The Parts Department and Such

My new grand dog, Rosie!!!!

Arrived yesterday to her home in Portland

4 months old, half Australian/German shepherd....

Just visited with her on Face time tonight

She is a rescue from northern California.

 Of my favorite books ever.

 1.5 inch strips all organized so nicely.

by my mountain friends in Tennessee..

 Tonight was a parts department night.

 Into a parts department box for future funky quilt use.

Should have been working on holiday things.

Should have been working on potholders.

But, this was way more fun.

 About two years ago, I cut off the collar of an old sweat shirt.

I was thinking of black and white striped for the edging..but never

had the energy to do it...Wouldn't you know after finally the finish..I hate it!!!!
Good thing it is an old ratty shirt.

 Warm and Natural batting is on bolt at Walmart online/
A big surprise to me.
So afraid that the extra import taxes in the new year will put batting way out of my budget
In my mind,  this was the best price.  It is already $50 more than when I bought it last time.
There is no tax and free shipping.

Our vicarious trip to London...awesome thanks to Amy from Diary of a Quilter
Look at this post of  Liberty of London ..
 I was there 40 years ago...did not see any
quilts hanging from the banisters,
.But, there was no Victoria Findlay Wolfe back then...
Lucky me received some of those yummies from our Cousin Ann, a few years back.

From  Wanda comes Jerry's prizewinning quilt
and...Merrill's quilt
Both stunning.

Bocelli and Sheeran..such  a remarkable video....I play it a lot.
Wish my mother was here..Andre Bocelli was her favorite.
It must be something for 27 year old Sheeran to be playing with the famous 60 year old Bocelli.
And...to have Bocelli singing Sheeran's song...and in Italian..
The smile on Ed's face tells it all.
Talk about relaxation...I watch this video often.

It has really been a lovely day...meeting with friends
My son helping to  bring in the plants for tonight's freeze.
The low in the morning will be 27 degrees.
Relaxation for me is sitting outside under my tree reading.
Looks like Old Man Winter will not be allowing that tomorrow.

Has anyone beside  Kara  read Educated.  I am far down on the library list.  Supposed
to read it for a book club.  Now I wonder if  it is too traumatic for me.
Let me know...I do not need more drama in my life.

Dear Mr. O'Quilts

I know you know and I know you know that I know. 

 We are getting better and standing on our own two feet.

It is being done in the shelter of each other.

This view from my sewing room has always comforted me.
Fall is leaving and winter is coming.
The natural seasons in life.

I bought myself a present the other day...on a Craftsy sale.
The $11.95 Aurifil thread...here:  $8 a spool. Since I  belong to Blueprint (Craftsy)
Shipping was free...I love free shipping!!!

I am thrilled with the thread..I know that you would say..
"Good going, My Dear So worth it if it makes you happy".!!!

Last night, Lynsey came into the sewing room announcing
that she wanted to make her doll a uniform for school.
She selected a "pillowcase dress"  Evidently in the school that
the doll goes to, butterflies are in.

This grand of mine, loves to iron.
I remember when she would get to iron as a reward
for learning her multiplications.

The dress is done, but a few items.
She wants a label in the back of the dress so it looks real.
And the hem length has not yet been decided on..
Lynsey refused my help...
Thus...a bit of seam ripping.was necessary.

Show and tell tonight at my Wednesday quilting group!!.
She is so proud

 
pillowcase doll dress

Check out this link for donations to:
NC Hurricane Relief...by My Carolina Home

Then:....
from poet, Mizuta Masahide

Barns burnt down

now

I can see the moon

Happy Birthday Mr.O'Quilts

Enjoy your journey, my love.

xoxo

Grandma O'Scrap

Thank you Carol for getting me out of here for lunch.

I loved meeting your friends...and of course, the cause!!

From leftover pieces of oilcloth..zigzagged together. I made a pencil case for Lynsey.

It is crude...no finishing touches...fastened with Velcro

and filled with pencils.

Sticking it in her backpack tonight for a surprise.

Here is our girl with a bag I made for a refugee girl from Somalia

Lynsey was so kind to donate some books.

But, when I suggest that she also donate one of her new packages 

of pencils, she started to cry...NO!! Not my pencils..!

We did not know what had come over her.

She said that she loved pencils and that the children in her fourth

grade class just broke them...She  hated that so much...

Thus the above new pencil case with sharpened pencils and pop on erasers.

Eamon had a ratty pillow with the stuffing coming out.

He wanted to dump it...not so fast, I said...

Covered with a soft flannel scrap....it is more than fine....

 Bound this quilt for Hospice tonight.

Using up the scraps..

Our Friend in Stitches group.

Starr quilted it, I just finished it..

The picture is more funky than the quilt.

The eve of the election fills  me with angst!!!

Gotta sew and sew and sew.

Solid Disappearing Nine Patch Finish...Good Job Grandma

How many ways can you celebrate done...finished...a wonderful feeling

1. Just missing the thread snips and the washing,
2. then ready for gifting. 

 Good girl Zoe...quilt worshiping😇😇

 I have two quilting rooms, but oh, no..that is not enough

Here I am trimming for the binding on the screened in porch

A table is permanently set there for this.

The other rooms are too messy with other projects.

 This has been a great weekend for the children

Lynsey especially loves to play alone in her room.

She has to have her hummus snacks up there because she

is behind on her lesson plans.. See, she teaches her dolls!

She plays with her doll house and rearranges her room

She makes up stories and reads books to her cat.

Tonight she asked her daddy to play dolls with her and he did.

According to the parent/teacher meeting . the Friday news

for Dylan, is that he has been elected mayor of his class.

Evan's grades are good and his behavior is better. He is the  king

of friends....he listed about 10 friends the other day.  He is our social man.

After my son went to church, ..he put away the Halloween things with his children 

I took still another nap...

I have a TV problem.  Since I ditched cable to save money.

I cannot watch the sappy Hallmark holiday movies. I know that they all end the same,

but they are so relaxing.  I can sew and not miss a thing...lol

I have no book to read...a good reason...early voting is so intense that a person can
hardly drive near the library for voting...I will be patient..voting is important!!
Oh...I forgot, I have books downloaded on my I-Pad...wonderful news...to me..

I was raised in an Air Force family.
Today I can feel..."Off we go into the wild blue yonder...."

Feeling the good feel.

A person can love the Air Force and still be anti-war.

Just sayin.....

The Itsy Bitsy Post

A dark fog descended tonight...until I remembered what Mr.O'Quilts
used to tell me..."Just go Quilt"
Grabbing this basted top, I quilted it in one of my favorite quick styles.
It  has been sitting here for a year. It was quilted in one hour.

When the storm comes through, I cannot find the umbrella.
I start to slip....but
I am held up by...
My Naranon peeps who love me even when I fall.
My ALS support group peeps who PTSD right along with me.
My quilting friends who stay by my side.
My blogging friends who send me emails and comments and more.
My children, who wish the storm away.
My grandchildren who give me hugs.
I am one lucky son of a gun Grandma. O'Quilts.

from Brain Pickings comes this piece by Anne Lamott...speaking of course directly to me

Rosa...Thank you for the comment...pls send me your email so I can thank you properly xo

Adios Halloween...Hola the Rest of the Year....

Hello and Hello

Bye bye Halloween

It is nice to be back and posting.

After two times in the ER
After IV antibiotics for Cellulitis
After two courses of take home antibiotics
I do not have Cellulitis.
A young new doctor...first year after residency, age 36
told me that I really have Edema.  Can you believe it.??
She is so young and so smart...She is my new doctor now.
She said I can go back to the pool...
Thank you all for your encouragement.
I have been trying to balance my depression meds...
It is a real upper to find a new smart young doctor.

For your fun perusal:  

Witches of Oregon

Great quilting spots:
Passage Quilting, Sherri Lynn Wood
Sherry Lynn Wood is coming to Charlotte in March.
Please to the universe, please let me be able to go...eg
no surgery, no sickness  ...let me live...!!

LeLand Ave Studios
Has these awesome posts called the Creativity Project
Today I enjoyed:
Zak Foster

My son is saving me...He is still our miracle.
We are all adjusting to his being back home after all this time.
He gives me hugs.
He helps with the children.
He fixed the garbage disposal...again...
He goes with me to Aldi and loads and unloads all the food.
He encourages me to stay in the day and enjoy what we have
instead of indulging in my hobby of worry.
He even brought out the Oreos he had been hiding...


I took the three grands today to get their flu shots..
A little counseling with the pediatrician for the 13 year old
phone/ vs grades temper...whew...
I am so exhausted.
I am so glad to be back in the saddle.
xoxoxo

Short and Sweet

Here we go...It is only October and I have finished
little thank you presents for the holidays.
100 tissue covers
Also have 80 hand warmers done for the schools..
Working on 40 potholders..I have 22 now..

My blogging friends cheer me up.

Look at this awesome picture Margaret sent me from her cotton farm in Missouri.
Cotton, moon, dirt road and all...Wonderful!!
Her closest quilting shop is 2 hours away, across the Tennessee border.

My leg is still sore and swollen, my heart wears a permanent hole. but
I carry on with the help from my friends.
My son is getting tree trimming and handyman jobs.
He is a great comfort to me and to his children.

Here is a quilt that our widow group (friends in stitches)
is making for Hospice.  Hopefully I will quilt it this weekend.
It used up some orphan blocks I had on hand.

And a random cutting from a T-shirt of my son's 33 years ago..
There is such a cute little pocket on it.
And thanks to Michael, my son became a car mechanic.
It is not that I save everything!!!! you know....

Thoughts on Bereavement

The Blues...no longer my favorite

I loved my grandmother and her pig collection....

They reminded her of growing up in Sweden.

Her job as a young child was to feed the pigs...

She said they were so smart.

I have saved this postcard for years from her pig collection.

At my UFO group the other night, my niece, Alexis..tomorrow
turning 32..showed me a "Feel Good Quilt" I had made for her years back

On Tuesday I attended UFO quilting group at my sister's house
 Wednesday night IQ quilting group.
On Thursday, My Friends in Stitches quilting group for Hospice.

Here Jackie...who had downplayed her sewing,

showed us a hand sewn quilt she had made in college.
Her first and only quilt. Bravo!!
She wants to have it quilted, but I cannot find Mary Jerz!!!
Does anyone know the pattern?

Our dear 4th grader getting help from Zoe with her homework.

My sister and I bought this fabric in the early 70's
I have just loved it ever since..I only have a tiny bit left
just enough for memories of fabric shopping with my sister in Arizona
at Christown Mall..I was 22 and she was 11.

Getting a post up here..
Last week's visit to the ER sent me home with an antibiotic
that did not work.
So, I spent THIS Wednesday too in another ER,
One hour on IV antibiotics, chest X-ray, blood clot scan,
heart monitor, blood work..all fine.
I was sent home with a hefty new antibiotic for 10 more days.
No pool, leg up instructions
Since it is in the same leg that I need the other knee replacement,
I am hobbling around in pain...all irritable and tired.
Blue funk...no quilting...

Meantime, my brother has spent 8 days in the hospital in NJ
with very serious Cellulitis that has gone into the muscle
He has spent the entire time on IV antibiotics.
Can you believe..both of us with Cellulitis??

Made new friends in the ER...You know me, I never meet a stranger.
The blood clot scanner had my same birthday and was from Miami, just like me.
The nurses shared family issues with me. We laughed and cried together.
The doctor introduced himself as Jonathon  instead of Dr.
and was the nicest doctor ever...we discussed politics..Ha!!
Who ever spends 4 hours in an ER and actually feels good about it???

My son has been terrific...more than terrific.
Helping me with everything.
How did I ever function without him.?

Tonight I am going to read another Maisie Dobbs mystery.
Fluff to cheer me up.

 Links for your viewing pleasure:
North Carolina thanks Florence for Mosquitos

Katy's quilt made from men's ties
Katy's finished tie quilt

Lady Sings the Blues

On the Home Front and more

Now that our internet is back on...you can see I have been to London for the Olympics..

Oh. Ok..now the truth reveals itself....2012

This UFO is SIX years behind..but finished now!!!!

Terrible pix, but I was so eager to show you how quickly I can finish a piece,

when I really, really put my mind to it!!!!

 The back....Thanks Marie for the extra fabric.

In the mail from wonderful Mimi de Idaho...came finished blocks 

from someone's T-shirts for a holiday quilt. 

( cannot say who...cuz Who.. is quite snoopy)!!

Can you imagine...from across the country, a kind quilting heart

Thank you Mimi!!

 On the home front

Dylan helping his father re-attach cables to the battery.

Daddy stalled out on the way to work the other day.

Dylan loves cars too...and is a marvelous helper.

The leaky sink being fixed by my dear son.
The only reason I am showing this uncompromising picture
is so I can brag on my son...It is about time  I get to do this.

My bro and his wife came by a few weeks back.

They had driven to Florida from New Jersey to renew his

driver's license...sure enough...he showed me an 8 year renewal

with a gold star...amazing., just amazing what a bit of persistence can do.

Look who I discovered today, on Blueprint.
Fascinating quilter.

Sylvia Shaeffer

Cancelled my Pepper Cory workshop due to
old lady fatigue...
Sleeping was so worth it..

1.  I found my phone....Really, that took forever.
2.  I figured out the sound on my computer...the speaker was turned off.
Really??? That took forever.
3.  I learned about Sylvia Shaeffer and I learned that one must put
Parenthesis in the search engine for Blueprint...to find what you want.
Really??? That too, took forever.
Age is so upon me!!

I  have  lovely books to read, thanks to Carol and Deb.
Finished already, Beyond the Pale...great!!

Friday fun....Grandma has one swollen leg, twice the size of the other.
All day in the ER again...no blood clots, Cellulitis again..in the other leg!!!

Happy news:
I was thrilled to be able to put my son on the emergency contact list.
The doctor was charming, oral antibiotics only
ER totally full for Friday night as I left...Lucky, lucky me.

Anne Lamott  has taught me how to pray
The easy prayer is  just to say:
Thank you , Thank you , Thank you.
It works and brings me joy.
She also coined the phrase, "Grief is like narcolepsy"
Amen to that  one!!

I could not resist sharing Dylan doing his reading homework in my sewing room!!!!

A  peaceful, lazy old lady day today...with
Children happy they went to the school Friday night Fall Festival with their daddy.
Children happy to go with all of us to meet up with  my Peeps for breakfast Saturday.
My son playing Big Bad Wolf with his children, playing Barbie with Lynsey, making Cake Pops with Lynsey, taking Evan to breakfast and in general taking care of me...xoxo

I am one delighted grandma this weekend.

If There has to be Waves...I Prefer Those of the Ocean

Finally my zigzag is done.
Thank you Cultural Fusions
Hate that it took 3 years...
I do love it.

Twenty years ago when my father had his fourth open heart surgery,
we waited forever for him to get well.  Instead,  he died.
My mother gave my sister and me $200 each to go to fabric stores
as a break from the sad and grueling hospital stays.
My mother was so wise.
I bought this piece then..and it is a gift to remember.
Perfect for the back of my zigzag quilt

Here: our second quilt for Hospice.
from our new widow quilters...Friends in Stitches!

 I am not used to pale...quite pale.

Another in process:.
Other members have more at  home to work on.
Quilting friends are the best kind!!

 Guess who is coming to Charlotte in March?
To our Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild

Sherry Lynn Wood
and more
Sherry Lynn Wood
So excited!!

More death came today as my mother's best friend died
Her wisdom gave me great comfort.
I thought she would live forever.
The tears now, come again for my mother and her friend, Thelma.

My librarian has gone on a three week vacation to Europe.
I tried to get a book or two from the library today, but
my knee hurt and I had to come home with no book.

I have lost my quilty focus
I was so tempted to buy a few treats on Hancock of Paducah.
to cheer me up...Instead..
I ate frosting off the cake...Jeeze Louize
Some people never grow up!!!