I have been tagged

Rules first.

I need to answer 6 questions.I then tag 6 people and post their names here, then go to their blog and comment to tell them that they have been tagged and to visit here to find out the rules. I must then let the person who tagged me know when I have posted my answers.

What was I doing 10 years ago? 10 years ago I was finishing up nursing school (Queen's College), just married to my husband who was about to be stationed in Italy. We were both going up to FT Lewis for ROTC Advanced camp. He to be a TAC and me to be a cadet. He was supposed to be MY TAC, but let the commander know he had a conflict of interest as his brand new wife was going to be in his platoon. So he got to spend a bit of our summer doing operation orders while I pretended to be in the infantry. All through it I kept getting to hear, you are going to be a nurse so you really don't need this, but.... Yep...married 2 weeks and not able to touch or even speak to one another. It was pretty sad, but he would wait behind the barrack and leave me pogie bait on my bunk when we were out doing whatever it is we did at ROTC camp. We both were the big volunteers hoping to get to see one another. Oh well, it just gave me a taste of how hard it was going to be for us to be dual military. But my life was stretched before me and I was fearless and strong, oh and I think I knew everything back then as well. Ha ha ha. I was sooo naive.


5 things that are on my to do list for today?
-clean up the kitchen
-register the truck
-work on a couple bags and the anniversary quilt
-play with the kiddos
-hang out with my husband


Snacks I enjoy
-cookie dough
-golden delicious apples
-really sour grapefruit


Things I would do if I was a billionaire
- I would love to secure my children's future....well make it as secure as possible without spoiling them rotten. I want them to be productive members of society.

-I would like to expand my business by employing fellow Camp Followers or disabled service members....I want to them to thrive and grow. Similar to what Natalie Chanin did in her home town of Alabama. I can use my business and my nursing background to assist service members reestablish themselves in mainstream society, while keeping close to the Military family. Handmade quality products, no shortcuts, no Chinese Sweatshops....self reliance. OK that is enough of my soapbox for now.


Places I have lived
all over. Germany 3 times, New Mexico, Arizona, Honduras, Italy, Texas, currently the middle of Australia.


5 people that I want to know more about (I changed it to 5 since I really feel foolish talking about myself, these are some really fabulous ladies.)

Halu-Halu
Kirin Notebook
cheeky beaks
Heavenly Blossom
Anderson Zoo Keepers




Oh and happy Memorial day! Remember what sacrifices have been made to make us the nation we are today. The freedoms we enjoy were NOT FREE! Some of the best Americans to draw breath died to protect and defend our way of life. May their spirits be enjoying peace in Heaven.

replies to comments

Hey there everyone, I was going to reply in the comment section but I started blabbing away so much I just decided to do little post to address the issues.

First of all thank you so much for all the support. I really appreciate it. Just like anyone I have days that I really had prefer to just not be doing this at all anymore, but then I get a note from one of you letting me know how much you have loved your bags and how much closer they make you feel to your Hero. Well, that is all it takes to get me out of my funk and I am re inspired to get back to my sewing. So I will figure out how to add "testimonials" to my site. When I buy things online I like to look at what other's have said, and you all have said some really wonderful things about me and my work. If you would like your testimonial (about your Camp Follower, Hero, or Civvie bag) to be put on my site. Please email me and I will include it. Also, I will be going through my emails and digging up the ones from you right after you have received your bags and putting them up on the site. I will do it with just initials to protect your identity.

Second, I will do the wallet drawing on Wednesday night (my time). Wednesday is such a bizarre day I think. So Wednesday it will be. Just leave a comment to this post of the one before and I will put you in the hat. 5 people will be drawn for a free "Elaine Wallet".

Third, this comment is to Shar. but you may all read along.;o) She mentioned my free motion style and I love to talk about it so here we go. Ladies at both my quilting classes (yesterday and last week) were under the impression that it was programed into my sewing machine. You just press a button and off the quilting goes. Well naa, that is not how it works. Many of you quilt and sew so you will have an idea of the work involved. I do freehand each bag, with my hands. I Look at the needle and thread as my pencil and just draw away. I finally added up my "quilting hours" and I think I have about 4000 over the last 3 years working on bags and quilts for my business. That is a great deal of time spent sitting in front of my sewing machine. Holy cow. When did all that happen? Some bags have up to 10 individually quilted parts (body, straps, pockets, panels, sides, diaper changing pads, more pockets, button flaps, zipper panels). So just stick with the quilting and get strong needles and use the proper sewing machine foot and your will be developing your own style in no time. I will put up a post on the evolution of my "Stu Tote" I have four here at the house that have evolved quite a bit.

OK, the kids are all awake and hungry so I better go feed them. Then I have some fun planned at the sewing machine! Thanks again ladies, you are why I do what I do!

xo,

Tia

What's up with my Flickr Gallery?

Some of you may be asking yourselves, "What is up with Tia's Flickr Gallery? Why Can't I see her pretty bags and sewing anymore?" Well, it saddens me to admit it, but there were some terrible gals out there that were using MY pictures from flickr as THEIR advertising. Gaggo! I can't tell you how violated I feel at the moment. I am not going to put their sites on my blog because I feel that is beneath me. I have more dignity than that. But those ladies who are using MY work as THEIR advertisement better get with the program and remove my pictures. I have a wonderful fellow Camp Follower who is my Lawyer and she has some wisdom for you.


OK. I am happy that is off my chest. Yuck, I just can't tolerate thieves on any level. There is a difference between being inspired by my work and trying it for yourself, and outright down loading my pictures and uploading them on your site, pretending that you did the work. I remember Every bag I have ever made and each lady I have sewn for. I am like Olivander on Harry Potter (the wand maker...but I make bags). Don't steal my stuff and think I won't notice. My family is the Military. I have brothers and sisters all over the Earth. I will find out. You are NOT welcome to impersonate me.




OK with this dirty business out of the way, I have one more thing to say. I want you to look at my Flickr Gallery. I have some GREAT bags and quilts to look at and show off. I love each and every bag and quilt I have made. In order for you to see my gallery You need to be one of my contacts. Shoot me a Flicker Mail and I will be thrilled to add you to my contact list. You will need a Flickr account, but they are free to set up and fairly simple to understand. Please email me if you have questions. I am back to emailing again. I feel that I am getting caught up pretty well so I have time again to chat. If I have lost you at some point over the last couple weeks, please email me again. I really do love and miss you all! I am also in the process of Water Marking my pictures. That may make a difference.

Here is one of my latest Elaine Wallets. I am testing this little wallet out, So I will randomly select 5 comments from this post and add this "Elaine Wallet" to your order. If you have not yet placed an order, or placed an order in the past and I select you, you can still have a wallet. See I am a friendly gal. I adore the little size. I hope you will too!

Here is my latest Diaper Changing pad. I LOVE this one. This was one BIG hunk of man. I trimmed down the top so much, but it still turned out big. Big but wonderful. I think this quilt/diaper changing pad/ wall hanging is one of my favorite so far. It has such great movement.

This is some fabric I have hand dyed for the Anniversary Quilt I am putting together this weekend. It is going to be a big tree with pictures and leaves....this is the sky. It is going to be awesome.

OK, a great deal of ugliness in this post, but lets all take a deep cleansing breath and only have good things to say from now on. Remember...I will randomly select 5 ladies to add a Elaine wallet to your order. You can test it out and let me know what you think.

Also do you think I should add testimonials to my website? I feel it is really vain to do so, but maybe it will make people be even more comfortable with me. I have always felt my work speaks for itself....but maybe a 1000 words would be acceptable.

***Update: One of the ladies came foreword apologizing for using my pictures. She claimed that her "friend" did it as she did not have any pictures of her bags. Humm. Well, there you go.

Back to normal

Here is one of the latest sets I have completed and shipped off to it new home in NY. Carry it in Health and Happiness! This bag has so many great details. When I am working on a bag or set I get so lost in the creating of it that I loose track of time. Well, this was definitely one that I got lost in. I love the soft powdery colors and the way the gray and blues blend with the DCU. I think I have about 15 hours of work in this set. More if I include the cutting of uniform and fabric. It is a great set. I have a bunch of other great sets on the table right now. 4 School backpacks included. Those will be fun. I also am working on a really fun anniversary quilt. It is going to be wonderful too.
Here are my ballistic glasses, courtesy of my dear husband. He had a couple pairs while he was in Baghdad last time and when I came out of my sewing room one evening with my hand over my eye he just about tossed my sewing machine out the window. So we came to an agreement that I would wear the glasses when I do my more heavy duty sewing. I am happy I have them, because there are lots of dings on the lenses and they are all put there by richoceting (I know I have spelled this wrong, but spellcheck is not helping me out here) needle shards.
We had taco night for the second night in a row last night. I made flour tortillas for the kids and they had a great time rolling them out. This is my 5 year olds tortilla and he was thrilled that it turned out looking like Australia. Speaking of Australia, there are lots of these massive Black Cockatoos flying around town lately. Really incredible birds. I will start carrying my camera so maybe one will cooperate and pose pretty for me.
All 3 kiddos stayed home from school today with something....fever and bellyaches, and the biggest dark circles under their eyes. Well, Emma decided it was a good time to make her dream purse. She even sketched it out for me. I do that when I am working on a new design, I was so stunned to see her do it too. Well, I guess I really shouldn't be stunned, she is my little clone. We had gone to "Novita's Gifts" on Sunday. That store should be named the really expensive gift shop to buy yourself something nice when you are spending your 10 year anniversary by yourself...and your 3 kiddos. Anyhow I went to find a big basket (which they were out of) but I told my tribe that since they were all so good they could pick out something special. Ethan and Sam had no trouble picking out a little teddy bear apiece. Emma on the other hand wondered around the store examining everything. She finally settled on a $450 dollar beaded evening bag. Leave it to her to pick out one of the most expensive "little" things in the shop. I had just selected on of the other most expensive things (a $250 arrangement of rubber Hyacinths) I decided I would just go get some bulbs and force my own flowers. Emma took some convincing that we could make a similar wallet at home since I had some of the stuff. I ordered the hardware last year to make a couple and maybe sell them in my shop, but the instructions were in Japanese. They went into my box of things to do someday. Well sir, The Purl Bee has a great tutorial so Emma and I went to work and this is what we came up with. I am pretty pleased with the first go round....the next one is going to be more campy.



Well I need to tidy the house up a bit since my husband is enduring the flight from FT Meade to Sydney at the moment. I hope it is uneventful for him. FYI Qantas is a great airline if you are ever down this way. Really remarkable customer service, pretty good food, all kids get an activity pouch and they have the flight planned that you really sleep for most of the flight and jerk awake about 4 hours out of Sydney. Maybe they cut some of the O2 to the passenger compartment. That happened to me on a big old C5 AMC flight when I was returning from a MEDAVAC (back when I was an Army nurse, not the bag maker I am today). But I woke up after loosing about 6 hours of my life and had to move a drooling woman off of me and climb over other passengers lying in the floor and slumped against one another. I had to void....so I made my way up to the potty and on the way back to my seat noticed 2 of the flight crew passed out as well. Not the pilots (since they are under the passenger area and in an entirely different area of the aircraft) who knows what those dudes were up to. I made it back to my seat and passed out again. Truly a strange flight. See how smart I would be if I wouldn't have lost all that oxygen to my poor brain. I blame my kids for sucking my intelligence out of me, but it is really the Air Forces fault.



xo,
Tia

What a Great Class!

OK, I had a great time today. My little class was scheduled to go from 0900 to 1200, but in actuality it went to 1800. Yep, some ladies didn't want to leave. That was fine with me because it was so exciting watching their bags come together. I made 2 of the ones above as "samples" for the class (I will probably be giving away one or both of them in an upcoming post, let me know if you want one of them.). Basically I wanted the ladies to learn fabric selection, cutting, piecing, stacking and quilting. Then sewing the finished bag together. We dumped 2 big bags and 1 very big tub of fabric out into an empty room and that was where it all began. Toss back a mimosa to get the creative juices flowing a bit, and some of the best cinnamon rolls and apple crumble, and you can't help but have a great day. My "students" really selected some beautiful combinations and have some great bags, or will have some great bags when they are finished!

I did come home to a nasty clogged kitchen sink, and since my mate was away and housing was closed I did the next best thing and called my Husband's NCOIC. In true senior enlisted fashion he didn't even hesitate when he rolled up his sleeves and became a plumber. 2 of my 3 kids were giving him advice on how to fix the sink and remove the raunchy noodles that were clogging the u-bend while I unloaded the truck of my sewing gear and Sam (the youngest) collapsed on the floor Pulled my world peace quilt up over his head and promptly went to sleep. Thanks Dan! I owe you some cookies!

I am thrilled to announce that My kitchen is clean, my sewing studio is tidy, all 3 kiddos are safely snugged in bed, and I can't wait to get sewing in the morning. There is nothing to get my creative energy pulsing stronger than watching ladies be excited to learn something new and create lovely things just for themselves. I am so happy that everyone came today. I had a great time with you all! Thank you so much. Now, next weekend we will finish up bags for those of you who didn't want to pull an entire shift at the sewing class. For Tara and Wendy, you two get to start your lap quilts. Be thinking of what you want it to look like. Have a mental image and we can go from there. Might I suggest going through your kids clothes and adding an element of clothes that have been out grown. Something special that has meaning and memories associated to it. You can do a great deal with a shirt or skirt. If you want at the scrap bags ahead of time let me know and I will open up the house.

I am back in a good mood again, I am sorry about the funk I have been in. I just felt like I was drowning under some of my self induced burdens. But I have taken care of them and am quite happy with the results. I am fine now, so you may email again at will again! I really do love hearing from you. A couple of you have had your babies already... I keep wondering where in the heck the time has gone. But such is life. Congratulations on your wonderful little babies. I have a ton of bags on the table right now in mostly ready states, I need to update my list over there, and finish up a couple diaper changing pads but I am too tired right now. Tomorrow! I really need to hire someone to help out. Emails alone are an all day thing...but I love the emails. I don't want to give that up. Why can't I just clone myself or add a couple more hours to the day? How do real business women do it?

Sleep well everyone, or have a great day depending on where you are. Mom and Dad (in Alaska) It is bright all night here too, but it is the moon and Stars that shine in my windows and we don't have chunks of ice floating in our river....well we don't even have water in our river, but we do have a couple burning cars smoldering there from time to time. But your mountains look stunning. We may still try to swing by on our R&R. I guess I better get on that planning.

xo,

Tia

#3

This is my Mr #3. He is a force of nature all unto himself. He really does not normally look like a parrot, but this picture was taken right after he busted his top lip (pretending he was a dolphin in the kitchen...involved diving face first into the tile floor and a horrible splat). Day before yesterday he bit through his bottom lip (falling off the slide) and Saturday he fell off his bike and split his eyebrow (over on the side). He is 3 years old and full of piss and vinegar. He is stubborn, loud and determined to do everything his way. For those of you moms who think 2 is terrible....3 is so bad they don't even talk about it. With all that said, this is the sweetest kid on Earth (I am bias). This guy was conceived on R&R while I still nursing my first son, taking birth control pills and my husband wore condoms. We took all the precautions (besides abstinence...it was our 2 week conjugal visit for Pete's sake!) and still Sam was created. What a delight, he gives the greatest hugs and is fairly unpredictable oh and he loves to sing...well more of a marching bellow, like he is calling cadence. I am giving this guy some air time, because I love him and wanted to let his daddy know what he looks like at the moment.


And for those of you who are Amy Butler Groupies like me....go check out this interview over one Craftboom
Amy Butler has some great things on the way. She has a line of Solids coming out next month! Yippee! I have been using alot of Shot Cottons from Kaffe Fassett, and I love how they work with Amy's fabric, but I can't wait to see what her solids look like. Basically, I love everything she does and I am her biggest fan....in Alice Springs. I am sure there are bigger fans out there, so I won't steal their thunder, but besides my husband, and parents she may be one of my biggest Heroes. I really couldn't care less for movie stars or fancy athletes, but I am nuts for Amy Butler.



Speaking of Movies (we really weren't, I know) I just watched "P.S. I Love You". Wow, I have not had a cry that good for ages. I think it was a pretty good movie, but the kids were bored so they were being too rowdy so I missed lots....but I sure sobbed through most of the movie.



OK, I am going to bed. I think I heard only 1 kiddo sneak down the hall while I have been typing this. Maybe the bed won't be too crowded tonight.

xo
Tia

My Cup Runnith Over

My new Amy Butler Midwest Modern in the pinks. LOVE it! And I have SOOOOO much of it. Let me know if you want to change your fabric to any of this.

This has been a very very wild week for my little family and my little sewing gig. It feels like just yesterday I re-opened for more custom orders and now my sewing position is utterly over run. When on Earth did this all happen? And did I REALLY think I would be able to meet a 3 week turn around? Wow. What the Heck was I thinking? So I am again closed for more orders. I anticipate opening up again after August. Why so long? Well in July we will be taking our R&R and I hope to spend a good part of it sitting on a quiet beach somewhere with the kids playing in the surf and me with a great book. Maybe it will be getting ready to rain as well. I really miss the rain.

I finished my "World Peace" quilt. I love it. What a great collection by Amy Butler. I got my big shipment of it, so I am ready to make bags with it. So if you are one of the ladies who I have already taken an order from, and I have your husband's uniform, and you are on the fence with bag fabric, look at the first picture and let me know what you think. I think the pinks are so pretty. I have two Hero quilts planned with them. I have been waiting for E. Spence's bags and her daughter's quilt for this shipment. Finally it is here so I can get to work on it. Well on it and all the other bags I have in line.

Speaking of quilts....I will be busy on a nice project for E. Hoover. She commissioned me for a memory quilt, and I started that yesterday. I look at my schedule right now and kinda quiver. There is so much on it! When does this sort of thing happen? How do we go from happily splashing in the waves to being almost pulled under by the tide?

I am asking for your patience right now. I am very swamped with bags, kids, husband, life in general. I have not forgotten any of you and I am working on your bags as much as possible. I will not be doing the long wonderful emails this week so I can dedicate my time to sewing. I do not send out progress pictures. That takes way too much time away from sewing, and frankly I really do not see the point to me sending you a picture of a pile of uniforms and fabric. I will send you a picture when I have finished working on your bag and am ready to mail it out to you, that is when I do the picutures. If this is a problem for you, please let me know and I will refund your money and send your uniform back. I just can't do that right now.

My husband left for another TDY this morning. He will not be gone that long, but it is always stressful to revert to single mom with 3 little kiddos. I am kinda anxious to see what kind of weirdo turns up on my front porch this time. It was the bird man last time....always an adventure. We went to a ball last night, and I am always stunned how the weather here just goes from being HOT HOT HOT to suddenly being cold. I had on my pretty green silk dress and at the last moment grabbed a wrap on the way out the door. Thank goodness I did. It was so darn cold. Next ball (in August, right?) I will be making a warmer wrap.

OK...this is a pocket panel. I LOVE them on the bags I am making for diaper bags. If you want one added to your order, let me know and I will do it. I think they break up the "solid" print inside the bag and really give each bag so much character.

So...happy Military Spouses Day (yesterday) and Happy Mother's Day today! I hope you all get breakfast in bed and a nice back rub....or at least your children don't jump off the slide and bite through their lower lip like my 3 year old did as soon as we got back from dropping daddy off at the airport. I guess the kids thought I needed to earn the breakfast in bed they made me this morning.

I am sure this is very patchy....and may not flow well, but I am so sleepy. And I think my bed is full of my wonderful little children, so I am off to see who is sleeping the hardest and move them to their own bed.

Good Night, God Bless you all!

What a day and I have a sewing class this month

HI Everyone. No pictures today. I didn't have power (as in electricty) for most of the day, so I did alot of bag cutting. Cutting and more cutting. And man, do I have a temper today? I sure hope I haven't snapped at any of you via email. But if I did, sorry. I guess I get about 30 to 40 bag related emails everyday. I really try to respond to each one....heck I love to talk. Anyone who knows me knows that I can yap your ear off, but if I am typing away to you, I am not working on your bag. So....I guess I need to focus more on the sewing. I LOVE sewing! It is so peaceful for me. If you gals aren't comfortable with a sewing machine, try a needle and thread. It really has a great rhythm. Very elemental. Now, with that said, I am not hand stitching any bags at the moment. That is why I just cut today. But hand stitching is a nice way to end the day. I have some really cool bags on the table right now. Some have hand dyed fabric (by me, oh la la) and others have some really great vintage Amy Butler prints. I will open my little vault for some special ladies....Speaking of Special ladies!


Listen up! if you are here in the area I will be having 2 sewing classes (May 17th and 24th from 0900-1200). Our first project is going to be a Scrappy Small Tote and depending on how we go, the second will either be finishing up the bag or starting a scrappy/memory quilt. No real experience is necessary and I will have my 2 Berninas at the class along with 3 very big bags of scraps (hence the name of the class....Small Scrappy Tote). All you will need to bring is a yard of solid color fabric and sewing Stuff (sewing machine, scissors, and thread ((if you don't have that, I will be there with all my stuff, and you are welcome to it...just don't break anything;o) Please email me if you are interested. I have barely mentioned it here in town and I am already getting calls from complete strangers. So I am going to say we are going to stick to 8 ladies at first and if I know and love you, you are first on my list. Oh and there is no charge for the class...just behave. I can revert to the mean nurse so fast it will make your head spin. No one wants to see that.

OK, dinner is almost ready. We are having Tomato Pie and salad. My husbands Aunt made one last time we where home and it was damn fine. I think I ended up eating the whole thing over 3 days. I actually hid it in the refrigerator under a platter of ham. You now have the recipe that Joyful abode uses. Oh and her husband is a Navy Pilot. I can go on for hours about a hilarious story about my dad and him thinking that he is a Navy man....but I will hold that for another time. I love you Dad! I also have an account at Free Spirit Fabric and Heather Bailey, Denyse Schmidt, and Joel Dewberry are getting ready to come out with new lines. Gasp. I want it all...well not all, just some.

A Weekend off for me.

This weekend my husband took all 3 of our kiddos camping and gave me the weekend off. This is the first time in my time as a mother that I have not had at least 1 child close by. Wow. A whole night all to myself in our quiet, clean house. It was peaceful. And so quiet. It took me until about 0130 to finally get to sleep. As a mother anytime you have silence....prolonged silence it means something is not right. Especially with my little gang. They are a very busy bunch, and to not have any of them close by was kinda hard to get used to. I was so happy when they drove up this afternoon! Instantly the noise was back....and the mess. But it was so nice to have my family back again.
The whole time they were gone I kept thinking about how it must have been for my husband....and yours who are deployed. Yep they have their troops to be with, And Lord knows their jobs can be horribly stressful but such prolonged time away from those you love more than anything has got to be so very gut wrenching as well. I missed my husband terribly during all of his deployments, but I always had our little brood to hold and love and have their constant chatter and noise. So I was never really "ALONE" I had my wonderful girlfriends who were going through the same situation, so in that I was not "ALONE" either.
I am happy to have my noisy house back....while the silence was nice, the racket is better. I really didn't know what to do with myself. I thought I would get tons of sewing done. But I didn't. I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep the first day (that may have something to do with me not being able to go to sleep until 0130 the same night) I NEVER nap. I guess it goes back to my time as an Army Nurse. I feel like if I am on duty I MUST be awake and ready to deal with whatever comes my way. I can't nap because then the kids will do something terrible or get hurt. I have to be awake and aware of all that they are doing. My 6th sense at the ready. Then today I called my mom and had a big long talk with her, about nothing and everything. I think we talked for about 3 hours. My voice was all dried up when I hung up. I then washed my windows. I had 2 reasons for not going camping (which I love to do) #1 I was still trying to shake my flu. I am just rundown and needed time to rest and catch up. #2 My "Aunt Flo" was scheduled to visit this weekend. I don't care how hard core you are, no woman I know wants to hump her soiled tampons out of the desert. Yuck. TMI I am sure...but there you go.
So here is my dirty little campfire smoky smelling little tribe. They made spears, roasted marshmallows, climbed trees, fell out of same trees, sang songs and just generally had a blast. They are all in bed now....along with my smoked husband. I am going to tidy up a bit and go join him. What a hero he is to me!

xo
Tia

A bunch of wonderful things.....

#1 My friends new puppy. This guy is a hybrid. His breed is Miniature Australian Bulldog...about 7 years ago the Aussies decided that there were problems with the English Bulldog (I am a Bullie lover...I remember my Burt with a fondness akin to godliness) and being the sensible gang that they are they proceeded to breed the problems out (namely respiratory complications) by cross breeding English Bulldogs with French Bulldogs and Pugs. What the result is is the fellow above. I want to buy about 8 of them and breed them...and walk them all on leashes while wearing a cape. Then I can be truly crazy. But crazy with some really cool doggies.
#2 My Wonderful Claudia Vu made me these little plates. I made her this set of diaper bag and a wonderful lap quilt. She said she loves it so much that it inspired her to make things with her hands too. How awesome is that? I certainly NEVER expect anything from ladies I sew for...believe it or not, but making these bags and the fact that you trust me enough to send your Hero's uniform to me to cut up and transform is such an honor for me. Heaven! I LOVE it. I love these little plates. They made me cry when I opened the bubble wrapped envelope. Is that similar to what you feel when you finally get your bags back? Guys...and Claudia especially, I LOVE you! You guys make my little craft worthwhile. Thank you!
#3 SO this is some of Cake Rock Beach by Joelle Hoverson (Purl Patchwork- my favorite fabric store online, since everything comes wrapped up in tissue paper...oh and she sent me 2 yards of Liberty of London fabric and $50 to spend for my Hero Bag and Quilt cause). I am going to use this fabric to make my rendition of this quilt. I have been yearning to make one for ages....since the first time I looked at Denyse Schmidt's Book.....which you NEED to own if you don't already!#4 This is some WONDERFUL hand Screen printed fabric by Lara Cameron. You can buy it too at her ETSY shop...or let me know and shipping is way cheaper to me.;o) I have an entire line of bags in mind for this and the fabric I have by Kristen Doran. Both of these talented artists are from Australia (one in Sydney and the other in Melbourne) heck when in Rome.... They are going to be named "Downunder Bags".
This is a new bag...I am going to stock it in my little store after I sew a big fat Rough garnet on the flap......

OK, dinner is ready!

I do have to thank you all for all your book recommendations. I have been on Amazon ordering away! Molly....you KNOW I love your taste in books. You turned me onto Julia Quinn and the Romance novels about the fellows who were like ours (War veterans...but for the life of me I can't remember the authors! Help me out My Friend!) ...I may read the rest of Kite Runner, but I have already given it to 2 other ladies here in town. I will hit it again when I get it back.