Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!


I don't usually make it until midnight and it's looking as if I won't tonight either.  It's not yet 8:00 here and already I'm yawning!  Oh well, it will still be 2012 at 6:00 a.m. when I normally wake up so I'll celebrate then with a glass of orange juice.  :)  

I've made no resolutions for the new year.  I haven't chosen a word to focus on either.  But I've lifted up a prayer to my Heavenly Father asking for His blessing in whatever way He thinks is best for me, for increased faith and a greater openness to His path.  When I count the blessings of 2011 they almost overwhelm me.  We are healthy, we have wonderful children and grandchildren and a warm home with plenty to eat and clean water to drink.  We have close family members and friends we love.  We live in a country that allows us to worship in any way we choose and a church home where other members have become our second family.  I can see and hear and walk. We live in a beautiful area where we see God's handiwork every day.  I have a sewing room and I could make quilts for all of 2012 without every buying fabric!  I've always told my husband I will be happy as long as I'm not hot, cold, broke or stranded.  I'm happy!  I can't think of one thing that I need that God has not provided.  I'm not rich, I don't live in a big house and I don't have a job with power or prestige.  Heavens, I don't even have a job...and I'm very happy about that!  :)  Those things aren't important...and I am thankful for that as well.   My prayer for you, my blog friends, is that you will have the most joy filled year ever and that you will be given the strength you need in hard times by the grace of our Lord, and that you will love others and will be loved in return.  Happy New Year! 

 Blessings, Marlene

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

This and That and A Small Giveaway

We went to church, we welcomed family, we opened presents, we ate too much food, we laughed and we cried.  I love Christmas.  :)

I'm not sure why but when all the celebrating is over and all the family members have returned to their respective homes I always get the urge to clean and organize.  I want to clean out drawers and closets, weed out the old and the outgrown and the why-in-the-world-did-I-ever-think-I-wanted-that stuff.  I really, really need to go through every single thing in my sewing room and I might just do that in the next month when the weather will keep me indoors.  But for today I have a few patterns that I've either made already, or never will make, that need  new homes.  If you're a follower and you think you might want one or more of these leave me a comment with the numbers of the one(s) you want.  If more than one person is interested in one of them I'll draw names on Sunday.  If only one person is interested you'll automatically get it.  And if no one wants it (poor rejected thing!) I'll put it on the giveaway table at guild.


Won by Mrs. Pickles!
#1  Santa's Midnight Runner (this is a long, skinny wall hanging that I've made and which hangs in my sunroom)  It's about 17 x 52 and has both piecing and applique.


Won by Sheila!
#2  Lilly Mae's Basket Quilt...I haven't made this one.  It's a little quilt about 18 x 23 and is pieced.


Won by Carrie!
#3  Peace, Love, Joy...Pincushion     I've made this one - it's a small wool pincushion, is fast and easy, and has both applique and embroidery.


Won by Lea!
#4  Abbey Lane "The Bungalow Bag"     I made this last summer - it's roomy without being bulky and I love it!  It shows bought handles but I made fabric handles and used a bright spring fabric that's really cute.


Won by Gill!
#5  Old Crimson Clove...a Sue Spargo pattern...36 x 31...I haven't made this one.  The background is pieced but it's mostly applique.


Won by Sharon at Vrooman's Quilts!
#6   Sage Country Christmas Tree...I haven't made this one either...it's 48 x 63 and appears to be intricate piecing.  I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner (which is why I didn't  make it!)

If you're a follower and you want one or more please leave me the numbers of the ones you want - it will help when I draw names.  And stay posted - I plan to have more in the next couple of weeks!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

More Cute Stuff

One of my daughters pointed out this cute idea on Pinterest recently:
It's a travel pillowcase with a handle and a pocket for keeping books, IPods, etc.  How cute is that!  The original post came from Amazing Mae.  I have 5 "young" grandchildren and 3 "old" grandchildren.  I made pillowcases for the 5 young ones and got each a new pillow.  I think they'll love this!

And then I spied some of my Ghastlies fabric that I hadn't used and made this for another grandchild...one of the "old" ones:

It's a roll-up carrying case for knitting needles and other necessaries for that craft.  Don't you love the knitting aunts?  :)

I don't want to say it too loud but I think I've finished my Christmas sewing.  Knock on wood.  Cross my fingers.  And it's not even Christmas Eve!

Monday, December 19, 2011

I'm Pretty Sure...

I'm pretty sure that I just made the best Potato Soup I've ever made.  Have I told ya'll lately that I'm a terrible cook?  Truth.  But this stuff is good.  Really.

First I put some butter (the real stuff) and some bacon grease in a pot.  No bacon - I don't like bacon in my potato soup.  I just like grease.  I can't believe I said that - don't anybody e-mail about that because I know those two things are terrible and awful and probably were the true cause of WW II or will lead to an invasion of aliens or something.  I don't care.  Well, maybe I care because I don't want to be eaten by an alien but I'm still gonna' use butter and bacon grease because I'm from the south and it's genetic.  Then I sauteed some onions and celery and carrots for a few minutes in that brease.  That's my new word for butter and grease.

I added some potatoes that were beginning to get crinkled I'd had them so long and two cans of chicken broth.  One of them was fat free if that makes you feel any better.  I have  no idea how that got in my pantry. Then I added a little leftover Almond Milk that I had.  A friend told me it was good to drink and good for you but I bought the wrong brand I guess because it wasn't.  I've been sneaking it in things I cook so my husband won't know it.  And I mixed up some dry milk because I'm trying to save a little money and added some of that.  When the vegetables were done I added about 4 oz of cream cheese because I had it leftover and it needed to be used and about 8 oz of Velveeta.

Potato soup is comfort food.  Potato soup is good.  My potato soup today is the best ever.  I win.  :)

Edit:  Oops.  Forgot to tell you I added some potato flakes to thicken it before I put in the cheeses.  That's all.  Unless I forgot something else.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

One Thousand Blessings - Day 29

1001.  Christmas music
1002.  Having the sun come out after several rainy days, especially in winter
1003.  Pictures of children with Santa
1004.  Children dancing
1005.  Freshly laundered sheets
1006.  Pinterest
1007.  The smell of cookies baking
1008.  Christmas cards from old friends
1009.  Daydreams
1010.  Pinto beans, turnip greens, cornbread and the memories of Mama cooking
1011.  Spray starch
1012.  Hands when they're folded in prayer
1013.  Hot Chocolate
1014.  Bookstores
1015.  Birds on my window sill
1016.  Magnolia trees
1017.  Fog on the lake outside my window
1018.  Physical therapists
1019.  Sand and sea and sunshine
1020.  The ability to remember good times and loved ones no longer here...I don't want to forget them

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Can You Say Addicted?

I think I'm as addicted to making these as I am to Pinterest!
Well, maybe not quite as addicted.  But close.  Really close.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

I Just Love This!

Is this not the cutest thing?

Made in a couple of hours using a white canvas bag I bought at Hobby Lobby - a ruffle around the bottom, a little polka dot ribbon, a monogram on the front and a sweet little tie to match the ruffle.  I also covered some foam core to make a bottom that matches the ruffle and tie and added some pink stitching on the handles.  I know a little girl that's going to love this at Christmas!  One down and two to do.  :)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Lost Is Found

The Christmas Tree Skirt that I mentioned in my last post is now found and under my tree.  My mother made this at my request probably 30 years ago.  She made beautiful things, often without a pattern, and always by the tried and true old methods.  I bought her a rotary cutter and mat several years before her death but to my knowledge she never used them.  She pretended to so she wouldn't hurt my feelings but I found her newspaper templates all over her house and her tiny bits of fabric cut sort of close to the size of the template.  She rarely measured and mostly just "eyeballed" her pieces.  She had absolutely no color sense most of the time, maybe because she was so determined to use true scraps.  When I asked for this tree skirt I envisioned red and green and maybe gold, Santa or reindeer or  peppermint sticks.  This is what I got.

Yep, those are calicos in red, yellow, navy and brown.  Every time I look at it I smile.  It was so typically her.  And it's a very high loft batting that puffs up between the quilting lines.  The quilting, by the way, is by hand using what I'm sure is polyester thread and the stitches are about a quarter inch in size and distance.

While it's not what most quilt lovers would consider to be a beautiful quilt I found myself welcoming it back to it's rightful place much like the father of the prodigal son.  I wasn't home when my husband found it and put it on the dining table to wait for me.  I'm sure my eyes lit up and a smile graced my face because it surely came immediately to my heart when I caught sight of it.  Like that prodigal son, who wasn't the best of sons by any stretch of the imagination, it was welcomed back for itself, a beloved member of the family.  The fabric doesn't matter.  The colors don't matter.  It doesn't even matter that there's nothing Christmasy about it.  It's the love and the memories that count.

And to top it all off, because the skirt brought all of that to mind, this morning I put on the one outfit of Mother's that I kept.  She died in 2003 and I gave her these slacks and this shirt at least 5 years before that so that tells you how old it is.  I wear it once in a great while when I'm missing her the most.  I put my hands in the pockets and what did I find?  A $5 dollar bill!  Oh I've worn this before so I'm sure I left it there myself, and that Mother didn't.  But just the same I feel her smiling at the "found" money and the tree skirt that I adore.  What a wonderful Christmas gift.  :)

Thursday, December 1, 2011

It's Christmas Already?

I remember when I was a child and hearing my parents and grandparents talk about how quickly time passed.  I didn't understand that at all because it seemed to me that summer lasted forever and then it took forever and a day for Christmas to arrive.  But these days it has become quite clear to me that they knew what they were talking about.  Christmas was just last month, wasn't it?

I'm slower than I used to be, and not as strong as I once was, but I love Christmas as much as ever I did.  I've narrowed down my decorating choices to things I love, with the emphasis on the memories they involve. Many, if not most, are things I've made, or the children gave me.  I've asked everyone I know for some fresh pine and by the weekend I should have some to put here and there but for now I've brought out a one or two favorites for my own pleasure.

I've made a "few" Christmas quilts, or table runners, or pillows, or candle mats, or...fill in the blank.  This "Santa is a Star" has a fussy cut picture of Santa in the middle and looks wonderful on my burlap table cloth.

Winter Wonderland lives on my bed each year from Thanksgiving until February - after all January means snow, right?
 And there are a couple of wall hangings that are perfect above the two patio doors in my sunroom.  One is Santa flying across the sky and the other...
 is a terrible picture but is an embroidery piece of all the reindeer and their names.

I'm very sad because right now we can't find the Christmas tree skirt my mother made me about 30 years ago.  I'm sure it's there somewhere - in the decorations I didn't use this year - but it's hiding from me at the moment.  :(  And one box of my Christmas tree decorations got wet somehow so I've lost a few.  Memories.... even though the ornaments are gone they're still in my heart.  There was a time when I was broken hearted when something got broken or lost but not so much any more because I've kept them all right here inside where they mean the most.  It was a hard lesson learned but a good one.  It's not the things that matter - it's the love you feel and the memory that thing invokes that you want to hold on to.

This poor "Santa's Wild Goose Chase" has a wrinkle down the middle.  :(  Hmmm, guess he's getting the same wrinkles I am!

 This table runner is one of my favorites - can't remember the pattern at all, but it works like it is now without the leaf in the table, and even when the table is at it's longest.
 A little blurry I suppose (to my wonderful photographer friends I promise I'm going to try to take a class next semester!) but this wool Santa candle mat was a joy to make.
 And because Santa looked a bit lonely I made a few snowmen too.  Oh, and yes my coffee table is made of wooden shipping pallets.  We added wheels underneath and glass on the top and I'm totally in love with the whole thing.  It's 40" x 48" and my grandchildren can clear off the top to play games here - such fun!
 This little pillow is a reminder to me of the reason we celebrate.
Of course there are more I haven't shown you and I admit that these on the chair I've not yet found a place for.  Do you think it's time to share with my children?  The not so funny thing about our quilted creations is that sometimes giving them away it like giving away one of our children!  Or is that just me?
 Old friends are brought to mind when I put out other bits of decorations....like my Merry Christmas letters
 and this small church/candle holder, as well as my dishes (a gift from my children).
 This, however, is a gift to my husband - a little reminder of the season as he builds me a fire!
 At heart I'm still a child, so this little sign peeking down from the top of the china cabinet says it all for me.  How about you?  Do you still believe?

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

One Thousand Blessings - Day 28

911.  Books that strengthen my faith
912.  Books that teach
913.  Books that entertain (I'm sensing a pattern here!)
914.  Meals shared with people I love
915.  Emergency personnel
916.  People God has healed this year - either through the wisdom of medical people, a miracle given by God, or through His perfect healing through entering their heavenly home
917.  The means and ability to cook Thanksgiving dinner
918.  Family, warts and all
919.  Gifts and prizes I've received from blogging friends
920.  High school girlfriends who remain in my life
921.  Physical therapists
922.  Frost that glistens in the sun like diamonds
923.  Clear, crisp fall days
924.  The smell of pumpkin pie cooking
925.  Leaf blowers, and the people who use them
926.  Ruffles and lace
927.  Puppies
928.  Wind in the leaves
929.  Pansies
930.  White Christmas lights
931.  Live nativity scenes
932.  Christmas music
933.  Meditation
934.  Kitchen appliances
935.  Reading glasses
936.  The drawings of children
937.  Windmills
938.  Fried pies
939.  Pinterest
940.  Hearing my child say "I feel better"
941.  New makeup
942.  Butter Bowls
943.  Pretty Scarves
944.  Chipmunks
945.  Chocolate milk
946.  Business cards
947.  Coupons that work on sale items
948.  Angels
949.  Beautiful old clocks
950.  The sun on the lake

Thursday, November 17, 2011

 Don't you just love the block tutorials going on over at Stash Manicure this month?  I love seeing the different blocks and reading the tutorials but I didn't really plan to make any of them.  After all, I have this promise to myself hovering over my head - "start nothing new until you've finished at least half of your UFOs".  I refuse to tell you how many UFOs I have.  You can torture me and I won't tell.  Well, maybe I would depending on the torture.  But when I saw the tutorial by Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts I was smitten.  Not the Improv Block, altough I loved her bright colors.  It was the Christmas Tree Block that caught my eye.  So I broke my promise to myself and made this:

 It's just perfect for this little corner of my kitchen window.  And the colors fit right into the color scheme I have in there.  I mean you can see why I had to do it, right?

And on a different note do you Pinterest?  Because I'm seriously addicted and I'm spending way too many hours there.  If you want to see what it's about click on the Pinterest button over on my right sidebar.  Anyway, I saw these wonderful scarf pins made out of buttons and a light bulb went off....I have buttons!  So I made these:





I only burned my finger once on the hot glue.  That's a record for me.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I Love A Finish!

Don't you just love getting finished with a quilt?  And when it's a holiday quilt, just in time for that holiday and not a  month after?  I'm best known for the month after.  :)  There were many "joys in quilting" on this particular piece - I described a few in the previous two posts - but those pauses in my sanity have passed and I'm in love with this quilt!  I have no idea where it will hang because it is much too big for my front door as I had planned but you can bet I'll find a place.  I added a pin stripe binding and I think it was just the right one.  :)




I stippled the background and I can see a lot of progress over the last several months - finally!



Saturday, November 12, 2011

More on the Joy of Quilting

Don't you just love how God sends us some beautiful flowers just when we think there won't be any more flowers until spring?  Goes to show what we know.  :)  What does this have to do with the joy of quilting?  Well just look at that and try not to smile, I dare you.
 And don't you just hate when you don't think to take a picture of flowers until it's dark?

 Following the rules from my last post I'm machine quilting a wall quilt for Christmas that grew from the 30" x 40" I had planned to 42" x 70" when I wasn't looking.  How in the world does that happen you ask?
Well I saw this Christmas Tree quilt on the internet...twice...in two different places.  Which meant it was like lightening struck.  I had to make it.  I had no pattern but how hard could it be?  It was all made of circles and I had a circle die for my Accuquilt Go!  I looked really hard at the ones I saw and they had 4 different sizes of circles.  My die had 3 sizes...about 2", 3", and 5".  So I looked around for something to make another size circle and found a saucer - 7 1/4"  This was my first "joy of quilting" moment with this quilt.  I should have looked for a smaller circle, like 1", but that just sounds so little.  First I ironed Steam a Seam 2 to the back of some red fabrics.  This step is important...don't wait until after you cut the circles unless you've got the fine motor dexterity of a monkey.  Trust me on that.  I counted all their circles and I cut out that number.  When I started pinning them to my design board I came up with this:
Great shape, right?  Right.  But that bottom row is about 2" from each side of the width of fabric for the background!  And height...it still needs a star and a pot...well lets just say it's going to be a little large for my front door, which is where I planned to hang it.

The next thing I had to do is to find a star for the top and a pot for the tree to sit in.  Well the pot wasn't hard.  I cut a square and then angled the sides.  Done!  But the star.  I searched my books for a star that was big enough and couldn't come up with one. "Joy of quilting number two" - I did find one I liked but it was too small.  Did I tell you I used to teach algebra?  Surely I could figure that out!  I dug out some graph paper and used the Pythagorean Theorem, a side-angle-side geometric rule, and Fibonacci numbers....just kidding ya'll.



I drew the small star on the graph paper, added an inch on all sides with my trusty ruler and yippee! a perfect size star to use as my template.  Again I say, iron your Steam a Seam 2 to the back of your fabric before you cut out your star.  You'll be sorry if you don't.  Really sorry.  That was my "joy of quilting" number three.


Okay, all right!  I have all my pieces pinned to the design board when I realize they have to be transferred to the background fabric.  This picture is after I did that but the moment when I realized that I didn't put the background fabric up first was my "joy of quilting" moment number four.  I spent a good half hour arranging all those and I knew there was no way to replicate it when I moved them.  I took a picture on my IPad and tried to do it from there but the patterns of all those fabrics didn't show up very good so I just crossed my fingers and moved them.  And moved them.  And moved them.  Finally I had them arranged where I wanted them and I moved to the ironing board to press them on.

This step went beautifully except for the "joy of quilting" moment number five when I forgot to press and ironed instead.  A couple of the circles didn't appreciate that enthusiasm and curled their edges on me.  Nasty.  But all in all that went rather quickly and I proceeded to sandwiching.  We won't talk about that because I can't count that high.  But finally we made it to the machine.

How in the world do you manage all that quilt!  It just wads up all around.  I've tried rolling but I'm not too good at rolling.  One time I remember some friends and I tried rolling a boy's yard but we got caught.  Maybe I'm intimidated by the whole idea of it.  Scarred by the memory, if you will.

I decided to stipple.  I love stippling.  And no, the fact that it's the only free motion quilting I can do had no impact on my decision.

I've stippled for five hours and I'm half way through.  I don't like stippling nearly as much as I used to.  I'll be back later to show you the finished product.  Maybe 2012.  or 13.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Marlene's Rules For Free Motion Machine Quilting

I used to be afraid of free motion machine quilting.  I mean like frozen in my tracks scared.  If I even thought about free motion quilting, and I tried not to, my stomach would get in knots and my hands would tremble.  But I want to report that I have conquered that fear!  I made up a few rules that have helped me and in the spirit of giving for the holidays I'm going to share them with you.

1.  Never, ever, under any circumstances, let go of your fabric when the machine is still running.  That could be compared to letting go of the hand of a five year old while standing in Times Square.  Imagine that scene...you  letting go, child in wide eyed wonder stepping off the curb weaving his/her way among the honking yellow cabs, strolling down the street gazing happily in windows and ending up at Grand Central Station peeping over the stand at the coming trains.  It would be like that.  Imagine Family Circus...how the child steps in every puddle, climbs every tree, pets every cat and talks to every neighbor on his/her way home from school.  Your stitches will be in a giant zigzag here, there and yonder.

2.  Your machine will not stop running unless you let your foot off the gas.  All the way off the gas.  So when you want to stop, get your foot OFF the pedal.  You can't lightly touch it like you do your car at a red light so you can inch forward until your bumper is scant inches away from the bumper in front of you.  While your foot is just lightly touching the pedal the fabric is still moving under the needle.  And what do you get?  Another zig.  Without the zag.

3.  If you still believe in quarter inch seams, triangle points that meet and seams that align then you need to go find something else fun to do.  The goal of every free motion quilter I've met seems to be even stitches. There's no such thing.  That's a story mothers tell their children at bedtime that sounds great in theory but doesn't work in real life.  And it's not supposed to.  For example, if you see two 80 year old women standing side by side and one has smooth, flawless, unwrinkled skin and the other looks like a normal 80 year old woman what would you think?  That the first woman has had an inordinate number of face lifts?  Yea, me too.  She's not real.  She's not beautiful.  It's the second one that draws your eye.  Oh the character in her beautiful, wrinkled face!  Picture Mother Teresa...did you ever see anyone more gorgeous?  You can see her life written there, on her face.  Well, that's the way quilts should be.  They should have life written on them.  A few tiny stitches here, a few long stitches there, and a lot of fairly normal ones in between.  Trust me on this.  Quilts want character.

4.  God made your hands the size He did for a reason.  You can only control the amount of fabric that will fit in between your hands.  If you try to put your hands too far apart so you can quilt a larger amount of the quilt before you have to stop....well, you'll just lose control of the whole darn thing.  Quilts are like kids.  You can only control them if you've got a tight grip.  Loosen your grip and they're going to wiggle their way loose.

5.  Use thread that is the same color as your background.  Thread should be inconspicuous but always there in the background impacting the beauty of the quilt.  Kind of like when you're a mother-in-law.  I mean we all know that mothers-in-law have to fade into the woodwork the moment the wedding is over but if you work it right you're still in control...the kids just don't know it.  :)

6.  If it's 2:30 a.m. don't swear under your breath that you're going to finish this or die trying.  Because you will.  Quilts hear everything and they love a practical joke so they will silently fold themselves under so that just when you think you're finished you'll discover you've quilted one corner to another corner.  And while that might be unique in a finished quilt it will be hard to bind.

7.  Don't drink red wine while quilting.  Or grape KoolAid.  Or Mtn. Dew.  Or Red Bull.  All of those things will make you think you are the greatest quilter who ever lived.  But you aren't.  I'm just guessing about the red wine and the Mtn. Dew and the Red Bull but the grape KoolAid definitely is banned from my sewing room.

8.  The definition of stippling is something like "sewing in a meandering way without ever crossing any of the previous sewing".  I didn't I didn't look it up and I didn't write the dictionary but that ought to be close.  If you're stippling and you like loops, add one or two or seven.  If you want to cross from here to there do it and smile.  And if you end up with a particularly weird place on your quilt then point it out to the recipient and say, "every time you see this think of me - I was waving my hand and winking at you when I sewed this so you'll always remember me." And they'll go "Awwwww, so sweet."

9.  If you think that wall hanging will take you about an hour to quilt, add three to it and you might have it right.  Give yourself plenty of time because if you rush you won't take your foot completely off the pedal (see number 2 above) and you'll forget that you have red thread in the bobbin until you've finished the quilting and turn it over to see the white background.  Oops.

10.  This is the most important rule of all.  Put a lock on your sewing room door.  Husbands, children and pets should be banned from the sewing room when you're quilting.  They have urgent requests that you won't be able to ignore.  And even though you think you can quilt and answer, I repeat from number 7 above, you're not that great a quilter.  And besides that their requests aren't really urgent.  If they tried they could find the milk in the refrigerator, the dog in the backyard, and the clean pair of jeans folded on their bed.

Okay that's all the rules I have for today.  It's 2:30 a.m. and I've got a quilt to finish quilting.  I think I'll have some KoolAid to take to the sewing room with me.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Money That Doesn't Exist



A friend and I were having one of those heart-to-heart discussions this week that women often have.  We vent to each other because universally we understand that despite the fact that you're complaining about your husband you still adore him and think he's much better than the person's husband you're complaining to.  You do understand that, right?  She was bemoaning something her husband had bought her that was totally useless, unwanted, and even a bit bizarre.  His heart was in the right place.  Maybe.

According to her they have available money in three "places" when they want to buy something.  First is, as you would think, the checking account.  The CA as we'll call it was to be used to pay the normal monthly bills, buy groceries, purchase necessities, and occasionally splurge on a new dress.  Second was the credit card.  This was to be avoided unless buying on line where it's virtually the only safe way.  The credit card bill was to be paid out of the checking account each month.

This all sounds wonderfully responsible, right?  But I mentioned three places....what's the third place.  Number Three is the Savings Account, which gets a regular deposit each month.  Again, fiscally sound.  However, according to her, once the money is deposited into the Savings Account it then becomes "the money that doesn't exist."  The "money that doesn't exist" disappears from his mind.  The "money that doesn't exist" isn't available because it...well, it doesn't exist.  Their stove went out.  It was an old stove and this wasn't unexpected.  But rather than take  money out of the Savings Account and buy one he surmised, because that money didn't exist after all, that they should just eat out until they had saved money from their checking account for a month or two or three, and could pay cash for the stove.  In his mind they had no money to buy a stove with.  You don't charge things when you don't have to.  The "money that doesn't exist", doesn't exist so you can't buy anything with it.  Ergo, you save until you have it.  But you can't put that money you're saving into the Savings Account because if you do it becomes "money that doesn't exist".

Is this a male thing?  For me, all money exists and is waiting for me to access it.  But I wonder if that groaning I hear coming from my husband occasionally is his reaction to me using some of the "money that doesn't exist".  :)

Friday, November 4, 2011

Ghastlie Day Ten!




It's been a blast but as they say...we really have to go.  Today's the last day of the Ghastlie Blog Hop so be sure you don't miss a one!


ON Friday November 4th

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Ghastlie Day Nine!



Oh no, tell me it's not true!  Today is the next-to-the-last Ghastlie party!  Don't miss a one of these:


ON Thursday November 3rd

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Ghastlie Day Eight!





We're counting down to the end ya'll - that makes me sad.  :(  But we still have today and two more to see the wonderful, amazing, Ghastlie creations that have been dreamed up to delight you.  Check out these today!


ON Wednesday November 2nd

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ghastlie Day Seven!




On Tuesday, November 1st (Can you believe it's November already?) these Ghastlie posts will amaze and astound you!



Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!




 ON Monday October 31st
Day 6


Have fun on your Ghastlie tour today!  Be sure to comment on every site so you can enter the giveaway. Each Ghastlie sister will submit one name to Madame Samm and from those six names one grand prize winner will be chosen.  The winner just might be YOU!  

Sunday, October 30, 2011

My Winner




The winner of my mug rug and Ghastlie fabric is Vicki T - congratulations Vicki!  Vickie doesn't have a blog but she really should.  Her comment was funny and a delight to read.  :)

The name I sent to Madame Samm was Lavender Dreamer who does have a blog....just click here to visit her.  And you really should.  She has a perfectly gorgeous picture as her header.  I don't know yet who won the grand prize for Friday but Lavender Dreamer you've made it to the semifinals.  :)

Friday, October 28, 2011

Ghastlie Day Five!

It was a perfectly Ghastlie night here on the lake....rainy and cold and shivery.  But this morning the sun is shining and I'm ready to sit down and visit with a few Ghastlie friends!  That means I should grab my IPad and read a few Ghastlie blogs to see what they're are up to today.  Now where could it be...I know I put it somewhere here...oh there!  In my Ghastlie IPad purse!


It's day 5 of the Ghastlie Blog Hop so let's take a look at Sew I Quilt and see if Madame Samm's listed who's posting today.  Oh yes, there's the list...first up is 

Wait...uh oh...who's that one in the middle there?  It's me!  I'm supposed to be posting on this Ghastlie day!

Okay, I can do it.  But first I need a cup of coffee and a muffin.  I'll eat my muffin and drink my coffee and then I'll write that post.  I better grab my Ghastlie hot pad so I don't burn my fingers.
Is that Albert Ghastlie?  Oh dear, I'm not sure.  No one's introduced me you see.  But let's get closer...maybe you'll recognize him.


Well whichever Ghastlie he is he'll save my poor fingers from getting burned when I take my muffins out of the oven.  And the coffee is ready so let's get out the mug rug and sit on the deck for a few minutes.  I think I'll read everyone's Ghastlie posts and then I'll write mine.  

 Ahhh now this one I recognize...Uncle Rufus Ghastlie!  He pretends to be a vampire but the gossip is that he's really an accountant, or a computer programmer maybe.  I saw him once on a street corner in New York City.  He's really quite a handsome guy, don't you think?

But I do wish someone would tell him that capes are, well, a bit passe.  

I really can't keep reading blogs...it seems I get started and hours pass before I know it.  Does that happen to you?  I read and comment, and read and comment, and forget what I should have been doing.  I better grab my Ghastlie purse and head for the grocery store.


Oh sew easy this was to make!  A Ghastlie friend told me the secret - a canvas bag bought at the local craft store, a few Ghastlie ruffles and a bit of ribbon!  Aunt Gertrude is peeking out to see where I'm going!  But before I leave I better iron these jeans I want to wear.  That's not going to take long if I use my wonderful lavender scented starch.
Hmmm, I wonder what the Ghastlie girls are whispering about.  And where my iron is.  Those girls are so bad, I guess they've hidden my iron.  But what's this strange looking thing here?
 Oh, I remember!  I took my iron to guilt guild yesterday and it's still in it's caddy.
 Isn't this fun?  It's all wrapped up safe and sound so I can carry it back and forth.  And it's insulated in the bottom so it won't burn me if I forget and put it in there when it's hot!
Now I'm all ready to go, jeans ironed, purse in hand.  But I seem to be forgetting something.  I wonder what it could be?  Wasn't I supposed to be doing something?  Oops, a post!   I was supposed to write a post!  I'll go do that right now!  And I better not forget to do a giveaway.  Everyone loves a giveaway.  Wonder what I should give....I know!  A Ghastlie mug rug and a yard of Ghastlie fabric.  That will make it a Ghastlie gift!

If you'd like to win the mug rug and the fabric too,
just let me hear a comment from you.
I'd love it if you were a follower because that's super sweet,
but I know you can't follow everyone you meet.

Blessings, Marlene