BEST MOM EVER

Mom, I'll miss you!

1917 - 2015

CAN YOU DO APPLIQUE LIKE THIS?

Last Thursday, several of us attended the AQS show which was being held here in Grand Rapids.  I was exhausted the next day and didn’t feel much like doing anything so, when I remembered Rosa said she was going to be at the Attic Window Quilt Shop on Friday, I decided to join her.  It was a nice relaxing afternoon, sewing with Yvonne and Rosa, and Marilyn and Jill.  Lisa stopped by and showed us her latest project (above).  Isn’t this applique wonderful! You can click on the picture to get a larger view.

This is another patriotic project that Lisa is working on.  Both of these patterns are by Rita Verroca.  Lisa said that she does needle-turn applique.  She amazes me!  I hope we get to see them when they are completed.

Yvonne worked on a small duffel bag and it was only when I loaded the pictures onto my computer that I realized I hadn't taken a picture of it!  Gads, I don’t know about me sometimes.  I must really have been tired from all that walking the day before. 

A SHORT STORY:  Last Thursday I attended a picnic for residents and family members of my mother’s assisted living home.  After walking around and viewing the many activities provided for all to enjoy, Mom and I sat at one end of a picnic table.  The sun was shining and music was playing in the background.  I was thinking, what a perfect evening.  A resident (we’ll call her Betty) and her daughter came to join us.  Previously I had noticed Betty and Mom talking when I was there for a visit.  I was looking forward to getting to know Betty better.  Betty smiled at me as her eyes roamed over my face.  After a few minutes of this I became uncomfortable and wondered if I had a hair on my nose or something.  Finally, Betty looked right at me as she nodded her head toward my 95-year-old Mom and said, “Are you her mother?”
And you wonder why I drink!

ON ANOTHER NOTE:  Toronto Mama has a tutorial for a waterproof picnic blanket.

Until next time,
♥
Stay Calm! Stay Kind! Stay Positive!
Caroll

WE HAVE SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE

Another reason to celebrate!  My mother will be 95 years old this week.  She’s always smiling like this.  I’m so lucky to still have her and her wonderful positive attitude.

This is my beautiful daughter with Mother.  My daughter is a saint!  I appreciate her and all the help and support she gives me and attention she gives my mother.

The other day when I took Mom shoe shopping, we parked to go into the mall and she said, “I think I’ll just wait in the car.”  That’s the only funny story I have today.   I think Mother had a pretty exhausting day.  Me too!  Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

On Another Note:  This might be fun to try during the holidays.  Melissa of Happy Quilting has a nice tutorial for freezer paper printing.

Until next time,
♥
Stay Calm! Stay Kind! Stay Positive!
Caroll

WHEN RELATIVES VISIT - ANOTHER STORY

Since I’ve been lying on the couch all week nursing a sinus infection, I have no quilting to share with you.  However, I’ve had plenty of time to think and it occurred to me:   Some people just do not appreciate quilting. 

Recently my just turned 14 year old granddaughter, Susie, came with her family for a visit.  It was to be a long stay while their house, which was in another town, was being remodeled.  I had mixed emotions about the stay as my DIL is a gourmet cook and I’ve never felt that my skills met her standards. I promised not to let it bother me and focused on what I would do with my lovely grandchild. 

I fondly remembered the times we all went camping.  Years ago, when the grandchildren were younger, all my children, their families and Nana (that’s me) would spend a week each summer camping.  We’d haul RVs, trailers, boats, tents, and enough food to feed an army, to a state park where we enjoyed each other’s company.  We went swimming during the day and told stories around a camp fire each night despite the 90-degree heat.  One day the men said they were going to catch some rays on the beach, which in my book is man-speak for “let’s go look at the babes in bikinis.”  We women spent our afternoon sitting around the picnic table playing games with the children.  I think Susie was about eight years old at the time.  When we finished our current game of Old Maid or Hi Ho Cherry Oh (I don’t remember as I was probably brain dead from playing said game a hundred times), my daughter (the mother of three kids herself) said she had to go to the bathroom.  Susie held out her chubby little hand and said, “I’ll take you.”  We giggled and I thought about what a sweet child she is.

Roll ahead a few years.

After the grandkids reached a certain age, the camping trips stopped.  Instead, the children attended band camp, Scout camp, baseball camp, you name it.  There was no time for family camping any more.  Since both my sons lived in another town I bemoaned the fact that I didn’t get to spend enough time with my grandchildren. 

So, when my son called to ask about staying with me for a few weeks, I was ecstatic.  Now certainly the kids have been to my house before; however, since the time when they were young, the basement has been off limits for obvious reasons.  They could fall down the stairs; they could hurt themselves on the tools.  Besides, it was the only place for the cat to escape from their little grasping hands. 

However, Susie was now a teenager and I knew just the thing to keep a teenager from getting bored.  I would teach her how to quilt.  We would have something in common, a bond that would last forever.  Every young lady as sweet as Susie needed to learn the wonderful relaxing art of quilting.   It was a rainy day; Dad was at work, and DIL was busy reading the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living, no doubt planning some new concoction for dinner that night.   I decided to make my move.

“Let’s go downstairs,” I said to Susie.  “I want to show you my studio.”

“What’s a studio?” she asked.

“You’ll see,” I said as I lead the way down the stairs to the basement.

We descended into the dark cool room and I flipped on the bright overhead lights.  After letting our eyes adjust I proudly waved my arm around the room.  “Here it is,” I said my tone bursting with pride.  Trying to add some humility I said in a quieter tone, “This is my hiding place.  This is where I escape from the world and have fun.”

Her eyes grew large as she took in the site.  “What a mess,” she mumbled.

I looked around.  Things didn’t look too bad. I guess I should have put away the small pile of 2-inch squares that lay on the table next to the rotary cutter.  I guess I could have put away the bag of chalk after I had filled the pounder.  I guess I could have straightened the piles of fabrics and made things neater.  I admit, when I’m working on a project, chaos does tend to develop.  But really, it’s just a few piles of fabric.

I stood there admiring my collection of brightly colored fabrics, my stacks of yellows and reds, my collection of oranges and grays, my gorgeous pile of greens.  “It’s my stash,” I said unable to stifle the pride in my voice.  As I eyed my various colors in their cubbies lining the walls and piled on the table I heard Susie draw in deep breath.

Turning, I saw the startled look on her face and wondered if she saw a mouse or heaven forbid something worse had come burrowing in from the field.  I cast my gaze around the room, looking into every nook and cranny only to hear that same sweet little girl who wanted to take my daughter to the bathroom that summer long ago, turn and stomp up the steps as she screeched, “Mom!  Nana is doing drugs.  She’s showing me where she hides her stash.”

(Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

WHAT'S THIS? ANOTHER MOM STORY

What is this?  I have another Mom story to tell, but let me preface it with this.  Everything is downsized today.  One pound of bacon has been downsized to 12 ounces.  Tyson chicken went from 5 lbs to 4 lbs for the same price.  And, this is the part to remember, a square of paper towel is now half the size it used to be. 

As we sat down to dinner the other day, my mother noticed I forgot to put down napkins.  Being the independent soul that she is, she jumped up to get us some.  She didn’t go to the drawer where I keep the cloth napkins, which is what I expected.  To her, paper products are a waste. (I grew up with hankies, never something that would be thrown away.)  She didn’t go to the pantry where I have the paper napkins.   She walked across the kitchen to the place where I keep paper towels and carefully tore off one.  She then ripped that in half and then in half again.  Proudly she came back to the table and placed a postage-stamp size square beside each of our plates.  I giggled to myself. The diminutive piece of paper barely covered my mouth and we were having spaghetti for dinner!  There are some things about us that we can never change.

This made me think about Dr. Morris Massey.  We studied this great sociologist when I was in college.  As I remember, he says that we are not born with our values but they are developed during specific periods in our early years.  I thought about my mother.  She grew up during the depression.  She lived in Kentucky and was the oldest of nine children.  They lived on a farm and they ate what they produced.  She didn’t know about Social Security, or welfare, or Medicare.  Back then, you took care of your own.  You helped your neighbor.  I swear, before she came to live with me, my mother saved every zip lock bag and piece of aluminum foil that she came across.  My mother, bless her heart, is and will forever be a person who scrimps, does without, is frugal and saves for a rainy day.  She believes in waste not want not.  That is the reason I will NEVER let her see my stash of quilting fabric! 

I thought about myself and what makes me who I am.  I grew up during WWII when we had ration stamps, we took items to school for the Red Cross boxes going overseas, we had air raids, we thought that having a job was the most important thing in the world and when you got that job you stayed with that company forever.  I think that was why it was so difficult for me to even think about building a stash.  When I grew up I sewed my clothes and I NEVER purchased fabric unless it was for a specific item, which I would promptly make.  Building a stash was difficult for me.  I think that’s why I love what I call “making fabric,” because it allows me to use up the smallest piece of fabric and avoid throwing it away.  I am my mother’s child. 

All this has made me wonder what my great grandchild will grow up to value.  He is two years old now.  Has every thing he could possibly want.  His parents both work and he goes to Day Care.  At two, he knows how to work the TV, DVD, and phone.  He lives in a world of terrorism.  He won’t be able to play kick-the-can until after dark and run through neighbor’s yards to play hide and seek.  He probably won’t even know his neighbor’s names.  What will he be like as an adult?  What will he value?

What do you think?  Do you ever wonder about such things? 

On another note, check out Em Celebrates today.  She has some updates on her Cat quilt that I previously blogged about here. 

Quilter’s Cashe has a Silly Chicken Block that is so cute.  Check it out.

PS:  Suddenly all those blogs I follow are not there.  I have no idea what is happening.  I know others are having the same problem.  Sorry.  I hope Blogger gets this fixed soon!

♥

Until next time,

Caroll

SNOW DAYS OF JANUARY

Stop in at the Attic Window Quilt Shop anytime during the month of January and take advantage of the special events and sales. All month we are giving away a free snowman pattern. You can enter your name for a chance to win a $25.00 gift certificate. You will also get 20% off all fabrics on bolts.

Each week during the entire month of January there will be a special sale.

1st Week – Jan 3-8……..20% off all patterns

2nd Week – Jan 10-15…..20%off all books

3rd Week – Jan 17-22…..20% off all kits

4th Week – Jan 24-29.....Buy five pre-cut fat quarters and get one free.

NOTE: There is a 50% off special on a selected Christmas fabrics, patterns, books, and kits all during the month of January.

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MOM - My 93-year-old mother still suffers under the delusion that a woman is nothing without a man.

I’m having some work done on the upstairs bathroom. Yesterday, the contractor came by the house to take measurements. He’s tall, handsome, and young enough to be my grandson (almost). He always greets Mother with a big smile, which sets her to giggling and plying him with offers of food.

“How about a cup of coffee and a cookie?” she said. He ate a cookie and talked to her for a few minutes then just as he was getting ready to leave, she hurried into the living room, brought back a box of candy that she’d been given for her birthday and made him eat a couple pieces while she giggled and looked around for more temptations.

After he left, she said to me, “Well, you certainly made a good impression on him.”

I wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic, so I said, “You are the one making the impression, sharing your candy with him.”

She smiled that sly little smile of hers and roller her eyes. “You stick with me kid, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

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Year Long Christmas - Feeling exhausted, run down after that last minute chaos of the before Christmas sewing rush? You may not want to even think about next Christmas right now, but Allie of Allie Ooops Sweet Happy Life has just the cure to keep that from happening next year. I know I’m sick of that last minute sewing chaos just before Christmas each year and have vowed not to let it happen again. I’m joining Allie’s Year Long Christmas event to help me stay on track and get those presents done long BEFORE next Christmas. Really, if you just do one a month you will at least have 12 gifts finished by the end of the year. Allie will have free downloads, links to special projects you can make, and a give-away each month. You can read about it here, then on January 5th, stop over (link is on my sideboard) and sign up for this fun event. If you don’t feel like doing it this month (still recuperating from this last mad rush) you can sign up any time as the event will remain open all year long.

You might even want to start your first project with this: The Nobel Wife has a cute stitchery pattern for you. Check it out.

PS:  I just learned that First Saturday Bee and Sampler will be held this Saturday instead of last Saturday because of the New Year Sale.
♥
Stay Positive!
Caroll

YOU'LL LOVE THIS BUG!

Here’s another one of those little “creatures” that are on sale at the Attic Window Quilt Shop. Guess I wouldn't mind having this little bug in my house! Isn’t she cute?

These items are by the same designer and are on sale at the shop. Each necklace is made of a bottle cap. Imagine how small the items inside each cap must be! They really are cute and something a teenager might like for Christmas.

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TLC Stitches has a nice tutorial for a Faux piped binding. This looks quick and easy and something I want to try on those Coffee Mats I’m making as gifts. This detail ads that designer touch, plus says “hard work” and will make your friends ask, “how’d you do that?”
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This morning was fun. I was in the shower when the security alarm goes off. I jump out, put on my robe and run upstairs thinking Mother has gone outside and I'll have to go get her. She was standing in the kitchen and wondering what all that noise was about. I asked her if she had opened the door and she said yes, she was looking for Howard. I tried to explain that Howard was not here. He was her husband and has been dead for four years. Bless her heart. She gets so confused sometimes.

Stay Positive!
♥
Until next time,
Caroll

LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

This wallhanging is from Kim Schaefer’s Calendar Quilts. There are 12 months of fun projects. I love her patterns and intend to make all of these. I'll have something new on my door every month.

Comfort Stitching has the cutest tutorial for a raw edge appliqué of a girl on a swing.

My mother, you gotta love her. She will be 93 in December and still has it…The other day we went to the hospital for some tests. I took her into the lobby and told her to sit there while I parked the car. When I came back she was holding a newspaper up like she was reading it. I was surprised because she has macular degeneration and had to give up reading several years ago. “Are you reading that?” I asked. “No. I’m trying to make a good impression on that good looking man over there!” I hope I have her sense of humor when I’m her age.

I found an interesting magazine I want to share with you. It’s called Going Bonkers (The Self-Help Magazine With A Sense of Humor). All kinds of fun stuff in it, some serious, some helpful, and some that will make you laugh. Hey, in their “facts” section, I learned that chickens have earlobes. I bet you didn't know that! I picked up three issues at the local library and think I’ll subscribe. I need all the help I can get!

Darlene over at Sew Cal Gal had a nice post the other day. Take a look. It’s something we all should remember.
♥
Stay Positive!
Caroll