The Cozy House Crafter: family

Last year one of my friends (knowing I am so interested in crafts and project that hobby onto my children!) gifted me with this awesome blank ceramic gingerbread house. The kids and I had to miss church yesterday because of the baby having pink eye and my husband being sick, so after our church lesson at home, we sat down together to paint this. It turned out really great! Each of my three older kids took a side of the house, and I took the front. We are not expert painters! But this was a fun thing to do together and I am glad we made the memories. We used acrylic paints I already had on hand. Then I used some clear glue and sprinkled the clear crystal glitter onto the snowy parts of the roof. It came with a little tea light you place inside that changes colors. It is a way cool gift! Thanks, Tia!!

This was the big project that I worked on for quite a while. I had this vision planted in my head of exactly what I wanted it to look like for months. It helped that I had seen one previously made by my sister-in-law for our mother-in-law. But I knew I had to make something similar for my Grandmother Fisher. She is so very special to me. And so is my Grandpa Fisher. But my Mama Fisher for sure holds a very tender and special place in my heart. She has always been a great role model to me of a gracious, kind, giving, mannerly, beautiful, reserved, and loving woman. When I think of a perfect woman as a wife, mother, saint, and friend, I envision my Grandma. She has always placed others before herself. She does not complain, gossip, or speak unkindly about or toward another person. And there are so many examples I could give you of why she personifies these traits to me. But the reason I chose to really make this quilt for her is because I knew she would cherish it. She has always made time for us. She has been giving of her time. And that has included making each grandchild (ten of us) a quilt for his/her 16th birthday. And each one was designed specifically for each of us with certain colors and images and fabrics chosen by her with lots of thought. And she worked on them by hand herself, and always had them ready on time. She has also given each great grandchild a handmade quilt, though smaller, for keepsakes. She loves to quilt. I have to admit this has not been a talent I have yet acquired in my crafting abilities. But I have done more and more sewing in the past couple of years so I decided it was time to try my hand at making her quilted gift. I chose the pictures I wanted (given to me by her when working on genealogy together years ago), and immediately set out after the Thanksgiving holiday to get them made onto the fabric. I bought muslin and went several different places to make the pictures. I couldn't find but one place in my town who knew how to make the transfers, and it was WAY out of my price range...like really, really WAY out of my price range. So I decided to give my sister-in-law a call on how she had done it and what she had paid. I waited a couple of days, and in the meantime, relayed my sense of panic and difficulty about the picture transfers to a dear friend whom I know is very talented when it comes to many crafts. She has a loooong line of family who is also very talented...therefore, while waiting to hear back from my sister-in-law, my good friend talked to her sister who lives in Idaho about my problem. And my friend's sister volunteered herself to take care of my problem and make the transfers onto the fabric for me if all I would do was prepare the muslin squares and mail her the pictures -- for a 1/3 of the price I was quoted, and that only because she would need to buy some special things to get the job done and mail it back to me. I couldn't believe the news when I heard it! A stranger willing to give her time to me in such a major way at such a busy time of year! WOW! A true blessing to me in a time of need. So I decided that's just what I would do and within a day or two the materials were on their way in the mail from Ohio to Idaho. The next day my sister-in-law returned my call but I had already mailed my things out and was now going to the fabric store to choose my fabrics. This was very painful for me...not physically, but mentally. What would my Grandma like hanging on her wall? What colors should I choose? What patterns would fit well with her decor? Yes, I know, I have been in her house hundreds of times before, but I wanted this gift to her to be perfect. My good friend once again assured me that I could do this -- she said, "It's like putting together a scrapbook page, and you know how to do that!" True enough, but I was second-guessing myself. I tormented myself over which fabrics and colors at the store, and finally had everything cut. I got in the car...and immediately I hated what I had chosen. It just didn't seem right. I got home and showed my husband. He told me what to take away and what to add. "Alright," I thought, "I can do this." But then my beautiful pictures came back on the fabric a week later, and I knew I had to get different coordinating fabrics. What I bought just was not going to mesh well with the fabric pictures nor with what my Grandma's house already looks like. So back to the fabric store...a different one this time. I immediately picked out exactly what I knew would work and felt 100% better about the colors and patterns for my Grandma. The next day, I spent time laying out the picture blocks, and cutting my fabric blocks to pin them together. I felt right about that phase. Then the next night, I decided to start sewing the blocks. It was all still good. The next day, I realized I had a broken sewing foot that I needed to sew the quilt, and had to get to the only dealer for my sewing machine in town, and buy a new one. They had one! Shew!! I started the border around the square blocks. All was well. The next day, I decided to add borders along all outsides of the quilt. Good deal...until I find that since I didn't put my little one down for a nap, she dumped out a bottle of shampoo and wasted a tube of toothpaste on the counter in the bathroom. No more sewing and laboring over this quilt in the daytime anymore (without her napping)! So I waited until that night, I decided to start quilting the top, bottom, and batting inside altogether. But this is where major trouble started. I kept getting a ton of bunching in one of the corners...no matter where I started, and it wasn't always the same corner. Dang it! I didn't have a clue what I was doing wrong since I had never quilted. I consulted my friend again...for moral support and for possible suggestions. She called her lovely sister in Idaho for more information as well. And I "consulted" with videos on YouTube. God Bless YouTube videos! No, not really, but at least God Bless those lovely people who share their knowledge on YouTube about sewing and quilting!! ;) ha! Because apparently I needed to fix the pressure on my sewing machine pressure foot, and all was good! Like I said before, I have very little sewing experience and am self-taught so sometimes I just don't even think of the obvious solutions. Finally, late that very same night as Jayna pouring out my shampoo!, I was able to quilt the piece and get it ready for the binding. It was finally Dec. 23, and I spent two hours hand-sewing my binding edge around the sides of the quilt. I did that alright, thanks to a YouTube video when I made the table runner a few months ago, following the "blind stitch" video tutorials. And I was finished! Oh, how good I think it looks in person -- much more than in these pictures here. But I was able to present it to my Grandma on Christmas Eve. I think she loved it...she carried it around on Christmas Day to show to my relatives what I had made for her. I was happy that she liked it so much and was appreciative of the time I had spent on it. She said so anyway. ;) But here comes the most honest bit of all of this...and I almost cried when I found out...my Grandma was almost too gracious to tell me...but the only picture I thought was of her as a child, was not her at all! It is a picture of my Great Aunt Lorene, which is my Grandma's little sister. Mama said she loved the quilt despite its imperfection, and she also said that my Aunt Lorene would be honored to have her picture on my quilted work when she finds out! ;) So there you have it...hopefully a family heirloom with quite a bit of story to tell! ;) Thanks for reading all of this...if you did! ha! My BIGGEST THANKS to Sarah Hansen and Marsha Warren!!