It's not so much about potatoes......

There are some things in life that I can't do without thinking of someone.  For example, every time I stir the whipped topping into a fruit salad I can't help but think about one of my grandsons.  He lives far away from me now, but while he lived close fruit salad was always a holiday favorite of his.  So as I was stirring the whipped topping into the fruit for our Easter Dinner, Jordan was on my mind.

 

There are other things, though, that remind me of life lessons and here is one....

 

Many years ago I stood along side a friend peeling potatoes for a church dinner - lots of potatoes.  My friend is an amazing woman - she is such a great example of a loving, caring woman that seems to accomplish so very much in her life.

 

On this day I was so amazed at how slowly she worked on those potatoes - I'm sure I must have been peeling two or three to her one.  What's up with that I wondered.  She's such a super woman in so many other ways, so why is she so slow at peeling a potato.

 

About the time I was feeling pretty proud of my speed at the chore she began to tell me a story.......

 

"You might think I'm kind of slow at peeling potatoes, but when I was a kid I'd have to peel potatoes when I got home from school.  My mom would be working and that was my chore to help prepare our supper.  My dad would look at the job I had done and if I'd gone too fast and took too much potato off with the peel, he'd make me peel the peels to get every bit of the good part of the potato off.  So I learned to take my time while peeling potatoes so that I'd only be taking the thin peel and not the potato."

 

Boy, did that make me feel like a fool!!!!!!!

 

Today I stood at the kitchen sink and peeled a big bag of potatoes for a meal at a local ministry.  I couldn't help but think of this friend and the wonderful lesson she taught me that day.  It made me think about life in general......

 

How often do we hurry through life and lose some of the good things along the way because we think that faster is better.  Perhaps we should slow down a bit.   Just as I was peeling too much potato away with the skin, maybe we peel away too much of the good stuff in life by hurrying to do more.

 

For me, every time I have to peel a potato I think of my friend - I say a prayer for her and I thank God that she took that opportunity to teach me such a valuable life lesson.

 

Today, instead of rushing though the chore I took my time. By just slowing down it creates a peace and calm in me.  I have that time for my mind to wonder and just enjoy the time.  When I find myself at the end of the chore I feel good.  That little chore allows me to slow down just enough that I can catch my breath, gather my thoughts, and think about how lucky I am to have people along the way teach me such wonderful life lessons.  It is also a great reminder that by rushing through this life I have, that I may be peeling away too much of the good stuff that I could enjoy if I would just allow myself to slow down.

Think Spring.....

As Lily (my vintage dress form), in her "Spring Apron", greets people down at The Red Dresser, I hope that she helps people "Think Spring"........ 

 

 

 I just looked ahead at the weather report and it looks like possible snow most days right up to Palm Sunday.  We can hope that spring-like weather will appear before Easter.  If not, we can add a little color with our Easter outfits - they'll be a nice contrast against the white snow.  :) A nice "Spring Apron" in the kitchen while fixing Easter Dinner wouldn't be bad, either.

 

I'm going to "Think Spring" - it just feels like it's time.

 

 

Spring Ahead......

We're suppose to "Spring Ahead" with our time early Sunday morning - set our clocks ahead by one hour.  That's telling me that Spring is near - at some point the snow will melt and things will begin to burst forth with new life and bring beautiful color into our world.  I'm looking forward to that.

 

That sounds like good timing for some Spring Aprons, too - bursting forth with bright colors.  With Easter coming at the end of the month  - brunches and dinners to cook, baking that needs to be done - how better to get into the celebration than to be found in the kitchen with a new Spring Apron.  :)

(the aprons look baby pink and blue in the pictures, but they really are coral and turquoise)

These aprons will be headed to The Red Dresser this afternoon.  One is coral and the other turquoise - both made of a narrow chevron fabric with layers of ruffles, pockets and a floral pin in coordinating fabrics.

I'm ready - let's "Spring Ahead"..............

Sew Pray.....

I used to enjoy what I called a "Prayer Drive" - those times that I'd be driving back and forth to work, meetings, shopping - a time spent away from everything else to spend in prayer.  

 

I found it easy to pray in that setting while away from other distractions.  At home I so often get distracted by all the things I should or could to be getting done - it's too easy to let the thought of dishes or the laundry get in the way of good quality prayer time. 

 

I'm not behind the wheel as often as I used to be and have missed those "Prayer Drives".  These days I find myself spending a lot of time at the sewing machine and have found a new prayer life - it's call "Sew Pray".

 

It doesn't matter if I slide in behind the wheel of the car or slide my chair up to the sewing machine, I still need to get from point A to point B in what I'm doing.  As soon as I put the "pedal to the metal" my thoughts are pulled away from my list of things to do around the house and placed on the drive (sewing project) in front of me.

 

Life is filled with so many joys and concerns that I really enjoy that time to pray about them - not just a few minutes of time set aside for the purpose of praying, but sometimes whole days that allow my heart and mind to be in prayer - lifting people and circumstances as I think of them.  Praying for friends and loved ones near and far.  Asking for help for those that I don't even know, but know of.  Celebrating all of life's little blessings along the way. 

 

I used to wonder how I arrived at my destination on my "Prayer Drive", and now sometimes I'm amazed at the amount of sewing that gets done without my focus really being on it.   Somehow I always seem to get from point A to point B without any problems - I'm thinking I'm in some pretty good hands at those times.

 

Going to work these days is sliding my chair up to the sewing machine and I am happy to say that it has  become a special time.  I leave all my distractions behind and "Sew Pray"...............

Apron Day

It was a nice surprise yesterday to stop in at The Red Dresser and see that Lily (my vintage dress form) wasn't wearing one of my aprons - they had sold.  So it was back to the sewing machine today so that I can take another new apron down to put on her.

I had purchased some brown polka dot fabric and a pink & brown print to try on an apron so today was the day.  I am more of a black & white person but I'm really liking this brown/cream/pink combo.  I made two - it's just as easy to cut out, assemble, and make two at a time if the fabric is on hand, and it was.

Brown/Cream/Pink Apron

 

I also made another with the pink zebra print that sold off from Lily.  :)

 

Black/White/Pink Apron

 

I don't usually even wear an apron but I sure do have fun creating them.  :)

A Sewing Lesson

Northern Michigan has given us some "Snow Days" lately - a day off from school because the weather is too bad to be out on the roads.  Today was one of those days.  A good amount of snow fell overnight and with more to come.  I was lucky enough to have had one of our grandchildren spend the night, so she was here to spend the day with me since she didn't have to go to school.

Snow Days can be fun to just stay in your pajamas all day, watch TV and maybe even bake some goodies.  Well today we didn't stay in our pajamas, we didn't watch much TV and we didn't do any baking, BUT WE DID SEW...

Yep, today was sewing lesson time for my ten year old granddaughter.  She was a bit nervous about it at first but then ended up being quite the crafter alongside her grandma.

A friend had given me a stack of kitchen towel and napkin samples - little swatches about 6" x 8" of lots of fun colors and patterns.  I cut them down to 5" squares and some flannel squares the same size and we made "Hot/Cold Packs" - each one lined with the flannel, filled with rice and ready to  warm some hands in this winter weather by popping them in the microwave for a few seconds, or placing them in the freezer to pull out when a little one bumps their head.

Tiffani practiced on some scrap fabric and in no time became a pro.  I was able to pin the stacks of fabric together and hand them off to her to stitch.  As she handed them back I'd turn them right side out, fill with rice, and pin the opening shut to be ready for some more stitching...........we had a great time together and now have a few sets of Hot/Cold Packs to sell at the craft show I'm doing on February 9 - we are bundling them in pairs and tying them together with some pretty ribbon.

What a great day it was to pass on my love of sewing to Tiffani and to be able to work on a project together with her....memories being made.  :)

Oh My........

It's been a long time since I've been on here (thank you for the reminder Britney). Much has happened between posts - a VERY busy fall and Christmas season.  Oh my, where to start......

 

My last post was about the Car Trash Bags I had started making.  I'm still amazed at how that little bag took off and sold like crazy (still selling).  I thought I'd have to put a clearance price on them just to sell them at the craft shows, but not the case.  People were excited about them. They also came up with new uses them for. Some would even put in requests for different fabrics or call and place an order for one or two more for people on their Christmas list that they thought would love one.
 IT   WAS   A   CRAZY   BUSY   TIME   BUT   OH   SO   EXCITING!!!!!!!!

Those Car Trash Bags are now "Not Your Ordinary Trash Bag", because people are using them to hang on the edge of crafting tables  so they will have a place to toss their snips of thread or scrapbooking paper.  Bedside tables and lockers have become a new home for some of them.  I even had a special order for a couple of them to use for portable oxygen tanks (I wish I would have thought of that while my mother was still living.  It would have been so nice to give her a pretty bag to carry her portable tank in).   Oh yes, and most people are still using them for their cars and I don't know what else. 

I was actually caught off guard by how well the bags were received and how fast they sold.  It made for some busy sewing days, for sure, but I enjoyed every minute of it.  It caught me so off guard that I wasn't very well organized for the big production line that I had going on here so I can't even tell you for sure how many I've made - my blogging and accounting time was not the priority when there was such a demand for something that would turn into cash for the Christmas season.  :)  It's safe to say that it's well over 200 and probably closer to 300 as I sit here and tally it up in my head - I still find it hard to believe.

And aprons - another thing that caught me off guard...I did the "Little Black Holiday Apron" and sold a couple of them at The Red Dresser where I also have the trash bags.  Then it was very exciting - let me say that again - VERY  EXCITING to have Hillary of Chick's Picks agree to sell some at her Holiday Event out east and she sold six of them.

It's pretty safe to say that the reason I haven't been blogging is because I've been sewing - before Christmas it was a night and day job to keep up with demand, keep the stock up at The Red Dresser and be prepared for multiple craft shows - a tiring but exciting time.  I'm feeling very blessed at how well received the bags and the aprons were and am gearing up for another great year. 

I just stopped down to The Red Dresser a couple of days ago and restocked the bags with some new fabrics and new stenciled designs, as well as a new apron for Lily.......

 

Remember Lily?  She's my vintage dress form that is currently living at the store.  I think that each season she should have a new apron to wear, so this past week I dressed her in a new, "Won't You Be My Valentine Apron".

 

In this new year I hope to be better at balancing all of this new stuff that's going on in my life.  I know I  need to take the time to share what I'm doing since I have this blog - to slide my chair away from the sewing table and report to all of you how blessed I am feeling to have all of this fun stuff going on in my life.

 

Now I have two weeks of "power crafting" before a February 9th Craft Show at Central High School, sponsored by Third Level, that I'm signed up to do - bags to sew, aprons to make and whatever else I come up with.......it's good that I work well under pressure.  I'll try to remember to take a breath and BLOG............