Tuesday Tips

I hope your day started off better than mine.  It was not an awful, terrible thing that happened but it something my husband and I have suggested to our son over and over could happen.  (How do we know this information, because we have had it happen to us.)

 

This is how it started....I was sleeping peacefully and didn't get up with my husband which is unusual.  My cell phone beeped with a text message which startled me awake and I tried to read the message but it was too bright for my eyes.  I had to wait for them to adjust.  The text message says "The spare key is at home.  Can Mom please try to arrange something to get the tires looked at and the one fixed please."  Then the phone beeps again, "Dad, set out that portable tank out and I will fill it.  Hopefully, that will let me or Mom make it to the shop."

 

So I roll out of bed and pad downstairs to see if my husband has left for the day.  Luckily he was at home and my son was gone to work but texting from work.  Our son had laid in bed too long and when he made it out to his cute sports car, the driver's side rear tire was almost flat.  But no time to fix it so he grabbed my keys and took my car to work instead of the truck.  Grrr.....

 

Luckily, my son's friend brought over an air tank to pump up the tire, followed me to the tire shop and brought me back home.  The tire shop will check over all his tires and get him safely back on the road later today.  Since he took my vehicle, he also took my packages to work.  My friend, Corry stopped by and I could not give her the fabric I bought for her.  So Aaron will be delivering the fabric to her later. 

 

Do you think there might be a family discussion tonight?  You know, parents are stupid until something goes wrong!  I realized how smart my parents were when I moved out to my first apartment.

 

So I have been thinking about New Year's goals or resolutions.  My goals were to take care of myself this year.  I am the caregiver of my family but not necessarily of myself.  Yesterday's blog post was about starting to take care of myself.

 

Today I have borrowed a couple of Be Inspired ideas from a Newsletter I received each Tuesday from Prairie Stitches Quilt Shop in Oswego, IL.  The first idea talks about setting reasonable, simple goals and revisiting them often.  The second idea talks about saving money and/or time allowing you to do something for yourself.  I hope they will help you Be Inspired .

 

Be Inspired!

              New Year, New Opportunities, New Goals!!Are you feeling a sense of renewal & resolve for 2015??You can be successful with your New Year's resolutions if you            keep your goals simple & manageable.   For instance, clean out just 1 closet every 2 weeks instead of the whole house by February.  Add 1 extra serving of vegetables or fruit to your diet each week. Finish one sewing project per month.Keep it simple and write down your goals. Don't focus on the mountain ahead of you - aim for each hill, one at a time. With each goal you've reached, record it on your list & celebrate! Treat yourself to a bubble bath or lunch out or a trip to your favorite quilt shop!Most of all, don't beat yourself up - if you slip off your plan, just start over - life happens.  Focus Forward!     Wishing you a productive & prosperous new year!

 

Be Inspired!

 

Small change.......Have you ever started a penny jar or do you have a container that you fill each day with your loose change?  Are you amazed at how quickly you can accumulate enough extra cash to reward yourself with a treat?!20 cents stashed per day x 30 days = $ 6.00 = a free lunch!!What if.....you used the same principle of doing something small, on a daily basis, to realize a reward that makes you happy? Quilt happy.Challenge:  make one small change in your daily routine to realize 20 minutes of time for yourself - to sew, or cut, or press, or plan.20 minutes x 30 days = 600 minutes or 10 hours each month                                                   WOW!!Make a small change today! What will it be?

 

Today I will be linking up with Connie at Freemotion by the River where there is a Blog Hop going on and Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

     

Medical Monday

Today was the first of my New Year's goals:  complete yearly physical.  Done!

 

I was the first appointment at the doctor's office this morning and she wasn't there.  The receptionist kindly informed me that the doctor got called away for two C-sections.  I was sent on my way until 11:00 a.m.  So I decided to drive over to Hobby Lobby  and see what was on sale.  I ended up purchasing pink and black Eiffel Tower fabric along with its coordinates and matching ribbon for a friend.  A couple of little girls will be getting very special bedding for their American Girl dolls from this fabric.

 

I did grab some cute valentine ornaments and garland.  I will be replacing my Christmas ornaments on the garland in my kitchen with Valentine décor.  I will post the pictures when its done.  Sorry if that's a teaser.

 

I headed back to the doctor's office and got in shortly after arriving.  It was the shortest wait I have ever experienced in a doctor's office.  Saw the doctor right away with good news from the physical. 

 

Now I need to move onto the three other health goals for 2015:

Mammogram

Colonoscopy

Cholesterol testing

 

I am a caregiver in my family and we tend not to put ourselves first.  When my son had his car accident three years ago, I cancelled my last mammogram appointment.  Its time to get back in the swing of things and get it done.  The doctor said it has been five years since I had my cholesterol test and now its time to have it checked again.  I am over 50 and its time for a colonoscopy.  I have one family member who has had a pre-cancerous section removed from their colon, so best to get the preventative scope done.

 

I hope you all had a great weekend.  It was still pretty cold here but my husband was home all weekend.  He is my best friend and it was precious to spend time together catching up.  He works an hour away from where we live and he was gone extra hours last week due to working overtime and weather conditions.  We just did the normal things like have breakfast with friends, buy groceries, laundry and clean house together.  I was alone most of the week so it was nice to have him around to talk to and spend time with.  He made sure I got out of the house by treating me to a movie, "Annie" and pizza.

 

Last night I had the girls from Bath & Body Works over for a post-holiday party.  We are all good cooks so we sat around my kitchen table feasting.  We also had a white elephant exchange.  These girls are so creative.

Kaitlin received this picture made by Lela.  The squirrel applique is made of vintage wallpaper.

 

Lela is stylin' with her Beets Headphones.

 

The gift I drew was a movie "Perfect Pitch" and a game called "Doggie Doo".  I love the movie and I am waiting for "Perfect Pitch 2" to be released.  The white elephant I gave was a snap bag I  had made along with a big Hershey bar and some microwave popcorn.  It didn't get opened because one lady had to leave before the fun started.

 

As far as doing quilty things this weekend, I did work on Clue 1 to Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery quilt.  It will be my next shower curtain.  I also have this quilt loaded for quilting.

 

I have linked up with Sherri at A Quilting Life today.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Finish

Yesterday I got up in the morning with determination of getting down to my sewing room as quickly as possible.  I am trying to get caught up with quilting customer quilts that have been patiently waiting during our remodeling project.  Then a text comes through on my phone, "I am coming your way this morning.  Not exactly sure what time but I'm guessing 10-11:00."  This was the contractor letting me know he was going to stop by and caulk my tiled backsplash.  Only one problem, I was still sitting at the kitchen peninsula writing the blog in my pjs.  Suddenly I went into hyper-mode, running upstairs, hopping in the shower, and getting dressed.  Running back downstairs and cleaning up the countertops so the contractor would have room to work.  Needless to say, the doggie doorbell went off before I was ready, and there stood the contractor at the front door.  The contractor prepped the area and I finished moving items off the counters.  It only took about a half hour and he was done.  It looks wonderful and I sure enjoy cooking.  Clean-up is easier as there is a place to put everything away.  Now the only thing left is to finish the valence on the dining room side. 

 

Finally, I headed to the basement to work on this orange polka dot quilt. 

 

The border pattern.

 

 The finish!

 

A close-up.

 I have some threads to remove and this quilt will be ready for the label and binding.  This quilt is going to be auctioned off for the St. Jude's affiliate in Peoria.  I have donated my quilting services on four quilts.

 

This week has been brutal in caring for our animals.  The dogs don't want to go out for long. They just get their business done and come right back in.  Taking care of our horse twice a day was a frigid experience.  Our family joke is the barn is a Marble Factory in the winter. (When you pitch the frozen manure into the wheelbarrow it rattles like you were pitching marbles into the wheelbarrow, thus the Marble Factory theory.)  Let me tell you, the Marble Factory has been working overtime all week.  The more you feed the horse for warmth, the more marbles there are to clean up.  I hope you can appreciate our sense of humor.

This is a view out the back of the barn with the manure pile.

 

The dogs wanted to lay on my rubber mats in front of the longarm but that made it hard to work.  They didn't want to lay on the cold cement floor, so I grabbed a blanket and layed it on the floor so they all took a corner.

 

Continue to stay warm and safe wherever you live.  We are suppose to get up to 24 degrees this weekend which will seem like a heat wave.  My husband just called on his way to work to say how bad the roads were last night.  Interstate 80 is littered with evidence of cars and trucks in the ditches.  He is taking his time due to black ice. 

 

Today I am linking up with ..... Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, Freedom Fridays, and Crazy Mom Quilts. 

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

Throw Back Thursday

I recently surprised my Dad and my step-mother, Pat, by driving out to Altoona, Iowa, for a family brunch.  I didn't tell anyone I was coming because each year I seem to catch some bug.  Many of our friends have been sick and I didn't want to disappoint my dad by telling him I was sick again this holiday.  The look on everyone's face when they answered the door was a Kodak moment.

 

Above Dad and Pat are watching the great-grandchildren and grandchildren open gifts.

 

Thanks Eby for taking our picture!

 

I did have a little excitement just before arriving at the brunch.  I stopped at a McDonald's to use the restroom and to put Eby's address in the Garmin.  It was 48 degrees when I left home at 6:30am but it was 27 degrees when I arrived at McDonald's.  I stepped out of the car to run into the restaurant, not grabbing a coat, and proceeded to across the driveway falling flat out on my right side.  Glad no one saw this graceful move.  Its not the fall that hurts but that sudden stop that gets you.  I got up and grabbed my purse while looking around to see if anyone was looking.  I went into the restroom and looking into the mirror, I realized I was wet from my right knee up to my waist.  I used the hand dryer to dry my right side off, standing like stork to get the side of my leg up closer to the dryer.  Drying out took 10-15 minutes.  My hands had some road rash and my knee was skinned up.  It took about a week to get over the soreness. 

The puppies were having fun.  On the left is Ella, the seven week old Airedale, and Roscoe, 2 year old Yorkie.  I got my Yorkie fix, holding and loving Roscoe.  I lost my Yorkie, Rascal, in October and I am broken hearted over the loss.  Rascal was my quilting buddy.

 

During my visit with my Dad, he showed me this picture on his cell phone.  This is a picture of me probably about five or six years old standing by my dad's Scout.  We lived on a dead end street with a circle at the end.  Dad would pull all the neighborhood kids in a big train of sleds, up and down our quiet street.  Dad would create a big snow pile at the end of the street so we could sled and play outside in the winter.  I had two buddies growing up, Lex and Tracy.  We still stay in touch and love to reminisce about the things we did growing up.

 

Hope you are all staying warm.  When I went to do horse chores yesterday afternoon it was -5 degrees.  I had two stalls to clean and had to sit in the car inbetween stalls to warm up.  Taking the wheelbarrow out for dumping was frigid and hard on the bare skin.  I am happy I don't have a whole barn of horses to maintain.  Below, Skye curled on my pile of laundry to take a warm nap.

 I even did some pressing of my Bonnie Hunter mystery units in the kitchen because its warmer there.

 

Last but not least, I have uncovered one longarm and working on this cute polka dot quilt.  My goal is to finish it today for a Friday Finish picture.

 

Today I am linking up with Kelly at My Needle Infatuation.  Also, check out this blog by Diana about organizing with baskets.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

 

 

 



Working on Wednesday

With the prediction of the snow storm coming Monday night.  I have been working in the kitchen, yes the NEW kitchen.  It's so much fun with a place for everything and everything in its place.  I had a few things that needed to be cooked or frozen so they didn't spoil.  First, was a butternut squash that had been laying around during the remodel.  It got cut in half, and baked in a water bath.  Then I let it cool, scooped out the cooked center and froze it.

Second, I like having cooked chicken around for casseroles, chicken n' dumplings, and soup.  So while my husband was snowed in at work, I got extra busy.  I cooked six chicken breasts in the crockpot overnight.  They are falling apart tender.  I freeze two breasts to a bag for future use.  I also cool the broth, strain it and then put it in freezer bags.  I try to freeze them flat so they store easy in the freezer.

Third, I made a double batch of Chewy Molasses Cookies and put them in the refrigerator overnight.

I baked them off the next day.  Its tempting to eat the dough but I baked them.

Fourth and final, I browned up a large batch of hamburger.  Next I mixed up a double batch of chili.  This will be dinner one night this week and then freeze the rest for a sew day in the future.  I am to bring chili for lunch and then we will have a baked potato bar for dinner.  This chili will serve as one of the potato toppers.

I like to cook this way, once a week if possible.  That way I have easy meals to heat up the rest of the week.  Check out the book by Jennifer Wood, Jenny's Country Kitchen Making Homemade a Little Easier.  It's where I got the recipe for cooking chicken breasts ahead and the recipes on how to use them.

I have also started Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt, Grand Illusion.  It will be my new shower curtain.

Here's a sample of the colors.

Have a great hump day!

Yours in quilting,

Terry

Yours in quilting,

Thankful Tuesday & Tuesday Tip

I am back!  Yes, its true, I have survived a main floor remodel of my home.  We are doing the happy dance here at the Johnson household.  The last tile was put in place and grouted on December 23rd and we had an Open House on December 24th.  Aren't we nuts!  No we aren't but we are very thankful.  First of all, three years ago on Christmas Eve morning our son, Aaron, was in a life threatening auto accident.  Thanks to Erica Warren and Brian Wilder, they saw the car out in a field and stopped to provide assistance and called 911.  The Open House was a celebration of Aaron's healing and how far he has come in healing and building back his body to normal.  Second, we were thankful that our main floor remodel of our kitchen/dining room turned out beautifully.  I can' t think of anything I would change.

 

Just finished kitchen.

 

 

Entrance to basement/sewing studio.  The wall where the clock is hanging is where the dividing wall previously was between the kitchen and dining room.  This area is more functional with the kitchen and dining room as one open room.

 

 

The day the contractor installed the backsplash tile, I hung the garland as soon as he walked out the door.  I was eager to feel finished.  The look on my husband's face when he came home that night was pricless.  He loved it.

 

 

We now live at the peninsula.  It is the heart of our home.

 

Here is the selfie our son took during the open house! Ta dah!

 

My Tuesday Tip is patience!  If you are remodeling or re-arranging your home, have patience with all who are involved.  It always takes longer than you think and there will be some bumps along the way.  Everything went very smoothly until the end.  It took three weeks to get the countertop, which delayed the finish of the kitchen.  The new carpet in the living room was short of enough to finish our steps.  There was about a 10 day delay for the additional carpet.  The good news was it all came together in the end.  My patience was thin at the end but we made it!

 

My second Tuesday Tip was get a job out of the home during remodeling project.  I am a longarm quilter but my machines had to be wrapped up in plastic the whole time during the remodel.  I worked at Bath & Body Works while they were working on my house.  This allowed me to be out of the home and out of the workers way.  Our home is just under 1200 square feet and to stay out of the contractor's way, I would have had to sit in our bedroom all day.  That just was not an option for me.  Also, my working at Bath and Body Works was rewarding.  I enjoyed all the young women I worked with and the paychecks paid for some extras in the kitchen. 

 

Today I have linked up with Connie at Freemotion by the River.

 

Happy New Year to all.  May we all have a productive year in whatever you do!

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

Working on Wednesday

Hello everyone!  I know its been a long time since I have posted.  It feels like my house has been torn up forever.

Here is a sneak peak of the new colors in my kitchen and dining room.

 

Ah yes, the mess!  Packing everything up for the construction to begin back in October.

 

Kitchen all gone!

 

Stay tuned for more to come! 

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry