Puce...
What kind of color is called puce? Well, you're lookin' at it! This quilt is one of those hideous quilts that was made by a poor distant relative... ok, I can tell you're not buying it. I confess... I made the ugliest quilt on the planet. But, but, but...I had help. It's all Sarah's fault. She is the one who gave me the ugliest fabric on the planet, so how could anything good come from that? She knows how "thrifty" I am. You give me fabric, I must quilt. It's that simple. I mean, I don't have a built-in mechanism that says things like, "This fabric is simply horrid. I can't bring myself to work with it." I've tried doing that, but as my DH says, I'm just too ornery. I have to try. And while it is true that ugly quilts can keep you just as warm as pretty quilts, it's extremely difficult to keep them in the dark all of the time, "John, how many times have I told you to keep that quilt hidden until sunset? Sheesh!" But I have ways of getting even with kids who carelessly wound my pride by outing a quilt in broad daylight where anybody could see it- you should see the ugly quilt I made for John!! bah-ha-ha-ha (From more ugly fabric that came from... you guessed it! And she calls herself my friend!)

And while I'm confessing and airing my dirty laundry... you won't believe what I did last night. As most of you know, I have been having trouble sleeping, lately. I was concerned about Eva, and while your head says, "let it go," your heart sometimes has other ideas. So I got over that hump and I slept like a log, Thursday night- ok, a log that awakens every hour, on the hour, but I fell right back to sleep, so I considered it a success. Well, last night I was awakened at 3am by a peculiar noise. Over my head. It sounded like a cat playing with a bead. Great. The kids let one of the barn cats slip into the house when we got home. I'm so sleepy, I just stumble out of bed to get the cat (started purring right away, weird as they are usually stand-offish) and put it back outside where it belongs. Oddly, there was another barn cat sitting in the door wanting in- figured he missed his buddy... well, his buddy starts hissing and being all aggressive- I can't figure that out because they are very close. Then, I get this sinking feeling... Moira- Grandma's cat, is missing. I just threw Grandma's cat out into the cold. She stays in Grandma's room, but she had found a way to escape... oh dear, I called her and called her, but she wouldn't come back. Well, who could sleep after that? I felt so bad... slept like a baby. Opened the door, this morning, and she was waiting to come home. Shew. I don't think Grandma missed her. I really think the fact that Grandma had to go to the hospital, today, is completely unrelated.

It's all fun and games, now...

Eva's Dr. appt. went very well. It couldn't have gone better. We are so relieved! The doctor was very sweet- a Romanian- my DB used to live in Romania. He is, gradually, doubling her meds, and then there will be more tests, just see how that's going. But all in all, a very good report. Thank you all for your kind wishes and prayers.

Darilyn- I plan on sleeping, tonight. See if that fits into your schedule:) In fact, I am so tired now, I think I could turn in, but then I'm afraid I might just nap and be up by the time I should be going to bed. I thought I might watch a relaxing movie and that will set me up for a good night's sleep. I usually watch Band of Brothers when I want to relax. No, I don't find bombs and missing limbs relaxing, but, oddly, I like the music and it makes me thankful. I'm veering toward Gladiator or A Walk in the Clouds or Sense and Sensibility. See? The sleep deprived don't make good choices or easy decisions. Here's hoping we both sleep long and hard, tonight.

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...
I love old movies. White Christmas is one of them (but Holiday Inn is my favorite. That was my first Fred and Bing experience and it was so delightful.) My girls love the song and dance with the sisters in White Christmas. Evie does a pretty good imitation on the kareoke machine. I promised a picture of the zig-zag quilt on the girls' bed, so here it is. I stayed home from bible study, this evening, with a couple boys with bad colds. They helped me surprise the girls by lending a hand in cleaning up their room and making their bed with their new quilt. Whenever Sarah used to visit with her daughter Maddie, Eva would be so thrilled she'd stick her finger in the air and yell, "I'll go clear a path!" That is the sum of much of our cleaning efforts around here- a path. You should have heard her squeal with delight over her nice clean room! We each got nearly a half dozen hugs for our effort. Bekah kept exclaiming over found toys. I love the way this wool quilt looks on the bed. Jacob says, as he helps me spread it out, "It's pretty obvious that you made this quilt to go with this room." The zig-zags might be a little "over the top" with the striped walls, but I like it all the same. The floral backing- folded down at the top, is more traditional and tones it down- a little bit. Thank you Aunt Isobel for the wool. The girl's daddy made their bed for them from a fence section. The "canopy" is made from an old Victorian piano scarf. The linen had dry-rotted, but the lace was still lovely, so I salvaged that and sewed it onto a nice cream fabric. The rest is just extra wide muslin.

Tomorrow is a "big day" for us. That's what Evie calls it when we go out. A big day. We are taking her to Riley Children's Hospital to see the neurologists. The medication she is taking does seem to be helping and I think she is doing very well. But don't doctors just make you a little nervous? I suppose you rarely see one under good circumstances and it would hardly be fair to blame them for my nerves. And that hospital is very family friendly. We've decided to take Bekah with us, also. I think Eva will enjoy the distraction and the company. So, wish us well!

Hearing bells...

Wedding bells, that is. My nephew, Michael is engaged and they are thinking this summer would be a nice time for a wedding. I couldn't decide on a quilt pattern, and then it occurred to me that I had about 90 extra yellow brick road blocks... he loves red and she likes vintage and blue... so I put them together and figure that'll do it. Not exactly a traditional wedding quilt, but more traditional than I usually do. Michael's mom is making them a more formal quilt, anyway, so this'll be more for every day. And I'm a more "everyday" kinda girl, anyway. And Sarah, you might notice that there are redheads out there who embrace their redness- Michael is a redhead, too. These fabrics are reproduction feedsack- they have a nice weight. I still have enough blocks to make my mom either a tablecloth or a bedquilt(queen)- her choice. Mom's house/barn tends to be a little dark and this quilt would certainly brighten things up a bit. Who knows what I was thinking when I made 159 yellow brick road blocks. I didn't leave myself a note on that one. I do believe that I was planning a king-size and then changed my mind. I can do that.

The picture of the rocking chair is just a little snapshot from my world. I like to sit in that old rocking chair, by my "fireplace" and flip through quilt magazines(thank you, Sarah) or do handsewing. This chair sits in the corner of my sewingroom- with it's back stategically placed against the messy shelves of projects that need to be done. The chair was a gift from a very dear friend and if you recall I have a thing for chairs. This one creaks abominably- but the babies loved it when they were sleepy and wanted to be rocked to sleep. It is a rather deep-pitched creaking and groaning. The "upholstery" is made from upholstery samples from the fabric store. You know how they come in little squares? Well, I sewed them all together and used it to recover the chair- thought it fitting for a quilting room and didn't cost me a penny.

I spent the biggest part of the night sitting in my chair, listening to the coyotes howl- my dad likes that sound, but it always gives me the willies. I decided that I am not a midnight quilter. I think it takes a little more strength than I have. I love to spend the sleepless night hours out in my sewing room, but I rarely ever do any quilting. I have gone through a small tub of wishlist quilts and made some decisions. I keep a tub of coordinated fabrics- assigned to a specific quilt pattern- or that I'd like to use together once I find the right pattern. Well, I decided that if I hadn't made that quilt top in the last three years, maybe the pattern wasn't right or the fabric combination wasn't right. I re-evaluated and put all but the feature fabric back in the hopper. (Sarah, do you remember that brown 1840's fabric we got at Needles? That I bought twice at Needles? It was on clearance that second time.) Sometimes I just love a fabric so much that I have a hard time cutting into it and using it- what if I don't get it right? I've spent awhile looking through quilt patterns. Nothing came of it. Then I noticed some embroidery floss peaking out from the disorganized and disheveled shelves... I am working with that now and that was a pleasant way to while away the night. No pressure. It got me to thinking about ladies in years past- I love any handiwork. How they would sit and stitch on something decorative or practical. There are tapestries and samplers. My greatgrandmother, Oe, used to sit in her bed and knit a sock before she turned in for the night. But last night I was thinking about samplers and needlework. There was a sampler by a little girl on the Antique Roadshow that had an estimated value of $150, 000. WOW. I used to think that some of the samplers which contained Bible verses tended to be kind of preachy. Now why would I have thought that? I guess because I figured the reason they were made was to teach others something- and that is what they do. But you know, I don't think that was the purpose. As I sat there and worked on my own piece, it occurred to me that I had chosen a verse that I really needed to learn- nothing that I felt I needed to teach anyone else. And I thought, "Why am I spending all of this time stitching in words when it would take me 5 minutes on the word processor. I could choose a perfectly even font. No discrepancy in the size of the letters. I could frame it, and ta-da, a perfectly nice sampler." But having the finished product isn't so much the point, is it? It reminds me of quilting. With each stitch I take, I think of the person that I'm making it for. And I'm sure this sounds weird beyond all reason (as usual) but it seems like the quilt, itself, is filled with those thoughts and prayers. It is for me, anyway. Handiwork isn't about making a thing. It is a gift- to others and to yourself. An expression of the heart.

Gotcha!!!!
Ah, just wanted to see if you were awake. Mr. Bones was in desperate need of neck vertabrae the last time he poked his head out the closet. So I just free-hand cut them, appliqued them on, and I think he looks ever so much more stable now, don't you? Won't be long and he'll be ready to entertain guests.

Sleeping like a baby...
Or not. Good morning! Another sleepless night and I'm wondering if there is anything worth saying. Probably not, but thought I'd give it a go. My mom noted that someone had made a comment on my blog at 4am so I wasn't the only insomniac among us- at which point I felt I had to say that the poster she was referring to lived in Cairo and I think the time zone difference would compensate for the early hour. Don't you just love those sweet baby lips, the way they get all squished over when they're sleeping?

So, here I am again, unable to sleep, and not feeling particularly bad about it. That's the key- not letting it get to you. Once you start panicking about how awful you'll feel the next day, you might as well kiss the idea of getting an hour or two of sleep, "Goodbye!" No, better to focus on the advantages... like when was the last time you had some peace and quiet while sitting at the keyboard? Of course, I do tend to jab at the keys which might rouse the lighter sleepers among the tribe here, but that's a risk I'll take. And tomorrow is Monday and I'm a real slow starter on Mondays, anyway.

Had a cool vision for a purple quilt come over me and now I wish there was a 24 hour fabric store- nobody would even miss me. I have it all worked out in my mind. Why purple? Couldn't say, but maybe it had something to do with the book I was reading to Abe and how Noah had a purple robe on. The mind works in mysterious ways- at least mine does. I'm envisioning a bedroom complete with paint- the exact shade of Hershey's chocolate- and a deep, dark purple quilt- with tan/gold would go very nicely. Ok, so my vision has a large number of flaws. First, I have lived in that bedroom for 6 years and there is still no joint compound- but, I figure that there is now drywall where there hadn't been for several years- you have not slept in a cold room until you have slept in a room with no insulation, no drywall- just clapboards between you and the howling winter winds on an Indiana prairie. We tried stapling plastic up, but it kept blowing down. Too much information? No, really, this is the life I want. Now, I've come up in the world and I have insulation and drywall. Still amazing how much air moves through those itty-bitty cracks in the wall- and around the floor where there isn't any trim boards, yet...Maybe joint compound and paint is aiming a bit high, huh? Well, I like brown and I want a blue ceiling- if I'm dreaming, I can paint it any color I like, right? Then the purple quilt and blue pillows and lots of brown and white thrown in. Bizarre, huh? Exactly. Maybe a Turkish bazaar.

Simple living, or simply living...

I love words, don't you? Sometimes I'll just make lists of words that seem to go together- or words that I like the sound of and try to use them all in one sentence. ("Ode to Mom"- I think that was in September, was one of those. Trepidation, and consternation are two words I wanted to use, but missed the opportunity.) Simple and simply seem very much the same word, and the difference is subtle, but they seem to significant to me.

I've had a very peaceful week. A simple week. I've refused to get caught up in the mental and emotional turmoil that seems to swirl around me these days. What purpose would it serve and how would that impact my quilting? Giggle. Now that we have ascertained what's important... I'm thinking that there is something to be said for the concept of endurance- not acceptance, necessarily, but enduring in the sense that what is beyond my control is... beyond my control. And I'm figuring that those things are some kind of disguised blessing- I'm just not of the mind to rip off the mask and see what's behind it. So...

I'm baking rolls using my "no recipe" recipe. I'll have to blog that one as I have been getting rave reviews. I've organized the laundry situation at my house- oh, joy! I can actually see the laundryroom floor! I've finished a couple quilt tops, quilted a couple more. Been chipping away at a couple more. I even bound the above quilt. Sarah hates that job, but apparently she is very proficient at it. Me, I figure that I am depreciating my quilts with each stitch I take!! Actually, they don't look too bad, but I doubt anyone would say, "My! What straight binding!" either. This quilt is for my cousin's son. His brother was our ring-bearer and in an effort to show impartiality, he is also getting a quilt. (That's my story, but the fact of the matter is, I just love her boys. I can't help myself. They are wonderful. I'm calling this quilt, "Alex the Great.") He is in his first year at college. I had meant to get this quilt done long before now, but I've had a cra... difficult autumn. It just has taken me awhile longer to finish than planned. I need to get a label made and attached, then it'll be on it's way. Better late than never- and he is the sweetest guy. Did I already mention that? Oh, and I washed the quilt and despite my concerns that some of those very dark greens were going to bleed all over the whites- nothing untoward happened. How relieved am I?! I did use my mom's advice and put some vinegar and salt in the washwater. Why? I have no idea. But it didn't bleed. If Alex has some sort of inexplicable craving for fish and chips, we'll blame it on the hillybilly method of setting dyes.

The kids humored me and went to see Pride and Prejudice. I couldn't help but smile when my husband said, "9 for Pride and Prejudice." My two oldest boys looking a little out of place. We decided that we liked it, but I must say that I preferred the A&E version- it was more... peaceful. The British are good at that. (Colin Firth was so good in the first one, but whoever the young man was in this version- he was wonderful, also. Just different.) I humored the kids and went to see Chicken Little with them. Now that wasn't so good, but the chicken was cute. We have a dollar theatre here in town and it is a good deal for big families. A very pleasant way to spend a cold winter evening. And it's 50 cents on Tuesdays, if you're really cheap. Evabeth is embarking on showbiz, herself. She had an interview with the director and producer for advertising at the medical center where she had some tests run. Apparently, the employees there found her appealing and mentioned it to them. I have put off meeting with them, but figured that Eva would find it fun and she could use a little fun these days... When she started quoting The Princess Bride, "Mawage. Mawege is what bwings us togethew... today." I thought they would fall out of their seats they were laughing so hard. Then all talk moved from a poster and billboard to a comercial on cable TV. They asked her if she would be nervous and she said, "Not a bit." That's Eva.

Now, I have broken into the bag containing Tonya's letters and I have started setting them. Unlike Sarah, I have been pleasantly surprised with how easily they are coming together. Of course, I am working with monster letters, not baby ones, so maybe that is the deciding factor. I have come to a corner and I can't see my way around an inset seam- oh the agony. But I am trying to calm myself by saying that it is only one. Not something I will have to repeat. I'm not feeling very calm about it, though. I just really, really want that silly "o" to straddle the line between the upper border and the side border. There's no help for it. It's simple, right? or simply right?