I Have Decided

Hey!

Wasn't that fun?!

It was a blast to hear all of you "talk" to me.

I have decided that it has everything to do with personality.  I am the personality that likes to wear Christmas tops and Christmas earrings, so I guess I will just do it myself.  I will NOT give them as gifts, however.  I made Christmas earrings for several of my female employees last year, and they probably all HATED them!  I sure haven't seen any of them in their ears.

Different strokes for different folks!  I sure would like to have the beads back though.  The Swarovski crystals are expensive.  I could always make something else out of them.

Of course, you could NEVER say to a friend, never mind a boss, "Hey, I don't like this gift -- take it back!"  Wouldn't it be nice if you really KNEW what a person would love so you could give them that?

Actually, Jerry's daughter has just texted me what our grandkids in California would like for Christmas, so I must go to the various websites and get them ordered.  A skateboard -- imitation gold necklaces -- bath bombs.  Sounds easy enough.

BUT,
BEFORE I DO THAT,
I must report on my and Terry's trip to McKinney, TX today.

FIRST, we managed to drive through thick fog to the IHOP in Denison, TX for breakfast where we ordered the EXACT same thing.

We are so well-matched.

Only God could have put the two of us together.

That cup of coffee is actually in my hand.  Looks strange, doesn't it?

While we were eating breakfast, the sun came out and the fog lifted.  It turned out to be a GORGEOUS day.

We left IHOP and went to Walmart #1 to pick up some things.
Then we went to Walmart #2 five miles south of Walmart #1 to pick up something Terry had ordered on line.

Then we headed to McKinney to the Quilt Asylum quilt shop where the SECOND I walked inside the door, several employees met us.  One of them must have taken a bath in perfume because it hit me INSTANTLY and HARD.

In a few moments I was in the bathroom getting paper towels to blow my nose on.  A few minutes more and my eyes were puffy, and one of them had tears pouring out of it.  I was MISERABLE!  I went out to Terry's car and got a Benadryl out of my purse, but it really didn't help.  Once an allergy reaction STARTS, you can't reverse it.  It was a shame.  I bought only one fabric there.  Terry bought a little kit to make a baby quilt to give our Church.  It was the least amount I have ever spent in a fabric store.

Due to the intense allergic reaction, I didn't even attempt to take pictures.  I just wanted to go outside where I could BREATHE.

We left there and went to find some lunch.  We came upon Fuddrucker's.  I had never eaten at one, but Terry said it was real good.  We parked and went inside.

I had the MOST AMAZING hamburger.  You receive your yummy homemade bun with just the meat, cheese and avacado on it.  Terry's had grilled onions on it.  Then you go to a bar where there are mountains of sliced tomatoes, different kinds of lettuce, onions, etc.  This is what mine looked like just before I devoured it.  That is pepper I ground on the avocados -- not ants!

Then we drove a short distance to the JoAnn's.  Terry had a list, and I didn't NEED a list.  I found some gorgeous knit fabrics that were on sale.  I also found some of my FAVORITE fuzzy socks.  You have probably seen them on my feet in some of my photos.  Well, maybe not.  I usually crop them out.

Yep, I got some ribbon and a pattern too.

Here is the very nice cotton I bought at the Quilt Asylum while squinting through puffy, drippy eyes and holding a paper towel from their bathroom under my nose:

It is much prettier in person.  It is very dark black with very bright white scribbles.


Here are the two knits I bought at JoAnn's:


:

The pictures from my phone do not do them justice at all.  The black flowers have little silver sparkly dots all over them.  The other one is navy, blue and beige.  Both are very nice knits.

I WOULD have had a brand new phone that takes much better pictures, BUT the clerk at the Walmart cell phone counter was NOT IN THE MOOD to sell phones today.  She was doing NOTHING.  I was the ONLY customer.

I said, "Do you have the new I-Phone?"

"Yes."

"Could I see it, please?"

"No, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have one on display."

"Do you have any that aren't on display?"

"Yes."

"Could I see one of them?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because they are new!"

"Why can't you open one and show it to me?"

"I can't open a new box."

"I have AT&T.  Will AT&T work on these other phones?"

"Yes."

"I really was wanting a new bigger I-phone."

"Well, why don't you go to AT&T."

"I might do that.  If I buy the I-phone here, CAN YOU OPEN IT!?"

"Yes."

"Can you help me load my information from the phone I already have into it?"

"No.  You will have to figure all that out yourself."

Can you BELIEVE that???????????????????????????  What a LAZY clerk!  She could have sold me a new phone.  I bought my last I-phone at a Walmart in Oklahoma City, and they helped me with everything.  Can these young people GET any lazier!!!

Sooooooooooo, You will have to look at sorry pics from my current I-phone until I can get to an AT&T store where someone is allowed to open a box.

Terry and I left JoAnn's and headed back home.  We had a PERFECT day!  Wish you could have been there.

Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy

Your Opinion Please

It is soooooooooooooooo close.

Are you ready?

I'm SORT of ready.

Things are on UPS trucks on their way to here from there.

And speaking of UPS trucks.

Have you seen this:

But that is NOT what I need your opinion on.

I make jewelry as you know.  I've been doing it for two years now.  I, myself, LIKE to wear Christmas earrings during December.  I would wear a Christmas bracelet if I had one.  Therefore, I have learned to make Christmas earrings.

I have read that it is REALLY TACKY to wear Christmas sweaters.  How sad I was to hear that because I own SEVERAL of them.  Most are knit tops with Christmas doo dads on them.  A couple are sweaters that you wear over your top.  I haven't worn them this year because it really hasn't been cold enough.  I might wear one to the Christmas lunches though -- tacky or not.

WHO DECIDES THIS STUFF anyway???  Who woke up one day and said, "I am DECLARING that Christmas sweaters are tacky, and the whole world is going to have to comply with my point of view!"

So, not caring what the rest of the world thinks,

What do YOU think?

Here are 4 of the kinds of earrings I have made so far.  Would you be offended if you received a pair of these earrings as a gift from a friend?  Would you consider it tacky?  Would you toss them in the Goodwill bag the second your friend was gone?

Tell me the truth.  If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't ask.

My husband loves the wreaths.  He hasn't seen the others.  He said, "Those look expensive."

WOW!!!!  That is a GREAT compliment coming from him.

I've gotta get.  It is almost time for my supper.  Jerry had to dash up to OKC to pick up some siding, so I am eating alone tonight.

TOMORROW is my play day with Terry!  I will take pics, of course.  We are going about an hour and a half away to McKinney, TX to check out the Quilt Assylum and whatever other store we decide we must stop to see.

Don't forget to tell me what you think about Christmas jewelry.

And let us NEVER forget,

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!









Hugs, Joy

Quality Peformance

Church from Cornerstone in San Antonio just finished.  Very good sermon today on building your house ON THE ROCK.  I encourage you to listen to it if you like to hear good sermons.  Hagee made a statement that I found SO TRUE:

"The quality of your preparation determines the quality of your performance."

Oh, my!  Does that not apply to everything we do?  The jewelry I make.  The clothes I make.  The household chores I do every day.  The work I do at our business.

Jerry sits right next to me through church, of course, and after the sermon this morning, I told him.

This sermon certainly refers to you and one of the MANY qualities you have that I am SO PROUD OF.

He said, "What is that?"

I reminded him of his Mother's van that he sold several months ago.  The van was nice enough as it was, but it had a few issues.  The buyer would not have known about the issues UNLESS we told him about them.

One was that the air conditioner had a leak, and the freon would drain out causing the AC not to work.  Jerry took it to the dealer.  The dealer said he could put some freon in it and it could work for a few days or a few months.  OR he could FIX the faulty part for $1,000.  Jerry paid the $1,000 and had the AC properly fixed thereby knocking $1,000 of the profit of selling it.

Another issue was a back window that wouldn't open and close properly.  A buyer would not have noticed that either, but Jerry insisted on having it fixed.  Jerry put a new battery in it, had all the hail dents removed, and had it cleaned inside and out.  When Jerry got through fixing that van up, I wanted to KEEP IT for myself!  Turned out a very nice young UPS driver man from 100 miles away drove to our house to buy it for his wife and children.  I was so proud of Jerry for selling them so much more than he really had to.

And one would think that was a very nice thing to do BUT he did, after all, make money on a van that wasn't his to start with, so it isn't that impressive.

Well, how about this then:

Jerry owns several boats.  One of them is a Bass Tracker boat and motor that he bought years ago for "just fishing".  It is in excellent condition except for something wrong having to do with the gas line.  Jerry recently GAVE that boat away to someone who had mentioned they would love to have one.  Jerry has not taken the boat to that person yet because he wants to be sure everything is fixed and it is in perfect running condition.  The boat will still be old and used, but to the person receiving it, it will be a "new" boat ready to use for his pleasure.

I finished a bracelet this morning.  Would you like to see it?

Let me see if I can bring a picture from my phone to here.

Hold on....

The pictures are kind of fuzzy, as always.  You get the idea though.  It is very sparkly.  Took me ten hours to make this one.  It is the center of a pattern I found on Youtube.  The bracelet on the internet was called "Mistletoe in the Snow".  It was much wider than this one.  I decided it was pretty enough like this, and I had certainly spent enough hours already!  It is so much prettier in person.  Those are Swarovski crystals, and they really sparkle.

Time to get my rear in gear.

Have a blessed week my friends.

Hugs, Joy

Grands, Doggies and Nicknames

It is 8:47 PM on Friday night.  I am sitting on my bed typing this blogpost.  Jerry is upstairs where I just left him watching Shark Tank.  I like watching that show, but after about 4 inventions, I'm ready for a change.  Have any of you ever seen one of those Shark Tank product displays in a store somewhere?  They show them on the Shark Tank show.  I've never seen one.

OH!  I did buy a product from Sam's some time ago that was supposedly bought by one of those sharks.  I haven't been very happy with it either.  I just noticed yesterday that one of the items is full of holes!

I had the great pleasure of receiving phone calls from two of my favorite people today:  Hollie, my granddaughter-in-law and Lindy, my granddaughter.  My phone seldom rings unless Jerry needs something, and it had not rung at all today.  About 3:00 the girls both called me at the exact same time.  WHAT are the chances???

Hollie told me that her husband -- my Boo Bear -- is going to be sent overseas AGAIN.  They just got back from Alaska 9 months ago, and they have been in southern AZ since then.  Hollie was feeling pretty stressed by it all.  I tried to cheer her up.  After all, she IS married to the most amazing young man on the planet:  MY Boo Bear!

For my new readers, "Boo Bear" is the nickname I gave my FIRST grandson, John.  Jerry and I took care of him a lot until he was about three years old.  Both of us were absolutely mesmerized by this adorable child.  He and I used to watch Winnie the Pooh every day.  I liked it as much as he did, lol.  I always identified with the donkey, Eyore.  Somehow, between the combination of John getting great delight out of hiding and saying "BOO!" and us watching "Poo Bear" every day, I started calling him "Boo Bear".

Everyone in the family started calling him that too and it just stuck.  I suppose when a child is a 22-year old Soldier, you should quit calling him "Boo Bear", but we just can't.  There is so much love in that name, and he knows it.

I have a 6'5" nephew, Stephen, who we all still call "Tiger".  We just saw him at Thanksgiving.

The only nickname anyone ever called me was "Jungle Queen".  Isn't that lovely!?  It wasn't meant to be complimentary either.  I was 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 years old.  The neighborhood kids called me that.

It referred more to my looks than my status in the neighborhood.  I ran everywhere I went for some reason.  I still do as much as my body will permit it.

And my hair when I was young was SO STRANGE!  My Hair is as straight as nails and very thin.  My Mother got the most bazaar notion that my hair would look good if she got me a permanent JUST ON THE SIDES of my hair and left the back straight.

In the olden days when I grew up, kids actually played outside all day long unless it was time to eat or come in and go to bed.  I was outside a lot.  I was a major Tom Boy.  I loved to run, jump, climb trees, pick up bugs, lizards and other creatures I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole now -- ride a skateboard, build wooden go-carts, and build "homes" out of empty refrigerator/washer/dryer boxes.

When I wasn't doing those things, I was running up and down the street from house-to-house looking for my sisters who were always hiding from me because I was their babysitter, and they didn't want to be babysat by a Jungle Queen!

There was one other name my x-son-in-law used to call me:  "Queen Bee".

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Why do BOTH of those nicknames have the word "queen" in them?????

After I talked to Hollie, I called Lindy back.

Lindy and I had a long talk about growing up, going to college, handling money, making right choices, what to do if she got a credit card, new boots for her birthday and other sundry topics.

The conversation ended with my favorite words:
"I love you, Grandma!"

Something else wonderful happened today.  It has been wet outside for two days.  Not raining really, but very wet with light rain off and on.  The dogs were so dirty yesterday that I asked Jerry to help me bathe them.  Jackie is so big that her "bath" consists of me putting each of her legs down into a pitcher full of warm water -- dumping it out -- refilling it -- and repeating over and over until the water stays clear.  We were able to just fit Josie into the laundry sink where she got a REAL bath with cat shampoo because we don't have any dog shampoo, and since Josie didn't have to eat it, she didn't know the difference

THEREFORE, the dogs were nice and clean when they got up this morning.  I let them out to do their business and then had them come back in so they wouldn't get all yukky again.  Then I noticed the razor I had purchased for Jackie out on the counter in its baggy.  I decided to TRY to cut the hair on her face because it kept getting longer and longer and longer and soon would be at her knees!

The wonderful part was that Jackie actually STOOD STILL and allowed me to give her a real haircut.  I did her face, around her eyes, inside her ears, her neck, the top of her head and her ears on the outside.  I used two different comb thingys to control how short I cut her.  She looks really good, and I am so happy she let me do it because I do it for FREE.

Now, Josie is a different story.  I tried to do her bottom, and she decided that was NOT FUN, and she ran away and chewed something.

My kitchen floor looked as though I had just purchased brand new thick, black hairy rug bits and scattered them here, there and everywhere!  These Golden Doodles really have a LOT of hair!

I better get.  Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy

Quilting with Terry, Josie and Jackie

ONE OF THESE DAYS,

BY SOME MIRACLE,

I am believing God for Terry to have an ENTIRE DAY to come over and play with me.  She and her husband are in such great demand in several different cities that she always is on her way to someplace.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND, they are R E T I R E D !

So watch it.  Evidently, being retired means you are busier than ever!

I was able to shoot this short video for you this morning:

Yes, I have it all planned in my head.  I haven't even told Terry about it, lol.  She asked me yesterday if there were any quilt stores around here.  I told her about a really great store called Quilt Assylum in McKinney, TX.  She has never been there.

So, I got this plan -- in my head -- last night while I was sleeping -- or not -- that we could go to McKinney together one day.  We could either shop first, and then eat.  Or we could eat someplace really nice, and then go shop.  We could leave early enough to stop at IHOP and have breakfast.  I really like to do that.

Since we both have husbands who actually love us and don't like us to be gone at dinner time, we would have to be back home for supper.  It is definitely doable (is that a word?).

Gotta get.  I'm making jewelry for Christmas gifts.  I need to find my magnifier "visor" that hooks around your head and allows you to SEE little, itty, bitty Size 15 seed beads!





Hugs, Joy

My Attempt at Restyling Sure-fit Designs Top to Another Pattern

Okay, as promised, I am going to completely saturate this post with my latest creation.  For some reason, when I make a video, I manage to talk about everything in the world before I actually get to my actual topic.
This FIRST video is mostly about Jackie and Josie, my golden doodles and how they handle my choice of dog food.  To get to the part where I actually talk about my pattern, move the slider over to 5:19.  If you aren't interested in my dogs or my blouse, please spare yourself this video.

Here is the SECOND video I made, which is so much like the first, I'm not sure why I even made it.  Again, I talk about everything in the world.  I eventually get around to my first muslin, and I show it to you.

And here is the THIRD video I made for you which was this morning, and it actually makes some sense -- I hope.

You can certainly LAUGH at my amazing drawing abilities.  I sure did!!!

And here is a picture showing you the FIRST pattern I came up with which DID NOT WORK.  I made a HUGE mistake on this one.  This was BEFORE Glenda sent me the drawing that helped me so much.  I DID sew this together, and it DID come out okay, but it is a miracle!!!

NOTICE how LOW I placed the yoke line.  It is way too close to my bust.

It had a V-neck which I changed to a U-neck in the 2nd version.

NOTICE the bust dart is still in the side panel.  I KNEW I had to remove it, and I KNEW I had to cut to the bust point, but I had already disconnected the pieces and had not left a hinge at the bust point.  What I did here was draw in the APEX, cut the bust dart TO THE APEX, and then swivel the bust dart out -- all in the side panel after it was already cut out.

I guess it worked out alright, but it probably shouldn't have.  You saw in the last video above how it SHOULD have been done.

NOTICE how I cut the panels AROUND THE OUTSIDE of the waist dart.  When I sewed this version together, I realized that the blouse I was copying was much fuller around the middle and didn't have waist darts in it.

Following is my final reconstruct #2.

Notice how I have removed the waist dart curves in the pattern pieces below.  I just have straight lines going through the waist darts now.

I have cut the yoke line an inch higher up toward the armhole.  They don't appear much different in the pictures, BUT the pick below of the yoke has seam allowance included.  The one above does not have seam allowance.

The red blouse I am wearing in the last video is from the pattern pieces directly above.  All I did differently is I took narrow waist darts in the back by just pinching them out of the actual blouse.

And that is it!  It is fun.  I learn something new every time I make another Sure-fit Designs pattern.  Glenda Sparling is EXTREMELY helpful as all her followers know.  It is all about the FIT!

I wrestled so much with the original Silhouette pattern, it was ridiculous!  The collar gave me such trouble, I finally just cut it off and made it a v-neck.

Here is the original Silhouette pattern:

On the girl in the picture, the collar doesn't come close to touching itself around her neck.  ON ME, the collar overlapped in the center at my throat.  MAYBE -- just MAYBE -- I will try to add a Sure-fit Designs collar onto my new pattern someday.  I'll have to study Glenda's book on that task.

And here is the drawing Glenda made for me that helped me so much, and it puts ALL OF THE ABOVE together in a nutshell.

JUST REMEMBER,
MY yoke line is BELOW THE ARMHOLE.  This picture has it going THROUGH the armhole.

And I may be back tomorrow with a video of Terry and me.  She is coming over to quilt.

Hugs, Joy

New SFD Project and Talking Books

My goodness!  WHERE have I been?

I notice I haven't posted on my blog since November 21st.  Evidently, nobody has missed me, so it doesn't really matter.  Oh, I take that back!  Phylly told me she noticed I hadn't been on my blog in several days.

Well, I am in the middle of a new SFD experiment.  The first test garment didn't turn out too good, so I started over -- as I always do.  The second garment turned out really good!  But then I put the skirt together that I made the top to go with, and I decided that I don't even like the skirt.

At first, it was long.  I didn't like that.

So I cut off six inches.  I didn't like it that way either.

Then it was time to pack everything up and head back to our other house, and that is where I am right now.  I had to go work at our store all day today, so my project is on hold.

Maybe tomorrow I will get it all together and can show you what I learned.

Thanksgiving was really nice at my nephew's house in Tulsa, OK.  My sister was there, of course.  We went to her house the day after TG.

I asked to see all the garments she has made recently, and we went back to her closet for a fashion show of sorts.

WOW!  She has made more garments than I have.  I was really surprised.  She just seems to have a natural "already know how" gene to make things fit.

She had lots of tops in all different colors and prints.  One of her tops had the strangest fabric, but it turned out gorgeous.  It had fringy strings and fur hanging all over it.  She had a non-fringy skirt to go with it.  Very impressive!

She doesn't like me to take pictures of her garments because she doesn't want to be copied.  I always consider it a great compliment if someone wants to copy what I have done.

I'll be back soon with my new SFD "lesson".  I have gotten Glenda Sparling's permission to share it with you.  I always ask Glenda before showing you my amateur videos and pictures.  Sure-fit Designs is her company.  I just have a delightful addiction to it.

And GUESS WHAT I did?

When I was at my nephew's house, I talked to his wife's mother, Christine.  She is the loveliest person and she belongs to a Book Club.  She has read TONS of books.  She told me about the latest book they are reading.  It is called "Still Alice".  I decided to try to find it on my computer.

Turns out there is such a thing as AUDIBLE books, and you can listen to them being read to you.

Probably everyone of you already KNOW this, but I didn't.  Anyway, I downloaded the book last night, and I have already listened to two and a half hours of it.  It is about early onset Alzheimer's Disease.  Sad, sad, sad -- so very sad!

Won't keep you.  Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy