Rainy Days...

I guess it's like the song, rainy days and Mondays always get me down! BUT, that's not me!!! I am not down, but it is rainy and it is Monday afternoon! Oh well, there are exceptions to every rule! It has been a busy day, but we've gotten a lot accomplished. Bulbs in the ground, tomato seedlings in the pots, laundry done, MRI done, bank and grocery done, and Nikki did a batch of cookies! Not bad for a day's work. Now I can play for the rest of the day.

I will be sandwiching this medallion today as well. I have the batting and the backing sitting here waiting for me to pin it all together. The pic is a bit skewed, that's because the quilt is king sized and hard to photograph. This quilt will be published on the Quilter's Club of America after the first of the year as a quilt-along. Come join the fun, I will post the web address when I have all the necessary permissions in place.

I am hoping to work on the intricate squares I mentioned the other day. I have all the two and three piece units finished, now to sew the block together. Then finally, I get to sew the entire quilt together. Pics when I can. I can't wait to see this one! I am excited about the pattern. It will also be published on the QCA site, again, I'll post an address when I have one.

Thanks and Merry Christmas,

Debi

Back To It....

Well I have had a couple of days where I could just sit and sew. I made a lot of progress on a quilt I have been making. I took the intricate block from the last mystery and used a second pretty basic block for an amazing look! I have the second blocks all finished. I am ironing little pieces on the intricate block. I have most of the little two piece and three piece portions sewn. Now to get all the little two and three piece portions sewn to each other. I love this block, even if it has fifty-seven pieces! I used the first ones I made from total scraps as a table runner. I love it, it kinda looks a bit Christmassy on my table with my decorations on it. This is the mystery colored block. For the new one, I am using cream, maroon, and black. It is gorgeous!

With Christmas just around the corner, we are fully booked at our homestay. We will be very busy until the middle of February. Then we get a reprieve for a bit. I am looking forward to the extra money, but the work, not so much! Been pretty busy with washing, cleaning, and sleeping!

I have had a wee bit of of time to work on the new teddy bear I have been working on. I took a bigger pattern from one I designed a few years ago and tweaked it to be about half the size. I am enjoying the little time I do get to sew on it. I still have quite a ways to go, but at least I have gotten a start! Wish I had more time, I know we all wish the same thing!!!!!

Have a great week!

Debi

"My Girls"

When I say my girls, I really mean my young ladies! If you would have told me two or more years ago that I would be teaching at least six teenage girls and loving it, I would have told you that you were nuts and that it was my least favourite age! BUT, I love teaching them and  the joy I get from them every time I see them is overwhelming! Ministering to them has been my #1 priority for the past almost two years. I love our open communication and prayer bond.

We currently have two living with us. What a joy! Sarah is only here temporarily, but Nikki is here for the duration. They both are helpful and nice to have around the house. Sarah loves fishing with my sweetness and Nikki loves to sit beside me at the sewing machine. What could be better! When we go to camp, we love to hang out and ride together. I love that the girls love me and like to hang out at my house...I am after all an old lady and the Pastor's wife! 

Our Sunday School class time centers around a table, a cuppa tea, and God's Word. These special girls keep me on my toes, asking deep questions and growing leaps and bounds. I am honored to call them "my girls"

Loving Where God Has Me!

Debi

Goodbye Baby

There are few things harder than losing part of the family. We had a fur baby have a stroke Wednesday and we have had to let her cross the rainbow bridge. She was 14 and getting slower, but we really didn't expect a stroke. She was nearly blind and I truly think deaf, but she usually didn't let it slow her down. For the past two years, Leah and Jess have been looking after her and Lucy. We decided when we came home to New Zealand that these two (at 14 and 15) were too old to make the trip and feared they may not make the flight home. They have truly outlived all our expectations. She was well loved and will be well and truly missed.

She was Lucy's daughter, born in October 2003. She was part of a liter of five fluff balls and we chose to keep her as she was the runt, crooked teeth and all! She has brought tons of joy and love, laughs and cries, toys and tennis balls, and fluff everywhere! 

She is survived by her mum, human mum and dad, current mum, and many loves in human nieces, nephews, aunties and uncles. Love you sweet Baby Foofoo. We will miss you. Pics taken the day she crossed over.

Fur babies rule!

Debi

Miracles Happen!

So we have been back in Rotorua New Zealand for two years. We have been amazed at the miracles it took to get us here and also the miracles each month to keep us here. When we first felt God telling us to come home (NZ), a visit in 2013 really set it in concrete, we started praying for clear leading. We knew it was time to move on because God had opened many doors outside Casa Grande, AZ, USA, and we walked through each door. 

We were already convinced we wouldn't come back to Rotorua as there was a church here (which we left in capable hands 10 years before). We got a prayer letter from the man we turned it over to that said they would be leaving Rotorua and going to another needy part of the North Island to begin again. We contacted him and told him we would be willing to candidate if that's what the people wanted. Long story short, we did candidate and were voted in December 3, 2015. It took us 3 months to organize dogs, pack our house, sell off electrical things, and let our families know we would be returning. We were finally back home on 25 February 2016. 

I won't go into detail, but God provided a miraculous amount of money to shift. Each month, God again proves His leading and direction on our lives by paying each and every bill. We always have what we need, maybe not what we want, but all needs are met! We LOVE living by faith. We have seen the church grow miraculously. God has blessed beyond measure. We have so many new families and friends, it is amazing to watch. This is HIS church and He is proving His love of it through manifold blessings. We are working towards an extension of our church in a town 45km away, we have added several Sunday School Classes, started a Bible College to prepare men for God's service, we've seen over 100 children go through the Bible clubs, and have personally grows leaps and bounds. I love my Sunday School girls!

Feeling loved by God,

Debi

My Bullet Journal Journey

Over the past year I have been going through a plethora of journal this and journal that, I was really getting tired of all the hype about having a specific journal to do this and that. I don't need a calendar to keep my at my appointments on time, or to remember my once in a  month vitamins, or whatever. I finally decided it was time to create my own version of what I needed. I have a homemade pad for teddy bears, one for quilts, one for sermon notes, and one for general ideas. I also created a folder one for storing those important receipts and prescriptions. 

After I finished a few notepads, I made a cover to keep them in. Most call it a "travel journal" or a fauxdori. I love this one, because I made all the pads especially for ME, it meets MY needs. I didn't spend one penny on my organizational phenomena. I love it!! And I love that it didn't cost anything.

I love having drawing paper, note paper, and my receipts all in the same place and with me at all times. I have designed a dress on the first page and have my list of materials on the second beside it. Love it!

I am going to sign off and say, if anyone wants a tutorial on how I made these, just ask and I'll either do a video or a picture tutorial and get it out there. If you have hanging file folders you don't use anymore, a ream of plain paper, maybe some graph paper, and even some lined paper if you want, you are all set to go! Really easy and very inexpensive.

Talk soon!

Debi

Baby Church in Tirau

Since coming back to New Zealand at the beginning of 2016, we have wanted to start a new work in Tirau. It is about 45km away and the center of a hub of cities...all without a church. We are looking forward to planting a baby of our church there and watching it grow. We will run Sunday afternoon services to start with, so Pastor Shane can do the preaching till someone is called to take over the baby mission work. We went over on Thursday to check out renting a space for church. Praying some of the contacts work out for us. We plan to start this work mid-February 2018. Please pray for our church as we move forward with these plans. We will be beginning right after family camp...

Which starts in about six weeks, so I am full on busy organizing the menu and accommodations for about a hundred people. We will be at Finlay Park Camp which is about an hour away. We are going to have so much fun, we do every year. This year we will have the main camp (which means motel type units and maybe a bunk room or two for our young people and overflow) instead of the "tents" in the wild blue yonder like last year! It will be tons of fun.

Hope your weekend looks to be as amazing as mine with being in my happy place and going to church!! Roll on Christmas!

Happy Summer!

Debi

P.S. I had this ready to post early, I decided to edit and tell the story! We did make that trip and found a place to rent! It is amazing how God works. We could have parked anywhere, went anywhere, and started pounding the pavement anywhere, BUT God led us to park in the center of town, next to the information center. We decided to start there and we were truly led by God. They control the local War Memorial building and it was free every Sunday, ready for us to use! We checked out the building and it even has an organ! It even is kinda  set up like a church on the inside! We are truly praising the LORD for His leading.

So Adorable...

We were able to design those teddy bear overalls and they are so adorable on Mr. Hairy Bear! I didn't take into account the fact that most bears are doing the splits while seated and my bear would have split the bum seam when seated! These are teddy bear overalls as the big bum is accounted for! He is seated in this pic so you can't see his cuff at the end of his legs. We used some cute buttons at his bib and backside. Sooo adorable! He is so hairy you can't see the fraying on the shoulder straps or the fraying on the cuff at the hem either. Too sweet!

I have also had some time to work on the smaller version of the sad bear I designed a few years ago. I am really looking forward to seeing this one finished. I am hoping my proportions are correct on a smaller bear. This is my night-time hand work. During the day, we are at the machines. I am looking forward to taking pics when we are done for you to see everything we have accomplished.

Christmas is right around the corner. I sometimes don't know why I take on new projects at this time of the year. I am printing off two different mysteries (Bonnie Hunter and Meadow Mist Designs) and I am also doing Quilter's Club of America's countdown to Christmas. The QCA one is a new block each day for the 25 days before Christmas all done in red and white. I am doing mine scrappy! I also want to finish the quilt along before the beginning of the year. I have the top finished, just need to batt and back it. The batting came today, so I can pin and get onto it! YAY! Pics when it's finished.

Have a great weekend!

Debi

Learning Things...

Over the past couple of days, I have been busy with a young lady (whom I love). She has been teaching me how to take patterns off things and how to draft my own patterns for other things. We have made teddy bear overalls, a beautiful shirt for me, we've designed a couple skirts and a couple pairs of shorts, and even had time to figure out a tutu for my ballerina bear! It has been a really great few days. I am not sure I will ever let Nikki go home!! 

We have a basket we are keeping all our "projects" in. We are running two machines at the same time. I am overlocking and she is at the sewing machine putting everything together. We are having such a fun week! I can't wait to see what all we come up with, I see a trendy modest clothing line in my very near future!

I was able to rescue a wee bird yesterday as well. It hit the glass door in the front and stunned itself. The dog let me know it was there, I put on my shoes and went around the house so the dogs couldn't get there first. The sweet bird was so tame, it stayed on my hand with no support for several minutes before flying to the outdoor table. It let me pick it back up from the table and then it flew off my hand back into the trees. That was my wild animal fix for the week. I love to rescue things! We have two rescue dogs, one rescue duck, and I would have rescue cats and other animals if we had more space!! Lambs, ponies, calves.......

Have a great day! Hope you are enjoying the warmer weather if you are in the southern hemisphere like me. All others can look forward to a white Christmas! Who made homemade prezzies this year?? I did a couple, but lost track of time with the mysteries, making any more just too rushed!

Happy crafting!

Debi

Exciting Things (at least for me!!)

Well, it has been a fun few weeks. I have finished a couple of projects and helped a friend make her first quilt. She is pretty proud and so am I. She cut, sewed, and most everything else on her own...I guided her in layout and I did her ironing along the way. We were both down for the count, me with my bruises and other issues with the quad roll and her with a infected spider bite on her foot. We kept each other with our legs in the air for the week. She finished this in about three days, working when we could. She chose "Trip Around The World" for her quilt, made with 5" squares. She added a 5" border as well. She tied this one, as it is her first and it was a way to keep us with our feet in the air. It is an amazing quilt for her first one! Here is her first quilt ever:

I finished a teddy bear. I need to design some bib overalls now. I plan to leave one shoulder open. I can't wait to get stared on designing those! I think this little fella has quite a bit of character and the design of the head and feet is a bit different than I normally do. I have also just designed on and have it cut and ready to sew. It has HUGE feet and long arms, big ears, and most everything is out of proportion large! Can't wait to finish this one and see what it looks like! I love making teddy bears and I love that they go on my facebook page and are usually sold in a couple hours. This has happened to my past two bears. I guess I should start making two so I have one to keep for myself! Those overalls are going to be adorable on this one!!




I also finished a quilt this week!! I tied and bound Mystery Quilt 15 from the Quilters Club of America "Desert Pinwheels". It is my design and it feels really good to have it on the bed!! We slept under it last night for the first time. Looks beautiful and not so "girlie" on the bed. For once, it's kinda manly and homey with the earth tones. My favorite design in a while! The quilt that was on the bed goes on the other king bed in our spare bedroom. It will look fantastic in there! 




I am currently working on Mystery Quilt 16 and a medallion quilt for the QCA and the ladies there. First everyone wants to finish Bonnie Hunter's mystery. So I have till after the first of the year to write instructions. I'll show you the medallion and tell you about the mystery at a later date.

Can't wait to see what you're working on. Have a great day! For those of you in the USA, hope your Thanksgiving was amazing and you have tons to be thankful for and are surrounded by family. Enjoy your long weekend.

Until next time,
Debi

Smelling the Roses...

I am sitting in awe of our amazing God and His blessings on my life. God never tires of hearing and answering our prayers. Seems we have seen a lot of miracles lately, things only God can do. We are a blessed people, both personally and ministry blessings abound. I am deeply thankful to a prayer answering God.

As I sit here finishing up all the preparations for our annual ladies retreat which starts tomorrow, I love how God brings everything together. We will be discussing prayer, our theme is "In the Secret Place" from Psalm 91:1. Just memorizing this verse has changed my life and thinking. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." It seems we are so busy, we don't take the time to just sit back and count our blessings! We serve an amazing God.

I have designed and executed another mystery for the Quilter's Club of America. This one was called "Desert Pinwheels" and was truly lovely and well received. It took us about eight weeks and we have just finished with the last clue. Our dogs always have to approve of each new one, hence Zoey in the middle!! Here is my version.

We will be doing a "Quilt-Along" with my next design. I designed a medallion style, the quilters love it and asked me to do a sew along to teach them how I made it. Mine is a king size, suitable for my bed, but I designed all sizes from wall-hanging through to the king. If you want to sew along, just let me know and I will get you the info for the size you want.

Now to get to the business of quilting these and getting them ready for the bed. We shifted the house around and added a king bedroom which added a king size quilt to the mix. I need to get at least one of them finished so I can dress that room.  I will take the one I have ready to "tie" with me to the ladies retreat this weekend and in my free time I will sit and tie it (using cotton to hold the layers together, tying knots every few inches). My kind of relaxation!!

Have a super rest of your week and weekend. I'd love to hear what you're up to, we haven't talked in a while. I think I have you caught up on me, catch me up on you!

God's richest blessings to you,

Debi

Thankful

I know it has been a month or more since I wrote here on my blog, but I have been very busy looking after myself. I have been at the hospital in their three week ReCHARGE programme, designed to help people in chronic pain to cope with life and hassles. I am very thankful for the gym time, pool time, education classes, and comradery I felt there. It was a long three weeks, but well worth the time and hassle of being separated from my sweet love.This is so me!! I am thankful for my time there.

Since being home this week, I have designed another quilt. This one is a medallion type (center design with multiple borders). I have never done one like this before and I LOVE IT! I will be making this one available as a quilt along. It is a three color quilt and I have worked out all the sizes from a wall hanging to a king. When Shane saw my pattern, he asked me to make it big enough for our bed, so I did!! I am really loving how it is working up. I am on the last border and I ran out of one of my fabrics...poor me, I have to go fabric shopping.....hehehehehe! I am thankful for a week at home to play!!

Tuesday, the first "real" clue comes out for the mystery I have been working on. I am taking pictures and working hard on all the instructions. It is so much fun doing this. I believe I have found a niche that I really enjoy. It seems a lot of quilters enjoy my patterns as well, many are making my mystery patterns. I guess I need to get busy and design another one for the quick quilters sewing my designs. This mystery quilt is called Desert Pinwheels. Spoiler alert: we will be making the pinwheels first, but that's the only given. It is a beautiful pattern as well. I'll show you in about six or seven weeks when the reveal is public. I have everything ready to sandwich and quilt it. I will be quilting it this next week. Thankful for another quilt for our bed.

Next week, I also hope to design another mystery, finish a teddy bear I am working on, and quilt this mystery. I also want to get the last border on the medallion. I'll show you the medallion when it is finished, hopefully Monday or Tuesday. Shopping tomorrow, church Sunday, and hoping to walk and workout on Monday...all morning things (except church!), so I get my afternoons to play. Looking forward to a great and productive week.

Thanks for listening!

Debi 

Seems Forever!

 

Seems I have been under the weather for ages. I finally did have to get antibiotics, but I have been down for a month. This crazy cough just won't go away. It has been nice slowing down though, I have had more time to pray, read, and relax. One doesn't realize just how much we let slide when we feel we are "too busy". I have gotten back into the habit of that daily quiet time. I am truly thankful I am on the mend now and for the time out God gave me to refocus.

 

While down, I didn't sew much. I am still working hard on the next mystery, I am almost there. Taking pics and finishing the blocks today will just about get me there. I will be busy this afternoon while Shane is gone doing kids club at church. I have part of the instructions written, just need to get these pics put in and I'll be about ready to go. I made a huge one for myself, I had to reduce it for the quilters as most don't want a king size quilt!

I did finish a teddy bear and designed another one. I can't wait to finish this one, he has a different kind of muzzle. Even accomplishing a few things, I still feel it has been forever since I actually completed a project. I guess I should get busy about the completion process now that I am finally up again.

Time to get busy! Have a great day!

Debi

Done and Dusted

Well, it seems a long time since I posted, but for the past two and a half weeks I have been pretty sick with sinuses and lung junk! I am on antibiotics now, so all should be right and I should have this sickness done and dusted!

Mystery quilt 14 is finished on the Quilters Club of America site, it was a huge success. We enjoyed sewing together and made beautiful quilts in the process. I love helping others learn new things. Now that this one is done and dusted, I am excited to start something new! I will be posting a mystery quilt on my blog for you to enjoy. I love designing and this gives me the opportunity to design and help others.

This weekend we have our annual Bible Revival at our church. The churches around the country come together at our church for good preaching, lunch, fellowship, and encouragement. It is a big day for us. We tend to work for a few months beforehand to get the building into shape and prepare all avenues of the day, praying to be a blessing to all in attendance. What a great day we will have! Please make plans (if you are in New Zealand) to come see us this Saturday at 10:00am....we have a great day planned!

Better scoot for now, have a great day. Time for me to rest!

Debi

Exceeding Abundantly...

 

Now that we are finished with Mystery Quilt 14 on the Quilter's Club of America site, I can share the finished product. Butterfly Kisses, was a difficult pattern I tore apart and made easy to accomplish. I so love doing these. I love watching the quilters get excited and sewing on their quilts. I love helping them learn new things and enjoying it. We have been working on this since the 9th of May. I have been sewing frantically on the next one, which I called "Desert Pinwheels" for quite some time, but mine is the king sized version as I love the design so much! I have been dog-earring for a couple hours! I love love love what I do!

I have also been working on trying to get this teddy bear finished. I am way closer today than I was yesterday. I need to decide if the test eyes are too big, ears are level and even, and finish with the nose and face plucking, shaving, or trimming....

Also, to decide if I do a black or a maroon nose...

So much fun...

Hope you have an amazing day. We have had a week full of blessings from God. We had a gift of money that was very unexpected, but God knew we needed it and how much we needed, He is amazing like that! I love this not worrying and trusting God thing, the stress is gone and I even think the lines in this old face aren't etched in stone anymore! Shane had his birthday this week and we had an amazing day at church that day..... surprise lunch and everything! I am so thankful God provides our needs. He even cares about the desires of our hearts and blesses exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. 

Praising Him daily,

Debi

SUCCESS!

Friday's card class was a huge success. I had two ladies here for tons of fun and new ideas. I taught them how to make a wee gift box and we have direction on where to head from here. Then, we looked after a friend's children. I got one busy trying some things, knowing if a young one (10) could make them, so could an adult. We had a nice afternoon playing with paper and ribbon, she loved her final products, storing her sweets in the little one making plans for the four hidden boxes in the tall one.

You should join us every second Friday, 10:00 at my home for paper fun. We have mini scrapbook albums, more gift boxes, folded paper cards, sewing on cards, rubber stamping, embossing, and fibre fun on the agenda! 

The B&B has slowed down for the winter, the rain and stream are up. Shane has still been catching fish which we have been smoking and putting in the freezer for the off season. I am looking forward to smoked trout during the winter...YUM!

While things are slower with that, I plan to double down and get some quilts on beds and keep up with the website to keep those mysteries coming. I have one on the sewing table now and just played with another pattern in my head yesterday. I really need a design wall, but haven't gotten around to the leg work of researching for the best option. I have a large wall I can use, looking forward to filling it. Along with that, my own website needs a lot of ground work laid. Soooo much winter fun! 

My tulips are in the ground and pots around the house. I can see little sprouts coming up already. They have only been down 6-8 weeks. I thought they would be dormant through the winter and do their growing in the spring....I was wrong. Can't wait to see the color in the spring. I love how God even gives me color for my garden. The bulbs were given to me by a gardening friend. The veggie garden belongs to the chickens now, they are clearing it very nicely for me. I will be putting winter things in soon and planning for the spring and summer. I love pulling veggies and fruit from my own property out of the freezer to use. That is even compost from our heap....we even made the dirt!!!!!!

Well, I will stop boring you for now. Have an amazing weekend. I hope you get some "me" time and have some fun!

Happy Crafting!

Debi