My Happy Place

I am pretty excited and happy with myself as I got the next mystery quilt fabric chosen and cut so all I have to do is sew now. I like to stay a few ahead of everyone, just in case something happens and I don't have time to prepare one. I still have one finished and this one, making me two ahead. Pictured here are all the bits and bobs for the quilt....we have hst units, flying geese units, squares, hourglasses, and only three fabrics! I am quite excited to start sewing. I need to finish this bear though as it is all sewn, just need to fill it and give it character. I love the fur, it is so soft, I just want to pet the teddy bear all day! I don't think I will dress this one, as the fur is so lovely to play with...maybe just a bow tie or scarf for the neck.

This weekend is our annual missions conference at the church. We have visitors from Australia staying with us, he is preaching our conference. She is a beginning quilter, so we have a lot to talk about. It has been very nice so far! We will be at church Friday evening, Saturday is an international dinner with a service to follow, and all day Sunday. Praying God restores our burden to see the world as He does, and to follow through and support missions with our time, talents, and money. Plus, Sunday is Youth Day at our home...the youth come out and play in the woods, tube down the stream, and have sing songs...such a fun day!

Well, time to get busy and fill this bear. I will try to sew tomorrow afternoon. If I don't have time, it will probably be Monday before I can get to it. I love being busy, but I love to sew as well! Until next time, thanks for reading. Have an awesome weekend!

In the words of Winnie the Pooh, 

Ta Ta for Now,

Debi

 

Mysteries...

I have quite a bit of free time on a Tuesday, so I designed another quilt for the Quilter's Club of America. I now have two more ready to go. I have one completely finished and another one is in the testing stage. I made the blocks yesterday and they are beautiful. My original design had crazy shapes in it so I decided to make it simple and make it a modified 9-patch. It's gonna be amazing (I hope)!! Tuesday is also the day I put the next clue up for the current mystery. I put clue two on the site. The quilters are doing an amazing job with their versions of the quilt.

If you would like to join in, it's not too late. You can still see the clues on the quiltersclubofamerica.com site. We have only completed clue one. It is a manageable size and would make a great gift or bed quilt for you. 

I will get busy tomorrow on cutting in earnest for the new one, which I have named "Butterfly Kisses". We have to be out and about today for quite a while, then church tonight. Truly never a dull moment around here. I love being busy. I am also nearly finished with the dense fur teddy bear. I love how soft it is and the shape it is taking. I will have it with me in the car so I can finish it up. 

Well, time to sign off and get busy. Have an amazing day. 

Debi

 

Time Flies

Well, that's another weekend done and gone forever. It was quite a busy one with our homestay visitors, cleaning up after last week's flood, moving a bit of furniture, and church. The weekend was just a blur. I did get a few minutes here and there to work on the dense fur teddy bear. I also fielded questions about the mystery I have on Quilter's Club of America's website. Clue two goes live tomorrow. The quilters are doing an amazing job and enjoying the mystery. I love doing this, it is the third one I have done. I have another one in the wings. I like to make them first so I can take pics along the way to better help with the directions. 

 

This coming weekend will prove just as busy as it is our annual missions conference at church. We will have house guests all weekend, along with church Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I love missions conference time. I'll be preparing and decorating for the conference this week. Love that part too!!!!! Can't wait!

We had overnight visitors last night, seems our door has an always open sign on it. I love the busy-ness and joy I receive in ministering to others. I'd like to spend some time today on the new quilt. In order to sew, I have to sign off and say "see ya later". Thank you for reading and have an amazing day!

From my busy home to yours,

Debi

Bad Hair Day

No matter how hard I tried, this poor bear is having a bad hair day. At least I found the bear under all the fur. It was a challenge finding her face and then how much to pluck. Should I pluck, should I shave... so many questions. I really did just sit at stare at her for a while. Now she is sitting on my antique set of drawers showing off her character. I had originally thought it might be a boy and I would leave the beard, old man glasses, and dress in a bow tie, but the more I looked at her and began stitching her face, I knew she had to be a girl bear. I designed a pair of wings, I may add those to this bear, all that fur will hide the elastic arm bands. I will have to make them dark though, not the tea stained piece I thought I would use...her fur is the same color!!!

I have another bear cut out that I am working on now. The fur isn't nearly as long as this one. It is very dense though, so it takes me a while to clear the seam allowance and stitch together. I'll get there! I am also still working on the cloth bear, painting the boots on and filling everything tightly. I have way too much fun!

Our first homestay guests are very nice young people from the USA, here on a working holiday. I did get to finish the cleaning and everything was ready when I needed it to be. I baked an angel food cake, zucchini loaf, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We also smoked a trout, YUM! Not a bad start to a weekend, I'd say.

Have a great weekend. Thanks for reading. 

Debi

Homestay Adventures...

 We decided a couple months ago to open our home as a homestay for tourists. It is sort of like a bed and breakfast, but not really. We provide the evening meal, a bed, bathroom, breakfast, and fishing/guiding instruction. We were looking forward to our first clients coming in April. Then we heard from one of the websites we advertise on that we had a booking for TONIGHT!!! I have been cleaning said bathrooms, making beds, and planning meals today, while Shane cleared the stream from the flood this past Sunday. He also mowed, but couldn't complete that job as the ground was still to soft and gooey to mow. 

Today, we will finish making ready and hopefully, I will be able to play a bit before our guests arrive. I didn't get anything done on the bear yesterday as I have had a sore throat for six days and I really don't feel all that well. I just keep taking vitamin C and drinking gallons of water, I am hoping it leaves soon, I am really tired of not feeling well! My doctor tweaked the medications she has me on for the arthritis, adding an anti-inflamatory in the mix.  It seems to be working well. YAY!

Hope you have an amazing day! Can't wait to see what you are working on! 

Bye for now,

Debi

I Know There is a Bear in There!

I did get most of yesterday afternoon to work on this furry thing. I believe this is the first one of this size that has this type of mohair. It was a bit hard to close the openings and put the joint in the neck as the fur is SOOOO long, I really couldn't see what I was doing!! I know that once I start shaving and plucking around the face and ears, it will look more like a bear and less like the pile of fur it currently looks like! That will be my job for today! I get to finally give this fur ball all the character he deserves.  I may leave some of the beard and make him look like an old man bear. I'm thinking a pair of old man glasses would do him justice as well! I am really looking forward to just playing with his face and fur to let his character show.

I have been freezing tons of fruit and veggies for the winter. It keeps me busy, but we will love it in the winter. I haven't had a lot of time in my sewing room lately because of the gardens. We are coming to the end though, so I will have more time to create and sew. I am also pretty busy with the Quilters Club of America mystery quilt. I posted the first clue yesterday. It's not too late if you want to join in:  http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/groups/mystery_quilt_13/default.aspx  We have picked our fabrics and started cutting and stitching. We have tons of fun, it's like having a quilters guild in your sewing room, that is if you have your computer in your sewing room like me!

Time to get busy! Thanks for reading. I would love to see what you're working on.

Sew long for now,

Debi

Islands...

Well this weekend has been a crazy one! Saturday it started to rain, this rain lasted until Sunday night. We got up and went to church. On our way home, we noticed A LOT of water in the culverts along side the road. We live on the Ngongataha Stream, which we promptly checked. It wasn't too bad, but it was up and muddy. I fixed lunch and we ate, after which we checked the stream again. This time is was at it's limit and our bridge was underwater. By the time it was all said and done, the stream had risen so much, we couldn't calculate. Our house became an island in this "lake" which was flowing enough to have a current! This pic is of our front yard which usually looks like a golf course. The water made it dangerously close to my floor boards. It was flowing under my house. Today (Wednesday), we still have a few lakes under our house. We are very thankful to an amazing God that took the weather into HIS capable hands and stopped the rain. It took several hours to be back to the stream, which is still up and muddy. My brave husband even saved a poor trout's life, catching it with his bare hands and throwing it back into the stream after he got it out of the fence. What an adventure it was deciding what to put on higher ground around the house....quilts, dolls, and teddy bears were first on my agenda, while more practical things Shane tended to. Our road is still closed from mudslides and downed trees. Fortunately we can get out another way, but they are only letting those who live down in our valley past the blockades. Our golf course lawn is caked with mucky sticky mud....I lost a shoe to it!!!

I am hoping to take today as a crafty island day. Last night I finished the main stitching on a very long pile ted. For a bit of prospective, this arm is six inches (15 cm) long, The mohair is nearly as long as the arm!! I would love to fill it today and get busy on another one. I have been battling a sore throat and cough for four days. I am going to rest as well, just hanging out in my sewing room "playing" with my quilts and bears. 

Hoping you are staying dry and that you can have an "island" day in your very near future. Keeps us all sane! Thanks for reading!

From my island to yours,

Debi

 

Of Ducks and Dogs

It has been a week full of doing things for the animals. We were given a duck this week and she seems to be getting along with our other two very well. She is solid white and was very skinny when we got her.  She is putting on weight, we were looking at her today and she is already looking so much better. We got her because a friend's neighbor found her in with her chickens, she asked us if we could look after another one because she was being tormented by the chickens, or maybe she was the tormentor, I don't remember! Anyway, we are loving her. She's gorgeous. She isn't laying eggs yet, but I am sure once they all settle in, they will start again. They are pretty faithful!! Our chickens are more faithful at this point. We get six eggs from six chickens...half a dozen a day!

 And Zoey got a hair cut today and feels like her usual princess self again. She loves being pampered and then for mum and dad to pick her up. She loves her bows, but only for a little while, then she starts tries scratching it off.  I keep the wee bows and use them on my teddy bears....so adorable.

Hope your day is fantastic. I am going to take the afternoon to sew. I haven't sewn for myself in a couple weeks. I am looking forward to some quiet time. It has been a crazy busy summer...believe it or not, looking forward to winter when we are inside more and have more spare time to enjoy my crafts and his fishing.

Thanks for reading!
Debi

Duties...

I got to spend some time in my craft room Monday. Shane was right there with me, helping me make Sparks vests for AWANA. We got four done, start to finish. This will hold him for this week. I ran out of bias binding to go any farther. It was nice to be on the overlocker and sewing machine for a couple of hours anyway! I was also nice to work elbow to elbow with the love of my life!

Well another weekend behind us and it was a busy one! I do love our church and the busy-ness it involves, but Monday's are a recuperation day of sorts. Although, I made a blackberry cobbler, a blackberry crisp, a zucchini loaf, and a quiche and salad for lunch. I also spent sometime on the internet answering questions about the mystery quilt. One more week and we post the first clue, the fabric requirements came out last week.

Sometimes, I get upset when I HAVE to do something and most often put it off till the eleventh hour. I need to learn (kinda old dog, new trick thing....) to do things when I know they need doing instead of waiting until it's urgent. Thread breaks, bobbin runs out, and you work too quickly to do your usual awesome work. I am going to put that at the top of my organization list....do it NOW, not in the eleventh hour!

Hope you are more organized than me and have a bit more time to play than I did this past weekend and Monday! Enjoy your week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Debi

Homework

As I sit here and type Katelyn is in the corner of my computer screen on facetime reading to me and I am enjoying the time together. We do homework each school day. This time is precious for me. We are creating memories that will last a lifetime and I am able, to help them learn. What a rewarding time for me. We are reading Dr. Seuss right now! I love his stories! 

When we are together, I have a smaller sewing machine that I set up beside mine and we sew together. She has made a table topper and she loves to sew. Gage, her brother, has made a lap quilt for his momma. I enjoy that time as well. I miss my grandbabies.

As I miss them, I just sew for them and it makes me feel better. I have a quilt to sandwich and quilt here for their baby brother (who's 3 now). I need to make a new one for the other grandchildren as well. As their interests change, I make new ones for them. I need to make a new one for my own bed as well. Seems there is always something to do. I am uploading clues to the Quilters Club of America site for the 13th Mystery Quilt. The fabric requirements are up, nothing more to post until the 14th of March. I gave them two weeks to acquire their fabric. I need to update them to include a larger size quilt.

I am working on two fur teddy bears and a cloth bear. I am loving the bit of free time I have today. Tomorrow starts another week where we don't have a lot on the calendar, so I will have a bit of free time this week as well. I do need to get some vests done for the kids club at church. But, that requires sewing, so it will be "fun" to complete.

Gonna sign off and get busy on the vests. Hope your day and weekend are fantastic. Thanks for reading along.

Happily stitching along,

Debi

No Time!

Wow! This past week was VERY busy. We had our church's family camp and I did the cooking. This means I had to make a menu watching for dietary needs, buy the groceries, and cook all the food. I had tons of help at the store, we pushed six trolleys through the aisles! We had a wonderful Friday to Monday. There was good preaching, good food, and good fellowship. There were so many things to do, the crowd was busy and hungry!

I have also been very busy with the mystery quilt. I put the first clue (fabric requirements) on the site today. I love it when other people make quilts I have had so much fun designing, and when they love them as much as I do! If you wanna join in check out the link below click on the link or copy and paste. This will lead you to the general page where you will find the instructions. This is the third one I have done for the Quilters Club of America. I have two more in the wings ready to go, we do one about every six months or so. Such fun!

I did take two teddy bears to work on, but didn't have the time to sew a stitch. I am happy to be home with nothing to do for a couple of days! Maybe I can finish one of these. I had an eye doctor appointment yesterday and my eyes got dilated. I couldn't focus pretty much the rest of the day! Hoping to focus better today and get some sewing done!

Here's that link: http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/groups/mystery_quilt_13/pages/fabric-requirements.aspx 

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for reading!

Debi