While We Were Away...

We traveled to western Illinois last month for the funeral of an extended family member. Beautiful country nearing the Mississippi River; rich soil, sprawling acreage dotted with family farms. There was a quilt in the Fellowship Hall there, this one commemorating the church’s 150th anniversary back in 2009. I'm drawn to them. While the guests that day were enjoying a lovely reception of foods prepared by the ladies of the church I was studying the church's history, Immanuel Lutheran in Altona, as it was portrayed through this beautifully crafted wall quilt. I've said it before; every quilt tells a story!

This church has great sentimental connection for my husband, 

Mr. G's grandfather was called here as the pastor from 1946-1955; 

he has many memories from this place.

From western Illinois we traveled east to Buffalo and then on to New Hampshire to celebrate my Dad's 98th birthday with him in his home. It was a very special day!

The next day we took Dad down to his hometown in Massachusetts, the the Historic Document Center there where he recorded an oral history for posterity. Although he looks deep in thought in this picture he had a wonderful time remembering his many and varied experiences on the highway department, the fire department and even had a few stories (that I'd never heard before) about growing up as a young boy in town, the adventures that he had and mischief that he got himself into! It was a wonderful day!

We returned home to an abundance of Iris in bloom, a newly hatched family of baby bluebirds, an abundance of strawberries at a nearby farm and Peonies ready to pop! That's about it for this catch-up account of where I've been and what's new (one of those afore-mentioned posts that I had composed over and over in my mind but never committed to). 

*As I write this today, Mama Bluebird is sitting on a second batch of eggs 

for the season; the babies shown above have already grown and fledged. New life abounds!*

What's new with you?

Life is Good!

New England in the Fall

Our plan was to travel to New England to take in the fall sights and to visit family, Mr. G's sister in Massachusetts and then on to NH to check in on my Dad for a few days. On the drive up north, the foliage didn't disappoint. My sister had warned me ahead of time that Dad was getting weaker since he'd returned home from rehab a few weeks ago; and yet, even with that in mind, nothing prepared me for how much physical decline had occurred since I saw him last, six weeks earlier. It quickly became apparent that he needed to be seen by his doctor ASAP; getting up and walking was out of the question, he was unable to move at all without acute pain! Last Monday, through a series of stops where he was unable to get any accurate diagnosis whatsoever, it was ultimately determined that he needed to be transported to a larger, more comprehensive hospital via ambulance. Once there he was seen in the Emergency Department where a broken and displaced right hip was revealed through a CT scan! It was the final piece in a weeks'-long puzzle being dropped into place that ultimately completed the picture. The sad truth of the matter is that the fracture had occurred back on the 12th of September, it is barely detectable on an x-ray done at that time and was overlooked. Now, with new information, he became a patient of the Orthopedic Team and hip surgery was scheduled and performed right away. 

He had a partial hip replacement late last Wednesday afternoon and came through with flying colors! He was carried by his own resiliency as well as a raft of prayers!

Here he is, the morning after getting his new hip. He's on the mend and back in rehab as he heals, gets stronger and back on his feet once again. He's been through a LOT, and, at 97 years young, it's going to take time.  

Here he is, on his birthday back in April of this year. I'm eager to see that smile return to his face. The sights that I'd hoped to see up in New England this fall weren't quite what I had hoped for, but, I must say, those two thumbs-up following surgery last week might just be one of the best sights I've seen!

Back home in North Carolina again, yesterday afternoon was an especially GOLDEN one.

Life is Good!

Last Weekend and Beyond...

The 50th Anniversary celebration continued last weekend with the entire family gathering for a dinner out. Mr. G and I can't remember a time when we've had more fun. These four entertained the table all evening! It was wonderful in every way!

                                                         Here we all are, it was a night to remember. 

Even though I begged for time to stand still... sigh.

💗

In other, quilty, news: 

This is "Chain Gang", it is finally quilted. Since I just mentioned the passage of time... these blocks were completed 15 years ago! I set the top together only three summers ago, I guess it was finally time. 😉 I used Urban Elementz "Wavy Gravy" pantograph by Patricia Ritter to quilt this one; I really love the soft, curvy, effect combined with the strong diagonal  element of the quilt blocks!

Maybe I was simply waiting all this time for the perfect backing fabric. What do you think? Yes, that's the story that we're going with! I have a pile of bright colored scraps to piece together for the binding... I can confidently say today, at long last, that this one is almost done. 

Using Deb Tucker's Wedge Star tool and a box of 4.5" scraps I managed to set together eighty 7" kaleidoscope blocks into this top measuring, 56" X 80", this past week. Just to make sure that this one doesn't hang around for fifteen years before quilting, I have the backing and binding all ready to go. It's up for loading onto the longarm rails next. No time like the present... right? Ha!!

Life is Good!

 

Here to There and Back Again

We've been on a road trip to the Lakes Region of NH. Spent time with Mom and Dad for both Father's Day and my mother's birthday this past Tuesday. This photo is from five years ago. There have been a lot of changes since 2019. Mom can't physically navigate much anymore, she's a good deal weaker than I've ever seen; it's so hard to watch this happen. But, on the bright side, at 91 and 96 they're doing quite well, all things considered. Just two months ago when she was hospitalized, Mom's doctor never expected for her to be at home again. We're rejoicing in the fact that today she is, sleeping in her own bed and spending her days in her favorite recliner alongside Dad; there's much to be thankful for. 

We took Mom out to an ice cream stand for a cone on her birthday, take a look at the cones available to choose from. 😉 We also ate lobster, Mom's favorite; what a special treat! I had lobster rolls two days in a row. It was my duty you understand "when in Rome...".

Arriving home on Thursday other special treats were waiting. 

The garden Phlox and Echinacea are in bloom. 

The Brazilian Verbena is attracting Zebra Swallowtails and Goldfinch in flocks!

I potted up a dish garden for Mom's birthday, found a wide variety of small houseplants at a local nursery before we left. I believe that Mom will enjoy this, they have great big windows that let in loads of light in their family room and kitchen area where this should thrive.

A friend from church shared this. She had gone to prepare the altar for Sunday service and sat down in one of the pews to pray after she'd finished. She looked up to see this reflected on the carpet. Wow.

😊

Smile- God is watching!

Life is Good!

One Quick Trip

We've only just returned from a quick trip to Massachusetts; this time, sadly, for a family funeral. Our dear friend, and brother-in-law, Dick, passed away on Friday, September 8th. He'd been sick for the last few months, we kept up constant communication with Mr. G's sister, Barbara, and knew of his rapidly deteriorating condition but still were not prepared for that phone call informing us that he was gone. We have so many wonderful memories of him throughout the years.

In this photo, taken twenty five years ago, they were visiting us in our home overseas. Dick is on the far left, then Barbara, me and Mr. G. Those were happy times; we enjoyed SO many together! As you can tell by the picture at the top, Augie made himself at home while we stayed with Barbara, trying to help out as we could. That quilt in the upper photo is one that I made for my mother-in-law, seventeen years ago. You can read about it here; I was a brand new blogger way back then; the quilt now resides with my sister-in-law. 💗

We were able to dash up the road a little further, to NH, and grabbed lunch with my Mom and Dad on Friday (fish chow-dah, 'nuf said), it was so good to see them! On Sunday, when we were getting ready to leave, Augie and Monty (Barbara's dog) had a spirited game of tug-of turtle as we were eating breakfast. They're the original Big Dog, Little Dog pair.  They really do miss each other now. 

I read this book while traveling and highly recommend it; such great insight into dog behavior!  Home again, we're back to work on the kitchen project, finishing up the backsplash.

This is totally random but I thought I'd include this topic since I only just tackled it. When we arrived home there was a water ring mark on our coffee table. I have no idea where it came from or how long it had been there. I looked up some remedies and found one that utilized combining mayonnaise and fireplace ashes. I mixed up a small amount, rubbed in into the offending mark with a soft cloth, and left it there for about an hour. When I rubbed it off the mark was gone completely; I used equal parts, probably about a TBSP of each. 

Life is Good!

A Taste of Home

We received a big surprise in the mail last week; a time-capsule of sorts, in the form of a file folder chock-a-block full of old family recipes from my mother-in-law's recipe box (it was a BIG one!). My husband's sister cleaned out a cabinet and came across some real treasures, she decided to bag them up and send them on their way. We went through them for hours on end, there was so much to discover and reminisce about. I found a note that I had written to my not-yet in-laws when they accepted a job transfer and moved away from my home town in 1973. Included, also, were recipes that my mother-in-law jotted on the backs of deposit slips out of her checkbook (she would copy them out of magazines when she sat under the dryer at the hair dresser), she had lovely and distinctive penmanship. Some of the recipes were identified as coming from certain family members and church friends (Aunt Tillie, Cousin Em, Mrs. So-and-So), these were names distantly familiar to my husband. She was of Swedish descent, a great number of these family and church recipes are for delectable pastries and desserts made from scratch.  A few of the recipes were mine, copied for their Grandma by my own children when they were small. It's the handwriting, on all of these, that goes straight to my heart. Mom had a unique "rating" system on these recipes designated by a series of *s. A rating of *** was, by all means, a recipe to repeat! I pulled a few of those top rated ones and ran to the grocery store for ingredients. I made a chicken dish for dinner that Mr. G. is still raving about! "So, you like it?", I asked, "it's like a taste of home" he replied. I have a few more surprises for him planned for this week. The best comment, written by my mother-in-law, at the bottom of a asterisk-free recipe for Taco Salad was this one: "better not fix this again!" I'm still laughing over that comment; why didn't she simply throw that one away?  

We'll never know, but I'll take her advice and forego fixing this one.

But, I simply cannot throw it away!

😉

Life is Good!

Late August Wrap-Up

I had a friend ask me the other day of I was ever going to post again; that's how long it's been since I've updated here! Sheesh. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, that would be the simplest explanation; actually, the exact opposite is the case. I'm going to bring the blog up to date, but it will take several posts to accomplish that. At last post, I was pulling blocks-of-the-month out of the stash closet (it just keeps giving... ) and setting them together. I'll pick back up there. This one was called The Chain Gang, it's been aging, like a fine wine, since 2010. Out of the bin and into the light: two blocks needed to bring it to a respectable size. I decided on a straight set and sashed it with a gray fabric that I had left over from another, different, (more recent) block-of-the-month. I found some bright grunge fabrics to use as the cornerstones so that the "chains" would remain unbroken. I had to order more Kona black to finish up the borders after the blocks were completed.

"The Chain Gang" ~ 56" X 72"

So, here we are, eleven years later~ finally at the flimsy stage. Another one to add to the ever-growing "to be quilted" queue! After all these years I've decided to not waste anymore time on this one, even to think of a clever name for it. It will simply be called The Chain Gang, as it was titled originally. 

One more late-August update, our baby turned 41 years old; he graciously hosted us at HIS house this year to celebrate! As the month wound down we've been treated to an absolute abundance of fresh tomatoes from the garden of friends. I needed to find a way to use them up quickly. I found this quick and easy recipe for homemade soup.

Fresh and colorful tomatoes before (l) and after (r) oven roasting. 

This tomato soup is smooth, flavorful and delicious. If you're looking for a use for extra tomatoes you might want to give this recipe a try!

I was able to get in some reading time in August; these two books held my attention for a few weeks. I'm already onto a new book for September which I'm loving, I'll report on that in a future post. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed Picoult's novel, it was a little over the top for me. Berg's "The Confession Club" was a fun and diversionary story which I liked very much; a friend had recommended it to me and I'm so glad that she did!

Elmer the elephant made his way down off the shelf and onto my cutting table while I was stitching up the  last blocks of The Chain Gang. He's good company, sewing is always more fun with friends! Stay tuned, I have lots more to show and tell. I can't believe that we're rocketing our way toward Labor Day already! 

Happy September!

Life is Good!

Fast-Forward Once Again!

Here's the second sampler quilt top from the bin of old blocks-of-the-month; this one, also, from 2007! As explained in the previous post, I had stashed the blocks along with fabric purchased at the time for finishing; I'm SEW glad that I did that! The extra green and dark red came in handy for those cornerstones in the pieced sashing. I found this setting idea in Sharyn Craig's Setting Solutions book (one of the most often used books on the shelf), I thought it lightened up the whole piece considerably. Luckily, I bought enough of that mottled caramel color for the borders (and I have just enough for binding, too!). This top measures 60" X 75" and will be named "Autumn Stars", it's the fall cousin to "Summer Stars", below. 

The first one is quilted and off the rails, it's hard to believe that these are the exact same block patterns as the one above! 

I need to scour the stash closet for something to use for binding on this one now.

It's that time again: we've had a nap blanket "round up" for the three PreK classes that our small group supplies at a local elementary school. A full complement was delivered yesterday, in time for next week's first day! I've posted about this project many times before, this is the eleventh year that we've provided these to the school that we "adopted". Another fast-forward moment, it hardly seems possible that we've been doing these for that long! You can read more about the nap blanket project here. 

We were able to have lunch with our daughter and oldest grandson in the Capital City last week, celebrating both of their birthdays. Mason, now 13, was thrilled to see that he's ever-so-slightly taller than me now; it might be just a smidgen, but he'll claim it. This, for certain, was a fast-forward for me!

~Marbles Found~

One more flimsy out of the old blocks-of-the-month bin! This one is not nearly as "vintage"; these were assembled (and then promptly stashed) in 2015, only six years ago! This is small-ish: only 36" X 45" at this point. It was made using a line of Moda fabric called "Marbles". I may have located enough of that creamy background fabric online to border it up, making it finish to a nice, lap quilt size; fingers crossed that it will match. I did have a suggested final layout of this one in the packet but I ignored it and simply improvised by setting it block-to-block which, I think, gives it a modern, spontaneous, look and feel. Regardless, it's been checked off the "to do" list and now will be queued up, along with a few others(!) for quilting. Now, let's drop that remote control that's fast-forwarding through the days, weeks, months and years at break-neck speed! I can scarcely keep up.

Life is Good!