Natalie's new bag

Here is Natalie with her new bag. She is in pj's & didn't want me to show her, then she turned around & flashed a smile, so there you go!

Now that it's on her, I see we need to shorten the straps. Not sure exactly how I want to do that yet. She's got it loaded down with all her homework for co-op to take tomorrow.

If you click on the picture, it should open to a zoomed in shot and you can see the PERFECT button we found for the bag.

Nat designed this bag. I mean, she picked out the colors & fabric for the style I've made several times before. The inside has a coordinating fabric with a slip pocket that has sections for pencils & pens then a large section.

Almost done with Bethany's bag, too! Woo-hoo!

What I do when I'm not in bed with infections & kidney stones

That's an awfully long title! I didn't want to just put, "What I do when I'm not in bed," because it COULD be taken the wrong way. Multiple wrong ways. So you get the whole shabang.

Since I've been homebound, and not exactly in the position to be moving furniture & boxes to clean my pig pen, I mean house, I've been browsing quilting websites. Apparently there is a whole classification to these bold bright colors and styles I'm drawn to (yes, it's bad grammar---I'm in Texas, it's okay). It's Modern Quilting. I've heard of Quilt Guilds in the past. When I heard the word, I immediately pictured Aunt Bea in my head. You know, Mayberry? Andy Griffith? Oh, some of you are SO young! Small town in the 1950's. In the South. Grannies gathered around a quilt which they would then give away to some needy organization. It would be a grand proceeding of pious do-gooders being praised for all their good work. Now WAIT, don't judge me yet. I have NO idea what a Quilt Guild does! That's just what the WORDS make me think of!

I'm guessing that the Traditional Quilt Guilds probably were really lovely ladies who got together & made quilts the traditional way. They probably had fun quilting bees. That was there "Ladies Night Out" (or day out as the case may be). They probably had a few babies there, some preschoolers running around, and big kids were in school. Don't you just know that someone brought their Grandma's coffee cake and everyone asked for the recipe? They helped each other and got to "share concerns" about their neighbors. And Aunt Bea may not have been there.

Here is what I've learned recently. There are Modern Quilt Guilds. These gals get together & make some amazing quilts and quilted items out of the most luscious fabrics. Oh, look, I just found the home of the San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild! I'm not likely to join this b/c of time constraints and reality. I DO have a house I NEED to clean and I AM homeschooling my lovely daughters. AND since I can't seem to stay well long enough to accomplish most of that, trying to fit in an outside activity just wouldn't fly. Still, the stuff they make just wows me. I guess it's that "last born rebel" part of me. I am SO not a rebel in many areas. I'm probably in that group of "Pious do-gooders" by some standards. I do love the Lord & hope I am following Him in all I do and what people see, which means little classic rebellion. Quilts? I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't create the Quilt Police, so I'm good with new & different!

On to my projects. I'm about finished with a bag for Natalie & will post pics when I'm done. Right now I have a bunch of squares cut out to make Bethany a "Rag Bag". She has told me she doesn't like the quilted look. She doesn't want a quilt. But, she liked the Rag Bag I made & sold (without taking a picture), so I'm making her one. She picked all the fabrics & arranged them. The blank pieces will be filled in with a new one we bought. The first section is a side strip, front (9 square block) and the next side strip. The next section is the back. Then we realized we needed more for the bottom. I've got a bunch of random ones for the inside. She wanted to be sure it was fairly random, NOT a pattern. Guess she's a rebel, too. LOL!

Next is some fabric I've just cut out. This isn't the REAL fabric cut out. This is something I did in Photoshop using images of the fabrics to do a layout. I did just cut out all my fabrics & am anxious to start!

The pattern is from Quick Quilts from last summer.


I need to cut out & make some little doll dresses for our American Girl class at co-op. One of the girls said, "Miss Lori, my doll is SHIVERING without a dress!" LOL!

And at THIS moment while I'm not in bed with an infection or trying to pass a kidney stone, I need to go clean a baking stone & make some King Ranch Chicken.

A Fabric Give Away!

In the stamping world, you know all about this: BLOG CANDY!!! Check out these beautiful fat quarter packs that Heather at House of A La Mode is giving away! (Click on her name to get there!)

Yikes! I forgot to tell her what I'd do with them! Gotta go do that. I think I'd use some of it to make little quilts for my great nieces. My niece-in-law went with a hot pink/bright green theme, so Sprinkles would make some cut stuff for Ems. My niece went with an "Ocean colors" theme for Karis, so I'd love to use some of Icing for that!

Go enter! Who knows, maybe comment number 6,397 WILL win. LOL! There aren't THAT many comments yet!

Blue Birthday

Made this card for a friend having a birthday party tonight. She and my MIL had special birthdays recently. She is 65 & MIL is 75. So, they are throwing their own party! It's sure to be fun with these 2 gals.

Challenges:
Midnight Madness Sketch
Frosted Designs: Monochromatic
Creative Inspirations Paint: Shades of your favorite color (or favoUrite ColoUr for my Canadian/British friends!)

Details: Gina K stamps
Ink: SU Pacific Point, Distress ink Faded Jeans
Paper: White, Navy, Ballet Blue (I think); dp: K & Co. Winter Wonderland; velum
Other stuff: Nestabilities dies, CB folder & Sizzix folder

Thanks for coming by!

Pugs & Kisses

For Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. Same little guy, just different shapes for the images.

Doodle Pantry stamps. K & Co. paper.

Sorry for lack of details. On drugs for two kidney stones that are passing & have 2 more on the other side. Good times. LOL!

Moda Bake Shop Giveaway!

For those who love fabric & sewing, check out what Moda Bake Shop is giving away! It's a "Blog Hop" but they are calling it a Progressive Dinner (being a Bake Shop & all). Have fun visiting the blogs & getting inspired! Plus they are sharing yummy recipes!

Herbs of Life

Another wonderful Doodle Pantry Image, Rosemary. I love Rosemary. I have grown it but don't have a plant right now. I'd love to plant some in a huge pot by my front door so I can brush against it every time I walk by it. Since I live in a semi-tropical climate (that sounds so much better than it's hotter than all get out half the year), rosemary grows well and I've noticed is often used as shrubbery around here. I HAVE to stop & brush my hand on it or maybe pick off one little leaf to smell. It's an addiction, but I'm sure I could do worse. LOL!

I used the CPS sketch challenge for this card. Here's the original sketch.

I love that with sketch challenges you can take the basic design and create something unique. Every card made with the sketch is different, yet they all have the same basic design. That could lead me to something deep & thoughtful, but it's late, so we'll just leave it at that.

I'm learning with printing my digis on my laser printer that I have to remember to set it to cardstock or I get a "wimpy" image. That happened here, but for watercoloring, I thought it would be okay. The next time I printed I did remember to do that.

If you're wondering how to get a laser printer free, just marry a man who wants to be a pilot. He'll follow that dream, take you to Africa for year after 6 years of preparing, come back to the states, work with planes, then go back to school to learn about computers. Then he'll work at places that throw away perfectly good----um, okay, maybe not so perfect, but fixable----computer parts. It's like stray puppies, but it's computer parts. I don't complain. I find that stray stamps and fabrics follow me home. And if you give a mouse a cookie....

Details:
Stamps: Doodle Pantry Rosemary
Paper: Watercolor paper (printed on my laser printer), dp---hmmm, I THINK Webster's pages
Other stuff: watercolor crayons, aquabrush, nesties, Martha Stewart punch (wasn't it nice of her to share it with me?)

Wishing you a flavorful day full of wonderful aromas!

Tropical Warmth

Don't you love this image? It's a Bird of Paradise flower from Doodle Pantry Designs by my friend Laurie Wilson. When Phil & I spent 6 months in Nairobi, something that surprised me were the lush gardens. It seems that when the Brits went to Kenya, they took their love of gardening and used native plants to cultivate some of the most beautiful areas. I'd never seen Bird of Paradise in real life. Honestly, I am not much of a plant person as far as knowing what plants are what. This one, however, I recognized and was enamored with.

When I saw the challenge on Digital Tuesday Challenge, I KNEW what image to use. It had to be this one. It just exuberates (is that a word?) tropical warmth, this week's challenge. Of course, the flowers were a MUST to add to the tropical theme. The sketch is from Card Patterns. It's a gate fold card. I made it so the top part "catches" in the sentiment piece to stay closed.

Details:
Stamps: Digis: Doodle Pantry Bird of Paradise, Clear Dollar Stamps digi sentiment
Paper: White, navy, green cardstock; K& Co. Jubilee dp
Other stuff: copics, nesties, flowers from Michael's, stickles (which I smudged after I took the picture & have to redo---waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!)

Here's hoping you have a WARM day!

Gingersnap Teabag

The Gingers over at Gingersnap Creations are always coming up with such lovely, elegant, vintage work. Those gals have the ART gene, for sure! I got the CRAFT gene without the art part, so I tend to do more "cutesy" less vintage (because when I try vintage it really looks just OLD and wrinkled! LOL!). This week the challenge is to make a tea bag shape project. I didn't photograph this so you could see, but it is a tea bag shape. I think it will be a perfect candy bag holder. Might change it to hearts & make some up for Valentine's Day.

Stamps: Digis from that wonderful Sweets set at Clear Dollar Stamps (link is in my sidebar)
Paper: the dp is from some Paper Studio stacks I've had awhile, plus some purple & white cardstock
Other stuff: Nesties, stickles, ribbon, hole punch.

Thanks for dropping in!

You Warm my Heart.

Another little 4 x 4 card. You do know you can get 4- 4x4" cards plus a 4" square out of a 12" piece of cardstock, right? You have to do a little math, but it works! Cut off a 4" strip (4x12), leaving a 12 x 8" piece. Cut into 4x8" strips. Cut the remaining piece 4 x 8". Cut some shape out of the leftover piece. LOL! That's what I usually do! Sorry, you probably already knew all that. This happens when one calculates quilt measurements in her sleep. Math. Who knew how handy it would be one day? Good thing I actually liked it in school!

Just a fun little card. No challenge. No reason. Just because you all warm my heart. And maybe b/c we have no snowmen in Texas. At least not in this part of Texas. Not REAL snowmen anyway.

Digi stamp from Clear Dollar stamps.

Little Red Card

Just another little card to share. I had fun making little 4 x 4 inch cards!

Challenge:
Stamp with Fun: Sketch

Details: Clear Dollar Stamps pre-colored images. I combined the Warmest Wishes mug with the red candy stick from Sweets.
Paper: white & red, dp is Basic Grey Jovial
Other stuff: Just some stick on gems!

Have a warm day friends!

Sew Grateful

This card is on its way to a special friend who just bought a NEW Loribelle Custom Designed Bag. The images are part of the Help Katie set. Please see my sidebar to click to get this set and help my dear friend Katie as she is in the fight of her life with cancer right now.

I love the way sewing looks on cards & am inspired by those cards with sewing. However, I don't often sew on cards for a few reasons. One is that my machine is computerized (not fancy, but computerized none the less) and I've read that bits of paper dust can mess that up some how. Another reason is that I have thread on my machine for a fabric sewing project at all times. Okay, that leads to the third reason. I'm just too lazy to keep changing out the thread just to sew a few stitches on a card & have to change it again! LOL!

For the following challenges:
Stampin' Sisters in Christ: NEW (new bag, new hope for Katie this year)
Pile it On: Anything Goes!
Crazy 4 Challenges: Thank you
Simon Says Challenge: Bingo (middle row, buttons, flowers, glitter)
The Pixie Cottage: Sketch

Details:
Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps Help Katie Set
Paper: Watercolor Paper, K&Co. dp, white, yellow & teal cardstock
Other stuff: Watercolor crayons & pencils with aquabrush; flower from Michael's collection, buttons from my stash, Spellbinders dies, Ranger Ink Vintage Photo

Thank you for coming by!

Seeing Spots

This card is for the following challenges:
Basic Grey: Spots & Dots
My Time to Craft: Spots & Dots

I just loved how the gumballs also look like dots & was thrilled to be able to use this for 2 challenges at once! LOL!

Details:
Stamp: Digi stamp from Clear Dollar Stamps (FREE, pre-colored!)
paper: Basic Grey Jovial small pad, red, white
Other stuff: Nesties

Thanks for stopping by! Or is that spotting by?

Loribelle Bags on Sale

Just discounted & relisted 4 bags on my Etsy site. More soon! Will put craft fair items here soon. Blog Candy, too! Feel free to spread the word! Thanks!

PS---Look Karen no paisley! : )

So Sweet

Another card! Is this a record? 3 cards in one weekend? For me it seems to be these days (or months, or years). I guess I've finally hit that "not so sick I just want to lay on the couch ALL day but not well enough to be up doing the busy things I NEED to do" stage. So I sat and colored and cut and cropped and cuttlebugged....well, you get it.

Details:
Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps FREE Digi-images
Paper: Watercolor , purple, white
ink: distress orange marmalade, cotton candy
Other stuff: Watercolor crayons & waterbrush; stickles, flowers; nestabilities

Challenges:
Clearly Inspired: Love is Sweet
Sketch for you to try:
Have a sweet day!

Cocoa for a Snowy Day

How about a nice warm cup of cocoa with a peppermint stick on a snowy day? Or, if you are in San Antonio, like I am, how about just a cup of cocoa for a cold-but-not-cold-enough-for-snow-EVER kind of day? LOL!

Details:
Stamps: Digi Stamps: Mug & Candy Stick from Clear Dollar Stamps; Snowflakes from Clear Dollar Stamps
Ink: Brilliance blue, Distress Broken China
Paper: White, textured red, co'ordinations shimmer blue
Other stuff: Nestabilities scalloped rectangles; Martha Stewart snowflake brads; Copics

Challenges:
The Pixie Cottage Sketch Challenge & favorite coloring method

My Time to Craft: Chocolate!
Stamp with Fun: Snow!

Thanks for sledding by! Stay warm!

Speedy Recovery

This card is for my friend Katie whom I've mentioned is battling stage 4 gastric cancer. No, it isn't the typical "get well" or "thinking of you" card. It doesn't have some deep spiritual words of wisdom. I just thought Katie might like a fun card. I haven't made a real card in so long that I looked for inspiration in challenges and came up with this.

Why a motorcycle for Katie? Well, her husband has a touring bike and the two of them have gone on trips on his bike. Even though MY husband is the SPEED bike (or it could read speeding, ahem) kind of guy, wives of men with bikes just "get" the whole bike issue. Katie never asked, "Aren't you afraid for him to ride a motorcycle?" I'd go riding with my hubby like Katie does with hers if we didn't both weigh about twice as much as Katie & Kevin! LOL!

This digi stamp is actually one that my friend Laurie Wilson, artist, designer and owner of Doodle Pantry Stamps, designed to look like my husband's Kawasaki ZRX1100. I have yet to use it for a card for him, but I thought it would be oh so fun to color it GIRLY for Katie! When I saw the requirements for Color Throwdown and Teapot Tuesday, it was GAME ON! Or, ladies, start your engines!

Yes, I also know this is going to be a LONG healing process for Katie, but we WANT her to have a speedy recovery, so that's what I put! I hope she enjoys a bit of creative humor in this card.

Details:
Stamp: Digi Stamp from Doodle Pantry: Racing Motorcycle
Ink: Distress Inks Cotton Candy & Weathered Wood
Paper: White, Bliss Blue, Co'ordinations brown with pink underside & salmon colored with light pink underside
Other stuff: computer generated words, copics, flowers from Michael's (I just got those with Christmas money & had no idea I'd be using those colors on a card so soon!), Sizzix texture plate, Nestabilities Labels 8 and the other one whose number I don't know! LOL!

Challenges:
Color Throwdown: Use these 3 colors AND designate the card for Katie: Melon Mambo, Early Espresso, Soft Sky (I used what I had that were similar)

Teapot Tuesday: (I'm always late for the party)---flowers and gold. It's hard to tell, but where I thought silver would be in real life, I colored gold. It didn't look gold with the copic marker, so I went over it with a gold gel pen. Still not doing it. I went over THAT with stickles. In real life you can see the gold, so just trust me on this one. ; )

CES Challenge: No designer papers. Check! Used co'ordinations brown with a pinkish underside. Sadly, I can't find sandpaper in my house so I used a Sizzix folder & tried to scrape off enough for the pink to show through!

Doodle Pantry: Use a DP image. This one is under "Machines" in her store.

Stamp Something: Anything Goes. 'Nuff said.

Everybody Art Challenge: Sketch

Thanks for rolling by!

Seeing Stars!

I feel like I should say, "Ta-Da!" as I introduce my latest bag. The reason is this bag has been so long in the making that it feels like I've finally accomplished some grand endeavor. My friend Granny Hawkins (her name is Connie, but we all know her as Granny) is, surprisingly enough, a granny! LOL! One of her granddaughters is a cheerleader in the young girl cheerleader groups. They go to competitions throughout the year. I wish I knew the name of her squad. I'm guessing it has to do with Silver Stars or something. When Granny first mentioned a bag, she was thinking of something "old fashioned," but wanted to think more about it. When she saw my "Emily Anne" bag (named after my friend Emily, whose middle name is NOT Anne, but I thought sounded good together), she decided she liked that style, with black & white, and "raggedy" edges. Hmmm, maybe it is now a Raggedy Anne bag.

I purchased some yardage of several black & white fabrics. I kind of went a little crazy. It was so much fun to see all the different varieties. I haven't even taken pictures of the inside, but the fabrics lining this bag are different than the ones you see here. I showed them to Granny via the internet (she lives in Georgia very near where I lived as a little girl) hoping she would make the decision to just LOVE certain ones. She told me to pick what I thought best (except a zebra print). I hope she likes these!

I knew immediately when she said silver stars with raggedy edges that I had to use lame (pretend there is an accent on the e & pronounce it la-MAY). Do you know about lame (laMAY)? It's a very shiny fabric that looks oh so fancy but is a royal pain in the patooty to sew. Now, it COULD be I think that because my first ever experience was making Barbie clothes for my girls. I was determined that my girls would have modest clothing for their Barbies. I created these amazing ball gowns, complete with long sleeves, late, LATE, LATE one Christmas Eve. It was then and there I understood why Barbie always wears strapless gowns. It had nothing to do with modesty. It had everything to do with the fact that her hands are shaped so you can't get long sleeves over her stinkin' fingers! I decided lame (laMAY) was lame (LAME!!!). It frays if you just look at it. Yep, you just set your eyes on it & it will start fraying. Touch it and the entire outfit falls apart. Not recommended for your next evening gown. Unless you have a second gown underneath, of course. However, that fraying is what came to mind when Granny said RAGGEDY EDGES on SILVER STARS!

I had the fabric before Craft Fair season, but once that hit, I got very little new work done that wasn't for a fair. Once I finished my fairs, I had some folks order potato bags from me that they wanted for Christmas. So I made those. Somewhere along the way I started quilting Granny's fabric. I got about 1/3 of the way done with the quilting then Christmas came. Then we got sick. Then we stayed sick. Now I am sick again. Blech! On my good days I hit that sewing machine hard (um, figuratively) and worked on this bag. Finally, FINALLY I finished this bag tonight.

Granny is with her granddaughter at a competition this weekend as I type, so I'm not sure she'll see the bag just yet. I need to get it wrapped up & mailed off to Georgia. Probably just as well it wasn't done sooner since I hear they've been iced in for some time in her parts.

Granny, I hope you like your bag! YOU are a shining star of a lady!

Help for Katie

Help for Katie Fundraiser
Click HERE to go there directly

I'm a tad behind in posting this, but I wanted to share with you the story of a very brave lady. Her name is Katie Renz (click on her name to read her story and follow her journey). Katie & Kevin have 3 boys. I "met" Katie online through Clear Dollar Stamps. Katie is a wonderful crafter, but she also is a mom and has a "biker" husband. Well, a husband who rides motorcycles. We've chatted before about our husbands' love of fast "toys."

Just before Christmas Katie was diagnosed with Stage 4 Stomach cancer that had also spread to other areas. Her only course of treatment is high potency chemotherapy. On Christmas morning, Katie was admitted to the hospital and stayed there for over a week. She started her chemo in the hospital. She's just now having her 2nd round. She has the best attitude and is fighting with all her strength.

Needless to say there are going to be mounting bills. As most of you know, I've just had 2 friends go through cancer treatment, and one is continuing hers. My friend Kathy had no insurance when she started and I can tell you the costs for chemo alone are beyond imagination. With insurance, it's pretty steep, as you have to pay your deductible (welcome to a new year & a new co-pay), along with your co-pay, and hope you don't max out your lifetime available funds.

If you would like to help the Renz family financially, of course, you can do this privately or if you'd like to give as part of the stamping community, Jak Heath has put together a unique fundraising effort for our dear Katie. With your donation to help Katie, you also will receive a collection of digi stamps from various artists who love Katie. Most of us don't give because we expect something in return, but these just seem like a special tribute to Katie because it is her friends who made them. Each time you use them you can say a prayer for her!

A meal plan has also been set up that offers a way for even those far from Katie to help. I'll post that in a separate post. In addition, after receiving so many well wishes in the mail, Katie & Kevin set up a PO Box that you can use for sending cards. The address as posted on her blog is:

The Renz Family

PO Box 5913

Bellingham, WA 98227-5913

Please continue to pray for Katie as she journeys through this nightmare called cancer. And pray that there will be blessings she can see even in the midst of this. Thank you!

Introducing Natalie's Craft Blog!

I decided it was time to give Natalie her very own craft blog. Technically, I will still be the "webmaster" or "blogmaster" or "I'm still the boss of Natalie person" for now, but I thought it would be nice for her to be able to show off her crafts on her own site. Plus, sometimes I might want to do the same challenge as she's doing & want my own space. LOL!

As you know, if you've been keeping up with my blog, Natalie loves House Mouse stamps. She does such a good job coloring those and they aren't easy to color. So, House Mouse cards will be on the blog. She also does paper quilling and makes adorable mini items with polymer clay. For years my girls have loved to decorate cakes. None of us have taken an official class, but we have fun creating. Last year Natalie got a book called, "Hello Cupcake" with some adorable ideas for cupcakes. For Christmas she got the book, "What's New Cupcake?" with even more ideas. So far she's made fried chicken cupcakes (they only LOOK like fried chicken) and a golf course. I will post pics of at least the golf course on there.

Without further adieu, you can check her out by clicking on this link:

Natalie's Crafts

I forgot my values!

Bet you thought this was going to be a deep spiritual or philosophical post, didn't you? Nah, it's about quilts. The values I forgot were COLOR values. I'm new to quilt making. Okay, can I say new if I haven't even started? Well, we DID make the rag quilt for my great niece, so I guess I AM a quilter. ha ha. Being new means I have some lessons to learn. I've been picking up fabrics here & there in 1 yd. increments to use for different quilts. I've found good coordinating colors. I have some amazing fabrics I ordered, too. I showed some of those in my last post. What I forgot to look for was color VALUES.

Here's what I mean. I can have 2 prints with orange and pink, but if they are the same lightness/darkness, they will simply blend together. These 2 fabrics, for example, coordinate, but they don't stand out if put together. This one, on the other hand, is made like a quilt with varying shades and varying values of those shades. Here's a quilt I found online that shows good color value variation:
It has lights, mediums & darks:
So, today, after I work on a bag I have GOT to finish, I'm going to play with all my fabric again & mitch----um, that's dork for mix & match! LOL! all my pieces so I can have some VALUES!

If you are a scrapbooker or card maker, I think these same principles can apply to papercrafting.

Happy colorful day!

A New Year, A New Passion

Happy 2011! As you know, I've been MIA often on my blog. My daughter Natalie has held down the blog with her cards. Life just seems so full. I WANT to get out my paper goods and start creating. I just need to do it! Oh, wait, now I remember, I also need time & space. Soon, I hope.

In the title I put "A New Passion." It's not entirely new, but lately I have been obsessed (or bosessed as my fingers want to type) with quilts, especially easy to make but with gorgeous fabric. I'll take pictures soon of some of the fabrics I've purchased recently to start my adventure. For now I'll show you a few clips from online of what I've found. Hope you enjoy!






Some of the designs I'm toying with are these:
It's called Love Letters by Anna Maria Horner & the pattern is free online.

One of Amy Butler's quilts. I just love the bold color combos. Kind of funny as I also love sweet pink rose quilts in traditional patterns.

If you can see the quilt on this magazine, I've got some brights (not the ones shown, but I do love them) in mainly pink & orange to make this.
I discovered a lady named Bari J. Ackerman in a quilting magazine last year & had to find her online. Her first line of fabric was called Full Bloom and the first 2 fabrics shown above are from that line. This is the quilt from her blog that I'd like to make. I won't be able to use all her fabrics in it, but I'm finding that they blend well with many other fabrics. Sadly, cost IS a factor in buying fabric. If you click on the link above you can see her work and some of the newer fabric lines she's developed. I get a kick out of reading any time she writes of her daughters b/c they are the same ages as my girls & I can so relate to what she says!

I know, if I can't even get a card made, how will I make a quilt? Well, I figure I can keep the fabric stacked in the sewing room & I don't have to pull out stamps and cutting tools, just my handy dandy machine that's already set up. At least to piece it together. The quilting part, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If I can't be the next Pioneer Woman (you'll have to see my blog post on my family blog HERE), maybe I can be the next Quilt Woman! LOL!

First, though, I have a bag to make for a friend who has ordered it & been waiting. I have a rag quilt for my daughter who has been waiting. I have a bag to cut out & make my other daughter. And then there is that little matter of homeschooling.

For now I will dream of beautiful colors wrapping us all in warmth!