Score!!!

Have you ever wondered how much free fabric you could fit into a 98 Camry?? Well I have the answer for you...

This much!

I had put an ad up on Craigslist wanting old fabric scraps so I would have a good mix of material for quilts that I was going to make my family for Christmas. I had a lady respond who had some material for me to look at and she said she had a lot, but I had no idea how much she really had...I didn't even take all that she offered me because I had no room in the car or at home for it! Her husband had went to go clear out a warehouse and it used to be a costume store...apparently the lady who had the costume store skipped out on her rent and left behind a whole warehouse of material...all she took with her was her patterns...the man who owned the warehouse wanted it cleared out and sold it all to this lady's husband for $70!!! I couldn't believe it..She didnt have room for it all either so she told me I could take whatever I wanted...FOR FREE!!! .It was seriously like Christmas! Not so much for the mister...lol...He wasn't so thrilled to see me dragging home more junk as he calls it..but he just has to think of how much we'll save with me not going to the fabric store all the time :0)

So the next step was to try to find somewhere for it other than the floor of our garage. Well as I've said before I have the best friend on the world...who just happened to have a brand new steel shelving unit still in the box that was just taking up space in her storage shed so she let me have it for my material...

Now I have to admit...I've seen pics of other bloggers craft/sewing rooms, and I definitely have sewing room envy! My sewing room is in our bedroom closet... it is a large closet, but still a closet...one of these days, once we win the lottery or 2 kids move out...I just might get a whole room, but for now i'm happy with my hiding spot...so heres the before pic. (once I got the rack set up..and don't look at the mess...lol...just the rack!)

and now the final picture once  I finally got all the material sorted and folded and stuffed into the shelves...plus I ended up cleaning out and organizing my whole closet while i was at it...

Can you believe how much material I have now!!!  Woo hoo..I'm ready to get to sewing!!  :0) lol

Alie's Dress

So I haven't had much time to do anything crafty lately with everything thing that's been going on..but I have made one dress. I made it for my adorable little niece to wear to grandpas funeral.

I made it quickly so I didn't get before, or during pictures. It's actually a dress I made from a size 24 women's dressy blazer that my friends mom had given to me. I thought the material was beautiful and didn't know at the time what I would use it for, but it worked perfectly for this project. I also already had the black silky material left over from a Halloween costume a  few years back, and the buttons on her dress were the buttons off the blazer. I also used  black cotton material (that I already had) to make a built in slip underneath so the blazer material wouldn't be scratchy to her, but you cant see that in any of the pictures.I also didn't have a pattern, so I just made it up as I went. I was pretty happy with the results though. I think she looks adorable! Not to bad for a dress that cost me nothing but time to make :0)

There's not any one great picture that shows all the detail so I just uploaded a bunch...she's so cute you can't have to many pics of her anyways :0)

Love the Dora suitcase!

Alie and brother Vin

uh oh...someone got too loud at the funeral home

My brother and Alie at the cemetery

Alie and her mommy going to the potluck at the church

My sister-in-law actually took a pic of the dress before she put it on her and so she emailed it to me...YEA! Wish I had thought of that..lol

Rejoice

These past few days have been hard. It's honestly probably been the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. I miss my grandpa and always will, but I'm hoping it gets easier everyday that passes. It seems to be getting a little better already.

One thing that has helped was that I was allowed to help get things ready for the funeral. and though it was hard there were many times that someone would tell a funny story, or we'd see a funny picture and everyone would just crack up laughing. There were other times we'd all just start crying, but I think both is part of the grief process and is helping us to get through this.

It also helps that I have the most amazing friends and relatives. I think I didn't competely realize how truly blessed our family was until this happened. There were people I havent seen in years, people who traveled from all over,  people rearranging their schedules and working grave yard shift just to come, all the food, and so many people calling or emailing to check on us, my best friend even made numerous trips (with her having 3 yr old disabled triplets!) to my house to let my dog out, left me flowers and even straightened up my kitchen so I wouldnt stress when i got home.

We had the visitation on from 5-8 Tues. September 14, 2010, and the service at 10 am on September 15, 2010. Grandpas good friend Morris Anderson did the service and he did an amazing job. I think it makes a huge difference when the pastor actually personally knows the person, and Morris was like a son to grandpa...He had us crying, but he also had us laughing. It was a wonderful celebration to his life. The burial was at Douglas cemetery. It was a perfect day outside on wed. Grandpa would have loved it. The cemetery is in the middle of farm country surrounded by yellow fields and it was beautiful.

The man who farms grandpas land even got out the old tractor and drove it in front of the procession to the cemetery. Grandpa wasn't able to get onto it or get it started the last time he tried and it upset him. I think he would have liked to know that it was there.

After the burial  the church had a potluck dinner for us. Another example of how truly blessed our family is with good friends.

Before we left town the immediate family made a trip back by the cemetery so grandma could straighten the flowers, and  then a trip by the old family farm. I miss that place so much and it is honestly my favorite place on earth. It was a nice ending to the day.

The word of the day was rejoice. That's what grandpa said he wanted everyone to do when he died was rejoice. Rejoice because he was no longer in pain, and to rejoice because he was going home. There will be days that will be harder than others to rejoice, but my goal is to find at least one thing everyday to be thankful for.

So today I will rejoice that I have the most amazing friends and family. Thank you for all your love and support during this rough time. I love you all. I have truly been blessed.

In Loving Memory

So yesterday I went to IL to visit my grandparents since the hospice nurse had said that morning that he (my grandpa) had less than 24 hours left. He had passed by the time I got there. They had kept him there in case I wanted to say goodbye, but I declined. We had said our goodbyes a few days ago. They called the funeral home and they came to get him, and I think watching him being wheeled out was the hardest thing I've ever been through. Its just heartbreaking. We got the hospital equipment dismantelled and moved into the other house...then started the never ending flow of people and food...Everyone has been so nice and thoughtful...There's mountains of food...some good, some not so much...lol..but its the thought that counts. My grandma has held up pretty well so far. She's obviously devastated though. They were married for over 60 years.

My favorite picture of me when I was little with my grandpa

My grandpa is one of the greatest men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was a wonderful example of how one should live their life. He was a christian, and was very involved with his church. He was a farmer and worked hard everyday. He had a great sense of humor and was always cracking jokes, even up till the end. He was also very strong. You have to be I think to go through what he went through. He battled bone cancer for years but he didnt let it slow him down much until this past year...even then he still hardly complained and tried so very hard to beat it.

Some of my favorite memories of my grandpa are:

• Tractor, mower, and golf cart rides...He used to drive us around everywhere..He even got it passed that he could drive his golf cart around Eldorado as long as he had lights and signals and everything. lol.  It was easier for him to turn the key than on his car so he just drove it all over.
• Fishing-He had a pond at the farm and we would always go fishing and catch bluegill and catfish. Then of course grandma would fry it up with hushpuppies...can't get much better food than that.
• Dirt bikes and 4wheelers- he had different size dirt bikes he  taught us to ride when we were younger and me and my brother would spend a lot of our summer vacation with them riding those bikes around everywhere. Of course I ran the 4 wheeler into the chicken coop, and almost ran one of the dirt bikes into the pond...lol...but he never got mad about it...of course had the bike actually ended up in the pond it could have been a different story :0)
• He taught me to drive on his country roads and trusted me at 12, 13, and up with his vehicle..(of course he was in the car) but I loved driving around with him.
• The way every time we would start out on a drive to anywhere in corn season the conversation would start with "yep...the corns looking good"...lol...It even got to be a running joke where someone would try to say it first.
• He used to play the piano...mainly cords but always my favorite old church hymns. 
• Pioneer-that label was plastered all over everything. I will never see those green hats and jackets and not remember him.
• The way that him and grandma would take us clothes shopping before the start of school.I always thought I had the coolest grandpa because he talked everyone into letting me get my first pair of acid washed jeans...years later I found out that he just wanted to get out of there and the easiest way was to just buy them...lol...still one of my favorite memories though...and I still think I had the coolest grandpa

I have so many good memories of my grandpa I could keep typing forever, and that's good because in the end that's all you have left to hold on to. That and the fact that I know I will see him again one day. I love you Grandpa. You will be forever missed!

Rough Time

I started this blog a few weeks ago, and haven't wrote in it since. It's been a pretty rough couple of weeks. My grandpa who I'm extremely close to has stage 4 bone cancer and as of this morning they think he will pass within 24 hrs. This has been a really rough time for our family, so any and all prayers would be appreciated. I've made a few things, but it'll have to wait for me to show them. Thanks for being patient.