What it's Worth

I've been making a few trips to Hobby Lobby in the last few months to visit the framing department.  I've embroidered blocks, had them framed and then given them as gifts.  As they're filling out the paperwork, the most awkward question comes up.  "What is the price of your work?"  They need to fill this out for insurance, just in case.  I felt so put on the spot the first time they asked me.  I haven't sold anything before, what do I tell them?  I was really just using scrap floss that I already had lying around...  The block is no longer part of a set...  The first time I went Dustin went to and told me to really drive the price up.  He's pretty proud of my work.  My wedding gift was a quilt I had made and donated to an event for auction.  He bought it back. 

I'm getting more used to the question and am coming a little more prepared with an answer.  I've even thought about making things to sell like on Etsy or as people want things.  I've also had a dream since I started quilting at the age of 17 to quilt for people.  They would bring me quilt tops they have done themselves or found and I would quilt and bind it.  I've had that dream come true this summer when one of my ladies brought me a quilt someone on her husband's side had made, but never finished.  I love old hand-stitched scrap quilts.  It's where I got my start.  This quilt is absolutely stunning and it's still a little weird to put a price on it to charge her for my work.  Before I set a price, I researched a little and found that some Amish women charge $1.50 per yard of quilting thread.  It's just something nobody really does anymore and I based my price off of this finding.


It's still just weird even thinking about pricing some of my things to sell.  Quilts to me are of so much more worth than their monetary value. 

One of my most prized possessions is the 9 patch I finished for my Grandpa Goudy.  I remember the day he died.  All I wanted was to wrap that quilt around me.  The only problem was that it was at the Iowa State Fair.  And then when I was up there as an usher, I went into the 4-H building practically everyday just to look at it.  It has been out on my bed and now our guest bed ever since I brought it home.  I had this put together to hang in my sewing room as soon as it's painted.  Just a little reminder as to how I got my start as a quilter.


Then I have the jean quilt Grammy made me for a graduation gift.  Grandpa joked that it was so heavy I would have to call them from UNI saying I was trapped under it!  It kept me warm all those winter nights on the windy campus and kept me warm in my freezing little apartment.  I also hauled it to camp and Lu, Alison, and I laid on it many times in the middle of the Lodge lawn spending precious moments reading our Bibles and journaling.

I could keep going telling stories about all the quilts I've made or helped work on, but I'll save that for another blog!  :)  As long as I keep having friends to give my quilts to, a husband to brag about my work and cats to cuddle on them, I'll keep making quilts as long as the Lord will let me!  :)

Canned

Thankfully, this post has absolutely NOTHING to do with my employment, because let's be real.  I LOVE MY JOB!

This week has been the start of canning season!  Our garden is in full swing and full of zucchini, snap peas and green beans!  The tomatoes are coming on but still on the small side and we picked our first cucumber the other day. 

Last year was my first time helping with canning since I was a little girl at Donna and Errol's.  Talk about ambitious!  Errol had a huge garden and I remember the racks full of tomatoes and I also remember the shelves overflowing with jars of vegetables and meat in the basement.  I also remember the HEAT!  Donna didn't often run the air due to Errol's health and him going outside a lot.  She also didn't run it during canning season.  Peyton and I started helping but then it started to get too hot and we skedaddled to the living room to lay on the huge blue pillow.  We only helped with peeling the tomatoes after they had been given a steam bath.

With dreams of growing a bigger garden and plenty of jars from the wedding, I canned green beans yesterday for the first time.  There is something super peaceful about picking the beans while your husband puts cages on tomatoes a few rows away as the cats wander between.  Then the next relaxing stage is sitting on the deck snapping the beans while the cats are laying at your feet.  Next the steamy canning process begins when I have Bonnie Blue peeking over the bar top at what I'm doing and trying to distract me by being where she shouldn't be.  The process was actually a lot quicker than I thought it would be and before I knew it, I had seven quarts filled and I heard the pops of the lids giving me encouragement one at a time.

Today I beat the heat and headed out with the dog to do some more peaceful picking and got 4 more quarts canned and ready to join the others in the basement.  I love the feeling of being self-sufficient.  It's something Dustin and I talked about as a dream both of us shared when we first started dating.  Right now we're putting this up for us to use.  How long before we need to plant a larger garden and we're canning for our larger family?  I hope that someday our kids will have as much joy and satisfaction about putting their own food away that we have right now.

One Quick Trip

Another summer without working at Village Creek Bible Camp is coming to a close.  I knew I was going to visit this summer and Momma wanted to go to Horsefalls too.  We finally had a time to go and visit Alison and Autumn, and then it turned out Lu was going to be there too!  I don't think we could have accidentally planned that any better!

Momma and I started out Thursday morning and made it right about noon.  I walked to the dining hall and thought they had finished serving, but I got the school schedule and camp schedule mixed up!  That allowed for some time to visit and get practically tackled in the craft room by Lu!  It was so wonderful to see so many familiar faces and lots of new ones too!  I even saw many of my past campers!  I talked to many more people over lunch and Camie came and saw us all together and just said, "Everyone's together!  Such a happy time!" 

A part of the afternoon was spent hanging out in the craft room per usual when Lu and I worked there.  It was just like old times except I didn't have to do anything and that was weird!  I didn't have to help campers or other staff!  I was just there to visit.  I hardly knew what to do with myself!

 Momma and I then went to Lansing to go wander aimlessly around Horsefall's spending too much money, but having a great time!  I went with intentions of stocking up on embroidery blocks and floss and I sure didn't leave empty handed!  I'm excited to start on new sets and make more quilts!  We also visited the hardware store where we saw Laurie and Dani!  I missed that little girl!  We then headed for the usual day off pit stop at The Skinny Dip.  Dave brought Sam by too and then Laurie and Dani came back and then Alison, Lu, Tums, and Val joined up too!  It was such a cheerful trip filled with cheeseballs, chicken strips and ice cream!

Momma and I stayed in Decorah that night and after a couple games of Rummy it was time to call it a night!  The next morning we headed back to camp for more visiting and even a golf cart ride with Camie and a quick catch up conversation.  I have missed that place and those people!  After a quick lunch, it was time to head for home.  As I said goodbye to Tums and Alison the waterworks got turned on!  You would have thought I was saying goodbye after a whole summer instead of just an overnight trip!  They mean that much to me and I miss them that much because they don't live closer!  The good news is that I'm going back to camp in September as a camper!  I'm going for the Crafting and Quilting retreat!  :)  It's going to be perfect!  :)

Fireworks with the Flower Girl

Dustin and I went back to the basics this weekend when we joined the crew at Holiday Lake.  His parents and 3 other couples have a lot set up with their campers.  Dustin and I took a tent and set up across the trickling crick from them and blew up our air mattress.   Three nights on that thing and I will tell you loud and clear that I have not missed that at all since I moved out of my apartment.

The weekend was so much fun!  As I brought two armloads of blankets I hear my father-in-law ask, "You think you'll need all those?"  I used all but one on that first night.  It was a little chilly!  On the 4th, Dustin and I fixed breakfast on the grill and changed into our suits and headed to the beach.  Dustin sprayed me with 100SPF, but after a long day in the sun, you can easily tell where he missed.  My hip is still burning like crazy, but most every place else is still as pale as can be!  I came to check on Bonnie Blue and then I was headed back to the lake.  It is always such a fun time laughing, sitting around the fire, and driving the Rangers around.  We all loaded up the golf carts and Rangers and drove Lakeshore.  We make our own fun!  We stopped at a dock for a while to get out and the kids in tow threw rocks in the lake before we loaded back up and drove some more.  It is always such a hoot!

Saturday, Dustin and I woke up to rain falling.  Inside the tent it sounded like a continuous stream of Black Cats going off.  We headed for home pretty quick to clean up, eat breakfast and play with Bonnie before the rain quit and we headed back.  Clint and Kathy came down with Edy.  Edy was the flower girl in our wedding.  We always have a great time when all of us get together!  Edy played with the other kids for a while before we headed to the beach to stake out our spot for fireworks.  I think I could've eaten my weight in Kathy's cheesy salsa dip while we waited!  There was a boat parade and then we waited for it to get dark.  We could not believe how many people were still swimming in that cold water that we hardly got in the day before!  It finally got dark enough for the fireworks show to start.  Edy was cold so she sat wrapped in a blanket beside me.  It was an AWESOME show!  Edy and I discussed our favorite type and color of fireworks while sitting mesmerized by the display!  After the show we had more fun eating BBQ chicken and garlic bread, laughing and talking, and sitting by the fire.  Edy was going to stay in the tent with Dustin and I, but didn't make it and ended up falling asleep in the camper with Bella.  Truly, I didn't even know what time Dustin came to bed until this morning.  Him and Clint went driving around the lake with Steve and Shawn.  This morning it was told they quit at 3am!  Too late for this girl!

Before breakfast, Dustin, Edy and I went for a drive around the lake.  Dustin and I like to pick out our houses for 'someday'.  I told Edy about this and she started picking out houses for us!  We also acted like the Ranger was a roller coaster and were screaming by 9am!  After breakfast and goodbyes, it was time to pack up and come home.  It was a wonderfully long, happy weekend.  The only disappointing this is never getting out new tent back in the bag it came in...

Honeymoon Hideaway

It's been a few days since we've been back from our wonderful honeymoon.  The mountains were beautiful, but the fields of corn were a welcome sight!  We left earlier than planned on a Thursday morning and headed to Paducah, Kentucky.  I took plenty of water with me to sip on the way.  A couple hours before we arrived, Dustin looks at me and says, "You better slow down on your drinking, I'm not stopping until we get to Pinocchio!"  "You mean Paducah?"  I wanted to stop at the National Quilt Museum while I was close.  Dustin even enjoyed it too!  There were some really great wildlife quilts.  I asked how quilts get into the museum and I know I'm not up to that level yet, but maybe someday...  I also talked to the curator of the museum about a quilt I'm going to finish for one of my ladies.  Nobody knew the pattern so I figured I could ask the experts.  She brought out this encyclopedia of patterns, that included their publishing date, the magazine or paper it was published in, and the various names it was published under.  It was very fascinating and I really enjoyed my time there!

The next day we headed to Nashville.  We had a hotel close to the Opry.  We did so much while we were there!  There were so many people when we went downtown for the Country Music Hall of Fame, the American Picker store, the bars/live music and even when we went to the Opry Mills Mall right next to the Opry.  It was very fun not to have any really strict agenda and we could just pick things to do and go do them.  We also only ate at 2 chain restaurants the entire trip! 

Saturday night we went to a Grand Ole Opry show and I finally saw Little Jimmy Dickens!  We did a backstage tour the next day, but we were not able to go on stage and stand in the famous circle which was a little disappointing.

On Sunday night we headed to the Wild Horse Saloon and did one of my favorite things...  LINE DANCING!!!  This place is famous for it and had a huge dance floor and live music broken up by lessons. 

Monday we headed to our cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains!!!  It was FABULOUS!  My aunt had mentioned this place that she had stayed and was able to get us a pretty great deal.  We slowly drove the main drag through Pigeon Forge before getting off the main road and headed for our cabin.  We loved it and the man I started the honeymoon with was not the one I ended up heading back for Iowa with.  Dustin was not excited to travel and take off of work.  He didn't like all the people in Nashville, but 5 minutes after reaching the cabin, he started planning next year's trip!

We stayed one whole day at the cabin without traveling and without seeing anyone!  Between hot tub trips and playing cards, the day was done and we were eating steaks for supper.  We also explored Pigeon Forge for a day and then Gatlinburg for another day.  In Pigeon Forge, we went to the Hatfield and McCoy's Dinner Show.  So much good food was eaten and we watched a very funny show!

While we visited Gatlinburg, we both tried moonshine, I tried the much weaker and flavored stuff, and we did a ski lift to a scenic overlook at the top of the mountain.  It was high and that lift went basically straight up in the air!  Dustin was a little fearful, especially when it stopped while we were in the middle...  I just laughed at him!

It was a spectacular view!  We really had a wonderful time, and according to Dustin, we're going back next year!  He hardly left the hot tub, so basically, we'll be getting one of those soon too!