so.

A Snow-Covered Day in Amish Country

2010-02-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

This past Friday, we were finally able to dig out and go for a drive. This is what it looked like as we prepared to pull out from our driveway. Can you believe all the snow??

We went to Bird-In-Hand so I could buy bulk white chocolate to make Kurt's home-made valentine candy. There is a great Amish market that has the most delicious bulk white chocolate. This horse and buggy was parked in the parking lot. I took a picture of it because it looked so out of proportion. That is a normal-sized Amish buggy. Look at the size of the horse compoared to that buggy. I have never seen such a huge horse before. I thought it was worthy of a picture.

Kurt's Quilted Valentine

2010-02-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

I realized that if I wanted to post this picture, I would have to explain the names in the card. When Kurt and I first met almost 2 years ago, I was in Florida and an avid sea-shell collector, thus my nickname became "Shelly". Not long after that, I decided he needed a nickname as well. He had recently told me about the movie "Gladiator", and I decided that he sounded like "Maximus". So, from that point on, we have called each other "Maximus" and "Shelly". ;-)

That being said, this is Kurt's quilted valentine. I wanted to make him a special card. I have been searching high and low for ideas and just couldn't find anything that fit. I knew I wanted it to be hand-made and I preferred that it be fabric/quilted.

I wenet to two different Amish quilt shops and found the perfect combination. I used these two fabrics to make him a miniature quilt that folded into a tri-fold card. If you look closely at the border fabric, you can read the messages printed on the fabric. I thought they were perfect for a special valentine card.

My Early Valentine

2010-02-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

This morning was not going so well. I was still snowed in, having to work, and the kids were out of school *again* because of the snow storm. Imagine my surprise when Jonathan asked if I was expecting flowers. I told him no and asked why he was asking. He said there was a floral van that tried to get into the drive way but couldn't (because of the snow). A moment later, my phone began to ring. It was a delivery person from the florist asking if we were home because we had a delivery and he was just going to have to park in the middle of the road to delivery my flowers.

I ran outside to meet him (because he would have had to climb over mounts of snow), and was so excited with what I saw.

Kurt sent my valentine to me early. It included roses, a carnation, a heart balloon, a huge Hershey kiss, and an adorable teddy bear that I have named Valentine. I have the best boyfriend/ Valentine in the world!!

Quilted Bible Cover

2010-02-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

I started making this Bible cover on Tuesday night. I remember exactly how I made the first one, and as I was constructing it, I was a bit concerned that I wasn't doing it right. My instinct was correct because my first attempt at this Bible cover was too small for my Bible. I was so sad.

Thankfuly I had plenty of extra fabric, I tried it again last night. This time it fit perfectly. I loved these two fabrics. Hannah picked them out for me. She is great when it comes to coordinating colors.

The Blizzard of 2010

2010-02-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

The mail man lived up to the postal service motto today!!

I think I have a van under all that snow somewhere!

Yes - those are normal-sized mail boxes -- the snow is that deep in places.

I finally let Timothy out for a little while. He was going stir-crazy inside. He was so glad to run in the snow.

Jonathan began the process of digging out late this evening.

Hannah's Holocaust Memorial Quilt

2010-02-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hannah has been studying WWII in history class. She was assigned to make a memorial for the Holocaust victims. After many days of trying to decide what to do, she finally decided on a memorial quilt. She planned it all out with each of the fabrics representing something very specific.

We went to JoAnns and found the fabrics, and then she came home and worked for 6 hours straight Sunday afternoon on this quilt wall hanging. She finished it up last night (Monday night). Here is the paragraph she included with the quilt that explains the significance of each part of the quilt.

"My Holocaust memorial project is about Krystallnacht- also known as The Night of Broken Glass. I have made a quilt to represent the significant destruction the Nazis caused on Krystallnacht. The flames on the quilt represent all the fire in the Jewish homes that the Nazis set to fire. The dark blue starry sky fabric represents the night of Krystallnacht. The sparkly white fabric represents the broken, shattered glass and busted windows. The fringed edges of the quilt represent the massive destruction that the Nazis caused that night. Also, in the bottom right-hand corner I have a Star of David to represent the many Jews that suffered on Krystallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass."

Camo Card

2010-02-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

My friend, Anne's, husband was deployed to Iraq last week. She asked some of her friends to send him cards of encouragement. I knew just the card I wanted to make. I had bought a couple of yards of this fabric quite a few years ago on the $1 a yard table at Walmart. I always thought it might come in handy one day, and it finally did tonight. I made this just like my other quilted cards. The only difference is that it's only from one fabric and not 8 or 9 like I usually use. I still think it has a pretty neat quilted affect.

Wearable Art

2010-01-31T16:35:00.000-08:00

Kurt had a business meeting yesterday afternoon, so Patrick and Bridget spent the afternoon with us. We had a shirt-painting party. It was a lot of fun. I had gotten shirts at A.C. Moore and pulled out the fabric paints. We had shirts and paints spread all over the kitchen floor.

I knew the girls would love it, but the boys loved it just as much. It was fun to watch them each express their personalities through their designs.

Timothy immediately decided to make a sponge bob on his shirt and he did a great job. Bridget's favorite video game is "My Sims Agent", so she wrote that on her shirt. Hannah loves music, so her shirt was covered with multi-colored music notes.

Patrick did the logo of his favorite video game, and I painted multi-colored hearts all over my shirt.

The Weinermobile!

2010-01-30T07:39:00.000-08:00

After I dropped Jonathan off at indoor percussion practice this morning I decided to do the grocery shopping early. I had just finished up my shopping, and as I was leaving the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile pulled into the parking lot. I was so excited. I've never seen it in person before.

I took a couple of picture with my phone and then hurried home to get Hannah and Timothy and grab my real camera. Timothy was already dressed and ready to go, but Hannah was still in her PJs. She wanted to see the weinermobile, so she just put a coat on over her PJs and jumped in the van.

Hannah didn't want to get out and look at it close-up, but Timothy and I did. We even got to look inside. They gave Timothy a weinnie whistle and I asked for one for my daughter in her PJs in the car. When I asked, the Oscar Mayer guy said "sure" and then look at Hannah in the van and waved. Hannah was *so* embarrassed, but it was so funny!

After we got home, we decided to make hot dogs for breakfast -- Oscar Mayer hot dogs of course!

T-Shirt Fun

2010-01-29T18:59:00.000-08:00

Kurt has a project management meeting for most of the day tomorrow, so Patrick and Bridget will be spending some time with us. There's not a whole lot to do on a freezing Saturday afternoon in January, but I wanted to have something fun and special to do with them.

Then an idea came to me. Jonathan found out that he needed a black t-shirt for part of his uniform for his indoor percussion competition on Saturday. I told him that we would go to Walmart. Then he said that he was told at band that A.C. Moore had black t-shirts for pretty cheap.

That's when the idea hit me. We could decorate t-shirts. They were on sale for $2.50 at A.C. Moore. I got everyone a t-shirt in a different color. Tomorrow, I'll pull out the fabric paints and t-shirts and we'll have a lot of fun. You gotta admit that for $2.50 per child, that's pretty darn cheap entertainment!! Not only that, but they'll have something to wear when it's all said and done.

I'll post pictures tomorrow. It's going to be a lot of fun.

My Private Quilting Bee

2010-01-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

I did something I don't usually do tonight. I didn't bother with housework or any responsibilities. I took Jonathan to indoor percussion practice, and as soon as I got home, I began enjoying my own private quilting bee. I decided to use my "Quilting Diva" Moda Charm pack to make a quilted purse. I had *sew* much fun making it.

I started by arranging the squares to make 2 separate 9-square mini-quilts. Then I proceeded to make 2 small quilts - one for the front, and one for the back. It was really alot of fun because it was so quick and easy.

Then I made the rest of the purse just as I have made any purse in the past. The only thing I did differently was to add a pocket on the inside of this purse. I have never done that before. I am

not sure why because it was really simple.

For this particular purse, I just used one of the extra 5" charm squares. I turned under the edges, pressed, and then sewed onto the lining. It is just the perfect size for a cell phone or keys or anything else that I don't want to get lost into the bottomless pit.

This went a lot faster than I thought it was, and I am looking forward to making more of these.

More Quilted Note Cards

2010-01-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

I spent this evening working on more quilted note cards. These three all came from the same Moda Charm pack that was a birthday gift from my dear friend, Susan.

It was a lot of fun sorting out the 5" squares into color families, and then cutting them in quarters to 2.5" square. It's amazing that all of these came from the same charm pack.

There are two other color families from that charm pack that I have not used yet. I especially like the brown-tone card. Hannah said it reminded her of Vera Bradley. Hmm.... I guess it kind of does.

I finally figured out what to do with the inside of the cards. I didn't like having all the zig zag lines showing on the inside of the card, so I cut a piece of paper to the same size as the front of the card. Then I used a glue stick to secure it in place. I did this after the quilting was done, but before I zig-zag stitched around the edge of the card. The stitching secured the lining to the card.

Quilted Cards

2010-01-26T05:55:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to decide on the perfect valentine card to make for Kurt. I want it to be something extra special and very personalized. I have been scouring the internet for ideas. While searching, I put together a few ideas I had seen and combined them to make a quilted card. I had blank notecards (a pack of $50 from A.C. Moore for about $7 - used a 40% off coupon to make it about $4). This particular card was made from left-over jellyroll scraps from a quilt that I made for Hannah. I used 2.5" squares and fused them to a piece of fusible web cut to the size of the card. Once my design was complete, I trimmed the edges to fit the rectangle and then fused it to my card. After it had cooled, I used a zig zag stitch and stiched my "seams."

The second card is made from Moda charm squares. A charm square is 5", so each square makes 4 - 2.5" squares. I followed the same format to make this one. The possibilities are really endless with these cards. I am looking forward to making many more to send to my friends, and possibly to sell on Etsy. I'm still thinking about that one.

Amish Through The Seasons

2010-01-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

I've never been one to make a bunch of New Year's Resolutions. I just think they're pointless because no one really sticks with them anyway.

Rather than making "New Year's Resolutions", I use the first of a new year to decide what I would like to accomplish during the coming year.

Throughout 2009, I have taken numerous trips to Amish Country to collect photographs for a book I would like to publish of my Amish photos. Now that it is 2010, it's time to get to work. I have lots of photos, and my first step is to weed through them and decide which photos are my best. This particular photo is one I took in July of 2008 when I still lived in Florida, but came to PA to visit Kurt.

In the coming weeks, as I sort through my collection of "Amish Through The Seasons" photos, I will be posting some of my favorites.

A beautiful ending to 2009

2009-12-31T05:22:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful way to end 2009. The weather forecast said it would begin snowing around 6:00 a.m. I awoke at 5:38, and by 5:55, I was downstairs to let Puddin' out. It was already falling and just beautiful. Did you know that you can actually hear snow falling? At 5:55, it is very quiet outside, so I was able to hear the snow gently falling to the ground.

When the sun came up, I was able to capture a few photographs. I am so glad to have snow cover again. It's amazing how pure and clean everything looks under a blanket of freshly-fallen snow.

God's Greeting

2009-12-30T09:30:00.000-08:00

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

How often do you see the sunrise or sunset? It comes and goes so quickly. I am blessed that my desk is right next to a window that faces to the east. I am able to enjoy the beautiful sunrise every morning while I work. The thing about sunrises, though, is that if you blink, you can miss them.

Most mornings, I see the sky begin to light up every so subtly behind South Mountain. Then, in a matter of minutes, the entire sky explodes with beautiful pinks, oranges and reds. But, just as quickly as it came, it's gone again, and the sky is just grayish blue.

I believe the sunrise is God's good morning greeting to us. As the Psalmist declared, "the skies proclaim the work of his hands." There is no real purpose for a beautiful sunrise and sunset. I believe God created them for our enjoyment alone, so we could look at the sky and realize how incredible He is, and just how much he loves us.

QVC Studio Tour

2009-12-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon, Kurt and I went down to West Chester, PA to visit the QVC studios. It was amazing. I have been a viewer of QVC since Jonathan was a baby. I would watch QVC in the middle of the night when I would be up with him. I rarely order anything, but I love to watch. QVC has definitely found it's niche. The show hosts make you feel as though they are right there in the room with you. When I am home alone, I often turn on QVC just because then I don't feel so alone.

The tour was incredible. Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras in the studio, but we were able to take pictures in the lobby which was really neat.

It was really exciting because my favorite QVC host is Mary Beth Roe. When we began the tour, we found out that Mary Beth Roe was on the air right then. I was beside myself I was so excited. There were other "QVC Groupies" (as Kurt called us) on the tour too. The men (along with Kurt) didn't quite understand our excitement about much of the tour.

We were able to look through glass down at the studio and see it all going on. I thought that was awesome, but then it got even better. At the end of the tour (I guess they had to make sure we were all civilized first), they let us walk out on a bridge-like structure and look down at everything as it was going on. They gave us the speech about not making a sound and not having any electronic devices that could make a sound before they allowed us to go out there. We could actually hear them talking on the show. It was sooo cool.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas has come and gone. This year was different than most Christmas holidays. My former sister-in-law and her family where here for a visit to enjoy Christmas in the snow. What really made Christmas unusual was that I had to work on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had to have Christmas at 5:30 on Christmas morning so I could be ready for work by 7:00. Needless to say, Christmas with 6 kids that early in the morning was pretty funny.
We made them stay upstairs until we were downstairs and ready to take pictures. Then we had them come downstairs in order from youngest to oldest. It was so funny to watch. Even the older ones were so excited about getting downstairs, but they were not thrilled with having their picture taken that early in the morning.

My sister-in-law took all the kids to their hotel for most of the day while I worked. When I got off work, Kurt came over and everyone else came back for Christmas dinner together. I was finally able to give Kurt his Dallas Cowboys quilt. He really liked it. I was so happy that he liked it. It's been a very cold week, and he has been glad to have it at night.

Snow-covered Amish Country

2009-12-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

What can I say? Today was incredible. Andrea and I spent several hours just driving backroads in Lancaster County. With the fresh blanket of snow, everything was more beautiful than ever. We saw so many beautiful things - some were captured on camera, and others were just captured in our memories.
Andrea was more than happy for me to stop constantly, sometimes every few feet, to get the most perfect photographs. She is excited about having these photos to help her remember her trip.

I have taken many pictures of Amish schools, but today was a special treat. If you look very closely in the middle window, you'll see a little hand waving. As we wer backing out from the school there were many hands waving to us. It was so sweet. I thought these Amish children did a very good job of building a snowman as well, and oh, look at the scooters parked by the side of the school. Many of the Amish children ride scooters instead of bicycles.

Baaaaaa..... look at these sheep. Aren't they precious. These are part of an Amish farm. It is almost as though they poased for my photo.

I am excited about completing an entire year of Amish through the Seasons photographs. I'm going to continue to do Amish photography, but it feels good to have collected a year's worth of photos.

I am going to look into having calendars made of my photos to give as Chrismas gifts next year. Also, one day I hope to publish a book of my Amish Country photos.

I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve Eve. I am looking forward to all the excitement that Christmas Eve and Christmas will bring. Timothy is pretty hyped up. I am excited about giving Kurt his Dalls Cowboys quilt for Christmas. I hope he likes it. He will also have a Dallas Cowboys stocking filled by Santa (asuming he is on the nice list, of course.)

Tomorrow's fun in the snow....

2009-12-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Andrea and I will be going on an Amish adventure tomorrow. I can't wait to get lots and lots of photos of Amish Country blanketed with snow. For the past year, I have been working on a collections of photos that I am compiling and calling, "Amish Through the Seasons." I have a few photos of a dusting of snow in Amish country, but it is nothing compared to what we have now.

Finding My Identity

2009-12-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

I think one of the hardest things about life is figuring out exactly who I am. I've learned the hard way that my identity has to be independent of anyone else. I spent many years believing my identity was found through being a pastor's wife and homeschooling, stay-at-home mommy. However, with just a signature on a legal document, I lost my entire identy.

Over four years later, I'm still trying to figure out exactly who I am. I know I am a child of God in the spiritual sense, but who am I on this earth? Is my identity a medical transcriptionist? No, because in the blink of an eye, I could lose my job. Is my identity a mommy? No, because my children will grow upand leave home. Is my identity Kurt's girlfriend? No, because again, that could change.

Who am I anyway? Where to I find freedom? I love to quilt, but in reality, I'm not very good at it. Do I like to bake? Oh yes, cookies are my speciality, but that's not it either.

When I think back over the past few years, I have found the most freedom behind the lens of my camera. I can be in the midst of a crowd, but not hear or see anything except what I have set my sights on to photograph. I am able to express my creativity and permanently capture the world through my own eyes.

When I am forced into an uncomfortable or undesirable situation, I am comforted if I can bring my camera and take pictures. Just last week, I felt so alone and awkward as I entered Timothy's elementary school for his Christmas program. I saw all the happy "normal parents" (mommy and daddy together) and felt conspicuously alone. However, once I pulled out my camera and began to photograph the program, the insecurities and awkwardness faded away.

So, is my identity a photographer? I don't know.... maybe so....

2009-12-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was gorgeous. It snowed most of the day on Saturday. We got to play in the snow and enjoy watching it fall. Saturday evening we went to Christmas Village http://www.koziarschristmasvillage.com/ . It had been snowing all afternoon, and was snowing most of the time we were there. It was so beautiful. The kids had a good time. Jonathan even invited his girlfriend, Jenny, to come along.

I've seen a lot of light displays before, but nothing could top this one - especially not on a snowy night.

It's what makes me ME

2009-12-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

The truth is, I tend to be a slow learner. You see, when I take the time to sew/quilt and be creative, I blossom. When I get too busy in the mundane and stressful activities of daily living, I start to wilt. I become less vibrant. I become droopy.

What I don't understand is why I can't seem to remember this. I go through phases like this often. I'll find myself wilted and droopy. I'll start to be grumpy and stressed. I become overwhelmed with everything. When I get to that point. I force myself to sew/quilt. It's the best thing I could do for myself because it HELPS!

This past weekend, I was stressed beyond believe. I was overwhelmed with just about everything. At that point, I decided to take a day off this week to have some *me* time.

That day off was yesterday. I even turned down an invitation to lunch with Kurt so I could stay in my PJ's and sew/quilt all day with no interruptions. It was wonderful. I finished Kurt's quilt, and I finished my ornaments for the Martha Pullen Fan Club ornament exchange. I had a spring in my step that has stayed with me even today.

On my morning break, I pulled out my fabric to begin sewing my Christmas purse on my lunch break. My creative juices have been flowing nonstop, and I am even thinking of making more Christmas gifts. I have plenty of time (over 3 weeks), so why not?

Yes, sewing/quilting is what makes me *ME*. Without it, I'm just a gloomy, droopy, wilted girl.

Kurt's Quilt

2009-12-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

After over 2 months of slowly working on Kurt's quilt, I finished it today. I am so happy to have it

finished. He is a big Dallas Cowboys fan, so I thought this quilt would be perfect for him. I used fusible batting for the first time. In some ways it was a time-saver, but in other ways it was a pain. I'm no tsure if I will want to use it again. I was really excited to find my quilt labels I had purchased years ago. I really wanted to personalize the quilt somehow, and I found the labels and was able to add one to the bottom right-hand corner of the quilt.

2009-11-08T04:52:00.000-08:00

Fall is winding down her in beautiful Amish country. Two weeks ago, I spent a Sunday afternoon capturing the beauty of the peak of fall. As you can see by this photo, even the Amish were out enjoying the colors.

I was simply amazed at the multitude of colors in the landscape. It was breathtaking.

The temperature has been dropping, the leaves have almost finishing falling, and now it's time to get ready for winter. I am eagerly awaiting the first snow. I am especially excited about it this year because I will not have the stress of having to drive to work in the snow/ice because I work from home now. :-)

Colors of fall...

2009-10-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

......and it's only just beginning. My church is a 50-minute drive through beautiful, mountainous countryside. I brought my camera with me (as I will throughout fall) to take a few pictures along the way. I am absolutely amazed at all of the spectacular colors everywhere I look. Even dying corn is a beautiful golden color. The vegetable crops are a vibrant yellow. The trees are mostly green still, but there are colors popping out here and there.

Fall is definitely my favorite season. The colors of fall were created by God for just one reason -- our enjoyment. If you think about it, why would leaves change into beautiful colors just to fall to the ground? God wanted us to enjoy His creation, so he made it incredibly gorgeous. He loves us enough to paint the sunrise and sunset every day. He loves us enough to create gorgeous sparkling blue and green water in the ocean. He loves us enough to splash the leaves with awesome colors for us to enjoy each fall.

Remember Me?

2009-10-03T21:34:00.001-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since I have posted. I was inspired by Martha Pullen (who just started her own blog today) to get back to my blog. I have been spending most of my computer time on facebook.

I'm still loving this beautiful part of the country. In fact, I took several hours on Monday to enjoy Amish country. The corn is ready for harvest. The leaves are beginning to get a hint of color to them, and fall is approaching. I can't wait until the peak of the fall season is upon us. I plan to take at least a million pictures.

I've been getting back into my sewing/quilting after a little bit of a slump. In the past month, I have made a patchwork block as my first step in patchwork quilting. I also made a new doll dress for my Martha Pullen doll.

This weekend, I am beginning to work on Kurt's Christmas present. I think he has already figured out that it is going to be a quilt, but he has no idea what it will be like. I am not going to post the details in case he were to read it, but I will tell you that I am *sew* excited about it. I am making a strip quilt. I have three different fabrics that I am using -- all perfectly suited for him. My goal is to get my strips cut this weekend. I think that is a realistic goal.

After months and months of being the best of friends, Kurt officially asked me to be his girlfriend on July 5th. We have had the most amazing and wonderful time growing together and growing in the Lord. He is so sweet and humors me by showing interest in my quilting/sewing. He is such a gift from God.

TGTF

2009-02-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

Do you know what TGTF means? It means "Thank God Tomorrow's Friday"! It has been quite a week!

Sunday, my children and I went to Norristown, PA after church to Kurt's concert. He is in a classical quartet. It was awesome. There was a viola, clarinet, french horn and piano. They were all incredible!

Tuesday night was an experience I will not soon forget. I was on my way to church and was in a wreck. I was stopped for the car in front of me to turn left. The car behind me stopped in time, but a truck with a snow plow rammed into them who then rammed into me. The Lord was with me, and I was not injured, and damage to my van was minimal. Every state trooper at the scene (and there were several) commented about how good my van got off considering what the car that hit me looked like. I was very sore that night and the next day, but today (Thursday) I am feeling better.

There has been no quilting so far this week. I am hoping this weekend will offer a little bit of quilting time.

What a difference the right tools make!!

2009-02-14T14:12:00.000-08:00

This morning, I went to JoAnns. Their quilting tools were 50% off. I bought a 6.5 x 24.5 inch ruler and new blades for my rotary cutter. WOW -- it made a HUGE difference. Now I can cut strips and squares accurately. I had been using a 4 x 18" ruler, and it just wasn't big enough to work with. I have struggled with quilting because the desire has been there, but the ability to cut neatly has not been there. Now I can do it!! The possibilities are endless!! I can even cut my own 2.5 inch strips to make my own jelly rolls with ease!! I've been playing this afternoon and cutting up scraps into 5" charm squares too. Oh how fun this is!! I can cut and cut and cut!!!

I love weekends in Amish Country!!

2009-02-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today, we visited a quilt shop in Ephrata, PA called Piece By Piece. I will post a separate entry about our shopping experience, but for now, I wanted to share my Amish experience!

Ephrata is about 12 miles south of Reading in Lancaster County. I wanted to enjoy some Amish scenery, but didn't know where to find the Amish. As we were driving down "Main Street" in Ephrata, we saw a horse and buggy turn down one of the side roads that led out of town. I knew that was which way I wanted to go.

As we traveled through the Amish country, we passed 2 horse and buggies, AND we passed 2 Amish men in a horse-drawn wagon full of church benches. If you've read any of the Beverly Lewis books, you probably know that on Saturdays, the Amish get set up for church the next day. They deliver all the benches and chairs to the home that is going to host church for that day. We saw two Amish men doing that. It was so neat to see.

We saw many Amish people riding bicycles and passed many Amish homes and farms.

Then we came across either an Amish or very conservative Mennonite one-room school. I *had* to stop and peek in. It was sooo neat to see inside! It was hard to believe it was real. I could have gazed in the window all day.

While we were there, my two older children were in the van afraid I was going to get in trouble for peeking in the windows of this school. They told me that an Amish guy on a bicycle just road by. Then I heard them saying, "Someone's coming - hurry up!!!".

I wasn't afraid - I knew we weren't doing anything wrong. This older gentleman was walking down the street, and came to talk to me. He said that the Amish guy on the bicycle that just went by teaches at that school. How neat is that?? He said it was a shame we missed him because he could have told us more about the school.

After our scenic drive through Amish country, we stopped at Walmart and enjoyed shopping with quite a few Amish families.

I just love it here!!!

Quilted Valentine's Day Cards

2009-02-12T08:28:00.001-08:00

I am home with a sick little boy today, so I was able to finish my quilted Valentine's Day cards. They're a lot of fun to make, but they are time-consuming.

I learned that it was definitely easier to start from jelly roll strips rather than cut the blocks completely myself. I am very challenged in the area of cutting strips, blocks, etc. I need to take a class on that. I think I would really enjoy making block quilts if I could learn to cut squares. I am pretty good at sewing with consistent 1/4" seams, but that doesn't matter if your squares aren't straight!!

Anyone have any suggestions of websites/books that can help me learn to cut squares, strips, etc. I have a huge cutting mat (24x36) and a 6" x 18" ruler, along with a good rotary cutter.

My Sewing Corner

2009-02-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

Here it is -- my sewing corner! For almost 4 years, I had a sewing room, but since moving to PA, I must sleep in my sewing room. I'd rather put it that way that say that my sewing room is in my bedroom! . I've been here for 2 months, but just got my sewing corner completely set up this past weekend. It's a bit of a squeeze, but it works, and as long as I have my machines, I am happy!! :-)

A Sick/Sew Day

2009-02-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

It looks as though I may have some time to sew tomorrow. I will not be going to work tomorrow. As I was leaving work today, I got a call from Timothy's school telling me that he had just thrown up. So far, he has thrown up 6 times in under 6 hours. Needless to say, he will not be going to school tomorrow.

After he fell asleep this evening, I worked on my hand-made quilted Valentine cards. I need to finish them tomorrow so I can get them in the mail. They are so much fun to make.

I am hoping that I get to enjoy my time off tomorrow and sew/quilt. I am a little nervous that I may end up with this stomach bug. I am praying that I don't get it.

I haven't decided what we are doing this weekend. I am sure Hannah and I will visit another quilt fabric shop, but I haven't decided which one or where. It's only Wednesday, so I still have a couple days to figure it out.

Today felt like spring. It was 60 degrees a lunch time. Kurt and I met for lunch and had a picnic at the park that I have taken many of the snow pictures on my blog. We fed the ducks and geese and went for a walk. It was wonderful to be outside without a coat. I am enjoying this brief intermission from winter, but not ready for winter to be over. I want a few more snows before this winter is over.

Quilted Greeting Cards

2009-02-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

This evening, I decided to practice making quilted greeting cards. I found a pattern online at http://craftapple.wordpress.com/2006/08/23/quilted-cards-tutorial/ My goals is to make my own Valentines, but I thought I should practice first. I used some jelly roll scraps to make my 2.5" squares.

This was really a lot of fun. Tomorrow, I am going to go to JoAnns on my lunch break to pick up a few pieces of valentine print fabric to make my own Valentines.

I went to AC Moore on my lunch break today and bought a package of blank cards. I got a package of 50 cards and envelopes for $5.50. They were $10.99, but I had a 50% off coupon.

This is a great way for a quick quilting fix, and it's a neat card to give someone. Each one will be an absolute original -- which is pretty neat!

Quilters TV

2009-02-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

I discovered a really fun website that I wanted to pass along. Since I am new to both quilting and blogging, I am sure many of you already know about this site, but I thought I would share it anyway.

It's "Quilter's TV" -- http://www.quilterstv.com/ There are some great "how to" episodes for many different quilting techniques/problems.

Since I work full time during the day, I am not able to take advantage of all the great quilting shows on t.v., so I am excited to find quilting shows online that I can watch in the evenings and on weekends.

I'm not sure if I will get much sewing in today. We have church this morning, and we'll go grocery shopping on the way home. Late this afternoon, Kurt and his kids are going to join us for a "Make Your Own Pizza & Game" night. I've already pulled out twister. This is going to be fun!!

In Stitches - Wolmesdorf, PA

2009-02-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

This morning, Hannah and I visited the "In Stitches" quilt shop in Wolmesdorf, PA (approximately 15 miles west of Reading).

It is a great little quilting store -- lots and lots of fat quarters for $1.99 each, a very nice selection of fabric and notions - and 17 different quilting magazines. She also had a very nice selection of quilting patterns. It was great.

She had some beautiful quilts hanging up around the shop, and I fell in love with one of them. I asked the shop owner about it, and she said that it is a class that she teaches. It was an "Attic Window" quilt. The possibilities are endless with this type of quilt. She offers many classes, and when I expressed an interest in this one, she said she would go ahead and schedule a class for it. Hannah offered to babysit for the day (it's a whole Saturday) as my birthday gift so I could go. It is going to be on March 28th.

As I talked with the shop owner, she was very sweet and thanked us for coming. She said she'd love for us to come back and said how she likes to get to know her customers.

After she had done and said all of this, THEN I told her that I was visiting as many quilt shops as I could around the area and writing a review in my blog. I'm glad I didn't tell her that right way, because it makes it even sweeter that she scheduled a class just because I was interested in learning that quilt, and she said how she likes to get to know her customers.

So... "In Stitches" is definitely a great little quilt shop -- one I am sure I will frequent often (as it is only about 8 miles away.)

If you'd like to find out more about "In Stitches" you can visit her website at : http://www.institchesfabrics.com/

Hawk Mountain and Tour-Guide Jonathan

2009-02-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

Today we took a family hiking trip to Hawk Mountain. It was absolutely breath-taking. I've never been hiking on a mountain before. It was snow-covered and beautiful!!!

Jonathan wanted to be our guide, so I gave him the map and let him lead. Unknown to us, he took us on one of the most difficult trails. We climbed rocks, hung on for dear life, and fell down more times than I can count. Thankfully there was plenty of snow to cushion our falls. There were several look-out points along the way, and the view was totally breath-taking. I've never experienced anything like it before. Here are a few more pictures from our day....

The Quilter's Workbook!!

2009-02-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Today, I received a very special blessing from my very sweet friend, AverettLadyNana (http://averettladynana.blogspot.com/). She sent me "The Quilter's Workbook" as a birthday gift. It's so awesome!! It's packed with some great information/ instructions for quilting, and it includes a way to organize quilting projects. I love it!!

This morning, Hannah and I picked up my embroidery machine and then visited "In Stitches". We had a great visit, and I will blog about it this afternoon, but for now we're off to Hawk Mountain for the afternoon!!

Thank you so much AverettLadyNana!!!

TGIF!

2009-02-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

TGIF!! It's Friday night, which is probably my favorite time of the whole week! We've had a very quiet and relaxing evening.

First thing tomorrow morning, Hannah and I will go pick up my embroidery machine. On our way back, we are going to "In Stitches" quilt shop in Wolmesdorf. I will write about that tomorrow.

Then, we're all going hiking on Hawk Mountain. It's about 45 minutes north of Reading. It's supposed to be beautiful. I can't wait. I am so excited about the pictures I will take. It's going to be sunny and a high around 45* tomorrow. We're going to hike the easiest trail tomorrow, but we will be going back to tackle some of the more difficult trails later in the spring and summer.

Quilters Club of America

2009-02-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

I did it! I joined the Quilters Club of America this evening. I wanted to subscribe to a quilting magazine and love Fons and Porter Easy Quilts. I decided to joint the Quilters Club of America so I could not only have the subscription to Fons and Porter Easy Quilts, but also the other benefits -- particularly the 1-year membership to QNNTV!! I'm especially excited about that -- being able to be in my room -- even lying in bed, and watching quilt show after quilt show on my computer!!

My friend, Susan, and I were discussing The Quilter's Club of America last night, and as she said in her blog today, the price went up while we were talking about it. I used the discount code given in the latest issue of Easy Quilts, and got the membership for $39.99.

I am happy to report that I was able to cut out my appliques for my secret mission quilt at lunch today at work. It was so much fun to bring my quilting to work. It was so comforting! I will definitely do that more often as I have things that I can do at work.

Quilting at Work!

2009-02-05T03:38:00.001-08:00

I'm all packed for work today. I have everything I need to quilt on my lunch break today.

I'm having a very difficult time balancing my schedule and trying to squeeze in time for ME to do what I want to do -- quilt! So, I decided to take my project with me. I am going to cut out my appliques on my lunch break today. I don't know why I never thought of this before. It'll be perfect. I'll have 45 uninterrupted minutes to get these cut out.

Quilt Shop Review

2009-02-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

As my blog title says, I am sew blessed to be in Amish country. It's incredibly beautiful here, and there are more quilting shops than I will probably ever get to visit. However, I sure would like to try to visit all of the shops within a 1-hour radius of my home.

Since most of you do not live here and are not able to visit these great shops, I have decided to share my experiences with you.

Every time I visit a new Amish country quilt shop, I am going to blog about it -- complete with pictures, links to their website, and perhaps even an interview with and employee from the store.

I am going to start this Saturday by visiting "In Stitches" http://www.institchesfabrics.com/index.html

I think this will be a lot of fun, and I hope those of you who are not blessed to live here will enjoy joining me as I tour all of the local quilt shops in beautiful Amish country, Pennsylvania!

My Lunch Companion

2009-02-03T16:15:00.001-08:00

Today, I spent my lunch break at the park across from the hospital. It began snowing just minutes before I got there. My mission was to spend some time with the ducks and just relax and forget about the real world.

Little did I know, I would make friends with an adorable little squirrel. He was the cutest little guy. We played peek-a-boo for a little while. He'd look at me, and then quickly look away. He'd scamper up a tree, and then stop to look at me, and then scamper to the other side of the tree, then peek around the trunk. He was so cute!!

I took quite a few pictures of him. I also enjoyed watching some majestic geese, along with some beautiful mallard ducks. The snow was gently falling, and as the flakes landed on my pants or jacket, I could clearly see how intricate and amazing each snowflake was.

The snow has continued to fall this afternoon. We're supposed to have a couple of inches by morning. I was not able to go to CR at church tonight. I was walking out the door, and Kurt called to see if I had left yet. He said he was on his way to church and the roads were already pretty bad. He didn't think I would want to get out in it, and he was right.

Now, I have a chance to spend a little bit of thinking time on my "secret mission" quilt this evening. :-) My children know that Tuesday nights are the only night that I get a bit of a break, so I am still going to get it tonight. They're just going to have to pretend that I am not here!

Yesterday, the sewing store called to let me know that my embroidery machine was repaired and ready to be picked up. Thankfully it was just the timing and did not require any extra parts. The only bad part is that they close at 5:00, during the week, so I won't be able to pick it up until Saturday. I'm going to be glad to have my machine back.

I'm considering purchasing a subscription to a quilting magazine. I'm trying to decide which one. I really enjoy Fons and Porter Easy Quilts, but that one is only published 4 times a year. I also like Quick Quilts. Hmmm.....decisions... decisions... decisions...

Jon & Kate Plus Eight

2009-01-31T20:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Timothy, Kurt and I went to an awesome benefit concert. It was sponsored by Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church. It was called, "Hope for Tomorrow". Proceeds went to building wells for fresh drinking water in Africa - not just so these people can have real water, but also so they can have a chance to hear the message of Jesus and the living water.

The concert featured great praise and worship, and also an appearance by Jon from Jon & Kate Plus Eight. They live in the Reading, PA area.

After the concert, Jon was signing autographs. We just happened to stumble upon the table as he was just getting started, and we were third our fourth in line.

Hannah had really wanted to go tonight, and we had planned to take all the kids, but she started not feeling well in the evening. I had Jon sign a picture for her as well. She was already in bed when I got home, but I gave it to her and she was so happy.

A beautiful morning and my top secret quilt

2009-01-31T08:59:00.000-08:00

This morning Hannah and I went to Myerstown to drop off my Disney embroidery machine to have it repaired. We then traveled another 5 miles down Hwy 422 to "Martin's Fabric Barn". All I can say is "WOW"!!! They have tons and tons of flat folds for $2.98 a yard. I got 12 different prints for my "Top Secret" quilt! There were quite a few Amish and Mennonite quilters coming in and out of the store while we were there.

As we were leaving, an Amish horse and buggy was coming down the road, and it was just too beautiful not to photograph.

Next Saturday we are going to a store called "In Stitches" http://www.institchesfabrics.com/index.html It's about 5 miles from here in Wolmesdorf, PA. It looks like a lot of fun. You know, this area really is a paradise for quilters!!

Now...about my top secret quilt. My dear friend Susan of AbbySue Designs -- http://www.abbysuedesigns.com/ and http://www.sewmanythingstosay.blogspot.com/ is a budding new quilt pattern designer. She has designed a pattern that I am going to test for her. I am so excited about it. When the quilt is finished and the pattern published, everyone will get to see it! :-)

TIGF!!!

2009-01-30T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am so glad it is Friday!! This week has gone by quickly, but it has been exhausting and stressful!!

Overnight, we had just a few flurries fall. When I got into my van this morning, snowflakes were just gently laying on the windshield. It was neat because you could see them each individually. I had to take a picture of it. They're each unique and each beautiful.

Tomorrow I am taking my embroidery machine (Brother 180-D) to be repaired. I knocked out the timing on it making Kurt's embroidered blanket for Christmas. I filed my taxes tonight, so now I will have the money to have it repaired.

I am looking forward to going to the shop to have it repaired. They are a Viking and Brother dealership, which is perfect for me since I have a Viking sewing machine (Freesia 425) and a Brother embroidery machine (180-D).

I am also going to begin working on my "top secret" quilt. I'll write more about that tomorrow, But for now, I am going upstairs to snuggle under my antique singer print fleece blanket and read a quilting magazine -- ahhhh - that is my idea of a perfect Friday night!!

Sew Blessed In Amish Country

Sew Blessed In Amish Country Has Moved!!

Smocked T-shirt

Smocked Purse

Smocked Socks

New Year's Organization Project

Smocking By The Sea

Quilted Coin Purses

Timothy's Solo

Thimbles!

All those shirts!

Martha's Christmas Dress

Portraits

For my Owl-fanatic Niece

Do you know what this is???

No Trick Just Treat

October Snow!

Tract or Treat

It's been a while

New SAGA Chapter in Reading, PA

I'm going to see Martha Pullen!

Organizing Sew Beautiful Magazine

FSL Bookmark!

Snowy Day

Not Amish Country!

I Spy Quilt Finished!

Natural Ribbons

I Spy

Getting My Feet Wet Again

My "Sewing Center"

Who Would Have Thought....

Sew Busy!!

CHRISTMAS JAMMIES

Better Late Than Never

First Smocked Dress Ornament Finished!

Mini Bishop Dress Ornaments

It's been a while

The Smocking Bee

The Smocking Bee

SAGA WEB Smockers

Cable 1, Trelis 2......

To Smock or Not to Smock

10-20-30 Minutes to Quilt

My little sewing corner

My New Life Has Begun

A Beary Special Wedding

A block a day keeps the doctor away....

Quilting/Sewing Table/Desk

Future Home

The Battle Costume

AQS Lancaster Show

Quilt Show, Here I Come!!

We have a date.....

Proposal Night at the Pagoda in Reading, PA

Charm Square Quilt

A Snow-Covered Day in Amish Country

Kurt's Quilted Valentine

My Early Valentine

Quilted Bible Cover

The Blizzard of 2010

Hannah's Holocaust Memorial Quilt

Camo Card

Wearable Art

The Weinermobile!

T-Shirt Fun

My Private Quilting Bee

More Quilted Note Cards

Quilted Cards

Amish Through The Seasons

A beautiful ending to 2009

God's Greeting

QVC Studio Tour

Christmas 2009

Snow-covered Amish Country

Tomorrow's fun in the snow....

Finding My Identity

It's what makes me *ME*

Kurt's Quilt

Colors of fall...

Remember Me?

It's what makes me ME