Whispers in the Wind

“Whispers in the Wind” is an inspiring concept that brings peace and comfort to me, just by saying the words out loud. When I read more about The Prayer Flag Project, I knew immediately I would have to create one, or two, or many.

It came about when I received an email from Quilting Daily yesterday and the subject line read: With a Wish and a Prayer. I was intrigued. Then what I discovered, I knew I wanted to share with you. Maybe you’re like me and late to the party!

Vivika Hansen DeNegre started The Prayer Flag Project back in 2011. I found her on Facebook and liked her “Vivika Hansen DeNegre Art Quilts” page for additional inspiration!

Oh, then I went to Pinterest and searched “Prayer Flag Project”! Of course I did! Such creative people in this world! I did a screen shot from the Pinterest search, just to give an example!

Now back to her blog… a sampling of her words that touched my heart and spirit:

…it is believed that the prayers on the flags are lifted to God and spread throughout the universe as they flutter in the wind. Everyone who is touched by that wind, is touched by the prayers. The wind spreads the prayers through the world, extending happiness, good will, and peace.

Realistically I will not make one a day, but I can make some. Until then, and beyond, now each time I feel the wind on my face, I will be absorbing the prayer from a Prayer Flag someone, somewhere in this world, has made. Because, now I know about the whispers in the wind!

Block of the Month (BOM)

A while back, I had a wild notion to create a Block of the Month Mystery series for the closed Facebook Group, Lone Star of Texas Quilts for Others. That notion passed. I realized it’s like reinventing the wheel with so many fabulous already established BOMs available! Some charge a fee to have access to the block patterns. Really?

Just this morning, I haven’t a clue how I stumbled across, but I discovered two free BOMs! Because they basically just started, I’m not that late to the party! I’m excited about them and wanted to share with you! Once I post this, I’m gathering my fabric together and will catch up!

Note: I’m not using their recommended fabrics, but what I already have on hand. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with Moda fabrics! Fabulous quality! But, I have so much fabric already I need to use before buying more!
 I did download the supply list so I can know the color values (lights mediums darks) and how much of what in yardage I will need.

My Secret Garden by Pat Sloan – finished size 68” x 86”

This is our go-to page on Free Quilt Patterns

The Splendid Sampler by Jane Davidson & Pat Sloan

This one just started 2/14 and currently shows 2 blocks available, out of 100!

I’m not sure what the overall finished size will be on this one.

Our go-to page is here.

Needless to say ~ 100 blocks ~ The Splendid Sampler will not be the usual “Block of the Month” experience!!! But, what a wonderful way to cover all the possibilities found in creating a quilt top!

Will you join me?

Quilts for Furry Friends

It’s so hard for me to throw away any fabric scraps. It must be itty bitty before it finds its way into the trash can. Even then, I want to save, and use it to stuff something, or tie it onto a heart-shaped coat hanger! While watching television at night, I’m working on a wall hanging for my new sewing room!

Each project I do, I know I’ll have fabric left over. Trust Me: It’s much better than running out of fabric before the end of a project! Anyway ~

What to do with what’s leftover? It is usually not big enough to make much of anything else so it goes in the box of scraps. (I had to laugh after re-reading that last sentence… as if I only have one box of scraps!) I’m constantly looking for small, worthwhile, projects to do.

Then I saw this post yesterday in a (UK based) Facebook group that I’m part of, “Helping Hands –stitching and sewing for good causes”:

For any USA members, make kennel quilts for local shelter and get the chance to win this cute machine .. sad I can't enter
https://berninaquiltsforfurryfriends.com/

Yes! I went to the link (I hope you do as well!) and read everything about the project! I “liked” the Bernina Facebook page and read more…

BERNINA is helping by donating to the Petfinder Foundation and The Quilt Pattern Magazine's Kennel Quilt Team. Click here to learn more.

I “liked” the TQPM Small Kennel Quilts Facebook page. And, of course, the Petfinder Foundation page. The Quilt Pattern Magazine is another page I clicked to “like”!

You can find the official rules for entering the contest here.

You can find the kennel quilt guidelines here! Lots of patterns available!

It is not about a chance of wining a Bernina 350, although I’m sure I could find a wonderful use for it! It’s helping the animals awaiting their forever home!

I am the only entry – so far! Check it out! Then, vote daily beginning 03/01/2016 through 03/15/2016!!!

Don’t worry, I’ll remind everyone!

Be sure to let me/us know if you also create one and enter the contest!

Wearing a Hearing Aid Does Not Mean…

After living 50+ years with hearing issues, and the “good” ear declining rapidly the last five years, our health insurance finally paid off and I was able to get a hearing aid. I’ve had it now since June 2015. However, let me explain, wearing a hearing aid does not mean I hear 100%. Given the left ear is basically dead in the water, the hearing aid only services 50% of my hearing in the first place! THEN, when my back is to you, and your back is to me, and you start talking, PLEASE excuse me if I ask you to repeat!

Even if we’re both facing one another,

When I ask, “What did you say?”

Please, do not ask, “Do you have your ear in?”

Wearing a hearing aid does not mean one can hear perfectly.

For me, it has been a life changing event.

I’m still working on learning how to hear.

Sometimes it makes me so nervous because I want to hear perfectly… especially when I’m in a room with poor acoustics like a few weeks ago…

I gave a presentation ~ History of Quilting ~ before a group of ladies. It was in a large high ceiling carpeted room. Once my part of the presentation was over, it was a show and tell time. The ladies would tell the story about the quilt they brought, as Jeanie and I held it up for all to see. I was standing on the stage, Jeanie on the floor level. I would hear someone talking, but I, for the longest time, couldn’t tell where it was coming from, who was sharing their story!

It’s me, too, learning what wearing a hearing does not mean…

I’m trying…

When One Door Closes...

I believe it’s safe to say we’ve all heard ~ at one time or another ~ Alexander Graham Bell’s famous quote:

Three years ago today, my sweet Daddy left this earth. Yes. I do ~ still ~ “look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door…” because I miss my daddy with every fiber of my being. I know I’ll see him again, play dominoes with him again, someday. This assurance feels me with peace.

It’s a shame that in this harsh world, we must have a “house sitter” while family is gone, either during the wake at the funeral home, or at the cemetery burying a loved one. The lowest of the lows, sick deprived people, search the obits for the “perfect” empty house to hit.

So, while making all the funeral arrangements, we thought, who could we call upon? (Not realizing we would get multiple offers from friends to fill this need for us!!!!)

I called upon a friend of mine, Donna, to stay at the house during the funeral.

Again, thank you, Donna.

My sister called a friend of hers for the wake…

My sister (five years older than me) and I grew up living in the same house/neighborhood all of our lives (she was two or three when Momma & Daddy bought the house). A LOT of folks are still in our life that also grew up in this neighborhood. Although most have moved away, our “Oak Cliff” roots remain.

Why my sister thought of calling upon Jeanie (they are the same age), I’m not sure. They hadn’t seen or spoken to one another in over twenty years, but she knew she lived close to Momma’s. She knew ~ if it was at all possible ~ Jeanie would be there.

And, she was.

Again, thank you, Jeanie!

Another story of sisters…

Jeanie and her little sister, Jane, (a year younger than me), grew up several streets over from us.

We all went through elementary, junior high, and high school together. And, we experienced the newly opened Six Flags over Texas together ~ yes, that long ago! For a little while, in the late ‘70’s, Jane and I even worked on the same floor in the federal building! And then, Jane and I lost contact. We have since reconnected through Facebook!

For me and my sister, we knew immediately this new opened door meant reconnecting. Because of our closed door, we went through the opened door…

The four sister’s next stop together, El Fenix!

When Sisters Work Together

I have a story I want to share…

A lady came into Thomas Sewing Center, a place where my sister works part time. This lady told my sister about her sister who had breast cancer and is not doing well at all and asked if my sister would make her sister a pillow. Without catching her name or telephone number, or her sister’s name, my sister created the pillow immediately, and took it back up to the store. It was a good while before the lady came back in to pick it up. When she did, she brought in two pieces of fabric ~ although Thomas’s has lovely fine high quality fabrics ~ she purchased her fabric elsewhere! She asked if my sister would make her sister a quilt. My sister then found out her name ~ Brenda ~ but not her sister’s name.

My sister assured her it would get done for her sister.

My sister called me.

She told me the story and asked if I would make it.

Of course, I told my sister.

While in town last week, my sister gave me the fabric…

One piece was 1.5 yards and the other piece was 2 yards.

They didn’t match.

When Mother & I went to Thomas’s to shop for a new sewing machine, I gave momma the mission to find three pieces of fabric that would match nicely with the 1.5 yard piece – a light, a medium, and a dark. I had already decided to use the 2 yard piece Brenda provided as its backing.

Momma did a great job!

I had an idea how I wanted to make the quilt, but it changed after looking through Nancy’s Notions most recent catalog! It was there I saw this quilt kit:

Then I brought out the graph paper and coloring pencils and modified the pattern to fit my colors:

When I got back from the Dallas trip, I put the sewing table together, then figured out how to operate the new Janome 8900, with my sister’s help via telephone!

This “A Sister’s Quilt” is the first project done on the new machine!

It goes into the quilting frame today! I need to get it done and in the mail back to my sister as soon as possible. My sister will then get it to Brenda’s sister…

We are sisters working together...

Gathering Ideas for Dedicated Sewing Room

While browsing the internet for sewing room organization tips and hacks, I found something Karen, over at Sew Many Ways, wrote: “Look at something not for what it was MADE for...but what it could be USED for.”

I totally agree!

Throughout her blog, she has many examples how to use items unconventionally. I landed this idea, use a mug tree to hang scissors! I absolutely love this because it keeps them together, and uses little surface space! This is a doable!

Oh. My. Goodness. Her post, Sewing/Craft Room Ideas and Updates, is packed full of great ideas! I highly recommend her blog!

By the way, she shares tips for other rooms, and closets, as well!

Although her space is much much larger than I only have in my dreams, many suggestions she offers I can/will incorporate into mine!

Oh… I hope I can find my cheese board…I certainly don’t use it for cheese any longer!

            You ask, Why?  Check out her oversized button wall decoration! See what I mean? Such cleverness! I just love (and appreciate) people who are so creative, then share their ideas. What a blessing!

I just love what/how Karen used a folded ruler… I know Momma used to have one that was her dad’s… I hope I can find it and she’ll let me have it!

I could spend HOURS going through her blog!

And, while watching HGTV “Fixer Upper” when visiting with Momma this past week (we don’t have fancy tv here at the ranch), I fell in love with a craft table Joanna had made for a client. I copied the picture and emailed it home, to Bud… hoping he’ll make it for me someday!

Another find, found on Positively Splendid, and one that he hasn’t yet seen (I don’t want to shock him into total shut down!) is the perfect cabinet to hold my embroidery machine and serger! I know he can make this beautifully and it would be a treasure!

Okay… back to surfing the net for ideas! I hope everyone has a blessed day!

It’s the Game Plan Anyway

When the light bulb goes off in my head, I get beside myself with excitement! However, it’s hard to wait for the actual implementation! I know it won’t happen anytime soon, but God willing it will happen in 2016! It may not be as exciting to you… but… I wanted to share…

I will have a dedicated sewing/quilting space!

We are turning a small bedroom into a room that I can walk out of, shut the door, and not have to move/rearrange anything on a daily basis when it’s winter time or summer time or totally remove things when overnight company visits! Praise the Lord!

I know it’s much larger than what some people manage with and I know I am blessed.

My mother has drawn to scale where I can put everything… including the longarm quilting frame!!!! Then we’ll get our living room back! Double plus!

I’m spending the time until it actually happens: 

• Gathering storage/decorating ideas
• Working through my stash of fabric

Speaking of my stash…

Going to push away from the computer and start continue working on it!

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Daily Journal - I did it!

What do you do on this final day of the year? I try not to reflect too much. I would rather focus on the now and what tomorrow may bring. Sometimes, however, I can’t help myself.

I began a daily journal on December 8, 2014. And ~ wait for it ~ I have actually maintained it to this day! It’s not a “diary” like I had when I was young. No “feelings” are included – usually! I learned that lesson the hard way!

It is interesting to glance/read back over, to refresh my memory as to what I did throughout the year. Especially since I keep it on my computer in MSWord, I can easily do a “find” for key words.

For example, over the year, I wrote some form of the word “quilt” 342 times!

Okay, I counted the phrase “quilt quilted” as two “quilt” …

And, certainly Action Quilt (aka Fidget Quilt) also counted. Sometimes they take almost as much time as creating a lap size quilt top!

Anyway…

I’ve tried for years to maintain a daily journal. I’m excited I made it this year! I plan on continuing, especially now that I see the benefits of it helping me to remember what I’ve done. It’s like writing a story of my life. And, the older I get, the more help remembering I need!

For example, I'll share what I posted for yesterday:

Although I don't specifically share my "feelings"
- if you know me, a couple of entries reveal volumes!

Whether using the old fashion way with pen/paper, or computerized, I highly recommend keeping a daily journal! What you include, how detailed, or whether or not you include “feelings” is totally up to you. It’s a great habit to form. Yes. It is a habit, a good one!

I’ve read there are health benefits, when “feelings” are included. Maybe in 2016 I’ll journal more about this roller coaster called life!

For now, I’ll get back to the sewing room and finish a quilt top started a couple of days ago!

I pray 2016 brings you Peace and Joy.

Life with a 16 year old

Various websites state a Doberman has a life expectancy of 10-12 years. Some mention up to 13 years. We have a miracle living with us!

Born July 2, 1999, Beth is 16, almost 16 1/2 years old! Each day is a blessing.

Every night, I give Beth an extra bit of loving while telling her, “Thank you for one more day.” Each morning we have, I ask her for a sweet kiss and she complies. It’s a fabulous way to start the day!

I give continuous thanks to God for our time together.

There are lifestyle changes, and sacrifices. It’s simply what you do when you are loving stewards of God’s gift.

Yes. There are senior issues to deal with on a daily basis. I’ve always heard for every year of a dog’s life (large breed) is 7 to people. That makes Beth 112 years old! Who would have thought! Certainly there will be issues… just clean it up and continue on with life!

Made it to Vet's and back (50 mile round trip)!

The hardest sacrifice we’ve made, since May of 2014, she’s not been able to ride in the truck for any length of time…

That means – she cannot make the three hour trip to Dallas.

That means – one of us stays home while the other goes and visits with family.

That means – one of us misses out on family celebrations such as birthdays, Christmas.

That means – we deal with it.  

I will give her kisses

And, live with knowing at any minute our time together will end.

My heart will never be ready.

UPDATE: It's hard to even write the words, but we had to help Beth cross the Rainbow Bridge on March 5, 2016 at 4:10 p.m.. Although not on this earth, she will be forever in our hearts.