Apr 18, 2014

Welcome Home Sean!


My husband and I were so excited for Sean's arrival from Brazil!
He had been traveling for over 24 hours to get here.
A nice lady named Dorothy, who was sitting beside us, offered to take our photo and our reunion photos with Sean :)


People started coming down the escalator.
Someone asked us if our son was tall with blonde hair.
They said that he helped a lady out by holding her baby the whole flight.
Finally, we saw him!!!
What a great feeling that was, after 2 long years!


A nice, tearful long hug for Mom....


and one for Dad :)


It's so wonderful to be reunited again!


It was dark when we arrived home, so you can't see the signs very well.


We took a photo the next day.
Welcome home!
Elder Horst has served the people of Brazil for two years.


Thank you for sharing a huge part of my personal life with me.
Now it's back to sewing :)
Several people have told me they want to buy a new sewing machine and wonder what I like about my Bernina 750 QE.
I always reply to everyone who leaves a comment on my blog.
Sometimes I can't though, because your name isn't connected to your email address.
On Monday, I will review what I love about my sewing machine, the Bernina 750 QE.

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Apr 16, 2014

My missionary son comes home today!


I haven't been able to get much sewing done lately, because.....
we are having a very exciting time around our house today!
Our son has been serving a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
He wrote his favorite scripture on our chalkboard before he left, and I kept it there and wrote new designs underneath.
This is to celebrate his homecoming.
He will arrive today in the early evening, after over 24 hours of travel!
He will be hungry and exhausted, and very emotional.
It must have been heartbreaking to say goodbye to some of the people he has grown to love....I got emotional myself, when I thought about it.
When he left us 2 years ago, he knew he would see us again.
When he left his loved ones in Brazil, he knew he may never see them again.....at least in this life.
He is traveling home with at least 7 other missionaries.
They will be laughing and sleeping and talking in Portuguese about their experiences and what they want to do when they get home.
I am busy making posters, getting American flags pressed, ordering balloons and trying to keep busy until we go to the airport.
Our hearts are full as this part of our lives come to a close.
We were only able to speak to him via Skype 3 times, and emailed each other every Monday.
Now I will be able to put my arms around him, and talk to him in person and hear his stories and get some of my silly unanswered questions answered!
Even though we missed him, it was so worth it!!!
Only my husband and I will be at the airport, we were the only ones at his departure.
We are having a reunion with our 6 children and 9 grandchildren, at the beginning of May, for a week.
We will all enjoy that reunion too.
I will post photos of Sean's homecoming on Friday :)


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Apr 14, 2014

My Sewing Room


This is me in my new sewing room that my husband designed for me! 
We recently moved a mile away from our previous home, and this loft area on the second floor is over twice as big as my previous sewing room.
Now I have room to lay quilts on the floor, etc.


 My paper doll quilt is hanging on the wall, and that is a drafting table that where I cut my large pieces of fabric.


This is an antique sewing machine, it might be a milliner’s machine because it's really little, and a different shape.
 I keep my antique sewing finds (buttons, bias tape, rick rack, etc) in a little wooden box on the table, along with a pitcher that belonged to my great grandmother. Below the table is a wooden pepsi crate that I use to store fat quarters.


This is an interesting piece of furniture that my husband purchased at a consignment shop. I keep all my quilting books in it, and some favorite photos on top. The basket on the floor holds some of my WIP projects.


I love the storage pieces of furniture, the tall pieces have display windows on top and hidden storage on the bottom.


I made a fabric pennant banner and a pom pom banner to hang over the window.


Here’s a closeup.


Behind my sewing table is a lot of fabric, mostly in half yard and 1 yard increments. I try to keep it neat and tidy and it’s easy to choose a piece of fabric when I need it. The storage boxes on top hold odd pieces of fabric which are organized by color.


This red chair is so comfortable and it swivels. I can sit here and do handwork, and when my husband comes upstairs to visit me while I'm sewing, this is where he sits.
The quilts hanging over the railing are waiting to be quilted.


This is a side view of my fabric shelves.


This is my brand new sewing machine, I love it! It’s a Bernina 750 QE and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sew on another sewing machine again. My favorite brand of thread is Aurifil.


This is a closeup of my photos. Me, with three of my grandchildren, my wedding photo, with a Photo Booth slide of my husband, son and I at the California State Fair. The little photo frame is me and my brother when we were small.


This is a close up photo of my cross stitch which won first place at the county fair, many years ago. I love the cross stitched quilt on the brass bed. It symbolizes me as a mom when my children were young. Lots of chaos at times!!!


This is a beautiful cross stitch that my daughter Rebecca made for me. I love it because she spent many hours making it for me and that makes me feel loved and special :)


This is a beautiful poem that my dear friend Joni Hilton, an author and playwright, composed and gave to me. The mat is covered by an antique quilt. I cherish this gift, Joni really put her heart into it and personalized it for me!


This is a closeup of one of the shelves in the tall piece of furniture. My vintage Nancy Drew books that I collect, a beautiful child’s book about quilting, and a music box sewing machine that plays “Buttons and Bows”.
On the middle shelf is a mason jar holding my washi tape collection, a mini Boyd’s bear, sitting on top of “wishes” tickets, and a cute Altoid tin. On the bottom shelf are more fat quarters and my collection of twine in lots of different colors!







This shelf sits above the TV, under the window. Some of my favorite fat quarters are displayed here, along with two beautiful fabric strawberries that my friend Joanna made for me. Woody belongs to my youngest son who will be coming home from a 2 year stay in Brazil, on Wednesday :)
 I have been keeping it for him, because I enjoy having a memento of him in my sewing room.



My husband purchased this clock when he designed the room. I love it and have no trouble seeing the large numbers, wherever I am in the room :)


I keep strips and squares in these clear containers with chalkboard labels. It is so easy to choose pieces for a scrappy quilt project from these bins. It saves a lot of time, since they are already cut to the right size.


 I have some bolts of fabric for backs of quilts, some fabric rick rack on an antique spool, and milk jars full of buttons. The brass bell used by my children when they were sick. They would ring the bell when they needed something.



The fabric “C” is for my name, Cynthia. I have a collection of Anthropologie bowls, each one is different. 
Sometimes I’ll take one out to hold some chocolate to nibble on while I sew.


My mother is a sculptor and she designed the lady quilting in a wing back chair. More pretty trims that make me happy!


My paper doll quilt is all hand appliquéd with lots and lots of hand embroidery.



This is a view of my sewing room as you come up the stairs. Lots of windows and natural light!


I hope you've enjoyed the tour!
Thanks for stopping by :)

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Apr 11, 2014

Cut Out + Keep


Cat Morley from Cut Out + Keep contacted me and said that she would like to do a blog post on my sewing room.
What a compliment!
Here is the link to her blog where you can see my sewing room.
I hope you enjoy it, there are lots of photos :)
I love the way Cat arranged all the photos, and the questions she asked. 
We moved to a new home a month ago, only a mile away, in the same city.
On Monday I will post photos of my new sewing space.
It's pretty much the same, except that I have double the space and a new piece of furniture.
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Apr 9, 2014

Easter Bags tutorial


I made 9 little Easter bags for 9 little grandchildren!


The little doggie one is for my 8 year old grandson.
It's sort of girly with the pleated band, I hope he likes it.
This will be the last year I will be able to give him a gift like this! 


I made a few of them a little different, but the fabric was so cute and "Easter" looking, that I used the same fabric for the rest of the 8 bags.  
7 are for girls and 1 is for my little 1 l/2 year old grandson.
He can carry his cars around in it, and won't be embarrassed at all!


It's so much fun choosing fabric for a project, especially when you have a good selection in your stash!
Isn't the puppy fabric lining cute?
I'm sure my 8 year old grandson won't want his friends to see his bag when they come over to play Legos!!!  Ha ha!


Here is the link to the tutorial on my Pinterest.
The bag was designed by Kim Walus for Moda Bake Shop.
It's really quick and easy to make, once you figure out the little trick about the lining.
The bag's about 6" tall, by 7" wide.


I'm going to fill the bags with goodies and send them off to 4 homes.
I won't be able to spend Easter with them, as well as most holidays and birthdays, but hopefully they know I love them and think of them always!
That includes Grandpa too :)

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