nothing but the f*a*c*t* . . .

What a BUSY week we just wrapped up!!  Our church had VBS last week, but we had it out in a residential community . . . with a humongous tent and canopies and WOW!  It was work, but it was SO incredibly worth it!  We had 24 children ... out of whom 6 accepted Christ!  What a joyous celebration!  I taught 4-5 grade (which actually became 4-7 grade) and fell in love with some really terrific kids ... kids we wouldn't have met or ministered to if we'd had VBS in the church building. 

In addition to VBS, we also had World Changers going on.  We had a team of eleven (nine youths and two crew chiefs) from two different churches -- one in Columbia, TN and one in Franklin, NC.  They were a huge help to us since a lot of our regular members work during the morning hours and weren't able to help with VBS.  After VBS finished up each day, we'd head back to the church where lunch was served and then we had different projects for the World Changer crew to work on.  They left each day at 4 p.m. and then we'd head back to the community and do a movie night or hold service or a family night in the big tent. Lots of early mornings and late nights.  Plus Sawyer was with me each day -- he thoroughly enjoyed his week of VBS!

In other words . . . WHEW!!

And do you know, I don't have a single picture?  One of our youth was our designated photographer -- and she did take some phenomenal pictures -- but I have not the first one.  LOL!  I guess I was busy, huh??!

In addition to all that, we had lots of family stuff going on . . . the kind of stuff the devil throws out at you when you're bringing God glory and making a difference for the Kingdom.  But God is faithful and He certainly provided for all our needs this week!

On a quilty note (and with pictures!), on Thursday night I took off my VBS hat and put on my guild hat!  Our program that night was an applique round robin . . .

And yes, that's *me* down there demoing a form of faux applique, aka crayon tinting (f*a*c*t*)!

I didn't get any pics at the meeting that night, but luckily our 1st VP did and shared some with me.  This is me at my station about halfway through the night.

Do I look frazzled, much?

My friend and head of our Stitcher's Group, Kari:

She demoed raw edge machine applique (she doesn't look frazzled the least little bit!).

And Barbara--of My Joyful Journey--was our program coordinator:

She demoed turned edge machine applique (and also shows no signs of frazzling!).

Here are a couple of my sample pieces . . . 

I really enjoyed the evening, though I wish I could have visited the other stations, too.  There's a reason I did 'faux' applique.  LOL!!

I shared some useful info, too.  Like, you can buy white crayons in bulk:

Amazon.com, of course!

You can print designs on fabric using card stock and removable tape:

Which is good, because otherwise I'd have set this pretty little design aside, since my tracing stinks!

And putting your traced design in an embroidery hoop upside-down keeps your fabric taut while you color 

*and* provides a ridge for your hand to rest on, so you don't smudge you work!

This week holds a lot of catching up . . . laundry, housework, groceries, more laundry . . . you get the picture!  

:)

dis 'n dat . . .

Lots of busy work yesterday.  Sadly, a darling friend's dad passed away yesterday morning.  She isn't just a sweet friend, she's also my pastor's wife . . . which meant their family wasn't at church last night and so Todd stepped in to teach in our mid-week service.  He did a fabulous job -- he's such a great teacher!  But I spent a good portion of the afternoon helping him prepare.

I did get my flosses picked -- I think -- for Mr. Owlie . . . 

Unlike the Crazy in Color piece, where the floss was supposed to match the color it was outlining, in Mr. Owlie, I want the flosses to accent it, as well as outline some of it.  

In essence, the floss will lend color and depth and dimension, instead of just being a border.

I also got most of part three of a StitchMAP challenge completed. 

It's a "magic needlecase".  I've got it on good authority that it's really a fun finish ... but since you don't get the next installment until you've posted a picture of the finished current installment, I don't know yet!!  The challenges of StitchMAP are a lot of fun ... and not as intensive as the classes, but still aimed at teaching; whether a skill or a process.  I have it on good authority that a redwork class will be offered soon!!  I'm telling you - this group is one of the best I've ever been involved with!

And you may have noticed a little piece of flannel above, here's a better shot:

Well, it's as good as it's going to get for now, anyway!

I probably won't get a whole lot of stitch work in today, since I'm off to Jocelyn's.  I get to play with my Ellie-belly-baby . . . 

I'd take her over Mr. Owlie any day!

Have a great day . . . college football season starts TODAY!! 

:)

plugging along . . .

I'm hanging in there ... each night I'm a little more worn out, though!  LOL!  I'm definitely feeling my "half century" age this week!  But I wouldn't trade it for anything.  We had at least five professions of faith out of my class last night!  Whoooohoooo!!!!

Since our VBS is in the evenings, I am managing to get a little done during the day.  I finished up my doll swap quilt and got it off (and *completely* forgot to get a picture of it -- what was I thinking?!?!).  I'll have to hope my swap partner will take some photos for me!

Monday I spent time with Miss Ellie . . . 

Every time I see her, she's grown and doing something new!

Yesterday I spent time with Master Sawyer while his mommy and daddy headed out to see if he was having a baby brother or baby sister.  They know ... but they're not sharing yet.  Argh!!!!

He let me rock him to sleep at nap time ... so sweet!  I rewarded that sweetness with a freezer pop.  That's what grandmas are for, right??

I'm also working diligently on my challenge quilt, due next week. 

I'm having such fun playing with colors!

Luckily for me, it's pretty much a no-sew project.  My machine is acting up again.  Boo!

And a little heads up for anyone who hand quilts or appliques.  A friend in my guild highly recommended quilting needles from Jean S. Lyle (who also sells featherweight machines).  

I ordered some "Giant Eye" #11s and they are *wonderful*!  (I sang that in my head as I typed it -- that's how wonderful they are to work with!)  She also sells applique and straw needles, too.  Definitely worth checking out!

It's Friday and I'm outta here -- last night of VBS!!

:)

busy, busy, busy . . .

I'll be right upfront about this ... it's going to be a long post with lots of pictures.  I've been so inspired and so (sew) BUSY!! 

But first things first, I wanted to share about my doctor's visit yesterday morning. Thank you for all your kinds wishes yesterday -- it went well.  After looking at the x-rays, the doc said that the bone growth was progressing nicely and the new growth was encompassing the donor bone.  I mentioned to him that I had some discomfort when walking on the heel.

He looked at the x-rays again and noted that the screws do jut a little ... and he brought up last visit's x-rays to see if they were in the same place.  They were, which is good; it means that the screws haven't moved from being walked on ... they just stick out a little far.  If the discomfort continues, he might go in later on (4-6 months) and remove them.  Nice!

He will see me back in two months.  During that time I'm to progress to boot-free, full weight bearing walking, starting with an hour a day (which I'm doing right now -- LOL!), and to let pain be my guide as to how much or little I do.  And to continue the ultra-sound treatments.  So, good appointment.  As an aside, when I asked him about his weekend, he told me it was a good one:  he'd been fly fishing in Utah on Sunday and snow boarding on Saturday, and jetting about on Friday.  Heh.  Glad I could help.  Hahaha!!

From there we went to one of my all-time favorite places for breakfast . . . 

Cracker Barrel!

Yesterday was busy, full of meetings and errands.  I did find an unlikely smile popping up . . .

Everything here thinks it's SPRING!  I'm afraid they're all in for a rude awakening. Perhaps not, but I don't think winter has given up the ghost yet!

Okay, on to quilty things.  First up, NewFO projects!  I started and finished the quilt for Ellie:

I started the HQH 25th Anniversary BOM:

I was going to do a mock-up of the tiled pinwheel block I'd first drawn and then put into EQ:

But when I printed it out, it looks so complicated, I need to go back and see if paper piecing it might be easier.  I did simplify it by making it just three colors instead of the original five ... that will cut down a little on the bits and pieces, at least for a mock-up block.

And I was *completely* inspired by a piece of art work done by the daughter (Heather) of one of my dear friends (Reda):

When I asked Heather if I could use her painting as a basis for a quilted wall hanging, she said no problem, she'd been inspired by something else!  Okay then!

Looking at our flatscreen, I decided I not only wanted it that size, but that it would be the perfect cover for the TV when it was not in use (which is more often than not) and it would give me a terrific place to hang it.

  

Then I printed out the Scripture (which I'll eventually use to trace onto my fabric to be embroidered) on blank paper and taped it together so I could sketch it out.  Mind you, my drawing abilities aren't top notch, but I think it gets the general idea across.

Then I spent some time trying to figure out how to translate this onto fabric.  Applique?  Fusing?  Oh wait ... what about faux applique?  That's something I've wanted to try, too!  So I got out a little piece of scrap fabric and my colored pencils and went to work . . .

Here's what it looked like after putting on the textile medium to set it.  I didn't have a brush and it would definitely need to be spread more delicately, but I think I like the look of this.  I would stitch the verses on my four back ground fabric quarters (the green, blue, pink and grey) and then stitch the quarter panels together, and then draw the tree and leaves.  I'll probably need to buy more colored pencils -- you have to press really hard to get the color!

I'm linking up HERE at Cat Patches for the NewFO's.  There's been some really gorgeous new and interesting work going on that worth checking out!

And then I'm happy to report that I *did* work on the Free Motion Quilting challenge.  Yay!!  After lots and lots and LOTS (and lots and lots) of drawing out the leaves on paper . . . 

I finally bit the proverbial bullet and put needle to fabric sandwich.  I think this was a tough design to start with, and it went against what I'd been previously taught in FMQ (that the space you are going to stitch in should always be in front of your needle), so I had some overcoming to do.

One thing I always struggle with is ... nope, I drop my feed dogs (in fact, I need to remember to pop them back up) ... I always, without fail, forget to lower the pressure foot!  It cracks me up and it always takes me a minute or two to figure out what's wrong!

I did find Leah Day's suggestion for using a self-threading needle to immediately bury your thread endings incredibly helpful, and I also was encouraged to see Frances Moore, in the tutorial video, stop and start ... in my mind I've always thought that FMQ equaled continuous, non-stop motion.  Duh -- it's so much easier when you can stop and reposition your fabric!

 I also found that the gloves really, really made a positive difference.  My level sewing space if very small, so I definitely need to have a good handle (haha--pun intended!) on my material as I work with it.

It's not great, but it's much better and I do feel a little more confident in my abilities.  I should really spend 15 minutes a day practicing FMQ ... practice makes perfect, after all!  For the FMQ challenge I'm linking up over HERE at SewCalGal's blog for the January entry.  Right now there are over 250 quilters who have participated!!

Okay, that should do it for me for today.  I'm headed out to do a little [silver] fabric shopping (and I want to get one of those self-threading needles) and then I'm going to spend some quality time with my darling Ellie (and her mommy) and then tonight it's off to a Stitcher's Group sewing circle!  A pretty darn good day laid out, if you ask me!

:)

a triple score . . .

Lately, the mailman has been very, very good to me.

I think this almost might be the last of my birthday booty score. I ordered Helen Stubbings' Faux Applique, along with a nice box of colored pencils. And some buttons. Please don't laugh me. I needed them.

After reading through the book and looking at the process, I'm very, very excited!! There's lots of potential for new an interesting creations using this method!! And it really is exquisite work. I can't wait to try my hand at it!!

Also in the mail, came this lovely, squishy envelope . . .

I'd won a giveaway over at A Legacy of Stitches. If you've never been to Sandi's blog, it's well worth the visit. She does some incredibly beautiful work and has a nice offering of BOM's and stitcheries and just some beautiful photos of her own stuff, which are very inspiring.

My win was this darling sampler of Christmas fabric. Isn't it sweet??!! I love, love it!!

And aren't these panels wonderful? I love the little mousies!! Sandi's giveaway was in conjunction with the Quilting Gallery's Christmas Quilt Along. Her block was "JOY" and you can find the tutorial for it HERE!

And then there was yet ANOTHER package for me (it should be no surprise to you to learn that postal clerks know Todd and I by name), and this one was h-e-a-v-y!

And filled with styrofoam peanuts?!

LOL! Not really, in fact I'm not sure the styrofoam was even necessary, because this box was stuffed to the brim with . . .

Trick or Treat candy!!! This 'sweet' giveaway was hosted by Sue, over at Munchkin Munchies. And not just any ol' candy, but nostalgic candy from my childhood!!! Take a gander at all this loot . . .

And yes, the Oral-B and the Reach Floss were part of the bounty -- I had to laugh!!! And the Chick-O-Stick . . . I remember thinking, as a child, why would anyone want to eat a stick that tasted like chicken?!? It took some time to convince me otherwise. Heh. And the big wax lips are so fun!! I'll wear those with my houndstooth witch's hat on Halloween!

And look, as if that wasn't enough, it all came with its very own trick or treat bag!! But wait, there even more . . . check out the darling haunted house gingerbread kit!

I think I'll save this to do when my young niece and nephew visit at Thanksgiving. Then we can all gather round and do a haunted pilgrim log cabin. I can think outside the box!!! If you have little ones (whether they're your children, grandchildren, or just dear friends) you ought to keep tabs on the Munchkin Munchies -- she has lots of fun food ideas! I found her through a pin on Pinterest. Ah yes, dear Pinterest.

I've almost finished the quilting on my Christmas topper, and have another Christmas project in mind, too. Plus there is definitely a turkey in my crafting future! I'll post some of that manana . . . if I don't have more mail to attend to . . . hahaha!

Stay sweet, y'all -- I sure won't have an excuse not to!!

:)