Stash Sunday Report on Monday

Judy L began a Stash Sunday Report thing a few weeks back - and while I have enjoyed reading everyone who adds to her Mr Linky... I have not had anything to report. Mainly b/c I have not had time to spend working in my sewing room lately. Nora and I did spend a little time in there last week but I didn't even get a good start on cleaning up before one of the twins woke up. :{

However yesterday, during our Sunday afternoon trip, Nora and I went to Wal-Mart and although most usually I don't wonder off to "the back of the store" (fabric area)... yesterday I found my shopping cart taking me there just to "take a quick look."

Yes, I slipped and bought a little... actually a little of several bolts (1/4 yard cuts) and all left on the bolt of two fabrics! However I think I won't be casted out of Judy's club... here is what she said:

Either we did good at not purchasing fabric or we slipped and bought a little. Remember that in my opinion, it's ok to buy things we need and are going to use. I will not have a problem buying some background type fabric when I get low or if I need fabric for a special project. My main goal is to not purchase fabric that will go onto the shelves -- fabric with no project in mind.

Here is what I found...a closer look at the two large pieces... the red and green paisley on cream fabric was in the Christmas section and I love it! Surprisingly it had a very nice feel to it too!! When I saw it I instantly knew it would be perfect as my backing for my Star Struck Quilt when I get it done! Christmas colors but not too Christmasy...

I don't remember exactly how much was on the bolt, but I bought all of it. I want to say a little over 4 or 5 yards... I bought 4 yards of the red to use as an inner boarder and possibly binding and if any is left over it will be used in the HeartStrings Quilt project as my red centers. ;) it has tiny gold polka dots on it that the photo doesn't show very well.

So those quarter yard cuts will be used along with some other reds, greens, whites, and creams from my stash to make more Star Struck Blocks to go with the ones I won in the July Block Lottery this year. My goal is to have this quilt done before this time next year - oh won't it be great, to have a Christmasy Quilt for 2008!? ;c)

Merry Christmas & Love from Texas,

~Bonnie

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I just wanted to share a couple quick photos of the kidos :) Last Wednesday all three of them dressed up so cute to go to the Story Time Christmas party, and before we left I got a few snapshots of Nora and the twins up in her bedroom in front of "HER" Christmas tree :) ....to read more on that click over to my other blog at http://www.minorhappenings.blogspot.com/

Yesterday after church, Olivia and Paul Thomas got to have their picture made in front of our big tree sitting in the red rocking chairs. The smallest rocker has been in the family for many many years...all of my life and my oldest brother (who is nearly 50) and last year my Daddy stripped all the old paint off of it, repainted it red, and paid an Amish man to weave a new seat and gave it to Nora for Christmas!

Then earlier this year, while at Good Will, I found a purple rocking chair, only slightly bigger in size, priced for only $3! So I purchased it thinking..."with more kids on the way, the 3 of them can fight over 2 chairs better than 1" LOL :C)

This spring, Daddy took it back to KY with him and then brought it back painted red and same woven seat when he came in June to visit the twins. Don't they look great in them!?

So wheres Nora you ask.... Honestly, I had to sneak and do this photo yesterday while Nora was off using the potty... David and I quickly got the twins set up and I snapped a dozen shots before Nora knew what had happened!

Here's why... when we tried a "Rehearsal" photo earlier this week... she would not stand or sit in the middle between the babies, but had to sit in a rocker which made Olivia very mad! I'd love to have all 3 of them but at least I have the photo of all 3 at the top of this post. ;)

More than anything I'd love a photo of ALL five of us... to go into a frame ornament that says 2007 "Our Family" from Hallmark. We have so many ornaments of David, Nora and I but I really want a new one with all of us! How in the world will we ever be able to capture a family photo before the Christmas tree comes down is beyond me... oh wait, I know maybe while David's mom is visiting she can take a few snapshots and hopefully we can get something to put int he ornament. She and our niece are coming the day after Christmas and staying thru New Year's. :c) (which will be here sooner than we think!)

Merry Christmas from Texas!!! ~Bonnie

HGTV Christmas Raffle Quilt - We have a winner!

Today was the drawing of the winner for the 2nd annual Christmas Quilt for Charity. I just finished signing on and reading all about it tonight. Oh how fun. Everything about the HGTV quilters message board is so fun - the swaps, the chit chat, sew-n-tell, FQ bingo, monthly BOM's, charity projects & even they way the did the big reveal.

I will share it with you all here too since many of you are not members. A while back I showed the finished top and gave out information on how to purchase tickets... so this way you all can read about the winner ;)

Also this will provide pretty quilt photos to my blog that hasn't had anything quilty posted in a while ;) - hey, wait a minute.... I DID make and contribute ONE of those outer boarder blocks! so that makes it OK to use it as my blog post. ;P

Anyway - I think you will enjoy the announcement - karol0405 did a fantastic job!!! :) You get to read it all at once, where for us it was a little bit each post... talk about anticipation!!! ;) ~Bonnie

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Okay ladies...here we go, this story is told Quiltaholic style (I was told I had too!!), so lets get started!!!

Twas the night before the raffle and quiltaholic was all a tizzy,

if I’m gonna raffle this quilt, I better get busy.

The tickets were all printed and folded with care,

with Q’s assurance that all was fair!

(there's a story to this...do you all want to hear it now, or wait till later???) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The quilters met that morning, for breakfast and a break,

before the long drive to Mary Jo’s, the quilt they did take.

(Let me tell you about Mary Jo's! I got 6 yards of batik, 3 yards of 108" backing, 5 1/2 yards regular fabric, 2 big spools of thread and 21 FQ's all for under $140...pretty good huh??)
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oh, were was I...oh yes...

The quilters met that morning, for breakfast and a break,

before the long drive to Mary Jo’s, the quilt they did take.

Quiltaholic and dear hubby butch, karol, marie, and mildred headed south,

while goththebug and hubby don and 3 friends traveled north.

Quiltaholic called Gastonia’s finest and asked for a man,

three of them please, if you can?

The men came at 11, and Q explained the long story of the quilt, and how it all became.(okay...doesn't totally rhyme...but I was stuck!)

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(now if you know Q...this part took a long time!!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It started with friends,

making a block or two...

Then Ms. Webb who quilted it

…woohoo woohoo!

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We sold tickets, to anyone who wanted to do a good deed,

in hopes to raise money for children in need.

$1480 to be exact,

that will help 7 children in fact.

The firemen came, and examined the treasure,

"This is pretty", they said,

"Drawing the name is our pleasure!"

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So, the fireman with the awesome smile,

stirred the names, and he stirred for a while..

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He stirred and stirred till he got just the right one,

ladies with fingers crossed saying, I hope it’s me when he’s done!

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(aren't you all excited...we are almost done!!! Maybe I should wait till later for the big reveal.....)

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anyway...were was I...oh yes...

He stirred and stirred till he got just the right one,

ladies with fingers crossed saying, I hope it’s me when he’s done!

(Q said I had to show it hand in the bag 3 times!!)

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He pulled out a marble and held in his hand (ask Q...that's what she named the fold up papers! )Anticipation, anticipation...we all could not stand!

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The name he pulled out, and Q exclaimed with a cheer,

"I know her I know her, she’s a friend so dear!!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He held up the name, with phone number I did cut,

The name he held up was that of Kim Strut!

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(here's a close up!)

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"She won! She won!! We all exclaimed!

"Congratulations to Kim for she’s the winner we named!

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and now a few words/post from our winner - "Yahoooo! I have never won anything ! it is sooo beautiful and for such a good cause! And i am just tickled! I got a phone call this afternoon..and it was therica, and i thought she just called to let me know she was heading to her mom's..and then she said,"listen to this! And a whole bunch of women..(maybe fireman too yelled "CONGRATULATIONS! I was so totally shocked! and i was just taking some monkey bread out of the oven..and taste testing it , when she told me...then she said.."be careful what you say, it's being recorded! oh my, can't wait to hear what i said with a mouth full of sticky ,gooey,monkey bread! Thank you sooo much! can't wait to get her in my hands and look at all the beautiful stitches, and all the wonderfully put together blocks! Thank you..thank you ..Thank you!


Quiltaholic just called, (she is an hour away from the hospital, in alabama) and told me she was only joking about recording me! thank goodness! Thank you every one..for donating the blocks for such a worthy cause! Thank you...from the bottom of my heart!

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Now, wasn't that fun to read??? I am so happy to be part of such a great group of quilters! I am looking forward to meeting several of the board members in Houston next Spring for the "Circle of Friends Retreat."

I am sure after Quiltaholic gets back from 'bamma she will post and share the progress of the Christmas shopping for the kids and everything purchased with the proceeds of the raffle. $1480! WOW!!! Thanks to everyone who made this happen!!!

PS- Quiltaholic just stared her own blog... be sure to check her out and drop her a line telling her you read all about it here ;) ~bonnie

I'm still here - sorry I haven't checked in..

I feel like a college kid again... you remember those days when you finally paused long enough to remember "eek, I haven't called home in a loooooong time!" Well, it isn't that I haven't thought about blogging, I have... I just ahvent' taken the time to sit down and write. So, here goes :)

We had a wonderful time in Kentucky the week of Thanksgiving! The drive up went much better than we hoped. The babies did great - somehting about riding in the car they easily go to sleep! and for Nora, she did great too! She didn't even have a DVD player to watch and didn't even ask about it until after it got dark the 2nd day in the van. We were very lucky to see some fall colors still on the trees thru places in TN. It made me remember Judy L's Leaf Season pattern she gave us last year for the Quilt for an Hour Project.. and I am determined to get it pieced in 2008!

Several of the bloggers I read daily have mentioned that they are list makers and several of you post list on your blogs. I have a list in the sidebar, but that isn't what I am talking about.... you know posting list each week as goals? Well this week, I forget who's blog I commented this about on... but I read that they were a list maker and had made a list of UFO/projects they wanted to gt done next year... and I commented saying I had started a list too during our drive up to KY on a couple napkins in the van.

Yes a couple napkins! :) I will have to hunt them up and type them up on my blog but I had a list fo UFO's and HESY - (haven't even started yets) which my husband thougth was crazy... men! LOL :)

Also while I am at it - I will make a list of few goals/resolutions for 2008. (both quilty adn not quilty)

Here is one I will go ahead and post today and I am also gonna begin it today and not wait until 2008. ;)

Blog more often!!! Since I love reading what everyone else is doing, I need to spend more time reporting in myself on my blog. I am going to limit my computer time and one way to do that is that I will not allow myself to visit and comment on others blogs until I have posted one on mine. Each day I will first come here and make an entry.

Well, I betterwrap up for now. Gotta go pick up Nora from Preschool soon.

Love from Texas! ~Bonnie

(PS, I'd love to have a handwritten signature like some of you.... any hints on how to do that? and while I am asking for help... most everyone's blog at the bottom has a link that says "older posts" how do i get that to show up for me??? so new readers can read my previous posts?)

Thanksgiving

We are leaving Saturday morning to go to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and won't be back for a week... so I wanted to leave any visitor that stop by a special Thanksgiving message. It’s not often I forward emails but recently I received a GREAT one and forwarded on to all the moms that I know and love. Each of of the Moms I sent it to have inspired me in one way or another.

And although I have not met any of my blogger friends, I think you will also enjoy this following message if you are a mom or perhaps it will remind you of your own mother. This comes at the perfect time too of Thanksgiving and it was a great motivation for me to “keep on keepin’ on!”

I really needed to hear/read this!Happy Early Thanksgiving & Love to all of you from Kentucky,~Bonnie

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I know it’s long, but all of you moms need to read this!

I'm invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible!

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:
Can you fix this?
Can you tie this?
Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being.
I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'
I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?'
I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devoured - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

(1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
(2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
(3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
(4) The passion of their building was fuelled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

God Bless You as you build your Cathedrals! (Author Unknown)

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PS - I did a little searching and even found some photos to add from our local Cathedral! :)