For the Love of Monday

 

My granddarlings....5th grade and 6th grade...Love..xo

Bragging here on my easy Jeni Baker quilt....so easy...

Evidently NOT so easy...My husband used to tell me that the higher the self regard, the deeper the fall.

I am leaving the above as it is for now, for humility..

.And, some math type looked at the Chicken Scrap and found a parallelogram..

Can you imagine?????  After posting this for days on end....

Perfection is so overrated!!!

Except of course...Aoife on a Monday

She is loving Mondays too.

Her daddy has his own way of entertaining himself..

Five weeks/ 9 and a half pounds.

Ha ha ha ha  Look at this, a quilting ruler on a kitchen scale...

That Aoife is going to  be some girl...oxoxox

Pearl got Covid....but Grandma O'Quilts got Tough!

The Keep on Turning quilt pattern by Jeni Baker.  This quilt on the design wall replaces the Chicken Scrap top...Thank goodness!!!

 Honestly, I felt like it was all over today. Peter had suggested that we all would die someday...and I was certain that today was my day. House a mess, I hurt all over, no hot water...again...still 

My Covid brain started in....The right shoulder is starting to hurt...Oh, No..it will have to be operated on,  I will never be 42 again...I have no friends who listen to me.  Blah, Blah, Blah...I cannot ride a bike., that same old story  that comes and goes. 

Finally, I told myself that I was making the wrong choice.  I went outside where my stationary bike is and rode for 30 min while reading Brene Brown.  I cleaned up the kitchen, and found books to donate. I cleaned my iron and folded some fabric...Wahoo, can you believe this...Somehow doing what I can do, instead of whining about what I cannot do...well, that scares the doo-doo out of Pearl!!!  Looks like today wasn't that awful day after all. My XDIL tells me that I need to get out of the house and stay in the day..so...I took a little drive.

When I googled "Poor Pitiful Pearl"   I found out that she was a real doll from 1957.  I never found her cousin, but now, I feel better..

What is saved for last????  You got it!!!    Our Aoife!!! (looking exactly like her daddy)                     She just loves Sundays!!

Chicken Scraps Quilt Top

This top was finished tonight.  I am glad I stuck with it..but it was a bear!!

Usually, I audition 2 or 3 fabrics, as color is my thing...not with this one..

  This is just part of the work...It was stewing on the design wall for days. One had too little contrast. One was too busy.  One had the wrong hue...OMG..I just could not get it right.  This quilt top almost went into a UFO pile.

I am happy with it now...not perfect..not that "YES" feeling, but happy.

What I am not happy with is this new blogger that double spaces when I do not want it,  among other things.

Today's good day had me doing ALL my physical therapy exercises.  Finishing this top, reading, puttering.  My son has bought our new hot water heater, not installed yet. So still no hot water.

What I did not know about grief until my husband died.

 

That Kind of Day

Random small things...Playing in the parts department.  Four inch squares into two patches into four patches...for Guild donation quilt.

Moving on to examining this fabric for more potential.

I have five pair of comfy black pants that I wear everywhere...My movie star days are over..and I no longer care....However, they are about 15 years old now...I am going to experiment with knit sewing to sew a stain off the bottom of one them.  Problem is that I can no longer get these pants...I cannot find them online and I do not want to go into a store...I just watched a series on upcycling...Maybe I should add some funkiness to these...to match my personality...Stay tuned.

I finished organizing the paperwork from my old business to be shredded or burned.

The children were in school, in different rooms.

The AC went out..

Talk about turning crabby into happy.  When I called the repair folks, they said that they actually had a  truck in my area and could be here in one hour...WOW   

No pictures to show you of Aoife...but I did get to see her on Facetime with my daughter...

Such love..xo

I am so proud of my XDIL  She has come a miraculously long way...This afternoon, She took the four kids for the weekend, Three of them with their chrome books to finish school work for Monday...Amazing.  And, she still looks beautiful.  She is a new person.

Question:  Poor Pitiful Pearl has a cousin....Mona cannot remember her name!!!

Does anyone know her name???  We all will need to look out for her.

Now, dear me....there is no hot water again....This old house with everything going at the same time!!

Ending with a story:

Lynsey, during a school break today, came into my sewing room.

She said that she knew that school was harder for me than it is for her.

And, that I probably had to sit at the front of the room with a dunce cap on because I talk too much.

I said,  Lynsey, how do you know so much about my schooling???

I saw it on, Little House on the Prairie!!!!!

 

More on the Ms America Bit

Aoife is going to the back yard vegetable plot ...Here she is....dressed for the occasion. Her daddy is an awesome gardener....OMG...Here in Charlotte, we had two tomatoes out of 6 bushes..and nothing else...no squash, no green peppers...etc In Portland, Brian grew huge tomatoes, planted at his veggie plot and in their back yard.  He grew so much, that they have already started to freeze tomato sauce for pasta and tomato soup.. He makes the best homemade tomato soup.. I can see that our Aoife is prepped to be a gardener as well....You go Aoife!!!!  Aoife is on the changing mat Grandma here made her.  Emily ordered it from China and it took three months to get here...When it came and I saw it was grey???  Well....I made it anyway...good me!!

Here is our Aoife on the back porch...watching the gardening...while Rosie, the dog, watches it all.

I insisted today would be a Happy Thursday...I did insist.  I found myself watching news footage of Hurricane Laura...It took me back to lying under the mattress in the hallway during Cat 5, Hurricane Andrew, in Miami.  I started to feel anxiety, so I turned off the news. 

 Now I am back from the hernia doctor, second opinion...Jeeze Louize...that is all I can say.  I am so done with doctors for awhile. Anyway I loved the new doctor.  She said I am a high risk surgery.  She is not going to do it for now...but I should be OK...She did insist on a colonoscopy...She said I am 22 years over due.  I do not want that...way too scary and I am already a mess....whine, whine...says this old lady.  I might do it anyway...sigh...I will see.  Maybe in another 22 years???.

When  I used to tell my mother that it was all too much for me and I could not do it...She would tell me that I am indeed doing it anyway and be so glad that I am able, even though it is hard...Hats off to you Mother...tonight!!  I thank you...And, as I sit up with Lynsey listening to her stressors, her worries and her fears, I remember with gratitude all the nights you stayed up, listening to me, even though you had to get up at 5 am to go to work.

When I talked about all the trauma with my mother....before she died...She told me that I would be OK..I just had to look deep inside myself for God, or whatever name I had for that....I would find the strength there...and so I have...even though many days I feel quite weak.

No sewing today, but some cutting and ironing and futzing..in preparation for sewing tomorrow...Kids going to their mother's house which is good for all of us, especially in these difficult times.

Folks keep encouraging me to show pictures of Aoife...so I am...I need not much encouragement. I am, however, aware of grandmothers boring their friends with such..Best thing about a blog post is that people can just push delete if they are not interested.

Made with Love..

First up...Aoife, made with love:

Below, our Aoife again...in a dress made by Emily, her mother before baby was born.

It was a free pattern, Made by Rae Geranium Dress 

Aoife on Eithne's wonderful quilt...This is embroidered with things that Emily loves.

Her music, her Irish dance..and now,  her baby, Aoife.

 Here: the conflicts in life:

Our shoulds!!!

I am working harder now on this:

I spent all day, pretty much Zooming quilty things...lucky me!!

Now I think I will join the CMQG UFO challenge..

High IQ Wednesday night  group started a purple rail fence challenge...hmm

Five years ago?????

It is great motivation to work on a goal with other quilty people. 

The Life of Zoom

Is this gas? Or did Rosie tell an off color joke??

Rich's Pantry plastic bag holder...Fabric: black and white, from IKEA that I dyed yellow. 

I used the bag measurements from Muggs that I keep in my phone notes.

Aoife and the big bad wolf....(or is it Grandma??)

A great day today....a good day...amazing at physical therapy.

A nap, not needed but wonderful.

Lovely dinner

Peaceful children ...all doing their schoolwork with responsibility and no mutterings.

Clean kitchen...

Now I am puttering with my blue chickens on the design wall.

Cutting yellows and reds.

Today started the Sewing Summit Upcycle

It is a worldwide week long free sewing program..

Today, I learned how to put extensions in my jeans...

Wait till you see the new adorable me..... soon!!

Tomorrow is day two of Upcycle and MQG zoom with Carolyn Friedlander at 2pm

Eastern standard time.

Tomorrow night is 6:30 pm

Charlotte Modern Quilt meeting with guest speaker, Gyleen Fitzgerald

I hope I have time to eat...TBTG no PT tomorrow...hoping to sew in between Zooms

This is an M&M bag my son gave to me...ha ha ha.

I thought I might laminate it...but decided I have other things to do...like fold!!

It is not correct when it says "Share Size"!! Who are they kidding???

Ending post...of course with the best!!

Aoife in her new swing...It came with teddy bear musical

 I thought maybe Emily at least might adorn the bears with little pink ribbons..

But, Oh, No...and whose baby is it anyway?.

And...wouldn't anyone rush order a new swing to have baby sleep!!!??

Before baby came, Emily took layers of gauze to the machine,

for this very soft quilty cover thing.

Grandma O'Quilts Plays Hide and Seek

This summer spread is on my bed now.  I bought it years ago when visiting a barn shop in Greenville, Alabama.  There is no quilting, it is backed with muslin.  This quilt is from the 1800's and it cost me $25.  That is what is going to happen to our quilts as time goes on...I do not care, because I make quilts for happy now..

Remember my excitement the other day when I got 24 seam rippers for $7 ?? They brought me joy...now I see that I already had that joy in February...the same seam ripper special....lost in my sewing room..OR, put in a special place...that I cannot find.!! I am indeed a sad case here... 

Aoife being held in one of her daddy's big hands...Amazingly wonderful.  Emily says that if she was born on July 22, then she is not one month until August 22....Her mother, here..thinks it goes by weeks....It is only with a tiny baby that we would squabble about something so ridiculous..

Ha ha....can you imagine a grown up, or even an older child thinking about that...? Aoife in her father's one big hand and his one big arm at one month....My heart....

Blue chickens still on my design wall...After auditioning 55 years worth of blue fabric, there is not one match in hue...not one.....annoying..Colors change throughout the years...still....

I decided to just forget it all and make a baby quilt for outreach...

Then I said...NO!!!...You are being lazy...You know that color challenges are your favorite part of quilting.. So...Here it stays while I work on something else.  The giraffes are OK..but I love my giraffe fabric and want to keep it for my burial...ha ha ha.

Stay tuned because now, Sandee has sent me to just the right place!!!

I had been in an annoyed snit all morning...lunch and a nap and Vickie...and voila!!! Blues and reds in order.  I cannot fold easily...I hate to, but when I am mad....wow...I can do it!!!

See what I found...no, not pink...no not purple  YELLOW!!!

And...Coronavirus fabric!!

My dear man is watching me...We are both wondering who is going to organize the black fabric...hmm

And when......

So it goes...Grateful to be able to take naps...

Did I mention how much I love my fabric??

Going now to make a kitchen bag holder for a friend.

Maybe...

I must have shown this potholder a million times on this blog.  Again...here we are..A T-shirt for my 6 month old son..made into a potholder...I practiced free-motion quilting circles on this potholder.

My son is now 35 years old and the potholder, well used, is in great shape. I really still love it.

Maybe you understand and maybe you do not.

An entire day gone....with nothing much to show for it.

A shower???

Physical therapy??

A nap??

Watching a few sewing tutorials?

Tonight, I am making up for lost time!!

I am going to make a bag for my new granddaughter.

Found the perfect fabric...Oh, there is not enough!

Going to make a little pouch for my eye doctor with glasses fabric.

Hmmm I know I have some Japanese print in purple or pink...Or I had a pink with black glasses.

Cannot find it...Well, here is some in beige and black that I had forgotten I had.

What to make with it?  How to jazz it up.

Remembered that I could give it for Christmas, not next week when I pick up my glasses. Whew..

Watching Tula on U-tube, I remembered that I really liked that fabric line she made//

Tabby Road.  I know I have a half a yard of the cat food cans and I had thought, I 

had a half a yard of the kitty cats in blue.

I will make myself something with a Tula cat on it......

Cannot find it.

Today (at PT) I realized that I am on the backside of the hill. ,

To cheer myself, I thought I might buy a bit of Tabby Road for the lovely cat picture..

It is $40 a fat quarter on Etsy because now it is rare...Rare?? Did it not just come out yesterday?

 I was always so pleased with my memory.  I have little focus, so I got through life on my memory.

Now what????  Memory is going just like my joints. AND, I cannot have memory replacement.

Stitch always has to sleep on my rotary mat...good thing I am not completely brain dead...as you can see,

Stitch still has his tail.

I want to add an extra 2.5 inches to both ends of this piece.  Auditioning fabric here as

I am out of chickens...Neither seems to work for me...ugh... My sewing room is a mess.

My new friend, Vickie, just organized hers....jealous here.. I need Vickie..

Folks are sick of my grief posts, I am sure.

However, I found these two items to be interesting.

I have decided that grief is so huge and intense, that no friend could possibly win with it.

Whatever we say will be wrong, because nothing fixes it..Listening is the best.

Exploring Kindness and Disability

Now, Anne Lamont and Brene Brown are wonderful reads...also TED talks...

I am ending with this picture...as it is definitely time for bed.  Must be nice to be one month old.

Craving Easter jelly beans., and of course, M&Ms..guess I will just go to bed.

 

Covid Crazy....and More Crazy...

 Aoife creeping for the first time....3 and a half weeks old.

Grandma got to watch it on Whats APP!!!

Aoife was put on her stomach in the middle of  her co-sleeper to see what she would do.  What she did shocked us all...She crept from her co-sleeper all the way onto the bed until she reached her mother.

Some of us are ditsy and can find nothing, nothing at all..

Today came, via prime...24 seam rippers for $7.  

My time is worth more than 7$ an hour...whew..

Here they are in a plastic pouch on my door.

Also had to note in my phone notes:  "Finding Things"  Age is upon me, you know.

I still have not found my new box of 100 sewing machine needles.

Tonight I ran away from home to Trader Joe's.  I got honey and blueberries and avocados.

Most importantly, I got out of the house and out of myself.

No sewing today

Remote schooling carried on without me as my son told me to sleep in and he would take care of it all.

Struggling to find hope, I see joy with,Aoife creeping...A neighbor leaves cheese on my porch, A friend brings Oreos, A friend sends daily texts, A friend listens without judgment, instead of telling me to be grateful or that everything will be OK!

Hope comes in the shape of blogging friends.

It comes thru the physical therapists at KCP who encourage me on.

I find a step at a time leads to miles. (not on my terms, of course!!)

As I work on today, yesterday comes from funny  places.

The times when I had  more energy.

Look:  I found my old Russian visa from when I worked with the airlines.

This was 50 years ago. Crazy that I kept it...crazy that I keep almost everything.

Crazy that life goes so fast. Crazy that I am no longer that age.

Just look at Aoife, crawling to her mother, and she is less than 4 weeks old.

I read today, that mental health during Covid is coming to grips with grief and with powerlessness.

The article suggested that we learn to accept these things as it looks like Covid will be here for quite awhile.  Thanks to Pat for another scheduled widow group driveway get together..

Thanks for quilting Zooms.

Thanks for one more day.

Grandma O'Quilts Has an Unnecessary Fit

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

First classes went wonderfully...now I see that NCEDCloud  is down across the entire state.

That is OK...it will take awhile for all his to pan out.  I can imagine the stress on the system.

Trying to relax here..soooo hard. 

This gift that meant soooo much!!

Cousin Ann made this for our little Aoife...How lovely!!!

Speaking of Aoife...Last night I did a Facetime with my girl who looks exhausted.

She said that Aoife will not sleep. She fusses and they are all exhausted.

This is the rip stop I ordered for my bowl covers...I am disappointed that the yellow is so garish.

Oh, well...on the inside of a bowl cover, I guess it does not matter.

And so Grandma O'Quilts threw a fit for nothing over remote learning.

First of all, even though I did not know all the logins and sites, they did.

They know so much technology.  My son finally told me to go to bed.

He made them eggs for breakfast...all is well.

I am now going outside to read and breathe and calm myself.

There is Always an O'Quilt Story, or Two...

Cutest homemade socks..., Linda made.  I have not  heard from Aoife today.  Rumor has it that she will not sleep unless she is in the arms of her mother...lol..

Lynsey's masks...That girl ordered 3 dot com masks...She said those will be her favorite..she jumped up and down excited...OMG...excitement over masks?? I was surprised she wanted black and white...for

going back to school whenever that will be.  She picked the reproduction feedsack too. Under duress, she allowed me to make the batik star one, just in case someday......she may want to wear it.

2020 Our downstairs handicapped bathroom...built for my man with ALS...Now helps with COVID. We wash masks when we wash our hands and hang them to dry.  Easy to grab again on the way out.

Remote schooling starts Monday.

Last night Dylan dictated an email to his reading teacher.

It said...."Already 5th grade has ruined my life.  My sister said it is a lot of work with

a lot of reading.  I hate to read.  I hate chapter books.  I do not want to sit in front of a screen.

That is frustrating. and I am embarrassed that I cannot read well."

After he OK'ed it I sent it off

This morning...Saturday morning, mind you....The reading teacher sent two emails back on how she  loves Dylan and he will be OK and she will help him.  Then came an email from the school counselor with an encouraging note...Then an email from the principal with another lovely note, Then came a phone call from his teacher....Amazing support...all on a Saturday.

 Not only did Dylan smile, but so did his grandmother...

I had been going down that black Covid hole. 

The core problem is always grief.  That lonely wail of grief

Then I saw Michele's post....It gave me some tools to lean on.

 Light, Love and Healing, from our Michele

Another story.....Lynsey has an infection on her elbow, which has spread to two other circles of infection on her arm.  My son took her to our pharmacist last night who said it was an infection inside the skin which needed antibiotic.  It looks nasty, so he took her to the children's urgent care near Cotswold. The man at the desk looked at Lynsey and Eamon.

He said...we have several possible cases of Covid at this clinic now.  Are you comfortable with that???They left...OMG.....By this time it was 11pm, They had to leave their shoes outside our house , take showers, disinfect the keys and the driving wheel and cell phones...Oh, my what a life in 2020.

The good news is that the pediatrician's office has a new online system.  I sent her a note on My Chart and found a place where I could include a picture of the infection...

Wahoo. Now maybe we will not have to go in.

When school is starting and a kid cannot see his bestie..a $10 trip to the fish store cheers the day.

Stitch thinks that is a grand idea.. Fish already named:  Bug Eye, Calico, etc...