Quilt Blocks and one of our horses story

I haven't been sewing, Ive kinda been obsessed (and yes... crazy obsessive) with other things lately and I really feel I need to get balanced. I have been so freaking moody lately too. Watching a 2 year old when you just feel irritated most of the time is challenging to say the least. Who knows this blog may end up being one woman's crazy account of menopause. I think some of the emotional upheaval and obsessiveness has to do with hormones... the weird thing is I know I'm not acting like myself, I know im off kilter and have no idea how to get back to normal!

My first attempt is to redirect! lol Yesterday morning I made a to do list for myself for the weekend and I am trying to just keep plugging away at it instead of this emotional, mental wandering around doing nothing productive thing that I've had going on for the last month or so.

First on the list... snap photos of my block for the Dream Circle of Do.Good Stitches. Here it is. I am feeling very insecure about this one, I hope it is what she wanted. Im sure my confidence will get better as I make more blocks. (i actually did this a couple weeks ago)



I also wanted to help Little Island Quilting with some blocks for quilts she is putting together and sending to an orphanage in Mexico City. She is taking donations of 12 1/2 in blocks and she is assembling them. Appropriately I went to my orphan bin for the orphanage!




A couple plus blocks. These were left over from the big X quilt I made for a customer and I just put a border around them.


A little of this:

And a little of that:


And Finally... I put the labels on the two donation quilts i finished months ago and have them ready to ship!!!

There... now dont I feel better! All of my donation projects are done and I can move on to finishing that dang tshirt quilt!!!

The garden is coming along we have planted so far red potatoes, leeks, shallots, garlic, red onion and texas sweet onion. We have two more beds constructed and ready for compost and dirt. I have started indoors some beets and sunflower seeds.

I also have a little project of extending a water line to the garden on my list this weekend. Ive had the parts for a year and just need to dig the trench.

On the Ranching side.... I have the story of King to tell.  King is a 29 year old horse with really bad arthritis and this winter has been a tough one on him, his back legs visibly hurt and I wish there was more we could do for him. He has a sad history and has lived off and on at the ranch for the last 15 or so years. He either belongs to us or the methamphetamine dealer next door. (since we have bought him more than once I really think us... but the neighbor doesn't see it that way.) Sidetrack here... Yes.. we know that our next door neighbor deals drugs and we know that he is the one who was supplying our boys with them. We have called the sheriff about it many times and they never do anything. Right now there is a story that went national about a murder (and drugs were related)  in Hemphill Tx, that they suspect the local sheriff covered up.. well... that would be the same sheriff I reported the drug dealer next door to. The murder cover up doesn't surprise me and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't make a little something off of our neighbor.  Its so bad that when this guy was shooting at our home (yes, shooting a gun through the trees over our house with our grandchildren playing outside) and my husband called the police they told him there was nothing they could do (he has felony convictions so therefore cannot own firearms so they COULD do something) when my husband said "then my only recourse is to shoot back at him" they threatened to come arrest my husband. I know it doesn't sound real to me either... how stereotypical southern small town with crooked cops can we be?

But back to poor old King. In his day he was a barrel racer for the neighbors daughter. He did  well and could fly those barrels, he was a spitfire. She is grown with children of her own now and King when he lives with us is our babysitter, he is a gentle old gelding that teaches our weanlings and yearlings manners. He is patient and mellow and eventually the babies end up mellowing out right along with him. I think as well as our stud throwing some of the brightest and gentlest quarterhorse genes, King's babysitting also plays a roll in the sweet, curious, mannered babies that we end up with.

King has been laying down alot this winter. When we see him laying down we make sure he can get up and the poor horse must think these humans are crazy and wont let an old man take a little rest!!! I dont know what were going to do if he isn't getting around a little better this summer. We like to let them choose when its their time to go and a part of me is expecting that one of these times he will have taken that time and I will know that he lead a full life and he is free of pain. Another part hates to see our King gone... he has served us well. 

I won!! and the Why...

I won a survival Seed Vault from Blue Yurt Farms and these other great blogs!!

Five Little Homesteaders
Faulk Farmstead
This Original Organic Life
Earthworms and Marmalade
RiddleLove
Homestead Honey
The Jahner Farmstead
Learning and Yearning
Green Eggs and Goats
The Toups Address
The Farmstead
Little Homestead on the Range
The Randazzo’s

I have been reading these blogs lately and have learned SOOO much from them. Great garden tips and some really good recipes. It isn't all milk cows and acreage either... many of them are urban gardeners and homesteaders.

But pt. 2 of whats going on in my head lately....

Ralph and I have talked some about what "turns me on" about the homesteading blogs I'm reading and all of this "hippy back to nature stuff" Don't be offended by the question, he is as much a hippy as I am but being a cowboy he doesn't like to admit it... my first clue is his favorite musician is Guy Clark. He does admit he likes the idea too and I think we have summed it up into a few reasons.

1. That is how things were when we were a child. I remember the full acre garden, eating carrots straight from the ground and planting seeds. He remembers not having electricity, cotton fields, pea crops and feeding the pigs. We both have good childhood memories of those things. (and a few bad.. i had to promise if we get a milk cow we will get an electric butter turn so he will NEVER have to do that again.)

2. We never had time for this before. When we owned Zippys Pizza w were working 16 hr days in a restaurant... who could plant a garden? In fact we have neglected the pastures, the fences... there is a whole bunch that needs to be done. With horseshoeing we usually leaves out in the morning and we are home by 2 pm... we finally have time!! We have been workaholics all our lives and although this has been how I have wanted to live, I never had time to DO it and I do now... so i will.

3. this little guy (and the other 15 grandchildren)

Tristan lives right next door and loves animals. (he is now napping on my bed with both puppies) I think growing up doing chores and working with animals builds character and we want all of our grandchildren to have those experiences.

4. It really isn't that big of a leap. We have horses, 100 acres, we always shop the outside of the grocery store because we believe the stuff on the inside shelves are full of preservatives, sugar, salt and other horrible things (not to mention cost a fortune vs preparing a healthy "real" food meal.) We buy local when we can.... after this winter is clear we have to start collecting our own firewood, why not just garden and add a couple animals to the place???

5. Zombie Apocalypse? I doubt it.. but... there is a chance that something in this world could go wrong: epidemic disease, no power grid, collapse of our economic system... maybe its because so many people on facebook keep posting their conspiracy theories, none of which really seem plausible but then again when we got hit by a hurricane, none of what we saw there seemed plausible before either.  It does make me think.... what kind of shape would be in... really?

6. Ralph said to throw in here I'm cheap like his mother. lol. But it does make sense economically to produce what we can.

Those are the reasons we are going back to our roots and turning the ranch back into a working ranch and farm.

Brood Mares grazing on the back 40 (sadly it doesn't look like this anymore!!)

Next Post... its going to be quilty. I have some blocks Im sending off for the do.good stitches dream circle and for quilts for an orphanage in Mexico City. 

The What

Ralph and I both feel like we are on a journey.... I plan to blog about that journey and to begin, I'm going to start with the who, what, when, where, and how....

today I am going to focus on the what... what we want out of life.

Love: we have a wonderful relationship. We have worked together and have spent almost every day together for 13 years. We enjoy each others company and we want to continue to grow in love. We want to spend quality time and improve communication. We both have our bucket list of things we want to see and do and we want to work towards those, together. 

Pulled out an oldie here: This is 2008 at the Western Music Association Awards Ceremony. We used to be the hosts of a radio show called "Ralph's Backporch"

Family: We want to see our family succeed and prosper. We want to see these young adults (Ralph has 7 children) spread their wings and become strong. We have had some battles with drugs, some with relationship problems and we know we can't solve them but we do want to help them become stronger, better and happier.  We want our grandchildren to be a part of our lives, our home and our ranch. (I HAVE to also add... we do NOT want their parents to move in with us ever, ever again)

Tristan, one of our little cowboys

Security: We want to live comfortably. We have been under financial stress for the last few years and we are tired of living that way. Financial security to us is as basic as knowing if it rains for 3 weeks, we don't have to worry about our animals having to skip a meal (or us for that matter) to... knowing that if something happens to one of us... we have a back up plan. It also means for us.. getting out of debt. 

We are Dave Ramsey Fans. Be sure to check out his website if getting out of debt is one of your goals.

Simplicity: We want to live care free. We want to continue to simplify our lives and continue to be self employed. We want to reduce our expenses and needs. To raise and grow our own food, to find a way to produce our own electricity (cuz i wont live without it!). I will say to him that means were going to move to yurt in the back pasture and to me it means were going to get some chickens and a compost bin... we are going to have to continue to define what this means to us and find the common ground. 

Health: Ok... so our overall health sucks. We both need to shed a few lbs (me more than him) and I need to quit smoking again (i started again last July with all the stress) He needs to see a heart specialist to see how his ticker is doing (that requires health insurance) there are just alot of health things we need to fix about us and we are going to do that. I think part of our quest is to improve our health and live healthier, natural lives.

Creativity: We are both creative people and have expressed that in various ways in the past. Whether it was the time we were DJ's, my experience in graphic design, making quilts, the jewelry he makes or just the art of Pizza. We both find happiness in expressing our creativity. Our goals definitely have to include expressing ourselves creatively. 

Copper bracelet Ralph made for his daughter

I think that about sums up the "what we want from life" question...

I am linking up to the Home Acre Hop. Im doing this because I would love to make friends with like minded people! so... if your visiting from there, say hello, introduce yourself and your blog... and I would love to have you follow mine.

Life Goals

I think we are still in the process of redefining and refining our goals in life. It was hard to get a grasp on them when we were just running in one of those hampster wheels to stay ahead while the family of 5 lived with us. Since they have left we have been able to get more on track with budgeting and bill paying. We are looking at what expenses can we reduce and how can we be more self sufficient. and dang it.. that question of what do we want to be when we grow up??? I am getting tired of that question, really!

We have also talked alot about diversifying our income. We have all of our eggs in Ralph's horseshoeing basket and thats a dangerous job. I would feel more comfortable if it were only 50% of the income rather than 90%... however I have no desire to get a traditional job (and i really dont NEED to... if i did NEED to I would)

Ralph, doing what he does...

We have 100 acres. Being from Michigan.. im not used to land just going unused like ours, so Ive been looking into what we want to do with the land. Up until a few years ago we raised quarter horses but the horse market tanked. It has taken us 5 years to accept that! Cattle is the obvious choice of course.. but, I have been looking at what to do and the search lead me to tons of "homesteading blogs" and I have been obsessed and fascinated with them this past week. There are so many things I like about the homesteading concept....

Ralph on Dry Talos Cutterbill

I just found this picture of my husband... I love this picture!

One of the things I have felt reading the homestead blogs is I miss the personal side of blogging. I started this blog when I quit using my myspace blog and planned on blogging about "just life." It morphed into a quilty blog where I only post about quilty things... but... there are days I want to talk about "just life" I want to talk about my garden, my grandkids, things that interest me other than quilting...

so... im going to start doing that so yall... in addition to quilty blogs I'm going to start blogging about this quest of what are we going to do when we grow up and my quest in gardening, canning... livestock... homesteading ect.

January Finishes

Wow January went by way to quickly. But it was the best month in a loong time. No I didn't stay focused... in fact I hardly sewed and I did mail one package out really late. Im soo sorry... but it seems like life changed daily and it just kept getting better and better. Ralph and I tried to stay up with the pace... but it was overwhelming at times.

For those who are new. The last year has been trying. My husbands sons both started doing methamphetamine. These were two boys making 25 bucks an hour as construction linemen. Smart hard working charming fathers who I wouldn't have given you 10 cents for when they were doing these drugs. We got custody of a 2 yr old grandchild last year, then in august the other one was arrested and once out of jail, moved in with his family of five. they lived here for 6 months.

I have been miserable for 6 months. I love them, I love the grandchildren... but i did not love sharing my home and life with them. I think over the last 6 months my husband and I took turns sinking into horrible depression then just being angry, then just resignation that until he could get it together... we were stuck.

I knew both boys were beating the drugs. They were no longer doing them and it was as if the one living with us was fighting himself every day. He messed up his life the worst... it may take years to get back on the track he was on. At the same time I just wanted to shake him and say... get the heck over it, you have a family to support. you need to put your big boy panties on and go do it!

the new year came... slowly things started getting better. They all had a different attitude... a little more hope.

CPS closed my grandsons case. His dad is free of drugs and did what was required for him to get his child back. I cant tell you how proud I am of his dad. They live right next door and he will still be dropping him off every day while he goes to work so we will still see ALOT of the little guy. But his dad accomplished a miracle in cleaning himself up and doing right. There have been times that i have wondered if the drugs didn't do permanent damage to him. He was just not "right" in the head. Hard to explain but he wasn't right. But these past 3 weeks... he has been as normal as apple pie.

Then the family of 5 that was living with us moved out. As quickly as they moved in, they moved to my daughter in laws mothers house and he already has a job. 6 months!! We supported them for 6 months and within a week of moving out he is working. I have mixed feelings about that one. But it was time. I guess he put the big boy panties on and he got a job, not doing lineman work (he messed that opportunity up too badly) but a paying job non the less.

So... have I done anything towards my goals. Kinda... I have a flimsie made from Bon Jovi concerts. (including Dublin and Sydney) Im not picturing it till its done, I dont want to ruin the reveal for my customer.)

I finished 2 baby quilts:

I used the moda bakeshop pattern "simply woven" for this. Let me tell you if your 1/4 in seam is not perfect... this block will let you know!!! The fabric is upcycled sheet for the white and a jelly roll that I got for Christmas. 

Then another simple vintage sheet baby quilt from 4 1/2 in squares. I sell these quickly in my etsy store and I need to keep them in stock.

and a bunch of these sewn....

Im paper piecing them and I finally have my system down for mass producing them. It seemed like they were taking forever to get even one of the 4 pieces you see done. I now have my piles of precut scraps for the 4 pieces and its moving quicker.



 but that is as close as I got and soon.... soon I will be back in my sewing room but for now Im cleaning and enjoying OUR home. Im sitting by the fire on really cold days (no heat in the sewing room) and my husband and I have reclaimed our kitchen and are cooking some kick butt meals. 

Classic Meets Modern Quilt Along Block

I have not participated in many quilt along's but I really liked the idea of this one. Each month she will give a traditional block and we are to reinterpret it modern. Now... I'm not sure what modern quilting is to me yet, I've yet to define it and don't like most of the definitions I have seen. I do know that I LIKE modern quilts and my style lately tends to be a scrappy modern twist on traditional quilts. lol... hows that for a style!

I do like that we will be redesigning something traditional and that's what i like most about quilts...

Here is my polar bear claw block:

and here is a link to the quilt along if yall want to join in too!

I guess I am going to make a sampler quilt out of the 12 blocks I will end up with so I am going with the scraps from a solid quilt I have yet to finish. They are to me beachy colors and I like them (my husband hates them... oh well) The "inspiration" block was with 4 paws and a square in the center.


Other things I'm working on.... the quilt for the livestock show.... paper piecing and value... my lessons for January!!! I'm getting the hang of both and having a blast making the little blocks!

But... things just got interesting here in my little neck of the woods... or at least the dogs think so. I have the county clearing the ditches and a whole bunch of beeping trucks in the front of the house and out back I have about 10 weanling calfs making quick work on the hay bale.. problem is we don't have cows, we have horses... have to find out which neighbor is missing some cows before they eat all the horses hay! (and before these barking dogs wake up the sleeping grandbaby!)

My first Class!

I decided a present to myself would be the Color Play class on Craftsy. A few days after Christmas it went on sale and I just happened to have enough on my paypal to buy it!! woo hoo.

I am still taking the class. But the other morning I woke my husband up all excited and said "I GET IT" I have always picked my fabrics by what I think looks good. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I didn't know why when I had a fail. I was picking fabrics for a quilt and one of my choices wasn't working and I knew WHY it didn't work! I was so excited. (Ralph, not so excited... and was a little grumpy)

It starts off slow with making a color wheel yourself from paints.... I live in the sticks and to get these paints would require a trip to a major town at least 50 miles away... so I just watched that part and didn't make the color wheel. I may still someday when I get to town... but i did learn from watching that part. It has been a series of light bulbs going off in my head! So.. if your struggling with color I vote go for it! this is a good class.



I do have to say here... that If you click this link to buy the class I will receive financial gain. I have signed up to the affiliate program of Craftsy. Regardless, the above review is really my opinion. If you would like to sign up as an affiliate to Craftsy and receive commission on purchases from them, you can too! here is a link to sign up. You can choose what and how to advertise and you do get some pretty cool perks in the process. (perks worth the time to join!)

Meanwhile, I am still pulling fabrics for a value quilt... with my new knowledge.

Goals... why cant I stay focused???

I was looking through my blog for my wrap up of 2013 and i laughed at how many times i set goals... and ended up posting most of those to my unfinished pin board!!!

Once again Im going to try to set some goals... here goes... maybe prizes will motivate me.

I am going to join the Lovely Year of finishes. You post your goals at the begining of the month... and your finishes at the end of the month. Check it out if you need some motivation like I obviously do!!

My January goals....

For this I am just going to focus on one or two projects that NEED to be done... I do have a LIST of 10 things that i want done.....

What I need to get done are two tshirt quilts for a customer and a quilt for our county for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo 2014. 3 quilts... none of them started... but i have to have done by the end of the month.

The T-shirt quilts are concert t-shirts. Shouldn't be that hard. (this woman is a HUGE Bon Jovi  fan and I have enough concert shirts for 2 queen size quilts!)


For the quilt show... I cant use a quilt I have already made, since one of the rules is you have to use quilt store quality fabrics and honestly I do not even have a TOP that I can finish that isn't a mixture of quilt store fabric and upcycled fabric. So... a new quilt it is.

I of course plan on a scrap quilt... because that's what i make! I started by looking through quilt books, magazines and online. I had picked up a quilting book at Hastings about a month ago. Most of the quilts were dated as far as fabric because it was a 1980's book but there were a couple designs I liked in it. This was one of them. It used templates and I hate using templates, but it clearly can be paper pieced (and I am anxious to do more of that) so here we go... my paper piece template. (now what book? I searched my house for it today and I'm sure my grand-kids have taken it into their parents room which I refer to as the black hole. I don't know if I will ever see it again. I am certainly going to try)

Today I did a test block. I was going to do 8 1/2 in squares but I found I have very little scraps that big. So I drew up another that is a 6 1/2 inch (4 of them will give me a 12 1/2 in 4 pointed star) and I am going to use that instead. So... let me get a few blocks together and I will show ya what I'm shooting for! I still haven't decided on the size. I will probably do a bed size though, that's the other thing I tend to do!

The other thing I'm excited about is this is a value quilt. Lights, mediums and darks. I cant wait to play with scraps and really see if I get this concept... lol... so far my husband swears I don't.

Long Arm Table... for 25.00!!

Ralph and I stopped by my favorite Goodwill today. I haven't been in ages, its in a town about 40 miles away. I only found one shirt to upcycle... we paid for it but on the way out, there was a rack with a great vintage pillow case... I went back inside to buy it but couldn't figure out how much it was so went to the room where they keep their sheets.... and NO WAY!!! there it was... I knew looking at it it was a Grace Quilting Table... It was in pieces... but the sticker was only 24.99!!! I have fit it into my room but it is missing a piece (a pretty important piece) so I'm hoping they still stock them and that it doesn't cost too much!!

I don't have a picture yet cuz its still in pieces... but i will share when its totally assembled. We wrote down our goals the other day and a Grace Table and new machine was on the list. This is a Little Gracie (although i think it has the extensions to do King size quilts. Older model... but at least I will have something to get started on to see if its something i want to have!!

I do have to also apologize... I have been remiss in that I keep forgetting to blog about this:

Isn't it the cutest little zipper pouch???

It was essential when I was doing all those Christmas ornaments and the little flowers for a customer. It is my new hand sewing bag, has my needles, thread, scissors... and a bunch of buttons down there when i feel like throwing one on something.

It was made by Elizabeth from The College Seamstress who is a very talented young lady (I am totally impressed with her clothes making ability!!) She participated in Pay it Forward... she got a towel and potholder and the deal is she had to make three things to pay forward over the next year. What a cool idea! So... I quickly responded and got this. Now I have to make three things in the next year to pay forward... (still thinking about what to pay forward... but I'm excited about the prospect!)

So... Thank  you Elizabeth. It is sitting next to my computer right now, ready to throw my hand sewing projects in and grab as I go out the door.

End Of the Year Housekeeping

What haven't I finished... hmmm... My sister posted a pinterest board of all of her unfinished projects... It inspired me to post my own. My goal is to only have 10 projects roll over next year instead of 38! lol

My unfinished Projects Board 

My Sister Becki's Unfinished Project Board

I then thought... hmm... what did i finish? so i updated my 2013 finishes tab (look at the top of the page)

What are my goals for 2014

Ralph and I have been working on a bubble project. We both feel stuck and unable to move forward with our current situation... so we started with what we are doing now (for him horseshoeing, for me sewing) and we then drew a line, another bubble and what else we could do or want to do, adding bubbles out from our current situation... (for me, sell new fabric as well as upcycled, get a long arm machine, sell at trade days... and for him, start a horseshoeing school, train and start cutting or stock horse showing, breaking colts, ect)

We are still working on them but the plan is that we each are going to choose one of the where we could be and start DOING it. That is our goal for 2014!!

Sewing with Certainty - Free Motion Quilting

I priced getting my first quilts done by a local long arm quilter... yes it is "quilting with your checkbook!" and at the rate I was kicking out quilts it would have to be a BIG checkbook. (I started with a goal to make quilts for 16 of my family members!) I quickly decided that if I was going to quilt... I was going to have to learn how to quilt them on my home machine.

I am the queen of "straight line" quilting.... notice the quotation marks... there is really nothing straight about the lines I quilt as I'm cramming half of a king size quilt through the tiny neck of my machine... but if you squint your eyes when you look at them you can see where i intended for them to be straight..... my husband sees straight lines.... at least that is what he tells me.... and why I love him so much!!

I have tried FMQ with a free motion foot... I have not figured out the tension problems yet... it is still on my list of skills to master. But... for the most part I'm happy with my straight lines... so I'm not in that big of a hurry and may wait till I buy a better machine.

So... If you do not quilt your own quilts... here is my list of things i have learned along the way.

1. You don't need a walking foot...I'm sure it might make it easier... but since I don't have one... I don't know.

2. My first few quilts looked terrible... but i finally figured out that the basting of the quilt was my problem.

I baste my quilts on my hard surfaced floors. The first thing I do is tape the backing to the floor as tight as I can. Lay the batting down and smooth it out from the middle. Then lay the quilt top down and smooth it out from the middle. I start pinning in the center and smooth more out as I go. (I don't stretch it like the backing, just smooth) I try to figure out how Im going to quilt before I pin so that I can put my pins between where my lines will be. (I confess my quilt tops are rarely perfectly ironed when I pin them... so maybe I wouldn't have as much smoothing out to do if I did that... i just hate ironing big things!)

 Invest in good big safety pins for basting... and put them no more than 3-4 inches apart. I buy the bag from Walmart that are less than 6 bucks for 50 or 60 of them. I have two bags and usually can have one big quilt and one small quilt pinned at one time. I do use more than one bag on the queen and king size quilts.

I then trim any excess backing fabric and quilt batting to 4 inches. (if I have more than that I tend to get it folded over somehow and sew it to the back of the quilt.)

3. Take the time to roll up the excess quilt on each side and have support to the left of your chair for it to rest on. When I get lazy and don't roll up the excess or the shoving through side, i end up with wrinkles. I use a stack of tubs (2 large and one under bed is the right height for my desk) to rest it on.

3. Quilting lines.... I have drawn my lines on the quilt with tailors chalk once. (and my knees ache enough after pinning... I just don't want to stay down on the floor that much!) Usually I follow some pattern in the piecing and eyeball it.

I have three different MO's for my quilting....

first choice and easiest.... I quilt on both sides of my seams. I like the look it gives. (Christa suggested wavy lines across it and i may try that on a quilt soon)

second choice on small things like table runners -  the straight line or matchstick quilting... I think I mentioned in my last blog post this is therapeutic for me, sew a line, lift the foot swing it around, lift the needle, put the foot down, put the needle down... sew a straight line. do it again and again and again. Honestly my table runners use as much thread as i use on a throw or twin size quilt!!

third choice is diagonal lines. I eyeball these as well and sew from one corner of the block to the other... works best eyeballing if your squares are smaller than 6 inches!

and of course.... combining them...

Really it is not hard to quilt on your machine. Afraid to start with the big stuff... make a table runner!

I am linking up to Quilty Habit's Sewing with Certainty series

2013 looking back

sometimes you have to look back to see where you are going!

In January 2013 my husband and I sold our restaurant to his daughter. I was tired, it was doing ok, but not good and we were tired of fighting the fight.

Although we are both still helping her out by working there once in a while... i haven't regretted the decision, I think Ralph has... he keeps talking about opening another restaurant... I've been there done that and have no desire for a stick and brick store. I decided that i was going to find a way to make money doing something with sewing...he decided to grow his horseshoe business back to where it was. The first couple months were tough financially... but we soon got to where we were making more than we were at the restaurant....and we were both happier!

My first commissioned quilt

As if that wasn't a big enough change in life.... its been a rough year emotionally....

Two of Ralph's sons started doing hard core drugs. It nearly tore their families apart and destroyed their careers. Although neither of them are doing the drugs anymore... they are still struggling to put their lives back together. We have had custody of one of our grandchildren for most of the year... and a family of 5 moved in with us.... their struggles have also been our struggles...

I fell in love with straight line quilting on table toppers and runners... i think it is therapy for me.

At the end of July, shortly after our 1 year wedding anniversary, I wondered what else could go wrong! That is when everything pretty much fell apart. We had 5 children (or children in law) arrested, one of them twice; Ralph had a heart attack, i had my appendix out, a daughter in law was diagnosed end stage renal failure and one of the boys was hurt badly at work. If it wasn't for bad luck, we would have had no luck at all!

A quilt for a friend.

But... month by month things have been getting better. Ralph went back to work... I have found my peace with what i am doing... the kids cleaned themselves up and started doing the right things... our daughter in law is still sick, but we continue to buy her more time.... his son healed and is back to work... he has passed his drug tests and we no longer have custody of our grandson.....

A pile of UFO's I wanted to get thru this year... that are still UFOs!!

The remaining challenge is the family of 5 living with us... I love them with all my heart but i really really don't like living with them... I don't see an end in the near future so for now we are doing the best we can to cope.

Little Sophie... one of the three grandchildren still living with us. 

I honestly believe this has been the hardest year of my life.

But... i do have a wonderful husband and i love him more today than ever before. We have made it through these things together... and are still madly in love. I love that he supports my desire to work from home (even when i don't want to BE at home! lol) And the best thing... he makes me laugh... I worried a few times during this year if we had lost that ability... but we find it again... and we laugh and we get thru the mess....

I think this was last year...

I have high hopes for next year... and i know i will keep on sewing! Thank yall for reading during the past year...I have been pretty hit and miss as we went thru this. I know I have a few new readers after the giveaway too... thanks for joining. I will do my best to keep showing my works in 2014.

a sunny day and a donation quilt

Its christmas time... am i making homemade gifts for every family member... nope. I gift those all year long and I dont feel pressure to make them anything now. But... we aren't that big on gift giving here anyways, a few for the grandkids (ok there are 16 but our rule is we have to SEE you in order to give you a present.. so we dont buy for all 16 every year, this year it is 7)

I finished those tshirt quilts which drove me crazy and I couldn't imagine jumping in to make the other two a customer wants after christmas... so... charity quilts. Christmas makes me feel like making quilts for charity...

I got this box of fabric from SEWonderful Quilts They are an organization that I found online and their mission statement spoke to me....

Our Mission is Threefold:
   
To gift SEWonderful Quilts to children in need
To recycle fabric into SEWonderful Quilts with help from Volunteers
To keep discontinued fabric out of landfills

I am all about the upcycling of fabric!! I emailed a wonderful lady named Francine who promptly sent me a box of fabric....

Now... looking at them... it is not for the faint of heart. They were decorator weight fabric. I have used small bits in a quilt here or there of scraps, but not in this scale.... but i dove in.... and here is my flimsy...

It is now quilted and I expected it to be heavy and stiff... but its not, it is soft and fluffy! I did throw in a few other fabrics... mostly the bright red. 

but... charity quilt # 1 finished.... I have 2 more that have been in the "to be quilted" pile that im going to pull out and send along with it...


Linking up to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Who are the lucky ones???

I have had so much fun this week reading and commenting on where yall were from. (and ok, i spent way more time than I want to admit entering giveaways and I'm sitting here by my little gmail box waiting to rake in the loot! lol) But how cool! The quilting community is such a global community. I think I posted just a few posts ago about feeling a part of something here online that I don't get from my local community and yall made that sink in just that much more.

so... what yall are waiting for. The winner of the vintage sheet bundle is #10

taniab said...

I live in Burnaby BC Canada. I love the views of the mountains and the fact that we are close to beaches too. 

The winner of the upcycled mens shirts is # 51

Born4Travel said...

I live in rural Ortonville, Michigan. I live on 5 acres with a bog in my back yard. The thing I love the most is hearing the frogs sing in the summer. Thanks for the chance to win!!

I will email yall after this is posted to get your address so I can get those out in the mail.

What I was working on this past week when I wasn't entering giveaways are these... OMG I didn't think I was ever going to finish them. I delivered them just a few hours before her Christmas party started today! akk. In fact the pictures are in HER driveway, before I would let them have them, I had to take at least one shot of them! lol.

And the piece de resistance.... were the labels. she wanted me to use this very thin gauze shirt that her mother bought in france in the 1930's. (and she gave it to me after one was already finished!) I couldn't imagine a prettier use of it.

I have learned alot from the tshirt quilts. These were my first. I have 2 more for a customer and as I am working on those, I decided I am going to write a tutorial from all that I learned in this process. I have used 6 different kinds of interfacing... i quilted all three differently and one was easier and i like the look of better... i just learned alot.

I left room for her to make her own statement on the labels. Woo hoo i was done... umm.. but now she saw these little flowers and asked if I had enough shirt left to make more (this woman was tiny... my 2 yr old granddaughter could have worn this shirt) so now by christmas I have to make 8 more frameable flowers with her mothers name on it...

lol I told my husband I am now the curator of the Tarver family historical textiles.

I have some other finishes to show but since it was icky and I HAD to give her the quilts... I took these pics, mud in the background and all... the others will have to wait for sunshine!

Giveaway!

How cool is this... a whole week of giveaway posts!! I just HAD to join in. go check it out... my blogs are loaded with lots of goodies that you can win!

For those who are new... welcome! My name is Tamara and I hope that yall will look around and come back for another visit soon.

Lets get on to business. I use upcycled fabric in most of my projects. So... fitting that I am giving away your choice of 6 vintage sheet fat quarters!

In addition I will send an equal amount of scraps from other projects! total of 3 yards of vintage sheets... enough for most small projects or to combine with what you have for a big one!

As a bonus I will give a 2nd place winner a bundle of shirt backs and a bundle of scraps...

I love this red bundle and the textures in this bunch are fantastic!

I will ship internationally... so it is open to everyone!

I have moved around alot in my life and I am always fascinated by where everyone is from and that as a bloggy community we are everywhere. So for a chance to win leave me a comment telling me where you are from and what you love about where you live.

Me... I live in Deep East Texas. My favorite thing about this place is the smell of spring, its this deep earthy smell that lets me know the winter is almost over!!

For a second chance to win either be a follower or become a follower of my blog... and leave a second comment.

I look forward to getting to know some of you better! thanks for visiting and good luck this week on all the giveaway goodness.

this is open until December 13 at 5 pm and I will announce a winner on Saturday!