Two Old Beautys

Two Old Beautys!

I wanted to share these gorgeous hunks of metal with you!

They just don't make them like they used to, do they?

This dressmaker reminds me of a 57 chevy :) All the angles and ultra "modern" knobs and sleek lines :) Danny brought this home for me about 6 months ago or so. I immediately set her up and got her all cleaned to see if she would work! And hooo baby does she purr! There is something about these old heavy machines - they don't clack, or make click click sounds, they just run so smooth with a soft hum. And fast??!! They were truly precision machines!

I would love to do all my quilting on this beauty! I need to take it down to the local machine repair shop and see if they have a little geared ring part that I need. The old one looks like it was made of bake lite and has disintegrated and fallen off. That little gear is what feeds the dogfeed. And other than that - this baby works awesome!! Oh.. and i'll need to scour the internet to see if i can find a darning foot for it. LOL Wish me luck! :)

This one is an old singer... 1966 i think. I picked it up at a garage sale over a year ago, for $20. And dude... all the paraphanalia that came with it - two boxes of "parts" - are ALL for making button holes! LOL

It cracks me up how many steps and parts these women had to go through just to make a button hole! We are soo spoiled in our new machines with everything built in! This one is cast iron too from the hefty weight of it. I'm guessing it originally sat in a cabinet. It too hums so pretty. Everything is straight forward and basic. EXCEPT the bobbin casing and winder! This is a design I hadn't seen before. There's a little latch that you push and then supposedly you should be able to wind your bobbin - directly in the bobbin casing. Well... i pushed that little lever. Followed the directions (yep, was lucky enough to have the manual) and ... hmm... no go. I'm a patient sort. LOL I tried 5 or 6 more times, thinking it was operator error :D But still... nada. Sooo I think this girl is going to go with me to the shop also. There must be a snagger doohickey missing. Because it just refuses to grab that bobbin thread. (i hand wound a bunch just to test sew with it - but it just won't grab and pull it up) All this share and tell just to say that i am ready to throw my Bernina out the window! Man... i really got taken on that machine :( There is NO way that lady DIDNT know about all it's problems! grrr I hate dishonest people! It continues to have problem after problem. And frankly i am out of money to keep dishing into it! So, I packed her up and set her aside for a while. Lest I follow through with my desires and actually heff it thru a window! And pulled these guys out to see if i could get them working, and back to sewing without grumbling the whole time! These two machines make me feel like i should be dressed in full dress and petticoats, newly applied lipstick and hair perfectly coifed, and of course a dainty little apron on as well! Maybe I should pull out that Good Housekeeping article from the late 50's that told how to be "good wives" ?? hmmmm.... then again maybe NOT! LOL The women of that era would be mortified to see me in my sweats (or pj's depending on the day) sewing away, hair in a pony and not a lick of make up on! (that's on a full blown sewing day. Most other days i DO get dressed and at least look presentable! lol ) Hope you are having a great creative summer day!

Wordless Wednesday

Well almost wordless. LOL

Do those words above count? :)

I'm free piecing words for the back of this quilt.

All these blocks make me HAPPY! :D

Artist/Blogger Shout out

Well happy Tuesday to you! :)

Today's post is a fun shout out.

In case you have never met Michelle Allen in blogland. You might want to go take a peek at her blog!

I've been following Michelle's adventures for a couple of years now - and ya know... I just smile whenever I visit her blog!

She's an incredible artist who uses so many different mediums and textiles - always incorporating something new, trying new things and ALWAYS exploring and growing her creative side! (something I highly admire)

She's a successful entrepreneur, who not only started her own company -Allen Designs -with her art, but has taken it to amazing levels -and sells all over the world. A true inspiration!

Michelle's artwork speaks for itself. But if I had to put adjectives out there to describe it, I would say FUN, SPUNKY, BOLD & WHIMSICAL!

Sounds silly - but she lets her child side out - and you can't help but smile when you look at the results! :D

And something else that drew me in years ago - she's "real". You just want to hug her, because she's true to who she is!

Here are a few pics I pulled - with her permission - but it's such a small sampling of all that she does. Pull up a chair and a cup of coffee and go PLAY on her blog or website!

( Ok, so i have to admit i am head over heels for this darn sock monkey clock!! It just BELONGS in Calli's room!!)

And check out this robot clock! Do you have sons or grandsons that would just FLIP over this??? Wishing I had little boys still! LOL

she just recently got into book/journal making - very neat! Which can be interpretted or made in so many ways!

paper mache dolls...

I think this was her first go with fabric doll making? these are a hoot!!

And ohh... sigh... her art journaling... I love that she takes snapshots and shares them with the rest of us! Always different, and she layers them as she goes - I LOVE seeing the process! And they're personal... dreams, hopes, goals, emotions... they're really special :)

And she paints! Man, can that girl paint!! Although i didnt grab a pic of one of her paintings.

It's pretty awesome! Many times she will take snapshots of the progression of the paintings, and you get to see how it gets from start to finish.

Yet something else I am drawn to - the PROCESS. Of any art form. Guess my curiosity of "how did you get from point A to point B?" is always on - no matter the craft or the art - that's always my first question! LOL! How did you DO that??

And when I get to SEE how others do it - I swear it opens up so many other options and ideas - just sparks the whole creative fire, which helps me grow! And no - I don't paint. And I don't do art journaling, (gotta admit the desire is totally there, but the talent is definitely NOT! lol) but seeing other artists work is kindling to the fire within us all. I think especially when it's a different kind of art than we ourselves do. That's why we all love seeing what others are doing! Appreciation for all the energy, time, thought and raw talent that someone has put into a project gives us the giddys! :)

And a little disclaimer.

No - she didn't pay me to say all these things. LOL

She doesn't even know that i was going to go all gushy on her!

I just asked if i could give her a shout out on my blog, because after seeing that sock monkey and falling in love, i know many of my friends have kids and grandkids that would just do flips over her stuff! And you know, we're always keepin our eyes open for birthdays and Christmas! LOL!

And even if you don't have kids, treat yourself! :)

hugs,

Bren

Has It Been Almost a Week Already??

Ok, so i'm not the best at blogging in the summer. But hey, I'm doing better than last summer! LOL (ie... NO posts at all)

Nothin new or fun to report on. You know. Summer days. More swimming (of course - kids are insatiable)

Barbequeing. Playing cards or board games into the evening.

Kids have had (what feels like) a bazillion sleep overs this week alone. So there are always anywhere from 5-10 kids at the house at any given time.

NEED to hit sams club. Totally out of food now. LOL

(teenagers are ALWAYS hungry!)

Yesterday - which of course was probably our hottest day yet - is when I decided to tackle cleaning out the garage. And no, stupidity doesn't run in our family. LOL

But I was motivated to get it done, and who knew when that would show up again? :D Our garage is always seemingly out of control. Especially after winter. Everyone just piles (or drop kicks) stuff out there whenever they don't know where else to put something. Kids do NOT put things back where they belong, so there is always a trail of roller blades, skateboards, scooters, balls, mitts, swim stuff, socks (amazing how many socks i found! I guess from when they take off their roller blades??? I have NO idea? lol) you name it. And I am always tripping over them or stubbing my toe on weights! arrggh. So no small feat to clean and organize it. LOL Started at 9am.... finished at 7pm. Did i mention it was dang hot???

Yah. I was absolutely whooped when i was done.

But can i just say, it was worth every dirty, grimy, sweaty minute?!

It looks AWEEESSSOMMMEEE now!!

Down side... sadly... is now my hubby will see it as space to fill up! :(

Wonder how long I can get it to last??

Care to place any wagers?

LOL

Today i am actually child free for a few hours! Woohoo!! And sitting here at the computer like a tired old lady. Geez. I should go sew or something! But working that hard in the heat really did me in, and i'm payin the price for it today. So... good time to catch up on blog reading! No energy expenditure required! :D

xoxo

More Goofy Pics

More goofin off at the swimming pool ;)

They are such goofy hams!! I love them sooo much!! <3

And do you see the sneaky one behind? Yes, Emily ended up in the pool 2 seconds later. LOL

Can't believe how big they all are now :(

Enjoyed father's day today :) Went to the park with the fam and brought Lexi too. Soccer balls, football, baseball, bat and gloves. And a frisbee. And there is a fountain at the park. Lexi was in heaven. So many different balls to chase and then quick dips in the fountain! LOL Kids and dad had a great time too :)

Then off to swim, then home for dinner and a couple movies :) Best kind of day!!

Summertime summertime, sum sum summer time!

Ohh the days of being young and carefreee!

Sisters playing in the pool

Can't believe i got these two shots! How fun!! :D

Remember the hours and hours of trying to do the perfect handstand underwater?

Thinking you did it PERFECT, only to come up and have someone say - nope you were lopsided!?

But back then we didn't have digital cameras to capture the moment so quickly!

Try and try again. Finally they got it! But of course that picture is in the middle instead of last. LOL

They found a worm.... and thought that was just hilarious. LOL

We took Lexi to the dog park day before yesterday. Sooo much fun for her!! Running full speed, romping in the water, playing with other dogs. Oh yah. She was a happy camper! :) Wish I would have had a camera to bring!! Caught these with Emily's camera yesterday. We just dont realize how totally spoiled we are in this day and age!! I gotta admit... i love the instant gratification of taking a picture and seeing it immediately! I miss my camera!! Guess what i'm asking for for my birthday this month? :D

Have a happy blessed summer day!

xoxo

A little polka dot therapy

So, or not sew as the case may be :) I haven't done much sewing the last few months. Lack of motivation, or inspiration, or just plain distracted with everything else. But i was jonesin! (is that still even a word? lol) I sewed up a few chemo caps for a dear friend who has a friend battling cancer. That got me back to the machine! Yay! Then the other day, i was desperately wanting to sew. I think i stood in my room... turning in circles... touching this or that... for... oh... an hour?!? Couldn't figure out WHAT i wanted to start on. Nothing was screaming - me! pick me! Don't you hate that? I much prefer the sudden inspirations where you can't run fast enough to your sewing room and rip things off the shelf - fabric flying, scissors seeming to work magic of their own acoord! And you work like crazy for two days and have something awesome to show for it! LOL! Then there are times - usually when you've gone wayyy too long without being creative - and the mojo is on ultra slow drip! My personal motto when that happens - is just start SOMETHING. Doesn't matter what. Just start. You might hate it later, that's fine. You might change your mind half way thru the process and rip half your rug apart, or quilt blocks apart. That's fine too. LOL Because that means the creative energy has returned! And the only way to get it to return is to dive in and get moving forward! Well i finally picked up a charm pack of Hoot, and some pale yellow kona. And started sewing. I hated it. Knew i wasn't on the right path. I wasn't feelin it. But i didn't care - just needed to SEW!! And ya know what? I wasn't even 45 minutes into it, and inspiration struck! Whooohooo!! I needed some POLKA DOT THERAPY!!!!!! Laugh all you want, my primitive friends :) But polka dots make my heart sing! :) Grabbed that pile of fabric and stuck it aside, and started pulling other fabrics and sliced and diced and sewed! Woot! I'm excited about my new project now!! yay! Got 8 of these made, and 4 more started in just a few hours. Feels SO good now! Can't wait to finish it!! :D

Hope you are having a great day! I'm off to sew some more!

woohooo!!!

:D

Rites of Passage & Amazing Coverage

Hello!

This week has been full of fun rites of passage for my daughter Calli. And some not so fun adult responsibilities.

First... Calli turned 9 last month. And her brother gave her money to go get her ears pierced - with a card that said, "I'll be right there to hold you hand, as tight as you need!"

Well she got them pierced on wednesday!! woohoo!! (VERY BIG deal to a girly girl!)

Today, we enjoyed one of her other birthday gifts. Her grama gave her a certificate to go horseback riding for the first time. (lol her birthday wish list read more like a bucket list!)

And... the only stables around, require that a parent accompany any child on the ride.

So guess who got to go? :D

**Let me just say here... that i got off that hour and a half ride feeling a heck of a lot older than i actually am!! LOL I knew my tush would be a hurtin! But ohhhh my knees! Streaking pain! Not quite sure why they hurt so bad?? The last time I rode for 2 hours and my knees were never an issue. But today... toooodayyy was a different story!! hahaha!**

Anyway, it was a wonderful ride, through one of the local state parks at the base of the gorgeous summer mountains! Calli's first time on a horse, and Bailey's too! (and of course the 14 year old tougher than nails "stud" says his butt doesn't hurt one bit! Aaahhh to be 14 again! :)

Mine and Calli's do tho! LOL)

My mom was recouperating quickly from her surgery, and then ran into a snag. Back to the doctor's we went yesterday, with the possibility of them squeezing her into the early morning surgery line up. Praise God, they didn't have to!

On the way home from the surgery center, my car decided to act up. We pulled into my mom's house, her with her car door open... finishing up saying good bye, and my car starts dinging like crazy. Oil light. Turn it off, and we heard the weirdest sound! Gurgling, sounded like serious boiling. Opened the hood, and sure enough, it was BOILING like mad! Spilling coolant everywhere, and it looked like it was almost empty!

----> woman who knows nothing about cars <----

calls husband. can't get ahold of husband.

thinking i should just add water to the radiator? that's not so hard, right??

calls close family friend (it's 8:30am) should i just add water? or should i walk to the convenience store and get coolant??

friend says, how far out are you? (by the grace of God i was at my mom's only about 5 miles away) He says, i'll come on over. I feel bad for pulling him away from his breakfast, and say just tell me what i should do, i'm perfectly capable :)

LOL no!... he says .. don't touch anything. I'll be there in a few!

---->really folks - I am NOT THAT inept!! <---

But God had me covered!! In his perfect grace!!! I am soooo thankful He was watchin over me!

There was a reason it just "happened to happen" at my moms... and not 20 miles away on the busy highway! Or on the way back! And there was a reason I wasn't supposed to get ahold of my husband. (who also knows nothing about cars lol) And there was a reason He had Al come take a look. Someone that DOES know about cars!

Had I driven even two more miles... even after adding water... I would have cracked a head.

---> this woman DOES know what that means! <---

Funny thing is... now don't shake your finger at me... had i not sat there for those 2 minutes, I would have been halfway home. And had it dinged at me then... i would have just finished driving the last 3 miles to home! I thought it was an oil light. And i had JUST put oil in it a week ago, when that same light had come on. So i WOULD have driven those 3 miles.

And God knew that.

ugh.

No, Brenis. That was not an oil light. That was a temperature light.

I was paying such close attention, can't you tell?

Turns out my thermostat was broken. Therefore not opening to let the coolant into the engine. Engine was bone dry and hotter than steaming hot. So no amount of water or coolant would have done any good - cuz it wasn't getting to where it was supposed to go!

Alan was an absolute ANGEL. He figured that out. And fixed it right there in the parking lot. Replaced the part, retested it, gave me a humongous bear hug and patted me on my way!

Oh man, i was sooo thankful!!

Praising God over and over!!

And realizing that today we were going to be traveling on e-470 to the foothills, which would have been disasterous!! Had we not caught it yesterday morning- it would have broken on the way home, and IF by the grace of God, it hadn't, the kids and I would have been stranded on the freeway- with a broken head no less and a $3,000 bill!

Can you say PROTECTION??

OK... sorry to be so long winded - but one little "add on" to this story.

Everything's good. Right?

So... I went out last night to drop Bailey off at bible study, and buy Alan a nice bottle of tequila (his favorite) as a thank you, since he wouldn't let me pay him.

Bible study, 1.5 miles from home. Liquor store another 1.5 miles. Came home (3 miles) told the girls to pack up their stuff and I would take Calli's friend home. Then went to Alan's ( 1/4 mile) to drop off tequila. Back home (1/4 mile) and sat waiting for girls for... oh... 3 minutes.. with car running, then ran her to her house - literally 7 houses away, and back home. So that's what? 6 1/2 miles total?

Turned off the car.

Guess what I hear??

MORE BOILING

Open the hood - and the FULL TO THE BRIM tank of coolant is down under minimum and boiling like a son of a gun. Again. :(

All in 6.5 miles??

And thinking all was good - i would have driven it today to the resevoir. On that honkin highway. 30 miles away.

Had i not gone out to get that thank you gift for Alan, last night (and almost put off to do today), i never would have known, and would have been in a heap of trouble!

OH man. The Lord's hand of protection was sure on me yesterday!!!

No ifs ands or butts. (even sore horsey butts! lol)

My mother in law loaned us her car this morning, and we took the van to Al.

It's some sort of fan switch, or fan issue, he thinks. Something he can't determine without a scan or just replace all those parts, which would be stupid. So off to the shop it goes tomorrow!

All I can say is, PRAISE GOD!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!

Sooooo many chances. Soooo many variables. Soooo much protection!!!

I feel soooo incredibly loved and protected!!

Isn't He AMAZING??!!

:D

Bright blessings to you friends!

xo

Bren - who will be walking like a cowgirl for the next day or two! :D