WIP Wednesdays and Lando

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Eph 2:10 NIV

My friend and sister in Christ, Claudia shared that verse with me yesterday and I thought it would be a great verse to share today :) If we have our faith in Jesus, we should want to do good works, not that works will save us, because our faith in Jesus Christ saves us but we should show love to others  :) 

anyways... back to blogging! again.. I have missed it so trying to get back on a routine and I thought what a better way was to jump back in and do some linky parties that I used to play in!  Today, Lee over at Freshly Pieced has a WIP (works in progress) Wednesdays I have followed her blog for a few years now and I miss doing her WIP Wednesdays, so today I am sharing my WIP, Its a quilt I recently started, using the Moda Bake Shop tutorial Fancy: A jelly Roll lap quilt, that was made by Keera over at Live Love Sew, I am totally copying her fabric and everything :) I just love her patterns and tutorials :)  so here is what I have done so far... still lots to do but its a start right? 

Can't wait to finish this quilt... I really like the Happy Go Lucky line and have been hoarding the jelly roll for quite some time :) Go check out the other beautiful projects the gals are working on!

also yesterday, I went to Flagstaff to go ride the (possible) new horse,  Lando!  it went well and I am really excited to keep going there to see if he and I will work well together :) that ride gave me a spark back that I haven't had too much since Speedy died.  :) I get so emotional that I actually have the chance to adopt Lando, what is so special is that Lando is Speedys son! amazing how God works :) isn't Lando beautiful? 

He has such soft eyes :)

Jim surprised me with an Ipad Air when I got home too!!!!!! so I best pick out some fabric to make a new Ipad case!

the happenings....

 Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in Him  Proverbs 30:5

hello blog... hello world! well... really,  hello to those couple of sweet people that read my blog! ;)  

yes its been over 6 months since I posted but we aren't going to talk about that ha!  but dang I miss my blog! I do love instagram but still like the more personal feel of a blog. I keep up more on facebook just because I can see everyone there and keep family and friends updated but again, miss my blog always.

sooo lots of going ons.... lets see....
family, doing some garden, loss of dogs :( dang its been a hard year last year of losing animals :(  and took in another puppy, yes we are up to 4 dogs! love animals!!!  also might be getting a new horse soon!!! I will post another post about Lando the horse, its an amazing story though how God is blessing me!  After Speedy died, I just didn't function well... I know so many people will think its just a horse but he was seriously my best friend in animal form :) he helped me function daily and was so good for me, kept me going in ways that were needed weekly. It took a huge toll on me when I lost him. I am getting better though, I still cry over him, I still get mad at times but just focusing on the good memories that God gave me with him has been helpful. 

also stopped taking sewing orders a few months ago, needed to breathe and get my house back in shape, revamp my craft room because you could seriously not even walk in there, yikes it was so bad. its not a ton better now but tons of improvements and getting there...just more slowly than I hoped ;) did a bit of sewing for me, felt a bit selfish but gosh it felt so good...really want to get those quilts finished for me and my family and some home decor items for our home. Started a couple new quilts too and have been buying fabric!  which is always so much fun! but kind of goes back to why my craft studio is such a mess... keep buying and not enough sewing going on! OOOH! something else I almost forgot... I am doing my first real craft boutique in Dec!!! yikes! super excited and nervous but very much looking forward to it also  :) 

I have so many pictures to share but since I can't share them all today I will add this one of my beautiful sunflowers that I planted in my garden :) some of them reached 12ft!!! aren't they beautiful? it was my first time also harvesting the seeds and roasting them!  
hugs!

2015

 well I think every year I have done a blog post that I was going to start up my blog again...hehe! yes lame I know when I haven't kept it up, but hey, might as well not break the tradition, right? lets try to get it going again!
2014 was a year filled with crazy busyness, hubby had lots and lots of vacation to use or lose and although its nice for him to be home, my time is just not my time and I have been needing my routine.  I have been selling a lot of my sewn items, which has been a lot of fun and I have met the nicest people and have been blessed with the little extra income and such so I was pretty wrapped up in that. Oct was very hard , I lost my best friend, Speedy :( one of the hardest times in my life for sure.  He knew all my secrets and taught me so much about everything. Not a day goes by that I don't cry for him. I miss him terribly :( I thank God that I have so many wonderful memories with him though and am so blessed he was in my life.

I have so many so many sewing projects I have made and would love to get them on this blog and also share with you but instead of putting 297 pictures on this post, I will just share as I go along :)

Overall 2014 was good and I am totally blessed but I am eager to do 2015 a bit different, Lord willing :) my goal is to get back to my quilting, yes I said that last year and didn't make one quilt :( took on one too many orders BUT I am learning to pace myself and will do it this year! hold me accountable okay? Also joined project leasa so sew from our stash! what a concept huh?!! hehe! anyways I have a huge stash so this should be easy :) join in if you want!

I have to share my latest apron I made, I picked out fabrics for one for me and happened to show them to a friend and she has been amazing so I made her one to match, well hers is completed, mine is almost done :)
I love all cherry/strawberry and heck even apple fabrics and have been hoarding this aqua cherry fabric forever! the Pam Kitty fabric gingham and text are two of my all time favorites for sure!

I also preordered this quilt kit quilt along from Fat Quarter Shop

I am nervous as heck to do it but its totally me and I had to have it! what is also amazing is the donations that will be made to St. Judes Childrens Research :)

okay...well I am leaving it at this... hugs and find the blessings in everything!

oh and I forgot to mention my new word for this year, its BECOME :) lots of meaning behind this word. 

hugs!

Pets on Quilts Show 2014

okay so I am so excited to be finally participating in this years  Pets on Quilts Show 2014 taking place over at Lily Pad Quilting. 
Let me introduce you to Speedy

Isn't he beautiful?  and look at that sweet face! Speedy is my dream come true and my dream guy :) 
here is Speedy and I on one of our morning walks

A lot was going on last year and  I was too late making it happen to participate but I wanted to really remember to do it this year with Speedy, thanks to my sweet friend Dana helping me out!  This year was especially important for me to be a part of it, see, 4 months ago, I had a tumble off Speedy (which is not normal for him to freak out but something wasn't right with him)  and from that point on, the road went downhill for him, he started getting sick, with a bunch of tests later  Speedy was diagnosed with Lymphoma (cancer)   :(   Right now he is doing good, he is holding his weight, he still acts naughty at times, which is a good sign for him! ha!  but its been so hot here in AZ to be able to work him and see what he is capable of, we got for walks and such though and he has been more loveable more than normal ;) which I like!

anyways, we brought Speedy out to the front yard and  he was quite the gentleman and putting up with us taking pictures and laying quilts on him. So hard to choose a favorite, geez I took so many! but thinking I narrowed it down to this picture :)

here are some others...(don't worry, I wont share them ALL!)

patiently waiting for us to be done! 

Here he is looking at me like "are we done yet?"

and no worries...Speedy was paid for his time and patience with lots of love and horse cookies :)

thanks for playing along and go check out the other quilters pictures with their amazing animals over at Lily Pad Quilting!

love of love from Leslie and Speedy 

"other animal on quilt category"

Speedy, my horse and missing things in my life

this is one of my horses named Speedy, most of you know I call him my dream come true, my dream guy :)
Speedy has been sick for a few months now off and on, we finally received a diagnosis that he has lymphoma :( I was devastated after finding out this horrible news but making the most of my time with him, I haven't been able to go out riding him since I had my tumble off him right around the time he was sick and since  he has been more spooky and he isn't seeing correctly out of his right eye so just seeing how he does before I jump back on. If you believe in praying for animals (I do! God provided us with them!)  please pray for Speedy :)
so now onto the topic of what I miss....
I miss...posting on my blog,  drooling over others blogs, being on Pinterest every morning with my coffee and sewing quilts....changing a bunch of areas in my life to make all this happen again! see ya around!!!!!

Cadet and Speedy

  Its been a while since I shared a post on our 2 oversize pets, Cadet was not feeling well for quite a while so there was no riding for over a month, we did our DUH (Down Under Horsemanship) training a little just to work with them a little and  keep up some of the training, we had the vet out again and she gave us the go ahead on riding! yay! we took them out last Saturday and they both did great! Of course, I forgot my camera so today I took a few of them :)
Here is the sweet, flamboyant, very stubborn and onry Cadet. He is a big ol' boy, 17 years old, 16.1 hands and about 1300 pounds! He is a Morgan (old style, from what I hear, I guess Morgans are smaller now).

Here is Speedy, he is very sweet too, he is a very loyal horse and has to build trust with you before he lets you in, he has a dark side but only shows it once in a great while and gets in big trouble when he does! He is about 13 years old, 16 hands and about 1,150 pounds. He is Quarter Horse and Thouroughbred

Not sure how we ended up with 2 big horses, but they are keepers and most of the time they made us look like we know what we are doing. Jim is a lot more daring with Cadet than I am with Speedy, and sometimes I worry that I will ruin Speedy when I carry a nervous trait with me when I ride, most of the time I do pretty good but I know Speedy senses it.

Both are geldings, both are dominant and neither one, in 8 months has given up being the dominant horse, at times they bite and kick through their panel (we have a 50x50 corral  split in half with panels so they each have 25x50) but usually ride together beautifully, EXCEPT that one time when we were loping and Speedy took off with me like a crazy horse and kicked out at Cadet and Jim, I thought I was going to fly over Speedys head and Jim was trying to hang on while Cadet was dodging a kick while loping. At the time I was so scared and didn't get after Speedy as quick as I should have....he better watch out because now I am more experienced! ha!

One of my goals is to possibly try gymkhana, I am nervous and I know Speedy has done barrels before, is he gonna go crazy on me like some of those horses do there and get all wound up? will that dark side come out? or will he be the good boy that he is *most* of the time?

We sometimes think we need to get another horse,  Zach kind of wants a horse of his own horse but worries with just graduating high school, starting college and a job in just a few months, will he be too busy? should we just get one anyways? if one horse is sick or injured we would have a back up? hmmmm...still not sure

These 2 act like they don't like each other half the time and then when one leaves, they have a fit! hopefully they can find a happy medium :)

And speaking of horses, some friends, John and Ranae,  that also do DUH, are now doing Podcasts, go check them out! They are way ahead of us in the horse training area but have definetly been an inspiration to me!

Organzing and playing

        I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except thru me. John 14:6

trying to play along anyways! I am wanting to scrapbook and sew really badly, my stye of a craft room is being rehauled, when I say rahauled, I mean rehauled! I am tired of having my room so cluttered and overfilled and sooo unorganized! I won't get rid of too much but I really do need to go thru and put like with likes, purge (a little) and move things around. This room is on my  Better Homes Challenge list. My room is just 10'X10' and one whole wall is counter high cabinets with cabinets above. Trying to make the room hold years of scrapbooking things and now a couple of years of sewing items and fabric and a little of embroidery and other small crafts is challenging! I do need to remember this room is small but also trying to maximize space. I have an oversize kitchen table that holds my computer and sewing machine, which is so conveinent when reading a tutorial online but the table is large and I am wonding if I should keep it or not, lots of deciding going on in the next couple of days regarding this room. I will share pictures soon!
Right now there are  sew alongs and sewing with scraps, and the different weekly shares that bloggers do, and I need and want to be doing these but I must focus on this room but perhaps just sew and scrap a little ;) There are a couple of quilt alongs that I really want to start but I might wait for one to start maybe in a month or so just so I am not setting myself up for failure and give myself a chance to get most of this project done.
Are you organzing like a mad woman like me?
I can't post this post without a picture so here is one that I took yesterday! Zach definetly has an adventerous side and he doesn't get that from me, I am glad Cadet is a good boy! not a great picture since I snapped with my cell very quickly!

New year goals and such :)

  Like everyone else, I can't believe it's 2012, 2011 flew by so fast it seems, I really hope that 2012 goes a tad slower and that I still remember to slow down and enjoy all it's blessings and just to remember God is in control of it all.
Of course like most....I want to make new goals, start fresh and all that, but of course I could have done that 6 months ago (hee hee!) but didn't, so with everyone else, I have a few to list...

as far as personal goals

• read my Bible everyday
• take time to read a book a month (I used to read tons, last couple of years, not so much and I really miss it!)
• sew more...in Dec, sewed more than I did most of the year, I need to make the time, mostly sew more quilts
• exercise more...I do pretty good but the past couple of months, I run really good for a month or 2 then quit for a month
• open that Etsy shop?!!
• scrapbook more (I miss my scrapbooking)
• organize and print my pics
• practice my ASL more
• my house projects (big and small)
• more horse training and riding...and perhaps gymkhana?!! (I need not to be a weenie about this!)

Speaking of house projects, Heather is doing a Better Home Challenge, kind of exactly what I need!
I have big projects I do want to conquor but also A LOT of organizing and getting rid of *stuff*.
You can list 12 areas/rooms and do one a month, on the bigger projects is what I am going to list, but I have areas that I have a list also that I want to get done in the next 2 months or so in each room. On the big areas, its for bigger projects and/or cost of those areas.

my big area items are

• Living room/dining room area
• craft room
• our bedroom
• Zachs room (now that he is getting ready to graduate and start college)
• kitchen
• hallways (and hallway closet)
• outside (back)
• outside (front)
• outside (side pasture area for horses)
• outside (new garden area)
• front bathroom
• front porch area

PHEW!!!

This week, Jim goes back to work (Tues) and Zach goes back to school (Wed) and it's been fun having them home for over 2 weeks, but I do look forward getting back on a schedule and getting started on different projects (home and sewing) and having my house clean again!

fabric & horses and...

Then call on me when you are in trouble,

and I will rescue you,

and you will give me glory."

Psalm 50:15

  running, ASL, scrapbooking....all my favorite things to do, so....I am going to share a little of each in this post :)
first we will start off with fabric...look at these yummies! a little Ruby (charm pack) and some yardage of those scallops and a little bit of Little Apples :)

then the oversize pets, these 2 have brought A LOT of fun into our lives :)

                                                                             Speedy

                                                                                 Cadet

now onto my ASL and scrapbooking...not much going on in either of those areas! Since I am taking a loooong break from school (since I got horses and am paying for Zachs dual highschool/college credits) but I have been practicing my asl a little and have been doing a little scrapping for my friend Wendy, but I am hoping to use some of my newer purchases soon on me!

anyone else want to be a good runner? I do...I try lol! ... I have taken months off here and there but this week I really jump started my running again, Zach says I have to run the Turkey Waddle 5k Thanksgiving morning with him and then he wants me to do Londons Run 10k in January! yikes! wish me luck, I am not too worried about the 5k, but the 10K???!!!!! very worried!
everytime I see this picture floating around the internet, it reminds me of me running! hee hee!

anyways, thats it really...I recieved some sewing orders in so that is fun (and challenging) but also need to finish up a bunch of Christmas gifts! 6 more Saturdays left till Christmas!

Since all these things are lovely (maybe not as lovely as God and family, but they are blessings in my life) I am linking up to Life Made Lovely.

Sewing...what a concept, huh?!!

                           Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD   Psalms 31:24

I FINALLY sewed, I have the fabric (insert fabric hoarder), I have the BEST machine (Betty), thread, a list of tutorials and patterns to try out, BUT the lack of time, or putting my sewing for me, ahead of other things is why I haven't...
some things that have been keeping me busy....I can't really complain because watching my son run his cross country races and riding horses are also at the top of my favorite things to do :)

the recent promp from my bestest buddy Rebecca, has been trying to convince  (force lol)  me do a craft fair, which would be a first for me (yikes!) when she told me about the craft fair at her church, I didn't think I could do it since Zachs cross country team has a meet that day...well of course, 1 week ago...I found out the meet was not going to happen that day...(insert grrrrrr!) I could have had an extra 3 weeks to be sewing my heart out! well I figured I will see what happens with my sewing this week...how much I get done will determine if I do the craft fair...I really don't think I will be able to do it (it's THIS Saturday!) I only have a few things sewn so far, and I don't want to show up with not enough, BUT of course Jim had to go out of town for 3 days so maybe I can sew all day and all night?!! we will see what happens :)

I LOVE this apron, (this is not what I will be selling at the craft fair, mainly totes, zippered pouches) , but ever since I saw this free tutorial on One More Moore's blog, at least a year ago, if not longer, I have had it on my list of to do's, go check hers out, it's so cute! I am in love with the fabric I used also, its October Afternoon, Farm Fresh, since my first craft love was scrapbooking, I LOVE that a few of the scrapbook companies are making fabrics in the lines of some of their papers :) how clever are they?!!

I am linking up to Life Made Lovely, Sew Chatty, The Girl Creative and Quilt Story, join in!

 

horses, thrifting, cross country, family, books...I live a good life :)

first up is horses...Jim and I have been trying to ride 2 times a week when he is off on Fridays, sometimes we can still squeeze riding 2 times a week if we do a quick ride before church, but now with cross country meets every Saturday morning and with it being hot it hasn't been happening, but when the cooler weather comes I can see us always riding 2-3 times a week :)  poor Zach hasn't been able to ride because of cross country practices so maybe when the season is over he can start up again

Here is Speedy and I...
I have been a bit nervous and a few things have shook my confidence but trying to get past that! still wondering if I should try a bit on Speedy, not sure about this whole hackamore stuff :) Speedy is really coming around and adapting to our family and is starting to show more affection, I have been working with him quite a bit so he has been testing me quite a bit too... this is just in an area about 2 miles from our house...

lots of thrifting lately, it's been fun...(I know Jim is probably cringing if he ends up reading this)
I love my kitchen items especially!

 I mean...LOOK at these cute plates?!! I wish they would have had the whole set!

 found a few cute skirts, they fit pretty good but I know if I just lost 10 pounds they would be perfect on me with no hips buldging out :)
love the embroidery work on this one ($4)

this one is just a simple skirt, pretty casual but super comfy! ($3)

I am in love with this shirt, seriously! it's soo cute with my jeans and boots, Jim says I look like a peasant or a ragamuffin....whatever...                                                                                                                                                                                                      ($1.99)                                                                      

This stack of pillowcases that I might make into an apron and that top flowery fabric is a girls dress, I figure I am going to cut it up and use the fabric though...                                                                                         

now onto Cross Country...this first picture is Zachs race up in Scottsdale, he did really good and felt good, some good friends came to watch him too, it was a good day!                                                                    

these next two pictures are up in Payson, Jim ditched work for 2 hours and we drove up there to watch Zach run, it was beautiful weather and it was green, beautiful area up there, Zach did good, after the race, Jim and I had a dinner date at Chili's :)                                                                                                                     

Usually Zach is too tired as soon as he finishes a race to stand around a take a pic with ol' mom, but this day he did :) I am making sure I really enjoy everything with him right now, with this being his senior year and he is busy, busy and gone soo much, I can't even imagine what this next year is going to be like....I have to stop talking about it or I will start crying ;) (seriously though I will!)

he is headed to California this weekend to go run cross country!!! (I wish I could have gone! lol)

finally finished reading this book, it's really good and perfect for me in the area of my life right now                                                                                                                                                                           

Just started this book, I want to see the movie so bad since I have been hearing how good it is

Been sewing a teeny tiny bit but I messed up but will share that on the next post and hopefully will have a few other projects to share....yes I really do sew (and scrapbook!)

I am really blessed and have a good life, much better than I deserve :)  God has been very busy in my life lately though...I am excited to see what happens in a few areas of my life :)