Autumn Comforts

I Won! :-)

2011-11-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I can still hardly believe it, but I actually had the honor of winning one of the beautiful samplers offered by Dan in his blog giveaway! Dan did a fantastic job, and I absolutely LOVE my new autumn/Thanksgiving sampler! I've placed it on the window right by my dining room table, and it has added such a nice holiday touch to my dining room. Dan, I'm so honored and grateful to you!

Dan even included a beautiful card with a personal note. You can visit Dan's beautiful blog here. Dan is a special education teacher and a senior writer for "A Primitive Place & Country Journal" magazine. He and his partner have the most incredible primitive/country home! Dan, I'd love to make a home as amazing and inviting as yours some day. Thank you, my friend, for the beautiful sampler, which brings me one step closer to having a home that is warm, inviting, beautiful, and perfectly primitive! :-)

Melt-in-your-mouth Pumpkin Bread

2011-11-01T12:24:00.001-07:00

This one was shared in a recent "Community Chickens" email newsletter I received (yes, a chickens group -- note the use of 5 eggs?). It sounded soooo tasty, I had to share! I've been seeing a lot of different pumpkin bread recipes online lately, but this one made my mouth water just reading through the list of ingredients! I can't wait to make it. Enjoy!

Melt-in-your-mouth Pumpkin Bread
by Rebecca Nickols

1 1/4 cups oil
5 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 pkg. cook-and-serve vanilla pudding (small boxes)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Blend oil, eggs and pumpkin. Combine other ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle and lightly pat on the crumb topping (see recipe below). Bake in 2 greased/floured loaf pans at 325° for 1 hour. Lightly dust with powdered sugar after bread has cooled.

Crumb Topping: 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, pinch of salt. With a pastry blender, cut 3 Tbsp butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

"Old Haunts" PinKeep/Pillow!

2011-10-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

I just finished up a new cross-stitch design for a sweet little Halloween/autumn piece I've called "Old Haunts." The pattern is now available at my site, Hannah's PinKeep. And, the finished model is up for sale also, at Autumn Comforts. I think it turned out pretty cute, and I hope you do as well! :-)

I stitched up the model on Belfast "Dirty" 32-ct. linen in 2 over 2, using 4 colors of hand-dyed flosses from The Gentle Art. This was my first experience with flosses other than good ol' DMC, and I love the way these hand-dyed flosses look for primitive projects! The variations in color depth are amazing and gave this little keep a more muted, aged, "organic" look. I hope you'll check out both the pattern (which can be purchased either as just the pattern, or as a "kit" that includes the flosses and fabrics also) and the finished piece and consider adding one of them to your own collection. Happy Halloween! :-)

Sharing a Giveaway!

2011-10-14T17:51:00.001-07:00

I happened on this giveaway while surfing my favorite blogs today: These beautiful samplers!

You can visit Dan's blog here to learn about the giveaway and participate. Good luck to all!

Primitive Pantry Candles ON SALE!

2011-10-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Autumn! I just listed my Primitive Pantry Candles on sale for only $9.95 plus shipping! This is a great deal, and I have a BUNCH of fabulous scents available; many of which are just perfect for the autumn season and upcoming holidays!

AND, I've listed 4 "Featured Scents" for autumn on my home page: Place ANY order worth $25 or more (not including shipping) while these scents are listed there, and receive your choice of either 1 votive candle or 2 scented wax melts, in your choice of any one Featured Scent, FREE with your paid order! Just mention your choices (candle or melts, and which scent) in the Questions/Comments field during checkout.

Don't you just LOVE this time of year? :-)

Beware the Moon: New cross-stitch pattern/kit now available!

2011-10-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

My first cross-stitch pattern has been listed for sale! Order just the pattern (includes chart, floss list, plus finishing instructions for making it onto a 10" x 6" pillow/tuck), or get the "kit" (includes the above, plus a piece of Wichelt "copper penny" linen, a piece of brushed cotton, striped pumpkin homespun for the backing, plus a total of 6 flosses for completing your pillow/tuck).

Available now at my other site, Hannah's PinKeep: Click Here

Hope you like it! :-)

Latest Project

2011-10-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

So here's what I've been working on lately:

Sorry, the second photo is a little blurry. That's what I get for not using the tripod. At any rate, I've rediscovered the joys of cross-stitching lately (that is, when my RA is behaving itself and my fingers work!), and since I'm trying to focus on designing patterns (to sell at my other site, Hannah's PinKeep), and I've always loved doing cross-stitch, well, hopefully I'll have both the finished pattern models and the patterns/charts for at least a couple of designs ready to list and sell soon.

I know it's getting late for listing new Halloween patterns, but I have the one pictured plus another one that I should be able to finish up over the next few days, so I'll post again once they are listed.

Much going on these days. Sometimes I think maybe too much. My best friend (of 36 years now) just found out her oldest son (Josh will be 29 next month) has lymphoma. If any of you would care to include him in your prayers/good thoughts, it would be most appreciated. His name is Josh Reznick, and he lives here in Bend, Oregon. Jacki, his Mom and my dearest friend, is supposed to call me later today once they have more details. At this time, I don't yet know which kind of lymphoma he has, nor the treatment plan or prognosis. Sometimes waiting for the phone to ring is sheer agony.

Hug your loved ones. Blessings to you and yours always.

Jodi

New Rag Quilts!

2011-09-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

I just listed a new large-throw-sized rag quilt, and a new rag quilt table mat! Yay! New stuff! :-) Here are previews:

You'll find them both for sale now at: http://www.autumncomforts.com :-) Lots more on the way!

NEW Cinnamon Bun Candle Size Options!

2011-08-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

You'll love this! My scrumptious, fabulous Cinnamon Bun Candles are now available in 3 different sizes! And each of them is loaded with that fabulous cinnamon bun scent my customers love! Hope you'll stop by my site and check out the first of many new changes and goodies that are coming soon. Oh, and I also offer little cinnamon bun melts in bags of 12, in case you prefer using a wax-potpourri melter for amazing home fragrance (and I still have some electric melters available, in case you need one)! Happy shopping! :-)

Changes are coming....

2011-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

I am just beginning to feel the changes in the air. Autumn is just around the corner (and is my very favorite time of year!). Autumn has always been, in my estimation, the season that is most about change. And this holds true for me nearly every year. I've been trying to gain a stronger foothold on life lately, and remove the stones from my path, so to speak. Although I'm disabled, I want and need to continue doing. And it seems that no matter what other directions I take in life, I'm always gently led back to my web sites and my handcrafts.

Hannah's PinKeep hasn't been as successful as I would have liked. I think the biggest problem has been that I tried to grow it entirely as a "bootstrap" business; absolutely no bank loans or other funding whatsoever. It was to be a retail store reselling patterns, fabrics, and needlework supplies that was grown entirely out of pocket, reinvesting every penny, for awhile, back into the business. But sales just haven't been what I had hoped for. It's been good, but I needed great.

I'm not saying I'm going to close it completely. Just that it's time for changes. And while I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the changes will be, I can guarantee they are coming. And I hope they will all be seen by all my customers and friends as being for the better. :-)

I've thought for quite awhile now that, given my disabilities and my love for design, I needed to concentrate more on making my own designs into patterns. So far, I just have the one pattern available; for my Long Prairie Bonnets. It's been very well received, and I enjoyed the process of putting it together. Next, I'm thinking, should be more patterns for my rag quilts, other quilt designs (I still LOVE making more traditional and primitive style quilts; a love affair that's been going on for 35 years now!), my dolls, various little ornie/tuck/filler items, and my cross-stitch designs. At the latest count, I have precisely 13,746 different designs lined up in my head, just awaiting being made and then "patternized." ;-)

Guess I'd better get to work! :-)

Meanwhile, you might want to check out my other site, Hannah's PinKeep for some great clearance deals on patterns, notions, & other goodies. I need to clear out much of the inventory toward facilitating the upcoming changes involving both my sites. Happy shopping!

New Prairie Doll, Prairie Bonnets, Table Runner!

2011-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right! I have new items now listed at Autumn Comforts! There's a new 20" Bedtime Prairie Doll, complete with mob cap; 2 new Long Prairie Bonnets in red and blue ticking respectively, and a rag quilt table runner! Better hop on over and take a peek before they're gone. :-) Autumn Comforts

Definitely Summer!

2011-07-23T13:45:00.001-07:00

We're certainly getting the heat! We'd had some cooler, rainy weather in central Oregon recently, but summer is back in full swing. I got a bit of work done in the vegetable garden this morning and then mowed the lawns (this was way overdue!), then high-tailed it back indoors, out of the climbing temperatures of mid-day. The veggie garden and the flowers are loving this weather! Me, not so much; I'm definitely a fan of autumn and spring (in that order); not our extremely cold, snowy winters nor our very hot, dry summers (although I do love, love, love gardening!).

Unfortunately, although we have central air in the house, my sewing room is upstairs, and the air on the second floor just doesn't seem to be easily "conditioned!" It's pretty tough to get excited about spending a few hours at the sewing machine when the temperature in the room is hovering in the upper 80s. But I'm doing the best I can! I've been inspired lately to get an assortment of new items made to sell, and to create the patterns for them and offer those for sale as well. Seems I always have a nice, long list in my head of all the great projects I want to get done, but getting through them all isn't nearly as quick and easy as I'd like it to be!

But don't give up on me! :-) I'm plugging away... and as we head toward autumn and the weather cools a bit, I'll be able to spend that much more time in the sewing room. I have a couple of different dolls, a few cross-stitch and wool felt items, and a batch of different quilts on my mental to-do list that I think you'll all like. I just need to transpose them from ideas into finished products! :-)

I'm off to grab a cool drink, take a quick cool shower, and then I'll hit that sewing room again....

Double Wax Melts!!!

2011-07-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

LIKE HOME FRAGRANCE? You'll LOVE this! Now through Sunday (7/17) only: Order scented wax melts, and I'll DOUBLE your melts! Just put the word "Summer" in the comments in the shopping-cart order form before checkout! :-)

Just visit this link: Autumn Comforts Melts and Melters

(Don't have a wax melter? Check out the electric wax melters I still have in stock at the same link, all at HALF PRICE!)

Want individual melts in your favorite scents? I'll send you TWO for every ONE you order! Want to take advantage of the 12-count Sampler "Grab Bag?" You'll receive TWO bags for every ONE bag you order! Prefer my Cinnamon Bun Melts? Order one bag, and you'll receive TWO! Order two, and you'll receive four! Heck, order FIVE of your favorites and you'll receive TEN! :-) Remember to put the word "Summer" in the comments field when you order... and hurry! This offer expires at 9 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, July 17th! See you there! :-)

Wax Melts & Melters Event!

2011-04-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

First, I'm so sorry for the delay in posts! It's been a busy month. I'll try to do better, I promise!

In addition to marking down all my electric wax melters to about half price, I've also posted a really great deal on my scented wax melts; get a "Grab Bag" of a dozen different scents for only $7.50 plus shipping! I'll choose scents for you for this deal, but that price is excellent, and it's a great excuse to try new scents toward possibly finding a few new favorites! ;-)

Here's a link directly to the Spring Grab Bag Special! :-) And, don't forget to check out my remaining stock of melters, too, as the prices can't be beat! The melters are all listed on the same page, below the grab bag listing.

With Mother's Day fast approaching, this would also be a GREAT gift opportunity for Mom; you could give her both a melter and a bag of 12 different scented melts to try out for as little as $14.50 plus shipping! Pretty great deal, yes? :-) Great enough to maybe get two; one for Mom, and one for yourself, perhaps? ;-)

Note also that I'm in the process of adding some new scents to my regular line-up, so it would be a great time to check out my other melts listings and stock up on your own favorites.

Happy Spring!
Jodi

CLEARANCE SALE! :-)

2011-03-19T12:36:00.001-07:00

I've marked down all of my remaining candle holders and electric wax melters to half price! This is a great deal on a variety of really nice tinware items, so I hope you'll check it out soon! If you find one or two pieces you like, grab them now, before they're gone! :-)

Autumn Comforts

The melters and candle holders are found in these two sections:

Wax Melts & Melters, and
Candle Holders.

And, don't forget to check out my candles and wax melts while you're ordering your clearance holders and melters! Enjoy your shopping! :-)

PLEASE Help Me to Win Funding for my Business: All You do is Vote!

2011-02-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile again since I posted here, but please know that I am still trying to work on making things to sell at Autumn Comforts when and as I can. Life has been pretty hectic and complicated lately, but I'm still here.

I've entered a contest that I could really use your help with, and all that you need to do is vote for me on Facebook. It does take approving using a Facebook app, but if you're willing to do so, and you can cast even one vote for me, it may help me get into the next round. Your daily vote through March 15th would help even more... but even a few votes along the way will add up with others and help me tremendously.

Docker's is sponsoring this contest, and entrants have submitted their own "Plans" for their future; things they have always wanted to do but have lacked the funding for; that type of thing. And I have submitted a plan that, if I am fortunate enough to win, I would use the funding to greatly expand Hannah's PinKeep: My fabric & needlework supply business.

Those who know me know that I have rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions, most of which are autoimmune. This means that I am permanently disabled by progressive (and incurable) conditions. And, because I am on drugs that suppress my faulty immune system (to try to slow the damage process to my body), I have to be very careful about infections, as I can't fight them like normal, healthy people can.

Furthermore, because of my symptoms of pain in my joints, muscles, and nerves, plus the symptoms of intermittent impaired hearing, balance issues, and even attacks of vertigo (spinning sensation) caused by Meniere's disease, I'm sure you can understand that I simply cannot work for anyone else ever again. But because of the timing of my development of RA, doctors thought I had just developed a rare (but serious) side effect from a medication my doctor had just put me on for cholesterol. It took a couple of years before they finally realized that rather than a temporary medication side effect, I actually had developed rheumatoid arthritis (which is a permanent and progressive autoimmune disease). During that time, I'd missed enough work that, once the accurate diagnosis finally came, I no longer qualified to collect Social Security Disability (in spite of a solid previous work history spanning decades). And now, due to the recession and the failed housing market, my husband has been on reduced hours at work for almost 3 years.

I'm explaining all of this and hoping you don't mind reading through it because I want you to fully understand just what this contest could mean to me.

Because it's getting more difficult to make things on my own to sell through my Autumn Comforts web site (rheumatoid arthritis is slowly but surely damaging the joints in my fingers and hands, as well as other parts of my body), I recently opened a separate web site, Hannah's PinKeep, where I sell fabrics, patterns, and needlework supplies. This is a way for me to still be involved in the industry that I so, so love without having to strain my sore, weary hands by still trying to make the things I've always loved to make. And in spite of being operated in our 2 sons' old bedrooms at this point, and being started and, thus far, operated strictly out of pocket (no business loans; strictly re-investing every penny made back into the business), it's actually going fairly well for me so far. I haven't been able to pay myself a salary at all yet; but I have been, slowly but surely, expanding the Hannah's product inventory.

But I'm sure you can imagine how much better I could do with Hannah's if I could afford to invest in greatly expanding the inventory of goodies I sell, and perhaps even open a real "brick-and-mortar" shop to operate from... and, maybe even hire a couple of good, deserving people to help me run things. My goal with Hannah's has been to eventually carry the kind of inventory where I'm not only selling a huge variety of patterns, but also ALL the materials one might need in order to make the items... and, Hannah's is primarily a "primitive/colonial" type business, sticking mostly to a specialized style of items that so many of you love. So many of my customers have expressed how difficult it is for them to find certain items they need (for making their own craft items to sell) in their areas, or even online. I want to have the store that carries all of those items... and offer them at very reasonable prices, to boot! :-) And if I could win the Docker's contest, I could grow my business and even begin to pay myself a salary for running it! :-)

If you've stuck with me through this lengthy (but heartfelt) explanation, you can understand just what that funding could mean for me, my family and loved ones, and even for a few potential employees I could hire to help me out... and for Hannah's customers, as I could actually carry a vast supply of all the products they love, want, and need for their own hobbies and/or making their own products for sale.

So if you're willing and able to help me out, here is what to do: Visit this link at Facebook: http://dockers.contextoptional.com/entries/871. You'll need to be logged in to your own Facebook account. And, you'll need to accept using the Facebook app (I know many folks don't care to use apps there, but this is how Docker's set up the contest. If you'll just approve the app this one time, which I've approved and had absolutely no problems with at all, I'd greatly appreciate it!). Then, you'll be taken to my page at the contest (Jodi Farm is my name). Click the button to vote for me. That's it! And, you can vote once a day through March 15th.

Enough votes will help me get into the next round of the contest. At that point, I'd submit a more detailed explanation of my plan. And then, a final few will be selected for the final round of voting to determine the winner of the $100,000 in funding to realize their plan! :-)

With your help, I can continue to work (and feel useful) in spite of multiple chronic, progressive, and incurable medical issues. And, I can better serve my customers. And, I can open my business in a real local store, allowing me to greatly expand the product inventory and serve local, walk-in customers in addition to my customers who are online. AND, I can even hire a few local, deserving folks to help me operate Hannah's and continue to serve our customers' needs.

I can't begin to thank you enough. Blessings and best to you and yours.

Jodi

New Rag Quilt Goodies!

2011-01-06T11:07:00.000-08:00

Will wonders never cease? About time I posted here again! :-) Just a quick note to let you all know, I just listed a new throw-sized rag quilt and a rag quilt table runner for sale. This link will take you to my Quilts & Quilty Goods section at the site; from there, click either of the links to view the appropriate new goody. :-)

Here's the large throw sized rag quilt:

...and the table runner:

I'm also pleased to announce that our latest attempts to gain better control over my rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions (namely Remicade infusions every 6 weeks, in addition to my other meds) have been pretty darned successful! I've been feeling quite a bit better. And while we can never reverse the damage already done to my joints, and the progress of the disease will continue, we have slowed it dramatically, and my hands don't seem to be doing too badly these days. So while Hannah's PinKeep will need to remain my primary occupation, I am still sewing and will still have the occasional goodies to list on Autumn Comforts as well. :-)

Happy New Year, Everyone! Here's hoping it's a far sight better than its recent predecessors for us all. :-)

Long Prairie Bonnets: 6 finished, and PATTERN!

2010-10-25T09:33:00.001-07:00

It has been way too long since I last posted here, and for that, I apologize. Life has a way of sneaking up behind you and smacking you over the head sometimes. Case in point, this stupid recession. But rest assured that while I haven't posted nearly as much as I should, I have been working away, as best as I can, and it seems that things are, slowly but surely (mostly slowly, though) getting better.

Hannah's PinKeep is up and running. I wish I could say that it is fabulously stocked thanks to a wonderful low-interest bank loan, but that isn't the case: It's being built, again slowly but surely, from the ground up. But I'm re-investing 100% right now and adding new items as often as I can. While I wish I could do more, I'm pretty proud of the way it's going so far. Hope you'll stop in and visit!

And on to the latest news: I finally finished up 6 new long prairie bonnets, and they're available now at Autumn Comforts! Here's the direct link:

Prairie Bonnets available at Autumn Comforts

AND (yep, there's more!), I finally, FINALLY finished my very first pattern (woohoo!)... and yes, it's available now, too! And it is for... yep, you guessed it: Long Prairie Bonnets! Tadaaaaah! And here's the direct link to Hannah's to the pattern, available now:

Prairie Bonnet PATTERN available at Hannah's PinKeep

And, of course you'll want to see a photo here... right?

So bear with me, my friends, and I hope you'll check out the new stuff. And I'll try to make it a point to blog more often. I have a blog for Hannah's, too, and it has also been woefully neglected lately... so I'll pop on over there now and see about posting an update. Oh, and that blog is located at:

http://www.hannahspinkeep.blogspot.com

Until next time, dear friends ... and, happy, happy Autumn! I LOVE this time of year, don't you? :-)

Hannah's PinKeep Site is Underway!

2010-08-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a web site! :-) Yay! Hannah's PinKeep is now officially hosted and in the process of being built.

I'm anticipating, at this point anyway, a targeted Grand Opening date of Friday, Sept. 10th... sound good? I'll see if I can manage it. Now, please to bear in mind, the starting inventory won't be huge by any means; but with your support, I hope to build Hannah's into a nice, big store that will offer everything the primitive artisan's and/or hobbyist's heart desires for working with quilting, doll-making, and other fabric crafts, stitchery (including basic embroidery and cross-stitch) needle punch, and a variety of methods of rug-making... along with whatever else we may decide to add as we go along.

So keep an eye out for news and updates, and I hope you'll all pay a visit or three (or 6, or 42, or 1,285, or...) to Hannah's PinKeep once she's up and running! :-)

Hannah's PinKeep Coming Soon!

2010-08-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming, but the grand opening of Hannah's PinKeep is coming soon! I'm so excited! I'm hoping to have her open (with an albeit small inventory for the time being -- we're gonna be building this store from the ground up, so your support means everything!) around mid-September.

Hannah's PinKeep will carry supplies: The styles will be primitive, country, primsical, Old World Halloween (& holiday), Quaker, Shaker, and colonial... and all of today's favorite styles based on times past. Colors will be cherry picked by me... because by now, I KNOW you all love the colors I choose for my own handmade items. And finally, the supplies will be for making: Quilts, dolls, ornies, tucks, stitcheries (embroidery AND cross-stitch style), rugs (crocheted fabric, hooked, wool pennyrugs, & more!), and other handiworks involving sewing, stitching, hooking, punching, and whatever else we decide to add along the way! :-)

We'll have patterns that you won't be able to help but love! Prim quilts by Primitive Pieces by Lynda... Prim and Quaker style cross-stitch charts by Stacy Nash, Plum Street, and more ... doll patterns, rug-making instructions... AND, of course, there will be a variety of patterns (as I can get them put together) from Autumn Comforts, too! :-)

Want to be notified about updates to Hannah's PinKeep? You can "Like" the Facebook page here: Hannah's PinKeep Facebook Page, and also watch this blog for news about the openings of both the store itself and the new Hannah's PinKeep blog.

By the way, I've started some topics under "Discussions" on the Facebook page that I would love your help with! I want to make Hannah's PinKeep YOUR store... and the more input I can receive from you, the better the store will be. :-)

Thanks to All,
Jodi

COMING SOON:

Last day for 25% off your order!!

2010-08-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday, 8/15) is the final day to use the voucher code RECESSION in the shopping cart at Autumn Comforts to receive a 25% discount on your entire order (worth $25 or more)!

My stock has been picked over fairly well, but I still have several rag quilt items, one doll, a couple of prairie bonnets, a raggedy rug, several clearance jewelry sets, plus all my candles, wax potpourri melts, melters, candle holders, fixin's, patterns, fabrics, batting, stuffing, and more.

The goal of this promotion is to help me fund getting my NEW site opened! Hannah's PinKeep will be a supplies store, offering what I hope will eventually be a large stock of supplies for making quilts, dolls, rugs, other fabric items, plus cross-stitch, embroidery / stitchery, and other needlework and handiwork supplies, focusing exclusively on primitive, country, primsical, colonial, Quaker, and old world Halloween styles! :-)

I hope to have hannahspinkeep.com opened and ready to serve within another month or so. It will start out small, but with enough support, I hope to make it a thriving online store that will be able to supply all of my online friends with everything they need for their fabric, needlework, and hooked items of all kinds... in our beloved prim styles. :-)

Thanks again to all of my friends for your support over the years. And thank you for your support for my new endeavor. As my rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions progress, I am very much looking forward to easing myself into selling more supplies (and designing my own patterns as well!) and less of my own hand-made items. When life gives you lemons.... :-)

Love & blessings to all!

SALE!

2010-08-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

I need to reduce my inventory, so until I post otherwise, use voucher code RECESSION in my shopping cart to take 25% OFF orders worth $25 or more!

This darned recession seems to be hanging around, and it's getting on my last nerve; how about the rest of you? At any rate... if I'm going to make the changes to my online business(es) that I need to make (for the health reasons I've mentioned before), then I need to do whatever is necessary to come up with the funds to do it... and since I have a fair amount of assorted stuff in stock now, including quite a good supply of my handmade items, it seems a promotion to reduce that inventory and sell it off is now in order.

I've officially purchased my new domain name for the "sister site" I intend to set up (not ready to announce the name yet, though... soon!), although I still need the funds to cover setting up the site with a host. That, and stocking it with more goodies, of course. I've also managed to get wholesale specs from several more great companies who sell those very types of supplies I want to have available for all of you... so I'm workin' on it! :-)

Meanwhile, enjoy using that voucher code for some great deals! It's good for EVERYTHING on my site; even the jewelry sets in the Clearance section that are already drastically reduced!

Click here to go to my site and use that voucher code, RECESSION . Have fun shopping. :-)

August!

2010-08-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

First order of business; my gosh, I was surprised and disappointed that nobody found and accepted my offer here! I guess my blog isn't very well trafficked, and/or nobody much wanted to shop my store; even with a $10 freebie to spend there! :-( I'm trying not to take it too personally (smile), and just blame it on the economy. Funny thing is, I handed out 10 of the exact same voucher codes over on Facebook, folks snatched them up, but not a single one of the ones claimed was used! Not sure why folks would want a limited-quantity offer and then not use it. But I have had some nice sales during the past couple of weeks, so I guess I shouldn't complain. :-)

And on to other things....

I've been listing all the fabrics I currently have in stock, and a few orders have come in. Still don't have the second site set up, and funds-wise, it may be a few more weeks. But my spirit isn't dampened, and I'm still on course. I'm having a blast, imagining all the great prim "crafting" supplies I will have on stock. And, I'm working on a few of my own patterns to sell there, too, in addition to the patterns I'll offer from some other, amazing primitive designers. And, I'm thinking I'll eventually offer all of the following: Fabrics (of course!), assorted patterns, notions, batting, stuffing, pillow forms, wool, and supplies for working in wool, stitchery, cross-stitch and embroidery patterns and supplies, rug-making supplies (hooked, crocheted, locker rugs, and more!)... and whatever else may happen to come along and pique my interest! :-)

I love to blog hop, and in my travels, I've found that quite a few of you have done some fabulous things with old reproduction cross-stitch samplers, Quaker-style, et al. I've discovered the incredible warmth, beauty, and fondness for the past in the stitched works of designers like Stacy Nash, Beehive Needleworks, and so many others, and I've fallen in love with the fantastic pinkeeps, biscornus, sewing rolls, and other items they stitch and assemble. I'm trying my hand at a few of theirs, and a few of my own, and I'll definitely want to include their patterns and all the supplies you'll need to make them. And while I don't work with wool or make the hooked rugs myself, I know that many of you do and would probably love a good supply store with reasonable prices and a nice variety of supplies to choose from, so those should be there, too. Funds-wise, I'll start out small... but I hope to slowly but surely expand my inventory, and maybe eventually open a local shop as well.

And finally: I listed a couple of new items over at Autumn Comforts the other day! :-) There's another large throw sized rag quilt, and a long, vintage-reproduction prairie bonnet -- both my own designs, of course! ;-) Here are pics:

Hope you'll head on over and have a peek at all I have available: Autumn Comforts

:-)

Spur of the Moment Discount Offer! Woo!

2010-07-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, my friends, the first 5 to post follow-ups to this entry will receive a voucher code good for $10 off your order worth $35 or more! What's more, this voucher code is only good until late evening of Saturday, July 31st... so add your comment, and I'll visit your profile to email the voucher code to you: IF you're one of the first five to post, that is! ;-)

How is everybody, anyway? I've been good, just very busy. Good news is, in a bit of a whirlwind, I actually got approval from my insurance company and got in for my first loading dose of Remicade! Woo! If you've visited with me before, you probably already know that I have autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory (rheumatoid and psoriatic) arthritis. And I've spent the past few years trying first Humira injections and then Enbrel. While they both helped some, it just wasn't the level I'd hoped for with either. And while they were both administered as a prescription, in the form of injections I took home and gave to myself, Remicade is only administered in the doctor's office as an IV infusion. So insurance (at least mine) considers it "Major Medical." This means a deductible and then a co-pay of 20%. And even getting insurance to approve it at all takes some finagling. But I was fortunate enough that insurance approved it, and, the good folks at the Remicade company have a program they got me approved for that will also help pay toward my deductible and an additional balance toward my 20%! What a team I have; they all hurried it all through, and I had my first infusion 2 days ago! It's too early to tell, of course, whether this will be the one that works for me... but I've heard about so many cases wherein this drug has helped people tremendously who just weren't helped enough by the self-injection drugs. So we shall see! I'd cross my fingers if I still could. ;-) Maybe one day soon, I will be able to! :-)

What else? Oh, my garden has been doing great... looks like I'll be filling the freezer with peas! I've had a huge harvest of them, and they're still going strong. The corn is only about 3 feet tall so far, but the silks are already starting to show, so ears won't be far behind! I've been picking blueberries for a few days now, with more yet to ripen. Next year's harvest should be phenomenal! And, I had a few onions ready and pulled some this morning, braided them together, and hung them out in the sun to cure.

Otherwise, I've been trying to sew as much as I can, and I'm still plugging away on trying to get my ducks in a row to add more re-sale supply items (fabric, patterns, needlework supplies....) and get that other web site set up. I may start it out as a selling blog, but I at least want to register the domain name (and, of course, the Assumed Business Name) before I jump into anything. Maybe next month I'll be able to afford to get the ball rolling on all of that.

Okay, my friends, post away so you can grab your discount code! :-)

Have a beautiful weekend.

Jodi

Go, PRIMITIVE! Woo!

2010-07-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

Yup, I'm feeling it again. In fact, I've become saturated by it. I'm completely obsessed (uh-oh!) again... now wanting more than ever to open my own brick-and-mortar in accompaniment with a second web site. I even have the name picked out. And the purpose? Well, I've been touching on that for a few weeks now.

My rheumatoid arthritis is doing its thing. I have to face that. And as such, it's getting harder and harder to do the things I love to do. My hands are especially suffering (well, my hands and feet... but of course, the sewing machine presser foot can always be mounted higher for hand control... right?!). It's already having an adverse effect on all that is my very heart and soul. Example: I have a lovely lady who has been asking -- begging -- me to make her a particular quilt for her bed... for what must be a couple of years now. And why haven't I made it? Because I am a long-time hand-quilter. And now, I just can't hand quilt anymore; not the larger quilts, anyway. My hands just don't work that well. Yes, indeedy, a bed-sized quilt can always be machine quilted... the problem with that is, my sewing machine is a dinky thing, with a throat space of about, oh, a thumb's width or two (okay, I exaggerate... but it is awfully small). And yes, I would LOVE to get a new machine; one with a nice, big throat/harp space, so I could machine-quilt even those big bed-sized quilts. But the ones I've been looking at are 4 figures. FOUR figures! And, well, to be brutally honest, we're barely scraping by right now.

I suppose if I had pre-paid orders for 5 or 10 bed-sized quilts, I could and would go right down to the local sewing machine place and buy me that gorgeous machine I've been drooling over. But for a single request, no matter how sincere and desperate, well, I just don't have the funds. Yep, I have a credit card for that very store, with no balance on it, in fact... but I'd have to be able to make the payments. And I am not certain I could at this point.

I can still make rag quilts, because they are made differently; each square is quilted first, then the squares are assembled. It's easy to fit an 8-inch square of sandwiched fabric and batting into my little machine. But a queen- or king-sized traditional, pieced quilt, all rolled up to the quilting area? Nope, not gonna fit.

I'm honestly thrilled to see, as we climb out of the depression that is this recession, that primitive has survived perfectly well, thank you very much. I'm ecstatic about this fact! Unfortunately, my husband is still on reduced hours. He has been for 2 years now. And while he did finally just get a small raise, the reduced-hours thing is destined to remain in effect for awhile yet; at least until the residential development in our area of Oregon sees a great comeback (he's a building inspector). And we're not there yet.

But I'm rambling again. Back on track: Most of you know I've been trying, trying, trying to get my fabric designs used on lines of actual fabric. But my friends at Indo U.S. (who make the best quality homespun and print fabrics ever, I swear!) are also still feeling the pinch of the recession, and they are avoiding making any new fabrics for awhile until they can sell off more of what they already have in stock. Oh, I've been approaching other fabric companies. But there are two problems with this: First, I'm not hearing back from many of them... and those who do reply tell me they are also not taking on any new designers right now. And second, I'm having a tough time finding companies who still make our beloved yarn-dyed, woven "homespun" fabrics. Most have turned to prints only; and so many of those are the bright, obnoxious colors and big, bold prints that seem to be gaining in popularity these days. I don't get it (and hope I never do, frankly); I'm just glad our primitives have survived and thrived!

At any rate, Indo U.S. still makes fabulous homespuns, as well as prints; and they still use those awesome muted prim colors we love so, so much! Oh, they have some brights, too... but you can still find incredible muted, earthy plaids, stripes, tickings, and prints from Indo. And, they have been wonderful to work with over the years (being an avid customer myself). So I'd really prefer to work with them, whenever they are ready. I just hope it's soon.

I'm also still keeping the designing of patterns on my to-do list, and in fact, I have a few in the works. But I operate a little more slowly these days than I used to, and I haven't quite gotten where I need to be with those yet. I will, though.

My other passion has become all about opening that second web site (and, eventually, local store), operating as a reseller of all things primitive; but I don't mean finished goods. I mean supplies. Fabrics, batting, stuffing, patterns, kits, flosses, threads... everything one might need for making the very types of things that I make (and more); all in our beloved primitive style (and it's sister styles; primsical, colonial, country, Quaker...). I already have (and have been adding to my current site for the time being) a bunch of fabrics and a few other goodies to help me get started, and I hope to add LOTS more fabrics, patterns, etc., along with supplies for making hooked rugs, cross-stitch and embroidery, wool items, and more.

I've been talking to a wonderful lady from the local community college who is my SBA advisor. She's helping me learn how to actually do business (yeah, now that I've been doing it for over a decade... LOL!) the right way. My hope now is to maybe work my way, slowly but surely (although I'd love for it to be quickly and surely!), toward achieving my goals.

*Sigh.* Fact is, I'm a 50-year-old disabled gal, married to the Best Husband in the World, and I want with all my heart and soul to run my own real, bona fide business, and we're barely making ends meet right now.

And nope, I can't just go out and get a job. Fact is, my medical conditions preclude me from committing myself to anyone's rigid schedule of operation. I never know when I'm going to simply have a very, very painful day, or have one of my vertigo attacks from Meniere's disease.... The beauty of my little dream shop is that it will primarily be an office, storage, and yes, small showroom space where I can run my internet business and keep my stock; and eventually, when I am ready to expand it for more of the local, walk-in business, maybe I'll be in a position to hire an employee or three to help me out.

So there it is, Folks. Thanks to all who may indulge me by actually reading all of this (bless you!), and if any of you have any opinions, advice, criticisms, or what-have-you, I'd be grateful to hear it all. My Facebook Friends (many of the 4,100+ of them!) tell me that yes, they do want and need a store that sells the great primitive fabrics and needlework supplies they use for their own products. And, I'm working on selling stuff I do have in stock toward coming up with funds to... well, yes, pay our utilities and buy milk and eggs. But also to buy more stock to sell and ease my way into setting up that sister site, and eventually a brick and mortar. I'd love to believe it could all happen; and in a short period of time.

I have this fantastic dream of sitting down with Mr. Bankerman and presenting to him my fabulous, perfectly written business plan... and there would be trade magazines and photos and samples of my own finished goods to show him... oh, yes, he would come to quickly understand that primitive is alive and kicking and is here to stay! And he would tell me that while nobody gets start-up loans, for this poor, decrepit but enthusiastic, sweet but pitiful woman before him, he is happy to make an exception. Then in my dream, he smiles and hands me a big, fat check. And of course, he asks when I'll be open so his wife, who LOVES primitives, can come in and shop.

Of course.

And in the REAL world, I'm guessing some of you have been to see Mr. Bankerman about those small business loans. So maybe you can share your own experiences... and honest advice. Whatever you can help me out with in regard to what, specifically, I should stock (remember, I've already started listing supplies on my existing site to get me started), how to proceed toward maybe securing funding (or if I'm completely nuts to even dream I might ever get any), or whatever may be on your mind.

Let me know what you think. Thank you, and love & blessings to all.

30% OFF everything on my site!

2010-07-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm running a special right now: Enter the voucher code AMERICA in the shopping cart on my site and then click "Recalculate," and you'll receive your entire order for 30% off! This special is for a limited time (expires at 9 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, July 11th), so hurry! :-)

Note too that this discount is good on everything: Whatever you find on my site right now that you can place in the shopping cart, you'll get the 30% off: Dolls, quilts, candles, melts, melters... there's a rug listed... yes, even the already deeply discounted jewelry sets! And, all batting, stuffing, patterns, and fabrics (which I'm still in the process of listing, but most of the homespun fabrics are there, with the others coming soon).

This promotion is part of my transition process: With a little help from my friends, I've made the decision that I needed to make: I am phasing out much of my handmade items (oh, I'll continue to make for as long as I can; it just won't be my primary focus anymore) and making room (and funds) to dedicate to slowly but surely adding stock for resale which will include fabrics, notions, patterns, threads, and other supplies. These will be the kinds of supplies that we all use for our country, primitive, colonial, Quaker, Shaker, Halloween, time-worn, old traditional, early, etc. styles of arts and crafts in the forms of dolls, quilts, stitchery (including cross-stitch and embroidery), and more.

My ultimate goal is to one day open a brick-and-mortar shop; one which will act more as a warehouse for storing a nice, big inventory of these items for sale online, but will also be open to the public for walk-in purchases during limited hours. I think that my medical conditions would allow me to manage this (perhaps with the help of an employee or two) for at least another decade or so, provided we can continue the journey we are on to find exactly the right combination of medications to slow the progression as much as possible.

At this point, though, my hands just aren't cooperating quite enough to continue exclusively making my dolls, quilts, and other items... so it's time to make some necessary changes that I believe will be positive ones.

Appreciation, love, and blessings to you all.

Big Changes: Adding a Fabric Store (Kind of)!

2010-06-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, Folks; if you follow my Facebook page, you know that I'm awaiting word on another attempt to convince the good folks at Indo - U.S. Sales, Inc. to go ahead with my first fabric line (which would be strictly homespun plaids, stripes, and possibly coordinating solids, all in, of course, our favorite muted, earthy primitive colors). This also marks the beginnings of the inevitable transition for me. Soon I'll be adding fabrics, along with some patterns and notions, for sale on my site, Autumn Comforts; and if all goes well, both with those sales and with the decision made by the gang at Indo, I'll open up another site which will be my online fabric store; again, selling only our types of fabrics and associated goodies (you know, for those of us who are the Raggedy Anns, prairie dolls, and black cats of this Barbie world!). And as my rheumatoid arthritis progresses, I'll be concentrating more on selling fabrics and spend less time making my dolls, quilts, and candles. I won't ever quit making things entirely; at least, not if I can help it. But it's becoming more and more difficult for me, unfortunately... and we still need to keep the bills paid. :-)

So I hope you will all continue to visit my store and bear with me during this transitional time; and please, if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions, I would love to hear from you. In particular, I want to make my fabric store one which will cater nicely to our little niche; offering only the best fabrics, patterns, and notions appropriate for those of us who love to make primitive, country, primsical, colonial, Halloween, and vintage reproduction items. And, I want it to be very user-friendly, offering the same good customer service, honest shipping rates, and quick turn-around time for your orders as I have always tried to offer my customers at Autumn Comforts. And I'll also try to offer special deals, discounts, and other ways to keep it all both affordable and fun along the way. :-)

And, of course, I'll also continue to design fabric lines for Indo, if they'll have me, along with my own patterns for dolls, quilts, and stitcheries -- all of which I'll sell from my fabric shop as well. :-)

Thanks again to all for your patronage and support!

Lots of new goodies at Autumn Comforts!

2010-06-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

I've been such a good girl lately! There are quite a few new items listed on my site now, just waiting for good homes! :-)

Like prairie bonnets? I have 3 available; all in slightly different styles, and all my own design (one of the bonnets in this photo has already sold):

And yep, I can sure consider taking custom orders if anyone is interested! :-)

I've also recently listed some additional candle holders and candles, so be sure to check those out on these pages:

My candles are ON THIS PAGE,

...and the holders are LOCATED HERE.

And, of course, I have fixin's available to complete your candle sets. THEY ARE HERE.

You'll find goodies like these available at Autumn Comforts now:

And like these:

And like this:

And don't forget to check out all the great scents I have available in my wax potpourri melts!

Not sure which scents you would like? I have a great price available for my 10-count sampler pack! You can list the scents you'd like included in your sampler pack in the comments field of my shopping cart, or I can choose some for you. Need a melter? I have some really cute electric melters available, too! :-)

My melts and melters are all located ON THIS PAGE.

AND, I still have a couple of Annie dolls available, a crocheted "rag" rug (just like Grandma used to make!), and assorted rag quilt goodies, too! So if you haven't been to my site lately, now is a great time to visit Autumn Comforts at http://www.autumncomforts.com.

:-D

Checking In Really Quickly

2010-06-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, after posting photos of some of my candles and melts on Facebook, I've been inundated with orders for them (yes, this is indeed a good thing!). So forgive my absence of late; I'm stinking up my upstairs, getting those orders filled! Once I have those orders caught up again, I'll have more prairie bonnets and some other goodies to list, too.

And a quick post-recession (or, nearing the "post-" stage, anyway... we hope!) note to all of you who love primitive, country, and colonial handmade products -- a style I was so, so afraid wasn't going to survive the recession:

It's good to have you back! :-)

Go, prims! :-) Woohoo!

My New Gardening/Personal Blog!

2010-05-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, for anyone who may be interested: Mid-Oregon Gardener Blog. :-)

And I'll be back here with more updates on my Autumn Comforts-related shenanigans along the way. :-)

Have a fantastic holiday weekend!

Reinventing Myself/ Will Design for Food

2010-05-27T17:25:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I checked in, and there is much in the way of news to share; the only question is, where to begin?

I guess first, just to get it out of the way; I'm thinking I'll start up another blog about my gardening adventures. Why? Simply because it's getting into our central Oregon gardening season, finally... see, we have a growing season that lasts all of about 15 minutes or so. Okay, seriously, it's more like 20 minutes. Okay... actually our "frost free" dates are around June 1 through Sept. 1. So clearly, not a huge growing season. But the point I was getting to is that I absolutely love gardening. An expert? Nope, not me! But I enjoy the heck out of it. I've considered myself a decent gardener of houseplants, annuals, and perennials for decades now, and this will be my third year with a vegetable garden. And I'm hooked. Totally addicted. Even though our growing season is very short, it's almost become a religious experience for me. I start getting excited (probably too excited, in fact) by around late March every year. And so far, each of these 3 years have resulted in my having started seedlings and other little garden projects way, way too early, resulting in losing some plants and having to replace them! This was my third year; think I'll learn this time and exercise a bit more patience and common sense next year? Let's hope so.

At any rate, since it's become such an addiction for me, even though our season is only a pitiful 3 months a year, I think my love affair with getting dirt under my fingernails has become blogworthy; at least, I hope so. I'll let you all be the judge. So watch for my second blog to appear soon. Hey, at least those of you who are here for updates on my business ventures won't have to suffer through any more of my garden photos ("Look! My first little baby tomato of the year! Isn't she cute?") being posted here anymore.

And onto other news....

By now, many of you have heard via my Facebook page that my much-touted (by me, of course!) fabric collection is not to be after all. Well, not quite yet, anyway, and probably not through Indo U.S. The boys from Indo attended the Minneapolis Quilt Market over this past weekend. It's a trade show, and they took my samples with them -- the new collection, which was strictly homespuns (plaids, checks, and stripes, which is what they requested for this go-round) -- to show to their clients in attendance. Unfortunately, upon returning from the show, they informed me that attendance at the show was "dismal," and that the few clients they had stop by their booth told them that they were not in a position to be buying any more fabrics for their shops, either new or existing, anytime soon... at least not until the economy improves. So, we won't be making my little doodles into fabrics for the time being.

I asked them to go ahead and send my portfolios (okay, 3-ring binders with printouts) back to me, and I'm in the process now of contacting every other fabric company I can find toward conning them into looking at my samples. So yep, I'm a designer without a manufacturer. Think I'll get this printed on a T-shirt: Will Design for Food.

In addition to the usual suspects, one of my contacts on Facebook suggested a relatively new fabric company they knew of, so I put a call in to those folks as well. I'll keep everyone posted. Meanwhile, if any of you have any suggestions, I'd be grateful for them.

This entire process has been just one aspect of my desire and need to shake things up a bit; I've been dabbling in so many different things the past several years, and between my age (50! Gasp!), my autoimmune conditions (the rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, Meniere's disease -- a hearing and balance disorder -- and other conditions that are my constant companions), the need to organize my house a bit better, ad nauseaum, I really need to make some changes. Some are easy; my failing health has made the decisions for me. I know, for example, that there is just no way for me to hand quilt any longer, as my hands just don't work that well anymore. So until I can afford a new sewing machine with a throat space large enough to accommodate my quilts for machine quilting, I won't be making much in the way of quilts. Rag quilts, yes, because they are made differently; they are sandwiched and quilted one block at a time. And, I can still make smaller quilted items, like table runners. So I'll continue to do those. But larger quilts are out for the time being, unless I want to pay someone else to do the machine quilting for me.

I've been trying to work toward less making items to sell and more design work; designing fabrics, and making my own patterns for stitcheries, quilts, dolls, and other goodies. But without meaning to sound like I'm bathing in self pity, I have to say that my life has been one visit right after another with having things I try to do go wrong. Seriously, I sometimes wonder just what I did wrong; it's a long story, and I won't bore you with it here: Suffice it to say, pretty much every time I've tried some form of a career for myself throughout my life, something major has happened to screw it up for me. If it's karma, then I guess I must have done something really bad to someone at some time or another. Whatever the case, it's true; I seem to be cursed in that way. Nope, not fishing for sympathy; it just is what it is.

So here I am, a designer without a manufacturer. A king without a country. Whatever. In any case, I'm working on the issue of finding another fabric company with which to work; now I just need to make some decisions regarding what stays in my life and what goes. Because as usual, I'm trying to spread myself too thinly... again. And as my health degenerates, so does my ability. And, I'm really pretty darned good at designing fabrics and patterns, if I do say so myself; I just wish I was better at making decisions and sticking to them!

At this moment, I'm thinking I won't be doing beaded jewelry any longer. You heard it here. In fact, I may just sell off the remainder of the supplies I have to another jewelry maker. So if you know of anyone.... I might have to keep my tools, though. Just in case I want to take it up again later on. You never know.

Okay, I'm off to start another blog and get some photos of my garden posted! I was going to post them here, but....

Until next time,
Jodi

Checkin' in on a Rainy, Rainy Day

2010-04-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, the downpour is my fault; because I watered my garden this morning. Yes, indeed, I do have that much power! I water, it pours an hour later (and all day long).

Seriously, I was planning on maybe taking a few photos of my greenhouse and the beginnings of this year's garden today. But the heavens decided to open up and dump some "Oregon sunshine" on us throughout the day... so not really appropriate weather for taking outdoor photos. I'll try again soon, though.

The "Recession Sale" at my site went pretty well, and now the site has been put back in order and will be sporting some brand new (and returning) products very soon (and as often as I can manage). I'm also heavily involved in my new pattern endeavors. I've finished a cross-stitch design that I think many of you will love; it's a quilt samper, and now I'm working diligently on getting the model stitched. After much deliberation over just the right fabric, I ended up deciding on cotton Osnaburg muslin! I'm actually stitching it in 2 over 4, so it should be interesting to see how it turns out. The 2 over 4 makes it 10 count, and it's a fairly large design as it is; so this is an ambitious project which I hope won't turn out to be too ambitious for my own good. I need to get this done, publish those patterns, and get them listed for sale. I also have a couple of quilt designs I'm working on and hope to have patterns for those soon as well, and I'm already contemplating some doll design ideas, patterns for my prairie bonnets, etc.

So please keep good thoughts for me that I am able to finish up this cross-stitch without straining my old eyes and neck to the point of giving up before it's done! :-) And, I'll try to have some new photos to post here soon.

RECESSION SALE: It all has to go!

2010-04-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

As the recession is still alive and kicking at our house (with the addition of recent news that husband Scott's job will not only NOT be going back to full time this summer, but, in fact, they are anticipating more layoffs... and we're that much closer to the chopping block this time around), and my rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions are progressing, I've decided that the sensible course of action for me is to CLOSE OUT most of the finished products I have on hand. So I've marked them all down by 30% to 75% and am crossing my fingers that you folks will take advantage of these tremendous prices... 'cause Mama's got bills to pay! ;-) These are mostly one-of-a-kind handmade items, so hurry and order your favorites before they're gone! :-)

Meanwhile, I am beginning work on getting my own designs (dolls, quilts, cross-stitch designs, and more) made into patterns to sell! I hope to have a few of these ready to list within the next couple of weeks. And while I'll be limiting the number of finished items available, I will still be making items to sell (including the pattern models, of course) and will have more of those to list soon as well.

So go do some shopping and get some great deals! http://www.autumncomforts.com

:-)

JEWELRY SALE!

2010-04-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it's April, and the recession is still in full-force in our household. So... I've now listed all of the necklace and earrings sets I had finished, and then I marked every one of them down to half price to clear them out! The beads and other materials cost me more at wholesale than what I'm now charging for these discounted sets, but Mama's got bills to pay... so hop on over to Autumn Comforts and order your favorite jewelry sets at half price before someone else gets the ones you love... because these are one-of-a-kind sets, and once they're gone, they're gone!

Crock Pot Continental Chicken

2010-03-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

Since we started the morning here with snow, I decided a nice, hot comfort food recipe would be appropriate for a new post today. Here's the recipe:

Crock Pot Continental Chicken

2-1/4-ounce pkg. dried beef (I only find the larger jars; leftover can be refrigerated for the next batch)
3 to 4 whole chicken breasts, halved & boned
6 to 8 slices bacon
1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 to 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1/4 cup flour

Arrange the dried beef slices on the bottom of greased crock pot. Brown bacon slices slightly in frying pan; drain off excess drippings. Wrap each halved chicken breast piece with a strip of bacon and place them on top of the dried beef.

Mix the soup and sour cream together; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 9 hours, or high for 3 to 4 hours. Serve over hot buttered noodles. Recipe can be doubled for larger crock pots.

This is one of my favorites. Enjoy! :-)

Saturday Morning Musings

2010-03-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

You know, I'm sitting here drinking my coffee and looking out my window at the gorgeous, spring-like weather. Over the neighboring rooftops, I can see the mountains from up here in my second-story work room. They are still covered in snow. And I am reminded that, while being stuck in suburbia isn't my ideal lifestyle, I am indeed quite blessed, all things considered.

Hubby's off at a work-related meeting; yet another union get-together as they try to work out the details of what they will ask for from the county toward keeping the employees reasonably afloat in this still-struggling economy. Scott has been on a 10% reduction of hours and pay for almost 2 years now. At this time, we have no idea whether he will go back to full time in the new fiscal year, and maybe even get one or both of the cost-of-living raises they have also been going without, or if he'll possibly even be laid off entirely. Work seems to be slowly but surely picking up for them again, but as a building inspector for a jurisdiction that was hit especially hard by the housing market crash (Bend, Oregon is a resort town, and was growing at an alarming rate for some time, up until the bubble burst), well, there is just no way of knowing for certain what may happen over the coming months.

But we have a fantastic circle of friends and family, and while many of them are struggling financially as well, at least we all have each other for every type of support any one of us may ever need. And, spring is coming. Daylight is getting longer, weather is getting warmer, and while the nights here are still dipping into below-freezing temperatures, and I know better than to discount winter weather around here up until about mid to late May, at least I know that gardening season is returning soon.

I started my tomato and cucumber seeds indoors a couple of weeks ago. The cukes have done very well, and the tomato seedlings are just starting to make their appearance now. I always love watching those sweet little plants erupting from the soil, growing taller, developing those first pairs of leaves.... It truly does renew the spirit and refresh the soul. I also started 4 herb pots on my kitchen windowsill a week prior to the veggie seedlings. The basil, dill, and oregano are doing very well; the rosemary is being rosemary's typical stubborn and has yet to make an appearance. I tried seeding rosemary in my vegetable garden a couple of years ago and ended up instead just buying a small rosemary plant. Rosemary can be quite a challenge. But it tastes so darned good in potatoes and poultry that I really must have some. The dried rosemary in those little seasoning jars just doesn't fit the bill. Fresh is what's needed, no matter how much of a fuss it gives you.

I can't wait until gardening season. :-) I have 3 raised beds that my amazing husband built me a few years back, and as my very cheap little "greenhouse" (one of those kinds that's actually a plastic pop-together frame with a vinyl cover) bit the dust pretty quickly in our extreme climate, Scott ordered me a new one. It's still a vinyl-covered frame, but it is a full 24 square feet larger than the first one! We're doing a bit of cleaning up and leveling off in a spot in the back yard and will set up the new greenhouse once its new location is ready. It's going in just a few feet away from where the old one stands. Then the old, torn up and worn out one will make its journey to the landfill or recycling center (although between now and then, I'll probably think up uses for at least a good portion of its parts).

At any rate, this being one of Scott's 3-day weekends (that 10% cutback has been played out as him having every other Monday off... unpaid, of course), and the weather being beautiful so far, I think we'll probably be able to make some progress on getting the new spot ready and setting up the new greenhouse. And Scott mentioned that he'll be picking me up some new soaker hoses this weekend as well, since the old ones I had in my raised vegetable beds have also succumbed to our extreme weather. So between our getting the garden area ready for another season, pouring candles, sewing up some bowl fillers, and whatever else I decide to work on, I think it will be a fantastic weekend. And, I am so blessed.

Our two sons (ages 24 and almost 23) will likely be coming from Vancouver for a visit for a few days next week as well. Although I have yet to pin them down on the exact day, nor do I know yet how long they will be staying, we have a lovely visit with our amazing boys to look forward to as well.

Have a beautiful, loving weekend, Everyone... filled with hope and joy.

Blog Frog & Plugboard!!!

2010-03-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

My goodness, I've had both the Blog Frog's "Recent Visitors Widget" and a new Plugboard on this blog for nearly 24 hours now, and no one but me has added any plugs yet! And, the Blog Frog has only brought me just a few new friends. So few, in fact, that it's been many hours since the last one stopped by for a visit, and now the Blog Frog Widget isn't even appearing here anymore. I'm feeling so sad! Hope I get more visitors here soon, and that they will sign up to follow my blog, get involved with that fun Blog Frog Gadget thingy (just visit The Blog Frog and sign up, then add the "Recent Visitors Widget" to your own blog), and leave their site plugs. It's like I'm throwing a party but nobody's showing up for it! :-(

Okay, seriously.... Been a quiet day, with little to report. Did some housework and laundry, and I also managed a few hours in my sewing room. Caught up on some programs I had on my poor DVR, which has been nearly ready to burst at the seams, it's so full! So it was a good day. What's that? Oh, what was I working on in the sewing room today?! Let's just say that while I seem to start every day lately thinking about how I have got to get my cinnamon bun candles back in stock (among other things), I found myself deviating from that path once again today, instead opting to get busy designing some new little filler and tuck type items. That, and I finished another prairie bonnet. Well, almost finished, anyway; I still need to stain and beat it to a wretched, time-worn-appearing state before it will be ready to list. This one is a new design, too; a bit different than the blue one I designed and made recently. I'm kind of hooked on the silly things and will probably have 3 or 4 different styles put together before long. Just hope they will sell!

Anyway, Folks, please feel free to leave your plug! The board is in the column on the right, down a ways. And, check out the Blog Frog site and the Widgets they have available for your blog; it's been kinda fun so far.

Sunny days and warm blessings!

New Items Listed Finally!

2010-03-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

Better late than never? Yep, I've been so naughty, but I'm back to work now and enjoying every minute of it. So nice to be feeling inspired again!

I just listed these items, 2 raggedies and a prairie bonnet, for sale on my site, Autumn Comforts:

And with any luck, I'll have MORE goodies to list very soon! If the sun keeps shining and the interruptions stay minimal, and if I can keep myself motivated as I should be, I'll be blazin' through my upcoming projects and filling up my store at record speed over the next several months. Seems like the economy is slowly but surely picking up again (as are my sales!), the days are getting longer, the flowers are starting to make their appearance, and all is right with the world. So this old gal has, really, no excuse!

So I hope my followers will enjoy the fruits of my labor, and I promise here and now that there will be more to come, soon and often!

Have a fantastic week.

Blessings,
Jodi

Friday

2010-02-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit lax in my work lately, so I'm planning to give myself a good kick in the rear end this weekend and get busy again. I didn't do too badly yesterday, though, in terms of getting other things done... including finishing the EQ6 videos and starting on the first book of lessons. It's quite the program! By the time I get through the book that came with it, plus the 2 companion books my darling hubby got for me, I'll be quite the aficionado! That is, if I can make it that far... phew! At least I'll soon be at a level where I can start using it for my quilt designs. I have a bunch of blocks awaiting placement decisions for my first design. I think I did around 20 or so; all I need to do now is decide on their placement and finish up the design. I'm really grateful I have the EQ6 program to work with now, rather than having to experiment with my actual finished quilt blocks and go through the trial and error of getting the design just right. I LOVE my 30th-anniversary present, the EQ6 program!

Oh, and yes, we had a nice anniversary. In addition to the gifts we exchanged (I gave Scott a trilogy of books that he'd had in his Amazon Wish List for awhile now), we went out to dinner, which is always nice. Planned on hitting the new Olive Garden, but we got there and the parking lot was absolutely full; even the handicapped spaces! We could see a large crowd of people waiting in the lobby to be seated... and on a Tuesday! Guess the newness of the place hasn't quite worn off yet. So we went to Outback Steakhouse instead. We'd been there only a couple of times before, but both times had enjoyed a wonderful meal and a nice time. Good food, good service, and good atmosphere. It was a lovely anniversary for us old folks.

It's rather dark, damp, and drizzly today, but I'm grateful we've actually had more than our usual share of sunny days lately for this time of year. I'll need to go out and get some groceries later today, but I can take a little drizzle... heck, I'm a native Oregonian, right down to my webbed feet! ;-)

Have a fantastic weekend, Everyone!

Quilt Pattern Giveaway Update

2010-02-20T12:10:00.001-08:00

Congratulations again to Nancy, my very first blog-giveaway winner! Nancy, your package is on its way to you. I included the 6 quilt patterns (2 leaflets from Thimbleberries, and 4 patterns from Primitive Pieces by Lynda), a Clover Yo-Yo Maker, and 5 assorted 1/3-yard pieces of cotton fabric to help get you started. ARV on this prize was $80. Hope you enjoy your goodies, Nancy, and thanks again to all who entered! :-)

I haven't felt well the past few days, but I'm back on track today. Nothing to worry about; with my autoimmune conditions, I give myself 2 injections of immunosuppressants every Tuesday... and quite often my Thursdays are a bit rough. The drugs are basically a low-dose chemotherapy drug, which I take to suppress my out-of-whack immune system (which is attacking my joints, muscle tissue, nerves, hearing, and balance so far) to slow the progression of my problems. The trade-off is, of course, that I experience some days wherein I'm pretty tired. And, my hair is getting nasty-thin. Which is also not much fun; I didn't have a lot of hair in the first place! Oh, it's really not all that bad. I've been keeping it cut fairly short... and, they make so many great products for "pumping up the volume" these days. ;-)

Anyway, today is a better day, and the sun has been shining, which I love! So I'm off now to get me some sewing and such done. Oh! Almost forgot to mention; my darling husband got me the Electric Quilt 6 program! Have I mentioned that already? At any rate, our 30th anniversary is coming up on Tuesday, and for that and Valentine's day, he got me this amazing program for designing quilts; something I've wanted for awhile now. It's a very in-depth program, and it wasn't cheap. He got me the program and 2 companion books! I swear that man is the best! :-) So expect some quilt patterns later on. First, I need to learn the ins and outs of using this very awesome program; then I'll get some designs put together, sew up the sample quilts for testing and for photos, and eventually I'll have patterns for sale. We'll see whether my first fabric line comes out first, or my first quilt pattern; I have no idea yet. A lot depends on the fellows at Indo U.S. Sales and just how soon they're ready to work with me on that first fabric line. They mentioned "spring," so hopefully not much longer.

Anyway, I'm off to get some work done. Hope all of you have a fantastic, sunny weekend!

Bits and Pieces

2010-02-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

First, congratulations to Nancy D. from Canada, who won the Quilt-Pattern Giveaway! Nancy has been notified of her win and seems to be quite pleased. ;-) Nancy, I'll be packaging up your patterns, a bit of fabric, and maybe a notion or two (depending on what I decide to grab and throw into the box... lol) and shipping them to you in a day or two. I'll post a photo of the entire package of goodies before I pack 'em up, too. Enjoy those goodies, Nancy, and thanks again to all who entered! :-)

All of this sunshine we've been getting (at a time of year when we're normally buried in a couple of feet of snow here) has me wistfully thinking gardening again. Those darned garden-supply stores know me all too well, too; they've been shipping me those darned catalogs lately! While I know darned well that I've got a good 2-1/2 months yet before I can start planting much of anything in our zone-6 climate, I broke down this afternoon and sent a couple of orders. This will be my third vegetable-gardening year, so while I'm no seasoned veggie grower, I've managed to pick up a thing or two. Heck, just having been able to grow anything in our climate... well, there's something to be said, for sure!

For this year, I'll only have one of my 4' by 8' raised beds available for veggies (having moved the 3 dwarf blueberry bushes into the third raised bed this past fall... and, of course, the strawberries are in the first bed), but I have plenty of large pots as well, so no worries. I decided to try to fit in successive crops this year; first will be peas and beans (both newcomers to my garden), along with lettuces; and later I'll add more heat-tolerant lettuces (and a shade cover), carrots, and a few onions to the bed. The tomatoes will probably all go in the large pots this year. And, I decided to add potatoes this year as well. Gardener's Supply has those Potato Grow Bags, and I ordered one to try out. I also got a set of 3 of the red tomato tee-pees, known elsewhere as "Wall O' Water," or some such thing, which will help extend the growing season a bit for my tomatoes, giving them some added cold protection on our chilly nights.

Then I popped on over to Gurney's and used my email coupon ($25 off orders of $50 or more! I love Gurney's!). Ordered my seed potatoes, along with some potato fertilizer, some soil inoculant and the seeds for my peas and green beans, plus some more lettuce and carrot seeds. Can't wait to get started on my third-year veggie gardening projects!

My darling husband bought me the Electric Quilt 6 program for Valentine's Day! I've installed it and have been going through the instructional videos. It's looking to be a fantastic program, and I can't wait to be so completely proficient in using it that I'm designing new quilts by the bushel. :-) Once I really know what I'm doing, I'll be able to plug in the quilt design I've been working on and put the finishing touches on the design before I continue with the cutting and sewing. Seems to probably make more sense to do it that way, rather than the trial-and-error process I've been using... which has led to quite a few extra fabric pieces all cut out and waiting to be used elsewhere (although I'm quite confident that sooner or later I'll put them all to good use).

And on that note, I have indeed put the quilt blocks and pieces aside for the time being. When in my sewing room these days, I'm stuffing a few dolls instead. Thought I might as well be working on something in the way of new products, even now while I'm not quite ready to use my EQ6 to design my quilts yet. So expect to see a new doll or three, maybe some new candles, and/or something "ornie/filler-ish" listed at my site fairly soon.

:-)

Happy SEW-perbowl Sunday: GIVEAWAY TIME! ;-)

2010-02-07T10:20:00.001-08:00

So I'm sitting here thinking that after I make Scott and I some brunch, I'll spend the better part of my day working on that new quilt... although I will need to have the Superbowl on so I can see the new commercials (yes, I admit freely; that is the only reason I watch!). And while I'm thinking about spending time in my sewing room today, I'm noticing that I still have quite a few assorted quilt patterns from Thimbleberries and Primitive Pieces tacked up on my wall, waiting to be sold. After a few more sips of coffee and some thinking, I decided it's about time I run a blog giveaway!

Here's the deal: I'll draw a winner from all eligible entries to receive a nice little package of 6 different quilt patterns! I'll include two leaflets from Thimbleberries and 4 patterns from Primitive Pieces. And just for the fun of it, I might even throw in a few fat quarters of fabric while I'm at it! So here's how to enter:

If you're following this blog, you've already received one entry. If not, sign up to follow, and you're in. Additional entries will be given for: Posting a reply to this post; posting a note about this giveaway (with a link here) on your blog (and letting me know you did); posting a note about this giveaway (with a link, or at least the URL) on your Facebook page (and letting me know); and/or emailing me your name and state or province: Click Here to Email

Limit five (5) total entries per person and household. Eligibility: Residents of the U.S. and Canada are eligible to enter. Void where prohibited by law. This drawing will run from now until 10:00 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, Feb. 14th, 2010. All entries will be randomly assigned a number in sequence. A random-number generator will then be used to determine the potential winner. Winner will be notified on/about Tuesday, February 16th, 2010, and will be asked to provide a mailing address for shipment of the prize. Taxes are the responsibility of the winner. I am not liable for any loss, damage, and/or costs incurred as a result of using the items in the prize package. The prize will be shipped to the winner at my expense via USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail. Other legal jargon applies. Blah, blah, yada, yada.... ;-)

I'll be watching for those entries! :-) Happy Sew-perbowl Sunday, everyone!

UPDATE!!! Congratulations to Nancy, my Giveaway Winner! More in the new post above. :-)

Transitions are Underway

2010-02-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

I posted quite awhile ago about my upcoming collaboration with the good folks at Indo U.S. Sales. I submitted a collection of designs to them for consideration for a line of fabrics, and they graciously accepted my work. In fact, they had me put together a binder full of my designs, each of 15 different ones in 3 possible color combinations (for a total of 45 possible fabrics), which they took with them to the Houston Quilt Market. Evidently the responses they received from their own clients were positive, and they have agreed to accept my work for future fabric lines.

More recently, the fellows who run Indo U.S. Sales decided that because of the current economy, the most prudent thing will be to simply try to sell off some of the fabrics they currently have already in stock. While our collaborating on what will be my first fabric collection has been put on hold, they tell me they will be ready to go ahead with a perhaps smaller collection later in the spring. They have been extremely gracious, and much as I'm anxious to get started on this exciting project, I am more than willing to wait out the recession just a bit longer. I'm looking forward to polishing my designs and working with the Vangara brothers at Indo in a few months' time.

Meanwhile, I've been, slowly but surely, getting my web site stocked again. While there are still plenty of empty "nooks and crannies," I'm trying to add a new product here and there whenever I can.

However, I've also been plagued by the desire to get started on some other designing; patterns. With my autoimmune diseases progressing, my hands just aren't working quite as well as they used to. Some days are better than others. The progress of the attacks on my joints, muscles, and nerves is slow (thanks to the immunosuppressant drugs I inject each week), but I do indeed feel the difference coming on.

So I've officially started putting together what I'm hoping will be the first of many new quilts based on my own ideas. And with any luck, I'll get the instructions written up and made available for sale as well. Since a waning ability to make things is likely looming on my horizon, designing at least will give me the opportunity to still profit from doing the thing I most love. And, while it's always been such an honor to know that my handmade items have been distributed to homes pretty much all over the world over the past few decades, and have been so loved by my customers, I can only imagine that it will be at least equally as soul-warming to know that my fellow quilt makers are making quilts and quilted goods from my designs.
One thing I've said more than a time or two is that I'm nowhere near ready to die yet, because I still have "all of these quilts on my mental to-do list" that I haven't had time to make yet. And I'm only partially kidding around; my head is usually swimming with them. While I absolutely love making dolls, rugs, candles, and the other items that keep me busy, quilts are easily my primary passion (well, with gardening a close second... although the season for that is very, very short here in central Oregon).

These days, armed with a large travel mug filled with mocha, and my favorite programs playing on the DVR, you'll find me spending a few hours a day experimenting with different fabrics and layouts, cutting and piecing, jotting down notes, and coming up with new ideas as my first quilt design takes shape.

Once I have a quilt design or three ready for distribution, I may try my hand at a doll pattern or two as well. And since I've actually designed a few cross-stitch patterns in the past (but haven't published them yet), I might get a few of those ready for distribution as well. And, hopefully, my friends at Indo will be ready to get to work on my first fabric collection soon as well.

If only everyone could make a living doing what they loved the most....

Back to Work and Feelin' Great!

2010-01-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

What a great day I had! I finally got my behind in gear and worked on my site today, accomplishing a bunch of cleaning up and listing of products I've had sitting around for awhile, just waiting to be listed and sold. While there are still some empty sections awaiting products, I'm feeling quite a bit better about my site; both the way it's looking and the products I finally have available again.

Now to continue with my ambitious pursuits and get my site fully stocked with goodies again. Seems we're all slowly but surely climbing our way back out of the recession (I hope!) and trying (trying, trying) to get back to our lives again. I'm just hoping that, once the economy is reasonably stable, I'll find country/primitive/colonial type decor has not lost its followers. I know that I still love it, so hopefully there are many of you who are hanging in there with it as well. Every time I receive a new issue of Country Sampler magazine, I find myself transported back into wanting so desperately to decorate my home like the homes they feature. The old-fashioned decor is so beautiful. I've grown to have such a deep appreciation not only for hand-made items but for antiques and vintage reproduction pieces as well. And the more battered and worn, the better.

Some day I'll win a nice, big cash sweepstakes prize, and we'll get Scott retired and move back to the valley, to a nice single-story farmhouse on a small acreage. I'll be able to adopt a much simpler, more agrarian lifestyle, and I'll decorate our home with all the colonial, vintage, and primitive things I love.

Meanwhile, I'm on a roll and will continue to list my new quilts, candles, dolls, and other items on my site as often as I can.

There is something so magical about loving your job.... :-)

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T09:34:00.000-08:00

I resolve to be happier, count my blessings daily, support my fellow artisans more, and live a more simple and self-reliant life; taking pride in learning and practicing the skills and crafts of our grandparents and their forefathers.

May you all find within this new year only safety, security, love, joy, freedom, abundant blessings, and prosperity.

Love and Best,
Jodi

Save 15% off all orders over $30, now through 12/31!

2009-12-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having a happy, healthy, and prosperous holiday season!

With the onset of financial problems for pretty much everyone in our extended family (including us) over the past couple of years, and now more serious problems ensuing, I'm working hard to stock as much merchandise in my online store as possible... and, now through the end of December, you can receive 15% off all orders from my site worth $30 or more!

To get your savings, just enter the word RECESSION in the Voucher/Coupon field in your shopping cart before you check out. Your savings will be automatically included.

Thanks, and blessings to all!

December Already?!!

2009-12-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I've managed to list a couple more throw-sized rag quilts on my site, Autumn Comforts, although I'd surely love to be getting more done at a faster rate. Guess the old autoimmune diseases are simply going to continue to routinely kick me in the behind and slow me down... a lot. I keep trying, though! My "rheumy" (a common pet name for a beloved rheumatologist, and yes, I'm quite fond of mine... lol) and I keep trying different combinations of drugs toward achieving the best possible relief for me; and greater function. And I know I need to continue the fight to eat healthier, get more exercise, and so on. I'm working at it.

We had our adult sons visit for the full week of Thanksgiving, which was wonderful! I get to missing them so terribly sometimes. They will, hopefully, be coming back for a couple of days or so for Christmas. At this point, I'm not sure whether we'll even get a tree this year... again. We've skipped trees and Christmas for the past few years due to lack of funds, and this year is looking like no exception. But simply seeing our boys... having the family all together, even for just a couple of days, will be close enough to a "real" Christmas. Family is such a blessing. *Sigh* I can't wait until I have daughters-in-law and grandbabies to love, too. :-)

Happy Holidays, Everyone! :-)

New Rag Quilts Just Listed!

2009-11-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, I finally made some decisions I needed to make. To sum them up: I'm simply not going to be able to continue offering custom/special orders, nor wholesale. The GOOD news behind this decision is that I'll finally be able to LIST the products I make on my Web site for sale! Then my customers can actually see what I have finished and available, and place their order right on my site, using the built-in shopping cart, on a first-come, first-served basis. Among other things, I'm hoping this will alleviate me of the guilt I've been feeling every time flares of my medical conditions have kept me from working for a few hours (or days) at a time.

So in the spirit of my new-found freedom to create, list, and offer my products directly to all who visit my web site, I've just listed 2 of my large-throw-sized rag quilts for sale. I'm also working on some minor site clean-ups and reorganization, so bear with me while the dust is stirred up a bit. I'll be adding an "About Me" page soon, as well as a page or two with information on my shipping policies and other important info.

And now, I'm taking a breather and cleaning up my house a bit. Oh, and don't forget: Those two rag quilts are listed now: First come, first served! ;-) Here's the link to my site: Autumn Comforts

Full Moon Madness

2009-10-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

This morning was one big panic attack, leading to an online friend responding to my Facebook post with, "Hang in there- it's a full moon full of wackiness." Fortunately, the situation worked itself out, and all is well.

I was, however, incorrect about our trees the other day; once the snow and ice melted away, my beloved crabapple tree in the front yard, just outside my kitchen window, wasn't resuming its normal height; the huge branch that extends toward the house was still droopy. Eventually I complained and whined enough about this that Scott stopped telling me "It will be fine!" and actually went outside to have a look. Sure enough, there is a rather nasty crack in that branch, right near the base. This was heartbreaking news for me, as I bought and planted that tree myself shortly after we bought the house, when our kids were still little.

For now, the branch is still there. It may or may not recover; I really don't know trees well enough to determine that. But I'm leaning toward just having Scott remove it. The tree itself, thankfully, will be fine. I may just have to face losing that one large branch.

Back to this morning; my panic attack stemmed from the fact that on Monday morning, nearly 48 hours ago, I had dropped off the Priority Mail package, containing my design samples, at the local post office. But what the Postal Service calls "Tracking" on their web site is, in actuality, only "Delivery Confirmation." Unlike UPS, they apparently still do not scan the packages en route and post for you updated information along your package's route. I was losing my mind this morning, worrying the package wasn't going to make it to the fabric company in time for them to take it with them to the International Quilt Market in Houston this weekend. This has been the goal, as they wanted to show my designs to their customers at Market and get their reactions. Then they would make a decision as to whether to get me on contract to design for them and process my little doodles onto actual fabric collections.

As fate would have it, my contact at the fabric company emailed me just a bit ago to let me know the package had arrived and looked "fantastic." Whew! I am breathing such a sigh of relief right now.

I may lose a large branch off my crabapple tree, but at least my samples made it to their destination in time for Quilt Market this weekend. I can breathe again.

I'll know more in about a week in regard to my designs. Wish me luck! :-)

First Snowstorm of October

2009-10-05T12:39:00.001-07:00

It's been too long since I updated posts here, but better late than never. Today's a good day, as I'm doing a bit of decompressing today following a very busy several days.

Our first snowstorm of the year hit yesterday (yep, that would be October 4th. Such is life living in the mountains), although it's warmed back up quite a bit again already, and most of the snow is now gone. Snow in Bend wouldn't really be a story -- not even this early in the season -- but for the fact that as we haven't even had autumn yet, the trees are all still covered in leaves that have barely even begun to change colors, much less fall. This was a problem, because yesterday morning's heavy snowfall and ice led to quite a bit of tree damage around town. Fortunately, we lost very little in the way of branches from our own trees (although our next-door neighbors have some fairly heavy clean-up to do, which serves them right for the giant poplars they have planted right up to the property line, badly encroaching into our back yard... but that's another story). My crabapple in the front was weighted down heavily enough that I was afraid for its fate; branches were touching the ground. But my trip out with a push broom to shake as much snow from its branches as I could muster seems to have paid off; the tree is finally looking mostly back to normal today, with no branches lost.

My darling husband had a routine procedure done this morning, and we're now home, with him making a nice recovery so far. He was happy to be able to eat again! I brought him his favorite donut, which he ate in the car on the way home, and once here, I fixed him soup and grilled cheese, which he ate with great satisfaction and contentment. Now the only trick will be to get him to actually take it easy for the rest of the day. Wish me luck.

Fate is a funny thing. I spent a couple of years simply not doing much with my web site and my "crafts" (I really hate that word, but for lack of a better one at the moment, it will do). Between my health issues and the economy, well, my site simply sat dormant for quite awhile. Only recently, after dealing with "life issues," I finally decided it was time to get back to work. And fortunately, while I had my doubts and fears, I have found there is actually still a market for my work.

I had just recently caught up on special quilt orders when additional orders came in. And -- my BIG news, at the moment -- I finally convinced myself to be the motivation I needed and take the plunge; as of this morning, I've submitted designs to Indo U.S., a fantastic fabric manufacturer, with the hope that they will decide to work with me and use my designs on fabrics! The gentlemen from Indo will be attending the Houston Quilt Market, an international trade show, this-coming weekend and plan to take my designs with them. They will show them to their customers (fabric store and quilt shop owners) and get their reactions; if all goes well, we'll talk contract and they will use my designs on fabric collections! Probably needless to say, I'm really stinkin' excited about this possibility! I'll be on pins and needles for the next week, hoping for good news from Indo. Please wish me luck and keep good thoughts that my dream will be realized. Once I get an answer from them, I'll post here about it.

So... Scott is home, awake from anesthesia and safe and sound. The snowstorm is over, and our trees survived. Our kids are doing okay and are coming home for a visit this-coming weekend. And, my samples have been drawn, printed, and are on their way to Indo now for their consideration. Today is a decompression day. Relaxing, some housework, catching up on laundry, most certainly some sewing, and doting over my darling hubby are all that are on my agenda for the rest of today and tomorrow.

Hope you are all having a blessed, peaceful autumn thus far.

I'm still here!

2009-08-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Shame on me for waiting so long between posts! I have a good excuse, though. I've been sewing away, catching up on a couple of BIG quilt orders. One was finished and sent a few days ago, and the dear lady, Rusti, absolutely loves her new bedroom set. She's promised me a photo, and I'll post it once I receive it. She's working out "camera issues." The second order, for 3 throw-sized rag quilts with matching pillows, is underway. I'm still finishing up making a HUGE stack of blocks, and the assembly should begin within the next couple of days.

Just visited Maureen's blog a few minutes ago, and her post about the successful show she did a week ago was very inspiring. I need to get busy and get my site better stocked as well. Autumn (my favorite season!) is coming! You can feel it in the air.... :-)

... And a Crocheted Rug Added

2009-07-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

This morning's offering is a crocheted rag rug in scrappy blues, cream, beige, tan, a muted gold, and some dark bayberry. Size on this rug is 45 x 28. It contains a whopping 12 yards of fabric!

Today's plans include some gardening and grocery shopping, then I'll be hitting my sewing room again and will have more to list soon. I'm on a roll! :-)

Have a great weekend, Everyone.

Just Listed: Rag Quilt, Throw Size

2009-07-17T17:26:00.001-07:00

Okay, Everyone, I'm finally getting new goodies listed on my site! Here's a throw-sized rag quilt in nice, earthy primitive colors. Gonna break for some dinner now, and I'll have more to list soon! :-)

Ol' Fuzzy-Head Checking In

2009-07-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

While this may not be the best time to be trying any writing, I wanted to post a quick update. Saw the ol' rheumatologist again on Wednesday, and in addition to yet another Prednisone taper (weeeeehaaaaww!), we've changed some of my other drugs around again (oh, and added Fibromyalgia to my *Official List of Diagnoses* ... finally!). I think in the past week, I've slept maybe a total of 10 or 12 hours... yes, total. And yep, I'm feeling rather, uh, floaty right now.

HOWEVER... I do actually have a few finished products laying around, and I have only to get the photos taken and get them listed on my site. I'll post again as soon as I can drag my pitiful body around the house and get 'er done.

Happy Friday, All!

Today's Garden Harvest!

2009-07-10T10:21:00.001-07:00

I promised photos now and then, so here are a few of this morning's "bounty" from the garden. The girls (my two shelties, Shady and Coco) and I pulled a couple of baby carrots, a couple of scallions, and a few small heads of lettuce. And before you say, "But Jodi, it's mid-July -- much too late in the season for lettuce," I'll remind one and all that we have a growing season here of precisely 15 minutes. Okay, I exaggerate: More like 20 minutes. Seriously; we have hard winters and hard summers. Summers last about 4 months here, while winters are around 7 months. In between them, we get about 2 weeks of what could be described, I suppose, as a spring and an autumn. This, you see, is a zone 6, high desert/mountain climate. So mid-July is actually still early in the season for us, even though it then heats up rather quickly... so yep, we have to watch the lettuces and other veggies that have a tendency to bolt. Because they will indeed bolt here. But, any true-blooded gardener knows, we garden because we must. We don't let a little thing like a lack of growing season stave our efforts! No, siree!

Here's that nice little harvest all cleaned up. My darling hubby Scott is heading out of town tonight and will be gone for the weekend, so I went out early and picked myself a nice batch of salad for my dinner tonight. I wish I could have added tomatoes, but the 'maters won't be ready for awhile yet.
I do have one cluster of the Napa grape tomatoes that has only to turn red for me; the other plants are still working on pollination of the flowers and are just starting to show some tiny, pea-sized green fruits. A few more weeks yet.

At any rate, as I mentioned, Scott will be out of town this weekend. A Mini Cooper owner and major car enthusiast, my dear hubby attends the Historic Races at Portland International Raceway every July, which means I get the house to myself (well, with my kitties and puppies, of course). I don't mind it one bit; he loves to do his races and car-club get-togethers; as for me, I love to plug in a DVD and sit in front of my sewing machine ... or play on my computer ... or play in my gardens. With my disabilities, I don't ride well in Scott's Mini (what I fondly refer to as his "mid-life crisis car") anyway; and I'm really not interested in racing events... nor the dust, crowds, hot sun, uncomfortable bleachers.... So I'm more than happy to bid him a fun weekend and have the house to myself for a few.

And while he's gone this weekend, I'll be working on finishing up all those new products I keep promising to list on my site. I should have some new listings added by Sunday afternoon, so be sure to watch for them. I'll post here again when that occurs.

Have a great weekend, Everyone! :-)

Blog Giveaways!

2009-07-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've discovered quite a myriad of blog giveaways today! What a generous, sweet bunch these talented blogging artisans are!

Maureen of Sweet Meadows Farm is holding a giveaway on her blog. She'll be drawing from all entries received to award one of her finished dollies; and, as with all of Maureen's designs, this dolly is absolutely adorable! Stop by and take a peek, and be sure to leave a Comment and follow other instructions to get your entry or entries in.

Another great giveaway is being held by Kim over at Palmer Falls Primitives. The gorgeous Americana set available includes a Wounded Warriors wood flag, along with Kim's pinwheels and bowl fillers. Visit her blog today and enter to win!

I'll list more giveaways here on occasion. Good luck, and have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Wednesday's Ramblings

2009-07-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it's already July 1st?! That is utterly incredible. Time sure flies by as we get older. *Sigh*

I made a dent in yardwork/gardening today, although I surely do wish I could do more of it without all the pain. Such is life when you have rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions. That, and I'm far removed from my 20s, of course. At any rate, I'm feeling pretty good about some work I finally dug (pun intended) into in the front rock round. It desperately needs to simply have everything plowed out of there, down to bare soil, and replant from scratch. I got some significant progress done on that project today. Worked right up until the pain was, oh, excruciating; at that point, I decided a break was in order. I know... I always tell myself, "don't overdo it." A lot of good that does. I hardly ever listen to my own advice, unfortunately. But when it comes to gardening, I enjoy it so much that I don't want to stop once I get something started. If it just wasn't for the pain issues....

As for restocking my site, I'm working on that, too. I actually have just a couple of things done that need only to be photographed and then listed; a couple of rag-quilt table mats and a crocheted rug. And, I have quite a few other irons in the fire. Bear with me another week or two and I'll get some assorted quilted items, a doll or two, another rug, and more listed. Don't give up on me! ;-)

Happy Friday! Here's More About Me

2009-06-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have a follower! Woohoo! Thanks, Annie. Nice to see you here, my fellow Pacific Northwesterner! :-)

And since I would imagine that somewhere down the road, one or two others may just stumble in here, I suppose I should add a bit more content and get this blog going! So here's a bit more about me.

I'm 49, married to Scott for... well, it will be 30 years come February! We have 2 boys; Sean is 23 and Eric is 22. Scott and I are in Bend, Oregon, where Scott works as a building inspector (and yes, like everyone in the building industry, his workload has decreased considerably. A few of his co-workers were laid off entirely, and Scott and the rest of the inspectors have been on 10% cutback for over a year now). The kids have moved up to the Beaverton area in the Willamette Valley (where Scotty and I are originally from; we each grew up in and around Portland and Salem), and I miss the little stinkers more than I can say! Our 2 boys are sharing a nice rental house with Sean's girlfriend and her sister. And I miss "our 4 kids" so much.

One of my passions is entering sweepstakes, and my dream is to one day win enough to get Scotty retired early and move us back to the valley, closer to our kids. And not being a fan of suburbia, I'd like to have enough to afford a small acreage... I'm thinking rural Washington or Yamhill county, between the I-5 corridor and the coast range. Wine country. That would be sweet!

Meanwhile, Scott works, I sew, and I enter my sweepstakes. I haven't done much with my sewing for over a year now (those who know my site can attest to that!), as the recession saw my sales, like so many others, plummet. But I'm determined to get busy again and restock my site. We'll see how things go.

Oh, I might also mention that I have autoimmune diseases. The total count of those officially diagnosed now is 5: Psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Graves disease, Meniere's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. I'll spare you the details; suffice it to say, they have all come on one at a time over the course of most of my life. And at this point, I don't get around all that well; at least, not nearly as well as I'd like. And, there are days when I can barely get up the stairs (where my computer and sewing room are, in the boys' old rooms). Other days, my hands simply don't work very well. But since it seems pretty much all my other doors have been closed, I'm determined to work on my "good" days and do the best I can. I'd like a relatively normal life back, please. So I'm trying to make it happen.

I'm also an obsessive gardener, in spite of our growing season here in Bend, which lasts, oh, about 20 minutes each year. Yeah, okay... 90 days or so. Still not nearly what I would have back in the valley! Annie posted photos of her garden that I saw just minutes ago. I'm so, so jealous! I'd love to get a clematis on my property to grow that huge, lush, and covered in flowers!

Scott set me up with a nice raised vegetable garden last year, and I'm enjoying that project so much! I'll get photos posted of this year's efforts soon.

I need to hit the grocery store today, but I'm trying to get some sewing/crafting done pretty much every day now, and this weekend I should have a thing or three ready to post on my site. I'll try to get some photos posted here as well, and fix my blog up a bit in general.

Happy Friday!

Welcome to Autumn Comforts' Blog!

2009-06-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

This will primarily be a way to keep my site visitors updated on new additions to the Autumn Comforts site as well as what I am working on currently and hope to add in the near future. However, with my obsessive love for gardening, I'm sure I'll be throwing in some updates and photos of my garden progress as well. You may also find tidbits about my family along the way, as well as plenty of nice, boring monologues about myself, my dreams and goals, ad nauseam.

Thanks for indulging me! :)

Jodi