Stuff

Cleaning out....I found these clippings from forever ago...just as appropriate now...

1.
Dear Lord,
So far today, I am doing all right.  I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or self indulgent.  However, I am going to get out of bed in a few minutes, and I will need a lot more help after that.
Amen.

2.  Today's tip:  Nobodies Anonymous, a group for people who haven't yet found a group that will listen to them whine....holds its inaugural meeting at 8:30 pm, Thursday at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Emotion.

A panel of psychologists will talk about the latest in therapy techniques in a program titled:  "Just Shut up and Cope".

I am working hard on all of the above!!!

Next:
I need help again on this google fee for my pictures on my blog.  Evidently I have been paying $2 something a month to put pix on my blog.  I remember others not doing this and having advice...could you all please run all that by me again....Thank u...

The No-Mistake, Mistake....

I saw these fabric on fabric.com a few months back...They were on sale and I loved them....perfect quilting fabrics.  Alas, when they came, they were a deco fabric..too heavy for quilting...I was so annoyed with self for being a dummy!   

Today..good came from bad! I decided to started on holiday sewing.
Ironing pads!!
 They are 36 by 22...as I wanted to get the best use of the ironing board fabric. (I did not use pre-quilted, but quilted my own). I left the back bigger so I could self bind...with the enormous help of heavy duty starch to keep the binding in place.  I put inside both batting and Insul-Bright because I am always worried about ruining furniture on a retreat or at someone's house.  That, with the decor fabric, makes them quite protective.

I adapted these from the tutorial here.

Sunday Stuff

Art Gallery does it again..  This time with Jeni. 

 Sooo love it!!

I am just back from Lowes hardware store.  I needed anchors and screws for my IKEA bars for my sewing room.

Look what I found in the garden dept.  They are identical...(except these are much prettier) to the free motion gloves I bought forever ago at a quilt shop.  They were 3 pair for $5.  So, now why did I buy two packages?????   Only a quilter would know....because I could not decide on the color!!!!!

 Himself brought me a present from Ireland...from the Button Studio...How sweet is that!

 It is a button pin!!  That is my man, so thoughtful.

So we are cleaning out..something we should have done forever ago.  So much clutter and mess everywhere....keeping things in case we  need them someday?????  What is that all about???... I am getting modern and putting all the addresses from my Rolodex into my computer.  I just threw one Rolodex away!!  One more to go...So if things are going....why do you suppose that there is fabric stuffed into the bookcases in my office...lol...

Priorities, that is why!!

The mess

I published the last post too soon as I am a computer disaster...This is a pix of dear ol' Ma 15 years ago.  She weighed 157 at the time.  Today she weighs 103.  My mother has way more than 9 lives.  I wanted the neurologist to give her AD/HD medication, but she gave her Parkinson's medication instead!!  Guess she had to prioritize.  My mother is wearing a necklace I gave her that says "Focus"!!  It is not working.:)

 Today, she cancelled her hair appt so she could go with her friends on the bus to Walmart....

Today, Sunrise sent a letter to me saying that they were raising her rent at the assisted living to $7,000 a month instead of $5,000 a month.  Guess that is ok...since I have nothing else in my life to worry about....aaaaaaaaaaaaa    

Just venting....

Thru the Looking Glass....Happily

Why do quilters post pix about their cats????  Tigger is your  cat Emily...Your college cat...He is still at my house and now 10....Come and get him right now!!!!...Oh, never mind....

 Here we are 25 years ago when Mr. O'Quilts and I both worked at the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Everglades.  It was an hour drive from our home in Miami to the School.  He was the tribe counselor and I was the school counselor...for a year...There was no mandatory school attendance at that time.  So, I had 10 children in 9th grade, 6 children in 10th grade, 3 in 11th and one in 12th!!  It was considered impolite to look a person in the eye, so I did counseling with parents, thru an interpreter looking at the wall instead of giving eye contact.  It was a very interesting year!!

 

The Gifts....

About 15 years ago I won a bag of "candy" at a quilt show.  I had it a few years before I realized that it was fabric candy.  Each of the pieces was a hand dyed charm.  I kept it forever hoping to re-gift it, as I thought it so clever.  Today I gave myself the gift.  I opened them all up and ironed them for myself!!  I said thank you:)

My daughter gave me a housecleaning Groupon for Mother's Day.  I celebrated today.  My house is spotless..for the first time in forever!

Mr. Two Red Wellies took time out of his busy three day business trip in Charlotte, to come to see me last night.  I was grateful and delighted. 

And, best of all, Mr. O'Quilts is coming home tonight from his three week vacation in Europe.  He just called from Philly and will be home soon.  My dearest heart!

The Tuesday Adventure

Today we had an adventure to Belmont.  An adorable quilt store with adorable prices and adorable Vicki, who owns it all, The Quilted Thimble

 U just know a woman cannot go near a fabric store without a bit of sampling .....

After lunch and a bit of a walk....it was on to a Belmont antique store...Oh, happy day!!! 

You should see what I left behind!!!!!

Here are the treasures that made it home with me...lucky them/ lucky me!

It is vintage game table, A Replogle Play Tray from the early 50's...I cannot wait to go online to see how to play it!!  A game with the states of our country.  I have never even heard of it, but loved it at first glance.  So I see that it came with 5 game pieces, an airplane, boat, train, car, etc...and two die...I do not have those, but can improvise.  Goal to get from one side of the country to the other...cannot find how to play...Does anyone know??

A few Fire King bowls to match my kitchen and the Granny Smith apples from our tree.  I am going to make applesauce and serve it in these dishes!

Fun!

Love and Stuff

My DBro wanted a picture of our house.  We bought this house in 1994 and this pix was taken in 1998.  Many a year has passed since then.  The foliage has overgrown and we are truly in the woods, all cozy with no neighbors, in the city...but, in the country!

 I finally finished Dylan's quilt last night.  Today I delivered it to his daycare.  His adorable three year old self was sound asleep on a mat.  I did not wake him...I know better...I put this on him to keep him loved.  His teacher, in the three year old group, said that when he woke up, she would do a "Show and Tell" and read a Dr. Suess book....love...

Look what came in the mail from Charlotte...Irish embroidery love.  Thank u Charlotte!!

 Look what came in the mail from Beth...thread catcher love...Thank u  Beth!!

I love you 15 year old Pumpkin...trying out all the basket love....

And, here we have love of a different sort...lol

Sunday and all..

Marni came to visit. With her family, she took me to dinner. Soon came a singing waiter with a birthday wish...However.....my birthday is in December!!  

Marni thinks she is soooo funny. 

 Anyway, she got me this rug at an auction..She gave me the bargain price of $200 and drove it down from Virginia.  Nice to have a friend and nice to have the rug, even though I did not pick it out.  Her friend, the rug dealer put a new fringe on it.  Thank u Marni!!

See my table from Rabat....  I got it for a carton of cigarettes and a kiss on the cheek on a visit to Morocco...I was 21 and even then knew a good deal....ha!

 My new sewing room is coming along.  But, I cannot find things.   I had to take my London quilt off the design wall because I cannot find the rest of the cut white strips...another day.

 Lynsey's quilt had to come down too...It is so not right.  The numbers that I was going to add are missing.  Into a bag goes this one too.

Instead of finding things I want, I am really finding things I am not looking for ...like 10 pairs of scissors, etc and this water soluble stabilizer.  I had not used it before.  After appliqueing the letters, I forgot the whole thing in the sink of water.  When I remembered it, the stabilizer was all gone.  Sounds very good to me!!

Evan is spending the night tonight.  We are going on an adventure to the LEGO store tomorrow.  Tonight we played UNO and started a jigsaw puzzle.  It is nice to have an 8 year old "Mr. Wonderful" spending the night with me. 

This weekend, my nephew cut the grass.  My son did weeding and hedge trimming and my daughter-in law- scrubbed the laundry room. Gratitude is a wonderful thing.

My DIL wanted to take some of my fabric to make her friends some bags.

She chose some of my favorites...I so wanted to say no..no...those I love..NO!!!..

Instead, I told her that she had good taste in fabric.  When she told me where she got the good taste, I let flattery guide me.
...and that's all she wrote.

Thinking of...

The gratitude of the give and take of friendship, the delicate balance of relationships and how so worth it they all are.  This is a great book IMHO.  Thank  u Muggs for getting it for me.  It has me back thinking once again, of all the pieces of women's lives that are reflected in quilts.

 I know that I have posted about this pink and yellow fan quilt before.  It is one of my favorites.  I got it from a country antique store at a time when my whole family was going to Riverdance.  The tickets to Riverdance were $65.  So, when I saw this quilt, I asked them to call the seller and offer $65.  She took it, I did not go to Riverdance with the family, and I never regretted a minute of it. 

 This morning, reading the book, I got all philosophical.  I wondered what kind of person made this quilt.  For sure it is Southern as the filling is the fluff from the Carolina Cottonwood tree.  It is all hand pieced and hand quilted.  I assume it was a woman...What would she think of her quilt hanging behind my big screen TV.  What would she think if she knew that I wonder about her life and if she had had suffering in it and about all the scrap pieces. 

 Then on my sofa is the Checkerboard, bought for $50..again all hand pieced and hand quilted.  What would she have thought about the price I paid and the place it landed.  Was this quilt pieced from pain or joy or just creativity? 

 The blue one is one of the quilts I made from my father's shirts after he died.  There is a label on this one..."Daddy's Shirts, #3", with his name and mine.

 Pumpkin is glad that I am in a good mood today.  She had been concerned, so she decided to oversee the quilting room for me......

It is now lunch time and I have done nothing but relax and philosophize!!  Ha...a novel idea for me:)

Peggy's Second Treasure from the Auction

Antique silk log cabin with crazy quilt border.

 Velvet sashing..

 Orange backing is in rough shape unlike the top.

Note that came with the quilt.

Wow...Peggy...you struck gold!!  Thank u for sharing with me..

Peggy Went to the Auction

 OMG  Look what Peggy got!!!!  Unfortunately I took this with my I-phone, so the pix was not that good...Peggy...can you send me a better photo for our friends?

 Each of the four corners has an animal beautifully done...

 The bottom left is a spider web...I did not take that one...

 One of the pieces has S.E.W.   Your guess is as good as mine:)

 It is dated and it is stunning.....1888....

 This is the backing. 

Next post will be the second treasure..