The Rewards of Blogging

If it wasn't for blogging, I think that I would have missed out on meeting some of the most wonderful people on earth!  I'm truly amazed at the people I meet - mainly just through the internet, and not in person. But then an opportunity arises to meet some of these people in person.  I had such good fortune in May when I met Robin who I consider a special friend, and now once again, I've been truly blessed with meeting more friends that I've become acquainted with through blogging.  Where the world seems so huge, blogging has pulled that world together and introduced me to some fantastic people.

Last week I spent five wonderful days in Utah, meeting people who I knew, but didn't know.  Had left comments for on their blog, and they on mine, had an occasional email with, etc., but had never met them in person.  They each shared the same love I did - stitching and things crafty.  You wonder about those people sometimes - what they're really like, what their voice sounds like -  you smile when you read their comments, and eagerly await their blog updates.  You find that they have other interests that are like yours.  You wonder about them, wish that you could meet them, but in the course of everyday life you know that you live too far away and have schedules that conflict.  So you email and follow their blogs and never meet them, but yet, because of the shared interests, you feel like they're part of your heart and soul.  Well, I had the most wonderful opportunity to finally meet up with some of these very special people and find out what they're like. We all met up at the Canyons in Utah - a truly beautiful place (all pictures are clickable I think).

Some of the girls flew out for the Shepherd's Bush Retreat.  Others like myself, just went along for the heck of it.  To meet, eat, stitch and have a great time!

I met up with Julie, Loraine, Terri and Jolene and we had a wonderful time.  Loraine's friend Kathryn was also there and was our resident cook.  What outstanding meals we had - Salmon in Parchment, Blackberry Chicken, Pecan Chicken to name just a few.  I am definitely not exaggerating when I say that we ate better than we would have if we had eaten out.  And Kathryn was wonderful enough to give us the recipes.

We also met up with Cathi, Cari, Joan and their friend Karen:

Karen, Joan, Cari, Loraine and Cathi.  What a hoot these ladies are!  

And the whole group at lunch:

Jolene, Terri, Karen, Cari, Cathi, Joan, Loraine, Kathryn and Julie at Bandit's Restaurant!  What fun!  A lot of good laughs and good food.

And these ladies spoiled us!  From Loraine and Jolene we were presented with these wonderful gifts:

Such wonderful talent both these women have.  These bags were stuffed with patterns that Loraine had designed, a bag with scissors and floss winders and Jolene also made this wonderful pinkeep:

Jolene and Loraine are just about the sweetest, kindest and most generous people you would ever hope to meet!  I am so happy that I now can consider you friends and I'll cherish that friendship forever.

Cari, Cathi and Joan also are so talented and so much fun to be around!  They gave each of us these goodies:

Such wonderful goodies and special momentos of our time together.  I'll treasure these forever!!  I wish that we could have spent more time together!  I think that my stomach would be killing me from all the laughing!  And I'm amazed that with all the noise and bustle that night when we were all together, that Joan could still keep the pedal to the metal and keep sewing!  LOL

It was such a great time - just the best.  We did some sightseeing, and what would a trip be to Utah without going to Shepherd's Bush?

Moi outside Shepherd's Bush

We had a lot of fun there - shopping, spending money (big time) and meeting some more people.  I wish I had taken pictures, but I met Katrina and her friend Karin, and Val at Shepherd's Bush!  Such a great time.   We had lunch in Ogden while we were there.  The street are lined with painted horses:

We also toured Salt Lake City and visited Temple Square, Brigham Young's House - The Bee Hive House and the Lion House:

Beautiful gardens around the house and around Temple Square

The Lion House

And a couple samplers located in the house:

And I know that the next picture is rather odd, but I had to snap a picture of the Sinclair Gasoline sign.  We used to have them in Michigan and it was like a trip down memory lane seeing one of them.  I remember watching the Flintstones and always thinking of Dino the Dinosaur whenever I'd see one of them.

Jolene and I went out one morning and tried to rustle up some trouble in a quilt store (and we did do a little bit of damage), and then we went to the cutest antique store where Jolene scored an excellent deal on a pincushion.  I wish I had a picture of it, but let's say, it was a steal at $6.00.  Way to go Jolene!!!  And I thought the building was adorable!!

I can't say enough about what a wonderful time I had and how wonderful it was to finally meet and finally get to know Loraine, Jolene and Kathryn, Cari, Cathi and Joan, and their friends Kathryn and Karen.  And to meet Katrina, Karin and Val.  I hope that our paths cross again and I will cherish the memories of this week forever!  You are all such wonderful, sweet and generous souls, and I count myself blessed to have met each and every one of you!!

Now, should we all do it again next year?  I'm in!!!!!!

Oh, and after a two month hiatus on stitching, I finally was able to park my rear in a chair and get a slight case of stitch butt!  It felt so good!!!  I have to thank you girls for finally getting me out of the stitching rut!

I know that I've been absent from commenting lately and I apologize, but things were really crazy up until I went on the trip, but I plan on rectifying that situation ASAP.  I have missed seeing what everyone is working on and can't wait to catch up!!!

It's My Two Year Blogoversary!!!! And an Oldie Framed!

Wow!!! I can't believe that two years have gone by since I first started my blog.  Time certainly does fly when you're having fun!  I have had such a great time blogging, reading other people's blogs (although I've been hopelessly lax with that lately) and making so many friends and having so many wonderful email conversations with people that I've met.  Well, a blogoversary should have a giveaway, right?  Right!  But I'm going to hold off on that for a month because......well, I just don't have time for one.  See, one of the reasons is that life's spinning out of control lately with what I call crazy August, and getting the kids ready for school, etc.  And then I've been so fortunate to make so many wonderful friendships through blogging that I'm actually going to be meeting up with a good many of them in Utah in a few weeks at the Shepherd's Bush retreat (no, I'm not going to the actual retreat, just going out to chill), so I have lots to get ready!  Be still my heart!  Jolene, Loraine, Cathy, Cari, along with Terri and Julie, and and who knows who else.  If you're going to be there, let me know!!!  I would love to meet you.  This will be my first real get away with the girls to stitch, gab and shop since before I got married!!!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  Besides myself!!!  So, I'll have a giveaway in about one month!!  Maybe I'll pick up some goodies for the giveaway, so stay tuned!!!

Because August blew by at such a rapid pace, I don't have much to show.  Crafting and stitching has been nil!!!  Absolutely nil. Do you know how much I'm missing it?  It's making my skin itch just thinking about it.  But the kids go to school on Tuesday, so maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get some stitching and sewing done!!  But you know, I have to show some pictures, so I'll show you a piece I recently got framed, but I'm bowing my head in shame because it's been hanging in the closet for twelve years.  Such a slacker I am!!  But with the great framing sales at Joanne's, it time to get them out of the closet!!

Meet Me At the Field

Sheepish Designs

Mystery fabric (how can I remember after 12 years?) and DMC threads

But I haven't been completely idle on the crafty front.  If you can't do anything, my motto is to accumulate more!  Good motto, huh?  LOL  So that's what I did.  While my sister was here and we were in the quilt store picking out a quilt for me to make for her, I saw one made out of these fabrics:

Can you say LOVE?????  These fabrics are just not my normal faire, but there was something about them, and the quilt that was made from them, that I just HAD to have those fabrics.  The fabric that the folded pieces are sitting on is the backing.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!   It's going to be a relatively easy quilt - kind of like a Yellow Brick Road quilt if you're familiar with that.  I can't wait to get the rotary cutter out!!!  Did I say LOVE???????????

Then I just had to pick up these because Green Fairy Quilts was having a sale - buy one layer cake, get the charm pack free - can't shake a stick at that, so............they had to be mine, and don't they have a nice fall feel to them???  Speaking of fall - it arrived here!  Wow, from 90's to 60's in what seemed like second's flat!  But it feels so good!!  Tomorrow will be in the 80's again though. But anyway, I thought that these would be great for making some of those Schibble quilts that I'm seeing all over.  They've started growing on me big time!!

Now, before you think that I've abandoned stitching forever, that's not the case.  I also picked up these just because I've seen them on blogs and had to have them.  I didn't like them so much until I actually saw them finished:

And then I heard that some Jean Hilton's needlepoint pieces were being re-released (again, another dear blogger alerted me to that fact).  So, I had to order this too - it was originally a teaching piece, but now that Jean has passed away, it's on the market again:

I've had an itching for needlepoint so this will fit the bill nicely, although I have another one of her pieces in progress, so I should probably finish that up, don't you think?  Naw, maybe not!!  I did another one of her pieces years ago - Gleneagle:

Her pieces are so wonderful to work on - intricate, but fun.  This one I did back in 1995.  I still wonder how I got it done - I was working then and my son was two!!

So that's about it for me for now.   Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments you left me on my last post, especially about Bailey.  He's doing great, although it's definitely like having another baby in the house.  He's been part of the reason I haven't had much crafty love lately.  I haven't wanted introduced him to the craft room until he's potty trained, and since my room is in the basement and a long way from the back door to carry a heavy, dribbling puppy, he hasn't been allowed down there, but I think that we're on the home stretch.  No messes if quite a few days now.  He's a terror on four paws, but such a love:

How can you not love this precious thing (sleeping with his gift from his Aunt Cindy)?

Anyway, thank you again for all your wonderful comments and friendships.  I truly cherish them.  I know that I've been hopelessly remiss in reading blogs, but bear with me - I'm trying!!!   And I hope that you're enjoying this long holiday weekend with your family and getting some stitchy time in!! 

The Best Kept Secret and Vacation (Lots of Pics)

WOW! has it been a busy month!  I have missed everyone's blogs so much, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up in the next few days  After my sister left, we took off for some family time up at Torch Lake in northern Michigan.  What a beautiful lake, but I'll talk about that in a minute.

Anyway, I kept a secret.  A big secret.  A HUGE secret!!  And I kept it from my kids.  Don't ask me how I did it - I almost stumbled and messed up the whole secret quite a few times, but I did it.  I secretly made phone calls, took trips back and forth to Ohio a few times to check up on the little secret, bought things (like 4,000 toys from PetCo) and took them to my neighbors so my kids wouldn't find out.  What was the secret?  Well, this is what it was:

Meet Bailey.  All 13 weeks and 16 pounds of him!  The family finally wore me down!  It took years for them to do it, but it finally happened.  Bailey is a Golden Doodle and the sweetest thing that you could ever meet.  He loves sitting on your lap, kisses and being petted.   My kids were in shock I tell you.   We had tried to adopt a puppy a couple times and it never worked out and I think the kids had given up.  When I pulled Bailey out of the car, DH was standing there with the movie camera and the kids couldn't even talk. They both just stood there with their mouths hanging open seeing me standing there with a dog on a leash.  It was priceless just like the credit card commercials!  Truly priceless!  So now we have a new member of the family, and I feel like I'm following after a baby.  Bailey is full of energy and like a devil on four huge paws, but then there are those times when he just falls over:

He's a sweetie, but I can't wait until he's potty trained and stops waking us up howling at 5:00 a.m.

Our vacation was wonderful on Torch Lake.  I've lived in Michigan all my life and don't know how I ever missed this lake.  Crystal clear and uncrowded.  Beautiful.  My husband rented a boat, and I could tell some crazy stories about that (like he doesn't know how to drive a boat, but I'll spare him the embarrassment).  Okay, I won't!  LOL  He was so afraid to take the boat across the lake from where it was dropped off over to our cottage.  The lake is only about 1-1/2 miles across, but he was worried, so he pulled out his wallet and handed me all his money.  LOL  He thought he was going to drown!  I knew exactly what was going on and later told him so.  He was sheepish about the whole thing and I told him that he was lucky that Catie and I didn't hightail it to the antique stores and spend it!!

We also beached the boat a couple times, but I will spare DH the embarrassment on that.  But do you know how heavy a boat is to unbeach it?  Ahem!!  Me pulling it out into the lake so we could start it up, and I'm fully clothed and wearing the only bra I took up with me and there is no washer or dryer?  And later standing with a hair dryer trying to dry it out?  Ahem!!  But we had a great time once DH got over his fear -  we tubed from it, fished from it, skirted the lake, and just had a wonderful time in it.  Here are a few pics from vacation (you can skip these if you hate family vacation pictures):

Alden - The nearest town

The cutest shop - Alden's Mill - with more kitchen gadgets than you've ever seen in your life crammed into this quaint cottage

One of the spectacular sunsets, but taken on a cell phone so you don't get the full impact

DD relaxing (or glamming - however you want to look at it)

Torch Lake is located on the 45th parallel - we got a real kick out of this sign

DD tubing

Us girls relaxing on the boat - my freckles come out in the sun

Watching the sunset

Getting the campfire ready for s'mores

Loved the name of this alley in Charlevoix

And all the boats in Charlevoix Bay

And the town clock

And all the flowers in the town.

And this says it all - Summer - I'm so sorry that it's ending.

We all had a great time and even DH was hesitant to come home.  We drove home at a very leisurely pace and visited some antique stores along the route home.  DH is NOT an antique shopper, so you know that he didn't want to go home if he allowed me to drag him into those shops.

On the crafting side not much at all,  but while my sister was here I picked up this yarn from a store in Frankenmuth:

Even though I did take cross stitch up North with me, I didn't feel like pulling it out.  I also took this yarn along.  In the early mornings when the others were still sleeping, I would sit with my cup of coffee watching the water lap on the beach and knit and I did get a little bit done:

I love the colors of it - reminds me of the color of the sunsets - and as you knit it it forms a spiral - so much fun!!!  I think I've seen it called a Potato Chip scarf too.  Easy pattern and it works up quickly.

Well, that's it for me.  I'm still recuperating from vacation, learning how to be a mom to a little baby (dog) again, and gearing up to get the kids ready for school.   It's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

Thank you again so much for all your wonderful comments, and I'll definitely catch up with everyone soon!!

A Fast Two Weeks (Lots of Pics)

My head has finally stopped spinning.  It's been a crazy two weeks!!!  Thanks for all the comments on my last post about the antics with my son.  Nothing ever came of it for which I'm happy (and so is he), but he learned a great lesson and there's been a lot of egg jokes flying around here.   Actually, he's pretty embarrassed about the whole thing.  I hope that's the worst that we'll ever face.

My sister was here for eleven days and left yesterday.  We had a great time, although maybe not as crazy as in prior years given the fact that my son's foot was really in poor shape after his soccer field collision, so it was hard for him to hobble around.  But we had a lot of fun and I'm always sorry when she leaves!!  We did our annual Chicken Dinner thing at Frankenmuth, went through all the stores except Bronners (I think it's been too hot around here for me to envision Christmas right now), visited antique shops, etc.  She also got me into a lot of trouble buying things (gotta blame someone, right Sis?).

Stitching took kind of a back seat and quilting was nil, but later in the evenings when we were resting, I did get a little more done on Susanna - not much, but a little:

She coming along slowly but surely, and I do like the colors in it quite a bit.

We found some great new antique shops, although one reminded us of a place out of a Stephen King novel (definitely not a place I want to go to again), but we found some really great new antique shops, consignment shops and barns, and, of course, I can't come out without anything, can I?  I think I would have done more damage if my son's foot was feeling better, but I didn't want him walking on it more than he had to, and crutches are definitely not something you want to take into an antique store.

First find was a chippy table for my craft room!  Just what I was looking for!  And the woman at this shop was practically giving things away.  In fact, when I looked at her in stunned surprise when she gave me the final price, she said that she wanted me to come back so therefore the great prices!  Like Arnold says, "I'll be back!!!"

Some of the things on the table were from a few other places we came across:

This child's lunch pail - just had to have it - it's RED!!  And for some reason, I've really developed a love of these things.

Lots of little things - three pincushions.  The silver slipper is stamped with "Bruno" although I don't know if that means anything; three pairs of antique scissors, molds, rulers, a glass jar and another Anchor Hocking piece.  I think it's just a candy dish, but a frog fits on it perfectly.  I think there are a few other things, but I'll post those another time.  They were all for great prices and I think I've found the secret to cheap antiquing - get a long distance from the big cities.

Then I came across this cabinet - I've got this thing for little drawers, so I just had to have this as well:

Then a baby's antique gown to hang under the shelves in my craft room or I may frame it - not sure yet:

We also made it to the quilt store - a couple of them - and a yarn store.  Not a good move because I didn't come out of those places unscathed either, but I won't post those things now.  My sister did see a quilt that she liked and since she lives on the coast, it's perfect.  She doesn't quilt, so I've been recruited to make it.

Luckily the center is a cheater panel otherwise she'd be waiting for years until I got my applique skills honed, but since I also put her to work while she was here, I think that she deserves a quilt.

Her vacation wasn't quite as leisurely as she probably hoped.  I put her to work helping me put up shelves in my craft room.  I've wanted new shelves for ages, but it's a two person job, and DH has been working on his own shelving adventures in the garage, so I recruited Sis for the job, and this is what we did!

The closet!!!  Oh happy day!  There were some of these funky wire shelving things in there and they weren't worth the power to blow them to Minnesota, so we ripped those out and installed these.  I've got a little spackling and touch up work to do from the other holes, but TA DA!!

Then we put some over where my sewing machine goes:

TA DA again!!!  And we also put one up over my cutting table (no pic).  The reason the level is on the shelf is that my husband didn't seem to think that two women could put up shelves and make them level. Typical male, right?  Well, all were level except that bottom one.  He snuck down when we weren't looking and said it was off 1/16 of an inch.  Okay, now 1/16 of an inch is no big deal to me, but......we hightailed it up to the local hardware store, bought some washers, inserted them above the brackets and screwed those babies down!  Perfect!  We'll show him!  HA!

Now my room is really a disaster and I won't be able to get in there for a couple more weeks as I'm in for a couple more busy ones.  Today is one of rest, but tomorrow, I've got to start packing for our trip up north.  It's been such a full summer that I'll almost be glad when the kids get back into school so I can relax........and stitch.......and quilt!  Well, in fact, I will be glad when they go back to school, just don't tell them!!

Well, that's it for me for now.  I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to visit blogs over the past couple of weeks, but I'm going to try to catch up at some point.  I know that I've missed reading everything and seeing what all of you have done.  I'll try to catch up soon and thanks again for all the wonderful comments on my last post.

Oh, and I may have to start up Comment Moderation soon.  Seems that I've been getting too many Viagra and weird comments, so I may do that.  I know it's a pain, but I'm tired of seeing comments about how I can improve my sex life or requests for money because someone is a prisoner in some jail in some country I've never heard of before.

Stitch lots and I'll try to catch up on everyone's blogs soon!

Life is Like a Bowl of Chocolates

.....you just never know what you're going to get, do you?  This has been one of those weeks where I've gotten a lot of things, and some of those things were things that make a mom's heart sputter.  I'll get to those in a minute.

First was some framing.  I didn't know what I was going to get with this white frame.  I wanted something that would go in the room where it's intended as it's a very light room, but....

My Quaker House

Blackbird Designs

40 count French Vanilla 

I sat on this piece forever (since July 2008) and didn't know if I wanted to make a needle roll out of it or frame it.  I think I want to take the frame off and paint it and sand it down and have some of the white show through.  What do you think?  Also, the matt is not quite that color - more of a green blue - don't know what is up with the camera!

I started a new project because I was getting a little tired of Adam and Eve's, so I kitted up a few things and started on this:

Susanna Lane

The Scarlett Letter

This is really a lot of fun to stitch.  I couldn't get a closer picture of it because it's fairly wide, but I managed to get that done in the past week.  It's the one of the things that calmed my nerves.

I also got four more of the As Time Goes By quilt finished.  It helps when they're already cut out - just sit and put the pedal to the metal:

Now eight down, four more to go.

Calm nerves are just what I need right now.  It's really been a week - starting off with a visit to my front porch by the men in blue - well actually, one man and women and they were dressed in brown - Oakland Country Sheriff Deputies.  Kind of a scary thing when they come knocking at 12:30 at night.  Well, it wasn't anything too terrible.  Just an incidence of some eggs being thrown at my son's friend's neighbors and my son's car being there and the license given to the police.  Since my son didn't have the common sense to leave the scene of the crime, he's on a few days of grounding.  Now, I've been known to throw a few eggs in my time (it was always a big High School Senior Skip Day thing - rite of passage), so I kind of have to smile.  If that's the worse thing that he gets wrapped up in, I think I'm blessed.  But the grounding should serve as a gentle reminder to tow the line.  Whether he had an egg in his hand or not, throwing at people (if that's exactly what happened) is not a good thing.  He's had Physics - he knows the consequences.

But then two days later, I'm in and out of hospitals with my daughter and then my son.  Possible pneumonia with DD and possible fractured leg with my DS.  You have to love a good time, don't you?  No pneumonia for DD, but possible asthma.  UGH.  And DS - huge collision on the soccer field during his summer gym class.  Diagnosis - badly bruised and sprained ankle and leg - not broken, thank goodness.  Of course, all of this with my son has to happen while I'm sitting in a car dealership across town with my tires and brakes lying on the floor!  That's enough to frazzle a mom's hair.

So to calm my nerves in between all these fun events, I stitched and fiddled around in the craft room, unloading shelves, going through things.  Physical activity is a sure fire way to calm myself down.  And I found another pizza box treasure.  An I Spy Quilt that I started for my kids.  It was part of the reason I saved up to buy an embroidery machine just so I could embroider the words on the side.

Did I ever do that?  Of course not - this is what it looks like:

Two rows put together.  And my favorite blocks so far:

My sister and my son when he was smaller, and for some reason that zebra driving the car cracks me up. 

And, of course, we have to have a block that has something to do with sewing:

I've pulled this quilt out and am going to try to finish it up.  My kids are both older now, but I still think it will make them smile.   Everything is cut out and ready to go, so no excuse not to.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to report this week.  What a week!  Dear sister is coming in tomorrow and I can't wait.  But I've got a ton of things to do before she gets here though and haven't been a very good blog reader this week at all.  I don't know how much time I'm going to have in the next few weeks, but I'll at least look, if I don't comment.

Have a wonderful weekend!!