charmed living topper...

a few weeks ago

i had the pleasure...

.

... of driving

out to madison ohio

to visit cottonpickers

while looking about

in the charming store

i discovered an adorable

table topper

a customer informed me

it was a pattern designed

by the store owner's daughter

sure enough

beth told me all about

rebecca and her patterns

ruby blue quilting studio

this weekend

i stitched my own version

of charmed living topper

complete with a few mistakes

i really should read the directions

still i love how it looks

with saltbox harvest

by deb strain for moda

just the perfect size

and colors for my favorite

time of the year

joy, joy, joy...

today my heart

fluttered

with happiness...

.

( photo from Kathy Davis website)

i had a visit with dj

my connection to

free spirit fabrics
for our shop

she unrolled several samples

nice but just not me

and then she

brought my heart to a flutter

there before me

was fabric

designed

by kathy davis

i know of her

from the greeting card world

she paints

what i see when i close my eyes

simply joyful

i am excited beyond words

ribbon hair falls...

sometimes

i accidentally

stumble...

.

upon amazing creations

in my quest

for all things purple

like tonight

gothic lolita

ribbon hair falls
the etsy description says

they are seen

everywhere

from weddings

to roller derbys

which reminds me

that my friend marcia

and i

were going to go see the

burning river roller girls

now we must

big boxes = burnt dinner

oh happy day

two boxes

were waiting...

.

for me when i walked

into the kitchen

last night

i quickly carried them

into my creative room
ran upstairs to

start dinner

then went back to open my boxes

big mistake

i immediately

became so engrossed

in the new

fun stuff

i forgot about dinner...

...until i hear

my youngest son scream

the hash browns

are on fire

yikes

i'm surprised the smoke detector

didn't sound

i quickly put the pan outside

in the grill

to cool off

best go to plan b

next time

the family is going to hide

my boxes

until after dinner

i'm feeling a new synergy...

i received

the latest issue

of sew beautiful...

.

... today

as always

it's better than

eating chocolate

for a short while at least

i first leaf through the pages

and then return to

relish in each

magnificent creation

my quick look through

of issue 132, 2010

revealed a synergy

i haven't seen in quite a while

and i have been reading

sewing magazines for

a long...

...long time

just how far back does my

personal stash go...

early 1991

for threads, and sew news

sew beautiful

and a collection of various quilt

magazines

back to this synergy

a new excitement it seems

is it just me

or do the lines seem to be

crossing

the parallels extracted

i'm seeing fashions in the quilters editions

and quilts in...

sew beautiful

i'm feeling so happy

energized and thrilled

no longer are exclusions being

drawn

it seems

rather a synergy

an interaction of forces

which creates the end result

to be greater than it's parts

new ink...

with all the

hustle and bustle

of the new store...

.

i have been neglecting

my stampin' up!

stash

in an earlier post

i shared the much talked about

color renovation

a complete shake up

of the color palette

i love when new colors

are introduced

gives new life to my creativity

i had yet to order in

any new colors

so today i got busy

organizing

to see just what i needed

i can't wait for the box to arrive

i think i will first pair

marina mist

and early espresso

might even throw in

some cherry cobbler

just for fun

new meaning to old photos...

my daughter and i

have been posting

old photos...

.

on her blog

a look back

twenty years ago today

i think it helps

young families

who have a child with down syndrome

see where we've been

often in the same place they are today

and then see a glimpse into the

possibilities of where they

might be

in twenty years

sarah has taught us so much

she has accomplished

great things

yet even i am sometimes

surprised by what a photo shares

until just recently

i would have only seen the baby

her adorable smile

her cute overalls

embellished by a mom

who sleeps little

worried about her daughter's breathing

today

i see in that photo

a quilt

that i made

for my parents

a machine pieced log cabin

stitched in the ditch

and tied with yarn

a new technique i learned

after a class at a local quilt store

that i fondly remember

today that same daughter

now a young adult

and i

are putting together a class list

in our own quilt store

coincidence

not likely

rather another chapter in the

grand master plan

one that has been laid out

perfectly

from the beginning

blessed by backing...

it was late

very late

in the evening

.

i just finished piecing

the border around the acorn

it was becoming a cute wall hanging

for the upcoming fall season

a rich combination of colors

reminding me of my

favorite season in ohio

but where was the backing

i did not seem to have

enough yardage to

complete the project

i hate being in that situation

in the middle of the night

then i remembered

i do have keys

to a store

with fabric

how lucky i thought

and how very truly blessed

it still hasn't totally

sunk in

i now own bolts

not just a stash

with cuts and pieces

monkey shine...

yesterday

i was beside

myself...

.

this third child of mine

he's a handful

to say the least

tests us every chance he gets

it was only the fourth

day of school

and already a confrontation

and then

pictures arrived

from his trip to miami

they told me he had a backstage visit

with the monkeys

he loved it

the little things loved him back

that's because he's a natural

with animals

and people

just not rules and school

i need to remember that