11/6/2023 0 Comments Finally HOME!We are FINALLY in our new home! Praise God for the amazing gift that is our new house and our HOME here in the mountains. We so love it! The journey to get here was longer than anticipated, had way more challenges than we thought, and the final bit was total chaos - but God is faithful and we are HOME. Here are a few photos of our new home and my new studio space!
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1/24/2023 0 Comments Happy New Year!Welcome to 2023! How crazy is that?! Things are actually moving here! We FINALLY broke ground for our new home in NC last week! And I finished my giant quilting project in December - just in time to be delivered for Christmas! God had placed on my heart to make a batch of bed quilts for our local nursing home here. A friend had mentioned to me that there were a large number of residents that had little/no family to look after them and make their space 'homey'. This weighed on my heart heavily. My friend got a count from a staff member and I set out to bring some joy and love to these dear people. 15 quilts were delivered the week before Christmas for these people to have a surprise! I'm so thankful that God gave me this passion that can bless others. It was a HUGE project to piece and quilt 15 quilts in just 3 months - but I was able (by God's grace) to get them all done and washed and gifted! My heart was so blessed by this project and I pray that the people who received them were equally blessed. Looking forward to what God has for us in this new year! Blessings to all and Happy Quilting! 9/2/2022 0 Comments End of Summer 2022We have reached Labor Day weekend here in the mountains and while much has changed since the end of 2021 and much is the same too.
We are in a new rental house - bigger, newer, and in a lovely spot. I have a great sewing room space with my Lenni all set up and I've been doing a bit of quilting but not as much as I ought. We still have not broken ground on our new home, but things are moving in a hopeful direction in spite of the craziness of the world. I am firmly convinced every delay and every forward step is orchestrated by our loving Heavenly Father - all of which brings me to a place of thanksgiving and praise. God is faithful and good...always. We continue to love being here in NC and God continues to bless in so many ways. The insanity and chaos of the world at large is a bit easier to bear being where we are - and for that we are thankful beyond words. I have set an ambitious quilting goal for myself and will have to be diligent to accomplish it. I don't dare say what it is aloud but am hopeful that God will allow me to meet my goal and be a blessing to many by year end. Onward and upward - loving, serving, praising, and quilting! Blessings on the journey dear quilty friends! ~~Deb 12/29/2021 0 Comments Goodbye 2021This crazy year is drawing to a close.
As with 2020, this year has felt extraordinarily long. Thankfully there has been much more to be grateful for this year and as changes continue to unfold, I will continue to praise God for every gift. We have seen many things move in good directions and a few stall out, but we remain sure that God is working, and we await His timing for things. One recent good change is that we have emptied the storage units and managed to cram everything into our rental home. Because Steve loves me so -- I have a temporary studio space now and am attempting to find my groove in sewing/quilting again. We will see how long it takes me to get back into the swing of things. For now, I remain on break from client work - I have not yet navigated the laws/requirements for small business in NC. This means that I will have the luxury of working on my own projects for the near future. I have quite a list, so I know I'll be busy! I long for sanity to be restored in our nation but don't see it happening realistically - crazy inflation - distrust of all things govt/medical - deep and horrid divides in so many areas. Only Jesus will restore - and I hope and pray for that to happen soon! While I wait - I will praise, I will love, and I will sew! Happy Quilting everyone! 6/2/2021 0 Comments Big Changes - the storyA few years ago when our youngest son was finishing up his first year of college, we took a mini-vacation to drive down to pick him up at the end of the semester. As history buffs, we traveled to see Harper's Ferry, Antietam, Monticello, and did a day of driving the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville, NC where we visited the Biltmore Estate.
Our drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway was a glorious day and we were smitten. When we returned to NH, we talked at length about all we had seen and the areas we had discovered. We began to plan to return and explore further as we were becoming disillusioned with NH - the weather, the taxes, and the politics/people. Our son going to school in the south had made us aware of a completely new part of the country and the people who lived there seemed more kindred spirit than those where we had always lived. We had planned a trip for the end of April 2020 - it was cancelled when the world was turned inside out & upside down due to Covid. Life was changed - permanently. We finally managed to plan our return trip for late September of 2020 and found ourselves in Alleghany County, NC with the intention of researching Ashe Country as a potential for relocating eventually. God had other plans. Alleghany County was special - we drove virtually every road of the county in about a week. We did travel to Ashe County, but found it did not bring the joy we found in Alleghany. The mountains, rolling hills, open farmland, the cows on the hillsides, views, and of course... the people. We were home and we were certain of it. Our plans were to scout out some land and eventually retire and build a home. Again, God had other plans and surprised us completely. With the Covid situation, Steve's working from home had become full-time and looked to be permanent. We discussed the idea of going sooner rather than waiting, but it seemed crazy. Until a random text from a family member set wheels in motion that moved along faster than we'd ever imagined. In February a much-loved niece and her husband came for a visit to see the house, at the end of May we all sat on a sunny back patio at a local real-estate title company and signed papers - they became first-time homeowners and we began a whole new adventure! Another trip to Alleghany in March had yielded a gift from the Lord again in the form of @ 6acres of land in a lovely spot - exactly our hearts desire for a home-site. At the end of April we'd done a whirlwind trip of 4 days to put a truckload of our belongings into storage, purchase the land, and drive to TN to see our youngest son graduate from college. Now it is the first week of June and we are fully moved into our rental house with the 4 cats and the dog - all of whom are pretty well recovered from the trauma of a 14+ hour drive to our new home. A million times Thanks have been said to my brother for driving a big Uhaul truck, and our daughter for doing the whirlwind round-trip drive to help us with moving the cats. We are now embarking on the new adventure as we start the chapter of being just the 2 of us - as all the kids are grown and starting their own lives. As for my sewing/quilting and the future of Applewood Quilts.... everything is mostly on hold until we get our new home built with a new studio space for my Lenni. I have one featherweight and a few projects here at the rental house, but no machine quilting will be happening for quite a while. All good things are gifts from God and I'm thankful beyond words for every step of this journey! He is faithful and I am blessed. |
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November 2023
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