New item in the shop

I just put this bag in the shop.

Company

Today we had the Justice family over after church. There were 15 of us! So, last night I started by preparing the cornbread and the meat for the chili. This morning my wonderful husband finished adding the ingredients to the chili. Our friends brought the rest, salad and desert. What a blessing that was! We always enjoy getting together with friends, we just don't do it often. This month we've actually had company three times. My only wish is that we would have got some pictures today, so I could post them here.

Our church has three elders, two of which are very sick right now (they are the two who do the teaching). The church is going through a bit of testing right now. We continue to pray, especially for the elders, Jim, Kyle and Mark.

Pillowcases

Today I made pillowcases for our bed. The others were starting to wear out, but I didn't want to spend the money for a whole new set of sheet, so I just made these. They coordinate with the sheets and quilt already on the bed. This time I used large cotton rick-rack which is a little easier to work with. One thing to remember is to preshrink it (which I actually did). ; )

What do you love?

When my friend was here a couple weeks ago we were at the quilting store looking. There was some fabric there that I loved.

That got me to thinking about the things people love. While we probably use "love" a little too freely I thought it'd be interesting to see what comments I get about what you love.

I love turtle sundaes from Culvers(which I will eat again someday!), beautiful fabric, scrapbooking paper, books, birds and taking pictures of them from the window, good music, etc. Then I love my husband, my daughter, my parents, my sisters, my friends.

I love God, but I'd like to know what that looks like because it's sometimes hard for me to know what it means to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

Enjoy!

Cute bag

This bag idea came from the book Sew Hip. I thought the beaded handles were so cute I wanted to try it. It takes hardly any fabric and not much time.

Next bag

This bag idea came from the book Sew Hip. I thought the beaded handles were so cute I wanted to try it myself. It takes hardly any fabric and not much time.

Yesterday

This is what I did yesterday. Well, I did have most of it cut out way before that. It will go in the shop when I get to that.

Yesterday was also a day of fasting and prayer for Mark, one of our elders. Amy and I both "fasted" from the computer most of the day. Every time we thought about the computer we prayed. We did pray at other times also. He's doing better today and will probably go home from the hospital tomorrow. He's beginning the process for a liver transplant, so he still needs prayer.

My sister needs prayer for her right eye. It hemorrhaged again this week. She's praying it will stabilize and not continue to worsen. She's also hoping it won't effect our trip to Hawaii in November.

One of our elders

One of our elders is currently in the hospital and needs prayer. His name is Mark Hamilton. You may read about his condition at this link. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hamilton Please be in prayer for him.

Maidens IV

This afternoon we went to the Yankee Peddler Festival. Here's Maidens IV a group of sisters from our church who plays Celtic/Irish music. Amy really enjoys listening to them. Their website is http://www.maidensmusic.com/ if you want to check them out.

The outfit

This is the outfit I made for Amy. It's the one that has the zipper. I think it's cute on her. Although in this picture she looks like she could have lived when camera's were first invented. ; )

Zipper Success

I did it!! I will admit it was stressful and I wasn't elated afterwards and I only broke one needle when it hit the presser foot. Oh and I didn't even shed a tear, but I thought about it. But the zipper is in and it actually looks pretty good. I'm sure that's due, in part, to the thread matching the fabric well enough that you can't see it too well. ; ) So now Amy informs me that I've done it once I can do it many more times. We'll see...

The Dreaded Zipper

Tomorrow I'm going to put a zipper in the skirt I'm making for Amy. I hope it will go well. I think I'll try to follow some of the tips I've seen lately in hopes that it will be easier than I remember.

Here's a quote from The Fallacy Detective:

"One of the most important lessons in the book of Proverbs is that we should work hard to use our minds to understand things. This means we'll need to make our minds do some stretches! And if there is only one thing you learn from this book, we want to inspire you to exercise your mind--and not let it get fat and flabby."

My mind seems to be mush some days. I'm hoping the book will help tone it. (It's a book we're using for school this year.) And I really think the zipper will help stretch my mind!

Forgiveness

Why is it that we hurt those we love more than others? Probably because they are the nearest to our sinful selves.
Today I'm thankful for forgiveness.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:8, 9

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23, 24

Company

We had company for the afternoon today. It was fun to get to know a young family from church. They have a 2 year old and a one year old, both girls. We had a nice day of conversation and playing.

Friends

Here's the bag I made yesterday. It's for our friends' 7yo dd.

Today we had friends come visit/work for the day. We started off with Amy calling them to see when they were leaving (this was about 11:30 a.m.). They said they were just leaving, so we assume they'll be here in 2 1/2 hours. About 5-10 minutes later there's a loud knock on the door which causes the dog to bark her head off. I opened the door and there they are! It turns out they're "just leaving" the Subway just down the road.

DH and Mr. D. spent the day working on our lamppost which hasn't worked since we moved here. They fixed the problem, but we still need a light bulb and possibly a transformer to get it to light up.

The rest of us drove around the neighborhood getting flower bulb orders for their adoption fundraising. Amy and their dd got over $100 in orders. For all their hard work we treated them to MooTown Creamery ice cream.

We ended the day with a supper of grilled hamburgers and good conversation. I'm glad they came even if they showed two hours earlier than I was expecting. ; )

Thankful

Today was a busy day. It was cleaning day, Amy had a voice lesson and I had an appointment and co-op near the same time as her lesson, so dh took her to the lesson. Since I was gone the most today Amy did most of the cleaning. (I got by with just the mopping.) Just this week we read Proverbs 20:11--"Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right." I'm thankful she was so helpful today.

The day didn't end without another little bag being sewn. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

Almost sold

Yesterday I got an email from Etsy saying I had sold an item (the two bags). So I sent the buyer an email requesting payment. Today I got an email from the buyer saying they were new to Etsy and had not meant to actually buy, but only see how the purchasing system works. I was disappointed, of course. However, I did learn how to report a transaction and how to relist an item because of the mistake. I'm still waiting for that first sale.

My neck is better, not completely, but I'm not in constant pain. I think I'll go to the chiropractor every week for a few weeks to keep it in line. The internal arnica pills didn't really help it, but they did help my wrist which is also hurting, another sign of too much computer use. : ( Not really sure how I'm going to fix that problem, although I have been careful to watch my time.

Today I cut out fabric for another tote-size bag and another backpack style for Amy. Tomorrow I hope to start sewing. I do need to get some more heavy weight interfacing before I can get too far. Sometimes I'd like the fabric store to be next door, but that would probably be too much of a temptation. ; )

Books

I had this book on hold at the library, it finally came in today. It really looks interesting. Amy & I may even be able to make a skirt without a pattern after reading this. It doesn't seem too difficult. So it may be fun to get into this book. Maybe I'll even post the results. I finished Anne of the Island this afternoon. It had such a sweet ending that I hardly want to go on to the next book, but the story continues. The library doesn't have this on CD (to download to my ipod) so I'll have to actually read it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy listening on the ipod. It has allowed for sewing and "reading" at the same time. Multi-tasking at it's finest!

Two More Bags

Here are the latest. They are in the shop. There are more pictures there.

We started school today. We were able to make a couple changes in books, mostly deleted a couple from the schedule. I am planning to add an art history book in the next few weeks. I think one of our favorite books will be A Naturalist Buys An Old Farm. Plus we each are reading a book from the Anne of Green Gables series. Amy's reading Anne of Avonlea and I'm reading Anne of the Island (I should say I'm listening to it on my ipod). I've never read the series before and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

My neck pain is better after visiting the chiropractor again today. I appreciate all the prayers that were said! Now if I can just limit my computer use and keep myself from starting another sewing project for a few days. (My dh will be happy.)

Chippy

Over the weekend Derrill put out peanuts for the birds. Typically, we get several bluejays come to carry the peanuts off one by one. They did come this time, but they had competition.

Pain

I've been experiencing quite a bit of neck pain the last several days. The chiropractic adjustment probably helped a little, but only to straighten the bones, the pain didn't go away. I guess I've been doing too much on the computer, ebaying, blogging, getting ready for school...I've cut back some. I think sewing has not helped it any, but while I've been doing quite a bit of sewing, I learned a long time ago not to do it for too long at a time. So prayers for some relief would be great!

I took this picture on a flower on our deck. I hope you can see the water pooled on the petals.

The Next Bag

I finished this bag yesterday. It's a cute little back-pack style bag, probably for a little girl. I've got fabric cut out for another one that will just be opposite, dots on the inside, flowers outside.

Chippy

Amy took this picture of our friend, who's name is Chippy. He's enjoying dinner in our flower pot.

Bag's in the shop

Be sure to see the shop for the bag as well as the pillowcases. Remember the profits from the pillowcases go to our friends' Russian adoption process. Thanks.

It's done!!

Bird Feeder

This is the type of "bird" we get at our bird feeder. ; ) Look at the cheeks on this little one! We do get real birds also, in fact we've had quite a few gold finches lately. We're starting to see the young ones now, about 6-8 of them on one feeder. There has also been a young cardinal. I'm assuming it's a female as she's marked that way, just not as neat looking.

I have two buttons to go on the latest bag. I'm not sure how much I like it, but I know I'm glad it's almost done. DD wants me to make her a vintage dress next, so that may be a good departure from bags for a while.

Labor Day

My dh spent late morning working hard outside putting mulch on the flower beds. I'll try to remember to get a picture of his work.

We went to the Akron Zoo this afternoon. It is a quaint zoo with a flavor of Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. But the glare on the windows made it difficult to see some of the animals, so it might be worth going at a different time of day.

After we got home I worked more on the next bag. It's coming along. I'm still thinking through how to place the handles and buttons. I think the polka dot pockets are a cute surprise on the inside.

I'm still praying for buyers for all my stuff. I've been praying for God's blessing on my shop. I think I'll make sure to include asking to know His will in the whole thing.

Sale pt. 2

We got everything to the checkout counter and paid. We then started for home, thankful to be in the car sitting down. About three blocks from the store I remembered the 10% off coupon (that I forgot to use). So, we went back. The manager was the one to wait on us, fortunately. She had to void my transaction and re-enter it all in by hand. She was very nice about it, but I felt sorry for her. I was thankful she was willing.
I think we'll go back one more time tomorrow while the sale is still going on to get a few more things. But I will restrain myself. Meanwhile, I'm praying that God will bless me by having these items sell. Be watching the shop.

Labor Day Sale at Joanns

My dd and I spent a little over 3 hours at Joann's this afternoon buying fabric to make more jelly bags, plain bags, dresses, a skirt, doll clothes, and a baby quilt. I think that covers it. My cart was overflowing with bolts of fabric. In the middle of cutting it all out the clerk hit the wrong button on the scanner and deleted the whole thing, so she had to start over scanning in all the items. With my help we got through that pretty quickly. There's more to tell, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Relationships and Rules

A few days ago my friend and I were talking about church rules, family rules, love and relationships. The point of the conversation was that if you have too many rules for the sake of having rules or controlling people, that relationships suffer, thus church members may live in fear or leave the church and children end up leaving the faith of their parents when they have the chance.

Since this was on my mind I thought I'd ask dd a few questions. Actually, I didn't give it much forethought, the questions just "popped" in my head. So I asked her if she thought we had too many rules for her. This surprised her because it was so far away from normal questions that she never expected such a question. But she did say she didn't think we had too many. Then I asked her if she thought my dh and I loved her and had a good relationship with her. She said yes without hesitation. I had one more and told her I wouldn't ask anymore right then. The last question was "is there anything we can do to improve?" She did have one item that I'll not share out of respect for us all. ; )

I was happy to have had that conversation with her and hope to have more in the future to keep communication open.