My friend and I went to one of the local groups quilt shows today. Most of the quilts were quilted by machine but this one really caught my eye. I'm not sure how it was quilted as it wasn't in the handquilting we all see but more of an embroidery stitch. The displays were so close together I really couldn't get a full veiw of this beautifully done work. Being a handquilter, I can just imagine the many hours this took to complete.

I was disapointed seeing so many quilts done on the machine, not that machine quilting is a bad thing as I send many of mine out not having the time to handquilt each and every one of them. I miss the beauty of seeing all those tiny stitches so lovingly made. I miss the softness, the cuddly look of them.

SBS is all sandwiched ready to quilt and yes, I'm going to machine quilt her. She's a utility quilt, meant to be loved, used, abused and washed to death if necessary. Not a quilt to hang on the wall or save for the next generation down the line. I want the ones I make for my family to be used not stuffed in a acid free paper and put on a shelf, taken out for show. SewCatherine...yes there are Halloween blocks here.

When I first started quilting, I protected the quilts I made for my family like they were my children. I intiminated my kids to death with all the directions on how to care for and treat the quilts I had given them. I was appalled at my GS's when they made tents, wrapped themself up as they watched TV. Those quilts belonged on their beds, not abused. As I've gotten older in my quilting life, I've realized when I give a quilt, it's no longer mine and what that person does with it is OK. If they want to wash it every week, that's fine, if they want to sit on all those little stitches I put in by hand that's fine too and if they make my little grandkids happy in their tents, that's a good feeling. It's theirs, it no longer belongs to me. Our quilts are like our children, we give them birth, we watch them grow then send them out into the world and hope for the best. When they are tattered and torn we know they have been loved, not abused so we get out our stash and another quilt is born.

I wonder what the women of years past would think of us now. How we make quilts not to keep warm, not because we need bedding, not of pieces we've cut from worn out clothing but from rooms full of fabric we hoard. What would they think of quilts that grace the walls or decorate our tables, not a serviceable, utility quilt to lay under keeping warm.

We still make wedding, graduation, birth, memory, signature and many other quilts. We lovingly place them in protective custody, take them out for display and save them for generations to come. Years from now, they will be found in a closet, carefully wrapped up and saved and for what reason? Quilts are made with love and should be used with love.

Gratitudes

John home for the weekend

Another good movie "Ladies in Lavender" with my GF

A fun day at the quilt show

Indian Summer days

Not finding a present from the Kitties on the floor

It's been a fruitful day here at my house. I dug out all the SBS blocks I recieved way back in '99 when I belonged to a guild and we swapped blocks for birthdays. The ladies put forth great effort, way beyond their comfort zone to make these for me. Few of them appliqued at that time and you can see it in their stitches. Not that I pretend to be the quilt police, I love the effort they all went to for me. Little did I know a GGD was in the future and here it is 5 1/2 years later, her crib quilts no where near big enough for her twin bed. It was time for gramma to get busy. I dug through the stash auditioning fabric, nothing big enough to do all the blocks when I opened a container and before my eyes appeared lots of FQ's just waiting to sash these blocks. It's a hodge-podge of everything from dragon flys, ladybugs, to footprints, kitties, birdhouses and flowers all colors. She'll love it and I won't have to buy thing except the batt.

I started the hour a day a wee bit early. I wanted to get a head start as I will be gone almost a week for GD's wedding.

I made my deadline, the Compass went on the quilting frame today. I chose a couple different varigated threads, gave her an idea of what I wanted and told her I trusted her judgement. Nikki does a beautiful job, I know it will be sensational when she's finished with it. No pictures till it's done, I forgot to take any before I rushed it off to town. I didn't add anything more to it other than squaring off and a couple borders. After ruining fabric, a knick to my finger, another to my thumb, that Quilt looked me in the eye and said "Less is More, enough now already". VBG

Gratitudes

A movie with my good friend

A day sewing

Continued sunny, warm fall days

New LQS

I got to spend the day with my friend running around to all the LQS in our area. We managed to hit 4 of the 5 that are within 30 miles of home. What fun we had even tho' I was frantically searching for just a wee bit of green I needed to finish off my flying geese. Sucess, while not quite the same the geese are small enough the difference won't be noticeable.

We visited a new shop to us which has been here for about 3 years or so and what a shop "Tangled Threads" in Lynden, WA is. WOW was all I could say as I stood and gawked. This is no ordinary shop with one big room and a table off in a corner for classes. Fabric here is loved. A room full of flannels, a different one for holidays, another for Batiks. You get the picture here. A separate room with a huge table for classes, a staff lounge with big comphy wing chairs to relax in. Antique sewing machines in every room. Clean, tidy and shelves filled with scrumptious fabrics. You can see a lot of thought was gone into the planning. It's not just a shop, it's a quilters heaven.

Last stop for the day, we found the perfect Batik to finish off the rest of the compass. A good days hunting for us.

Yesterday everything went wrong. More time was spent ripping out than I've done in a very long time. PPing gets me all confused. If I put it down for a day, I can't remember how I did it the last time, seniour moments to often lately. Then knicked my finger, another knick to my thumb, more ripping, ran out of fabric, dug through the trash can hoping for scraps big enough and finally called it a night. Somedays nothing goes right and the best thing is to put it down and start over the next day.

Gratitudes

Chinese at our favorite place
The very helpful ladies at the LQS
A call from John tonight
Talking to my cousin on IM
Sunshine after a rainey morning

Flag of our Fathers

Friday I picked up a book with an interesting title and jacket. Little did I know it would keep me cativated all weekend. Every minute I had was spent with this book in my hand. I couldn't put it down. What I thought would be a novel turned into the account of the battle for Iwo Jima and the 6 men who raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi. Over the years this photo has signified courage and valour, but to the men who raised it, it was a few moments out of their life and of no importance. They all felt the real hero's were those who died on that island not themselves. We've all seen the famous photo, the memorial in Washington DC with it's inscription "Uncommon Valor, was a Common Virture" but yet we heard nothing of the lives of the 6 young men, 5 Marines and 1 Navy Corpsman who are in this photograph.

We've probably all heard "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" or seen the movies portraying the battle for Iwo Jima or studied WWII in our history classes but we've never read about these 6 young men and how being labeled as hero's affected their lives. We've never looked through their eyes and saw the horrors of war or saw how insignificant they thought that few minutes were.

Little did the son of one of the flag raisers know until after his father had died that he had been awarded the Navy Cross for valor above and beyond until he found in his office several boxes of papers relating to that time in his life when he went to war. His father was a very private man, never spoke of his time on Iwo Jima, never felt he was a hero and only lent a hand during the raising of the flag so captured in the famous photograph. After his death, the author spent years interviewing fellow Marines and family of those 5 other men. I feel this book is a tribute not only to those flag raisers but all the Marines who never came back.

I'm not ashamed to say I shed tears as well as chuckled as I was reading this book. So many lives lost to give us our freedom we have today. So much hoopla over a photograph snaped in 1/400th of a sec, a second raising of the flag over Mt Seribachi, a moment that was insignificant in the lives of 6 young men which labeled them hero's not for what they had experienced on Iwo Jima but because they happened to be there at that moment when the photograph was taken.

Iwo Jima was hard fought, hard won, many Marines lost their lives there. In the words of John Bradley, they are the hero's.

Thank You

for all the good wishes for Roscoe. I'm happy to report he's home from the hospital, not needing surgery but on a stool softner and has pooooo'd. Whew, glad that's occured. He's almost back to normal, just have to watch him and make sure that he continues to get rid of that full colon. Ever tried giving 17#'s of squirming, clawing cat liquid medicine? I've got battle scars but I'm wining.



You're all probably getting awfully tired of this compass showing up like every bad penny you wished you never had to see again. vbg Opinions are needed here. I kinda know what I'm doing, not that I do very often but.....does this need a stopper border between the geese and rising compass's and which the mix and match points or the all the same points????? Am I getting to busy here???? In order to keep this from growing and growing, I need to square off from this point. Laid out on my queen bed the corners reach from side to side, top to bottom and GD has a regular dble bed.


Minuture's, teeny scraps and 1.25" HST's are frustration of the highest level. My Hr a Day project got scooped right off the table into a baggie. Life is to short to save teeny scraps, spend the better part of a day and having three 2" blocks accomplished. Realization set in, I don't like working with something that small. I want to be able to see what I'm working on without a magnifying glass or having it right in front of my face. I tried it...am I gone try it again? I don't think so, not in this lifetime anyway. Anybody want them, I'll gladly mail them off to you, most are trimmed, some need it.

Fall has arrived in my corner of the PNW. The trees are turning color, the leaves falling. Time to put the garden to bed, bring in the BBQ and swing cushions. Soon the rains will start bringing dark, gloomy days perfect for curling up in front of a fire with a good book. I hate to see summer come to an end. I love the warm sunny days and dread the cold, gloomy winters.

Gratitudes

Having time to sew everyday.
Having time to read all the Maverick blogs.
John coming home tonight for the weekend.
Good friends on the net

Good and Bad Day

The good part of my day was spent in the sewing room laying out and stitching together the first of the borders. Still have the corners to do later this evening. I'm liking the lighter background for the floating geese more and more. Sets the center compass off rather well. After a sandwich, coffee and break will finish the corners and attach them. A good days progress.







The bad part of my day. Roscoe my loving manx hasn't been doing very well. He had been leaving little deposits on the carpet telling me something was wrong. A trip to the vet a couple weeks ago with treatment for fleas and tape worm didn't help his condition at all. I wish I had requested an Xray instead of just mentioning it then. I noticed a few days ago he hadn't been eating. Called the vet (emergency hospital) early this am and off we went. I knew something was wrong, he just wasn't himself, didn't come for his morning bath, wanted to sit in my lap and he's definetely not a lap cat at all, was becoming lethargic. Blood test taken, Xrays showed an impacted colon full of stool. The treatment so far has been a couple enemas with no results. Surgery to remove the stool may be necessary. I'm worried sick for my furry baby. I think thread or fabric ingested is the culpret.

To all those who wrote about their memories of 9/11 and feelings 5 years after. Thank you for sharing with us all.

My goal for tomorrow
Roscoe proof my sewing room.
Complete another compass.
Finish the HST's on the Hr a Day.

Gratitudes

A day sewing to keep my mind busy.
The Staff at Critical Care who are taking care of Roscoe
John's call from Portland this afternoon.

Back to Work

Vacation time for John is over as I waved goodbye and saw him off to the ship this morning. No more days spent sitting in front of the puter downloading music for me to put on CD's.

I look forward to my time alone, getting up early, sewing all day in my jammies. Not cooking breakfast at noon and dinner at 8pm. Vacation is difficult with everything being put on hold for the 2 months John is home. Nothing gets done but the basics, cleaning goes on holiday, the vac stays in the closet till I can't stand it anymore, and sewing is non existant. Somedays I wish for a 40 hr week with 2 weeks off for good behaviour. VBG.

Today I planned on getting the yard and lot mowed, a shower and evening spent sewing. Not going to happen, after 4 hours pushing the mower around, I want to put my feet up and do nothing.

Tomorrow is another day.....the start of my Vacation Time.

On my Vacation List.....

Deep clean a room a day.
Finish the compass quilt by Sept 25.
Finish Judy's Hr a Day quilt.
Finish Handquilting the embroidered quilt.
Hand quilt the Windmill for next years picnic.
Go through all my clothes and get rid of what I don't wear.
Organize my sewing room yet again.
Catch up on everyone's blogs.

Not a very impressive list of things to do on vacation but time fly's faster than a speeding bullet.

A View from the Deck

Yesterday was a perfect day to spend at the beach with my sister, BIL and friends celebrating her 51st birthday. A day for adults, no children or grandchildren.

She came along late in my parents life. I was 16 the day they brought her home and it became my job to take care of her. When I married and left home she was a year old. My son's arrived and the 3 of them grew up more like sister/brothers than aunt/nephews. The three of them still maintain that closeness to this day. She's my favorite of all 5 of my sisters and more like me than any of them.

Marcie grew up got married and settled right here while I traipsied around the country. Whenever I came "home" for a visit the first place I headed was to her house. Fishing/crabbing with my BIL developed a closeness I don't have with the other BIL's.

When we moved home, they were right there lending a helping hand. I couldn't ask for a better sister and BIL.

Happy Birthday, Marcie, may you have many, many more.

End of Month

Here it is the end of the month and I have yet to get any extended sewing time in. Seems the minute I sit down to either update my blog or stitch DH asks "Are you busy" and I have to stop what I'm doing and tend to some business for him. It's not that I mind but I sure would like it some days if he would gather all his "honey would you's" together so I could do them all at once.

Anyhoo......here is my Hour a Day, not much progress here at all. Most of the itty bitty HST's are trimmed with a bunch more to do. Several more stacks of bits and pieces to stitch into HST's. I wanted to do this challenge, had planned on it after all what's 1 hr a day out of 24, but as with all plans, it just didn't happen. If the HST's are 1.25" how big should I do the sashing???? I will finish this !!!!



Little progress going on here either. I think the border will look good and separate the 4 compass's I will use to square off the center compass. This border will be floating geese on the lighter background. What do y'all think? I'm anxious to get back to working on it.





Last evening as I was trying to update this blog of mine, my sister called to invite us to a "CRAB FEED". Dungeness Crab is the best there is and I tell you I ate until I almost burst. There was salad, chips, dips and corn on the cob which I skipped, couldn't fill up on that while there was all that crab. VBG....DH who doesn't eat crab sat and made fun of me the whole time I was stuffing my face and I didn't care. It was delicious and a fun few hours spent with my sis and bil.

Hour a Day Challenge

Finally a day for stitching. While working on the next border for the compass I realized all those snippets would make HST's needed for Judy's Challenge. I've always wanted to give a miniture quilt a try so these wee 1" HST's will work fine not only for the challenge but for this wee quilt as well. While I NEVER save scraps I just can't throw out all these scraps of batik and hand dyes without some feeling of guilt when they cost so dearly.

I've finished up 32 HST's while assembling the next border for the compass. Does this also make it a leader/ender project? Three birds with one stone. Today, time permiting, I will press, get them sashed and a photo session done.

I'm not sure I am going to like this current border for the compass I am working on. I've gone to a light hand dyed green for the background with the bright batiks to make a floating geese border ala Judy Martin. My deadline to have it ready for the LAer is creeping up so fast and my brain remains in a fog as what to do with it now. If this border doesn't audition pleasing to my eye, it's back to the cutting board and a dark background fabric. I wonder if I should have planned this better.

Gratitudes

The warm days and cool nights without rain.

Days spent with DH.

My friends terrible infection in her face has been healed.

Time for reading Blogs.

Not finding a present on the floor from Roscoe this morning.

Progress is being made verrrrrry slowly on the compass. It seems everyday has something new going on and getting into the sewing room is the least on the list of priorities.

At some point I have to decide what to fill in the center with...another smaller compass or a plain circle????? I haven't decided what comes next, my original plan of a circle of flying geese around the outside of the compass brought my eyes away from the compass. I know I am going to float smaller different compass's in the outer edge but getting them there has me stumped.


Today I babysat for my Sis's grandson while she went to the dentist. What a handful he is, on the go constantly, pushing as far as he could to see what I would do. I have to hand it to her that she takes care of him on a daily basis while his father is working.

In answer to the questions on my last blog which seems forever ago.

Lumpia is like an egg roll stuffed with cabbage/carrots/bean sprouts/shrimp and about anything else you would like to add and is the size of a taquita.

Yes, we raffle a quilt for family members only and proceeds go to help defray some of the expenses to my Sis and BIL who host the picnic at their place each year as well as to purchase fabric for the next years raffle quilt. Where the proceeds went wasn't what the cousin was upset about but a disagreement she and I had.

Shakespeare in the Park.. Angelika...no this is not an original of mine, but another one of Judy Martins spetacular patterns. You can order the book "The Creative Pattern Book" from her site at http://judymartin.com/

Looks like blogger is schedule for an outage at 4 today so best get this posted before it's ate.

Family Picnic

The kids have gone home, another family picnic among the memories filed away this summer to bring out and enjoy during the winter while the rain is falling and snow is promised.

A beautiful day, the sun beamed down on us and the wind stayed calm.

Lots of great food, BBQ'd oysters, salmon, ribs as well as burgers and hotdogs. More salads than you could count, plates and plates of lumpia. For those who don't know what lumpia are, they resemble egg rolls or taquitas and are super tasty. My SIL brings them every year and spends hours in the kitchen frying well over 300 of them up.

Vollyball on the beach with plenty of laughter and even a mooning by the pranksters in the family. Fireworks to watch as we sat around the bon fire toasting up marshmellows for Smoores.

We arrived to find my sister doing a lively ticket sales most of which were to my family. My cousin didn't buy a one and spent the whole day sitting on the deck with her sister and some of their kids. When I went to snap a picture as I keep an album of each years picnic she turned her back on me. Toooo bad she chose to be so childish. We all had a great time.

My DH brought out his "fart machine" and would set it down behind this or that person. Everyone wanted to have their turn and chose their victims.....I laughed till I cried.

As the day wound down and the sun began to lower in the sky my mom drew the winning ticket.


And the winner is..........
My brother Rick and his wife. While this wasn't the original raffle quilt it worked out quite nicely as they had just redecorated their bedroom in a blue theme.

Blogger isn't being nice to me today and wanted to eat all my pictures. I'll share some of my family with you later.

Busy Day

This morning after coffee I got a bug and did busy work stuff that really needs doing but something I put off until I absolutely have to get it done. I'm good at procrastinating and waiting till the last moment.

Before it got sunny, I weeded my little garden and found there's not much of a garden there. The slugs have been busy chewing every little leaf off my beans so I now have stems where beans should be. The weeds were higher than the short rows of corn which was no where near knee high by the 4th of July. Can remember my DAD saying that very thing. My tomatoes are scraggly and if they actually produce anything I will be surprized. The potatoes have come up on their own and seem to be doing the best of anything. I'm not much of a garden person this year.

After the weeds went to their demise, I washed both my truck and car, then straightened and swept out the garage. Bye the time I finished those chores it was time to head over towards my sisters. A stop at both Home Depot and Walmart to do returns and I was on my way.

A bit of chatting and then it was time to load the plan B quilt for our raffle on her handiquilter. I felt like an extra shoe just standing around while both my sis and niece did the actual quilting. 5 hours later it was done and only needing a binding which I will do tomorrow evening.

Gratitudes

That I am developing a better relationship with this sister.

The closeness I've developed via the net with my GD.

Age has given me wisdom, patience and understanding.

Comments

Quiltpixie....The hexagon is my temporary wall (it excapes me at the moment), a table topper I'm using to see how the compass is looking to the eye. It's a thought, hmmm a hexagon instead of the usual circle.

KCquilter....The pattern for the quilt in my June 26 blog is "Shakespeare in the Park" one of Judy Martins spetacular designs. It was in the QNM some time ago and I have it around here somewhere. Give me a couple weeks and I'll look for it for you. You're welcome to the magazine or if you want the book you can order it on her website www.judymartin.com It's basically just two blocks....snails trail and Virginia Reel (?) seniour moment here.




I spent today with the compass, playing with this next round. Started out with an orange point (lower left) and decided I didin't really like how it looked with the green points. Another green and I like this effect much better, more subtle and doesn't take away from the main compass points. Drats....I ran out of the fabric I was using in the current round...geeeze I should have known 1FQ wasn't going to do it. I'm also noticing some of the points in the outer ring aren't'showing up on the photo in the dark fabric while they do show in the real life mode. I think I'm going to be froggy stitching a lot on this one...those points will have to be changed to brighter colors and this is paper piecing. AAAAAck.

A LOL....my cousin finally showed up with the raffle quilt she was to put a 7" applique border (2 birds per side, a few flowers, a vine and some leaves) on with her two sisters 7 months ago. Hmmmm.....we have a alternate in the wings, the reunion is next Saturday, what did she think...I could hand quilt this in 7 days. not to mention adding the final borders......Super quilter I am not..My sister said it turned out rather nice and kinda pretty but needs handquilted so guess what I get to do this winter.

Gratitudes

Another day spent sewing.

Ice cold Beer on a hot day.

Listening to the birds sing.

Not finding kitty presents on the carpet.

I've finally gone and done it, started the Mariner's Compass. It felt good to get back to the machine again after such a long dry spell.

I know I should have grabbed the pattern I drafted, picked my colors and colored them in, but here I am once again choosing from the batiks specially purchased for this quilt without a plan of any sort. So far I like what's happening. My compass will have 8 points instead of the 7 in the photo and end up with 64 total. I haven't made up my mind what I will do with the center, maybe another smaller compass or ?????

It's been a busy time since I last updated my blog. My kids will be here in another 5 days and John will get off the ship for his vacation next Thursday. The house is ready, the shopping almost done. Snacks and things for GGD. Just last minute things to do, mow the lawn, and set up the studio bed.

I spent the 4th with my Sis and Bil. Had a great time hanging out with them, lots of good BBQ and the most spetacular fireworks display. They live out on a spit so have the bay on one side and the shipping lanes on the other side of their home. As it started to get dark we built a huge bon fire and all up and down the beach people were setting off fireworks. We could look across the bay at town for those and somebody towed a barge out on the beach side for their display. When I left after midnight fireworks were still blazing in the sky. A good day inspite of getting to close to that bon fire and catching my shoe on fire.

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's "Gratitudes" and think it's such a good idea to post them with each update.

Gratitudes

Seeing a fawn in the backyard again this morning.

A day spent with my sister and Bil.

Time spent in the sewing room today.

Catching on fire and only burning up a tenny instead of me.

A phone call tonight from John.

My new lawn swing where I can spend hours reading.

View from the Deck

Seeing mama deer with her little fawn brought me right out of the blue funk my morning was turning into after finding yet another present one of the Cats had left me on the carpet.

My day was fast going to the toilet, my fuse short, but when I saw Mama and baby, I ran to the fridge, cut up an apple, grabbed the camera and out to the deck I went. My mood instantly disappeared and the whole day looked brighter.

Wedding and the Quilt

The bride was beautiful, the groom nervous, the attendants wore flip flops. This was without a doubt the strangest wedding I've ever attended. Maybe the younger generation or the fact the wedding was held in a park beside the Sacramento River had something to do with it.

DH and I arrived a good hour before the ceremony to find my son, the father of the groom holding down the fort watching over the area. We chatted while wedding guests arrived in very cool casual apparel, not what I would have expected for a wedding. Shorts, jeans, flip flops you name it. I dressed as my generation would. By the time it hit a good 95 degrees, I finally trotted over to the car, stripped off my nylons and got comfortable. Nobody introduced either my DH or me to any of the brides family or other guests. I felt like a tourist at my grandsons wedding. The only people I knew were my EX, his wife, his father, his sister and his neice.

After the ceremony the photographer had the whole wedding party/family sans me or my DH running all over the park taking pictures for the better part of 2 hours, leaving me trying to catch a few for myself. We finally left and headed back to the motel and pool.




My eldest son Jerry and his family.












My 3 Grandsons and Me. Kody is 6'7" and his mom cut the top of his head off the picture. Fine boys.







Mike, father of the groom and my GGD Reese one of three flower girls. And yes that is a Mohawk haircut per the Brides request.

The quilt is almost finished, just 3 sides to stitch down the binding. The LAer called the day I got back from the wedding to tell me it was finished.

Close up of quilting pattern. I had it quilted in a varagated blue thread.

My GD will be here mid July for our family picnic and will take it back to her brother and SIL.

It's been a week since I got back home and I still feel insulted. Would you believe my DIL called "thank you for coming to my son's wedding, I appreciated it" as if I were just another guest on the list and not his grandmother. Yes it was the bride and groom's day but there's no excuse for lack of courtesy on the part of my Son and DIL and I let them know how my feelings were hurt.

No stitching here

I've not been stitching since the wedding quilt went to the LAer. Been too busy trying to control the yard and lot. I spent 7 hours on Sunday manning the weed eater and lawn mower. Why anybody would want an electric mower to trip over the cord constantly is beyond me...but....DH decided we ... did he really mean we as he very seldom is ever home when the grass is butt high and needing to be mowed, but electric mower we got and I cuss it out everytime the grass needs mowing. To my way of thinking a goat woud be a better investment. The grass is down, the lawn and lot looks good. Also grabbed up a paint brush and coated the propane surround a lovely shade of green. One less "honey do" project for his time off the ship. I've got a 5' rattan giraffe sitting by the garage to park in the lot. It will be a fun piece with a trailing plant. My friend got tired of it sitting on her deck so it moved over here. I wonder what my deer friends will think of it. Will they see it as a funny looking deer or...."VBG".

Tomorrow is laundry day getting all my hot weather duds ready for my trip to Redding CA for GS's wedding. I'm getting anxious and wanting to leave. Why is it we plan for a trip and the last few days take weeks to pass? I'm so looking forward to seeing my two eldest sons, their families and my precious GGD.

The wedding will be held outdoors in the park and I finally after much aggitation now have something to wear. I shopped till I almost dropped and managed to get myself in a very bad mood not finding a thing to wear. Everything in the stores, from Macy's to Walmart have something funky for the teeny boppers or something for the very, very aged. Not to be insulting here, but I'm just not ready for either of those age groups and where the heck are the inbetween clothing. My good friend came to the rescue with a long linen skirt she was never able to wear, too big and too long which fits me fine. A purchase of tank top, a pair of sandles and I'm now ready to appear in something other than my favorite Levis and T-shirt. And yes, I really would have dressed that casual. I'm not the ruffles and fluff type person and feel so uncomfortable in something other than my favorite pair of levis and a t-shirt.

The Kats willl be in good hands while I'm gone. My friend has been coming over every morning to give Lady her insulin shot, she feels comfortable with it as I feel comfortable leaving Lady in her care. The Vet has been notified should any problem arise my friend can take her in. I'm monitoring her Blood Sugar like a good mom should to make sure her levels remain good while my friend gives her injection.

When I return it's time to start on the Mariners Compass for GD's wedding come fall time. I want to hand quilt this one so an early start is in order.

Each morning as I wake to the birds singing I am grateful

I have another day on this here earth.
For my dear friend Rexene, who came to my rescue yet again.
For each time I look out at my back yard habitat and see yet another new bird
For the deer who frequent my yard looking for handouts.
For my 91 year old MOM's continued good heath.
For my DH who treats me like a queen and has always been the sun in my sky.
For all my friends here at Mavericks.
.

Happy Birthday Reese

I can't believe my GGD is 6 years old already. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms, a teeny tiny little bundle of joy.

Family

When I moved back to my home town after being gone for 30 years where the wind blew me, I thought my cousin was my best friend, like a sister as well as family. We were close to the same age and had a history of sorts. I thought I could confide in her during all the ups and downs in my life which were many. I no longer thought of the things she'd done to me in the past, they were old business, nothing to linger over, what was done was done. We shopped, had lunch, spent hours at each others homes. I dropped everything and was at her side the night her husband passed away. I gave comfort, support and let her know I would be there if she needed me. We were family. When her brother passed away three months later I was there. She was mean to me and her sister-in-law but I chalked it up to loss of her brother.

I've learned a lesson during these past 6 months. While my cousin is family she certainly isn't my friend or sister and anything I confided to her in the years since I've been home has been gossiped around. I've heard she's "always hated me". For what I don't know, I've never said a bad thing about her other than she gets more like her mother everyday. Her mother, my Auntie, my Mom's sister wasn't a very nice person. Maybe she recognizes herself.

I have 6 siblings, 5 sisters and 2 brothers. We all don't get along all the time. This is normal for a family this size. We have our ups and downs. This family reunion and raffle quilt has changed how I think about my siblings. During all this upheaval over this quilt I have come to realize, my cousin while she might be family isn't my friend or my sister. My sisters will stand beside me, present a united front and know me for who I am. They will be there if I need them, all I have to do is call.

In all my years of traveling, I never thought much about family. I traveled the road that took us from here to there always on my own agenda. When my Dad passed away, home was forgotten. I came home for the occasional wedding, funeral or vacation. Home wasn't on my horizon, home was where I happened to be. I've grown up, gotten older and have realized that home is everything for without family what are we. Family is everything.