Travels full of Treasures...

These Travel adventures are Treasured experiences.
Serving others...

"...by love serve one another." 

~Galations 5:13~

I have said this before, that it usually takes me a week to get a post together and up, since I do it a little at a time because of my work schedule and wanting to spend time on the weekends with Mr. B, family or friends.  I was already started on this post about our kids' mission trips, so that helped a bit. :o)

So, I am linking up with Jenny's amazing

  Alphabe-Thursday "T".

& Alicia's fantastic 

Friday Photo Flashback.

Thank you to all those on the missions' field all around the world, as well as, serving those in their hometowns.

The time was spent helping others, and yet, Girly~Twirly, Girly~Whirly, Heartbreaker & Mr. B's agree that much was given back into their lives during their trips.

Here are video slideshows of These Treasured Trips in the order of years that they were taken:

2007: Girly~Twirly in Honduras

2008: Heartbreaker in Nicaragua

2009: Girly~Whirly on Roatan Island

~& here is a past video slideshow (I had posted on a previous post) 

of my hubby serving on various Army relief and training missions.
& the little ones he loved meeting.

Thank you to all the military and their service!

"...Inasmuch as you have done it onto the least of my brethern, you have done it unto me."   ~Matthew25:40~

...no matter where we are and what we do, may we do it unto the Lord.

Blessings & Aloha!

...as always, I do enjoy your comments and get over to reply to them, but it may take a while...
Thank you for taking a look around my little corner of the blogger world. :o)

& soon it will be my 100th post and I will have a giveaway for an 8x10 drawing and also giveaways of some gift certificates to be used towards a drawing order.

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The following drawing orders were given as thank you gifts for service and support.

(Again...if you are new to my blog (with every post, I try to share some samples of past orders) and the artwork that I do...each drawing is drawn entirely with an individual's name).

This was a thank you ordered by one of her friends.

This one was ordered for this individual who loves lighthouses, by family members.

This was for a firefighter. It was taken from the photo taken in New York after 9/11.

This military one was for a thank you for the unit's commander.

This was drawn for Mrs. Patty Shinseki, when her husband was the Chief of Staff of the Army.

This was for a thank you gift for a special instructor ...of her sweet little pup.

Stitches...at a standstill.

First...here is another past photo of our two daughters...who are 2 Sweet Sisters:

& here's a past photo taken of our daughter Girly~Twirly at one of her Kappa Delta Sorority's get-togethers.

I have said this before..."I try to do at least one post a week...cuz i have a hard time finding time to do one, much less any more than that!" haha

So, this week along with Jenny and her awesome Alphabe-Thursday S. 

& Alicia and her fantastic Friday Photo Flashback.

...this post is linked up with Amy's 3rd sensational Spring Quilt Festival.

It would have been "easy-peasy" for me if I was able to link up my recent "Q" post for the Quilt Festival, since it was about some favorite family quilts and my unfinished ones.

(*side note* I am a novice quilter so love to learn all the time...like blogging...I am always learning something new!)

Since this has to be a new post for the Quilt Festival, I thought I would focus on my unfinished ladybug quilts.

(*Side note*: I have always loved the Grandmother's Flower Garden quit pattern... Here is a beautiful vintage one that I found on the search engine: bing.com

"...the flower garden pattern is also known as grandmother's flower garden or french rose garden." & "i did a little research and this pattern was revived in the 1920's from the hexagon mosaic pattern from the 1830's. in the late 1920's there was an american quilt revival which incorporated a new color palette of pastel prints. quilts made from these fabrics are sometimes referred to as depression quilts. the flower garden quilt pattern is supposedly still the most popular quilt pattern today."  -Julie King- 


I was able to hear from Julie and ask if she wouldn't mind me sharing her grandmother's lovely quilt. I love the little hexagon Shaped... Scrappy fabric prints that are Stitched together to form the Stunning flowers.) I've heard that hese hexagon shapes are often put together as "paper-pieced", but never learned what that meant.  I didn't cut paper into hexagons for my quilt, but just cut the fabric into hexagon shapes, and sewed them together edge to edge.

Well, when Girly~Twirly became a Kappa Delta in her first year of college (Fall of 2001) and I learned about their chapter's ladybug mascot...I thought how cute would it be to make a quilt for her with ladybugs. And I pictured in my mind... little hexagon pieces of red and black stitched together like a Grandmother's Flower garden, but instead of flowers... into ladybugs.

I showed a few photos of that progress in a slideshow on this recent post, which is also about some family quilts that are special to me.

I had so much fun buying small strips of red and black fabric, whenever I would go to a fabric store (which was pretty frequent!). My goal was to have this quilt pieced and quilted by the time she started her 2nd year of undergrad ...um that would have been in the Fall of 2002....

Here is another picture taken, when my hubby was in Iraq and Girly~Whirly, Heartbreaker and I went up to see her at one of her sorority functions in 2003.  ...and still her quilt was not finished.

And then in the Fall of 2004, our other daughter Girly~Whirly also became a Kappa Delta girl!

So, I started cutting out hexagon pieces for a ladybug quilt for her too...

They are supposed to be twin size quilts. But so in the hopes of completing them faster, I had entertained the thought of maybe appliquing the ladybugs that I do have onto a solid background (...but I really like my initial plan of separating and joining the ladybugs with a variety of white on white patterned hexagons.)

So, my goal is that I will get these ladybug quilts completed...  Although, instead of a twin size...I have thought of crib size quilts from these ladybugs for each of the girls' first babies (I have a blue and white one started for Heartbreaker is also unfinished(!), so it may turn into one for his first baby. The blue and white one was my very first attempt at piecing...).  (My hubby did bring up the fact that I will have to have a quilt for all of our future grandchildren. But, I actually have quite a number of quilts started...enough for grandbabies of each of our children-Girly~Twirly, Girly~Whirly, and Heartbreaker!

These are white fabrics that I am using for the "linking hexagons" between each of the ladybugs....and with the odd excess scraps, I have started another "scrappy" crazy quilt as I go.

Ah...so, here it is 2010 and this is the Story of Stitches...at a standstill...
just a couple out of the many other unfinished ones and so many others I would love to do! I am such a novice at quilting, so I would love to get back into a guild so that I can learn from those that have so much experience!)

So a Sincere "thank you!" to all of you who have Stopped by...and for your understanding of my joining in with more than one awesome meme.

Blessings & Aloha!

Here are some ladybug drawings...

EDITED* added on June 1st*
(I realized that some are new to by blog, and after an email from another blogger...I should have explained about the drawings :o) Every drawing that I do is drawn entirely with a person's name. The whole image is with a name. I appreciate your interest and please do contact me for info or ordering any image...using any name. :o)

This was from a photo of the original, so the image was not as bright as it actually is.

This is a photo of the same image after I added color. Since it's a photo, it also looks like the mat was not straight, but it is a fishbowl distortion from the lens.

...and this one was one of the quilt-related drawings that I had on my previous "Q"post (Quintessential Quilts and Quilting Quandary)...

***Oh! Here's a favor to ask...If you are a quilter or seamstress, please let me know what type of sewing machine you use... I gave my sewing machine to our daughter Girly~Twirly and am looking for another...I would like to find one that also does monograms...and is "user-friendly" :o)***

***also...it is hard to believe, but I am coming up on my 100th post...please check back, since I will be having a giveaway on that post for a Personalized Sketches artwork and a special discount. I just noticed that this is my 92nd post.*** Thank you to all those that have stopped by and it is so fun meeting you :o)

Quintessential Quilts and Quilting Quandry

My very first recollection of a quilt was a scrappy, crazy quilt that my dad's mom's oldest sister (Great Aunt Mary) made for us.

Funny, but when I was little and someone would mention Great Aunt Mary...I always thought they were just talking about my dad's sister, who was named after her. And wondering why, was she called "Great" Aunt Mary and why my dad's other sisters...Aunt Annie or Aunt Kathy were not also called "Great" Aunt Annie and "Great" Aunt Kathy...cuz I thought they were equally as "great".

I remember having so much fun looking at all the scrap pieces of fabric....As a little kid, I would lay on it and just imagine what piece of clothing was made from each or make up stories about the pieces.  We were just visiting my dad, and I meant to take a picture of that quilt, but I forgot!

Quintessential: most typical representation; perfect

(The following quilts are what I call quintessential, for me they are perfection & cherished even more, since they were made by family...a "most typical representation" of the creativity, skill, and love that was put into each stitch and time spent.)

This quilt was one that was made (around the1940's or 1950's): 

...by my dad's Aunt Ann on his dad's side.

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These are some of the many quilts that my mom made. She didnt start doing quilts until the early 1990's. She was so gifted in so many other interests and hobbies! You can read a little more about her HERE.

She had made this block quilt for me (around 1990) in these pastels, since I liked those colors. 

And then later, she was whipping out Denim ones like wildfire!  Denim ones for Girly-Twirly, Heartbreaker, my brother, and other family and friends.

She made one of courderoy squares for my sister. And here is the white denim quilt she made for our Girly~Whirly.

All from old pants she purchased from the church thrift shop that she volunteered in.  I am in awe that she created all the quilts that she did in a short amount of time! And they are all large bed size quilts!

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I thought I would add these two photo taken in 1967, when we were in Massachusetts. (Not really quilt related, but I came across these when we were visiting my dad. He took these of mom, me & our dog Rascal in the "igloo" they made for me.

(...looks like I have a choke-hold on our poor pooch!)
...um...back to the topic of quilts...

Here are some cross-stitched quilts that she also made...the dark blue one to fit a full size and the smaller light blue one as a throw.

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This one was made by Mr. B's sister.

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And this one is a Hawaiian Quilt design for a pillow that was given by Mr. B's family to Girly~Twirly when she was graduating from high school. (I love the appliqued style of the Hawaiian quilts. I want to "one day" do a Hawaiian Quilt sampler of various patterns....)

Quandary: dilemma

My dilemma? ...my mathematical perplexity is...
...my unfinished quilts + my limited "free" time = my unfinished quilts!
...but I hope to get better organized and set aside some time to work on my unfinished pieces and projects.

The slideshow has some vintage quilts that I have found and purchased (hm...I think they were all bought while Mr. B was deployed ;o) Anyways...this will also explain why I am in awe at how many quilts my mom had made...because I have so-o-o many unfinished ones!

Here are some drawings that are "quilt-related". 

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I am joining in with 2 marvelous memes of 2 lovely ladies...
with Jenny for
ALPHABE-THURSDAY "Q"

&

Alicia for 

FRIDAY PHOTO FLASHBACK.

Blessings & Aloha!

...we will be back "on the road" again! I will be sure to catch up more on my blog reading when we return. Thank you for stopping in and leaving your wonderful comments.

Near and dear...

...to my heart.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Provervs 31:28

(1965-ish)

No matter that she has gone to be with the Lord...she will always be a large part of our lives.

This past Sunday, April 18th, was her birthday.  In July 2004, she passed away from a brain aneurysm.  I miss her soooo much! I would love to be able to talk, hug, laugh, cry with her... just to be around her right now.  I am so thankful that we do have the photos, videos and amazing things that she created...and the wonderful memories.

(1966-ish)

Here are some N  words that describe her so well:

Nurturing- no matter who you were, she was able to provide a learning, loving environment.

Natural Beauty- inside and out, she was beautiful.

Neighborly- she welcomed anyone and made them feel like a part of the family.

Nice- barely even describes her sweet, thoughtful personality!

Noble- (one site describes Noble as: "possessing outstanding, high, or excellent character or qualities)

Nimble- definitely! One of the later memories I have is when we were visiting their home in the summer, guess who climbed up the top of a willow tree, trimming some branches? Yes! My Mom! 

So...there are Not eNough N  words to adequately describe all the amaziNg attributes for my mom, so I have some other ones here (these have N  in each :o):

loviNg & kiNd-  

this was just a part of who she was.

geNerous & giviNg- 

anyone who knew her, knows how this was her 100% (growing up, I remember being a selfish pre-teen and asking her, why she was giving "this or that" to someone...she would tell me, we have so much to share.) And not only physical things, but she was always willing to give of her time and talents.

eNergetic!  

~My mom had more energy than I could ever hope to have!  She was always doing something...Never idle!

TaleNted- 

musically, she had a gorgeous voice...
crafts and creating, she really was so gifted and everything she created was amazing!

She could sew(seriously, she had made 15 or more quilts in 4yrs, maybe even less time than that! while I still have so many unfinished quilt tops. for goodness sakes! haha  She blessed all of us with wonderful quilts - later, when it comes to the letter "Q", I'll share some of her quilts that we cherish and use).

Crochet (her needle would go a hundred miles/hour!)

She painted, did lapidary, basket weaving, made ornaments, wreaths,  tatting, embroidery, needle punch, ceramics, etc...and she would "try" a craft and do it so well!  She could look at something and create it.

Cook and bake! Ah...yet another thing that I wish I could pick up the phone and ask her about! She rarely followed a recipe.

Plants & Garden! She was born with a green thumb (actually the success at her plants & garden, more properly reflects someone that had to have had a totally green body!, cuz she would grow things that didnt seem possible!)

I am joining in with Jenny for
ALPHABE-THURSDAY "N"

&

with Alicia for 

FRIDAY PHOTO FLASHBACK. 

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(My Dad & Mom 1995)

My hubby and I will be driving up to visit my dad in Wisconsin.  My dad doesn't have internet connection, (and also because it takes me about a whole week to do a post!), I will not be joining in with the next Friday Photo Flashback nor Alphabe-Thursday "O"

... I really appreciate all your comments and will be sure to stop by and visit when we are back.

Here are some more drawing orders:

Thank you Jordan for thinking of this for a wedding gift! 

The following is feedback that Jordan left at my Etsy shop: 

"Thank you so much for the order. I sent her a custom idea for the bride and groom. She made it wonderful. Anything you can imagine can be done. Great work. Just need to wait on the gift to be order. I will not hesitate. I have order several time myself. Great price and fair shipping and quick."

This was a gift from a customer to her friend.

This was a thankyou gift.

& last of all... this drawing was done for another customer's mom named DONNA. I share this one with all the moms... Just in case, I don't get a post up by Mother's day

 ~ Happy Early Mother's Day!~

Blessings & Aloha!

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