Did you know?....

That there is only 168 days until christmas? Well for the rest of the world anyway. For my family its about a month shy of that. We plan on celebrating a bit early so that we can include Keith before he leaves for deployment. It will be just a little celebration probably between my parents and Keith and I.

Never the less.. I have been having issues to get motivated to do or make anything so I guess the time would be to start working on things now so that some of my projects will be ready before he leaves. I assume that he and I will do some celebrating when he comes back from cruise as well because we will have missed Valentines, his birthday, Easter and my birthday as well as Christmas and New Years. Not exactly sure what I am going to do for them but I have almost a year to figure some of it out.. Smiles.

So I guess I'm here to figure out where to start. My projects for this year need to be kind of simple so that I can get them done. Not to mention he will be gone alot between now ans when he actually deploys so I can work on them while he's gone and it will be a suprise. So what should I make? I'm thinking about making a valance from car/ nascar fabric to put above the garage window... What do you think? Last year I gave him some craftsman chairs and a craftsman table that looked like this...

I think that making a valance for that window would sort of complete his man cave out in the garage what do you guys think? There are some of the old metal signs that we have picked up various places for the walls and I am going to look into a nice clock for the wall.

Keiths Birthday Cake

Yesterday was Keiths birthday. Keith asked for a chocolate cake. Last year we had an ice cream cake but this year I decided to bake him a cake. So here is how the cake turned out..

and we added this yummy low caalorie ice cream. The ice cream is the best silky chocolate.. mmm.

Just thought I would share a bit of Keith's birthday with everyone!!

Stash Report Week 6

Well nothing was busted this week except for some water soluable stabilizer and perhaps some cut away as well since hand towels don't count.. smiles. Perhaps next week. There are a couple things that I would like to try to make at a very slow pace that is. This coming week is Keith's birthday so I would like to "TRY" to make a special Birthday place mat. I already have a pattern in mind and there is an embroidery pattern that I think would be perfect to go some where on the place mat. Whether I make it that far is a different story. It really is the thought that counts. As soon as we (Keith and I) Figure out what (1 color and 2 size) blocks we are going to use for our super secret Christmas projects there will be some busted stash.. Things will be embroidered and put into a WIP project box. In an effort to organize the sewing room we have several of those art bins from Joanns designated as project boxes.

Fabric that was added was already confessed to earlier in the week it all belongs to Thimbleberries Club that I'm hoping that others are working on too. I signed up for it prior to deciding to start stash busting. I don't know what my group is actually doing because they are in San Diego but maybe I will find an online support group working on it too.

Fabric added this week: 3.6 (There is actually more because they sent me the first trimesters fabric but it was packed nice so the others will be counted as I get the pattern books)
Fabric added year-to-date: 25.45

Fabric used this week: 0.0 (towels don't count but I sew'd)
Fabric used year-to-date: 2.25

Net Fabric Used: -23.2

I have a question for the other ladies working on stash. When do you count it as busted. When cut or actually sewn. Being my first year doing stash busting do I get to count UFO's that have been added to the flimsy pile as busted stash as long as they haven't been counted before?

Nancy Halvosen

How many of you out there are like me and LOVE Nancy Halvorsen's designs? I love them and everything about them, the colors the fabric designs as well as her patterns. I love it all. A few years ago I bought the Peppermint & Hollyberries book and that stared it all. I currently have all the FQs to make the reindeer quilt (shown on the back of the book) and have had them since I purchased the book but have yet to do anything with it. Then along came Star of Wonder, 12 Days of Christmas, and this year I believe in Santa.. all books that I have purchased and yet to do projects out of.



Keith has also looked through the books and pointed out the things that he liked and well, they have in turn been added to the infamous list of "THINGS/ PROJECTS TO DO". It seems as though things are always added to the list and very rarely do things get finished to take off the list. Maybe that will have to be my new years resolution.. Its going to be that or Keith has threatened to send me to fabric buyers anonymous. Ha ha ha.. who's coming with me? It will be like a sewing bee or something like that.. a guild maybe?

Oh and did I mention that there is a new book out? Called "Sew Necessary"? All sorts of things to organize your sewing space.. and yes I will have to purchase that one too!

How many of you out there have started the Christmas Count down? Have started working on christmas projects? I would like to say that I have done the second and am trying to ignore the first but that is not happening for either of them!! With the upcoming Doctors appointment and the possibility of another surgery possibly just before or just after christmas in my head Christmas is too close!! and needs to be pushed back a couple of months.

Keith and I have purchased several of the ceramic houses and shops from the Lemax 2009 Christmas Village. If you have a chance check them out they are super neat. We purchased christmas lights to put up on the house.. that can be programed to flash different sequences (sort of) that is another story for later. We have a couple new ornaments one for our first year being married and on with an eagle and the flag. Then there is the christmas shopping... I have purchased a few things for him, some special 12 Days of Christmas goodies that I will post here when I figure everything out and can get pictures (he won't know he still doesn't know how to get to my blog) some other odds and ends and then one other thing that I put on layaway at sears for 2 reasons... 1 so that I knew that I had it and it wouldn't be sold out before Christmas and 2. so that I could take advantage of the 30 day return policy incase he wants something different. I didn't want to buy it now and then have something be wrong with it and not be able to return it.


So anyway today when I get home from work will be yet another non creative day. Unless you consider baking breads for the Divisional potluck tomorrow being creative. I still have banana and zuchinni breads to mix and bake and Keith is going to make ziti for me to take in the crockpot.

Update on Projects and Posts to come....

Well there isn't much to update on the projects that I have been working one. I have yet to finish the blocks for Keiths coming home quilt.. but that is going to be my project for tonight. Mom and Dad are here and we are going to do the lawn one last time before Keith gets home. He gets home Wednesday can you tell that I am excited?

I know that its not time for new years resolutions yet but I have some goals for the month of november.. I want to organize my quilt room.. maybe not completely but I want to make it a little easier to find some things. Then I want to make my list of UFO's and TO DO LATER projects and get those on a list on my blog.. maybe if I have a list that I can look at it will motivate me to get things done.

I got to sew!!

I am super excited! Just before Keith left he made a comment to me about he wondered if my friends would make him a welcome home from deployment quilt like they made me last year. As always he had that cute little boy grin. Well it just didn't feel right to ask one of my quilting groups to help me out and I hadn't been sewing much at all not because I didn't want to but because I didn't feel up to it. Sewing is something that I love and with all the issues with my arm some days it just felt like a chore and I didn't want to associate the two.

Anyway I have been talking to my friend Jill alot more the last couple months than I have in the last year or so. Together we decided to put together a quilt for Keith a block sampler like mine but different so that we could both curl up on the couch together with our own quilts when he gets back.

I just want to send out a great big hug and thank you again to all the ladies that helped to put together my quilt. Quilts really do make things better. There is not a day that goes by that I dont look at or lay with the quilt and think about the love that went into my quilt. Alot of days when I get home from work and don't feel well I curl up with it and a few minutes later Lillybeth is curled up with me.. smiles.

Ok back to my sewing... This weekend I pulled out my Carol Doak "Learn to paper piece" DVD and decided that I was going to learn to paper piece. To top it off I am a glutten for punishment.. I couldn't pick an easy block to learn on I picked one that had like 500 pieces to it. (okay not really but it had alot). I finished it about midnight last night and you know what? I really liked it! Here are a couple pictures of the blocks that I finished this weekend. Hoping to finish more tonight.

Here are the 2 blocks that my mom made. Yes your seeing those right they are both cross stitch and I think that they look fantastic. (The first one is actually cream fabric not yellow but I couldn't get my camera to take a good picture.) They will both get borders before being added to the quilt.

Thats all for now!! :-)

Keith is Off..

Well I'm sorry about the weeks worth of missing posts.. Keith and I were really busy. I took him to the airport last night and he is sitting waiting for his flight from Virginia to where ever its going. I haven't gotten much done today I had a list going of the things I wanted to start working on but really haven't done much of anything since I got home from Therapy. I made some cute little coasters for a friend in my Sillygals group but forgot to take some pictures of them. Luckily I have fabric to make some more just like them.. Smiles.

So no pictures for today and no sewing done yet but maybe after dinner and a little bit of clean up. We left the house in a bit of disarray yesterday when we were getting all of Keiths last minute things together.

Our Favorite Picture

Well I promised some pictures and I will post more later but I thought that I would share this one with everyone.. it is one of my favorites!! I like how they used the special effects and made the background black and white.


Well I have to get going Keith and I are going to go watch some TV together.

Starting over

Wow I feel like I am starting over with this whole blog thing. I have been so busy (or beat down rather) with medical and everything going on that I didn't have anything quilty or crafty to talk about so I pretty much quit blogging all together.

Well we have alot of catching up to do.. in the last month I went to North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida to meet and visit with Keiths family as well as be supportive to Keith and his family through memorial services for his Grandfather. Not the first meeting that we had all imagined but it worked out.

While on vacation in Florida (the day of the memorial to be exact) we caught rumor from a friend that Keith was going to be deploying. This was not in the plan he originally had orders to a squadron that wasn't supposed to go on deployment until January. The navy modified his orders for a different squadron and he is set to leave to meet them in about a week.

When we returned from florida and started getting things together for him we decided to go ahead and get married before he left for deployment rather than wait until November/ December like we had originally planned. So on July 11th we got married.. the funny thing is he reminds me every morning "Your my wife" with a big grin on his face.

This week is going to be all about having nice meals and spending time together.. and getting his things ready to deploy. I guess this weekend we are going to go out for a nice meal maybe a movie.. I am kinda looking for things that we can do for a quite at home date night maybe a couple of them.. What would be a good at home movie to watch?

So after he heads out for deployment I will be doing alot more sewing and hopefully quilting.. Yeah!! Oh and I can't wait I am already planning a weekend sew-in with a friend for the weekend after he leaves.. Keith has even helped get things together for me.. smiles.. Just hope my quilty friend doesn't have to work too much that weekend. (oh and pictures to follow of our ceremony.. Smiles)

Finally Friday!!!

This week has just felt soo long! I am glad that it's finally friday. The boys have had people over everyday this week working on Keiths truck and finally today it will be just Keith and I. Well at least for dinner (or so he has promised). The boys might be out in the garage helping but he has assured me that they will be going home when its time to come in for dinner and start our movie night.

I thought alot about what to have for dinner and was going to do a picnic style dinner so that we could eat and watch our movie (not decided on yet) but I think I have changed my mind on that. Keith has been wanting to go out to dinner at this new Japanese Cuisine place in Hanford and I found out today that they do take out. So I am going to call and order.. and when I go to pick it up I'm going to walk through the garage and tell him that he has 30 minutes left on the truck then he needs to head inside and get cleaned up.

It should be a fun weekend. I have nothing planned other than to relax and enjoy myself. Was hoping to rope some of the Quilt ladies into a weekend sew in but it sounds like everyone is going to be pretty busy and I should have posted about it earlier. One of these days I am going to be able to catch up with Jen, Cindy, Moniek and Jill. Maybe even plan to go see them that would be soo much fun.

Well I have to get going. Maybe I will get some updates and some projects on here this weekend.. (crossing fingers)

Finally!! Time to catch up on things!!

Okay so I am super excited today/ this week. Monday I checked out of the squadron (Sea Duty) and checked in with the limited duty coordinator. If I hadn't mentioned it before the doctors in San Diego decided to put me limited duty/ Non-deployable (Shore duty). This is supposed to be for 6 months or until they figure out what the heck is wrong with my arm.

Tuesday I finished checking in to limited duty and they told me that they thought that they had a job temporarily for me but they would talk to me about it in the morning. They cut me loose and I headed home to change and then out to the apartment to clean up since the keys were due Friday. Keith met me out there and we proceeded to sanitize the crap out of everything.

Wednesday I went in to work and sat around waiting for my assignment and about 11 or so they told me to go over to another building and talk to YN1 that I would be working with her. She was swamped with Evaluations and told me that she really didn't have anything and that I could go and come back the next day ready for work. Mind you I had to go buy new uniforms and such because in the office they wear uniforms that I hadn't had to wear at the squadron yet. So I was off to get uniforms eat lunch with Keith and the boys and then head to my Occupational therapy appointment. After Therapy I met Keith out at the apartment where we cleaned carpets touched up the bathrooms and kitchen and cleaned the tile floors. FINALLY everything was out of the apartment and everything was clean.

Today was my first day at my new job.. I was a little lost.. a little aggravated but it worked out and I think that it will all work out in the end there seems to be a little bright spot in everything that has happened in the last month.. (A lot more that had happened that I didn't have the heart to blog about.) I went out to the apartment did a walk through.. they were amazed said that they were going to only charge for the carpet cleaning (required by state law) and I would get my deposit back minus that... Can you say YEAH!!! Not to mention that I am going into a weekend where the apartment and the mess isn't looming over my head. We (Keith and I) will get things moved around so that I can get to things and see things and I might get a good Saturdays worth of sewing in (depending on therapy) since the boys are going to be working on vehicles.

I have a bunch of projects in mind.. some gifts and thank yous that I need to get working on. A few RAKs that I have been meaning to work on things like that.. Oh and a super awesome eagle picture that Keith wanted. I will be on the look out for Keith type quilt patterns and fabric. Any ideas let me know hes the patriotic eagle type.. loves Ford and trucks of all kinds. Yes I still have the sponge bob quilt that I started.. it needs borders but I want to make something that is more adult like for him.

I'm still excited I see more sewing time in my future (limited off course so that I don't make my arm worse) since I have normal work hours now.. stay tuned for pictures of projects in the works.. smiles. Time to head for bed... work starts early tomorrow.. Smiles

Weekend update

Well the weekend isn't over yet but today is going to be almost over before I even get started. I have the evening watch so I'll get home about 0800 or a little after and will nap since I only napped for about 3 hours before heading to work at about 2300 on Saturday.

All in all it has been a productive weekend. I had to go into the base Saturday morning to pick up one of my kids from restriction. Hes glad to be off restriction and I will be glad to have him back in the shop.

After that I went back and rolled keith out of bed and convinced him to go to breakfast. We ate at a place called "The Country Waffle" it was yummy. Then we headed to the hardware store to get some plastic and then out to my apartment to continue the chore of packing everything up. I am a bit frustrated having to pack up all my crafts and fabrics and having to put them in storage but Keith has promised me that it will only be for a little while. I'm sure that everyone can agree that putting your fabric in boxes where you can't see it makes it hard to look at it and then be creative and use it.

So we packed up alot of my pattern books, fabric and other crafts. Put the sewing machines and some other various things in the truck and still had room. After a few minutes and some discussion we decided to just take the meows up to Keiths.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but my apartment isn't comfortable or safe anymore and adding my medical things in to it and long hours at work it just made sense to move into town. After several months of discussion and some changes in situations we (Keith, George and I) decided that it just made sense to move in with each other. He actually lives in a 4 bedroom house in Lemoore with George who recently seperated from his wife. We have all talked about things and they are ok with the meows and everything. No more having to ask Keith to drive 30 miles to feed them while I have to make the trip to San Diego for the doctors and they will get attention while I am at work because the boys are home when I'm not. The boys are awesome.. most nights they have dinner ready before I get home so we eat and then I head to bed, George took my car and put tires on it a few days ago because he didn't want me to drive down to san diego on the tires that I had.

So the meows moved to a new home (again). They really like it already.. Lilly is all over the place making friends with everyone.. Louise has climbed all over Georges room and explored everything. Thelma well I don't know what the difference was but at the apartment she was very flighty and would even run away from me. Trying to get her to come out from under the bed while Keith was there was like pulling teeth. With in about 30 minutes she was out checking out the new litter box.. and peeking at Keith from around the corner. Before leaving for watch she climbed on the bed and let him pet her and a while after I was gone he texted and said that she climbed on the bed and curled up on top if him... I don't know about you but that tells me that there was something about the other place that scared her. Keith is excited he seemed so hurt before because she wouldn't come out while he was there.. and now she curls up with him while I'm gone. Its such a relief to know that the girls like them and are ok with the move.

Well I am off to work on my to do list for tomorrow and see what can be worked out to re-organize things so that we can bring the fabric and stuff to the house.

What the Heck!!

Well I thought that it would be super wonderful to finally be home and be where I could sew and be happy!! I have been working so many hours I barely get to look at my sewing machine let alone use it. In fact I haven't even touched it since I got back. Keith has done more sewing since I got back than I have. He hemmed some pants this week for his roommate.

Things have been a bit crazy here. I have already had to make the drive to san diego once to see the neurologist and have to drive down there again on tuesday to see the Occupational Therapist to see if we can get some therapy going to at least relieve some of the pain in my arm.

We have been working really long hours I go in to work at about 0530 (leaving my house at 0440) and most days I don't leave the shop until 1800 or after. So I don't get home until almost 7PM unless I stop at Keiths and then I get home close to 10 if I go out to my house at all. One day this week I was over at Keiths and fell asleep and he just tucked me in and set the alarm for me to get up in the morning.

I thought that I would get some sewing and baking time this weekend but Aden, Keiths room mates son is having a birthday party tomorrow and has been asking for me.. the exact words I heard were "Is Header back from the boat? When do I get to see her" So they are flying to texas to get him and then we are going to have his party. I still have Christmas shopping to do that I haven't gotten done and of course the weekly laundry. So this weekend is pretty messed up too.

OH!! Since I have left you hanging for a couple weeks as to the new goodies I got I guess I will spill the beans. I got a new/used washer and dryer!! Yea!! Oh Oh and even better I have a new Janome 6600 and table!! ( that I haven't gotten to play with yet) and I have a "Little Gracie II" on order.. my goodness now if I only had the time to sew.