She Shall Rise Again!!

 In the early morning hours of December 24, 2011, our church burned to the ground. We were on vacation in Nashville, but we received some early phone messages that it was burning. 
 I got on my computer to see pictures and videos of the devastation.  It was horrible! It was sad! It upset the whole town! This was the old church.

 After the fire. So sad!

The Fire.

The Groundbreaking for the new church last spring. It was pouring rain!

 God has a plan for everyone and everything. This is the new church in which we are hoping to move into by Easter.

 We are all excited to move into the new building. I can't wait to see it all!  Sunday School classes have been being held all over town. At least we had the old gym that was refurbished to use for a sanctuary in the mean time. 
 Thanks for looking!

Doll Quilts

 My granddaughter will have her 7th birthday in April, and I've started on some things to put in her birthday box for her American Girl dolls. 

 I love quilts, and I love piecing them, but I'm certainly not a quilter. However, I do like to play around a little with free motion quilting. I'm glad you can't see the details on these quilts, because they are not up to par. They were still fun to make.

 The embroidered blocks came out of the stash of a sewing friend. She had made 7 so I made one more in order to have 4 for each quilt. 

 The sashing came from Hancock's clearance bin for $2.00 a package. I didn't use them all plus there were some aqua fabrics in it also. The best thing is they were already cut! :)

 I had the pink backing in my stash, and I didn't even use any batting because I didn't have any. I just put a piece of muslin in between the layers. After all, they are for "dolls"! 

 Please come back to visit!

A Little Snow in the South!

  It doesn't happen too often, but when it does, we all get excited!
 We were only in the edge of the cold front that went through, but we got about a half an inch! Some places further south got nearly 2 inches. That is really unusual!
 The kids here in my parish got a snow day off from school so everyone is happy!

 Poor Maggie didn't know what to do. It covered up all of her favorite places to sniff!

 I know most people are sick of snow, and I don't blame them. I wouldn't know what to do if it was much more than this! 
Thanks for stopping by!
 

Trying To Decide.....

 I am not a person that can walk into my sewing room and think, "Today I will start on _______." It's just not going to happen!

 Even if I know I'm making an outfit, it takes me forever to decide on the pattern and/or machine applique if I'm going that direction. 

 I have so much on my mind that I want to do, and that just makes me more confused. I guess that's the word. LOL
  I did buy some new fabric on Saturday. My husband took me to a new fabric store I've been wanting to visit. He knew I was so tired of being inside for over 2 weeks. They had some of Micheal Miller coordinates that I have always loved.

 I had used the Plain Jane when Shelby was 4 to make her a Solar Sun Dress. 

I can't believe how much she has grown! This was when I could make something with only a yard of fabric. :( I will be making her some kind of outfit for her birthday. As I said before, the planning will take forever! So I am already looking for ideas.
 The other piece I bought was just a yard of MM TaDot - pink and lime green! This is what I plan on using to applique Shelby's name on her I Spy quilt. I'm determined to get started on that this week because I also have to make one for the boys.

So this Ole' Girl needs to get busy! I will update in a few days to let you know if life went according to plan!

Under the Weather...

 My year did not start off as I had planned, but sometimes we have no control over those things. Right after Christmas, I started coughing every breath. I thought it was some sort of sinus stuff so I put off going to the doctor because I didn't run any fever. 
 I did take some strong cough medicine which did help for a couple of days. Then we took down the Christmas decorations, and I got worse. I probably just did too much stirring around and inhaling dust.
 So on Friday, I went to the quick care in our area, and they ran several tests. Nothing showed up in the bloodwork or EKG. The x-ray did show some cloudiness in the bottom lobe of my right lung. 
 They were baffled and said it could have been a touch of pneumonia, upper respiratory, or bronchitis so they decided to treat it like bronchitis.
  I'm some better. Breathing better, and still have a cough. I'm trying to stay in from the bitter cold for our area, and I'm hoping I will be back to normal soon. I hate being sick and confined to doing nothing!
 So I will leave you with some pictures of our Christmas cactus. They were beautiful this year again. 

  We leave all three of them in the flower bed in pots all summer. My husband brings them in when it starts to get really cold at the end of October or the first of November. We keep them in a dark place (utility room) so the buds can set. Then when we bring them into the sun room, they start blooming. 
 These were given to us by a friend that moved to MS, and they are pretty old. They really are the highlight to our Christmas decorating.

 I still have so many projects to post, and hopefully, I can get to that in a few days.

 I do pray all of you can stay warm in that bitter cold going across the nation. At least we don't have any snow or ice! 

Christmas Projects

  No matter when I begin Christmas sewing, it's never soon enough. Maybe next year will be better. I mostly sew for my little granddaughter, but I do try to do a few things for the boys every now and then. It's getting harder to find things to make for them since they are getting past the embroidered shirt phase. :(

 My main project is always a dress for Shelby. Her mom liked this style, and so did I. The problem was finding a pattern - which I didn't. I finally found a very old basic dress pattern for girls dated 1960. I used it, added some sleeves, and made the bib part myself. Fabric is green corduroy from Chez Ami.  I love how it fits her so I may make a summer dress out of the same pattern. 

 I also wanted Shelby to have one casual outfit to wear at Christmas. She has to wear uniforms to school so that cuts down on my Christmas sewing a whole lot. The design is from Planet Applique. Fabric is red polka dot corduroy from Chez Ami.

  Our youngest grandson loves anything I do for him. They are all Duck Dynasty fans so this was only appropriate even though it took me hours to do. There was lots of cutting on the applique, but it turned out so cute. Design is from Applique Junkie. We have quite a combination of characters here! LOL

 Almost forgot, I had one small order from Shelby to embroider her AG doll's kitten stocking. 

 I actually have some more projects, but I will save them for another post. Join me at the linky party over at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. It's a good way to get ideas and meet more blogging friends.
 I'm also joining the linky part at Sew Many Ways.  Lots of neat ideas there also!
 Thanks for looking, but comments are always welcome too!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas to anyone that reads this! I do plan to start posting more. I just have to get in the mindset to do it. I love reading blogs, and I hope a few people will enjoy reading mine.
  This picture is borrowed from the Branson Tourish Center. We went to see the play "The Miracle of Christmas" there in November. It was absolutely awesome! The scenes were just this beautiful!
 If you ever get the chance to see it, please go. We also saw "Joseph" in September. The next one coming to Branson, MO is "Jonah". 

 I pray blessing for all of my blogging friends!

My New Toy!!

  When I attended the Nancy Zieman For the Love of Sewing Event in January, we were able to go to a class using the Babylock Embellisher. I didn't buy one at the time, but I sure wanted one. If you read my post then, this is what I made in the class with Pam Mahshie. She is a fabulous teacher!

 We made the back on the Ellisimo Gold. The front is made with the Embellisher. It's like needle felting, except this machine has 12 needles. The best thing about it is that you can use all 12 or ever how many you want to use. You wouldn't believe what all is punched into this bag. It looks totally different after you punch it.
  You don't have to use any thread in the machine or any bobbins! Yippee!
  Lucky for me a lady at my Babylock Club decided to sell hers. So I got it last week, and I've only had a little time to play with it. Here are some pics of the machine and a little fun I had. When I finish this piece, I think I will make a vest for my granddaughter's AG doll.
 I used some of the tails that I'd saved from doing machine embroidery, and they do great!

 The added bonus is that it's signed by Nancy Zieman herself!  

Wordless Wednesday!

  Eek! I hate snakes and spiders, but I love my grandson and his beautiful smile. So I just had to post this picture!

 His class has been studying animals, and some lady brought this snake to visit. 

 Sorry if it freaks you out! It is evidently harmless!

Firemen in Idaho need Bandanas!

 I posted this on my FB page, and so I'm also posting here.
  I shared a post on FB a few days ago from Luana Rubin (eQuilter.com) asking for bandanas for the firemen in Idaho. I stopped what I was doing and made a few to send quickly off. After sharing that with a blogging friend, she also sent me some information that I wanted to share. Please read this message, and if you can send any kind of bandanas, please send them to the address below.
This is from a local radio station up there. If anyone can send Bandanas for these firemen, please do! They can be any kind!
The address is in the paragraph, but it's: Blane County Sheriff's Dept, 1650 Aviation Dr., Hailey, Idaho 83333.

“Just got off the phone with Holly Carter at the sheriff's office...you know those 7,000 bandanas that everybody donated for our fire fighters? They need more. Yep. They used all of them! Holly is asking us to donate more if we can...just bring them by the sheriff's office: 1650 Aviation Drive in Hailey...on the way out to the airport. If you're sending them, It's 'Hailey, Idaho 83333.' Holly said that the "Bandanas for our Buddies" campaign has definitely gone viral...coming in from Texas, Connecticut, and Louisiana. We have a new team coming in on Sunday night, too. You know they're going to want new bandanas. Holly said a message written right on the bandana with a Sharpie is a good way to go. Thanks so much, everybody.”

 I tried to make some of mine larger - 20-28", but you can buy these bandanas pretty cheap anywhere. I know they would appreciate any that you send. Those fires are terrible, and at least I felt like I was doing a "little" something to help.

Outfits From Fabrics I Won in February!

 Yikes! Has it been that long? How time flies the older you get. That I know for sure! 

 I was so lucky to win a big blog giveaway from Violette Field Threads Blog back in February. I posted about all of the stuff I won HERE.
 One place was an online knit fabric store called Girl Charlee. Go and visit her online and on Facebook to see all of the neat choices she has.

  I love making summer outfits for Shelby so these are a couple of the things I made using her fabric.

 The leopard print knit was so cute, and the colors will go with a lot of different shirts. The little shirt came from Chez Ami.com, and I chose a multi-colored embroidered flower that would also go with the colors in the shorts. 
 I lined the knit with swimsuit lining fabric, and I made the ruffles on my serger. I really think the ruffles made such a cute embellishment to the shorts. (I can't remember where I got the embroidery design. It's been in my files a long time.)

The next outfit was made with the ruffled knit fabric that is so popular right now. It was my first time to sew with it, and it took me a while to "tame" those ruffles with scotch tape, but it worked! I used McCalls 6547, which is very easy, and was a great pattern for this knit. 

 My daughter made some pictures of Shelby wearing it so I could post them here. She is such a mess! She is losing her teeth right now, and her smiles just make me laugh! 

 Shelby has two AG dolls so since I had a few scraps leftover, I decided to make the doll a dress like Shelby's. It was pretty easy. I just cut a rectangle, ran some elastic in the top, and stitched a strap around the neck to tie. This is my model, Delilah, who agreed to stand on the stool for pictures. The doll and Shelby also got a ponytail wrap from the scraps. It works great because the fabric doesn't ravel and it stretches!

 

This one is for Mimi to let me know what she thought about having to pose for pictures on this hot summer day!

 Thanks again to Girl Charlee and to Violette Field's Blog.

Five Years - 5 YEARS - FiVe YeArS

 YES, you read that right! I'm a little excited and feeling very blessed. I've been CANCER FREE for FIVE YEARS!!

 I had my checkup last Wednesday, and everything looks fine. I got to visit with both of my surgeons and we all had a hugging session. I also got to see one of my favorite nurses. Their office has grown a lot, but the ones that were there when I first had surgery still remember me as I was in there a whole lot! 
 I am so blessed to have had such a wonderful surgical team and just down right wonderful people! 

 So our family recently took a trip to the beach - to Ft. Walton Beach, FL. The weather was beautiful then, and we had a great time.

 The little grands love the pool more than the beach, but everyone had a great time. 
 My favorite place to eat is The Back Porch. It's expensive, but it's sooooo good! 

 Today was my birthday so I feel doubly blessed to be here to celebrate it with my family. My hubby bought me a pretty cake, and the little grands came to enjoy that with me. 
 I will leave you with a few beach pictures. This is what two old people look like on the beach!

This is us with the grands: Clayton is 18, Cayden is 8, and Shelby is 6. We were missing Bubba this year because he is in Busan, S. Korea working.

This next picture is us with our two children - Emily and Cody! Without them, we wouldn't have our wonderful grandchildren! I wish we could show pictures of our foster grandchild - but hopefully soon - because they are in the process of adopting him! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope everyone is having a good summer. It finally got hot here!