Christmas Crazy

Three days and counting down. The house is done, baking finished, gifts wrapped so now it's onto the house work. I swear we make more work for ourselves. The joy of the Holidays, spending way to much, eating, drinking and playing way to much. Everything in excess. As a quilter I make even more work for myself cause well you want to make that special gift for your family and friends. Sorry guys but I  did not go crazy. Okay let me rephrase that. 25 tea towels made and already given away, 50 little bags made and most have been given away, two quilts done and given, two table runners , two wall hangings have also been sent. And that is what I did in the last two months.

Now got smart and told a friend no I would not make her mother in law a quilt so she came and sewed for a night and then booked a long arm quilter as I said no again. Happy dance for me for standing up and realizing that I could not do everything. Sometimes we have to learn to take a look at our schedules and rethink what can be done and will be done.

Today I am working on a quilt that is due on the 8th of January. The blocks where all finished in the spring early summer. Scheduling issues NOT just like most of us left it to the last minute now in panic mode and look still not doing it cause I am Blogging. Evil laugh. Goal today is lay the blocks out and figure out the best way to showcase these amazing blocks. And well the ladies that graced me with such a gift I don't want to let them down so will try and showcase each block to its best. May be under the gun but will not let time get in the way.  

That is what I plan to be doing this week in my spare time. Now my wonderful husband also booked us a couple of days at the Banff Springs so we will be escaping between the Christmas holidays and New Years. He has been traveling so much he though it would be nice to recharge. Okay I know he has been staying in hotels most of this month but he wants to spend time with me. No distractions, kids or dog.  So today thinking will head to the Cat's Pajama's and buy something special after work.

Now that I have killed an hour guess I should get back to work. Wish me luck. Mind you in 15 minutes have to go and pick up kids as they only have half a day off. Got to love my schedule.

Being Thankfull.

Just got home from doing my shift for Inn out of the Cold it is 5:38 am in the morning yes still up and know once my head hits the pillow I will be out like a light. Now lots is going on in my head as to how the rest of my day is going to go. Sleep till ten, maybe make a piece of toast while the coffee is brewing. Head to the bank to pay my taxes ( Filed late this yr.) Not worrying about how I am paying this bill because the money is there. Then grocery store, liquor store then home, friend coming over to use the long arm so she can finish her Christmas gifts. My husband will arrive home around four then we will get ready to go to a Christmas party . This is what this day will involve. Well tonight I swear more people could not sleep , needed to have a smoke, or just wondering about. Very unusual since wake up is at six and they are on the bus heading out by seven.

Here is what these Homeless working poor have to look forward to. Wake up in 15 minutes, where if you want a shower you have to wait cause there are only two showers and 15 people that could want one. But you have only one hour to pack up your stuff shower and eat . On the menu is eggs, toast, bacon and fruit. Sounds good but this is the menu everyday if you are using the Inn. 7:00 am on the bus to head downtown. It's cold out, might not have the right cloths for this weather in need of a smoke. If your lucky you have work to go to if not your on the cold streets of Calgary . Lunch was given to you so no worries about filling that need but where does one get hot water to use for the instant soup? Next worry getting back to the Inn pick up point by 4:30 to catch a bus to the next church that is housing you for the night. Along with a million other worries about surviving on the streets.
Okay hope you have a mental  picture. My family was homeless when I was a child my parents did their best but moving, changing cities and jobs left cash flow short. First and Last months rent is hard to save for when you are just trying to get by in a day. Did not help that my mother had a mental condition . We also where on welfare for most of my younger days. So this is the reason I do the Inn Out of the Cold each month. It keeps our family grounded as to whats important . My husband never lived through such things but he has lived through my hording of canned food ( Not so bad for it now) My giving the shirt off my back if you needed it no questions asked , opening our home to anyone no matter what. Over feeding everyone cause god forbid anyone goes away hungry from our home.

I have a point to this story should get there ( lack of sleep ). All week I have been stressing about my silly Christmas tree and when was I going to get it up. Well tonight one man was stressing about the sizes of cigarette butts in this bag he had. I swear he must have gathered them up from all over the place . All he wanted was to enjoy one smoke. The bag made him feel like he could handle what ever the day held for him if he could gather enough to role one cigarette. Another lady that was up all night was stressing about the hole in her shoe cause next week it was going to get cold. Makes the tree look rather silly. These people where not worrying about stocking stuffers or that perfect gift.

As we head into this holiday season please take the time to enjoy what you have. My friend Darla and her son have been doing one good deed a day for someone if we all did this wow our world might not have so many stressed out people. So I hope today when you head into your day you might appreciate the little joys that are around you all the time. I know the people at the Inn gave me a gift tonight. I shall not stress over anything cause really we have it so much better than a lot of other people. Merry Christmas

Christmas Crazy

Morning,

Just checking my list of things to do before the holiday crazy begins. We all have those lists even if it's just in our heads. Who's on our Christmas shopping list, when will you have time to write that letter to go into the cards. What events will be happening that we need to plan for. And how is one going to pay for it all. So the crazy begins. Each year I swear we set ourselves up to drive ourselves and our loved ones crazy. For example I am thinking about my cards and letter but before I even get fingers to the computer low and behold my first Christmas card will be in the mail box from my mother. How this crazy lady does it every year still amazes me, but hers will be our first card and that's my Que to get my butt in gear and send out the cards. Could do it today but know I will wait until next week before it's done. And that's how we set ourselves up for the crazy. Now don't get me wrong my Christmas shopping is done yes you read that right. I start on boxing day for the next year. Sales baby Sales. Plus picking things up all year helps to spread the cost over the year rather than during November and December. This allows our family to do more with out having to pay in the next year. Planning ahead always. So my plan for this year is to keep it simple ( Laughing so hard right now) Okay yes I am keeping it Simple -  which in my world this year it means to Share , Implement, Multi task, Plan, Laugh and Enjoy. Keeping it Simple. So no stressing ones self out cause the tree is not perfect or those cookies are a  little burnt . Over the last couple of years I have come to figure out that no you don't need to decorate upstairs and downstairs, each room does not have to reflect the season it just needs to be clean for your company. Your friends are coming to visit you so  if there is a cookie to offer wonderful if not I am sure the company is still much better . So you can see the plan forming evil laugh, yes my friends will becoming over to bake , my family will decorate the tree together even if it takes until Christmas eve to get everyone in the same province and we will enjoy it. Now lets see if I can keep it simple .

 Right now finishing up a quilt for JD's girlfriend , have Christmas towels to finish sewing, Have to arrange Christmas party for the wonderful women I sew with on Fridays , well you get the picture. On the bright side already ahead of the game because it's still November. Now to get off this machine and start working on a class sample. This Sunday am teaching all day so if you want to come play and make a Secret Santa to give or keep come play with me at My Sewing Room, thinking the class still has space (call the store for more information)  Promise it will be done before Christmas. So there you have it my plans, so what do you have planned and will you drive yourself crazy?

To Label or Not ??



Inner Animal Workshop

Well I have no idea where the month went. I swear between work, kids, husband and my life in general this month has flown by as it is I still have paperwork and GST to deal with before the end of the month. At least the government fixed the $64,000 dollar error on their part. Can you imagine getting that bill needless to say I was not a happy camper that day. Where would one come up with that kind of cash? But I am not the only person dealing with government screw ups. My friend J had to spend the last month proving that they had a third child whom is in grade 12.  I figured after the sixth trip into their offices I would be pulling my shirt up and showing the stretch marks lmao all in fun J.

 So this month I started teaching we had an amazing weekend of sewing and I think the ladies took something away with them. It was fun and scary all at the same time. I have also opened my studio up so if you care to come and sew with me your more than welcome. My first victim (pardon student) evil evil laugh was J. She took the workshop but since she does not own a machine or tools she came to finish her quilt at the studio. Well let me tell you for a girl that just turned 13 this month she did an great job. She finished her quilt including the binding and label. Okay we sewed the binding by machine which saved us much time. But I swear I have been doing more and more binding by machine these days. Unless the quilt is heading to a show or it's something really special to the machine it goes. Don't get me wrong I love doing binding by hand. The other thing is labels. Please quilters start doing labels. Matt Sparrows the man quilter bought a hand quilted quilt at VV yesterday for $20 dollars someone went to a lot of work on this quilt for it to end up having no voice. I told J while she was finishing her label that yes this was her first larger quilt , it's from a pattern but the thing that makes her quilt special is the label. It tells a story of the journey she took as a young girl. So the next owner will look at the quilt with different eyes. They are going to understand this was her first quilt, she is just learning so yes the stitching may not be perfect, it's not totally square but it's a right of passage. This teen has fallen in love with quilting and already planning her next quilt. (So if you know of someone getting rid of a sewing machine get back to me cause I would love to be able to help her along the way ) Any ways that has been this month hard to believe that it's almost over. I did finish my GST yesterday and filed it on line lets see how that works.
Now while the kids are watching movies today I may be able to get some invoicing done. Then tomorrow spend the day invoicing and decorating the yard. Rod is gone until Monday then home for five days then gone again. He says he has a ton of paperwork for me which means I need to clear up what is sitting here in my office. I swear it never ends. My question for the day is this, if a man and a woman had the same chore list what would be the time frame for completion for both of them??? Evil laugh just wondering cause I know my husband works hard but sometimes my family doesn't see what all has been done. Enjoy the day love to hear your views.

Winds of change.

Morning, taking a break from kids & quilting. Spent the morning dropping the kids off at school playing with the two that are here all day then back to school to pick up the kindergarten kids.  Will have to start thinking about lunch but that can wait while I type this and  drink my first cup of coffee. Fall is a time for change, the leaves change color , the air is changing where you can feel the winter winds coming. The kids are back to school and learning and moving into another stage of their lives. This year is no different in our house. Jordan is now 18 in university and well do I need to say it moving into another stage of his life. His schedule makes it so there are days when one does not see him. This did not bother me until this week when Rodney headed out of town on Sunday. This week it has basically been just me and the dog at home dealing with everything, which is nothing new but I have had a ton to deal with. This summer we had two hail storms roll in and needless to say our roof did not survive or that is what the guys said when they checked our roof. So dealing with insurance and adjusters, then will have to find a roofing company to do the work before the snow flies. Then my mom fell , well between her doctor and aide's phone calls I swear the phone was connected to my ear. We have finally convinced my mother that she really does need a phone. This is something we all have been working on for years but Doris (mom) would have nothing to do with a phone. So yesterday I spent hours on the phone making the arrangements to have one installed and me being billed so Doris does not see the bill. Well even my mother has come to the conclusion that her life is changing due to her age. Now on reflection I have an aging parent that is going to be needing more and more but with her medical history one can't move her closer to be able to deal with issues first hand. Tkg I have set into place some great people.  Change sometimes is a good thing and other times not so much. This October my little world is also going to change. I will be teaching part time, it's a small step but I am really looking forward to stretching my brain muscles for a change. And last month I designed my first quilt pattern so even I am trying to evolve. Small changes I know but still changes. Question of the day what changes are you experiencing and are they good changes? They say we need to shake things up a bit to evolve what do you think? Just a thought, now guess I should go make lunch for the kids, finish my class sample that is due today and get on with my day. Go enjoy yours because you know mine will be full fun and crazy.

Magic Fence

Morning All, well my magic fence has done it's job again. Okay for those that don't know I live at the end of a block so the alley runs beside my house then sidewalk and the main street in our community. When I need to get rid of something I put the item or items beside our fence. Well let me tell you this fence has magical powers cause it doesn't matter what I put there it's gone with in minutes. Yesterday I was in Purge mode, three trips to the thrift store, many trips across the street to sneak garbage into the neighbors bin. They are doing Reno's so they have one of those large bins on the front yard at the moment. Evil laugh Steve whom was helping me purge filled that bin. Good thing I don't know these people. But the items that really one could have sold or given away needed somewhere to go, so beside the fence they went. Large kennel , 150 pound punching bag, furniture , wood, shelving you name it those items where placed.  Well today is trash day so around I go with my recycle box and what do you know but everything was gone cleared away nowhere to be found. I am loving that fence. So yes I am at it again purging, watching my friend move and pack up junk made me look at our home and think if we had to move would one take what was in this house? Sunday ten bags of cloths and misc. items left the house, Tuesday Steve and I cleaned out the storage room and back closet. Like I said three trips where made to Value Village to donate. And today two more bags are in my truck ready to go . Last night all the shelves where removed from the hall closet and back closet then painting until 2:00 am this morning. Crazy I know but Jigsaw is coming in today to organize all my closets. They did such an amazing job with the studio three weeks ago that I am having them back to help get the stuff that is behind closed doors organized. Well me being me I would clean my home before the cleaning lady came ( no I don't have a cleaning lady sigh) so purging , cleaning and painting where all done saves time and money. So today should be fun wonder how much more I will purge think we are all done but one never knows when I get in this mode. Now I know that for the most part the things in my home are things that one wants around. My poor husband has no idea what I have been up to but I have not touched his closet (yet evil evil laugh) Plans for the rest of my week, finish up paperwork and invoicing so Rod doesn't have a cow, do class samples so Anne doesn't have a cow and somewhere in there get some sleep (Fat chance) So for those that are reading this and drinking your coffee have I made you tired?? Have a great day.

To Hire an Organizer ??

Well where has the summer gone? Mine has been so full one has not had time to have people over for a BBQ but that will change in the next couple of weeks we hope. Well let me tell you what I did last week even though I was sick as a dog. I hired an Organization company called Jigsaw Organization Inc.  Now I really did not know how they where going to turn my studio into something that would work better as for years I tried  everything to keep my fabrics safe, my threads in order all the beads, paints and art supplies in some kind of manageable order. Like most quilters we get into our space pull things out to find that perfect fabric then when we look up our working area looks like it blew up . And let me tell you I hate working in a mess so before I can start playing the area gets cleaned first which limits my play time ( things like family , house work, real work and the  dog seem to need my attention ). Well that was where Sharon and her gang promised to do there best . I kept telling her that she was missing a whole market of women that need her help but would not part with the tools of the trade. So she offered to come into my world and see what a quilter needed and what was so different about our little breed . The first visit I walked them through my world where most of my spare time is spent. (Yes even I have spare time ) . I clashed a little with the one lady because she wanted to remove the dogs bed as if I would let that happen, Luna is always close by . And she wanted my small fridge out.  When they left I was worried about what I had let myself in for ahhh. Then Sharon came back in a couple of days with their proposal, and walked me through what they wanted to do. She really wanted to hang all my fabric lmao. for those quilters can you imagine! Sharon laughed at me cause she said the look on my face needless to say hangers went to the side as not in this life time. I showed her how one goes about picking fabric for a project and it was clear how hangers just would not work. But these are the things she needed to find out so she could help over quilters.
Now is where I stepped up and once Sharron left I emptied my space cleaned everything out. I tore out the closet and fixed holes then painted. Borrowed a van and to Costco I went and bought the wall units that are now in the studio. Had talked to Sharron about them (it was her van) and JD and I built the Units. My son grumbled the whole time but I told him I was not paying someone good money for something we could do ourselves. Now in Jigsaws quote they had figured in doing all this, but me,  being a control freak  I  needed to do my part. Evil laugh. Plus really did need to try and keep the bill where I could justify it. On Thursday when the Ladies arrived it was ready for them to do their magic. Sharon had a speech planned just in case I got in the way. And off they went , I swear the three of them worked non stop all day folding sorting and just made my area sing. We purged a lot, now they normally take everything away but I said no way as all the books I had and magazines would be loved by my quilting friends. So I loaded them up into my car to take to the shop. ( The ladies where on them like white on rice). It was amazing I had purged before Jigsaw came cause I bought the new desks and got rid of a ton but still six bags went to my van. No Fabric was hurt in the process. Nothing I needed, would use, or valued left. Yes some purging was done and I was honest regarding my books and what really I needed to keep.(Nothing came back into the space after they left). The ladies took the garbage away so that it was not by my fence all week, they took some containers that I no longer needed that they could use and they left with me doing the Happy Dance over my new space. So when my husband saw the space here is what I told him . I had been trying to get this space to work for me for three yrs. My projects where always organized but the rest did not work well at all. Was it worth the expense ? Yes and then some! It's clean, bright, organized, homes for everything and anyone can find what they need in this space. I can now create with out making a huge mess, there is space to teach and work . What more could I ask for. So for those that need some help consider hiring an Organization company if your in Calgary contact me I can hook you up to some amazing Ladies.