Wow what an awesome worship service yesterday.  Not only did we have the choir from Lighthouse Ministries who gave their testimony  on how God made changes in their lives but we heard a personal testimony from Pastor Joe’s son.  If ever there was a young man that God snatched up and said get with the program, it was certainly him and thankfully he listened.    As christians we all believe that God changes lives and speaks to people but when you see a young man that was angry, hurting and lost standing there telling you God pulled him thru, it makes it all worth while.   I will keep him in my prayers that he stays focused on God and keeps the faith as he finishes up the things he needs to do and can then begin to get his life on course again.

I’ve only been there 5 weeks or so but he’s an amazing pastor and even more so when you listen to the walk him family has walked and kept the faith.   That’s a God thing for sure.

I finished the binding early Saturday morning so number 5 of the fire house quilts is finished and ready to go.   It’s a simple Magic Tile pattern but I think it came out pretty. This is another one where I used the squares Robert pieced for the backing.   Tried something new and quilted stars in an all over pattern.    Not perfect but for a first time thing they aren’t horrible.    Hope someone will love it.

Next weekend I want to baste and quilt the one I’m donating to Krawling for the Fallen and then I think it’s time for a brake from the red white and blue.

Oh I will be so happy and feel I accomplished an amazing thing when that headline says number 31 done.   But till then I plod along.   Robert has helped piece one and sewn 2 backings for me but the anticipated help from the ladies that contacted me before I began, never materialized.  No worries though, it will just take longer to complete than I anticipated.    But that’s ok cause it is turning out to be much more costly than I originally planned as well.   If I sew slower I can spread out the costs as well.

After this one I have 2 more ready for binding then I need to baste and quilt some more.   I think there are 17 left to plan, cut and piece and 5 more cut up and ready to piece.  Here is number 4 in all it’s completed glory.   These is one of the pieced backs Robert made for me.  The leftovers weren’t large enough to back one but at $10 yard it helps to cut them up and use the leftovers.  I really like the idea and will do some more like this.

Now you know once I saw these shoes I had to blog about them and it’s no insult, Shannon herself called them her Ompalumpa shoes.  I have no idea how to spell that.   It certainly made a fashion statement.  I probably would not have noticed if it was just the socks or just the shoes but together . . ..   hmmmmm.  Now she wants to go back and get the purple converse shoes.

I’ve taken to labeling my photos to stop people from using them somewhere else.   You never know, the shoe company may want this photo for a new logo.

Wow it seems like all I ever post about are my fire house quilts.  Lately all I ever really have time for is cleaning house, laundry, work, church and trying to get those quilts done.    I finally got the 3rd one done that can be considered “complete”.   I’m not considering them done till they are ready to wash and deliver.  Hoping to have # 4 tonight as it only needs abut another 45 minutes of hand stitching to complete the binding.    Of course baby dog had to get him some blankie time while I’m doing the binding.  Luckily I plan on washing them all before they are delivered.

Toilet paper – like tampons no one wants to talk about it.

So, being a life long user of Charmin, I’ve never really thought about changing.  I also have always wondered about the massive TV advertisements for household items.  Does anyone ever really pick a brand based on commercials?  I mean really, bears use it so you should too?

About a month ago I was in the store and the clerk was stocking Cottonell and I thought about the clean enough to go commando commercial so figured what they heck, I’ll try it.  I’m perfectly happy with Charmin but why not, it was cheaper.  So after giving it a full month of use, I can honestly say . . . . . I really do prefer Conttonell.   I can’t say why since I was happy with Charmin, but I like it better.  It feels like a good product and is a better value.  I felt clean and that is the function of toilet paper.

So there you have my monthly product review.  Don’t get me started on those Scott and other terrible brand.  I have no desire to wipe my backside with recycled sandpaper.

I also used the 4 day weekend to re-visit my paper piecing.  I did take a class several weeks ago but I don’t know why my brain struggles so much with the format.  Seems like I pick out a whole lot more than I sew and takes me the first 40 minutes I sit down to remember how to start it.   But,I have 24 of the 30 fans I need for the main quilt completed.  After I finish  the remaining 6, I get to figure out how to sew curved pieces.  This should be fun.  And just when you think it’s done, the borders are paper pieced also.   I don’t have any real color scheme in mind I’m just using up my box of asian fabrics.

While I had a 4 day weekend I moved the dogs out of their room and set them up in the dining room and kitchen for their day time area.  I’ve accepted they will likely never be allowed to roam free when no one is home but I’m not going to make them spend days in a kennel.  Besides this way they have a tile floor if anyone has an accident.   And, now my sewing room has a window and we have a dining room.  Unfortunately I gave away 2 of my dining room chairs and am using the other 2 for quilting but I think I’ll look into benches for the table since my room is so narrow.  Cookout guests got to eat sitting on what chairs I had and exercise balls.  Here’s the new room set up so Robert can sew same time that I do.

Well our cookout was nothing fancy just the neighbors and a co-worker of Shannon.  Thank you MS. Tonia for joining us.   I made all the sides and Robert cooked the meat on the smoker.  This might possibly have been the best chicken I’ve eaten and it was definitely the best corn I’ve eaten.   Nothing fancy on the seasoning just some tex joy, let it come to room temp and put it on the smoker for several hours.   We tried cherry wood this time and it gave it a wonderful smoke flavor without over powering like the hickory and mesquite did.  To finish it off, I wrapped corn in bacon (no reason except bacon is awesome) then we smoked it for an hour and put on the gas grill for 10 minutes to crisp up the bacon.  I didn’t get a finished corn picture as they gobbled it up fast as I could plate it.   Saturday the leftover beef and chicken were dinner and last night the leftover pork because some tasty pork sandwiches.