One of "Those" Days and Quilt Stuff for Sale at ETSY

Hi friends!

My Etsy store is very strange.  Fortunately, one of you figured out how to find it and bought my cat quilt.  Thank you!  I will mail it tomorrow.  Etsy is so new to me, I don't understand the lingo.  It says I haven't been paid yet; but in another place, it says the buyer has paid.

I'm getting ready to list the Route 66 quilt patterns.  There are 8 of them.  I'm never going to make that quilt again, and it is no longer available.  I thought someone might like to make it.  I love mine.  I made copies of all the applique pages, so the original pages are all still in the packets.  I have some of the fabrics left over too.   I didn't use the border fabric at all.  I made up my own.

Here is a video I made of the completed Route 66 blocks BEFORE they were quilted if anyone is interested in seeing what the patterns are for.  I changed a lot of the blocks with my Artista embroidery software, so they won't be in the pattern like they are in my quilt.  (This video has appeared before in one of my blog posts.)

I have also listed four of the CUTEST paper-pieced horses.  I found them in a box while organizing yesterday.  I love them, but again, I have no child to finish a horse quilt for.  Plenty of fabric left to make some more.  This is a hard paper piecing project IN MY OPINION.  So pretty though.

Do any of you have people in your life who cause you great heartache even though you truly love them?

I suppose everyone does.  It just doesn't seem fair that a person -- or persons -- would have such animosity toward me when I don't have it toward them -- other than what they IMAGINE.  This has nothing to do with a friend, just to be clear.  Anyway, I made a tiny step toward communicating today, and I got hit with a huge clap of thunder in return.  Honestly!  All I did was ask for an address so I could send a small surprise I found while organizing my attic space today.  It shall RETURN to the attic for another hundred years.

I think we have to accept the fact that some relationships just can't be fixed.  Or do we!  What about all those sermons I hear?  Especially, from Joel Osteen.  I'll just have to put that painful issue back into God's hands and leave it there.  Wish the hurt would go away while I'm waiting.

I'm also sad because my daughter didn't make it today.  She got as far as the gas station, and her car started acting up.  She was afraid to drive it, and I certainly didn't want her driving a car that wasn't working right.  Later today, she and her husband realized that it is their wedding anniversary!  How CRAZY this day is!

I had bought a roast to fix tonight since my daughter and her husband were supposed to be here.  I went ahead and fixed it with all the trimmings.  Jerry got home from work and sat down to eat.  He barely touched his dinner.  It could have been boiled string for all he noticed.  I fed his to the dogs.  He said he was tired.  He changed his clothes and has been asleep on our bed ever since.  This is VERY unusual, and I'm kind of stressed over that too.

Tomorrow will be a GREAT DAY, I'm sure -- for me and for you too!

Something GOOD is going to happen!

Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy

My New Shop with a Goofy Name

I don't know if I ever told you before, but I have tried since 2009 to open an Etsy Shop.  My husband is always wanting me to sell what I make so he can deduct something or other.  I never really wanted to sell anything I make, but it happens that I have a quilt I want to sell at the moment.

My problem with Etsy was that I could not seem to find an appropriate NAME for my shop.

My company name actually is "Joyful Expressions", but Etsy says someone is already using that.  They must have stolen it from me because I've been using it for ages, however, not on Etsy.

What does "Etsy" mean anyway?  Is it related to "itsy" or "bitsy" or what?  Maybe it is foreign.

Whatever.

As of about an hour ago, I am NOW an official shop owner on Etsy.  My name is crazy because Etsy decided to just make my user name my shop name.  So my shop name is "FrammaJoy".  Certainly not by choice.  I guess nobody felt like using that name, so Etsy decided I could.

My granddaughter, Lindy, used to call me "Framma" because she couldn't say "Grandma" right.  The cat quilt was actually supposed to be hers when she was younger.  She grew up SO FAST!  And, no, she doesn't want it now.

Look:

I'm selling the Krazy Kats quilt I finished several months ago.  It is really cute, but I don't need it.  I don't have any little ones around these days to give it to.  If time is worth anything, it cost me more than what I am asking, but I'll be surprised if I can get that for it.  At least, I can tell Jerry that I have a quilt for sale.  He will be ECSTATIC!

I think I will make some earrings to sell also, but I can't imagine why someone would want to buy jewelry that they could make themselves.  I guess a lot of people don't know they could do that.  I'm going to start with Christmas earrings as I think the ones available in the stores are usually cheap and not very nice.  And since the God-hating side of humanity seems to think Christmas is not politically correct anymore, we may not find Christmas earrings at all in the future.  I may put some in our medical equipment store to sell at Christmas time.

I can just hear the grannys driving by with their husband saying, "Honey, I bet that medical equipment store sells Christmas earrings.  Could we please stop and look?"

I also can't imagine that I could start to make enough profit to pay for my jewelry habit, but maybe Jerry will be able to deduct something.  I think the CPA told me years ago -- back when I started quilting under the name Joyful Expressions -- that I had three years to make a profit, or the business was considered a flop.

You would think the government would love it even more with its own history of insane investments and giveaways.

And for the lady who asked about my quilt called" Strawberry Sundae".  It is from the following book and is on the cover.  That one is called "Butterscotch Sundae".

 Here is mine.  I have always loved it.

I'm sure there is something I need to be doing at 1:30 in the afternoon.  My daughter and her husband are supposed to visit tomorrow.  I probably need to go to the grocery store as I am still drinking shakes twice a day.

Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy

Apostle of Joy

No, I'm NOT talking about me.

I'm talking about the AMAZING sermon from a preacher we usually aren't that crazy about, but he hit the ball out of the park this morning.  Jerry and I were both very impressed and moved by a comment he made.  Funny how you 'hear" things sometimes that you probably heard before, but the way it was said made an impact.

His name is Jesse Duplantis.  He is from Louisiana, but he travels all over the world.

John Hagee gave him the nickname "Apostle of Joy".

Fits him perfectly.

He was preaching about money, in part, this morning, and he made some very good points about it to those who think that preachers should be poor.  My MIL was one of those.  She told me one time that she quit giving to her church because the preacher came to visit her in a brand new car.

So, if the preacher had been driving an old beat up wreck, any money she gave to "the Lord" would have to go to buy him a better car instead of going to the church for spreading the Gospel or helping the poor.  How does a poor preacher make anybody want to know his God?  If God can't even bless the preacher, how is he going to bless me?

Philippians 4:19

And my God shall supply all your needs according to HIS riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Notice the Bible says according to HIS riches in glory.  Not ours.  Not anyone else's.

I was always taught the prosperity version of scripture when I was growing up, so I never got into the ditch of believing that christians -- and especially preachers -- must be poor.

That part of Jesse's sermon wasn't new to me, but what he said that made an impression on both Jerry and me was this:

A MIRACLE NEVER HAPPENS IN GOD'S HANDS.  IT HAPPENS IN OUR HANDS!

Think about it:

When Jesus gave the two-piece fish dinner to the disciples, it was still just a two-piece fish dinner.

When the sea parted for Moses, it happened when Moses put the rod into the water.

Jesse talked about how he likes to WALK THE MALL while his wife shops in the stores.  He and his wife decided to go walk the mall one Christmas Eve.  She went into some store, and Jesse walked the entire length of one side of the mall.  By the time he got to the end of his walk, he had been given $14,000 by strangers that recognized him and stopped him to give him money in varying amounts.

He and his wife then decided to walk the mall again, and give all the money away to people who looked like they needed it.  He called it "Double Seeding".

I love it!  I REALLY love it that Jerry heard that, because I am the type of person that loves to do that.  I don't want people to know it was me though, unless I am a stranger to them, and I will never see them again.  Jerry gets upset with me for leaving a $20 tip, for instance, for a $5 meal.  I keep $20 bills in my purse for that purpose, although I would LOVE to keep $100 bills.  I'm afraid Jerry would pass out if I ever did that.

Now, don't get me wrong.  Jerry is very, very, very generous, and he gives thousands, but it would be for a church building project or to a missionary or something like that.  He isn't one to give to strangers.  Of course, to each his own.  Nothing at all wrong with either method.

We just gave a large gift together to a project the Hagee's are starting that has to do with building a huge beautiful home for unwed Mothers so they don't have to have an abortion and an orphanage to put the babies in if it should happen that nobody wanted them.  They are also going to build a place for students to live if you want your kids to go to their fabulous Christian schools but don't live in San Antonio.  A boarding house.

The idea is that we can't keep complaining at the millions of abortions if we don't offer an alternative.  I told Jerry if I was there, I would probably adopt every single baby nobody wanted.

If you would like to hear a great sermon, visit www.GETV.org in a few days, and the sermon will be in the archives.  If you get a chance to hear Vern (Laverne) sing, please do.  She is AWESOME!!!  Not only can she sing, she wears the most awesome clothes that I wonder if she makes or has made.  Sometimes I will draw what she is wearing so I can try to design it with my Sure-fit Designs.  She had on a really pretty top this morning.

Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy

Hanging Up The 3 T's

I imagine you are all sick to death of my turtles by now, but I have to show you one more thing my sweet hubby did for me today.

He brought his humongous ladder inside the house and up the stairs to help me hang up the 3 T's.  Just in case anyone would ever want to do this in their home, I took a few pics and I made a little video.

Here are some pics of how we did the ladder.

Jerry was mad at me because I would not let him put the ladder ON TOP of the quilt.  He finally agreed I was right, and I figured out how to fold it up out of his way.

After I convinced him that the ladder could not POSSIBLY be clean after being in his barn for 15 years, he agreed to let me put a towel UNDER it and at each of the TOP POSTS of it.

The NUMBER ONE way my house stays clean is that I don't mess it up!  I have dozens of old towels in every bathroom cupboard that we can grab for jobs like this.  The carpet on those stairs -- as in the rest of the house -- is 18 years old.  There is not a single spot on it anywhere.

Another thing that really helps is RUGS at every entrance.  I go through lots of throw rugs, but that sure beats changing carpet every few years.  All the paint on the walls is 18 years old too.  Even our builder couldn't believe it when he was at our house a couple years ago.

And I have NO IDEA how I got off on that subject.  [o=

And, of course, he had to measure to make sure it was exactly centered on the wall.  I would have just eyeballed it.

I DO LOVE that he is that way though.  It may take him two hours to hang a picture, but it will be centered to the world when he gets done!!!

He even put a level on the walls to be sure they were straight before he started.

All done.  He is making sure it is perfectly level.  It wasn't.  We redid the tacks at the top and the corners.

And we had the two furry supervisors watching the whole thing.  They KNOW that if they dare step one paw outside that room, they will go directly back outside.  

Josie has almost caught up with Jackie in size.  She has the most gorgeous soft, black hair.  Jackie is mostly gray/black, but we love her anyway.  After all, I'm probably ALL gray myself!

Here is a little video, if anyone is interested.

I've got a bathing suit on -- believe it or not -- and I am going back outside to sweep up the sidewalks after Jerry trimmed the hedges.  Decided my legs and arms could use a bit more color.

I was out earlier doing that, and I nearly MELTED in the sun!  No kidding.  I had streams running down my forehead into my eyes.  It is hotter than a firecracker today.  Terry and Doug went to Tulsa for an OUTDOOR birthday party.  I feel sorry for them!

Be back soon.

Hugs, Joy

Turtle Soup, Formerly "Follow Me"

Hey everyone!

I only have a minute because I am in the middle of making a binding for my latest creation.

I was SO EXCITED to get this off the longarm this morning after working on it FOUR DAYS.  So much work, but so nice to have when it is all over.

Here is a short video you can watch until I get the binding on:

How bright and pretty those colors are!

I do love bright colors as I'm sure you have deduced by now.

If I finish the binding today, I'll post a still pic of it all done.

Hopefully, Jerry will help me mount it at the top of the stair case that has no floor underneath it.  Maybe Saturday.  He is feeling better, so I may be heading to Edmond next week.  Terry is going to be in Colorado all next week helping our church at a healing conference at Andrew Wommack's college, so it would be a good time for me to be gone too.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for the happy birthday wishes.  You made my day!

Hugs, Joy

TODAY is My Birthday!

Made a nutty little video this morning as I was feeling very birthdayish.

Thank you so much to all of my friends and family that remembered my birthday.

Hugs, Joy

Birthday Lunch

It is Saturday evening already!  The weeks sure do fly by.  I was supposed to leave for Edmond yesterday, but I couldn't make myself go without Jerry.  He wasn't feeling good, and he still isn't feeling good, so I didn't want to leave him home alone.  I have to go tomorrow though, because I have 3 appointments next week.  PLUS, Margaret and I have to have our birthday lunch on Monday.

My husband always wants to get me something for my birthday, but there is never anything I really need or want.  He said he would take me out for a nice dinner tonight, but that offer turned into a nice lunch at my request.  I thought it would get him back home earlier.

After our Mooyah burger and sweet potato fries, Jerry wanted to go to Home Depot.  While we were there I JUST HAPPENED to see something I wanted.  It was a tall shelving unit that didn't look too horrible, and it was only $29.00.  I asked him if I could have it for my birthday.  He not only bought it for me, he came upstairs and set it up for me.  It now holds all my boxes of beads.  I like it so much, I am going to buy two more of them to put in my attic.  Let me run upstairs and snap a quick pic for you.  HOLD ON..................

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Here are my new shelves.  OOPS!  I see I forgot to remove a piece of green masking tape that has a level line on it.  

Until today, all of those boxes were on the rolling metal cart.  I still have it full as you can see.  It takes a LOT of stuff to make jewelry!

Someone asked me how I organize my jewelry.  You are looking at it!  All the boxes are labeled with my labeler machine.  All the seed beads are on the top shelf.  The rest are just there.  I go through them so much, they don't stay in much of any kind of order.  

I just recently began hanging my new style of beads on the wall BECAUSE, you can't return things unless they are in the original packaging.  You can return things to Fire Mountain FOREVER, so I need to keep them returnable.  

But how nice is my birthday shelf for only $29?  I love it!  My birthday is actually August 4th, but I'm supposed to be away from Jerry on that day.  I want to stay and finish organizing my beads now, so I may decide to cancel all appointments and just stay here.  Besides, Jerry isn't feeling good, and I want to be here to baby him.  I better start by going down to fix him some supper!

Hugs, Joy