The Story Benind 'Meet Me In Paris'

I've decided to enter my Meet Me In Paris quilt over here at

Amy's Creative Side.

The story behind this quilt:

Way back before I even considered myself a quilter...

let alone a quilt pattern designer

this quilt was created amongst great heartache in my life.

I never dreamed it would be the quilt that would not only launch my business but would sustain the business all the way through out.

Someone had shown me how to use that great little

Easy Dresden ruler and away I went.

I managed to get the inside diamond of this quilt finished

and was working on figuring out the setting triangle corners

when one night at Quilt Night with my quilting buds

there was a knock on the door.

The hostess said, "John'alee...it's for you!!"

I got up unaware that  a 19 page restraining order

was going to be shoved into my hands from a deliverer for my 

  ex husband, banning  me from seeing my youngest child

while he tried to put me away for child abuse.

It's ironic that this is the man who walked out on me and my 4 little ones years before when they were only 3, 4, 8 and 10.

And had failed to pay child support...owed me over $110,000

at the time these lovely papers were handed over to me.

I was so embarrassed!

At Quilt Night no less!

No hiding this one.

So the battle began.

And Meet Me In Paris....

almost got wadded up and thrown in the closet.

Almost.

But somehow some way I decided to keep at it.

I now call this quilt, "God's Quilt",

because I really don't know how I pulled it off.

I had no idea that standing up to the judge, my attorney and my husband would end up, but I was determined to not please man, and deny God.

This is what happened.

At court, my attorney came up and whispered in my ear.

"John'aLee this can all be done with. All the judge wants is for you to promise that you will never strike your child again."

My reply: "Nope, I won't do it. The bible tells us how to raise kids,

and I will not deny God to please that man, you, or anyone. I will go to jail before I will lie and say that I'm not going to spank my kid anymore."

Needless to say...

the ex dropped the charges  weeks later when his own dirty laundry started coming out...

and the child became too much for him to deal with.

 Meet Me In Paris, continues to this day,

12 years later to be our all time best selling pattern.

It is not only easy to make...I hear on the road all the time

people say that it is the funnest quilt they have ever made.

For anyone leaving a comment or becoming a new follower....

you will be entered in a drawing to receive a free pattern!

There will be 5 winners!

Here it is in a few other color ways...

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures : 100"X100"″

Special techniques used : The EZ Dresden Ruler.

Quilted by : John'aLee Burk (On her lil ole Bernina no less...)

Best Category :Bed Quilt, Home Machine Quilted, Scrap Quilt

Make sure to check out all the other inspiring  'Quilt Stories'

over at,,,

               

Check out her Quilt Blog Festival!

 

 Amy's Creative Side ladies!!

You will be inspired to sit down and sew today!

Happy Sewing!

Trying to wrap up last minute things for this 

baby shower!

Some of the fabrics and colors I'm using for the baby shower and baby quilt!

 I still have to make an "It's A Boy" banner tonight.

The ones at the party store weren't the right color.

I wanted to make it where she could continue to use it in her nursery....

and was going to put on it....

"No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!!"

Since she is using monkeys as her theme.

The title above was her favorite book growing up.

My dear friend Jenette always called her,

"The Best Little Monkey in the World"

and bought her the book.

So still....3 days before the shower...

I'm still trying to decide!!

I did get the template and fabrics figured out....

 And over at the cutting table....

several new Whimsy Lanes have been put together.

Thought you might like to see some of the yummy kits!

 Out of Moda's Victorian Splendor line.

Out of Moda's Sanctuary line. 

A conglomerate of fabrics in dark green, burgundy's and a rusty rose.

If you want one, head over here to

The Scrappy Appleyard 

 

Oh my....

I hear the sewing machine calling....

Gotta run....

P.S. Thank you sooooo much everyone of you who left me a comment on my last post. You all helped me a lot. I'm still getting through all of my emails and trying to answer everybody.

  

Just a Little Overwhelmed....

Okay...

Truth be told....

I'm a little weary!

Am I the only one that feels this way at times?

I look back at when my last blog post was and ask myself,

"What is wrong with you lady?"

"Get it together already!!"

So I've been pondering why I am feeling this way.

I think this last year's grief has taken a toll on me.

The piper is coming to be paid.

And then I look at the last two months.

A really stressful trip to Utah, 80 hours in the car, going back and forth between Panguitch and St George, taking loads.

Dealing with 'all' of our stuff from 3 storage units.

Literally everything had to be gone through and a decision made over it:

Keep it.

Sell it.

Give it away.

Last weekend we did a show in Hattiesburg Mississippi.

It was wonderful to meet new people and see

gorgeous quilts once again.

But somehow after a show I feel so depleted and it takes

me days to get my 'get up and go' back again.

The people as always keep me going.

The highlight of that trip was meeting Susie Jackson and

seeing her amazing quilts.

I convinced her to quilt my Parisian Summer for me.

(Note to Self: I've got to maximize these highlights more when I'm

in this state of mind!"

And now I'm gearing up for company tonight...

which means I have to clean house....

I have a baby shower to pull off for Tory next Saturday....

and the piles of fabric I've brought home from the Utah trip

have made my studio look like Hurricane John'aLee

has visited once again!!

Finally...

all this hand sewing that still needs to be done on my quilts,

weighs heavily on my mind daily!

I thought quilting was supposed to be fun!!

So enough of the complaining!

Any ideas from my loyal readers on how to not beat myself up

over not getting enough done would be much appreciated!

Thanks....

from a humble and needy heart...

 

Life Get's Interesting!!

My Living Room Where I sit and sew....see the bag on the right?? My hand sewing...

And what a three weeks it has been!!

We made an unplanned trip out to Utah that was supposed to take a week and a half...

Instead 2 1/2 weeks later,

we are home.

With a mess!!

We had to go and deal with 3 storage units.

My heartfelt advice....

Don't ever get a storage unit!!

(I should have taken pictures.)

Now that we are for sure settling here in Tennessee,

it was time to go and deal with our worldly goods.

For days, we sorted through stuff,

the locals heard we were in town 

and were selling stuff and they came out in droves.

I sold...tear...tear....my midarm....

most of my antiques...

shoppe props...

quilts...

linens...

The hubby refused to haul it all across state lines.

I would like to be able to say that I got loads of sewing done.

62 hours in the car round trip!

Not a stitch!

I did however enjoy my kids and grand kids!

Taught Ashley how to make homemade bread from scratch...

Stopped in on our way out to see Mom and Dad!

Loved on my grand babies....

Made homemade  doughnuts with my darling daughter in law...

While everyone went through old pictures we'd pulled out from storage...

Had great meals with all the family....

Played family games...Of course I won!! And for some reason, I'm always accused of cheating! Go figure!

My grand kids don't think I cheat....

"My Grandma doesn't cheat!!"

"She makes sure we all get ice cream!!"

"And digs out old clothes for my cousins to play dress up in!"

"She lets me read her bible with her out on the porch too."

"She rocked me lots in my great great grandmother's rocking chair that she had rocked her in!"

This was one antique the guitar man let me bring home. My grandmother rocked my mom and me both in this chair.

She did the needlework on the chair.

She kept me for the first few months of my life because my mom was so sick.

"Sometimes I shared with my cousin. It was hard...."

I made all of the kids and grand kids get dressed up for family pics. None were too excited.

My daughter Brooke and her family.

My son Stephen and his family.

Ashley and her family.

The night before we left, Mom and Dad were driving through town and took us all out to Cracker Barrel.

And even though Tory didn't go out west with us,

her and Steven came by the day after we got home.

He deployed on Saturday again so we were so glad to go to dinner with them.

She's a poochin' out there....

Now it's back to the boxes....

linens to be washed,

quilts and bedding....

pictures to hang,

dishes to wash and find a place for.

I'm getting to old for this!

Loads of Love!

So how's the '50 Project thing going?

Oh girls, I'd like to be able to tell you how perfectly I've changed!

Ha!

I will tell you this though,

taking the time to sit down and make lists

has kept it in the forefront of my mind and has truly helped.

It has also made me aware of the areas I really need to work on.

 

These are the things I've been pretty good at:

I've kept up with my Gratitude Journal...

now that is life changing.

It makes you realize that truly you are 'living' a blessed life!

 

On the opposite side of the journal I've kept a list of things

I've done for others each day. I did this to encourage myself when I like all women feel like we don't do 'enough'.

But the crazy thing....the side of the pages where I am listing all of the great things that have happened to me or for me....

is leaps and bounds ahead of the other list. Kind of an eye opener for me.

 

I started out pretty good working on my memoirs,

but somehow it is painful to write and I find myself quitting. 

Note to self: Others will be encouraged if I will just diligently keep at it. If I can't do it for myself, do it for others.

Several times on the road, as well as in emails,

some of you have said you've wept when you read my 

About Us Page on the Website 

or have been inspired. So truly you've kept me encouraged.

 

I've done really well on my Reading Lists.

Jaunts to the library,

getting new books ordered from there.

Maybe because this is one of my favorite things to do.

 

And I've happily been playing at home!

I had my first 'company' over last Friday night.

I figured if I waited until I got everything done,

I'd never have anybody over.

The Guitar Man planted rose bushes and hydrangeas 

out beside the front walkway.

I dug around in storage and found some neat brackets I found at an antique store. Hung them and just swooped some lovely

Moda fabric over them. Tied them up with tassels...and wala...

it helped the kitchen a whole lot!

 

 I still need to paint the shelves a raspberry pink. 

(It's on the list)

The set of dishes came from an estate sale here for $35!

The glasses are flea market finds too! 45 cents a piece for the blue and a buck for the pink!

My Whimsy Lane Quilt in Pinks and Lavenders.

I also managed to get a better picture of the bread cupboard for ya...

And now for the things I haven't been good at:

Sewing in my sewing room each day...

More Blog Posts,

but I'm gonna get there!

Don't give up on me!

 

I have been working on the finishing of Buttercream Summer!

Slow go....

 

Thanks for stopping in!

 

Oh and by the way....

for 2 Days Only....

we are having 30% off Hexagons!!

 

And 20% off All Patterns

over at the Website!!

The ole man made up the final Fat Quarter Frenzy Packs too!

These are the last...so head on over there!

Hugs,

A Rainy Day For Baking Bread....(Great Recipe Ahead)

Brown Oatmeal Bread from last week...

The rain is pouring down outside,

candles are lit inside,

soft piano music playing,

and now I'm getting ready to head into the kitchen

and do my weekly bread baking.

I've spent many an hour,

many a recipe,

many ingredients,

to come up with my favorite bread recipe.

Today I thought I'd share it with you all!

John'aLee's Brown Oatmeal Whole Wheat Bread

Mix together and cool until warm: 

2 cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal uncooked

 2 cups Boiling Water

2 Cups Scalded Milk or Warmed Buttermilk

Dissolve 1 Packet of Yeast in 1 Cup of Warm Water

Let Sit for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Add to above cooled mixture.

Also Add:

1 Cup of Honey (Molasses or Brown Sugar will do too. Each will vary the taste.)

1/4 Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Wheat Gluten (From King Arthur's Website)

1/4 Cup Artisan Flour (From King Arthur's Website) 

 2 Tbsps of Salt

4 1/2 Cups Unbleached White Flour

Slowly add the following flour until a dough forms that you can

handle with your hands.

(Too much flour and you will end up with a dry and crackly loaf)

Approximately 4 1/2 Cups Wheat Flour

Knead for 10 minutes by hand or in a mixer.

I put about a tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl,

slosh it around,

put the dough in it,

turn it over so there is oil all over it.

 This keeps it from becoming dried out as it rises.

Let Rise until it doubles in bulk (About an hour)

Punch Down and form loaves. 

(At this point I also pour more olive oil over the top of loaves. It keeps them from cracking during baking.)

Put in 4 Bread Pans. Let Rise for 25-30 minutes.

Bake in a 375 Degree Oven 40-45 minutes. 

I have learned that my end product is only as good as my ingredients!

Duh!! Right??

Thus, I've been ordering from 

King Arthur's Baking Catalogue

They have a fantastic website and make sure to go in and request their free catalogue.

It's always inspiring when it shows up in the mailbox.

I had to show you the new Baking Table we found at a flea market 

for my bread baking....

 I took a better picture but I can't get it to come up for some reason.

Anyway....
company tonight...
cleaning,
baking,
cooking...

Toodles! 

 

Lost Soldier Boy Quitls

Another quilt is finished ladies!

 This one is for Chris' mom.

I love what Marla did in putting this together.

And look at the block she put on the back for a label....

She also put the tops together for the two brothers.

I forgot to get a pic of one of them before I sent it off to Karen in Pennsylvania who is quilting it...

but they were pretty close to the same.

For those of you new to the blog,

my daughter lost her fiance last September

in Afghanistan

just days before they were to be married.

(Christopher John Scott)

If you'd like to read about it,

Click Here!!

There are several posts about the project and about us losing

our darling soldier boy.

I still weep as I do this post almost a year later!

Thank you all for your generous support

in this great endeavor!

And especially for your prayers.

A huge hug to Marla for helping me get these quilts done,

and for the two sweet ladies finishing the quilting.

You are the best!!

Hugs,