Category: Family

So Many Things to be Thankful for…especially Monnie and the Wool Coat Quilt

I often forget how lucky I am.  Sometimes, getting caught up in the day to day img_03301activities of life makes you forget a few very important things.

I am still here.  For this I am grateful.  I have a beautiful, healthy and smart twelve year old daughter.  I still have Miranda, which at one point in time not too long ago, I did not think I would.  She hobbles around the house today.  For this I am grateful, even when she gets on my last nerve.

I have Kevin, who in his very own way is a very kind man, who looks out for all of us.  He was most certainly my rock during Miranda’s accident.  Lately he takes care of me when I don’t feel so well.  Currently I struggle with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Dystonia.  They don’t go well together.  But, it will get sorted out, eventually.  Kevin son’s Bryce, who is cute as can be and such a helpful sweet boy.  I miss him when he is not with us, but grateful when he is.  I can’t imagine what it feels like not to have access to your child at all times.

I am grateful for my three sisters, even though we sometimes we get off track.  I am hoping to see them all at New Year’s this year, so we can work on getting things back to the way they used to be, or as close as we possibly can.

These photos are of a quilt that my sister Anke has.  It belonged to my Grandmotherimg_03321 Monnie (Uncle Donald’s sister).  She was one of my most favorite people and the reason I sew today.  This quilt is made of old wool coats.  Imagine how warm it is…  The history.  I wonder who wore all those old wool coats?

A big thank you to my sister for sending me the pictures.  I remembered seeing it, but it had been a long time and brings back the fondest memories of Monnie and reminds me of who I am.

At 52, I have already said goodbye to two husbands, both my parents and a couple of dear friends.  It is a lot.  Sometimes I think it is too much for me.  But then am I reminded of all those that are still in my life.  For this I am grateful.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Treasure your Family

Mystery Quilt – What will it be???

20161101_204316Well, I got everything cut as instructed.  I had most of this fabric in my stash, likely for years….  Had to buy a couple of accent pieces, that’s it.  I like lime green and teal together.  Hoping it turns out to be something awesome!  We shall see.

I managed to get all the sewing stuff packed, now just need my personal items.  Hope to get that done later, but the 7th game of the World Series is on, and I am from the Cleveland area.  Hoping Mom is watching from above.  She was a big Indians fan.  My sister Kellie better have that gold Wahoo that mom always wore, on tonight.

Next Post from the retreat.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

Progress, in several areas

Well. my hospital hexies are finally looking like something.  I feel like I have made progress.  I believe my plan will be to make a scarf for my dresser.    Seems fitting since I am the crazy dog lady.  As I type this there is one at my feel and one on the chair next to 20161003_195603_resizedme and one on my lap.  This is a great travel project because everything I need fits into my little dog bag (of course).  In my photo, you can see my Ruger.  This was my late Husbands “Hunting Dog”.  He weights six pounds and is scared of ants, so I am not sure what he would hunt.  Cute as a button though.  He is the only male dog in my herd, so he thinks any female is his.  He frequently rolls all over me as if he is making me his and then gives Kevin the evil eye.  Miss Moka’s paws are on the table where they should not be.

Other progress is with my beautiful daughter Miranda.  I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It has been six weeks now since her accident and she makes progress everyday.  I update my Miranda’s Journey page often.  It has saved me many many phone calls and texts.  Friends and family know they can go to the page and get an update on how she is doing.  We still have a long road ahead, but we will get their.  Thanks to everyone for their support.

A Day Off

So, today I did not go to the hospital (Check Miranda’s Journey page for the latest updates). Last night I fell asleep after dinner (before 6pm) and did not wake up until 8:30 today.  Guess I needed it.  So, I did some laundry and made dinner.  I also got  little sewing time in.  Decided that I needed to see something finished.

20160925_175920I actually made these bibs for my future grandchildren (just in case I don’t get to meet them).  They are made from recycled jeans.  Jeans that belonged to me and my late husband Derrick.  I am hoping that will someday mean something to Haley and/or Miranda.  No to bad on the applique portion.  Over time I will make more to give away.  But, sometimes you just need to see 20160925_175930something finished.

I am still working on my Hospital Hexies.  I should have an update on that soon.

Thanks to all my quilting and blogging friends for caring about Miranda and my family.  It truly does mean a lot.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Treasure your Family

Hospital English Paper Piecing

So, since quilting is my stress reliever. and I am spending a lot of time at the hospital with my daughter since her accident, I decided to try English Paper piecing.  I haven’t got much accomplished, since I still can’t think straight.  Miranda is doing better, which I am grateful for.  We still have a long way to go.

I don’t really have a plan for my “Dog Bones” (I hope that is what they look like), but it could turn into a table topper for dresser.  I guess that would make it a dresser scarf or something.  Not really sure.  Depends on how difficult it turns out to be.  So far, not to hard and it doesn’t take up to much space to work on, so that makes it easy at the hospital.

Thanks to all for the kind words during our difficult time.  They have been much appreciated.  To Follow Miranda’s Progress, please click on Miranda’s Journey Page.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Treasure your Family

Something pretty Amidst the Darkness

This is a quilt I made my youngest daughter when she was a baby.  It has multiple fabric types for that “special feel”.  I felt I needed to post a picture of a quilt.  They are comforting.

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On August 22nd, my older daughter was in a head on collision

Resized_20160824_120642on the freeway.  Darn near everything was broken; legs, ankles, knees, feet, elbows, collarbones, ribs, punctured lungs lacerated liver, spleen and intestines.  Fortunately, there was no head injuries.  Today was Miranda’s sixth day of surgery.  She still has more ahead of her.  She is still here.  For this I am grateful.  I don’t think I could stand losing another loved one.  I must thank family ( who came immediately) and friends for their support, especially Susan from DesertSky Quilting.  She was up texting me late night so I would not lose my mind.  It will be a long road to recovery, but we will get there.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

A Pre Y2K UFO…Yikes!

The only reason I know when this top was started is because I remember which house I was living in when I started.  This top was started before my daughter was born.  She is only twelve.

I think I started this quilt because I like the Asian inspired fabrics.  When I began to again work on this quilt I was concerned that it would not match up well, since way back then I was a fairly new quilter.  Not a new sewer, but a newer quilter.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was not to bad.

I had even purchased the fabric for the back long ago.  It sort of looks like bamboo leaves.  I still remember when I saw it and knew right away it would be perfect.  So, I am going to attempt to quilt a bamboo pattern on part of it.  I practiced for a while today and watched Leah Days video on this pattern, Bamboo Forest.

I have begin a page devoted to Uncle Donald Quilts.  I hope you visit it and make your own.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Monnie’s Treasures

Monnie was my grandmother. She was one of my favorite people. She taught me how to sew. They lived in Dearborn Michigan and we went to visit them a lot. I loved going there. They had a wonderful house (that I still dream about to this day) and always had everything a kid could want (mostly candy and a fridge full of Pop).

Monnie used to get fabric samples from Blair’s Clothing. They were little swatches maybe 1” x 2” to try and get you to buy their clothes. She saved them for me. I would sit at her sewing machine and sew all these little pieces of fabric together in one big long strip. I think this might have been the beginning of my quilting habit, even though I didn’t realize it.

Monnie was an excellent seamstress. When I went to Kindergarten, she made all my clothes. I remember when her and Grandad brought them down to our house and I had to try them all on. Funny, I remember not wanting to. I wish I had some of those clothes today. They would mean so much. But, I will have to settle for one of her quilts.

When I look at this quilt, I am not often sure what I am looking at. Sometimes I see Cubes, sometimes I see stars in the design. This was a quilt that was used every day. It was used at her house and then somehow wound up at our house and my mother used it. I have several of Monnie’s quilts. Monnie was Uncle Donald’s sister(See my post about Uncle Donald’s quilt) , so quilting is a family thing.

Funny thing,  about many of Monnie’s quilts was that a piece of a sheet was sewn across the bottom, so you could tuck it in at the base of the bed. I am pretty sure that this was the cause of my sheet tucking obsession. I must have the sheets tucked in at the bottom. I can’t stand if a foot comes out. Maybe this is a family thing too.

I love the quilt. I find it beautiful, but mostly because she made it. I hold her responsible for my quilting/sewing obsession. Thank you Monnie. I miss you dearly.
Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Treasure your Family

Weird Table Topper

So, this was an experiment because I have never made anything round. I used a sample fabric pack of odd fabrics. There is a store in Amish country that sells the samples they get. I love these to make small pieces. Anyway, this is one of those sample fabrics. I just wanted to see how hard it was to piece something round and bind it. I don’t think I really like the fabrics all together, but maybe I can save it for Easter.
Well, it wasn’t that hard. I like to make small pieces to give away at holidays/birthdays. I have three sisters. Funny thing about that, I didn’t realize that they even liked my quilted stuff. Then, when my mother died, all of the quilts and table toppers I had made for her disappeared. So, I am guessing that someone must have liked them.

I also plan on practicing my quilting with these. Maybe I can manage to do something other than meandering. This pattern was in an issue of Block by the Missouri Star Quilt Company. There example was red and white for holidays, which was quite lovely.
I have already cut out fabric for a few more of these, so expect to see them.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

A Dog Quilt for my Great Nephew

So, on Saturday my great nephew was born about 5 weeks early.  He is perfect.  However I had to hurry and finish his dog quilt.  This was fun to make.  The most time consuming part was the cutting out of all the pieces.  I don’t really see it being used as a quilt to cover up with.  More of lay the baby on the quilt kind of thing.  I made it all from flannels so it is very soft.  This was made from Simplicity 4993.  It has a dog, bear and cat patterns.  Since I am the crazy dog lady, this is quilt that would definitely come from me.

My daughter had not ever remembered me making a “rag quilt” before and insisted that the back was the front and I put the face of the dog on the wrong side.

Now to get a couple more items for Ethan and his big sister before mailing the package off.

It always feels good to complete something.

Happy Sewing.

Happy Quilting.