Our Family

I will be back blogging soon. Everything has come to a screaming halt around here. Please visit our family page for more information.

New Crazy Quilting Group

I am leaving this information on my blog so that all of you can check out the new "Crazy Quilting" group. Many of us belong to several but hopefully you will have the room or time to join one more.

This group is new, swaps 8 1/2 inch blocks which are randomly swapped. Most of the members have embroidery machines. Do not let that scare you away if you do not have an embroidery machine.

In the past, I have completed all of my crazy quilting by hand. I am learning a new concept here, making the block using my embroidery machine. It should save me some time.

Come on in and join the creativity.
Use this link to find us: "Crazy Quilting"

34 Matching Blocks

I am just coming in to show you what I have been doing with my sewing machine.




















I signed up for a swap and the only rules were 12 1/2 inches and something to do with floral.

Oh now doesn't that open a lot of ideas for most of us. My first step was to rummage through my stash to see what I had. It was my lucky day and I found three matching fabrics. There was a solid one too so I wanted to find a small embroidery design to use.

My first attempt at cutting was a disaster and I panicked that I would not have enough fabric for 34 blocks. Back to the thinking block and this is the pattern I came up with. When I started recutting my fabrics it dawned on me that the kids were coming home from Japan on leave, staying at our house..........yikes.....cancell the swap.

I stuck it out made 34 matching blocks without embroidery. A blank solid piece of fabric will call out to anyone with an embroidery machine. I was being nice and didn't know it, wasn't I.
These go out in the mail Monday so I am not late.


I have to to run. The stuffed turkey is in the oven, six of the seven grandbabies are here. One is sick on the couch. Oh, and one of the three grandfirbabies is here. A couple of the dads and DH are at the gun show (hope they bring me home a surprise). Man, I should of gone to the gun show and left the cooking to all the girls.

Gracie Pants

Gracie is in need of new pants so I purchased a couple of pair for her. She will be here to spend the weekend with us so I thought I thought I would get these ready for us. The embroidery is done over the outside seam area.

The first step was to be brave enough to cut the jeans from one inseam to the other. Yikes, I hope these go back together.

I combined several modular flowers and a heart I had collected, combined them into one design from my computer. The next step was to stitched it on the jeans.

The design ended up being 9 x 5 inches; a bit larger than I wanted. While I was at it and both legs were open I stitched the same design on the other leg even though they sit differently. A 3-year-old will never tell and neither will you.

Helping Animals in Need

Many of us have or have had the best furbaby in the world. We make sure they are fed, bathed, and a warm place to sleep. Cuddle with them on the easy chair each night.

There are those furbabie's who are not so fortunate. Maybe they are living in kennel, or your local Humane Society. They could be rescued by someone while they wait for another home. These are sad places for them to be. We would not let our family members live this way.

there are many needs for Kennels and Humane Societies and rescue homes. Food being one item. I came across this blog with the instructions and pattern for making dog beds. There is a flat one for inside a crate and a round one for a smaller dog.

I am going to make a couple of the flat ones for crates and donate them to our local Humane Society. Please, each of you do the same. A couple of these would make a big difference no matter where you live.

Here is the link: http://shelterbeds.blogspot.com/

Information on OED

There are many easily identifiable symptoms of OED. Having any or all of the known symptoms is cause for concern. Generally, if you suffer from more than three of the symptoms listed below, you are suffering from this disorder and should seek help. These are just some of the known symptoms of OED. There are many more, some of which have yet to be identified. Further symptoms will be added to the list as they are discovered.
You suffer from OED if you:

• Would never dream of leaving the house without wearing embroidery
• Named your embroidery machine(s)
• Have actually read all or part of your machine manual(s)
• Think two embroidery machines is still not enough
• Have more embroidery designs than recipes
• Cooking has become foreign to you
• Belong to more than three online embroidery groups
• Think nothing of ripping out seams in garments so you can embroider on them
• Have more embroidery thread than your racks will hold
• Spend more time with your machine than your family
• Have been surprised to learn that you have three kids living at home, not two
• Think Technicolor refers to thread charts
• Are trying to figure a way to embroider your car seats
• Never hear the phone ring because your machine is running
• Turn your machine on before the coffee pot every morning
• Never turn your machine off
• Ask for stabilizer instead of jewelry for your birthday
• Try to convince your law enforcement friends that bullet proof is not good
• Think sewing just one design on a garment is a sign of weakness
• Envision your living room carpet as an interesting fill stitch pattern
• Look inside garments in stores to see what stabilizer was used
• Can't wait until your spouse leaves town so you can embroider all night
• Look for R/A or Pantone color numbers on cans of house paint
• Think of dust bunnies as household pets
• Design monograms in the dust on the coffee table with your finger
• Never give a gift without having embroidered on it first
• Can't relax to sleep unless the machine is running in the background
• When visiting, you drive instead of flying so you can take your supplies

I ran across this from another site. I thought I would post it here so all of us could feel better about.......OED. It's not my fault.

When Will Spring Arrive

Many of of us are looking for signs of "SPRING". Winter has been hard for everyone. There have been floods and outrages snow storms with ice.

I bundled up for the mid-30 temperatures to talk a walk around in my garden areas yesterday, peeking for any sign the season would change soon. I was in luck, the crocus's are coming up and the daffodils are showing too. They are almost 2 inches tall right now. The weeds are already sprouting pretty pesty greens. They are hard to pull when the ground is frozen.

Soon, soon we will have warmer weather so the flowers can bloom and more weeds can grow.

I even see the fruit trees showing off new buds. I am sure this will attract the Elk.
This weekend is Valentine's Day. However, you want to celebrate it make it a special day. It can be as simple as some favorite cookies in a packed lunch, a special desert after dinner, or a card of appreciation for someone, an email to someone you do not hear from often, or a phone call. This is where random acts of kindness fit in. Do something different make it special.

A Garden Vest

How often do we sit down with a project and it is something we are making for someone else?
I think this happens more frequently than not.

this time I decided to take my yard vest and jazz it up. I found this wonderful design and decided it needed to be done for me.


I had decided not to embroidery through the entire vest because it is lined with fleece and too thick. So I sewed a patch and attached that to the vest. I secured it by appliqueing it to the vest. There is silk ribbon all the way around tied with delicate french knots. I hung a small heart charm from the top at the base of the bow.

I am sure these cute gals will help me garden don't you!

I would appreciate it if you took a moment to click this link for me.
http://www.DesignsBySiCK.com/?pointsfor=rainagade

I frequently check this site for embroidery designs. Okay, I am doing this daily, hourly, by the minute, whatever the mood brings.

There is a points system for receiving points on this site. By clicking this link I get to collect points to purchase embroidery designs. It is my way of cutting down the funds I spend on fabrics and thread. So please be kind and help me! All of your clicks would be greatly appreciated!

.

Another Pineapple Express Comes Through

I know that my blog is about my sewing projects, then I creep into the family entries also.
Today I am showing you something a bit different.

I live in the Pacific Northwest in a rural area. I have a fondness for the quiet places to walk and what I see. There are not two days alike out here; especially when it comes to weather. This week our weather pattern has been to referred to as the Pineapple Express. This means our weather comes from the Hawaii area and heads to Washington. It causes the rain to hit the area like a train! The week before the area was covered with snow. The warmer temperatures melt the snow in the lowlands and causes snow melt on the mountain. When the rains hit us this way, and we have the snow melt that means a lot of water for our lakes and rivers.

About 24 hours into the storm they called for an evacuation of 2 small towns. Roads became unassailable in the outline areas. This included my area. A small river runs through our property and it also over flowed. I have never seen this river this high.


The picture above show where two logs have disappeared. These logs were the beginning of the path that followed the river and was part of my morning walks. This is at the north end of our property.

These two pictures are of the south end and show where the river has come over its banks. We are the last house before you come to the lake. The lake also crested and over flowed its banks closing the last road we had access of. If you think about it we had become an island. These pictures also look to the lake.

The lake is "just" around the corner. I was hoping that the pictures would show the white caps and you could see how fast the water is moving. The sound of rocks rolling under the water.
Now we will be waiting for the river to recede back to normal and see what path it takes. There will probably be a new normal for our river.

The New Year

I hope this finds all of your New Year celebration happy, wholesome and safe.
May your resolution be successful all the way to 2010.

It is time to find the controls to our sewing machines, reach into those stashes, hit the quilt stores and push the buttons to go! Get those new projects going.

With that note I have found a few hours this afternoon to do just that!

Happy New Year from the Pacific Northwest.