hours of fun!

I actually got to enjoy more than a half hour here, half hour there of sewing!! Saturday I spent 8 hours in my sewing room and by the end of the day i was surrounded by beautiful works!

Lovely Little Windows:

This has been something i grab and sew the 1 1/2 in squares when i dont have much time or when nothing else is ready to sew. I started peicing the squares saturday and ohh and ahhh... i love love love it! This is going to be the width, i am going to do a wide border on it.... I now have it hanging on the wall in my sewing room and if i was a wall hanging kinda gal i would probably quilt this and leave it there, but i love it so much and cant wait to see it on my bed!!

Dallas' Soar:

this one has a name now, it looks like soaring birds. I try not to start piecing something like this till i have all the pieces cut and squared so i can lay it out and make sure the fabrics look random, but i couldn't resist.... well, i can never resist really, so here are a few blocks i had to sew together to see how it was going to look! I still have to sew 50 HST's and square up over half of the blocks.... but im excited about finishing this one.

Sandy's Kalidescope:

I am "making fabric" for this one out of strips and strings that i cut to 6 7/8 length and random widths then sewing together. I will then cut the triangles from the strips. I started foundation piecing them but that is a pain in the patootie so i just started sewing strips. I will starch the snot out of them before i cut the triangles. I figure this is about 1/3 of what i will need for the quilt.

Stephanie's Scrappy Stars:
I have alot of the star points made... going to keep working on them. I have been using a new method of making the HST's and i love it. (I have been looking for the tutorial that i read to make these... but i cant find it. In brief you take 2 squares, sew them together on all 4 sides (pretty side in) cut it diagonally in both directions and presto... 4 perfect HSTs! Have to stop trying to find the tutorial because while looking for it, i got sidetracked and ordered 40.00 worth of fabric... opps... i will post a link to it if i ever find it but right now i cant afford anymore fabric!)

HA... Jeni of In Color Order posted a link to it yesterday and i just found it! here it is

Kegan's Zig and Zag:

woo hoo i finally finished the flimsy. I had alot of problems with this one since my first attempt i reversed the rows and my zigs weren't zagging! I trimmed it down (yes i made it WAY too big and cut a whole row off the side and bottom) This weekend i will work on quilting.

this was inspired by this quilt. I changed up the colors and i don't know what size her blocks are but i cut my strips 2 1/2 x 6 1/2, I also put my blocks on point.

I Love Sophie:
I have had this at work, working on it when we were slow, which wasn't a whole lot of time this past week! I will get it done by the weekend!! Here is a picture of the little darling who will one day say "this is the first quilt that Mimi made me!"

Wedding Plans:

I have been collecting canning jars for my centerpieces. I love this look:

Source: google.com via Tamara on Pinterest

I am linking up to Freshly Pieced Work in Progress Wednesday Be sure to go check out all the other lovely work!!!

changing directions

Just to be sewing something new i started 9 patch blocks a week or so ago. My plan was to make them into a quilt for a friend who has had surgery recently... simple 9 patch blocks with some sashing.. batta boom, batta bing, i have a quilt.  but... as usual my plans change.

I'm using my 2 1/2 in squares or cutting from my stacks of scraps for the 9 patch blocks and its totally scrappy (no matchy matchy for me) I do try to match the 9 patches but i have everything from hot pink and black to baby blue and purple in the 9 patches.

I love the scrapiness of the original idea, but, its too simple and plain to be that scrappy... does that make sense? I want to scrap it up a bit more. So i think I'm going to be taking the 9 patches and making them the center of stars. so some scrappy points with a background fabric in something other than white then a scrappy corner block of some sort.. hmm...  i will have to play with it.

 I also have a TON of 2 1/2 in squares that are red yellow and blue, (and even more small pieces that i can cut into squares) i think i will make a bunch of those into 9 patches and make the original quilt that i had planned... still scrappy but tied together with the color scheme so that makes it ok that its that simple.... maybe a corner block that ties it together even more.... so does this mean im starting ANOTHER project... hmm have to finish a few before i start that one.

What have i finished this week????

Ally's Dress:

When her mom brought her into the store in it i just squealed. With the big red daisy and her big blue eyes... she was absolutely beautiful!

I Love Sophie...

ok, so i haven't hand sewn the binding down, i plan on finishing that today and tomorrow at work during the slow times... but I do have it quilted and the binding attached.


The other finish soon progress:

bathmat - no progress, its buried under a pile of fabric right now!

kegan's quilt (heard from his dad, still no baby yet... but he and his gf are planning on moving to Texas in the next year. They are currently in Alaska. The army owes both of them a move and it will take some paperwork to get that done, but as soon as they can they are coming home. I asked how many "they" are.... (we haven't met his gf yet and i knew she had some kids before Jess) and he said 2 adults and 4 or 5 children! akk... i have more quilts to make for our growing family!! He wants to build a house on the ranch so they will be close and it will be more kids we get to spend time with! I'm so happy and i hope he really moves home this time!) - but... i did put what i have done up on my design wall and tomorrow i will finish piecing the flimsy. I think i just have 5 strips to sew together yet!

Jonathan's Camo: still sitting in the neat pile on the extra chair in the dining room waiting for me to pin it.

Dallas HST - Ive been trimming these suckers... and have decided this will be the layout.

I don't know what it is but i have been more tired than usual and i haven't been spending as much time sewing. Sunday i took a 4 hour nap instead of sewing!

Wedding Progress:

Ralph's friend has agreed to marry us. He is an ordained methodist preacher who doesn't have a church (he is a postmaster instead) Ralph married him and his first wife a long time ago (ralph used to be an ordained preacher) and now Richard is going to marry us!

The bridesmaid dresses. Am i crazy... i want to make them? We picked out this dress which has the colors but i really wasn't in love with it. I just dont think it would look good on everyone.

Source: jcpenney.com via Tamara on Pinterest

but if i made 5 using this pattern:

Source: simplicity.com via Tamara on Pinterest

and these 5 fabrics:

 

oh boy gotta run.... linking up to freshly pieced work in progress wedensday. Go check out some other great progress!

of course it was a quilt that inspired the colors of the wedding!

Source: etsy.com via Tamara on Pinterest

To give credit... the quilt is for sale on etsy and the seller is kelbysews. BUT when i checked the listing today she has taken it down and says she is moving. Hopefully she will have it back up for sale soon because it is a beautiful quilt!

Anyways, this is the inspiration. I love the blues, teals, light blues and light greens. It is all over the place as "sea glass" inspired. Sea glass, however beautiful doesn't really inspire me because well, we live 200 miles inland and it is not a beach wedding! however i then saw this.....

Source: google.com via Tamara on Pinterest

The photo is by One Girl Photo and her website is www.onegirlphotography.com

I cant afford the blue jars but i am definitely using the hydrangeas and the jars... The reception will be after dark so i also plan to make ball jar candle lanterns for everywhere. And I'm calling it sophisticated country. Why sophisticated country? One from somewhere other than East Texas might think that its just plain ole country, or simplistic country... well its sophisticated because camo weddings are all the rage here and THAT is country for this part of the world... we're going a bit more sophisticated than that! lol.

We reserved the church yesterday. We are going to get married at McMahon Chapel which is the oldest protestant church in Texas. It is beautiful inside. Ralph is a HUGE history buff so the history behind the church makes it special. It was a Methodist community formed before Texas got its Independence. The creepy side is that founder is actually buried under the pulpit. This is the third church built in this spot, each time they are careful not to disturb his grave... ok... creepy... wont think about that while I'm getting married.

Source: toledo-bend.com via Tamara on Pinterest

Ok... yall might get tired of hearing about the wedding... sorry... I'm preoccupied with it right now.

On the quilting side... a friend just had surgery. I'm trying to finish up a 9 patch quilt for her in the next week! Pictures to come.

work in progress wednesday

I'm getting MARRIED! yep... i said yes! It was cute he even got down on one knee to ask. We have been living together for 2 years now but we are officially going to get married on July 7th. Its kinda scary.. i never thought id want to get married.. but i do.. its just so exciting.

Now he is going around asking EVERYONE for their address to mail an invitation to! lol... one woman he asked, it was her first visit to our restaurant, we didn't know her from Adam! I admit she was cool and nice but seriously is she going to show up to our wedding??? We do want to have a small ceremony and then a big reception/party at our house and we decided we were going to invite alot of our customers.. lol.. but i meant the regulars, not every other one that showed up to buy a pizza! I'm laughing as i write this. The one thing Ralph has taught me is to not sweat the small stuff. I cant control his crazy antics anymore than i can control the moon or the stars... so i just have to laugh and figure it will all be OK... hes cute collecting addresses though.

I cant believe it but i bought a dress at a yard sale!! I was at a church yard sale and as i was paying for the books i found, i looked up and they had a really pretty dress hanging there... i knew it would fit when i looked at it so i tried it on and i now own a big fluffy wedding gown for only 30 bucks! It needs to be taken in at the hips and hemmed... but i have someone who can do that for me. This is my first wedding so i wanted the big fluffy dress... but i didn't want to pay for a big fluffy dress. This works perfect! I'm sure you will see plenty of pics of my dress in the future!

but on to quilting......

yeah! my quilting mojo is back!! I spent some time in the sewing room this past week... bout darn time. I found out what it took... FABRIC!!

I have bought fabric online, at my local quilt shop and at walmarts, i still have about 30 bucks i can spend on fabric but i have to find a quilt store that takes paypal online to use it. but ohhhhh i love fabric! all the pretty colors... sigh... i love fabric!

the bottom fabric is for sundress #2 for ally!

I started and finished a cute little sundress for grand baby Ally this past week. It was my first attempt at clothing since i started sewing again. So... the last button hole i made was at least 20 years ago. But for my first attempt it didn't turn out bad! I am still waiting for her mama to take a pic of her in the dress to post. I also started this...

I'm excited about the clothes thing. I have two more sundresses planned for ally and a few for grand baby Sophie. I would love to make some work shirts for me too!!


so... i plan to finish these two this weekend:

I love Sophie: She is more than a month old! i really need to finish it. I pinned and quilted it last week and will get the binding on this weekend!

Johnathan Camo: This is by far the ugliest quilt i have ever made. It was inspired by camo and uses 4 inch strips of brown and green fabrics. The front is denim, back is the camo. I have the batting now to finish it... will hopefully work on that this weekend. Jonathan is Ally's daddy. I told him its the perfect blanket to keep in the truck for when they go fishing or he wants to take Caty on a picnic. lol... it really is a truck quilt because if i was Caty i wouldn't want it in my house (although she does put up with other camo things in her house, which i wouldn't!)

Bathmat: I need one more sashing on it and some borders then i can quilt it up. I'm determined to finish it this weekend!

Waiting for batting:
travis' star - big star using plaids
jess' hst - its a denim with diamond flannel hsts
Lucille's Trip Around the World -  I found the perfect backing material for the quilt top Ralph's mother made. Its very bright and summery so I'm going to finish this one soon.

Almost ready for batting:
Trevor's paw paw kisses - need to finish borders
Landon's paw paw kisses- need to finish borders
Kegan's zig zag - about 4 more rows to sew on

I pulled out and put up on the design wall so i could get some new perspective on what to work on next:
Dallas' hst - we kept Dallas' quilt since she didn't come for Christmas! (lonesome dove) I have a mess of hst's i made with white and bright fabrics that was going to be for Adrianna (but since her and Coleman are getting a divorce, i think i will skip making her one!) I am going to use these for a quilt for Dallas. Ive started squaring up the hst blocks.
Orange Crush - I'm still in love with orange right now so i have bought some new fabrics to finish cutting for my orange crush (broken dishes)
Lovely little windows - I have a bunch of squares made and this is what i work on when i want some mindless sewing. Its a 3 1/2 in white square with 1 1/2 in squares as sashing... i am love love loving it and i think i will make some more progress on this one. I need 576 different squares (i put two sides of sashing on them) and i have about 50!!!
Stephanie's 9 patch - ummm... well yes i started a new quilt!!! guilty! Stephanie is a horseshoeing customer and i wanted to make an easy quilt for her using some of Lydia's shirt... I'm going with 9 patch blocks from 2 1/2 in squares. I'm going to put sashing between them and there you have it. I made 10 of the 9 patches this past week.
Sandy's kaleidoscope - I'm making it out of strings and i seem to have a ton of strings lately... so pulled this one out to mindlessly sew strings together.
My shabby stripes - I have so many striped shirts, Ive started cutting for my own shabby stripes... i loved the one i made Sharon so much!

This is Sharon's shabby stripes.

I made it using striped shirts i have bought at yard sales.

still waiting for some attention:
Harley's shabby stars - need more striped scraps... I'm making plenty with my shabby stripes.
Faith's Flower Garden - just not inspired.... sometime i will be.

In the back of my mind and i am sooo tempted to start:
Lea's Seashore - Lea loves teal... another color I'm crushing on right now... i have an idea for a quilt for her and I'm collecting teals now.
Carolyn's Vintage Flower Garden - Caty's bio mama said what she liked best about my quilts was the vintage sheets on the back and how soft they were. I have enough sheets and scraps that i can make a whole quilt out of them so I'm planning one for her.
The Maroon Sheets -  our favorite set of sheets have been retired to my sewing room. I'm going to make us a quilt using it and some brown and tans i bought recently. (same pattern as the bathmat but with bigger pieces)

Backing sheets. The two yellows and greens will go on the back of Lucille's quilt. The bottom flower i used on the back of Sophie's. The scraps will go in Carolyn's!

Im linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced... be sure to go check out other beautiful works in progress!

Kidnapped... maybe... maybe not...

This isn't quilt related but i have to get something off of my chest.

There was a story that broke last week about a woman who kidnapped a child 8 years ago and that she and the child had been found. This story shocked me to my core. The "kidnapper" is a woman that has worked for me on and off for three years. i knew she had a child that her mother was raising the age of the kidnapped child, so i knew the child was most likely the missing child, but i knew in my heart there was more to the story. Krystle is a kind, sweet girl and she wouldn't hurt a flea. She isn't a drug head like people want to believe, and she isn't some monster. She is a happy go lucky girl with a beautiful smile and a joyful, christian heart.

So this is what i do know. She worked here in 2009 when we first opened. I hired her and 3 of her cousins. The cousins all quit or got fired, but we kept her because she had a good work ethic and was good with customers. At some point in the beginning we all stood around talking about babies and she showed us a picture of a cute little 5 yr old that she claimed was hers. Now the police have asked if she claimed it like he was her biological child or not... i don't know what was in her heart, i know i talked about a child that i consider MINE who lived with me for a year, but I'm not his biological mother. She told me her mother was raising him. Since she was young, i figured it was best.

Sometime that year or in 2010 she got pregnant and the first trimester was really hard on her. We had to let her go because she couldn't get through a shift without getting morning sickness and wanting to go home.  Krystle brought the baby by to see us after she had him and has been an acquaintance since.. the kind of acquaintance that you stop and talk to in the grocery store. Her baby is an adorable, animated kid.

About 8 months ago, we were ready to hire again and she had asked for her job back. I hired her back. She has been working with me since but about 2 months ago she started getting sick again, and we all knew she was pregnant. We stopped scheduling her till after the first trimester. A week before she was arrested she told us she was over the morning sickness and wanted to come back to work till she had her baby and i was ready to schedule her.

Then we got the news that Monday night and i was in total disbelief. Like i said, i knew there was more to the story....

What local people told me off the bat is the woman gave her the baby. That they didn't file kidnapping charges because the biological mom wouldn't cooperate with the investigation. What i deducted and decided was truth is that the woman gave her the baby... at some point she wanted it back and Krystle and her family wouldn't give him back. Bio mom went to the police and when she decided it was too much trouble for a few more food stamps, she stopped cooperating.

As news broke, i have watched it. the police reported she has "evaded" police for 8 years. Well she worked here under her real name, got food stamps under her real name, went and bailed her brother out of jail using her real name... she hasn't been hiding anything. They say she isn't cooperating. When i talked to the police i asked if she had an attorney yet, they said no, they haven't appointed one yet. my response was... then she doesn't HAVE to cooperate does she? Get her an attorney so that she CAN cooperate. They say she has been hiding the baby in San Aug for all this time. NO... the only time she has had this child was over the summer, her sister had brought him up here and she had him for a week or two. She brought him in to meet us, i saw her in the grocery store with him... if she has been hiding him here all this time why did she suddenly bring him out of the closet?

So the baby was found, Krystle's sister had him and turned him in. She claims she didn't know he was kidnapped, which... I'm not sure Krystle even thought of him as kidnapped since momma gave him to her. Bio momma shows up on the news crying (well kinda) and saying she missed her baby and was praying he'd come back to her. Things are not looking good for Krystle at this point, comments on stories were breaking my heart. People were calling her a monster. I wanted to scream, i know this girl and shes not a monster. Its just not in her... its not a case of the neighbor saying "he seemed like a nice man, before he murdered his whole family" no... i know in my heart that she is a good person with a good heart.

OH... and Cunningham from the local police department... said in an interview "she calls the child dirty" ugh, i wanted to scream with this too. Its just a nickname and the chief of a city that is 80 percent black should know that is just a cultural thing. There are three grown men in this town that go by the nickname dirty. My dishwasher is Huggy. Krystle's nickname is Black. Its like a white kids parents nicknaming him Bubba. Cunningham did it well though because in the American public's eye they could see this woman abusing the child, degrading him and locking him in a closet. But its NOT that... its just a nickname said with love and affection!

I tried to see her a couple times. The chief said i could come down and he would let me but every time i did he was in "interviews" and i couldn't get in to see her.

But today... finally a new light is shining on the case. A family came forward that is raising biological mommas other children. There are 4 other children that this woman gave to them. It was just supposed to be for a few weeks, but that has turned into 8 years and biological momma hasn't even bothered to call or see how the kids were doing. (far cry from her story on one show that her and her children would pray every night that he would come back to them) They said they don't think the child was kidnapped, that momma gave Krystle the baby. They are also filing for custody of the child so that he can grow up with his other siblings. Thank God there is someone who does know the truth. Someone who knows who the real monster in this story is.

I had to get this off my chest. Krystle sat at my thanksgiving table with her boyfriend and 2 year old. She is a good girl, she is a good mother with a beautiful child of her own and one more on the way. Did she do it right? not really, they should have gone to cps and gotten custody of the child 8 years ago when momma abandoned him... but do i understand why a young black woman from a small southern town that is 80 percent black but doesn't employ one black police officer didn't want to go to CPS or the police? yeah, i understand why.

Please keep Krystle, her family and these children in your prayers.

Simpler life and Spring

It hasn't been much of a winter in East Texas, not surprising since we had the hottest and driest summer on record last year. This winter we have seen some rain but its been unusually warm. (our pipes didn't freeze once this winter, usually we have to fight the freeze 3 or 4 times a winter!)

Spring has me wanting to do yard work. I spent all day Sunday cleaning up the yard, burning the burn pile of tree limbs i trimmed last summer (it had been piled for over a year because of burn bans). and then trimming trees and making a new pile! lol. Ralph every spring used to pick up flats of flowers on his way home from horseshoeing but he hasn't the last few years because we have been so busy. I asked if he would again this year so today when i get home there should be some pretty flowers to start planting.

Spring has me wishing i didn't work so much and i could spend more time doing other things. I find i can be Queen of Zippys or Queen of my house, but i cant be both and for two years i have ignored the house for zippys. I find myself today struggling with wanting to be Queen of my home and not here at zippys. Yesterday i took the afternoon off and went home to mow my lawn. I got most of the front done before i ran out of gas.

I also did some plumbing repairs. Last year i ran a water line to one of the horse lots. (beats lugging a hose back and forth between them.) BUT... this big goofy horse....

has a fascination with water hoses and he broke the water line while playing with the short hose from the faucet to the trough! We got home the other night to a flooded driveway and yard because of his shenanigans! He really is a goof ball, very playful and very curious. Makes him lovable but boy can he get into some trouble! I repaired the line to that pen and ran another line off of it to the front pen. Im so proud of myself for finishing these... we have talked for years about how wonderful it would be to have waters at each lot.
There is so much i want to accomplish at home to make it a nice home for us and for the kids and grandkids to visit... but i put blinders on each night we go home because there is no way i can with what time and money i have. Its frustrating and overwhelming... but there is something about spring that screams to me that it is time, it is time to start living life and doing those things i want to do!

Then i somehow ended up on a "simpler life" blog line today. Let me just say having grew up in farmland and living on a ranch... there is nothing "simple" about raising your own food and not relying on preprocessed food from the grocery store so the "simple" part of that trend kinda makes me smirk. Simple is going to the grocery store and buying a carton of yogurt... not simple is getting up at the buttcrack of dawn to milk bessie so that you can make your own!  BUT i do understand the desire to do these things and all the work that goes along with it.

all this has me wanting something other than what i have today. I would love to stay home more, plant a garden, spend some time sewing, finish the remodeling jobs in my house. I would love to be outdoors and take care of the animals and fix fences and water lines. I would love to be a grandma that can babysit grandbabies and have them come visit me. I would love for our sundays to be filled with family instead of us spending the little time we have maintaining our lives outside of zippys.

I really am wanting more and im trying to decide what to do about it. We have been working 12-15 hour days 6 days a week. We are avoiding paying payroll this way and we are maintaining quality and excellence at zippys which is important to us. BUT... im thinking the time has come to hire again. To find at least one or two employees that can give us some time off for balance. the question is where is the money going to come from and how do we find employees as committed to excellence as we are... but i think its time to find a way to give me at least one other day off. One other day to be queen of my home.

superbowl sunday!

Ok... i figured it out, last year i lost my quilting mojo for about a month... this year i did too. Its superbowl sunday! We spend a week getting ready for it, a day of crazy work, then a week to get over it! Im still trying to get caught up at home on housework!!

BUT... here and there i have been working on this....

Its going to be a bathmat when i finish it.....

lets see what else.....

we have a new grandbaby!!! (no i haven't finished her quilt yet)

This is Sophie Elizabeth... shes a pretty little thing!

one friday night, some of the kids showed up at zippys... we had to take a group shot. Here we have Ralph, Ally, Caty, Leah, Dallas, Waylon, Buck, Sharon holding Sophie, Trinity, Me and Destiny! I know its quite a clan... but there are 3 kids and 6 grandbabies not pictured!!

and to wrap things up... how bout some food porn.... these are the rocky road brownies i made for zippys today!