Secret Santa Surprise and Let it Snow!!

As you know, I signed up for a the Secret Santa Soiree hosted by the Coloradolady. It was my first year participating, and again, I had so much fun planning, however, I am so excited at what came in my mailbox for me!! My precious Secret Santa, unknown to me at this time, send me some goodies that just blew me out of the snow bank!! She hit me right on! I love it all!!

                                       This is how pretty everything was wrapped when it came.

She sent me some Chai Tea Mix. Now, how did she know I love that stuff? Also some wonderful popcorn. There is a beautiful garland I am hanging in the doorway between the family and living room. It needed some holiday cheer. My husband stuck my garlands outside! :) There is also a wonderful sleeve to keep my fingers from getting charred with my coffee travel mug, but I have to say, the hat, I am completely crazy about!! I LOVE wearing it!! I feel like I have never been able to find a style that compliments me in it, but this hat did the trick!! Even my daughter loved it on me!! I even wore it today to work in the cold snow! Thank you Secret Pal!!!

Got to love the gummie bears!! These are the best!! Every year we add a new ornament to our tree, as you can see, my SS sent me a precious heart. Thank You for the new addition, I hadn't gotten our annual addition yet, but you filled that spot and will always be a memory for me! Being the quilting addict I am, there are some lovely fat quarters from Mama said Sew from Moda . I love this line and the wonderful colors and patterns. Thank you again. You made this Christmas so special. The thought you put into it touches me.

We had the biggest snow fall we have had in 2 years!! At first they told us an inch or so, then 2 to 5 inches, well, we ended up with 14 inches out here!! The snow got really heavy and it got real dark and I can't believe it! Celia was supposed to be in a few UWEC Choir Concerts yesterday, she came home after working in Durand Saturday. Saturday night we had clear skies, bright stars and Christmas lights were set up outside by my DH and myself. It was such a nice crisp night, we had such fun!  Well in the morning, we woke up to snow and how fun it is! No fun to drive in though, Celia just left today.  

These are the views outside my back door. These pics were taken before the real heavy stuff kicked in, there was about 7 inches at this point. Today the roads remain very slippery, but it does feel like Christmas! I am truly in the Christmas spirit. Now, to tackle some of that shopping!

Secret Santa Deadline today and some creativity!

    Today is the POST by date for the Secret Santa Soiree that I signed up for last month. I won't say what day I posted my package out to my Secret Pal, but I will say that I did make the deadline! I will also say I was a bit of a sneak, but I can't let that cat out of the bag yet, or it may reveal my identity, but I will reveal what I did at a later date. I also will say that I had fun shopping for her, thinking about her life as she has shared on her blog site, and she did cross my mind often. Getting her goodies and thinking, I think she would like this and that and realizing we actually had alot of similarities when it came to our likes. I can say someone else has me, it is fun, because none of us know who has us, only who we have. Anyway, I am excited to see everyone's blogs and to share in their excitement!  Speaking about not letting the "cat out of the bag" I came into the living room tonight to find my Molly cat sitting in a box of my fat quarters. I just had to take a picture!

In the Piece Bee With You Bee I belong, it is the last month for us. I was actually behind, but I owed one last block to Katy in my beloved Scotland. I spent a semester studying there when I was in University. I was there 6 months and I fell in love with the people. I had an awesome boyfriend there that was hard to leave as well as met some awesome people, May and Dod who were like my adopted grandparents. They never had a daughter and always said I was the daughter they never had. They even came to Canada to visit relatives and we had them visit us for a few days and spend time with us. I loved them dearly, truely as family and I know they are both gone now, but what treasured, valued memories I have of them. They will always be a part of me, in making me the person that I am. She taught me alot of good lessons including knitting. Isn't it funny how something can bring back such a strong memory? I was talking about Katy and ended up with May and Dod. :)

Katy's View Master Block. The Disc is paper pieced and then I had to place the disk into the fabric. I found a technique called the 6 minute circle technique that worked really well. I hope she loves it!!

I also have made a dear precious friend online over the last year. Her name is Teri and I love her like a sister. I feel like we truely connect and relate to each other. I just love her. She recently was diagosed with Breast Cancer and had surgery and is recovering and Moni in the Sew Blues Bee wrote up a striped Heart tutorial that we all used to create her a block to let her know she is precious to us. I made a green one as it is a color of calm, new life and is known to be a soothing color. I just sent that out to her today with some goodies in it. I hope she has a speedy recovery.

They are all home!!

Well, here it is Thanksgiving morning and for thie first time since the middle of August, everyone is home. Celia made it this morning at 2:21am. She works at the McDonald's on Truax Blvd in Eau Claire and she had to close so after work, she came down. She also came with a HUGE basket full of laundry to do. I will let her tackle it this time. Last time I did it for her.

The turkey is already in the oven, Mike and I always have the tradition that I get up early and make the stuffing and he comes in and gets the turkey ready and stuffs it. That is one thing we do together! :) The boys will go out deer hunting today. Matthias got a nice sized doe opening day. I made Venison Geschnatzles monday night for dinner. It was the best!!

 It has been about 60 degrees the last few days, Today is also supposed to be 60, but tomorrow, winter comes back with an expected high of 29 degrees. I thought I would mention it as we forget all these fulkes in our weather. Usually we are in the 30's maybe 20's for a high.

I made a few more bee blocks, I am wanting to do a mystery quilt, http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/10/find-yourself-on-easy-street.html  This one sounds great, It tells the fabric requirements and the first clue comes out tomorrow!! I really want to do this one!! I am going to try to get it done!! I have made a few mystery quilts and I have so enjoyed what I came out with. The joy of it is you follow instructions for pieces of this and make that and when you get done you have something amazing! Usually something you would not of thought to make for yourself!

Here are the Design Camp Bee group #2 blocks for Jody.

They are both at least 13 + inches and I LOVE how they turned out.

I continue to try to tidy my sewing area. Hopefully I can sneak some sewing in today!! I know the kids like the Macy's day parade, grown up or not!! Football I am sure will be sneaking in somewhere today too!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

November Bee Blocks and Opening Day of Deer Hunting!

This is the November block for the Fat Stash Bee

       This is the November block for Leslie for the Sew Blues Bee. Leslie is one of our mamas for this Bee. I was with her in the Orange You Glad Bee and we had so much fun. Such precious people in these two bees. The OYGB is now finished.

 This is the September Block (yes I was slacking here, but I am quickly catching up) for Lawton and Lotti, aka Charlotte. She is from Austrailia and requested a children's toy block, one that was an antiquey type toy, so I decided to make her an airplane. I could just see a little boy running through the house holding on to his airplane pretending to fly around the house. I think I saw that in "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart. One of my favorite Christmas Movies. I love the old movies!! Anyway, she wanted primary colors and I think she will be happy with this.

This is the Around the Bend and Across the Pond  Row by Row group I am in. This is Moni's quilt top. She made the lower four rows, and then sent it to me. I added the upper four rows and now my part is done and I will send it on to Nannette so she can continue to build this quilt top. I absolutely love it!! I never realized how much could be done with 1/2 square triangle blocks!! Love it!! I am going to try this someday. We add a row to someone elses row each month and when it comes back it has several rows added. I will have to show my row-by-row from the first round. I just love it!!

I have to say I have truely been enjoying sewing my Bee blocks this month!! Sometimes I make one and I think to myself, I am glad this person likes it, but I am truely enjoying each and every one!! I have four items made this month with I think just one more to go. I am also behind on one project, but plan on tackling that one very very soon!! I just have to make sure the template printed out correctly. Actually, I think our Piece Bee With You hive is on hold as several of us were having troubles just trying to print out the templates for the paper foundations we needed, but I did manage to get them to print on Thursday, it sounds like they may not be printed out the right size so I am waiting for confirmation before I proceed. Before that I couldn't get it to print. It is a Viewmaster wheel with fussy cut little pictures. I will show it to you when I am finished with it.

Matthias made it back from Ohio this morning. My husband headed out to go to work at 4:00am and my son pulled in the driveway. I was so thankful he made it home safe. He said the fog was so thick from Chicago until Black River Falls, WI, about an hour away from here toward Madison and that is what took him so long getting home. He was supposed to get up at 6:30am to go Deer Hunting this morning, but we let him sleep in, He went out at 9:30ish and I heard through the grapevine he got a deer!! Will see if he lets me take a picture!! Deer Hunting is always a big deal here and so are the Deer Hunting Widow Festivities while the men hunt, the women shop and attend open houses for food, wine, holiday affairs. Anyway, it is alot of fun!! Happy Hunting!

SSS Secret Santa Soire

Well, I had so much fun with the Colorado Lady with the ugly fabric swap which I learned about on her blog, I saw she had a Secret Santa Soiree for the upcoming holiday season and I just had to join! I used to work at a few places where we had these fun activities and I really miss not participating, so I thought it would be so much fun for me!! I love thinking about people and what they may like and then trying to sneak it to them until the final reveal, so I am hoping Suzanne will accept me into her fold to further participate in the fun adventures she has come up with. She has some wonderfully creative ideas I must say and I love her Vintage Thursdays. So, we will see how it goes!!

On another note, a wonderfully awesome woman, named Teri, that I met a year ago during an online  fabric swap, has honestly become one of my best buds. My online bud, though I wish we lived near each other. We have tentative plans to meet in Ohio in the spring for the International Quilt Festival and I am hoping all goes well. The reason I mention her is she had major surgery yesterday and she has been in my Prayers and on my mind constantly. I know she will be just fine when all is done, but I can imagine the discomfort she must be going through and my heart goes out to her, so continue to Pray I will.

I have gotten some great things completed this past weekend for other Bees. I belong to the Sew Blues Bee with a great group of Ladies. Some of us are in our secound round with the First round being called Orange You Glad Bee. The orange is gone, but the blues carry on! Hey I'm a poet and didn't even know it! Hahaha.
Enough of that!! I really love these bees. They are so much fun to be a part of, connecting with others. Living in Rural Wisconsin sure doesn't leave may opportunities to mingle with fellow quilters as an urban area would, lots more options, but I keep hoping new things will come along. So, that's it for now!

A Saturday Morning!!

You know, I so love to quilt, but I get so distracted by other things in life it is hard to find the time sometimes. I also find being online is a time hog. I am guessing that we all feel that way. So this beautiful Saturday morning I am cleaning away, not as good as I would like to, but I'm working on it. I am constantly distracted by a project on my sewing table or just thinking about my next inspiration.

On Saturday mornings I like to watch the sewing/quilting shows on PBS and sometimes, they don't intrigue me so I just do my cleaning and peek in for very brief periods of time, however, they had Tula Pink on this morning and I was glued to the TV. I absolutely loved the designs she was showing, not to mention her fabric lines, and then she also had a booklet that could be ordered through Sewing With Nancy. Tula was a guest on there today showing a few of her designs, LOVED THEM!!! I may just have to cave in and get the booklet. I liked everything she shared. I also liked that several of them were improv, no fussy cutting or precison needed on some of them. I had never seen her before either and what a creative sort she presents herself as by the way she looks. I think she would be alot of fun to take a class with! :)

So my hopes today are to really make some sewing/quilting fun here, but I best get my tushie back to chores so I feel halfway decent with how my home is for myself and my family. Saturday mornings are my most cleaning time of the week, but I have a good start! Dishes are all done, floor swept, laundry in the wash...you get the picture!

One last thing, yesterday morning my husband called me at work and said Brrrr, "it's cold out there, the hot coffee is great that you made", and just so you know Melita and Aldi's German roast coffees are the smoothest, yummiest coffees. Well anyway, With the cold coming I always do a count down till spring, it makes winter go faster and gives me something to look forward to so my reply was "Only 4 months till spring! " He thought that was a great way to look at it. :) So, you may see me write or say "Only X months till spring" as the count down continues.

Not Ugly Anymore!!

Well, it is done. My quilt for the "In The Bag" Ugly quilt fabric challenge is completed and I am so happily surprised with how it came out. Last night I finished putting the binding on, sitting in my leather recliner watching Castle. Okay, I admit it, I am a crime show junkie, sometimes.  Love Bones too. I guess I like the banter between the guy and girl ie: Bones and Celie and then on Castle it's Becket and Castle, so, it must be the romantic tensions between them and then the mystery solving that goes on. Anway here is a pic of the top I took last week, I just haven't had a chance to take a pic since last night as I work all day and I haven't had a chance to take the pic, not to mention lighting is a factor, but anyway, here it is!! I actually hope to do this again sometime!!

The Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge

Back in May I signed up to do the Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge, Here are the fabrics I received:

Well, With this assortment, which I truely admit isn't inspiring in the least. I never thought Skull and Crossbone fabrics would be in my posession. I think this challenge is a great idea and I am happy to say I finally have come up with something to do with this. I will post more pics later!! Meanwhile, I need to put the top together for this lovely challenge. What fun and how inspiring everyone else's completed tops look like. I guess you could say they inspired me to press on! So here goes!

A time for Change - Celia goes to college!

I am so thankful that my two oldest children are in college and are interested in furthering their education in hopes of reaching some goals they have for themselves. Matthias started college in 2009 and started his Senior year a few weeks back in Ashland, Ohio. However, my daughter has just now departed the nest. I took her up to UW-Eau Claire yesterday. We moved her into her first dorm, a make shift dorm. She and several other students are housed at the Plaza Inn and Suites as the UW is always short housing in the fall for all their new incoming students.
     We got up there a around noon. Got her car and the van unloaded quickly, knowing that we both were hungry and some final supplies were needed for after scoping out her room. We went to noodles and company and had the Chili-Lime chicken salad. I used to not be very fond of that place, but with the addition of some salads and yummie sanwiches I don't mind it any more!! So we had a nice lunch together and then we went to Menards to get some supplies, dish detergent, a bike lock, storage tub and stuff like that. Then we went over to Target to get the few things we couldn't find next door and headed her back to the dorms. I got to meet her roomie Alex and she seems like a very nice girl. I think Celia and Alex will get along just fine!! We got the bike locked up on the bike rack and I gave her a hug and told her I loved her and to let us know if she needs any help!! I left after that and had a phone call about 1.5 hours later saying she thought she would have to buy her own toilet paper. LOL!! I thought that was so funny, and proceeded to tell her that I did not think that was true. No dorm I am aware of ever has made their residents supply their own toilet paper. I told her to go talk to her RA about it. On fb she said she was very happy. I am so glad for her, but I must admit, today I do miss her terribly.
     This morning I cleaned up the kitchen real well and we got Eliah all set for school this year. Got him to visit with the football coach as well so that he wouldn't be anxious about it. He was nervous about talking to him, but I wanted him to be a peace and the coach said he fully understood, especially with life on the farm!! He is now mentally ready for school as well!!
     Well, I am glad Celia is happy and I can't wait to hear all about it!! Back to the sewing machine I go!!

I like pickles yes I do, I like diced tomatoes too!!

Well I have been having quite the adventure this week on my weekends. My oldest son, Matthias, thought it would be beneficial to plant 15 hills of cucumbers because he wanted me to make him some pickles. Well, boy did the harvest come in last weekend, so I thought they are freshly picked, I better make some pickles. Recipes on the Internet said pickle them fresh or they are soggy so, being it was my anniversary last Sunday, and 23 years at that to the same man, who would of thought!! I decided to make 12 quart jars of pickles and see how it went. I put in about 3 cloves of garlic, some fresh dill and dill seed and proceeded to load up the jars. I thought it was real easy and went quickly.  I thought this was great! I remember as a young teen my mom making pickles. I remember it differently though. I remember the strong smell of apple cider vinegar, lots of steam, heat! Sticky, humid heat and my mom breaking out a sweat, and it seemed to take forever, but boy were those pickles good!! Well, I got my jars ready and did the deed loading them and then the water bath, boy does that take a while to get it going right, especially with an electric stove. Anyway, I ended up with the pickles and everyone wanted to eat them right away. I said they  had to sit for 3 to 4 weeks. They were all disappointed. The funny thing is, the pickle boy, went back to Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio tThursday to start school on Monday and....wait for it.....he left with out any jars of pickles!!! How ironic is that? Anyway, my youngest son, Eliah, went cucumber picking, didn't get as many pickles today, but I managed to make 7 more jars of pickles!!

Then a friend of mine, who knows my garden is ailing, Mrs. Kim Bauer, called yesterday saying her brother had tomatoes a plenty and was wanting to give some away. A big Thank You goes out to her and her brother!!! So, I called and they were very generous to give them to us. My husband, Mike, went and picked them up today, and the canner is now filled with 5 quarts of diced tomatoes for Chili for the winter. There is nothing like the taste of Summer, garden fresh tomatoes, and that is what canning your own tomatoes tastes like. I guess I have been the happy homemaker the last 2 weekends. The nice thing is I know what is exactly in the food my family eats. 

Just another Manic Thursday!

I wish sometimes I had more time to just journal on this blog, however, life just seems to be pushing me along at Jet speed, though I wish it was more like a lazy river pace, a little more time for enjoyment. Work has been an adventure. The original coordinator left for a hospital job and for the last month I have been doing 2 jobs with the help of my director. I work with some really awesome people, but it can be overwhelming. I am just longing for some fun in my life right now.

Matthias leaves for College on Thursday August 16th and Celia will begin her new University experience starting August 30. I must say, that will definately create some interesting family dynamics. Only one chicken left in the coop. I am truely fine with that. I always thougth I would dread it, but somehow teenagers make you really look forward to their flight from the nest. I will truely miss Celia alot. She is my only girl, and we spend alot of time together so it will be more peaceful, quiet around here. I am glad she chose a school closer to home. I would of supported her in where ever she would of decided to go to school. She has a lot of ties to Eau Claire and is making new connections every day, so I am happy for her and with good people. She also has been actively persuing employment up there so she can have a job up there. She had a quick interview with Texas Road House and they expressed interest, and also she got a call from Olive Garden. I can see her doing that and having alot of fun with it too. We will see where she ends up with her employment options. I am glad she isn't waiting till the last minute. She seems to really have her head together, Thank You Jesus!!!!

I continue to quilt/sew when I have free time. I am so glad I have such an awesome hobby to be creative in. I have some great Bees I am in too and I just love it. Three of my swaps ended the end of July and I just loved it. Orange you Glad Bee, Quilting Under the Rainbow Bee and the Around the Bend and Across the Pond Row by Row group.  I still have about 5 bees I am still in and am glad to have fewer to do, I will make a point not to sign up for any others till some of the others end too. I am in the Sew Blues Bee, Fat Quarter Stash Bee, Piece Bee With You Bee, Design Camp Bee and I am doing a Granny Block Swap and that is so fun. I am currently in love with that block and it looks soo cool! Alot of great ideas out there, that is for sure!! I really want to work a little more on some of my own creations now.

Well, till next time, float in the River and let God lead you! Kissie Kissie Kermie!

Who ever thought that Quilting would be changing so much. There are so many resources online with Online Bees, Swaps, Tutorials, You tube videos to learn from and awesome blogs to learn just about anything and then the wonderful online fabrics you buy where the variety is endless and you can usually find just what your looking for. The enthusiasm that is shared with other quilters and the bonds that develop are amazing. An unconditional group of lovely people all sharing the same interests the world over. Just thinking about this as I shared with someone in a quilt shop today about the different bees and swaps I was involved in and she said, "wow, you sure wound like an excited quilter", I guess I am,  I just hadn't thought about it before. I so do love my hobby. It is a healthy outlet for my creative energies and I am happy with life the way it is, Thank You Jesus! Anyway, life is good.
     Celia graduates in a little over 2 months and has decided to go to UW-Eau Claire. I think she will be happy there and it is close to home if she needs anything. She said she chose it because it is just easier. She will be able to keep her job and stay active in a church she loves. Her words btw. She has been building this relationship with a guy named Nathaniel. His parents are Nazi's and have now forbid him from talking to her. I could go on about this subject, but then I would have to kill you. No really, they create alot of concern in me for their son. I am strict, but nothing like that and it is all justified by faith, that is not right.
     Matthias is thinking about studying abroad. Who would of ever thought he, Mr. Rigid and routine, would ever consider such a thing. I am so happy he is even considering it!! I encourage and support him completely in that adventure! He came home at spring break looking really buff, usually he comes home chubby, he loooked so good. First thing out of Mike's mouth was "He must have a girlfriend." He isn't on the meal plan this year and he says he eats alot healthier, cooking for himself. He is growing up so awesome!
     Eliah's grades bite the dirt. However, before Matthias left back to school on sunday, Eliah promised him he would improve his grades! Wow, what did big brother say to him to make him say something like that? He also has this awesome little girlfriend, Sarah, who is in advanced algebra as a freshman and on Academic Decathelon and Forensics. I hope she lights a fire underneath him! She seems like such a sweetie, I got to meet her when I took them to the movies and out for pizza.