Time Flies...even when you're not having fun.

Has it really been 2 years since I posted? Wow. Sometimes life takes us for a wild roller coaster ride. Just this last year has had many ups and unexpected downs. It's shown me again how unexpected life can be.

Last February, Tom and I flew down to Florida for a new and somewhat experimental surgery. Little did either of us know when he joked about 2015 going to be the "year of pain" how true he would be. His surgery was a success and it took away a majority of the pain he had been living with. We had the normal ups and downs related to living with his PTSD and my anxiety.

In July we converted my craft room into a school room since we decided to homeschool this year. School was going okay and we dealt with the normal "kid not wanting to do work" that we would have even if they were in regular school. August seemed to go by and school was starting to smooth out.

Then in the early hours of September 14th that my world tilted. My parents, who I hadn't talked to for over a year showed up at my door. They told me that my cousin had been killed. He was only 31 yrs old. He was a Kentucky State Trooper. He had pulled a man over for going 103 mph on the highway. The man had a suspended license and neither of the other two had a drivers license either (I assume one of the minors was 16/17). Cameron noticed there were 3 other occupants in the car (an 18 yr old and 2 minors). Instead of issuing the man a ticket, he was in the process of arranging lodging for them (out of his own money) until they could get a licensed driver to come pick them up in the morning. The driver took off and it became a chase. Then the man stopped, causing Cameron to nudge him. Then proceeded to shoot Cameron in his cruiser. the man was later found after a manhunt and killed. I'm comforted in the knowledge that there were a couple of good Samaritans who decided to stop when they came across the scene and were there with Cameron in his last moments. ...  Cameron he was a good man. He was a Navy veteran and worked along side the Navy Seals on their missions. He got out in 2013 and had been with the KSP for only 8 months. He was one of those magnetic people that drew you to them and you couldn't help but be happy around him. The magnitude of people who showed up for his viewing and funeral is amazing. He touched so many people. The church his funeral was in held 1100 people and there were still law enforcement people standing in the aisles because every seat was filled. The procession took 3 hrs to go what would normally take 20 mins. It was all so very overwhelming.

 The rest of September and the beginning of October went by in a haze. Then October 24th came around. We got the news that my father-in-law was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in his lungs, liver and brain. He was given a couple months. We tried to spend as much time with my in laws as we could. Every day that we had with him was a blessing. Then on the morning of December 2nd, my father in law passed away at home. A day we should have been celebrating Tom's birthday, we were mourning his father's death.

So here I sit in my dining room. Packing boxes in various stages of fill surrounding me. Contemplating the past and wondering what the future will bring.  We had traded my Charger in on an RV with the plans of taking my inlaws on trips to help check items off my father in law's bucket list. We are going to continue knowing that he will still be there with us in spirit. So, my blog will be changing with us. I hope to fill this with whatever the road ahead of us brings. 

February Finish Goal - Giant Dresden

I am making this for a group called Patchwork for Paws. These quilts will be going to K9s for Warriors. It is an organization that trains service dogs for veterans with PTSD. The quilts will be used on the beds that they have for the veterans when they come down to meet and train with their dogs.

I've wanted to make one of these since I saw Red Pepper Quilts' Giant Dresden. Her dresden is 36 inch diameter. Mine will be a 74 inch diameter dresden. It was a scrap buster challenge and it has 680 2-1/2" x 7" strips. 

I am using rulers by Marilyn Dohney. I am using the 25" and 37" extension 9 degree rulers.

25" ruler

37" extension ruler

No Reply Blogger Issues

Hey everyone. I'm so sorry if I've commented on your blogs and it showed I was a no-reply blogger. Apparently when I switched my account from Blogger to Google+ a while ago it changed my setting. I didn't know this until this morning when I received an email from Molli Sparkles. I have to admit I went all fan girl and did a little happy dance and squealed because I got an email from him. 

Well, it took me a little bit, but I found a way to fix my no-reply blogger issue. So I recommend checking to see if you are a no-reply blogger too. Simply post a comment to one of your blog posts and try to reply to it in your email. If you are, check out Fluster Buster's fix. Just click on the image below.

January WIP goal - 12 yr Aniv Pillow

I have a couple things I need to get done this month, but the most important is a pillow for my husband for our 12 yr anniversary. He has asked me for a couple years to make him a quilt out of silk, but I have put it off and put it off because I'm a bit intimidated with silk. With the traditional gift for a 12 yr anniversary is silk, I took it as a sign that I needed to finally make him something out of silk. I'm going to make him a euro size pillow. The finished pillow will have 4 rings on it (2 x 2). I received a great tip to use a thin interfacing behind my silk has helped. I backed the silk before cutting out the pieces.

A bathroom remodel has kept me from working on this until today. I think I might be a bit crazy. I've never sewn curves either and I need this done by Sunday.

Wish me luck!

Goals for the New Year

Well, it is 2014 now. I wonder how long it will be before I stop writing 2013 on things. I didn't really get the things that I wanted to get done finished last year. It was a sad sad year for sewing. This year I would like to continue to get my WIPs list shortened (pretty much the same goal as last year). I'm also wanting to get my etsy shop up and running. I would like to have a little extra money to fund my fabric obsession and treat the kiddos. Panda is going to be going to school next school year. So it'll just be me, Little Dude, and hubby at home. We're hoping to build a house sometime this year. So you'll hear more about that.

I just posted the first block for the Misfit Quilters' BOM. Yay! So excited about having our own BOM. I'm hoping to blog more here and get the group back up and running. We are going to have a few swaps. One being the 4-letter word swap. I'm a little scared that we won't have a lot of people join that one because of the tree swap. I think this could help to redeem myself because I will have solid dates and a public list of who did/didn't get their blocks to me. *fingers crossed*

I came across a blog post from Lily's Quilts. She has two link ups on there today.

This one is for blogs with less than 50 followers who would like to get a bigger following.

This one is for those who wish to share what they have worked on this month.




What are your goals for 2014?

Last Post for 2013

Here are a few things that I've been working on this last week and something that needs finishing.

Late Christmas present for my mother in law.

(The points will have little bells on them when it's finished.)

Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap.

Stitching by the fire. :-)

Backing

Finished.

Late Christmas present for my mother.

I was going to make her a Dorthy doll, but my felt has gotten lost in the mail.

Candy Dish pattern by Jaybird Quilts

Fabric: In From the Cold by Kate Spain by Moda

So happy with how my points met up!

Both pillow tops.

I finally made my first Frosted Pumpkin Travel Hoop bag.

Fabric: Crafty Chloe by Heather Ross and Kona Solid Sprout.

Giant Dresden of Awesomeness!

I am making this dresden for Patchwork for Paws. It is a charity scrap quilt that will go to keeping wounded veterans warm while they train with their service dogs at K9s for Warriors.

What a year it's been! Here's hoping that 2014 is much better!

My guess for the Doctor Who 50th Aniv Special.

Update: Well, I was totally wrong with my guess. LOL

The quote at the bottom of the 50th Aniv print. 

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.” 
From the Vincent and the Doctor episode.


Okay so this is me waving my Dork Flag really high, but Doctor Who fans will understand.

So I think I figured out who the guy is (John Hurt) at the end of Doctor Who season finale. My guess is he is the Valeyard (learned court prosecutor for the Time Lords). He had appeared in the 1986 episodes of Doctor Who where the 6th doctor was put on trial. 

Following is quoted from wiki.

It was then revealed that the Valeyard was, in fact, the Doctor himself — or rather, a distillation of the Doctor's evil side, a potential dark version who might exist around his twelfth and final incarnation. This concept is similar to the ethereal "Watcher" that manifested itself to bridge the gap between his fourth and fifth incarnations (Logopolis). However, in the novelisation of the story the Master states "The Valeyard, Doctor, is your penultimate reincarnation... Somewhere between your twelfth and thirteenth regeneration".

ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeyard

Since their bringing back a bunch of villians (possibly for trial?) and the 10th doctor and Rose (*sniffles* I still get teary eyed.)

What are you guesses for the Doctor Who 50th Aniv special?