for the tears...

i hoped

and prayed

progress...

.

had been made

we have worked so hard

never giving up

offering support

and time

money even

yet we are

right back where we started

its heart breaking

i'm torn in pieces

i want it to be different

i need understanding

i want peace

why is that so hard

new rubber...

his question

caught me

off guard

.

hello

this is jason

hi jason

your car's ready

oh great i'll be there soon

are you excited

excited about what

your new tires

oh...do women get excited about new tires

sure they do

a few hours later after driving...

hi honey i made it to the wedding

the new tires are like butter

very smooth

hmm...

i guess i just admitted

i'm excited about new rubber

who knew

awesome...yes...

there's nothing like

a quiet

friday night

.

in the studio

with the form behind me

i was able to play

with awesome

and yes indeed

it is awesome

i decided to outline the leaves

and the stem

with a blanket stitch

by hand

had not done that in a while

it felt good

and i love the look

it gave to my leaf

awesome...not...

my favorite

time of year

is just around...

.

...the corner

and i have just the thing

to prepare

a charm pack of awesome

and acorn alley

the pattern

i even found a great

leaf template

to use for quilting

but not so fast

instead

i have the dreaded

pile of paperwork

to complete for my

daughter's school program

awesome will have to wait

until tomorrow

admitting addiction

i am an addict

i know this

have for years

.

i cannot live

without a camera

my last one was dropped

so many times

the last fall

did it in

so off i went

to find a new love

i look and look and look

then always go back

to a canon powershot

whichever model

takes

double aa batteries

because i can

buy them anywhere

i learned that the hard way

several years back

on a canoe trip in

the middle of nowhere

campground and general stores

do not stock camera batteries

so sx120 is

it will be

wrapped so prettily in a

purple box

driving miss daisy...

this is a first

john in the front seat

me in the back seat...

.

and TJ

our oldest son

driving

we joked about

driving miss daisy

yet i took the opportunity

to discuss the very

difficult role

that adult children

sometimes have to make

taking the keys from their

aging parents

we have had a rash

of serious accidents

in northeast ohio this summer

involving fatalities

caused by aging folks

who became

confused and disoriented

the latest taking the lives of

a grandfather

and his two grandchildren

aged five and seven

in most cases a

son or daughter was interviewed

and the response was the same

i knew he/she was having...

but i didn't think

it would affect their driving

take a minute to think

about your own parents

as difficult as it is

as inconvenient as it might be

should they still be driving

vickie in violet

i first noticed

her necklace

when she walked...

.

into the store

it was a beautiful shade of

purple

my favorite you know

she introduced herself as vickie

and then went walking about

a short while later

she happened to mention

she was waiting for kate

and then a little flicker

that she was about

to be a cover girl

on quilts and more no less

holy cow

i thought to myself

i have such talent in the room

i was instantly star struck

giddy like a little girl

then i read her blog post

i'm so thankful for the review

and then kate too

wrote very kind words

i'm grateful

so, so grateful to you two

cottonpickers purple...

early this morning

i received a phone call

from a fellow...

.

quilt shop owner

wow

did i just say

fellow quilt shop owner

i'm still getting used to that

she called to wish me good luck

a special group

these quilt shop gals

i'm proud

and excited to be among them

the funny thing is

i was planning to

visit her shop this afternoon

after dropping sarah off

at a music camp close by

i didn't tell her though

i just walked in

to surprise her

cottonpicker's

located in historic madison, ohio

charming and endearing

friendly beyond measure

and look what i found

purple

lots and lots of purple

sorry this is fuzzy

i had my son's camera

and have yet to figure out

how to operate it

yet i did not want to miss

posting this

for memory sake

meeting beth is like seeing
a long lost friend

you'll feel like

you've known her for years

be sure to stop in

if you're out her way

looking into the future...

today was simply

incredible

in so many ways

.

the grand opening of our store

this week

exceeded our expectations

in every way

i have hundreds

of photos i could share

yet it is this

one

you see above

that captures my soul

embraces my goal

of sharing

my love of fabric

and stitching

with the next generation

i first met mackenzie a few weeks ago

when her father brought her along

while he finished installing

our cabinetry

she was curious about our vision

i showed her some fabric

gave her a charm pack from

12 days of christmas

and a bag from moda

along with the newest catalog of fabric

her excitment melted my heart

she returned today

with her moda bag under her arm

the corners of the catalog

now appearing well worn

she recited the names of the new collections

and recognized happy in a frame

she could not wait to meet a designer

her enthusiasm barely contained

her smile glowed from ear to ear as

kate spain wrote her name

two dozen...

years as mr. & mrs.

.

nineteen eighty six to twenty ten

seems like just yesterday

we said i do

and now

here we are

invited to witness

the love of our

friend's children

.

honey...

thank you

for the magic

for dancing when given a chance

for your unconditional love

your unwavering support

for just being you
happy 24th anniversary

i love you more today

than i ever thought

possible

best wishes to beth & aaron...

...the purple writing

on the envelope

was a tiny preview...

.

of what i found inside

amazing detail

by a talented graphic artist

a friend of the bride
the small letters caught my attention
along with the colors

.

they raised my expectation

for the flowers

and they did not disappoint
oh the purple beauty

it was grand

.

the minute cathy walked

through the doors

her beauty

her smile, her warm personality

her lovely lavendar dress

illuminated the room

a gorgeous mother-of-the-bride

her dignity and strength

did not go unnoticed

a shining example

for the rest of us

.

debbie, kim and cathy

we are so blessed to have

on our team

john and i are so grateful

for their hard work

dedication

and friendship

.

best wishes to the adorable couple

may their lives be blessed

with happiness and

love

a precious purple princess...

the past few weeks

have been a little

hard on my soul...

.

and then i saw this beauty

and my heart just melted

is she not the sweetest

meet kaitlyn

in all her purple prettiness

. i just want to scoop her up

she is so precious

she was born almost twenty years

to the day of our sweet sarah

i have been following

her blog

for a while now

takes me back to those

early days

with fond memories

kristen's light will always shine...

life's lessons surround us

some are crystal clear

others not so much...

.

several months ago

when my daughter sarah

first showed interest in sewing

i searched for an appropriate

item to start her on

i was lead to a website

called

the one million pillowcase challenge

the concept was simple

to make pillowcases
for others to enjoy

while they slept in hospitals or shelters

sarah immediately jumped on the idea

and set out to make a pillowcase

for her blogging friend

kristen was in the midst of treatment

of her fourth battle with leukemia

sarah learned to sew

kristen enjoyed her pillowcases

then the unthinkable happened

just this past week

kristen 's battle was over

her body set free of the pain

that morning i received an email

so did polly

it was from juliet at etsy

they wanted to use the story

on their worldwide

website

i deferred to the kirton's

not sure how they would feel

having just lost their precious daughter

polly had already responded

she gave her permission

the entry posted

as of today there are

92 comments

from readers who have no connection

to down syndrome

they are seeing two beautiful women

kristen's light continuing to shine

to make the world a better place

to read the entry click here

be sure to scroll down to read the comments

i am humbled beyond words

that i was permitted to

be a part of this life lesson

the love of a family...

my heart is in

draper, utah

this morning...

.

where a dear mother

must say her

earthly goodbyes

to her precious daughter

a beautiful young woman

who taught us all

so very much

about life and living

strength and dignity
courage and hope

.

where a dear father

is letting go

of his princess

for a time
until they meet again

.

where a selfless brother

gave of his own bone marrow

to try to help his sister

beat this nasty awful disease

called cancer

.

where two sisters

readily agreed to hasten

their wedding plans

so their sister

might attend

it's not often

that a family

so genuinely cares

so openly shares

so we might all

learn

from their example

of faith and trust

please lift up the kirton's

in your prayers

as their angel

is now also

our angel

bless you dear family

at it again...

this is such

a new me...

.

i'm tree lawn picking

again

another adorable table

it's the perfect legs

i notice first

just waiting for it's next life

i promise it will be

a good one

not exactly notions...

i spotted

this pile

as i was leaving...

.

our store today

it belongs to the painter

at first glance

seemed to be a mess

over in the corner

upon closer inspection

i realize it

is a neat pile

of miscellaneous treasure

each item needed

for some specific task

to complete

the job

not exactly notions

yet

just like my sewing room

a collection of stuff

to have just the perfect tool

at just the right time