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

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