quick update - not quilty

arrived in maine just before the humongous april snowstorm to be with my mom.  she is on hospice care now and it's a watch and wait time.  i feel privileged to care for her as my last final gift.  miracles have happened in just a few days with loved ones reunited and estrangements melted away.  have my return to MD ticket but not sure when i'll be leaving Maine.  our strong faith is an ever present main mast but still heartbreaking and sadness beyond comprehension.  God spoiled us four children by keeping her with us for just over 97 years...though we never took her for granted.  as she continues her work of leaving, we cling to each other for strength.  may God be merciful....

lucky #9

 

deana selected challenge #9 for april....so what's that on my list?

the dargate baskets UFO...it's my desire to get all these blocks appliqued this year to at least have a flimsy by 2025....i'm taking this along on my maine visit so i know some progress will be made at least.  a few of my other challenges are less time consuming, so hope i can sneak this challenge in other months.  

awakened this morning by lightning and thunderstorm....i love them!  meteorological conflicts are sooo interesting.  

not much sewing on anything lately...family situations and that horrific bridge collapse  have left me preoccupied plus getting the apartment ready for time away--clean fridge, laundry, all those prep tasks.

had easter lunch with a friend--yummy lamb chops and cheesecake!  she gave me this....thanks easter bunny!

because he lives...

 I can face tomorrow, today, and all the days He gives me....alleleuia!

a blessed easter to all!

Liberty bling

Meet up with dear daughter to collect the prezzies she brought me from the motherland, us being British nationalists and all.  

Just the bag made me squeal!  And what was inside??

delicate pastel-ish prints as only Liberty can do.   definitely a new project in my future...think i will call it ' liberty spring'.  And what else?....

a yummy biscuit tin filled with that classic shortbread...

royal orange marmalade....in case paddington comes for tea......

a lovely reusable bag.....

The scary layover in lisbon will always be remembered....such a pretty magnet.  all these are lovely but having her home safe and sound?  priceless...oh, and the lady on the plane to Lisbon who facilitated information for her?  name was Angelique...no surprise there!

No real sewing this week with continuing family stuff taking precedence...but off to maine in a few and plenty of handwork on board.  i hear there is a 3-day storm brewing with more of that very impermanent spring snow...cuddle-duds on!

assurance

thank you to katyquilts for posting this for me and anyone who finds flames licking at their heels or dancing around their heads....be safe knowing they will not consume you....

The answer is....

did you guess?  total number of scrappy 9 patch blocks sewn from the shoebox is 92!  aren't they colorful?  since they finish at 5" will need lots more so putting aside until more strips lead to more blocks.  can always be donated if decide against going further.  

here is the clear and EMPTY shoebox....looks great doesn't it?  best of all, march challenge met and completed with a week to coast....

one of my aussie peeps has a new brood of guinea fowl chicks...

they are so cute....i've got chicks too....these....not as cute but oh so delish...LOL!

so thankful some prayers have been answered....more will be offered this week, waiting on a response and praying for His mercy.  in the meantime, sewing will be a welcome diversion.  still 2 wheelchair quilts to make, baste liberty road, more blue album blocks and UFO busting.  yeah, that's easily a week's worth.  still waiting patiently for spring to return for good...and if you hear me complaining about too hot this summer, thump me on the head will you?  

palm sunday detour--not quilt related

the sun is shining and the palms in my door quilt remind me of Jesus' journey toward a planned and seemingly final death.  my daughter, conversely, is flying home from her london trip to loving arms and a joyful reunion despite its abrupt end and events of the past week.  the picture is not lost to me, rather strikingly evident of Jesus' deliberate sacrifice for her life, and mine and yours too.  it's been a harrowing couple of weeks with so many emotional upheavals--my own guilt and shame for hurtful words and lack of empathy plus anger i humbly admit, shocking revelations, sense of betrayal, apathy, some joy and happiness, some dread, sadness, kindness of strangers, pity, frustration.  next week holds more of the same i fear.  i am disappointed by my human-ness thinking i am really a nice person.  nonstop prayers for my daughter's safe travel are now replaced by the hope for renewal, as spring renews the earth.  far too often we fail to walk in others' shoes and bear their burdens...quiet daily struggles without end and that often escalate.  of this i am guilty also.   hindsight is 20/20 as my Christian divorce lawyer told me so long ago,  and those words come back to me again and again.  i've learned lessons from some of those mistakes and know i will learn from this one too.  may the rebirth of spring and the reality of Easter be in all our hearts regardless of individual spiritual beliefs.

not much doing

it's been a tumultuous week with various family dramas playing out all at once, so little in the way of sewing progress.  got liberty road backing and batting trimmed and ready to start the basting next week.  awaiting daughter's safe return from across the pond--my only chick you know.  estimate it'll take nearly a day to do the thread basting, my usual method.

here is another look before starting...

cold air refuses to vacate maryland...our few spring days last week make it seem worse.  finished this book loaned from a neighbor and really liked it...

main character is an ex-detective drug addict, now PI, who runs across crimes while breaking and entering to feed his habit.  bit unconventional but good mystery.  now reading next in the series, "second girl".  

and while awaiting spring, dreaming of vistas like this--summery shore, sand and sea.  hoping i'll get my fix this summer as usual.  

hoping to finish up the march challenge 9 patch blocks next week, so will keep calm (try) and quilt on!

care to guess?

how many 5.5" nine patches in a shoebox?  i'll let you know once i've gotten these finished....at least the shoebox is empty finally!  these are 3sies waiting for final assembly.  once done they will be donated to the thrift--i am quite weary of looking at them and anxious to move on to other things.

spent national quilting day zooming with my down under and up north peeps, sewing up more patches, racking up a UFO finish, pulling more blues for the album quilt project, attaching border to a repro mini, a good showing.  course, i sew most days so it seemed quite ordinary. 

 

here is the finish!  it's advent sky....a small piece of angel fabric and some gifted silver-on-white prints was the inspiration.  brings to mind the bible verse of heavenly hosts singing the night of Christ's birth.  it's hand quilted of course and will be gifted.

our brief warm spring days have left for now, but still quite seasonable and enjoyable.  some cooking and stocking the larder on tap for the week along with my exercise.  have to say my walking is improving which makes me quite happy.  

dear daughter and a friend are traveling across the pond and anticipating a delicious squishy from liberty in my future...drooling with expectation!

week's wrapup

med appointments and large list of other tasks have left me energy-less at the end of the week.  still, hardly ever too fatigued to sew...lol!  what got done?

half the blocks for the scrappy 4-patch top got assembled.  have revised my goal and decided to make some scrappy 9-patch blocks to empty the shoebox.  that was sort of the original goal anyway.  

also made a few blocks of the blue album quilt project.  this is also scrap busting using odd bits of muslin for backgrounds and pulling blues from stash

did get one small from the tiny 9-patch blocks pieced.  undecided about making more blocks as i've so many small pieces and they are cute, but so far held off.  

have tweaked my routine giving me fewer commitments during the week, preferring to spend more time in enjoyable, impromptu pursuits, especially now that the weather is better.  soon it will be far too hot to venture out.  happy to say glass is still half full in my corner of the world!