In other news, one of my Aunts (Ants?) called me the other night to tell me about a surprise dinner/party she’s going to have at her house on the 21st of November to celebrate my Grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary. So, that has me thinking of making something for them. I am thinking maybe a pillow, a small wall hanging, a table runner, or something along those lines. Maybe doing some hand embroidering of hearts and/or flowers. Maybe putting a saying on there like “60 years of love”, “Happily ever after”, “All you need is love”, “Forever and always” etc. You get the idea. Or do you? Do you have any ideas or suggestions? I always need help making decisions. LOL! I was looking online earlier today to get some ideas/inspiration/motivation. I want to be able to do all or at least most of it by hand, since I’m still sick and have been needing to be in my bedroom, hooked up to my ventilator/oxygen so much lately. (For those that don’t know, I usually only use my vent and oxygen to sleep and/or lay down. When not sick, I am able to breathe fine without them both throughout the day, but when sick, I need to use them more often.)

My “craft room” is in our spare bedroom and there is no way for me to be in there, while using the vent, to use the sewing machine. I unhooked from my vent for a little while earlier tonight and went in my craft room for a few minutes. I wanted  to look through all of my fabric to pick out the fabrics and materials I’m thinking of using. I’ve had this round pillow form for like two years now that I’ve been wanting to make a cover for, but just haven’t yet. I could use that if I do in fact decide to make them a pillow. I don’t know if I do want to make a round pillow though. I’m thinking more along the lines of a heart shaped pillow or a stuffed heart decoration to hang on the wall, from their fire place mantel, a door knob or something. My boyfriend will be gone all day tomorrow (as he is most Saturday’s) to go to his RC (Remote Control Car) races, so this is most likely what I’ll be working on all day, while I am home alone and have nothing else to do.

Oh! I made my 6th sale on Etsy the other day. A guy from Canada bought the queen sized quilt that my mother had made for me to sell. He bought it for his fiancee. I have to ship that out within the next week. I got the box ready for it earlier tonight. Sort of. I need my boyfriend to buy some packing tape sometime this weekend. I’ll most likely get it all packed up this weekend and then ask either my boyfriend to bring it to the post office for me on his lunch break on Monday or ask my “cleaning lady” to take it there for me when she comes on Monday. She’s a “Personal Care Person” or “Aid”. I don’t know what they are called officially. She comes once a week to help me with things that I can’t do, like run errands, do the laundry, clean the bathroom or vaccuum.

More good news. I had applied for a grant from the Harry Gregg Foundation back in August to get money to help me purchase a portable, electric wheelchair and I found out the other day that I was approved for the money! I contacted the company(1-800-wheelchairs) that I am ordering the wheelchair from and they are going to send me an invoice. I then have to send the invoice to the people at the Harry Gregg Foundation and they will send the payment to 1-800-wheelchairs. Shortly after that I will have my very own portable wheelchair! Then I will be able to go out and not have to be pushed around in a manual wheelchair anymore! I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost four years now and I think we have only been out shopping and/or to dinner and such a handful of times without him needing to push me around everywhere! I can’t wait to have my independence back!

I think that is all for now. I wasn’t planning to make such a long post tonight, but look at me rambling on and on!

More another day! Take care!

Love Jessica Always.

So, last week we drove down to CT and we had such a great time. We stayed two nights at the MGM Grand Hotel, right there connected to the casino. Every single thing about the entire place was amazing. We had a suite on the 18th floor that was just absolutely beautiful!

A waterfall behind the check-in counter.

A water fountain in the lobby of the hotel.

Our bedroom area.

Our view.

The living area of our suite.

Living room.

Bathroom.

Jacuzzi tub.

We had dinner reservations both nights that we were there and the food was so good. Neither one of us had ever been to such a nice place or had food that tasted so great.

So, that’s what we were up to last week. And this week I’m sick, like I mentioned and don’t feel up to doing anything except sleeping and trying to get better.

I’ll post another update soon, that will hopefully be more positive, when I’m feeling better and motivated to get back to work on my baby bibs. I’m also thinking of a new quilt that I want to start soon. I’ll tell you more about that in my next post.

More another day.

Love Jessica Always

It seems like a really great thing and something that I want to be a part of. A way to find (”meet”) other quilters and bloggers and a way to get more people to my blog and Etsy shop.

The quilt I’ve decided to “enter” doesn’t really have a story that I can tell yet. I chose it, though, because it is the one baby/lap quilt that I’ve made so far that I am the most proud of.

Being a disabled quilter, in a wheelchair (I have Muscular Dystrophy), I am physically incapable of cutting fabric with a rotary cutter. I just simply don’t have a way to do it or enough strength to put the amount of pressure on it that it requires. Because of that fact, I have to have someone cut my fabric for me. Or do it myself by hand, with scissors. As all quilters know, using a rotary cutter makes cutting fabric much easier, faster, allows you to cut multiple layers at one time, cut a very straight, even line and have a nice, smooth edge after. Cutting by scissors is kind of difficult, takes a long time and doesn’t guarantee a clean, straight cut.

When I got the idea for this quilt, I decided I didn’t want to wait around for someone to cut my fabric for me. I was in a quilting mood and didn’t want it to pass me by. So far I don’t follow any patterns. My quilts have always started with an idea in my head, stemming from a fabric color and I draw the pattern or design out on paper with markers that I think will best showcase the fabrics. With this quilt, I had purchased some pre-cut, white squares with pink, purple and yellow polka dots off of eBay. It just so happened that I had some pink, purple and yellow fabric in my fabric collection that matched the polka dots perfectly. One day, while sitting in my bedroom watching TV, I cut more solid white squares and all the pink, purple and yellow strips. It was a lot of work and took me a while, but I did it myself and that was all that mattered to me. Some people don’t consider a quilt a quilt unless it’s “quilted” or has binding as a border. I know this quilt is kind of simple and plain compared to some more talented, experienced quilters work, but I like it. I don’t know how to do actual “quilting” and don’t have the machine for that.  I use ties with embroidering floss at each corner instead. I do love the quilted look and hope to learn how to do that some time in the near future.

Growing up disabled, I never liked having to depend on others for things. I have always prided myself on being independent and I try to do whatever I can with the least amount of help possible. I do realize though, that there are some things I just can’t do. But if I can, I will.

I love quilting and making things. I make baby and lap sized quilts, mainly because I can’t physically handle sewing anything larger than that. But I also love the thought of making things for babies.

Making quilts makes me realize that there is something in this world that I can do, and be good at. Just because you are disabled doesn’t mean you should let that keep you from doing what you love, even if it means you have to have a little help now and then. Just do what you can, try your best and be proud. While making this quilt, I was disappointed in my cutting job, was worried that the strips weren’t even, that it would make the sewing difficult and the corners not match up. I wanted to give up a couple of times, but I did the best I could and sewed very carefully and it came out fine! It’s now one of my favorites.

One day I hope that whoever either buys this quilt from me, or whoever I give or donate it to, will appreciate all the work and dedication that was put into this quilt and be grateful that it’s theirs. I’m sure they will create their very own story for it.

(Although, as other quilters probably know, it is difficult to choose one favorite out of all the quilts you’ve made. I fall in love with all of my quilts. Please check out my Etsy shop for more beautiful quilts and thank you for stopping by!)

15% off all orders made between today, Monday, September 21st and midnight on Sunday,  September 27th.

I hope this will bring me some sales.

In the bag was a small piece of dark green felt. I have been wanting to start using felt to make different versions of my stuffed bears and bunnies, as well as start making new things like pillows and other various stuffed animals but haven’t yet. I made a fish shaped cat toy with that piece of felt and now I really want to start using it even more than I did before. It’s so easy to cut by hand (I am not physically able to use a rotary cutter, due to being disabled) and is pretty easy to sew and very easy to stuff. It’s so soft and holds a form really well once stuffed. I really like the way the toy came out. I like the way all of my toys come out, but there’s something about the felt that just makes it different. I’m disappointed that there was only that small piece of it in the bag and that I only had enough to make one toy out of it.

I think felt is pretty cheap to buy, but I guess I have to look into it more and find out.

If anyone reading this has any felt that they no longer need or want, I’d be more than happy to take it off of your hands as well.

I’ll post photos of the new toys and finished pot holders either tomorrow or Friday. I know I’m definitely taking photos of everything before Saturday, so I will make sure to post them here. And then I’ll take photos of my table, all set up for the craft show on Saturday and post those here too either  Saturday night or Sunday.

I have to go make dinner now, so… more another day. Take care.

Love Jessica Always.

Enough about that. The important thing is that I am here now, updating, so that must mean something. It means that I have been motivated the past few days because of two things…

The first being that the New Hampshire Etsy team is mentioned in the current issue of The Hippo, a local arts and entertainment newspaper. It is a very long article and it gives a lot of information on Etsy and the crafters in NH that use it to sell their creations. It names quite a few of us in the group and also gives links to either our Etsy shops, blogs or websites. I think it will bring a lot more buyers to our shops and will help to get our names out there in our communities so we can build a bigger “fan base”. That’s what I’m hoping anyway. You can either pick up an issue (most supermarkets have them) or just visit the website @ www.hippopress.com and read the article there.

If any of you are reading this right now because you saw my name in the article, I want to thank you for taking the time to check out my shop and blog and I hope that you like what you see and won’t hesitate to send me a message to just say Hi or to request your own custom order of anything you see in my shop.

The second thing that’s provided much needed motivation for me is that I am going to try to sell my crafts at a small, free craft show @ Presidential Oaks Retirement Home on September 19th. I went to this show last year, so I know it is small and will be a good test run for me to get some craft show experience. Plus, it’s free, they provide the table and it’s within walking distance of my apartment. Today I spent close to three hours cutting fabric for more pot holders and cat toys. I nearly sold out of both at my yard sale last month. Tomorrow I will do the ironing (my least favorite part of quilting) and sewing. I should have at least thirty pot holders prepared for the craft show, unless I buy more batting, since I used all that I had today. I will also have all the stuff that is in my shop, that doesn’t sell by the 19th, to take with me, which is a bunch of stuffed animals and eleven quilts (I think).

Hopefully nothing happens to me health wise to prevent me from participating in this craft show. *knock on wood* In May I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia the week of the first craft show I was planning to sell at. *knock on wood again*

I think that is all for now. If you see anything in my shop, buy it before the 19th or else it might sell at the craft show and then you’ll have to wait until I make more!

More another day.

Love Jessica Always

I thought I got the motivation from yesterday. I had a really good day out by myself. I walked a few blocks downtown to go to the Arts Market, where I met some of my fellow NH Etsy Team members. I chatted with a few of the ladies for a while about crafting, Etsy and the Arts Market. It was really nice to be able to talk with people who are into arts and crafts like I am. It’s tough living with a boyfriend who doesn’t have any interest in your craft and when that’s the only person you have to talk to every day. I hope to have future meet-ups with these ladies and that we become good friends.

After the Arts Market, I walked over to Main Street to visit Peggy Anne’s Quilting store, which I never knew existed until last week when one of the crafters at the Arts Market told me about it when I asked her where she buys her fabric. I have walked up and down Main Street many times and never noticed the Quilting store before. It’s a cute little store with a lot of beautiful fabric. I went there to ask if they ever do any classes or group meetings for local crafters/sewers. They said they are working on a schedule now and took my email address and phone number to contact me when they have a set schedule. I also left a bunch of my business cards there.

I’m really into meeting new people lately, which is strange for me because I have always been the type of person to stick to myself and never venture out to make new friends. I’ve always been shy and would never talk to new people unless they initiated the conversation and even then, most of the time the conversation would end very quickly because I’ve been so shy and was terrible at small talk. A few years ago I would have never walked up to a stranger and introduced myself. I guess I’m growing more as a person (or just desperate for friends. LOL.).

After that I just walked around downtown for a while, enjoying being out in the sunshine and being out by myself, free to do whatever I wanted. I went into a couple of the stores and took my time browsing the merchandise.

But now, I don’t have the motivation to work on anything. It’s too hot and I’m tired and just don’t have any ideas at the moment.

Leave me some comments and give me some encouragement!

More another day.

Love Jessica Always

I love fabric so much, so most of the time I have a hard time deciding what to do with it, because I don’t want to waste it by having the finished project turn out ugly or looking like crap.

I’m contemplating whether or not to do a craft show next month. I have to call the lady tomorrow to see about it.

So, that’s what I’m up to now.

More another day.

Love Jessica Always.

I made my very first quilt in my tenth grade Home Economics class. By then I was more in touch with my girly side so I chose different shades of purple fabrics with varying flowery prints and made it in an Around The World pattern. I still have it to this day.

After that I kind of lost interest in quilting. I was more into hanging out with friends and chasing boys. And still not willing to learn how to do any of the crafts my mother was doing.

In 2001, after I graduated high school, and a two month hospital stay, I suddenly wanted to make another quilt. So, I did. This time choosing pink and white fabrics. After that I made a black and dark blue quilt and gave it to my brother Jason that Christmas. Then once again, I lost interest.

My mother moved to MN in 2002 and I went to live with my father. I tried college for a couple of years, but that wasn’t for me. In 2006 I met my boyfriend Corey and six months later we moved into this apartment together. About a year and half ago I started getting the creative itch again and wanted to get back into sewing to give me something to do while Corey was at work. I didn’t have a sewing machine though. I mentioned it to my grandmother and two aunts, who also sew, and one day while at my grandparents house my great Aunt surprised me by giving me her spare sewing machine. Soon after that I found a woman on Craigslist that was selling all of her fabric for a dollar a yard. I couldn’t pass that opportunity up. I explained to Corey how good a deal that was and he brought me to her house one day where we spent a couple of hours going through piles of fabric. We ended up buying sixty dollars worth.

Now all I needed was a desk to put the sewing machine on. We found one not too long after that and my craft room was finally set up. I started sewing but was quickly frustrated with the machine giving me trouble every time I tried using it. Last year, noticing my frustration, Corey bought me a brand new sewing machine of my own. Finally I was able to sit down and successfully sew a quilt. I started making baby/lap sized quilts and pot holders. Later on I started making stuffed bunnies, bears and cat toys. All of which are in my Etsy shop right now @ www.lovejessicaalways.etsy.com

Love Jessica Always