Maxam Made

I knew it would happen, I would wake up and want to make cards again!  I woke up today in the midst of a Benadryl fog and thought, I need to make some cards!  I love the blog Word Art Wednesday and it's mission, so that was the first place I went;  This weeks verse is You can use this for your card making: It will be in tomorrows mail. I also made a card with a calendar page from Mary Englembrite's desk  calendar from 2015 Yes, that is okay to do, Mary encourages people to craft with her things - just don't resell them. This card I thought had a very profound sentiment:  When I read that last year It made me chuckle, like yeah right!   But then not too long ago I realized I was having some issues with having to many irons in the fire and not enjoying anything and getting grumpy. I'm sharing this because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in that boat.  I have a lot of interests and I have a lot of energy.  But I am n

Beautiful Pansy by Jessica Grimm Have a great Day! Ginny M

I've spent the last few days getting some things done, I love finishing projects , I also love starting them!  For the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about the Bible verse from Proverbs 24:4 King James Bible And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. I think there are a lot of bible studies to be written from this verse, but I'm not writing a bible study.  I am writing about a deep seeded feeling of contentment  The kind that comes from Trusting God and about being who he created you to be or at least the process of getting to that place of contentment.   One thing about life here in Texas, I am learning how to relax, I made a decision to stop doing the things in my life that  make me crazy (like overworking and feeling over-responsible in at least a dozen areas of my life).  An enjoying the blessing that God has enriched my life with.   It's big things and small things, the space

On my birthday I decided I really want to push myself to do something I've had in the back of my mind for years.  Make my clothes and advance my skills as an embroider.  So far I've made a jacket and it came out nice (I think) Nothing fancy but perfect for where I am living and the newer me (relaxed).  The embroidery thing happens by practice and by education and by practicing the education. I've had a hoop near me since I was 12 and I took out my first embroidery book  at the library.  Anyone remember this book? I took this out from the library so many times they told me I had to let someone else use it for a month before they let me renew!! I loved Erica Wilson's patterns! 1972 at it's best!!  I still like these!! 40+ years later I'd like to perfect my skills so for the Second time in the last 5 years I am joining "TAST"  Take  a stitch Tuesday.  This is a wonderful; program put together by Sharon Boggin.  Sharon lives down und

I finished my second Yellow Block and have it ready for the morning mail.  This was the block I was working on the butterfly and decided I needed to go back to the drawing board.  I am happy with the way the second butterfly came out well enough and it restored confidence on my hand embroidery.   I was feeling a bit bad about not having my Singer Futura Embroidery machine.  I could have done up a butterfly in 30 minutes.  Instead, this one took my 6 hours. But I enjoyed it and embroidery is like any other Craft, practice makes perfect and I need practice!!  Here is the process and the block: Stamped my image:  Note, the Adia cloth really wasn't the best fabric for this. I hooped it - the fabric was too small, the tension was not tight enough.  I made it work Here it is all stitched out.  This needed to be predominantly yellow I couched the gold thread down to the edge.  I cut the butterfly from the fabric and added a layer of PVC glue to the back.  This s

I just clicked off  Facebook.  I was a late-comer to  the Facebook world and sometimes I wonder if I should just delete myself altogether.  I found more hogwash today that ever before.  Facebook has become a  judge trial and jury forum fueled by propaganda.  I also came across an article about the new internet plane , now there will be no region on earth that cannot connect to the internet and facebook - if this is true and not just more propaganda.  The amazing aircraft is brought to you by Facebook to promote Facebook "now everyone can be connected".  Hello, Big Brother!  We live in crazy times and our culture embraces this crazy and fuels it.   There are wonderful things about the internet and I have enjoyed many of them.  This resource has enriched my life, but I wonder is this the pot that boils the frog? I am glad in all the turmoil I can say, 'As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord'.  I am glad I have His eternal hand to walk through this life with.

I had this great idea and I spent 25 minutes in a hot room trying to work it and it was a craft fail.  You might wonder why I am taking up blog space to relate this to you?  Because you have to try things and just because it doesn't work out the way you hope doesn't mean it is a fail.  It just means try it a different way.  My goal is to create a really beautiful 3D Butterfly to go on my Yellow round robin. My idea was to use my singer to couch down gold and then embroider in the details of a butterfly.  what I ended up with an opportunity to try something different to achieve my goal. finding the right or semi-right foot you never want to see this! the spool picked up the thread from the cone holder Got the machine couching down After:  Nope not going to work, wrong fabric, wrong gold braid Back to the drawing board! Thanks for stopping by! Ginny M

I finished my "Summer" block this morning and it will be in the afternoon mail.  I can't wait to see what I get in the swap!!  I belong to a Yahoo group called 'Crazy Quilt for Newbies'  It is fun and no pressure. I joined this group 8 years ago.  after a hand injury, I took a break due to the fact I couldn't even hold a pen for a year ;et alone a needle!  So I'm back at it and enjoying the stitching and the friendships. Here is the block:  bare block  Gathering the "stash" Fist bits Half way Finishes I used the colors that are in my immediate inviornment.  we have lots of flowers right now because of the spring rains.  In another month things will fade a bit due to the lack of water - but there will still be thing blooming until January!!  I love the deserts landscape palette.  To me, it feels so open and free.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day! Ginny M

Who doesn't love fresh bread?? This recipe and a bread maker make it super easy and economical! I purchased this bread maker on Ebay for 35.00  when we moved here in November. I have used every cycle except jam making and it's pretty much foolproof.  Every loaf of bread has come out perfect.  This is by far the best out of  six or seven that I have owned and used over the last 30 years. This humble raisin bread loaf is a favorite around here,  I use this recipe with a few modifications.  I add raisins and or cranberries , pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and Honey instead of sugar.  I also substitute one cup of Kamut bread flour for  one cup of the bread flour.  I will also mix home ground whole wheat  or oats and use that as a substitution for the bread flour. One slice of this and an egg for breakfast we keepS you going for hours. This loaf take 65 minutes from start to finish!!  Try it you'll like it!! Thanks for stopping by and I hope

Here is the Day Job: I sew Parts!  This will be a zipper bag, today's work: 180 of them .  I won't be able to do them all in one day but they will be done by the end of the week.  I am a contract sewer and this is one of my jobs. In the world of contract sewing this is one of the best jobs I have had:  clean, not too hard, lightweight and easy on my machines, plus I have a wonderful boss.  The owner of the company I work for designs her own patterns and is the best pattern maker I have ever worked for!  It makes a huge difference when a pattern is designed by a sewer! Then by Night I do the fun stuff: This is a Swap block with the theme Summer: You do one bit at a time.    I have only been doing CQ for a few years and I am really working on good clean stitches (one of my goals is to become an expert and teacher of surface embroidery) Lots of fun and wonderful things to play with My husband posted this on his Facebook Page today and