Will Try to Keep This Short!

There's been a lot going on in the past month I've ignored my poor blog.

My last post was literally one month ago & we'd just started our gym membership. I'm happy to report that we've kept up going twice a week! One of the many great things about having my built-in work-out partners is that even when one of us doesn't feel like going, someone else will urge the rest on. There's only been once that we came out feeling rough & tired. Usually it's rejuvenating.

My younger daughter decided to return to homeschooling. And I LOVE, love, love the homeschool lifestyle, but the amount of time I had to work with in terms of preparing & planning subjects has left me in a bit of a tizzy. No worries, though, as we're up & running mostly on time & mostly full steam. 

Besides working out & school-planning my brains out,  I've been quilting. Here are the latest:

Wizard Top; QUILTED with Meandering Loops & Stars (freehand)

Hearts & Squares Top; QUILTED with Puffy Heart Meander (freehand)

Green Lattice & Yellow Squares Top; QUILTED with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)

Navy & Cream Half-Square Triangle Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Poinsettia Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Blue Floral Panel Top; QUILTED with Butterfly Meander (freehand)

Ladybugs & Hearts Top; QUILTED Custom (freehand)

Paisley Stars Top; QUILTED with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)

My older daughter started her first college class.

And my younger daughter turned 16.

One other thing I'll mention... a year ago in early September we were cleaning out a muddy, soggy, smelly post-flood mess. I'm so glad we're not dealing with THAT! It seems unreal that it's been a year already though. Time sure does fly...

Dirty Details on Denise

I'm not sure if any of these will end up actually being "dirty" in any way whatsoever, but since I'm keen on alliteration, I'm keeping that title!! 

Both V.V. Denman & Leah Singer, writers/bloggers with whom I've recently become acquainted, did this kind of list on their blogs, and I found it to be so much fun. I hope it is for you, too, and that you'll do your own list of facts, because it's an interesting way to get to know one another better!

So here goes... the interesting, the obvious & the drivel:

Was a total tomboy who preferred having dirt bomb battles to playing Barbies

Hated History as a subject 

Chemistry & English are my favorites

I love to type after I've cut my nails (hate the click click of nails on a keyboard!)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read more than just about anything else

I got married when I was 17 & not yet graduated from high school, and I WAS NOT pregnant!!

Finished high school in a continuation school in the CA desert while married

(they didn't know what to do w/me when they looked at my transcripts -- they weren't capable of helping me finish many of my credits: Physics, French 4, British Lit... it was a weird experience)

AND I've been married to that high school sweetheart for 23 years now

I have three angel babies waiting in Heaven for me

(little Marshall lost at 20 weeks due to a knot in the umbilical cord, another at 9 weeks whom I always think in my mind as Maddie, and Montie @ 10yr)

I've lived in NJ, PA, CA, MD, and MI, but now we're back in PA 

I've gone to three colleges over the last 23 years, amassed 90+ credits & but STILL haven't earned a degree

My favorite place to be is at home, but if you'd force me to leave, I'd want to be at the beach

Rainy days give me creative urges

I read every night before bed (I would say 8 times out of 10 I read fiction)

I've homeschooled all three of my kiddos, graduated my oldest daughter, and am down to one either grader who's probably going to public school next year 

Longarm quilting is way more fun than piecing... just saying

My heart skipped a beat when I saw The Writer had come in the mail today :)

My favorite place to eat lately is Isaac's (The Club Canary-YUM)

For my birthday tomorrow I've requested an ice cream cake for dessert

I'm mostly introverted & love my alone time (NEED my alone time)

Half a dozen years ago I flew to London w/my hubby & saw Depeche Mode perform 

at Wembly Stadium

My first car was a Honda Civic -really old & blew a lot of exhaust into the air daily (clouds of it that rendered me thoroughly embarrassed in the high school parking lot)

My first job was as a Pharmacy Technician. Between PA & CA I worked a few years in pharmacy & so I'm able to decipher doctor's prescriptions

Before we had kids, we lived in Baltimore City, and I walked to & from work every day

My younger daughter & I have "seen" the same images in our 222 year old home during the same night in different bedrooms

Our old house has been a blacksmith shop, a working tavern where people also paid to sleep,  a bed & breakfast, and now it's just our home

In 9th grade I won first place at both our school & then our regional science fairs for my Physics project on friction

 

My all-time favorite movie is The Sound of Music

I was so proud of myself when at around 16/17 years old I could play the entire Rogers & Hammersteins music from The Sound of Music!

I took 10+ years of piano lessons

We have a very out of tune baby grand piano

I love coffee & most sweets

Am running out of things to say

But I still have room until I get to the bottom of this Sound of Music pic

Almost there...

Okay all, now it's your turn. Let me know when you've posted your own list of little-known-facts!

My birthday is coming up next weekend. I'll admit that the ages of my children make me feel older then my actual age. Why is that? 

Regardless, in preparation of this momentous day (I LOVE being pampered on my b-day!), I've pulled out the goals I'd written for myself last birthday. Last year I decided that establishing goals based on my annual, personal "road trip" made more sense than the random Jan 1st date.

 So last year on my birthday I compiled a list of just 13 things I thought I'd want to work on and/or accomplish in the upcoming year. And I'm a little embarrassed & sad to say, I've only been able to cross off one.

Maybe that's okay for this year.  I like the concept, but I'm being kind to myself because I know I'm still finding my way.

A little over two years ago, on 3/19/09, our 10 year old son, Montie, passed away due to complications associated with his Marfan Syndrome. My world stopped. My purpose stopped. Time seemed to stop when Montie's heart stopped.

And for a whole year I just WAS. I did what was necessary to keep my girls, my hubby & myself afloat in the world, believing in faith that God would carry us through. Somehow. Someday.

Slowly.... very slowly it's happening. I still look around & wonder what's the purpose of it all, when my growing children need me less, and I've never attained the career goals I'd originally thought were so important.

God had changed my heart & showed me  how much being a mommy meant. I'll never regret giving up the career moments for being here the whole time my kiddos were growing up & finding their ways.

But now what?? I know many moms go through this phase. Mine just happened differently. More suddenly.

I feel my branches beginning to sprout...
Where once they lay heavy-laden with sorrow on the ground,
bare of leaves & devoid of sunshine;
they are stretching to find the warm glow,
which urges budding.

A Belated Happy New Year!

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. In fact, I can't remember the last time I made one. Some time back --like a decade or more ago-- I became so very ambivalent about them. I suppose it has something to do with the quickness with which my life seems to change. Just when I think I've accepted what my life *is* at the moment, it changes.

And I quite believe this is how it is for lots of moms out there, because so much of *us* is wrapped up in *them*. That's not a bad thing in many ways, I suppose, since by pouring our hearts & souls into little bodies of reckless energy whom we hope will then turn into adults filled with caring hearts & souls, we are fulfilled. 

But I digress.... the new year has begun. I'll not sugar coat it & say "the holidays were nice, went too fast & let's all look forward to the new  year". How 'bout I just admit there's a big part of me that's just glad the holidays are over?? Holidays are hard enough in a whirlwind kind of way for all Moms trying to orchestrate the perfect season for making holiday memories.

But I do believe holidays are harder for those of us grieving. There's an extra "load" we carry upon our shoulders. We miss so much what we can't celebrate with those who have left this earth. I know in my heart where Montie is, and I trust he's in a better place for him, but I miss him. 

All the time.

In any spare moments in those weeks leading up to Christmas I kept busy sewing. Now you & I know there aren't many down times in those weeks, but I wanted, or needed, to keep exhaustingly busy. Being busy keeps me from wallowing. And so I sewed up a bunch of gifts.

This first set is for a very special family way out in Australia! I met such a supportive mom on the The National Marfan forum who also has a son with Marfan Syndrome, and our boys look so much alike! She also has two daughters & all the kids' names start with M -- just like us! 

Buzz Lightyear/Toy Story quilt...

.... with dragonflies quilted in to mimic those on the printed blue squares!

The next set of pictures show a set of place mats I made for my mom for Christmas. She requested royal blue be included, but I had free-reign on the patterns! These were so much fun to make...

That's all for now! We're expecting snow today, but only 2-4", which is really just enough to be annoying!!

Some actual Turkey Talk

My older daughter & I have participated in two crafts shows this year. Can I just tell you that we found out in a very literal way that it's all about LOCATION?!?! Oy vey... the first craft show was out in the middle of cow country. Waaaayyyy off the beaten path, and apparently there were 8 other craft shows going on in & around York that same day. We were in a small church within one of their classrooms. 

All day we sold 1 item. In the picture below (which also includes my beautiful older daughter) hanging on the front rack is a purple fleece blanket. Some grandma bought it for her granddaughter & it was the cutest transaction -- to see that little girl's smile lighting up that room! But I digress...  at the end of the day, after figuring in my space fee, accounting for the goodies we bought & ate there, and for the single sold item, we'd made $11 in profit for the day. 

On the upside, my parents were in the room with us selling their items, which made the day fun just being able to all hang out blabbing. We three girls had brought a variety of stitch work. Maegan cross stitched, I quilted & my Mom was crocheting. My Dad is more the social butterfly & spent time getting to know the other vendors.

Below is a picture of part of my parent's set up. They have such a variety they offer: wood scroll Jesus crosses, crocheted hats & scarves, paintings, prints, cards, etc. Check out their website Van Wicklen's Creations to see what they offer!

I forgot to take pictures at our second craft show. It was equally small, but at least we sold several things that day. Our profits were slightly more than our first show but still didn't amount to much. The stand behind us seemed to be creating the most traffic as they were selling all kinds of baked goods & canned items.

 Now for the actual Turkey Talk. Below is a wall hanging I resized to fit my mini quilt hanger which I'd originally seen on the blog Zlaty Sews. Zlaty had shown one on her blog & she hooked me up via her mom-in-law who owns a shop & was able to sell me one! It's soo cute, I bought two!! 

I love my little turkey quilt, but it's still needing a few adjustments. For one thing, I need to upgrade the poor turkey's eyes. I couldn't find tiny enough buttons at my local shop, and Thanksgiving was upon me, so I improvised for the time being & did a few french knots for each eyeball. The eyes are too beady-tiny, and I'll have to order some buttons to give him proper eyes. There was also some discussion over Thanksgiving turkey about whether I should've omitted his beak. Sigh.... the quilt is only 12"x12", so the beak was going to be really tiny, but I've been told he looks weird without it. Not sure how I'll do that one yet....

And last but not least, is the turkey coaster below. Isn't that soooo cute?!? My Mom made a set of them for me for Thanksgiving! Love them!!

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving filled with peaceful times & surrounded by loved ones.

(Is that pie in the sky?? Sometimes vacations can be stressful with irritating family members we'd rather not deal with, holiday shopping on Black Friday to include grown women having a slap fest over some boots, and then cleaning up after all the extra people??? LOL -- those aren't necessarily MY experiences this year but rather some "shout outs" to some of my peeps ;-P )

Summer Stuff

Summer is a-flying by -can't you just feel it already?? Once mid July hits my "schedule radar", I know I'm running out of time. Does anyone else set summer goals? I have in a vague way in the past, but this year I went mega-neurotic & 1) typed it all out onto a spreadsheet, 2) took spreadsheet & wrote in due dates, and then 3) input these due dates into my iCal which is a calendar program on MAC. And I've even actually done some of them. As I told my BFF, even if I only do HALF of these things written down, that's more than I probably would've gotten done had I not organized the ideas & established goals; because it's so easy to float through summer days: doing a little of this, little of that, a little cleaning, or skip the cleaning & go swimming, skip the cleaning to run errands, skip cleaning to visit friends, skip cleaning period :-)

I'd wanted to post pictures in the last couple weeks of what I've been working on, however my camera hasn't been working & my daughter's can only be borrowed properly if it's charged. This girl loves to document via her camera every event in life, from the boring to the exciting.... grocery shopping, clothes shopping, driving in the car together, swimming... we'll be in the middle of an intersection & she'll blurt out, "Mom, ready?? SMILE!" I'm not typically photogenic, but those kind of pics just make me look scary as I have my eyes averted to the road, I'm kinda smiling as I kinda pay attention... you get the idea. 

So I need my camera fixed... and it may even have the extended warranty I almost never buy, because my husband bought it for me. So he may have splurged. At least that's what I'm hoping. The above-mentioned daughter is the culprit -she dropped my camera while taking pics on my b-day. Happy birthday to me!! I know it was an accident, but seriously, I doubt it would've happened if said child hadn't been swinging the dang thing around >:-/

The quilt below is a client's quilt I finished recently. I'm still perfecting feathering, so I was sweating bullets while quilting within the light spaces. Does anyone else do this, or is it just me? I love feathering, but I'm not always sure how it'll turn out...  in other words, perhaps I'm not "there" yet?? But I keep quilting still. Is that horrible?? Or is that normal?? On one hand I want to be proficient in my quilting & have a modest amount of consistency, and yet on the other hand I'm always pushing the envelope a tad. Then I feel a little guilty if it's a client quilt. So far it's turned out okay, but I'm wondering if I'll get in over my head & then.....????

Another irritating issue - I actually just finished writing an entire paragraph about a certain situation that involves a certain quilt shop, and I also just erased it. As much as I'd love to rant at the moment, I'm wondering if that's not like shooting myself in the foot?? Said shop was hoping to help get me started longarm quilting for clients after my son passed away. Truthfully, I held the owner off for a bit until I felt emotionally ready to deal with clients. I'll just say, though I finally presented myself as "ready" & gave the owner my book of samples, pricing, invoices, I've received NOT ONE quilt from this shop.

With that little rant over, it's been on my mind this summer as to whether I want to go gung-ho into marketing myself? I've enjoyed the extra quilting I've gotten to do, as I truly love the quilting process much more than the piecing process. However, it's nerve-racking for me to take another person's piece of art & basically draw on it. That's a little bit how quilting is, no? Sometimes our drawing can enhance, but I'm terrified of doing something someday to someone's artistic expression for which she or he will hate me!! Friends & family try to reassure me that that's just a sign of my perfectionism showing, but still..... how does one REALLY know when one is "good enough"? If I were talking about my own quilts, then I'm totally fine with where I am. It's just the scariness of letting someone else down while trying to complement their piecing.

Besides ruminating on my qualifications as a quilter & my fleeting summer & summer goals list.... I've tried to take time on most of the hot/humid days we've been experiencing here in Lancaster, PA to swim with my younger daughter. She LOVES to swim & so do I, though truthfully, a lot of what we do is flopping & floating. There aren't many laps being done, but we like to play games, throw water balls, dive, & bounce around on noodles. We're still trying to convince my 9 month old Lab that he really is a water dog. My hubby put him in the pool once, but the puppy has never gotten in on his own, but whines & pants like he really wants to. I'm not so sure we got the brightest bulb of the litter, but he's a sweetie.

I hope to have a camera soon to post some pics of what I've been up to... fixing chewed couch cushions, some hand-stitching, and piecing.

Hope you're all enjoying your summers!! Would love to hear what everyone is up to :-)

Crackin' the Whip!

Or at least that's what my oldest daughter said about my new chore cards made for my younger daughter. Chore CARDS..... chore CHUNKS... chore RINGS... I'm still not sure what we'll call them. 

When my younger daughter saw them (and even knew what they were!) she first said, "Hey, those are cool!", which brought a smile to my face. After all, I'd labored over them for hours, trying to make them look appealing, therefore making her chores more appealing???? 

Are you all laughing uproariously at me now?? If so, I don't blame you. I think we all remember how it felt to be an almost 14 year old, irritated by all the presumptuous demands put upon us as CHILDREN!!... heck, I'm not sure there has been an age when I liked chores. In fact, there are still times as an mature, adult woman (mature = attitude, NOT old)  just want them over and done with. And truthfully, there are times like this week that I  do a lousy job ***GASP***  (nobody better tell my MOM!)

Anyway, the idea is that she's got a ring of chores for each day, tho for Saturday/Sunday I lumped them together. I like Saturday to be free for lounging and family stuff.  Sunday I like to be free from chores as

much as possible, so it's bare-bones that day... make your body smell good and look presentable, unload the dishwasher, and keep your mess to a minimum in the family room

I gave each grouping a front/back cover made from some card-making kit I'd gotten years ago (see there really ARE legit reasons for recycling as is otherwise known as pack-ratting), and within she'll find each chore written separately with some having multiple steps. The idea of using the book rings came as I thought through how I might have a usable chore list with flexibility

Some basic rules were written for our summer days to outline when she can/can't enjoy her tv, computer, and PS3. Then I figured out and wrote up a reward system, so that if she does her chores she can earn a treat. I have the rewards written out in increments of 1 week, 2 weeks, and 1 month. The goal is to get her more independent with her responsibilities,  reduce the Mom Harping we all know & hate, and eventually phase out of needing a reward system.

My daughter lost some of her enthusiasm when she saw the Summer Rules, and then asked, "Why are you trying to ruin my entire summer????"