Such a Sew and Sew

Sabbath Songs: Because I Have Been Given Much

2012-01-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. –Thomas S. Monson

Preface: I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Our church does not have a paid ministry and members are asked to help out with everything from custodial duties and grounds maintenance to lessons and “sermons” on Sundays. When I use the word sermon, I use it loosely, because although there is a topic assigned, it is left up to the person who has been asked to speak what he or she wants to talk about. Sermons, or “talks” as we call them, ranged from a few short minutes to thirty minutes and two or three people are asked to speak every Sunday. Starting at the age of twelve Young Men and Women are asked to give a three to five minute talk about once a year. Last week Grasshopper had the opportunity to give a talk. He did such a good job and didn't seem nervous at all. I thought it would be fun to share his talk, along with one of the songs we sang during the meeting.

I was asked to give a talk on gratitude today. Gratitude means thankfulness and appreciation for the things we own, the house we live in, to even simple things like thankfulness for a nice warm bed to sleep in. President Monson said, “do material possessions make us happy and grateful? Perhaps momentarily. However, those things which provide deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are the things which money cannot buy: our families, the gospel, good friends, our health, our abilities, the love we receive from those around us. Unfortunately, these are some of the things we allow ourselves to take for granted.”

In Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the ten lepers. Leprosy is a contagious skin disease, which eventually leads to death. Ten lepers approached Jesus and asked to be cleansed and so Jesus told them to go to the priests. On the way they saw that they were cleansed. They went on their way and only one man returned to thank Jesus. Jesus performed a wonderful miracle for these ten men, but only one was grateful enough to return and thank Him.

Thanksgiving is one of the best times to show gratitude because the holiday focuses on thankfulness and gratitude. But we should look for things to be thankful for all year round. President Monson taught us that gratitude is a divine principle. He said, “we can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that ‘gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.’”

President Joseph F. Smith taught how to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. He said, “the grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!”

Prayer is the key to having a grateful heart. President Monson taught, “A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that ‘feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.’”

If we work on having a more grateful attitude, we’re a lot more likely to be spiritually strong and happy. I’m thankful for a lot of things, like my house, my neighborhood, the school I go to, even my psychical abilities, and I’m also thankful that I could come up and give a talk. There’s almost always a way to be thankful for anything.

Favourite Things Friday: New Red Coat

2012-01-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets. –Baltasar Gracian

It is no longer Friday anywhere in the world. I checked. But I haven't done an FTF since December and I have a really good one this week. Since it is my blog and I make the rules, I'm doing Favourite Things Friday on Saturday this week.

If you've followed me for any amount of time, you'll know that I love to get a great deal. Buying on sale is my middle name. In my family, we call it being a bargain shopper. And you bet your boots I am. I am very conscious of how I spend my money and I like to make it go as far as I can. That being said, I am not a thrift-shop kind of gal. There are lots of people I know who find amazing things at thrift shops and I truly admire them for this skill. Intellectually, I know that there are a great many wonderful deals to be had. But emotionally, it is much more satisfying to me to make an amazing find on the clearance rack. I love the feeling of getting something brand new for practically nothing. Case in point: The price tag on this red coat said $150.00. I brought it home with me for the sum total of $18.69. That is 88% off!

Style & Co. Double-Breasted Pea Coat with Removable Hood, Macy's

Special thanks to e. of Pink Suede Shoe for the photography. You are a genius.

I found a few other really great things on the clearance rack this week as well. There are probably too many to include in one post. As dorky as I feel posing for and posting pictures of myself, I've decided to break up my haul into smaller posts over the next few weeks and show you what I got on what I've decided to call Wardrobe Wednesdays. In the meantime, I'll be ~~drooling over~~ wearing that red coat every chance I get.

Today's post brought to you by:

I Must Ask . . . What Is Your Dream Job?

2012-01-26T23:43:00.001-07:00

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. –Doug Larson

I guess I satisfied your curiosity last week with my answers to your questions, because there were only a few more this week. But they were a really great bunch which gave me plenty to talk about. I'll start off with Richard's question: What are your 3 favorite blocks. And what block do you hate (and no, "square ones," is not a fair answer to either)?

My favorite blocks to make are Pinwheels, Stars and Flying Geese, not necessarily in that order. A pinwheel block was the first block {other than squares} I ever pieced and it was love. That pinwheel was the very center of the quilt and it went inside a star block, which uses flying geese units for the points. I'm just guessing here, but perhaps that is why those blocks are at the top of my list. I'm working on a Pinwheel Sampler quilt, which I hope to finish up in the next few weeks. I'm also working very, very slowly on a star quilt, which I hope is going to be awesome if I ever get it done. I've only been working on it here and there for about five years now. As I mentioned, flying geese are most often used in star points, but I also love them on their own and plan to use them in the border of another of my many, many Ph.D quilts. For flying geese units, I really like Patti Anderson's no-waste method of piecing them.

And blocks I don't like to piece? Any block that doesn't come out how it is supposed to .

From my cute sister, Jill, If you could have any animal as a pet, what would you choose?

We have a fire-bellied toad named Pants {sadly, Violet died}. I like keeping toads, aside from the keeping live crickets to feed the toads and having to buy cricket food to keep the crickets alive and keeping the aquarium slime-free.

Someday, I think we'll get a dog. That will be dependent on how long I keep working, though, because keeping a dog locked up all day while we're away just wouldn't be nice.

I think the pet I would absolutely love the best, though, is not really one pet, but more of an eco-system. I would love a salt-water aquarium. A really big one. With lots and lots of colorful fish. And sea horses. I once saw a tank of just sea horses and they were the coolest little creatures ever. This tank would, of course, have a built-in maintenance man to keep the tank clean and balanced and running like it is supposed to.

And finally, Ann Marie asked, If you could have your dream job, what would you be doing? Where we you be living to do it too?

Great question! Thank you so much for asking . I have several dream jobs. Some of them are jobs that would be a dream to do and others are more like jobs that I could only do in my dreams.

In the category of jobs that would be a dream, I would love to work on the gardening/landscaping crew at an amusement park. Specifically, I'm thinking of a local amusement park, which sits smack in the middle of my mom's house and Mr. Bug's job. If we moved to the city where it is located, it would cut 5 hours and 20 minutes of commute time every week for Mr. Bug, bring me a hop, skip and a jump away from my mom AND make working in their gardens a possibility.

As far as other plausible jobs, I'd love to work in a quilt shop, and especially would like to teach classes. Working at quilt shop, however, does not seem like a very good source of income. I know all you fabric-a-holics know what I mean. I think that would have to be a job where I wasn't depending on wages earned.

In the realm of really-cool-but-a-total-longshot would have to be the writer of books that people like to read. You might have noticed that I like to write. I have ideas for a couple of books floating around in my head. The trouble comes in inventing a conflict that is interesting enough to engage the readers without doing something that has already been done. Doing so almost necessitates using supernatural elements in the story, which I'm really hesitant to do. After all, who can top Harry Potter? Still, one day, I might actually try stringing together a few thoughts and see if a plot develops.

If none of those work out, I've got a day job that I like. There are certain things I don't like about where I work, which I won't go into because that can get you fired. The job itself I do like. I work with numbers. They are predictable. Consistent. Dependable. Constant. That I like.

How about you? I must ask . . . what is your dream job? There is a poll in the sidebar with lots of options. Vote. Obviously, I couldn't anticipate everyone's dreams so if you don't find what you're looking for {or even if you do} leave me a comment and tell me how you'd like to spend your working hours.

Rainbow Connection

2012-01-23T21:24:00.001-07:00

When it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. –GK Chesterton

It snowed on Saturday night. Not really big news for this time of year, except it has been an extraordinarily mild winter. But it brought about an interesting phenomenon that I've never seen before, and of course I have a story to go with it. LadyBug and I went out to shovel on Sunday afternoon. It was kind of a two-part job this time. Grasshopper and I shoveled together before church, so it was LadyBug's turn to come out and help me afterwards. She loves the snow and shovels for as long as she can stand it and when she can't resist the call of the snow any longer she falls down in it, usually on her back. Pretty soon, she said, there's a rainbow. I was a little bit surprised and looked around for it. I couldn't see it, so I asked her where it was. She pointed straight up and said, there. And there it was. A rainbow on the dome of the sky. I guess that's what you'd call it. I've never seen one that didn't touch the horizon at one point or another and I wondered how often rainbows occur at the top of the sky.

And then I wondered how many rainbows I've missed because I was looking down instead of up.

This song has always been a favorite of mine. Jason Mraz does an especially awesome job.

A Week of Giveaways: Winners' Roll-Call

2012-01-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

I nod to a passing stranger, and the stranger nods back, and two human beings go off, feeling a little less anonymous.
–Robert Brault

I've had so much fun the last couple of weeks and I think my week of giveaways was a huge success. I started planning in about March of last year and am so happy with how it all came together. I enjoyed reading each and every comment, even though due to time constraints I wasn't able to reply. Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and sharing!

And now it is time to reveal the winners. It is always a little sad for me because only one person gets to win each prize. Honestly, I wish I could pick you all as winners, but there can only be one. You all knew that when you signed up, right? I had Mr. Bug and the Little Bugs help me with the random draw. Based on the number of entrants for each giveaway, I gave them a range of numbers and let them pick one. I didn't tell them which giveaway they were doing or coach them in any way to pick the winners. It was completely fair and absolutely random.

• Embroidery Gift Pack Winner:

Drawn by LadyBug

Congratulations to
Mommarock
of Hexagon Alley

who said: I'm at that point where I'm no longer happy that it is my birthday, but I'm happy that it is yours .

• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle Winner:

Drawn by Grasshopper

Congratulations to
Priya

who said: Love the colors .... would love to win.

• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate Winner
Drawn by Mr. Bug

Congratulations to
P.
of The Way I Sew It
who said: I blogged about your giveaways, so here is my extra entry!

• Project Polka-Dot Quilt Kit Winners

Drawn by LadyBug

Congratulations to
Christine
of MacDonald's Patch

who said: Please count me in. I just love all those dots. I can't believe there's 112 different dotty fabrics! Thanks for the chance.

Drawn by Grasshopper
Congratulations to
Janet
of Caribou Crossing Chronicles
who said: Oh wow! Lovely giveaway. Thanks for entering me.

• Machine Quilting Tools Gift Pack Winner

Drawn by Mr. Bug

Congratulations to
Martina
of Sunshine Quilting

who said: I want to try machine quilting this year, so those items would be just perfect! Thanks again, this was a fun week. Hope you have a wonderful birthday too! Be blessed

Thank you, again, to all who entered and to my sponsors, Angie of 5 Little Monkeys Quilting and the Fat Quarter Shop.

To my winners, I would love to see what you make, so please send photos or a link to your blog posts!

I Must Ask . . . What Would You Like to Ask, Part II?

2012-01-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity. –Eleanor Roosevelt

Today's the day that I answer all your burning questions. I know you've all been waiting for it with baited breath so, let's get rolling, shall we?

First up, P. of The Way I Sew It asked, If you had a personal assistant (like I wish I did), what would you have asked them to do for you this week?

My answer to that question today is that I would have a P.A. take down my Christmas tree, because yes, it is still up on the 19^th of January. Now that I've outed myself, I'm going to have to take it down tonight because that's just plain embarrassing.

When I read P.'s question two weeks ago, the first thing that came to mind was that I wouldn't so much like a personal assistant as I would like to be able to split myself up, like that movie with Michael Keaton, Multiplicity. In the movie, he clones himself and each of the clones possesses one of his character traits. So, I'd like to split off the part of me who likes to do housework {and really, there is a part of me who likes it. Or, maybe I like the satisfaction of having done it} and let her loose. Then I'd send the part of me who likes my job off to work every day. I'd send the part of me who likes to run errands off to do that, the part of me who loves children off to volunteer at my kids' school and I'd have the part of me who loves to cook prepare menus, prep ingredients and feed us all delicious and nutritionally balanced meals every day. And then the REAL me would sit down and sew. At the end of the day, I'd put myself back together and enjoy feeling like I had conquered the world.

Shay from Quilting In My Pyjamas asked, What have you wanted to do since you were a child that you still havent done yet?

Of all the questions, I think this is the hardest to answer. The first thing that came to mind was that I've never owned a pink Volkswagen Beetle. When I was a kid, that's what I wanted. I did own a red Volkswagen Beetle, which started out as a sort-of tomato soup pink before my dad painted it red, and which I loved to pieces. But there is still part of me that would love to drive a really pink {as in Pepto pink} VW Bug.

Something else that came to mind is that I would love to go to a masquerade ball. It just seems so mysterious and glamorous and grown-up. A charity in Utah has hosted one for the past two years and I really wanted to go. If I ever had the chance, I would absolutely jump at it.

Elizabeth at Mom's Sewing Room wanted to know, Where do you sew? Do you have a room, table, a place you can leave things or do you have to get stuff out and put it away every time you sew?

I do my machine quilting at the kitchen table because it is big enough to support most of the quilt as I work. But I do most of my sew in my living room and my sewing is always out. I have a card table set up in there and my projects are all over the place; stacked on the table and under the table, on the ends of the couches, stashed in the bookshelf and sometimes spread across the floor. We don't have a family room, just the living room that the front door opens into. I suppose that is why I'm not too worried about getting the Christmas tree down, because having my sewing mess all over the place and the tree still up is only slightly more embarrassing when someone comes to the door than when someone comes to the door and it is just my sewing mess.

Also, (I know this is TWO questions) are either of your kids interested in sewing?

LadyBug is a little bit interested. She's done a few projects by hand and we had "sewing lessons," but she got bored having to practice sewing lines on paper and learning all the names of the parts on the machine, so I think the answer to your question would mostly be "no," although I would like to involve them both more. Perhaps there will be a mandatory pillowcase workshop rather soon at Bug Manor.

Ann Marie at 16 Muddy Feet asked a really delightful question. She said, If you had $1000 to spend on fabric, where would you go to buy it all?

Mary Jo's in North Carolina. Mary Jo's Cloth store is a mecca where you'll find mountains of fabric at thimble sized prices. While I've only shopped their shelves from the virtual world, I have it on good authority that Mary Jo's is everything it promises.

Marianne, aka Ranger Anna at Misadventures with Rangers wanted to know, Were/are you a Girl Scout? And for how long? (I was going to ask you where you got your quiz widget to ask this! It's the 100th year of Girl Scouting and I've been one for 50 of those... sheesh.)

First off, Marianne, congratulations! That is really something to be proud of. Secondly, I hope you won't unfollow me when I tell you that I am really mostly an indoor kind of girl and was not a Girl Scout. Camping/hiking/scouting is just not my cup of tea, though it is not for lack of trying. Between the ages of 12 and 18, I went camping every summer with a girls youth group. I even went winter camping once. I dug a snow cave and slept in it and everything. I have allergies and being out in all that nature is really miserable, especially the sleeping portion. I also miss showering and toilets that flush. However, I do support the Girl Scout cookie program whole-heartedly, so I hope that wins me some brownie points.

Marianne, e-mail me and I'll tell you how to do the quiz widget.

Richard over at Richard Quilts asked, I am new to quilting so my question is how long have you been quilting? Oh and what is your most prized quilt that you have ever made? Wait that's 2 questions. Oops.

Two questions are totally allowed. To answer your first, I have to start at the beginning. I started sewing when I was 8, and moved from the basics like pillowcases to simple shorts to more complex garment construction. I started my first quilt 11 years ago. It is still not finished. I have only been doing my own machine quilting for about a year-and-a-half, and up until that point I only considered myself a seamstress/sewist/patchworker.

As for my most prized quilt, well, you opened a can of worms with that one. I can NEVER narrow any category down to just one favorite because I believe that every thing has its own kind of beauty. But, I'll give it a shot. I really love my Snowball Quilt because it was my first big success with free-motion quilting—the first quilt I did without stippling/meander or straight lines. And I really love the Glad of Heart and Kimono Garden table runners I made for Christmas gifts this last year.

Thank you, everyone, for such thoughtful questions! This was so much fun for me. I think that you all were pretty easy on me, though, because no one asked me about my most embarrassing moment. I wouldn't have been able to answer that anyway because I tend to repress those things. So how about we play round 2? I'm doing this mostly because I really need to go take down my Christmas tree, but also because nobody asked what my dream job would be {hint, hint}. So, go ahead. Ask me anything you want and I'll answer them all next week!

Project Polka-Dot: Progress

2012-01-18T22:54:00.000-07:00

We cannot direct the winds, but we can adjust our sails.
–Unknown

I've got the first polka-dot quilt top finished. The bottom half of the quilt top is considerably less bumpy than the top. I'd kind of figured out the secrets of the Drunkard's Path dies and adjusted my seams accordingly.

I love how colorful and scrappy it is. There are 112 different dotted fabrics in the quilt {there are four small circles on the quilt back}. This quilt does not have any borders, but I'm going to bind it in a really pretty red mini-dot. It will finish at 42" x 56". The polka-dot quilt kits I'm giving away include fabrics for two borders and those will finish at 52" x 66". I'll pick two winners and they'll each get one quilt kit, or if the winner is not a quilter, I'll turn the kit into a quilt for them. The giveaway closes at 10:00 pm MST on January 19^th, so there's still time to enter.

I tried to arrange the fabrics so that they complimented those around them. I know it is a scrappy quilt, but I like to try to manage mayhem. Just for fun, I thought I'd see what this quilt looks like in terms of tones rather than colors. As you can see, the darks and lights are all kind of scattered. I'll be making a polka-dot quilt for myself, and I'm thinking of grouping tones together, with the darkest tones in the four corners and then working from dark on the edges to light in the center.

Besides the polka-dot quilt kits, I have a couple of other giveaways going on through tomorrow night. If you haven't already entered, check them out!
Week of Giveaways Directory:
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Polka-Dot Quilt
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

The One Where My Blog Post Was Rescued

2012-01-17T23:57:00.001-07:00

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day. –Sally Koch

Blogger ate my post. It was unretrievable from my end. I sent up a flare for help. In less than 30 minutes there was a response and in just over an hour, I had my post back, complete with font formatting and hyperlinks in tact. Amazing. And also a little scary. What you put out there on the internet is forever, so be careful.

Sheesh. I'm starting to sound like my dad.

The reason I lost my post was because there were some questions about the vodka in the Magic Starch recipe and I went back to clarify. I think I replied to everyone who left a question in the comment via e-mail. But just in case, I know absolutely nothing about vodka. I don't drink, which, I must confess is more of a reason for having never made my own batch of Magic Starch than having to run all over town to get the ingredients. I wouldn't want anyone I know to see me at a liquor store. Then again, if I ran into anyone I know at the liquor store, I'm sure they wouldn't want me to see them there either. However, after having tried the Magic Starch I'm afraid I'll be making that trip when I run out of my supply. It is really great stuff.

But I digress. I did a little homework on the ingredients. Alcohol enhances the smell of the essential oil and also is a preservative for the mixture. Vodka is the recommended means of adding alcohol to the mix over rubbing alcohol. There are pros and cons to each side. In the pros column for vodka, it has no additives and dries quicker than rubbing alcohol. And drinking the leftover vodka can be either a pro or a con, depending on if you're a teetotaler or not.

Because of the lavender, Magic Starch and/or linen water {recipe without the liquid starch} has a really pleasant smell, which is part of the reason you'd want to use it. Rubbing alcohol has a really potent and unpleasant smell. I've never tried making it with rubbing alcohol, so I don't know if the smell would overpower the lavender. It is also toxic, which is another con, but then again, liquid starch is probably toxic too so you wouldn't want to drink it regardless of the type of alcohol in it. It seems to me that it is a judgement call. If you try it with rubbing alcohol, let me know how it works.

Back to the subject of this post, thank you to my blog post rescuers. You know who you are. It means a lot.

Piece, out. –E

The One Where Blogger Ate My Post

2012-01-17T20:25:00.001-07:00

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
–David Dixon

Blogger ate my post. My post from yesterday. The one that took me 1½ hours to write and edit. There were questions about the vodka in the Magic Starch so I went back in to add a few notes and when I re-published, blogger ate the text.

This has happened before. I get a post all typed up, publish it and nothing but the title shows up. It happened last Wednesday during my week of giveaways. I wrote the post the night before and scheduled it to publish at midnight. The title of the post but no actual post was up for about 18 hours before I could add the text and 12 people entered to win the giveaway without knowing the details. I hadn't save a copy of that post, but reproducing it was easy. It was mostly copy, paste and tweak a few details. Yesterday's post? Not so much?

Since this has happened before, I usually check to make sure that the text made it into my post. I open my blog in a new tab to see if what I typed appears. If it didn't, I go back to the tab I published in, hit the back button to get to the composing page and the information is still there. I copy it, close the post and go back to the list of posts, edit the post so I can paste the contents back into it because it is now empty and then publish. A little time consuming/frustrating/annoying, but no harm done because my post is still there.

Today, when I went to view my post to make sure the changes came up, the page wouldn't load. My computer is stupid sometimes and takes forever to load a page. So, I closed the tab and opened my blog from another tab. No post. No way to hit the back button. It wasn't in the history. I checked Facebook, where I have it set up so that when I post there the first paragraph of my post shows up and there's a link back to my blog. But the whole post isn't there. I don't have a copy of it anywhere. And I don't really have the heart to re-write it. I'm not making much sense now, trying to describe to you the ways that I can't find my post.

So, the big question, does anyone have my post from yesterday still open in a tab on their computer? Or am I the only one who keeps multiple tabs open at once? Does anyone get my posts via e-mail and still has yesterday's post? Even if it is just the text, I can add back in photos and silly videos from YouTube.

Any help would be appreciated!

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 22

2012-01-16T14:06:00.141-07:00

If you put your happiness in temporary things, your happiness will only be temporary. –Steven A. Cramer

A Week of Giveaways Directory
I am so happy with the huge response to my week of giveaways! Thanks to each and every one of you who entered. I have so enjoyed reading your comments and hope to squeeze in a little time to reply to each of you before the giveaways close. You can enter through 10:00 pm on Thursday, January 19th and the winners will be announced on the 21st. If you haven't already, check them out.
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Polka-Dot Quilt
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

My Kingdom for a Butter Dish
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . wait. That's not right. Different story. Let's try again. Sometime last summer, I'm not exactly sure when, but I think it was about the middle of June, Mr. Bug knocked the butter dish {the everyday one, not the fancy one that matches my china} off the end of the counter. It was an accident, but our tile floors are not the least bit forgiving and anything that falls on them breaks. So it was with the butter dish.

I put “butter dish” on my grocery list and the next time I went shopping at the big blue box store, I looked for one. The shelf was empty. The was a little price sticker saying that butter dishes were $3.97, but there were no butter dishes. I circled “butter dish” on my list, as I do with things I can't find or they are out of, so I'll remember to put them on the next list. A week {or maybe two—I'm foggy on the details at this point} later I went shopping at the big blue box store. “Butter dish” was on the top of my list, but the shelf was still empty. There happened to be an associate on the aisle and she asked me if I needed help finding something. I told her I was looking for a butter dish, but there were none there. She kindly scanned the price sticker on the shelf and told me that they had six in stock, but perhaps they hadn't been brought out from the back yet. I thanked her and circled “butter dish” on my list. Again. I have been repeating this little ritual three or four times a month since then, and the spot where the butter dishes are supposed to be is always empty.

I am a creature of habits. As much as I hate the big blue box store, I still shop there because I mostly know where everything is and I can buy jeans for the kids, oil for the car, fabric and groceries all in one stop. I really hate running all over the place to get everything I need, so the convenience of having it all in one place supersedes the several annoyances that come with a large and spacious building that sells anything you could need. Also, I really hate driving anywhere that takes more than 10 minutes to get to. The nearest locale which may have a butter dish is between 20 and 25 minutes away, depending on traffic. I don't like to drive across town. Even for fabric. But I'm beginning to think that we'll never have another butter dish unless I shop somewhere else.

Or maybe I can hold out just until they do inventory and they find out that they in fact do not have six butter dishes in stock and order some more in.

Magic Starch
I'm big on washing fabrics before I use them. Because most of what I buy is 100% cotton, that means it needs a good pressing before I use it. I like to use a little starch, which makes exact cutting easier and the blocks press out better as you put them together. It also keeps the fraying down. My friend, Angie, gave me this recipe a long time ago. I never got around to trying it because procuring the necessary ingredients required driving all over town, which, as you might know, I'm not a big fan of. So Angie sent me some. She actually made some up, put it in a recycled 1-liter bottle and mailed it pretty much across the entire country to me. And I love it! The stuff is liquid gold! Fabric presses up like new. I've been using it carefully, because when I've used up the stuff she sent, I'm going to have to drive all over town so I can make my own. I'm sharing the recipe with you. Try it. You'll thank me later.

Magic Starch
2 cups distilled water
2 oz vodka
10-15 drops pure essential oil of lavender
⅛-¼ cup liquid Sta-Flo® liquid starch {ironically, available at Wal-Mart}

• Combine all ingredients. Put in a fine misting spray bottle and spray on fabrics before pressing.

Notes:
• Recommended for cotton fabrics. Synthetic fabrics may stain due to the oil in the mix.
• Shake before each use to make sure the ingredients are mixed well.
• Use the cheapest not-really-fit-for-human-consumption vodka you can find with the highest proof available.
• Vodka is an emulsifier for the oils as well as a preservative which will help keep the starch fresh over time.
• Vodka is recommended because it has no additives and dries quickly. Rubbing alcohol can be substituted, but some recommend against it because of its toxicity.
• You can mix other oils, such as peppermint, jasmine, chamomile, bergamot or sage to enhance the smell, but make sure to only use clear oils so you don't stain your fabrics.
• Tap water contains chlorine which will destroy the essential oils, so do not use it.
• If you leave out the starch it makes a great linen water to use in your iron.

Monday Music Spot: Total Eclipse of the Heart
A little something funny, especially if you lived through the ‘80s.

Sabbath Songs: Amazing Grace

2012-01-15T14:45:00.001-07:00

Big Tom and Little Jim: A Parable

Years ago there was a little one-room schoolhouse in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough that no teacher had been able to handle them.

A young, inexperienced teacher applied, and the old director scanned him and asked: “Young fellow, do you know that you are asking for an awful beating? Every teacher that we have had here for years has had to take one.”

“I will risk it.” he replied.

The first day of school came, and the teacher appeared for duty. One big fellow named Tom whispered: “I won’t need any help with this one. I can lick him myself.”

The teacher said, “Good morning, boys, we have come to conduct school.” They yelled and made fun at the top of their voices. “Now, I want a good school, but I confess that I do not know how unless you help me. Suppose we have a few rules. You tell me, and I will write them on the blackboard.”

One fellow yelled, “No stealing!” Another yelled, “On time.” Finally, ten rules appeared on the blackboard.

“Now,” said the teacher, “a law is not good unless there is a penalty attached. What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?”

“Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,” came the response from the class.

“That is pretty severe, boys. Are you sure that you are ready to stand by it?” Another yelled, “I second the motion,” and the teacher said, “All right, we will live by them! Class, come to order!”

In a day or so, ‘Big Tom’ found that his lunch had been stolen. The thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old. “We have found the thief and he must be punished according to your rule—ten stripes across the back. Jim, come up here!” the teacher said.

The little fellow, trembling, came up slowly with a big coat fastened up to his neck and pleaded, “Teacher, you can lick me as hard as you like, but please, don’t take my coat off!”

“Take your coat off,” the teacher said. “You helped make the rules!”

“Oh, teacher, don’t make me!” He began to unbutton, and what did the teacher see? The boy had no shirt on, and revealed a bony little crippled body.

“How can I whip this child?” he thought. "But I must, I must do something if I am to keep this school.” Everything was quiet as death.

“How come you aren’t wearing a shirt, Jim?”

He replied, “My father died and my mother is very poor. I have only one shirt and she is washing it today, and I wore my brother’s big coat to keep me warm."

The teacher, with rod in hand, hesitated. Just then 'Big Tom’ jumped to his feet and said, “Teacher, if you don’t object, I will take Jim’s licking for him.”

“Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?”

Off came Tom’s coat, and after five strokes the rod broke! The teacher bowed his head in his hands and thought, “How can I finish this awful task?” Then he heard the class sobbing, and what did he see? Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!”

To lift a phrase from this simple story, Jesus, my Redeemer, has taken “my licking for me” and yours for you.

Declared the prophet Isaiah:

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: …

“… He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

–Gordon B. Hinckley, “Christmas: A Result of Redeeming Christ,” Church News, 10 Dec. 1994, 4, reprinted Ensign, Nov. 2001

A Stitch In Time: January Finishes Linky Party

2012-01-14T16:40:00.005-07:00

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. –Unknown

Starting a new project is exciting. I love to start a new project. Sometimes the middle part is a bit tedious. But oh how I love to see a project through to completion. There is such a feeling of accomplishment in finishing something you've started. I know there are lots of linky parties out there, but I wanted to have a little community for crafters and quilters to give each other a little encouragement, cheer each other on and ultimately have a place among friends to show off those finished projects. Also, having a little incentive in the form of prizes couldn't hurt either, right?

So, how does it work? In a nutshell, finish a project. Post about it on your blog. Link your post up here. Check out some of the other finishes. Be entered in the drawing for something fabulous from our sponsor.

I'd like to send a big thank you to the Fat Quarter shop for this month's giveaway, a Good Fortune by Kate Spain Jelly Roll. {As a side note, looking for an awesome Jelly Roll project? Check out this tutorial.} The fabrics in this line are gorgeous! Finish a project, link it up and you could win it!

The details {which might be boring but you really should read}:
• Projects must include stitching of some sort. For example: appliqué, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting, practical sewing {garment construction, bags, curtains, etc.}, quilting.
• Projects must be completely finished. As in done, finito, nothing more to add, ready to use/display/give away.
• You can pick something new to do, but projects do not have to be started during the month. If you pick up a UFO, Ph.D, WIP and finish it during the month, it counts.
• Finishes must be completed during this month, but you have until 10:00 am MST on the 1^st of the next month to link your post.
• Post about your finish and then link your specific post {instructions here} below. Links to your blog and not the individual post about your finished project will be deleted.
• Have more than one finish this month? Great! Post about each finish individually and then link the specific posts up separately. Each finish, and therefore each link you add, counts as one entry for this month's giveaway.
• Please copy and paste the code below to include this month's button somewhere in your post {not your sidebar}.

• Don't have a blog? You can link from your flickr account. Just post a picture, include a little note about your finish and a link back here {code included below} in the description. Then link up.

• Make sure to visit a few of the other links and leave them some love {ie, a comment}. A good rule of thumb is to visit two links for every one you include.
• Winner of the sponsored giveaway will be drawn randomly from among the links and announced by 8:00 pm MST on the 3^rd of the following month.
• Instructions for making an index page to your finishes can be found here.

Week of Giveaways Day 5: Machine Quilting Gift Pack

2012-01-13T13:20:00.004-07:00

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest. –Larry Lorenzoni

Today is the last day of my week of giveaways. I've been planning it for a whole year and it has been so much fun to roll out the giveaways and see your responses. I have really enjoyed reading your comments and seeing your excitement at my offerings.

Just one little housekeeping thing. I have all your comments/giveaway entries e-mailed to me. Unless you specify in your profile settings, the e-mail will not include your e-mail address so that I can contact you directly if you win. Unless I know who you are and where to find you, you must update your profile to include your e-mail address or leave your contact info in your comment. I have gone through and deleted any comments with no contact information {so sorry!}. So, if you've entered a giveaway, double check to make sure your comment/entry is still there. If it is gone, the reason is I have no way to get a hold of you if you win. The "no-reply blogger" button below gives instructions on how to set your e-mail preferences.

Now for the fun stuff. Today's giveaway is a gift pack of tools and gadgets for machine quilting. Behold:

Today's giveaway includes:
• A cute little decorated tin holding 200 size 1 curved safety pins with easy grip covers.
• A Kwik-Klip tool to help fasten the safety pins.
• A blue fine-point water soluble marking pen.
• A white fine-point water soluble marking pen {love this pen!}.
• A package of 5 universal quilting needles {size 90/14}.
• Machine quilting gloves in your size {to improve your grip; not pictured}.

The Fine Print:
• You can enter each giveaway during the week only once. However if you spread the word about my week of giveaways by posting on your blog and sending people on over to check it out, you can have one additional entry on one giveaway of your choice. After you post on your blog, leave a comment on my giveaway post for which you'd like a second entry with a link to your post. Please make sure to include my giveaway button somewhere in your post.

• Non-blogging/non-Google users and international entrants are welcome.
• If you do not have a Google account, use the name/url {url optional} commenting option and make sure you leave your e-mail in your comment in the following format: address (at) domain name (dot) com.
• Comments with no contact information will be deleted.
• Google account users: not sure if your contact information will be attached to your comment? Click here:

• Duplicate comments will be deleted. Comment moderation is on, so don't panic when your comment doesn't show up. I'm notified of new comments and will approve them periodically each day, after which they'll show up on the post.
• The giveaway will close at 10:00 pm {MST} on Thursday, January 19^th. Winner will be chosen by random drawing and notified by e-mail and announced here by noon January 21^st.

Good luck!

Week of Giveaways Directory:
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Polka-Dot Quilt

A Week of Giveaways Day 4: Project Polka-Dot, Half-Baked

2012-01-12T18:43:00.006-07:00

Gold cannot be pure, and people cannot be perfect. –Chinese Proverb

[Note to my non-quilting friends: Up until now, this week of giveaways has been all about raw materials and tools for the quilting/sewing/fabric arts. However, today's giveaway just might be appealing to even the non-quilters, although you might be seriously bored for the next eleven paragraphs.]

Today's post starts with a story. And you have to indulge me because I'm giving away free stuff and if you want the free stuff, you have to at least pretend to humor me. Also, it is my birthday and you have to do what I say.

Once upon a time, I started a project. A fabulous project with lots and lots of polka-dot fabrics. Well, maybe not all of the fabrics were polka-dotted, per se. But they all had dots or spots or circles or roundish splotches of some sort on them. And as my projects tend to do, this one kind of multiplied into more than one project. Because if one is fabulous, four is better, right?

It started out simply. I pulled all the dotty fabrics from my stash. But the project needed even more spots. So, I wrangled swaps for fabrics with dots. I traded quilting services for polka-dotted fabrics. I begged strangers on the internet for their spotty scraps. OK, not total strangers. Just people I've never met in real life. As this project grew and multiplied, I collected fabric with dots from every corner of the earth {special thanks to: Annelise, Iris, Jerri Lynn, Michelle, P., Sara and Wanda for feeding my obsession}. And a terrific plan was set in motion. This plan was for the most fabulous giveaway ever. A giveaway to trump all giveaways. The polka-dotted queen of all giveaways.

I've pooled ideas from several sources {thank you to Sew Sara for her Dots Crazy and Mini Dots quilts, to Amber for her Dot-to-Dot quilt and to American Quilting who published a free pattern called Connect the Dots, which I can no longer find on their site}. I'd originally planned on making two quilts; one for a really special aunt, who did me a solid, and one for me. I knew this polka-dotted monster that I was creating was going to be the best scrappy, dotty, spotty quilt ever. And that right there is reason to share. So I decided that I was going to give away a polka-dot quilt kit. But as I cut and stacked mountains of polka-dots, I discovered that I had enough dots to reach from here to the moon. Or, to make four spotted quilts. And I decided to give away two polka-dotted quilt kits.

My plan was to have those first two quilts finished and ready to go by now so I could show you how fantastic this crazy, dotty project of mine is and get you excited to win a quilt kit to make your own. But work and laundry and dishes kept getting in the way. I adjusted my goal to have just one spotty quilt ready to show you. When I realized that wasn't happening either, I thought for sure that I'd be able to at least get a quilt top done. But my boss gets disgruntled when I don't show up for work and people kept asking me for dinner and clean underwear, so all I have to show you is half of a slightly lumpy, bumpy quilt top.

OK. So it is a really lumpy, bumpy quilt top with seams that don't match. I've been wondering lately if my giveaway is as fantastic as I thought, or if anyone will even want a polka-dotted queen of all monsters?

You see, it is not just the piecing that makes this quilt a little wonky. Admittedly, I thought that piecing curves would be a breeze since I've been sewing since I was eight. But I didn't match my beginning and ending points quite right, which contributes to the wonkiness. Lesson learned.

The major factor in all of this, though, is that the drunkard's path dies I used to cut the pieces are not exactly symmetrical. This poses certain challenges in the assembly because the blocks aren't square. I didn't want to loose a full ¼" on each piece, so I didn't square up the blocks. Lesson learned. Again.

Despite the non-perfectness of it all, I'm still offering my polka-dots as part of my week of giveaways for ~~two~~ three reasons. First, I've been working on this project for over a year and even though it hasn't come off exactly as I'd envisioned, polk-dots make me happy and I'm excited to see this project take shape. Second, I really do think that this is an awesome quilt and I want to share. And third, I've got nothing else for today. So, without further ado, I'm excited to announce today's giveaway.

A Project Polka-Dot Quilt Kit for each of 2 winners

Each kit includes:
• Fabrics to make a 52" x 66" {ish} quilt top as {partially} pictured above, including small and large quarter-circles and background pieces cut with the Go! Fabric Cutter and Drunkard's Path dies and fabrics for 1" and 4" borders
• Fabric for the backing, including sixteen small quarter circles for use in creating a quilt label and row of "floating" dots up the back.
• 2½" wide bias binding to finish your quilt.
• All fabrics have been washed, dried, starched and pressed.
• All fabrics will have dots {defined as spots, circles or roundish splotches of some sort} on them.
• The background fabric for the quilt top and the fabric for the back of the quilt will be the same.
• Quarter circle pieces, borders and binding will each be a different dotted fabric, with the exception of the pieces for the quilt label, which are all white.

Giveaway Addendum
[This is where the non-quilters can tune back in.]
If you're not a quilter, but you like my dots and want to enter my giveaway, I'll pinch-hit for you on the assembly, quilting and binding. In non-quilting terms, I'll make the quilt and send it to you finished and ready for use. Please allow six to eight ~~months~~ weeks for delivery. In the even that two non-quilters enter and win this giveaway, please allow twelve to sixteen ~~months~~ weeks for delivery.

If you're remotely interested, leave me a comment and you'll be entered to win a kit {quilters} or a quilt {non-quilters only} that has 112 different dotted fabrics in it.

The Fine Print:
• You can enter each giveaway during the week only once. However if you spread the word about my week of giveaways by posting on your blog and sending people on over to check it out, you can have one additional entry on one giveaway of your choice. After you post on your blog, leave a comment on my giveaway post for which you'd like a second entry with a link to your post. Please make sure to include my giveaway button somewhere in your post.

• Non-blogging/non-Google users and international entrants are welcome.
• If you do not have a Google account, use the name/url {url optional} commenting option and make sure you leave your e-mail in your comment in the following format: address (at) domain name (dot) com.
• Comments with no contact information will be deleted.
• Google account users: not sure if your contact information will be attached to your comment? Click here:

• Duplicate comments will be deleted. Comment moderation is on, so don't panic when your comment doesn't show up. I'm notified of new comments and will approve them periodically each day, after which they'll show up on the post.
• The giveaway will close at 10:00 pm {MST} on Thursday, January 19^th. Winner will be chosen by random drawing and notified by e-mail and announced here by noon January 21^st.

Good luck!

Week of Giveaways Directory:
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

A Week of Giveaways Day 3: $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate

2012-01-11T00:00:00.007-07:00

There is precious little hope to be got out of whatever keeps us industrious, but there is a chance for us whenever we cease work and become stargazers. –H.M. Tomlinson

I'm really excited about today's giveaway. My super cute friend, Angie of 5 Little Monkeys Quilting, is giving away a $50 gift certificate towards long-arm machine quilting services! Angie and I are part of the on-line Twi-Quilters and she is really amazing! She quilted LadyBug's High School Musical Quilt, a Twilight banner and a table runner for me personally as well as doing the most amazing custom work on the New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn charity quilts we worked on together as a group and the baby quilts we did for fellow group members, Cat and Mel. The quilt pictured here is one of my all-time favorites of hers. She made this wall-hanging for her dad. Here's the back so you can see the beautiful quilting job she did.

As amazing as this is, it isn't even her fanciest work. Hop on over to her blog, 5 Little Monkeys Quilting, and see what else she's done. Then come back and enter to win her amazing quilting services by leaving a comment here telling me which of her quilts is your favorite.

The Fine Print:
• Gift certificate is for $50 towards or 25% off {whichever is greater} long-arm machine quilting services.
• Winner is to pay for shipping of his/her quilt to and from 5 Little Monkeys Quilting.
• You can enter each giveaway during the week only once. However if you spread the word about my week of giveaways by posting on your blog and sending people on over to check it out, you can have one additional entry on one giveaway of your choice. After you post, leave a comment on my giveaway post for which you'd like a second entry with a link to your post. Please make sure to include my giveaway button somewhere in your post.

• Non-blogging/non-Google users and international entrants are welcome.
• If you do not have a Google account, use the name/url {url optional} commenting option and make sure you leave your e-mail in your comment in the following format: address (at) domain name (dot) com.
• Comments with no contact information will be deleted.
• Google account users: not sure if your contact information will be attached to your comment? Click here:

• Duplicate comments will be deleted. Comment moderation is on, so don't panic when your comment doesn't show up. I'm notified of new comments and will approve them periodically each day, after which they'll show up on the post.
• The giveaway will close at 10:00 pm {MST} on Thursday, January 19^th. Winner will be chosen by random drawing and notified by e-mail and announced here by noon January 21^st.

Good luck!

Week of Giveaways Directory:
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• Polka-Dot Quilt
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

A Week of Giveaways Day 2: Fat Quarter Bundle

2012-01-10T00:00:00.022-07:00

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.
–George Santayana, "War Shrines," Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, 1922

I'm really excited to announce today's giveaway, sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop. It is a Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle. I wish I could enter my own giveaway.

A great big thank you to the Fat Quarter Shop!

To enter to win this cutie patootie fat quarter bundle, just leave me a comment.

The Fine Print:
• You can enter each giveaway during the week only once. However if you spread the word about my week of giveaways by posting on your blog and sending people on over to check it out, you can have one additional entry on one giveaway of your choice. After you post, leave a comment on my giveaway post for which you'd like a second entry with a link to your post. Please make sure to include my giveaway button somewhere in your post.

• Non-blogging/non-Google users and international entrants are welcome.
• If you do not have a Google account, use the name/url {url optional} commenting option and make sure you leave your e-mail in your comment in the following format: address (at) domain name (dot) com.
• Comments with no contact information will be deleted.
• Google account users: not sure if your contact information will be attached to your comment? Click here:

• Duplicate comments will be deleted. Comment moderation is on, so don't panic when your comment doesn't show up. I'm notified of new comments and will approve them periodically each day, after which they'll show up on the post.
• The giveaway will close at 10:00 pm {MST} on Thursday, January 19^th. Winner will be chosen by random drawing and notified by e-mail and announced here by noon January 21^st.

Good luck!

Week of Giveaways Directory:
• Embroidery Gift Pack
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Polka-Dot Quilt
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

A Week of Giveaways Day 1: Embroidery Gift Pack

2012-01-09T00:00:00.006-07:00

Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you. –Annie Dillard

Welcome to the party! Today is my 2-year blog anniversary and later in the week it is my birthday. So I'm celebrating with a week of giveaways! Let the festivities commence!

Today's giveaway is a collection of things to either get you started with embroidery, or to add to your existing embroidery tools.

Included in this gift pack:
• 22 skeins of DMC embroidery floss
• 28 floss bobbins
• DMC floss number stickers
• One flexible thimble {small and medium pictured here; we'll work out the details for fit later}
• Thread Heaven thread conditioner
• A pair of embroidery scissors
• Twenty size 10 embroidery needles
• A fine-point water soluble marking pen.

The Fine Print:
• You can enter each giveaway during the week only once. However if you spread the word about my week of giveaways by posting on your blog and sending people on over to check it out, you can have one additional entry on one giveaway of your choice. After you post on your blog, leave a comment on my giveaway post for which you'd like a second entry with a link to your post. Please make sure to include my giveaway button somewhere in your post.

• Non-blogging/non-Google users and international entrants are welcome.
• If you do not have a Google account, use the name/url {url optional} commenting option and make sure you leave your e-mail in your comment in the following format: address (at) domain name (dot) com.
• Comments with no contact information will be deleted.
• Google account users: not sure if your contact information will be attached to your comment? Click here:

• Duplicate comments will be deleted. Comment moderation is on, so don't panic when your comment doesn't show up. I'm notified of new comments and will approve them periodically each day, after which they'll show up on the post.
• The giveaway will close at 10:00 pm {MST} on Thursday, January 19^th. Winner will be chosen by random drawing and notified by e-mail and announced here by noon January 21^st.

Good luck!

Week of Giveaways Directory:
• Backyard Baby Fat Quarter Bundle
• $50 Long-Arm Machine Quilting Gift Certificate
• Polka-Dot Quilt
• Machine Quilting Gift Pack

Sabbath Songs: Nearer My God To Thee

2012-01-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

If you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose. As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away.
–Bruce C. Hafen, The Atonement: All for All, April 2004

Saturday Summary

2012-01-07T23:40:00.005-07:00

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
–Bill Morgan, Jr.

Life At Its Best
Last night we had our first real snowfall. Snow has come down a few times, but nothing that required shoveling or that stuck around for very long. So, the Little Bugs and I dragged our shovels outside to clear the walks and driveway. We face north and the driveway becomes on huge ice slick if the snow isn't shoveled right away. So we were on it.

LadyBug loves snow. Like a lot. As soon as I said we were going out to shovel after breakfast, she was on the hunt for her snow things. She was ready and waiting for the rest of us to get our gear on and go out. When we got outside, she shoveled with gusto until she couldn't stand it any more and then she just had to play in the snow. She plopped down half on the sidewalk still and made a snow angel. The look of simple felicity on her face melted my heart.

When the world is cold and white, the best thing to do is make a snowman. The snow that came down this time was really good packing snow—the best I've seen in a few years. LadyBug made this snowman mostly by herself. I did some of the heavy lifting, and Grasshopper helped out too, but she rolled most of him by herself.

	InsideOut a Cappella - In the Sun They Melted (Snowmen II)

Jilly Bean's Book Club
My cute sister, Jill, is hosting a book club of sorts. This first book she's doing is Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. I'm trying to figure out how to fit in a little reading time, because I think it will be really fun. Click on over and check it out.

A Week of Giveaways
January 9^th is my 2-year blog anniversary. And January 12^th is my birthday. So I am hosting a week of giveaways because I can't think of a better way to celebrate! I'll announce a new giveaway each day, beginning on Monday and running through Friday. I have lots of fun things planned, so I hope you'll join me!

I've Been Pinned
OK. I admit it. I've never been to Pinterest before this week. And still, I've only barely dipped my toe in. I'm trying to keep my curiosity at bay because I know that I will get sucked in and spend hours and hours pinning cool stuff. This week I noticed that I had quite a few hits from Pinterest. I clicked on the link and found myself on a page with a collection of my stuff on Pinterest! I'm not sure how it got there, but I'm kind of excited that people like my stuff. The cool thing is that I'm not just getting pinned, I'm getting re-pinned. Wow! If this is my 15 minutes of fame, I'll take it.

A Stitch In Time: Make Your Own Index Page

2012-01-06T14:16:00.016-07:00

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honour, power, place, and praise

Will come, in time, to the one who stays.

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life's victories, after awhile.

–Jack M. Lyon and others, ed.,
Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People, (1996), 255–56

Starting a project is easy. Working on something new has a momentum of its own. But when the excitement wears off or you hit a snag, it is easy to set it aside and move on to something else. There is something to be said for seeing a project through to completion. So, I'd like to offer you a little motivation, some encouragement, a place to show off those finishes and an opportunity to win some goodies each month that you have a finish!

I like to keep an index page of my finishes. It is nice to have one place to keep track of everything. Keeping an index page of your finishes is not required to participate in the monthly linkies, but if you do an index page please include this graphic, which links to the index page for this linky party. For best results, click on the Edit HTML tab when you paste it in and then you can switch over to the Compose tab to position it left, right or center in your post.

If you'd like to include a button in your sidebar, which links back to your index page here are instructions on how to do that.
• After you have posted your index page, click on View Post {instead of View Blog} so that only your index post is open and showing on your blog page.
• Copy the code below the button you want to use {the small one is 150 pixels and the big one is 220 pixels}.

• In a new tab or window, open up your blogger Design page.
• In the sidebar area, click on Add a Gadget and select HTML/Java Script from the menu that pops up.
• Paste the button code into the text box.
• This is the important part — your button won't work as a link to your index page unless you do the following: go back to your index page and copy the URL {starts with http://} from that specific post and paste that over top of the text in the button code that says PASTE YOUR URL HERE. The URL should sit directly in between the quotation marks in the code, with no spaces before or after or any other characters in that area.
• Save the button to your sidebar. When visitors to your blog click on your button, they will be taken to your 2012 Finishes index page which {hopefully} has a list of everything you finish this year.
• Make sure to update your index page as you post about your finishes this year. If you want, include links to each individual post for easy reference back to your finishes.
• Leave me a little note in the comments with a link to your blog so I can come and visit you and see your finishes.
• Have fun with your finishes!

I Must Ask . . . What Would You Like to Ask?

2012-01-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

I keep six honest serving-men,
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
–Rudyard Kipling

Clearly, Team Coke showed up in numbers. And more people don't like either kind of cola than do Pepsi. There were several write-ins for rootbeer, one for Dr. Pepper and one for ginger ale, which I absolutely love but is seldom {if ever} available at a fountain. Every once in a while, I'll buy a 2-liter of it and every time I fly and they offer a beverage, I pick ginger ale. This was a really fun poll! Thanks to everyone who voted and commented!

Today, I'm not going to ask you anything. It is your turn to do the asking—anything you like, realistic or not. Want to know why the sky is blue or how many moons Neptune has? Leave it in the comments. Do you want to know my favorite place to shop for groceries or what brand of toothpaste I use? The comment box is wide open and empty. Big or little, fantastically wild or unextraordinary. Ask away. I'll answer your questions two weeks from today {I've got something else planned for next week **coughgiveawaycough**}. And I promise to try and keep it interesting.

Sew Inspired

2012-01-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Marge, you're as pretty as Princess Leia and as smart as Yoda.
–Homer Simpson

Hey, y'all! I'm guest posting for Vicki over at Sew Inspired today. Hers was one of the first blogs I started following, almost 2 years ago. I instantly fell in love with her adorable chickens {more chickens here; tutorial here}, and was completely floored with her Y2K watercolor quilt. She was in Utah in the spring of 2010 and entered it at the annual quilt show hosted here in Springville, where I got to see it up close and personal. Beautiful, no?

I got to meet Vicki in person last summer at Sew & Tell live {hosted by AmyLouWho}. It was so fun to finally meet in person! It was like we were old friends. It is so nice to meet blog friends who are just as nice in person as they are on the 'net.

Left to right: Amy {of Diary of a Quilter}, Amy {of Vintage Fern}, Erin {of Two More Seconds}, Leigh {of Leedle Deedle Quilts}, Me, Vicki {of Sew Inspired}, Pink {of pinksuedeshoe} and Amy {of amylouwho}.

This month, Vicki is focusing on free-motion quilting. She will have a guest poster each Thursday and throughout the month she will be posting tips and tricks. She's also got a challenge and prizes. The challenge is to finish a free-motion project and then link up at the end of January. Those who finish the challenge will be entered in a drawing for one of a handful of really great prizes {we're talking fabric, here people}. Head on over and check it out!

A Stitch In Time: 2012 Finishes Index

2012-01-04T10:14:00.001-07:00

Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing. –Adolph Monod

The past two years, I've kept an index of each sewing or quilting project that I have finished. It has been great to have a place to keep track of everything, so I'm keeping the tradition again this year. As the year progresses, I'll update this new index to include a link to each sewing or quilting project that I finish.

Here are my 2012 Finishes!

January (zero finishes)

2012 PhD Kick-off

2012-01-03T20:01:00.072-07:00

The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps — we must step up the stairs. –Vance Havner

I like to make lists. I have about six little notebooks floating around that I write down lists of quilting projects in. The notebooks take turns getting lost, so I write and re-write the lists. I keep lists for other things as well, and it is interesting to come across a list that is six or eight months old. I find that the things I write down as important will get done more often than not, even if some of those items are forgotten from list to list.

I have big ambitions for 2012. I'm hoping it will be a productive year. I'm focusing primarily on PhD's this year. I'm sure a couple of new projects will pop up. Both Ladybug and Grasshopper want me to make them quilts. I have the fabrics for them. But I'm going to try to hold them off as long as I can so that I can finish a few things. My goal is to finish all of the PhD's on this list in 2012.

Project Polka-Dot

Pinwheel Sampler

Halloween Quilt

Woman's Work Quilt

Metro Blues

Patriotic Sampler

Twilight Block of the Month

Twilight Quilt

The weather around here is a little chilly, so it will be nice to stay indoors and work on these quilts. And since I think Zooey Deschanel has a dreamy voice, here's a little winter {not Christmas} music to work by.

A Stitch In Time: 2011 Wrap-Up

2012-01-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

Seventy percent of success in life is showing up. –Woody Allen

For the past two years, I've been keeping an index of all the projects I finish during each year. It has been fun to look back to see how much I've accomplished in one year. I humbly submit my 2011 finishes.

One Hired Machine Quilting & Binding Job

One Halloween Costume, Two Pieces {skirt & cloak}

Two Fleece Baby Blankets

Three Abbey Bags

Four Church Bags

Four Table Runners

Five Adult Bibs

Six Aprons {one reversible}

Eight Quilts

Twelve Quilted Notebook Covers

Fifteen Fabric Postcards

Eighteen Fancy Pillowcases

In case you lost count, that is 80 finishes, and I enjoyed every one of them. I hope that 2012 is as productive!

Sabbath Songs: All Creatures of Our God and King

2012-01-01T07:36:00.001-07:00

Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord,. . . and I will sing praises unto thy name. –2 Samuel 22:50

On Going Gray Gracefully

2011-12-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

A man is as old as he's feeling,
A woman as old as she looks.
–Mortimer Collins

I found my first gray hair at the age of 29. My hair was considerably longer than it is now, falling about 8" below my shoulders. I was playing with a lock of it, watching the way the sun hit it, and there it was. A white hair. It was unmistakable in the midst of my light brown hair. And it was the length of all the others. It freaked me out a little bit because my dad's hair was completely white by the time he was 45. I wondered if I was destined for the same fate.

Since that time I've watched and waited for the gray to stage a coup. My hair hasn't changed drastically in the last 10 years like I thought it might, but in recent months I've noticed more and more white appearing. The grays don't really out-number the pigmented hairs. But they have become visible. Noticeable. Their appearance makes my hair look ashy. Dull. Faded.

Aging is a funny thing. Madeline L'Engle said, The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. It is true. I still feel like a silly schoolgirl when I read a love story or see a romantic movie. I still have freckles like I did when I was twelve. I still like to sit on the floor with my feet tucked up under me "Indian style" like I did when I was five. And I still like sleeping on my stomach, which is how my mom put me in bed when I was a baby. I feel the same today as I did 15 years ago; even 20 years ago. I don't feel old at all.

I've been trying to figure out why it is that a little bit of white hair, a small change in my physical appearance, could change my perception of myself; could make me feel old. Because after looking at that ashy, dull hair for the last several months, I finally got tired of it and I had my super cute sister/hairstylist color my hair this week. It was a huge step because once you color your hair to cover the gray you have to be vigilant.

Coloring my hair isn't anything new. Although I've gone with my natural color since 2008, coloring my hair is something I have always liked to do. But this time was different, somehow. In the past, it was always just for fun. I liked trying out different colors and I didn’t care if people knew it wasn’t my real color. This time I colored my hair to cover the gray that is steadily creeping in. Something about that bothers me. Even though I tried to keep it fun by going a shade darker than my natural color with a copper undertone to it, knowing that the main purpose is to hide the gray kind of takes the fun out of it.

Maybe I'll have my sister go a tiny bit lighter next time. Because there will be a next time. I'm not going to go gray gracefully. I'm going to fight it, kicking and screaming. My next appointment is February 6^th.

Constant vigilance.

I Must Ask . . . Coke or Pepsi?

2011-12-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

Although when compared in double blind taste tests, the majority of people could not tell the difference in taste, people will swear they love one or the other. –WikiVS

Whew! We made it! Christmas has come and gone for another year. For the most part, it looks like we were all pretty on top of things. I got all of my big projects finished up but had a few little things that didn't get done. The gifts that needed to be mailed didn't go out until yesterday and today. And there are a few little neighbor gifts still sitting under my tree. I better get those delivered. Or, I could keep them until next year and save myself a little stress in 2012.

Today's question popped into my head yesterday when I stopped at the drive-thru for a Coke to help with my headace. The particular place I went to didn't have Coke. I was only after the caffeine and I didn't really care about the delivery method so I went with a large Pepsi. And then I wondered if I was going to like it because I haven't had a Pepsi since about 1998. To my relief I discovered that it doesn't really much matter.

I'm really not a big cola drinker. I mostly use it to boost my caffeine intake when I'm trying to shake a migraine. I'd rather have a root beer or a 7-Up when it comes to soda, but that is slightly off-topic. Mr. Bug is a regular consumer of Coke and keeps copious amounts on hand {which were ironically out of yesterday}. To be honest, I thought I was Team Coke, but my encounter with Pepsi yesterday {and again this morning} leads me to believe that there really isn't much difference.

People started asking it in the 1940's. Coke or Pepsi? There is still no conclusive answer. But still I must ask . . . do you like Coke or Pepsi better?

Since it is a matter of taste we may never find out. But I will say this, Coke has the best ads.

ThePianoGuys

2011-12-28T19:10:00.002-07:00

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. –Leopold Stokowski

It is no secret that I love music. Nor is it a secret that I love to share the music that I love. So, when my Dad sent me a link to ThePianoGuys it was a no-brainer, because from the first note I was hooked. Group members, Jon Schmidt {Piano Guy}, Steven Sharp Nelson {Cello Guy}, Paul Anderson {"The" Guy}, Tel Stewart {Video Guy} and Al Van Der Beek {Music Guy} combine an amazing amount of finely honed talent, wrought of what I can only imagine to be years of practice, to produce a unique and captivating sound. And, they are Utah boys—another reason to love them.

From their home page, The Piano Guys started out as a piano store in the small town of St. George, Utah. One day while Paul was selling pianos, Jon Schmidt walked in and asked if he could use a piano to practice before a concert. Paul was blown away by his talent and they began to create music videos together. At first the videos were very basic, but as time went on we created more and more involved productions. After we filmed a few videos with Jon, he introduced us to Steven Sharp Nelson, a cellist who was beyond anything we had ever seen. Jon and Steve had been performing together for several years, and we could see that together we'd all make a great team. The rest is history in the making.

OK, so I went a little overboard with the videos. I had a hard time narrowing it down to just one favorite. You can pick one or two {you really can't go wrong}, watch them all, or go to ThePianoGuys YouTube channel and find your own favorites.

Desert Symphony

The Cello Song

Moonlight

Classical Music at 180 MPH

Cello Wars

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

If you like their music, a few of the PianoGuys songs are available on iTunes {search by artist for Jon Schmidt or Steven Sharp Nelson} or you can download their entire CD using your PayPal account.

Glad of Heart

2011-12-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. –Washington Irving

I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas and that you all got everything on your wish list. I've had a very nice few days. I got the last of my Christmas sewing done Saturday afternoong and then headed to my family's party. We ate and exchanged gifts and visited and had a wonderful time. Sunday morning we went to church with my mom, dad, two of my sisters and their families. My sister, my twin-ten-years-younger, played her violin with the choir. She did such a beautiful job and I was so glad I got to go. We finished Christmas off with a relaxing afternoon at home, with the Little Bugs bouncing from gift to gift to gift, enjoying playing with them.

This is my last Christmas table runner.

It is a bit busy, but I absolutely love how it turned out. I quilted each of the hearts a little bit differently. This is the center heart.

Here is the heart on the left

And this is the heart on the right. I love these patchy hearts and am definitely going to use them again.

Here's a closer look at the quilting in the borders. I had so much fun putting this runner together.

I was going to post this on Saturday, but just ran out of time. Getting to the party seemed more important than blogging. So, I hope you'll indulge me in one more Christmas song. I think it is my new all-time favorite.

Today's post brought to you by:

The Christmas Story

2011-12-25T16:39:00.002-07:00

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. –Isaiah 9:6

More Pillowcases for Christmas

2011-12-23T20:18:00.001-07:00

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. –Charles Dickens

I've got eight more Christmas pillowcases finished! I really liked this green dotted fabric so I made a total of four; three here and one I finished earlier.

These stripey pillowcases make me so happy! The fabric is Quilter's Showcase from JoAnn's and it is a really nice weight and a really great price. I happened to catch them on a 50% off sale, so that made the price even better!

And these pink pillowcases are SO cute!

Click on the button below for instructions to make your own pillowcases.

Fancy Pillowcase PDF
I'm really excited about getting closer to being finished! Hooray! The wrapping will begin shortly, and here's a little something to help with the holiday spirit while we all finish things up.

Today's post brought to you by:

I Must Ask . . . Are You Ready for the Holidays?

2011-12-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year — and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. –W.J. Cameron

I loved hearing about your holiday wish lists! Let me recap.

Shay wants a new car and quilting supplies. Me too! Me too! Make my car red and my quilting supplies plentiful.

Mommarock wants a day at the spa. Sounds heavenly. Can I come too?

Michelle wants a gift that is thoughtful. I know exactly what you mean. Those are the best kind.

P. wants a vacation Alice Cullen style. I'm right there with you!

Mr. Anonymous {a.k.a. my dad} wants his children to be happy, loved, employed and grateful. Thanks dad! I think that's a pretty good wish.

I think my favorite Christmas wish is from my good friend, Jenna, who said: No restraints on my Christmas wish? OK, you asked for it. I would like a check for $100,000 please : ). That would take care of our student debt and buy us the second car that we need! Is that asking too much? No? OK, I'll take a house of my very own to go with that. With a big red bow tied around it! And a wreath on the door? Furnished and decorated by someone who knows what they're doing? This is fun! Ha ha ha, I'm killing myself with an overdose of "dream-on, lady." Heh heh.

As for an ideal Christmas gift that I really could possibly ask for, I would probably love to get a Kindle or something of that sort. But the reason I DON'T want that is because I manage to read about 10 pages per week. Is there anyway to guarantee time to read with a gift like that? (Could I ask for a chef and a maid to move in with us in our new house?)

So what do I want that I could actually use? A gym membership so I could play racquetball again. That would be great! But I'd need that new car to go along with it . . . Doh! I guess I'm kind of hard to buy for this year!

Jenna, if I had a million dollars, I'd buy you a house! {And all those other things too.}

As you might have noticed, I've got Christmas on the brain. How could I not? I love Christmas. I love making and buying thoughtful gifts. I love sharing a bit of myself. But it is less than three days away and I've still got a ton of elfing to do before it gets here. I got a little sidetracked with putting together some ornaments for neighbors and trying to fit in photographing for a tutorial while I finish up one of my gifts. Plus, I work. Sleep has gone out the window, the adrenaline has kicked in and the ideas are flowing.

Early on, I decided to skip sending Christmas cards this year {because it worked so nicely for me last year}, but I very nearly bought some yesterday on clearance because I kind of miss it. I realized that I absolutely don't have time for it and have decided that henceforth I am sending Christmas cards in July. I have a fair amount of sewing still to do, odds and ends to finish up on the shopping and then the wrapping.

Christmas is coming, whether I'm ready or not. So why am I blogging? Because I must ask . . . are you ready for the Holidays?

There's not much space over in my sidebar, so I've given you the key here. Select the number that corresponds with your level of preparedness in the poll and if you're so inclined, leave me a comment telling me how you're doing.

1. Done for months, wrapped and ready to go.
2. Done for weeks, wrapped and ready to go.
3. Done in the last few days, wrapped and ready to go.
4. Mostly done, with a few odds and ends to tie up.
5. Still have a lot of things left and nothing wrapped yet.
6. Started, but going to be staying up for the next 72 hours to get everything together.
7. Got a tiny start, but most of the list to go. Wrapping? Put wrapping paper on the list.
8. Got a list together, but nothing checked off. And don't even talk to me about wrapping.
9. Haven't got a list. Haven't got a clue. I'll pick something up at the 7-Eleven on the way.
10. Bah humbug!

While you put your last minute preparations together, enjoy a little Christmas music. Please note, this is not a political statement. I just really like the song. Collin Raye is one of my favorites.

It's All About the Ornaments

2011-12-21T21:56:00.002-07:00

Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money. –Unknown

Our personalized 2010 ornaments finally arrived. I think I'm going to register a complaint for the huge delay.

Funnily enough, our 2011 ornaments were in with the 2010 ornaments. Imagine that.

Our 2012 and 2013 ornaments are scheduled to arrive on Saturday. And when I pulled out my Christmas things, I found some really cool glass ornaments I'd started to embellish, but never finished. I'd completely forgotten about them and did a face-palm because these could have been for 2010. I finished getting them together, and now I have ornaments for 2014.

And 2015. {Personalizations to be added later.}

I had left-over beads, so I thought it might be fun to put together an assortment of snowmen and Santa Claus ornaments to give to a few special friends and neighbors. I bought these particular glass ornaments a few years ago and knew that I'd never find more. I was hoping to find some clear glass balls to use instead. I went to eight stores today. No one has clear glass ornaments. Silly stores. Don't they know that some people have crazy last-minute ideas? I did find some really nice red and silver ones that I'd resigned myself to using, even though they wouldn't be as cool as clear ones with colored beads inside, but when I went back to get them the store was closed. At 8:30 pm. Silly store. Don't they know that Christmas is in four days and everybody wants to shop round the clock?

Mele Kalikimaka

2011-12-20T18:30:00.001-07:00

Christmas is for children. But it is for grown-ups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts. –Lenora Mattingly Weber

Right about now I'd like to be sitting on a beach in Hawaii {wearing a giant sun hat, sunglasses, SPF 50 and a swimsuit cover-up to my ankles} with Mr. Bug, sipping a fruity drink with a little pink umbrella while reading a good book and listening to the sound of the waves hitting the sand. Sounds very relaxing, doesn't it?

What I'm up to is the very opposite of a day at the beach. There's still too much to do for Christmas. I've trimmed my list considerably, trying to keep it realistic, but I've got so many ends to tie up before the 25^th hits that I'm passing myself coming and going. Mind you, I'm having a marvelous time putting it all together, but I wish I had more time. I hope to have a few finishes to show tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this lovely Christmas greeting from the sandy beaches to you.

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 21

2011-12-19T13:40:00.099-07:00

At Christmas play and make good cheer,

For Christmas comes but once a year.

–Thomas Tusser

Christmas Concert Cuties
Both of the Little Bugs had concerts last week. I promised to show pictures and here they finally are. Grasshopper started in the 6^th grade orchestra in September and last Wednesday was their winter concert. It was short, with only four songs, but the orchestra as a whole sounded lovely. It was a really nice evening and I enjoyed so much hearing them play. There are two cellists, two students who play viola and a dozen or so violinists. I am really proud of Grasshopper and the work he's put in. If only I could get him to hold his bow correctly and practice a little more.

On Thursday, LadyBug performed a lovely selection of Christmas songs with the entire 4^th grade. Their performance was at the mall, so lots of people could attend. There wasn't much opportunity for photos, not to mention I forgot my good camera {for both performances} and had to resort to the camera on my phone. I made the vest LadyBug is wearing about 14 years ago. It was for my youngest sister, who was just about LadyBug's age at the time. I actually made vests for all three of my sisters, my mom, my grandma, Mr. Bug's mom and me {that's seven, if you're counting}. At our Christmas party, you can usually spot one or more of those vests every year.

Glad of Heart
The Glad of Heart table runner, which I'm taking to my family's gift exchange, is all quilted and ready for binding. We ended up only taking one runner for the gift exchange at Mr. Bug's family party {besides the one I made for Mr. Bug's mom}, so when I get this one finished, I'll be done making runners for Christmas. This is all you get to see until it is done.

More Donation Pillowcases
A few weeks ago, I showed you some pillowcases that a group of women in my ward {congregation} got together and made to donate to local facilities in need. We finished 15 on our service day and several more kits were taken home for completion. These are the remaining 11 pillowcases, making a total of 26 we'll be dropping off for donation tomorrow.

I love the Dora pillowcase. It is positively aDORAble. The two in the top right corner are flannel. The jungle animals are so cute, even though they got sewn on upside down. And I love the Tink pillowcases.

I love the red fabric on the Spiderman cases. I bought it several years ago as a remnant because I thought it had interesting texture. Someone else donated the Spiderman fabric and I rummaged around in my stash for the red because I knew it would be perfect together. I was glad that so many great fabrics that would work well for boys were donated.

Monday Music Spot: When Christmas Comes to Town
Christmas is in six days. Is anyone else worried about getting everything finished in time? I have lots of sewing done, but still lots left. Same with the shopping, but on a smaller scale. And the wrapping? I'll probably be wrapping in the car on the way to my family party, and then staying up late after we get home to finish wrapping gifts for the Little Bugs. Still, Christmas will come whether everything on my list gets done, so I might as well enjoy the season.

Sabbath Songs: Silent Night

2011-12-18T08:20:00.008-07:00

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.
–Luke 2:8-13

Sunday Squares

2011-12-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

Fail not to call to mind, in the course of the twenty-fifth of this month, that the Divinest Heart that ever walked the earth was born on that day; and then smile and enjoy yourselves for the rest of it; for mirth is also of Heaven’s making. –Leigh Hunt

I love how this table runner came out.

I used Charlie Scott's Sunday Squares tutorial, adjusting it from a 32"x 32" wall-hanging to table runner size.

I decided to go with the white between the center squares and the sawtooth border. I think that the green binding is just the right touch.

I gave this table runner to Mr. Bug's parents at his family party tonight. I kind of wanted to keep it. But Mr. Bug's mom really liked it, so I'm glad it went to a good home.

And here's a fun holiday song if you need a little background music at your family Christmas party.

Today's post brought to you by:

Favourite Things Friday: A Really Great Find

2011-12-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. –Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

I love to find something marvelous. Something that tickles my fancy. Something that makes me happy from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Whether that something is a tangible object or an idea or a moment in time, finding something marvelous is one of my favorite things.

In the category of tangible objects, getting that something marvelous on sale makes it even better. I have a post label called "50% off," which I mostly reserve for cool stuff I get at {what else?} 50% off. As much as I love getting something for half-off, I won't turn up my nose to any other discount, either. Because a discount is a discount. And discounts are good.

The other day, I posted about some fabric I'd gotten to make pillowcases for Christmas. I mentioned that all the fabric was at least 50% off. Marianne left a comment I really liked. She said, do some people actually pay full price for fabric? Silly people. I laughed and nodded. Paying full price for anything when there are deals to be had out there is silly.

OK. This post seems to be going nowhere. Let's sum up and see if I can tie this all together.

Something Marvelous = Awesome
Something Marvelous On Sale = Even Better Than Awesome

Today, I found something marvelous. I'm doing a little happy dance right now. If you've been following along, you'll know that I like to get a personalized, dated Christmas ornament for each of the Little Bugs for Christmas. If I can find one that Mr. Bug and I can share, I do that as well. If not, then we get individual ornaments too. Last year I was grumpier than the Grinch and stingier than Scrooge and did not get ornaments. So I decided to browse the interwebs for ornaments to back-date for 2010. I found a whole lot of ornaments I loved. So much so, that I scrapped plans for making ornaments {I am running out of time, here}, and got ornaments for this year too. As a matter of fact, I found so many great ornaments that I had a hard time deciding which ones to get and which ones to leave behind. I ended up getting ornaments through 2013. What can I say? I like to be prepared. Also, this means that I can postpone any major ornament making projects I might be contemplating until January of 2014.

Among the ornaments I ordered today, these beautiful laser-carved wood ornaments are pretty high on my scale of awesome. One of the best things about them is that they accommodate up to 10 letters. I have a hard time finding personalized ornaments that will fit my name because lots of them only allow 8 letters. So unless you named your kid something weird, like Grasshopper, fitting your name on the ornament isn't a going to be a problem. Of course, the ornaments I ordered don't really say G-Hopper or LadyBug. They have our real names on them, but I wanted to show you just how amazing these ornaments are.

These glass ornaments are also really amazing. Both of these were so different from the ornaments I've gotten in the past that I couldn't pass them up. Again, they have our real names spelled out on the ornaments and in the background is our surname and the year.

Both of these ornaments came from Personalization Mall. They have a fun selection of wood and glass ornaments, as well as porcelain and resin. I could have spent all day there trying out different personalizations on all of the ornaments. You get a preview of exactly what you're ordering before you add it to your cart to make sure you get what you want.

To make things even better, I got free shipping on the order I placed for the ornaments I didn't show you and Definitive Deals had several different discount options for Personalization Mall.

To tie things up, hopefully into a nice, neat package, if we substitute the known quantity for the unknown quantity we find:

Personalized Ornaments = Awesome
Personalized Ornaments On Sale = Even Better Than Awesome

And here's a little something to enjoy while you sip hot cocoa by the fireplace.

Today's post brought to you by:

I Must Ask . . . What Is Your Ideal Christmas Gift?

2011-12-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. –Roy L. Smith

Thank you so much, everyone, for weighing in on your favorite holiday traditions. Hands down, spending time with family took the most votes. I think that getting together with loved ones is one of the best things about this time of year. On the other side of the coin, one of the least favorites was decorating. Not one single person voted for it. to be honest, hauling the tree out of storage and putting it together is not my favorite way to spend an afternoon. Even less fun is stringing lights on a real tree. But I really love how excited the Little Bugs get about putting the ornaments on.

I didn't include this on the poll last week because I'm not sure if this is a tradition, per se, or if anyone else does this but at our house Santa always puts socks and underwear in our Christmas stockings. It is a great way to fill them up fast without spending a lot of money. And my mom always gets everyone new pajamas to open up before bed on Christmas Eve. We all pretend we don't know what's in the package, but new jammies to sleep in the night before Christmas is firmly embedded in our family traditions.

During the Christmas season, people tend to open their hearts and their wallets to give to others. Donations for those in need abound. I love to give gifts that are well received. I especially like finding just the right thing for the Little Bugs. I've yet to give Mr. Bug the perfect gift, but I keep trying. It's also hard to know what to get for my parents in light of how much they give to me. But today I want to talk about the receiving just a little bit. The anticipation of unwrapping something wonderful is part of what makes Christmas so magical. I know we all have a list of things we'd like, whether it be a mental list or one that is actually written out on paper. I would love to open up anything related to my fabric and quilting obsession, from a new pack of machine needles to {AURIfil} thread to fabric or fabric gift cards. At the top of my list is the Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen. I'm holding out hope that I made the “nice” list this year.

There are plenty of other things I'd love {clothes, shoes, cash, a European vacation}, but I want to hear what you'd like. Today I must ask . . . what is your ideal Christmas gift? What would you really love to find under your Christmas tree? Don't be shy and say that you want something altruistic, or that you don't want anything. This is your chance to say what you really want without worrying about looking like a tool for thinking of yourself. Today's poll is a short list of possibilities because it is hard to poll someone's desires. Vote for the most closely related category and leave a comment telling me what you'd like!

Merry Christmas From the Family

2011-12-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. –Burton Hillis

Today is a busy day. I have work and chores and a meeting for the volunteer committee I'm on with my church and Grasshopper has a concert with his orchestra tonight. I'm so excited for him. LadyBug has her class Christmas concert tomorrow. They'll be singing at the mall. Any Christmas sewing I do will be really late this evening, so I'll show you what I'm up to tomorrow. And I'll show you both my concert cuties then, too.

In the meantime, here's a fun but non-traditional Christmas song to entertain you. It's another bit of Christmas silliness that I enjoy. Don't worry about watching the video. Just listen to the song.

Pillowcases for Christmas

2011-12-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! –Hamilton Wright Mabie

I've got five pillowcases done! I started with the ones we're giving away the soonest. Mr. Bug's family party is coming up and this tweet pillowcase is for the cousin exchange. I love the little birds.

Here's another one for the cousin exchange on Mr. Bug's side. I really liked this fabric for boys, so there will be four total like this.

One of these is for LadyBug and one is for my brother. LadyBug happened to see the stacks of cut pillowcases and asked who each one was for. I kind of fibbed about some of them {I told her I lost my list, which isn't entirely untrue. I lost the original and then made a new one} to throw her off the scent. I was a little bit pleased when she said, those fabrics are cool. I want a pillowcase out of them.

And this one is Grasshopper's. He's my Little Boy Blue, so I hope that the red turquoise stripes aren't too obtrusive for him. I did my kids' pillowcases in the first batch to get them out of the way. With them hidden away, I'm hoping they will be less likely to figure out that I made pillowcases for them too.

These pillowcases are fast and fun to put together. Click on the button below for instructions.

Fancy Pillowcase PDF

And here's a little Christmas music to sew by. I love the song and the girls who put the video together did a cute job.

Today's post brought to you by:

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol 20

2011-12-12T22:00:00.002-07:00

From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it. –Katharine Whitehorn

Undecided
I'm not sure how long ago I started this little table runner, but I pulled it out to add to my pool of table runners for the gift exchange parties I'm going to. I used a Moda Bakeshop "recipe" called Sunday Squares by Charlie Scott. I won the charm pack at shop hop a year or so before I started the runner and thought this would be the perfect project to use it in, only there weren't enough squares in the charm pack to make the whole quilt, so I decided to make a table runner. I had probably a half a yard of the background fabric in my stash, which wasn't enough to finish the top. By the time I got some more and got it washed, I'd either lost interest, needed to move on to something else more pressing or was kind of stuck on how to proceed. I'm thinking it was a combination of all those things, with being stuck the major factor.

I think I couldn't decide if I wanted to do a white border between the center and the sawtooth border . . .

. . . or if I wanted to do green. I still can't decide. I put the white border on last night and was all set on it. But when I got up this morning and looked at it again, I kind of like the green. While I was taking pictures, I was pretty set on sticking with the white. But after looking at the pictures, I'm pondering the green again. Opinions, please. Tell me what you think.

A Little Christmas Silliness
Christmas is in 13 days. Thirteen. Days. People. The pressure is on to get everything ready. If you're feeling stressed, here's a little something to make you laugh. There are some really great lines in here.

15 Yards
of 100% cotton fabric washed, pressed, cut and assembled into thirteen pillowcase kits. I got all my fabric on sale for at least 50% off and didn't pay more than $3.49 a yard for any one piece. I think there was even one piece that was $1.99 a yard. My favorites in this bunch are the Quilter's Showcase fabrics from JoAnn's. The fabric is a really nice weight/quality and it washes and presses really nicely, but the best thing about them is that they were on sale for $2.49 a yard, with an additional 10% off!

Glad of Heart
This is another table runner in progress. The top is finished and it is basted and ready for quilting. The fabric is Sanibel and I just love it. I know it is a little bit busy, but I think/hope that the quilting will help with that.

A very kind friend sent me five fat quarters of this fabric line at Christmas last year. I made a couple of Hexie Art Journals with it and had roughly a fat eighth left over of each fabric. This summer, I went to a fabric shop I don't visit often and they had one of those bins where everything you can cram into a gallon-size ziplock from the bin is $10. I was immediately drawn to the bright plaid. It was a big piece, just over 2 yards, and I thought it would be great for a table runner. When I saw Sanibel on the selvage, I knew it was meant to be. And just a few weeks ago I found a couple of different prints from this line on clearance at the quilt shop near my work. I was really glad to find them and I can't wait to start quilting on this.

Focus on Free-Motion Quilting
Vickie at Sew Inspired is hosting a little quilt-along during the month of January and I'm playing along because I am ready and anxious to learn as much as I can about free-motion quilting. Pop on over and have a gander.

Monday Music Spot: Santa's Got A Brand New Bag
I love this sassy Christmas song by SHeDAISY. It's just what I need to motivate me to do a little Christmas sewing, even though I'd rather go to bed.

Sabbath Songs: Away in a Manger

2011-12-11T08:03:00.002-07:00

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. –Luke 2:7

Let It Be Christmas

2011-12-10T17:50:00.002-07:00

Elfing: /ˈɛl‐fɪŋ/, verb. a. to be enthusiastically engaged in various Christmas preparations, including but not limited to, shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking and caroling. b. to give a gift anonymously. c. to spread Christmas cheer.

The Christmas preparations are in full swing. I've made lists. I've checked them twice. I've lost my little list notebooks and had to start over again. I've got yards and yards of fabric to sew. There is a never ending supply of ideas to try. The only thing I haven't got is enough time. Christmas will come whether I've got everything finished or not. I guess the trick is to prioritize my list and work hard to get everything done.

One of my favorite traditions is to get a new ornament for the tree for each member in my little family. I have brass ornaments. I have silver ornaments. I have porcelain ornaments. I have cute little molded resin or plastic ones. I make sure to have the name and year for each person put on their ornament somewhere and somehow. Sometimes I get an ornament to commemorate a special event or occasion. The years that LadyBug and Grasshopper were born, their ornaments were little baby buggies. They year we all went to Disneyland for Christmas, I got teacup {like the Teacup Ride} ornaments with Mickey for the boys and Minnie for the girls.

Last year, I was not in the mood for Christmas and didn't bother to look for ornaments. I'm going to get last year's ornaments this year and back-date them. I'll probably just buy something for last year, but I am making this year's ornaments. I thought something in fabric would be fitting but have been stumped for ideas. Herein lies the beauty of the internet. Barb over at Bejeweled Quilts posted these Christmas Balls the other day, and I've decided to make those for our ornaments this year. I'd like to make some for little neighbor gifts too, but they are a little bit time consuming. I'm still not done with the first one, so I think making them for neighbors will have to go at the bottom of my list. Perhaps I can get a good start for next year.

This morning, instead of getting the grocery shopping and Saturday chores done, I spent a few minutes {read: hours} looking for other fun fabric ornaments. I blame Barb. She posted some cute Santa ornaments she put together and was kind enough to add a link. It spiraled out of control from there and I have ideas for the next five or six years. I'm not sure which I'll start with.

Christmas Ball by Bejeweled Quilts
Felt Bauble Ornaments by My Fantastic Toys
Felt Peppermint Ornament by PinkSuedeShoe
Felt Reindeer Ornament by PinkSuedeShoe
Half-Eaten Gingerbread Ornament by Elsie Marley
Matroyshka Doll Ornament by My Sparkle
Santa Ornament by Pinwheel Ponders

If you haven't found your Christmas groove yet, perhaps a little Alan Jackson will help.

I Must Ask . . . What Is Your Favorite Holiday Tradition?

2011-12-08T23:08:00.003-07:00

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.
–W.T. Ellis

I had a fun time hearing about your favorite holidays. I forgot a few, most obviously Mother's Day. It wasn't intentional that I left it off, although I'm not entirely sure it was an accident. I'm not very fond of Mother's Day. I think it is a day full of reminders of unmet expectations. But maybe that's just me. I couldn't include every holiday across the globe and I also left off Hanukkah, which was entirely accidental. I also added some silly and superfluous holidays just for fun. I was a little disappointed to see that no one voted for National Pink Day. Christmas won by a landslide, which is a good thing because when I posted last week, I planned to ask about holiday traditions this week.

Christmas can be a difficult and stressful time. Last Christmas, I just wanted to skip the whole thing. Our financial situation was bleak, even though I started working at the beginning of December. Our savings was gone and Mr. Bug didn't have many prospects for employment. I was discouraged and trying to adjust to a new life and didn't have it in me to bridge the gap between our lack of funds and the gifts we needed to give. Making gifts was work instead of fun because I didn't have the luxury or the choice of going out and buying things if I ran out of energy or time.

This year, we are both gainfully employed, and while money is still tight, I'm so excited to put together some really fun Christmas gifts. I'm making table runners for Christmas parties on both sides of our families {two down, two to go!}, and I hope to be able to put together some really pretty Christmas ornaments to give as neighbor gifts. I'm making {note to my sisters: please skip this next sentence so it will be a surprise} pillowcases for my nieces and nephews. I'm really excited to make gifts this year. One of my favorite things about the holidays is giving thoughtful gifts and if I can make them, that is even better!

I also love the parties. Parties with family. Parties with friends. Parties with co-workers. I think that work parties are my favorite. Spending an evening out, with food, entertainment and gifts provided by someone else is really one of the highlights of the season for me. Tonight was my work party. Mr. Bug wasn't able to make it, but the Little Bugs and I went bowling with my co-workers and it was SO much fun. My high game was 112, which is pretty good considering I haven't bowled in about five years. And it was probably 10 years before that. There were gifts and food and a really good time. The Little Bugs were so cute with their 6 lb. balls and their funny approaches and their bumpers on the lanes. I'm definitely going to have to take them bowling more often.

Winter and cold and snow aren't my favorite things but Christmas makes it a little more bearable. {I realize that it is summer in the southern hemisphere, but Christmas on the beach just seems weird to me. I've actually been there.} I love the sharing and giving, the kindness, the service that goes on at this time of year. How about you? I must ask . . . what is your favorite holiday tradition?

Apron № 109: Roses in Winter

2011-12-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

A good friend is a connection to life — a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. –Lois Wyse

My co-worker and office-mate, Sherri, had a birthday today. Over the past year we've become good friends and I knew that I wanted to make an apron for her for her birthday. As I got to know Sherri, I discovered that her favorite color is green. I knew I had the perfect fabric for her apron. I'd bought it a little over two years ago intending to use it for an apron for another friend, but changed my mind and did something else for that particular person. I loved putting it together and I think this is one of my favorite of all the aprons I have made. The colors are so pretty together. It is such a sweet feminine apron. I'm pretty sure that Sherri loved it as much as I did.

Today's post brought to you by:

Monday Music Spot: Keen on Keane

2011-12-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. –Shunryu Suzuki

Occasionally, I have to work on a Saturday. On those days, I put on my headphones to make the day more pleasant. I wanted to share a bit of something I enjoyed last Saturday. Despite the seriously overplayed, Somewhere Only We Know, which only rates a meh on a scale of one-to-awesome, I love the overall sound of this band.

Sabbath Songs: Stars Were Gleaming

2011-12-04T12:45:00.001-07:00

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
–Matthew 2:1-2

Stars were gleaming, shepherds dreaming;
And the night was dark and chill.
Angels' story rang with glory;
Shepherds heard it on the hill.
Ah, that singing! Hear it ringing,
Earthward winging, Christmas bringing.
Hearken! We can hear it still!
Hearken! We can hear it still!

See the clearness and the nearness
Of the blessed Christmas star,
Leading, guiding, wise men riding
Through the desert dark and far.
Lovely showing, shining growing,
Onward going, gleaming glowing,
Leading still, our Christmas Star.
Leading still, our Christmas Star.

Poultry in Motion: Le Chanticleer

2011-12-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

The rooster may crow but the hen delivers the goods. –Unknown

I went to Google Translate to find out what Le Chanticleer means. I thought that it might be a particular breed of chicken which would make a nice title or subtitle for this table runner.

I translated it from French to English. Guess what the translation was? The Chanticleer.

Then I tried translating it from French to Portuguese and came up with galo doméstico, which means domestic rooster. Clearly, I was absent the day they read Reynard the Fox in school.

I don't know. Poultry in Motion: Domestic Rooster just doesn't have the same panache as Poultry in Motion: Le Chanticleer.

Perhaps I'll leave the subtitle off. After all, it's only a table runner.

The quilting: About three quilts ago, I got tired of using a walking foot for straight lines and stitch-in-the ditch. Two quilts ago, I decided to do the ditch work with my free-motion foot on. It wasn't the worst ditch work ever. So, I gave it a shot with the last project I quilted, and it was pretty OK. This quilt is also 100% free-motion and the straight lines aren't too bad if I do say so myself. Hooray for another Christmas gift exchange table runner finished!

Today's post brought to you by:

Favourite Things Friday: Free-Motion Quilting

2011-12-02T22:16:00.001-07:00

Always trust a quilter. She knows her way around the block.
–Unknown

When I did free-motion quilting for the first time at the end of July 2010 I absolutely hated every second of it. I did a fairly tight meander across the whole thing. It took me about 10 hours to do a 52" x 68" quilt. It was tedious. I missed dropping off my quilt top at the long-arm quilter and getting it back transformed into something amazing. I saw every single imperfection. I worried the whole time that I had ruined it. I didn't think I would ever want to quilt my own again.

After a trip through the washer, I was fairly content with my first attempt at FMQ. Necessity {i.e. lack of income} dictated that if I wanted to finish any more quilts, I'd just have to do it myself. So I tried again with loopy flowers on the next quilt. It was an interesting adventure that turned out pretty well. I went back to meandering and straight-line on a couple more quilts and then did some more loopy flowers. I decided to give feathers a try and they didn't come out too badly. I branched out from there, adding in a bit of something new to each quilt, along with the old stand-by favorites. My skills improved, my stitches got more consistent and my quilting got more elaborate.

At the end of June 2011, I finished a second snowball quilt, identical to the one I'd started with. This one took about 35 hours to quilt, there wasn't one straight line or meander anywhere on it and I didn't find it tedious to spend all that time at the machine. As a matter of fact, I loved it. I loved free-motion quilting.

I know I'm tooting my own horn here. I'm not exactly sure how to go about this in a humble sort of way. I'm far from perfect at it and I can improve in so many ways. But I really like the rhythm of machine quilting. And there is something very satisfactory in making a quilt start to finish and having part of that process be producing something that is a reasonable facsimile of free-motion machine quilting.

In the interest of improving this skill, I've decided to do two things. The first is to {start and} finish the Free-Motion Quilt Along by Christina at A Few Scraps. I have my quilt top cut and ready to put together, the back cut and the batting waiting. I'm hoping to squeeze it in after I finish my Christmas crafting but before the New Year.

The second thing I've decided to do is to join Sew Cal Gal's Free-Motion Quilting Challenge.

There will be a new challenge each month from some really great FMQ experts. I've come a long way on my own, but I'm really looking forward to using these challenges to improve the way I quilt. There will be lots of mutual encouragement to keep me motivated and of course, prizes don't hurt either. Free-motion quilting is something that I really love to do and I'm hoping that I will love it even more as I improve.

Today's post brought to you by:

I Must Ask . . . What Is Your Favorite Holiday?

2011-12-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up—they have no holidays. –Henny Youngman

Thanks to everyone who voted for what you are thankful for. Children and Family each took 15 votes and Friends took 16, which just goes to show that you can pick your friends but not your family. I also found it interesting that the Spouse category got only one more vote than the Parents category . Seriously, though. It was nice to stop for a minute and count all the good things and people in my life.

Christmas is in 24 days. Twenty. Four. Days. People. If that doesn't scare the pants off you, then someone else must do the planning/decorating/shopping/baking/wrapping/card sending at your house. Christmas comes with its stress. Finding the perfect gift. Making the money stretch for the perfect gift. Finding the time to do all the pre-holiday preparations. Making it through the family parties with your sanity still in tact. Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas. It is one of my favorite holidays. I love giving a thoughtful, personal gift to someone I care about. I enjoy the parties, the food, the company, the feeling in the air. There is something magical about it. Perhaps it is all the twinkle lights.

Christmas is in my top three favorite holidays. I'm not sure how they rank in order of preference, but the three I love the most are Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each one has its merits. On Halloween, you can be anyone you want to be. Thanksgiving is filled with friends and family and good food. And Christmas is about remembering the One who gave all for us. I'm not sure that I love the other holidays any less, though. I love potato salad and fireworks on the Fourth of July, staying up until midnight to ring in a new year, pinching anyone who didn't wear green on the 17^th of March, and making paper hearts for my favorite people in February. It is fun to celebrate the little things in life, as well as the big. So today, I must ask . . . what is your favorite holiday?

Kimono Garden

2011-11-30T16:55:00.001-07:00

People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead. –Edith Wharton

Free-motion quilting is kind of a scary thing. It is just you and wherever your imagination can take the thread. As I've worked on improving this skill, the biggest obstacle is figuring out how to quilt something. Edge-to-edge works for some things. But I really prefer custom quilting that enhances the quilt's design.

I'm still working on branching out with quilting designs. I gave this quilt the Swirly Treatment; the same favorite swirls I've put into at least four other quilts.

And I quilted the squares and border the same way I did the Sudoku quilt. As a matter of fact, I designed this table runner specifically so that I could quilt it the same way.

This year, on both sides of our family we're doing “Dirty Santa” gift exchanges, where everyone brings a gift, we draw numbers and the person with the lowest number picks a gift to open. The next person can either steal that gift or open something else. It's called “Dirty Santa” because playing dirty is allowed. Doing a gift exchange this way takes a lot of pressure off. You don't have to worry about finding “the perfect gift” for a specific person. The party goers get to choose what their perfect gift is. And since I don't know who this will end up with, I can blog about it beforehand without spoiling the surprise.

Today's post brought to you by:

Finished: Sudoku Quilt

2011-11-29T21:53:00.001-07:00

Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny. –Tryon Edwards

This quilt was so fun to make! A shout out to P. for the inspiration and to Sarah for sharing the pattern! I'm pretty sure there will be another one in my future.

To quilt this, I marked diagonally through each square and then quilted a series of arcs around the X's I'd marked. It was a lot of fun.

Mathematically, this quilt is awesome. The outer border is 8", exactly double the nine-patch squares, and it divides evenly by 8 as well, so I marked it in 8" squares, drew X's through them and quilted the same arcs as I did in the nine-patches. And with all that stripey goodness, I couldn't resist a bit of stripey bias binding.

I quilted my favorite swirls into the sashing. They are hard to see from the front because the thread is the same color as the sashing, so here's a view from the back.

Here's a shot of the whole quilt. So much fun and so quick to put together!

Read more about this quilt:
Beginnings
Fabric Selection
Sudoku Quilt Group
Finished Quilt Top

Today's post brought to you by:

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol 19

2011-11-28T20:13:00.002-07:00

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. –Robert Brault

The Proof is in the Pudding
OK, not so much the pudding as the stuffing. And technically, it was dressing, since I didn't actually stuff it into the bird.

Mr. Bug's mom always makes home made stuffing and it is SO good. However, we spent Thanksgiving with my family, so for my contribution to the meal, I offered to make stuffing from scratch. I asked Mr. Bug's mom how she makes hers. She is one of those cooks who doesn't follow a recipe. She just throws stuff in a pot and it tastes good. Not me. I like to color inside the lines. And I like to have a definitive recipe to follow when I cook. Never-the-less, I decided to give it a try because if I succeeded my efforts would pay off and if not, we had some Stove Top to use as the back-up plan. I assembled my ingredients and started putting the recipe together.

Butter melted, check. Chopped onions and celery cooked until tender, check. Salt, pepper and sage, check. Two bags of dry bread, che . . . hey wait. There's not enough room in the pot. What do I do now? Stirring carefully isn't working. I'm just making a mess. Is there a bigger pot somewhere? Yes, that's what I need. A bigger pot. I'll move the stuffing to the bigger pot . . . uh, oh. Crap. I don't know how to cook on an electric stove and the stuffing at the bottom of the pan is burned. Dang. I hope I can get it all out. I'd better turn down the heat while it try to dig the burnt bits out.

It wasn't a complete disaster even though I burned the stuffing at the bottom of the pan a second time, while I was trying to dig out the bits from the first time. And I cheated and added two packages of Stove Top to the mix, just to get a better flavor. I wasn't sure that the sage was enough by itself. Everyone seemed to like it and there was plenty to go around despite the fact that I burned about a third of the recipe.

Still, next time I volunteer to bring the stuffing, I'm going to Google an actual recipe.

Another Toad Has Gone Missing
A while back, I mentioned that we keep fire-bellied toads in an aquarium. We started out with Henry who was the class pet in LadyBug's 1^st grade class and then we bought Henry a friend, who we named Violet. It turned out that Henry was really Violet and Violet was really Henry and then Henry mysteriously went missing. We supposed that he buried himself in the rocks and that was the end of him. I never found any remains, but I didn't go looking for them either. I disturbed the rocks as little as possible when I changed the water and cleaned the aquarium. When I finally did get brave enough to shift things around {like four months later} there was no sign of Henry anywhere. But we can't figure out how he might have escaped, either.

That's not to say it isn't possible because the other day Pants, the replacement we bought for Henry so Violet wouldn't be lonely, shimmied up the corner of the aquarium and had his nose poked out a teeny, tiny little notch in the hood meant for the cord of the filter. There are actually two such notches on the cover, but since we only have one filter, we only use one of them. I thought we'd taped over the other to prevent any more toads from going missing, but I guess we didn't, because Violet isn't anywhere to be found and I don't really have the heart to sift through the rocks in search of her.

I guess the question now is, do we get Pants a friend?

Poultry in Motion
I'm making table runners to give as Christmas gifts this year. I don't know who most of them will go to yet because we're going to play gift exchange games at most of the parties I'm taking them to. I have Kimono Garden all quilted and the binding just needs the hand stitching on it. I'll show it soon.

I've got two other runners put together, sandwiched and basted ready for quilting. I'm calling them Poultry in Motion. I can get away with calling them both the same thing because they'll be going to two different parties.

Before you think I'm all clever with the name for these, it is the name of the fabric line, but I thought it was pretty hilarious, so I kept it.

I love how these turned out. As I was putting them together, I pondered ways to quilt them. I'm excited to try a few new free-motion things. But at the same time, I still have that nervous what-if-I-mess-up feeling as I take the first stitch.

I am pretty encouraged at how quickly the tops have gone together so far. The quilting on Kimono Garden was pretty fussy, but even that went pretty fast, so I'm really hoping that I'll be ahead of the game instead of hand-stitching the binding down in the car on the way to the party.

Monday Music Spot: The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Michelle at The Gypsy Quilter shared some really great music recently and I have to pay it forward. Classical cellist, Yo-Yo Ma has teamed up with Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and Stuart Duncan to create The Goat Rodeo Sessions. It is a little bit bluegrass, a little bit classical and a whole lot of awesome. In this clip the four musicians talk a little bit about the album and there are snippets of a few songs.

I'm hoping that Santa puts an iTunes gift card in my stocking, because this has jumped to the top of my wish list. Here's another sampling {note: swear alert. Stop at time index 4:15 to avoid}. And for more, check out The Goat Rodeo Sessions Playlist on YouTube.

Sunday Sermons: In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T07:29:00.025-07:00

Let us give thanks for what we are and for the circumstances God has given us for our personal journey through mortality.

When we understand that God offers us opportunities for blessings and blesses us through our own adversities and the adversities of others, we can understand why he has commanded us again and again to, “thank the Lord thy God in all things.”
–Dahlin H. Oaks

Super { Service } Saturday

2011-11-26T08:41:00.081-07:00

Who was this Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? Who is the King of glory, this Lord of hosts? He is our Master. He is our Savior. He is the Son of God. He is the Author of our Salvation. He beckons, “Follow me.” He instructs, “Go, and do thou likewise.” He pleads, “Keep my commandments.” Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of GRATITUDE. –Thomas S Monson

We all know that women love to get together, especially when there is some sort of creativity going on. There is a kind of tradition that goes on among the women of my church where a large number of projects {along with instructors} are available for you to work on. It is a yearly event and if the project that you wanted to do wasn't there this year, it'll probably be there next year. We call this day Super Saturday.

This year, we decided that instead of making a bunch of stuff to bring home and wonder what to do with, we would donate our time, talents and materials to make something that would be helpful to those in need. There were several projects going on; through the combined effort of the women in my ward {congregation} we tied a quilt to be donated to a local shelter, put together hygiene and school kits to donate to shelters, made headbands, bows and covered notebooks to give kids in the foster care system, and decorated picture frames to be donated to care centers so the residents could keep a picture of their family nearby. The area I was over was the little sewing room, where we had eight machines plus a serger, cutting table and ironing boards. In there, we turned place mats into little tote bags to hold the school kits and we made pillowcases to donate to shelters, foster care and/or the children's ICU at local hospitals. I cut 27 pillowcase kits {all from donated fabric} and we were able to finish 15 of them; several women took the remaining 12 kits home to finish there.

I put these four pillowcases together. The pink one with frogs on the hem is flannel. It is SO soft!

These three have a theme going on. The two on the left are “Go USA,” and the one on the right is kind of “International” with Big Ben on the pillowcase and the names of lots of different countries on the hem.

Here are a few specifically for boys, and there are half-a-dozen other boyish kits out there to be assembled. The bear is a panel, just the right size to make into a pillowcase. It seemed like a really great idea at the time, but now I'm worried that it might give someone nightmares. The skulls are a little creepy too.

I love how these came out! The fabric for these three, along with six others pictured here, was sent to me by my sweet friend, Wanda. She was cleaning out her stash and sent me a bunch of really great fabrics. I've used lots of it for different projects and loved having so many fun choices to use in these pillowcases.

I think that these two are my favorite of the whole bunch. They are so bright and cheerful and I hope they'll make someone's day a little better.

These pillowcases are fast and easy to put together. I've written up a set of instructions, which you can access by clicking on the button below.

Or, you can go directly to the printable Fancy Pillowcase PDF.

This post brought to you by:

Favourite Things Friday: Classic Movies

2011-11-25T13:00:00.001-07:00

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. –Alfred Hitchcock

I've mentioned before that I have a fondness for going to the movies. I've also talked about how much I like musicals. Most musicals fall into the Classic movies category and that's what I want to talk about today. Classic movies. One of my favorite musicals from my insomniac-PBS-watching days is Bells Are Ringing with Judy Holliday and Dean Martin. This adorable switchboard operator at an answering service does more than just take and give messages. She is a counselor, a friend, a helper, a muse, a confidant to her clients. As she gets involved in the lives of these people, her world is turned upside down in a series of hilarious hijinks.

Another favorite {in the non-musical category} is Yours, Mine and Ours, staring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. The 2005 re-make with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo was fun, but the 1968 original is still my favorite. Jumping back to musicals, With Six You Get Eggroll and Pillow Talk are a couple of my favorite Doris Day movies. As a matter of fact we're crossing over a little bit into my love of Barbie, with the recently released Pillow Talk Giftset. Doris-Day-Barbie looks so beautiful in her white gown and Rock-Hudson-Ken is very debonair in his classic black suit.

Another great Doris Day movie is The Man Who Knew Too Much, co-starring Jimmy Stewart. This movie is kind of the trifecta of classic movies; Doris Day, Jimmy Stewart and Alfred Hitchcock. Over the years, I've watched most of the Jimmy Stewart movies, as well as most of Alfred Hitchcock's movies. In the category of “really great movies” {or any other category, for that matter}, I don't think that I could narrow it down to just one absolute favorite, but pretty high on the list of all-time greats is Rear Window, an Alfred Hitchcock production starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.

It is a psychological thriller, which I absolutely love. Movies that make you guess at motivations and put pieces together like a puzzle are absolutely the best, in my opinion. In another cross-over {this post is just full of them}, the Grace Kelly Barbie from Rear Window is amazing. She has such beautiful features, but how could she not considering the inspiration?

In 1998, a Rear Window remake for television came out, starring Christopher Reeve {another favorite; he will always be Superman in my book} and Daryl Hannah, which was pretty good right up until they changed the ending. And while clickety-clicking around the web for this post, I discovered that the 2007 film, Disturbia, starring Shia LeBeouf, was based on Rear Window, so now I'm interested to see how it stacks up.

Todays post brought to you by:

Hymn of Grateful Praise

2011-11-24T08:56:00.001-07:00

Do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love. –Thomas S. Monson, The Divine Gift of Gratitude, October 2010

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light,

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild,

Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise

I Must Ask . . . Grateful & Thankful Edition

2011-11-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Our society is afflicted by a spirit of thoughtless arrogance unbecoming those who have been so magnificently blessed. How grateful we should be for the bounties we enjoy. Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief....

"Where there is appreciation, there is courtesy, there is concern for the rights and property of others. Without appreciation, there is arrogance and evil.

"Where there is gratitude, there is humility, as opposed to pride." –Gordon B. Hinckley

About 10 seconds after I posted the last I Must Ask, I realized that I'd forgotten a VERY important category, as far as places to meet a spouse. Work. And so, for all those who were shafted in the voting, I'm going to post your comments.

Mommarock said, I met my hubby at WORK. We were in the military together way back then... 24 years ago. But work isn't a choice there. So no vote.

Too right you are. Sorry about that!

Marianne (aka, Ranger Anna) at Misadventures with Rangers shared this, I was working for the local Girl Scout Council, and my hubby was the Ranger/Manager at a park directly adjacent to one of our camps. I called him to arrange some type of event, and he mentioned, quite quickly that he was a single Dad of a Girl Scout. We dated for 4 years to be sure our little Girl Scout could handle another person sharing her Daddy with her. DH proposed by saying, "So. You wanna get married or what." A couple of days later he gave me a chain saw--which cuts a lot more stuff than a diamond, says he. Not to mention the family heirloom diamond he gave Darling Daughter's mom ended up cutting his face when she delivered a left hook while wearing it. I did get a diamond anniversary ring for both our 10^th and 20^th anniversaries. And his Mom thought the story about me not getting the ring sucked, so she told everyone that "when I go toes up, Marianne gets my ring." I wear her beautiful ring whenever I can.

I think he made a great choice when he picked you!

Pink at Pink Suede Shoe had this to say, I met my hubby at work. We worked opposite shifts, then I moved to Russia for a year and when I came home we were on the same shift. We started work at 5 am and spent a few hours talking everyday before the store opened. He got to hear all about my crazy Russian ex-fiance and I got to hear all about his crazy ex girlfriend. And a few weeks into it he asked me out. We went out after work every single day for a few weeks and it didn't take long before we knew we were supposed to stay together. We kept it a secret at work for months, because technically we weren't allowed to date co-workers. And then he got promoted to my supervisor and we knew we really had to keep it quiet. I didn't wear a ring to work until less than 30 days before the wedding, because that was my official window of time to find a new job. Luckily I was able to transfer to another store right after the wedding and we both got to keep our jobs. I later got promoted, transfered back to my original store where we met and took over his job. Anyway, I was shocked that he loved me when he saw me at my worst. Just reeling off of the Russia mafia ex-fiance experience, and lets be honest, no one is at their best at 5 am day after day. After the whole Mafia guy/ex-fiance I was ready to swear off men and dating forever. But despite my best efforts to ignore how he made me feel, I fell in love and we got married at the next semester break, just before Christmas. Which was a really convenient time to get married, and a terrible time for an anniversary.

Any man who can fall in love with you at 5:00 am is a keeper.

Cat e-mailed me directly and said, I went to do your poll again this week but you needed an extra option. I met my husband at work. We were on a workplace training program together that went for about a year. We didn't actually work together at the time - there are about 1600-2000 people working for my organisation, but once we were engaged we actually ended up working in the same team!

One more apology for forgetting that the majority of single adults spend about ⅓ of their lives at work! I know that this week, I'm bound to leave something off the list too, so make sure to leave a comment if you don't see what you're looking for.

Growing up, there was this little old man who attended the same ward {congregation} as we did. We called him The Grateful and Thankful Man because every time he was called on to offer a prayer, he had a long list of things he was grateful and thankful for. In our youthful ignorance, we failed to realize that this man was on the right track. After all, everything we have comes from God, so why not take a few minutes to be thankful for some of those things. Focusing on the positive in life changes perspective. As I prepare to stuff myself with turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing, here are a few things I've been reflecting on.

I am thankful for family; for goodly parents, for beautiful children and a kind spouse.
I am thankful for a listening ear.
I am thankful for friendship.
I am thankful for opportunities to serve.
I am thankful for modern medicine.
I am thankful for good books.
I am thankful for the beauty of this earth.
I am thankful for a roof over my head, gas in my car and money in the bank.
I am thankful for my talents.

I think that Thanksgiving is a really overlooked holiday. As soon as Halloween is over, it's all about Christmas because, I guess, you can't sell thankfulness at the store. But I really enjoy pausing for a few minutes to reflect on the blessings in my life. How about you? I must ask . . . what are you thankful for?

Breaking Dawn Charity Quilt

2011-11-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

You could run from someone you feared, you could try to fight someone you hated. All my reactions were geared toward those kinds of killers—the monsters, the enemies.

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give your beloved, how could you not give it?
–Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, page 1-2

I belong to a little on-line group called Twi-Quilters. We've been working on a quilt themed around the book Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer. Our quilt is finished and we are proud to bring you the Breaking Dawn Give-to-Win Charity Quilt fundraiser.

Last year, our Eclipse charity quilt raised $1,729.00 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. With your help, we hope to raise even more than last year.

This year, we have decided to pledge donations to two charities: Alex's Lemonade Stand and Childhelp. Our group members have donated all the fabrics and supplies, as well as our time, to create this quilt, which includes scenes from Breaking Dawn, as well as autographs from eight cast members, including Peter Facinelli, who plays Carlisle Cullen and is a spokesperson for ALSF, and BooBoo Stewart, who plays Seth Clearwater and is an ambassador for Childhelp.

For every $5 donation from you, which will be split evenly between the two charities, you’ll get one chance to win the quilt. So please give generously. Donations will be accepted through December 4, 2011 and the winner will be announced on December 7, 2011.

Read more about the individual blocks:

Alice: Vampire Bat in the Belfry by Colleen
Alice's Note by Nicole
The Amazon Coven by Nicole
Aro's Gift by Angie
Bella & Edward's Cottage by Beth
Bella & Edward's Wedding by Mel
Bella's First Hunt by Beth
Bella's Shield by Iris
Bella's Transformation by Jerri Lynn
Cast Member Autographs
Cravings by Angie
The Denali Coven by Joyce
Eggs by Kate
The Egyptian Coven by Nicole
Feathers by Cat
The Hybrids by Joyce
The Irish Coven by Jerri Lynn
Isle Esme by Cat
Jacob & Renesmee by Elizabeth
Jacob & Rosalie's Rivalry by Kate
Jason Scott, Attorney at Law by Wanda
Midnight Swim by Kate
The Nomads by Joyce
Renesmee by Joyce
The Romanian Coven by Joyce
The Wolf Packs by Elizabeth

For more information about the charities, click on the buttons below.

Nothing to Report

2011-11-21T22:19:00.002-07:00

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. –John E. Southard

Dear Readers {if there are any of you left},

I don't have anything note-worthy to report. This past week has been full of regular old life; homework and school projects and work and chores and a small amount of sewing and a tiny bit of recreation. I'm certain that you all would not want to hear about LadyBug's gigantic book report on Paul Bunyon. Really. It was as big as Miss LadyBug herself. And even though I enjoyed it, the re-telling of how I stitched on nine yards of bias binding would put most of you to sleep despite the fact that it was very cute and stripey {see the finished quilt here}. I'm bound by confidentiality agreements at work, so the only thing I can tell you about that is that I shaved 3 minutes off my commute by taking a back route rather than driving through town {but you're all really curious now about who I work for now, aren't you}. I'll show you some of the other projects I've finished in the next day or two, so that leaves me with an ever-so-slight amount of gloating to do because on Thursday evening I saw Breaking Dawn followed by dinner with Mr. Bug and was home and cozy in my PJ's two full hours before ticket-holders for the midnight show were starting previews. Gloating's not very pretty, though, so maybe I shouldn't do that either.

As I said, nothing to report.

xo -E

Various and Sundry Monday: Vol 18

2011-11-14T21:41:00.001-07:00

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs. –Joan Didion

Meet Stanley
I'm not sure if this spider, with its head-of-French-knots and button-bottom is whimsical or creepy. I mean, look at those legs and the bead-y orange eyes. This is the last piece of the hat portion of Zelda's Fancy Hat. I still have three brim pieces to do, but after I finished Stanley the Spider, it was time to put this project away for a bit.

Kimono Garden
The Christmas crafting has officially begun. I've got this table runner just about ready to baste and quilt. I'm going to make several different runners for various parties, and based on how quickly this one went together and barring any flare-ups of my chronic case of procrastination, I hope to be done with all handmade gifts with time to spare. Wish me luck.

100 Years and Still the Heartbeat of America
On November 3, Chevrolet celebrated its 100^th birthday! Here's a look back at the last century.

Thank You for Your Votes

Last weekend, I entered the weekly themed quilt contest over at Quilting Bloggers. The theme was Remembering Veterans and I submitted the t-shirt quilt I made for Mr. Bug, using his old t-shirts, sweatshirts and work shirts from the Navy. My mom informs me that my dad voted from every single IP address he could, and called all my siblings and told them to vote from their computers and smart phones. I know many of you voted, and left me really nice comments of encouragement. I finished in 4^th place, with 113 votes which is so amazing considering that the vote was split between 27 quilts. Thank you SO much to everyone who voted for me. I really appreciate it! It really made my weekend!

I Can't Help Myself
Part 1 of Breaking Dawn premiers at midnight on the 18^th. I, somehow, lucked out and have tickets for a pre-screening at 5:15 pm on the 17^th. I'm just a little excited. Here are a couple clips with scenes from the movie to help with the pre-wedding jitters.

Sabbath Songs: Because He Lives

2011-11-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men. –1 Nephi 19:9

A Quilt for Little Peanut

2011-11-12T14:13:00.001-07:00

Friendship is a sheltering tree. –Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I belong to a really fun on-line quilting group. Most of our group efforts have produced quilts about the Twilight series of books. But that's not all we love to quilt. In early 2010 we discovered that our cute little Mel was expecting, so we started planning a quilt for her new little one. While she was pregnant she called him, Little Peanut, so we decided on an elephant/peanut theme for the quilt. Nicole headed up this project, setting the layout, choosing fabrics for the border and sashing and assembling the blocks. She did a really fabulous job! Mel's sweet little baby boy was born on October 1, 2010. This post is long overdue, but I still wanted to share this fun group project.

Mel had this to say about the quilt, For my 29^th birthday, I received a totally wonderful and unexpected present. A quilt, handmade by my very special Twilight Quilters friends! It made my day to open up the package and find that beautiful quilt, made just for my little baby. Owen has loved his one-of-kind present from the start. (And let me share a little secret . . . I used it a few times myself! And it's really snuggly!!!) This is something I will treasure for the rest of my life, and I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful friends, even if they all live hundreds and hundreds of miles away from me.

For my part in the quilt, I did a few jungle trees. I used a rubber stamp as my 'pattern' for the trees. I stamped the image onto paper, scanned it, enlarged it and then also reversed it so that I had trees going in both directions. I did raw-edge appliqué using Heat 'n Bond and did a machine blanket stitch around the trees. Then I did a bit of messy free-motion stitching to add a few details to them. The background fabric was a FQ that Wanda sent to me for my birthday, and I thought it was perfect for the trees. These were a lot of fun to make.

Here's the Little Peanut, with his new quilt.

For photos and details about all the quilt blocks, visit the post at the Twi-Quilters blog.

Vote for Me, Please

2011-11-11T06:00:00.021-07:00

Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them. –Immanuel Kant

I entered this week's Themed Quilt Contest over at Quilting Bloggers. The theme is Remembering Veterans, and I thought Mr. Bug's t-shirt quilt fit perfectly into that category.

And now the shameless begging. There are 27 quilts featured this week. Hop on over, take a look, and vote for your favorite {please, please, pick mine!}. My quilt is called Service Rendered. Voting is open until 11:59 pm {EST} on November 13^th

Today's post brought to you by:

I Must Ask . . . How Did You Meet?

2011-11-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of. –Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 1670

Last week, we talked about anniversaries. I had you vote for the month you were married and then asked for engagement or wedding stories. March did not get any votes and September got the most votes. I'm guessing it is because both my parents and my sister voted . And the stories you shared were all really fun and since I can never pick a single favorite and it's my blog, I'm sharing them all.

First up, P. at The Way I Sew It had this to say: We had our (pausing to do the math) 28^th in June. A wedding story, huh? Well, we had a very small ceremony at the courthouse. The judge was in the middle of a trial, apparently for some sort of drinking offense, because there was a beer bottle on the counsel table when we entered the courtroom. Court had taken a recess so the judge could marry us at the appointed time. Oh, and nobody had thought to bring a camera (my dad just had his Instamatic which did not have a flash), so one of the ladies in the clerk's office who knew me ran across the street to the Sheriff's Dept. where her husband worked as a detective. She borrowed his Polaroid and came back and took a handful of the only photos we have of the ceremony!

P., you must scan and post your wedding photos. I'm dying to see, but I can probably wait until next June, when it would be most relevant for you to put up on your blog.

Next, is Rhonda from Quilt Nut Creations: I think I had those same glasses . We are celebrating 18 yrs this year; on December 18^th. The reaction we got from people planning a wedding the week before Christmas was priceless! But a wedding story? My brother was one of the groomsmen and he had been out goofing off the night before the wedding and ended up sleeping late. So he had to drive himself to the church. On his way, he decided to get a car wash and got his car stuck in the wash !!

LadyBug mentioned the glasses too, when she saw that photo. She asked me why they were so big . And only vaguely related to your car wash story but I'm telling it anyway because it's my blog, we borrowed a car from my parents to drive to the reception and left both our vehicles locked in their garage. While we were at the church, someone smeared liquid soap from the bathrooms all over the borrowed car and some sneaky soul let some hooligans brandishing Oreos and plastic wrap into the garage. We had to wash all three cars, but no one got stuck in the car wash.

Retired Dairy Queen shared this: We were married for 42 years last May. The wedding went beautifully, no funny stories there. We got engaged two years before. I actually asked him because I was allowed as it was a leap year, hence the girl can ask the guy. Thankfully he said Yes.

You are one brave soul! Wow! Thanks for sharing. That is amazing!

Angie at 5 Little Monkeys Quilting said: We were married for 3 years in August. You want a 'romantic' engagment story? We had been discussing getting married in October but I was never 'proposed to.' So one day I was sitting at work and the man called me and said, 'since your parents are coming to visit next week how about we get married then so they don't have to come back in a few months?' I said 'I tell you what . . . here is my dad's number, you give him a call and see what he thinks about that.' (At this point the man had never even spoken to my parents.) He says 'hang on, I'll call you back' and hangs up. He calls me back about 15 minutes later and says 'OK, let's do it.' I thought I was going to puke! And 2 weeks later we got married by a total stranger because we couldn't find anyone we knew to do it.

Wow. Pulling together a wedding in two weeks must have been crazy! I love it!

Mommarock had this to say: We have been married 23 years now, I have a funny story to share. DH and I got married in Sparks, NV. So it was just he and I. We walked out of the wedding chapel, and the first words he said to me as my loving husband were, "Well, let the nagging begin." A Clint Eastwood take.. Nag, Nag, Nag.. I just looked at him and said.. You, ***. You will never forget that those are your first words to me as my husband, because you just gave me permission to nag! I remind him frequently.

Ha, ha! The joke is on him!

From Shay at Quilting in my Pyjamas: Mr. P and I are completely insane because we got married New Year's Eve. That way the whole world celebrates our anniversary plus I got to say the day after our wedding that we got "married last year."

Mrs. P, you are one smart cookie! Getting married on the last day of the year counts on your taxes {at least it does here} as being married for the whole year. Plus, you can say every party you pass is in your honor. I will lift a glass {of ginger ale} to you every New Year's Eve from now on. Only I will have missed it because it will already be the New Year where you are. This time difference is killing me.

Jenna at JazznJenna Happily Ever After was also smart about planning her wedding on a day that everyone celebrates. We got married on Valentine's Day, 1998, 13 years ago. It was President's Day weekend, so the 3-day weekend was just right for our wedding in the middle of the semester. We took an extra 2 days off of school to have our little exotic honeymoon in Salt Lake City, an hour away from where we lived. It's fun that it's a day we never forget each year (I love how the stores and everyone all celebrate our anniversary along with us), but we often choose a different day to have our anniversary date so we don't have to fight the crowds.

Anyway, last of all I just want to throw in how VERY MUCH I love my husband! He is a very good man, and I am so lucky to have his love and devotion.

Thank you for sharing such a sweet sentiment!

So today, I want to talk about how we all met our sweethearts. I know it's been a long post already but, it's my blog so I'm sharing how I met my Mister. It was a blind date. Yep. A blind date. I swore I would never marry a blind date, but it was kind of kismet.

Before I tell you about the actual date, I have to start about 2½ years before that. When I was 21, I served a mission for the LDS church in Brasil. In preparation, I spent eight weeks learning the language {} at a church facility called the Missionary Training Center {MTC for short}. While I was there, I shared a dorm room with three other girls who were also going to Brasil. One of them told me she shelved books at the library for $10 an hour. That sounded like a great idea to me and I filed it away for later because I spent the next 16 months in Brasil on a volunteer basis.

When I got home, the first order of business was to get a job. I marched straight down to the Main branch of the county library system and filled out an application. I didn't hear back from them, so I got a job working in the Christmas shop at a department store. After a few months, a part-time department lead job in junior dresses opened up. I applied for and got that job. I was all settled in and cozy, working part-time and going to school full-time when the library called and offered me an interview. This was about five months after I had applied with them. They had two circulation desk {check in and check out} positions open; one at the branch less than a mile from home and one at the branch on the opposite end of the county. I nailed the interview and they gave me first choice of which branch I wanted to work at. Naturally, I chose the one closest to home.

Fast forward about 5 months. I took summer semester off, got a second job waiting tables and was completely over the college dating scene. I was happy being me, not interested in social events that involved men and finally had a handle on the courses I needed to take to get my bachelor's. It was then that a coworker suggested that I should meet her husband's brother. I agreed and we arranged a double-date, because, well, meeting new people wasn't completely out of the question.

Mr. Bug called me a few days before our appointed date-night. I remember him being easy to talk with. He was interested in me and my family and my jobs and school. We talked for about 30 minutes and I was pleasantly surprised.

The evening of our date arrived and we, along with my co-worker and her husband, Mr. Bug's brother, went to dinner at a little Italian place that I no longer remember the name of and which is no longer in business. I was nervous about ordering—about spending Mr. Bug's money. I didn't want him to spend a lot on a dinner for someone he may or may not ever see again and who may or may not eat all of it. He put me at ease, saying that he was going to order what sounded good to him and just enjoy it. We had a nice meal with polite conversation, after which, we went for a round of miniature golf. Throughout the evening, Mr. Bug was fairly reserved. I wondered how I was ever going to get to know him. And so I tried to push him into the little pond. It was a playful push, not hard enough for him to actually go in the water, but just hard enough to break the ice. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now that you know my story, I must ask . . . how did you meet your sweetheart? Vote for the option that most closely fits your situation and if you have a great story to share, leave it in the comments!

This & That Wednesday

2011-11-09T19:20:00.004-07:00

Darkness has a hunger that's insatiable and lightness has a call that's hard to hear. –Indigo Girls, Closer to Fine

Only 357 Days Until Halloween
I'm supposed to be working on Christmas gifts. I was really on a roll with my Twilight quilt {which interrupted work on my Halloween quilt}, but I put it away so that I could get my Christmas gifts done more than 15 minutes before we're supposed to leave for our parties. While I was organizing things, you know how you do when you change projects, I started winding some of the skeins of floss I'd bought onto bobbins. I've got all the colors of DMC floss now, but not all of them are on neatly labeled bobbins stored in containers. While I was doing that, I started to think about the 28 bobbins of floss I have separated out for Zelda's Fancy Hat, and kind of wanted to put them all back in their boxes so they'd be with their friends. But I can't do that until I finish using them. So, I started stitching.

I had two of the sections finished, the orange “lavender” and the lazy daisies. I finished three more sections for the hat and am working on the last section now, which fits down in the bottom right corner, making what you see into a triangle with a rounded bottom, that you roll to make a cone with. I really love to do hand work. There is something very soothing about the rhythm of it. The problem is, our first Christmas party is in 38 days. And I have a lot of sewing to do between now and then. So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put Zelda's Fancy Hat away for a while. And putting all those floss bobbins back in their boxes will have to wait too.

Gaga over Little Big Town
Recently {like yesterday}, I was introduced to a fantastic band called Little Big Town. They are mostly country, but also a little bit bluegrass, which is something I really love {see also, RSRB}. Their music is all about the harmonies, which they do beautifully. They have some really great original songs {see Kiss Goodbye and Bring It On Home}, but they've also done some really great covers. Their version of Born this Way by Lady Gaga is one part redneck, one part chutzpah and one part pure genius.

My Little Pony?
The latest movie in the Twilight franchise is only 9 days away. I've already got my ticket to see a pre-screening at 5:15 pm on the 17^th. Until then, I've staked out all the late-night {and daytime} talk shows so I can catch clips of the movie. It doesn't hurt that some of the actors turn up and say really hilarious {and sometimes really off-the-wall} things. This clip from Letterman last night {a huge thank-you to the media pirate who moves at the speed of light to get this up} has a clip of the honeymoon. I loved it!

Sabbath Songs: Hold to the Rod

2011-11-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God. –1 Nephi 11:25

I Must Ask . . . When Is Your Anniversary?

2011-11-03T19:46:00.000-06:00

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. –Paul Sweeney

Last week's topic was lots of fun. I enjoyed reading what you all had to say about your siblings, and I think I even replied to some of you this time. Angie's dad takes the prize for the most siblings — he has 21. I'll let you all ask her about that. And for those of you who don't have any brothers or sisters, I would have envied you when I was growing up .

What's on my mind today is anniversaries. In less than a week, Mr. Bug and I will have been married for 15 years. Anyone who has been married for more than 15 minutes knows that a lot of work went into those 15 years. I wrote about our engagement and a little bit about our wedding day last year, so if you want to read about one of my finest moments, follow the links. Today, I must ask . . . when is your anniversary? I turned it over in my mind quite a bit on how to do this. There's really no good {ie. concise} way to poll the days of the year and/or how many years you've been married so you'll have to tell me that in the comments. And if you have a funny/embarrassing/horrible/wonderful proposal or wedding story, make sure to leave it in the comments too and I'll share it next week. Today's poll is for which month you celebrate, so take a second to vote for the month of your anniversary.

And what's a post about wedding anniversaries, without a little nostalgia?

You're Never Too Old to Play Dress-Up

2011-11-02T22:06:00.001-06:00

There once was a sweet little maid, much beloved by everybody, but most of all by her grandmother, who never knew how to make enough of her. Once she sent her a little riding hood of red velvet, and as it was very becoming to her, and she never wore anything else, people called her Little Red Riding Hood.
–Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, page 140

It has been a busy last few days and this post is hardly relevant anymore. But this is the first second I've had to myself, so grab a piece of Halloween candy {if you still have any} and pretend this is two days ago.

I love Halloween. I love making costumes. And I love dressing up. But I have a serious procrastination problem, which presents itself the worst during the month of October. After my second or third year in a row of pulling an all-nighter to get costumes done, I made a “rule” that I was only going to make costumes every other year and my kids could wear something they already had on the in-between years. This year was an “off” year, but we all know rules are made to be broken. I decided that I needed a new costume. After all, I haven't had a new one since 2005. I think it was about then that I decided that I wanted to make a Little Red Riding Hood cape and this year seemed like the perfect year to do it.

10 days before Halloween, I went fabric shopping. I'd seen the perfect fabric at JoAnn's last year, and JoAnn's being what they are, I figured they'd still have it. But I guess their costuming fabrics are not like most of their other fabrics, in that they go out of print. Since I couldn't find what I wanted I decided not to make a costume. But 5 days later, when a costume contest was announced at work, it was back on. A tight deadline always makes things more exciting, right ?

{Back row, L to R: Mad Scientist, Luigi, Pioneer Woman, Dr. Who
Front row, L to R: Steam Punk Vampire, Little Red, Amelia Earhart, Space Cowboy, Nudist on Strike}

It surprised me how many people dressed up and how clever the costumes were! The Steam Punk Vampire, who got my vote, won the costume contest. Besides the costumes here, there was a soccer player, a “newsie,” a witch/Marilyn Manson/Severus Snape, a baseball coach, Sally {from Nightmare Before Christmas}, Strawberry Shortcake, a mobster and a mummy. The person who got my “most original” vote put on a yellow satin gown, some beads, a sweater, scarf, boots and gloves and said, “I was playing dress-up, but my mom made me go outside.” I'm thinking that is one you had to see and I'm wishing I'd have snapped her picture.

Besides all of the fun at work, I helped with Grass~~hopper~~-Potter's classroom party, made our traditional Halloween dinner, chili with breadsticks and Jell-O, and took the Little Bugs trick-or-treating. The weather was just beautiful for traipsing around the neighborhood demanding free candy with a thinly-veiled threat.

The batteries in my camera were dead first thing, and it was a busy, fun day. I finally managed to snap photos of LadyBug and Grasshopper in their costumes {I stuck with the wear-something-you-already-have “rule” for them} just before bed. The lighting isn't that great, but when it gets dark by 7:00 pm, you work with what you've got.

Officer LadyBug handcuffed me for making her eat chili for dinner and we haven't been able to find the key. It's made getting around interesting. And Grass-Potter still owes me a detention.

This post brought to you by:

I Must Ask . . . How Many Siblings Do You Have?

2011-10-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. –Erma Bombeck

I think last week's poll was really fun! I love that so many people voted this week. I've been watching all week and 2 and 4 kids were neck-and-neck, but at the very last second, 2 pulled ahead by a vote! It looks to me like more people have an even number of kids. Possibly because even numbers are more easily accommodated at amusement parks? Or maybe because then nobody is left out? I also noted that the higher the number, the fewer the votes there were. Only 1 person with seven children stopped by to vote {thanks, by the way!} and after that, zilch. It is probably because anyone with that number of children doesn't have any spare time to read blogs and vote in polls.

This week is a spin-off of last week. As a parent, you have somewhat of a say in how many children are in your family. As one of those children, you don't really have a say at all. And in both cases, you pretty much have to take it as is comes. I grew up in a family of six, the oldest of four girls and two boys. I loved having so many siblings. With the exception of my sister, who is 2½ years younger than I am, I remember waiting anxiously for the arrival of the next baby. It was always so exciting to find out if it was a boy or a girl and I loved going to the hospital to see mom and hold the new baby. I changed diapers for all but that same sister, who is just younger than me. In my early diaper-changing days, I nicked my brother, who is five years younger than me, with a safety pin trying to fasten his cloth diaper. And as the oldest, I babysat a lot. All six of us had to share bedrooms at one time or another. Sometimes there were three kids squished in a bedroom. I shared with my sister for a lot of years. She was messy and I was neat, which got on my nerves. I got on her nerves when I had hiccups that shook the bunkbeds while we were trying to go to sleep. We fought and we made up. We giggled and shared secrets and hated each other and were best friends.

I have two other sisters. One who is my twin-ten-years-younger, and another who is 13 years younger than I am. I mentioned the older of my two brothers already, and my youngest brother is 18½ years younger than I am, or in other words half my age. As adults, I have great relationships with all of them, and as crazy and hectic as it was {I escaped to the quiet of Grandma's house quite often} I loved growing up in a house full of brothers and sisters. And how about you? I must ask . . . how many siblings do you have?

Daisy Cottage

2011-10-26T23:05:00.000-06:00

It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home. –Unknown

I ♥ Lori Holt. Her appliqué quilt patterns are absolutely amazing. I'm {slowly} working on her Woman's Work quilt. Early this year, she designed the most adorable fabric line called Sew Cherry and nine patterns to go with it! I made these cute Hexie art journals with a bit of Sew Cherry.

Lori's at it again. She's got a new line of fabric called Daisy Cottage coming out in just a few weeks and she's been designing like crazy. I think she's come up with 10 patterns to compliment this line. Have a peek. You'll be absolutely amazed. Home Sweet Home, Ring Around the Rosy, and Daisychain are my top three picks.

To celebrate, she's giving away three fat-quarter bundles and three of her new patterns {details}. I'm crossing my fingers, because just look at this deliciousness.

Love & Hate Tuesday

2011-10-25T21:34:00.001-06:00

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
–Attr. John Watson

Love: blogging and reading blogs
Hate: that I don’t have more time to blog, read blogs, comment and reply to comments

Love: the beautiful the fall colors and the lovely weather
Hate: the shorter days and the fact that winter is right around the corner

Love: rainy days
Hate: days that just pretend they are going to rain

In reverse order:
Hate: migraines and the frequency with which I have been having them lately
Love: a little Ben & Jerry’s to help quell the pain

Love: keeping lists in little notebooks
Hate: losing a notebook

Love: weekends
Hate: the short duration

Love: the quiet after the kids have gone to bed
Hate: the 30 minutes immediately preceding bed-time

Love: staying up late
Hate: mornings

Love: sewing and quilting
Hate: frog stitching

Love & Hate format heisted from Heidi who 'jacked it from Janet.

Sudoku!

2011-10-24T09:23:00.000-06:00

If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is.
–John Louis von Neumann

Over the past five months, I've been teaching a quilting class for a few ladies who attend the same church as I do. Once a month, we get together and work on our Sudoku quilts. We're approaching the finish line, and I'm really excited about it. It has been so fun to see each of the quilts emerge. The fabric combinations these ladies picked are really amazing. I took my camera to class on Saturday, but my batteries were dead. The time before that, I forgot the memory card . I took pictures of my finished quilt top when I got home, and besides mine, there are four finished quilt tops and four quilt tops minus the borders. Next month, I'm going to make sure the memory card is in the camera and the batteries are charged the night before so I can show you all the fun we've been having.

I really like how this quilt came out. I pulled the fabrics for the nine patches and sashing from my stash and then bought the stripe for the borders, back and binding. It was a lot of fun to be able to put a quilt top together mostly from fabrics I have on hand.

I even got a bit of quilting time in. I'm a little rusty, but it was fun!

Here's my tag. I forgot to take a picture of it before I started quilting and there's not much left of it after I blanked out the confidential information. But you get the idea.

Sabbath Songs: Teach Me To Walk In the Light

2011-10-23T06:56:00.001-06:00

And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.

But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
–Mosiah 4: 14-15

My Twilight Quilt: Bella's Broken Heart

2011-10-22T18:31:00.000-06:00

How many ways can one heart be mangled and still be expected to keep beating? I’d lived through a lot that should have finished me in the last few days, but it didn’t make me feel strong. Instead, I felt horribly fragile, like one word could shatter me.
–Bella Swan, New Moon, page 495

It had not been Edward and Jacob that I'd been trying to force together, it was the two parts of myself, Edward's Bella and Jacob's Bella. But they could not exist together, and I never should have tried. –Bella Swan, Eclipse, page 608

This block is symbolic several different ways. In New Moon, Edward leaves Bella because he hopes that she will be better off without him and she completely falls apart. Jacob becomes her best friend and helps put back the pieces. In Eclipse, Bella has to choose between Jacob and Edward because she loves them both. The pattern is by Jennifer Ofenstein, a very talented and prolific pattern designer.

And, my quilt to date.

My Twilight Quilt: Earthbound Sun

2011-10-21T07:58:00.002-06:00

Jacob was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was. –Bella Swan, New Moon, page 145

When I decided to expand my layout for this quilt, I knew I wanted to include this block. I used the design I did for the New Moon charity quilt with the Twi-Quilters, but since I only had a 6" space to fill, I left off the soda cans.

I really like doing crazy-quilt patchwork. It is a lot of fun. I was very conservative with the thread colors I used in the first block. But this time, I went with a golden yellow for the stitching between the patchwork pieces. I really like how is emphasizes the crazy quilt aspect, but it made things difficult when it came to embroidering the little phrase from the book, like an earthbound sun. I had to go with a really deep golden floss for it to show, and even then the words kind of collide with the stitching.

I've mentioned before that I'm making two identical Twilight quilts. Up until now, I've never bothered to photograph the twin blocks, because they are identical. You've seen one, you've seen them both. But Jacob's suns turned out differently because I didn't use a pattern to do the patchwork. So, I thought I'd show you a few sets of my twin blocks, just so you know that really am making two quilts.

LadyBug saw both clock tower blocks on my table and asked, why are you making two clock towers? I told her it is because I am making two quilts. Her reply? Well, that's just crazy. She might be right. It took two weeks to finish these and I'd estimate that each block took about 20 hours.

Two of the little diamond heart Edward gave to Bella.

Two La Push First Beach blocks.

OK. I can see some of you are going to sleep. I won't bore you with photos of the sets of all blocks for both quilts. But trust me when I say there are two of every. single. one.

Now, for my favorite part, the layout with one less empty space.

I Must Ask . . . How Many Children Do You Have?

2011-10-20T20:43:00.000-06:00

A characteristic of the normal child is he doesn't act that way very often. –Unknown

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity about how many e-mails you all have. 35% had 800 or more and 23% had 10 or less. Combining the totals, the majority of you have 50 or fewer e-mails. And, although I can't be 100% positive, it looks to me like you're either a keeper or not.

Today, we're talking numbers again. I want to know about your families. I am the oldest of six kids. Growing up with that many brothers and sisters was pretty awesome. It was sometimes a little crazy and sometimes we had to make do. But mostly it was great. Mr. Bug is the oldest of eight brothers and sisters. We're kind of big on families in Utah. I have a neighbor who has ten kids. Ten clean-cut, well-mannered, helpful, kind and cheerful children. I'm wondering if I can get adopted into their family. I always thought I would have lots of kids too. But we just have two, LadyBug and Grasshopper. And I love our family. I think we're just the right size for who we are.

This week, Grasshopper turned twelve. LadyBug will be ten on her next birthday. I'm going to have to quit calling them the Little Bugs, because they're not so little anymore. But the Medium-Size Bugs just doesn't have the same ring to it. Twelve is kind of a big deal. We've been partying all week long and we're going to keep partying for a while longer. We're taking a few of Grasshopper's friends for laser tag and pizza on Saturday and then next weekend, we've invited the Grandparents and a few cousins over for lunch on Sunday. It is fun to celebrate special milestones with my children as they grow. And I would love to hear about your families. Today, I must ask . . . how many kids do you have?