Christmas Quilt

I managed to finish another quilt in-between my other projects.

The center part was made from a pattern by Fabric Café.  I changed the borders a bit and didn't use their signature chenille by the inch.  The back is fleece.  This woman wanted a warm quilt, but I find it difficult to quilt thick batting on my home machine so I thought the fleece backing would add extra warmth.

It's been unseasonably cold here...good weather to snuggle under a quilt and read a book! 

Puppies and Babies - Is There Any Cuter Combination?

We have been visiting our puppies twice a week at the kennel.  We've become attached to SO many of the dogs there. There's Hudson who likes to play catch with a tennis ball; Titan (one of our puppy daddies) who, though he is excited to see us, is always the gentleman; Clyde who can climb a chain link fence (really!); Lacey our baby mommy who just wants love; Meg, our other baby mommy who just loves to lick; Scarlett, another mommy who needs some serious R&R after having an active litter of 7 and on and on. We usually visit with our pockets full of Milkbones for all!

Yesterday we brought Winter, our granddaughter and her Mom with us for our puppy visit.  We figured it was time the "kids" met each other.  She looks a bit curious in this picture.  What you can't see is her other hand touching the puppy's face and the puppy tasting her fingers! I think they'll make a great pair.

This guy is Aiden.  He will come live with us November 21!  On November 22 you can probably call me Sleepless.

Two  weeks later our girl (who will maybe be named Fiona...still keeping the options open) comes home to join the fun.

September Travels: Niagara Falls

 

We've been on the road again....this time to Niagara Falls, Canada.  It is one of a very few places in the world that I have visited, but my husband has not.  It seemed like my parents went to Canada several times when I was young.  It was so much fun to revisit the area and see that the falls are as awesome as ever. 

 

We rode the boat, went under the tunnels, saw the whole downtown area and even visited the Floral Clock.  My mother always insisted that we visit the clock and a shrine on every trip to Canada.  I was never overly impressed with either.  The clock is nice, but after experiencing the power and size of the falls it sort of comes up short.  And every year I had my picture taken in front of the clock.

We were even treated to an Elvis impersonator in an outside café!

He had the look down pretty good, but not the sound.

From Canada we made a stop in Cleveland and then a few family visits and back home.  Except for our two nights in Canada we slept in a different place every night!  The pace was a bit exhausting and home was a welcomed sight!

When Time Flies

The summer is drawing to a close and I've started to think about just what I've been doing with my time!

Much of my sewing has been occupied by a project of Son #1.  Ever since he was little he has had an entrepreneurial streak.  He would sit by the road and try to sell vegetables from our garden, jars of "hand made" sand (He would rub rocks together until they powdered into sand.), and anything else that he thought I wouldn't miss.  Now, although he has a real job, he wants to revisit the world of retail.  So, with me as his supplier he will be having a booth at a farmer's market in his area.  I've been producing a variety of small objects to compliment some quilts and larger pieces.  The shop will be set up as a fair trade store so that if there is more interest than I can supply he can draw in other crafters to work within the fair trade framework.

I also made a Dorothy costume (sorry, no picture yet) for our October trip to Autumn at Oz.   It has been a long time since I did any garment sewing and just like I remember...the hardest part is the fit.  At first I made this way too big and even now I think the skirt is too full, but I'm going with it as it is, because after all, I'm living in the "invisible years" so I don't think it will matter a whole lot.

Then....there have been many opportunities to hang with my best girl.  She is so much fun to have around and such a good, good baby.

In between all that there have been a few trips with the husband.  Recently we went to the beach to meet up with family.  It was my first trip back without Seamus and it felt a bit sad not to have him with me on the beach.  I was a little lost.  But with the passing of time we have been able to start to discuss filling our house again with furry little paws. 

Rag Quilt for My Winter

I'm not sure if this is "quilting" or "sewing" but I've always wanted to make one of these rag quilts and having a new little one (my little Winter) around gave me the perfect excuse.  I made it out of flannel without batting.  It also gave me an excuse to use my Accuquilt Go.  I feel a little guilty that I don't use this more often.  This seemed like a perfect project.  The die cuts both the square and the fringe so that once you sew the pieces together, you're done.  There was enough fabric left over to make a matching pillow.

Even with a project this simple there were a few lessons to learn.

• Using the die cutter didn't guarantee that each square was the same size.  The fabrics responded differently to the process of going through the press resulting in some small differences in size.  It didn't matter too much in this project though.
• Having the fringe precut was a time saver in the end but it did make it a bit more difficult to line up the pieces and sew the rows together.
• Between the larger seam allowances and the shrinkage my final piece was considerably smaller than it looked on the design wall.
• All pinks are not created equal.  I ended up buying several pieces of fabric that just plain didn't go with each other.

I'm hoping Winter finds this to be a snuggly little blankie and pillow to snuggle up with.  Her Nana would be glad to make some more.
 

Key West, Florida

Our recent trip to Florida included a three day sister trip to Key West, the most southern location in the continental United States.   The husbands drove us to Fort Myers, FL where we caught a ferry to Key West.  The ride took about 3 1/2 hours.  I don't know much about boats, but this one sure seemed to go FAST.  Here's a picture of the wake behind the boat:

Key West wasn't really what we expected.  It is called "small", but between the heat and our luggage in tow (and we both packed super light) it seemed pretty big.  And it's much more congested and built up than I expected.  It almost has an urban feel to it in the downtown area absent the tall buildings of most cities.  It has a full time population of 30,000.  It turns out that Key West tried to secede from the USA at one time.  I'm unclear about the event, but we were told that residents can have a Conch Republic passport OR a US passport.  And the Conch Republic passport is accepted by 38 countries including the USA.  They have their own flag, but they are part of Florida and the US.  I don't completely understand it.

We spent the next few days exploring and visited a few highlights including the lighthouse:

It was a somewhat short tower with just 88 steps to the top.  The keepers of this house were all from one family throughout the entire time the house was in operation.  Here's a view from the top:

 

We toured Ernest Hemmingway's house.  At least they call it his house, but it really belonged to his second (of four) wife.  He did live there when he did most of his famous writing and he was such a larger than life character who really embraced life in the Keys, and besides, who would pay to see "Polly Hemingway's House"?  Most notable part was this awesome pool.  When it was built it was said to be the largest privately owned pool in the US:

He owned several polydactyl (many toed) cats and the decedents of those cats still reside on the property and are loving cared for by the staff.

 

We toured a very nice butterfly museum:

 



Took a disappointing glass bottom boat ride - not even worth a picture.  Here's a bit of advice on glass bottom boats.  When the trip starts with the captain telling you that the water is too rough to go to the Atlantic and see the Great Barrier Reef so they are going into the gulf instead to see the coral gardens and you can get off now and get your money back if you really wanted to go to the Great Barrier Reef........get off.

Visited the original Margaretville restaurant of Jimmy Buffet where we shared the best cheeseburger ever:

And saw a pretty sunset on the ferry ride home:

The husbands were a bit late picking us up which was kind of spooky given where the boat docked, but it all turned out well.

We warmed to Key West after our initial disappointment.  I would go back again, a wiser traveler for having taken this trip. 

One more bit of trivia - Key West is 90 miles from Cuba and 134 miles from the nearest Walmart.

 

The Wild Mustard is In Bloom

This is a picture of wild mustard:

It grows in empty lots and fields around here as a weed.  Dairy farmers hate it because if their cows eat too much of it their milk will have an odd taste.

I have a vivid memory related to this plant and except for this memory I probably wouldn't give it a second glance. As I was on my way to the hospital to give birth to son #1, (The birth of a first child truly changes the course of the rest of your life in ways you can never anticipate or imagine.) I remember a lot of wild mustard growing along the sides of the road and in empty lots.  So every year when I see the mustard come into bloom it reminds my of this special, special day....which happens to be today.

Happy Birthday, son #1!

The Best Kind of Winter

I'm glad the season of winter is over.  But we now have Winter all year long! Our new granddaughter arrived during a snowstorm earning her the name Winter. She's 2 1/2 months old now.  That's her daddy, son #2, holding her:

Doesn't she just look like she will want to sew someday?  or maybe garden?  or bake cookies or...whatever, I'm sure we'll find activities to enjoy together.  Right now we enjoy the mobile above her seat together and cuddle and look around, but her world expands every day and it's so much fun to watch!  I am truly smitten by this little one.

Escaping the Cold

I've been playing hooky again from my blog.  We decided to celebrate the husband's retirement and escape the frigid winter here at home.  Florida is just about the only place in the states where you can be fairly sure to have warm weather this season!  We set out on a driving trip to visit a few fun spots and to visit my sister and her family.  They moved last year and we hadn't had a chance to visit yet.  My brother joined us from the colder and snowier state of Indiana, so it was a bit of a mini family reunion. 

We started out in historic St. Augustine on the east coast of the state.  There is plenty to do there and we only skimmed the surface.  They claim to be the oldest city in the US and it was originally settled by the Spanish.  There is a great Spanish fort to visit and my favorite...a lighthouse:

You can see that the day we visited the lighthouse (actually on our return trip) was our only cloudy, rainy day.

From St. Augustine we crossed to the west side of Florida and spent several days on Sanibel Island.  This area is known for its great shelling.  They also have an abundance of birds and a great bird sanctuary that you can drive through.  And the sunsets are awesome.

From there we went to my sister's house (also on the west coast).  She lives in a great community with lots of activities available and that perfect Florida weather.

Then we retraced our steps and came home to our 30 degree weather....but also to our beloved dog and beautiful new grand daughter.

Lots of shells, lots of new baby clothes and some great fabric jumped in our car and followed us home.

I have lots of pictures and more to tell but for now the sewing machine is calling my name....and I must answer. 

Me and Santa

We're having a "snow day" here....one of those days when the weather changes your plans.  The "plans" were to have another go at Christmas shopping, but with the snow, sleet, ice and general "ick" outside it seemed wiser to just stay inside today.  I've been working on Christmas cards, Celtic Solstice clue #2, a bit of wrapping and organizing.  So with time to think and the white landscape outside for inspiration my thoughts have drifted back to Santa.

 

That picture above stood on my father's dresser for a long, long time.  I would guess that I'm about three in that picture. (The snow pants look a bit tight.  My mother's tactic was, "Buy them big, wear them for at least two years!)  The thing I remember most about Santa is that EVERY year when he left my presents he wrote me a letter!  He must have written it as he was eating the cookies and drinking the milk that I left for him in the kitchen.  I also left some water outside for his reindeer and a few carrots for them to eat.  Toys and gifts being left for me was always a nice surprise but just as amazing was the cookie plate, empty except for crumbs, and the empty glass of milk.  His letter usually told me that he was glad I had been and good girl and he hoped I would continue on that path for the next year, obeying my parents and helping around the house.

 

Eventually as I grew up I realized that Santa's handwriting was very similar to my father's.  I was in school by then and with the help of my peers I began to realize that Santa wasn't as real as my younger self thought.  But, I couldn't tell my parents.  I was afraid to ruin their Christmas! A little background might help me explain this:  I am the youngest of four by 11 years.  When I was born, my siblings were 15, 13 and 11.  So there were no slightly older siblings to burst my Santa bubble early on.  In fact it wasn't long before my siblings were out of the house and either married or in college. I somehow realized that once I admitted that I didn't believe in Santa, my parents would have no one left to "create Santa" for.  So I went along with it for 2 or 3 more years to keep from disappointing them.  They truly seemed to love making Christmas come alive for me and I didn't know what would happen to the holiday once I announced the truth.  But eventually my wise mother realized that it was time and casually, one early December asked me about Santa.  I had to admit that I realized who wrote the notes and ate the cookies and milk.

 

Amazingly my parents took it pretty well; Christmas went on, although the cookies, milk, reindeer food and letters didn't.  The spirit of Santa lived on in our house and there were soon grandchildren for them to share it with - but of course, Santa's visit for them occurred at their own house, not ours.  Hence, no need to resurrect the Santa letters and snacks. I still remember the magic, though.  And I'm glad to have lived the magic.

 

So, I'm curious.  Did you grow up believing in Santa?  How/when did things change?  I'd love to hear any Santa memories you'd like to share.  HO HO HO!!

 

Catching Up and Still Time to Vote!

This has been a week of catch up after a full Thanksgiving holiday.  We had lots of family time and food and meals and talk and food and dishes and food and....well, you get the idea. 

One little tradition we have is to put out a jigsaw puzzle when there is a family gathering.  This year we finished two puzzles.  Gathering around an activity like that seems to encourage conversation across the generations and limits the awkwardness that sometimes comes when people gather only a few times a year.

So...I have more to share but the husband is ready to go shopping so it will have to wait.  But....just one thing.....there is still time to "like" or "+1" my entry into the Iron Quilt challenge.  The voting is open until Sunday.  All votes appreciated.  I would love to get to 100 (my combined votes are at 73 now)  I know that won't be enough to win but somehow that number seems like an accomplishment.  The links to the voting pages are on the previous post here.  My local quilt store put a post on their Facebook page about the quilt...that was exciting! 

I'm off to help the economy......wish me luck in finding just the right presents for everyone.

Platform Rocker: The Next Generation

I have lots of great memories of my early life with my father, but few possessions of his.  Many, many  years ago my mother gave me the platform rocker: "his" chair.  You know, the one he sat in all the time to read the paper, nap, think.  It lived in the corner of our dining room when I was growing up.  During my lifetime my mother had recovered it in a brown fabric but by the time it got to me it was in need of a redo.  I brought it to an upholsterer and chose a utilitarian blue fabric.  It became a much loved chair in my house.  The boys watched TV in it, argued over who got to sit in it and generally abused it even breaking one of the legs at one time.  So, I found a furniture restorer who was able to repair the leg just about as good as new.  But eventually after 20+ years of love by three boys, it looked like this:

The stuffing was flattened, the seat dirty and not visible in this picture is the side that the cat decided was a nice scratching post long ago.  I love this chair because it reminds me of my Dad.  When he sat here after work decompressing from his day he was approachable and available for my childish questions or to read me my favorite comic strip in the newspaper. Although Son #2 has no memories of my Dad, he has his own fond memories of this chair developed over his own childhood.  So when I offered to have it recovered again for them to use in their nursery, he was very excited.

His wife and I had a bit of trouble picking out fabric.  Our first three choices were discontinued!  But after two trips to the upholsterer and browsing countless sample books we finally found a fabric we were happy with and would go with the rest of her nursery choices.  I picked up the chair a few days ago:

The picture doesn't do it justice...maybe because it is taken with my phone in the shop.  I like how the chair is quiet and unassuming.  It doesn't jump out at you. The softness of the fabric invites you to sit and be cozy and comfortable.  My father was a quiet, unassuming man who provided for our needs, our safety and our comfort.  So in a way the chair has become a representation of that. I love the worn spots on the arms developed over the years and most of all the idea that there will be a connection between my father and his great grandchild.  I know that I could have bought a brand new chair for less, but I could never buy that connection.  I hope our new grandchild loves the chair too and builds his/her own fond memories of it.  I've told son #2 and his wife that the chair is to be used and loved.  Don't "save it for good" or worry about spills or stains.  Just use it, rock the little one in it and know that it has been a source of comfort for several generations of our family through the years.
 

Busy Elfish Days

I've been busily sewing this last week, but  I'm not ready to share many of my projects since they will be Christmas gifts.  I did finish two service quilt tops for my local guild.  They will get passed on to another member (probably a long arm quilter) to be sandwiched and quilted.  Here's a picture of my contributions with some Christmas gifts peeking out underneath:

 

The Start of Nana's Brag Book

Son #2 and his wife shared some ultrasound pictures with us last week.  Here's the first peek at their little one:

I know what your thinking.....looks like every other baby ultrasound that you've seen.  But, as the Nana, I beg to differ.  I think he/she looks like his dad.  But then again, I might just be a bit biased. 

Staycation: Volume Three (Last One)

So, I know that this is the blogging equivalent of showing vacation pictures around the office, but when your brain gets old writing things down (or blogging about them) helps to cement the memory a bit.  And, if you still get brain cobwebs you can always go back and read what you wrote and remind yourself what a great time you had.  I totally understand if your yawning and want to skip on down the blogging road....but if not, indulge me for a moment.

My cousin and I had a great time comparing versions of family stories from our past.  Often we knew the same stories but the facts were a bit different.  The truth probably lies somewhere between each version.  Then we looked at old pictures and genealogy information compiled by my sister.  My cousin had never heard about our father's CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) experience.  She enjoys history from that period and it turned out that her visit coincided with a dedication ceremony at the CCC Legacy building for a memory wall.  There were a handful of CCC Boys at the ceremony from all over the country with their families. Their numbers are dwindling and most of them are in their mid 80's.  I wish I had opportunity to talk with some of them. Some day I'd like to sit down with the CCC Legacy historian and see if I can fill in some of the details of my father's service.

 

We followed this us with a trip to one of our favorite German restaurants where we were treated to some live accordion music of traditional German songs.

We stuffed ourselves with wiener schnitzel, red cabbage, spatezla, and apple crumb cake.  Both my cousin and my husband have spent time in Germany and really liked the atmosphere here.

Believe it or not, these three posts were just the highlights of our week.  We managed to do a lot, but we also left a lot undone.  Hopefully we'll have another chance to get together and explore some more. 

But now.....back to sewing.

Playing Tourist at Home: Volume One

I haven't touched my sewing machine in a week which sort of makes me sad, but I've been having a lot of fun getting reacquainted with a cousin of mine and showing her various places around here during her recent visit.  We packed a lot into a week.  I barely even entered my sewing room except to show her some of my quilts.

We visited Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. 

I hadn't been there in 20 years or more and a lot had changed.  Here are a few tidbits of history that I picked up:

• Jefferson died deep in debt.  Although ideologically he was against slavery, his debt prevented him for freeing all of his slaves since their value was greater than that of his several thousand acres of land.
• He loved books and gave most of his collection to start the Library of Congress.
• He loved coffee and drank it daily.
• The design of his house had many innovative features.  My favorite was including the dependencies (kitchen, wine cellar, stables, etc.) all in the same structure rather than in several small buildings.
• He spent a lot of time in France and brought back a lot of art and many ideas for his home from that trip. 
• He was over six feet tall.

We also visited the Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge.  This is one of only eight covered bridges left in Virginia.  It was built in 1892, burned in 1976, salvaged and reopened (original timbers were used) in 1979.  It has operated continuously except for those three years of reconstruction.

That's enough for one post......more to come.

The Clarinet: A Family Heirloom

Last weekend was our neighborhood yard sale.  My friend and I set out our wares and "played store" on Friday and Saturday and were amazed once again at the whole event.  For our last few sales she has tried to sell two trumpets that her children had used during their high school days.  As usual there were lots of lookers and many stories about band and instruments shared throughout the day.

All this talk reminded me of "The Tale of the Family Clarinet".  When I was in junior high we had the first opportunity to join band.  My mother encouraged all types of educational experiences and was very supportive of our interests.  I came home and announced that I wanted to join band and I would like to play the flute.  My mother was supportive, but also very practical minded and realistic about both money and the changing interests of children.  So she said, "We have a clarinet.  You can start there.  If you stick with it we will buy you a flute."  Well, she was right.  After a year I was done with music lessons.

Shortly after my mother died we were sitting around sharing stories.  By then the clarinet was back in my possession after being used by my niece and then my son #1.  My niece shared how she wanted to play the flute growing up, but her mother (my sister and the original clarinet owner) told her to start with the clarinet.  I answered that I also wanted to play the flute but had to start with the already purchased clarinet!  And.....when son #1 wanted to take lessons I told him, "We have a clarinet...."

We all sort of blamed my sister for thwarting our fluting dreams because she had started with that darn clarinet.  She was sitting quietly listening to the stories and surprised us all when she spoke up and said, "Wait a minute.  I wanted to play the FLUTE also!!"   So why didn't she?   Turns out that the band needed clarinets, but more importantly to our frugal mother.....there was a bargain of a sale on clarinets!

I've had the clarinet restored twice.  It still sits in it's original box, a bit lonely for company.  I have no intention of selling it.  Perhaps one of the grandchildren will want to play the flute and will join the family heritage of clarinet players with a heart for the flute.

More Fun in the Sun

In spite of all the problems I had finishing the Fun in the Sun quilt a few months ago, my niece absolutely loved it.  In fact she decided to use it as the inspiration piece to decorate her home office and asked me recently to create some pillows to accent it on the day bed.  Actually I made pillow shams and she will fill them when they arrive.

I had a few odds and ends of the fabric left, bought some white and a little yardage from the same collection (most of the fabrics were Ticklish by Moda with some add ins from my stash) to make pillowcases and here's what I came up with:

 

 

The square ones will hold 16 inch pillows and the larger ones will hold standard bed pillows.  They all have envelope backs and flange edges.

 

Then I decides to make two pillowcases, just because:

 



So, hopefully these will help accent the quilt.  The link to the "rest of the story" about the quilt is above, but here's a picture of it:

 

Virginia Safari Park

Our grandson week was a bit of a "staycation" with us visiting area attractions, swimming, playing board games, going out for ice cream, and just generally enjoying his company.

One of the places we visited was the Virginia Safari Park.  I love this place, so having an excuse to visit again was fantastic!  You drive through the park and get to feed the animals from your car.  It's very, very well kept and tons of fun.  The grandson loves llamas...I've shared a few llama themed items that I've made for him...and the park was loaded with llamas.  Here's a few favorite pictures of the drive through part:

Then, there is a walk through part/petting part for closer animal interaction.  By far, my favorite was the Budgie Aviary.  They have hundreds of budgies - you buy a stick with some bird seed stuck to it and the birds will light on your stick and eat the seed.  It was huge fun!

There were also giraffes, pot bellied pigs, watusi cattle, zebras, kangaroos, camels (they ate the food buckets!)  It was a fun, fun day. 

Our Very Own Doggie Wellness Center!

I've posted a few times about swimming with Seamus and how very much he likes it.  I've even dreamed of being able to have a "Doggie Wellness Center" where owners and dogs could swim together.  Up until now our pool swimming was limited to once a year on Labor Day weekend when our town pool opens to dogs and their owners.  Right after this hairy event, they drain and winterize the pool.

Back in the winter, son #2 (who lives within five miles of us) bought a house with a pool.  Prior to closing they had never even taken the cover off to look inside.  Fortunately, it turned out to be a beautiful and well maintained swimming pool.  As he was learning how to manage it he asked a lot of questions to the pool professionals about allowing dogs to swim in it and he decided to open it up to us for use with Seamus. 

So, this week, with our 12 year old grandson visiting, we made use of that offer:

We swam three different days.  Seamus loved it, as always and he seemed to actually move better after the water exercise.  He slept well, too.