Catching up...again!

So it's been a little while since I last wrote about what I'm up to. I finished working last week. Whew! After a busy summer it's nice to get a little break. Though to be honest I haven't exactly been spending my "break" resting a lot. I've been up early a lot and going to bed late and staying busy during the day. It's good though.

Today I finally got a chance to visit with Elizabeth before we go back to school. She and I got breakfast and then went bowling. It was a lot of fun. I've decided that I really like bowling! I bowled a 63 and she bowled a 64. Sweet! What's even sweeter is spending time with a christian friend. She's a special girl.

Ick...bowling shoes! We brought socks so we wouldn't have to put our bare feet in those. lol.

I used the pink bowling ball!

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done by next Thursday afternoon. Mom suggested that I write up a To-Do list. I'm not sure if it will help very much but here it is.
Here is the "finish packing" part. I've thrown out a bunch of stuff, given away quite a bit of stuff and still I have all kinds of junk floating around my room. Why? I realize that I'm a bit of a bargain shopping addict and I seem to think that if it's a really good sale I shouldn't pass it up. I plan to break myself of that addiction. All the money I could have saved if I hadn't bought this thing or that thing...even if it was 75% off or whatever. Oh well. What's done is done. No use worrying about it now.

Here's the quilt I've been working on. I had to rip out a bunch of the stitches I did when I was machine quilting it because I messed up the back. I've learned my lesson: Pin, pin, pin, pin, pin. And then pin some more! I'm pleased with the way it's turning out though. It's lined with a really big piece of fleece so it's heavy. It should be nice during the winter.

A little something I put together on Sunday. A fun, quick, easy project. All I'm going to say is I love Michael's craft store! They have the most awesome pendants there.

Various "thank-you" cards for my co-workers. They threw a goodbye party for me and gave me some very sweet gifts.

Okay, so Dr. Hartman started taking pottery lessons awhile ago and I've been asking her about it a lot since then. I wanted to see her work and she said it wasn't very good. Well, last week as part of my going away gift she gave me these 2 pieces of pottery that she made. I love them! I think they're beautiful and I'm so glad that she decided to give me some of her work.

I mean isn't that color beautiful? I've been loving this color lately and now I have handmade pottery in that color! Awesome!

A week before I leave! I'm getting a bit nervous! So much to do, so little time. What if I hate it there? What if I love it there? What if I do badly in my classes? What if I miss all kinds of great things that are going on at home? What if Olive doesn't know who I am when I come home?

There are lots of little things that are stressing me out. At my mom's advice I'm trying not to focus on them. I'm trying to give those worries to God and trust that He will provide for me. I must admit that I am going through a bit of a tough time with trusting God. Just because He loves me doesn't mean that things will be smooth. In fact, it could mean that I'll face lots of obstacles. We've been talking about rejoicing while suffering at Bible study and it makes me realize that I don't want to suffer. That sounds so obvious, but part of being a Christian entails some suffering. Being lonely, being looked down upon. Well, those aren't the most severe forms of suffering. Not like the people in the New Testament and today in other countries who were/are dying for their faith. Sometimes I wonder if I could do that. I want to trust God completely and live my life ready to give it up for Christ because he gave up his life for me. It's interesting though because everything in me balks at the idea of rejoicing through suffering. Everything our society teaches goes against the idea, yet I know that I need to not be afraid to face difficult things for Jesus' sake.

I guess it's something I'm working through.

I'll write again sometime later. It may be after I've settled into school. Oh my gosh, next week at this time will be my last night at home!

Happy Birthday~

Last Thurday Becca turned 24! We celebrated by having a little party at Jacqueline's house. We had ham and pineapple pizza and these yummy cupcakes. It was nice to have a little celebration. For me there was even more reason to celebrate. I am officially finished with Blue Ridge CTC! I graduate in a couple of days and while I'm not walking in the graduation ceremony (much to my advisors irritation) I will have a diploma shortly and that makes me very happy. :)


We made sure there were 24 candles. Becca blew them out as quickly as she could since we didn't have them on a plate and Jacqueline wasn't cool with us potentially setting her tablecloth on fire. I wouldn't have enjoyed that much either. I have a fear of fire.

I made this little tea wallet for as a gift for Becca. It holds up to 6 teabags and it fits into a purse easily. It is made of linen and a fabric I have had for awhile that I really like, but don't know what to use for. I only have about 1/2 a yard of it so I can't make anything very big out of it.
After our little pizza party I went grocery shopping with Becca. She hosted a game night on Saturday and was shopping for party food and I got to go along and help. We went back to her house and hung out for awhile. Very relaxing.

The day ended with me trying out the rife machine for 30 seconds (more on that to come) and going back to Jacqueline's house where Holly and I said hi to the guys who came for Bible study and then chose to head home early. We got home around 7:30 and ended up watching The Office finale. Are Pam and Jim going to have a baby? Plus, who else thought Dwight was funnier than he has been in a loooong time? It was a good episode.

That was Thursday. I love having days off. :)

If I had only consulted the calendar

I would have found that Mother's day isn't until next week! But 2 people told me that Mother's day was today so last night I stayed up and made a card for my mom. The only thing about this card I don't like is that I wrote Happy Mother's Day on the front. I don't like my handwriting, but I was having an awful time with my stamps last night and besides, I don't have one that says Happy Mother's Day. I would have had to use multiple stamps to print it and there wouldn't have been enough room.The most important thing is appreciating my wonderful mother, even if we are a week early! That means we can do it all again next week. :)

I love you, Mom!

My new apron!

I used a Simplicity pattern to make it (I'd tell you the pattern number and everything only I'm too lazy to run downstairs and look it up). It was not all that easy to make. I had some trouble putting the waistband in. It is crooked, but because it's an all over print I don't think it is too noticeable. At least that is what I am telling myself!

It fits much better than the other aprons I have made for myself do and I made it with extra long ties only because on all my other aprons the ties are always too short. I wanted at least one apron that I could thrown on and tie into a big bow in the back and now I have one.

It is funny how much fun aprons can be. You really do have more fun cooking and even cleaning while wearing an apron. Not that I have been doing much of either lately because I am still not feeling very well, but it is there if I, or anyone else who wants to cook or clean, need it.

New on my knitting needles

'Nuff said. :)

Completed project, WIPs, and a self-portrait. In other words, its time for some photos on this blog!

Here is a picture of the bag I made on Christmas Eve. I stayed up late and finished it in the wee hours of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas to me. :)

The bag itself started out as a sweater a friend gave me. I loved the color of it, but it looked pretty bad on me. So I cut the bottom off and sewed it up and turned it into a bag.

The inside is lined with some fat quarters I got on sale from Joann's. The inside can also be used as the outside. It's reversible. I just love reversible things. I don't love that the handles aren't centered very well. Such is life.
Here is my current work-in-progress. A scarf in Mountaineer colors. It will be for a WVU student most likely!

Here is my other work in progress: Help please!
Chemistry is kicking my butt right now...and it's only week 2.

And here is a self portrait of me. This is to show how much healthier my skin looks. I didn't even edit out any acne on this picture, which is what I normally do. Just let me get good and stressed though and it will become very splotchy!

Happy Labor Day~

I had a perfectly LOVERLY day. Truly. I can't remember the last time I had a day so lovely. It started out with breakfast at Becca's with friends and my sister. I brought fruit, Jacqueline brought the bacon and Becca made the waffles (and chocolate cake...). Becca and her roommate Denise set the table outside on the screened porch and it was very beautiful. And the weather...was absolutely gorgeous. All in all, I enjoyed every minute of my visit there. Thanks girls for sharing in such a beautiful morning. I wish I could capture the weather and company and the friendship on camera, but some things can't be frozen in time like that. I wish I could bottle it up and share it out...but that's not possible either. I wish I could describe exactly what the day meant to me...but honestly, that's not possible either. I am not good with words like that.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we didn't just eat. We worked too. Kind of. Becca helped me make the body for a dress form! We have been meaning to do that for awhile and I am so happy that mine is finished. I have so many ideas for things to put on it and now I can use it to help with my projects.I am giving you all a rare glimpse of my true self: the frumpy and silly side of me. Actually, it's probably the side you always see. Oh well.It was a very awkward experience. A word of advice to anyone who may be considering making their own dress form, do not suck in your stomach just to make yourself feel better about your figure. You may feel better about it for awhile, but when you can't breathe anymore because there is no more room to inhale, you won't feel so good. Not that I did this of course...sort of. You can always say that it is the several layers of tape that makes your dress form look bigger. Really.This is the finished...well almost finished (it still needs to be stuffed and mounted...I think I may cover it with fabric too.)...product! Now I need to figure out a name for it. Some of the names I have seen people come up with on their blogs are Maude and Myrtle. I don't want to copy their names, but I think the name should have that same ugly feel to it. I don't mean ugly in a bad way. Just in a dress form way. So what do you guys think? Any suggestions for names would be welcome. I was thinking Hazel or Midge, but I need some ideas.

The rest of my day was great too. I didn't take any pictures though. I had my camera with me, but I just didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of everything/everyone. We (my family) went to a potluck cookout at some friends' house. We were part of a homeschool coop with this family and some of the other families that were there before we moved and fell off the face of the earth. I always enjoy visiting with these folks. They are just sweet people who love the Lord. I wish we saw them more often. The last time I was there was before Christmas. Every year before Christmas they hold another potluck get together where several families gather and fellowship and afterwards go out and sit around the (huge) campfire that the Dads build. Last year they went all pyromaniac on us, which was a little nerve wracking, but fun all the same. Then they make smores and sing Christmas carols. It's pretty much my favorite Christmas party ever. And the funny thing is, there is no one there that is my age. It's all adults, a bunch of teenage boys (and a couple of teenage girls, they are outnumbered), and little kids. I just love getting to see everyone. We usually meet a new family or two every time we go there. The Browns are very hospitable people. I want to be hospitable like them someday when I 'grow up.'

Anyway, tonight was a great time like it always is. The kids have grown so much. They make me feel really short. I can't say enough about how great the weather has been. I think it's part of the reason today was so great. Another highlight was stopping in to see my first bosses while we were on our way to the Brown's house. We stopped there to look at some stones they were trying to get rid of. Dad was thinking about using them in his landscaping, but they weren't what he needed. Again, they looked great. The kids have grown like crazy. Remind me to never move away and fall of the face of the earth again. You miss out on a lot. Anyway, the only not-so-great thing about today has been my neck. It is SO achy it actually hurts to swallow. We got home and mom felt it and it is very knotted up. I thought the chiropractor messed me up. Maybe he has. But I am pretty sure this has more to do with muscle than my spine. Having chronic neck pain is no fun. Avoid it if you can! Right now I stink like Biofreeze because I am covered in it and I am taking ibuprofen every 4 hours. I hate taking medicine like that, but I have some major inflammation in my neck and shoulders that I can't deal with. Hopefully this will fix the problem. If not I may have to go back to the chiropractor.

I hope everyone else had a great Labor Day too. I have the rest of the week off, but I have a lot of homework to do so I'll probably be doing that a lot this week. I'd like to stuff my dress form too and get that all set up. We will see what I can get accomplished.

More cards

I've really been enjoying card-making (or decorating I guess) lately.

And I've been loving rub-on transfers lately too...as you can see!

The whole process is somewhat addictive. :)

I had a fun afternoon~

Special thanks goes to cardstock, scrap-booking paper, vellum quote pages, and rub-on transfers. I couldn't have had as much fun without you! Probably.

Now I need to send out some cards.

New Martha Stewart stamps at Walmart.

That's right! Martha has a stamping line in the crafting section at Walmart. I really like the stuff she has there. I bought a kit and some ink and pulled out some cardstock at the house and made these little posters for my blog header.

I wrote the whole 'Life According to Me' bit on there myself because I thought it would be kind of cool to have my own handwriting on the blog. I think it makes it a bit more personal.
And this one was made because I really want fall to get here! Soon! It was nice and cool out tonight, and the sun started going down around 8:15-8:30 PM. I think that autumn is on it's way!

Work has been kind of discouraging again this week. I am really getting the feeling that the office manager doesn't like me. She's just not very friendly. At least not when it's just us. Sometimes she is a little more chatty, but lately she just isn't very...oh....polite? I don't know. I'm really trying to make sure I'm not imagining that she doesn't like me and I'm trying not to be overly sensitive, I am just still getting vibes that she doesn't like me though because she is much friendlier to the other people who work there. And I don't think she takes me very seriously. I really do try not to bother her and I try to do my job as best as I can, but I'm still very new there and they do a lot of things differently there. Like their panoramic machine is different and it's not digital so to develop film I have to go in a dark room and lock myself in and wait for the film to be completely in the developer before I come out. I didn't realize the safe light could be on with the film exposed. I thought that could only be on once the film was all the way in the developer so I was waiting till then to write up my labels and log how many x-rays I've taken. I ended up taking longer than I needed too. Now I know you can have the safe light on the entire time you're in there and I can write up labels and log away really quickly.

So I'm still adjusting, and I don't think she really knows that.

I guess that eventually we'll all figure it out. I hope. :)

Quilt Top

Would it sound really vain and silly to say that I really like this quilt? Well, I do. I like the colors and the simplicity and the big blocks...I'm loving deep colors against white or black lately. I got the idea from Joelle Hoverson's book 'Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts, which lately I've really gotten into and talked about on my other blog a lot. This quilt is loosely based on the 'Stacked Coins' and 'Just Sweet Enough' quilts in that book. It's not very big. It was fun to make. I had this past Tuesday off and with everyone leaving for school I've been pretty bummed (plus some trouble with one of my new co-workers has added to my bummed-out-ness) and a morning out with my sister and an afternoon of sewing was a very nice way to spend the day.I'm not trying to sound sappy here, because I know I'm not the best seamstress (hardly very good at all) and I don't really sew as often as I would really like to, but there is something about working on a sewing project that just helps to keep me in the 'now.' I so often am busy thinking about what will happen in the future or what's happened in the past. Thinking things like "what am I going to do when I finish school?" or "I hope I didn't offend them by saying that," or whatever. Sewing helps me to just focus on the task at hand. Sometimes it's a good way to get my mind off things that are bugging me.

I got out of work early today and went up to town to return a movie to Blockbuster (Bella...a very good movie! I'd recommend it. If you are prone to crying during movies you may want to have a couple of tissues nearby) and run to the grocery store and while I was out I picked up what I needed to finish the quilt. At least, I hope I got enough fabric for the back. Like all my projects I was kind of 'winging' this one and I didn't measure it before I left the house this afternoon so I guess we'll see if I got it right!

I'm not sure where this quilt will end up once it's done. It is a good size for a baby quilt. Or a wall hanging. I guess I'll just hang on to it until I figure out a good home for it.

I'll post pictures once it's finished! Hopefully this weekend. If I do get it finished it will be my first quilt ever! Pretty exciting for me. :) I'd like to make more. Maybe one big enough for my bed. Maybe I'll finish the other quilt I was working on first. That would be nice. :)

My Half Apron

I made this half apron just in case I am able to take a pottery class. I want to take one, and if I can work it into my schedule this fall, you may be seeing some pottery posts on here. :)So just in case I am able to do it, I made this half apron to help keep myself clean.

The back criss-crosses so I don't have to worry about making my ties long enough (mine always end up way too short! I think with one apron I made they were only 8 inches long.)

And it's reversible. :) I love reversible things. It was kinda tricky to make. I didn't have a pattern so I had to use my seam ripper a few times. All in all it only took me a couple of hours to make. It was a fun way to use up some fabric I had that wasn't big enough to make into a bag or skirt. Actually, the blue dotted fabric is a remnant from a skirt I made so I didn't need to try to make another skirt out of it.

I bet it would be useful for cooking too because I'm always getting grease on my shirt when I brown meat for dinner. Or I get flour all over my shirt when I'm baking something. I think it may be useful even if I can't take pottery classes.

But I still really want to do pottery.

I made all this stuff and posted it in my esty shop awhile ago.

But I never posted any pictures of it on here. I finished all this stuff right before I left for Texas.I haven't posted a picture for the last 3 posts and my blog is looking kinda drab. Plus, it's to show I have been doing some sewing, even if it was just a tiny bit!

I finished some more projects!

Yes! I finished some more projects. Aromatherapy bags (heat them or freeze them) and some coasters. I know coasters are kind of boring, so I quilted these with all different designs. You can't really see the designs though unless you look really closely. It was fun. I have some more blankets cut out that need to be sewn together, and I still want to do some aprons too with my new book. :) It's a cool book.

I will take pictures later. :)

What I've been up to lately...

Today we had the Hunter family over. Jamie Marrs was staying with them and she came too. It was great to visit with them. They are special gals. :)Here's what I've been working on...

Pot holders...and baby blankets.

I will post these on my other blog and write about them there. I set up an Etsy account! My other blog is named after it and once I set up my "shop" I will start blogging about all the sewing stuff there. It's been fun working on these projects. :)

Here is what I came up with. It is not very good, and it was thrown together, but it was fun. The blue thing is supposed to be sort of like a pond. And everything else is just flora, lol. Except the clouds. It was a fun project. I might try to make others for fun and see if I can make them better.