Grand babies...

These are three of our youngest grand babies- the youngest is a girl and she isn't here. Maybe in December...because...

Engaged!

Our older daughter just got engaged and they are planning a December wedding.  Couldn't ask for a sweeter guy. 

I just wanted to take a quick moment and share some happenings around here.  I finished the quilting of this quilt.  It's random baptist fans.  I wanted to do them primitive by using twist, but I couldn't figure out how to pull it through the layers.  It just wouldn't budge.  Maybe it's the fabric or the batting I choose.  But I like how this turned out, anyway.  I still need to bind it.  I don't have a big enough piece of hand dyed fabric(which is what this entire quilt is made from) so I've fiddled with the idea of scrappy binding- with hand dyed.  But I really would like a single color.  So I keep forgetting to buy some plain muslin to dye when I'm fabric shopping.  So remind me.  Do you ever do that?  Just ask someone to remind you of something knowing they won't but also knowing that if you mention it, you'll be more likely to remember.  Just a little game I play with myself. 

This is little Eden.  Grandbaby #10.  That makes an even number of boys and girls.  Look at those cheeks!  She looks a lot like her daddy did when he was a baby.  Her mommy endured 98 hours of labor.  What a marathon.  The midwives had never seen anything like it but she overcame and now she has proven herself to be one of the strongest women in the history of the world.

I'm not sure how it got to be August...  

But here we are.  We've had a constant revolving door of children coming and going through the house. Camps and vacations.  Tonight we pick up the last straggler and we'll be together for a week and a half and then it'll be back to a half empty nest.  Bekah is responsible for the artwork.  This is her first piece based on the Bible. It's very moving and I love it.  

 Eva has been gone for almost a month.  She's been in Florida for her cousin's wedding.  While she was gone, I made this dress for her to wear.  I had to guess on the fit, but it looks about right. She loves it and said that she felt like a beautiful princess all day.  Of course, her prince was by her side as her "plus 1" so that might have had something to do with her high spirits.  I love her.

 Ezra was born last week.  He looks just like a combination of his sisters. It's too soon to say what his personality is like.  He's apparently tongue tied and is having troubles nursing.  They have a dr's appointment tomorrow to see what can be done.  I love him.

This is our fourth son's family.  Next month, the children are coming to stay at Mamaw and Papaw's while Kim and Paul go on a trip to Yap- where she's from. .  It'll be 10 days of fun and games- all I can say is, it's a good thing I have some capable help. Being a grandparent certainly has it's perks, but I'm not as young as I used to be.  But I love them.  

This is Sammy- or "little squish" as his mom calls him.  Such a sweet baby.  I love him.

Our third son is a blacksmith but he's branching out and making some jewelry.  He made this stainless steel cuff for me.  He got a big blister on his hand pounding it out so I know it comes from a loving place. I love him and I love it. 

Eva and Bryant...

Sorry I've been out of circulation for a few weeks. We've been a little busy. 

Our older daughter, Eva, has a beau.  He's a very good young man, Bryant. He came and stayed a few days.  It was nice getting to know him.  He lives and works in Savannah.  He's an evangelist. They seem to be very good for each other and I pray that they are blessed by God in this relationship.

John and Gigi

Love is in the air.  Gigi and Bryant are practically siblings.  She came with Bryant when he visited- it was a no-brainer since our son, John, and G have been dating since last year.  They are very sweet together.  God has blessed them and I pray He continues to do so.


 Before all of that, we had our family reunion.  This is for my siblings and parents.  The picture has 10 missing who couldn't make it this year.   We stay a week so we had a lot of time to get caught up- though it was over too fast. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister.  Then there's our kids and then their kids.  About 50 were able to come.  It blows my mind to think that all of these people are here because my Mom and Dad had four children.

This is a picture of William and I and our two daughters- Eva and Bekah at our dear friends' house, Alan and Barb.  They live in West Virginia so it's quite a ways away.  But we need to make the trip more often.  I grew up with them and Alan performed our wedding 32 years ago.  We hadn't seen them in years- the kids hadn't actually met them- so it was great to reconnect.  The kids found out why we love them so. 

Destiny...

This isn't a very good picture of one of my favorite quilts.  It's really big.  I was fearful of sharing it as... well, I wouldn't want to infringe on any trademarks or that sort of thing.  I look at it as fan art and there's a whole lot of that out there.  Destiny is a video game that I got hooked on several years ago.  I'd get up early in the morning and watch about a half hour of my oldest son playing it before he went to work.  I'd pour myself a can of Diet Coke over ice and just watch- eyes watering because I hadn't figured out how to blink while watching, yet.  I've got that under control now.  It was just a lot of fun to watch.  Eventually, I started playing but I'm really bad at it.  It's more fun watching some one who knows what he's doing.  Unfortunately, the game is a point of contention between us now.  I still love it but my sons are mad at the makers- something about it being too expensive to play.  So I now have a memory quilt of the good old days. 

I'm not sure when it occurred to me to make a quilt inspired by Destiny.  The graphics in the game are really pretty.  Lots of colors and shapes.  I hope you can see that in the quilt.  I designed this myself- and I used only my hand dyed fabrics. I started with one block- the "ghost" block- it's the second one from the left on the top row.  I mostly just wanted to see if I could figure out how to make it.  The angles and placement of colors.  Then it just took on a life of it's own. The more I made, the more I'd think, "Now, I can't leave so and so out."  Of course, the guys would weigh in and insist on other blocks.  Wish you could see the quilting- it's different in every block and really adds to the character of the more solid colors. Actually, only the black and white are truly solid.  (There's a lot of movement in hand dyed fabrics- at least, there is in mine. I wad up the fabrics after soaking them in the dye and put them in plastic bags and heat them either in the microwave or the sun- depending on the weather.  Some fabrics, I sprinkle dye powder on -and those I just lay flat or hang to dry- that's what makes the streaks of color.)  

I'm not sure what I'll ever do with this quilt.  It was hanging on the wall in the living room for a long while- we have 14 foot ceilings in there.  But now, there's a wall mounted TV in it's place.  People would always comment on it even if they didn't know about the video game.  I remember how much fun I had making it.  It still makes me smile.  Silly, I know.

L-R Rebekah, Evabeth, Nines and William

That was a very good day...

So we've been to a family reunion.  There were about 45 people this year.  We stay a week at different parks. North Bend State Park  We rented all of the cabins in the park so we had the place to ourselves. Of course, as usual, we ate a lot of food. We make a potluck, pitch in, get together of each dinner. So much food.  There are a lot of good cooks in the family. After dinner each evening, we did some singing and had a devotional led by each of the men.  This year the topic was the different roles in the family. William gave an excellent talk on raising children- something he's had a lot of experience with and of which he has done a wonderful job. OK, I helped some.

Bill took the young folks on a tour of a haunted railroad tunnel (abandoned).  They had to be there at midnight if they wanted to catch a glimpse of the "woman in white." They weren't disappointed when she didn't make an appearance.  There were lots of laughs and when Bill "disappeared" while walking in front of them and reappeared behind them- well, lets just say my kids aren't going to be caught by any ax murderers.  They can really run!

Blennerhassett Island
We made a day trip to Blennerhassett Island on the Ohio River.  If you're a history-phile you'd really enjoy it.  It included a boat ride on a stern wheel boat, a tour of the house, and a wagon ride(my favorite.) I've included a link in case you'd want to the take a peak. 

We snuck away from the reunion and spent the afternoon with Alan and his sweet wife, Barbara. This picture was taken by our friend Alan.  He performed our wedding ceremony 32 years ago. It's funny how years and miles can separate you but love crosses all distances and barriers. My children hadn't met them, but they all fell in love and now there are a few more people in the circle.

 Now that's sexy...

A man putting up shelving.  Be still my heart!  I just mentioned that I feel crowded when I'm in the quilting room.  He comes home with shelves and tubs and mulch.  I might have mentioned I need some mulch.  What a man!  

First he came in with tubs- nice clear ones so that I can see the contents.  I chase him back outside whining that I don't have a place for more tubs.  He pulled the shelving off his truck.  But I don't have room for shelves... apparently, I do.  Aren't they great?  I'm working on weeding through things and organizing it all into the bins.  I only have about half of them filled and I feel like I can maintain that for a while.  My quilting room is a very happy space again. Thank you William!

My girls...

They've always been artists.  When they were little, William bought a van that was primer grey.  He couldn't have that, so he bought a lot of paint and let the kids, with their cousins, paint away.  I like a guy who doesn't take himself too seriously. We had everything from Star Wars to butterflies. People would actually pull out their phones and snap pictures of it.  I miss that van. This second picture is on their birthday standing in front of the art supplies.  They were a little giddy.  I know I've said it a hundred times, but I love them so much!  But then again, what mother doesn't love her children?  Don't say it.  I shudder to think.

They really are best friends.  They laugh and cry together- though I'm happy to say that when one is crying the other usually has a level head and talks the her down. They are very different in all the little details- one likes bold colors the other likes earth tones.  One likes to draw edgy pictures, the other sweet homey pictures.  Their tastes in music is different, but they tolerate the other's. They are closer than any sisters I know.  And I'd like to say, it isn't by accident.  I cultivated it and my relationship with my own sister was a cautionary tale. 

I wanted them to have what I've never had. I've always idolized the sister relationship.  I do have a sister, but we just never got along.  I've always felt she kept me at arms length. Not sure why.  The kind of relationship my daughters have has always been a dream of mine.  A friend who calls you when they have news to share.  Who you call when you need encouragement, advice or a kick in the pants.  Some one who you know you can count on no matter what. Some one who loves you no matter your differences. Two people who are involved in each other's lives.  They share.  But, alas, that didn't happen.  I have full confidence that my sister is a good person.  But I don't think she can offer me what I want.  And it's not really fair of me to expect that. And I don't think she needs anything from me. I don't have any ill will towards her- and that took years to cultivate.  I used to be so mad at her.  I'm not any more. I've just accepted that what I want and what she wants are two different things.  Unfortunately, that leaves us with no relationship at all.  I haven't a clue what she likes or doesn't like.  What's going on in her life.  She's a stranger to me.  Sad, isn't it?

 I see her once every two years. In one and a half weeks, our family reunion takes place.  It lasts a week. I guess that's why I'm thinking about this.  It's always a mystery to me about what to say to her, this stranger.  Two people who are expected to know each other.  At the least, it's awkward. I easily offend her without meaning to.  I tend to tease a lot, but she doesn't get that.  I do have a sister in law and a dear family friend who I am very close to.  We're sisters and I have with them what I really need.  I tease them.  They tease me.  We lean on each other when the times are rough.  I know what's going on with them and we talk a lot whether we see each other or not.  We laugh. So I don't feel sorry for myself because I have what I've always wanted- just not with the person I wanted. I ask myself if it matters? 

(If you've read this far... Maybe you realize that this blog is really just a journal.  Me, making a record of quilts I've made.  Life I've lived.  Working through problems and successes.  Pictures of things I don't want to forget.  I don't expect an audience and perhaps that's a very good thing.  What must you think of me?  I'm just like everyone else, living a complicated life- yep, like everyone else.)

Red and White...

I've been working on and off on this quilt for... at least 7 years.  My friend, Sandy, made the little redwork dolls on her embroidery machine.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but I loved them.  There is a little boy and a little girl for each month of the year. (This one is June bride.)  I love anything that is reminiscent of the 30-40's.  The blocks are relatively small so I sashed them in a solid red. Then began the search for white and red fabrics- and red and white fabrics. Don't you like fabric shopping with a project in mind?  I collected fat quarters from all over the country- as far away as Oregon. Then I decided on a stack the deck design and started in on those scrappy crazy quilt looking blocks.  Put them together with the dolls... something was missing.  With me, it tends to be busy is better.  Up to a point.  It seems a lot of modern quilts have mixtures of same scale fabrics and they look really muddy.  I can't figure out what's the point to all that cutting and sewing if it's just going to look like a single fabric. I used to make quite a few "word" quilts and when I found this little poem by George Ellis representing all 12 months, I knew I had to incorporate it into the quilt. That process took a while.  I'd put them away and drag them out periodically, but it definitely was the longest part of the quilt.  Overall, I'm very happy with it.  It was taking me so long to make that I told Eva(20y) that she could have it as a wedding quilt.  But it looks like I got it done ahead of schedule.

I'm a couple days behind on the Mother's Day wagon.  But I love looking at old pictures of my crew.  Seeing how they have grown and the changes that have taken place.  The oldest four are married and between them they have 10 children. The three youngest are wonderful people.  None of them are children any more. But they will always be my "little ones." Could this mother be more blessed?   

Baby Samuel...

He arrived on his due date.  They plan on coming home, today.  Gabriel will be glad to have his Mommy and Daddy back where they belong. He's been teething and is pretty miserable besides them being gone.  Poor little thing.  

I've not gotten much quilting done- no surprise there.  Hopefully things will settle down in the next week or so.  I do have a quilt on the frame... just waiting. 

Evabeth's quilt...

It seemed fitting to quilt this one in something fast and easy.  The Turning Twenty quilt went together very quickly. I wanted to try out a different color combination- orange, black and then brown just for the fun of it. I like it.

We're baby sitting Gabriel while Laurie and her Mom are at a doctor's appointment.  Just routine- no baby yet.  

My friend's boyfriend called this morning to let me know that Kathy had passed away unexpectedly.  Such a shock.  She was the most amazing seamstress I ever knew.  She taught home economics for high school.  She was an excellent teacher.  She taught me how to paint on silk and I loved it. Paul asked if I could come and help him sort through her things as he is needing to move almost right away.  He can't afford to keep their house without her income.  How awful to have to grieve while dealing with mundane- essentially insignificant- things.  She, like most quilters, had a huge stash and numerous machines.  If he had more time he could sell everything, but he doesn't have the time.  We'll call a couple of her other friends and see if there is anything they would want.  Kathy was so happy- they we're planning to get married. Sad.   

Finished quilting this one for my mom.  (It belongs to my brother and I'm hoping to remember to take it to him when I see him in June.) I have several of the quilts she pieced- all needing to be quilted.  She emptied out her "quilt vault."  It sat at the foot of her bed and honestly, you could bury at least three people in it. She was doing a fair bit of piecing there for a while.  They've down-sized and now she quilts with paper.  She makes the most beautiful greeting cards.  I'll try to get a picture of some of them for my next post.

Still no baby.  Poor Laurie has a head cold.  9 months pregnant and then a head cold.  Just doesn't seem fair, does it?  

 Before...

 After...

Before...

After...

Really it's just a shuffle.  I did get rid of a huge box that had the baby crib in it.  It got stashed out of the way in my quilting room, but now it's on the way to the dump.  (Did I ever tell you that I have a dumpster?  Best $45 a month we spend.  No worries about what to do with large boxes and getting the trash out on a certain night.  Monday night/Tuesday morning I hear that big truck and it's music to me ears.  With a big family, it's as essential as it gets.)  Anyway, I switched the cutting table with a sewing table.  Now when I sit at the serger, I'm not looking at a wall, but out the window.  The rest was just a little straightening.  Some of it is beyond that, but it's just aesthetics and it works as messy as it is. The after pictures aren't dramatic, but it feels better. 

 Sweet Eva cut out a dress for me.  It was 60" wide fabric that had to be cut while it was opened flat so there was no cutting it on the counter as I usually do.  I just wasn't up to wallering on the floor, but she was a sport.  It was a silky fabric which made it even more of a challenge.  Now it's cut out and I just need to tinker with the tension on the serger and get the walking foot on the brother sewing machine.  A little nervous.  I've never sewn knits before.  Donna assures me it's easy.  We shall see. 

You can see that I am at the end of the quilt.  So close.  I hope to finish it, today.  

Doodling... 

or noodling- as my auntie says.  I'm making progress on this quilt.  Only 2 more passes to finish it up.  I'm taking an ibuprofen break.  It'll kick in pretty soon.  

We are expecting little Samuel's birth any day now.  Laurie and Joe are having a date day. I believe this is the first time they have gone out without Gabriel(he's 18 months old).  They waited so long to have him-8 years-that they are doting parents and take nothing for granted.  You've never seen parents more enraptured with their child.  And now there will be another one to love.  Laurie's mother, Donna, is here and she is soaking up Gabriel.  She lives a fair distance away and isn't able to see them that often. I'm really blessed that we all live together. 

I think I'm going to have Rebekah help me rearrange my quilting room.  I plan on learning to sew knits and I need to get my serger out of the corner.  There's plenty of room there, I just would rather be looking out the window. Now that I'm not piecing as much, I don't need the cutting board often- just for trimming quilts.  So everything is going to rotate.  I think.  I should take a before and after picture.  I think I will.  

Hope you all have a lovely week. 

Nines

Time to ponder...

After I get a quilt on the frame, it's time to ponder.  I have an easy chair that  faces the quilt and I think.  What design should I quilt?  Sometimes it takes me a couple hours and sometimes it takes me a couple days- or even longer.  I'm almost decided on this one.  My mom did the piecing and my brother, Craig, choose it as his.  Those borders are a bit of a stumper...  I rarely put a border on my quilts.  But it's an effective way to grow a quilt to the desired size. It makes knowing what to do in them just a bit more of a challenge. What to do... what to do... I think I'm going to quilt the bulk of the quilt in biggish chrysanthemums.  But the borders...  and there are three of them.  All different?  All the same as an overall pattern?  hmmmmm 

Easter Dresses...

Hard to get 3 squirmy girls to be still for the second it takes to snap a picture.  But you get the idea.

Latest finish,

I've been a bit distracted from the quilting train by making Easter dresses for the grandbabies.  I love this scrappy one.  Joe- our oldest son- did some problem solving and my machine is up and running.  Turned out to be the tension of the upper hopping foot- something I hadn't fiddled with.  Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective. 
I quilted this in random baptist fans. 

I made this green and pink one years ago.  It has been in the nursery in our old church. They are moving to a new building so the wall hanging came back to me. I'm kind of amazed that they remembered who made it. I have a thought about what I'll be doing with it- and some of my other quilts.  (There are just so many.)  But I'll keep the plans to myself until I see if it's feasible.
 

 Easter dresses.  When my girls were little, I always made them new dresses for Easter.  Following that tradition, these little dresses are for my grand daughters.  The fabrics are what I had on hand for quilt making but worked quite well for dresses.  There's a 4 and 3 years old and two 1 years olds.  I had a really good time making them.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures of them wearing them soon.

 So... I wash my laundry separately from Willliam's. I'm not saying I don't trust him to remember to remove pens, chapstick, and tissues from his pockets... but really, I've been burned before.  Yes, I could check for these myself, but honestly, I'm doing good to get them in the washer. Crazily and living on the edge, I put a pair of socks in his load.  Just one pair of socks.  That'll teach me. The rest of the laundry came through unscathed.  Just these socks were a tissue magnet.  I've never seen anything like it. They're my favorite pair so I guess I'll be putting in a movie and de-tissue-ing.

My daughter, Bekah, likes to make Ukrainian painted eggs.  Aren't they cool?  They are made by adding layers of wax and then dying them with layers of dye.  The candle is used to melt the bees wax in a kitska- a little funnel. After they're dyed, she uses the candle to remove the wax and the pattern is revealed.  She them blows out the white and the yolk, adds a coat of varnish and washes out the inside.  Perfect for decoration. 

Happy Easter to everyone!

Looking at blessings...

Do you ever need a reality check?  Man, I do!  I've been on the verge of tears all day.  Whether an over sized sewing machine is working properly should not impact my happiness.  It's stupid.  

I am so blessed.  Here is our second son, Dan, and his lovely wife, Sonia.  They live in Boston but they've just returned from a trip to West Africa and are considering a mission in the next couple of years.  I know their hearts are already there. They are also expecting our 10th grandchild.  Isn't she an adorable mama?  They will be amazing parents and I know their child will be blessed to have them. They bring us so much joy. 

So why am I whining about a stupid quilting machine?  Honestly.  Wake up!  Live in this moment.  Be positive and pursue happiness.  Put those negative thought over there.  Way, way over there. "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart..."  Psalms 27:14

Well, the quilting machine needs a new "thread escapement finger."  I've been struggling with the thing for a month now and our son, Joe, spent 5 minutes with it and found the name of the part and ordered one.  It will arrive in a few days. Cool.  

In the mean time, I'm hand quilting and, for the most part, I'm enjoying it.  I have type 1 diabetes and so I check my blood sugar. A lot. I have callouses on the first two fingers of my left hand.  Unfortunately,  when I'm quilting, that's the hand on the underside of the quilt "feeling" when the needle slips through the layers.  Only I can't feel it because of the callouses.  You'd think this would be a good thing.  But then, I end up sewing my finger to the back of the quilt.  After hours of practice, I've finally been able to figure out how to work on the skin around the callouses.  Which will probably give me bigger callouses. 

Picked up my new glasses, today.  Sat down at the computer and figured out, nope, this isn't going to work.  Not at the computer.  The monitor is too far away for the bifocals and too close for the distance.  So I'll need a pair of glasses for doing computer work.  Gettin' old. But the new glasses work great for quilting, so there's that.

William is in a mad dash for preparing eight people's taxes.  He has 2 weeks. Let's hope he makes it in time.  He doesn't seem worried so why should I? 

The freak Spring storm- where we received a few inches of snow- has turned our winter grasses green.  Color!  Oh how I've missed it! It's so bright with the sun shining. Beautiful.

Gonna run.  We went to the Library today and I have a new Debbie Macomber book. Now what did I do with my cup?   

There's always a little thrill when you find a patch on the side of a quilt.  You know the quilting machine elves have visited.  John- son, 22y- spent some time in here.  It's not exactly fixed, but oh so much better than it was.  Fixing it completely would probably take my presence. I'm undecided if I want to persevere through some broken threads- not near as many as before- or just wait til the work on the machine is completed.  Might do a little of both.

So I've got the hand quilting project back together and went and bought needles.  The last time I tried this, I had a booger of a time getting the needle through the layers.  I really didn't know which needle to go with, so I bought some of everything.  I was disappointed that I couldn't use the pearl cotton but I found a very pretty ochre colored quilting thread and it seems the quilting betweens work best.  Guess I should have figured that.

I had the colonoscopy earlier this week.  What a nightmare!  Everyone says that it's the prep that is the bad part.  This is my third go 'round, but I'm here to say that the prep isn't so bad.  When you vomit and then aspirate during anesthesia- that's the worst part.  Gracious what a mess.  I won't get into the details- but it was horrible. Good news!  I won't have to have this done for another 10 years.  2029.  I'm still coughing and clearing the sinuses. So, it looks like I'll be sitting a while in the easy chair facing the quilting machine.  I need to get a picture of the easy chair.  It's pitiful.  I might learn to reupholster. It's stuffing is becoming unstuffed.

Before my procedure, we made 13 pints of strawberry freezer jam.  Strawberries are in season in Florida and so the prices are down.  My oldest son- Joe, 28y- loves freezer jam but he insists that it stay in the freezer- even when you're eating it.  I always thought freezer jam was called that because that's where you store it- until you take it out to use it.  But he likes to use it frozen.  To each his own. Brrrr.