It's April, No Foolin'

It's April, and it seems to me that this month has arrived quick like a bunny, don't you think so?

Well, if you agree with me that time is rocketing forward you might not be surprised 

to learn that our grandson is visiting colleges this week. And that's not an April Fool's joke.

Seems like he was six years old a week and a half ago. 

Life is Good! 

The Confetti Chain and Other Warm Weather Happenings

This is what I'm calling "Confetti Chain",  as it stands right now, 24 blocks. I hope to add the same number more; making it a generous 60" X 80" quilt. Eventually.

Here's the basic block unit laid out. Each block has forty three pieces! I can't remember where I ever saw this and I can't find a source. My version uses lights and darks out of the 1.5" scrap bin for the 4-patches. The background is all different low volume prints (one of my fondest weaknesses) cut into the following: 7 - 2.5" squares, 2- 2.5" X 4.5" rectangles and 2- 2.5" X 6.5" rectangles. That's it. I keep these going by the machine all the time and stitch them up leader-ender style as I am assembling other things. I needed to get this together so that I could fold it up and get it off the design wall for now to start auditioning different projects that are also in the works.  

The birds are out in force! We've got five baby bluebird hatchlings in the birdhouse and various birds nesting everywhere around us! It might be hard to tell in the photo but this determined Mama decided to build her nest and start her family directly on top of a flood light under our eaves! We have to be careful not to turn that light on accidentally when we go outside after dark; talk about a rude awakening!

And this... totally unrelated to anything else in this post. Those of you who've followed this blog for a long time will remember when Mason, our oldest grandson, was born. He's now almost driving age and serving as a Jr. Swim Coach for his neighborhood pool this summer. Our daughter sent me this picture yesterday. Here is Mason holding one of the youngest swimmers that he coaches; at a meet last evening. Could this moment be any sweeter? I don't think so, at least not for this Nana. 

Don't forget- today, June 13th, 

is the day; make it count!

Life is Good! 

Continuing in the Covenant

On January 9, 2011, Gregory was baptized by his maternal grandfather. Here they are again: 13 years and four months later, at that same baptismal font. He, along with thirteen others, made public affirmation of that baptism yesterday; at his confirmation. We were blessed to witness this and are so very proud of this young man for his commitment and his hard work.

            

Congratulations, Gregory!

May God bless you always. 

Life is Good!

It's All Good!

I've been catching up on the two block-of-the-month programs that I signed up for at the LQS. Being gone for just a little over two weeks seems more like two months when it comes to catching up on what I missed while we were away! The Cream and Sugar class (left) required two more identical blocks for November and the Aspiring Stars class offered another block this month which I was able to explore making up in varying sizes.

I'm still not sure what I'll do with the extra blocks when I actually settle on a size for the quilt! Oh, well, I'm having fun experimenting in the meantime. My "orphan blocks" box is currently full-to-overflowing. I'm going to have to get creative with its contents before I feed it any more! 

We needed to catch up with this birthday boy who turned 12 while we were traveling; yes, twelve!! 😲 We asked him to choose where he's like to go for his birthday dinner. That was easy! 

My sister in law belongs to a farm cooperative sharing program; we went with her to the barn while we were visiting her home, she shared with us some of the root vegetables that were part of her take this month. Carrots, potatoes, onions and beets that were all perfect. I cooked the beets in the Instant Pot when I returned home and made the most delicious salad. I'm linking here to the recipe that I used if you love beets the way I do and you'd like to try it. Mr. G doesn't share my affection for this vegetable, I didn't even need to share even a bite! 😉

I've been spending the evenings in front of the TV working on this Vintage Christmas Sampler. It's so cute. A few more weeks and it will be ready for a finish, just in time!

Sew, that's what's been going on around here; and, at long last, the weather has taken a decided turn toward winter.

What's going on where you are?

It's all good!

Life is Good!

I Tried...

When Mason was born in 2008 a good friend told me not to blink. I tried. This happened anyway.

Yes, those are FOURTEEN candles! Sigh. 

I finished Bluebird Garden by Artful Offerings. I used the called for Weeks Dye Works floss colors and stitched it up on 30 ct. Belfast Linen (Mariners Map), two threads over two. The plan is for it to become a small pillow.

My friend and I attended our final Chrismon class at Rufty's in Salisbury this week, this is the Shield of Christ. As I mentioned in a former post, the physical store will be closing its doors later this summer,  becoming an online business only. Since May of 2021 we've diligently taken as many classes as we could in person, once a month. The last two months we've both been going to class and laying in supplies for future projects while we could. It was sad for us to leave the shop together for the last time.

I could use some help identifying this flower. This came in a package of mixed wildflower seeds (see here) and these now stand between 4' and 4.5' tall! They've attracted the goldfinch who balance, delicately on the slender stems. I've tried to get a photo of that, it's such a pretty sight, but so far no luck. I'd like to plant these again next summer if any of you could help me figure out what they are. 

And so... as this summer is rocketing by... 

I've tried to slow down time, 

but it marches on without regard; it's all good!

⚘

Life is Good!

The Future's Bright...

...for the next generation of quilt makers! Gregory was in the house today to quilt up his Star Wars top and get the binding attached. For him, to acclimate to the longarm and understand its workings were like a duck approaching a pond. It was 100% clear sailing all the way!

He used an easy beginner pantograph: "Loop de Loop"; he was done and off the rails by lunchtime. 

The binding was attached and basted down after lunch. He persevered with the hand finishing.

He'll get there. Admittedly this was his "least favorite" part. But, he did ask me about making a label for the back to contain his name and the date and "hand made by..."; we'll definitely get that done. 👍

Life is Good!

The Great Reconstruction

There were plenty of really good guesses as to what Gregory was holding in his outstretched hands last week, everything from Santa's beard material to shorn wool to pasta remnants to raw cotton to milkweed silk and cotton candy; NO to all of the above, but thanks for playing along. 

Here's the answer, pictured left. Shocking isn't it? This is what's left of polyester batting, it has morphed into another strange and weird material all together, this after 300+ machine washings and dryings. 🤯 

It all began six years ago, innocently enough, like all good stories do. 

This picture appeared in a blog post back in November of 2014. The then 4-year-old wanted a "soft quilt" for his birthday, one with "cowboys, farms, tractors, trains, horses and race cars" on it. He didn't want it to be "quilted" but rather tied, instead, for loft and softness. I made the top all from flannels that I found on the Internet searching for his specific motif requests and backed it with Minkee (in a race car print) for additional softness. I filled it with an extra-loft poly batting, he loved it. The now 10-year-old loves it still. In fact, it's been his constant companion for the last six years and had fallen into a state of lumpiness and disrepair that's even hard to describe. I offered to make him a new one. 

He wanted nothing to do with a replacement quilt, not at all! He wanted his soft quilt repaired "that's all" he whispered to me. That's all. As you can see from the photo above it was replete with holes and split seams, the batting needed replacing and I set to work. First I removed all of the binding, wrapped it around a card for later and cut out each of the ties, one by one.

Slowly, it all came apart. There was really very little of that original heinous batting remaining, what was still in there had pretty much settled into the four corners. 

So weird!

With the top freed from its batting, backing and binding, I re-stitched and reinforced each seam all over again. 

Once that was done I turned my attention to patching up the holes that weren't in the seam lines. 

Luckily, I still had a stack of the original flannels used it the construction to make the patches. You can see how faded the top has become compared to original pieces.

Now that the top was whole again, I layered it with two layers of poly batting (this time I used a more stable batt, one with scrim) and commenced the tying. It's a time consuming and tedious task, but let's be honest here-- we will do anything for our grandchildren. I put on a Hallmark movie while I worked.

Finally, it was time to reapply the binding. I was fearful that the binding might not fit the same way, once removed, and held my breath while pinning it in place; but, my fears were for nothing, it fit perfectly! This was the ideal job for Saturday afternoon while my achey-self was battling the side effects of the second dose of the 2-part shingles vaccine. I sat by a cozy fire in the fireplace and hand stitched this down between naps. I kept reminding myself that the temporary side-lining was far superior to actually contracting shingles! Bright and early Sunday morning I felt much, much better...

...and Gregory's "soft quilt" was all done- once again! This reconstruction was quite the undertaking, but a sweet boy's quiet words kept replaying in my mind: "I just need it repaired, that's all." 💗 Is there any higher compliment that can be paid to a quiltmaker anywhere, a quilt that's literally been loved to death? I think not. This is the Velveteen Rabbit of quilts right here. We went by his house to drop it off yesterday afternoon.

This was all the thank you that I needed. Just like I said six years ago, "I think he likes it!"

Life is Good!

Double Digits

There's something quite curious about the passage of time. How can ten years seemingly pass by in a blink while fifty one hours spent in a home without electricity drags on for what feels like forever? Someone needs to help me understand that mystery. Yesterday this young man achieved double digit status! We were on hand, along with his other grandparents, to help him celebrate this big milestone and collectively recount stories of the evening that he was born, one very brief decade ago!

Happy birthday, Gregory!

We love you ~ times 10! 

💗

Life is Good!

Nana, Now With Years Of Experience

It seems like only the day before yesterday that this precious little one arrived, making me a Nana for the very first time; I suspected then, but know now, that this day marked the beginning of a most special stage of my life. Fast forward to today:  
This handsome young man, shown in both photos above, is now eleven years old! Happy birthday to this fun-loving, sports-minded, smart, quick, curious, cheerful and polite boy that we're ever so proud to call our grandson!

"...Grandmas can shed the yoke of responsibility, relax, and enjoy their grandchildren in a way that was not possible when they were raising their own children. And, they can glow in the realization that here is the seed of life that will harvest generations to come... "

-Erma Bombeck, American writer (1927-1996)

Life is Good!

One On One

We had a wonderful time with our youngest grandson this past weekend at Chez Goodneedle. We love to spend time with all of the grandchildren, naturally, but occasionally having them one on one  is extra special. Gregory is growing up fast, but I love the fact that he still says "chickmunks" instead of chipmunks and that he calls the marble game played by one "solitary" instead of solitaire; those few remaining vestiges of being very young are all the more endearing. Gregory and PawPaw worked on his Pinewood Derby car together, somewhat of a time-machine moment for us as it seems only yesterday that our son, Gregory's father, worked on his own Pinewood car with his grandfather!

From that same time machine (or the wayback machine, remember Sherman and Peabody?) comes an electronic pinball machine (see photo above) that our son played with for hours on end as a young boy; it holds just as much fascination for this current generation redhead thirty-some years later! 

Life is Good!