North Star Wedding Quilt

Let me introduce you to my most recently finished quilt, "North Star".

I have always wanted to make a quilt for my children when they are getting married. Shortly after my oldest son got engaged, I started brainstorming quilt designs. I was going through the quilt books and patterns I already had. Then I came across the acrylic template by Jen Kingwell's "North Star". I love the meaning and sentiment North Star carries; Constant, guidance, direction, stability, etc. I thought it would be a perfect block to use to construct the quilt for the happy couple. I also asked his fiance's preference in design, then found out that she likes a simple, timeless and clean design. I combined his fiance's favorite color blue and my son's favorite color green. After making some sketches, I came up with this quilt.

I finished making it a couple nights before the wedding day (phew! That was cutting it close) and I was able to gift it to them. I asked them if we could do a photo shoot with the quilt later. Between their schedule and my health issues and all, it took a while to do the photo shoot, but it finally happened! They were such good sports about it and I had fun shooting their photos with the quilt.

Aren't they so cute?! Lastly, the quilt label I created in the back of the quilt reads:

Love is like the North Star. In a changing world, it's always constant. - Gorden B. Hinkley
May your life be filled with love and happiness.- Mom

Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Eagle Scout Project

Today is exactly one year since my double mastectomy. It has been quite a hard and amazing at the same time type of year for me. But hey, I am here with my family and I am extremely grateful for many things. I am planning on a special giveaway really soon and I will share more about my journey in that post.

I am writing a quick post about one of my sons' Eagle Scout Project to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.

Michael wants to do heart shaped pillows to donate to my doctor's office. Last year before my surgery, I was able to donate about 50 pillows. Later they told me that they were gone so fast. I am glad that my small contribution might have been able to help someone, but that means, so many women were newly diagnosed with breast cancer...

I shared that with my children and they were quite surprised too. He wanted to do something meaningful for his project and we thought that this would be a great way to celebrate my one year anniversary as well.

For his Eagle Scout project, he needs to teach and lead others. So, last week I taught him how to make a heart shaped pillow.

He was such a trooper! It was kind of hard for him to keep the 1/4" seam especially on the curvy areas, but he made one pillow! Is he going to develop a love of sewing? I guess not, but I am proud of him for trying something new to serve others.

The actual day that he was able to schedule the church building for the big sewing event is during fall break (that was the only Saturday available this year!). We are a bit nervous about that... many people might be out of town, but he is hoping to make 200 pillows! Wish him luck! ;)

Note: I added the link to my original post from year ago. Near the end of the post(blow the picture of heart pillows), you can find the link to downloadable pattern for the pillow. Thanks!

Thanksgiving Giveaway!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last updated my blog. I posted a few things on Instagram in the last few weeks, because it is much easier to shoot a picture and post it with my phone, but the truth is that I wasn't in much of a mood to do any social media after the surgery. I wonder if I was going through a mini depression of sorts. The first couple of weeks after I came home, I stayed in bed most of my time and either slept, read, or watched TV; which is very unusual for me. Usually I already have a hand stitch project ready by my bed and I would have been working on that. When I delivered my second son through c-section, I was doing applique in my hospital bed by day 2. This time, I really didn't have much desire to do that. When I thought I was getting better, I got an infection. With that, my recovery was set back a couple more weeks.

The last week or so, I starting to feel like myself again. I am up and doing more. Don't worry, I am still being very careful and not lifting anything heavy, but, I am doing light cooking (which my family loves!), putting some make-up on everyday, and I started creating again. As you can tell by the title, I am hosting a Thanksgiving giveaway. I will give you the entry details, but first, let me share what I am thankful for.

Every year, I would say I am thankful for my family and friends. I would say the same thing this year also, but I say it with much deeper meaningful feelings attached.
Diagnosed with cancer and going through a double mastectomy really reminded me of how our life is very fragile and precious. I have been through a lot medically since I was little and I have thought about mortality in the past too, but your prospective changes when you are a mother of three.

I REALLY. DON'T. WANT. TO. DIE. I want to stick around much longer; watch them grow, thrive, and be there when they need a shoulder to cry on. Sure my kids are not little anymore and my role as a mother is changing, but my job as a mother is never over. Then I thought about the many people who had to go either by accident, through illnesses, or whatever reason. My heart saddens to think about them, about how they must have wanted to stay with their loved ones too. Also it gave me renewed perspective to treasure my family and the other people in my life and not to take them for granted.

My life is not perfect; and boy, I am far from perfect. I do complain about the small stuff too, but the last few months really gave me a reality check of what is more important. These are the things I am thankful for this year and probably they will be at the top of my thankful list for as long as I live.


I am thankful for my life. I am thankful waking up every morning and a chance to do good and do better.

I am thankful for my family and friends. I pray every day about how grateful I am to have them in my life.

I am thankful for the gospel. I am thankful that I can rely and trust in God to help me seek the many small miracles in my life rather than the faults. It has always given me strength to pull through in difficult times.

I still have some concerns about my health and I met an oncologist last week. I don't know how everything will turn out, but I want to live my life with fullest of gratitude and love everyday. :)

I thought about all my friends who helped me though this difficult time and I thought I will do a giveaway not only to benefit the winner, but her friends too!! One lucky winner will receive: one Tiny Tin Sewing Room, and 7 bags of goodies for your friends! The bag contains a stick-able bottle cap pincushion, measuring tape and clips. I bet they will make fun gift exchange for Christmas. So, are you ready for the giveaway details? The rules are simple:

1. First entry: Leave a comment and share what you are thankful for.

2. Second entry: Go to my Instagram page and enter there as well.

I will post the winner on the morning of the 23rd. Good luck everyone!

Earthquake

My oldest Child and I were in Japan from March 31st through April 14th. I was going to write about our trip and fun time we had while we were there. The day we left Japan there was an earthquake in Kumamoto and other areas (it's in southern Japan). You can read more about it here.

I heard the news when we landed in LA. I was relieved to hear that it wasn't the area where my family lives, but immediately my heart turned to the people who were affected by this. My mind raced back to March 11th, 2011 when a magnitude 9 earthquake hit the Tohoku area followed by a monstrous Tsunami where my family lives. You can read about my experience here and here.

It is torture not knowing loved ones whereabouts, so devastating to lose people you deeply care about and it must take such courage to press on to survive and rebuild a life that has been taken away from them.

I will post about our trip in a different post, but I wanted to dedicate this post for the people in Japan, and also the people in Ecuador who were affected by an earthquake. I am pretty sure there are organizations that you can donate money, supplies and make quilts etc...

What can we do for them?

List of 100 Dreams

Hello everyone and Hello 2016!

I have been reading a book called "168 hours ~ You have more time than you think". Agh, the title alone was a stab in my heart because deep down inside I knew where I have been wasting my time and that I could make major improvements. Using our time wisely and where it matters most is a very important and essential skill to have to achieve our goals and dreams, right?

In the book, the Arthur talked about writing down 100 of your dreams. The whole section was very interesting to read; it was way more than just writing them down. Look at the dreams and think of ways of how to turn them into reality. She also mentioned about going through the list and start knocking off items that require just a few bucks or a few hours. Why didn't I think of the before??

They don't have to be all big dreams, anything you want to do in your life time. She stated "this could be something as simple as ten places you want to visit, ten books you want to read, ten restaurants you want to try, skills you want to learn, or ten financial goals you have for yourself...".

Doesn't this sound fun?

Instead of coming up with new year resolution, our family did something different this year. I found the perfect notebooks for each family members at TJMaxx. After I explained what we are doing and why, my teens made some jokes back and forth, but they were all excited about it. In a short while, we were all quiet (which doesn't happen that often in our house) and sitting around the table brainstorming our hopes and dreams and writing them down.

My only suggestion as a mom to them was: Not to write down all materialistic things, but something that will grow them intellectually and spiritually as well.

Bedtime came but we were still writing. Every now and then, the kids wanted to share one of their dreams and we laughed and talked about it. My 10 year old girl shared her list with me and one of them caught my eye and I couldn't help myself from smiling... "to have straight teeth". How cute! That wish will come true in a few years (both my teens have braces) just like her brothers. But, hey. That is one of her dreams. :)

I think I am going to reach a little bit higher this year and make some of my dreams come true. What are some of your 100 dreams?

Counting Down to Christmas ~ Advent Calendar

One of our Christmas traditions is doing an advent calendar for the kids. Years ago, when the kids were still small I read about advent calendars and thought, "That is such a neat way to count down to the special day."

Our first year, I got 25 envelopes and wrote numbers 1 through 25. I stuck them onto the pantry door so they would form the shape of a Christmas tree after I filled them with some notes and candies. When I introduced the calendar and how it is suppose to work to the kids the next morning, they were so excited! Every morning, they couldn't wait to open the envelop to see what's inside. I can still remember their reactions and happy faces...

A few years later, the envelopes were replaced with a wooden advent calendar with tiny doors. This year I bought a new one because one of the doors was broken. Instead of doors, this one has deep drawers and I think I like this one better. Rachel couldn't wait for me to fill up the calendar for this year and she volunteered to write all the dates on the drawers.

I feel like it was so much easier and cheaper to please them when they were little. They would get excited about pretty much anything.

I will give you some of the things I used to put in to the calendar:


Mini candy cane
Chocolate coin
small toys from the dollar store

or papers saying things like:

Family movie night
Family game night
Going through the drive through and get donuts, ice cream and such
Going to the dollar theater

A couple years ago, I decided to do things a little differently since my kids are getting older. We had a discussion about the true meaning of Christmas and it is important to be giving rather than just focusing on receiving. They had the look on their faces like, "Where is she going with this?..." and I didn't feel much excitement from them. I explained that there will still be same type of small gifts, or notes with family activities, BUT, I will be putting in some notes with "giving" types of activities and assignments.

I think they weren't so sure about this, but they went along with it. Well, what other choice did they have?? I am the mom, and I am the one who fills up the calendar... muhahahaha

So, here are the examples of some of the notes:

Do something nice to your siblings without them knowing
Open the door for someone when we go out
Say something nice to 5 people today
Shovel the neighbor's driveway secretly

Then this year, I was looking at a box of candy canes and got new idea. I wrote on the note:

Be a ninja. Give candy canes to 4 people (I divided the dozen candy canes amongst my three kids) without getting caught.

I also told them a couple rules: first, they are not allowed to open someones bags to put it in. The people might think they are trying to steal something, that is the last thing you want! Second, they have to tell me who they gave it to and how when they get home. If they were able to witness the recipient's reaction, that would be better.

The kids were giddy about the new assigment and went to school.

The results? It was awesome. Even better than I expected!

I got to hear their stories of who they gave it to and how. The kids were talking and listening to each other's stories and we laughed about their experiences. Sounds like it is very difficult to be sneaky while giving something to someone! Three out of three kids said it was a lot of fun and they loved the assignment.

I think it comes natural to some to be generous and giving. To some, this needs to be taught.

As a mom, I want to make sure that my kids know giving brings joy. Whether tangible items, service or even a kind smile and kind words. Is there a better way to count down to the special day to celebrate the birth of our Savior?

There are 18 more days to go and I know there are more "giving" notes in the calendar. The thing is that I can't remember which drawer I put it in, so every morning it will be equally surprising and exciting for me as it is to my kids! Hahaha :)

Marie Callender's Pie Review

I can't believe the major holidays are just around the corner. What comes to your mind when you think about Thanksgiving and Christmas? Friends and family gatherings, big feast, cooking for a big crowd and cleaning up... sounds exciting but a little overwhelming doesn't it? I love to cook but I do not want to get too stressed about get togethers. Marie Callender's ready made pie shells have been a great “go-to” for me for sometime. They are made from scratch, have a homemade quality and taste great. I was given the chance to try some of the Marie Callender's pies. The pies were Coconut Creme, Chocolate Satin Pie, and Dutch Apple Pie. My family and I happened to love all these pies, so we are very excited to try them! Every Monday is our special family night. No matter how busy our life gets, we try not to schedule anything that would keep us from spending time with each other on Monday nights. We had a couple friends visiting us that night and it was just the perfect time to try the pies with them. First of all, I was very impressed when I pull them out of the box. They. Look. Exactly. The. Same. As the picture. I know, it is supposed to be that way, but when you buy something, how many times does the picture looks amazing, but the actual product doesn't look anything like the picture? This isn't the case.

My family LOVES chocolate, so naturally they were drawn to the Chocolate Satin Pie. It was decorated with real chocolate curls (which by the way, my daughter kept eating off of the pie before I could even cut it!). The rich chocolate filling is very smooth and tasty, yep, it was definitely a hit. One of my sons and I love coconut cream pie. Usually though, even in big family gatherings, because it is not as popular as chocolate pie, we don't have it on the table. I realized that with Marie Callender's that problem is solved! The creaminess of the coconut custard with crunchiness of the real toasted coconut created a great flavor and texture in my mouth. Mmm... heavenly... Now, last but not least, the Dutch Apple Pie became one of our favorites. The delicious aroma of fresh Fuji apples and brown sugar streusel filled our house while it was baking in the oven. Even though I said that my family loves chocolate, the dutch apple pie got eaten the quickest! I loved the combination of the extra flaky crust with the filling. Special occasion or not, having a delicious home made quality dessert by Marie Callender's will be a great help to celebrate our everyday lives with our loved ones.

Don't forget to visit their Facebook page and Pinterest to find out more about their products and coupon offers.

Which pie looked more appealing to you? Leave a comment for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.

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Dreaming of California

Kids are back to school and we are trying to get back to our regular routine, but I am not ready to let go of Summer yet.

During Summer we took two trips and I realized that I haven't shared the pictures with you. The first trip was just Mr. TRH and I for our 20th Anniversary.

I love to travel. If I had no physical limitations and an unlimited budget, I would be all over the place. Mr. TRH on the other hand, is a homebody. He is totally happy and content to stay home.

I love big cities and lots of activities. He doesn't like big cities and wants to relax.

It was not easy to pick the destination that would accommodate both of our needs. Some people recommended Monterey and when I did some reserch of my own I was more and more excited about the idea. What we decided to do was to visit Monterey, San Jose and San Francisco. I have never been to all those cities and we thought we could have a great time at laid back Monterey and big city San Francisco.

Did I enjoy the trip you might ask?... Oh, yes. VERY MUCH!

We love spending time with each other but it is so hard to find quality time in the regular day to day schedule. During the drive to Monterey we were talking (without getting interrupted!), laughing, and listening to books on CDs. The whole trip was fun, but I adore the time we spent in the car as well. Not to mention that we love making stops here and there to try new restaurants and food along the way. We had all you can eat Crab for lunch and we were in heaven!

I planned this trip on a budget, but I wanted to stay at a nice hotel. When we got married we didn't have a fancy honeymoon trip, so this was a chance for us to do that.

Growing up near the ocean, I really miss this view. What a pretty sight... waking up to an ocean view put me in such a happy mood every morning while we were there.

We did visit an antique mall(although it wasn't Mr. TRH's choice of activity he was such a good sport about it), we did a 17 mile scenic drive, and ate at some of the really good restaurants. We definitely want to go back to Monterey. There are so many water sports and other activities that our kids will love, it will be a perfect place for the family to vacation too.

We have a friend in San Jose, he and his friend gave us a tour one day. Again, we ate at amazing Mexican and Thai restaurants, and visited the beautiful Japanese garden. It was beautiful and relaxing, I felt like I was transported to Japan.

One of the highlights was when they took me to a big fabric store! It was not the garment district, but hey, I was so giddy going through their selection.

Another place they took us was the Winchester Mystery House. At first I didn't realized where we were then it hit me, "OH!" I remembered watching about this place on the History channel before. The mansion is beautiful, yet very bizarre....

Driving around the town to see Victorian style homes was so much fun too, I enjoy looking at architecture and many different flowers I normally don't see here in Utah.

Then, The last place was San Francisco. To be precise I have been to San Francisco years ago, just at the airport. Mr. TRH wasn't too thrilled about this idea because we were driving and didn't know the roads. I was suppose to be the navigator, but it was so hard to focus!! I was in one of the cities I always wanted to visit. looking at tall buildings, pretty architecture along the rolling hills; how can I focus? I was ohh-ing and Ahh-ing a lot. I wish we had several days to walk around to take more pictures and sketch some of the homes.

One of the places we went was Japan town. There we visited their dollar store (seriously, you will love some of the stuff you can find at the Japanese dollar store) ate at a Sushi restaurant, spent a good amount of time at Kinokuni-ya which is a book store; I was drooling over at so many books... oh how I wished I could have bought the whole store.

I haven't been to Kaiten-sushi (sushi-go-around) for years, it took me a couple rounds to finally grab the plate of sushi I wanted. It was going faster than I remembered!

Then of course, the Golden Gate Bridge... I don't think I am the only one who had the theme song of "Full House" playing in my head while visiting San Francisco. Rachel has been watching reruns of Full House. When she found out that we are going to San Fransisco, she asked me to get an autograph from the actors of the show. "Sweetie", I said, "Do you know how long ago that show was aired?" It is so cute how kids think. :)

I know it was a long post with tons of pictures, but it was only a small part of our trip. I am naturally a very curious person, but when I am on a trip my curiosity level is 120%! I want to see, hear, taste, experience; take everything in! I fell in love with all the places we visited, but what made me happy was that I was with my most favorite person the whole world the entire time. I know we will talk about our trip for years to come and every now and then we will dream of California.

20 ~ Happy 20th, Honey!

20 years - that is 7,305 days or 240 month or 175,320 hours. That is a LOT of time to spend time with someone.

Today Mr. TRH and I have been married for 20 years. When we first got married we were dirt poor. When he proposed to me, he just started college and had a part-time job. When we got married, my only possessions were the things I could pack in one tiny suitcase when I moved to America from Japan (I had to leave my sewing machine behind because it was too expensive to ship!).

The first few years were very difficult for me because I only spoke little to no English. I had no family or friends here. I missed my mother, sister and my friends so much. Because I had a very dysfunctional family life growing up, I thought I wouldn't be homesick, but I was. Away from those people I loved and living in a different country and culture was much tougher than I thought.

Mr. TRH always made sure that I knew he loved me by calling me several times a day, taking me out on a night drive for our small dates even though he was tired from going to work and school full time. He was very patient with my language too. He always told me that "If you have bad grammar, but your pronunciation is good, people would understand you. If you have perfect grammar but speak with bad pronunciation, people would have a hard time understanding you." --- We don't have the "R" sound in Japanese, so it was difficult for me to pronounce the "R". For example, words like "girl", "guitar", "really"; anything with an r or a words had both r's and l's were very tricky for me. There were times that I thought it was so annoying he made me say the same words over and over again but I am so thankful he did that for me. He was never mean, or made fun of me. I knew he did that for my own good so I could be confident and independent in this new country.

I wrote about my medical conditions in my past post: you can read some of them here or here if you are new to my blog. Throughout our 20 years of marriage, I had countless doctors visits, procedures and hospitalizations. When there is a medical issue, there was also stress about money, care-giving, and the care-givers. Since my condition is not curable, medical issues will always be a part of our lives.

Mr. TRH never made me feel like he drew the short end of the stick or that I am less desirable as a wife. When I was bedridden for several months, almost every day he came home for lunch to make sure I was ok and ate lunch with me. If I was in the hospital, he came to see me as much as he could. Whenever I am coming out of a procedure and if the first person I see is him, I immediately felt comforted and secure.

Over the years, we were blessed with three beautiful children, but raising them wasn't an easy task for me when they were little. Our children are very healthy and active. Especially my older two boys... They were WAY TOO ACTIVE with my physical limitations sometimes. I had to be creative; I survived those years, but looking back, there was no way I could have done it without Mr. TRH's help.

Mr. TRH isn't an absent father. He is always there for our children and involved with their lives. We are so fortunate that he has a somewhat flexible job, and is able to attend Parent teacher conference, field trips, school plays, etc. He plays with them, sits down and watches their favorite shows on TV, and talks with them a lot.

As I mentioned in the beginning, when I moved to America, I had to part with most of my possessions. They are just things, but it was hard for me to say good-bye to my sewing items, and fabrics I collected over the years.

In our second year of marriage, he surprised me with a sewing machine. When I saw the machine on our dining table it literally (this is another difficult word to say!) took my breath away! I didn't think we could afford a sewing machine for a long time because there were so many other things we needed.

Mr. TRH has been always very supportive of my interests and hobbies. As a young girl, I realized that I wanted to be a designer when I grew up. Life took an interesting turn and I became a wife and a mother, which I am so thankful for, but my desire to design and to create has always been there. Even though I am not a big time designer or anything; it has been so much fun to share what I have created on my blog. Over the years I have been given many opportunities to work with magazines and companies and I gained a new appreciation and respect for the people who are in the industry. Every time when I have an opportunity to be creative, Mr. TRH is so happy for me and encourages me to try it. Eventhough half the time I feel like I am not qualified for the task.


"I don't have much right now, but I will make you smile for the rest of your life and eternity if you marry me."

Amazingly, he has kept these words he said twenty one years ago. At the time my decision to marry him didn't make sense to many people around me, but in my heart I knew I was doing the right thing. Against all the odds we are still together and very happy. Sure we have ups and downs like many other couples do, but I can't stay mad at him too long. We laugh a lot, finish each other's sentence, and I can't wait to see him at night.

He and I had our special anniversary trip in June. These are our pictures goofing around as always. He dislike taking pictures, but I asked him because this was a special occasion. I pushed his sunglasses up so I could see his eyes.

and it was too bright for him...

I know I am so blessed to have a husband like him and this great relationship, but that didn't come automatically when we got married. Love is an action verb: we are always presented with decisions to show love with our actions --- It took us 7305 days of going through thick and thin. Being there for each other.

20 years, 7305 days, 240 month, or 175,320 hours is a long time, but I feel like the past amazing 20 years has gone by in a flash. I can't think of anyone else but him to spend the rest of forever with. Thank you so much Mr. TRH for being there for me, always.

Happy 20th, Honey!

Love

Sachiko

Screech- Bang! ... and Much More

I have written about one of life's curve balls in the past; this post is one of them... as you can see in the picture, that's what happened to my minivan last Monday.

I took my car in for an oil change. I take mine in to the car dealership where we bought our car brand new almost 5 years ago. Even though I made an appointment for the oil change, there were so many cars in the garage. So I talked to a person who works there, did the paperwork and signed my name and headed in to waiting area. I found a spot and sat down and started to read. After a short while, I heard,

SCREECH, BANG!!!!!

Everyone in the waiting area looked up, including myself. "That didn't sound good" I thought.

Many people stood up and headed to the garage to see what happened. I also saw many people come from the sales area and from upstairs to go see what had happened. I sat and waited for a while.

As some people came back they were saying that "Man, that didn't look good." or "Boy, I feel bad for the owner..."

I thought "ok, maybe I will go check this out myself too" then I stood up and walked to the garage. There is a large glass window where you can see the whole garage. As I was getting closer to it, I saw a white minivan and a truck unnaturally close to each other.

NOTE: Does this happen to you? In your mind you can see things and be able to process what might have happened but you are in denial and try to direct your thoughts to somewhere else? Basically that was happening in my head. Ok, you can keep on reading...

I thought well, this is a Toyota dealership, of course there are gonna be other white minivans just like mine. That's not mine.

I got closer... then I saw a rectangle blue handicap sign hanging in the middle of the front windshield. Ugh... That moment, I knew, that minivan is mine. I kept the same pace and got closer to my van and saw some damage even from behind. My van was rammed into the truck that was in front of it. When they backed out my van it made a horrible sound and revealed its damage. My jaw dropped and for a moment I could only stare at it blankly, but I took a picture and sent it to my husband with short message that said "Look at what happened to my van".

He was on his way, but in the meanwhile my head was filled with our schedule for the next few weeks. The thing is, I can't drive any other car except ours. Because I have prosthetic limb on the right leg, I have a special pedal installed in my van so I can drive with my left leg. Mr. TRH's sedan has the same pedal and I can drive it, but we bought the minivan to meet our family's needs. (I did by the way, tell them that there was a left foot accelerator that can be easily removed and to be careful.)

My boys are doing a lawn mowing business for the summer and I was helping them out to haul the lawnmower... they need to call their customers and tell them what happened...

While all this (and more) was going through my mind, many people in the garage came up to me and said "sorry this happened" or "make sure that they (the dealership) will take good care of you", trying to comfort me. I really appreciate those gestures but the storm in my head was still there and I started to tear up. Then, an older couple approached me. They were the owners of the truck that was hit by my van. Instead of being angry, they were so nice and sweet and they both tried to comfort me. We walked to the waiting area (the woman got me a tissue as well) and sat and started to talk to each other while we were waiting to talk to the dealer.

We met under bad circumstance, but as we talked to each other we found we have lots of common ground and had a very nice visit. I didn't ask their number or anything, but I really appreciated the time we spent together and their kindness to me.

So, after three hours of waiting... we were able to sit and talked to the people at the dealership. They told me that what happened was that person who drove my car was just going to shimmy the car forward while riding the brake. He accidently stepped on both the left foot accelerator and brake at the same time and the car launched forward. I always warn them about the special pedal, if you are not used to it, that could happen... it was a total accident. I am grateful that nobody got hurt because of this, it would been terrible if that was the case.

Well, a week later we still don't know what is going to happen. I think they are trying to figure out what they can do with their insurance company and all. The thing is that we bought the car brand new at the end of 2010 (it's a 2011 model) and paid it off shortly after. Our plan was to drive that van for a long time, at least until our youngest is out of the house. We were not expecting to have any car payments for years except for regular maintenance.

What is the most likely scenario for something like this? Does anybody know?

Phew... talk about a curve ball... I am just hoping and praying that things will work out ok. Hopefully I can write a good follow up post soon. :)

Soft-Baked Funfetti Sugar Cookies

I baked these Soft-Baked Funfettie Sugar Cookies and quickly took pictures and shared it on my Instagram yesterday. I know, I should have shared it on my blog too, but Instagram is so much simpler and quicker! I promise to be better at posting things like that here as well.

I wish I could take full credit for these cookies, but I found the recipe on a blog called Sally's Baking Addiction. When I found the recipe, there were 274 comments on it. Wow, that looks promising right? I had to try it!

My cookies didn't look as pretty as hers, but they sure tasted so good! My family loved them and I love how they look cheerful with all the sprinkles baked in.
I am going to add this to my recipe book for sure!

Year 2014 Last Project ~ Herringbone Quilt

Shortly after Thanksgiving, I started working on this quilt for a really close family friend for Christmas. Because there was tons of stuff going on; just as you would expect in the month of December, I was distracted numerous times. He wasn't going to come to town until yesterday so I had a little more time to work on it. Whew! It was a close call, but I finally finished it a couple days before he arrived.

I didn't follow any particular pattern, and just used half triangle squares to create the herringbone design. If you would prefer a more unified look, you should use more of the same colors and tones. This quilt is about queen size. I was going to make a "throw quilt" for him, but I realized that he is about 6'4" or 6'5", Uh-uh, that wouldn't cut it. It needed to be bigger.

I usually hand stitch the binding, but I used my machine this time. Don't you think these stitches kind of mimic the herringbone design?

This is not my usual color scheme, but it is so fun to think of the receiver and trying to come up with a design that would fit that person. It stretches my imagination and forces me to try something new. Before handing the quilt to him, I had to test it outside...

Saying good-by to a quilt you spent so much time and effort on is a little bitter-sweet. Well, I guess it is more sweet when I think that something I created will be used for years to come by someone you care about. We were able to give him the quilt and I am very happy to tell you that he really loved it!

This was my very last project that I completed this year. What was yours? Of course if you love to work with your hands; what ever that may be, quilting, sewing, crafting, drawing... etc our work is never done and there is always the next project, right?

So, my friends, how was your 2014? What are your hopes and dreams for the year 2015?

I wish you all the very best! Really, I thank you and am grateful that you are visiting my little spot in blog land.

Have a Happy New Year!! xoxo

Sachiko

Tutorial ~ Leafy Felt Pillow

Hi everyone! Amber of the amazing blog, Crazy Little Projects, is doing a fun sewing challenge every month. This month's theme is "Gift items". I was so excited to be asked to be a part of it and to share my project today!

Halloween is behind us and Thanksgiving is approaching. Is your home all decorated for fall? I love decorating my house with some things appropriate to the season. I thought it would be fun to make a decorative pillow with a bunch of leaves with a little splash of jewel color.

That. is. not. all. I created this pillow on a small budget. You might want to make several to give out to your family, friends, Thanksgiving dinner host, and even to yourself. Isn't it one of our dramas as a sewer/crafter that the cost of materials add up! If you were looking for something nice to make on a tight budget, this might be what you are looking for. :)

{You will need}--- and some tips, please read before you head out to shop

Felt --- They were having 4 for $1 sale when I bought them. I needed 10 felts (4 silver gray and one of each colors) which was only $2.50! They usually cost a little more. Since you only need about half the felt for each color for the leaves, if you decide to make two pillows, you can make each one for slightly less. You will need the colors below.

Gold, Golden rod, orange, coral red, olive, aqua, Silver Gray

The color of the thread you want to use --- I used dull orange colored thread from start to finish. If you don't want the color to pop against the gray felt, it is totally fine to use a different color.

1 3/4 yards of Pom-pom --- this can make the cost go up, but Jo-Ann Fabric always has coupons. Look for a 40% or 50% off coupon!

Fiber fill

{How to}

1. Cut 2 pieces of silver gray felt the long way. Now you have 4 pieces of 4 1/2" x 12" pieces.

2. Sew them on to the sides of the whole felt. Over wrap 1/4" on the seam and sew with zig-zag stitch. Do the same with the other pieces. Now you have 2 pieces of 12" x 17 1/2" silver gray felt.

3.Print out the PDF pattern for the leaves I created. Cut them out.

4. Trace them onto the felt. You need 22 leaves total. You can mix and match however you want.

5 Draw a nice wavy line. This will be a guide line for the placement for the leaves.

6. Pin the first leaf and sew then move on to the second leaf. Repeat the process until the leaves reach to near the end of the line.

7. Lay the back and the top felt together. Starting at the middle of the bottom, pin the pom-pom trim all around the pillow.

8. Switch the presser foot to Zipper foot on your machine. leaving 4" to 5" opening in the bottom, sew all around the pillow.

9. Stuff the pillow with fiber fill. Pin the rest of the pom-poms, front and back felt together. Sew the opening shut with your preferred method.

Now, you have a leafy felt pillow to give or to cozy up part of your house.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. :)

Happy fall!