Quilting 911

Lights Out, Goodnight

2009-06-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

Have you stumbled upon this blog by accident? Quilting 911 was a great concept when I started it. Make quilts for those in need and have them adopted by those people who work 911.

Initially, it worked great and I was able to make quilts and received fabric, batting and funds to make quilts for 911 dispatchers during Hurricane Katrina. Flood victims have received quilts from me, but the sad fact is, while 911 dispatchers are great, no one followed through with the promise to support this venue.

It is with sadness, I bid farewell to Quilting 911. While I will continue the endeavor, it will be over at Quiltingranny.blogspot.com

Last one out, don't forget the lights!

Wow! Almost There

2009-02-17T20:57:00.001-08:00

What brings traffic to one blog and not another? It can't just be the free gimme's, though I do giveaway little things each month on my grand parenting blog.

I am a retired police dispatcher and currently a substitute teacher and when I have time, I make quilts for family, friends and police dispatchers in need. The one above is almost complete and ready to be shipped out to its new owner. It has taken more time than most due to some medical issues that I am hoping are almost gone.

This quilt is larger than a full size and smaller than a queen sized and I love the way the color combination came out with the various blues, purple and golds.

I used so many fabrics out of my fabric stash to make the windows with and then used some pieces for the veins between the panes.

I didn't want to leave the dark blue border, so I added the floral border and then decided it would be fun to make some throw pillows to match the border. The pillow at the top has white eyelet all the way around it. The pillow on the left has eyelet on each end and the other 2 pillows are plain.

They will be stuffed this week-end and the quilt should go on the machine tomorrow. Just for information, my machine is a 1960's model Kenmore, nothing special with the exception that it was my grandma's and that it is a Kenmore.

So I should be able to do some machine quilting over the next few days and then over the week-end tie it and stuff the pillows.

The shipping for this quilt has been generously offered by the receivers supervisor.

However, as soon as this one is complete, I must dash off and make a small hug quilt for another dispatcher in need and I am always accepting money, batting, fabric, etc. to help support this mission.

I know the economy is tight right now, but if you are lucky to have your job and make good money, than you can help support others in the field of dispatching.

Summer is just around the corner and during the summer, I do not work because there is no work in the education field in the summer and our town just lost over 200 local jobs and for a small town, that means tighter job opportunities.

I want to be able to continue my quilts year around, but I can't ask my husband to pay for them, he is already working 6 days a week to keep our heads above water. But I can ask each one of you to help off set the costs.

1- Take up a change collection at your center for 3-6 months and send me what you have saved.
2- Take up a one time collection at your center and send it to me.
3- Purchase the fabric, batting, thread for the next quilt (write me for details) or send me an entire bolt of batting
4- Sponsor a quilt. That means I buy everything, send you the receipts and you send me the money for the materials and the money to cover postage & I in turn let the recipient know that your center sponsored this for them.
5- Pass this onto other dispatch centers so they will know what I am doing.

I was one of you for over 12 years and I still am in many ways. Help me continue this cause!

If You Can't Walk the Walk...

2009-01-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Emergency Telecommunications Dispatchers Everywhere:
Please excuse this terse interruption into your day. But if you can't walk the walk with me, please don't waste your vocal chords, breathing air and headset time talking smack about how much you want to help me reach others.
When you send me Emails asking me how you can help me with my quilts for fellow dispatchers and I reply and you are so excited and ready to get going to help and volunteer yourself or your agency to help on the next project, I depend on that.
What frustrates me and never ceases to amaze me is how many of you never follow through and then disappear from my Email altogether when I ask for your assistance. Why bother in the first place?
Are you afraid I won't complete the project? I will be the first to admit, I fell down on four quilts for Hurricane Katrina victims when my health took a turn for the worse and some other health issues hit, but I did write a letter explaining my dilemma and never heard back from anyone. I can't respond to silence!
Then, there are the many others who I received notes from letting me know they received the quilts I made and sent me pictures. I don't make these things up, these are real dispatchers like you are and I reached across the miles and helped them.
They are dispatchers, children, family members of those in need and yet you are still sitting there in your center thinking someone else is going to help Jean, someone else will send her money or fabric and that isn't happening. What? Do you think the fabric fairy is going to come to my front door and magically I will have what I need?
Kevin and the 911 Cares was awesome during the storms and helped me to get the things I needed to continue this important mission I feel compelled to do. What about those of you who told me you were taking up a collection in your center for me? What about the change collection you were personally going to help me with? What about the sponsorship you agreed to do?
I am not asking for millions of dollars, I don't ask for my time to be paid for, all I ask is for you to help with a quilt. I don't use junk fabric, it doesn't last, but I can find great fabric for great costs on line. A typical small quilt is now costing me over $80 plus shipping fees and yet, I have not received one thing from all those empty words you have sent me over the last year.
2009 is upon us. 2008 saw many tragedies within our ranks and I was able to send off 4 quilts and a box of toiletries for dispatchers in need. This year, I am finishing up one now for one of 2008 dispatcher in need and I have already found another person in need and yet, my fabric base and my money is disappearing quickly.
You work full-time, I do not. I cannot find a full-time job at this time, so I fill in my spare time reaching others like yourselves, the unknown heroes, the women and men who hold someones hand over the telephone until help arrives, the women and men who sacrifice family time for work. You are the heroes, but heroes come in all shapes and sizes and heroes don't tell people they will do something and not follow through.
I cannot do anymore to show you I am for real than display letters, send you pictures and receipts or ask you to send me items I need.
I need the following desperately and while not cost prohibitive, the cost add up quickly. Won't you help me help others in need?

2009 Needs:
1- Quilt batting all sizes (mainly full size, quilt size or comforter size) I prefer bamboo batting from Laurel Anderson ($11.99 for 60 x 60) or ask her about the cost of a bolt of batting I think it is just under $300 & would make numerous quilts.
2-Sewing Machine Needles (11, 14, etc) you can get Shmetz needles on Ebay for a great price.
3- Signature or other quality thread (not thread from WalMart) about $5 per spool (regular spool sized)
4- Rotating Cutting Mat ($70)
5-Fabric (I like 100% cotton) Fat Quarters are great sizes and there is a fat quarter shop, JoAnne's or any quilt shop that has fabric on sale and especially novelty prints and beautiful rich colors. (Several yards with priority shipping would be under $50)
6-Rotary cutting blades.
7-New sewing machine, I have 3 and right now none of them are working where I need them to be. A new machine is a huge expense of over $500.
8- Postage fee's ( Each quilt costs on average of $12 to send out, you could help mail 4 quilts for less than $50)
9-Buttoneer with extra fasteners ($12 on Ebay or less)
10-Quilting Rack (Hinterberg Heritage Frame Special - $680)

I realize this is a lot of money for some things, but some of your agencies are huge or you work with other agencies. All I am asking is for your help and for you to walk the walk and stop talking about helping if you have no plans to do so!

The Quilting Dispatcher

HELP ME, HELP SOMEONE ELSE

2009-01-09T23:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know the economy stinks. I know people are loosing their jobs, their homes and their cars, but if you can read this, you have access to a computer and you probably know someone that is or you yourself are an emergency dispatcher.

Whatever your situation, your co-workers situation, I need YOUR help and I need it soon or my purpose on earth to reach out and help people, the members of our dispatch family will soon come to a halt.

I am raising 3 grandchildren ages 5,6 & 7, I work as a substitute teacher when I can and it was slim in December and so far for January is showing to be slimmer due to weather. If I have no income coming in, I can't buy fabric, batting, thread, backing or pay for postage. Without these things, I can't reach out to one of our very own.

What are you going to do? Are you going to reach out and sponsor a quilt, or read this, wonder if I am for real or not and forget all about this post? Perhaps you assume like the next person that someone else will sponsor this, someone else will send her money, someone else will save up their pocket change for 2 months and send her the amount saved, someone else will take up a dispatcher center collection.

NO, SOMEONE ELSE WILL NOT!! YOU HAVE TO STEP OUT IN FAITH!

If you don't feel comfortable sending me money, contact me and I will give you a list of websites and my needs and you can order them and have them sent to me. A sponsor ship will cost $107 for a hug quilt, $125 for a twin size, $175 double /full sized bed & queen and king depend on the amount and design of the quilt.

All About Me

2008-12-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

I took this off Gramma Judy's blog, I thought it was cool, so now ya know junk about me!

1. Do you like blue cheese? Gross!

2. Have you ever smoked cigarettes? Yes, 4 years smoke free.

3. Do you own a gun? No.

4. What Kool Aid flavor was your favorite? I hated kool-aid!

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? -They are pretty expensive for what goes in them!

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Princess Bride

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? French Vanilla Coffee or Tea

9. Can you do push ups? Are you kidding!!!

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? my wedding rings.

11. Favorite hobby? Hobbies--quilting, writing

12. Do you have A.D.D.? No.

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Glasses

14. Middle name? Marie

15. Name three thoughts at this exact moment? 1. I'm cold. 2. Where is all the snow they keep saying we will get? 3. What I have to do tomorrow.

16. Name three drinks you drink regularly. Water, tea, coffee

17. Current worry? None at the moment!

18. Current hate right now? Banks that are giving their bail out money as bonuses while so many of us are struggling to make ends meet.

19. Favorite place to be? Home

20. How will you bring in the New Year? At a girl scout sleep in with granddaughters.

21. Where would you like to go? Someplace with lots of snow!

22. Name three people who will complete this? No one.

23. Do you own slippers? Yes

24. What shirt are you wearing?A warm one!

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No, the are to slippery!

26. Can you whistle? I try.

27. Favorite color? Purple!

28. Would you be a pirate? No, but I would make a heck of a leader!

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing there.

30. Favorite girls name? Never thought much about it!

31. Favorite boys name? Never thought much about that either!

32. What's in your pocket right now? $6

33. Last thing that made you laugh? My granddaughter explaining when it is sunny, God is happy. When it is raining, God is sad. When it is snowing, God is cold!

34. What vehicle do you drive? 2003 Dodge Caravan & 2001 Dodge Ram

35. Worst injury you ever had? Fractured tibia and fibula

36. Do you love where you live? Yes, but anywhere in Western Washington close to the water I would love...Belfair, Shelton, Poulsbo, Anacortes, etc.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2

Another Quilt

2008-12-19T19:06:00.001-08:00

I sure wish I could take better quilt pictures than what I do, because this quilt is quite beautiful. Once I decided to make it, as usual, it took on its own personality for the person it is going to. I even scrapped part of my idea because after three tries, I couldn't get the fit right, so decided with this one, the simpler the better.

I think this close up of the corner is the best picture of this quilt. The center is purple pansies with the inner border being a design of the northern lights.

This quilt is going to someone who really needs a very special hug and this quilt has been prayed over for days.

I know it will bring warmth to the recipient!

Death of 911 Dispatch Family

2008-12-09T17:58:00.001-08:00

Wisconsin Dispatcher Death

911 CARES Supporter,

We have received a number of e-mails on the tragedy listed below. 911 CARES immediately called the Sheriff and contacted two of the Waushara dispatch professionals.

We already have a “911 CARES” stress management package on the way and we have offered our support in any way we can. There may be burial costs pending. The agency will keep us updated and we will post updates at www.911cares.com See the initial teletype below and the update from their dispatch center below. Please send a card of condolence to their 9-1-1 family if you can. Their address is listed below.

ON 12-05-2008 AT 0126 HRS, THE WAUSHARA COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT 911 CENTER TOOK A CALL FOR A HOUSE FIRE. THE RESPONDING UNITS FOUND A FULLY ENGULFED STRUCTURE. DISPATCHER PEGGY A BANECK, F W, 09-29-1961, A 7 YEAR VETERAN DISPATCHER WITH THE WAUSHARA COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT ALONG WITH HER HUSBAND LARRY D BANECK AND SON CHARLIE R BANECK PERISHED IN THE FIRE. THE BANECKS ARE SURVIVED BY 5 OTHER LIVING CHILDREN. FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE PENDING AT THIS TIME.

David Peterson, Sheriff
430 East Division
Wautoma, WI 54982
Phone (920) 787-3321

911 CARES,

Thank you for getting in touch with us, we appreciate all of the condolences from everyone. The Baneck's surviving children are Billie Jo 24, Anthony 23, Nellie 20, Emily 19 and Katie 16. Charlie was 17, he and Katie were the only ones still in school. Both sets of Grandparents are living and in the area. We have 9 full time dispatchers and 1 that is part dispatch, part jail. We are a small department and this impacts all of us from the communications through, patrol and jail.

I will let you know when we have more information on what the family may need.

Thanks again,
Sally Sroka -

Any of you following this know how tragic this is, please send cards of comfort, etc.

Quilts in Need...

2008-12-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

I received a thank you from Stuart's mom today. It was a very nice photo card of Stuart and she stated he love the quilt. I also received 2 of the fabrics needed to begin another quilt and I am still waiting for some other things to arrive to complete it.

December is a hugely busy month and I hope to finish many of my projects that have been on going for quite awhile so I can start 2009 fresh! Yeah Right, consider the odds, I am a quilter!

Stuarts Quilt is On It's Way Home

2008-11-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

All packaged up, signed, sealed and placed into the post office's capable hands with priority mail and and confirmation, Stuarts quilt left my hands today to be delivered to someone who will prayerfully get as much use out of it as intended.

I also go the money orders in the mail today for the other fabric for the next quilt I will be making and hopefully have done and in the mail prior to Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T07:53:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving and Blessings to all Emergency Telecommunications Operators everywhere! If you are home with family and loved ones, I know how much you will cherish this day.

If you are working, I wish you the time to enjoy a peaceful meal with a co-worker, calm phones and a relaxed day.

Police/Fire/ EMS...dispatchers everywhere are the most dedicated and hard working people I know. They have the ability to remain calm in a crisis when everything is falling down around them and they have the special ability to keep others calm.

They endure a lot of pain and anguish in the calls they receive...calls from children who are watching their parents beat on each other, calls from elderly who just woke up to find their spouse has passed on, calls from families that have just witnessed their pets death, drug induced calls that lead to insanity instead of answers.

And yet...they are always there. Day in and day out, they are there taking the calls and the abuse from the public and many times the officers they are trained to be helping.

Many of us may never need 911 and others seem to need it more often. But no matter what walk of life you are on, take a moment and remember these unsung, unseen heroes. Because 911 saves seconds and seconds save lives!

From my heart to your center, God Bless each and all of you!

Looking For A Quilt Sponsor...

2008-11-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

I have a quilt I am making for someone else in need. The cost for the fabric and bamboo batting has cost me $66.60. Then there will be postage costs of another $16 at least. If anyone would like to sponsor this quilt for a total amount of $82.60, please let me know. Even if you can just sponsor a portion of this it will help out. I have money order receipts to show for those who question my costs.

All Ready To Go....

2008-11-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

I know that many of my postings on my 911 blog sites seem to be repetitive, but I try to change things up a bit. I need to really figure out how to roll them both into one without loosing my followers.

This is the finished quilt I made for Stuart Owen, the young man whose mom is a dispatcher for the Indianapolis airport and who himself has been recently diagnosed with Histiocytosis. Stuart also is Autistic, but from everything I hear is taking this very well.

The quilt came out to be 35" x 50" a pretty average size for the hug quilts I make. I am hoping he can take this to treatment when he goes to give him some comfort.

I just make things up as I go along and I think I found the original pattern on the internet and think it is called Holland by Rail and I just cut it down to what I wanted it to look like.

Here is the back with the label I made to go on it. I loved the stars and dark background on this as it just jumped out at me as for an older child or teen.

The quilt next to it is my step-fathers that his grandmother made for him when he was a child!

Its Knot Done Yet

2008-11-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

Well, the quilt I am making for Stuart is knot quite done yet. That is a little tongue in cheek/play on words from the quilting world. Actually I only have the knotting to do and it will be finished by this evening...well at least by tomorrow evening and in the mail just as soon as I get paid next week.

The last thing I always do is add a quilt label and take a picture of it for my album and then off it goes to hopefully cheer up the person that receives it.

Next on my list is a beautiful one done in all purples. Don't know why, but I am just getting strong feeling the recipient loves bright purples.

An Inspirational Letter

2008-11-21T17:59:00.001-08:00

This letter was found today in: The West Valley View.

'An inspiration for everyone
Editor:
I, along with hundreds of other attendees at the third annual Guns-N-Hoses charity football game (Goodyear Fire vs. Police) at Desert Edge High School Saturday evening witnessed not only an exciting football game (Hoses won 13-12), but all left the stadium emotionally drained.

Each year, 100 percent of proceeds are given to local charities, and this year's recipients were Kim Miller, 29-year-old wife of Sgt. Deron Miller, the family of Officer Barry Scott, and the 100 Club.

Officer Miller's wife is suffering from stage 4 cancer. But those of us who saw her walk onto the field after the game would never have known it had not the public address system announced her appearance.

After the game, everyone's attention was on Kim. I saw her smiles for each of those hugging her, and she exhibited a serene calmness as player after player was trying hard to fight back tears. Her smile and twinkle in her eyes belied the internal struggle she and Deron must have carried with them as they walked off the football field.

As both teams gathered in the middle of the field, suddenly a few players appeared with electric shears, lines began to form, and one by one every player's head was shaved (including some of the players' tiny tots), all in honor of Kim Miller.

I have two grandsons with the Goodyear P.D., and both have said how this happening has affected them, and how they've gained inner strength, and as one of them told me, "Hey, Papa, don't forget, they both are my family too."

Those attending that evening felt the raw emotion much more than those reading this letter. I too, as many others who know Kim and Deron, wish to let them know that we too share in their grief.'

Ken Wood
Goodyear

(Obtained from the World Wide Web on November 21, 2008. www.westvalleyview.com. Letters to the Editor. Letter written by Wood, Ken.)

As soon as I get some pictures large enough to post I will do so. Many of us struggle with the daily drudgery of work, home, etc. Kim is dealing with cancer and doing so with an amazing spirit and attitude.

A Quilt Sponsor and Center Donation

2008-11-21T00:22:00.001-08:00

I was contacted this evening by a communications center supervisor who not only graciously offered to have his center put up a change collection bucket to help support my quilts, but even asked aside from that to sponsor one of my quilts.

How wonderful is that? I am elbows deep in quilts right now, but should have one completed this week-end and another one started. Of course, they will take a back seat to the holiday while we are out of town, but I am planning on taking my Christmas cross stitch and working very diligently on it.

After all, I don't cook the bird!

Whats Orange and Yellow and Full of Flames?

2008-11-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

The answer is Stuart's quilt of course. Here is just a sneak peek in case he knows I am making him a quilt. It really is coming out great and today while being at home, I put the border on it.

The border has some hints of green as his favorite color is green and orange.
Stuart has Histiocytosis, a rare disorder that strikes children between the ages of birth to 15 and Stuart just happens to be 15. Though if I understand it correctly, it is not cancer, however it is treated like cancer.

Stuart is also Autistic. His mom is a dispatcher for the Indianapolis Airport Communications center and has to take lots of time off to be with her son while he undergoes treatment.

To send a personal note to Stuart, mail it to:
Stuart Owen P.O. Box 21 Bainbridge, Indiana 46105

Since Sarah has had to take so much time off and her insurance is for herself and not her family when it comes to short term disability, they have lost a huge portion of their income. An account has been set up to help their family at:
Tri-County Bank of Bainbridge, Indiana FBO Account for Harrison "Stuart" Owen 203 East US Highway 36 East Bainbridge, Indiana 46105

Yeah, yeah, I know it is the holidays, the economy stinks, etc. But if you aren't reading this at the public library, I am assuming you have a job and can pay your bills, so shoot them some help if you can. If not, there will be other opportunities I am sure!

A Dispatcher Looses Everything In A Fire

2008-11-18T16:52:00.001-08:00

Calling all police/fire/EMS telecommunications operators and dispatch centers, please consider helping me make a quilt for another dispatcher in need. This one will be for a young woman who lost everything in a fire and I am making her a quilt for her bed.

I can use batting, thread, fabric and postage fee's. If you would like to adopt this quilt, please let me know & I will tell you more about it.

Working on Stuarts Quilt

2008-11-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

I have the blocks all sewn together for the quilt I am making Stuart so he can have something to take to his treatments. I am using green fleece for the back as he has Autism and loves soft things and I am using a flame print for the front because it was the only thing I could find for a young man with orange in it and he loves orange and green!

I am looking for a sponsor for this quilt, so if there are any dispatch centers out there who would like to sponsor this quilt by paying for the shipping, I would truly appreciate it. The cost to send a quilt priority mail with confirmation will cost about $12.00.

Any monies left over will be put into my change jar which when full is used to buy the things necessary to keep this business going.

It just amazes me that for 13 years as a police dispatcher, I saw so many of us so complacent when it comes to helping others. Why is that? Is it a trust issue? Is it the mindset of 'so many people will donate, why should I? I would say it is the economy, but this has been going on way before the economy tanked.

I am grateful to those that have donated in the past (911 Cares, Novi, Michigan police dispatchers, military family and retired military members, some of my family and friends). But not once, have I have taken in a donation from my old department (and they know I make quilts for people in need), or from other dispatch centers I have helped.

I can do this on my own and was confirmed yesterday in church that I should continue this work because it is bringing people to the Lord and it is showing people that are in pain someone cares.
I will not stop making quilts for those people (dispatchers) that are hurting and their families when they have a need.

At this time, I have 5 quilts to make and it may take time, but each and everyone that I promised to make a quilt for will get one.

I have asked in the past for people to start a change collection in their department for one to two months and place a change jar in their center and gather coins. At the end of the time frame you have designated, send me a check or money order for the amount.

It costs me $15.00 for a great bamboo or soy batting, $3 for a good spool of thread, $2 for sewing needles, $3-$10 per yard for fabric.

Sponsor a quilt for holidays and know that when it is made, I will include your name and agency on the card that goes with it.

Dispatchers need to become a team and reach out to help others!

Thank You Veterans For Your Service

2008-11-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Lets all reach out to veterans this veterans day and say thank you and buy them lunch, coffee, a soda, there is always something and someone we can thank for the many freedoms we have today!

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant afifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check Made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in This country who no longer understand it.'

Tracy Corbin

Close to my Heart

911 Cares Supports Breast Cancer Awareness

2008-11-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Do you want to help support two causes at once? In todays economy, I understand that most of us are beginning to look at the causes we support and really decide which ones we can continue to support. It breaks my heart that many of the charities I have supported in the past will take a back seat this year to things my family needs to survive such as food and firewood.

911 Cares has an amazing Breast Cancer support shirt with a butterfly on it. You DO NOT have to be a police/fire/EMS dispatcher to wear this shirt or to give it to someone else and for the low price of $20, it comes in sizes from small to 5X, it is the perfect gift for a breast cancer survivor, a family member, a walking team member or someone on your list that doesn't want a gift.

You are supporting both 911 Cares and the hard working dispatchers that are working hard to fight breast cancer themselves or supporting the breast cancer awareness by walking. You just can't go wrong with this type of a gift.
http://911cares.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=9C&Product_Code=BC-SHIRT&Category_Code=NEW

While you are checking out all the really cool things at 911 Cares, drop into the 911 activation section and see if you can't reach out to one of these everyday heroes. Remember, there are many police & fire support agencies such as the 100 Club in Arizona, but to the best of my knowledge, the only 911 dispatcher support group is 911 Cares and trust me, Kevin and his 911 Cares family are awesome!

Check it out and if you decide to do something or purchase something, tell them the Quilting Dispatcher sent you!

End of the year Charity Donations

2008-11-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

This blog is specifically for thos police/fire/emergency telecommunications operators in need. I help those I can when and where I can. This year has seen many agencies get hit hard during the storms, floods and other daily needs we all go through.

There is something that makes me feel a bit closer to my roots, to God and to others when I can reach out and help others and make their day seem a bit brighter. I do not think now nor will I ever be a great quilter, I am just an average quilter with a huge heart for those I called family for so many years.

Once again I am asked for you to donate to 911 Cares. This agency truly has a calling and heart for dispatchers in need and agencies and they are the first usually to deliver good or bad news on their web-sites so others can reach out and help. Not to mention, they have some really cool stuff in their store!

I have been blessed that when Kevin can, they assist me in purchasing things I need to continue my quilting. I am not a non-profit, but I do use every bit of fabric, batting, thread, etc. to continue the cause in helping those in need.

I have a huge need for batting. If you would like to donate warm batting, polyester batting or even bamboo batting, I am open to taking what you can send. I use all sizes from crib sized to king size.

Sulky threads is another thing I need.

Send anything you might want to donate for my quilts to help others to:

Jean Kester
906 N. Rice Street
Aberdeen, WA 98520

Quilt Going Out...

2008-10-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

So, I have been informed I am a tad bit behind in my blogging on this blog. Wow! I didn't know there was a blog patrol that determined when and how to blog. Sorry everyone! This and my other 911 blog is basically set up to help others and post information about police dispatchers in need that I feel I can help.

Finally, after months, I have completed Patti's quilt and it will be in the mail tomorrow or Saturday and I must let all of you know that I just received word that Patti got to go home today!

This is just a corner of what her quilt looks like, I loved finding the batik flip-flop fabric and I had a few left over flip-flop buttons and sewed a different colored one onto each corner. The binding is flannel fabric in different colors & patterns but they all have pink in them.

This is what I call a 'hug,' quilt because I feel everyone could use a hug when they go through a bad experience. To me, however, police dispatchers especially need a hug because they are very special people.

Here is the back of the quilt done in a rose pattern of pinks and blues flannel of course to keep it soft!

A Texas Sized List

2008-09-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

For anyone wanting to gather things together to send to Texas, here is a list directly from Texas on what they need immediately right now: A box or even a shoe boxed sized package would be great!

Additional items being requested:
Mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss

Multi purpose contact cleaner

Shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, mouse, styling gell

Razors, shaving cream, feminine hygiene stuff

Deodorant, hand sanitizer, bug spray

Sleeping bags (I only found 3)

ChapStick and toilet wipes

Water and water bottles

Bath towels and wash clothes

Body Wash and wash sponges

Allergy and pain medicines

Combs and brushes

Just an update from our area. A great deal of the region is still
without power. 68% of Centerpoint power customers are without
power, 95% of Entergy power customers are without power. They're
saying it could be anywhere between Sept 25 - Oct 5 before all power
is restored. ALOT of the area is being told to boil water, some
areas do not have water.

There is a possibility that a bank account will be set up for money
donations. We'll post more on that if it happens.

If anyone has any questions about shipping items or anything else, I
have a line set up at my office with my admin staff that can take
calls. 713-755-2204.

Thanks everyone!

Lisa Dodson
Harris County Sheriff's Office
Houston, TX

Address for Texas Disaster

2008-09-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

For those that have been asking me, here is the Texas activation information to send packages, quilts, clothing, etc. off to Texas. All anyone asks is that you send nice and clean things!

Hurricane Ike Activation!

Dear friends. We need your help! We have received e-mails from a number of individuals and agencies. There is an immediate need for supplies, clothing and toiletries. Now that the storm has passed, we have networked with the Texas TERT Team Coordinator, Texas NENA and National NENA to confirm the need and start this very important activation.

Galveston, Orange and Beaumont areas have an intense need. This is for the many dispatchers that have been working since the hurricane. They are running out of fresh clothes and daily needs. We are only beginning to see what the losses are for these many 9-1-1 heroes since most have been working for days and have been unable to check their homes. Some are "waterlocked" and can't leave their centers until roads and utilities are safe.

Here is the plan! Please collect the following items:

Clothes of any sizes (read important note below)

New shoes and boots (no used please)

Socks (new)

Toiletries (soaps, lotion, shampoo, combs, baby powder)

Towels

Feminine Products

Baby Wipes (used for quick cleaning since showers and baths are impossible)

Paper products ( toilet paper, tissues, paper towels)

Purel or other sanitizing hand cleaner

Food items (things that can be easily heated or microwaved)

Snack/Candy (anything that won't melt in hot/humid temps)

Things to help time pass (magazines, puzzles, cards)

Imagine your own dispatch center. After three days of eating everything in the cabinets, what's left? Get things like ice tea mix, coffee, sugar, creamer, snack stuff, etc.

These dispatch centers are in evacuated areas of Texas but they have stayed behind for rescue and security of their communities. They can't just send someone to a FEMA shelter to get stuff, those shelters are hours away. If you are in driving distance from Houston , there is a need for cases of bottled water also. Contact us offline and we'll coordinate your offers for help.

At this time, we are not asking for money or gift cards. There isn't a mechanism to shop locally yet (everything is closed or damaged) and we don't have a list of specific needs other than what is listed above.

CLOTHING NOTE. We're all adults, so please take this in the spirit intended. During our Katrina Activation, we had amazing stuff donated. That being said, some people just sent whatever was in the musty attic. These agencies have NO fresh water, no washing machines, no dryers, etc. PLEASE wash EVERYTHING you send! Let them open a " Downey fresh" box from you, not a nightmare :)

PROCESS:

Put everything in the box.

Write the contents on one side. You don't have to be specific. Just write clothes, snacks, magazines or whatever you send.

Address it. Thanks to Lisa Dodson at Harris County 9-1-1 we have a secure location to send it to! Add Harris to your hero list, they have stepped up to be the base camp for donations that will be distributed to all affected areas. Mail or UPS to:
Harris County Communications Division

Attn; 911 CARES

1301 Franklin Street

Houston, TX 77002

If you have questions, Houston has agreed to be the Texas contact point. PLEASE call only if you need to. They are still very busy and we don't want to overwhelm them with calls.

UPS,FedEx and US Postal are all working to get boxes where they need to go. There are shiping updates daily as trucks can get there. We will post daily updates this week at www.911cares. com (scroll below the yellow ACTIVATION STRIPE for the most current info)

Texas Devastation....Calling All Quilters

2008-09-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

I am not rich by any means, at least not in the area of money/cold hard cash. But I will be starting to do my part for making quilts for families that lost everything in Texas & it is looking like another Katrina type devastation.

I am calling on all quilters to do your part. Even if you can only make one crib or lap sized, trust me when you have lost everything, having a hand made quilt means the world to these people that have lost all.

Personally, I do not donate to the Red Cross, it is just a bad taste I have when they couldn't show where millions of dollars of donations went to for the Hurricane Katrina, not to mention one of their Directors was found to be filching money for themselves.

I would prefer to work on my own and ask others to do the same. I can put you in touch with someone who can help, someone I know will see to it these quilts get delivered. Trust me, 911 cares will be there when no one else is!

Perhaps you have a few quilts sitting on the shelf and always wanted to put them to good use, now is the time to do that! Perhaps your quilting group wants to help. Make quilts, donate small toiletry items, these are the things people need, not cute little bags, not other crafy things, they need blankets to keep warm, to hold onto when there is nothing else.

We can help these people, one quilt at a time!

Please Remember Your Local 9-1-1 Heroes Today

2008-09-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

Today is September 11th, a tragic day in history. I can remember that day like it was yesterday. I was a police dispatcher at the time working in Goodyear, Arizona on the night shift. I left work at 0600 and drove my normal drive home (less than 10 minutes). Just as I was coming down the road to my home, I heard the news on the car radio.

I pulled into the drive way and my husband who is an awesome man, met me at the truck as usual and opened by door. Did you hear New York had a horrible plane crash. Yes, I just saw it on the news, two planes. What? No, you just saw the crash being replayed. It just didn't set it there were really 2.

My first thoughts went to my dad and step-mom living in New York because they live right outside the city and she works in NYC. Of course like a dummy, I tried to call their home but all circuits were busy.

It was AWFUL. I watched for a long time just not believing this could happen in the United States & then wanting to somehow reach out and help and know I couldn't. I went to bed and woke up and it was as if nothing had changed.

I was blessed to have that night off because I called NY until I reached my dad around midnight & NO, he was not happy to be wakened, but he said everyone was fine. It was then I realized my step-brother and his wife worked in DC.

My heart still goes out to all those who lost someone that day! I just can't imagine the pain!

While it will be replayed on television today, lets not forget those that answer the telephones when crisis hits, your local 911 centers. Please, make some contact with them today and say thank you!

Dog Tired

2008-09-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am so exhausted from cleaning that I could sleep for a week. I completed the 2 bedroom apartment and did good with the exception that I didn't change the light bulb in one room. I started a house today & it is a sad little house because someone wanted to love it and never did.

It is a little 2 bedroom, 1 tiny bath, living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook, laundry room and single car garage. The last renter let dogs or kids or whatever poop all over and there are dried feces on one of the carpets. The place is thick with flies, fleas, ants and mosquito's. I try to get the bugs to leave by opening the door and window to let the fetid stale air out.

Someone put double paned windows in, marble counter tops (over the old cabinets), new carpet (recently0, large tile kitchen floor. However, when things are left to renters, one never knows how it will end up and this one was left empty but disgusting!

Once I am finished with it and the carpet cleaners come out, it will be nice again, but the bathroom is comical. If you drank a lot one night and had to toss your cookies, you could sit on the toilet and puke in the sink or bathtub. There is absolutely no room in the bathroom to move at all!

Tomorrow I won't even go in to clean as I will be letting bug bombs off inside to kill the fleas!

Yuck!

Not Ashamed to Beg Your Vote

2008-09-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have entered a quilt in the quilting bloggers Lazy Days of Summer quilt contest. It just reminded me of summer with the sunbonnets and sunflowers. I am asking my readers to please vote for my quilt & any others that you might want to vote for.

If I win, I get a wall hanging by the owner of the quilting blog, second place gets some really nice fabrics which I could also use (unless of course you ask my husband).

So, please follow this link to the site: http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/lazy-days-of-summer-photo-contest/
and then look for the sunbonnet couple and click to vote. It is really that simple. You don't have to register or anything!

I would appreciate it!

Quilts for Comfort

2008-09-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

How many of us that quilt give most of the work we do away? I know I do. It just seems that as I make one quilt God leads me to the person who needs it most. That means even if I had planned to post it up for sale, my Lord has a better place for it.

Take the 911 center, who recently received one of my quilts that I had ever intention of selling to earn my family some income while I am unemployed, here is an excerpt that was sent to 911 Cares: 'special thanks to the retired quilting dispatcher from Aberdeen Washington, the warmth of Kaseys memory will be with us all each time we look at the lovely quilt. ' (9/5/08 911 Cares).

A few years ago during the tragic killings at Virginia Tech, I made 9 lap sized quilts within a week. I had a friend donate to me during this time her brand new sewing machine, a Vietnam Vet sent me a check for $25 (incidentally, he is also a quilter) for supplies, an Air Force wife gave me fabric and thread that had belonged to her mother, a dear friend sent me a check for $25.

I used this money and more for the quilts. I do not have UPS or FedEx donate postage to me though I have tried throughout the years to get them to give me some type of a discount, without a 501C non-profit status, they won't help. The cost to send those quilts via USPS was if I remember correctly just under $40.

I wanted all of you to be aware that there is a huge need to reach out to the 911 dispatchers in need. Sometimes they need WalMart gift cards, money, cards & even just our prayers. It isn't an easy job, while many people are sleeping safely in bed, they are awake all night answering the calls for service. While you enjoy week-ends and holidays with your families, they are at work eating with co-workers.

This September 11th many of us will remember the tragedy of New York, but few will remember the dispatchers that took those calls. What about your local 911 center? Do you know if it is a county wide agency or a stand alone agency? Do you know your non-emergency call for help? Look them up in the phone book or call the non-emergency number and ask for an address to send a card of thanks, take a pizza, cookies, etc. to let them know while they have a stressful job, you are thankful they do it best!

The next time I ask for donations, I hope I can get some of you, my readers to respond because there is no better time to reach out than when someone is hurting and in need!

Lets Pray for New Orleans & Texas

2008-08-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

Just as He can calm the waters and lead us by them while they are still, I am reminded in today's news that New Orleans and the Texas coastal area are once again in peril from a hurricane.

Let us all stop today and take a moment or a few to pray for these families, men, women, children, pets who are finally trying to get their lives back only to possibly see all their effort and hard work destroyed by yet another hurricane.
Let us all pray that He will calm the waters and tame the hurricane before it hits that by only a miracle it will suddenly become calm and the seas will be as still as they are in this picture my granddaughter took last night.

Father in Heaven, we come to you today asking that You take this hurricane my its tail and shake it free to be nothing more than a mere whisper of wind and a sputtering in the ocean seas. Father, keep this from destroying homes and lives and let these people come back to what they have just begun to rebuild. We believe in miracles and we believe you can do this. In Jesus Precious and Holy name....Amen

Battle Cruise Tonight...

2008-08-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight, hubby and the oldest are going to Olympia to board the Hawaiian Chieftan or the Lady Washington for a 3 hour battle cruise. The 2 of them have been looking forward to this since I was volunteering for the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport. I really miss being there, everyone was so easy to work with and for. But, God has other plans for my life.

The two tall ships will go out into the Olympia harbor and have an old fashioned cannonball battle with each other & I really think my 2 are going to get a huge kick out of it. They were the 2 that went together on fishing trips when Shyann was small and since moving here, we haven't had the funds to do anything & it isn't getting any better, so when I was offered this trip for free, I took it!

I can't wait to see some of the pictures they take! Oops, better go plug in the digital camera so it is ready to go!

Fibromyalgia Support Group

2008-08-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

Since I suffer from Fibromyalgia and there doesn't seem to be any support here in Grays Harbor, I stuck my neck on the line to to start a support group here. I just seem to be destined to help other people, so why not on this level?

I will just need to get the kids steady in school for a bit and then I can concentrate on the best place to hold our meetings.

Speaking of the kids, we were just informed by our daycare that there will not be any room on the daycare bus for the kids, so I am going to have to figure out how to get them to school during the times I am working as a substitute.

This ought to be fun, since we have no friends or family in the area that can do this and my hubby has to be at work prior to my hours.

I just think the harbor really needs a support group that can reach out to those of us who have this and perhaps it can lead to getting some more physicians in the area since the closest physician is in Olympia for this condition.

Getting Caught Up

2008-08-28T13:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a sneak peek at the finished apron I made for the Flirty Apron Swap. I had sew much fun making this and picking out the pattern and fabric. I hope the recipient enjoys it and the little package I am sending out to her in the mail!

Gotta run, more projects to try to catch up with & today is the beginning of painting the stairwell to our basement. Ooooooh, try and keep the kids up or down stairs while the paint drys!~

Blessings in the Mail

2008-08-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

I believe that God blesses us when we least expect it. Yesterday, we received in the mail a check we were totally not expecting & even though it was just over $60 it will be enough to put gas in the car and buy groceries & mail some of my projects off to those in need.

I will be mailing the quilt to the dispatcher who had to give CPR instructions to her co-workers family for her co-worker, one of the girls who first posted to my blog, my mothers pillow I made of my grandfather & the Iowa flood victims quilt.

Please, do not think ill of me for taking so long, it is just when you family goes from 2 incomes to 1 so quickly, you have to take care of family first!

I am currently working on 2 UFO's in my pile that have just been making me crazy with guilt for not finishing them. One goes to a lady who is still suffering from loosing her home to Katrina. I made so many for a group of police dispatchers and then life got in the way...I broke me leg, sold my home, moved in with friends, didn't have my sewing machine,supervised work on our new home, broke my leg again and now can finally step on the sewing pedal again.

Off to an interview today with another school district for my emergency certification & possibly a trip out to the beach to pick up my other one and then I can send all of this to Olympia and I should be set if the prison doesn't call me.

I want to thank each and everyone of you who have sent me Emails encouraging me and telling me not to give up hope in my job search. I just feel so discouraged! I was supposed to know something last week & here I am once again hanging in limbo for a note that tells me I have a job or no thanks!

I am sorry, but I am ready to hang my head in shame and run back to Arizona. Not that I like the area a whole bunch, but because it is larger I feel I might have better luck at finding a job.
Even my kids are calling me & telling me they have never known me to go so long without working. Oh well, it does give me time to finish my quilts!

One Day Great, One Day Horrible!

2008-08-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Fibromyalgia, what an awful thing to be diagnosed and have to live with. It leaves those of us who suffer from it walking around in a fog & with what I like to describe as a constant toothache in your entire body most of the time.

Does the weather really affect those of us who suffer from Fibromyalgia? I don't know. I can honestly say until I fell and broke my leg the first time, that I was doing well with some help from my ortho doctor giving me facet blocks in my back. I was still able to be physically fit!

Now, I am in pain all the time. I feel like the tin man with grease in her veins instead of oil. As long as I am up and moving all of the time, I am fine. However, once I sit down, standing back up is tremendously painful. My hips ache, my feet ache, my back hurts and sometimes I wonder if I am going to be able to get up at all.

I am trying to get a support group in Grays Harbor set up as I feel there are more people in the are that have this and are suffering in silence.

Anyone that suffers, please let me know, I would like to know how it affects you and your daily living.

This one was easy & quick

2008-08-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

As many of you have seen lately with the amount of postings I do, that I have numerous addictions (quilting & blogging to name a few). But yesterday while hubby was outside papering windows and spray painting the trim on the house, I sat down and quilted. I am so proud of myself, because I have actually completed 2 projects in 2 days.

I finally realized that God wants me to make quilts. No, I may not be the best quilter in blog land and I know I am not the best in the world, but it doesn't matter to God, what matters is that I am doing something I love to help others less fortunate than my family.

So, I made this little house quilt as a gift and you know what? I had fun and I relaxed a bit!
I made it with vintage fabric that I have been hanging onto for several years now. I just love this very pale mint green with the greenish blue roses on it, it is soft and really adds a nice touch to the house!

I also (shhh, don't tell the quilt police) probably didn't use 1/4" seams. I sew with my heart & it the seam is a bit bigger, I am not going to fret over it. Besides, does it really matter in the big scheme of things?

I am sure the person that receives this isn't going to send me the following letter:

Dear Jean:
I received your quilt today and was so excited until I noticed you didn't use 1/4" seams when making this piece. Enclosed is the fabric and batting so you can re-quilt this and send it back to me.

Yeah Right! So, sew with your heart and unless you are using your quilt for a show & even then I really don't think it should matter. But hey! I'm just the newbie in quilting!

Colored Fabric Swap Wanted!

2008-08-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Calling all quilters & others that collect fabric. I am looking to swap out some of my printed fabrics for solid fabrics. The only requirement to this swap will be no white fabric & fabric must be at least a fat quarter sized.

I have lots of prints and lots of fabric because sometimes I buy the end of a bolt and it is more than I needed to begin with. So, if you are interested, drop me an Email and we can make the change.

A Sewing Organizer

2008-08-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was bored today, so decided to make this organizer for my sewing machine. It was so easy and only took a few hours & now I can keep my trash in the removable bag & my scissors in front of me where they will always be handy.

I used a spool of blue and white ribbon I had left over from another project to bind this with and the fabric was from a scrap I had in my scrap box, so it didn't cost me much of anything but a few hours.
And here is another photo of it sitting under my sewing machine. It was fun to keep busy and know when I was done I had actually made something for myself for a change.

Have a blessed day!

For Kasey's friends

2008-08-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

How awesome to have a friend that gives you the fruits of their labors out of their love of a friendship. That is what I saw when I put this quilt together. Sam working diligently in his garden and wiping the sweat off his brow in the hot sun with his little blue handkerchief.

As he spots Sue walking down the lane, he looks around his garden that he has tended with so much care and picks the prettiest Sunflower for his friend Sue. That is what life is all about, reaching out to our friends and sharing with them our love, our understanding and even the best flower in our garden.

This quilt however, will go on a journey to a 911 dispatch center in Iowa that lost a very close co-worker. I hope it brings them smiles as they think of their friend Kasey and how much he loved life!

Recycling Magazines

2008-08-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Today has been one of those days when I was living in Arizona that I dreamed about. A lazy day in which the rain has been falling off and on (not good for house painting I am afraid), we have snugged around each other in the basement and watched old movies. For dinner we had homemade Burritos.

The front door is back on & looking gorgeous!

I have tried to sell my older quilting magazines on Ebay, but didn't get to far with that. I even offered them to people who would post to my blog awhile back & got no takers. So today, I am diligently dissecting and recycling into the trash a wonderful batch of Quilt World magazines from the 1980's.

I am going through each one and saving quilt patterns and needlework patterns, stories, cartoons and other things that appeal to me. It is hard to toss these into the bin, but with no takers, they really need to be tossed carefully, before dear hubby throws them out.

I got the name of my apron buddy yesterday and have been working something up for her & I can't wait. It is so cool to think of doing something for a complete stranger and knowing they are anxiously waiting to see what they receive.

Today, we went to our local produce stand (fresh and yummy) and bought Ginger Gold Apples (sweet green apples) & Red Delicious and came home and the youngins and I took out the Jack LaLaane (worth every penny) juicer and we tossed in these sweet apples and soon had 2 quarts of sweet pure apple juice.

The kids love to see how much pulp it makes, but today they were so excited at the red juice coming from the red apples, they thought it was magic!

My old pastor called today and it was good to hear his voice and talk to him about all the exciting things going on at the old church. I truly miss everyone there, they were such a great group!

How was your day?

I believe!

2008-08-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

Call me an optimist or a crazy quilter, but I truly believe in my heart that there is someone out there is quilt land that has a quilt they would like to donate to this 911 dispatchers family. Perhaps you have several completed quilts and just didn't know what or whom to give them to, now is your opportunity to help comfort someone during their time of need.

I know many times I put together a quilt to just relax and when it is done, God puts on my heart if I should sell it, keep it or give it away. I am finishing up one right now that I had all plans to list on Etsy or Ebay, but found a dispatch center who just lost a dispatcher and now I know where this quilt will go to!

If you have a completed quilt you want to donate to this family or just a topper to send to me for completion for this family, please let me know!

A Prayer & Some Assistance For a 911 Dispatcher

2008-08-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Those of you who read my blogs, know my closeness to police and fire dispatchers since I retired from the job last year. You also know that I do my best to help those dispatchers when I can. I awoke to the following in my Email this morning and I know that Kevin and those at 911 Cares will not mind me passing this one on.

This lady and her family need our prayers, they need our dollars (even $5 helps), Patti could use a quilt while she is recouping. If anyone wants to do this, please let me know and I will contact Kevin about the quilt.

In the meantime never forget these people are the unseen hero's of this world! They are the ones that calm a child down when there mom or dad won't wake up or they think someone is in their home when they get in from school, they are the calm on the phone when a new father has to deliver a baby on the side of the road that is coming faster than he can drive. They are the voice that keeps an officer calm during the worst of times and they do this day in and day out with little thanks, rarely a potty break & don't even think of a lunch break & they do is with pride and a love for the job.

Please, even the smallest amount can help and remember, when you do this, YOU ARE PAYING IT FORWARD!

Dear 911 CARES supporter:

PSTC and 911 CARES is currently at the APCO national conference in Kansas City. We were advised of the local tragedy below. Please keep Patti in your prayers. We will keep updates posted at www.911cares.com in the activation area.

Posted Monday, August 4th

Last night, APCO member and Whittcom, Washington 9-1-1 Director Patti VonBargen was the victim of a hit and run by an intoxicated driver. The suspect is in custody. She was in a cross walk near the convention center walking home with two InterAct employees. Patti suffered a severely crushed leg and broken arm and is still in surgery this morning. Local news reports say she was dragged up to 100 feet by the suspect vehicle.

**Update at 5pm local time, she is out of surgery and we are awaiting an update. Patti's 18 year old daughter is being flown in to be with her Mom. The local chapter and WA chapter are working closely together to fill the needs of Patti and her family.

911 CARES has offered to pay for both of these costs. We'll keep you updated when there is anything you can do beyond prayer. Friends of Patti are asking that nobody call her room at the hospital as she is in ICU. When she is moved to a private room, we will post it** She does not have life threatening injuries, but she's going to need some significant healing time. She's at the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City . Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

We will keep you updated on this tragic event and post the Truman address when Patti is moved. We went shopping for get well cards tonight and will have them signed at the PSTC booth at APCO. We'll deliver them Tuesday and Wednesday night after conference hours.

Tuesday 8-5 update at 15:38 local time:

911 CARES EVENT UPDATE FOR PATTI VONBARGEN:

Below we have more information from the accident and an address where cards and well wishes can be sent.

Sunday, Patti was walking to her hotel after having dinner with two InterAct employees. One InterAct staffer made it onto the curb, another InterAct staffer was hit by the side of the drunk driver's car and Patti took the full force of the impact. The driver fled after dragging Patti's body but was later arrested.

Patti went through extensive surgery Monday but she is in serious condition. PLEASE keep Patti, the Washington Chapter of APCO and all of the staff at Whittcom and InterAct in your prayers. Today, 911 CARES team members Richard Behr and Kevin Willett went through the vendor area and asked vendors to sign cards and give us "vendor gifts". We filled a big bag of goodies that Patti will enjoy when she gets better. We also spoke with Peggy at Grays Harbor 9-1-1 to reinforce our financial and emotional support for Patti, her agency and her family. We have spoken to Conference Chair Robin Tieman and members of WA APCO reassuring them of our ongoing support!

One last note, if there is any question of rumors, let us address them. We are 1000% supportive and appreciative of everything that Willis Carter, all Chapters of APCO, individual members and the local conference committee have done. Please do what you can to send your love and support to Patti. See the update below provided by Washington APCO.

Tuesday Update: Patti's son Jeremy has arrived and is being briefed this morning by the medical staff. We're continuing to make other flight and housing arrangements for her other son and daughter to join her. I don't have an update on her condition except to say that she is still in ICU, is in a lot of pain and needs her rest. Cards are welcome
but since she is still in ICU, she is not able to receive flowers and her family asks that you please do not call yet as she is trying to rest. We appreciate all the well wishes and I know they are being passed on to her and her family. If you have any questions, please
don't hesitate to ask.

Cards may be sent to:
Patti VonBargen
c/o Truman Medical Center
2301 Holmes
ICU Room 204 bed 1
Kansas City , MO 64108

Continue to keep her in your prayers...deb

Deb Welsh
Assistant Director - Skagit 911
(360) 428-3200

1730 local time:

InterAct has informed us that the staff member that was hit in Patti's accident is now safely home. We also delivered the first batch of well wishes and cards to the nursing station for Patti’s unit. We didn’t want to bother the family but the nurse was happy to deliver the cards for us. --911 CARES

New Contest

2008-08-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Since everyone seems to be having contests, I decided I would throw one up to see what happens. Mine is a bit on the Pay it Forward theme for quilters. I have many older quilting magazines and sometimes I have sold or tried to sell them on Ebay or my blog. For some reason, I can never seem to get rid of them all.

So, if you are interested in obtaining some wonderful 1980's Quilt World magazines, here is your chance to do so. You must make at least one quilt for the Iowa flood victims. It doesn't have to be large, it can be a crib sized quilt & it doesn't have to be fancy, just something warm and home feeling.

Send the quilt to: Pine Needles Sewing Center, 1000 Old Marion Road N.E., Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 with confirmation and send me the USPS confirmation #.
It is that simple and for the first 3 people that do this, I will send you each out some vintage quilt magazines. You can buy a quilt from a local quilt shop, find one on sale at Ebay, etc. just send out the quilt and please, make sure you send me your name and address to: compassionatequilter@rocketmail.com.

We can together help others through our love of quilting!

Quilt Magazines for Sale

2008-08-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

I have several bins full of old quilting magazines and periodically I list a few on Ebay. I have 3 sets listed at this time, but one set already has a bid on it. If you are interested in quilting magazines and looking for the unique, I have the thing for you.

14 issues of Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts from 1989

11 issues of Quilt World Magazine from 1989

All are in terrific shape and I am selling them for less than a dollar each issue.

Check out Ebay seller, oilman85037

With the prices at Ebay going up/up/up I think I should take my chances here.

The First Quilt for Iowa

2008-07-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it is done, the first quilt to be sent to Iowa for flood victims. I know I recently saw somewhere where there is a quilt shop I can send this to, but hopefully by next week I will have a box full.

I just love both of these fabrics. The blue one is Winnie-the-Pooh that I have had forever and used it for several other quilts. The light green is a vintage fabric with baby buggies and bottles and I also used it for several other baby quilt projects.

Anyway, I feel good because I have one done and who knows how many I will try to make, but I would at least like to send a total of 4 within the next 2 weeks.

I am sitting at my desk and listening to my grandchildren play and the wind chimes gently making a melodious tune as they all ring together. Chimes are one of my weaknesses, I just love them and I am sure my neighbors aren't as happy, but at least I don't have a yapping dog or bratty kids.

I love my husband! I just think I am so blessed to have this man in my life right now. He has been sober for over eight years, the grandchildren have never seen him drunk and he is just so amazing.

I am asking for everyone to pray for my husband, to lift him up and have God shine down on him. I am not working right now and can't find a job and I have been looking for over a year. He is carrying the load and it is getting heavier and heavier for him. He wouldn't complain I know, but I can see it in his face.

We live in a not-so-friendly neighborhood, it is just the way it is, no one talks to you if you are new and the area we live in is very closed minded if you weren't born or raised here. Just pray God will show my husband His mercy and love.

Finally...

2008-07-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got a slow start on quilts today, but I was able to get one cut out, pinned together and it is ready to sew tomorrow. I also cut out patterns for a purse and coin purse I have been wanting to make for awhile. Added some more stitching to Sunbonnet Sue and a few more buttons to granddaughters quilt.

Hubby brought home KFC for dinner and it was nice, after, we sat in the basement and watched a movie. For those who don't know, our basement is completely done, but needs a lot of work, so while we use it as a family/play room and hubby has an office down there, it isn't a creepy basement.

I will take pictures tomorrow of finished quilt and will hopefully get the bag started and another quilt done. Right now my biggest expense on the quilts will be mailing them to Iowa and California and I try to make them for a variety of ages since I don't have a list to go by.

It is 11:30 and I do need to get my aches and pains to bed for the night.

God Bless!

A Great Day!

2008-07-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Aside from our jerk of a neighbor backing into Hubbies Harley today because the ass can't stay out of the driveway and he obviously doesn't pay attention to what is behind his truck, it will be a great day!

We have a shared driveway and according to previous owners, renters and family members, it is only shared for the purpose of said neighbor doing repairs on his house, but he seems to think he can park in it and we don't have the money to fight him, not to mention no matter how many times we have requested a surveyor to talk to us or come out and survey the property, they won't.

So, while said jackass has his own garage and parking on the street where his house is located and we cannot park on the street, not to mention it is a hill and I walk with a cane and suffer from Fibromyalgia and the driveway is actually located out our back door, jackass still parks there.

Hubby made a police report and we have pictures, jackass said he will pay for the damage, but remember his name is jackass for a reason, so we expect this to get ugly.

Anyone want to help us find a place without a shared driveway? HAHA!!

The boys are gone running errands and it is just us girls home today, so we are going to be working on some quilts to pass them forward to those who lost homes in the Butte California fires and the Iowa floods. I don't know how many we will do today, but I am hoping to complete at least 4. Wish us luck and enjoy the flowers!

The ones at top are growing wildly and happily in my front yard. The others are either sitting out on my front porch or hanging. I love flowers & quilts!

Heaven In a Small Town

2008-07-16T23:48:00.001-07:00

Is this too cool or what? First this week I find these really cool blogs that do swapping...No sillies, not the wife or partner type of swaps, but fun things. One site I found the people make miniature quilts and then they send them to another person that is part of that blog community and they are really cool.

Then I found the Goodness Girls and they have swaps of things they thrift or find at swap meets and garage sales, but they do them with fun themes. I was pretty excited because these women are not ohnly thrifty and crafty, but they are doing fun things, which I haven't done in a long time.
So, please check out their blogs for yourself at:

http://frauleinh.blogspot.com/
http://sweetgoodnessswaps.blogspot.com/
http://thriftygoodness.blogspot.com/

The last one belongs to Rebecca and she has a shop aptly named the Goodness Shop of which I felt was just so cool that I have listed it with a link right here on my blog.
I have truly enjoyed just reading these ladies blogs and adding them to mine. Also, check on the Cutest Blog on the Blog website for some really awesome free stuff for your blog.

Now, today I was pretty depressed because yesterday was my last day at work and living here in a small town I have almost exhausted all my options over the past year. It is really hard to not be working, so I took the grand babies out for a long drive down the back roads here in Grays Harbor County.

We saw lots of cows, hay being mowed, older homes. But I was on a mission to go to the Elma Variety Store that a friend kept trying to get me to check out. Hit me in the head Kellie, we should have gone long ago!

So, I parked in the back of the store (Kellie said the locals all go through the back door), and when I stepped in, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Fabric all over in bright and beautiful colors, quilts hanging from the ceilings, sewing notions very reasonably priced and the kids favorite area today was the button racks that were filled with unique and brightly colored buttons.

No job, means I have to really keep to the stash of fabric I have on hand for now. But I bought 2 skeins of embroidery thread, an 89 cent wooden embroidery hoop and 2 packages of cool buttons.

If you ever get a chance to visit the southwest portion of Washington and do some shopping, check out the Elma Variety Store and um, park in the back like the locals do!

Record # quilts in a week...

2008-07-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am hoping this invokes some really great communication between myself and all the quilters out there, young and old, new and experienced. Quilts are great, they are an addiction and most of us, give away far many more quilts than we keep.

I want to know what is the most quilts you have made in one week, without anyone else's assistance? Large or small, size doesn't matter.

As for me, the most I have so far put together is 9 in one week for the Virginia Tech Dispatchers and I am still behind the quilting frame on these, as I have more to make, but lately it just seems that life gets in my way & I don't have all the time I want or need to keep up with everything.

So, this week, I am hoping to finish the handwork on a quilt I truly want to enter into the local fair just to say I have tried it. I have to finish adding the flip-flop buttons to my granddaughters birthday quilt and I have to work on a crazy quilt.

While doing these things, lets not forget, I have to clean the house, do the laundry, fix dinner, go to work, give 3 small children baths, meet with our churches VBS director because I am in charge of registration & find a full-time job since my Americorps position ends on Tuesday.

I am looking to make some quilts for the fire victims in California, so if you would like to help, I am in desperate need of batting for these quilts. They will all be between lap, crib and double bed sized.

****My Old Sewing Machine****My Old Sewing Machine****My Old Sewing Machine****
I am looking for a new sewing machine and it doesn't have to be brand new, but it does need to be easy to use, have multiple stitches, easy bobbin winding. I know many of you are quilters and quilt shop owners. Many of you started out small like I did and have moved to short and long arm quilting.

If you have a nice sewing machine you could donate to me, I would appreciate it and I am willing to pay the postage. If you know of a quilting shop or fabric store that may be giving away used machines, please let me know.

Quilts and Fires

2008-07-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to even open this part of my blog this morning, it is just so painful to watch all these homes in California being destroyed, but it is more than homes being destroyed, it is lives. People have their entire lives going up in flames.

I think of the quilt my mom just sent me and told me to sell and I think about how her and my step-father have had to go through their lives and choose what to pack in their car when the call comes (perhaps today) to evacuate.

There are my grandmothers things that I am sure will remain behind: her dining table that we ate so many holiday meals on. My moms bell collection that she has had for so many years that I can't remember when she started it.

Their beloved RV without a transmission that has taken them to many beautiful places across our nation.

They have loaded their car with pictures & the few memories of their 70+ years on this earth and are just sitting at home waiting and praying for the Butte Fire to not 'jump' the feather river.

I know the fear these people are feeling. Several years ago, a large fire broke out in a river bottom close to our home in Phoenix. We could see the flames shooting up, we breathed in the smoke, neighbors began watering yards and roof tops & we began getting ready to evacuate.

The first thing we did was pack up my daughter-in-law and grandchildren and have them leave the house. We wanted to make sure they were safe & took as many things with them as they could.

Then we began packing up our truck and motorhome. We were only blessed in the fact we had a storage unit close by and we began to take things to the storage unit. I was a police dispatcher at the time and so many co-workers called to see if we needed assistance.

We were lucky, the winds stopped, the firefighters were able to put the fire out and we were ready to get back with our lives, but the people in Butte County, the towns of Concow and Paradise are not so lucky. Many of them have nothing to go back to.

If you would like to help me get quilts to these people. please contact me at: compassionatequilter@yahoo.com

A Very Old Quilt

2008-07-05T12:24:00.001-07:00

The two photos above are a quilt my mom sent me to repair for my step-dad. I am open to any suggestions in doing this. It isn't bad, but it does have some holes in the borders around the squares.

This quilt is a king sized quilt that was made for my step-dad by his grandmother. All the pinwheels are hand sewn as all of the squares are. The border is sewn with a sewing machine and even the binding is hand sewn with the smallest of stitches.

My mom told me to sell it and use the money for what I needed, but I think I will repair it and continue to hand it down to my grandchildren.

The batting? Wool stuffing from their sheep they raised. The age of this quilt has to be over 60 years old.

Just a few projects I am working on!

2008-07-05T11:42:00.001-07:00

I am always busy. I just finished this quilt above for my grandchildren when they are watching television in the basement. They wanted something to cover their legs with or soft to lay on, so I had some scraps laying around (Don't all quilters?) and just threw this together. The middle or batting portion of this quilt is an old blanket we had sitting in a box, so I washed it really well and used it for batting. The back is a large piece of polar fleece I had left over from another project. It is the perfect quilt for what we lovingly refer to in our family as the 'Basement Quilts.'

The three pictures above are a quilt I am working on for my granddaughter Aly. She came up to me a few weeks ago with the quilt I made her when she was younger and said, 'Ranny, this one doesn't cover my feet anymore.' Sure enough that night she was sleeping and her two little tootsies stuck out about 14", so I decided to work on this one for her.

All the fabrics in this quilt are flannel. The first picture shows the single and classic Nine-Patch squares. It also shows the flip-flop buttons that are going on in each seam meeting. Aly loves shoes, so I thought these would be a cute addition to the quilt...all 82 of them!

The picture on the left, shows the flowers made. There were 10 squares with these flowers and each was made with the flannel pieces, so has a different flower pattern, different buttons for the flower middles and each is sewn with a different stitch.

Once all the flip-flops are sewn on, I will add a warm & natural batting to the middle, complete it with a flannel backing and I am thinking about adding a ruffle to the binding. I will add more pictures to the blog when it is complete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Above is the last project I am working on, Sunbonnet Sue and Sunbonnet Sam. I am hoping to have this quilt completed for the Grays Harbor County Fair and enter it as my first ever entry into a fair.

Sunbonnet Sue and Sam are appliqued onto a beige linen border and standing on a bed of green grass fabric. Sam is handing Sue is prized Sunflower from his garden. You can see his bib overalls are made of green fabric and his shirt and pocket rag are blue bandana. His hat is a wide brimmed sunflower hat.

Sue is decked out in purple and if you look closely, you will see the brim of her hat is bordered with tiny purple seed beads. I just really liked adding the beads to the hat. Her dress & blouse and shoes are made with a reproduction fabric someone gave me a few years ago.

The yellow batik reminded me of the sun and how bright it is & the blue batik surrounding Sue and Sam illustrates the sky.

The purple to me helped tie in all the purple in Sue's clothing. The green fabrics I discovered from my local quilt shop is very 'old' fabric and of a good quality.

You can't see the areas in which I have copied a leaf and scroll pattern I bought from a quilters catalog. I will embroider these around the final purple border and then add my backing and front border.

So, I hope you enjoy looking at all the projects I have going on and I just realized I am also working on a crazy quilt and a NASCAR quilt, but those aren't quite ready for pictures to be taken at this time.

Finally, My Own Digital Program

2008-07-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Today, I finally got our digital camera program uploaded on my computer, so now I can take pictures and add them to my blog at anytime of the day or night without having to ask DH when he will be off his computer.

The quilt pictures above are of the front and back of a quilt I just completed for some homeless teen in our area. After speaking to several homeless teens in the area, the one common thread they all shared was how wet and cold they get in the rain all the time and that there are no places to hide from the rain because local businesses won't let them in their shops.

This quilt was made with that in mind. It has double batting as well as a layer of waterproof material between the layers. I am hoping that this will work well, but some have said it will be hard for the middle layer to dry, so I am still trying to perfect a quilt that will help protect these

Speaking of young men and women of our community, I wanted to share with you some pictures of a quilt that while I put it together, the students from North Beach High School in Ocean Shores, Washington did all the art work you see on the quilt.

As an Americorps worker, we worked with a group of 7th and 8th grade junior high students from North Beach in teaching them what they can do as a group of young people in their community that have no money. They choose in the end to work with the local animal shelter and clean it up and I can tell you that I have never been prouder of a group of kids as these.

They were ready to go on the bus on time and they loaded wheel barrow after wheel barrow of trash, debris and tires to be burnt or recycled. They walked dogs, groomed cats and cleaned and sanitized the bathing area & they did it with smiles and jokes and friendship.

During the weeks that preceded their project, they were supposed to be given pieces of paper to make a quilt with, however, being I am a quilter, I wanted them to have something more permanent, so I gave them all a white quilting square and asked them to think about their community and draw something on each square they felt was important to them and made their community.

The following quilt pictures are the quilt they helped put together and that is now hanging in the Ocean Shores City utilities department for everyone to see when they come in to pay their bills.
Some of the quilt squares showed an Eagle (Eagles can be seen frequently in this area or in the Quinault Rain Forest). One showed McDonalds (it is the only fast food business in the area), another showed the importance of the tourist industry to the area by making the sign from the Days Inn. There is the IGA (the local shopping market), one that just says PEOPLE, several that show the beach & sun.

Since ferns grow naturally and wild in the area, I bordered each picture with fern fabric and then did the border and back in a pink & green Batik as the vote for the group was pink for the fabric #1 & #2 was green.

If you ever hear of a group of students in Ocean Shores calling themselves the 'Vroomin Ninja Elephants,' rest assured this is not a gang, but it is the group of 15 young students who took part in the Civic Engagement responsibility project with the 2007/2008 Americorps team from Grays Harbor County.

If you know of any of these young students, tell them thank you for caring!

Another relaxing day at home!

2008-06-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

It is a blustery day today as Winnie the Pooh would say to his friends. But it is a great day to spend time with the kids playing games, learnign to tie shoes, learning letters and watching a relaxing movie on the television.

I am blessed to have my computer set up next to a living room window where I can see any time the weather changes and today it has changed from calm, to blustery, from blue to gray and sunny to no sun. For June, it is just a cold day!

I have wanted today to quilt, but just can't seem to get into it, (which is unusual for me). I have so many quilts to make with the midwest storms hitting and so many others to finish. I just need to get something accomplished today, but it is a blustery day and to quote what Rabbit would say..'Oh, bother.'

Quilts for flood victims...

2008-06-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

I am appealing to anyone who reads my blog and knows how much I still care about the police dispatchers across the United States to help me help those families that have been enduring the terrible flooding across the midwest.

We need to help them! We cannot sit around and assume the Red Cross or FEMA will help and I can tell you first hand with experiencing a disaster this past December, that you had better not be counting on FEMA, because they have to be the most useless unneccessary department in our federal government.

I at first believed that they were just extremely overwhelmed when Katrina hit, but after trying to get their assistance after our own was damaged during the horrible 'Hurricane like,' storm Grays Harbor got hit with in December 2007, I found them to be nothing more than useless.

They will not help you one iota if you have homeowners insurance, they won't help you with food, they don't help with insurance deductibles as they say they will and they surely do not help with seeing to it that the insurance companies do what need to be done. So, if you are waiting for FEMA to help disaster victims, all they are is one large information gathering black hold that needs to be dissolved.

But, this post is not about FEMA, so let me get off my high horse and back on terra firma here.
I need help getting quilts out to the police dispatchers and their families in need and what I need most at this time is batting. Please, crib size to king size, you can purchase it at WalMart for less than $5 for the smaller and less than $10 for the larger.

I have also the need for another sewing machine and am looking for someone to donate a sewing machine that does numerouse stitch types like the Brothers do or an embroidery machine. Please, do not contact me about junk. I need to keep quilts going and my sewing machine is getting tired after cranking out more than 75 quilts over the last 3 years and I don't want to let people down.

I have posted on here before asking for assistance and I did get some last time, so here goes again....WISH LIST

1- Batting
2- Janome/Brother or Husqvarna sewing machine
3- Quilt Frame (one that expands)
4- Rotary cutters and large Rotary Mat
5- Non-Slip mat for sewing pedal

I want to be able to say we as a team did this, we as Americans contributed to helping these hard working people out, lets not say 'we almost helped them.' Lets not say, 'I almost sent her the things she needed, but I knew someone else would.' 'I almost contacted her, but I knew hundreds of others would do so.'

I am legit here people, I do what I say I will do and I have the pictures and letters and cards to prove it. I am one person, working alone, but together with your help, we can become a team!
Contact me at: rannyjeanshaven@yahoo.com that is Ranny Jeans Haven.

I will be back soon!

2008-06-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

I know, I have had people asking why I am not posting at this time. Please, have patience, I am working on several quilts at once and this is a big load to carry. I have one for the homeless, a crazy quilt for a police dispatcher, 1 for my granddaughter, 1 for the fair and one to sell.

Quilting as anyone knows is a long slow process!

A Quilt in The Making

2008-02-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered how a quilter puts together her/his quilts? What happens in the process? What does the first pieces look like? Well, I am going to answer your questions with the following pictures and hopefully it will encourage you to buy some fabrics (or contact me for some) for your first scrap quilt.

The picture on the top are triangle scraps. I took at square and cut it in half diagonally and then I sew two together and I remade the square. The middle picture is the quilt top that consists of the triangle pieces and the pieces on the bottom, small 2 1/2" squares I sew together to make a nine patch. This is just my kitchen table that I work at, so it takes me some time. Lunch, clean off the sewing stuff. After naps and lunch, pull it back out again. Put it away for dinner.

If hubby is home, I can't use it at all because wherever you look in our home, there are signs that a quilter lives here. Healing boards to be used with rotary cutters, rotary cutters, scissors in all sizes, fabric, thread, binding, batting, I have no special room to sew in, so it gets scattered from the dining room to the closet, to the living room tables, it is sooooooooooooo embarrassing!

You can see my sewing machine, it is a Brother and about 4 years old. I had to buy it after 22 years of having a wonderful Singer that finally the motor just burnt out. I am praying that this machine will last me as long because I use it all of the time.

Next to it, you can see what is known as the Sidewinder, a wonderful invention that allows me to rewind bobbins without having to use my sewing machine and it stores bobbins as well, so if you are like me and have 3 wound bobbins for the beginning of my projects, I highly suggest this item and it cost just under $40.

I hope you have enjoyed a peek into my dining room and seeing how quilts form.

By the way, this quilt is being made for homeless teens in my area. I am adding a special water proof lining with the batting in the hopes I can help to keep them drier and much warmer.

May God Bless all who come here!

A Quilters Poem

2008-01-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

A Quilter

A quilter brings us comfort
on the chilliest of nights.
With unseen hands she tucks us in
and softly dims the lights.

What many others throw away,
she knows that she can use.
She brings together every square,
Arranging varied hues.

With simple needle & mere thread,
and batts without a form,
She sews each piece with tender love
To keep us snug and warm.

The Lord has helped her understand
the value of things old,
She swaddles us in memories
Each precious to behold.
Author unknown

**This poem is dedicated to all quilters everywhere!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2008-01-05T14:23:00.001-08:00

The quilted items pictured here are ones that I made for a friend for Christmas. It was made with Debbie Mumm fabrics that were actually an apron and I turned them into a bell, a quilt and a pot holder wall decoration. You really must know my friend loves Christmas and probably still has her Christmas stuff up as I write this.

Top Left shows the set together. Top middle shows the mitt and you can see the machine quilting that I did to it. Top Right is the bell. Bottom Left is the quilt and Bottom middle shows the up close detail on the fabric.

I not only make quilts for those in need, I do make quilts for memories and if you want something a bit unique, you can Email me and perhaps we can work it out.

Enjoy the pictures!

Still Looking...

2008-01-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

I am still looking for a benevolent donor that wants to buy a home and put my family into it. I have one picked out, I just know by the time we sell our home and wind up with zip we won't be able to buy it. I am watching it though because the price has dropped to $154K and I know we could offer much less.

So, New Years Eve found me in bed by 2200 hours. What boring lives we live, but what else would we have done?

Finished a quilt today for my old pastors grandson. God has blessed that family with Baby Max who was born prematurely, but continues with each day to get stronger and should be home soon. Our prayers are with this family every day!

It is sooooo cold outside, I just wish it would snow and get on with it, then I could probably take a snow day to goof around. LOL!

Tomorrow is the first day back to school, I can't wait to see all the kids and hear their stories.

God Bless!

Brrrrr, it is cold outside!

2007-12-31T15:55:00.000-08:00

It is December 31st, the last day of 2007. I wonder what some of the New Years Resolutions will be? I don't make them because I usually make really dumb ones like refraining from sweets for an entire year...like that will happen!

I did make one a few years ago to not buy any new shoes for an entire year. No one thought I could go through with it and if I did I would be in line on January 1 with $600 worth of new shoes, but it actually worked the opposite way. I realized I didn't need or really want all the shoes I had. Then I broke my tibia and fibula in November 2006 and couldn't use most of them any longer.

But back to its cold outside. It is freezing outside and has been all day. The roadways and sidewalks are covered in ice, the last time I checked the temperature outside, it was 28 and felt like 20. It is cold. My knee highs and jeans can't keep my legs warm.

Sooooooooooooooo, what about the homeless teens in this area who have no place to go to? What are they going to do when it is this cold? Many don't even have blankets, so I am in the process of making some quilts for them with a waterproof, windproof lining.

Please, if anyone would like to contribute to Tsunami Shores Quilts, let me know.

Happy New Year!

55 Degree's Inside

2007-12-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

Current temperatures at 2307 this evening here in Aberdeen is 38 degree's and falling. We had hail storms off and on today and we are expecting snow tonight and tomorrow. I am sitting in the basement putting the finishing touches on another Christmas quilt & decided to check my dryer. Brrrrrr~it is 55 degree's in there. It has bare concrete walls & no insulation, so it is pretty raw.

I wonder how the people around Aberdeen who are homeless will survive this night and this winter with no place to go? How do they stay warm? Where do they stay? In door ways of store fronts? In cardboard boxes on the icy banks of the Chehalis river? Under a bridge? In an abandoned warehouse?

I know that many people don't care where the homeless go, but I believe these people are humans, they are people that God created and everyone deserves to be warm on a night like this.

I want to reach out to these people as well with quilts and I know with your help, I can do it. But I need a place to work, I need another sewing machine, I need batting (preferably wool blankets or the cheap but warm blankets WalMart sells. I need to have the ability to start a quilt in the morning and be completing it by evening and ready to be handed out the next day.

Won't you help? Besides the many police dispatchers that need you, there are people that are homeless and need a help up and not a hand out.

Here are a few pictures of a quilt I made today for a Christmas gift for my boss. Our holiday party as it is being dubbed is tomorrow. So, I started out today and finished it today.

It is small, 24" x 32", it is a dark green fabric with red birds on it interchanged with off white cotton squares with hand appliqued pictures of snowmen, angels and other Christmas things with a top center that says 'A King Is Born.'

The back is a red and green Christmas plaid and the border is dark green quilt tape sewn with a modified blanket stitch. The center is a dense poly batting that is stiff so it can be used as a throw or a wall quilt.

Well, it is getting colder down here, so I probably need to go stoke up the fire again or it will really be cold in the morning when we are all getting ready for work.

Its About the People

2007-12-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

WOW! I was googling my business name to see what would come up and my blog came up under Google. Now at least I know it might be found.

Well, Christmas is over & it is time to start thinking about our Americorps project for MLK day, we are going to do something with the homeless teens in our area.

I am also going to be working on getting my non-profit status for the quilts if I can afford it and still looking around for a business place to run the company.

For today, here are two miniature quilts I made my husband for his office walls. One is because of his avid love of fishing & I wish you could see the details like both our names in the heart, the scales on the fish, etc. I have it hanging on a branch with a fishing bobber on it and one on the fishing pole.

Below is the second quilt. It is a Moose which I made out of Harley & Tony Steward bandanas, since these are hubbies favorite hobbies. It has trees, birds, stars and a colorful border with 2 1/2 ince strips. The embroidery states: "The Biggest Moose in The Forest,' from a good friend that taught him much!

If you are interested in having something like the Moose made for a friend or family member, I can use their favorite sport or team for things like the birds, stars, trees. Let your imagination run wild. After all, there is only 365 days left until Christmas 2008!

Tsunami Shores Quilts

2007-12-24T08:34:00.001-08:00

The picture here is one of 'Footprints in the Sand,' but I think it is an appropriate one with my belief in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.' It is also appropriate to my journey through life walking along the shores of life in contemplation.

I am NOT perfect. There was only one that was perfect and that was Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior who came to earth and died on a cross because of my sins so I wouldn't have to die a permanent death but could enjoy everlasting life!

Depending on who you talk to along my journey, you would get a variety of answers from people who knew and know me. Those that think I am a horrible person for having feelings and allowing those feelings to be hurt. Those that think I am awful for walking away from the pain of abuse. I am sure if you dug through the sand you could find people who just don't like me.

On the other hand, there are those who would call me generous, kind, loving, fair, beautiful. The people who have been with me during tough times and sad times. People I don't know that I have reached out to so they could survive.

I am not a saint, but I am not the devil in disguise either!

So it is I have decided to begin a journey in making quilts for those that have suffered from catastrophic losses & I am calling it: Tsunami Shores Quilts, Quilts That Warm the Soul!

Merry Christmas!

I can't do it!

2007-12-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

I have given this much thought lately & it has been months since I posted, but I just can't close this blog, that would be giving up and I am not a quitter!

There are still people in this world that are hurting and that need a quilt to keep warm & while I may only be one person, I am determined that I am going to make quilts for the police dispatchers in this world, because they are the forgotten ones, the voice that calms over the air and the voice that is forgotten when police or fire help arrives. They are the ones day in and day out who do their jobs without a thanks, because their thanks comes from knowing they have helped someone during their day, a stranger that was unknown to them until the call for help came in.

I may struggle, I may find myself at times in financial dire straits, I may not have the job that pays the bills, but I am going to find a way to help these people that need all of us. To reach out to those that need a hug.

Yes, I may only be one person, but that is all it takes to make a difference!

THIS BLOG IS CLOSED...

2007-04-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

After many posts and no responses to my posts, I have decided to open another blog on impending retirement, leaving my adult children behind and moving to a new state to start fresh.

Feel free to follow my blog as my life takes turns I didn't expect.

God bless all who read and followed my postings and who contributed to my quilting cause!

Strokes and Affirmations Among the Stitches

2007-02-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

I am blessed to have wonderful friends, so when something terrific happens to me and work and it is ignored and I am not acknowledged my friends step in with hugs, laughter and love. You see, over the years while seeking positive reinforcement at work, I have slowly been killed inside with the knowledge that no matter how well I perform or how great a job I have done, I am not among the elite that gets the strokes.

I am not complaining, it is just a fact and a reality check. Take the quilts I made for the dispatchers flooded out in New York state. I recently was the recipient of a letter that was sent to my Chief on my behalf thanking him for all the quilts and prayers & yet only because the woman was kind enough to send me a copy do I realize there is a letter like this in the Chief's office.

I am not going to pretend it doesn't confuse me and hurt me, but I can turn that hurt towards the light of my friends who believe in me and know what a great person I am but most of all, I can take that letter as I have done many others and the pictures of the people with the quilts I have made and I can place it into a binder where I keep the dates, whom received them who is in the pictures and I can pass that onto my family as my legacy of love and my way of giving back to the community and passing it forward.

For it isn't my co-workers when the day is done and I am gone that will remember me or even care a week after I retire, but it is my family, my children and my grandchildren who will show these books and quilts to their children and it will be from this legacy that I will live on and that my quilts will live on and hopefully out of them all there will emerge a new quilter.

That people is what life is about and sometimes the horse has to kick you in the head before you can open your eyes to see around you clearly.

Depression Really Does Hurt!

2007-02-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the commercial about depression in which the commercial states depression hurts everyone & goes onto explain it hurts all over? Well, I understand that commercial now!
You see, I have suffered from depression for many years and like so many others, do my best to push it aside and state I can get over it. But this time, it hurts! I don't mean mentally, I mean I am in physical pain and I believe it is because of my depressiona and the fact that my husband and I have been separated from each other for over 4 months now.

This man is my soulmate. His smile lights up my days, his voice calms my fears and help me relax when I am upset, his touch is healing medicine when I am sick, sore or tired. His kindness comes to me in all areas of my life and now, we are thousands of miles apart and I don't know when I can see him again.

I had dreamed and prayed to see him in March, but after paying $1600 to have 8 new windows installed in our new home and just receiving a $4000 estimate on painting the interior of our home, all the money I had in savings is now gone and I can't afford to fly the babies and I up to Washington to visit. And...my depression darkens!

Of course it doesn't help when the kids and I have been so sick with the flu the last 2 weeks that all anyone does is cry, whine or sleep. This has to be the most exhausting, painful flu I have ever experiencied in 50 years of my life. Fevers of over 104, chills, aches, migraines, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing. Horrible!! The babies had it last week and they are still laying around most of the day. I came down with it Saturday.

Oh yeah! For the first time in over 12 years on my job, when I told them I was sick and yes I knew I would have to use vacation time...they requested a doctors note. Oh Lord, grant me the serenity to stay where I am until You tell me we can move!

Graduation comes in just a few months for the oldest of the babies & then hopefully by then most of the court stuff will be behind us.

Not so good news!

2007-02-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

I saw the doctor for my foot on Thursday and to say he isn't happy about what my foot looks like, is an understatment. He took one look at my swollen, bruised & painful appendage and stated, 'that shouldn't look like that after two months.' I am in agreement, however, I don't know what it really is supposed to look like, only that I would like to be able to get it into a shoe, a boot, a mule or even a flip flop, but doesn't look good right now!

HOME: Well, our house closed in Washington and I still haven't seen it with the exception of pictures or have yet to step a foot inside. I was hoping by now the doctor would have determined if I was going to remain on short term disability, go to long term disability or what my status would be. Though back to work right now, my foot hurts daily.

The lawsuit with the other grandmother is still dragging on. Ya gotta love attorneys because once they get involved, your 6 month lawsuit automatically turns into a forever thing and the money you set aside to go to the Bahamas that took you ten years to save up for, you watch disappear into thin air as attorneys are so arrogant they feel they need to charge you for every minute of their time.

Your $4000 retainer feed, well lets just say they don't call it a retainer for nothing. You will wind up tossing more money to your attorney and when it is all said and done, none of it will have been worth the money spent unless of course you committed a heinous crime and your attorney got you off.

Life is precious, treat it that way!

It's almost a new year...

2006-12-31T00:34:00.000-08:00

Wow! 2006 seems to have flown by and yet, so many exciting and not so many exciting things happened this year that I have to tell those of you worried about the new year to hang in there, even during your darkest hours, Jesus Christ is with you.

This year started off with two of my sons being sent to prison. One deserved to go but the other one didn't and it was very hard on me for awhile to accept that both were where God wanted them to be at the same time and equally in places where I knew I didn't have to worry about them eating or sleeping.

Our family had a great time in April at the Phoenix Nascar races camping out in the old 'Shaggin Wagin,' a 1980 Chevy RV we bought several years back that was painted with old hippie sayings and pictures. However, by the time November's race rolled around I had begun to change the paint scheme to more of a Nascar theme with black and white checkered door, drivers sayings, etc.

In August we finally made the decision to move to Washington (actually my husband did) after three years of discussing it and when he applied for his job, what happened next I just knew it was destined by God. His interview was over the telephone, he took his physical and medical and drug tests here in Phoenix and he was offered more per hour than we ever thought possible. They even gave him six weeks to be at the job.

Our home was placed on the market in October and I began packing and hubby began cleaning up the yard, planting the yard and getting rid of junk (I never realized how much junk we had accumulated). October 30th hubby left for Washington, but took the RV over to PIR so we could wait in line and I wouldn't have to drive it.

November 1st I went on what was supposed to be a 12 day vacation and has wound up being almost 2 months of recovery from a shattered ankle.

Our home sold in December and closed on the 15th and my hubby and a friend came from Seattle to pack and load the truck. We hired cleaners to clean up the inside. After 3,4 & 5 years of living and knowing no other home but ours as theirs, my grandchildren and I moved in with two dear friends that have taken care of me and them during my recovery.

The lawsuit with the other grandmother is still going on and my daughter-in-law has decided to finally file for divorce after an illegitmate pregnancy and miscarriage while my son has been in prison. Both are trying to gain custody of the grandchildren that my husband and I have basically raised since their birth. The same children the mother walked out on in October 2005 and never looked back. The same children the grandmother has never called, has never came by to visit.

2007 will have an exciting beginning:

I start back to work on January 2nd, though still on Percocet, the Dr. states I can go back to work.

On January 7th, my son who should never have gone to prison will come home & we will have a celebration.

Sometime in January we will close on our new home in Washington.

Here is wishing all your dreams come true and that you can always see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is so small it looks no bigger than the head of a pin.

God Bless You All in 2007!

Still not up to walking on my own!

2006-12-26T22:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a month and a half since I broke my ankle and I can't say I am exactly happy about my progress. I expected by now I would be up and at least walking on my own to some degree, but I am still using a walker and a wheelchair when I am extremely exhausted.

I went to see the Ortho today because my foot has been turning purple and almost black during the day and he told me it is something to expect with the fact I haven't been up on my feet for the past six weeks. Something about the blood pooling and my foot swelling. I asked him about all the pain and the fact I am still using Percocets and he said he will be concerned about my Percocet use if I am still asking for them in a year.

I guess an ankle break is tough, but one like mine is extremely difficult and he expects I am going to have pain and problems for at least the next few months. I am wondering if swimming might help strengthen the ankle?

Anyway I am back to work next Tuesday and I can honestly say I am looking forward to getting out of the house for a few hours or 12 hours. We will just need to see how the ankle holds up.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, the only thing that would have made mine any better would be to have my husband here with us, but friends made it as wonderful for use as they could.

Even my soon to be ex-daughter-in-law bought me a gift.

Check ya later!

I can't wait...

2006-12-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow I see my medication P/A for an evaluation of my meds. She will determine if I can resume my Lyrica/Scalexan/Cymbalta since I am down to about 2 Percocets per day now.
I need to talk to her about my horrible anxiety attacks and mood swings and see what she wants to do about those.

Wednesday, if all goes well and the X-Rays show up positive, I should be able to get my cast off and get a removable boot on so I can shower a bit better and move around easier. He told me I will still have no weight bearing while going through intense physical therapy but anything has to be better than this cast I have on.

I want to be able to turn in the wheelchair, move around a bit easier and make it more bearable to transport me from place to place. I hate having all this gear to take with me and I hate even more that my foot looks like it is rotting in the cast.

My foot still turns blue periodically, it is still swelling badly in the cast and the spasms are still coming on, but I am learning to deal with those a bit easier.

My heart goes out to the wives and family members of our troops that are overseas or just out of sight during this holiday season. I remember as a military wife going through that loneliness and not thinking I would pull through, but I did it.

That seems a million years away on the days I cry for my husbands arms to hold me, how I pray to see his smile again. I know I would miss him even if I had both legs, but for now, not being able to take care of myself or the kids without help, I just miss him so very very much.

HOME AGAIN AT LAST!!

2006-12-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Home again at last! My husband flew home from Washington state Saturday afternoon and after not being able to see his face and touch it, hold him, hug him, see his beautiful smile for over a month, it was the most wonderful thing I have seen in awhile. Just to hold him helped me to be able to get rid of so much stress and anxiety.

Watching the babies see him as he came in the door and all of them clamoring for his attention and a place in his arms was so heart warming. They have missed him I believe even more than I have and I didn't think that was possible. They just love their PaPa so much and they do not like being away from him at all. All they talk about is going to Washington to stay with PaPa.

Little do they know, their mother and other grandmother are doing everything in their power to prevent that from happening. Not because they love these babies or care, but because they have no love in their own lives , so they don't know what it is to love these babies unconditionally. They don't know what it is to sit up with them when they are sick and watch them as they chase Ladybugs around the yard. All they care about is their own needs to make everyone around them unhappy.

On the other hand, PaPa is home until tomorrow, we will love him and he will spend time with them listening to stories about school and boo boo's and He will always be here for them.

Depression Sucks!

2006-12-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

I feel at times that my life and emotions are tied to a spinner in a game. You know the type I am talking about...little piece of cardboard, plastic arrow attached to it and numerous challenges...go forward 3, jump backwards 2, go to dreamland, whatever.

Mine reads today emotionally stable, today emotional roller coaster, today calm/lunatic. I hate having depression and more, I wish I knew when to expect an emotional attack. One minute I am fine and the next I want to scream as loud as I can.

I can't take meds right now due to all the drugs I am taking for pain associated with my foot injury and people who call me and I am upset can't handle it they think I should be happy all the time.

Why?? Would you be happy if you couldn't bathe yourself or wash your own hair? Would you be happy if you couldn't get outside of your own home without help? If all the electric scooters at WalMart were taken by people who's only excuse for using one is they are to damn fat to walk and you are pushing yourself around in a wheelchair? If people sais they would come over to help and never showed up?

No, you would be a bit bummed, but take those things and give them to someone with depression and now the equation is a bit more up and down. You try to smile and hold it together however, without warning you are crying about something stupid.

Well, thanks for letter me rant!

I Pierced My Nose Today

2006-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Much like the quilts I make and send to people that are bits and pieces of material, my body is bits and pieces of who I am and my life.

I have a scar 3/4 ways around my chest from heart surgery I had 48 years ago at Deborah Heart Institute in Toms River, New Jersey. I was 2 years old at the time and I often wonder if the Dr. that performed my surgery is still alive, I would love to meet him and thank him for my life.

I have the scar of my knee from jumping into Lake Mead feet up after my parents just read the sign that said no jumping from the platforms.

I have a small scar on my leg from putting it up against a Harley exhaust right after my husband told me it was hot.

I have several tattoo's and one that was recently split in 1/2 when the surgeon put my ankle back together. There are times when it doesn't matter & that was one of those times. Save my leg, forget the tattoo.

I have my ear cartlidge pierced in one ear, 2 holes in each ear. I pierced my eye brow twice but both times I had problems, so let it go.

Today, right after I had my toenails painted hot pink to match my cast, I had my driver (Desi, I love ya for helping me do this) take me to the piercing salon and I had my nose pierced.

Odd for a 50 year old...but hey, I am a unique person!

11 More Days

2006-11-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

Only 11 more days to pack my entire house up, stack it for going into the moving truck, sorting my sons belongings and sending to his friends and deciding what the kids and I will need over the next few months while we stay with friends.

Oy Vey! Staying with friends that love children but don't have any of their own, this is scary, but I know they will have patience and much love towards us all.

I just wished I knew how long I would be here, while my husband is in Washington. I have to have my cast removed, then physicial therapy, the boot and a determination if this is permanent of a temporary disability. Combining this last incident with Fibromyalgia and arthritis of my back, it remains to be seen if I will return to work.

Hubby will be home for a few days on the 9th to pack up the truck and head back to Washington. Prayerfully by then, the snowy weather will have gone and he and a friend have clear sailing all the way up there.

Anyway, it will be good to see him for just a few days, I miss him so much!

The Snow Witch!

2006-11-27T05:12:00.000-08:00

The snow is falling in Key Port, WA and the proof is in this picture my friend sent to me along with a demand letter, asking me (the proclaimed snow witch) to stop sending cold wishes for snow his way. Me, I just giggled because I want someone to have the beauty of the season when I can't living in Arizona.

Actually, the snow witch moniker goes back many years when I vacationed in WA and wanted it to snow in February. My friends laughed at me, mocked me (HOW DARE THEY!!) and told me I was crazy. They even dared laugh at me when they came to the airport and told me no signs of snow.

AHHH, but the ever endearing snow witch had the last laugh when we paid for parking at SeaTac and got about three feet out of the airport and it began to snow and snow it did for 3 days straight. Now who was laughing?

Since that infamous vacation, whenever it snows in Keyport, my friends call me or Email and tell me to use my powers for good, not snow. It has been fun for all of us and I am looking forward to going back home soon, spending time with my husband sitting on the porch, drinking hot chocolate and watching for snowflakes.

In the meantime, I am still trapped in this cast with 25 more days to go until the cast comes off and the physical therapy starts.

Namaste!

Trapped in my own home!

2006-11-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

I feel trapped and helpless this morning. I can't get outside my home with the walker & I have no ramps for the wheelchair or scooter and if I get out, I have no place to go, nothing to do and no way to get back in. I am beginning to have anxiety attacks over this. What happens if my house catches on fire? What happens if someone breaks in? I can't breath at times over these thoughts.

My neighbors have deserted me. Once willing to come over and help me each day to get the dog in and out of the house, they have quit coming over. Now, I am truly alone with no one. My husband doesn't understand, how can he, he has never been trapped. I have so much to do before I move out of my home, and I can't even do that. How can I pack boxes with one leg that I can't even stand on? I can't reach the door knobs, cabinets, sinks, etc. I am becoming fearful.

I open the front door to let in the light, air and any amount of human contact I can have even if it is just noises in the street at least I can feel I am having some human contact. My best friend is leaving Tuesday and then once again I will be really alone.

What ever happened to family? My grandparents were always there when my mom or my parents needed them. My mom was there for several weeks when my sister had a blood clot & yet they all tell me I can do this on my own.

WAKE UP FAMILY.....I can't do this on my own!! How much more do you expect me to do on my own? You who expect me to be there for you when you need it all the time, when you get older because you don't want to be in a home, you expect me to be there for you.

Well, this experience has shown me who cares and who doesn't and I will NOT be there for you, you have left me hurting, alone, scared & paying money for people just to take me to get milk.

I am hurt, I am sad and I am sooooo outa here!

PLEASE HELP ME FIND A HOME!!!

2006-11-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

It is a beautiful fall morning here in Phoenix and I can smell the crisp in the air. However, as usual, come mid-morning it will be at least in the mid-80's...it is November people, please fix the thermostat to show accordingly. For all of you that like it like this...please help me realize my dream of moving to Washington where my loving husband is waiting for me with warm and loving arms.

Here is my dilemma!! I have narrowed (kind of) my choices to about 6 houses...4 I have seen the insides only from the internet and 2 don't show the insides at all. Soooo, I am asking those of you who read my blog to help me choose. Listed below you will find the links to these homes, please look at each and let me know your choice.

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.ListingDetail&ListingID=16979338

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.ListingDetail&ListingID=16968431

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=15737582

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=17016274

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=16954638

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=7345318

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=listing.listingDetail&ListingID=15639650

Please remember each one of these houses are unique in what they offer from beautiful views of the river to wonderful and warm wrap around porches. Each one of these homes takes you back in time to an era when life was simple and sweet.

Help me to choose, send your vote to this page and let me know and let me know why you feel the way you do.

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!

Girls Night

2006-11-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

How many times over the past few years have I told friends we would get together soon and never have? Do you do the same thing? DON'T!! While my broken leg may not be life threatening is sure has been life changing. Leaning on people for help, rides, etc. Missing my husband as he started a new job has been incredible & yet, I am learning how I have needed to slow down for a very long time.

Last night 2 friends of mine came over to keep me company. One brought us dinner and desert and the other brought us a movie to watch & we visited and talked and I realized these things need to be done more often.

So while breaking my leg ultimately stinks, it has also been a blessing!

Phantom Pains??

2006-11-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

I have often heard of people who loose limbs having phantom pains as if they still had the limb they had lost. Since my accident I have had some odd pains that I can't explain & have tried and usually succeeded in getting past.

Tonight however, my pain feels like an electrical burning on all sides of my ankle, my foot is having spasms that are causing my leg to violently shake & though I have taken 2 of my pain medications, this pain has brought me to full blown sobbing & having to call my best friend and ask them to talk to me so I can redirect my thoughts away from the pain.

About 15 minutes of conversation and I can now attempt to go back to bed and sleep. I tried to reach dear hubby, however his cell phone is off and he has told me the area where he is staying is having some problems with high winds and fallen trees. When you hurt that bad, you just want someone to listen and try to help you refocus.

Since I damaged my leg so badly, I am not sure if this pain if from severed nerves, tendons, broken bones or a combination of all things put together. All I know is it is the worst pain I have felt in a long time.

****************THANK YOU'S********************THANK YOU'S*******
This weeks many heartfelt thanks to my neighbors Bonnie & David for the driving me around, calling to ensure I am up getting my granddaughter ready for school, taking her to bus stop. To Kelly & Ed for coming over and helping me clean up and put away dinner messes, play with the kids & for keeping Shyann overnight so she doesn't have to get up so early. Tracy for her wonderful kindnesses of bringing me coffee & bagels, cleaning up my kitchen, picking up dog poop, watering all my trees and shrubs, running paperwork to the Dr.
To Desiree for coming over and cleaning, doing laundry, taken kids to Dr. & picking up things I need here and there.

While I will probably never know why this happened or why God allowed it to happen, I know I am in this position for a reason and I am doing the best I can to thank and praise Him for all my friends & all my blessings!

May your day be filled with peace.

Namaste!

Thinking on your feet!

2006-11-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

I have always been an independent cuss, stubborn and loyal as the day is long, always saying yes to some project or helping someone out and so meticulous about mail, bills, etc. Well, all that changes last week with a wrenching twisting of my ankle, causing me to stay 4+ days in the hospital and come home with a walker & a wheelchair and I swear, an 80 pound temporary cast on my leg.

Oh joy, everyone is telling me if I think this one is heavy wait until the permanent one goes on!! I can't wait!!

I must say though, that I am finding joy in things I never thought I would like raised potty chairs, shower chairs, walkers with seats in them and the electric scooters in stores. I cried today when I walked into (oops, faux paus...was wheeled into ) the local lending closet and told I could take my pick of potty chairs. Now, I won't have to worry about getting up when I am done!

Then there are my friends. What can I say except without a doubt I have some of the most wonderful friends, co-workers and employers in the world! Seriously, I have a friend who comes over just to rub and warm my toes up when they get cold. Last week my dearest friend and her daughter showered me & today same daughter and friend drove to my home from over 30 miles away just to feed my dog.

Of course once they were here and saw I was preparing dinner, they took over, fed and walked the dog, put the kids in jama's, fixed their beds, gave me cold water and then went to the store and bought me a loave of bread.

While they were here another friend called to check on me & said she would be by tomorrow to do my laundry and bring boyfriend to do my floors.

At 8:00 sharp my neighbor came over, tucked the kids into bed, turned off my lights with the exception of a few I need, gave me my Percocet, covered me up, kissed my forehead and locked me in the house.

While I still am struggling with loosing total independence right now, I think I realize God wanted to show me how great my life can be when He slows me down to take a look and how awesome my support system is.

But, the biggest struggle is, I can't seem to think with one foot!! Going over bills, mail, homework, etc. all seems to be such a chore now and I guess I have gained new understand to the term 'thinking on your feet!'

Social Services???

2006-11-11T00:29:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has ever had a loved one really ill in the hospital has run into social services, the people who are wonderful and knowledgable when it comes to arranging for home health care, beds, walkers, etc.

These are the people who let you know what your insurance covers so you can get help. But what happens when the social services become unsocial? Am I whining here or what? But I need to vent.

Thursday, 2:00 p.m., I am sleeping when this young lady comes into my room and awakens me and introduces herself as social services. She hands me a 2 page copied print out for lending closets and starts to walk away. Wait! I have 3 small grandchildren at home, I will need some help and a wheelchair, toilet seat, shower seat and a pull up bar. She looks at me like I fell off the planet Bonkers and says, 'you can walk, you don't qualify for a wheelchair, call the lending closet for the rest of the stuff.' Out she goes.

Well, she was right and wrong about some things...I didn't qualify for the toilet and shower seat, but with a note from my doc stating I can't put weight on my foot, I can get a wheelchair. Dr. writes the prescription, Walgreens wants to fill it but needs specific order I can't stand...finally, I pay for the chair myself and of course when social services states they will once again send the same chick to see me, tell them unless she wants a walker up side her head, keep her!

Perhaps it should be noted at this time, that my insurance would cover a wheelchair, a hospital bed and the pull-up bar. However, the social services department did not want to do their jobs and once I have this equipment, the hospital administration will be hearing from me.

Sucks to be sick people!

Shattered Ankle/Shattered Dreams

2006-11-10T23:58:00.000-08:00

Blue seems to be the most appropriate color of ink to match my mood at 0100 CST living within 2 miles of the Phoenix International Raceway home of this week-ends NASCAR race and knowing I may just not make it!

You see, while my husband was settling in on a new job in another state Monday morning, I was proudly manuvering our RV into place for the wonderfully planned long week at the races. Everything was going perfect...I had dropped my oldest granddaughter off at the bus, picked up friends to help me move my RV & van and was doing a great job for never having driven something so large.

Well, as fate would have it for some reason, the people at PIR decided they wanted to make more room for more RV's and grated the area where we park, so now instead of solid pack dirt, we had loose sand and it was that sand that caused my week of horrors!

I parked the motor home, set up the awning, put out the chairs and stepped out the door. When I did, my left food gave a bit and as any person would do, I tried to catch myself and over correct myself with my right foot. It was like watching something in slow motion. My ankle bone protruded out the right side of my ankle, then back over to the left and finally settled in a weird angle on the left side.

Lets put it this way...my leg was facing north/south when I landed, however my foot was facing east/west with this huge bulge on it and all I could say was 'oh sh**, someone call 911 I just broke my foot.' I laid on the ground with someone holding me up so I wouldn't faint, someone else calling my name and keeping me focused so I wouldn't faint & all the time, all I wanted to do was pass out.

Kudo's to my pal Keith for sitting on the ground for over what had to be 30 minutes and holding my leg up so my ankle wouldn't snap through the skin...the only reason it didn't was due to Keiths determination that it wouldn't and he wasn't going to let the medics cut my sock off.

So, I spend a day and a half in the hospital waiting for my surgery, however the ER doc gave me some Versed and repositioned my ankle so they could splint it straight. I had blood drawn, XRays and an MRI and the MRI showed that I not only fractured my foot in three places, I fractured pieces of bone off of bone, broke it in one place so bad it had to be put back together like a jigsaw puzzle with pins, plate and screws and a bone graft.

The night nurse Andrea was wonderful...I can't say thank you enough to her for her compassion. She ensured each evening my bed had no wrinkles, propped up my leg and foot, brought me a snack and sleeping pill and kept ice on my cast. I rested well!

Dayshift was a crack up, but less compassionate. The 3rd day I was there, Michelle brought me a basin with water, soap, lotion, wash clothes 7 clean gown. While I took care of my personal needs, she made my bed while I sat in a chair. It ended there. I don't know where the communication break down occurred, but I was left sitting up for over 3 hours. While I could used the rest room on my own, I couldn't manuver well enough to get into bed. I called out for 45 minutes for help and was told each time someone was on their way (no one showed), I called the hospital operator and asked for physical therapy and left a nasty message, still no one responded.

Finally, my visiting physician came by and saw me crying and when I told her what had happened, I finally got assisted back to bed and medicated. Let me explain, I have osteo arthritis in my back so sitting for long periods is very painful. I also have a high pain threshold and rarely required medication. Once back in bed, I was medicated regularly the rest of the day for comfort.

That evening the CNA felt it was to hot in my room, so she cranked my heat to 65. It took a friend the next morning calling the nurses station before I got a blanket. And that day, while I moved all around my room and between the bed and chair with a walker, Physical Therapy was no where to help out or show me how to move around. My bed wasn't cleaned, I was left dirty, they refused to bathe me and medication was nil!! I finally used the walker to go to my room door and look down the hall.

There they were, a nurse and 2 physical therapists, sitting and standing around and horsing around until I yelled down the hall for help. What I got was...what is your problem & why are you coming down the hall to find me?? Better me ask why friends had to make my bed, bathe me and remain at the hospital for over 30 minutes to see I got pain medications.

I am home now! Neighbors are lovingly sitting with me and helping me out!

This Doesn't Feel Like Fun!

2006-11-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

With a kiss and a hug and he's on his way, my husband began his two and a half day trip to our new home area of Grays Harbor County Washington today....leaving me, his 3 grandchildren a dog and several turtles behind to wait for the sale of our home.

I thought this was going to be easy, piece of cake, but if that is so, then why when I woke up within 15 minutes did I have tears racing to beat one another down my cheeks? Why do I feel this house is suddenly cold and quiet even with 2 small children laughing and playing?

I promised him I would be strong and keep my head held high and I am already feeling like I might fall down, but I have so much to do right now and after all, I am on vacation and that will keep me busy as a swarm of bee's!

There is painting to finish, a dresser than needs refinishing, quilts to catch up on, trees and yard to take care of land of course...NASCAR week will be here Monday and then we will all be out at the track watching the events and visiting with friends.

I miss him so much. My best friend, my soul mate, my strength. I love you baby, see you soon!

Attorneys Are NOT God!

2006-10-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

Attorneys are NOT God, while most think they are somewhere right up there with God or higher, most are overpaid paper prostitutes that don't give a hooch about anything but themselves and the almighty dollar!

Sorry to insult any of you (no, I'm not really) because while there may be attorneys that are honest and hard working, most take your money, tell you how busy they are, never return your calls and then when you are in court, you are supposed to know what in blazes is going on with your case.

With the exception of businesses, people in the public eye, people needed wills and other daily necessities, what good is an attorney? Most courts are going to 'do it yourself service,' so if you can read and follow instructions, you are just as good as the attorney you are going to spend huge dollars on. Even the legal aid attorneys in Phoenix offer classes so you can learn how to do it yourself for divorce, wills, etc. That should speak volumes to everyone.

Then you have the arrogant ones who are walking around in their expensive suits and cheap shoes or cheap suits and expensive shoes who do nothing but collect your money & pay their legal assistants as cheaply as possible and they are the ones doing most of the work. And why are people intimidated by attorneys? They put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us, they must breathe or they will die like the rest of us, they must eat like the rest of us, so why let these people intimidate us?

There are some very good and honest attorneys out in this world, but most of them aren't any better than me or you and the only difference is why I have my Masters in one field, they have a degree in law.

***********ATTORNEYS MAKE MATTERS MORE COMPLICATED***********************

Thats right, if you want to draw something out for a longer period of time, want to spend your hard earned money & want to complicate your life, hire an attorney. They will do all they can to take your money and make your life more miserable, because after all, that is what you pay them for!!

I have had 3 grandchildren living with me basically since birth. I have had legal custody of 3 of them for over 2 years and not any help from the other grandmother on a regular or for that matter irregular basis. Rare basis perhaps but that is it.

Now that my home is on the market, my husband is leaving state for a new job, this other grandmother wants to be involved and keep me here, so she hired an attorney as opposed to sitting down and talking with me as I requested.

Thanks for reading, just sounding off.

Child Custody Battle

2006-10-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Would someone care to tell me why people who don't care enough about their own blood, would fight to gain custody of them or prevent another parent/grandparent for giving the children a better life?
Face it people, be honest with yourself here. If you don't see these kids unless it is on your own birthday or theirs, you never call them, you don't help support them, why fight for them when all of a sudden they will be moved to another state?
Can someone fill me in on this?

Depression Sucks!

2006-10-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

If you aren't one of the millions of people suffering from depression or someone that is depressed or works with those of us who are, you might want to skip this post.

I suffer from depression & anxiety and what is now being termed as a 'mood disorder.' What does that mean exactly? It means at 50 years old I am on medication that while it helps with the depression and anxiety, sinks me deeper into the pits because I am just blah!

I can't explain it, but I feel that the joy has been sucked out of my life by the medication they have me on. I don't laugh as much as I used to before medication. I have put on 12 unbearable pounds since medication. I sleep a lot which when you work night shifts you are supposed to sleep. I spend more time seeing Drs. than I ever wanted to in my life. I am taking more meds than I ever wanted.

My husband who is the love of my life, my soulmate, my world takes the brunt of my depression and tells me he doesn't notice any changes, but how can he not? I don't or rarely cook anymore (leaving him to fend for himself and 3 children). I am cynical most of the time, I don't want to do anything but what I want to do. It is the most horrible thing I have ever felt!

Any comments?

NASCAR AT PHOENIX MOTORHOME FOR SALE!

2006-10-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

UNIQUE AND FUN MOTORHOME FOR SALE...IN TIME FOR THE PHOENIX RACE IN NOVEMBER...DON'T MISS OUT!

This 1981 Class C Jamee has been the talk in the non-paved campground for several race seasons now and if you've been out to Phoenix International Raceway camping in the dirt & taken a shower, you have passed its way once or twice.

Perhaps like many you have made the often times comments to others like: 'I bet this is one of those things they leave here race after race.' Let me assure you, it isn't! This motorhome goes home with us and is well taken care of and cleaned after each trip to the track or the lake.

Maybe you are one of the people who have passed by and looking at our unique paint job have told your kids: 'Stay away from those people, they are one drugs!'
We aren't. We are hard working class folks like the rest of the fans, raising 3 grandchildren, enjoying friends and relaxation and talking NASCAR.

Are you one of the surprised ones that has asked to and been invited into our little home away from home? Weren't you glad you didn't judge us by our unique and fun paint job? Were you amazed at how clean and nice the interior is?

If you haven't had the opportunity to peek around, let me talk you through a tour:
Upon entering the checkered flag door and lexan protected screen door (placed so kids and pets can't tear it). The first thing you notice is the Petty Avenue plaque, Kyle, Richard and Andretti photo on the wall and then papa's fishing plaque. Sorry, no 60's signs of peace and love!

Looking forward, you notice the brightly painted yellow kitchen with it's fishing decals that really make it cheery and the nice window over the kitchen sink. That's right, there is a stainless steel double sink with lots of storage under the sink and working oven for kitchen utencils.

The microwave, 3 burner stove and oven work impeccably and the oven has baked blueberry muffins for our camping group every year for the last several years, not to mention tons of hashbrowns, meatloaves, etc.

How did you miss the closet and drawers when you first stepped in? But there they are waiting for your favorite racing jackets, headphones, binoculars, etc.

The bathroom is small, but who uses it anyway? Mainly, we are camping so the porta-johns get used during the day, we use the free showers (who wouldn't, all the free hot water you can stand?) while out at the track. But, the large medicine cabinet has a mirror for fixing your face or hair, the toilet works, the sink works, there are towel bars and a towel rack. Storage under the sink for cleaning supplies, paper, etc. The shower? Well, we have never used it so I can't say if it works or not. It is primarily used for storing flags, flag poles, folding chairs, etc.

Wow! The fridge is cold and operates on 110 volt or propane and has lots of room inside and a freezer to boot. It is a turquoise blue, but hey, some NASCAR memorbilia will cover it up just fine if the color bothers you.

The speakers for the stereo work, so you can crank up your favorite CD's and enjoy the day!

The bench style booth folds down to reveal a bed large enough for 2 adults, 3 small children or a small adult and 3 small children (we have used it all ways) & it is comfortable. Over the top of this is cabinets for more storage, and a large window for sleeping with a breeze over you.

Across from this booth is a smaller setting with 2 single comfy booth type chairs and smaller table. Sit here and watch television, eat, send postcards to friends, etc. Or, lay it down and you have a single bed ready to sleep in. More storage and windows overhead.

Up in the front is the roomy and comfortable queen sized bed over cab with windows at each end, large sky vent, cabinets and its own lighting. Close off the curtain and you can read without bothering the rest of the sleepers!

The curtains are all Tony Stewart fabric, the decor is eclectic but the mechanics of this rig are awesome!

Look up at the ceiling and the first thing you notice is there are no leaks or water spots anywhere. Thats right, unlike other rigs this old, this baby is leak free even around the skylights!

The large Coleman overhead A/C will blow you out searching for a jacket. I know, I suffer from Asthma and during the heat of the day, must be inside where it is cooler, this is a wonderful unit.

Hate waking up to the desert chill? You don't have to here! There is a heater and it works. Great for small children in the morning.

The great thing about the paint job is you can fit it to your unique team, family logo, favorite pastime, etc. It is a constant work in progress, so don't be afraid to run to the craft store, buy some paint and brushes and start your own designs.

New to this years theme is the checkered flag door, the driver quotes, the PIR logo and more. Its fun and if you don't mind being gawked at, talked about, pointed at and laughed about...it is for sale!

$2800 and its yours! For this price, we will throw in the McCullogh quiet generator and newer auxiliary and main batteries. You can't beat this price for a week at the races staying dry in the rain (and it will rain), getting out of the blowing dust (and the dust will blow), hiding away for awhile from all the activities.

It has aprx. 92K miles on her, starts up, runs great, just passed emissions with flying colors yesterday and is tagged until 5/2007. Still has decent tread on all the tires, has a rear tow hitch and a front boat hitch for launching boats. Extra enclosed storage on top.

Need more pictures? Email me, we have plenty: www.harleydumper@yahoo.com
www.oilman85037@yahoo.com

So, why are we selling? We are moving to Washington and sadly at this time, there are no NASCAR tracks, so we are letting our home away from home go for a great price and hoping you will send us pictures of the fun you will now enjoy!

Missing My Quilting

2006-10-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

For those of you that aren't quilters, this post will probably go right over the top of your head, unless of course you have some other passion or hobby that you haven't been able to do for awhile and are craving it like a woman craves chocolate.

WOW! The home is looking more and more empty with the exception of the extra bedroom that is almost filled to capacity with moving boxes. It has been a huge step of faith and trust in God over the last three years that He knows what He has in our future. If it wasn't for the Lord above, I think I would have thrown in the towel a few weeks ago.

Each box I carefully stack in the room brings me to facing the three large plastic see-thru bins that hold my quilting supplies & each time I pass one I want to open it and start a project, but I know if I do the rest of the world will be placed on hold and right now I can't afford to do that.

To much to do right now, so I must let it go for now!

Moving, such an exciting time and yet, I would sometimes like to sit down and pull every hair out of my head. What do you pack? When do you pack? Where do you put stuff while you are selling your home?

Then of course there are the legal issues we are dealing with that are still up in the air.

God Bless!

Doing what needs to be done!

2006-10-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in life we must jump up and move & be spontaneous and know that God is showing us the way and we must be strong enough to follow His guidance.

In two weeks, my husband of 25 years will be moving to another state. The dream we have shared for 20 years will become reality for him. There is fear as we were supposed to go as a team & we chose the town on God's guidance and a place to raise grandchildren in safety away from the big fear city of Phoenix.

Now, my husband will be leaving to take on a new job & I will be remaining behind with 3 grandchildren to fight a lawsuit the other grandmother has brought upon me to keep the grandchildren here.

I ask simply for prayers from those of you reading this. Prayers that this other grandmothers heart will be softened as never before. Prayers that the mother of these children can stand on her own and say to her...I want my children to be where they are safe! Prayer for my own strenth that I can go on by myself with my Fibromyalgia and other ailments.

I take this as just another test of my strenght and determination.

Thank you for praying!

Sitting in the Spiders Web

2006-10-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

I am always being asked with the life I lead how do I find time to make the quilts I do. I can always come up with answers, but I think the best answer is this:

'It is better to quilt than to sit like a fly in the spiders web waiting to be swallowed!'

I suffer from anxiety attacks mainly brought on over the last few years of having a job that deals with other people in crisis, my sons incarcerations, my son and daughter-in-laws drug abuse. Each crisis I believe brought me closer to where I am now. Now, I am not saying that I am not partially responsible, because I am. I don't eat properly, don't rest when I should, don't exercise enough, etc.

However, when your children are arrested (though they aren't children any longer), unless you absolutely just don't care, it does something to you internally. Then when you deal with people constantly wanting to harm themselves, others or are being harmed, that takes your body to another level. So, over the years, my adrenaline rushes and late night work hours have taken a hard toll on my body.

But, I was to busy saying I can get through this, I am strong, don't show any emotions, get back on the horse and ride, deplete my savings to worry about myself. No, I was to busy trying to help others and failed to notice the creeping pounds one at a time, failed to notice or give creedence to the wince of pain here and there until one day I felt that my entire body had a tooth ache, my heart pounded all the time, I broke out in sweats for no reason and I just wanted to run.

Adrenaline depletion one of my doctors said. Stress another one said. Fibromyalgia, anxiety disorder, mood disorder and arthritis. It isn't hitting 50 that got me down, it was running my body over and over again into that brick wall with the ups and downs and hard crashes along the way. It was pretending to be strong, pretending to not need sleep and now, the white flag of surrender waves at me.

A person that shunned as much as an aspirin for pain is now taking pain killers, anti-depression drugs, NSAIDS. I am taking more medication at 50 years old than my grandmother was taking when she died at 94. Not to mention I am in much worse shape than she was.

So, when people ask me about my quilting, I tell them it is a obsession. Because it has become one, but I believe it is that way because my body needs to relax and yet my hands need to be busy. My mind needs to be creative and yet calm and when I quilt, I am doing both. I am calming my mind and yet I am being creative.

Life is what we make of it. It is about giving to others, but not until we take away everything from ourselves. It is about having a pedicure once in awhile because hot pink toe nails are funky and cool. It is about spending $50 of the Christmas savings on a massage. It is about unplugging the phones and sleeping in until noon.

It is not about trying to be superwoman. Learn from me...take care of yourselves and if you ever need to talk, Email me, I am always willing to listen.

Does anyone care about the children?

2006-10-11T23:29:00.000-07:00

I was just wondering if anyone really cares about these little babies that grandparents get custody of and try to raise them in love while their own hearts break? Does anyone know how far reaching this epidemic has become? It is beyond the person at church or your neighbor, it is in the millions according to AARP. Millions of children living with grandparents trying to cling to hope there is more to life than being filthy, hungry, left alone. Does anyone care? Is anyone listening?

Everyday I go to work and work 12 hours. I come home to find my husband has gotten my granddaughter off to school on the bus, did the dishes and is preparing himself for work. I get up the next one that needs to go to school and off she goes. Kiss husband good-bye while he goes and works 10 hours a day.

Get 2nd child on bus, feed 3rd child, do laundry, clean and pick up the house, lay on the couch and lightly doze (after all, in 2 hours the 2nd one will be back from school). Get up, fix lunch for 2 and we all go lay down for a nap. Sleep 3 hours, get up fix dinner and pick up 1st child from the bus. Fix her a snack, sit down and do homework with her & give her a bath. Grandpa will get the other 2 when he gets home.

Take my shower, get dressed for work, walk children to neighbors, call husband on way to work give him update on what needs to be done when he gets home and it starts over. Grandpa comes home, picks up kids, fixes them dinner, feeds all the animals, waters the lawn, bathes 2, gets 3 ready for and to bed. Another day has come and gone.

Their smiles, hugs and love keeps us going. How exciting is it to sit and watch one child teach the others what she learned in school that day? How fun is it to take them for an ice cream cone and watch them smile at the simple things like it melting. Kissing a boo boo, putting on a band aid, picking out new clothes on Ebay, going to the local sports warehouse and playing games and racing up and down the stairs (well, they ride the escalator).

On my days off spending time in the back yard planting flowers and then lying in the grass a week later to see if they are growing yet. Telling them for the thousanth time there are no monsters like their parents told them to keep them confined to their beds. Seeing them try a new food or write a new word.

Does anyone care about the grandparents and what we go through? The money we spend to prevent these children from going back to the same environment? Legislators don't care, attorneys and judges don't care and if you see the latest CPS statitistics on kids that are being killed by their own parents or friends, NO ONE CARES!!

There are no special funds for those of us when we need to hire a top gun to battle our case in court. There is only closing out retirement accounts, selling heirlooms and furniture and trusting God will provide, because people don't care about things that don't affect them.

But doesn't it? When these children are with their parents and in school and failing, isn't that affecting your own childs abilities? When you tax dollars are paying for more teachers for these children and services, doesn't that affect you?

Moms day? Sleep, get up whenever, watch television all day (because she has quit two jobs and been fired from one for domestic violence...doesn't that affect you? She was working for a childcare and we want to know who is watching our children). Maybe bathe the other child she has, feed it and sleep some more. She doesn't care, but she has a new man in her life, she loves him she tells it to the children all day when she sees them.

She is not the stability these children need to follow their dreams of being a fire fighter and a singer, she won't see they finish their homework, they will go to school where their innocence is shattered by living in an area where parents and teachers don't care if their children survive.

If I thought it would help me, I would stand on the side of the road holding up a sign that stated.."Please help, need money for legal fees to save the lives of my grandchildren."

Maybe you will read this and pass on helping me out with a few dollars or maybe more if you can afford it. But the next time you hear about a child that is murdered by a parent or friend of a parent or foster parent, you will think of me, you will think about this blog and you will wonder if that was one of my 4 grandchildren and what would or could have happened if I had the money for an attorney to save them.

If you can't send money, you don't want to send money. Please, say a prayer for the safety of 3 children who are wise beyond their young years because of the life they lived before we took over their care.

Remember: 'To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.' ****PLEASE, MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE'S LIFE TODAY!****

Grandmother Raising Grandchildren needs Legal Funds

2006-10-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Were you raised by your grandparents due to your parents divorce, death, mental illness or other incapacity? Do you know that your grandparents loved you, supported you through tough times and never once looked back? Are you thankful for the love they gave you during your lifetime?

Are you a parent who due to incarceration, drugs or something else had to give your children to your parents to raise and know they did a great job of it and you are thankful for them being there when you couldn't be?

Are you a grandparent who is raising or raised your grandchildren when their own parents either couldn't or wouldn't?

Perhaps your a mental health professional, legal professional, judge, lawyer, police officer, fire fighter, case worker who has seen a family of children thrive because their grandparents stepped up to take care of them.

If you are any of the above or even if you just want to help others, I am in desparate need of financial assistance for a legal fund to save my 3 beautiful grandchildren from harms way

I took custody when they were removed from another grandparents home due to lack of facilities, filth, lack of water. I have had permanent custody for almost 3 years. In that time, these children have been caught up on their immunizations, had numerous dental procedures done to repair damage to their rotting teeth, had yearly check ups, much needed surgeries and 2 are now in school doing very well.

Now, the other grandmother and mother are suing me for custody and they have an attorney and I don't. I can't afford one.

If you want to help, please send money order or check to;
Jean Kester
P.O. Box 1652
Avondale, AZ 85323

Mark legal fund on it.

Thank you & I will keep posting the latest news.

Magic Wands and Mayhem

2006-10-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever dreamed of having a magic wand to wave over the world and making everything okay? You would take away everyone's pain, ease the shoulders of those heavily burdened, have everyone get along? Then, you awoke and realized life isn't about magic wands, just mayhem?

Well, not really mayhem I guess, but have you ever sat down and really wondered why some people want to make other people miserable? Why anyone would want to interfere in someone's elses life without reason? Why some people must hurt and manipulate and lie to make themselves feel better?

Well, that is the situation I find myself in at this time. A battle that I didn't want to take on, a battle that will cost me thousands of dollars to fight and fight I will because I must with a person who doesn't appear to be happy in her own life so over the last five years has made it her goal to make mine and my families life as miserable as possible.

My son's mother-in-law from the very first day I met her has disliked me and perhaps even hated me. The first time I was introduced to her, she walked right past me, didn't acknowledge I was in the room, got in her vehicle and left. Future DIL told me that was just the way her mom was at times. Oh, and that makes it right??

DIL got pregnant and mom would stay away for weeks and then call and get DIL worked up and upset over something in her own life and this went on and on. The day of the wedding as the couple is being counseled by the minister (her uncle), mother can be heard telling other family members how much she hates my son, that he doesn't belong in their family because he is not native american, etc. Other family members told her that many in their family weren't native americans & that shouldn't be the issue.

It was heart breaking for the couple & even more heart breaking when the 2 sisters told the man who was supposed to walk the bride down the aisle that he wasn't welcome at the wedding. The bride didn't find out until after the wedding was over.

Thus, it began and has been for almost 6 years, this battle with DIL family. No matter how I have tried to include them in things for the children, no matter how I gave DIL & son a home, Cinderellas step-mother and 2 sisters have always been there ripping and shredding where they can until at last DIL is filing for divorce & the battle is just beginning.

Break it down to the fact that I am raising DIL & sons 3 precious children and they have lived in my home since birth & I have had custody for almost 3 years now through the court, mom walked out on them a year ago this week permanently & dad was sent to prison 7 months ago or so.

DIL and son were living together, DIL working, son staying at home taking care of 4th child I don't have custody of when son was arrested on probation violation. DIL calls hysterical, confused, upset. She would have moved to the ends of the earth with him, she supports him, she will be there for him & here we are.

DIL has not paid sons fine as promised, took over $3000 of a tax return and blew it, has been pregnant by another man and lost the baby, is living with another man in her mothers home & almost a week ago appeared in court with her mother trying to get custody of the children back.

I went to court to see if my husband and I could leave the state with the children...realize DIL's family doesn't see kids all summer with exception of 2 birthdays, mothers day & a 4 hour visit.
I get in court and there the family is and they have an attorney with them to serve me visitation paperwork for grandma who now all of sudden has decided she must see these children to teach them her culture, her customs, to visit and call them.

PEOPLE, she hasn't done this since they were born! She see's them when she wants which is rarely and never has she once just called to tell them she cares. She hasn't sat up with them when they were sick or held them while they were going under for surgery.

I am numbed by this whole thing and just amazed that one woman can cause my life to be MAYHEM!!

Ebay Blogging

2006-09-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Well, Ebay is now the latest to try blogging and I must say that is where I have been the past few days, busy blogging over there. There is more incentive over there. The first thing is they are offering prize money for the blogs if yours is chosen and the second thing is you actually get feedback from the people that read your blog which is more than I can say for my postings here.

While I have been encouraged from others on blogger to keep working at it, I will get people to read mine soon, somedays I feel I am just writing my own diary that no one peeks at.

Today, I received a thank you card and three pictures from a family in NY that I sent a quilt to since they were flooded out of their home. These people are police dispatchers, but the pictures of their young son with his happy smile all curled under one of my quilts was the best thing I could have seen today. It was exciting!

Here are some more quilts I am selling for charity...$35 each or $$65 for both. They are 45" x 47 1/2" and can be used for a wall, your feet while watching television, perhaps a family member in a nursing home, a baby, use your imagination, these are really nice and have some hand applique on one of them.

I originally was asking $60 each knowing all the work I have put into these, but recently had several people tell me on my Ebay blog that while they are worth it, I should lower the price because people want more of a bargain instead of handmade quality. Is that true? In a world filled with drive-in wedding chapels, drive in churches, drive-thru food and banking and yet few drive-in theaters anymore where a family can go and take their own food and sit in the back of the truck and watch movies....I would hope that people out there would want something someone has put their time and heart into.

What do you think? I'd be interested in your opionions.

Asking for Prayers

2006-09-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

I believe in prayer and I definitely believe in my God above and all that He has brought me through. He has a plan in my life and I feel it so strongly moving and gently pushing me forward.

My husband and I are raising our 3 grandchildren and we need prayer. If you are Christian, Jewish, Buddist, etc. please pray for us. Here is the situation.

Father is in prison for a probation violation. He calls children weekly, writes to them several times weekly and they see him 1-2 times per month. They miss and love their daddy & they know why he is in prison and they tell him all the time he should have been good.

Mom just picked up and left last year with baby #4. Mom does Meth, has spent over $7000 since December on Meth (sure not her babies), rarely calls, only sees them when it can make her points (birthdays, holidays, etc.) was pregnant with another mans child (supposedly lost child), sleeps all the time, doesn't work and brings baby #4 to us as much as she can. We don't mind that part.

We have permanent legal guardianship and now my husband has the possibility of getting a job in a small quiet town in Washington where we can live with our windows open without fear of a break in, or walk down the street without fear of being shot (live in Phoenix now).

We have to go to court to get permission to take children with us out of state. They have lived with us since birth, other grandmother has nothing to do with them at all. I don't think the judge will have a problem, but I do believe mom and grandmother will try to pull something.

Pray this is Gods will and it will be done!

God Bless and Thank you all.

A thank you from Broome County New York

2006-09-12T00:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you reading my blog who might question my sincerity or honesty (I can't blame you in todays era), I simply ask you to read the following post that was posted to 911care.com, a website that helps dispatchers out:

From: Pandich, James C. Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 6:53 PM
To: kevin@pstc911.com
Subject: Ranny Jean the Quilting Dispatcher
Hello Kevin –
Greetings once again from Broome County NY! Just wanted to drop you a quick note and let you know that we just received 5 beautiful quilts from Jean Kester from Avondale AZ. She made these quilts for five children of our dispatchers affected by flooding in June and July of this year that the members of your group have shown such generous support to. Once again we would like to thank you and everyone involved for the support, kindness and generosity that all of you have shown.
God Bless!
Jim PandichAnd the Broome County NY 911 Center

These are real people that I quilt for with families and loved ones that need our help, that need YOUR help. Won't you show these dispatchers and their families that you care? Won't you take the time to send me your pocket change for a day or week?

I am not asking you to send me a million dollars, a thousand dollars, a hundred or even fifty dollars, I am asking you to send me your pocket change so I can help these people in need.
If you don't want to do that, do as one anonymous donor did recently and pick a few of the things I need below, order them and mail them to me.

Here is a list from a company called Connecting Threads:

1.) 20908 Neutral Thread 19.90 (Set)
2.) 20909 Pastel Thread 7.95 (2) (Set)
3.) 20910 Bright Thread 15.90 (Set)
4.) 20911 Country Thread 23.85 (Set)
5.) 20912 Varigated Thread 23.90 (Set)
6.) 80932 Need to Know Card 5.95
7.)80595 Triangle Measurement Card 5.00
8.)81035 Perfect Binding Card 5.95
9.)35537 Quick Quilts for Holidays 9.98
10.) 44243 French Braid Quilts 17.46

All you need to do is go to www.connectingthreads.com and place an order and have it mailed to me at:Jean Kester P.O. Box 1652 Avondale, AZ 85323. It is really that easy. I don't get your credit card information, all I get is the order you placed and hopefully you will include your name and at least city and start so I can thank you on this blog.

**Don't forget, I have several quilts for sale, contact me for further details.

Fall Leaves Quilts

2006-09-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

Looking at these quilts, you can almost feel the dew in the air as the seasons quickly change from summer to fall. The quilts are

47 1/2" x 45" and are a varied combination of the pumpkin/sunflower pattern. I have made 2 of these quilts. the first is the one shown with the pumpkin/squash and it is hand appliqued with gold thread that makes the veins stand out and shine. The second quilt is almost identical with the exception that the applique on it is machined with green thread. These are perfect quilts for a lap quilt or as a wall hanging.

I had these quilts listed in Ebay for a charity auction for the National Autism Center, however, no one bid on them though I had plenty of lookers.

I am asking $60 per quilt or $100 for both with 15% of the proceeds going to Autism research.

You can feel safe ordering these by going through paypal to complete the deal.

If you have any further questions, please contact me so I can share my quilting ministry with you. I believe while I may not be world famous, my quilts are made with love and blessed by above.

Playing in the rain

2006-09-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

How many times as children did we splash in the puddles after the rain and watch as it fell from inside? Well, yesterday once again it poured on our side of town in Phoenix (I say this because my husband was working in another area that got no rain at all).

Instead of keeping my grandchildren inside, I allowed them to go out in the pouring rain and play and that is what they did. They played old games like red light/green light and duck,duck goose, the laughed, they chased each other and when the rain was done they walked through the puddles splashing and laughing.

Sometimes, we keep children indoors for our convenience, because it is easier on us, but today, I want to challenge anyone reading this, let your inner child go and let your children play in the rain. Today, they are happy, loved and still talking about the rain and wanting to know if it will rain today.

Of course, you do need to not let them out if it is a thunder storm, but a gentle cool rain is just what most kids need.

God Bless you all!