How Grandma O'Quilts Got the Focus Going

Linda was going to lunch for an hour, I thought.

So, I set my timer for an hour. just to get myself sewing.

Got all this done in an that hour.

Wahoo...I prepped these disappearing nine patches for an upcoming sit and sew.

How to carry them without wrinkling?   Cute little wrap!!

Then...and then...I kept on sewing....

Two more placemats in the making for outreach.

I was gifted the Kaffe salvedge strips..How fun is this??

I took reading breaks..in the backyard...

Such a ridiculous book, that I find myself bursting with laughter at times.

My son's room is downstairs in my second quilting room.

Here...I caught Dylan having a sleepover with his daddy.

Ages 9 and 34...Dear to my heart.

Kindhearted 14 year old under great pressure..deigned to make bobbins for me.

He was in process of making 8 when I snapped him.

OMG,,,such mortification...one would think that I was going to publish it

in the high school newspaper.!!!

The hour set was a great idea...Once I started, then I could not stop sewing

I love to stay up till 2 am sewing...

Then sleeping all day...even when I go outside to read, it seems that

I nod off like an old lady!!!!!

Did you know that the holidays are coming soon???

Before I blink an eye...OMG

Guess I will  bring some holiday things to work on in Portland while visiting my daughter

She already has the two sewing machines all set up.

The Fabric Fairy Comes Again

I really, really, really love fabric fairies.

They warm my heart

My sister and I took a few favorites....and now we will be
Spreading the love on Wednesday night.

Prayers for my Florida peeps who rode Hurricane Andrew with me,
 under mattresses et al....many moons ago...Go away Dorian.
My heart still trembles with the unknown and the fear.

No sewing for me today...just fabric patting and snoozing.

Last night I woke at 3 am...wondering where my husband was.

Why had he not come to bed yet?

Maybe he was in the bathroom?

Then, I realized he had been dead for 4 years.

This shook me to my core.

I felt sick, cancelled my day and stayed in bed.

I was not angry, I was sick in my heart.

Although, grief brings with it tons of anger...It gets displaced on innocent

folks, the cashier at the grocery store, family and friends who are nothing but nice,

It gets displaced on ourselves in a grumpy kind of way.

Staying in bed today saved me...and probably the neighborhood as well!!

Today, it was Boo and me...against the world.

Surprise!!!!

2019  First Day of School..My son remembered to take the picture...
All went well..and the three of them are on their way
Surprise...It went so well without Grandma...hmm
Evan did not get lost.  The other two got their buses.
Everyone got breakfast...
Well my son did set his clock to 4:30 instead of 5:30
No one thought that was funny
Looks like our fourth grader is now taller than our 5th grader....Oh, dear...

I am relieved. I stayed in bed...eyes wide open.

My small design wall..made from the scraps of the  larger one
Ceiling tiles from the hardware store.
I love these because I can iron right on them and carry the board to the  machine.

Tonight's work..Does anyone know this pattern?

I was so excited to squeeze in my cheddar disappearing nine patch, only
to find out that I did not bother to count the squares..assuming it was a regular charm pack.

Ugh..I am missing 20 blocks.  Surprise, Grandma O'Quilts did it again!!

Lynsey made dessert tonight.."S'mores"...a bit on the cold side
but creative..she was way proud and so were her brothers as they gobbled them up.

The biggest surprise of all...our Stephanie came back.

We were sooo happy to see her.
She is weaker and gets tired easier.
She did a bit of cleaning and cooked dinner.
That exhausted her.
We are grateful to have her back after almost 3 months.

It has been a week...7 days..since  I set my goal to buy nothing online until Oct 1.

I do not think that that really means:

Hancock of Paducah Labor Day Sales
Do you???

So life goes on despite my fretting...
I certainly need to work on that.!!!!

The Start of School Frenzy...Tomorrow...

Kaffe stripset...from the  Wednesday night scraps.

 Potholders...a new quilt to start...or ???

Sew relaxing.

Another new project...just when I decided to finish what I have already..

Old charms I just found...cutting cheddar for disappearing nine-patch

Lovely rainy day yesterday....Finding myself reading on our screened in porch

Enjoying a wonderful book, cuddled in my Civil War fabric group exchange quilt.

Nodding off.......

Just love Anna Marie Horner fabric...the funkier, the better...just like me.

My son loves to work...coming home from a job...

Really???

Some how he did not get the message that the sewing room is off limits!!!

The new member of Queen Bee...Bambi...with Stitch in the lower left.

taking inventory...

We have so many deer in our yard, neighborhood....the kids can pet some of them.

There was a family of 8 in the yard the other day.

Ava: 17 months, Zoe: 12 years 

xo

Only Ava is not nervous about school.

The children's mother just brought them back from her weekend visit.

She had them shower for school before they came.

Then, she filled out all the back to school paperwork.

She has the best handwriting of the family.

She also helped Eamon with the computer.

My heart sings when they get along for the children's sake.

You notice the 14 year old is not posing for a picture...

There is great stress about school starting tomorrow morning.

One child's bus is at 6:15am....OMG

The other two have buses at 7:15am

Both parents say it is OK for the 14 year old to walk around the corner

to his bus stop in the dark..

This old grandma is nervous.

I have had Evan since he was 7. in 2nd grade.

High School.??How can this be?

I have been told by the family to stay in bed 

and let my son handle it...OMG

Even deep breathing may not calm my soul.

Sew...just go Sew....

Maybe I will just stay up very late tonight sewing??

I found these:

Divided 4 patch.

I found 10 of them.

I hate them.

I do not know what to do with them..

Suggestions???

Love Sewing Love

A purple process...2 years and not finished yet.

Making a new block is much more fun.
Scraps found in my table mess.

Queen Bee gift...Thank you Linda

Queen Bee Round Robin... from Sherry Lynn Wood workshop

Kaffe fabric from Foust..gifted by Heather...xoxo

Doc Whaley and her Jelly Roll rug process

Wednesday night IQ group brings Sherry's Trip Around the World
You might well find Sherry's quilts on Sherry Lynne Fabrics, her etsy store.
Just maybe!!!

and....Sherry's Harlequin quilt

Jean's finished UFO...

Kaffe scraps gifted to me...xoxo Lindsey.

Today was open house at the elementary school
I went with the four children and both parents.
Vain me should have brought my cane...alas...I did not.
Everyone excited to see their friends and teachers..
The noise level required a 30 minute nap after.
Next up my physical therapy.  It helped sooo much.
They are very good to me.

I VOTED.
and now.....
Sewing bits and pieces and listening to:
Roy Orbison
I grew up with this music...My daddy from Greenville, Alabama put
country on the car radio quick..so we would not have to listen to my mother's music,
"Madam Butterfly"

Things That Bring Happy

From my son-in-law's garden in Portland, Oregon

From my daughter's stove in Portland, Oregon

Kids went camping with my girl and her man, here in NC..sooo much fun.

Even Zoe went.

Slide Rock, NC

At Sit and Sew, Queen Bee today...I stitched 42 hand warmer pouches
The children turned them...60 left for the school at holiday time.

Eithne brought me this cool and awesome laminate from Ireland.
I got it last night.  I lost it last night...
My son just came home, now.......He found it!!
.
"Humility, like the darkness, reveals the heavenly lights", Thoreau...He understood!!!

I left yesterday morning for a meeting...
Lynsey was in my,  our scrap bag, then at my our machine.
When I came home, these little pillowcases were in her dollhouses.
That girl has 5 dollhouses...OMG, she loves them so.

In her busy life, Terri still manages to be good.
She made this awesome yarn necklace for me.
She brought 5 placemats for the Meals on Wheels MQG outreach.
Then, she made raspberry treats so I did not have to do my treat night.
And, Terri did not even stay for quilting..
Terri's middle name is kindness.

Yesterday was wicked...3 children had a dentist appointment.
Our dear Ms Stephanie was to bring them...Alas, at the last minute,
she could not get out of bed...That heart attack did her in for now!!
I did my grief therapist in the morning..then the dentist, then Lynsey had a therapy appointment
to talk about all the losses in her young life...
Lynsey is an old soul.  Lynsey is a brave soul.

Tomorrow is school open house.
Then, I am back to physical therapy.
Just 10 days dealing with family crisis and not going to PT...my knee rebels..ugh.

How do we know that Mrs. O'Quilts is getting better?
She did more self-care...got herself a new pair of crocs...(or 2)
Crocs.......for every occasion
Weddings, funerals, birthday parties..and every day use.

Mrs. O'Quilts tries to be adorable in her old age!!

My Messy Room and My Messy Brain....Help!!!!

I cannot find my purple blocks for the challenge.

I cannot find my Denise Schmidt fabric for my Meadowland.

This is the result of my looking for the above..

HELP!!

The stress in my life keeps going on and on and on..

Now, it is the children's parents squabbling...jeeze.

My local support system is weak, as most folks are even more sick of listening to me, 

than I am of dealing with these things.

I am working on self-care..

The exhausting physical therapy put me back in bed again Monday..

When I got up, I took myself to the Mexican restaurant where I used to take my mother.

When she was in a wheelchair, the staff would come out to the car and lift her into the wheelchair for lunch inside...
They called her "Abeulita Preciosa"  The Precious Grandmother...

My mother was quite the charmer.

I grew up in Arizona, so Mexican food is my favorite.

I sat there for two hours by myself..breathing...eating..doing the journal thing. adding to my gratitude list, releasing ridiculous resentments...
In my heart, I know that most people do the best they can.

My daughter has arranged a two week vacation for me in Portland, Oregon...at her house in October.

How wonderful is that!!!!!!
I cannot wait to see my Portland friends.

Hopefully, I can relax and trust that , here in Charlotte, both the parents want the best for their children...so will co-operate with each other.

School starts in two weeks.  I have done the school clothes thing with Lynsey.  The kid's mother is onto hair cuts and shoes for Evan..and Dylan's shoes taken care of by his father.
I have ordered the AD/HD medication for the boys, ordered the Epi-pen and school letter for it for Dylan...bees, fire ants, apples....
Thank God for Paula sending us the school supplies!!!!
The thought of Stephanie not coming back...exhausts me..
Nowadays I take several de-stressing naps per day..

Interesting:
pool noodle quilt basting

My girl is here now...We have eaten out.
We have fabric shopped.
We have chatted about her house.
I love my girl!!

We ordered Anna Marie Horner fabric on sale from Del Ray Fabrics.
$5 a yard.
Craft beer on sale at Eddies for $3 a bottle on Thursday nights.

Kids coming home at 10 am...manana...
On Saturday they go off camping with my girl and her man.

and....I go sewing!!

PS  Stephanie said she was coming back in a few...so relieved!!!

Thanks for the listen.

PS...I did find this: Baby quilt top from Anna Marie Horner fabric.

And, I found the box with my Swedish flag quilt pieces....OMG

xo