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

 

Blessings in Disguise

It seems like forever since I wrote in my blog. Times are busy and tiring and the last thing on the list is to blog! I need to blog while it's dark and play while it's light! The days pass so quickly any more! I have been super busy with the Mystery Quilt on the Quilter's Club of America site. We are on clue three now. I am in the process of writing the rest of the clues. We are having fun. It's not too late to join us. I already have the next mystery designed and cut, I am in the process of piecing it and taking pics along the way.

 

I am also starting a fortnightly card class. I have some pretty good ideas in this wee brain of mine and have been working this week to bring them to paper. I am having tons of fun with it.

 

I am gearing up my own website (The Crafters' Thread) to share all the patterns for teddy bears and quilts that I have. I am nothing special, but if these patterns, pics, and tutorials can help someone, then I have accomplished my goal. I am really excited about it. WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!! 

All this, plus our ministry at church, my ministry at home, our bed and breakfast, planning our camps and retreats, and praying for others takes about 40 hours a day! But, I love being busy.  We are so blessed to be here serving the LORD with an amazing group of people.

This is a catch-up in a nutshell for me for this week. Hope you have a fantastic week and enjoy some "me" time to do something you love. Share your progress, frustrations, and conquests with us, we love to share!

Blessings are abundant, just be watching!

Debi

Back Online

Quilt friends: 
QCA is back online, clue two goes live in less than six hours! 

And my blog back to normal, hehe! 

Thanks for your patience,
Debi

Quilting Site Issues

For my quilty friends, this is where I will be posting the clues for the mystery until the QCA site is back online. Come back Tuesday for the next clue!

Clue TWO will be out in just TWO days! Wind those bobbins, new blade in the rotary cutter, coffee, and your favorite chick flick on the tv! That is if you drink coffee (I drink tea!) and I only watch tv while hand sewing.

Can't wait till Tuesday!

Debi

Unexpected Blessings...

Seems my Tuesday plans flew right out the window. We got a last minute booking for Monday night and my day did not work out the way I planned. The group was large (ten people from India, Australia, and Auckland) and I really wasn't in the best of moods to have visitors. I admit, when we got the email I was like, "please not tonight, Lord" but He had different plans. We scurried about cleaning the house and making beds for this large group. They arrived very late in the evening (about 9:30pm) and dinner was served. We left the mess for morning and a better frame of mind! Tuesday we got to chat a bit more and found out the are Christians. We began to "talk shop" and even sang some hymns. It was just the thing I needed to re-focus my vision.

I didn't get time to sew, but I did get to iron some previously sewn units. I also had a few minutes to stitch on a teddy bear. I hope to get more time today to work on a beautiful quilt I designed, tweaking it yesterday for the final product. I can't wait to start! I love designing, whether it is a teddy bear or a quilt, I love every aspect...even the failures, of which I had an epic failure over the weekend. I was trying to sort out the math for this new quilt and decided to cut fabric on my (wrong) dimensions...WOW! the result was miserable. Guess it is true that Rome wasn't built in a day! And, if at first you don't succeed...... I ended up actually drawing the unit on a grid and coloring it in with colored pencils and then I had that light bulb moment All I needed to see was a picture on a grid! Phew! AND, the mystery quilt on QCA had a clue go out Monday (because I wanted my Tuesday....), never a dull moment! I love being busy!

Gotta scoot for now and get busy! I have tons of washing to do, bedrooms to tidy, yesterday's washing to fold and put away (just towels), and tonight is church. AND, I want some time to cut and sew from my new grid attempt. Hope you have an amazing day and you have more spare time that I do! Enjoy and take time to do something you love.

Happy Crafting,

Debi

Butterfly Kisses

For those of you who don't know, I design quilts for the Quilters Club of America. The quilts are "mystery quilts" on their site. Butterfly Kisses is the fourth one I have done for them. Here are some pics of the first three.

Hot Air Balloons

StarStruck

(unfinished)

Beacons in the Night

I truly love designing these and watching others enjoy making them. It is a very cool way to get to know other quilters along the way, usually from other countries. We are currently working on Mystery Quilt 14 (for the site), it is my fourth. I have designed number 15 ("Celestial Brilliance") and am currently working on the math and making it for myself. It is a bit challenging, so tons of fun for me!

We have been so busy lately with church and the bed and breakfast, I haven't had much time to sew and that makes me sad. I posted the first clue for Butterfly Kisses Monday (a day early) so my Tuesday would be free to sew. I am really looking forward to that. I think it is about time to have a quilt retreat, where I can get away and just sew until my heart's content! Who's in?? I still haven't gotten to sew the teddy bear I designed a couple weeks ago, sadly.

Have an amazing week and I am truly hoping you have more time that I do this week to do your thing!

Happy Crafting!

Debi

Freakishly Busy

As I sit here a rest for a minute, I think back on my week (and it's only Wednesday!). It has been crazy busy with all the preparations for the mother and daughter lunch at our church on Saturday. I have also been testing for Jess again. I am starting another mystery quilt on the Quilters Club of America site...yesterday the fabric requirements went live. I have also had a kidney infection for over two weeks and it has landed me on my backside. Fortunately, I started feeling better yesterday and hope to be back to normal very soon. It has taken two different antibiotics to get here, but God is healing and I'm doing much better.

Our theme for the lunch is Mother's Apron. These are the place cards, I will be writing names on the little tags hanging around the "neck" of these aprons. I think I may put something nice in the little pocket as well. We are going to have a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to it. I will be decorating with things my grandma may have had in her kitchen.

Here is the fabric I chose to do my mystery with. It only takes three fabrics. I called it Butterfly Kisses. It is a nice quilt, intricate blocks that I made easy even though they look difficult. I love doing this for the quilters in web land. It is a lot of fun! The one we finished a month ago was a huge success. Everyone loved the pattern and their finished quilts are just beautiful. This one is a bit harder than those before, but I know they can do it. I have separated it into small achievable bits. We will be finished the last week of June. Mysteries are a good way to make quilts in a timely manner. I love them.

Well, rest time is over and I need to get back to work. Still so much to do!

Have an amazing week.

Debi