Happy Mother's Day 2023

 

⚘ Happy Mother's Day ⚘

To all the tough, hard-working, 

patient, loving, and all-around 
amazing moms out there!

What better way to start back up with my blog than by wishing all the mother's out there a Happy Mother's Day!  I lost my mom in 2014 to Adenocarcinoma of the lungs that metastasized into her bones, stage 4 when we found out. She was diagnosed on 9/10/14 and passed on 11/3/14; she was 62 years young.  And while I miss her so very, very much every single day, I have to remember she's no longer in pain and would want me to move forward.  So a shoutout to my momma. I love and miss you!

 

  

A little bit about me...

Hobbies

I have a few hobbies that I'll be sharing here and I invite you to peruse and comment on, and if nothing else, I hope to inspire at least one person.  Forewarning though, I work full-time, help to take care of my 1 1/2-year-old grandson, and boy is he a handful, and to top it all off, I have ADHD, so it's hard for me to stick with things sometimes.  I jump around like a bunny, from place to place, or interest to interest, and it's only the ones that I truly enjoy that I continue with. 

Book Reviews

I love to read and have since I was young, and thanks to the digital age I can now share my personal feedback on them with more than just family and friends.  I'll share links to books I've read, want to read, and how I felt about them.  Yesterday I spent the entire day, from around 7:30 AM until 10:30 PM working in my office/sewing room organizing and writing book reviews.  I noticed I was missing some reviews so I had to compare Goodreads, Amazon, NetGalley, and Book Sirens, which is why it took me all day long. Now I know which books I have already reviewed and which I need to review. I just finished reading/listening to Bentley Little's The Influence, which I really do not recommend even though I'm a huge fan of his work, and I recently finished both House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas.  I'm in the process of working on my reviews for them.  I told myself I would NOT start another book/audiobook until I wrote my reviews. 

Quilting

My second favorite hobby is quilting.  I taught myself to quilt along with free tutorials I found online back in 2004.  Then I joined a Yahoo quilt group (don't laugh it was a while back when Yahoo groups were popular) called Beginners & Beyond and that group of wonderful ladies, and gents, taught me so much! I made my first king-size quilt in 2008 and never looked back.  Sadly, after my mom passed away I lost the desire to do anything more than work and watch TV (another one of my passions/hobbies).  It's now been almost 9 years since she passed and I'm finally ready to get back to it.  So if you are interested, follow my blog and see my progress. I am currently working on multiple WIPs (Work In Progress) aside from finishing up projects I've had sitting in storage for years. I just started my Dear Jane quilt and Aves quilt.  These will most likely take me years to make unless I get to retire soon lol, but I will share my progress along the way.

TV Shows, Movies, Streaming Series

My most guilty pleasure is watching TV.  I can watch it for hours on end and thanks to streaming services I can spend an entire day binge-watching shows I've missed on live tv and original shows from the service.  I currently subscribe to AppleTV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock TV, and Paramount TV.  Yes I know, that is way too many, but it's okay.  I'll talk about current shows and movies that I'm watching/binging etc.  I work from home so I do miss physically going to work (eh, not so much) and chatting with others about the previous night's episode.  At this moment I am binging Brave New World on Peacock TV S1 E5: Firefall and enjoying it very much, gives me a lot to think about, all those "what-if" situations.

Lifelong Learning

Finally, I believe in lifelong learning, as my student loans can confirm, but the cost of higher education has become excessive so I look for ways to learn for free.  There is a plethora of free learning on the internet.  Just about anything you may want to learn is out there just waiting for you.  I found that with The Odin Project., which teaches you about web development step-by-step.

That's about enough for today's post.  Very simple and to the point. Off to sew some before the hubby returns from fishing.  Until next time...  A messy house is the sign of a happy quilter.

Kerensa

The Defender

Wow, so it's been a little over a year since I last posted on my blog.  So much has happened but the only really exciting thing was my grandson, Damen Gene Davis was born.  I'll share some photos later. But for now, I finally have my quilt room back and almost have it set back up so I hope to get back to quilting again this weekend.  I have been going out of my mind not being able to sew for a year now since my son and his family were staying here with us. 

So I follow Pat Sloan's blog and work on a lot of her free BOM's.  She issued a 2017 UFO Challenge and although she only went with 12, one per month, I threw in 13, because 13 is really a lucky number. :)  So these are the projects I want to either finish or start and I will try to remember to post updates here with photos of my progress:

1.  2011 New Years Eve Mystery quilt
2.  Flowers All Around paper pieced BOM
3.  Black & Bold quilt
4. Globetrotting BOM
5. School's Out
6. Christy's quilt (sister in law)
7.  Stacey's quilt (sister in law)
8.  Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt)
9.  Crossroads
10. Splendid Sampler
11. Solstice Challenge
12. Damen's baby quilt
13. 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 Quilting on the Square paper piece mini BOM (ongoing project)

Yes, I know that is a lot of projects but to be honest, some are already completed tops they just need to be sandwiched, quilted and bound.  Some are in progress that I have been working on, while others I haven't even started yet but I want to.  So that is my plan this year, plus I want to begin using mom's embroidery machine and work on some of the projects she had started but never completed.  It's going to be a busy year for me. YAY!

On another note, we completed a personality quiz as a team at work and I wanted to share my results.  It's really scary how close this is to the way I see myself.  Of course, depending on the time you take the quiz and your mood at the time etc., your results can vary, but it should only be slightly.

ISFJ Personality (“The Defender”)

Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others. - Brian Tracy

The ISFJ personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. Though possessing the Feeling (F) trait, ISFJs have excellent analytical abilities; though Introverted (I), they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are a Judging (J) type, ISFJs are often receptive to change and new ideas. As with so many things, people with the ISFJ personality type are more than the sum of their parts, and it is the way they use these strengths that defines who they are.

ISFJs are true altruists, meeting kindness with kindness-in-excess and engaging the work and people they believe in with enthusiasm and generosity.

There’s hardly a better type to make up such a large proportion of the population, nearly 13%. Combining the best of tradition and the desire to do good, ISFJs are found in lines of work with a sense of history behind them, such as medicine, academics and charitable social work.

ISFJ personalities (especially Turbulent ones) are often meticulous to the point of perfectionism, and though they procrastinate, they can always be relied on to get the job done on time. ISFJs take their responsibilities personally, consistently going above and beyond, doing everything they can to exceed expectations and delight others, at work and at home.

We Must Be Seen to Be Believed

The challenge for ISFJs is ensuring that what they do is noticed. They have a tendency to underplay their accomplishments, and while their kindness is often respected, more cynical and selfish people are likely to take advantage of ISFJs’ dedication and humbleness by pushing work onto them and then taking the credit. ISFJs need to know when to say no and stand up for themselves if they are to maintain their confidence and enthusiasm.
Naturally social, an odd quality for Introverts, ISFJs utilize excellent memories not to retain data and trivia, but to remember people, and details about their lives. When it comes to gift-giving, ISFJs have no equal, using their imagination and natural sensitivity to express their generosity in ways that touch the hearts of their recipients. While this is certainly true of their coworkers, whom people with the ISFJ personality type often consider their personal friends, it is in family that their expressions of affection fully bloom.

If I Can Protect You, I Will

ISFJ personalities are a wonderful group, rarely sitting idle while a worthy cause remains unfinished. ISFJs’ ability to connect with others on an intimate level is unrivaled among Introverts, and the joy they experience in using those connections to maintain a supportive, happy family is a gift for everyone involved. They may never be truly comfortable in the spotlight, and may feel guilty taking due credit for team efforts, but if they can ensure that their efforts are recognized, ISFJs are likely to feel a level of satisfaction in what they do that many other personality types can only dream of.

Feel free to take the test yourself and see what your personality is.
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Kerensa

Quilters Murder Cottage Found

Just a little something I found this morning.  Very interesting read.

Joe the Quilters Murder Cottage Found

Kerensa

Three Years Later.... :(

Wow, so it's been just about 3 years since I last posted to my blog.  See, I said I wasn't good at keeping this thing up.  So much happens that needs my attention...it's called LIFE.  Sad news is that my mother passed away in 2014 and it has been a very hard struggle for me to be without her. Although we had our moments where we were angry with each other, what mother/daughter duo doesn't, I loved her with all my heart and miss her terribly.  The pain is easing off a bit but I try to tell her good morning every day.  I have not been able to "talk" to her as all I do is end up crying, but I think of her often.  It gets really hard when I call daddy and I hear her voice on the voicemail.  I didn't want to forget the sound of her voice so I recorded it so I will have it always.  I miss our daily chats over the phone on my way to and from work and sitting with her as she worked on her latest embroidery project.  She never kept one for herself, she always made them gifts for someone else.

Me and momma a few months before she passed:

I am still working at the same place, although we are now called Asurion instead of National Electronics Warranty (NEW), and I decided, right before mom passed from cancer, that I needed to focus more on myself and my family, particularly on mom, than the responsibilities and demands of a supervisor, so I applied for, and accepted, a position as a Quality Experience Analyst, which in essence means that I get to work from home and listen to recorded calls for 8 hours and grade them on the customer service experience.  The job can get a bit boring sometimes, especially with no one to talk to like when I worked in the office, but hey, I have a good job, I get paid well (if I stop racking up the credit card bills lol), and I'm somewhat happy. Okay, I'm happy, just not as happy as before mom passed.  I struggle with depression and anxiety every day and she isn't here to talk to like before.  She was the only person who could get me through a really bad anxiety attack.  You know, they say that an anxiety attack only lasts a maximum of 25 minutes?  That, my friends, is a load of crap.  I once had an anxiety attack that lasted over 4 hours.  I had to leave my house and go over to mom's and lay my head in her lap while we talked and she played with my hair.  That was my worst attack ever.  Thankfully I haven't had one that bad since, and I hope I never, ever do again! (she say's while crying and hardly able to see what she is typing)

Okay, I'm better now after taking a moment. Sadly, with the loss of mom I lost all motivation to do anything, including quilting. I have not sewn a stitch since before Christmas, and that was to finish my granddaughter Scarlet's baby quilt that I made, and before that it had been almost exactly a year since I touched my Janome. Oh yeah, I had a granddaughter since I last updated the blog, how could I forget???  I'm so proud of her, she is my heart and I never thought I could love anyone more than I love my own kids but I do. :)  I go crazy when I can't see her at least once a week lol.  Here is a photo of the finished quilt that I made her.  I went really fast on the binding and didn't do my best on it but I was rushing to try to get it done in time for Christmas, seeing as how I had started it before she was born in 2014!!  Mom helped me embroider the names. The backing is flannel that has the words I love mommy and I love daddy in pinks and purples. I used 8 different fat quarters plus the kona white cotton for the background and a silky pre-made binding (that was really too big for this, I should have folded it over to make it right.  I may get the quilt back and redo the binding as I'm not very proud of it...)

 

And here is a photo of my baby girl at 3 months and me and Scarlet at Thanksgiving last year (2015):

 

She sure has grown a lot and is just about walking on her own.  I'm really glad that my mom got to see her first great-granddaughter before she, mom, passed away.

 

 

Other than that not a lot has happened in the time that has passed.  I've read a lot of books, but not as many as I used to read.  I just haven't taken the time for me since mom's passing.  I've pretty much just lived life day to day.  But now it is time to get myself out of this rut!  I lost 56 pounds in a years time then after mom passed I kind of lost the encouragement and the self-motivation to keep going.  I stopped working out and boy oh boy did I eat like crazy during the holidays.  So I now have 17 pounds to lose just to get back to my previous weight and then another 40 after that to get where "I" want to be, another 50 if I get to where the doctors want me to be. I just want to be healthy, get off of all this medication I am on and be happy with myself and how I look and feel.  I don't want to be a skinny mini, and I don't care if my butt and abs are rock hard, but I would like to wear clothes that are sexy and pretty instead of always buying plus sized clothes where the manufacturers think just because you are large that you are large EVERYWHERE!  Sheesh, my legs are NOT the size of a elephants legs okay!!! 

 

I did inherit mom's embroidery machine and everything associated with it: thread, stabilizer, patterns etc., so now I need to learn how to use it like she did and put it to good use.  That is another project for another day.  For now I will end this update with my goals:

 

1. Start quilting again
2. Read more (including audiobooks), goal is currently 15 books this year, including finishing up the Outlander series since it was mom's favorite and I want to finish it for her
3. Get back on my healthy eating routine
4. Start walking and working out again
5. Learn to use mom's embroidery machine (oh and the serger too)
6. Start paying off my credit cards and save more money (to afford my quilting habit lol)
7. Play with my granddaughter as much as possible
8. Tell everyone how much they mean to me and how much I love them because you never know when your time will come to pass on from this life to the next.

And I will leave you with this from my FB timeline:





Kerensa

Sleepless Nights

I never promised to keep up with my blog (or did I? lol) and today, while setting up my profile on word-press so that I can keep up with one of my favorite authors Donna Grant the profile asked for my web page.  Well this is my only webpage so here I am once again clicking away at the keyboard updating information from my dullish life.  So let's see where I last left off, I think I was updating that the Fall semester at UWF was starting...sooooo it's now the Spring semester at UWF!  See how well I keep up with my blogging? NOT.  So as for how I did in the Fall semester I passed:

Web Environments for Learning & Information: A
English Comp II: A
College Algebra: B
Final Semester GPA: 3.70

Darn you College Algebra, you kept me from making the Presidents list once again! :| I did, however, make the Dean's list for the third semester in a row!  Go ME! And yes, I am once again taking classes (I won't graduate if I don't right?), but I have limited myself to only 2 classes a semester going forward as 3 & 4 classes have been running me ragged; I need ME time.  So this semester I am taking:

Professional Writing (Business Communication)
Applications of Information Technology

Classes have been in session since January 7th so we are almost a month in and I seem to be doing very well so far.  I really like both classes and what I am learning.

During the winter break I started working on my 2011 NYE Mystery quilt again.  I know, I know, I'm never going to get it finished this way but for quite a while there my Pfaff was down in the dumps, probably because I wasn't using her often, but she is fixed up nice and purty now so I can sew again.  Well, I'm in the middle of pressing 300 strips rather than sewing.  Pressing is my least favorite part of quilting.  I have clues 1-5 done and only the pressing left of clue 6 then I can move onto clue 7.  I think the quilt is going to be gorgeous when it is finally done in the year 2121. LOL  :)

Let's see, what else has been going on since my last post in August 2012?  Oh yeah, my wonderful son Jamie graduated from Marine boot camp!  He is now at the School of Infantry and will be graduating from there in just 2 short weeks!  I'm so very proud of him!  I tried to upload a few photos of graduation but the server keeps failing.  Maybe I'll try again later.

My daughter Sydney is in the final few months of her Senior year so we have been really busy with that.  Her cap/gown/tassel and invitations have been ordered.  She decided not to go on the Senior trip to NYC (yay!!  I would have been a nervous wreck lol) and we are in the process of looking for a prom dress.  Only problem is the Juniors picked March 16th for the Prom this year so we don't have long to procrastinate. A prom in March???  Really???? Uggggg.

Well, I'm going to switch over to Facebook and take care of my Farmville 2 farm LOL then I need to write a memo for my Prof Writing class.  Have a great day everyone!

Kerensa

Weather or not

Fall classes at UWF have been postponed until Thursday morning due to Tropical storm Issac.  Here in the FL Panhandle, we will only get a little bit of wind and rain since the storm is heading to New Orleans.  At least, at the current time, it is not very strong and is very disorganized.  So I have been putting things together and checking the website on my classes so that I can get ahead a little bit.  I have been more tired than ever in my life for the last year and I don't know why.  Taking online classes requires a lot of personal sacrifice and determination to ensure all work is done on time.  I will do it though, the degree is worth it right? 

Kerensa

Another Semester starts...and a quilty project tutorial

I so cannot keep up with blogging every day, shame on me.  But in my defense I stay very busy with work and other things. :)  I'm going to be even busier starting tomorrow since the Fall 2012 classes at UWF start tomorrow!  Yes, I am once again taking 4 classes:

COP 2334 - C++ Programming
EME 3406 - Web Environments for Learning & Information
ENC 1102 - English Comp II
MAC 1105 - College Algebra

I'm very excited but nervous as well.  I have done very well the last two semesters, making the Deans list each time.  I really want to make Dean's List or Presidents list this semester, but with the algebra and programming, plus all the writing in Eng comp I don't know if I can do that well.  But I will persevere and keep my head up and do the best, or better than I possibly can.  (on a side note, we have a Tropical Store (Issac) in the Gulf of Mexico right now, expected to become a Cat 1 or 2 before making landfall.  The path continues to change, as it is now expected to make landfall between New Orleans and Pensacola by Tuesday night so classes have been cancelled and schools closed for UWF and for my daughters' school.)

An update on my son Jamie...he is on his way to becoming one of The FEW...The PROUD...A U.S. Marine!  Yes!!!  He left for MCRD Parris Island, SC on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 and is now on day 6 of his journey to becoming a Marine. I have spent countless hours searching http://www.marineparents.com/ and http://www.recruitparents.com/ and the MCRD Parris Island website at https://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/SitePages/Home.aspx.  Now Military service is not unknown to me since I am an Army Brat myself and my ex-husband was in both the Army and the Marines so I am not as apprehensive as many parents may be who know very little of the military.  However, I am still longing to receive his first letter home.  According to the website it should arrive around day 10-14.  We are already making plans to attend his graduation sometime in November, assuming no setbacks.  I'm very proud of him and know that he will do very well at this; he's stubborn enough lol.  I LOVE MY SON! <3


On a quilty note I finished a new project!  In one day at that!!! :)  I saw this upcycling denim pocket hanging organizer on pinterest and then someone posted it on Facebook as well so I decided to give it a go.  Here is the link to the actual project.
http://www.sewdaily.com/blogs/sewdaily/archive/2012/08/13/an-upcycling-project-for-denim-pockets.aspx


I've done a quick tutorial as well for those who want some step by step directions with pictures.  Don't expect a lot as I kept forgetting to take pictures here and there, but with the original directions and my photos I'm sure you can make this own your own. :D

The first step is, of course, to read the directions ;-) 

Once the directions have been read and fabric has been pulled, pressed and cut the next step is to cut out 9 jeans pockets.  In this step, be very careful that the pockets are not too large.  I had one that was only 1/4 of an inch smaller than the 8" square it was sewn on so it was extremely difficult when sewing the blocks together.  If your pockets are quite large I would suggest you go with 9 or 10" blocks.  Here are all the pockets cut out.  As you can see I left fabric around the pockets themselves so that I could be more precise when trimming them up.

 

 

The next step is to trim around the pockets being sure to cut off all of the excess fabric but not cutting into the seams.  If you tilt the scissors to the right it should go smoothly.

  

 

Next you will need to flip the pocket over and trim out the backing of the pockets.  I trimmed to about an 1/8" away from the inner seams

 

 

If there are any excess threads in the pocket, trim them off as close to the seams as possible. 

 

Finished trimming

 

Pockets all trimmed up nice and neat

 

Once all pockets have been trimmed up place them onto the 8" (or 9-10") squares you cut out earlier and decide how you want them placed.  Fold the squares in half and press them and fold the pockets in half to press them, then match up the lines to get the pockets centered on the squares. I pinned mine down.

 

Next I sewed the inside stitches and outside stitches, following along with the original stitching; don't sew the top of the pocket down, that would defeat the purpose lol

 

Once all pockets were sewn onto the blocks I sewed the blocks together using a 1/4" seam allowance per the instruction

 

Here is the "top" with all blocks sewn into rows and the rows sewn into the top (yes, that is a clue for my NYE 2011 mystery quilt still up on my design wall, I'm working on it, I promise, just a little at a time.  King size quilts take a while when you don't have much time you know lol)

 

Here is the "sandwich" layerd as such: batting, backing, top (this will be flipped "inside out" when done)

 

Light wasn't too good but you can see here where I stiched the entire outside around with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Make sure you follow the directions and leave about a 4" opening to turn inside out.

 

Here I am turning it "outside in" lol

 

Next, stitch in the ditch around every row

 

Here is where you slip / whip stitch the 4" opening closed.  I like to use hand quilting thread and a betweens needle

 

In this step I had already cut a 4.5" strip from one of my fat quarters that I used for the 8" blocks and made the hanging sleeve tube.  I then pinned it down so that I could hand stitch it onto the back of the organizer

 

Here I am in the process of hand stitching.  I have not perfected my handstitching yet but it is my favorite part, especially when having to add the binding onto a quilt. :) I love sitting back in my rocker/recliner, watching a movie and stitching.  One day I will learn to hand quilt!

 

Here is a view of the front and back of the organizer after all is done (yes, I kept the insides of the pockets for some other project later on down the road lol.

 

Here is the back of the organizer pinned to my design wall with the sleeve stitched down

 

Here is a close up of the front of the jeans pocket organizer

 

And here is the finished organizer on the wall.  I quite enjoyed making this and may have to make a few more... 

 

 

Well, that is about all I have for today.  Everyone has gone to bed on me, in the middle of watching Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring so I'm going to sit down and write to my son some more.  Have a great week everyone!

Kerensa