Oodles of New Vintage Bed Linen Fat Quarters Bundles...

Our schedule summer has taken me by surprise this year. I have found it difficult to to find time to be in my studio working while the sun is shining and the kids are aching to get outside. Add trips to visit family, youth trips at church, camp, etc, and I feel a bit like a spinning top with suitcases in hand wondering if I should even unpack them! But, I have been slowly collecting new prints of bed linens, even while away. I finally stood at my cutting table for a few hours last evening and cut them all into fat quarters to bundle up for the shop. My wall of fat quarters have been dwindling recently so it was fun to see it all fresh with new prints. Sorting them into sets was pretty fun. I have listed many of them already and will be continuing this evening to stock the shelves before we leave to visit family in MN this week. Hope these will add some fun color and whimsy to your new projects! Here is a sneak peek of some of them.

And I also added some new pillowcase bundles as well. The one below has 8 vintage cases in it with coordinating prints.

What to do with Vintage Bed Linens...

Hello My Lovely Creatives! I thought I would share a quick and fun project with bed linens that I worked on this past week. With summer in full swing, we are eating outside more, especially since we now have a new little deck in our backyard to have a table on. Instead of always using a tablecloth, I thought it would be nice to have a set of placemats for all seven of us. I had found some very fun large red and white polka dot fabric at the thrift store that would match with my colors in our kitchen, but I decided to make the reverse side completely different with using all reclaimed linens in a mis matched fashion. They are working out fantastic, I can use them in our kitchen, or outside and they match either place. I also enjoyed quilting them.

Here is the cheerful summertime side for outside.

And here is the red and yellow side to match the kitchen.

I have cut out enough for 8 guests as well. It will be fun to dress the table with these when we have company. I am really enjoying the 2 sets in one with them being reversible!!!

And they match so perfectly with my bed linen napkins!!!

A Surprise For the Love of My Life...

I am just counting down the hours until I can pick my love up from his trip this past week. He has been at a conference with some of our Sr Highers from church. I have a BIG surprise for him!!! So often, I have these grand schemes in mind for while he is away, but most of the time it just simply does not work out, I usually come to my senses and remember that I have my little army of wee ones(and not so wee ones anymore) depending on me to have energy to keep up with them while Matt is gone, but this week, I decided to "NOT" come to my senses, to do the above and beyond, and to include everyone in it instead! Before Matt left, I secretly recruited my Dad to draw up designs for a small deck. We live in a ranch from the 60's that surprising the previous owners never put a deck or patio on. We have longed for a little deck off the back of our garage(the only door to the back yard) for years. But either time or money stood in the way. Matt and I had settled on trying to get a small deck built this year, nothing fancy or grand, just something to set a picnic table on so we could eat outside as a family. But, the time for Matt just wasn't there. That is when I began scheming.

One of the most precious things about my husband is his giving of time to others. I do not believe he has ever actually been home on a father's day. It always seem that one of his youth trips falls on Father's day. So, that one day, when he could be lounging or resting, is the day that he is usually driving a bus load of kids to camp, conference or missions trip. This year was no exception, but all of us this time were with him, taking kids to camp. And when he is not with the youth, he gives his time completely to our kiddos at home. I must admit that he is the better half when it comes to playfulness with our kids. He is always ready to wrestle, play games, or play in the pool with them. In the past few years he has even sold his little fishing boat because he did not want to take time away from his family while they are young. Then when the kiddos are sleeping peacefully, he turns his attention to me, either building my next project, cleaning things I just couldn't get to, cooking for us, and even helping me with all the shipping and cutting for the shop. This is without a doubt one of the most admirable qualitites about him that I truly cherish. And for the most part, he goes without any praise or encouragement.

So, he returns home today from his conference with the kids. After a crazy busy week of going non stop from 7am to 11pm with teenagers who far outweigh us on stamina, he is due some "days" of sleep! And what does he ask me last night when we spoke at midnight! "So, hun, we have the afternoon free, what do you need me to do?" Unbelievable, I was a bit speechless. But I know exactly what he is going to do!!! He is going to rest out on the deck that we built for him while he was gone!!!

Here is what we were up to while he was away! My mom and Dad came out on Tuesday morning. Mom held down the fort while Dad and I made a fun trip to the lumberyard!! I wish I had brought my camera with, but I was having too much fun loading wood into my van with my Dad anyways! It was pretty fun to work along side my dad! And I love watching him at work. He is still my hero! By lunchtime, he and Cole had the frame of the deck built and ready for Cole and I to start nailing down the planks! By dinner, we had the deck finished!!! A deck in a Day! Dad and I had to run out at dinner time to grab a few finishing things for it, and matt called me while we were out and asked what we were up to, and I almost forgot he didn't know -and i just about blew it! But I quickly averted it with the normal-"I needed ink for my printer"(I am always out of ink) and we decided to grab dinner out-"whew". It was so much fun to have Mom and Dad out here while matt was gone. Everyone just hung out in the backyard while we worked on the deck, even though it was a brutally hot week, we survived very happily!

Here are some of the pictures form our project.

Back from the lumberyard and ready to dig in.

Cole and Grandpa work on the frame.

Noah worked really hard!!!! On making a mess that is;)

All three of us worked together to get the planks spaced and nailed down.

And here is the finished deck for Matt. I can hardly wait until he is home! Here is one project he need not do but simply enjoy. Thank you dad for making this happen and helping me to honor my husband for all he does for us! And thank you to my strong, intelligent and growing boy-you are so deeply precious to me and your dad. I adore these three men deeply!

Poor Grandpa, tired from a hard days work for his daughter, but the kiddos just can't help but to climb all over him! Such a good sport!

And, yes, I have been enjoying the deck while Matt is away! This is the life! Quilting outdoors-the best of both worlds!

Here is matt enjoying the new deck! The kids made a sign to welcome him home.

And we all worked on getting the table all set nice for a summer picnic in the backyard.

Another Weekend Sale...

Once again there is a fun weekend sale in the shop. It runs from Friday the 9th to Monday the 12th. Everything is 25% off. More details in the shop announcements. Happy shopping and have a lovely weekend!

New fun fat quarter bundle-happy prints
Retro double knit in pink and green-flower fun
Summertime jumper in a fun patchwork cotton fabric. Vintage Love

An Afternoon Redo and a Thrifted Treasure

Summertime always brings a bunch of weeks single -Momming- it because of being married to a youth pastor:) It brings trips for both the Jr High Ministry and the Sr High ministry. I have to say though, this has been the most mild summer for trips. Early on in our ministry life, I really struggled with all the time Matt was away, and my heart certainly took some time to soften to it and not be frustrated by the responsibilies of his job. It was also due to being a new mom and not being quite confident in my "new position" as well. I was a pretty weepy mama a lot of the time when he was gone, but the Lord has helped to bring a peace, a strength, and actually a joy or anticipation to these times 12 years later! Not a joy that Matt is gone:)-I still deeply miss my husband when he is away ,and, there is nothing that can replace him being home at the end of the day, but I have come to appreciate elements of the solitude when he is not home, that help to get through those times. The kids an I lay pretty low when he is gone, although as they are getting older, there are still things on the schedule for the older kids, it is a bit different from having all babes that need no outside activity nessasarily to nuture their own growth during these weeks. But when dad is gone for awhile, I usually take the time to dig into some projects that cannot be done during a regular week with deadlines and the precious time OF Matt being home, that I do not want to sacrifice. It is a great time to pull things out that will not need to be put away until they are done.

So this week, I had one BIG surprise project for my husband that I still cannot reveal because the little stinker may be reading my blog and facebook while he is away but I will share that on Saturday when he gets home!! But I do have a project I can share. I was able to work on and finish this afternoon while the kids swam in the pool(or lake more accurately-the summer has been so wet that our pool looks more like a mudhole than a pool-no matter how hard I work to keep it clean). I have talked about the small space issues in our house before. I am learning to appreciate the challenges it brings in function and decorating-darn-I am just going to have to be creative! One of the best solutions for us has been to "hutch" many many of our dressers, adding space for organization and decoration where we may have not been able to do so before. Well -I have had one dresser in our kitchen that sits by the back door in a small nook. It is a very narrow dresser though so it has taken me years to find a hutch that fit it. But finally, a few weeks ago, I did!!! And again-it was a thrifted treasure with a fabulous price tag!! $5.00! So here is the before and after-I am very happy!

I will really enjoy having my cookbooks out and accessible as well as some of my favorite blue dishes. I just love how it fit so snug in the little nook that otherwise would be useless!

FOURTH OF JULY SALE...

EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP IS 25% OFF IN HONOR OF THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND!! HAVE A WONDERFUL INDEPENDENCE DAY! THANK YOU LORD FOR THE FREEDOM YOU HAVE GIVEN US IN OUR COUNTRY AND IN YOU!

Bed Linens SALE TODAY ONLY....

I am having another bed linens sale today in the shop. They are 20% off. Here are some of the items included in the sale....Fabric Yardages Cut from Bed Linens....
Bed Linen Scrap Packs , bags and flat rate boxes...
Pillowcases...
Whole Bed Sheet....
Bed Linen Hem Scrap Packs....
Quilt Squares cut from Bed Linens...
Fat Quarters-Half Yard Bundles cut from Bed Linens...