Carnival Cruise Quilts

If you read my post regarding our summer I want to talk to you about one of the many blessings the Lord provided us. We have some friends from the historical society of our town. They heard of the news and let another member know. Between everyone working quickly we had that hospital bed we needed. Also when I got home I had a quilt order. For me quilting is essential. It keeps my bipolar depression in check. With my living room now a bedroom my bedroom became my quilting area. I needed some normalcy and this order helped with that. I am so thankful for the Lords provision. They even brought me Orange Juice which I desperately needed.

What was nice about this particular order is the hope within the shirts, these are travel shirts. I have never been out of the US so it was fun to see all the different shirts and think about one day when he would be well enough again to get out there and go on a vacation.

The summer was taxing, it was hard to stay on top of all the bills. I had to keep faith that God would continue to provide orders. This second order came just in time for me to take my oldest back to college. The profit helped with gas there and back.

I am so thankful for each order this summer. Every single one truly made a difference in whether bills were paid, food was on the table or if kids had enough money for Ecuador, camp etc. 

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Summer 2016 Adventures

Sometimes life spirals out of control. My summer felt very much this way. I am so thankful to have the Lord in our lives because I would have never made it through this ordeal without HIM constantly there. I saw this summer going much differently. The kids had camp and a mission trip to Ecuador planned, they had a computer class to take, I wanted to do some college visits, some family vacations and Paul had his men's break planned which he takes every summer around his Birthday. Its seemed the Lord had something in store for us that we just had to take day by day to understand.

Paul was in an accident at the Ranch he went to. Without going into much detail wise he ended up with 75 stitches to reattach his ear, eye trauma, body trauma, and a back that was partially broke and fractured. He would spend time in the ER twice and then at a wound care specialist once home before finally getting on the mend.

We turned our living room into a bedroom, borrowed a hospital bed, the guys at church came out and put in a ramp for him since walking was difficult. We attached a rope to the hospital bed at some point to help him ease out of bed when he was able to get up. We went to MANY doctors appointments. Gradually things were cleared, his eyes were not damaged, the blood eventually went away as did the bruising. The ear was healing well and no internal damage that we know of has been detected. His legs on the other hand continued to deal with infection. It was tough because he was forced to stay down for over a month. Just going to dinner out for an hour had set backs.

The ER visits proved crazy as they really weren't helpful. The wound care specialist ended up being the secret with a new antibiotic for a longer period of time and stockings to help with the pressure and distribution of blood in his legs. 

It was a long summer. I was home bound with him for most of it as he needed quite a bit of assistance. It seemed like life was put on hold. Thankfully all the kids plans still came to be and their lives weren't interrupted too much, minus the lack of a family vacation or the college visits. The computer class is now rushed during this semester of school. Hopefully we get it done in time without having to file for an extension.

I think all the time we spent together was rewarding. Its during times like this that you reevaluate your decisions in life, your relationships, your priorities. I am thankful to say that he is on limited duty back at work, he no longer has the brace and despite some back issues is doing fairly well. I know the Lord has a great plan for Him. I am thankful for more time on earth with him too.

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Summer Eats

This summer we had such a successful garden, minus our squash. I am not sure what really happened with those. They just seemed to always start in the middle of so much rain we were having. Now peppers we did really well with.

We had so many pounds we were giving them away, then we got smart and found time to can some of it. We made jalapeno peppers that were candied, pickled and even dehydrated some too. 

We made a version of our own with some banana and jalapenos because it will be great with meat and beans. The jalapenos were very hot this year, while the banana peppers were mild. It will be a perfect combination. 

This is my favorite recipe  for candied jalapenos. We pour it over cream cheese and eat with fritos or wheat thins. I love to add it to my cornbread too. 

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Let's Get Crafty

I love Pinterest Ideas
Sometimes I have good intentions and not enough time.
Sometimes I try something new because a customer requests something special

That is the case with these pillows. My customer wanted to save a robe that her mom had worn. I used some of it in her memory quilt, which I had been doing a while, however I hadn't made many pillows that involved an envelope type back as well as clothing on the front. 

I think they turned out beautifully. I do want to purchase a pinking shear rotary blade as I think it might make it a little easier for edges not to fray on the inside. That would have been a great Pinterest tip.

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My Favorite Thing

Deciding on a favorite item was very difficult, it really depends on if I am cooking, cleaning, helping with kids, doing something for myself or quilting. Since I seem to really quilt a lot  these days I chose a quilting item. 

Fiskars Donna Dewberry Collection Easy-To-Read Ruler

I truly cannot live without this ruler while quilting. In fact I probably buy two or more a year because I use them so much I wear the painted markings right off of them. I love this ruler. It is truly perfect for all the Tshirt and Memory quilts I make. I love using it in combination with my rotary cutter and self healing mat. It makes life so much easier. I have made over 300 quilts in the last 8 years and I can tell you I used one of these rulers on every single one. 

Feel free to browse my shop and check out some of my items. 

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Relax with a Great Book

I read two books this summer. One with my daughter which I actually really enjoyed called Poison Wood Bible. It was for an English assignment - summer reading so I can't really say I was relaxing with a great book but I love that I have the time to spend with her. She will be off to college next year and its these little things that I love, reading to her and discussing what we read then helping her with ideas once in a while when she gets stumped on an assignment. I will miss these days for sure.

This is the other book I read. Its called the Husband Project by Kathi Lipp.
This summer my focus was our marriage, it started back in May. I was looking for ways to build our marriage up because we will sort of be empty nesters next year. Our younger two are seniors this year. I hear story after story about how hard marriage can be once all the kids are gone, how couples are disconnected etc.
Well the dear Lord had a different plan because my husband was injured so the book got put on hold. I did start it a few weeks ago when he went back to work after being off 2 1/2 months. Its 21 days of focusing on him.
For me this could not have been a better time. When you truly care for someone, helping them shower, changing sheets several times a day, their pretty much every need, its very depleting. I really just wanted a vacation. I realized I needed to still focus on him. He is still healing, he is still working through the let down of the summer and some major life changes.
At first he just was really surprised by all the neat ideas, some dates, some helpful situations like doing a pipe order, which is a side job of his, while he was at work, some cooking of special meals etc.
I am not completely done. I had to start spreading it out because he figured it out and it became an expectation. I don't want that out of the book. So now I am doing a couple a week.
I admit it takes a lot of time and planning to pull all of it off. Some of them I had to modify because I don't dress up, wear make up etc. So I changed the project to suit us.
I really enjoy the idea of focusing on him. It helps me from focusing on the wrong things and it really has been improving our marriage because it improves our attitudes towards one another. 

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HomeTown Tourist for Magnolia Texas

I was raised in California, but upon meeting my husband 21 years ago, nearly 22, we moved to his Home state of Texas. We have lived in several cities around the Houston area but have had our home here in Magnolia, Texas for nearly 10 years. I love all its hometown feel and personality.

Our town has some of the cutest Boutiques such as Daphney's.
She carries an array of merchandise from clothing and gift items/housewares. I love the location of her store.
It is what our town calls the Magnolia Stroll. It has several shops and food location 

It opens up for city events such as Renaissance through the Stroll, Corks and Canvas, Hometown Christmas, Depot Days etc.  Now truthfully isn't this the cutest little porch area, she sells these little benches made from bed frames, they are darling. 

Our town is not just about food though, its about giving back, this weekend for 9/11 the county commissioner and another group hosted a lunch for first responders to show our appreciation for all they do. Recently they held a Flag Retirement Ceremony and BBQ for Veterans Day to honor members who have served. We have a Hometown Christmas Parade and Event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and our Magnolia Historical Society. There seems to always be an event to go to which celebrates people, is helping someone in some way or is just for entertainment. 
There are so many ways to get involved from local organizations that truly give back, to so many churches. I think the most unique event was this summer when they held a Men and Women in Blue to support our officers. We need more towns like this in America. 

We have an another restaurant that is called La Magnolia it is amazing. It serves Italian food and it is often a date night on Wednesdays while the kids are at church. You can get a Italian dish from the menu, salad, bread, and dessert for $10. Its so much food we always take the dessert home.

One we visit on Sunday mornings for dates is called Kitty's.

She is open for breakfast and lunch and has the best little menu.

I personally go there for breakfast.

I love our little town of Magnolia, Texas 

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Birthday Quilt for a Grandaughter

This quilt holds high school shirts, it was a birthday gift for a granddaughter

I didn't have enough tshirts so I took a corner of a sleeve as well as a back of a shirt and two sleeves from a colored shirt and made a block that was creative for the quilt. It has solid black cotton fabric with a black scroll print, gray flannel on the back.

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Memory Quilt with Embroidery and Pillow Shams

This quilt contains a mother's sweatshirts and one embroidery block since we were short one square

The daughter saw a hummingbird the day of the funeral, so we used that as our theme. 

She wanted something also for her daughters, so I made three extra pillow shams.

I tried to take a couple of special pieces from the bottoms of some of the sweatshirt fronts.

She chose a denim flannel for the back. It has a leaf print.

I even used a couple of collars for pieces in the pillow shams

There was a vest so I used the inner and outer layers to add some character

I sent photos to her and she was just in awe. I think she will really treasure all of these keepsakes.

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