All Tied Up

Recently my parents gave me a new carry-on sized travel suitcase. My old one had made many trips in almost thirty years of hard use and was literally falling apart. I'm thrilled with the new one, it was a lovely, big surprise! I found this, tucked in the outer pocket. A pretty batiste handkerchief with a knot tied firmly in one corner. I knew immediately what it was, it transported me in time. Suddenly I was very young again, in the basement classroom of our church's parsonage where the preschool aged Sunday School class was held. There were two large, round tables with pint sized chairs arranged around one; the second table had a single chair sitting in the center, situated up on top. That seat was reserved as the "naughty" chair. If we talked out of turn or acted up we were hoisted up into that elevated chair to serve as an example of how not to behave! I remember our white haired teacher, a crabby little old lady who I believed back then, and still do today, was someone who didn't like children; she and her husband never had any of their own. Let's just say I served my time in an elevated position more than once in those days. It's funny the things that one remembers. The naughty chair and the flannel board with the cut out Bible characters are still vivid memories from that basement classroom space. So, back to that handkerchief: my mother would tie my Sunday School offering into the corner and tuck that hankie into my pint-sized purse so it wouldn't get lost. Mrs. Cranky-pants would help me to untie it so that I could put it into the offering basket when it was time. 

All those memories that stand apart in time and space, triggered by these two sweet and simple items. Years later, I remember my mother coming to me after receiving a telephone call and asking if I'd like to join the local Girl Scout troop in my hometown. The leader was none other than that same Sunday School teacher. I declined. And, many more years after that, when I was a young married woman, while visiting my parents we attended the annual Topsfield Fair at the local fairgrounds near my hometown; I was drawn to the quilts hanging on display and, may(!) have gotten too close to one. I was reprimanded, loudly, by the quiltmaker! Guess who that was? Yes, Mrs. Cranky-pants herself! She recognized me then and went on to talk about her memories of me when I was a little girl. She didn't mention the naughty chair and I, certainly, didn't bring it up! When I thanked my mother for the bag she asked me if I found the little "surprise" inside, I assured her that I did, and that I remembered. There was a LOT more than twenty five cents tied up in that handkerchief, Mom has absolutely no idea! 😉 

Life is Good!

Milk Money

Milk Money ~ 52" X 62"

I'm holding fast to my guiding word for 2020 (VISION) and creating quilts only from what I have on hand. This one has freed 175 rectangles from the 2.5" X 4.5" bin (they've been clamoring to escape!). The pattern, Stacked Coins, has always been one on my "to do" list. Stacked coins conjures up an early elementary school memory for me; one from back in the days when hot lunch cost twenty-five cents a day and a carton of milk was offered at three cents. We could pay it ahead for the week on Monday morning, or bring it in on a daily basis and deposit it onto the teacher's desk where she was expected to keep up with it! I can still recall the neat stack of coins on my third grade teacher's desk, dimes and nickels in neat rows. Back to the bins-- 175 rectangles seems like a lot, doesn't it? In my case, removing 175 allows me to now get the lid back on, barely. I've separated out the brights from the darks and lights and am now considering making a low-volume sister quilt (Lunch Money?) to this one.

These are the books that I've read since we instituted our hour-a-day reading time every afternoon on the porch. Actually, I'm only halfway through the last one pictured and recently finished The Invention of Wings; I loved it, I've been a very long term fan of Sue Monk Kidd from back when she was a Christian writer for Guideposts, before she became a novelist. I've always admired her writing style. 

I've got these all stacked and ready for the next few weeks to come. Along with actually reading the books I've really enjoyed sharing them with friends and family, too. This has been such a great habit to cultivate; escapism when we need it the most, it's one of the things from these stay-at-home days that I am happy to know won't go away! Have you been reading more while you've been at home?

Adapting in an upside-down world 🙃: Here's one adaptation that has cropped up to protect us during the quarantine; it's all about efficiency, and one that I seriously hope doesn't go away when the virus does-- curbside pick-up! I shopped yesterday at three different stores and never got out of the car! 

I was home in record time, too. Score!

Life is Good!

Dinner Guests and Memories!

We had guests for dinner last evening, and very special ones at that! As one quarantined week has melted into the next for oh-so-many, it's easy to lose track of how lonely one is becoming and how repetitive each day-to-day has been. What perfect joy it was to welcome family from the Capital City, even for just a few hours. On an otherwise unseasonably cold and dismal, rainy, day we had our own personal injection of sunshine with the arrival of our daughter, son-in-law and oldest two grandchildren!  I do believe that feeling was mutual. 

Hannes enjoyed having an extra snuggle partner too!

Mason and I played Chinese Checkers, he won. I have wanted to have this game ready to play ever since we began building the porch, its a warm and fuzzy memory for me that goes back fifty-plus (+++!😉) years. When I was a little girl I remember summer afternoons spent playing this game on my grandparents screened in porch with my great-grandmother when she came to visit them. 

This is my great-grandmother (Grandma) and me a few years before those game-playing hours spent on the porch. She lived near Boston, in a home for "Aged Women" (!?!).  She would come to visit my grandparents, by train, for a week in the summer every year (and then again for Thanksgiving weekend). I can still recall riding along to pick her up at the depot. Boston really wasn't that far away at all (30-35 miles); but, in those days, this was the normal method of travel and it was Grandma's way. My grandparents' home was next door to ours and I would walk through the field every day after lunch while she was staying with them to spend time with Grandma over that Chinese Checkers board. She was always dressed up: dress, jewelry, stockings and tall, lace-up shoes with heels. I was in the seventh grade when she died; my grandfather, her son, passed away a year before she did. 

Mr. G. is currently making a custom sized drop-leaf table for our porch space, it's where the Chinese Checkers and other puzzles and pastimes will live. This table project has been side-lined, temporarily, while he's taking care of an injured shoulder. I don't know that my Grandma ever knew how fondly I remember spending time with her; it's one of my greatest hopes that our grandchildren will have warm memories of spending time at our home. 

Adapting in an upside-down🙃 world: Today I had my scheduled shopping appointment at our LQS. Believe it or not, I almost missed it! Wouldn't you know it, the only place I had to be (except for that dentist appointment) in the last two months and I had hastily scrawled the appointment time in two separate places, for two different times!?! My appointment was actually supposed to be at 11:00 AM. I had written that time down in the kitchen; in the studio, on my planner, I had written down 1:00 PM! Thank goodness I got a phone call at approximately 11:20 inquiring where I was. I grabbed my prepared list, hopped in the car, and got there in time to grab what I needed. Really. 🙄 Tomorrow we enter Phase 2 of reopening the state. Stay safe my friends, be patient with the process, and wash your hands 🧼. 

"And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and take your rest in security." - Job 11:18

Life is Good!

Home Again, Home Again

I'm back! You may not have noticed the absence, I have been slow to post lately and got too busy to load any posts ahead of time before being in New England for the last week and a half. As you can see, I was lucky enough to visit Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor, NH on Saturday last week, it was a rainy day and where better to spend time? And, yes, I found some goodies! 😁

Right around the corner of the porch on which I am standing is the site of the new Pineapple Fabrics store. It is featured as one of the top ten quilt shops in the current BH&G Quilt Sampler magazine; it does not disappoint, either! This space is filled with precuts; colorful displays, a wonderful room in which to relax (for quilter's spouses or those waiting on shoppers) equipped with a television, comfy chairs and complimentary beverages-- take a peek at the one minute video hyper-linked above-- you'll see!

A quick stop for Cider Bellies, donuts freshly made and hot out of the fryer, at a farm stand on the way to Keepsake made for a perfect day's outing! These may have been consumed in the car before even leaving the parking lot! Ah, fall in New England-- I wish you could have smelled this place, the donuts are positively irresistible!

Time spent in New England was precious family time. I carried a stack of quilt labels to document my Mother's quilts for her. Last time I visited we photographed and jotted pertinent data for each one.

This trip I sat and added the labels to the backs of each one. Don't ever neglect to document your quilts and include your quilt's name, your name, the year and where you were living when you made it; that's pretty much the bare minimum of what should goes on your label; naturally, if you can add more information it doesn't hurt (pattern name and/or source, quilter's name if different than piecer, etc.); you may think that you'll always remember and a label isn't necessary. Believe me, it really, truly is!!

My sister gave me this precious antique child's iron and ironing board during the visit. I still can't believe it; it reminds me so much of the ironing board that I had when I was three years old. I love it!

There's more to share and I know that I need to get back to the "little houses" teaser from the last post. I will, I promise. In the meantime: the pattern winner from that same post is Pat, she will be receiving a Lemoyne Trails pattern in the mail in the next few days; thanks to all of you for playing along! For the rest of the day I will be finishing laundry and settling back in. Dorothy knew best, even though it's wonderful to travel there really is no place like home! 

Life is Good! 

...Miles To Go Before I Sleep...*

We've been on an adventure!  Back in April, on his 90th birthday, my Dad told us that one thing he had always wanted to do was cross the Chesapeake Bay via the Tunnel-Bridge. We decided then and there that this needed to happen!  Plans were made, routes were mapped out and the car was packed; it was time to make memories. We drove to New Hampshire to get my Mom and Dad and then we were off on a five-day adventure. We made many stops along the way, ate some great meals and spent a few nights before we got down to Virginia Beach. Bright and early the next day we headed for the Bridge-Tunnel!

My Dad's face says it all. I believe he enjoyed every minute of the experience!

Safe and sound on the opposite side of the bay! Just like that we were headed back up north again.

Once back at their home we celebrated Father's Day together; here Mr. Goodneedle and Hannes are enjoying some time together (along with the rest of us!) over a rip-roaring game of Cribbage. 

My mother celebrated a special birthday while we were back home with them too. 

Sadly, all good adventures must come to an end.  All too soon it was time to say good-bye and to leave for our return trip to NC.  Along the way we visited with Mr. Goodneedle's family in the Boston area for a few days and, this time, it was all about a bucket-list item for yours truly. I have always wanted to visit the JFK Presidential Library and Museum, we were lucky enough to squeeze that in.  

Located right on Boston Harbor the building has spectacular views.

We took the highlights tour which was informative and transportive (back to the 60's) at the same time. As anyone does, who lived through the events of those days, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the unbelievable report that our president had been assassinated. I was standing in the front driveway of our elementary school waiting for the afternoon bus to take me home. I was ten years old. I believe that this was the first time I had ever even heard the word "assassination" or even knew what it meant. Sadly, it became an all too familiar word from that moment on. 

A stop at the Ladies Room as we exited the Library held one more highlight. 

 I thought this was one of the coolest sinks ever! Have you ever seen one of these sinks before?

Lots of time as a passenger in the car allowed for the hand embroidery on these fifteen-year-old blocks to be completed. (Sarah Sporrer for Indygo Junction - "By Wisdom A House Is Built") I only lack two blocks now of having all twelve finished. I may be naming this one: "All In Good Time". 

That's all for now. Since we returned we've been busy running here and there; but that's another post for another day! Thanks for stopping by. I have two questions for you: what is something on your "must do" list; and where were you (when the world as we knew it changed forever) on November 22, 1963? 

Life is Good!

* Today's post title is excerpted from my favorite poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", 

by Robert Frost. It was written in 1922 and published in 1923 in his New Hampshire volume. 

Everything I Need To Know...

This is a completely unsolicited book review: Everything I Need To Know I Learned From A Little Golden Book; I received it for my birthday from my Mom a couple of months ago.  It is a New York Times best seller by Diane Muldrow. 
Between the covers of this sweet and simple book, illustrated in a most familiar fashion, lies a lot of comfort as well as humorous and practical advice for getting the most out of our adult lives. If you have cherished these gold-spined volumes as a child (like I did), or spent countless hours reading Little Golden Books to your own children (did that, too!) you will appreciate this happy trip back in time and value the straight-forward encouragement offered here. My Mom even wrote my name inside the front cover where it says: "This Little Golden Book belongs to: ---------", just like she used to do when I was very young. 💗   Who couldn't use a little bit of Golden wisdom today?

Life is Good!

On this, the 15th of November, I am thankful for my mother

who still knows exactly the right thing to give me for my birthday!

Gonna Party Like It's 1955

September 23, 1955

Today I am celebrating an aniversary; it's the sixtieth anniversary of my 2nd birthday. I know, I can only see one candle on that cake too... you'll have to take my word for it. My Mom, Dad and I had just moved into our brand new home only weeks before, the Living Room wasn't even done yet; according to Mom the party festivities were confined to the kitchen and, from the looks of things, the present opening happened in my bedroom. Take a closer look at the party dress I am wearing... those are embroidered strawberries on that dress! Oh, how I wish I had that dress now. (I can't help but notice the bruise on my forehead... apparently I've always been a little on the klutzy side, here's the proof!) The cake table is beautifully laid out and all dressed up too, with a damask tablecloth, this was quite an occasion! Yep, today I'm partying... just like it was 60 years ago, it IS quite an occasion!

This is a piece of the fabric from the curtains in my bedroom (above). The print is large, the gingham dog measure 9.5" from top to bottom. I think it's held up well over time, the color is still vibrant. I am going to try to figure out a creative way to use this in combination with some photo to fabric transfers of the birthday images above and create a keepsake from my childhood.  Any ideas? I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Life is Good!

Jackstones

Jackstones

I have an ongoing love affair with Low Volume fabrics; my burgeoning collection was begging to be used, or at least some of it was, it's hard for me to cut it up. Anyway, after Bible Study on Monday Quiltkeemosabe sent me a link for website tutorial on "X" or Hummingbird blocks, thinking I might be able to use the technique on next month's block assignment. Well, as sometimes happens, I decided to experiment with a few larger blocks. The tutorial requires an EZ Dresden ruler to cut the wedge shapes, I didn't have one but I did have a 9 degree wedge and pulled out some brights to pair with the LVs, I had this pretty 10" block stitched up lickety-split.  I really liked the effect. I decided to make a few more blocks (of course I did!) and stitch them together to get a good idea of how they would appear set block to block, they reminded me of playing jackstones on the concrete porch floor in the summer when I was a little girl.

One thing leads to another and I tried auditioning the reverse block on the outside as a possible border option. You see how these trains can become runaways in no time?

It was okay, but it wasn't as great as I had imagined. 

I found the larger, brighter triangles to be too distracting.

I had some pale gray shot-cotton in the stash closet... "I wonder" I said out loud...and I set to cutting. Yes, that was exactly what I had in mind for this idea! I still have a LOT of planning to do: size being the main consideration; from there I will know how many pieces to cut. A plan is a wondrous thing! But, for now, this is but the seed for a larger quilt-to-be; one that harkens back to long, lazy summer days playing jackstones with a little red rubber ball on a smooth, cool concrete floor. Isn't that what summer is all about; taking the time to have some fun... playing a little? If the first thing you do doesn't excite you, feel free to scrap it and move on. In this case, I am SEW happy that I did just that! Don't worry about those border units I have removed, one can't ever have too many potholders, can they?

Life is Good!

Going Back... For The Future

This is me, I'm almost four years old in this picture. Since returning from New Hampshire I've begun organizing and documenting some of my parent's photos for them. I've got experience now, after doing my own a few years ago, it was a HUGE undertaking; I loved every minute of it! A task like this can be fun as well as time consuming... especially when each "gem" that surfaces, like this one, launches me on yet another trip down Memory Lane. That road, for me, is fraught with pitfalls; leading to many side streets and detours. I've had to become somewhat of an investigator when it comes to adding a date to these snapshots. This one was obviously taken in the summer, there are supporting photos taken in the same place at the same time. My mother is in a few of those and, given the fact that she's not expecting at the time, I can assign 1957 to this one with confident certainty; my sister was born in November of 1958. And so it goes... envelope after envelope, box after box.  I've set up two tables in the family room to sort through the piles. A lot of these pictures I've never seen before.

This one makes me laugh. I was six years old, my sister had just turned one. My mother was trying to capture a snapshot of the two if us for that year's Christmas card. I was instructed to sit still while Mom attempted to capture and postion the moving target dressed in pink organdy. My "job" was to hand my sister the little knick-knack in my hand as soon as her bottom hit the couch, all in an attempt to distract her long enough to snap off a few shots. I can still remember this, don't I look thrilled?

This was my third Christmas. Remember that earlier post about loving all things ironing related? I can now say with documented proof that I got a very early start. I would give anything to have this child's wooden ironing board today. I don't know what ever happened to that. I had a little toy iron too; and can proudly declare that my doll's clothes, blankets, etc. were always impeccably pressed!

There is one category of photos I'll need help documenting; cars.  This picture was taken at my grandparents' home, I am assuming this was their car. My Dad will know the year, model and make. I'm marking these with post-its for now, there are other car and truck photos that will await further identification, this is, by far, my weak area. 

I have just finished reading Nearing Home by Rev. Billy Graham. It's an excellent read for people of any age, it talks about the stages of life; I found it to be a book full of wisdom and hope. One theme that resonated in these pages is how things that we took for granted in our youth begin to take on new importance as we grow older. This is certainly true for me when it comes to photographs... all of a sudden I realized that if I didn't document the ones in my possession, who would know these people and places after I was gone, or could no longer remember; it was a matter of stewardship. In response to a world now drowning in the information flood, powered by devices equipped with more and more memory, the Rev. Graham writes: "Meanwhile the older generation is hanging on for dear life to the memories we have accumulated during our lifetimes, fearful we might forget the anchors that stabilized, the lighthouse that directed, the Word of God that calmed the treacherous waters." 

And so, I'm plugging on. Going back in time through these precious photographs, Sharpie in hand, adding names, places and dates with the lowest form of technology; saving it all... for the future.

Life is Good!