Quilt completed

I completed another quilt for a friend of mine. These are Dresden quilt blocks hand sewed by her Grandmother (probably 40 year old blocks). I made them into a quilt top and then machine quilted it. I am not completely happy with how it turned out but she is pleased with it. I know from this experience I will never make 16 in square blocks and set them on point again. I have one more quilt to finish for her using some more of the dresden quilt blocks. That quilt the blocks will not be set on point.

I am working more than ever with 48 hours last week working 6 days. I long for the days when I was part time or was able to stay at home! I am not leaving my job at this point but I think I see a change will have to happen sometime in the future. As a Personal Banker I don't really want to be a sales person but someone that provides customer service to our customers. The new bank is very aggressive in sales and I am not sure I like that. I will wait and see how things progress. We have a new branch manager starting on Monday and that may change things drastically. Today I worked on quilting a top that I completed a long time ago. I am giving it to a friend that is going in for hip surgery on Tuesday.

Orphanage in Baja, Mexico

Pictures from the orphanage in Mexico. A sweet little boy in the nursery.
This are kids in a casa coloring in quilt squares that I will sew into baby quilts and then send back to the orphanage.

Above is in the nursery (cuna). Aren't they all just adorable. We spent the morning playing with the babies in the nursery. They really enjoyed reading the books.
This is the sign for the orphanage.

Back to the sewing room

This picture is not a quilt but some art work by my youngest son in third grade. I really like his color choices and have hung this picture in my office/sewing room. I am finally getting some energy back after being sick from Mexico. My work schedule has been very demanding and has not given me much down time to recover. I went to a local quilt guild's quilt show and enjoyed looking at everyone's accomplishments.

I needed some motivation to get back into the sewing room. I am currently working on a quilt for my brother's retirement after 26 years in the Navy. We are headed down to Florida in January to go to his ceremony and I have some muslin squares signed by family members and am putting them into a red/white/blue quilt. I have all the fabric and started cutting and sewing tonight after a 10 hour workday. I am making myself work on it as it is the only way I am going to get going again. I am also finishing up an antique quilt for a friend so will post a picture of that in my next post. Well back to the sewing machine and then off to bed!

Headed to Mexico

It has been a crazy and hectic summer and I can't believe how the time has flown by. This is the week I leave for the orphanage in the Baja, Mexico. I have stuffed my suitcases with over 30 quilts (I lost count!) and it will be interesting checking in my bags as I won't be able to carry them very well. I have to leave my house at 3:15 am on Thursday morning for a 5:30 flight to San Diego. Then from there we will drive down to the orphanage (http://www.ffhm.org) I am really looking forward to my visit. I have gone to the Morelia, Mexico home before but have not been to the Baja mission yet. I have been making quilts for orphanages for the last four years and am really excited to be able to hand deliver the quilts myself this time. I hope to come back with lots of pictures to share with everyone. I was going to get a picture of my suitcases full but am afraid if I open them up they will explode. For some of the quilts I used those bags that you vacuum out the air. I really hope this is okay at the airport and they don't want to open those packages up as without a vacuum cleaner I would never be able to get the suitcases to close again.

For those of you that pray you could pray for my safe journey to and from Mexico. Flying is not one of my favorite things to do but I would not miss this opportunity just because I am nervous about flying.

I will post photos when I get back from my trip!

August 25, 2007

Here is a quilt that I completed for the Ukraine orphanages. I rec'd these blocks from others but I pieced and quilted the top. I have been really busy at work all summer long. Have been working 45 hrs a week on the average. I am hoping this changes once school starts. Things are settling down somewhat in the office.

I am going to an orphanage in Baja, Mexico in October for a few days. (http://www.ffhm.org) I am excited to to be going even if it is only for a short time.

July 19, 2007

The above quilt is one that was pieced by Beth and quilted by me. This quilt is headed to an orphanage in the Ukraine at the end of this year. I finished up about 4 of them before I left for my mission trip to Chicago last week. This week I have not been able to sew but am hoping I will get the motivation to hit the sewing room this weekend.


Here is the group that I went with on a mission trip to Uptown, Chicago last week. We had a very good trip and accomplished alot of service projects. My son also went with so it was nice to be on a mission trip with him and watch him serving God throughout the week.

I am headed to San Diego and Baja, Mexico in October. I booked the flight last night! I will be visiting an orphanage in the Baja. I have been to the location in Morelia for a week and am looking forward to visiting the Baja location. The orpanage is Foundation For His Ministry at http://www.ffhm.org/ I am hoping to bring a bunch of baby or lap size quilts with me for the nursery. It will be a short visit but I also get to visit with my sister while in San Diego.

Happy July everyone! Have not been quilting too much lately. But thought you might like to enjoy a picture of the fireworks we enjoyed on July 4th. I was playing with my digital camera and thought these pictures were cool. I did quilt last weekend and finished up the binding on three lap quilts for charity and then quilted one and pin basted another that is waiting its turn being quilted. I am headed out this Sunday for a week long mission trip with our church youth group. We are going to Chicago to work with a group there. Not really sure yet what we will be doing but that is okay. My son is also coming with so I am looking forward to being able to spend time with him. For the last five years we have been at Boy Scout camp during this week and this year we did not go. Actually he is ready to make Eagle Scout and probably will not be attending summer camp anymore. You know how it is when the kids get their drivers license and then they get a job.

Work has been crazy and this week is another week of overtime. The time off this next week will be nice. I am sure I will be working just as hard but it will be something different.

I will try to post some actual quilt pictures when I get back so be sure to check back!

New Job

I currently work at a bank that has been bought out and we just converted over all our systems last week to the new bank. What a week! I have been working overtime the last three weeks and I was only the PT teller. As of Friday I am now the Personal Banker! One of the ladies put in notice last Monday and I am now taking her place. I will now be full time with hours anywhere from 36 - 40 hours. We have not worked out all the specifics yet as we are still trying to figure out if hours are changing for everyone with the transition. Of course with a new bank and new policies we are having to change everything. This week I will be working as Personal Banker with the gal that is leaving training me in plus helping out the teller line if needed. If last week was any indication I may be Personal Banker on my own as we have been very busy. That is normal for summer but the timing is not the best for all this transition stuff. I have not been quilting much in the last month as I have been working so much. I am going to have to figure out a new schedule for my life so that I can make time for my quilting time. I am sad to see my extra hours at the sewing machine dwindle but I am happy about my new position. I was a stay at home Mom for about 10 years and am now ready to get back into the career role. My youngest is going into third grade this year.

June 17, 2007

Here are a few more quilts for Mexico. These are just cheater panels but I know the babies won't care. I am now ready to pack up a box and send the quilts onto Mexico. I am able to mail them to the headquarters in Southern CA and they have a truck that goes down weekly. Much less expensive for me that way. I would never be able to ship international. I think I will be trying to fit 30 quilts into the box. Don't know if the box I have is big enough but I am going to vacuum out the air in a bag and hope the box does not explode while in transit. The next few weeks are going to be crazy at work so I have not been working very hard this weekend. I did manage to machine quilt three more tops for my Ukraine project. Have not completed the bindings yet.

Summer is here!

Summer vacation is finally here! The kids last day of school was last thursday. My 16yr got his first job and started last Friday. The called him on Thursday evening! So now I have had to scramble to make arrangements for my youngest for child care while I am at work. This week he will be going to summer school in the morning and then go to one of my friends house to be babysat by her daughter. We will be figuring this out week by week as we progress! My job is pretty hectic right now as we are in transition being bought out by another bank. Alot of training is going on and being a small branch that means I am working extra hours. The timing is not the greatest but not much I can do about it. I am hoping to get another position in the office if things go as planned. I have not quilted all this week but do have a quilt sandwiched and ready to go. I am working on the Ukraine quilts right now. Then I think I will be working on some more baby quilts for Mexico to take with me in October when I go out there for a few days. I am getting excited about going but do not want to wish summer gone just yet!