Buy One, Get One Free Sale!

OESD will be running a buy one, get one free sale during November 30 - December 3 on individual embroidery designs and design packs! This is a great opportunity to stock up on embroidery designs to add to your collection!!

Take a peek at the Baby Zoo Train, Mini Christmas and Linen Christmas.

State Fair Parade - Stars of the Show - Blue Ribbon Winner

Another project in the State Fair Parade! One of the reasons I like to enter different projects is to get a different opinion on my work. So I'm sharing with you what I sent to the state fair with the comments I received back - good & bad! Hopefully you will pick up some tips for your own projects!

This was one of my favorite wall hangings to design, stitch and finish! I printed a photo to put in the middle of the hanging using pre-treated fabric sheets and Bubble Jet Rinse. Here is more info on printing photos.

I used metallic thread in several colors to stitch the Curlz lettering, Lights, Camera, Action and Stars of the Show. For the sides, I couched hologram metallic thread to the black fabric, creating the colored spotlight effect.

I finished the photo, embroidered lettering and couched threads and dug and dug around in my stash of fabric looking for a fabric that was as bold and dramatic as the rest of the project. That became the dilemma; I couldn't find anything! Can you believe out of my fabric stash of hundreds and hundreds of yards, I did not have a single piece that would work?!?!

This frustrating dilemma became such a creative one. I started with a piece of black fabric and sprayed a light coating of spray adhesive. I cut up 1/2" and 1" pieces of the hologram metallic threads, letting them drop and scatter on the "sticky" fabric. I then scattered metallic embroidery threads and foil sequins on the fabric.

The next layer was a piece of black organza which I stuck down on top; sandwiching the threads between the two pieces of fabric. After the layers were stuck together well, I freehand quilting large stippling stitches all over the fabric; just enough to hold the threads a sequins inside without too much movement.

I then cut the width and length of borders I needed, stitched them to the center of the wall hanging and completed it with a black binding! Then I glued on rhinestones, star names with crystals and hollywood and camera scrapbooking diecuts for added embellishment.

I was so happy with the results and had such fun creating my own border fabric. I could never have found the right fabric with the bold and dramatic colors I was looking for, unless I made my own! Perfect!!

Out of the previous 5 projects I entered in this class - Paper Pieced Projects, Purple Hearts, Set Sail, Pink Nine Patch, Lady in the Grass - this is my absolute favorite! And this one was the blue ribbon winner!!!

Here are the judge's comments:
Such creativity!

My thoughts and comments:

I love it!! :)

Win Fun Freebies!

Would you like to win some neat free items such as a fun purse, neat bag and unique wristlet? Take a peek at Christine's blog and leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of these handmade items!

Be sure to check out her other posts and creative handmade items in her Etsy store. What creativity!!!

Leftover Batting Scraps

Do you have a stash of leftover batting from your quilts hiding in your sewing room? What do you do with it? Keep it and let the pile continue to build? Do you piece it together to make more quilts?

Many times larger pieces of batting can be pieced together with an open or sewn-out zigzag stitch. I will of often save medium pieces of batting to use for smaller projects like wall hangings, placemats, potholders and other small projects.

If my batting pieces are too small for other projects, I will sandwich it between two pieces of muslin and use it for freehand quilting practice. This is a good way to practice those quilting feathers and stippling techniques before starting on your quilt. You can also use batting as stuffing if it is pulled apart to prevent lumps in pillows and stuffed animals.

There are many uses for batting other than placing it between fabric. Try setting a piece by your sewing machine to catch and hold loose threads. Use it to wipe a table covered with raveled threads. The batting will grab onto the threads and pick them up. Use it as packing material to pack packages being sent in the mail. Place pieces of batting between china to act as a buffer and protect it.

Stitch several small projects, practice some quilting techniques and stuff some batting in those Christmas packages you are sending and enjoy getting rid of some of your quilt batting stash!

Check out this great idea for using batting scraps to make a two sided quilt!

Monday Giveaway: Batik Charm Squares

Beautiful batik 6" x 6" squares all cut and ready to use! There are 70 NEW cotton batiks containing 13 new Bali Sun prints and 14 new Rayon batiks all wrapped up in a nice little package.

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your name. Comments will be open until Friday evening, November 30th.

The winner will be announced here on Saturday.

This giveaway is only available to US residents.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter and then check back here on Saturday to see if you're the winner!!

I'm starting a series over the next couple of months for some fun giveaways, so be sure to check back every Monday for a chance to win!

This giveaway has now ended. Check back next week for another change to win something fun!

And the winner....

is Leah S from Stitched with Love! Congratulations, Leah!!! Email me your mailing address and I will get the fat quarters in the mail to you!

Thankfulness!

Thanksgiving is here! That wonderful time of the year to reflect over the past year and be thankful to the Lord for His wonderful blessings! For our families and friends. For our warm homes we live in and for the food we have tucked inside our kitchens. For the daily blessings that we take for granted! We have so much to be thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

Graphic courtesy of www.allposters.com

Clean Embroidery Hoops & Grids!

Does such a thing exist as a clean, sticky-free embroidery hoop not covered with overspray and embroidery threads stuck to it? What about your embroidery hoop grid? I don't know about yours, but mine gets so clogged up with overspray and fingerprints that I can see nothing beyond the foggy gridlines.

Spray adhesive is notorious for sticking to your embroidery hoop. No matter how careful you are spraying the stabilizer in the hoop, some overspray is bound to get on the outer edges of the hoop. There are lots of cleaners that can be used to clean off the residue on your hoops.

The method that works the best for me is simple and easy to do. Run a couple of inches of water deep in the sink or bathtub with as hot as water as you can get out of the faucet. Then set the inner and outer frame of the embroidery hoop in the water and let it soak for about 30 minutes.

After the hot water soak, take the hoop out. With a toothpick or toothbrush, gently peel off the residue attached to the hoop. The hot water loosens the sticky stuff so it will cleanly peel away from the hoop. Use the toothpick to get in the little grooves if needed.

For the hoop grid, there are many cleaners that clean off the filmy stuff, but some of them may also take off the gridlines. So carefully test the cleaner to be sure it won't remove those necessary lines on your grid. I like to use DK5 on my grids. With just a couple of sprays of DK5, my grids are once again clean and clear.

This is what works for me! What is your favorite method of cleaning your embroidery hoops and grids?

New Bernina Blog

Bernina has just launched its very own blog, so be sure to take a peek! The blog authors behind many of the fun posts and exciting news are Jo Leichte and Erika Mulvenna.

Free instructions for crafts and projects will be added soon. Plus there is also a section for free embroidery designs. This is one blog you won't want to miss visiting!

Hankie Blankie Pets Baby Quilt Pattern

The long awaited cute baby blanket quilt pattern and embroidery design cd is here - Hankie Blankie Pets Baby Quilt Pattern. This adorable quilt will become a favorite for that special little someone!

Create an adorable baby quilt featuring the Hankie Blankie Pets in cotton and Minkee fabrics! If you love the Hankie Blankie Pets and Friends animals, you will love this cute little quilt!

Hankie Blankie Pets Baby Quilt uses the same artwork as Hankie Blankie Pets and Friends to create an adorable quilt with pinwheel blocks and Minkee animal faces and feet. Finished quilt is 36” x 26”.

The Hankie Blankie animal faces and paws are appliquéd with Minkee fabric. Plus, instructions for making the pinwheel blocks are included in printed pattern.

Step-by-step photos are provided in the instructions for cutting fabric, pinwheel blocks, machine embroidery for faces and feet, and final sewing and construction.

Please note that designs are for machine embroidery in a multi-format CD with the following formats: art, dst, hus, jef, pcs, pes, sew, shv, xxx

Get yours today and start stitching!

Monday Giveaway: Benartex Fat Quarter Pack

Eight luscious fat quarters from Benartex Studio are just waiting to be cut and stitched. You'll find wonderful projects to create with the newest collection from Benartex - Flower Mart!

These rich purple, bright magenta and breathtaking aqua floral fabrics could be used for quilt blocks, crazy quilting, wall hangings and many other quick fat quarter projects. This fat quarter bundle has a $20 value, so don't miss the chance to win it!

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your name. Comments will be open until Friday evening, November 23th. The winner will be announced here on Saturday.

This giveaway is only available to US residents.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter and then check back here on Saturday to see if you're the winner!!

I'm starting a series over the next couple of months for some fun giveaways, so be sure to check back every Monday for a chance to win!

This giveaway had ended! Thanks for participating and check back on Monday for another chance to win a fun item!

And the winner is...

The winner for the packet of embroidery thread goodies is Micheline! Micheline, email me your mailing address and I will get the thread package in the mail to you.

Stay tuned for another fun drawing on Monday!

Only one more day!

Only one more day for a chance to win a thread goodie bag! Enter a comment on this post to be entered in the drawing. Comments will close on Friday evening and the winner drawn on Saturday. Don't miss it!

State Fair Parade 5 - Paper Pieced Projects

Another project in the State Fair Parade! One of the reasons I like to enter different projects is to get a different opinion on my work. So I'm sharing with you what I sent to the state fair with the comments I received back - good & bad! Hopefully you will pick up some tips for your own projects!

These are two paper pieced projects that I made for class samples a couple years ago. Each of the four blocks are a paper pieced block with sashing and borders added. For quilting, they are both just stitched in the ditch.

I did the Valentine with embroidery in the white tone-on-tone blocks. They are quick and easy rework outline designs, but compliment the fabric very well.

The Valentine one has a neat little label on the back. It is an embroidered label, stitched on cutaway and then cut out and hand tacked to the back of the wall hanging.

This one also had a big oops! If you look closely, you can see the shadow of the red fabric underneath the white. Whenever you are sewing with white, you have to be careful that all your darker fabrics are trimmed down and not allowed to peek through. It is so easy to miss a few and the white fabric makes it very visible.

Here are the judge's comments:

A very nice piece. Shadowing on piecing. Sweet Valentine piecing.

My thoughts and comments:
I am going to be my own worst critic here, but the Valentine is not one of my best or favorite pieces. Yes, I like the embroidery designs and concept, but I have to say the little white dots swirling around the fabric just drives me nuts. Too me it is too busy and needs a calmer piece of fabric. But the purple one is fantastic! :)

Make Your Holiday Handmade

Christmas is just around the corner and SewMamaSew has some great handmade holiday gift-giving ideas! For the month of November they are posting new ideas and resources for all kinds of crafts, quilts, purses, pillows, baby ideas, kitchen items and so much more!

Take a sneak peek at the themes to be posted each day. Just imagine - 30 days of gifts to sew!! Jump on over and see all the wonderful ideas!

What's the theme for today? See some great ideas for kitchen placemats!

Spray Adhesive: How much to spray?

How do you know how much spray adhesive it too much or too little? There are two factors to consider when using spray adhesive: (1) the fabric being used (2) the design being stitched.

Some fabrics will stick better than others. Flannel and fleece grip the stabilizer very well with just a little bit of spray adhesive. More spray adhesive is needed for cotton, denim and polyester. Stiffer fabrics and fabrics with a finish will usually require more adhesive to hold it to the stabilizer. After you have stitched with several different fabrics, you will get a feel for which ones need more adhesive and which ones will require less.

If you are stitching a dense design (for example 10,000+ stitches), it will need more adhesive to hold the fabric down to the stabilizer. Each time the needle is inserted into the fabric, it weakens the hold the fabric has on the stabilizer just a little bit. For lighter designs such as satin stitch and redwork outlines, you may not need quite as much adhesive. If you are sticking stabilizer to the fabric for decorative stitches, only a light coating is needed as most decorative stitches contain open stitchwork.

Always remember to spray the stabilizer and not the fabric. Also be sure to spray not only the area that is going to be stitched, but also around it. Many times we (me included!) will spray the center of the hoop and stick the fabric on it. As the design is being stitched, the fabric tends to pucker toward the middle where the design is because the fabric near the edge of the hoop is not stuck down to the stabilizer. Be sure the fabric is completely stuck down before beginning to stitch and you will have less puckers in the fabric.

Note: If you spray on too much adhesive and it leaves a spot, check this post for some helpful removal tips!

Monday Giveaway: Fun Thread Goodies

Fun threads in neat colors! There are four spools of luscious colors of Wonderfil embroidery thread in this packet!

Packed inside are several colors of a twisted embroidery thread perfect for embroidery designs and decorative stitches! This D-Twist thread has 2 colors of 40 weight rayon thread twisted together to give a 3D look. Give it a try on sections of your embroidery designs such as animal fur, tree bark, florals, lettering and geometric designs!

This little package also includes some variegated thread just in time for those Christmas projects! This is a beautiful rayon thread with a sheen that will make your embroidery designs or decorative stitches stand out!

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your name. Comments will be open until Friday evening, November 16th. The winner will be announced here on Saturday.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter and then check back here on Saturday to see if you're the winner!!

I'm starting a series over the next couple of months for some fun giveaways, so be sure to check back every Monday for a chance to win!

EDIT: Comments are closed. This drawing has ended.

Thread goodies

Among many other things from my quilt market trip, I brought home a handful of embroidery thread from Wonderfil and I'm anxious to give it a try! My friend, Elsie, with whom I was traveling had been invited to a Wonderfil thread party Saturday evening and I tagged along.

And I was glad I did! I was able to meet a few more people, plus obtain some Wonderfil spools of thread to take home and try out!

Wonderfil is a Canadian based company offering lots of different threads for machine embroidery. They have metallic, rayon, polyester, hologram, variegated, decorative bobbin thread and invisafil thread.

Something I found interesting was that they have a 100 weight polyester thread called Invisafil which with its matte finish disappears into the fabric. I could see this as an alternative to invisible thread, which is harder to work with. I'll have to give it a try and see how it works!

Join the fabric hopping!

Win a Bernina or a Brother Sewing Machine!FabShop Hop - November 10 - December 15, 2007!

http://www.fabshophop.com/hopmain.aspfabshophop.com will award a Bernina and Brother Sewing Machine as their two Grand Prizes in theHoliday FabShop Hop! Visit your soon to be favorite online independent quilt and fabric websites and become eligible to win thousands of dollars in prizes!

Registration has already begun for the shopping tour that takes you across North America in yourPJ's. Join in the fun with the online FabShop Hop - November 10 - December 15, 2007.

The FabShop Hop Bunny will guide you from site to site to hop and shop, and when you get there,find another bunny hidden somewhere on the site. Click on the bunny, sign in to show you've beenthere and continue on your journey.

Here's How It Works:
Read the guidelines athttps://www.fabshophop.com/hopmain.asp
then click on "List of Shops" on the left menu. On that page, you will find a list of all theshops participating in the FabShopHop.

At each site you visit, look around and find the white bunny that says 'youfoundit' with Nov/Dec dates -- click on the bunny, and a prize registration page willcome up -- fill in your email address and click on the "register for prizes" button.This sends a message to our database that you registered for prizes at that site.

You will receive a Thank You message and an email confirmation that you have registered at that site. You can then continue shopping at that site or go back to the home page for that site and continue on the Hop.

Prize winners are selected in a RANDOM drawing from among all eligible entries.
http://www.fabshophop.com/rules.asp

Join the fun today!
http://www.fabshophop.com/hopmain.asp

Sometime I forget how young...

...I actually am and the fact that I probably look younger than I am.

I've been sorting through business cards and brochures I picked up at quilt market and have to keep reminding myself how unusual it is that I am as young as I am in the sewing/quilting/embroidery world.

It's interesting and amusing the response I get from people when I am at quilt shows, shopping at fabric stores, attending quilt/embroidery classes or teaching those quilt/embroidery classes.

Like when I ordered my ironing board.

As I sat down to fill out all the needed information, the gentleman taking my order said, "Aren't you a little young to be in this business?" I just had to smile and say yes, explaining how I got started and became completely addicted to "this business".

You have to keep in mind that there are not too many young people my age at a quilt market only open to retailers and teachers!

That was by no means the first comment I heard and most certainly not the last! Does that bother me? No, certainly not!! Just think - I have so many more years to complete all the projects swirling in my head and will have lots of opportunities to build up my fabric stash and use pieces from it! :)

My new ironing board

While I was at quilt market, I bought a new ironing board. It's something I've needed for while, but have just kept putting off because I hadn't found exactly what I wanted.

I had done some research on some different brands a couple months ago and then looked up the vendors that were selling what I was interested in when I was in Houston. I wanted something that would be sturdy, hold up for years to come and would be large enough to press large pieces of fabric such as long, wide borders and quilt backings.

And I found it - the Longboard from Reliable Corporation. One of my requirments was to have metal mesh under the board padding. Not only is this better for steam ironing, as it allows the steam to seep through the padding and through the holes in the mesh, but I also have a Iron Pals extentions arm.

The extention arm and sleeve can only be attached to a mesh backing ironing board. This extenstion arm and sleeve holds your fabric if you are pressing large pieces instead of letting it crumple in a heap on the floor.

I've had extention arm for months, but have been unable to put it on because my very ancient ironing board does not have the mesh backing. But I can't complain. That very ancient ironing board had pressed all my quilts and projects ever since I started sewing. Although I have gone through multiple irons! :)

I'm really excited about this new Longboard because I can switch the ends of the board so I have a normal, narrow end or I can have a longer, wider end as pictured above. The longer, wider end is easy to attach and will make pressing large pieces so much easier!

Plus there is a heat and fire resistant insert on the end - it's the black you see above. And it also has a metal support on the end to hold my iron, which should give me room on the board. As an added feature, there is even a shelf below the board!

Stay tuned for some fun giveaways!!

Who doesn't like winning some free giveaways? With my recent trip to Houston, I found some fun fabrics, threads and notions that I managed to pack in my overflowing luggage. I've been mulling over giveaway ideas on my blog for the past several months and decided that now is a perfect time to implement it!

So stay tuned for the first giveaway being posted on Monday. I will show you the fun new sewing room item you can win and what you need to do to be entered in the drawing! Be sure to check back on my blog next week for details...

State Fair Parade 4 - Purple Hearts

Another project in the State Fair Parade! One of the reasons I like to enter different projects is to get a different opinion on my work. So I'm sharing with you what I sent to the state fair with the comments I received back - good & bad! Hopefully you will pick up some tips for your own projects!

Hearts, hearts and more hearts! This wall hanging all started with just one little heart and grew and grew! I was trying some new machine applique techniques and writing step-by-step directions for my method of satin stitching, which you can see here and here.

With a scrap of fabric, I stitched one heart and then another. Soon I had various heart scattered on a large piece of fabric. Instead of adding it to my over-whelming pile of "I don't want to throw this away, but don't know what to use it for yet!", I decided to add borders, stitch a few more hearts and bind it so I would have something finished!

I stitched the hearts by machine applique, but also digitized the heart so it is an embroidery applique design. If you would like to download this FREE heart applique design, click here. If you are new to embroidery applique designs and how to use them with your embroidery machine, see here and here.

As for the quilting, I stitched in the ditch around the blocks and borders and then added my favorite method of quilting - stippling!! I will stipple anything and everything I can get my hands on; I just love stippling!!

Since this project had a most unusual beginning, I decided it needed to have an interesting end to it also! I had just seen Ricky Tim's method of piped binding and was itching to try it on something. Guess what? That just happened to be the perfect finishing feature. BTW - If you haven't seen Ricky's method for piped binding, detailed in his DVD Grand Finale, you should! It's an easy-to-do piped binding which creates a professional finish on your quilts!

And the label? Just my name and the date with a machine embroidered applique heart. Simple!

What an interesting project - no planning, no thought, just start stitching and keep going until it's finished!! I was able to use some small pieces of fabric leftover from another project, write and detail satin stitching techniques and try out a new method of binding all in the same piece! What could be better than that?!?!

Here are the judge's comments:
FABULOUS binding! Great satin stitching! More WOW factor would be nice.

My thoughts and comments:

I fully agree; what more can I say? The hearts do get a little boring after you've seen the first couple...:)

New web look for Jenny Haskins!

This morning I dropped by Jenny Haskins website and was thrilled to see the fantastic new web design! It is so much easier to see and read and certainly more user friendly than the striped wallpaper and white lettering in the past!

Be sure to take a peek at the Downloads section for free designs and project you can stitch!

A year ago...

For those of you who recall my difficult October/November 2006, this past week marks a year since my Mom passed away. The last year has been rough, especially this past week. I can't help but remember a year ago.

My mind seems to have taken a break from creativity and stitching (can't see how with my mind boggling Houstin trip!) for the last few days. Thank you so much for the notes and prayers for myself and my family over the past year!

Spray Adhesive: Spray the fabric or the stabilizer?

Spray adhesive is great to use for machine embroidery and decorative stitches! My favorite brand to use is 505 Spray Adhesive because it holds the fabric to the stabilizer while I'm stitching, but is not stuck so tight that I can't peel off the stabilizer after I'm finished. But what is the best to spray with the adhesive - the stabilizer or the fabric?

It is always best to spray the stabilizer instead of the fabric or garment. Never spray the back of the fabric because the spray adhesive can leave a residue mark that can be difficult to get out. Most of the time 90% rubbing alcohol will remove most of the stain, but some spots are really tough to get out. Always spray the stabilizer no matter if you are stitching embroidery designs or decorative stitches.

If you are stitching decorative stitches, you will want to spray the stabilizer and then stick it to the fabric. If you spray the fabric and not all the sticky residue is covered by the stabilizer you stick to the back of the fabric, it will tend to stick to the bed of the machine and not want to feed through as you are stitching. This can cause your decorative stitches to become distorted.

Note: If you do get some spray adhesive on your fabric, see this post for tips on how to get it out!

State Fair Parade 3 - Set Sail

Another project in the State Fair Parade! One of the reasons I like to enter different projects is to get a different opinion on my work. So I'm sharing with you what I sent to the state fair with the comments I received back - good & bad! Hopefully you will pick up some tips for your own projects!

This peaceful, refreshing scene of a sailing boat with a seagull flying up above is a paper pieced project. A couple years ago I taught a class on paper piecing and how to incorporate embroidery with this technique and this is one of the samples I stitched.

The sailboat (complete with the pole and flag on top!) and the water is a paper pieced block. I then added the two embroidered seagulls flying up high in the sky and a bubbling fish down below. To carry out the sailing theme further, I added the embroidered lettering Set Sail and little fish in the corner yellow blocks.

I had fun with the quilting on this little seaside theme! The blue water has quilted wavy lines to represent the moving waves. The white sail had rows of quilting blowing in the wind with rows of straight stitching on the boat to represent wood. There are also clouds free motion stitched in the skyline with the birds. The borders are all stitched in the ditch.

At the time I was working on this little project, my grandfather was in the hospital with only a few days left (December 2005) before he passed away. It was my evening to sit with him for several hours, so I had taken this project with me to get the binding stitched down. Isn't it interesting how you can look back on projects you have done and relate them to the circumstances under which you were creating them?

No ribbon for this project, but I entered another 5 items in this same class, one of which received a blue ribbon, which means no ribbons for any of the other 5.

Here are the judge's comments:

Need to work on corners. Very neat job!

My thoughts and comments:
I agree on both comments. I used a narrower binding than I normally do to scrimp a little on fabric and found out it was too narrow. See how the corners look distored and punched out? That is because I was trying to scrunch too much fabric and seam allowance in there and needed just a little wider of a binding to do it. Other than the corners, this wall hanging turned out neat! Maybe when I get a chance I'll rip off the binding and restitch it. Or maybe I will just leave it as it is and use it as an example of what not to do in some of my classes! :)

Adventures in Houston

September and October have been extremely busy and difficult months and I kept telling myself that my schedule would slow down a little once my trip to Houston was over and I was into the month of November. What was I thinking???!!! I should know better!! :)

I usually come home from quilt shows with so many ideas that I want to get starting cutting and stitching right away. I have most of my thoughts and ideas stored in a notebook I wrote in all weekend and will over the next few months, read through and decide which things to implement start doing. I can only do so much and need to learn to limit myself to just a few things and not try to do everything! I haven't quite mastered that yet! :)

I love flying and traveling, but never do I look forward to the hustle and bustle of getting through security lines and boarding the plane. Especially when I have lots of luggage to tote around. I think my luggage just about doubled on the way home. I only checked one suitcase and then took my computer and purse with me on the plane.

I bought more than I planned and as I was packing up Sunday morning, discovered that there was no way I would be able to fit everything in my one checked bag and carry-on computer bag. Thank goodness I had packed an extra large zippered tote bag as a "just in case needed bag". I ended up with my checked luggage being my overwhelmingly heavy suitcase (thank goodness for rolling wheels!) and a box packed with fliers, brochures, books and magazines.

I stuffed and I mean stuffed the stabilizers and threads I bought into my extra tote to take on the place. And then stuffed anything I couldn't fit in my other bags and boxes in my computer bag. Then as we are in line at the airport picking up our boarding passes, I realize I have three carry-on pieces - stuffed full tote bag, bulging computer bag and my purse. My only option is to take my purse apart and stuff everything that was inside between my two other bags.

How in the world am I going to do that? I'm not quite sure how, but I did. Just when I didn't think I could fit in one more thing, I did. I was more than ready to get out of the airport and on the drive home with my overwhelming load of baggage! And just for your info, no, I don't have every single thing unpacked yet, but I'm getting there! :)

Sitting in a line at the airport, waiting to board.
After being on my feet all weekend, my feet just
couldn't tolerate any more standing!

A view of Texas from up high!
I really love flying, but could do without
the lines and security at the airport!