Category: Family

Uncle Donald’s Quilt – Yes, he made it.

My Great Uncle Donald and Aunt Helen lived on a farm in Ohio. My sister Karen and I loved to go there. The county pound was on their property and we would go play with the dogs and beg my Dad to take one home every time. I remember my Dad letting my sister drive. She was about 12. IT was a place you could do things that you normally didn’t get to do at home. We would spend hours walking on their white fence to see how far we could get without falling off. Some of my fondest memories as a child.

Well, Uncle Donald was one of nine children. He was the only boy. As Aunt Helen told me when she gave me this quilt. He didn’t have a choice. All the sisters were quilting, so if he wanted something to do, he had to join in. It is funny I have quilts form my grandmother and it wasn’t until I got Uncle Donald’s quilt that I realized how much they all meant. I now had visions of my grandmother, her sisters and Uncle Donald all sitting around quilting. I am not sure that is how it happened, but I like to think about it that way.

Uncle Donald made a beautiful quilt. I will always treasure it. I miss him, Aunt Helen and Monnie (my grandmother).
Happy Sewing
Happy Quilting
Treasure your family

Red, White and Blue from the Quilting Widow

In celebration of the fourth, my star spangled baby quilt. I actually made this 12 years ago. It as made from scraps from a charity quilt I made for a local high school. I had the cutest picture of my daughter at about 4 months old laying on the quilt in a little patriotic outfit. I wish I could find that photo and compare it to her now. I did make her hold the quilt, since it was hers. I put it in the cedar chest for that someday when she has a baby of her own (better be a long time from now).

Happy Sewing.
Happy Quilting.
Happy 4th of July.

The Black Widow strikes again.

This is a bit off topic from my usual crafting, cooking, family….. I will apologize in advance.

I have jokingly (sort of) referred to myself as the black widow since my second husband died. Yep, hadn’t even reached my 50th birthday and managed to off two husbands. Waiting for my own show in the ID channel.

Anyways, today, a high school friend pinged me to let me know our friend Jeff had died. Yes, he was our friend, but he was a whole lot more to me back then. I was in love with him at one point in my life. I think he was in love with me too, but….I didn’t look like I should be his girlfriend, so after about 5 years of on and off we went our separate ways. We both went off to careers and married other people. Normal stuff. I ran into him years later at a K-mart and he told me that his mother had told him “I was the one.” I always liked her.

At this point in my life, I am starting to think that I should contact everyone I have ever been with and give them fair warning. Go get the “you have been with the Black Widow” physical.

Thankfully, the list is not that long.

RIP Jeff, I hope your family finds peace.

WTF.

Yes, I got my dog a Birthday Cake

So, it was my Moka’s birthday and being the crazy dog lady, I got her a cake. I also got special treats for the other dogs so everyone could share in the celebration. She is a crazy puppy that feels compelled to sit in my lap in a any chair (including lawn chairs). I think she thinks she is like our little dogs and figures if they can sit on my lap so can she.

Hug your pet.

Needlepoint: Young Girl Reading…A treasure

My mother was from Germany. She had some dear friends that owned a furniture store. They gave my mother several of these beautiful needlepoints.

If I remember correctly, they were made by women in the Black Forest. I can’t imagine the amount of time that it took to make such a piece. It is about 24” x 36”. The face and hands are done in petit point, which is so tiny. But, it shows such detail.

This beautiful piece hangs in my dining room. My research tells me that this is made from a painting titled “Young Girl Reading”. Originally it was done as an oil painting on canvas by Jean-Honore Gragonard. It currently hangs at the National Gallery of Art. It was believed to be painted in 1776. It is one of the many treasured items I have from my mother.

My mother brought back several of these needlepoints. I believe each of my three sisters have one or two. I have many beautiful items from Germany. I am sure you will get a chance to see them along the way.

Beware of Gorilla Glue and Super Glue…A friendly warning for Pet owners.

This past weekend, I need to use some Gorilla Glue and it reminded me… my sweet puppy Moka. So, Moka was about 6 months old and was doing her usual crazy puppy playing. She ran in to an end table. I did not realize that she knocked off the bottle of Gorilla Glue that I had used to fix my daughters glasses. I took it from her quickly, but she had punctured the bottle with her canine.

At the time I didn’t give it much thought, but the next morning, she was threw up three times. She was still her usual happy self, but throwing up. I went to the Gorilla Glue web site and read that it could be dangerous to pets even in small amounts. SO, I called them.

Oddly, they had a Vet on staff. That sends a message. She told me that the prognosis was good, but that Moka needed an X-Ray. If she ingested it (which I was pretty sure she did) it would have to be surgically removed. Crap.

So, I called my vet who told me that I had to go to the emergency Vet. Well, X-Ray showed it in her belly. My poor puppy. $2500.00 later, they removed it and spayed her since she was under anesthesia.

Make sure you keep Gorilla Glue, Super glue etc.. away from Pets. A pea size drop can swell to the size of a cantaloupe in their bellies. It was an expensive lesson to learn. My Moka is fine today, but paying $2500 when I had just gotten laid off totally sucked.

The Frugal, Tasty and Quick Widow gives you Super Fast Sloppy Joe

So, growing up as a kid, my Mom made Sloppy Joe. I did not like it. I don’t know why. I am pretty sure she made it from scratch, no Manwich. It has been so long since I have had her Sloppy Joes. I can’t remember what I didn’t like about it. Ahhhh,,If only she could make it for me again, I would most certainly love it because she made it.

Having a career, being a kid Mom, A dog Mom and a significant other to my manfriend (too old for a “Boy” friend), I sometimes don’t have the time or desire to cook. I love to cook, just don’t always have enough time.
So, tonight I broke down and made Sloppy Joe. I didn’t do everything from scratch like Mom did, but I did manage to cook an entire meal in 15 minutes for under $10.00. So, I feel good about that.

I browned some ground beef (s little over a pound) and put a Lipton Rice side on to cook. Once the Ground beef was done, I drained the fat and put the ground meat in back in the pan. Then, I dumped in McCormick’s Sweet and Smokey Sloppy Joe Sauce ( http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Main-Dishes/Sweet-and-Smoky-Sloppy-Joes) and heated it a couple of minutes. Done, unless you are like me and added in a teaspoon of crushed pepper. We like a little spice. You could taste the smokiness, but it wasn’t overly sweet. Good food in a hurry. Inexpensive enough to give it a try. Happy Cooking.

Meet The Fur Babies…

Yes, I am also the crazy Dog Lady. Currently we have 4 dogs. Several are rescues. I have also fostered multiple litters of puppies. Dogs give you the most unconditional love that there is. My dog Koko, who crossed the rainbow bridge last year, helped me through the most difficult times on my life. She licked away my tears through the death of both my husbands and both my parents. She was the one thing I could always count on.

I remember when I was pregnant, I worried that Koko would be jealous of Haley. I was so wrong. I took one of Haley’s blankets at the hospital home and let her sniff it, so she would know what she smelled like before she came home. I was amazed. Koko was her biggest protector. She laid under her baby swing. When someone came to visit she would move out a few feet to be in front of the swing so she could decide who was going to get close to her baby. She knew I was pregnant before I did, laying her head on my belly. I actually thought something was wrong with her.

All the way to the Left is Moka. She is our puppy. I went to get her after my Koko died. She is a crazy girl. But I love her. She has big shoes to fill. The ones in the middle are the little dogs. The little white on is Ruger, my only male dog. He thinks I am his property. He rolls all over me as if he was making me his. He ways all of six pounds and intimidates the heck out of Moka. The Chubby Chug (Chihuahua pug Mix) is Snibble. My late Husband Derrick rescued her from a farm. There were twelve puppies and she was the only girl. She was all bit up and the boys would never let her eat. She has a totally Chihuahua attitude. The Third picture is Clover (and Moka as a puppy). She is a three legged Flat Coat Labrador. She was a rescue that we were supposed be “fostering”. That was about 9 years ago. She gets around great for a dog missing a front leg.

Charm Squares for my Great Niece

I made this quilt for my Great Niece Addison. I used charm squares of reproduction fabrics. I love precuts, but often find them a bit expensive. I have found a couple of places that has very reasonable prices. I would suggest Missouri Start Quilt Co. https://www.missouriquiltco.com/. They offer a daily deal and very often it is on precuts. On April 1st, they sold a pack of precuts for 25 cents. I just bought the daily deal the other day for $1.95. Now, you do have to pay $5.00 for shipping, but I bought an extra pack of Daily deals at the regular price (8.95) and also received a free pattern for spending over $10.00. I belive my total was less than $16.00 for two charm packs and a pattern, delivered to my door in just a couple of days. Well worth the money.
My other favorite place to buy discount precuts, is http://www.craftsy.com/. They have a clearance section and have had up to 70% off. Shipping is also very reasonable. Craftsy is also a great place for ideas and patterns. More on that later.

I am not paid to say any of this stuff. Just want to pass along good information to fellow sewers/quilters.

A Quilt for my Grandchild…. Wait I don’t have one….

So, 4 weeks before my 40th birthday, my daughter Haley was born. I remember my sister telling me how awesome it will be when I go sign her up for kindergarten and I am old enough to be the other kid’s parents. Funny, but not funny. So, I am a 52 year old with a 12 year old daughter….. Oddly, I was told I could never have children and “surprise”. She is the love of my life, even when she tries me, which happens daily.

One of the many things I love to do is make quilts, especially baby quilts. I make them for friends that are having babies, nieces and nephews etc. I make others also, but for some reason, baby things are appealing to me.

So, if my daughter waits as long as I do to have children, I might not get to meet them. Sad. However, I want to make sure they have a quilt from their grandmother. I have made so many for others. Just sort of like my grandkid insurance. This is the first one I made for my future grandchild. My daughter (AKA future grandchilds parent) is holding the quilt.

I actually started the quilt when Haley was a baby. I love Red and it just appealed to me for some reason. I believe that the pattern was in a Better Homes and Garden quilt book. I should look it up. When I went back and looked at the quilt, I noted my signature mistake. By Signature mistake, I mean that there always is at least one in every quilt I make. There is a piece that is sideways. Maybe I should make that my signature. Make at least one thing sort of goofy.