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!

overy my head in projects

  seriously!  do you ever say "if I wouldn't of committed to this"  or "if I wouldn't of wasted my time" (on Pinterest and words with friends hee!)  so on and so on... that you would have half those projects done? especially when you really want to make time for Randi's May sew along (which I LOVE each month) and now possibly this small projects sew along and have totally slacked on better my home challenge, which would have really helped me tons if I would have kept up!

I have attended a good friends adoption ceremony, which was beautiful, I have done some training with the horses but not ridden enough,  gone to A LOT of track meets and I stopped being a recluse and finally made time for a couple of dates with a few different friends AND have had to do too many college forms and scholarship applications with Zach, can you believe he graduates high school this month?!! a lot mixed feelings about that.

Basically, I want to sew, and I mean sew a lot this month, I also have a few home projects I want to accomplish and I am using the date of May  24-26 as an inspiration deadline since we are having Zachs graduation party!!!

have you checked out Randi's sew along this month? a super cute lap sized quilt!  can't decide if I am using white background with possibly oranges, blues and greens? if you know me, I will probably change my mind :)

                          

as for crazy mom quilts small projects sew along here is my list, I am sure I won't get everything done, but it's a list and I am good at making lists and not getting all things done :)

                                                                 

1. frame pouch #1
2. frame pouch #2
3. kitchen towells
4. fabric coasters
5. kitchen curtain (simple cafe style)
6. table runner for dining room table
7. bunting/garland #1
8. bunting/garland #2
9. dish drying pad (my dishwasher broke 2 months ago!)
10. finish up rest of sofa pillows
11. burp cloths #1
12. burp cloths #2
13. pillows for bedroom?
14. start quilt for Zach (this is big, not small!)
15. zip pouch office aid #1
16. zip pouch office aid # 2
17. zip pouch office aid #3
18. zip pouch #4
19. zip pouch #5
20. kitchen rug?
21. mothers day gift
22. kindle case #1
23. kindle case #2

also, when I became addicted to Pinterest, I told some friends if I want to spend (waste) time on pinning, I need to actually do a 3-5 projects a month that I pin. I have made 2 meals from recipes I found and then I did this the other night, I love how it turned it, I may need to go find more rocks that we have brought home from various camping/hunting/picnic trips and stamp words on them now!
                      

lets get busy sewing!

very grateful...

         now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see Hebrews 11:1 

very grateful that I have gotten some of my heaing back after going deaf again in my right ear (this is the 3rd time, has this every happened to any of you out there?) very grateful that I know some ASL, I need to be practicing more, I really believe God puts things in our lives over time and this is proof! I am really grateful that I know some people in the deaf community that I know will help me also, what a blessing huh?!!

very grateful for these two guys (and my mom)

Jim has had to be out of town for work a lot this year so far, he can't stand traveling but I am grateful for him being such a great provider and always doing what he can for our family.

Zach is an amazing son, he helps me all the time, he is a super good kid, he is funny and smart and I have had it sooo easy being a mom to him.

grateful for road trips with Zach, a 3 hour trip home turned into a 9 hour trip! lots of fun music, chocolate and jerky :) fun times for sure!

Also very grateful that I am able to have (okay, these are material things, but I am grateful for them)

I have been super spoiled lately, but I have a new iphone and Jim surprised me with a new Kindle Fire 2 weeks ago (I love it!) and so I get to use my super nice Bernina to sew a case for the new Kindle,

and also been able to sew along with friends, thanks Randi!

also be able to do a few custom orders (hi JaJuan!)

also grateful for getting a special gift from a friendin the mail on a day I really needed it!

 I have so much more that I am grateful for the family that chooses to be in my life, my 2 horses, 4 dogs, 1 cat and fish :) running and the flowers on my porch :)


                                       linking up to amylouwhosews and crazymomquilts

crashing after being too ambitious?!!

  does that happen to anyone else? so with the new year, I had sooo much ambition and sooo many plans! I knew I was probably setting myself up but decided to jump in, too deep!
 I joined Heather and planned on doing my whole house with purging and organizing a major area each month, I did great starting my craft room, I am still doing ok with it, need to organize some more scrapbooking things and paint it and then I will be done. I am also starting Feb home project, so Iwill have to do 2 this month!

I had dreams of doing many sewalongs and quiltalongs, which I did start but of course still behind on a few but haven't been actually participating on flickr and such.

Then I told Zach, my son that I would do that 10K with him January 28, well in Dec, I ran 1 time, nice huh? January,  I ran 3 times, how is that for training for a 10k? the week of Londons run, which was on a Saturday, well the Tues before, I thought (my first mistake!) that I should try to run 6 miles to make sure I could do it, not a smart thing, not to up your mileage from barely running! but I did okay, ran slow and just made sure I could run 6 miles, and almost peed my pants! seriously! well come Saturday, I was a nervous wreck but I promised Zach that I would do it and I did! I ran 6.28 miles, my goal was to do it in under an hour, I passed the finish line in 59.17 !!! that is a 9.32 mile pace, but oh well, could be faster but it could be slower and I am proud of myself for doing it. Zach was so sweet and ran with me at the end, he did GREAT, he placed 3rd in his age group and 13th overall out of 533 people! (I think I placed 181 out of 533)

   (no I do not normally tuck my nike ipod in my chest area but I was tying myshoe and  stuck it  there stuck it there really 
       quick and just forgot about it!)
Here comes the crashing part, I think I just over did it, running into town with my mom, babysitting, upping my mileage, lack of sleep and trying to do tooo many things, I got the worse head cold, the worst one I have ever had. Its gone now, thank God, it was a doozy and totally knocked me out of commission. God has a way of slowing us down huh? and helps us put things into perspective :)

All is good and I am back up and running in all areas of my life!

Courthouse Steps...a sew along!

 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you Eph 4:32

 I feel like I am starting the new year out pretty good in the sewing area of my life, I got a lot of my craft room done (not all, still lots to do) and all my pretty fabric scraps are organized and also my goal of sewing a lot more this year and doing more sew alongs and quilt alongs :) Randi at Fresh Squeezed Fabrics is helping me out on sewing more while I participate in her sew alongs this year, go check her blog AND her shop. I have never done the block Courthouse steps, so this should be inspiring and fun!

anyways here are my scraps, we are supposed to pick 3 colorways, I have 4 colors ways though, so thinking maybe I will do a small quilt with all 4 colors OR maybe just stick with the orange, aqua and green? let me know what you think, the orange, aqua and green are my favorites but just loving my grey scraps right now, I think I am thinking too much and want all my favorites in here! any thoughts? I hate to not use the grey but does it stick out too much? I kind of think so...

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!

Strawberry Fields

not literally strawberry fields but Moda Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree  :) Oh how I LOVE this line of fabric...
I have 3 charm packs of this line, a few fat quarters (not bundles, I WISH! just a few separate fat quarters) and I want more!

this is my first project I did with it is this table runner

I love the tumbler template by Missouri Quilt Co, super easy to use and very little waste using a charm pack/squares.

I  just joined Crazy Mom Quilts quilt-along AND sewtakeahike yoyo-along should be fun and I am looking forward to both of them since I didn't even start the last quilt along I joined in, except for buying the fabric part! the yoyo along will be nice to do in front of the tv or on the road  :)

I also have some camo projects to share also that I made for my friend Jen, they were fun to do since I usually just sew camo for my two guys, so it was fun to sew camo for someone else :) thanks Jen!

Also want to share a few other fun pictures, the horses were being goofy while Zach and I were feeding them watermelon right before church :)

 

                             

I am happy too since I am able to run again, after being stepped on by a horse, I wasn't able to run for a while, so this past week I ran 3 times! feels good....

Pieces...

Pieces of life (Jim & Zach), home, school, sewing, scrapbooking, computer.....all are keeping me so busy! I love it all  and sooo thoroughly blessed!  not enough sewing going on and definetly not enough scrapbooking (I really miss it!) and not as much running as I need and should be doing! but those are all secondary to God, my family and keeping up my home :) school is going good, I love it and like I always say, it's hard and very challenging but so fun learning something I love! then there is the computer, which I let take too much of my time!

for those few of you that read my little blog, you like my new banner? isn't that little bird so cute?!!Michelle designed it for me and she also did an etsy banner (in case I ever get brave enough to open up shop!) Thanks again Michelle! you are such a sweetie for everything! check out Michelles portfolio

A few things I wanted to blog about is my one little word for 2011, I have thought about a few different words to choose right before the new year started and this year my word is going to be STRONG.  Last year it was intentional. I have so much work to do in my personal areas of life to be strong in and I know if I completly rely on God, I know I can do all the things I want to do in life :) Just like one of my favorite verses, Phil 4-13  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Now on to the craftyness!

                                

a quilt a long! PS I quilt - quilt a long I am doing! I acutally decided to do the same fabric that she is using, why? because I LOVE everything that Sweetwater produces! look at this yummy sunkissed fabric!

                                

It's going to be paired with another Moda Bella Solid White Jelly Roll and the backing and binding will be these fabrics

                                                                  backing
                                

                                                                 binding
                                

I am a little behind this week starting it due to me ordering it late but I will hopefully play catch up next week :) Don't laugh Di, I will do this one! hee hee!

Another craft challenge I want to do is the Craft book Challenge, anyone of my crafty friends know that love buying any craft related book, from scrapbooking to sewing to embroidery (my latest crafty adventure!)
anyways, I figure I can do that challenge plus use up fabric and all my scrapbooking paper, join me!!! lets encourage each other!!!

Anyways, enough babbling!

My creative (pigsty) space and sew scraps along

okay...I NEED to get organized to be able to finish creating the Christmas gifts I have started and to be able to keep creating for the heck of it! this is what happens when you try to redo your whole room and not finish it for months, when you try to cram so many different hobbies into one small room, I think my room is 10X10..... prepare yourself.... it's quite scary....just sayin...... I am only sharing these pictures for accountability purposes! I figure if I embarrass the heck out of myself somehow it will help, Lord I hope it helps....Dianne you with me?!! hee hee oh and help me decide on a new color for my room too! maybe a blue this time? or a simple beige so I can change out the curtain or colors?!!

my fabric, oh my.... there is other fabric that is scattered around the room and in piles, I just didn't show it all to you :)
why when I pull some fabric out I don't keep it neat?! I really need to find a better system that works for me!
also on the bottom shelf is most of my scrapbooking papers, does anyone really need that much?!! apparently I do :)

my sewing/computer area...I just got this really nice table at a yard sale for $20 and loved the idea of having my sewing machine and computer next to each other but the table is deep so I collect a lot of "stuff" behind that whole area...once again...need to find a better system and not allow anything there except my sewing feet and that cute 3 teird basket :)

my built in cabinets! LOVE them, why don't I keep them uncluttered? most the time you can actually see the counters, most of the time.... lol this is where I do most of my scrapbooking, I just have so much stuff from so many years of scrapbooking... I seriously *might* belong on that show hoarders! LOL my space is clean I just have so much of it :)

Please hold me accountable! LOL

also Jodi at Pleasant Home is starting a Sew Scraps Along and I hope this will help and motivate me also.
You should go visit her site also,she is posting some scrappy projects and they will  help you use up those scraps but she is also linking to other gals who are doing some giveaways of fabric scraps on their blogs. How nice huh? very generous people out there!

wish me luck on this room! hee hee :)