you know what this is good for?

Ummm....what are these spots all over my picture? Is my camera lens dirty? Gross!

Wait . . . what is this I see out my window?!?!?!

Could it be??

It is!

SNOW!!!!

The perfect quilting weather. I think I need to go home now.

*grin*

:)

a january giveaway!

A most darling, darling little treat; check out Geta Gamma's blog and see her January giveaway!

:)

cat's in the house (or, in the office . . .)

This is Reese. She's the shop cat where I work. Or rather, the office cat. She tries to be a shop cat--and sometimes she escapes and is successful--but that is not our preference for her.

She's a big help. Uh, yeah. She's big, anyway. She came to us as a stray; and the guys in the shop fed her bean burritos and she went from being a tiny stray baby, to a HUGE cat. But then she went to the vet and the doc told us she needed to diet extreme. So.

But she looks pretty! (Pretty greasy.) She has lots of nicknames . . . Reesey-peasey-butterball-obesey. . . Greasy Reesey . . . Stinkin' Cat . . . oh wait. That was Merlin's nickname.

If nothing else, she's good for our entertainment.

See how wide & wild her whiskers are? Did you know a cat's whiskers grow as wide as the cat's girth, to help them know if they'll be able to fit into small spaces?? Okay, do you *see* how wide her whiskers are?!?!

This is her "hen-pecked" look.

She wasn't pleased.

She knows how to get away from the torture....ummm, I mean, playing. (See the sag in that in-box?)

She *loves* a good cuddle. Yeah, I know, she doesn't look very happy in the above shot, but I *did* say a _good_ cuddle. That was an aggravating cuddle. Just ask her.

She really is a sweet-tempered cat, who puts up with about anything. She's very chatty and loves people; not a stranger ever walks into our showroom! If you don't pet her, she'll put her head under your hand, to give you inspiration. She's the only cat in my life on a daily basis now. I think she understands the responsibility; she's become my best buddy since we moved and my darling Merlin went to stay with James & Kim & Belle.

The only thing she lacks is a quilt to lay on while it's being worked on. She settles for payroll.

Droll.

:)

mail call!

So I slipped into the post office yesterday afternoon to check our post office box and guess what I found???

A SURPRISE!!!

A package? For me??? Who could have sent it?

Hahaha! I've been expecting you, ma cherie! (Which is most appropriate, because my little package came from Calgary, AB, CANADA)! I got a package from Canada!! Well, Canada didn't really send it; it came from LEE in Canada!

It's a beeee-yooo-tiful fall-inspired mini quilt! And it really is quite charming.

I love the viney leaf pattern quilted in the borders! This makes me more inclined to get out my sewing machine and practice machine quilting. I love the things you can do with the machine and the look of it. But I'm a little ... afraid. And a LOT impatient!

And the title, "Fall View" is so appropriate, given all the wonderful colors that make this pretty topper!

Lee also sent me a little extra, "just because." !!! Isn't she *sew* sweet?!? It's a darling little zippered bag. I *love* zippered bags! :)

Lee, again and again, thank you! It's lovely and I love it!

Jour hereux!

:)

weekend wedding fun in hotlanta!

This is a story about my dashing nephew, Michael Jr. . . .

and his lovely bride, Erin! They got married on Saturday, in Atlanta.
Actually, there's another story; the mini-family reunion that took place while we were all there for the wedding!!

My mom & dad (getting ready to celebrate their FIFTIETH anniversary) were there . . .

As were Todd & I . . .

The oldest of my younger sisters, Julia, and her husband, Michael Sr. They are the proud parents of the groom . . .

The second oldest of my younger sister, Cynthia, and her husband Ed . . .

And Cynthia with our youngest sister, Laura (she left her four young children at home with her husband, Joseph) . . .

Aren't we a great looking family????

There were two other married couples there, my oldest daughter, Jocelyn, and her husband Jason (they just got married in June)! James (my son) and Kim were there too, but I didn't get a good picture of them. Pooh . None of my pictures were great -- the settings on my camera were off. Plus it didn't help that we were in the dark, with mostly candle light!
Also along for the ride was Ben, brother of the groom (isn't he handsome? he's a freshman at Virginia Tech) . . .

Megan (Cynthia's middle) and Hazen (Julia's third) had fun kicking up their heels at the reception . If you look closely, you can see that Cecilia (Julia's second) is doing a little barefoot boogie . . .

Then Megan continued to enjoy the dance floor with a partner who was a little more her height (although, like Hazen, I think he was still shorter than her -- she had to duck when he twirled her) . . .

Hazen wasn't happy about being replaced . . .

Lucy (Julia's youngest) was happy dancing with her mommy and daddy. Julia has the look of a mom who's child is married and her responsibilities are DONE! (I know, I've worn that look twice, now!)

Nick, Cynthia's youngest, had a good time watching everyone carry on . . .

Whew! After the reception, and back at the hotel for the night, I had the opportunity to FINALLY get Julia the rooster wall hanging! I think she liked it! :) I had a special rod made just for it, using the same finial that I used as the basis for the weather vane.

I always struggle for a little bit naming/tagging my quilts. Naming this quilt was easy, though . . .

It's certainly ruled me for the last month! :)

The day after the wedding, Julia's family (minus Ben), mom & dad, and the six of us Alabamians, headed over to Copeland's for a lovely brunch. The food was incredible, but the time spent with family was even better. Getting a posed smile from Michael Sr. is tough, but I caught him chatting it up during the meal; or perhaps he's smiling at all those peel & eat shrimp . . .

Hazen really enjoyed the buffet. Particularly the Belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and the chocolate fountain. Once he was done, he settled in for some game time.

Lucy was sharing sugars to her right . . .

and then to her left . . .

Puckering up definitely runs in this family . . . !!!

Dad and mom, still a sweet couple!

There's my James and Kim!

And another of my Jocelyn and Jason!

A nice shot of Aunt Julia, Jocelyn, and Cecilia . . .

And a final parting shot of Aunt Denise, Jocelyn & Lucy . . .

We had a wonderful weekend, and celebrated the marriage of a darling couple. Memories to cherish.

Cheers!

:)

oooh baby, baby!

Just a concept . . . I took pictures of Kim's fabric for Sawyer's bumper pad and ruffle, and I'm playing around with them (using Publisher, of all things) to see what would make a fun baby quilt to go with it. She's using orange ribbon to tie off the bumper pads, hence the border.

The fabric is in the dryer as I type, getting ready for fussy cutting. I think I want all the squares with stripes in them to be cut precisely the same, so it doesn't look too busy. The polka-dot fabric is darling, and the photos I took don't do justice to the colors. She really did pick some lovely fabric!

Pictures from the trip will have to wait until tomorrow. Except for this one . . .

Lucy giving Kim -- and Sawyer -- a hug goodbye.

:)

home again, home again . . .

Just a quickie blog post to say we had a wonderful weekend! Yesterday morning we headed to Atlanta for my nephew, Michael Jr.'s wedding. He's Julia's step-son, and a really nice young man. He proposed to his beautiful bride, Erin, in July and they were married yesterday afternoon. They were married in the Catholic church and had a beautiful service, in Latin. It was fascinating. I was very thankful I was sitting next to one of Michael Jr's friends, who knew exactly when to stand, kneel, and sit! From the wedding we went to the Wimbish House for the reception. Very nice. Like, wow, very nice!

The bonus of attending the wedding and sharing in the celebration of this lovely couple, was reuniting with my sisters and parents and many of my darling nieces and nephews for the weekend! Plus we traveled up and back with James & Kim, and that was fun. This afternoon we had the buffet at Copeland's in Atlanta, and it was delicious!

I was also able to finish and deliver the rooster. Finally. I started this thing in September. I told my sister (I can't keep secrets) that I wouldn't make her wait until Christmas to get it; I'd send it on when I was finished. Uh, yeah. Pictures of it, the wild dancing that took place Saturday night at the wedding reception, and of my darling nieces and nephews are forthcoming.

I was half hoping my swap quilt would be waiting in the box for me when we got home, but not yet. I think that means it's coming from far, far away! :)

I've finally decided to succumb to this cold I've been fending off for four days. I'm spent. It will have its way with me. Thankfully, I do NOT have to work tomorrow!

Salud.

:)

and the winner is . . .

Me!

Last night was our monthly guild meeting. As per usual, I picked up $2 worth of raffle tickets (along with the raffle ticket I get just for wearing my quilted name tag), and lo and behold, one of my raffle tickets won. Again! I think this is three or four months in a row. I know it's at least two (in October, if you'll remember, I won off of TWO tickets), because the president of the guild commented when I came up to get my prize.

Anyway, this month I won . . .

Fun stuff!

You know, this is national blog month . . . and I will hit post 200 before the month's end . . .

Should I consider a giveaway?? LOL!

TGIF!

:)

downsizing . . .

I'm all about downsizing these days. When you move, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, from 2,500 square feet of living space

to 450 square feet of living space,

downsizing is important.

We started practicing for downsizing when Joc got married last June, leaving us with an empty nest. How I cooked, how I cleaned, even how I did laundry changed. Sort of. It was until just recently that I realized how little it really had changed. There's a lot more to downsizing than I thought!

Cooking was an issue. I grew up in a family of six, with family get-togethers that were always huge. I learned how to cook in quantity! Even for just the four of us, I was able to cook in quantity and enjoyed leftovers for lunch and freezing for future meals. When James & Jocelyn were both gone, I cooked the same quantity, I just broke it up; something I'd typically prepared in a 9X13-inch casserole dish, I now prepared in two 8-inch square casserole dishes. Voila (woila--viola), I had two meals. One for now and one for later! It was great! Some weeks my grocery bill would be next to nothing because all my meals were in the freezer already!

That is a thing in the past. Do you know what you lose when you go from 2,500 to 450? A chest freezer, an upright freezer, and the big freezer that's attached to the big refrigerator. I went from 60 cubic feet of freezer space to less than a cubic FOOT of freezer space! Changes definitely had to be made. Not to mention our storage space for dry goods is significantly smaller as well. It's taken getting used to, but the timing was good. Todd & I both knew we wanted to make healthier eating/food choices, so we've gone to more fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables; I make smaller portions so there's little to no leftovers, and I stay away from processed foods for the most part; there's just no place to put them.

We bought a small George Foreman grill and a two-person crock pot, both of which I love working with! I've done sirloin steaks, pork chops and chicken on the grill, all of which tasted wonderfully and were FAST! I've only used the crock pot for cooking our steel cut oats, so far, but I've been searching for 'two person' crock pot recipes and I'm gonna try those out soon. Especially for Sundays! I like crock pot cooking, but the big one is, well...BIG. And it takes up my whole kitchen counter, practically!

I also don't buy in bulk anymore--pointless--and I don't buy stuff that I won't use in the week I'm buying in. I've ended up throwing too many dollars (ie., spoiled food) away. It's been a learning process and I'm enjoying figuring it all out.

I downsized my quilting space, but not my quilting stuff. Not even my quilting books. Perhaps over time, I'll be able to part with some of that stuff. Then again, maybe not. :)

CLOTHES! Todd & I are both having to downsize in this area! We went from each having our own closet and big bureaus to small sets of drawers and a small closet to share (which also houses our washer/dryer machine, a whole other story)! It's forced me to really determine what I wear and what I don't wear, and to make a distinction between seasonal clothes. I can store summer clothes during the winter, for more closet/drawer space, but storage space is limited too, so I really have to make decisions on what I keep.

Knick-knacks, photos, and the like have always been a big thing for me. I had lots of things because I like switching stuff out and changing the look of the room, and displaying my pretty things. In the RV there really isn't a lot of space to display things on! This effected my seasonal stuff, too. I had *tubs* of fall decorations, Christmas decorations, and Easter/spring decorations. Not only was there not room to store it all, there just isn't room to display it! I went through and kept a few things that were favorites, and the rest either went to Joc & Kim, or will be properly disposed of (sold, given away, Goodwill, etc.). On a very positive note, it made switching from fall to Christmas and back to normal a very easy, quick process!

Media: we had a LOT. I kept all our DVDs. I'm an avid movie fan, and I like to be able to watch what I want to watch when the mood strikes. Ergo, I have a lot of DVDs! Instead of dealing with all of the cases and where to store those, I pulled them from their cases and stored them in a book with DVD sleeves. Now they're all in one place, in alphabetical order. :) I still have about fifty Disney movies on VHS. I think I'm going to have to give those up. I just can't justify keeping/storing them. Especially since we don't even have a VCR at the RV! I weeded through our CDs and stored the ones we kept the same way we stored the DVDs. Except I kept the Christmas CDs separate. And I don't think I alphabetized them. *gasp* Yet.

Stuff in general. We've a lot less of it. From cooking ware, to dishes, clothes, to furniture, we have less. The funny thing is, I don't miss it. I guess because we have the most important things. Jesus, our love for each other, and Jesus. :)

Except a cat.

Meow.

:)

counting down . . .

Yesterday, my swap recipient, Sylvia, let me know that she'd received the fall table topper I did for her! Yay! I'm so impressed; I put it in the mail on Saturday, regular first class mail, and she received it on Tuesday. Way to go USPS! Considering Monday was a holiday, she got it the very next mail day. WOW! In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't spent the extra $5 bucks and send it priority; I don't think she'd have gotten it any faster! Anyway, she was very sweet and she likes it!

So now the wait begins . . . I have a little feeling I *might* have guessed . . . but I don't know . . . all the completed swap quilts look so AWESOME on the flicker website! I'd be excited to receive any one of them! I hope it gets here before Thursday night, so I can take it to show & tell at the guild meeting.

I can't wait!

:)

what do you know . . .

Surprisingly enough, do you know what aspect I've really come to appreciate about quilting? The social side of it. It feels funny for this social introvert to even admit such a thing, but it's true.

I'm not referring to quilting bees -- I haven't been to one of those yet, though I'd like to -- but there are lots of other aspects that make quilting social . . .

The quilt guild. The local guild for the Huntsville area is Heritage Quilters of Huntsville. It's a huge group with over 300 members (and new women signing up monthly), that meets on the third Thursday of every month. It's a lovely evening of socializing, show and tell, comfy quilts (our guild's community service project) and a speaker or program of some sort. Through the guild I've met lots of women, old and young, with a common interest and varying levels of expertise and interest. I've also been exposed to participating in challenges and quilt shows and new techniques and renown quilters.

The small quilting group. Through the guild, I met and joined a group of women who meet regularly (twice a month) to work on hand work together. The group I joined up with is The Stitchers. They are a lovely group of women again, of varying ages and levels of expertise, who have (again) exposed me to new aspects of quilting like "stitch ins" and quilting retreats (of which I'm going on my first, next month)! The smaller group is particularly important, I think, if your guild is as large as our guild is. I've made some new friends and because of those friendships, I've become more active in the guild; and honestly, in quilting as well. They challenge me.

Online community. There's a huge (big, HUGE) online community of quilters in a variety of forums. There are mailing lists, blogs, and whole website communities dedicated to quilting! I've taken classes (in my pj's), found basic instructions and tutorials for all kinds of quilting techniques, watched quilt shows, gotten new ideas, met new friends from all over the world, won FUN stuff, and even swapped quilts -- all online. A quick glance on the left side of my blog and you'll see on my blogroll lots of quilty-named blogs. A little further down and there's a list of links to some of my favorite quilting websites. Plus tons of organizations -- AQS and Alliance for American Quilts to name a couple -- that are dedicated to the perpetuation of quilt enthusiasts.

In days past (and in some communities, days present) quilting was an avenue for women to gather together and forge personal bonds as well as quilts. There may not be as much group sewing around the old quilt frame these days, but that fact certainly hasn't made quilting any less social of an activity!

Cheers, and HAPPY QUILTING!

:)

reflections . . .

Our pastor, Brother Randy, is doing a sermon series on the purpose of the church, in general, and of Lighthouse Baptist Church, specifically. Even more specifically, the people of LBC. And, well, when you get right down to it, the purpose of Denise Panter.

One of his main points yesterday morning was that people should be my passion. Particularly those people who do not enjoy the privilege of knowing Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. We walked through the reasons why this should be . . . the number one reason being, those very same people were the passion of Christ, when He walked the face of the earth.

As a saved person, one who's being sanctified, that should be enough of a reason for me. If I'm becoming more and more like the Christ who is my Savior, then lost people will more and more be my passion.

Ah, but there's more. People should be my passion because of the plight they face. It's twofold; going about this life without the everlasting Hope and facing eternal hell. If I really believe in an eternal hell, why am I not overwhelmed with a need to share Jesus with those who are facing it? It shows either (1) a complete lack of compassion or (2) an incomplete belief that it exists as Scripture says it exists. Either way, not a happy thought.

I read something in Sharing Jesus Without Fear that struck me and has stayed with me for a long time. The author described salvation as such (and I'm paraphrasing) . . .

Being lost is like being in a tempest-tossed ocean. Waves are crashing over your head, you're struggling to stay afloat; sometimes you're not even sure why you're trying to stay afloat and other times you'll do just about anything to keep breathing air. And all around you are people in the same, desperate situation. You struggle and thrash -- worn and exhausted -- when finally someone throws you a line and pulls you to safety onto Rock Island. Once you get to the Rock, you're just so grateful to be there. You go about greeting your new rock friends, singing your rock music and meeting at Rock Hall. You go about your new rock life, and for some reason -- even though you remember how desperate you were to get out of the water -- you forget about all those people you left there, who were as desperate and anxious to be saved as you were.

And isn't that how it is? I've never heard it better described. I was saved from drowning in my sins; why am I not just as passionate about throwing that line to others, as I was about having it thrown to me? Am I doing justice to the price that was paid on my behalf?

Things not just to think about; things to DO something about.

Amen.

:)