Top Ten (?)

I was recently challenged by a friend to post one quilt picture a day for ten days on Facebook. I took her up on that challenge and enjoyed scouring the files for ten photos of some favorite quilts that I've made over the years. I had so much fun that I thought I'd share my selected ten here in collage form. Some days I get so busy planning the next project that it's nice to reflect on projects from the past. 

And, because I don't need to limit this post to only ten photos, here's just a few "leftovers"; for fun!

As we move forward sometimes it's nice to take look back at where we've been, 

(and what we've actually finished! 😉) don't you think so too?

Life is Good! 

Playing Catch-Up

No, I haven't dropped off the planet.  We've been gone though; we traveled to New England to visit family the week before last and it seems as though I have been playing "catch-up" ever since. We happened to be gone during the time of the return to standard time; this was Hannes' reaction, he fell asleep while waiting at his dinner dish, at 3:30 PM! We had a good time being away, although the weather was cold and rainy almost the entire time we visited in New Hampshire. That was okay, though, I helped out with inside chores such as cleaning out, sorting and organizing old photographs for Mom and Dad. We unearthed some treasures.

My paternal grandmother (oldest) and her siblings, circa 1910. 

My paternal great grandmother (far left) holding my baby sister. I am in red, sitting with my Dad, my mother is seated behind him. My paternal grandmother, standing, (same person pictured above, as a child) in the light blue floral dress and my paternal grandfather seated on the chaise lounge with his aunt beside him and uncle standing behind, this was taken at their home in Dorchester, Massachusetts. I absolutely love so many things about this photo. We surmised it must have been Mother's Day, as my great grandmother is wearing a corsage. I love the fact that everyone DRESSED (pearls!) to go visiting; and, the fact that they carried in the porch furniture to accommodate the overflow crowd!

I found this one of yours truly too; it's a gem. Eighth grade science class-- such focus. 😂😉

While in New England we took in another Home Free concert. I believe this is the sixth time that we've heard this A Capella country group live and in person; they never disappoint, it was a great show. 

The one place we didn't go this trip was to Keepsake. I told my Mom and Dad that there wasn't anything I needed right now-- thinking I had all the time in the world to shop there again next time. Little did I know, until the announcement yesterday, that Keepsake Quilting's Center Harbor location is closing its doors for once and for all at the end of February next year. Another bricks and mortar store going away. I am heartbroken over this announcement, this flagship store has always been a treat to visit. Mr. Goodneedle and I may just need to make another trip up north before it closes for one last  goodbye.

Back on the homefront. This is a picture of our brick patio from this past April. We have been waiting on a contractor to cover part of this space with a screened-in porch; at long last we finally learned of a start date in late fall.

In an effort to get ready for construction, Mr. Goodneedle took apart the columns that supported the handrails, brick by brick. This was a dirty and exhausting job but he persevered.

Here's how things stand today. The construction crew's slated to be here at noon today to begin (and it's a balmy 30 degrees!!) Stay tuned for updates, I have lots more to report from my time away too.

Life is Good!

Up next: photos weren't the only things that I carried home from my parents home. 

I also brought a quilt...

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!

Before There Was...

I finished quilting this for my Mom over the weekend, she has entitled this one: "Before There Was Color", it's a cute throw-sized quilt; it quilted up easily. I tried out a new pantograph that I recently bought from Willowleaf Studios, "Let's Have A Party" by Timeless Quilting. 
It was quick and fun to do, I'll definitely be using this panto again soon. I need to cut some binding strips for this quilt today. My Mom and Dad are arriving for a visit , I know she'll enjoy the hand work finishing this quilt while she's here. If my blog posts are rare or erratic over the next few weeks that will explain why.

Continuing on the "Before There Was..." theme: you might remember that I  have been documenting and organizing photographs for my parents. This picture was among the stacks, it happens to be approxiamtely sixty years old.

Before there was Mrs. Goodneedle, there was baby Goodneedle!

She was a healthy little girl.

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!

 

Every Picture Tells A Story

This photograph came to me via Facebook.  My husband's cousin's daughter came across it among her grandmother's belongings and she wondered if my mother-in-law (her grandmother's sister) could identify this church sanctuary, decorated for Christmas. I printed it out and took it to my mother-in-law earlier this week. When she looked at it there was an immediate spark of recognition; "where did you get this?" she asked. I explained to her how I came to have this image and asked her if she knew where it was taken, she immediately answered: "it's Grace Lutheran Church in Fort Worth (TX)!"  My dear mother-in-law will be 92 years old in a few weeks. She is the younger daughter (her sister passed away in 2000) of a Lutheran pastor who served congregations in Swedesburg and Essex (IA), Wahoo (NE), Fort Worth (TX), and Altona (IL) Mom's happiest memories surface when she relates stories of growing up living in church parsonages and the advenures that she and her sister had. She was sixteen years old when her family came to live in Fort Worth. In this church she played the piano as a teenager. It was here that she met my future father-in-law. They married here in 1944 (he was on leave from the AAF during WWII). In this church sanctuary their first son was baptized.  I could tell by her wistful gaze that she was reliving all of those moments, she couldn't take her eyes from the photograph.  But then, doubt crept in; perhaps she was scared to trust her immediate response due to her age and her faltering memory, I'm not sure. She looked up and said "I think it's Fort Worth... but I'm not completely sure that I remember."  We needed confirmation. I sent the photo in an e-mail to the current pastor serving this congregation; I explained that Mom was a member and that her father had been the pastor. I learned from their website that the original building pictured here is long gone, the church moved to a new bulding in a new location in 1957, but I was hopeful that someone may recognize this historical photo. My query was met with almost immediate success!  The pastor promptly responded with this message: "this  is a wonderful photo of the sanctuary at Grace in it's original Hemphill St. location.  I have seen this photo or one like it in an album that had been put together for the congregations 100th anniversary.  The large painting behind the altar is still displayed in the Narthex of the church at our current 7900 McCart Ave. location, along with the cornerstone engraving from the original building.  Rev. Johnson's portrait photo is displayed in our hallway among the other pastors who have served Grace over the years noting that he served from 1938-1946, see photos below.    We currently have a 3 members who are over 90 still attending regularly.  I'll ask if they were at Grace at the time and remember pastor Johnson, the one who I am certain was here at that time,  passed away last year, Isabelle Becker.  Her family members still attend."

     

Mom's instinct was right; her memory had not let her down!  I could scarcely wait to get this information and these additional photos to her; she hasn't been feeling well lately and I had a hunch that this would be good medicine. I am grateful beyond measure to the pastor for his prompt reply and his  kindness in providing so much more than I had requested.  Mom was so happy to receive this yesterday... to see her precious Daddy's face once again and to be affirmed in her own recollection of a location that was once so familiar to her. She remembered the recently departed lady mentioned in the e-mail, and even told me all about her and her family!  These memories, more than anything else, bring the greatest joy.  Yes, every picture does tell a story, for someone; something this simple can provide a very bright spot in the life of a loved one.... what unexpected surprises might just be lurking in your own closets, drawers and shoe boxes? 

Life is Good!

Mission Accomplished (Almost)!

Six months ago I turned our dining room into a photo documentation center. Using the full length of our dining table (with two leaves in place) and two additional folding tables for sorting purposes I was well on my way to organizing a  lifetime's worth of photographs into designated, labeled, boxes.
Long ago, before photos were saved onto onto hardrives, they were stashed in boxes, bags and drawers; you name it, I had pictures squirreled away there! Well, as life happens and, eventually, the dining room was needed for its intended purpose, the sorted photo piles needed to be moved. Out of sight, out of mind; that saying held true for this project. This past week I decided that the time had come to conclude this epic task! What caused me to lose my motivation late last fall?

This did! I opened the armoire in our guest room to find boxes, and a basket filled to overflowing, with more photographs that had missed the initial sorting/documentation process. At the time I sighed and closed the doors back up, feeling defeated. My husband urged me to not let that get the best of me and to carry on with finishing up what I had already started. I did just that! All of the photos that I had begun with are now neatly stored away, grouped chronologically by year; 1950's through 2005! Can I get a shout out? I will, gradually, tackle the newest "finds" and add them to the mix. I'll need another storage box from The Container Store, to get current, but will wait to buy one when they run them on sale again; that won't stop the sorting and organizing, though! This is the system that I am using:

These individual boxes allow for additions and deletions within each box; a brilliant system. Now to get on with the remaining piles. Wish me luck!

Life is Good!

Around This Table...

The party was held in July, 1981; it was our daughter's fifth birthday and everyone gathered around this table. It was one of the first major furniture purchases that Mr. Goodneedle and I made as newlyweds, we bought this table and chairs along with a credenza base and hutch top in 1977. Through the years there were MANY celebrations that occurred around this table; many blessings asked over family feasts and prayers raised with hands joined together, many homework assignments were completed on its surface, gifts were wrapped and quilt blocks cut and laid out. This table marked our family's growth as it moved with us from place to place around the world before it settled, finally, as a work table in my sewing room at our current home. In 2008 Sundance moved into my sewing space and the table had to find a new home, there simply wasn't enough room for both. By this time the above-mentioned base unit had come to find a permanent home in our kitchen's breakfast nook and we had long since donated the hutch top to charity. A newer cherry table and upholstered chairs had taken up the place of honor in our current dining room. Right around this same time, five years ago, our daughter and son-in-law bought a home and needed furniture for their dining room. The timing was perfect and off went this table and chairs to live in the Capital City; I would visit it from time to time and couldn't resist lovingly running my fingers along the chair backs or the table edge, contours that were so familiar to me. The children were under no obligation to keep it forever, it was a gift to help them out at the time; it certainly wasn't the furniture they would have chosen but they used it, and enjoyed it, while it stayed at their home... until earlier this week when they donated it to the Helping Hand Mission. They have new furniture ordered and I couldn't be happier for them! We received a thank you note today from our sweet son-in-law, he wrote: "the guys that picked it up were appreciative and commented several times about how nice it was and how someone would have a very nice Thanksgiving around it". What a loving thing for him to do: write us a note and convey those words, I am so pleased to think that this table, our table, will reside in a new home with a new family! Many happy occasions have been marked around this table; but it's not the end...far from it, there are so many more yet to come!

Life is Good!

Potholes and Pitfalls

I am treading carefully in the studio these days, deftly stepping to avoid tripping as floorboards are replaced after moving a floor plug to a better location, directly under my sewing tables! You're probably thinking "why wasn't it there to begin with?" Well, it was... until Sundance moved in five years ago and the furniture placement was changed to accomodate the quilting machine and a twelve foot table! Ever since that time I've been making do with extension cords running here, there and everywhere; we didn't want to change anything too hastily in case I wasn't happy with the machines/tables where they were. Okay, five and half years later is suffiicent time to realize that this arrangement works just fine! I'm moving judiciously, in that same manner, around the dining room table as the photo documentation project drags on... potholes and pitfalls lurk at every turn in there too. I could write a manual "what to avoid" when embarking on such a task; it's almost impossible to avoid tripping up by either (a.) heading down memory lane or (b.) overthinking what to keep and what to pitch or (c.) spending entirely too much time trying to identify complete randomness (in many categories, i.e: quilt pictures, other people's children from thirty years ago, cars(!?!)... that group is never-ending). I'm finally ready to leap high over these stumbling blocks and be done with it all; and not look back! It was nice having Mr. Goodneedle underfoot (literally) yesterday while Sundance and I put the last quilting stitches in Sturbridge Strawberries... he and I were, literally, working only inches apart; I had to keep a watchful eye behind myself every time I stepped back!  This floor plug move will be nice, no more extension cords running evrywhere over the floor; this has been on the top of my home-improvement list for a long time; I am so thankful my list and his finally coalesced!

"Sturbridge Strawberries" ~ 56" X 68"

Quilt model/ surface embellishment ~ approx. 11 lbs.

Life is Good!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

There's a certain urgency about those last, waning days of summer. As Labor Day approached and that fall calendar loomed there seemed to be a much more deliberate effort, on my part, to make every last summer minute count for something! Maybe it's a throw-back to those inevitable "how I spent my summer vacation" assignments of days gone by, or maybe it's that recognized realization that at this time of year, when school begins again, there's that "starting over" opportunity.

Whatever it is, there's been a surge of activity around here resulting in projects seeing new beginnings. One such project is really three in one. The strip pieced quilt blocks (above) and the tumbler pieces (right) are combining to become Chicken Soup quilts #1 and #2 for gift giving at Christmas. This summer I amassed a very healthy low volume fabric collection. I ended up with enough fat quarters to begin construction of not only these two (in the 60" X 80" size range) but also had sufficient leftover scraps for three hundred 60 degree diamonds to stich up this, a keeper quilt too! By the way: cutting all those strips and diamonds took days to for me accomplish, while cutting the 400+  tumbler shapes took about one hour with the Accquilt cutter! Take a look at that little hen piece and the words "she quietly chuckled" printed below, my feelings exactly about using the ever-efficient die cutter! Directions for that Sunday Morning strip-pieced quilt mention acheiving a random look by throwing all the strips into a brown paper bag, and mixing them up well, and simply grabbing them out one at a time for stitching together in that fashion. Well, I'm here to tell you, that random isn't easy for this quilter! I do love the results but I find myself second guessing every single selection!

The dining room table continues to hold the photo archives, what a major project this has become! Each photo triggers a memory and it has taken much fortitude to avoid repeated trips down memory lane and stick to the path of organization. The piles grow taller as the identification and documentation, year by year, goes on. I recently saw some first day of school photos on Facebook with kiddos cleverly holding large ordinal numbers displaying their school grade. Oh, how I wish I had done something similar when our children were younger! I have many "1st day" photographs that are undated and struggle to differentiate third grade from fourth or even fifth! Sigh. The urgency behind completing this project has become the fact that I can't clean any of this up until the task is done; setting this up front and center in our home was the best idea, there's no avoiding this responsibility anymore once it's spread out before me!

That looming fall calendar that I mentioned above signals the return of Quilt Ministry on Thursday mornings at church. The stewardship committee has requested tri-fold information boards from each standing committee and ministry to be on display as part of this years Stewardship Fair for their Every Member Response campaign. I began on Saturday and got this much done, (yes, this has been a long-standing summer assignment!) Hannes would like very much to be a part of our display, I believe he'd be a great asset in recruiting new members; today I will add selected photos, quotes, and the remaining information to the board to round out the Quilt Ministry's presence and plan to get it all set up down there tomorrow. A trip to the local Scrapbooking mecca for cardstock is on today's agenda; it's difficult shopping there while wearing blinders as I am always bumping into things, but that's a necessity! I avoid that place like the plague only because it represents yet one more path that I don't ever need to venture down; but, oh, how tempting that diversionary route appears to be! And so...one more summer is, officially, in the books; and what a wonderful summer it's been. 

How did you spend yours?

Life is Good!

Editing As A Way Of Life

I love to edit my photos; rarely do I ever post a photo on this blog that hasn't been retouched in some way, making for a tidied-up version of the original snapshot. My favorite Picasa editing tools are "boost" (brightening), "focal zoom" (highlighting the subject) and "vignette" (isolating the central portion of the image by obscuring the periphary). Of course the basic editing tools are almost always used too: "crop" to center the image and "I'm feeling lucky" to enable the best color and contrast. Yesterday's Gospel reading was from the book of Luke, the 14th chapter; the parable where Jesus explains that one should never seek praise and recognition through a "seat of honor" at the table, but rather sit right away at a lower place and avoid being asked then to move down. We are reminded here that through humbling ourselves we are truly exalted. While we may think it best to appear "tidied-up" to the world around us...better, nicer, kinder, more generous; in actuality, an edited version of our true selves, we can never deceive our God. We can "boost", "zoom", "vignette", "crop" and "feel just as lucky" as we choose through our words and actions but, if they're not authentic, we are no more genuine than the perched bird in the PicMonkeyed photo above. God knows us just as we are, the unedited version of our sinful warts-and-all selves, and loves us anyway. The next time I use editing tools on my photos I am going to think about another tool available to me: "undo". When I  make an unwanted change I can immediately erase it with "undo"; likewise, God grants little old me unlimited "undos" for every single one of my sins through His loving grace and forgiveness; what a humbling and welcome reassurance that is!

Life is Good!