..and a new year begins...

Its been over a month since I last posted, and so much has happened. I took some time tonight to speed read all the blogs I follow. I did not leave any comments, but sure enjoyed catching up on what you all have been up to.
My break from blogging was something I had to do in order to take care of things going on in my family. Mom had gotten pretty sick and after a hospital stay, came to live with me. I treasure the time we had together, and am so sorry to say she passed away on December 10. I miss her each and every day, but feel very blessed to have had a loving Mom who shared with me her faith, love of family, creativity and yes, her quilting.

Cathi, at Shakerwood Primitives, posted the sweetest comment about my mom and I thank her for that, and some of you saw it and sent nice letters to me - I thank each and every one of you for your thoughfulness.

We have been working to clean out her house and get it ready for my neice to move in. Saturday, I had the honor to straighten up her sewing room. I went down very early before any of the others came, and took my time to carefully look at each item. Mom had started a flower basket quilt, where each block was to be different. I will finish this for her some day, but not for awhile - hard to sew with tears in your eyes. I thought I would share with you one of the baskets and the beautiful hand quilting she was doing. There was to be an alternate block of hand quilting design between each flower block. Mom like to quilt each block and then sew the blocks together.

And this little angel is Taralyn - my beautiful new granddaughter. She was born right before Thanksgiving and is a darling. I did not post about it at the time as there was just so much going on with my Mom and Dad and the Taralyn's birth and work and Thanksgiving - well you get the picture. She truely is a blessing in a time of loss.

This weekend I will be going on a quilt retreat. It has been months since I was even able to attend a club meeting, much less a retreat! I look forward to the time to relax, gather my thoughts, chat with friends and enjoy the fellowship of other women, but I also face the reality of so much to do at home, and my Dad stills needs daily attention, and my parent's house needs so much work. We all face times like this in our lives, and it always brings to my mind the scripture "Be still, and know that I am God" which is a reminder to let God help us get through these overwhelming times. It sure is not easy being still though - although at times, I do it quite well.

So I thank you for your prayers, your support and your friendship and wish you all a happy new year.

Closing it down....

Life is just too demanding these days and I am going to shut this blog down until after the new year. I have enjoyed reading your blogs and sharing my quilting days and life in general, but for now, there is just not enough hours in the day to do all that is required.

A note about the previous post, which I have deleted. Noah is a real child and my daughter confirmed with the principal at the school that they were in fact collecting cards for him. His family recently requested that no more cards be sent though, as Noah's days were drawing to a close. They expressed their appreciation for all the love and support they had received through the cards, so if you sent one, you can know it was appreciated. So I removed the post and ask that if you forward the information to anyone else that you also let them know.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas and hope that I can reconnect through blogging in the new year. I will from time to time check in on your blogs and see what you are up to, but just won't be posting to this one.

Happy stitchin'
Teresa

Jack and Jill

I thought I would share another quilt with you tonight that my mom made. This quilt is at least 62 years old as she made it when my oldest brother, Michael, was born and used it with each of us after that. Then as her grandchildren came along, each of them got to lay on the quilt as well. I have the youngest child, and so it became mine. My grandchildren have also lain on this quilt and it is so precious to me. Mom and Dad were Marines when they met and married shortly after being discharged from duty at Pearl Harbor during WWII. The yellow border on this quilt is made from a windsock from the air base at Pearl Harbor. Don't you just love the stitchery patterns on this cherished quilt. It is hand stitched from start to finish.





We are enjoying having Mom live with us. She and I have spent a lot of time together sewing and just talking. While we watch tv or just sit together I have been handquilting butterflies on Taralyn's quilt. She is due to arrive by Nov. 20 - but actually could be any day now. I have five more butterflies to do - guess I better get stitchin!

Thanks for stopping by,Teresa

Here's an opportunity to help a young lady accomplish a great thing in Africa and possibly win this lovely quilt. Go to the Welsh Quilter blog to read all about it.

Teresa

Trick or Treat!

Meet my two grands - Tess and Timothy. They showed up with big smiles and big pumpkins - the only two trick-or-treaters I had come by the house last night, so they got extra helpings. Not to worry - Timothy did have shoes on - but he kicks them off as soon as he comes through the door and I had to get them to back up for the picture.

Do you get the Fons and Porter Love of Quilting magazine? Its one of my favorites and the November/December 2009 has this great wall hanging on the cover. I just love the center block and the looks of the trees - but I really wanted a table runner. So I decided to make the center with the trees on either end and add the border. Easy enough, don't you think? Well, I wanted to paper piece mine, and the instruction call for using a Fons and Porter Ruler, and do not tell what the finished size of the block will be. So, I can't create my foundation pattern when I don't know what size the block is supposed to be. I went with a 12.5" unfinished center block . I also substituted a dark green for the center. Here is what I have so far:

Now I have to add the border and determine what size the tree blocks need to be.

My mom moved in with us today, for a temporary stay while she finishes recouperating. We had a pleasant day, watching football (ugh) - she worked on the Gail Pan Christmas Wish patterns I traced off for her, and I did some hand quilting on butterflies on Taralyn's quilt. Hubby was here too, working on his computer doing family research. It was a very nice afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Teresa

Setting-on-Point

First I have to give those of you who have been praying for and asking about my mom an update. We admitted her to rehab on Monday night and she is doing pretty good now - ready to come home. She is walking and feeling better, although still not strong enough to be on her own. My mom is determined though and I so admire her for her strong will to get better. Thank you all for your prayers.

I have done a little sewing this week, and completed a quilt top for my new granddaughter, due to arrive November 20. Her name is Taralyn, which I think is a sweet name, and of course she has to have sweet feminine quilt as well. There is an ad on tv that says "Clothes make the man" - not sure I agree with that ad, but I do think in this case, the Fabric makes the quilt. It is a very simple pattern, but these fabrics are wonderful and I think the quilt is perfect for a sweet baby girl. The fabrics are Aviary by Three Sisters for Moda. I plan to machine stitch in the ditch around the sashings, and hand quilt butterflies in the squares and border.

The only problem I had was setting the blocks on point. Its hard to believe, with all the quilts I have made that I have never set one on point - at least not without the instructions telling me what size to cut the blocks. I am sure I have quite a few instructions in my library of books and magazines, but its easy to google it and find something on the net. I found great instructions at Quiltville Custom Printing which involved some calculations. Now I use Excel software in my job and the minute I see calculations, I have to translate that to an Excel spreadsheet, which I did. So all that is necessary is to enter the block size, sashing size and it computes the size of squares to cut. If you would like a copy of this spreadsheet, I will happily share it with you - just let me know your eaddy and I will send it on out. Highlighted in blue are the numbers you have to enter - including rounding up the measurements - but no calculations, Excel does all that for you.

Happy Stitchin'

Teresa

Mom's Hollyhock Quilt

I have not had much time for sewing the last few weeks and thought I would share one of my mom's quilts with you tonight. Mom makes most of her quilts by hand, and this one is no exception. It is hand appliqued, each block hand quilted individually and then the sashing sewn on by machine on one side and hand sewn on the other side. Its a beautiful quilt and one that she gave me several years ago - I treasure it dearly.

I have also included some pictures of a close up of one of the applique blocks, one of the quilted blocks and the quilt back. My photography skills are not that great, but I hope you can see her beautiful work

Mom is not doing very well these days. She is 88 and was recently hospitalized, and just not bouncing back like she has in the past. Please keep her in your prayers.

Teresa

A found treasure.

I was supposed to be at quilt retreat this weekend but was needed at home, as my mom is not doing well. I did get a little sewing in, and wanted to share with you a very wonderful project. I was helping my mom clean up her sewing room and came across this pretty Penny Rug she had made years ago, and which unfortunately a little mouse had discovered too. Momma said she could not bring herself to throw it away, and had been keeping it for years now wanting to mend it. I just fell in love with it and I believe its the only Penny Rug my mom had ever made. So I asked her if I could mend it for her. and that is what I worked on this weekend.

Here is the mended Penny Rug - and better still - she gave it to ME!

I also completed my Noah's Ark Wall hanging. This was a fun project to do .

I hope you all had a great weekend, and to my quilting friends at White Oak - you were in my thoughts and I know you had a great time. I can't wait to see the projects you worked on!

Happy Quilting,

Teresa

Crazy......

....quilt, that is. This is a quilt I started several years ago, teaching the crazy quilt blocks to my club. We had more fun, ordering a kit of "fancy type" fabrics and beads, buttons, etc from a site on-line and then adding to it. I purchased a pre-printed floral fabric for the center - assembled the top and then turned it over to my sister-in-law, Alpharine (no-blogger), a master at embroidery to do the stitching and embellishments. I have included a picture of the center block - notice how she embroidered over all the printed flowers - it is absolutely beautiful!

I finished it up this weekend - just in time to complete my guild's "PhD" program.

Talk about your coincidences - I finished this up on Friday, after having it in my UFO drawer for at least 2 years, and got a call this morning that Alpharine and her husband Larry (my husband's brother) would be dropping by today and spend the night with us. Now is that perfect timing or what?

Happy Stitiching!

Teresa

Be Prayerful

My Be Prayerful block is still a little rough as I have the pieces basted down ready for blanket stitch applique, but I wanted to share it with you anyway. You see, the blocks have talked to me throughout the making of this quilt. I have not worked on this one in quite awhile, but after admitting my mom to the hospital on Thursday, we have dealt with some serious health issues. She is doing better and will probably be coming home on Tuesday. The doctors are all impressed with how well she is doing for being 88 and having pulmonary fibrosis. Unfortunately they will not be able to surgically fix her heart condition, but she will be on meds and hopefully that will help it from getting any worse. I have been spending the nights with her and most of the days, and needed some hand work. I finished up my Noah's Ark project the first day - and thought about my Be Attitudes. So, when I went home to shower and gather up some things she needed, I hurried to see what the next block was and to get the fabrics I needed to do the applique. Wouldn't you know - it was Be Prayerful. The perfect block for this week. If you ever decide to make this quilt by Nancy Halvorsen, I bet it will talk to you as well....you just have to listen. Lots of good advise in these cute quilt blocks.

And here are my final two Noah's Ark blocks.

Thank you all for your compliments on my blog reading schedule. This was my first full week of following the schedule and it has worked great for me. I follow 120 blogs and I used to have between 40 to 60 to read in a days time. They would pile up and I would feel bad about not visiting everyone. Using this schedule, I had 12 at the most to read each day and found myself dipping into other days readings on some days. Some had several posts to read, but even that went quicker as I was able to read them all at the same time.

So if you are overwhelmed by trying to keep up with the blogs, but you don't want to drop anyone from your list, I recommend a schedule. I simply divided the number of blogs by 6 and that told me how many each day. Then rounded out the letters to that schedule saving a few for Sunday, and making Sunday my post day.

Happy Stitching (and reading),

Teresa

Happy Birthday, Ellen!

I have to hurry and get this posted before midnight, as today is my beautiful daughter Ellen's birthday. Isn't she cute! She will not be happy with this picture, but it was taken on her 21st birthday and I think it is so cute.

Happy Birthday, Ellen, I love you!











What have I been doing? Working mostly and some play. I have been putting together a pizza box round robin that starts at then end of this month. Here is my center block. I am doing this with some friends at work (Carol, Cheryl, Katie and Katie)


I have also been working on the Noah's Ark BOM - just two more blocks to do. How are you all coming Cathi, Cheryl and Carol???? (Hmmm...these pictures are not exactly in the same scale.)

And I recieved this oh so cute prize in the mail from Cherri over at Cherry House Quilts . Thank you very much !

If you notice on my right side bar, I have added a list of blog reading schedule. I find that I just can't keep up with my blog reading, so I have put myself on a schedule. This will be about 18 to 20 blogs a day (if everyone posts every week - highly unlikely), which is manageable and will keep me in touch with everyone at least once a week. Sundays will be my post day, and hopefully posting once a week will keep you all interested and coming a back to say hi.

Happy Stitchin!

Teresa

Thank You, Cheryl!

I received a very nice pattern in the mail today from Cheryl Goss of Willowberry Designs. I won it on her blog and she very promptly sent it on its way to my house. Its a lovely pattern entitled "Coming Home" and I think it will look great with the "Veranda Views" block of the month series that she has been posting on her blog. Check her out and see the very beautiful designs of this talented artist who so freely shares her gift with the blogging community.

Thank you, Cheryl, I just love the pattern!

Paper Clip Museum

We are back in town and had a great trip. I have the rest of the week off to just hang out at the house and relax - other than therapy on my arm, that is. Tonight we are going out to eat and then to see Julie and Julia.

I mentioned the Paper Clip Museum in a previous post and thought I would explain the story behind this museum. I read on someone's blog about the documentary Paper Clip and got it from Netflicks. A middle school in Whitwell, Tn, as a lesson about diversity, decided to study the Holocaust. They researched and decided to collect one paper clip for each person that died during this time and started contacting people about sending them paper clips. They were on National TV talk shows and also had three survivors come and talk to them about what happened. They received hundreds of thousands of paper clips. The biggest question became what to do with all the paperclips. The survivors contacted someone in Germany and found an actual rail car than had been used to transport the Jewish people to the death camps. The rail car was shipped to Whitwell, and turned into a museum. The school children give the tours of the museum and the history behind it.

After seeing the documentary, my husband and I wanted to see the museum, and decided if we are ever in that area, we would check it out. The town is only 16 miles from Chattanooga, so we decided to go. Sixteen miles makes a big difference in the Appalachian Mountains and it was truely like we had gone hundreds of miles. We were pleased to see this small mountain town was having a Labor Day Parade and we watched right along with every one else. Very "small town America" and a great way to spend Labor Day. Then we went to the museum, which unfortunately was closed, so we could not go in the rail car, but were able to see inside. Surrounding the rail car are mosaics of butterflies. I forget what the significance of the butterflies were.

While in Chattanooga, I did check out the Lavender Lime Quilting quilt shop, which is in the Fall/Winter 2009 Quilt Sampler Magazine. Its a rather small shop, but very friendly owners and big on inspiration.

I have tons of pictures from the trip, but will not bore you with them all. All in all, it was a very relaxing time and great to just get away for a little while.

Happy Stitchin' - Teresa

Helens, Ga...a bust!

We got to Helens, Ga and knew right away, not our kind of place. Very commercialized, crowded, noisy, overpriced hotels, etc. We didn't even bother to get out and walk around..just nothing of interest. Headed on up the road through the mountains to Hiawassee and there I found a great quilt shop: Log Cabin Patchworks. I picked up the new Quilt Sampler magazine and some wool and a few other goodies and we got back on the road to Blairsville where we stayed the night. Now this is our kind of town. They are having an outdoor craft show today, and the historic courthouse is open to the public, where there is a doll house exhibit. On the outskirts of down there is a minature train exhibit that we hope to go and see too....all local folks arts/exhibits. We will be heading on up to Chattanooga tonight, so more on that later.
We also have stopped at a few "antique" shops along the way and picked up a few special treasures but they are in the car and I did not get pictures. Sure has been fun so far!

Granny's got new wheels!

And I am ready to ride.

Got my new-to-me Ford Edge today and Hubby and I will be taking her on the road Friday morning. We are headed for Helens Ga, and then up to Chattanooga, Tn for an evening dinner cruise and a trip to the Paper Clip Museum and then head on home through Ashville,NC. We'll be gone for 5 days and I have already mapped out the quilt shops around Helens, Ga - the rest we will just see when we get there.