OK - so Im going to have 2 posts in one day :-p.  This will probably NEVER happen again!!  


As my previous post said I was chomping at the bit for fabric and all I could think about was charm packs and jelly rolls, after I bought the sewing machine I got on eBay and started poking around.  I ended up winning 4 auctions in 2 days.  Here is what I got on day 1:

10  2 1/2" x 42" strips of solid white Kona cotton fabric

10  2 1/2" x 42" strips of solid black Kona cotton fabric

I was so excited to just to have those two items right there - 20 strips...hehe

Last night I was chatting with my sister...as if we dont talk enough during the day(I LOVE LOVE LOVE my sister)  and in the mean time I was poking around on eBay again.  Look what I won last night:

CHRISTMAS MAGIC by Kathy Schmitz LCC  for Moda Charm Pack

&

MAKIN' NEW FRIENDS by Deb Strain for Moda Charm Pack

I fell in love with the Makin' New Friends the moment I say it!!  Thank you Fashin88Frenzy and cdavis762 for helping me get my fabric collection started!  Now I am on the hunt for some fall fabric - my FAVORITE time of the year!!

Well, I have been bitten!  I learned to play on the sewing machine over the weekend - under the watchful eye of my sis.  I had some scrap fabric left over from some Christmas gifts a couple of years back.  Using a huge cutting mat, rotary cutter and nice heavy ruler I squared it up and cut some blocks.  My sister had some white that I used to separate my blocks with and I started sewing them together.  I ended up with 5 strips - a good start for a 1st try!! 

Well...I went and bought one!!!  Not every expensive, but it will be just fine to get started with :-D  I got it out last night and started playing around with it.

Now I am chomping at the bit to get some fabric!!!  I have found TONS of patterns and pictures from great places like Oh, Fransson, Jaybird Quilts, & Moda Bake Shop.  All I think about is charm packs and jelly rolls - LOL!!

Oh My!!!  


My sister has got me interested in quilt making.  She just purchased her first bit of fabric for a special project!  She has gotten familiar with 'our' sewing machine and has done quite a few projects already.  


I am very indecisive, I admit it!  I knew (and she politely told me) that I would be better off getting my fabric in bundles already put together - No decisions to make other than what line or theme to go with.


One of the first blogs I started following after she piqued my interest was the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber.  I played around on their site - but it was all little overwhelming to me.  I have never sewn a stitch on a sewing machine - what in the world was I looking a fabric for??


Today, I came across this:  Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics - Makin' New Friends.  (Anyone who knows me closely will attest that I LOVE LOVE LOVE snowmen.)  I seen these panels and knew I was done for.

My brain is going a thousand miles a minute...all of the possibilities!!  I'm chomping at the bit to start buying up 'stuff' to make something out of this...too bad I really have no idea where to start :-D  

My sister just politely notified that it had been 12 days since my last post.  Well...here you are:


This is an arrangement that she and I worked on together.  It originally had red tulips and the white flowers you will see still in the pictures.  We needed a new/updated arrangement for the front of the church for Spring into Summer.  There was a very pretty one using shades of purple, but it was too small for the front.  (No pictures - again I NEVER thought I would do a blog :-\)  I found a bush at Hobby Lobby that has a really nice variety of spring flowers as well as yellow tulips.  Hobby Lobby has the BEST flowers if you are using artificial!!!


We switched out the red tulips with the yellow which alone made a huge difference.  We left the small white flowers.  We took apart the small arrangement and used much of it in the new arrangement: large, full ivory roses with pink and lavender tips, dark purple gladiolas and some stems of small clusters of small purple flowers.  From the bush (HL) we used the large magenta & light pink lilies along with some dark pink freesia looking flowers :-)  I also used some brown ting ting  - just because I think that stuff is cool :-p

Here is a pic of the finished product!

Here is a pic of the flower in front of the church (this is Bro. Pete Cox preaching)

This was my first attempt at a real arrangement (even though we were just updating and changing out some color).  We agreed that it turned out well and got tons of compliments!!

 

My mom is the McGyver of crafting...you give her a box of random supplies and she can make something (s) out of it!!  My sister made nearly everything for her wedding a couple of weeks back.  I helped out with the wreaths on the front of the church :-D

I have found in the last 9 months or so that I have a decent talent at putting together arrangements.  I started out by helping Mrs P doing up the windows at church - changing out for the holidays.  I had never really done anything like that before, but at the time she didn't have help (the lady that had been helping her was sick).  I jumped right in.  :-) 

We didn't really have anything to put in for the fall so I started poking around on the internet and found Jo Pearson on the Michaels website.  I took my idea from her Fall 09 Fall Floral Arrangements video.  Jo introduced me to the Versa Tool and I fell in love :-)

I used cream colored craft pumpkins, floral foam, spanish moss and fall floral picks and bushes.  (I never anticipated having a blog, so I do not have progressive pictures)

I made the first one at the house and met Mrs P at the church and she helped me make the other 7 arrangements for the windows.  

• I cut the top of the pumpkin off, going in a circle around the top with the exacto blade on the versa tool - with the heat it took no time at all to cut all 8 pumpkins.  
• I then cut the floral foam bricks in half - using a half in each pumpkin (again using the versa tool).
• Then I added the flowers and fall fruit from the picks and bushes.  Since I was doing these on a smaller scale than the video I used wire cutters and cut sprigs from the picks and bushes.  This made it quite a bit easier to manipulate the design.

We set these pumpkins in the windows and we received lots of compliments on them!! 

We just moved our church memberships to Blairs Fork Baptist Church where we have been attending for a little over 2 years.  We both knew that we needed to listen to God about finding "our" church once we were married.  BFBC was the first one we attended together after we had A and this is where we are meant to be.  I grew up at Closer Walk Baptist Church while Mr. A attended East Flat Baptist Church.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our little church!  We are blessed to have the most amazing friends - no one could ask for better people, men or women :-).  I help in the Pre-K Sunday school class and sing in the choir.   I get to sing beside my sister...who often rearranges the music to her liking with nice harmonies and other decoration in the chorus of some of our songs.  Her husband sang up there with us a couple of Sundays ago - I have been working on Mr. A...he isn’t biting though.

Our Pastor and his family are the greatest!!  They give their everything to us!!  He stands up for what is right according to the King James Version Bible and will preach it out loud for everyone to hear.  Mrs. P stands right there holding him up - she is one of my most cherished friends and I am so blessed to have her friendship.  Then there are the little P’s...three of them and I love them to pieces – really great kids.

Bible School is coming up at the end of July.  I helped last year in the toddler class.  It is my class this year with my sister!  I must admit that I am quite nervous.  So far I have come up with craft ideas for a few of the nights, but nothing concrete so far…gotta get a move on :-p     

Well, this is my first true post to a blog.  I'm new to this, only having read my sister's blog to stay up to date with the wedding, the house and her picture taking.  So, to start I will tell a little about ourselves:


Mr A and I met while working at Kmart in high school.  We dated throughout my last year of high school, all through college too.  While there were some rough patches, we have been together for most of 13 years and will have been married 4 years in July :-D.  We have been blessed with one son, A, who is 3 1/2.  We have been trying to conceive for 18 months.  While we have not sought fertility help yet, we are considering that option in the coming months.  


I am a graduate of Appalachian State University with a degree in accounting. I have worked for an accounting firm, a mental health provider, a NASCAR race team and now an eye care provider.  


Mr A is a graduate of Caldwell Community College and a retail store manager.  He has done retail for most of his working life :-).  I think he likes it, most of the time.  Like anyone else there are those days when you wonder.  

OK - that is enough for the first post!!