small start

sunday took a tiny foray back into sewing, cutting up more blues for my album quilt blocks....

a pitiful effort but a start nonetheless...hoping more will be prepped today along with the muslin background pieces.  

getting closer to my usual routine with the larder stocked and plans to restart gym visits..laundry next!  first griefshare meeting was difficult but supportive.  in reflective moments, so thankful to a merciful God who answered two of mom's long-term prayers and spared her a long period of suffering--prompts me to extend that same mercy to others.  and among her belongings was a photo i had never seen....

no info on the back, but guessing she was 16 or 18 maybe?  being an only child meant  formal portraits were taken of her at various times, precious reminders of her classic beauty.  her hair remained blonde until her last breath, a genetic gift from scandinavian ancestry no doubt.  *** among her keepsakes were a few letters her mother wrote in early 1929 when she was ill...we read them with astonishment at getting to meet our maternal grandmother through her newsy correspondence to family and tidbits about our mom when she was a toddler....priceless!  she died shortly after when my mother was age 2.  our gratitude was overflowing that God granted my mother, a motherless child, so many years with us her children--a true gift indeed.

a new normal

while in maine, all plans for sewing progress were abandoned but a bit of stitchery did get accomplished....

one of those projects that gets attention now and then....for a finish whenever.  now that back home in MD, it'll get set aside again while adjusting to a new kind of life.  

said goodbyes to my now smaller family with a lobster roll lunch, hugged and kissed with a new ferocity now that we start life without our touchstone and anchor and with fragility of life's reality.  i have already signed up with bereavement support, hoping for guidance on how to live without my mom.  would not wish her back, and having her for almost 75 years was a huge blessing never taken for granted.  woke up in my own bed feeling isolated, alone, adrift, frozen, and still quite devastated at such a huge loss.  unpacking and groceries need to be done, but i just want to curl up with quilts over me and pray for some magic wand to make it all go away....

I praise You, loving God, that no valley is deeper than Your love.

softly and tenderly...

Jesus came calling and took the hand of my cherished mother, leading her home.  She was 97 and although a known eventuality, the heart wasn't ready, still unwanted and heartbreaking.   You may have seen an earlier post when her birthday was celebrated, before the diagnosis, before the shock, before the dread.  

We little knew this morning, the Lord would call your name.
In life we loved you dearly and in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you, you did not go alone,
for part of us went with you, the day God called you home.
You left us precious memories, your love is still our guide.
And though we cannot see you, you're always at our side.
Our family chain is broken and nothing seems the same,
but as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

Author Unknown

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!

switching gears

i've been spending most of my sewing time with scraps, lagging in UFO finishes.  pulled out this small piece to quilt and then get back to s'mores.  it's advent sky and plan is to gift when done.  

when sorting thru the 2" strip shoebox found that more than half weren't long enough for my blocks...say what???  so clearing out won't happen unless i use them to make a whole lotta foursies.  

i did cut up the usable strips into block sets ready to sew...pitiful amount but scrap basket at the ready to raid for more.

and if you forgot, here is what the finished blocks look like.  finish at 6" so will need 120 for a decent size top.  well begun is half done, so back at the machine today after a couple of days with appointments.  medical stuff done for the month!

very foggy and (again) dreary day but signs of spring everywhere so pretty soon better days.  laundry on tap and a bit of cooking, then some exercise will fill the day.  glass is more than half full with blessings all around.  hoping you feel the same!

march's task

the march challenge for the chookshed stitchers has been announced....it's #4 on the top ten list and here is mine...

4.  clear out the 2" strip shoebox by making more of bonnie hunter's scrap 4 blocks.   there should be enough for a flimsy when done

this is another opportunity to use up scraps and make something usable and hopefully donatable.  already got a head start with these shown previously....

delighted to bust more scraps but it's taking time away from my hand quilting that i hope to remedy this weekend.  ***  other march sewing must-dos include getting this top finished....

meet the juvenile delinq-cats!  these bad dudes prowl around causing mayhem and hissing at dogs--keep fido clear of their path....lol!

liberty road is a definite baste job in march.  hopefully more blue album blocks.  

not quite spring but march winds around today so won't be long.  family DNA revealed a wee bit of irish genes so can bask in all things irish this month and will be pulling out my soda bread recipe gleaned from the boston globe many years ago.  my favorite irish tune?  that would be 'wild rover'....i'll be humming it all month!

challenge wrapup

been a busy sewing bee this month keeping up with sew alongs and the chookshed challenge.  plenty of solid scraps were sewn up and half of my drawer was busted.  here is the result.

satisfied with the progress but dismayed at the time it took to make just these.  i am one with lots of free time and sew nearly every day, but doesn't seem like enough to make better progress.  so, have decided to drop the mini 9-patch sew along.  with no real project for them, and unable to sell hardly any of my finished things, seemed pointless to create more.  i'll finish up the ones i've made and concentrate on my UFOs and a couple of projects on my someday list.  i know my one daughter agrees, since she likely will be the one to dispose of my stuff.  

wednesday, hump day, sewing day!

richly blessed

that would be me and my siblings....today we celebrate our dear mother's 97th birthday....

still thriving, mentally alert and living independently....she wouldn't have it any other way nor would we, and apparently God agrees.  so very thankful to Him for blessing her and us.  happy birthday dearest mum...and many more!

thursday quickie

sun shiny here and to-do list nudging me, so short post.  continuing with the mini 9-patch sew along with this week's finishes....

all around blogland decisions about background being made, so on my mind as well.  most of my stash is FQ and half yards, so for a big quilt a purchase would be required.  but with so much fabric on hand already, wanted to use what i already have if possible.  considered potholder method, a fave of quilty peep wendy, but preferred larger size finish if possible.  and what should my wandering eyes spy?  

the solution!  a wee quilt, gifted by peep janet when i moved to maryland.  she is the diva of tiny blocks if you recall.   ticks all my boxes--larger than potholder size, requires small pieces of fabric resulting in fairly quick finish that could be machine quilted or not, and features so many of my pretty fabrics waiting to be used.  aahhh...dilemma no more.  

now back to the to-do list--have a blessed quilty thursday!

a sprinter day

day starts out like winter--cold and clear--and by afternoon turns to spring--sunny and warmer.  the PA rodent never said anything about this...lol!  real spring can't come soon enough...after a challenging week hoping the next is better.  but i have been sewing...

more strip blocks in progress.  i pulled all the solid 1.5" strips and cut more for them.

remains to be seen how many blocks i finally get but no fear, plenty more solids for more strips.   i pulled out the shelf solids and culled small pieces and added them to the drawer.  still plenty of room for more but at least not jammed anymore.

and it was inevitable, you probably know that.  once i got my hands on the blue and white book i caved.  actually went back to my traditional roots.  the album block is one i've always been drawn to and it WAS on my someday list.  lots of good blues on hand and plenty of muslin scraps too.  already envisioning hand quilting this....

simply gotta do some household stuff this week and cardio cooking of course.  it's a lazy day to do whatever comes to mind.  already got in 2 hours of sewing.  gave miss phoebe a clean and oiling as she has been working very hard.  we both need to chill out!