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Grateful Monday 12/5/11

05 Dec

I’m so grateful for everything in my life right now. There are still some hard things in it, but lots and lots of fun things are happening too. Busy, busy, busy! I’m sure many of you are in the same situation getting ready for the holidays. I have recipes I will be sharing with you, dolls I’m making for granddaughters. You’ll get the first peak. We’ve been Christmas shopping and wrapping and adding up ingredients for cookies, it all takes time doesn’t it? I am enjoying working on these things though, hope you are too. “Wherever you are, be all there.” Jim Elliot. Yes, I want to be all here and fully conscious of my life, it’s busy-ness and the joy that is here if I just let myself realize it.

Every Monday I try to share my gratitude list. I am part of the community over at Ann Voskamp’s A Holy Experience. I love her introduction of herself, you can read it here and see if it touches you as well if you like. The list helps me focus on the good in my life, my happy moments. The simple things and the complex loves of my life. I am very grateful for this discipline that is growing in me to remember to appreciate the many good and beautiful things around me. You see, it is very very easy for me to focus on the heavy things, the hard things, the things that go bump in my life. I have to work diligently to remember to be grateful, to look for opportunities of gratitude. That may sound like a bad thing to you, but it has been a very very good thing for me.

Goodness is all around us, even in the busy times. Even in the hard times. We just have to learn how to appreciate it I think. So, here is my little list for today, I’m grateful for:

1. Christmas, and the love it represents. He came for love’s sake, not for the sake of rules and regulations.

2. Lists, and recipes, and books and ingredients and chocolate and sugar.

3. For friends and family to give to, for dolls to make and presents to find and joy to share in living life and giving and receiving love and comfort from each other as well as things as simple as a gift.

4. For Natilee, because she helped me today and asked me to tell you so. She is the eldest granddaughter that lives with me. I really enjoyed her helping me today, she was reading out the cookie recipes so we could share them with you in a few days. Yum!

5. For help from Boyfriend too. It comes in handy to have a couple of extra hands around sometimes, doesn’t it?

6. For warm home, and soft bed and running water and clean clothes. I am grateful for my blessings.

7. For remembering trust is important, when I trust that God loves me and looks out for me I don’t have to give in to worry and dread.

8. I’m also grateful I started sewing the dolls I aim to give as prezzies in 20 days or so. They aren’t going to make themselves.

9. For plans for my life, for my businesses and for the hope and promise the future holds.

10. For Christmas movies and cartoons that remind us all how important family and friends are. I especially love Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. The Island Of Misfit Toys is where some of my best friends used to live.

11. I am grateful for fun, and some upcoming things will be fun for me! One will happen tomorrow, I will be the Fine Feathered Friend for the 12/6 Flock Together Tuesday Blog Hop hosted by Mom’s Best Nest. Then later in December I will be a Grilled Grandma on Grandma’s Briefs. Finally, the end of the month brings my next birthday, the big 5-0! Not to mention Christmas Eve and Christmas. Sounds to me like it’s gonna be more fun than one month can hold! “Woo-hoo,” as Yukon Cornelius would say. Woo-hoo indeed. Have a wonderful week! Angela

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Posted in Friendship, gratitude, lists

Grateful Mondays….

16 May

Clearing after a storm....

This past week was slammed! I did not mean to, but we all do it from time to time. I had myself booked every day and night for a week! UGH! I hate it when that happens, and normally I work very hard not to do that to myself. Oh well. I survived and had several things I was very grateful for during it all.

1. I was very grateful Monday that there is an end to a work day. Man! My co-worker and I had done a whole days work by 10 AM that morning, every crazy thing and problem you can think of either called, walked or crawled into our office. It was not a fun day. So as I said I was very grateful for the end of the work day Monday.

2. Tuesday came and was fairly busy too, but not in the crazy, running wild way Monday was. I had a lovely visit from a dear friend for a little while sharing beautiful pics of her newest grandbaby, a beautiful little girl with a head full of hair. She had flown across the country to be with her daughter after the birth, and she had a very busy but lovely 2 1/2 weeks with them. I am thankful for shared grandmother joys. Yay!

3. I was also grateful for time shared with Boyfriend Tuesday night. He had spent the weekend before away with his family and we didn’t get to see each other much the week before he left. We had a seminar to go to, so we didn’t get to just hang together, but it was very nice to be with him even with the busy-ness of the evening. If you want to check out some info about what we learned, you can click here.

4. Wednesday I was grateful for friends who help me figure out career issues. I have signed up for some business coaching and need a little help with a long questionnaire that I have to answer before I begin my coaching time. I have done pretty well on it, but got a little stuck on a few things. It was nice to have 2 of my best buds to talk it over with, Kitchen Stuff I Love Steph and Raspberry Moon Nikki.

5. I am grateful for: Sushi! I didn’t know I loved it until I started dating Boyfriend, but boy do I! I eat wa-a-a-y too much of the stuff every chance I get, and the girls and I had sushi Wednesday night. Yummy!

6. Thursday evening I got to have my Valentine facial Boyfriend bought for me, from Nikki. It is a wonderful treat to get in to see her. I was bad and didn’t book my evening appointment until a few weeks ago, otherwise I could have been in sooner, but I am so glad I got in Thursday! Nikki used a new red wine treatment on me and I loved it! The toner felt like liquid velvet going over my skin. I don’t know if you use toner or not, the kinds Nikki has recommended to me in the past feel fine, but none of them have ever felt this good! I’m telling ya, it was fantastic!

7. By Friday, I kinda felt like pooh! Good things to do are great, but too many good things are still too many! I am grateful that the work week for me ends on Friday. We went out and bought birthday gifts for the 2 May birthday granddaughters, and had a little dinner. I found some fun stuff at the store too, movies and such. It was a nice evening.

Artisphere Preview

8. I am grateful for the events downtown Greenville, SC has. This weekend it was Artisphere, and I will be doing a couple of separate blogs about it later this week. Fun! It was almost like a mini circus, lots and lots to see and enjoy. And we cleaned out both of our cars on Saturday, and trust me! I am always grateful for a clean car!

9. I was grateful watching Granddaughters open their birthday gift from us, seeing the cute little “O’s” their mouths make over the strangest things….the oldest opened the cables to a new game system. We thought we were being clever, and she would think all she was getting was a few wires for her birthday, but No-o-o-o! She knew what they went to, a Wii system. She is only 7 folks. Couldn’t pull one over on her! Her 2 year old sister opened a controller and even acted excited because her Sissy did. Lol! They were lots of fun to watch just opening it. Then you get to laugh and smile watching them play it. Very grateful for moments like this.

Butterfly piñata

10. Sunday was another day to be grateful. Our whole family got together to celebrate the girls birthdays at the park and it was wonderful! My Dad was able to come too, and we always love seeing him. The weather was nice at the park too, lots of clouds kept it from being too hot. There was a very cute Butterfly pinata that the kids whacked on for about 10 minutes! Finally Daughter pulled it open and let them have the candy and toys. All in all a wonderful day!

So, how was your week? What have you got to be grateful for? I am glad today has already started out slower than last Monday . I would love to hear how you are doing, leave me and comment and let me know. Have a great week everyone! Angela

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Posted in Food!, Friendship, gratitude

Everyday’s a Birthday…

19 Apr

Boyfriend and Me

…and today just happens to be….Boyfriend’s birthday! We have been celebrating all weekend really, just gonna close the deal today and give him some prezzies tonight! Yay! Prezzies are my fave! He loves a series called Farscape, and it was abruptly ended a few years ago. Sci-fi channel problems or something. They did come back and make a mini-series to wrap up some of it, and then the creator of the show decided to continue the story in graphic novel form. So-o-o-o-o, three of Boyfriend’s gifts are these novels. I hope he reads them fast, because I want a chance at them too! It’s a frelling good show! If you like sci-fi you will really enjoy this series. The characters are a lot of fun and the story lines are pretty interesting most of the time.

I also got him a DVD of a hilarious guy, Gabriel Iglesias, ‘I’m Not Fat, I’m Fluffy!’ We heard him on Comedy Central during our vacation and laughed and laughed at his skit. We ended up watching it 3 or 4 times, so now he will have the DVD to watch as often as he likes. He has no idea, I can’t wait to see how he likes all of his gifts! We will be going out with friends soon too to celebrate his b-day, so it may be more like birthday month than just birthday weekend.

Monday came and went and I had a day off! Yippee! I rested, and lounged and just didn’t do much at all. I was also dealing with strained muscles in my back, but I got some help for that from my massage gal and my chiropractor. Apparently my desk and my body don’t like each other very much, so massage gal and my chiropractor both have job security to keep me in shape for life.

I now have taxes behind me, so I want to get re-focused on sewing….only problem is my room has turned into a giant pile again, so I will have to clean up before I can sew. Bummer. I’m not too good at keeping it caught up anymore. I’m still pretty organized just messy. Guess it’s time to pull out my notebook and make that list again.

Well, gonna leave it here for now. I will let you know how the prezzie part goes later this week. I hope there’s cake! Later, Angela

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Posted in Friendship, Gifts

Encouraging Words…

30 Mar

Love you!

You are wonderful!

You are so beautiful!

What a thoughtful thing to do….you didn’t have to.

You look great today!

You are so smart!

You’re my favorite!

You are very creative.

What a great idea!

It’s going to be alright, and I am right here with you through it all.

What are some of your favorite things to hear from others? What helps lift you up when you are down, brings a smile to your face and just makes your burden seem a little bit lighter?

For me, it has been all the wonderful comments I have received over the last few days concerning this blog. I enjoy writing, and I like to share things with others. I’m very happy to know that some of what I have to share makes you happy too.

Morris Island Lighthouse

What can you add to my little list of encouraging words? What could someone say that would make you smile and feel happy, content? What are the things you are grateful for? Everyday things and once in a while things? I would love to hear a few of your favorites too .

It’s been a long dreary rainy day here in SC. The temps are not as warm as last week, and I truly miss the warmth. It’s suppose to rain until Friday I think. So my hands and feet will be cold for a few more days, but my heart is warm and happy now thanks to all of youl. Hope you have a wonderful night full of pleasant dreams! Angela

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Posted in Friendship, gratitude, lists

Ch-ch-ch-changes….

02 Mar

Part of the lyrics to Changes by David Bowie

Ribbit!

I still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time….

I wish I could get up earlier in the mornings to do this. I would like to have it done before I come to work, but I suck at getting up early. I could get lots of things done, like reading or maybe a little sewing, maybe folding the laundry….. But so far I suck at getting up early. Le sigh…..

I have ordered material for a new quilt. I am hoping it will come in a week or so. I have to get out my quilting book and look at the patterns. I need to design the flow of the blocks to decide how many of each I am going to need to make for this quilt. I hope it goes well. I am looking forward to designing it. I also need to cut out my daughter’s apron and make it, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet. She reminds me occasionally that I have forgotten her apron. lol. I had decided to make a couple of quilts and list them on ebay or etsy, and the next day a friend called and asked if I would be interested in making a quilt for them, so….. I am now making a quilt for them . I am very happy about that!

I also want to start my alterations business again. I will have to figure out how to let it be known at this point. . I repaired/fixed several things about 10 days ago, and really enjoyed being able to put the things back out to be used. I use to have a terrible case of nervousness when I would think about sewing for someone else, but so far I am not having that problem anymore. So hopefully this means that’s better. Mo betta. We shall see, won’t we?

I am still doing the 750 words thing, most of the time. I don’t do it everyday, but hopefully will get more consistent with it and from that be more consistent with blogging as well. That is something I am still working on, consistency. When I think about all the things that fell apart for me a few years ago, and stop giving myself a hard time for not being perfect, ….I realize how far I’ve come. I am a homeowner, I don’t have to rent anymore. I own my own car, be it an older model Mustang, a hatchback from the 90′s. But it’s mine. Free and clear and with only occasional repair bills. I have a full time job. Now granted I may not enjoy that job too much at times, but it’s still my full time job and I have money to pay most of my bills. I have wonderful friends that have not turned tail on me and taken off. I am stable. I am menopausal, but I am stable. So I really have come a long way already.

A while back a business leader was speaking to my networking group and he encouraged us to come up with a vision, a mission statement and a business plan for our respective businesses. I found it was easier for me to come up with these things for my alterations business than it was for my insurance life. Even then I was being drawn to the sewing part of my life, but my nervousness and confidence issues kept me from really launching into it. I hope I have recovered enough to be able to do it this time. I need to sit down with myself and work on those things again for my alterations. I am glad I am doing this.

I have changed a lot in the last few years. Not just overcoming the lack of confidence and the nervousness. I have also changed in that I don’t always have the patience I once had with people. I won’t say this is a bad thing though. My tolerance levels used to be so excessive that I would let every one run over me, any time and just about any way. That really isn’t true any more. One of the consequences of this is that some of the people I use to really love to be with are not really my friends any more. But I am also seeing some of them with better eyes and realizing that I might have been their friend, but when it was their turn to show me love, or patience or tolerance, they didn’t want to return the favor. I still miss them though. And I haven’t disowned them either. We have all changed, and maybe we aren’t the people we use to be. But I will always love them. Hopefully, they won’t loose that love for me they once had either.

Well, that’s seem a rather sad note to end on, but I think I’m through for the day. Hope you are having a great one, let me know how you are doing! Angela

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Posted in Friendship, Ponderings, sewing

January…

31 Jan

Ouch!

The beginning of a new year. The first day, week and month of said year. My main concern so far for 2011 was for it to be WAAAAYYYYYY better than 2010. The results to date? So far, so good. Last year I was recovering from gall bladder surgery and getting back into work at this time. So is this year better than last year? Oh my yes! Mo betta fo sho! Didn’t I look cute in my cap and gown? Yeah right! At least I had a smile going. I had been sick for weeks prior to this, I was in denial that I needed any help. One emergency room visit started a 3 day drag race to my surgery. Didn’t take long for the doctors to figure out what I was trying to hide from. But yay! That’s all behind me now, and I have the weight gain to prove I can eat again. I will be enjoying a couple of game nights with friends and food soon and will eat a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g I want. Just watch! Yum!

So, no surgery in this first month of 2011. That makes it unequivocally better. Ahhhhh! Looking forward to Valentine’s day too, last year’s was very special since it was mine and Boyfriend’s first one together. Wanna see our Loot?

2010 Booty!

I absolutely LOVE Opus, he is the stuffed penguin in the picture. Boyfriend had secretly bought and stashed him to surprise me with on the BIG DAY! I was so happy with that gift too! There is a video called: A Wish For Wings That Worked. It is a Christmas movie starring none other than Opus himself, and I love it! Most of the Opus stuff is older, no new things are really being made, so it made me even happier that he found a stuffed one for me. It was a great Valentine’s day! I bought him the bear just because, and we both liked the fact we had given a stuffed animal to each other. Awwww, sappy I guess, but true!

Boyfriend made me pizza, which I ate it and enjoyed every bite! He even shaped it into a heart for me. Wasn’t he a sweetie? It was a very good pizza too, let me tell you! I love a man that can cook!

Pizza Valentine

So, I know I have had a better January. I wonder how much better February is gonna be? I can’t wait to see! We have 2 weekends with get together’s at our game loving friend’s home, and our second Valentine’s day to look forward to. Already setting up to be another wonderful month! Maybe I will get another pizza out of it too, who knows? Or maybe some mouth-watering waffles? Or how about some crepes with that new crepe pan Boyfriend got for Christmas? It’s rumored that there will be be tamales at one of those get together’s too. Hmmmmm……so, yeah, uhm….I’m getting hungry! So, ah, I guess I’ll catch ya later! Snack time! I would love to munch on your comments too , if you would be so kind as to leave one, thanks!

Talk to ya soon, Angela

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Posted in Food!, Friendship, Gifts, humor, January, Valentine's

Where’s Your Oxygen Mask?

19 Jan

I saw a question on a blog recently that really made me stop and think. Do I treat myself like I am in a relationship with myself? Hmmmm…..What does that mean exactly? Well, I thought about relationships I am already in. Do I take good care of my friends and family, do I show Boyfriend how I care about him? Yes, according to what I observe and what my friends and family say, yes I am good to them and take care of them in many different ways. So, I know how to be in relationship, and have some skills at it. Now the question is: do I apply those same skills to myself? Again, I say “Hmmmmmm…..”

I think my answer is gonna have to be “No!” I don’t. I am always better to others than I am to myself. I have even been known to place myself in dangerous situations in the name of being good to others or helping others that I would never encourage my friends or family to be in just to ‘take care’ of someone else. I tell myself that I am being a nice caring person when in reality what I’m really doing is telling that person they have more value than me and I am willing to devalue myself in order to help them or be with them. So I will take the chance of harming myself to make sure they are happy. What I am doing is setting myself up to be taken advantage of.

By harm I don’t necessarily mean physical harm. I’m talking more about emotional harm here, but that can also open a door to neglect of self that brings the risk of physical harm. Say you are recovering from sickness or surgery, and can’t handle taking care of a loved one, yet you push yourself to do it because they are important too, and they need help. Then you realize you are having problems healing, you’re still too tired, or there are other complications for you physically. You were saying the other person had more value than you, their well being was more important than yours. Let me give you a word picture to show you what a bad idea that is.

I am on a jet plane, high altitude, flying across country with my children. Suddenly, the plane bucks and drops and the oxygen masks pop out over our heads. I reach over and start placing the mask on one of my children, trying to make sure my precious one is not injured from lack of oxygen. But….I can’t breathe! I start blacking out before I can put their mask on. I become unconscious and cannot help my child. My mistake was taking care of someone else before I took care of myself. Put your oxygen mask on first BEFORE you try to help someone else.

This next part is very simple. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. In other words, learn how to love yourself correctly to know how to love others correctly. Thinking more of others at the expense of yourself is wrong. It doesn’t prove you are a nice person, it doesn’t mean you are a good person, we are letting the world run over us and wondering why we are hurting so much. Being run over is painful. It leaves marks, and some marks leave scars.

So, even though very often we don’t want to be held accountable for our actions we need to learn to love ourselves better. Love ourselves without selfishness, because love is not about that. Love is: ⁴ … patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (I Corinthians 13: 4-7, yes that’s in the Bible. Something good about love.)

Do you love yourself this way? I am learning these lessons, and reminding myself that I am lovable, I am worth taking care of, and I have value too. Just like you. Hope you find this helpful on this journey of life. Let me know how you rate in your relationship with yourself. Talk to you soon! Angela

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Posted in Family, Friendship, overcoming, recovery

December…

06 Jan

Apparently, December was not the month for me to blog. My daughter’s recovery from surgery lasted 6 weeks instead of the 7-10 days the doctor told her to prepare for. We got through it, and she was finally released from the doctor’s care on December 30. It was an interesting month, plus as you are all familiar with we had the usual holiday preparations and activities. Whew! I am really glad it’s over! I do have a few favorite cookie recipes I will be sharing soon, and as in November we had another successful Turkey roast for Christmas day as well.

December Sunset

December was actually a lot of fun. My friend had a wonderful open house early on for the holidays, and it was absolutely fabulous! She and her husband have had this event for several years, and we ended the night by playing games for hours. Had a beautiful snow on Christmas day, which was a real surprise. We haven’t had a white Christmas in these parts since 1963. Got to spend lots of time with my family. One daughter and family live close enough to be with us on Christmas Day. Grandkids and presents and food, what a great combination! My son and my dad were snowed in, but I go to see them on New Year’s day. Another day of Grands and food and fun, oh my! New Year’s eve is also my birthday, and we had a blast with some close friends for that too. So there was a lot going on and we did get to enjoy a lot of December.

I also spent a good deal of time contemplating some things. I lost a friend last year right before the holidays, and since she had been in my life for more than 20 years I was thinking about her some this year. I have a wonderful friend that is in France for 1 or 2 years with her husband’s job. We use to talk every day or two, but now I leave her a message or she leaves me one, and we’ve only been able to talk twice in about 3 months. She and I touch base on Facebook and it’s nice to share their adventures that way, but I do miss talking with her. I am very happy and blessed with my friends here too, but seems we are all going through ‘stuff!’ right now. Sometimes it’s just hard to talk. I guess that’s why I didn’t blog more. It’s written talk, and I just didn’t have it in me to talk much lately.

I still have a quilt to finish, and will post pictures when I have that done too. It’s a brand new year and I’ve got lots of great plans for it! Hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season with your friends and loved ones. I also hope and pray for you to have the best year of your life in 2011! Talk to you soon, Angela

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Posted in Family, Friendship, Ponderings

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

12 Nov

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day. I always remember Memorial Day, but somehow forget Veteran’s Day. My Grandfather served in World War 1. One of his battles was in the Black Forest in Germany. He loved to tell us stories about some of the places he traveled, but would never talk about anything that happened during the war to me. I know he was in Germany and Italy, probably France too but I don’t remember specifically. I loved my Grandpa. He passed away when I was 12. I have a tiny little picture of him in his Army uniform somewhere. Sorry I can’t share it now, I will be glad to when I find it. My dad also served in the Air Force, but not during any wars. Thanks for protecting us, both of you. That’s kinda what dad’s are suppose to do, and you both did it well. I’m proud of you both and love you lots! John Wayne said: “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.” I’m sure every veteran we have ever had hopes this too, that wars would not be the means we had to use in this world, but I’m thankful for those brave enough to put themselves in harms way to protect us and our freedom. I’m not an advocate of war, and I hate some of the things that come from it, but I will never forget the sacrifices that my Grandpa suffered to protect us with his service. There are many service men and women who are sacrificing for us still today. When you see them, thank them for their service. The least they deserve is our thanks.

Today is Friday. It is a strange and wonderful month for me, all at the same time. The month of Thanksgiving with all the food and trimmings a small army could eat! We’ll be celebrating at my house this year because Daughter Number 2 will be recovering from surgery, and I get to have them home with me. I’m looking forward to it! Turkey with stuffing, dressing for my Daddy, twice baked potatoes for Daughter Number 1, other fixin’s to go with those and cheese cake by Daughter Number 2 for dessert. Yum!

Several other things have also happened during this month as well. This is the month of my marriage, and the month of the beginning of my separation. It seemed so strange that first year to have separated from my husband the same month we had promised forever to each other. The first year was horrible, somehow I got through it and got to the new year and new spring and summer. Now we are a few years past it all and I”m glad things have turned out the way they have, really very grateful. I enjoy my life now and wouldn’t have it any other way. I am also glad my marriage produced my wonderful children and grandchildren, can’t imagine life without any of them! Speaking of children, that brings us to….

Ole! Happy Birthday Daughter...

Tomorrow. It is my baby’s birthday. My BABY is gonna be 25! Just doesn’t seem possible for her to be that old, then again my oldest child is my son and he is 30. Time flies people! Time flies and things change, and you really have to learn to enjoy where you’re at and drink in every moment you can. So tomorrow we will celebrate my daughter’s birth, going out to dinner and see if we can get someone to sing Happy Birthday to her like last year. That’s what the pic is from, the Mexican restaurant we took her and the family to. She declared it lots of fun even with the hat on . Good sport she was! We’ll have cake and presents, and maybe even watch a movie after if she wants to. It is also the month of several of my friends birthdays so it is a month of celebration. Happy Birthday to all and to all a good night! Ole!

Do you have any thing to celebrate other than Thanksgiving this month? I think I have at least one reader who is one of the friends with a birthday this month, right? Hope you have a happy everything everyone! Angela

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Posted in Family, Friendship, memories

We’re a Class Act…

09 Nov

Candice and her quilt

Today I want to introduce you to Candice and Stephanie. Candice is taking the quilting class with me and Stephanie is our teacher. I have really enjoyed my time with these ladies, and am a little sad the class is almost over. I barely got a picture of Candy’s sweet face with the quilt she is making her new grandson, don’t you love how the colors work in this? I have told her many times I’m glad I’m not as competitive as I used to be, because she has been Speedy Gonzales putting this thing together . But she reminds me she has time constraints on her as Grandson is due to be born imminently! I’m so happy she is joining the grandparent club! Best thing ever! And what a beautiful heirloom she is making for that baby!

The Top!

We have been putting in lots of work on our samplers, and as you can see it is making a beautiful quilt! Candy’s blue material looks like it has tiny stars in it too, and I love that she used it in her Friendship Star blocks. I also really like the way she laid out her blocks, I love the pattern in the center with her Log Cabin blocks. I also like the placement she chose with the Friendship Stars too. Candy will also be adding borders to this, and I will try and share another pic later of how it looks with those! I think it is just lovely!

This is also a beauty….Stephanie, our instructor, has made this circular quilt. I think it is about 4-5 feet in diameter. It is a large single dragonfly on a cream background. She took it to a long arm quilter who does free hand design and although you can’t see it in this shot, there are bunches of dragonflies quilted into the background as well. The quilting on the wings is a wispy circular pattern that almost looks like flames to me! I love this one too. I am sure circular quilting is more common than I realize, but this is the first time I have seen one this large. It is very impressive!

Stephanie has had all kind of tips and suggestions for us as we have worked on our samplers. I really appreciate the fact that she wants our quilting time to be our no-stress zone. I already have lots of stress going on at the moment, so this has been a nice place to get away from it. Stephanie has really made the class fun for me, and Candy has been a delight to be with! Both ladies are very sweet, one more sardonic than the other, but both willing to put up with the Chatty Kathy part of my personality . I warned them both that if I talked too much they would just have to tell me, I thought I should come with a warning label sometimes! They laugh at my silliness, and we measure and cut, and sew and iron. I’m sure I can’t get the exact quote but one of Stephanie’s children told her: “You cut large pieces of cloth into tiny pieces of cloth to make a big piece of cloth? Why?” Why indeed!

No matter what I am certainly enjoying this class! Next time I will show you my top and how the putting it all together process is going. So, what do you think? Have you ever made a sampler, and how did that go for you? If you aren’t a sewist ( a new term I’ve found and love), what mix of adventures have you put together? Would love your comments and stories! In the meantime, I’ll be back at my machine working on my sampler! Until then, Angela