Notes from the Patch

What I've been up to

I wasn't going to make "party favors" for this weeks Bernina Club because our Make It - Take It is a bit over the top but decided at the last minute you can't have a proper party without party favors.

I whipped out fifty of these babies, all from my stash, proving once again that it IS necessary to have all. this. stuff!

#soproudofmyself.

Today is Sunday April 14th- the first day of the rest of my life without a second house to clean. So what am I doing on my day off? DOING DISPLAYS AT THE STORE!! #soexcited

Probably Absolutely my favorite thing in the whole world is doing displays. There is nothing I love more than putting on my grubbies, cranking up the music and puttering with displays. I really have no idea what I'll end up with (that's half the fun) since I usually just pull junk er props from the storeroom and see where they take me.

Here's hoping your Sunday is filled with fun creativity!

Encourage one another,

          

The way I see it, this is the very best "problem" we could have

I got home after Bernina Club last night and got to make more of these

and more of these.

Then after only four hours of sleep,  got up extra early to make more kits for these -

our make-it-take-it project for March (tutorial to follow). Although we always plan enough kits and goodies for extra guests, we didn't anticipate such an overwhelmingly wonderful turnout! (You guys are just awesome)!

This morning before I hit the shower and head out the door for our Thursday morning Club, I linger over an extra cup of much needed coffee and thank God for your friendship and continued support.

We do love spoiling our customers!

Encourage one another,

Next Bernina Club is April 17 & 18. We hope you can join us - we already have it planned and it's going to be good! = )

Confucius Says...

When I first saw these adorable felt fortune cookies on the cover of Mollie Makes magazine I knew I had to make them. (I buy Mollie Makes at Barnes and Noble).

One thing led to another and before I knew it I had whipped up fifty of the little suckers for Bernina Club favors. They were so fun to do - even after fifty!

I inserted a printed paper fortune into each cookie predicting that club members would receive a discount on a future purchase. 

Although Mollie Makes also included a pattern for the take out boxes I took the easy way out and purchased mine at Paper Source. They are the perfect size for my diminutive cookies.

Confucius says: these would make fun favors for a New Years party, birthday parties, Chinese New Year, bridal or baby showers. You can customize the paper fortunes  for any occasion.

The idea and recipe for the individual cheesecakes that we served were from Pinterest.

I'm loving the canning jar craze right now and it's a great way to serve a large group.  You can check out this and other fun ideas here on my Pinterest board.

I'm linking up with my friend Beverly at My Sew Sweet Studio for Try Pinterest Thursday.

Encourage one another,

This wonderful crazy life Circa 2011

This post is about as disorganized and random as my life right now...

Do you remember this from my Market photos back in May?

It's Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket. Lots of you wanted me to let you know when it arrived.

Consider yourselves notified.

I love the vintage numbers, ornate medallions and typewriter keys and the slightly time worn colors.

As I type this I'm thinking Sweetwater's, Down Home Tote

would be fun in Circa 1934.

There is so much going on here that I've hardly had a moment to blog lately. We've been super busy unpacking and selling gorgeous fabric and lots of sewing machines. I'm busy but I'm definitely not complaining!  No siree. = )

I've been wanting a new camera forever and finally just bit the bullet and ordered one. When it arrived everything was different from what I was just beginning to get comfortable with in my old camera. What was I thinking? Now I'm going to have to start all over again. Sheez... Sometimes I do wonder about myself!

Sunday morning Bill and I fly off to Vegas for a textile show. We have attended and supported this show for many years and we are looking forward to seeing some old friends and new trends. You can be sure I'll be sharing my finds with you here.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go pack my suitcase.

Encourage one another,

 

 

 

Stream of consciousness

I don't know about you, but I'm counting the days until all of this hub bub is over and I can get back to my sewing machine. I feel like part of me is missing when I'm not being creative. We have so many new fabrics and trims in and it's killing me not to have the time to play with them. I'll try and take some photos to show you sometime later this week.

I'm thinking January is my new favorite month. You know the whole clean slate thing and all. In January I always have such great plans. To shop all year for gifts and have them all wrapped and tagged before Halloween. But I never do and find myself feeling all bah hum bug about now. It's that promise of a new start in January that pulls me through. I'll do it better next year.

Saturday I went on a little field trip to a shop I'd found on the internet. It was a very highly rated Christmas store in a community I'd never been to before. I pulled up in front and there next door was a bead store. Divine intervention for sure. I'd been wanting to find an independent bead shop that would give me some help with my granddaughters Christmas gift. The sweet salesperson patiently answered my never ending list of questions and sent me off a happy camper. (The Christmas store was a big disappointment, but that's okay. Turns out I was really there for the bead store - just didn't know it ).

I wanted to remind you about our seventh and final day of Stuff My Stocking over on our website.Today until 2:00pm PST we're offering a wonderful little sewing machine from Bernina, a $300 value, for just $149.99. It was crazy Tuesday afternoon when the word got out. The phone was ringing off the wall and the internet orders were streaming in. We sold out by four o'clock but should have more in stock just before Christmas. If you want to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity you must place your order today by 2:00pm.

Encourage one another,

 

We're having a Burlapalooza and you're invited!

I guess you could say that lately I've been just a bit obsessed with burlap. (Annette and Amanda might say that's an understatement).

It's graces the dog eared pages of my decorating magazines, favorite blogs and mail order catalogs where it covers furniture, hangs on walls, dresses tables and adorns couches and beds.

Burlap isn't just for bare root roses anymore.

We found a wonderful source for burlap while at market and I was literally giddy with delight over the sewing possibilities.

Burlap does have some, shall we say, unique characteristics. It's a primitive cloth with interesting texture and a distinctive ...um...aroma.

So if you'd like to know how to avoid this

while making it soft, supple and odor free then turning lowly burlap into this

and this

and this

I invite you to join us for Bernina Club. It's a fun time of sharing for everyone whether you own a Bernina sewing machine or not. And it's FREE!

We'll be demonstrating stenciling as well as showing you how we made our pillows, ruffles, table runners and bags.

Hope you can join us!

Encourage one another,

 

Just click on "Bernina Club" for times and dates.

For readers outside of the Bakersfield area, I will be happy to share some instructions in future posts if you're interested. Just let me know what you want to know and I'll ask Annette and get back to you.

Clean store tour - Part One

It seems that it's raining strawberries at my little store

and some of them are dipped in chocolate! Oh. My! 

And there are the sweetest little dresses (this one in my current favorite color combination) made by my friend Beverly at My Sew Sweet Studio.

 

Pillows in chenille magically stitched by software and amazing sewing machines

adorned with buttons and bows.

We're getting ready for company.

We hope you'll be joining the festivities May 14, 15 & 16.

Encourage one another,

 

Come back tomorrow as our clean store tour continues.

A trip to the sewing machine doc

Our wonderful machine service tech is here today so customer Bob brought in his friends machine in for a service.

Just had to share. Too funny!

Encourage one another,

Going to Kansas City

Bill and I are flying to Kansas in the morning for a long weekend with our grand kids.

After my cancer scare I got to thinking, what if I should die before I show my grand kids how fun it is to sew? After all, they are seven and nine - the perfect ages to see what all the fun is about. How could I let another year go by without sewing with them?

So I packed up a Bernina, filled the box with sewing supplies and shipped it ahead to my grand kids house in Kansas with instructions not to open the box until we get there.

My daughter in law called to say that the kids are so excited to see the "Brianna" in the box and to see what it can do.

We are going to have so much fun making key chains for everyone they know. And maybe a pillowcase or two. We'll see.

One thing I do know for sure. We'll make lots of memories if nothing else.

I think I'm probably more excited than they are and you can bet I'll be taking lots of pictures.

Encourage one another,

Results, show and tell, what I've learned and $10 off your next sewing machine service

Today's pathology reports:

Bill and I saw Dr W this morning to get my pathology reports and to have my stint removed. The cancerous tumor that was removed last week was stage two, which means that no further treatment is necessary.

Praise God.

I will have a scope in three months to make sure the tumor hasn't reoccurred and continue to be diligent with follow up checks for the rest of my life.

I'm so thankful!

This whole stint thing has fascinated Bill (Did you know he always wanted to be a doctor?) So after Dr W removed it, Bill asked if he could see what it looked like. I about fainted when I saw how big it was.  Bill asked if he could have it. Euuwww

So if you run into my sweet husband in the next day or so, don't be surprised if he doesn't whip that baby out of his pocket to show you! Actually you might want to avoid him all together for a week or so just to be safe.

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Here's what I learned over the last ten days:

1. Get regular check-ups and don't ignore troublesome signs that something might be wrong. I had off and on symptoms for more than two years and feel really blessed that it wasn't worse. Ignoring problems will not make them go away. Ignoring problems can cost you your life!

2. There are so many wonderful people in this world that love, support and care for one another and I am blessed to have so many in my life.

3. Sharing with one another brings us closer.

4. God is good and He answers our prayers.

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Now can we talk about your sewing machine?

Has it been more than a year since it's had a check-up? Good yearly maintenance will preserve the life of your machine and save you money and down time in the long run. Although I can't make you go to the doctor I can entice you to bring your sewing machine in for a check up by offering you $10 off your next regular service for the month of August. I just want you to know that I care about your health and the health of your sewing machine.

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I promise not to turn this blog into The  Cancer Chronicles. Although I'm sure I'll share good news as I have my follow up checks I promise to return Notes from the Patch to it's normal subject matter, pretty pictures and scrumptious  fabrics.

Thank you for your love and support. I'm going to be just fine!

Encourage one another,