A beautiful ending to 2009

What a beautiful way to end 2009.   The weather forecast said it would begin snowing around 6:00 a.m.  I awoke at 5:38, and by 5:55, I was downstairs to let Puddin' out.  It was already falling and just beautiful.  Did you know that you can actually hear snow falling?  At 5:55, it is very quiet outside, so I was able to hear the snow gently falling to the ground. 

When the sun came up, I was able to capture a few photographs.  I am so glad to have snow cover again.  It's amazing how pure and clean everything looks under a blanket of freshly-fallen snow. 

God's Greeting

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Psalm 19:1

How often do you see the sunrise or sunset?  It comes and goes so quickly.  I am blessed that my desk is right next to a window that faces to the east.  I am able to enjoy the beautiful sunrise every morning while I work.  The thing about sunrises, though, is that if you blink, you can miss them.

Most mornings, I see the sky begin to light up every so subtly behind South Mountain.  Then, in a matter of minutes, the entire sky explodes with beautiful pinks, oranges and reds.  But, just as quickly as it came, it's gone again, and the sky is just grayish blue.

I believe the sunrise is God's good morning greeting to us.  As the Psalmist declared, "the skies proclaim the work of his hands."  There is no real purpose for a beautiful sunrise and sunset.  I believe God created them for our enjoyment alone, so we could look at the sky and realize how incredible He is, and just how much he loves us.

QVC Studio Tour

Sunday afternoon, Kurt and I went down to West Chester, PA to visit the QVC studios.  It was amazing.  I have been a viewer of QVC since Jonathan was a baby.  I would watch QVC in the middle of the night when I would be up with him.  I rarely order anything, but I love to watch.  QVC has definitely found it's niche.  The show hosts make you feel as though they are right there in the room with you.  When I am home alone, I often turn on QVC just because then I don't feel so alone.

The tour was incredible.  Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras in the studio, but we were able to take pictures in the lobby which was really neat.

It was really exciting because my favorite QVC host is Mary Beth Roe.  When we began the tour, we found out that Mary Beth Roe was on the air right then.  I was beside myself I was so excited.  There were other "QVC Groupies" (as Kurt called us) on the tour too.  The men (along with Kurt) didn't quite understand our excitement about much of the tour.

We were able to look through glass down at the studio and see it all going on.  I thought that was awesome, but then it got even better.  At the end of the tour (I guess they had to make sure we were all civilized first), they let us walk out on a  bridge-like structure and look down at everything as it was going on.   They gave us the speech about not making a sound and not having any electronic devices that could make a sound before they allowed us to go out there.  We could actually hear them talking on the show.  It was sooo  cool.

Christmas 2009

Another Christmas has come and gone.  This year was different than most Christmas holidays.  My former sister-in-law and her family where here for a visit to enjoy Christmas in the snow.  What really made Christmas unusual was that I had to work on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We had to have Christmas at 5:30 on Christmas morning so I could be ready for work by 7:00.  Needless to say, Christmas with 6 kids that early in the morning was pretty funny.
We made them stay upstairs until we were downstairs and ready to take pictures.  Then we had them come  downstairs in order from youngest to oldest.  It was so funny to watch.  Even the older ones were so excited about getting downstairs, but they were not thrilled with having their picture taken that early in the morning.

My sister-in-law took all the kids to their hotel for most of the day while I worked.  When I got off work, Kurt came over and everyone else came back for Christmas dinner together.  I was finally able to give Kurt his Dallas Cowboys quilt.  He really liked it.  I was so happy that he liked it.  It's been a very cold week, and he has been glad to have it at night.

Snow-covered Amish Country

What can I say?   Today was incredible.  Andrea and I spent several hours just driving backroads in Lancaster County.  With the fresh blanket of snow, everything was more beautiful than ever.  We saw so many beautiful things - some were captured on camera, and others were just captured in our memories.
Andrea was more than happy for me to stop constantly, sometimes every few feet, to get the most perfect photographs.  She is excited about having these photos to help her remember her trip. 

I have taken many pictures of Amish schools, but today was a special treat.  If you look very closely in the middle window, you'll see a little hand waving.  As we wer backing out from the school there were many hands waving to us.  It was so sweet.   I thought these Amish children did a very good job of building a snowman as well, and oh, look at the scooters parked by the side of the school.  Many of the Amish children ride scooters instead of bicycles.

Baaaaaa..... look at these sheep.  Aren't they precious.  These are part of an Amish farm. It is almost as though they poased for my photo.

I am excited about completing an entire year of Amish through the Seasons photographs.  I'm going to continue to do Amish photography, but it feels good to have collected a year's worth of photos.

I am going to look into having calendars made of my photos to give as Chrismas gifts next year.  Also, one day I hope to publish a book of my Amish Country photos.

I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve Eve.  I am looking forward to all the excitement that Christmas Eve and Christmas will bring.  Timothy is pretty hyped up.  I am excited about giving Kurt his Dalls Cowboys quilt for Christmas.  I hope he likes it.  He will also have a Dallas Cowboys stocking filled by Santa (asuming he is on the nice list, of course.)

Tomorrow's fun in the snow....

Andrea and I will be going on an Amish adventure tomorrow.  I can't wait to get lots and lots of photos of Amish Country blanketed with snow.    For the past year, I have been working on a collections of photos that I am compiling and calling, "Amish Through the Seasons."  I have a few photos of a dusting of snow in Amish country, but it is nothing compared to what we have now.

Finding My Identity

I think one of the hardest things about life is figuring out exactly who I am.  I've learned the hard way that my identity has to be independent of anyone else.   I spent many years believing my identity was found through being a pastor's wife and homeschooling, stay-at-home mommy.  However, with just a signature on a legal document, I lost my entire identy. 

Over four years later, I'm still trying to figure out exactly who I am.  I know I am a child of God in the spiritual sense, but who am I on this earth?  Is my identity a medical transcriptionist?  No, because in the blink of an eye, I could lose my job.  Is my identity a mommy?  No, because my children will grow upand leave home.  Is my identity Kurt's girlfriend?  No, because again, that could change.

Who am I anyway?  Where to I find freedom?  I love to quilt, but in reality, I'm not very good at it.  Do I like to bake?  Oh yes, cookies are my speciality, but that's not it either.

When I think back over the past few years, I have found the most freedom behind the lens of my camera.  I can be in the midst of a crowd, but not hear or see anything except what I have set my sights on to photograph.  I am able to express my creativity and permanently capture the world through my own eyes.   

When I am forced into an uncomfortable or undesirable situation,  I am comforted if I can bring my camera and take pictures.  Just last week, I felt so alone and awkward as I entered Timothy's elementary school for his Christmas program.  I saw all the happy "normal parents" (mommy and daddy together) and felt conspicuously alone.  However, once I pulled out my camera and began to photograph the program, the insecurities and awkwardness faded away.  

So, is my identity a photographer?  I don't know.... maybe so....

This past weekend was gorgeous.  It snowed most of the day on Saturday.  We got to play in the snow and enjoy watching it fall.  Saturday evening we went to Christmas Village http://www.koziarschristmasvillage.com/ .  It had been snowing all afternoon, and was snowing most of the time we were there.  It was so beautiful.   The kids had a good time.  Jonathan even invited his girlfriend, Jenny, to come along.

I've seen a lot of light displays before, but nothing could top this one - especially not on a snowy night. 

It's what makes me *ME*

The truth is, I tend to be a slow learner. You see, when I take the time to sew/quilt and be creative, I blossom. When I get too busy in the mundane and stressful activities of daily living, I start to wilt. I become less vibrant. I become droopy.

What I don't understand is why I can't seem to remember this. I go through phases like this often. I'll find myself wilted and droopy. I'll start to be grumpy and stressed. I become overwhelmed with everything. When I get to that point. I force myself to sew/quilt. It's the best thing I could do for myself because it HELPS!

This past weekend, I was stressed beyond believe. I was overwhelmed with just about everything. At that point, I decided to take a day off this week to have some *me* time.

That day off was yesterday. I even turned down an invitation to lunch with Kurt so I could stay in my PJ's and sew/quilt all day with no interruptions. It was wonderful. I finished Kurt's quilt, and I finished my ornaments for the Martha Pullen Fan Club ornament exchange. I had a spring in my step that has stayed with me even today.

On my morning break, I pulled out my fabric to begin sewing my Christmas purse on my lunch break. My creative juices have been flowing nonstop, and I am even thinking of making more Christmas gifts. I have plenty of time (over 3 weeks), so why not?

Yes, sewing/quilting is what makes me *ME*. Without it, I'm just a gloomy, droopy, wilted girl.

Kurt's Quilt

After over 2 months of slowly working on Kurt's quilt, I finished it today. I am so happy to have it

finished. He is a big Dallas Cowboys fan, so I thought this quilt would be perfect for him. I used fusible batting for the first time. In some ways it was a time-saver, but in other ways it was a pain. I'm no tsure if I will want to use it again. I was really excited to find my quilt labels I had purchased years ago. I really wanted to personalize the quilt somehow, and I found the labels and was able to add one to the bottom right-hand corner of the quilt.

Fall is winding down her in beautiful Amish country. Two weeks ago, I spent a Sunday afternoon capturing the beauty of the peak of fall. As you can see by this photo, even the Amish were out enjoying the colors.

I was simply amazed at the multitude of colors in the landscape. It was breathtaking.


The temperature has been dropping, the leaves have almost finishing falling, and now it's time to get ready for winter. I am eagerly awaiting the first snow. I am especially excited about it this year because I will not have the stress of having to drive to work in the snow/ice because I work from home now. :-)

Colors of fall...

......and it's only just beginning. My church is a 50-minute drive through beautiful, mountainous countryside. I brought my camera with me (as I will throughout fall) to take a few pictures along the way. I am absolutely amazed at all of the spectacular colors everywhere I look. Even dying corn is a beautiful golden color. The vegetable crops are a vibrant yellow. The trees are mostly green still, but there are colors popping out here and there.

Fall is definitely my favorite season. The colors of fall were created by God for just one reason -- our enjoyment. If you think about it, why would leaves change into beautiful colors just to fall to the ground? God wanted us to enjoy His creation, so he made it incredibly gorgeous. He loves us enough to paint the sunrise and sunset every day. He loves us enough to create gorgeous sparkling blue and green water in the ocean. He loves us enough to splash the leaves with awesome colors for us to enjoy each fall.

Remember Me?

Yes, it's been a while since I have posted. I was inspired by Martha Pullen (who just started her own blog today) to get back to my blog. I have been spending most of my computer time on facebook.

I'm still loving this beautiful part of the country. In fact, I took several hours on Monday to enjoy Amish country. The corn is ready for harvest. The leaves are beginning to get a hint of color to them, and fall is approaching. I can't wait until the peak of the fall season is upon us. I plan to take at least a million pictures.

I've been getting back into my sewing/quilting after a little bit of a slump. In the past month, I have made a patchwork block as my first step in patchwork quilting. I also made a new doll dress for my Martha Pullen doll.

This weekend, I am beginning to work on Kurt's Christmas present. I think he has already figured out that it is going to be a quilt, but he has no idea what it will be like. I am not going to post the details in case he were to read it, but I will tell you that I am *sew* excited about it. I am making a strip quilt. I have three different fabrics that I am using -- all perfectly suited for him. My goal is to get my strips cut this weekend. I think that is a realistic goal.

After months and months of being the best of friends, Kurt officially asked me to be his girlfriend on July 5th. We have had the most amazing and wonderful time growing together and growing in the Lord. He is so sweet and humors me by showing interest in my quilting/sewing. He is such a gift from God.

TGTF

Do you know what TGTF means? It means "Thank God Tomorrow's Friday"! It has been quite a week!

Sunday, my children and I went to Norristown, PA after church to Kurt's concert. He is in a classical quartet. It was awesome. There was a viola, clarinet, french horn and piano. They were all incredible!

Tuesday night was an experience I will not soon forget. I was on my way to church and was in a wreck. I was stopped for the car in front of me to turn left. The car behind me stopped in time, but a truck with a snow plow rammed into them who then rammed into me. The Lord was with me, and I was not injured, and damage to my van was minimal. Every state trooper at the scene (and there were several) commented about how good my van got off considering what the car that hit me looked like. I was very sore that night and the next day, but today (Thursday) I am feeling better.

There has been no quilting so far this week. I am hoping this weekend will offer a little bit of quilting time.

What a difference the right tools make!!

This morning, I went to JoAnns. Their quilting tools were 50% off. I bought a 6.5 x 24.5 inch ruler and new blades for my rotary cutter. WOW -- it made a HUGE difference. Now I can cut strips and squares accurately. I had been using a 4 x 18" ruler, and it just wasn't big enough to work with. I have struggled with quilting because the desire has been there, but the ability to cut neatly has not been there. Now I can do it!! The possibilities are endless!! I can even cut my own 2.5 inch strips to make my own jelly rolls with ease!! I've been playing this afternoon and cutting up scraps into 5" charm squares too. Oh how fun this is!! I can cut and cut and cut!!!

I love weekends in Amish Country!!

Today, we visited a quilt shop in Ephrata, PA called Piece By Piece. I will post a separate entry about our shopping experience, but for now, I wanted to share my Amish experience!

Ephrata is about 12 miles south of Reading in Lancaster County. I wanted to enjoy some Amish scenery, but didn't know where to find the Amish. As we were driving down "Main Street" in Ephrata, we saw a horse and buggy turn down one of the side roads that led out of town. I knew that was which way I wanted to go.

As we traveled through the Amish country, we passed 2 horse and buggies, AND we passed 2 Amish men in a horse-drawn wagon full of church benches. If you've read any of the Beverly Lewis books, you probably know that on Saturdays, the Amish get set up for church the next day. They deliver all the benches and chairs to the home that is going to host church for that day. We saw two Amish men doing that. It was so neat to see.

We saw many Amish people riding bicycles and passed many Amish homes and farms.

Then we came across either an Amish or very conservative Mennonite one-room school. I *had* to stop and peek in. It was sooo neat to see inside! It was hard to believe it was real. I could have gazed in the window all day.

While we were there, my two older children were in the van afraid I was going to get in trouble for peeking in the windows of this school. They told me that an Amish guy on a bicycle just road by. Then I heard them saying, "Someone's coming - hurry up!!!".

I wasn't afraid - I knew we weren't doing anything wrong. This older gentleman was walking down the street, and came to talk to me. He said that the Amish guy on the bicycle that just went by teaches at that school. How neat is that?? He said it was a shame we missed him because he could have told us more about the school.

After our scenic drive through Amish country, we stopped at Walmart and enjoyed shopping with quite a few Amish families.

I just love it here!!!

Quilted Valentine's Day Cards

I am home with a sick little boy today, so I was able to finish my quilted Valentine's Day cards. They're a lot of fun to make, but they are time-consuming.

I learned that it was definitely easier to start from jelly roll strips rather than cut the blocks completely myself. I am very challenged in the area of cutting strips, blocks, etc. I need to take a class on that. I think I would really enjoy making block quilts if I could learn to cut squares. I am pretty good at sewing with consistent 1/4" seams, but that doesn't matter if your squares aren't straight!!

Anyone have any suggestions of websites/books that can help me learn to cut squares, strips, etc. I have a huge cutting mat (24x36) and a 6" x 18" ruler, along with a good rotary cutter.

My Sewing Corner

Here it is -- my sewing corner! For almost 4 years, I had a sewing room, but since moving to PA, I must sleep in my sewing room. I'd rather put it that way that say that my sewing room is in my bedroom! . I've been here for 2 months, but just got my sewing corner completely set up this past weekend. It's a bit of a squeeze, but it works, and as long as I have my machines, I am happy!! :-)

A Sick/Sew Day

It looks as though I may have some time to sew tomorrow. I will not be going to work tomorrow. As I was leaving work today, I got a call from Timothy's school telling me that he had just thrown up. So far, he has thrown up 6 times in under 6 hours. Needless to say, he will not be going to school tomorrow.

After he fell asleep this evening, I worked on my hand-made quilted Valentine cards. I need to finish them tomorrow so I can get them in the mail. They are so much fun to make.

I am hoping that I get to enjoy my time off tomorrow and sew/quilt. I am a little nervous that I may end up with this stomach bug. I am praying that I don't get it.

I haven't decided what we are doing this weekend. I am sure Hannah and I will visit another quilt fabric shop, but I haven't decided which one or where. It's only Wednesday, so I still have a couple days to figure it out.

Today felt like spring. It was 60 degrees a lunch time. Kurt and I met for lunch and had a picnic at the park that I have taken many of the snow pictures on my blog. We fed the ducks and geese and went for a walk. It was wonderful to be outside without a coat. I am enjoying this brief intermission from winter, but not ready for winter to be over. I want a few more snows before this winter is over.

Quilted Greeting Cards

This evening, I decided to practice making quilted greeting cards. I found a pattern online at http://craftapple.wordpress.com/2006/08/23/quilted-cards-tutorial/ My goals is to make my own Valentines, but I thought I should practice first. I used some jelly roll scraps to make my 2.5" squares.

This was really a lot of fun. Tomorrow, I am going to go to JoAnns on my lunch break to pick up a few pieces of valentine print fabric to make my own Valentines.

I went to AC Moore on my lunch break today and bought a package of blank cards. I got a package of 50 cards and envelopes for $5.50. They were $10.99, but I had a 50% off coupon.

This is a great way for a quick quilting fix, and it's a neat card to give someone. Each one will be an absolute original -- which is pretty neat!

Quilters TV

I discovered a really fun website that I wanted to pass along. Since I am new to both quilting and blogging, I am sure many of you already know about this site, but I thought I would share it anyway.

It's "Quilter's TV" -- http://www.quilterstv.com/ There are some great "how to" episodes for many different quilting techniques/problems.

Since I work full time during the day, I am not able to take advantage of all the great quilting shows on t.v., so I am excited to find quilting shows online that I can watch in the evenings and on weekends.

I'm not sure if I will get much sewing in today. We have church this morning, and we'll go grocery shopping on the way home. Late this afternoon, Kurt and his kids are going to join us for a "Make Your Own Pizza & Game" night. I've already pulled out twister. This is going to be fun!!

In Stitches - Wolmesdorf, PA

This morning, Hannah and I visited the "In Stitches" quilt shop in Wolmesdorf, PA (approximately 15 miles west of Reading).

It is a great little quilting store -- lots and lots of fat quarters for $1.99 each, a very nice selection of fabric and notions - and 17 different quilting magazines. She also had a very nice selection of quilting patterns. It was great.

She had some beautiful quilts hanging up around the shop, and I fell in love with one of them. I asked the shop owner about it, and she said that it is a class that she teaches. It was an "Attic Window" quilt. The possibilities are endless with this type of quilt. She offers many classes, and when I expressed an interest in this one, she said she would go ahead and schedule a class for it. Hannah offered to babysit for the day (it's a whole Saturday) as my birthday gift so I could go. It is going to be on March 28th.

As I talked with the shop owner, she was very sweet and thanked us for coming. She said she'd love for us to come back and said how she likes to get to know her customers.

After she had done and said all of this, THEN I told her that I was visiting as many quilt shops as I could around the area and writing a review in my blog. I'm glad I didn't tell her that right way, because it makes it even sweeter that she scheduled a class just because I was interested in learning that quilt, and she said how she likes to get to know her customers.

So... "In Stitches" is definitely a great little quilt shop -- one I am sure I will frequent often (as it is only about 8 miles away.)

If you'd like to find out more about "In Stitches" you can visit her website at : http://www.institchesfabrics.com/

Hawk Mountain and Tour-Guide Jonathan

Today we took a family hiking trip to Hawk Mountain. It was absolutely breath-taking. I've never been hiking on a mountain before. It was snow-covered and beautiful!!!

Jonathan wanted to be our guide, so I gave him the map and let him lead. Unknown to us, he took us on one of the most difficult trails. We climbed rocks, hung on for dear life, and fell down more times than I can count. Thankfully there was plenty of snow to cushion our falls. There were several look-out points along the way, and the view was totally breath-taking. I've never experienced anything like it before. Here are a few more pictures from our day....

The Quilter's Workbook!!

Today, I received a very special blessing from my very sweet friend, AverettLadyNana (http://averettladynana.blogspot.com/). She sent me "The Quilter's Workbook" as a birthday gift. It's so awesome!! It's packed with some great information/ instructions for quilting, and it includes a way to organize quilting projects. I love it!!

This morning, Hannah and I picked up my embroidery machine and then visited "In Stitches". We had a great visit, and I will blog about it this afternoon, but for now we're off to Hawk Mountain for the afternoon!!

Thank you so much AverettLadyNana!!!

TGIF!

TGIF!! It's Friday night, which is probably my favorite time of the whole week! We've had a very quiet and relaxing evening.

First thing tomorrow morning, Hannah and I will go pick up my embroidery machine. On our way back, we are going to "In Stitches" quilt shop in Wolmesdorf. I will write about that tomorrow.

Then, we're all going hiking on Hawk Mountain. It's about 45 minutes north of Reading. It's supposed to be beautiful. I can't wait. I am so excited about the pictures I will take. It's going to be sunny and a high around 45* tomorrow. We're going to hike the easiest trail tomorrow, but we will be going back to tackle some of the more difficult trails later in the spring and summer.

Quilters Club of America

I did it! I joined the Quilters Club of America this evening. I wanted to subscribe to a quilting magazine and love Fons and Porter Easy Quilts. I decided to joint the Quilters Club of America so I could not only have the subscription to Fons and Porter Easy Quilts, but also the other benefits -- particularly the 1-year membership to QNNTV!! I'm especially excited about that -- being able to be in my room -- even lying in bed, and watching quilt show after quilt show on my computer!!

My friend, Susan, and I were discussing The Quilter's Club of America last night, and as she said in her blog today, the price went up while we were talking about it. I used the discount code given in the latest issue of Easy Quilts, and got the membership for $39.99.

I am happy to report that I was able to cut out my appliques for my secret mission quilt at lunch today at work. It was so much fun to bring my quilting to work. It was so comforting! I will definitely do that more often as I have things that I can do at work.

Quilting at Work!

I'm all packed for work today. I have everything I need to quilt on my lunch break today.

I'm having a very difficult time balancing my schedule and trying to squeeze in time for ME to do what I want to do -- quilt! So, I decided to take my project with me. I am going to cut out my appliques on my lunch break today. I don't know why I never thought of this before. It'll be perfect. I'll have 45 uninterrupted minutes to get these cut out.

Quilt Shop Review

As my blog title says, I am sew blessed to be in Amish country. It's incredibly beautiful here, and there are more quilting shops than I will probably ever get to visit. However, I sure would like to try to visit all of the shops within a 1-hour radius of my home.

Since most of you do not live here and are not able to visit these great shops, I have decided to share my experiences with you.

Every time I visit a new Amish country quilt shop, I am going to blog about it -- complete with pictures, links to their website, and perhaps even an interview with and employee from the store.

I am going to start this Saturday by visiting "In Stitches" http://www.institchesfabrics.com/index.html

I think this will be a lot of fun, and I hope those of you who are not blessed to live here will enjoy joining me as I tour all of the local quilt shops in beautiful Amish country, Pennsylvania!

My Lunch Companion

Today, I spent my lunch break at the park across from the hospital. It began snowing just minutes before I got there. My mission was to spend some time with the ducks and just relax and forget about the real world.


Little did I know, I would make friends with an adorable little squirrel. He was the cutest little guy. We played peek-a-boo for a little while. He'd look at me, and then quickly look away. He'd scamper up a tree, and then stop to look at me, and then scamper to the other side of the tree, then peek around the trunk. He was so cute!!


I took quite a few pictures of him. I also enjoyed watching some majestic geese, along with some beautiful mallard ducks. The snow was gently falling, and as the flakes landed on my pants or jacket, I could clearly see how intricate and amazing each snowflake was.

The snow has continued to fall this afternoon. We're supposed to have a couple of inches by morning. I was not able to go to CR at church tonight. I was walking out the door, and Kurt called to see if I had left yet. He said he was on his way to church and the roads were already pretty bad. He didn't think I would want to get out in it, and he was right.

Now, I have a chance to spend a little bit of thinking time on my "secret mission" quilt this evening. :-) My children know that Tuesday nights are the only night that I get a bit of a break, so I am still going to get it tonight. They're just going to have to pretend that I am not here!

Yesterday, the sewing store called to let me know that my embroidery machine was repaired and ready to be picked up. Thankfully it was just the timing and did not require any extra parts. The only bad part is that they close at 5:00, during the week, so I won't be able to pick it up until Saturday. I'm going to be glad to have my machine back.

I'm considering purchasing a subscription to a quilting magazine. I'm trying to decide which one. I really enjoy Fons and Porter Easy Quilts, but that one is only published 4 times a year. I also like Quick Quilts. Hmmm.....decisions... decisions... decisions...

Jon & Kate Plus Eight

Tonight, Timothy, Kurt and I went to an awesome benefit concert. It was sponsored by Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church. It was called, "Hope for Tomorrow". Proceeds went to building wells for fresh drinking water in Africa - not just so these people can have real water, but also so they can have a chance to hear the message of Jesus and the living water.

The concert featured great praise and worship, and also an appearance by Jon from Jon & Kate Plus Eight. They live in the Reading, PA area.

After the concert, Jon was signing autographs. We just happened to stumble upon the table as he was just getting started, and we were third our fourth in line.

Hannah had really wanted to go tonight, and we had planned to take all the kids, but she started not feeling well in the evening. I had Jon sign a picture for her as well. She was already in bed when I got home, but I gave it to her and she was so happy.

A beautiful morning and my top secret quilt

This morning Hannah and I went to Myerstown to drop off my Disney embroidery machine to have it repaired. We then traveled another 5 miles down Hwy 422 to "Martin's Fabric Barn". All I can say is "WOW"!!! They have tons and tons of flat folds for $2.98 a yard. I got 12 different prints for my "Top Secret" quilt! There were quite a few Amish and Mennonite quilters coming in and out of the store while we were there.

As we were leaving, an Amish horse and buggy was coming down the road, and it was just too beautiful not to photograph.

Next Saturday we are going to a store called "In Stitches" http://www.institchesfabrics.com/index.html It's about 5 miles from here in Wolmesdorf, PA. It looks like a lot of fun. You know, this area really is a paradise for quilters!!

Now...about my top secret quilt. My dear friend Susan of AbbySue Designs -- http://www.abbysuedesigns.com/ and http://www.sewmanythingstosay.blogspot.com/ is a budding new quilt pattern designer. She has designed a pattern that I am going to test for her. I am so excited about it. When the quilt is finished and the pattern published, everyone will get to see it! :-)

TIGF!!!

I am so glad it is Friday!! This week has gone by quickly, but it has been exhausting and stressful!!

Overnight, we had just a few flurries fall. When I got into my van this morning, snowflakes were just gently laying on the windshield. It was neat because you could see them each individually. I had to take a picture of it. They're each unique and each beautiful.

Tomorrow I am taking my embroidery machine (Brother 180-D) to be repaired. I knocked out the timing on it making Kurt's embroidered blanket for Christmas. I filed my taxes tonight, so now I will have the money to have it repaired.

I am looking forward to going to the shop to have it repaired. They are a Viking and Brother dealership, which is perfect for me since I have a Viking sewing machine (Freesia 425) and a Brother embroidery machine (180-D).

I am also going to begin working on my "top secret" quilt. I'll write more about that tomorrow, But for now, I am going upstairs to snuggle under my antique singer print fleece blanket and read a quilting magazine -- ahhhh - that is my idea of a perfect Friday night!!