Needing a little help

Needing a little help A post from Kelli I know it s a huge surprise, but I need help in making a decision. If you know me at all, you know that this is a regular occurance and happens more often than not. It even happens with little trivial things like what I m making for supper. I will literally make Jason anything for supper (unless we don t have the ingredients) as long as I don t have to make the decision of what to make. I will literally put things off for horribly long periods of time again, for the simple fact that I don t want to make a decision. So here I am.needing to make a decision.and needing a bit of help. When I moved in with Jason, he lived in the house that had been a bachelor house for years upon years. It was a nice little house in the middle of nowhere which I loved, but the condition of the house left much to be desired if you were a girl that was moving in with the boy that she liked and wanted to make a home with.not just a place to sleep, eat, shower and be gone from. It even came complete with a stove that had three working burners and a refrigerator that had a giant John Deere decal on it and a strange wooden handle. Again, great for a bachelor house, but not the best for a home. When the opportunity came that we may be able to move, I jumped at the chance. After some time and waiting, things were set that we were going to move. We knew that we needed a new washer and dryer, but I really wanted a new refrigerator as well. Long story short, we had looked at appliances here and there, but hadn t made any actual decisions. Jason happened to be able to borrow a trailer and get the afternoon off, so he went to the appliance store and bought the washer and dryer. He also decided to surprise me and get a

refrigerator as well. He knew that I wanted a bottom freezer one, but when he started looking at prices, he ended up getting one that was nice enough, but was a pretty basic model with the freezer on top. He called me to ask if it was okay and without knowing what he was planning on getting, I told him that if it was a big price difference I would just take whatever he ended up getting.and he was buying and we were just dating, so I felt odd getting too demanding. All was well until the stove that we had ended up frying out another burner. One of two remaining burners worked part of the time, and the one that worked all of the time was the small one in the back corner. It wasn t too ideal, but it worked and we just went with it. When we moved to the farm that we live at now, Jason s parents had just bought a new stove. They offered their stove to us as the house didn t come with a stove. We happily accepted. We also purchased a dishwasher, but were a bit short on cash, so just got a cheap one that we thought would be okay. The microwave that came with the house had a handle on it that was a little iffy. Since we moved in, the handle has snapped off of the microwave. It looks like they had attempted to glue the handle back in place a few times, but there was no fixing it this time. It has also been a pain in the butt about working lately. We have also discovered that the ice maker (which was the main reason that I wanted a new refrigerator) no longer works in the freezer. Our dishwasher has also seen it s better days due to some plumbing and electrical shorting issues. Recently I ve really been on a kick that I have wanted to try and get Jason to fix the dishwasher. After a few discussions, me making food I know he doesn t like a few times, lots of complaining to my mom, and a few tears, he finally looked at it and did what he could, but it just goes halfway through the cycle and then stalls out.

When we were talking about going down to Lucy and Scottie s baptism, I got him convinced that we would atleast look and maybe buy a new dishwasher. We went to baptism and made a quick stop at Home Depot. They asked if we needed help, but we just looked around. Honestly at this point, I just wanted to have three choices and pick one.but THERE ARE SO MANY! We talked about what we wanted for features, colors, etc. And then Jason had a revolutionary idea Let s just buy all new kitchen appliances! I was a bit shocked, but honestly, we really need them. That however will require more than an Impala to get them to our house and a bit more of a money plan, so we went over to the baptism party. After talking to Buck and Lora, I also found out that Best Buy sells appliances. After a little bit of chatting with Lora (she s a manager there, so I was able to get the good scoop), it sounds like buying through Best Buy would be the best choice for us. **Before anyone tells me I need to shop local, please know that supporting family in their work and careers trumps buying local for me.** So this is where I need a little help I DON T KNOW WHAT BRAND TO BUY! I currently have a GE stove, Amana microwave, Kenmore refrigerator, and a Frigidaire Dishwasher. There are a few features that I am looking for Refrigerator Bottom freezer and ice maker. I am okay with a french door opening top, but would probably prefer a single door. Water would also be okay, but I don t want to give up tons of refrigerator space for it as I really enjoy my coutry water. Dishwasher I would like to have the buttons and such on the top of the door so that down the line when I have kids, they can t just walk by and push buttons. Other than that, I want it to wash dishes so that I don t have to.

Stove Glass top and electric. Again, I don t want the dials on the outside part of the stove as I would be afraid little hands would cause problems. Microwave I want it to be able to make popcorn and warm up my leftovers. I do have a few other thoughts 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. I d like black stainless steel, but would be up for regular stainless steel too. No white. I want them all to be the same brand and look like they go together. I d prefer to be around $3,000 or less if possible. I d like them to all fit in the back of a truck if delivery isn t possible. I won t want them to be smart phone capable and don t want any other technology upgrades. So here is where YOU all come in What are your thoughts? Do you have any reccommendations? What brands do you have and like? Is there a features that an appliance of yours has that you love or hate? Again, please don t tell me that I need to shop local. I have made my decision as to where I will be purchasing the items and feel as though they have a wonderfully large selection I just have to make the decision. Here s what I m liking so far-

Here s the GE set that I like https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ge-24-8-cu-ft-french-door-refrige rator-stainless-steel/5003906.p?skuid=5003906 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ge-24-tall-tub-built-in-dishwashe r-stainless-steel/5074428.p?skuid=5074428 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ge-5-3-cu-ft-self-cleaning-freest anding-electric-range-stainless-steel/4943603.p?skuid=4943603 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ge-1-6-cu-ft-over-the-range-micro wave-stainless-steel/1624532.p?skuid=1624532

And the Whirlpool set that I like https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlpool-25-2-cu-ft-french-doorrefrigerator-with-internal-water-dispenser-black-stainlesssteel/5789905.p?skuid=5789905 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlpool-24-built-in-dishwasherblack-stainless-steel/5796519.p?skuid=5796519 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlpool-5-3-cu-ft-self-cleaning -freestanding-electric-range-black-stainlesssteel/5979810.p?skuid=5979810 https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlpool-1-9-cu-ft-over-the-rang e-microwave-with-sensor-cooking-black-stainlesssteel/5900300.p?skuid=5900300 So like I said, I m stuck! And I m hoping you can help me out a bit! Let me know what you think I m hoping to get something

figured out in the next week or so, but we ll see how that goes In My Mail. One of the wonderful things about small town is out mail deliverers. On days when there s a package in the mail and it s too big for the mailbox, my mail lady brings it in my garage and puts it on my steps. I love it! One because my package got safely to me and two because the kids get to help me open the boxes. They love opening boxes too. For them, like me, it s Christmas. They are great at opening boxes and no matter what is inside they ow and ah with me. We often are admiring completely opposite things. This all came from Gwendolyn in Pittsburgh. The kids loved the little sewn blocks there were lots of floral prints. Me, I was admiring but I was also counting and

thinking to see if they could become a baby quilt or a doll quilt or what they could become. The bring colors in this batik block they ogled over. This I am sure will become a doll quilt.i ve kind of been on a roll with them lately.

There were several big chunks these were some. I ended up counting and there were 4 fabrics that had four or more yards of fabric.perfect!!! I was celebrating over them. We often need backing for charity quilts and these are PERFECT in every way. Good colors and great sizes. Check out these fun blocks! I loved them and the kids did too. There are several blocks, parts and pieces to make another block or two I think. There s more of the black fabric so I m hoping maybe a baby quilt can come from these we ll see once I really get to counting and trying to figure it out.

There was a started project in the bunch this. Hmmm. So far all that was done was the nine patches. The quilt looks harder with in set seams. I ve always wanted to make one with this pattern but have templates for the one I was going to do and the templates don t match this Hmmm. Maybe the nine patches could be upcycled into something else.hmmm. We ll see. I ll likely contact Ronda and see if she s interested.

In the bottom of the box was a big bag of scraps all sorts of colors and all sorts of sizes. These I will sort through one day over nap time. It s the perfect job for then. I can sort and iron in the kitchen being really quiet while the kiddos sleep. The kids were pulling and wanting to empty the whole bag but instead we all pulled out a couple favorite pieces and looked at them. It was almost pick up time but their eagerness to dig in gave me an idea.

I think I m going to have them sort the bag of scraps into a color piles. We re learning our colors right now so it would be good practical opportunity to sort by color.ah, who needs toys they are going to love this. I ll try to remember to snap a picture when we do it!! I love the days when my quilting world and my childcare world can mesh the kids seem to like it too. Thanks so much Gwendolyn. We had a fun time with your box or goodies and I didn t even sew anything yet!! What I m Working on and String Challege I was really busy last week quilting my Scrap Crystals quilt, making Lucy s quilt and working on a quilt for Scottie. (More on Scottie s quilt to come) In between it all I was working on my little churn dash blocks. I ve been cutting out more

blocks as I ve gone along and finally have enough cut out. All aren t sewn yet but I do have 31 more to add to the tally. I m totally in love with the blocks. I ve been getting a little more risky and adventurous as I ve been sewing. I ve used lots more dark prints. I haven t added much really light colored fabrics. Here s an example of a few of them. I still think these are most cute blocks ever don t you?

I think I could these and make these and make these. I think they are likely my favorite block. I am THRILLED that I finally have all of the blocks cut out as that means I can clean up the shirt mess.and oh what a mess I have. I would like to stick with it and get everything I have out cut into strips and processed but I just don t think I have it in me. Kelli and I were chatting the other day and I said, Isn t it funny.when I pulled out the shirts I was so careful. I cut up every shirt piece I touched. If I only needed a couple strips I was determined to still cut the rest of the piece up and process the entire piece. Now I m at the point that I need a want a red so I dig through the pile and wack off a sleeve and don t care at all about anything else. I m sure some of you who have worked with making quilts from shirts can relate. I ll let you in on a little real life news.we had a snowstorm here this weekend. Connie had made plans to come and ended up coming on Friday before the storm hit. Saturday here was a sew day.sunday was a day we went down to our grandkids

baptism and from there Connie, my daughter Kayla and I traveled on to Bettendorf to go to a Featherweight class with Nova Montgomery. We re suppose to learn all about caring for and maintaining our Featherweight machines. I m excited for this!! I wrote this blog post in advance so that you all would have something to read here and we all could enjoy some time away. I ll update you of we did and learned in the upcoming week. I guess being I have nothing to share in the String Challenge department. All of you will have to share your things and I ll have to catch up with your happenings once I m back home. I can t wait to get home and tell you all about my weekend!! I ve really wanted to learn more about my machine so when Connie suggested it, I said yes right away. Have any of you been to one of Nova s workshops? What I m Reading: The Seamstress I just finished up listening to The Seamstress by Sara Tuval Bernstein. I was hunting for a book on my on line library with the hopes that I might find something good. You can imagine why this one caught my eye, right? It s Holocaust literature the title is The Seamstress. It s sewing related. Of course I was going to read it.

The book was very good. I expected there to be many references to sewing but there really aren t a lot. As with many Holocaust books, this book tells a lot about the war and atrocities during the war, then quickly sends the reader through a very fast life after liberation. The story takes place mostly in Romania. Of the Holocaust books I ve read, few have been Romanian based. Here s what Amazon had to say: From its opening pages, in which she recounts her own premature birth, triggered by terrifying rumors of an incipient pogrom, Bernstein s tale is clearly not a typical memoir of the Holocaust. She was born into a large family in rural Romania and grew up feisty and willing to fight back physically against anti-semitism from other schoolchildren. She defied her father s orders to turn down a scholarship that took her to Bucharest, and got herself expelled from that school when she responded to a priest/teacher s vicious diatribe against the Jews by hurling a bottle of ink at him?after a series of incidents that ranged from dramatic escapes to a year in a forced labor detachment, Sara ended up in Ravensbruck, a women s concentration camp, Aand? managed to survive?she tells this story with style and power.

Amazon readers give the book 4.6 stars. I admire the story and recommend it. I d give it 4.4 stars.