October UFO Finished

As you may recall, my quilt group, peace by piece, is having a monthly UFO challenge.  The random number drawn was #1.  So, I had to complete the piecing on my "Happy" charms quilt.

I had two of these charm packs, Happy by Me & My Sister for Moda Fabrics.  I love Me and My Sister and MODA fabrics.  LOVE THEM!!!!!!

I had seen Missouri Star Quilt Company's Disappearing Nine Patch Tutorial and decided I would give it a try with these charms.  I really wanted to add a solid to each of the nine patch centers so that I would have the smallest squares all the same, I just wasn't sure what color to use.

Then I suddenly remembered the beautiful bundle of hand dyed fat eighths I got a while back from Dye Candy.  The oranges and yellows worked perfect and I had some great yellow solid left over from a different project.  I think it turned out great!

I used two charm packs plus the solid squares in the middle.  I ended up with 10 nine patches so I still have one extra nine patch that I will either put on the back or make into a pillow.



The quilt measures 42 in x 42 in.



The sun was going down behind the quilt and makes it kind of look like stained glass.



Zachary flew past on his broom stick while I was taking this picture.

  Happy Halloween!

Dream a Little Dream With Me...

I have the strangest dreams.  I'm serious, wacky, wacky, dreams.  I think Dream interpreters would have a field day playing around in my head.

When I was pregnant with my kids the dreams got wackier and wackier.  As a matter of fact... the dreams where usually my first indication that I might be pregnant.  But, before your imagination gets carried away, I'm not pregnant!

Two weeks ago I had such a vivid and interesting dream that it has stuck with me.  I am toying around with the idea of writing a children's book based on the dream.  Not to give too much away but it involved Beluga Whales and a great adventure.  I'll keep you posted on those developments.

The dream I had last night has kept me chuckling all day!  I don't even think ya need to look hard for the hidden meaning in this one!

I was driving my car on way to work.  There are often deer on my route to work so I have to be vigilant when I drive.  I was driving along, listening to music, enjoying the beautiful sunrise, when suddenly a massive math equation jumped right in front of me. 

I'm not kidding when I tell you it nearly gave me a heart attach.  I literally leaped right out of my bed.  It was 4:27 am and I still had an hour before my alarm would go off but I was so terrified that I couldn't get back to sleep.

Yep!!!!! I hate math.

Sweet Dreams all!

Another Finish

I finally finished the Race Toward the Future quilt.  It was a graduation gift for my daughters good friend.  She loved it.  She was so cute.  I missed the best picture but I still got a good one.


The quilt really isn't as wonky as it looks in this picture.  I'm not sure what happened.





Happy Girl!

I literally finished the binding four minutes before she arrived.  Talk about cutting it close.  Yikes.

I'm posting over at Fabric Tuesday!  Click on the button in the right sidebar to see the amazing fabric projects these bloggers make.

Adversity

Adversities... We all have them.  We all face them.  We watch helplessly as loved ones struggle through them.  Some are small, some overpowering.  Some are very public, visible, and noticeable.  Some are very private, personal, unseen and unknown by others.

I often wish I didn't have to face adversity.  More often I wish those that I love didn't have to face adversity.  As a wife and mother it breaks my heart to watch my husband and children struggle through some pretty difficult things. 

I'm a fixer. I always want to fix the things that are broken, or causing my loved ones pain. It is very difficult for me to acknowledge that there are many, many things that I cannot fix. However, I know that, through our faith, our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ can fix all things.

During the last General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Elder Richard G. Scott shared an amazing message called, The Power of Scripture.  While listening to his message I was reminded that I need to turn more to my Father in Heaven when things are tough.  I was reminded that I need to search the scriptures for the answers I seek and the comfort I need.  Elder Scott said;

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high... Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one’s ability to overcome the challenges of life. They have potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior."

While I have watched the deep and difficult struggles of my beloved husband, I have often asked, "Lord, where is thy hiding place?"  As I turned to the scriptures for answers the following passage penetrated my heart and calmed my agitated soul. 

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."  Mosiah 4:9

I know that the Lord loves us and that He knows all things and that my knowledge is limited.  I know that Jesus Christ overcame all.

Adversity is necessary for our growth and with the Lord's help we can overcome.

Thomas Paine once said, “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly;”

Last Goodie! or Yeah Me!

I am so excited!  When I got home this evening there was a package in the mail for me, all the way from Canada!  I got my second Goodie Swap package today, Yeah me!!!!!! 

Leslie from Lesquilts sent me this beautiful package!  Leslie made me this beautiful mug rug!  I love batiks.  I wish the picture was better so you can see how lovely the colors are.  And check out that beautiful fussy cut butterfly.

She included this lovely sewing roll.  It is so very cute, it even has a wee (as my British friends would say) pin cushion/needle holder in one of the pockets.  She even sent me a lovely little wool pin cushion.  Seriously, so cute!

She wrapped the whole thing up in a beautiful fat quarter!

Thank you so much Leslie!  I love everything!

What a week...

I know it's been a little while, but man, it's been a crazy week or so.

At the end of last week CJ finished all of his antibiotic infusions!  YAHHHHHH!!!  I can't even tell you how excited we all were, especially CJ, to be done with that!  I cannot say enough about how wonderful the staff at the hospital were.  After 28 infusions we had gotten to know the nurses and paramedics really well.  They are seriously the best!  They even let CJ take a look at the ambulance.  He was pretty excited! 



Is that one happy kid or what?

On a side note:  I really need to learn how to make a photo mosaic/collage.  I'm just sayin'.

On Friday I tried to make a Hot Air Balloon wall hanging. This stupid thing was harder than I expected it to be.  We all decided the red strip in the middle is way to distracting, and the brown basket just didn't seem to work at all. Zachary thought it looked like the Hindenburg.  Since the Hindenburg caught fire and crashed, resulting in the now infamous..."Ohhhh the humanity" this project is definitely a bust.
Last weekend my family and I, along with the countless others, had the opportunity to watch, listen, and/or read the October General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Twice a year, April and October, the church holds a world wide General Conference.  Speakers are chosen from the leaders of the church.  It is a wonderful experience.  I love to hear from men and women who are so strong in the faith and sacrifice so much for the Lord.  I love to hear from the Apostles and especially the Prophet.  So many wonderful and amazing messages that help me to feel energized, refocused, and ready to try a little harder. 

President Thomas S. Monson

I also got a job, well, a contract position.  I will be working three days a week, about 80 minutes from home.  It isn't the ideal situation but it is a good compromise from the other possibilities.  I'm home every night and able to help out as much as possible.  The schedule is a little flexible so I can make adjustments for Craig's doctor's appointments and the like.  It should be interesting but it is going to mean I won't be quilting or blogging as much as I would like.  But I am home at night and it's only three days a week.

To make up for lost time during the week I sewed my little heart out today.

I finished the top from the paper piecing class.  I still need to quilt and bind it but the top is finished.



The binding will be the dark purple in the little stars.  But I love the pink so much I'm almost sorry I didn't go with the pink.  The colors are really beautiful.  I wish I had a better camara so you could see it.

 I started working on an Advent Calendar.  I found the tutorial for the project here.  The top is almost finished, I just need to make the applique numbers for each day.  This was super easy and I think it turned out really cute.  The flying geese are pockets so you can add whatever little thing you want for your daily surprise.  I'm going to have a little gift and a little spiritual activity for the family.  I'm really hoping it will help our family to remember Jesus Christ throughout the month of December.

We had the drawing for the October UFO project.  They drew #1, so my UFO project for October is...

"Happy Charm Quilt"  The top has to be completed by our next meeting which is the first Thursday in November.  :)

I was actually kind of productive today!  Go Me!

This time last year...

This time last year things were crazy.  Craig and the kids had already moved to Iowa and were trying to settle in our new house while I was Missouri getting things finalized there for the big move north.

A year ago today I left my job at Callaway Nuclear Power Plant.  I was horribly sad, and more than a few tears were shed.  I fully expected to be there next month to help with their outage, but circumstances with my families health and well being are keeping me away this year, again more tears being shed.   I truly miss my friends and the work that I did there.  They are amazing people and I they were a huge part of my life for more than 5 years.  I couldn't have asked for better co-workers and friends.

On a happier note... Today is my Mother In-Law's birthday!  

Last year our gift to DiAnn didn't go quite as planned.

As all of our family lives in Utah, I often send gifts from Amazon.com.  Seriously, I love Amazon, I could write and entire post on how much I love Amazon.com.  But I regress... I like to send gifts from Amazon because I am a prime member so I get two day shipping free, and since they gift wrap for a pretty reasonable rate I usually end up saving money.  So, it was to Amazon I turned once again to get DiAnn's gift.  That's when all the trouble began.

Well actually... not all the trouble.  First of all, DiAnn and Craig's brother Matt have birthdays that are just one day apart.  One on Sept. 30th, one on Oct. 1st.  I often forget who's birthday is when.  And did I mention things were a little crazy this time last year?

So, I got online and decided I would see if I could find DiAnn a lovely piece of jewelry with her birthstone.  So I did a quick search and found a lovely little ring.  Now, sometimes I have found that if I don't put something I like in my cart I won't find it again.  So I put the little ring in my cart.  I called Craig to let him know what I found and he was worried about the size.  AHHH good point, I have no idea if it will fit.  So I kept looking and found a beautiful bracelet that I thought she would love.  All was settled!  I chose gift wrapping and sent it on it's way.  Expected delivery date Sept. 29th. 

Sure enough, on Sept. 29th the package was delivered... right to MY front door.  WHAT?  Plus there were two lovely packages in the box.  TWO? WHAT?  The ring!  I had forgotten to take the ring off the cart.  See, Amazon has this one click ship button.  It uses all your default settings and one click and your done.  I was a little stressed out and distracted so I wasn't really thinking it through when I used the one click button.  OOOOPPPSSS!

I decided to keep the ring, maybe it could be a Christmas gift if I could find out if it was the right size and sent the bracelet.  It would be a little late but that's OK right.

Imagine my extreme embarrassment when I realized later that her birthday is September 30th not October 1st, which is what I was thinking when I bought Opals.  :)  It sure is a good thing we can laugh about it now, and I was right.  She loved the bracelet.

Happy Birthday DiAnn!  We love you!