Friday, December 16, 2011

Day 289 of 365

My fortune cookie last night read Your hard work is about to pay off.

That's great, but I want to know more. My hard work on what? At work? On my quilts? On the children's book I'm getting ready to work on again? On my decluttering?

I know it's not about my health. After spending a couple hours Christmas and grocery shopping with my husband last night I almost didn't want to go out to dinner because I was hurting so bad. If I wasn't the one driving, I just might have taken a pain pill at dinner. When I got home, it took everything I had to kick off my shoes and go lie down for a bit. Many times when I am really hurting I can go to bed knowing things might be better in the morning. Sometimes they are. Today they weren't.

The knees were killing me enough all day today that I made an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon's office. Not to get that other knee replaced (I'm delaying that one as long as possible), but to get an injection in my knee. I used to get cortisone injections in it, but the pain and damage in my knee is beyond what that kind of shot can do. The injection I'm needing is a synovial fluid replacement injection. They take a big ole needle of synthetic synovial fluid, mark a spot on my knee and, well, you can guess the rest. It's not really that I'm wanting an injection - it's a much more painful injection than cortisone - but it has provided me some relief twice before.

Knowing I can't Christmas shop or grocery shop is pretty depressing. At least I got a positive fortune and got to see this sight across the street from the Chinese restaurant.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Day 288 of 365

There are those pivotal moments in people's lives that change things forever. As I was sitting in a meeting this week, it became clear the leave of absence I took from work was one of those pivotal moments.

The past few years before the leave, my job required me to know the reading program we used at the elementary inside and out. I lived and breathed reading. Phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension, writing. I taught lessons to teachers and kids. I trained teachers in other districts. I could walk into a room, pick up the teacher's manual and teach the lesson without any preparation. Any question about teaching reading I could answer right then and there, on the spot. For six years I was an expert at it.

But as I was sitting at a meeting this week I noticed a shift has happened. Taking a year off from work really has changed me. While the conversation at the meeting was around teaching reading, it seemed like so long ago since I was a part of it. Even though it was a little over a year ago since I was engaged in the teaching-kids-to-read process it seemed like a lifetime ago. I know my knowledge must be buried somewhere in my brain but it wasn't bursting to come out. Even the excitement has waned. I imagine it could be interpreted as a good thing or bad thing.

I think it's a good thing. My passion for teaching reading has been replaced with a passion for doing other things for kids. I did my thing as a teacher (and loved it at the time but not anymore), as a reading "coach" (loved it at the time but not anymore), as a trainer (and loved it too but not anymore). If it weren't for being off of work for a year, I would never have found the next thing I love - sewing things for others, particularly kids.

And I would never have yet another couple quilt tops ready to quilt for Operation Kid Comfort.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Day 287 of 365

My great-grandfather used to have a collection of postcards he kept in a desk drawer in his living room. As a little kid I used to go through those post cards whenever I visited.

When I visited my grandmother who lived next door to us, I used to go through something in a drawer of hers, too. Something of great interest to me. In her kitchen one of her drawers was a designated junk drawer. Pens, pencils, matches, screws, magnets, papers, and lots of other little things were in that drawer. For a girl who liked to organize (me), sorting through the junk drawer was quite fun.

We have our own junk drawer here at home, too. Typically the bulk of the drawer is made up of screwdrivers, pliers, a hammer, nails, screws, glues, candles, and such. We haven't cleaned it out in a long time so if you were to open the drawer today you'd also find a pair of gloves, some weatherstripping, a school bus candle holder, razor blades, washers, a sprinkler repair tool, garden labels, a flashlight, a watermelon plaque, and dozens of other little bits of pieces of things. It's in desperate need of some organization. I made three trips to that drawer today but not to organize it.

I intended to put together what should have been a quick and easy project today. When my daughter was home last week, I had her help me put a cork bulletin board in my sewing room. It used to be her board through high school and college and had bits and pieces of stickers around the frame.

My first trip to the junk drawer was to fetch the Goo Gone, which turned out to not be in there. Sometimes I use it in my sewing room, but after checking there I came up empty. (I think I probably took it to school and forgot to bring it back.) The second trip to the junk drawer was to get the paint scraper to help get the stickers off.

With a clean frame, I used some fabric to cover the bulletin board. Sprayed some basting spray on the cork board and applied the fabric. After some wrangling and re-cutting and re-piecing I was able to use up every available inch of the fabric piece to get it to fit on every available inch of the board. Then I began to staple the fabric down around the edges.

On my first press of the stapler, my stapler broke. I grabbed another stapler (not like we don't have others around), but this particular stapler wouldn't go all the way into the cork. Hence, the next trip to the junk drawer to get the hammer so I could slowly tap, tap, tap the staples in.

The bulletin board is finished and my junk drawer is still a mess. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Decorated Snowman and Snowflake Sugar Cookies - Day 286 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I'm a fan of snowman. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of snow. Kind of.

I love to watch the snow falling but I don't like driving in it. I enjoy shoveling snow but I don't like the cold. I like the look of clean, clear sidewalks and driveways with snow piled to the side. I love waking up in the middle of the night and having the house bright inside because it had snowed. I like that 6 AM phone call that I get telling me there is no school. I like calling the next person on the "snow tree" (yep, that's what it's called) and breaking the wonderful news to them.

I think teachers might even be more excited than the kids when a snow day is called. The snow day call has always been a competition at our house. My husband and I work in neighboring school districts. There are some years where he'll get a call and I won't, some years where I get a call and he doesn't, and some years we both get the call. We've learned not to rub it in if we personally get a snow day because more than likely next year the roles will be reversed.

We haven't had any snow days this year. Yet. But give us some snow and a bit of wind and you might find happy folks in this house.

Right now my snowman and snowflake decorated sugar cookie tutorial will have to suffice.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Day 285 of 365

The achoo and bless you days are done. I've had enough and tossed them in the trash.

I'm talking about salt and pepper shakers.

I'm a collector. I have probably a hundred or so pair. Gas station pumps, tractors, dump trucks, cars, and trains. Characters like Mr. Potato Head, Gumby and Pokey, Smokey the Bear, Cat in the Hat, and Winnie the Pooh. Some made of marble, antlers, and Mt. St. Helens volcanic ash.

When I first started collecting, I bought just about any salt and pepper shaker set I could find. When others found out I collected salt and pepper shakers they bought for me as well. After a few years my collection was beyond what I had room for, so I stopped buying and only kept the ones I absolutely loved.

One pair that was given to me was a plastic set of old folks. When the grandpa-y one was used it achooed and when the grandma-y one was used it said bless you. I eventually put those noisy ones in the donation box I kept in the back of the car. Every time I turned a corner, stopped, or started, the grandpa would go off. We wound up bringing the set back in the house and stuck them in a drawer until we knew we were going to drop them off at the donation center.

That was years ago. Those noisy shakers have been in the drawer ever since. Never been used. But ever since then, the grandpa goes off randomly. If you walk by the china hutch. If you're eating dinner. If you're sleeping in the middle of the night. The batteries aren't easy to take out, so we've just lived the random achoo occurring all times of the day and night.

So as I was sitting at the table and the achoo hit again, I decided enough was enough. Out to the garbage. Now.

I don't need any sneezing around when I'm decorating cookies.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Day 284 of 365

We used to have dial up internet long after everyone else moved to high speed. We knew it was slow, but we weren't on the computer all that much anyway. We didn't realize how slow it was until we switched to cable internet. It's a whole different world! Now I can't ever imagine going back.

Like my new bed linens. We've always had multiple layers of blankets, quilts, and comforters on the bed during the winter, along with flannel sheets that never fit right on our extra-deep mattress. Some years we might add in an electric blanket. No matter what combination we use, it's heavy. It's hard to turn over and we fight for each layer to stay on the bed evenly.

Not anymore. After sleeping in hotels like Hampton that have amazing beds and linens, I finally get to have the same experience at home. Our new flannel sheets that are made for thick mattresses are wonderful. Our new plush blanket is wonderful and my new down comforter is even more wonderful.

What's not wonderful? The time I'm wasting because of the problem with my iron. It's slowing down my quilt-making process and now that Sunday night is here, I have to report that I didn't get even one quilt finished. I can also report I never got around to getting my Christmas cookies decorated.

Here's hoping today's cookies will be prettier tomorrow.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Day 283 of 365

Notes to self:
  • Drive your behind down the road to get a good picture of a lunar eclipse if it's happening at 7 AM. It wasn't enough to get yourself out of bed to look at it - the moon was too far away for you to take a picture. Get those darn shoes on and grab those car keys even if it is only 15 degrees outside.
  • Don't wear arthritis gloves when you're cutting fabric. Those soft gloves that make your fingers and hands feel better when you're sewing and typing aren't the best things to be wearing when you're cutting. They'll act like a lint roller and will pick up every stray piece of fabric and teeny tiny piece of thread around. And don't even attempt to pick those threads off the gloves. They'll get sucked right back onto the gloves before you can get the thread to the trash can.
  • Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If someone offers you an early Christmas present and that present is a new iron, take it. That present just might come in handy when you're sewing up a kid's quilt you want to get mailed out in the next week. Handy because your other iron is still on the fritz. That old iron that will only get hot if you turn it off, unplug it, let it cool completely, then turn it back on. You'll have to do that every few minutes. It'll take you all day to press one quilt top because of the frequent cool-it-down turns.
  • Get some dang curtains in the den window. How many days are you going to have to wear your husband's baseball cap before you figure out curtains are a more effective way to block out the evening sun?
  • Remember at this time of year there are fewer daylight hours. Fewer hours of daylight mean fewer hours of finding a potential picture of the day. There will be some times you'll find a picture after dark, but those will be extremely rare.

The rarity happened tonight. I may have missed taking a picture of the eclipse early this morning, but looking across the river tonight I did get the yellow moon rising through the trees.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Day 282 of 365

I received an e-mail with the final tally:

* Three post office tractor trailers full
* 1,500 boxes
* 2,500 polar fleece blankets
* Over 49,000 pounds of Christmas goodies
* Over 1,000 knitted hats
* 10,000 personal greeting cards and hundreds of letters of appreciation
* And 10,140 homemade, personalized Christmas Stockings.

Just some of the highlights on the work Stockings for Soldiers did this year. 10,140 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will get to experience just a bit of home this Christmas because of the work of all the volunteers around the country.

I'm glad I was able to participate in a small way. 80 stockings were sewn by me (and some by you, too!) and hundreds of items to stuff in them were collected by a couple clubs at Marsing High School. Next year I'll do even more.

What I can't do more of is think tonight. My mind is fried after another late night at work and I can't figure a way to tie today's picture into today's writing. Being as it was Friday I made sure I left before it was too dark and walked out of the building with the sun going down.

The orange-ish jet trail behind the big, leafless tree looked to be an interesting picture-worthy sight.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Day 281 of 365

There were lots of opportunities for me to take pictures of things as I worked through the house today.

I considered taking a picture of my bedroom. I now, after months and months of wanting to go with a spa-themed room, have made some changes. As of today I have new sheets, a new blanket, a new down comforter, and new curtains. Months ago we took the curtains down in the den with the intent of putting them up in the bedroom when we were ready. I've endured many, many evenings of wearing a baseball cap in the den because the setting sun in the window behind the computer was blinding. (It would have made a lot more sense to have left the curtains in the den until we were ready to move them to the bedroom, but I wasn't thinking.)

I could have taken pictures of all the Christmas presents we got wrapped today, or the roses we finally pruned and hauled to the trashcan, the organizing we did, or our belated tree-trimming Mexican feast we're finally getting to have tonight. But one shocking sight took priority over the other potential pictures.

In my continuation of the FlyLady way, I worked on my linen closet today. It has been pretty clean and neat all along, but I've been running out of room for one thing in particular.

Used needles.

I use needles for my methotrexate and I have pre-filled syringes of my Enbrel that I put in those red sharps containers when I'm finished. But drugstores around here won't take the full containers, the drug company that sent them to me won't take them, and doctors and hospitals won't take them. So they sit, full, in my linen closet. Mostly full of the big Enbrel shots.

Today I took the Enbrel out of the containers to make room for the other smaller, more dangerous syringes. When I gathered them up it hit me.

This is what $13,000 looks like. Drug companies should be embarrassed.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Day 280 of 365

Serendipity. Coincidence. Fate. Kismet. Karma. Whatever you want to call it, it happened.

Last night after another consecutive night of me not getting home from work until after dark, my husband and I sat in the living room with the Christmas tree lights on and the Christmas music playing. We talked about lots of things - school things, home things, Christmas things, and blog things.

I was sharing with him how I have less than three months left of this take take-a-picture-every-day-to-see-that-you-have-lived kind of goal. How I've been thinking about what happens next. What happens with everything I've written. With what happens on Day 366.

I've been contemplating just going with a picture a day with a caption - no writing. No life stories would be told. No venting, no frustrations, no exciting events would be recorded. If it weren't for the pictures, I wouldn't know what I did with my life over the past months. Yet, without the writing to go along with it I wouldn't know how I felt about what was happening.

Some days the writing is difficult. There are some days at work when I'm writing for 9 hours straight. Then I come home and write my blog. I've been feeling that my blog writing isn't improving because my brain cells are being used up with work writing. And really, who cares that I get shocked in the grocery store or that the cat bawls a lot?

So the picture a day with caption was what I told me husband. But...

Just a few minutes after that conversation I received a phone call. A phone from someone I know. Someone who has just recently started reading my blog. It was a one-sided conversation, with the person being oh-so-kind about what I'm doing with my writing, my pictures, and my sewing for charity. About the inspiration that the blog provided. Inspiration that despite health issues, I have done something good. It quite humbled me that someone else saw the importance of what I've been documenting.

We all need a boost once in a while. A confirmation that we're on the right track. That the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train.

It was the boost I needed. It made me even more determined to get another quilt finished today for Operation Kid Comfort.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

How to Make Scrap Fabric Christmas Tree Ornaments - Day 279 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I love the smell of a live Christmas tree in the house. Yet we belong to the group of folks who put up a fake tree every year.

It wasn't always that way. We used to do the live tree thing. We would pick out what we thought was the best tree (which also equaled cheap) at the lot. It'd stay up until right after New Year's and then it would come down. The needles would hang around even longer. I once heard someone say that Christmas tree needles never fully got vacuumed up until Easter. Then at Easter the Easter grass would never get all vacuumed up until Christmas. Depending on the time of year, you had either pine needles or Easter grass in the carpet.

But it wasn't the pine needles that kept us from continuing the live-tree tradition. It was the tree itself. The if you don't make a fresh cut on the trunk so it'll soak up water throughout the season it'll dry up and your house will catch fire warning that stopped us. We took the warning to heart and made sure when we got the tree home to make that fresh cut.

That fresh cut we made never was pretty and never was level. We owned nothing but a hatchet and small tree saw so the cutting took forever. And since my husband can't saw anything straight to save his life and my arms never have been trouble-free enough to do the cutting, making that fresh cut was something to dread which then made getting a live tree something to dread.

Now we're in the fake tree world. A pre-lit fake tree. No cutting required.
Homemade Scrap Fabric Quilted Christmas Tree Ornaments Sewing Project

The trees in today's tutorial need some cutting. No saw required.

For this project you will need:
Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.


Looking for something else? 
Check out some of my other Christmas sewing and crafting projects!

Otherwise you can watch the how to tutorial for the easy homemade scrap fabric Christmas tree ornaments right here:

Monday, December 5, 2011

Day 278 of 365

I can't quite figure out the cat these days. I'm about ready to change her name, though. No longer will she be putty or sissy or kitty. She's going to be called bawl baby.

I get the 4 AM morning bawling. She's been in all night and is wanting to go out. She also bawls when she knocks something over like a box or stack of magazines. But there's also the bawling that means she wants:
  • more food in her bowl. 
  • some canned cat food.
  • whatever is in the can when we use the electric can opener.
  • to play.
  • to jump in the window.
  • the curtain opened so she can jump in the window.
  • attention.
  • to sit on my lap.
  • to be petted.
  • help getting out whatever she lost under the couch.

The problem is I'm not smart enough to figure out what all the bawls mean. Just when I think I know what she wants, I'm proven wrong.

Lately she's been bawling more than usual. She's in a lot more during the winter and she eats a lot more. Much, much more. So we've been limiting the amount of food we're giving her. Which in turn makes her bawl even more. (Guess she's like a human.)

Except I'm not sure a human would do this when you pull in the driveway. As soon as I turn off the engine she jumps on the hood and perches at the rear view mirror until we get out.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Day 277 of 365

I've heard there are people who can't wear a watch. They put it on and it stops. A magnetic or electrical field thing or something. I don't wear a watch anymore, but I'm wondering if I did if it would stop on me now. With a titanium knee and metal anchors in both shoulders I can't imagine the metal won't affect something.

Like when I'm grocery shopping. I can never, ever, grocery shop without getting shocked. Dozens and dozens of times. Every time I touch a shelf, every time I touch the cart. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, it doesn't matter what shoes I'm wearing or clothes I'm wearing. I'd never noticed it much before the knee replacement, but I sure do notice it now.

Something else I've noticed? I'm having issue with electronic things.

In just the past week:
  • I had to get a replacement for my work-issued Blackberry because it stopped working.
  • My Sonicare toothbrush stopped holding a charge. And no way to replace the battery.
  • My poor iron died yesterday. It was resuscitated, but I think it'll be on life support soon.
  • Just today, the needle threader on my sewing machine broke. Fell right off in the middle of my sewing project. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to put it back on.

Thank goodness my machine still worked. Worked well enough for me to finally get one of the kids' projects done, a pillow. A little late in the day made the picture a bit too dark to see the navy blue Navy fabric I used.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Day 276 of 365

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

I can attest to that.

This past week I told my husband I was planning on locking myself in my sewing room for the weekend. I have three kids' quilts and one pillow to do for Operation Kid Comfort. I have quilts to make for my husband and daughter for Christmas. And I have a tutorial to film for Tuesday.

Last night I spent some time picking out fabrics for the kids' quilts and pillow so I'd be ready this morning to start cutting and sewing. I even got up early today so I could squeeze the most I could out of the day.

Every item on my big to-do list required the use of my iron. I go through irons a lot. As someone who uses their iron almost every single day, I have certain things I expect from it. It needs to get very hot, produce lots of steam, and stay on. This particular iron turns itself off if it has been sitting for a few minutes, which is quite the pain for me. When I'm making quilts, I sew seams, press seams, sew seams. Sometimes I might be sewing for 10 minutes before I'm ready to press, but by then the iron has already shut itself off. So needless to say I've not been happy with this iron for the last two years. But I've put up with it. Until today.

I wasn't able to put up with it today. Not because I didn't have the patience to keep turning it on, but because it wouldn't turn on. Actually, it did turn on. It just didn't heat up. I turned it on and off. Off and on. Unplugged it and plugged it in again. Tried the steam on, tried the steam off.

My iron - the crucial necessity of my everyday life - is a goner.

Which makes the kids' quilts and pillow, my husband's and daughter's quilts, and the tutorial I had planned goners, too.

So instead of doing what I had planned, I wound up spending some time researching irons. I've decided no more cheapos for me - a Rowenta it will be. And Joann's even had one at a great sale price, but it was sold out. While I considered putting it on my Christmas list, I can't go that long without an iron. Folks are counting on me - the kids with dads away in the Navy, my family.

Thankfully after several hours of keeping it unplugged, it sputtered back to life. You can bet I'll be babying it the rest of the weekend.

In the midst of all that, my husband the NASCAR fan, requested a Christmas ornament with some of my checkered flag fabric. It's not the ornament I would have chosen with that fabric, but he's the fan.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Day 275 of 365

I worked the FlyLady plan a bit more today in, of all places, my sock drawer.

When I'm wearing jeans and tennis shoes, I mostly wear white athletic socks. When I'm wearing my work clothes I'm mostly wearing black, dark brown, or navy blue socks. When I wear sandals, I wear no socks (unlike my dork of a husband).

For quite a long while, I've been wearing white, black, brown, and navy blue socks 99.99% of the time. Yet those weren't the only colors I had in my drawer. I had a collection of green, light blue, and purple socks in a variety of styles. Different shades of green, blue, and purple. Shades I haven't wore in years and years. Colors I probably will never wear again. Really, do I need that many socks in that many different colors?

Nope.

I now have a half-empty sock drawer with no intention of introducing any additional socks of any color to it. FlyLady proposes that if you bring something new into the house you have to send an old one out the door. So if I do wind up with some new socks (only in my preferential dark colors), some of the old ones will go out the door.

One pair of blue socks I discarded even matched the color of the berries in today's picture. You can be sure I won't be buying that color again. Which leads me to a couple questions. What was I thinking buying that color in the first place?

The even more important question is one I'd appreciate your help with. I don't know what this plant is. Does anyone know the name of it?

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Day 274 of 365

I needed a holiday tradition today and I wound up having to fight hard for it.

Every year when we decorate our Christmas tree, my daughter and I decorate and my husband makes Mexican food. Our daughter has been extremely busy working and she's not able to help this year so hubby and I decorated the tree together last night. Going with the less is more idea I've been tossing around lately, we didn't put all our ornaments on. But even with fewer ornaments, last night we were too darn tired to get the angel on the top and too darn tired to cook up our usual Mexican feast. We saved those activities for tonight, thinking that after my rheumatologist appointment today I'd stop by the grocery store and pick a couple things up and we'd be good to go.

Yeah, right.

The rheumatologist is working on getting the insurance company to approve the infusions. Because of how insurance has been dragging out the process, and with my blood-work numbers and arthritis symptoms continuing to be problematic, he felt some major changes were in order in the meantime. An increase in the amount of the chemotherapy drug I have to inject each week. An additional medication taken daily. Encouragement to start taking pain medication. And a steroid shot to try and get some of the body-wide inflammation down. (A shot which unfortunately had to be given in a not fun place.)

So more hair will probably be falling out and I'll start a new medication which can cause blindness. Before I even take this new medicine I have to see the ophthalmologist and have a special test so he can get a baseline on my eyes. My other injection, Enbrel, is the only thing staying the same. Or so I thought.

When I went to the pharmacy to pick up all these medications, the Enbrel wasn't there. Even though I've been on this medication for almost a year now, insurance has now decided to deny it because it needs to be pre-authorized. Even though it has already been pre-authorized for all this time I've been on it, it seems it has to go through the process again.

What a wonderful day.

So despite how crappy I felt about all that, I still had to get some groceries for us to have our Mexican feast. I would have skipped it, but I knew I needed our tradition to happen. I needed something familiar, something comfortable.

Tortillas, tortilla chips and a couple jalapenos. The plan was for something simple this year - tacos - but with some homemade salsa. Salsa made from the tomatoes I canned back in August on Day 177. I didn't need to pick up any hamburger meat since my husband told me we had some in the freezer.

What appeared to be hamburger meat in our freezer turned out to be Italian sausage. With me waiting on a return calls from three doctors - rheumatologist about the denial of Enbrel, ophthalmologist about the eye test, and my regular doctor to deal with some other issues - I didn't want to leave the house. And hubby couldn't go by himself since he doesn't drive. Option two was going out to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. I nixed that idea as well. Option three allowed us to stay home by the phone for an even simpler dinner. Nachos. Those tortilla chips, a can of chili, some cheese, and some absolutely delicious homemade salsa became the closest thing to a tree-decorating Mexican feast tradition we were going to get.

And the angel made it on the Christmas tree.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Day 273 of 365

For the most part, I try and stay out of trouble. I might make mistakes (and that has been happening more often lately), but I try and do the right thing. I try not to take advantage of others. I obey traffic laws. I always have worked at being the "good girl".

But a couple weeks ago I got an infraction. An infraction from the quilting website I've been visiting for the last few months. The one where I give away fabric and quilt blocks and quilt tops. The one where I share my quilt projects and my sewing-based tutorials.

The quilting website had gone through a change over the past month. From what I understand they sold their site to another company. They then took on a radically new look and a bunch of additional advertisers. They lost a lot of the members as they became frustrated with the changes. It didn't matter much to me either way, but thinking about those changes probably should have been a heads up to me that things were different.

The site doesn't (and never has had) the capabilities for quilters to post videos. Since all my tutorials are videos, I usually post a picture of what I made on their site and then link to the how-to video. When the change-over to the new website occurred, I wasn't able to post pictures anymore. So I just posted a link to the video.

And that is where the problem lies. One of the moderators that patrol the website deleted my link and let me know I'd been given an infraction. An infraction for posting a "spammed advertisement".

Now, I have never collected e-mails from anyone. I don't advertise anything on my blog. I don't ask for donations or money. I don't even have my YouTube videos set to air advertisements. So how the "spammed advertisement" came about, I'm not sure. Of course, my messages to them attempting to find out more have gone unanswered.

At first I cared about getting in trouble. After a while, not so much. I occasionally go to the site to get an idea for a pattern, but haven't posted any free fabric or quilt blocks or quilt tops or tutorials or pictures or anything since.

The way I see it, the site has served its purpose. It gave me lots of ideas for quilting, but even more importantly it is where I found out about all the different charities that needed donations. Because of that site I've done work for the Quilts for Kids organization, Operation Kid Comfort, The Painted Turtle, Quilts of Valor, and Stocking for Soldiers. But now it's time to move on.

Although after my $5 ebay purchase that arrived today, I'll need to search out some ideas somewhere. The big box of fabric being sold was called a "Quilter's Dream". It sure is.

Yards and yards of beautiful fabric and dozens and dozens of very, very old  hand-stitched quilt blocks. Someone obviously put in a lot work into something they couldn't finish. Now if I could just figure out what to do with it all...

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

How to Make Lollipop Homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments - Day 272 of 365, Tutorial Tuesday

I'm crossing my fingers. Crossing my fingers and closing my mouth.

I  need to make sure the words I can't do this don't wind up slipping from my mouth during either one of my meetings today. After thinking it yesterday, I'm going into today with some I can do this thinking. Now whether that will carry me through the day, I'm not so sure. But I'm going to try. Today is a new day. Doesn't mean it's going to be any better, but there's a chance it just might.

There is a chance I might get some ornaments on my Christmas tree, though. Yesterday's picture didn't include all my new ornaments. I made some new ones this weekend for today's tutorial. A piece of fabric, some clothesline cord, and a lollipop stick from the candy making section of the craft store led to these.

Homemade Fabric Lollipop Christmas Tree Ornaments Sewing Project

Let's hope when I get home tonight the I can do this has carried through the day and at least a few ornaments make it on the tree.


Looking for something else? 
Check out some of my other Christmas sewing and crafting projects!

The step-by-step how to tutorial for the homemade lollipop Christmas tree ornaments made with fabric scraps and clothesline cord can be found here:
Looking for more holiday sewing and crafting projects? 
Check out some of my other projects:

Monday, November 28, 2011

Day 271 of 365

As I was sitting at a training at work today all I could think was, "I can't do this."

I can't sit here any longer. I can't stand how bad my back hurts. I can't stand how much my hands are aching. I can't stand how stiff and painful my knees are. I can't concentrate on what the speaker is saying. I can't pay close attention to what others are saying. I can't form my words to get out anything intelligent to add to the conversation. My mind is numb. I can't will myself out of this. 

Something has pushed me over the edge. I'm not sure if it is the combination of working and holiday stuff or the weather or what, but something is off. Something has hit me like a ton of bricks. My pain is worse than usual, bordering on severe.  I usually can will myself out of the pain slump, but it didn't work today. Usually I can put on an act so no one knows what is going on, but I couldn't today.

I have pain pills at the ready, but still have avoided taking them. Days like these make me want to go back to them. Days like these make me wish I hadn't gone back to work. Make me wish I didn't hurt so much. Make me wish things weren't like this.

As much as I want to focus on others, right now I can't. I have some new pictures from Operation Kid Comfort to make into some quilts and pillows for some kiddos with parents in the Navy, but I can't get my mind into it right now. I have quilts to make for my husband and daughter for Christmas, but I can't get there, either.

A feeble attempt at keeping my mind off the pain happened this evening when I thought I might decorate our Christmas tree. Our daughter put it up last week when she was home for Thanksgiving so I could decorate sometime this week. I desperately needed a mental distraction. Unfortunately, a pre-lit tree and a determined deep-into-the-pain person with non-cooperative joints did not equate to a decorated tree tonight.

What I did manage to accomplish was to sort through our new ornaments for the season. Every year we pick up new ornaments, mostly at the after Christmas sales. I always forget what I had purchased, so every time the next Christmas rolls around, I get excited about the new ornaments I bought the year before.

New this year we have a Charlie Brown and Luci ornament that plays lines from their "sessions". A See and Say that tells us what the animals say and a View Master that works. A Playschool Jet. Clark Griswold from Christmas Vacation on an ornament that plays music and lights up. A kitty cat that looks like ours.

The tree may not have gotten decorated, but my ornaments are ready when my body is ready.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Day 270 of 365

It's FlyLady time.

After Mommarock posting a comment about FlyLady and me thinking about FlyLady as I was piling up trash yesterday, I decided it was time.

FlyLady is about housecleaning and management of housecleaning. It's about cleaning in zones. About shining your sink before you go to bed. About always getting dressed - including shoes - every day. It's about a household notebook/control journal and the use of the 27 fling boogie for decluttering.

I've done FlyLady for years. Because of her, our sink is always shining before we go to bed. We've had a household notebook sitting on our kitchen counter for the last several years. Most days, even when I'm home by myself, I make sure I have shoes on.

But the 27 fling boogie she writes about has long disappeared. The zone cleaning has stopped, even though I have lists typed up in my household notebook, a notebook that is rarely opened. I even have a monthly menu plan that was used years ago (but hasn't been looked at since).

So today I'm back to reading the book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for years.

My first few items I tackled today? One of the printers, one of the staplers, and one of our bath scales are headed to the donation bag. And a start on revamping our household notebook. Today we have new zone cleaning lists specific to our house, all on different colors of paper, ready to slip into sheet protectors for checking off.

The cleaning lists might not seem picture-worthy, but I know having them hanging out here on the blog will give me an additional reminder to keep on top of them. (As well as an additional layer of guilt if I don't.)

Baby steps.

If you haven't heard of FlyLady but are interested, under today's picture I've posted where you can find the book on Amazon. She also has a website http://flylady.net/