Cousins...

Just thought you guys would enjoy this picture of me and my cousin, Grant. Hmmmm.. wonder where we get our big hair? Yep, that's really his hair. Mine has been "tamed" by a whole lot of product. The humidity in Tennessee was just incredible and our hair shows the percentage of about 100!

Grant is a great guy and he helped me to tie dye a whole cloth quilt- do any of you remember the last one I quilted for him back in September? Well, we're making another one- one for each of us, actually. I can't wait to get them quilted up so I can show you! His is classic tie-dyed with tons of colors and mine is yellow, fuschia and chinese red. Both very cool.

I had a great time at my family reunion in Tennessee. No, we are not from Tennessee. Every 2 years we meet at a different place. This year, it just happened to be Tennessee. There were about 55 of us that spent the week, together. Mostly we just hung out, together. We tie-dyed, and some kids made flip-flops from duct-tape. We climbed mountains, and tubed rivers. And scrap-booked. And sang- a whole lot of singing. And we had a hilarious talent show. My personal favorite. We have some great singers and musicians and clowns and even a shakespearean actress. Good stuff. We cooked way too much and ate even more. All that hill-climbing helped me feel a little less guilty. Did I mention that every cabin had it's own hot tub? Helped with the sore muscles. Some folks went sight-seeing and shopping, but I mostly stayed at the resort- which we filled with just family, so that was really kewl. And I didn't sew a lick. Amazing, I know.

I am almost unpacked. The boys need to do their laundry and then we'll be ready to settle in and get some things done. I have a wedding cake to make by the end of the month. I need to get all the details of that hammered out. And a few small photo quilts that need to be quilted- nothing major. And did I mention we did NOT put a garden in this spring? Wonders never cease. But it was all Providential as my freezer blinked out, and the drought has really undone most folks gardening plans around here. I am sure I will find something to do with all my free time...

It's great to be back!

A deal...

is a deal and this was a great deal. I found these 4 blocks at a thrift shop when Sarah was here. They had cut a quilt into segments because the sashing and binding was all loved-up. The blocks are all hand-pieced and hand-quilted. I cut them apart and put them in this old window frame from our house. A think it'll make a nice wallhanging over my whirlpool. The price of this entire project? $5!

Part of my birthday present...

to myself! (Mom- DO NOT scroll down if you don't want a preview of what I made you- it's on the next post.) Sarah and I found this quilt top at a local antique shop. It has been prewashed. That is unfortunate and I told the owners that most of us quilters prefer a stained, intact, quilt top to a clean frazzled one! It really is still in very good condition. Only 2 of the flowers are a bit sad. Some one with very little needle skill tried to mend it, but I think I might leave it as it is because I plan on quilting it with the machine, anyway. All the fabs are 1930- the real thing, not reproductions and I think it is charming. I am not looking forward to the binding....

A quick and easy project...

This is a Glenda Stock design. I didn't actually use the pattern, 'cause I shouldn't have been sewing this weekend, but packing. We are going on vacation next week to Tennessee. I have my family reunion. Packing for 10 people... well, it's obviously something to be avoided as demonstrated by the fact that I have been sewing instead of packing. Glenda Stock is a local gal who sells her patterns here at the Quilter's Toy Box. This one was supposed to be done on a denim shirt, but as I was supposed to be packing... well, of course I didn't have a denim shirt, but I did have this cute linen jacket. Think it made a pretty good substitute. I am not sure if I did it like Glenda would have, but it was super-easy and it only took me a touch over an hour to make- even not knowing what I was doing. Basically, you sew all those 2" strips, random lengths, together- end to end, and then you sew them in a line down the front of the jacket- leaving 1/4" seam at the bottom and top. Then you flip and press, add another row, until to finish the front. Just like string piecing. Trim the ends and tuck them under the strips and top sew it all down. I think my Mom will like it! Of course, I think anything in batik looks good!

Patches...

Don't ask me why... but for some odd reason, my guys like to wear jeans with patches- it's like some kind of competition- who has the most. Now, granted, when you are a young man, most things become a competition, but I think this one is a bit odd. I spend quite a bit of time sitting behind the sewing machine attaching patches to jeans. I keep trying to tell the guys that, really, these jeans are beyond redemption, but they turn their big brown eyes on me and get all sweet and say, "please." What's a Mom to do? My DH rolls his eyes and has laid down the law that they won't be wearing those jeans when they work with him. So they save them for special occasions. The kids at camp call Daniel "patches." I asked if that bothered him, and he just said, "Nope." There are patches on patches on those jeans. I recently got him a new pair of jeans and I am sure he didn't have them for 2 weeks before I was putting patches on those. I had to wonder if he didn't do it intentionally, but as the said hole was right in the seat... nah, it was purely accidental. He was really grieved, too. His only pair of intact jeans, biting the dust in only 2 weeks. We've had to patch them several times, since. They just don't make jeans like they used to. True, though, the boys are very hard workers and I'm seriously considering contacting Carhart, Dickie or some sort of work clothes manufacturer- I could loan the guys out to test their product's strength and durability! Those patched up jeans do look kinda cute with their size 13 shoes!

BIG LAUGHS...

That's me, not really caring what anybody thinks of my goofy face! Today is my birthday, you see, and I figure I've come to a stage in my life where what other people think just isn't that important. It's not such a bad place to be. As you might have guessed. I'm 40, today, and I'm pleased as punch to be here. As you might also have guessed.

I just loved Crater Lake, Oregon. Such quietude I've never known. It gets very quiet here on the prairie, in the winter, but there is always the wind or a distant train filling the air with...something! In the summer there are bug noises and birds singing. At Crater Lake, during the evening hours... nothing. Just the sound of your own breathing to keep you company. You can feel really, really small in a place like that and you can't help but to think about life on a much grander scale than just the piddly things that you were thinking were oh-so-important. Certainly puts things in perspective.

But then I got to thinking... yeah, I know, it's dangerous. But why can't we create an inner place of quietude where we can sit and... do nothing. Just breath and regroup our priorities. Take a look at where we're headed and if we really want to go there and maybe what it would take to change directions. I've always said that life is more than scenery. I haven't found a place, yet, that didn't have some sort of beauty of it's own. So really, it shouldn't be the scenery, or the place we are standing in, that motivates us to think about what's really important, but the space we've created, within. We are masters of our own inner universe and we can make things in there any way we want. That's a powerful thought. We are the only ones accountable for how we react to the things going on around us. Yes, other people and circumstances affect us, but we are responsible for how we react and the space inside is the reference to that. If my space inside is full of clutter and noise, well, of course I'm gonna be overwhelmed by little external things and find it very difficult to handle even small upsets. But if I am somehow able to set aside the racket of negative thoughts and feelings and keep my space clear, than I might be more able to set aside unimportant negative influences and cherish those sweet sounds of all the good things in my life. Well, it seemed like a clear thought at the time- though not nearly as clear and deep as that lake up there!

Typical...

This is the picture I choose to share with you guys, 'cause this was just so typical. I have something goofy to say and Sarah is laughing her head off. Typical. I made a comment about us standing in front of "a historical landmark." But it was the only bit of shade we could find out here on the prairie. Yeah, that tumble down "historical landmark" is my house. A while back, I remember Bonnie suggested we all post pictures of our houses, and I was appropriately horrified! Well, there's it's "good" side!

We had such a blast for our yearly birthday bash. These are our quilts that we made for each other. I made the green with fabric Sarah gave me and she made the red from fabric I gave her. The only rule this year was that the quilts would only have one color. Simple. I think they both turned out smashing. We went to Pendleton and ate lunch at our favorite tea house, and then did some shopping. Did some more shopping. Ate some more. That pretty much sums up the weekend. We did some dying. Fabric, that is. (We left it to sit, overnight, and Sarah asked if it would be acceptable to rinse the fabrics out on the Lord's day. I said I figured it was no different than getting our ox out of the ditch, metaphorically.) We ate some more- she has a favorite Chinese restaurant here and they trearted her like a queen with heaping platefulls- since she came all the way from Alabama! She's gone now, sniff, and I wonder if they will give me sympathy platefulls...