My Kroger bag designs ! Vote for me !

Hope y'all like my designs, if you do, vote ! Thanks much for taking the time ! and

Oops ! Video Update

Having some trouble uploading the videos, I am still working on it ! In the meantime, we are busy cutting, mowing, grooming yards for people who have hired us . It is a blessing to have the opportunity. Also, working on more airplanes, table sets, and rocking horses; hopefully we can get those photos uploaded soon also. Please check back in to see !

Sons of Confederate Veterans

Had an awesome day at Claiborne West park in Vidor, there was a reenactment by the Sons of Confederate veterans. We learned ALOT from them and got to see some " living history ". Here is their website http://www.scv.org/ here is some video and photos

1 Reason

This is a country gospel group from Fred, TX. They are genuine, and great folks who live what they write and sing. Check them out ! www.1reason.net

Lots of Updates !

Sorry i haven't posted updates in awhile ! Here are some recent photos of things we've been busy at, hope you like them

Quilt Sale !

Sale update, we will be setting up in Trout Creek , Texas. The season has ended for now for the farmers market, but my mother-in-law has a small shop in Trout Creek, so we will be there Sat. Feb. 6 You can find us on Hwy 87, halfway between Newton and Deweyville; just south of road 1004 exit. Hope to see you ! There are lots of goodies we will all have; in addition to our quilts there will be glassware, tools, etc. please google location with direction finder at right.

Handquilting Adventures !

Sure is difficult for me to handle a bigger quilt under my machine, so I'm trying my hand at good ole hand quilting. I have admired the look but never been able to get it quite right, but I think that now is the time to set my hand and heart to getting it right ! I also need to work on some more tops and get them finished . **** If you're down around southeast Texas or southwest Louisiana come and visit the farmers market while it is still on ! Located at the parking lot of Bealls on Mac Arthur Drive in Orange Texas each Sat. of the month . Starts early and we all usually are cleared out around 1:00 , don't know how much longer it will be going on, but we will periodically be setting up after also, you can E-Mail me if you would like directions or to find out if we will be showing . Maybe we will see y'all ! **** Also don't miss the other offerings there; our neighboring marketeers have farm raised fresh green onions , they smell awesome, also my oldest son bought a jar of mayhaw jelly a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it, cookies, sweet potatoes and more, my children take their money earned and shop and bring me back delicious surprises ! Here is a photo of one of the favorite baby shower quilts we sell, it seems to fit what people look for in a baby shower gift, it is called baby prayer quilt and we do it in different color and material formats but this is the one we have left until we make another. The next one is going to be the prayer blocks spaced with a muted color blue-ish old fashioned airplane fabric, it's going to be beautiful for a boy !

Hiatus Over !

It's been a while since last post, busy with business and other things to take care of. Well, down to the point of the blog...Quilts ! We finally have some made ahead to upload for y'all, some of the ones that are sold I won't bother to take up space on here. Hope y'all like them; we missed out on great opportunities around our area last gift-giving season but this year we have started taking time to attend the various festivals and such . Last Saturday we were at a farmers market set up with some others from the area and we stayed about three hours and sold one. It was an honor because the one that sold was a prayer theme baby boy quilt that a couple bought for a christian couple's first baby. Made me feel proud. Weather is going to be wet and cold this Sat. if the weatherman is right, so no selling this Sat. E-mail me if you would like more info on the quilts pictured, they won't be uploaded onto business website with their measurements until probably Fri. evening or Sat.

God's Abundant Mercy

Here is an A. W. Tozer sermon on God's mercy that I wanted to share with y'all. You can go to Sermonindex.net and download and read more from Tozer plus other men and women of God. Stay blessed ! Click Here and scroll down to the sermon that is titled God's Abundant Mercy

Baby Shower Gift

Here is a photo of a baby shower gift we finished recently for a young couple from our church. The mom chose brown and pink for her theme colors and we think she did pretty good with her choice. These two predominate colors really hit it off !It was fun to make and a joy to see the pleasure when this young couple got it. I have a couple more orders for ones like this but we will change them up a bit so that none we do are exact matches, we make one of a kinds !

Still in business !

Hello, sorry to not have updated in a while. Yes, still in business. My dear husband has been working hard on his job from hurricane Ike damage, finally the industrial plant he works at is up and totally running good again. Well he is now turning his attention to our home, he could not do much of that before because of his work schedule. I am so proud of the upgrades he has made to our home ! I thank God for him and the work he has done to fix our home up so nicely. There is still alot of fixing up, but it's getting done ! Obviously he hasn't got to do very much quilting in the past 8 months, but hopefully he can get back to some of his hobby. As for me and our blessings, we have been taking it slowly at most of our homeschooling. The exception is the reading. We will be working thruout the summer with intermittent breaks in working. Hey, you just got to have a fun movie and popcorn day, or a pic nic day ! You can still find ways that make them a learning opportunity . We do alot of our eating and schooling outside, it just works great for us. The quilting is kind of slow on my end also, I have many great ideas and quilts in progress in my head ( just not done yet ). Hopefully I can get back into the quilting groove. Probably will have to because done here in Texas, it gets mighty hot come summertime. We have been very blessed in our gardening lately, I have included a few pepper plant photos. I am eager to try some pickling and canning , maybe pepper slices and homeade salsa and hot sauces ! Well, that's it for today's update, hope you enjoy the photos !

Where's Christ in X-Mas ?

Just a little reminder, please remember Jesus, after all , this season is supposed to celebrate His coming to earth to begin His redemptive work for mankind. The commercialism and total lack of even the mention of the REAL reason for Christmas is utterly shocking. My children watched a show on a VHS tape they borrowed from Grandma and it was supposed to be about Christmas, well the whole entire episode was about Santa and his elves and the meaning of the season as being about learning to be a good friend and the main charactors sang about giving and friendship. I waited and rewatched to see where Jesus was mentioned. NOwhere ! How can someone celebrate Christmas without Christ ? I guess maybe they were celebrating X-Mas instead ! Not everyone is familiar with Greek and Roman alphabets and writing !

When will men and women realize that when God calls us out He is completely faithful to call us into something better? A.W. Tozer Thank you to Sermonindex.net

Busy !

Well , as you know hurricane Ike did quite a number on the local industrial plants down here in southeast Texas, therefore we haven't been quilting as normal. My husband, who done alot of the larger quilts , is working too much to do any right now. So that means that I am responsible for most of the quilting at the moment. That also means not much is getting done in the way of quilting with the homeschooling and general homemaking needs that have to be met. I hope to burn the midnight oil some though, and get some baby quilts done for Christmas ordering. So please check our website for the new additions soon.

Great Hurricane Clean up advice

I ran across this while reading a few minutes ago and knew that I had to post this link. It is great advice for those of us who absolutely hate rotten food . I do disagree on one point though, if there is any food canned or not, I would not chance it. There can be unseen damage and botulism can affect the food without causing an off odor or smell. But the food containers in the freezer part is awesome advice. http://www.nola.com/hurricane/content.ssf?/hurricane/content/reader_tips/090506.html

My Tennessee Experience

Well, I decided to put all my Tennessee info in one place, so it's HERE . The site contains many photos and links into their proper catagories. Maybe we will get the quilting going again soon, right now the main focus is just getting unpacked and back into a routine, especially the childrens' homeschooling. Please remember to pray for all those affected by the hurricanes.

Copyright Notice

Just a quick note to say please be respectful , all the photo images on this blog are copyrighted by me. If you would like to use one for site usage or non-commerial purposes please e-mail me and we will discuss usage , I am willing to freely share if under proper circumstances ! jhnxplor@att.net

Tuckaleechee Caverns

These are some photos of our trip to Tuckaleechee caverns just down the road from our cabin where we stayed. I will get you all the link posted to this also soon. * my photos do not do justice ! *

Tennessee photos !

our cabin we rented, it's called anglers retreat, i'll post a link to where you can rent it too as soon as i can.
view from the front porch.
just down the road, the mountains were really smoking that day !
beautiful pasture lands
a cloudy but beautiful view where the mountains seemed to be veiled

Here are some photos of some of God's most beautiful creations . We were so blessed to have stayed ten awesome days there !

Back From Evacuation !

We thank the Lord that our neighborhood and home did not suffer damage other than a few trees down and electricity outage for a while. Please pray for the southeast Texas coast, there have been many people who have lost their homes and jobs, some have even lost what cannot be replaced, their family members. We left the day it was to hit, and God opened a door for us to have a very economical place to stay. We arrived in Tennessee on the following evening, not realizing that we had booked a cabin in the Smoky Mountains ! I am not complaining though, it was a long drive and I thank God that He brought us safely there and continues in His care. It is so so beautiful there and the people are tremendously welcoming and thoughtful. The nearestn town to us was Townsend, just out the small community called Dry Valley where we stayed. Such a quaint and layed back place, and friendly! Dry Valley is far from how it sounds, it is lushly green and wooded, very cooling when you are used to boiling heat at 10:00 in the morning down here in Texas ! Not knocking Texas, but there is no escape from the heat and humidity in this part of the country. The people we rented the cabin from were exceptionally accomodating especially since we ended up staying a week over what was scheduled ! I will post some photos and the link where we stayed ASAP , so check in soon.

God's Intervention

God has really moved in the matter of Gustav. It lost strength and did not do the damage that was expected on all the radars. I know that it was the result of many prayers being answered. I know that there is damage, but there was not damage and loss of life like Katrina and Rita. We did not have to evacuate after all, thank God. After boarding up and tying down, there was some quilting time. Here are some updated photos, hope you all like them ! My husband is still working on the two king sized t-shirt quilts that were ordered, I'm glad it's him because t-shirt material is really crawly ! Hang in there and remember, God can still move even when everyone says the worst; it's then that God shows Himself strong in your behalf. Psalm 50:15

Gustav !

We live on the Texas coast, so you know that we are keeping a close eye on Gustav. We may be evacuated soon, don't know yet. Hopefully we can just ride out the storm. We are praying for a significant drop in Gustav's strength and force. It needs to affect no one any more than it has to. Will keep you all posted .

Finally posting some photos ! Hooray for DSL !

I had alot of trouble uploading my photos, but now I can. So, here are two quilts that we have recently finished, and yes , this is this patriotic star quilt that was supposed to be finished a long while back in postings, but it is actually done ! You can find these two quilts and bed-sized quilts on our business site. Still working on the little red barn, can't wait to get it finished out, I am excited seeing what God is doing in our business and how He is guiding us in every aspect. Please remember to keep our soldiers past and present in your prayers.

Back in Business-Better than Ever

We are back in business after a brief hiatus. Our little red barn as I like to call it ( our workshop ) is about to get some great comfort inducing modifications . Wev have gotten D S L now, so goodbye dial up ! We have had some major trouble posting to our business site on dial up and it is exciting to see what we will be able to do with it now . Have orders for two king size tee shirt quilts and a baby quilt so we will be very busy shortly, as well as the mods on the barn , so blog may not get updated for a while; but in the meantime mosey over to our business site and check it out in a few days and today visit some of the great links I am posting for you and bookmark them, you'll want to visit them often and there is so much material you can't cover it in one day ! It is great to be able to enjoy videos and preaching and teaching that we couldn't before because of dial up , it may sound strange, but I think D S L is a wonderful blessing in this aspect ! Here are some great links , enjoy and God bless you ! http://www.derekprince.org/site/PageServer?pagename=radio_main http://www.moorelife.org/mlmindex.php http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=f0038ea7de6253afb00d http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=264421e8e43eb04839f9 http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=963d72757bdbedcaa203 http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5 http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513

SOOO SEW BUSY !

It has been a very busy weekend, lots of yard work for the whole family , plus our church had a get together and getting new furniture ( yeah ! it has been seven years since we last got new living room furniture ! ) and my husband has finished his Lamoyne star and bowtie quilt ! I am so happy for him. It looks wonderful ! I almost kept it ! But yes it is for sale on our business site and I just got photos posted last night and this morning . Take a look over there at it , I hope you will all like it, let me know what you think of it . I am still learning about quilting , so I only do smaller quilts; his is queen size. Hopefully I will finish my patriotic Ohio star quilt this week, I am getting a little nervous about the finishing it out ! Hope everyones' Memorial Day went well and that tribute was paid to God and to our soldiers past and present. God made the sacrifice of Jesus for us and our troops have made and are making their greatest sacrifice ever for us to have the freedom to live as we see fit . Let us not forget to uphold them in our prayers. Even if you don't agree with the war in Iraq, please remember our soldiers .