A move, a trip, Shoo Fly blocks, and more

Hello! My goodness, it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to post. The past 8 weeks have truly been a blur. We put our home on the market, sold it, and then went through the arduous process of arranging for and managing three separate household goods shipments. It was a lot of work! We were authorized to ship a small amount by air, 14K pounds of household goods by sea (which isn’t all that much weight, really!) and everything else was either donated or put into a long term storage unit. Kent and I did much of the sorting, packing, labeling, and actually moving things into long term storage ourselves. And quite a bit of things (mostly from my studio) were moved to our cabin where I’ll be staying for another 5 months. We did hire movers for the furniture and to handle some of the heaviest boxes, thankfully. Needless to say it was a lot of hard, physical work and we were very sore and tired!

The day after the moving van pulled out of the drive, we said goodbye to our beautiful home. We walked through the rooms reminiscing and we prayed for health, peace, and happiness for the new owners. Even though we’ve moved many times, it was hard to leave for the last time. This home was special. We made many long lasting friendships here and there was a lot of love, happiness and laughter in this house. 

The day after the moving van left, we boarded a plane and took a trip with our boys to Alaska for one last, family vacation. This was the last time Kent will see the boys for a long time; possibly two years. Much depends on the status of COVID in Australia and their visitation mandates. But we certainly made the most of the week and had a great time! It was relaxing and we spent time together doing many fun things, including sightseeing and playing board games into the wee hours of the morning!

I love these photos where Josh got a serious case of hysterical giggles (something about my Crocs and the Northern Lights????)

We even did one of those Escape Rooms while rocking our Harry Potter sweatshirts! Can I just say for the record that we’re such a goofy, weird family!? This trip was just what we needed. We came back feeling oh-so-much better; more relaxed and refreshed once again with memories we’ll treasure forever. 

Another call for Shoo Fly blocks, please!

I arrived home from our trip to a pile of envelopes with Shoo Fly blocks and lovely, hand-written messages! What fun to open each one, appreciate the pretty fabrics and thoughtful notes, and think of the individual makers. I have sent messages through Facebook or Messenger to each of you with a photo of your block and a little thank you note. There have only been about four people I haven’t been able to reach on FB or Instagram. (To those four ladies, THANK YOU!) To date, I’ve received almost 50 blocks. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has sent one! I am very grateful to each of you for taking time to make a block and send it!

I would love to make this a true King Size quilt to cover our bed (so we can wrap ourselves in your love and good wishes) and for that to happen, I need at least a total of 121 blocks! I realize it was the end of summer when I put out the first request for Shoo Fly blocks (you can read more about it by CLICKING HERE), so I’m putting the request out once again to see if you might consider making a block for me! The easy-peasy instructions included right here. Simply click on this link (below):

CLICK HERE shooFlyBlock

Making a Shoo Fly block (measuring 9 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ unfinished) is easy and only takes a few minutes of your time. But the sentiment will last us a lifetime! Please sign your block in permanent ink and include any fun messages, wishes or blessings you’d like! That makes each block extra special and we’ll love reading your words again and again. You can mail the block to:

Kimberly Einmo
PO Box 1785
Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352

I’m setting a tentative deadline of December 1st so I will have time to make the quilt and have it quilted before taking it with me to Australia sometime in March or April. Thank you in advance for making a block for us! Big hugs to you all!

7 Comments
  1. Wull make one for you this week!

  2. I will do it!

  3. I envy you your family. While I’m sure you’ve had your ups and downs, I’ve never seen you not smiling….either of you. I will miss you and hope that you will continue to post on Facebook. I don’t know how much Alice Springs has grown since I was there oh so many years ago but I believe you’ll like it and will make many friends. If you have the chance to tour the country I think you’ll find the folks pretty friendly and Uluru (Ayers Rock) is pretty special. The seasons are opposite ours so you’ll have some holidays at opposite times of the year. Pretty sure you know all this already. Please keep all of us up to date on the goings on ’cause we’re all (your friends and students) gonna miss you like the dickens. Please post pictures of your new home, etc.
    I send hugs, love and wish you bright blessings……

  4. Kimberly have just seen this and will certainly make you a block. Enjoy Alice. I’ve lived there on 2 occasions. Worked in the hospital there. It’s a great place. I assume you are going to the base. Say hi to the Todd for me. I’ve seen water in it.

    • Edel – Wow! So nice to know you’ve lived/worked there. Kent arrived on a day when there was water in the Todd. He said it was really an incredible sight! Unfortunately, there is no base there any longer; no base housing or facilities. So we’ll be living in a local community somewhere. Pine Gap is still there (obviously) but otherwise, that’s about it!

  5. Hello. A lady posted a Halloween wall hanging that was from an issue of Irish Quilting Magazine. It was so cute. There was a witch riding a broomstick with a cat upon it and was paper pieced and appliqued to strips of fall color background. Do know how I could get this issue? Thank you
    Linda Kanthe
    moc.liamgnull@ehtnakadnil

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