Snow & Ice........ Christmas Stocking Update

Oh my goodness have I been in a fog or something, I have been such a failure at posting to my blog, please accept my apologizes. I don't know what the deal is...........anyhow

Some more updates on the Snow & Ice Christmas stocking, it is about 75% done now. On my Carole Samples list one of our assignments was to create a block and use some of the stitches on page 104-105 on the block, I decided to use the back of the stocking. So the stitches and designs you see below all come from this source.


















































I do want to share a little something. I seem to be in a frump, and I believe this is the problem I am having these days. Stitching is happening, but not like before when that is about all I could do. Perhaps it is spring fever, I don't know for sure. I do know that I am drawn to my herbal studies alot these days...one of the things I want to do in this area is to stitch up renditions of the herbal plants I study, maybe this will be the direction I go, we shall see. I appreciate you patience with me, I hope I will regain my desire soon. God Bless you all.

Catchin Up - This N That

Well it has been a few days since I have posted. Just been busy doin this n that. Today I am not feelin all that great so I guess that is why I have slowed down enough to spend some time at the putter.

I have several things to share with you all. First up, todays mail brought me this beautiful ornament from my girlfriend Susan. Thank you, Susan for the wonderful surprise, I love it.
It will always make me think of you.



















This block belongs to my friend Candi, we are part of a RR group, just a group of girlfriends who enjoy working on each others blocks. Susan worked on it first, now it is my turn. I wanted to work with a painted button that I got from Jakkie a friend on QCI, last year. Then following what I have seen others do, I added a round of lime green beads and then another round of white seed beads. Isn't it pretty and fits nicely on that pretty blue patch.















Here we have the whole block so far with Susan's work. Oh......I have more work to do on the block but wanted to show you this element.














My granddaughter Destiny is having her birthday on the 11th and I wanted to make something for her. She likes it when her gifts are hand made (at least for now). I saw this cute purse in the
Keepsake Quilting catalog that I fell in love with so decided to see about making a smaller version for her.

So with a pair of to small for me jeans.....sigh......I cut the pockets out, added batting and the cutest 70's style floral print cotton for the liner, sewed it up. It is done raw edge so it is self lined, with a pocket on both side. To the pockets I have added a couple pins and she can put whatever she wants on them. The larger version has two pockets on each side, perfect for a cell phone and keys.



















Side 1

Side 2




















A peek at the inside. The strip that is sewn between the pocket panels is 3 inches wide and I used 1/2 inch seams, then clipped all the seams, washed and dried to frizz the raw edges. I think she will like it.......heck I like it. Grin.
















A couple of days ago, this little Angel arrived in the mail, isn't she cute? She was sent to me from

Angels for Hope, (www.angelsforhope.org) a group that makes these little hugs (either angels, butterflies, or smile faces) for those in need. They do this as a free service. I had not heard of them before, but a someone (I don't know who) on my quilting list QOR asked them to send me one. She, Angel, is so appreciated and will be a reminder of the love shown to me (along with my 2 beautiful quilts) by my friends with the passing of my Dad.


This is such a wonderful ministry that this
group is doing. Please go and check out the
website. It is beautiful how many are
reaching out and touching those in need.

Thank you Angels for Hope for my little
"Angel".

Comfort Quilt

Look what the mail brought me. My friends from my online group Trading Fabrics have sent me hugs in this beautiful Comfort Quilt.

I am a very bless girl to be so loved by these ladies. Just look at how pretty, all in pinks and browns and hearts. To cute.

















Some close ups of the different hearts.





































Here are both of my comfort quilts, they are so pretty. Thank you to my friends on Quilts on Review and on Trading Fabrics for the love and hugs, this really helps fill the hole left by my Dad's passing.

Happy 2008

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I wanted to share some family pictures with you.

Alyssa (DSD), Michele (DDIL), Letha (DMIL), myself, Samantha (DD) and Destiny (DGD)















Everette (DFIL), Codey (GS #5), Josh (DS), Kirk (DH), Andy (DSIL),
Tristan (GS#2), Brandyn (GS#3), Konner (GS#4), Bryce (GS#1)















It was so wonderful to spend time with our children and grandchildren, and Kirk's parents. What a blessed time it was. We also spent time with Kirk's sister Yolanda and family, and our good friends Gilbert and Cathy. We could not have asked for a better Christmas.

The new year, I hope, will be a good one. We are looking forward to spending Christmas here in Wyoming next year with all our loved ones. We have alot to do to prepare for Christmas 2008 with the big project, an addition to our house. If you'd like to keep track of that I invite you to visit my other blog...........http://newlifewy.blogspot.com/...............this is where I talk about the things that go on around our little Wyoming homestead.

Looking forward to this new year, I am planning some new soaps for my Etsy shop, beginning with Valentines Day.........yes an unabashed advertisement, LOL. 3 new soaps are on the horizon so keep a watch out for them at .........Big Horn Mountain Creations .......you can always see new items that have been posted to my shop, on the side bar of this blog.

One of my goals for this year is to make each of my family a new CQed Christmas stocking, so I will be posting my progress on that project. That is 12 stocking, one a month......hummmmmm we shall see how well I do on this.

I have way to many ideas for this year that is for sure, I will be pleased if I can get those that I have mentioned here done. I will also be involved in several RR, along with another of my lists, studying stitches, through Carole Samples book. I have several quilts to finish up and of course to begin.

So along with the new addition, gardening, regular house stuff, and my sewing I might just have a busy year.

May the Lord Bless each of us with health, strength and loads of love of family and friends.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas & Judy's Block

Merry Christmas All

First I want to share a little purse that my friend Susan Nixon sent. Isn't it darling, and it is what inspired the bag I made for my DGD (2 post below). It is perfect for my camera so that is how I am employing it. Thank you Susan for this lovely gift.





















I, also, wanted to share some of the additions I have made to Judy's block.

Around the center motif of flowers I have added a beautiful antique lace that resembles tating. I think it really dresses it up. I will be adding more but not sure just what it will be yet. You will notice I have also begun the addition of french knots to the flower centers.



















Here you will see a darling seam treatment that looks like a flower border, it is a combo of arrow stitches and french knots, done in DMC floss. I really like this one.












And a "J" for Judy, made with silk ribbon and seed beads. You can also see lace and ribbon additions here.










We are off in the morning for our Christmas trip to Ca. I pray everyone has a Blessed Christmas with family and friends. I am sending big bear hugs to my friends and family who have lost loved ones this holiday season (my own dad's funeral is today) :(

Gods Blessing to All and a Merry Christmas

Slow Cloth

I am so glad to see this subject being tossed around. I can't say it as well as everyone else has but I can tell you that the idea of speeding along has annoyed me for some time. I know many who create a quite a day................I just can't! I can't stay on one project for hours at a time, I will so lose interest in it and leave it by the way side.

There was a time when all this speeding around made me feel bad about my self, until I had a talk with myself, giving myself permission to enjoy the process at my own pace.

I am so into "SLOW" everything (well just about everything, I need to eat slower, LOL). I love the process of things, in fact I really don't like getting things done because I can't enjoy working on it anymore.

So I say................move over mister/ms rabbit, us turtles may be slow but we WILL finish the race and with alot more gained in the process.

A Gift of Love and Comfort

Look at the beautiful surprise I received in the mail yesterday. A gift of love and comfort from my on line group, Quilters on Review. This pretty quilt was given to me, to offer comfort for the passing of my Dad. I have included some up close pictures so you can see the workmanship.

Thank you my friends for the love you've shown me through this lovely quilt.

My Dad

Robert Alan McHenry
December 2, 1926 - December 11, 2007



















This post is in honor of my Dad, who passed away last night at 6:30 pm in Nevada.

Dad was born in Omaha Nebraska, served in the Navy, and worked in the aerospace industry on our big airplanes. Mom and Dad moved to Silversprings Nevada to spend their retirement years and enjoyed 59 years together.
He is survived by my Mom, Mildred, myself, Terry (my brother) and Nancy (my sister) 6 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren.

We will miss you Daddy.

Blessings

As many of you know the last several years have been very difficult and I know I am not alone in this situation.

But

This last couple of years has also been filled with special blessings bestowed by God's angels called...........Friends

I want to share with you all some of the special blessings that I have been given. I won't share names, because God says that if everyone knows what you did for another then that is all the blessing that you will receive, another words do your blessing in secret. I want these ladies to receive their reward from the Lord. They will know who they are.

One friend took me to retreat when I could not afford to go, and we really did not know each other at the time, we have become fast friends and she still does very generous things, like paying for 1/2 of a very expensive book so we could join a stitching class together.

Thank you!

Another friend found out I like to make soaps and lotions and sent me several hundred dollars worth of essential oils and fragrance oils, she no longer has a use for, they are like brand new, just one of them cost $36.00 for 1/4 oz........she is now sending all of her books for this hobby.

Thank you!

Next, and one that I can share a picture with you about. This friend sent me a $50.00 gift certificate as a way of showing me God's love during a very rough spot this last month. I got to go shopping at Joggles.com and here is what I picked out...............Thank you!


















I want to personally thank these lovely ladies for the generous gifts they have given to me. I am still in awe at the beautiful blessings they each have bestowed on me.

I am working on paying these blessing forward.

Thank you,
Gods Blessing to each of you.
Gail

Back Home

Thank you to everyone for the prayers you offered up on my behalf, I can not tell you just how effective they have been. My travel was perfect, weather sunny and clear. I got to visit with my Dad and he was doing pretty well. He is still hanging in there, only God knows when he will call him home.

It has been hard getting back into the swing of things, I am still tired but it is slowly coming together.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Kirk and I spent it, just the two of us, it was very relaxing and enjoyable to cook, eat and clean up together (we usually do the eating together, LOL.)

A couple of months ago I started working through Carole Samples book, Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches with several other gals. I thought you might like to see some of the works I have done on this journey.










These first two are the single stitches. It is good to start with the basics, I am learning alot with this study.

I also wanted to share with you some cute new additions to my holiday decorations.



I love snow people!
Are these not just the
cutest? Their scarves
come off so they may
just get some fancy
CQ scarves.

I am so looking forward
to Christmas, we are
heading to California, to
spend it with our children,
grandchildren, Kirk's parents,
and our friends. I need to get my tail in gear and finish up the Christmas
gifts (I know I am not alone).

It is good to be home and back among friends, thank you once again for holding me up in prayer, you will never know how much you helped me.

Hugs and Gods Blessing to everyone.

Going to be gone

I am going to be gone for a couple of weeks. My Dad has been getting worse and worse over the last several months and now the Drs. say it is time to say our goodbyes. I have been struggling, trying to decide if I should go now or wait, I just can not make 2 trips. I am going to go now, well in a day or two. My parents live 16 hours away and I am going to drive it by myself, which is way out of my comfort zone, but more within it then flying.

I covent your prayers for safe travel. I will probably stay for a week or two to be with my Mom.

In the mean time here are two rag quilts I have been working on.

Until later........Gods Blessing to all.
Gail

Some thoughts

What a beautiful day it is out. We are running at 70 degrees today with a few wisp-its of clouds in the sky. I have been catching up on my reading today, since I have been under the weather for the last 4 days. I love to sit out on a day like today and read the Lords Word, enjoying His sunshine and warmth. Now mind you I love to read His Word any where but that is my favorite place, since I feel closest to Him in nature. I am caught back up. What joy His Word brings me.

I am reminded that winter is coming, to have the wonder and joy of a day like today is soon to give way to snow, cold and more wondrous days though not warm outside, it will be warm by the fire.

I have been struggling for several months. Finding joy has been a hard thing to do, except in little snippets, our family has really been struggling over the last few years (as I know everyone has) and it is taking its tole on me, getting back into The Word of God has made all the difference. Praise the Lord! The joy is returning and staying for longer periods of time.

On a different note...............

I want to share with you the lovely Treasury Club package I got from Evening Star Design yesterday...............it is in one of my favorite colors. Thank you Carolyn for the beautiful CQ items.

I have been TAGGED

I have been tagged for the MEME. My tags came from Leslie, Karrin, Candi and Carole all in the same afternoon. LOL. Here are the rules as posted on Leslie's blog.

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.


1. I love being in nature, that is where I feel closest to my Lord Jesus.
2. I realized last winter after a nice snow, and the sun came out....God created glitter.
3. Blue is my least favorite color for decorating or crafting, it is best in the sky and ocean, on a pair of jeans or deep blue glass.
4. 60 scares me.
5. I agree we should have grandchildren first, we have 6
6. I am thankful for gravel......see my Wy blog @ http://newlifewy.blogspot.com/
7. One of my favorite things to do besides quilting, Cqing, is gardening. I began gardening over 30 years ago and still get great joy from playing in the dirt and helping things grow. We love having food we have grown or hunted, and find great satisfaction when a meal features mostly what we have gathered ourselves.

Ok, now to tag 7 other bloggers.

Kate @ High Altitude Gardening
Fran @ Quilting in Alaska
Wendy @ Wandering Rose
Kerry @ KerryKatieCakes
Fran @ Sew Frantastic
Gabriele @ Gabriel's Spot
Rebekah @ Daddy's Girl

Enjoy.

Rusty...Aug 1, 2006 - Aug 30, 2007

We lost our little buddy, Rusty last night, a great hole has been created. I wanted to pay tribute
to him with a few picture of our little friend.














Rusty was part Jack Russel and Red Healer. Full of antics, full of love, he was always into whatever we were doing. Unfortunately he also like to chase cars, try as we may we could not get him to stop (he is a cattle dog), and he chased one to many.















I am not sure what Lady thinks, they were always together, she raised him.















His first day with us,
















Rusty we love you and miss you so much. Thank you for the love you gave to us.

One of a Kind

Morning all, I have decided what I will tell anyone who asks "Do you sell your things?"


Yes, I sell my pieces but I have to warn you...they are not the quality of Walmart, and they are one of a kind not one in a million.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday.

Disappointment

Blogs are for all kinds of things, sometimes even a rant.........................................


I am feeling quit disappointed at the moment. I asked a group of ladies what they thought I should price my Christmas stocking for if I should decide to sell it. I was thinking $45.00 would be a rather low but ok price for something with all the fancy fabrics, laces and glass beads, not to mention all the hours I spent on it. My husband said $75.00. I am getting answers of $15-25....$30.00 at the most (and comparisons to Wal-mart). Talk about a disappointment, some of that lace is $4.00 a yard. Heck I spent 10 hours on the poinsettia alone.

So I guess I won't be selling it, I'd rather give it away then sell something like this for China prices.

I give up, I have tried to find something to sell that might give me a little income and everything is a bust because no one wants to pay a decent wage, be it CQ, quilts, longarm work, glass work, soaps, lotions...so I give up. I am not going to try anymore, (some people look cross eyed and can sell a rock), I could not sell ice cubes in hell. My Etsy shop is closed as of now.

Thanks for listening if you read this far.

Gail

A Gift

I wanted to share this lovely chest with you. My MIL brought it to me when they came to visit. I love the shape and of course my favorite colors, pink and green. I have not decided what treasure I will keep in it yet. Thank you Mom.

Hope everyone is having a fun 4th.

Promised Picture

Here is a picture of my newest grandson, Codey.

He is doing good, sleeping 5 to 6 hours at a time.

I have not been doing much sewing this week, so will
have to share some pictures of my work next week.

Enjoy my Codey,

Baby Announcement

Our new grandson Codey Hayden entered the world today at 9:14 am.

Weight.... 10lbs 5 ozs

Length.... 21 1/4"

Mommy (DDIL) and son are doing good.


CONGRATULATIONS

JOSH AND MICHELE, and Destiny & Brandyn (big sister & brother).

Pictures to come.

We had a great time on our trip to Ca. I want to share some pictures of 2 of my grandkids with their Christmas quilts.















Destiny with here "Flowers and leaves" quilt















Brandyn with his "I Spy quilt"

We are still waiting for out newest family member to be born, he was not ready to join us out here in this big ole world just yet.

Until later. Have a wonderful quilty day.