Tonya's Letters

Ever since Tonya posted her freehand letters I've been wanting to give it a whirl. I've been itching to stitch but not on anything that would take a lot of time nor end up being another UFO added to the already big stack. AHA, Tonya's letters would fill the bill.

Over on the FLQ list one of the gals has just moved into a brandy new home and house blocks are being sent to her. Not wanting or being able to find a house block that I liked and thoughts of Tonya's letters dancing around in my head, I decided to do letters for her with the idea she could add them to her blocks or borders. If they shouldn't be to her liking and she doesn't use them, it won't hurt my feelings and I will have ventured into the world of letters.

With my trusty side kick watching my every move, I grabbed up the fabric and went to town on them, changing my mind in midstream. Having a general idea of the instructions in my head I proceeded to get busy thinking I would do "Home Sweet Home". After 2 hours spent on "M" and not getting the result I was after, I threw in the towel and off on another batch of letters I went, changing what I had to fit what I wanted. "Friends are the Greatest" became my new mantra.

I escaped off to town again today. I get cabin fever really bad when DH comes home for vacation. I'm the type who loves to visit and have friends over, he's the type that loves to come home and never venture anywhere. His vacation to him is sitting in the garage making music. Being home is all he wants to do. So today I called my GF, loaded up all the aluminum cans into the truck and off we went. Joann's was calling, I had a % off coupon to spend and needed more quilting thread, some needle pullers (those little round rubber dohickeys) and needle threaders (the old eyes ain't what they used to be). Picked up what I needed and not one little piece of fabric followed me home.

Gratitudes

DH for understanding I need to get out of the house

For my GF who is always ready to drop what she's doing and escape with me

A sunny day in town

Burgers n Fries picked up on the way home for a late lunch

The new bird visiting the feeders I'd never seen before

Weekends

I don't do much on weekends. It's my ME time to sit and do whatever I want. I did my treadmill, clean/change the litter boxes, ran the DW and emptied it, deodorized the garbage disposal and shined my sink after dinner. Just an hour or so of stuff.

I made a crockpot roast with onions, carrots and little red spuds. I've decided while it's nice to have it burbling away all day long, it smells so good, I really like the taste of a roast in the regular oven. The flavor is so much better. Maybe it's the baking rather than the simmering that makes the difference.

I pulled out Broken Star as I wasn't in the mood for handquilting and I wanted to listen to the football games today (YEA HAWKS, we're on the way to the Super Bowl). I'm unstitching all those points I have together since they refuse to lay flat and have ruffles. I've got two legs onto templates and stitched together with 2 more legs all prepped. It takes awhile to unstitch all those diamonds and get them onto the templates. It's a project that won't be done in a week or a month, more like a year and it will lay flat. I'll be happy if 2007 and it both come to an end at the same time.

My sister called today, another disaster at her place. They say they come in 3's, I hope this is the last one for her. Her DH left to go to work, got around the corner from their house and the clutch disappeared in their truck. Could she borrow mine for a couple days as they couldn't get theirs in to the shop till Monday and BIL has 3 more days of work before his days off. I don't like loaning my truck out. I don't even let DH drive it. BIL needs to get to work and with 3 rides sitting in my yard how could I say no.

My GF came over to watch a bit of the HAWKS game with me today. She's such a hoot, gets all excited and jumps around when they make their downs or score. I can't help but laugh, she's like the guys in the bars a whoopin' and hollerin', a big football fan. She can tell you who's who, what QB is the best, the stats on all the players and call them by their names. Usually has her HAWKS hat and sweatshirt on, thinks thats lucky. I admit to being a football fan and I can whoop and holler with the best of them, but she has me beat in that department. I wish I could take her to the stadium, it's right down the road. Sitting in the rain in an open stadium isn't my cuppa tea, nor is freezing my butt off, but it sure would be fun for her.

Lady can't resist a quilt. Set it down for a second to go get a cuppa and plop there she is right in the middle of it. She has to test drive them all.

Year of the UFO's

On DYS we're having a challenge to count up and finish all our UFO's in 2007. Today I went on a search and count mission to see just how many of these buggers I had hiding about. These things really do multiply in the dark. There they were, hanging 10 deep on a quilting rack, stuck in a storage bin, hiding in plastic baggies, in pizza boxes, under the cutting table and on rocking chairs. 37 or 38 of the little darlins depending on how they were counted.

I've found enough orphan blocks from different exchanges to make up several tops, not that I need yet a few more of them. Antique butterfly blocks with the buttonhole stitches, lemoyne stars, both needing new homes as they aren't my cuppa tea. Sets of Shop Hop blocks dating back to 2000. More exchange blocks from the same group of folks I already have 2 tops and one completed quilt from. A couple RR's needing a border or two. Tops, tops galore just needing a backing. What the world was I thinking, how many quilts does a person need anyway?

Then there's the wallhangings, some done in classes, a couple panels purchased with the thought of using them as a teaching tool for my GGD. A couple vests, those kind that come in a panel, a couple placemats just needing the binding. What about all those denim circles cut from aging Levi legs with thoughts of a picnic quilt. We no longer go on picnics. What was I thinking?
Blocks, blocks and more blocks. The start of an applique quilt and a half finished GFG.

Some I'll keep, some I'll donate to my friend who's church has a quilt group for charity, and some will find their way to the trash.

As 2007 gets off the ground I'm taking control of my UFO's and not letting them control me. It's decission time for all these UFO's, what to keep, what to gift and what to pitch.

Happy New Year

As 2006 comes to an end and 2007 begins I want to wish all my friends here on Mavericks all the best in the coming year.

Happy Aniversary

28 years ago today with "nothing better to do" John and I drove over to Yuma, AZ and got married. When he told his shipmates what we had done the first comment was "What are you going to do when she gets older" and John's comment back was "Well, I guess I'll get older too" You see, I'm 12 years older than he is and I guess they thought as I turned into this doddering old lady he would stay young forever. Over the years we've had our ups and down, fights and makeups, laughter and tears. We've traveled from the Pacific Ocean to the Alantic and back as "Home was where the Navy sent us".

John's long since retired from the Navy and on a second career as a Merchant Seaman. We now make our home here amongst the towering pines of WA. We've been here 15 years, the longest we've spent in the same home and every once in awhile we get that wanderlust wanting to pick up and move. We never get to the let's just do it, the sun comes out after long rainy winters and we decide right here is where we want to be.

Happy Aniversary John, I'm looking forward to many more.

Gratitudes

The day I heard this slow talking Southerner and picked him up off a bar stool.

For asking me to come to San Diego when his ship left Portland.

All the different places John's taken me over the years.

The many spur of the moment road trips we shared.

For having always made sure I had a roof over my head and enough to eat.

For his loving ways and being who he is, my dear husband

Metamorphosis

Like a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon, the raffle quilt of last year has gone from an ugly duckling to a swan. After being held hostage until one week before our picnic it was returned with the applique border completed.





Before










After





Changes were made, new borders were added and new backing purchased as we'd frantically put together a quilt to raffle using the Flying Dutchman blocks which no longer complimented the center section, the backing and batting lest we disappoint our family not having a quilt to raffle.


Last year for the Shop Hop one of the fabrics was a beautiful print of Washington State places which we chose for the backing. As there was a limited amount of yardage available we had to put in a special order and wait until mid September for more to arrive at our favorite LQS. It was well worth the wait.











With the start of Football season I determined this would be my football project and by Super Bowl Sunday the quilting would be done. I've quilted the sky background with small baptist fans (at least that's what I call them) using blue varigated thread. Outlined the appliqued with a variagated green to tan. I left the windmill for last and hope something comes to mind to make it look like what it's supposed to be. The yellow is a tulip print (how Dutch can we get) and the darkest border a deep green. Baptist Fans will compliment these borders. I hated this quilt last year. This year I'm enjoying quilting it.

Yesterday I gathered up all my Christmas fabric and headed out to my sisters. She wanted to do something to decorate the plywood covering the window she lost and was going to go and purchase a bunch of Xmas fabric to do so. Wait a minute here, I've got a drawer full of the stuff just sitting around, lets see what we can do. We pawed through the stash and found a couple pieces big enough to cover the 5' middle section, stitched it up and then headed out to get some canned snow and clingys. 4 stores later purchased the last can alive, decorated the two small side windows still containing some glass, hung her Christmas stockings and now she has a lovely decorated wall where once was ugly plywood. While there we called another sister to see how she and her family had survived the most recent storm that blew through Seattle. Nothing drastic other than no power for the past three days.

Carol....forced quality time sounds like an Oxymoran to me. Sometimes I'd like to do the same thing just to force DH to get away from the TV and "talk to me".

Joanne...found a couple skirts and blouses that are very little girlish. It's those fancy dresses that are so streetwalker looking.

Blogger hasn't been letting me post comments, wonder if it has to do with the updated Beta.

Gratitudes

Both my Sisters survived the two recent storms without injuries

Spending a fun day with my sister Marcia

Being there for my youngest son during a sad time for him when his father passed away suddenly

A sweet call from John today who got his requested day off and will have a 4 day wkend

Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon just as my friend was leaving to dash back across the street the lights blinked then went out. A power outage, the first of the year for us. Shortly after her DH rang the doorbell letting us know the power would be off for some time and he wanted my friend to stay with me until he got home. He's very considerate in that way and keeps an eye on me when John is gone. We built a fire in the fireplace, filled the thermos with the coffee I had just made and settled in to waite for him to get off work. When I tried to phone the Electric Company to report the outage my portable phones were dead as well, nor would my cell phone work. Fortunately for me, John hates those portable phones so we have an old fashioned one in the garage which did work.

Later that evening my sister called to tell me they were having 70 mph wind gusts out where they live on the bay. As she was sitting in her living room she looked up and watched her picnic table go airborne straight into the big plate glass window. She had just enough time to grab her grandson, cover his face and duck her head when the glass started flying.

It was a long, dark night as I sat wrapped up in a quilt, candles for light, a flashlight to read by and the Bears game on the radio. By midnight the power was still out so I threw another log on the fire snuggled down, watching the fire and before I knew it was sound asleep. I came awake with a start when the furnace kicked in and the lights came back on at 2 am.

Today my friend and I commented on how quiet our homes were and wondered aloud why we didn't do this more often. A fire, good company and good conversation.

Every year for the past 5 years since my GGD was born I have always sent her a Christmas Dress. This is the first year I've not been able to find something suitable for her and it disappoints me. At 51/2 she's too old for the little girls department and to young for the bigger girls department. I wonder at the buyers . The clothes are way to old for such a little girl and do they dress their own little girls like teenages? Maybe I'm just an old fuddy duddy and want to keep her a baby forever.

Motivation or.....

lack of. I've been so unmotivated to sew this past month that all I've accomplished is a lot of wishful thinking and Leaf Seasons top.



Sunday I sat and hand quilted the day away while watching football games. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked as Roscoe decided the quilt on my lap would be such a lovely place to be. He's not much of a lap cat and the only time he ever comes for attention is when I have a throw quilt covering me up or am working on a quilt.





Saturday my friend and I escaped from home for the first time in over a week. We've had lots of snow up here and it's not melting fast enough for us. I had called my sister to see how the roads were out in the county and when she said they were clear with dry pavement we bundled up and off we went. Getting out of our community here on the side of the mountain took 4WD but when we got to the main road all was clear just as my sister had said. We did all the errands we hadn't been able to all week and made our last stop at Walmart. The parking lot was full, the store was packed. I swear everybody in town was out shopping. By the time we left Walmart it was already getting dusk. By now, really wanting to be home we decided to take the shorter back road, go in the gate closest to home and not have to navigate the hills in the dark. What a mistake this turned out to be. As we crested the first hill from the main road bare dry pavement turned to rutted packed ice/snow and a road that hadn't been plowed for the past week. We started slipping/sliding down the other side of the hill, my friend hanging on for dear life and me wishing I had gone the long route. I manage a free hand, hit the 4WD button and kicked it on which immediately or so it seemed stopped the slide. We still had another 5+miles before our gate and crept along at a very sedate 15mph. I have to admit, I was scared driving that road in the pitch black dark. When we finally arrived home, her DH had that "deer in front of a peterbuilt" look worried to death something had happened to us.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
North Central
The West
The Northeast
Philadelphia
Boston
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Way to funny, I'm Minnesota born and the only time I've been to Chicago or Wisconsin was a Navy tour with DH.

Winter Wonderland

After all the rain we've had this month the snow is a welcome site for me. It's a beautiful day with the trees looking for all the world as if a giant hand had sprayed them with whipped cream, the snow sparkling as the sun filters through the branches.

We usually don't have snow this early or last this many days here in my part of the world. It snows then is gone the next morning.





I'm not much of a snow person, I don't like being cold but today I dressed up warmly and with camera in hand ventured out into the sunshine. It's such a beautiful day and lifted my spirits after spending so many gloomy gray days stuck inside. I haven't any sewing to show, I've not sewed much at all this month so I thought I'd share my lovely day with my friends.

Leaf Seasons

Leaf Seasons is a top. Yet another UFO in the making waiting to be quilted. Once again, thank you Judy. Sure would like to participate in November's Hour a Day, but have to pass on this one.

It's November and the wettest month here in WA. Once again we are sitting under flood watch and hoping the rivers across the western part of the state will keep to their banks. It's a yearly thing, filling sand bags and shoring up along the rivers. So many roads are closed here due to water on them be it from leaves clogging the drains or just plain too much rain for the ground to absorb.

The Seahawks are getting ready to start their game so must go find some handiwork and settle in.

Gratitudes

A safe trip back to Portland last night for DH in this pouring down rain.

A surprize call from my friend of 30 years who had moved since I last visited.

Finally getting Lady's insulin regulated.

Being warm, dry and still having power during this rain/wind storm we're having

In an Hour a Day

An hour here, a hour there I will complete this one. I get to spend my whole weekend in the sewing room so should accomplish my goal of actually finishing this October project in October. I may not get it sandwiched and quilted but another top will join the many I have. I'm going to make it just big enough for the studio bed in the music room. It needs something bright and cheerful. Searching through my stash and not finding enough of the same fabric for the setting squares I'm going with what's there is in yellows and browns. My stash is getting pretty darned whittled down and bins are getting empty. The leafs will have to be yet more autumn colors, yellow backgrounds with whatever happens to be in the bins. I like this pattern, it's quick and easy and autumn is my most favorite time of the year.

Speaking of autumn, the trees have turned the most gorgeous colors in the past few days. We've had a bit of a cold snap not that that makes any difference to the changing of the colors. A nice day for a drive along the lake enjoying the colors on the mountains across the water. It seems in the past few years less pines and more leaf trees have sprouted up making the hills a riot of color.

Having a cold, not having much energy has given me time to sit and hand quilt. It's been a comfort to just sit and quilt plus keep me warm while being under the weather. I so enjoy hand quilting but wish I could quilt faster and accomplish more.

A note to Bonnie.. your quiltville site has joined yet another list I am on. The guys and gals there sew on treadle and handcrank machines. While many have electrics they use people power for their daily stitching. They machine quilt, do monograms, applique and all the things we do with our fancy electrics. There's something about peddleing away, the rumble of a treadle that is comforting and reminds us of gramma. Someone has referred them to your site for free patterns. The comment was made how nice it was to have an easy download with directions that you could understand. That makes 3 lists I'm on where your site has been posted. Your free patterns are greatly appreciated by all of us.

Gratitudes

Birthday wishes from my Maverick friends
Feeling better
A nice visit with my sister this morning
The drive along the lake enjoying the autumn leaf colors
Having a weekend alone to spend sewing
A day shopping with my friend Rexene

Winter Colds

I've been down and out with a winter cold and it's not even winter yet. Every year at this time I manage to find myself wrapped up in a quilt, sitting in my recliner watching TV while I suffer through yet another winter cold. How do I know I get them every year at this time? My good friends mother keeps a diary and yes there it is written down, same time last year a COLD.

While not feeling well enough to even get out of my jammies, I drug out that raffle quilt from last year to start the hand quilting process. You all remember the trials and tribulations of the Windmill, the changes, the cousin problem etc. With a few changes, new improvements it's not so bad or ugly and I've even taken a liking to the darned thing. So, over the past week, I've started hand quilting it with a modified baptist fan in the sky behind the windmill giving it some depth and character. The windmill itself is just that, haven't decided how to finish it to make it look like something other than the capsule from the space shuttle. I like these baptist fans, they add a dimension to the pale blue fabric in the sky area.

Called my sister for a chat and discussion of what to do about the next raffle quilt for our family picnic. Might as well start early since we have last years on the front burner for next year and funds to purchase fabric. We've decided on a family huddle of our sisters/mother to decided what to do about "the cousin" who caused so many problems last year. No stitching, just a sister get-to-gether, some hor de over's, discussion with a decision. Course we will toss in ideas of what pattern to do. I'd like to do simple, another log cabin variation and the sisters want something new. I'll toss out my recommendation, something simple and easy for those of us who haven't sewn much. Colors, something subtle as we are so diversified in our choices of colors. Some like bright and cheerful, others are more dark and dreary, other muted pastels. We're a bunch we are, all different personalities. One would think being sisters we would have similiar tastes but we're as differnt as night and day.



I celebrated my birthday last week. I can't believe I'm now closer to 70 than I'll ever be to 60. I remember at 17 thinking 35 was old, decrepit and being ready for a rocking chair. Time sure does fly by fast. Seems one day you're starting kindergarten, then next you're in junior high, graduation from HS, right behind that looking forward to turning 21. Followed fast by marriage, a few kids, their school days, graduations and marriages. Before you know it along come the grandkids and then before you're ever ready up pops that first great grandchild. You've blinked and a whole life has passed by, you've grown from that child, to adult, to seniour citizen and you haven't done all the things you planned with your life. I spent my day being sick, resentfull my DH hadn't even got me a card, instead handing me a wad of cash with a go buy yourself something, feeling forgotten and sorry for myself until my son's called to wish me a Happy Birthday. So I turned 67, just another day in the year for everyone else, but my special day, one I've always looked forward to. Birthdays aren't as fun as they used to be. When I was growing up, my parents made birthdays our own special holidays. The one we could look forward to all year long. It was better than Easter or Christmas because it was ours. I miss the birthdays of my childhood.

Catching Up

It's been awhile since I've posted to my blog. Days were busy getting everything ready for my trip to CA to see my GD married.

Both quilts were finished in time, the car packed and off I headed. Was a wonderful trip. I was able to spend quality time with both my sons, their families and meet GD's girlfriends who all came from other areas to be her bridesmaids.

Arrived on Monday night in plenty of time to attend the wedding rehearsal and dinner. From there we went back to the house and proceeded to play beer pong. Now if you've never played beer pong it's rather interesting. I played but when it came to downing quarter cups of beer I passed them off to the groom as I had to drive myself back to the motel for the night.

Wedding day was warm, blue skies, perfect for an evening ceremony. The setting was lovely, with a gazebo right on the river. My pictures didn't turn out really well as the sun was going down behind the wedding party.

The cake, baked and decorated by my other DIL who's very artistic and talented.

GD Jody and I.

GGD Reese and I. The handsome guy behind us is my son Mike, the brides dad. It never fails when someone takes a picture I always end up with some of the awfullest looks on my face. I hate having my picture taken.

Gratitudes...

Seeing my beautiful GD so happy.

Spending time with both my sons on this trip.

Special gratitude for a good friend and cat sitter who spent my whole trip cleaning up after a sick cat.

Still being young enough to make long car trips alone.

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.