All About Turning Eleven and Feeling Free

Dylan turns 11.  Lynsey wrapped his presents....What???? She used my favorite fabric.

Well, I  must say that she is clever, and no paper waste for the environment.  I got to look at pretty fabric as I folded it and put it away.. The party was a great success.

Plus, Lynsey wrote notes for a scavenger hunt for her brother.  She said that she is just following in Granddaddy's footsteps...Tradition...I am so pleased.!!!

He picked out his cake.  He had thought it was an ice cream cake, but it was just a frozen regular cake.

Yummy anyway.

Dylan went on Amazon Prime to pick out his own birthday clothes.

In six months Dylan too, will be in middle school.  Both of them are already pushing the envelope.

Please pray for Grandma!!

The children will both be in school this week,  Monday and Tuesday...and Grandma will play.

Dear me, I hope the weather is good. I might sit outside at Eddies for lunch, if it is still open.

Covid has me online shopping....Just to help my son, of course, as he spray bastes my quilts!!!

Lynsey loves cards. For her birthday a few weeks ago, she got this Cat Lady type of Old Maid.

It is so much fun.  Tonight we played two hands of canasta and one of Cat Lady.  All Dylan wants to do is online Minecraft.

Aoife, Seven month show off...so full of herself...

The Wednesday outing was for my sanity. Two weeks after my two vaccines...I dressed and went off to an adventure.  I walked through Marshalls.   Amazed at how they followed the rules with two people at the door cleaning carts and notices and loudspeaker constantly reminding us to keep the 6 ft distance.

Then, I took myself to an outdoor lunch.  The sun was shining on my face as I sat in the courtyard in the corner away from all...It felt like a real vacation.  First time eating at a restaurant for an entire year.  I drove by our newly opened library.  It was closed, but on two tables out front were boxes.  One was labeled returns and one pickups...Amazing to me.  I have been living in a bubble, for a year!!

I called the senior center where I go to the pool.  It was closed.  I went by my favorite barbecue place.  It had gone out of business.  Pier One was also out of business.  Sigh

Sherri at A Quilting Life

  is helping us along with stress relievers during this Covid time.

Sometimes is is hard for me to find hope during stressful times...I think I will try to remember  a few moments of joy.....

Tonight Lynsey and I chair danced to 

I Feel Better When I'm Dancing, Meagan Trainor..

I went to the dollar store and was helped by three lovely kind workers 

I ordered an extravagant fat quarter bundle of Marcia Derse Fabric new Blue fabric.

Moments of Joy to be remembered.

Since this post covers a few days:

Moments of joy as I watch my grands go for a long walk by the creek and look for golf balls with their father.  They love him so.  Below Lynsey makes muffins while her daddy fries eggs for Dylan's birthday breakfast.  Today, he is eleven.

The mug I bought myself.....It comes full of cheer and prayers for Covid to pass on by.

And so it goes...Hope...is.a great feeling.

 

The Tiring Day

Thank you Lynsey!!  One week after turning 12, her mouth is flapping...OMG

Talking back to her dear sweet grandmother is one thing, but talking sass to her father??

Chutzpah!!!!

I have been working on WIPs and UFOs...Sick of it...so I took some orphan blocks and some plaids and started two new things.  The above squares are leftover from a quilt that my girl made for her MIL about 6 years ago.  My mind owes the Guild 2 baby quilts, so doing a bit of improv here with fox fabric..Stay tuned.

Hour glass in plaids....I have been collecting plaids forever...These are all cut 10 inches, ready to stitch.

I used the method of sewing around the circumference and slicing down the middle method.  So easy.

There is absolutely no reason I should be irritated tonight, except the audacity of Lynsey.  Surprise!!!

I had my hair cut in my driveway  yesterday.

I am two weeks safely passed my second shot.

The weather is atrocious, but the sun will come out tomorrow!!

Sewing has been fun today.

My son did the dinner and the dinner dishes.

For some reason,  the Easter 6 year anniversary of my husband's death by ALS is approaching.

Instead of waiting till Easter, my heart, mind and soul are reacting now..??

Crazy life.

Oh, well, some days are better than others.

Looking forward to a visitor tomorrow and the sun.  We have 3 Daffodils now.. 

Word from Portland tonight: Dearest 7 month old Aoife is currently speed crawling, standing up all the time, eating dirt out of the plants, drinking water out of the dog's bowl, etc. Spilling dog's water all over the floor and herself, and practicing her newly acquired high pitched screeching. Sometimes a long distance Grandma is just fine with me.

Sweet Caroline   Just sayin...Neil Diamond is currently 80 years old...

Neil Diamond on Coronavirus

My Multifarious Life

Ten inch squares ready for HST and Hour Glass Blocks.

I do not want to mark them.  I do not want to iron a fold...I want an easier way.

The above is a failure made right by a friend.  She generously unpicked them all so I could make big mistakes right.  A big "Thank you" to friends!!  The green fabric is from the 30's, I found the bill of sale.

When UFO finishing pressure is way too much...the way to relax is to start anew..

The beginning of scrap four patches.

Below, the good looking Dineens in our family...

New York Times, A fun link..........Upcycle, Recycle

Jo's Country Junction, vaccine's in Iowa  I am posting this because I had a very easy time getting my shots. My eyes were opened wide....scroll down on her blog to see how Jo got her shots.  I guess I am just to old to imagine this...brrr  Of course, I wrote this before the Texas storm...OMG

Two friends died last week.  Usually I print out the obituaries for my obituary folder.  I decided to stop. Why did I do that?   Why do I need an obituary folder? Who knows??.. I just read them online now and let them go. Progress for me.

A Charlotte Quilt Guild Sit and Sew today....good to see sewing friends.   A trip to the grocery store ...double masking did not work as I could not breathe. However, there was certainly a lightness in my heart having been vaccinated against the boogie man. I must admit my body is a bit like petrified wood now, having been isolated pretty much for a year with no pool exercises....

Kids coming home tomorrow after 5 days with their mother.  Dylan's birthday is a week from today.  He will be 11. Emily's birthday two days later, she will be......Brian's birthday the next week...he will be....

I can now walk all the aisles of the grocery store with no pain...today, anyway. 

Such an accomplishment. that Hope appeared...Nice to see her after all this time.

Another Zoom tonight with a friendship group.

I am making project bags.  When I found the cool and awesome sparkly vinyl that Cousin Ann had sent me from England, it was wrinkled beyond belief.  A warm iron over an old dish towel..fixed it right up.

Sun in Charlotte...finally...beaming down on the Nandina that MP gave me.

Spring?  Maybe??  My daughter's birthday is March 1.  By then, the Red Bud trees are usually blooming in Charlotte.

I know weather is crazy this year...but Red Bud and Daffodils are really, really nice!!

Lynsey, 12 and Ava, almost 3...Sisters!!!

Looking through things, I found this that my grandmother made.  My heart....

Lynsey visiting her brother's ferret, Flowey.

Idea today from our quilting Zoom:  from the paint store, a comfort grip handle that fits on any aerosol can.  It is too awkward for my starch, but I think it will be handy for spray basting.

It is almost time for bed.

Before that, my son appeared with a story I could barely believe.

The downstairs toilet has been cloggy ...I blamed everyone..would not let anyone use it...No one listened..crabby grandma...grrr

My son appeared tonight with the answer.  Stuck in the drain under the shower, just out of his reach was a huge, complete, red face cloth that someone decided to flush down the toilet.

Now there is no one in my house who is under ten....OMG

What in the world could be in the mind of children old enough to know better.????

And, from Wanda, I learned about:  Charlie Harper

Celebrating Making Do

For some reason...it feels like the evening of doom???  Must be the weather.

So, what does a quilter do when the night gets long..?? Makes strips?  I think that is like making lemonade out of lemons??  But, so much more fun. Scraps are my heaven.

Then...here comes Aoife....

Proud as punch.  Aoife crawls under the dining room table from the playroom to join Rosie.

And, from her front porch, my daughter watches folks ski down her street. At heart I think I still belong in Miami. Actually, I am watching this movie,...Tortilla Soup...and missing Miami right now.

Here in Charlotte, the cold and rainy mess continues....Here came cheer!!

Thank you dear Boo...on my lap, while I nap.

A cat and a book and a quilt!!!

Valentine's Day.  I think my son is sad he does not have a Valentine.

I could let myself get sad that I do not have one either.

Not going there, because I got my second shot a week ago Tuesday. Who would have dreamed how important that would have been a year ago!! Then...I am going to go roller skating and hoverboarding...

I might jump rope or hopscotch...Wahoo!  It will feel like that anyway.  I might just go out to lunch with some vaccinated friend with our masks, at an outside table!!!

My son found vintage cap guns in the attic...My grands are thrilled with them.  We are looking for those paper caps...the red rolls...cannot find....I found a few EMPTY boxes for $10...Jeeze...the caps are now vintage!!

The midnight hour requires more cutting with my Accuquilt Go.

When I bought it 10  years ago...and rarely used it!!!, How would I have known that

now, I would come to love it....and, alas, have arthritis.  Looking back, I should have bought the electric one.

Here are leftover bits.  I threw them away.  Not going to make a crumb quilt.

Trying to accept my life the way it is. Getting rid of crumbs and dust bunnies...OK, just crumbs.

 

Rainy and Cold Outside; Warm and Toasty in the Sewing Room

My five donation placemats for CMQG Done.  I so love Done!!

They are not due until November...So happy with myself.This has been such a crazy year...

.Great to find a well written piece on "The Melting Pot" from Cat Bird Quilts, A big thank you .Melanie for this article.  All my family thanks you too.. I hope my friends out there take time to read it.

Next up: Fabric chosen and cut for  four Project bags.

Oh, no...project stalled..I cannot reach the fusible fleece. 

I will need to wait for some help.  Meantime, I was able to cut out the back and front out of 4 project bags.  Thank you so much Deborah W. for your help.  Here is another tutorial if anyone is interested:

Project Bag Tutorial from Fat Quarter Shop  There are a lot of tutes on U-Tube for this.

I like handles on mine.

Portland park with lots of snow.  I so miss my youth.

Aoife will soon be 7 months old.  Thank goodness, my daughter is so good about staying in touch by video and email and Whats App From Charlotte to Portland seems a million miles away.

Going to read a book now, in my warm and cozy house....

One Relaxing Friday Night

A weekend off with quiet time to sew.  Tonight, I made my 5 placemat tops for the CMQG outreach, Meals on Wheels.  I should be able to finish them tomorrow...They are relaxing to make.

Aoife, a bit sheepish today!!

Aoife's first snow.

Aoife and her daddy take a walk in snowy Portland.

The weather there made the national news in Charlotte, tonight, blowing snow and roads with little visibility.

Short post as I am once again organizing.

See, I misplaced a present for Lynsey last night.  I tore up my sewing room looking for where I had hidden it.  OMG.  Finding it left a total storm here.

Tonight as I was cleaning, I came across some strings from Barbara's estate sale and the already cut batting I had made for the placemats.  After that, there was the African fabric and the project bags waiting to be made. etc. I could not put this away until that was done....and couldn't do that...etc...You know the story. 

Before bed tonight, I think I will choose the backing for the placemats.  I love to check a finish off my UFO list.  That should be tomorrow!!!

 

Things that Bring me Joy

Linda S sent me a hand hewn valentine from Buffalo, New York.

An artist's gift.  I have not been given a valentine in a very long time.

Lynsey will be 12 on Tuesday.  Uncle Brian and Aunt Emily gifted her with three nights of Hello Fresh

She LOVED it.  With great joy, she chopped and sauteed and mixed.  Last year she received the same present.  It is her very favorite gift of all time.  Here she is on night one, making Italian vegetable soup. She chose that one because her daddy had just had two teeth extracted and could eat soup.

Our Aoife's new game: Frozen peas in a freezer bag with water....sooo much fun.

Someone has a 12 year old birthday party.

Winter weather, Carolina Blue in Charlotte

Anna's chicken coups on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation

A pink chicken coop makes me smile.

An old Christmas box full of Kaffe strings makes my heart sing.

 Quilt Show Memorandum for Roberta Horton

She was indeed one of my very favorite quilt artists.

My Life in the Woods, Pandemic Style

"Love Chains" for the Guild outreach, snipped and finished and labeled, ready to turn in.

I asked the children to help me snip the threads.

Their daddy asked them to go on a bike ride.

Hmmmm....such a hard choice...with that, Grandma was left to snip her own threads.

Next up:  Aoife knocks a basket off a low shelf with last  year's candy in it.  Her mommy went two feet away for two minutes...New lesson....our Aoife is on the go.

No No No

RIP Roberta Horton.....This cannot be...one of our best quilters ever, twin sister of Mary Mashuta..

RIP  age 80

The Mugg Shot!!!!

This is me:  Locked in handcuffs at 73, isolated in my sewing room for being a naughty grandma.

When I tell them to clean the kitchen...in a loud voice...they call me....a Karen...OMG

Who in the world is in charge in my house.  They found my son's old things in the attic...Handcuffs!!!

Well, Grandma will no longer be able to cook, play cards...etc....They said that they threw away the key.  They insist that I am, indeed, their peer...God help me!!

Pandemic dress code: Seven pair of black or navy sweat pants and seven pair of sweatshirts with binding.  No one needs new clothes during a pandemic. 

After our visit tonight with our new pediatrician,  I saw how low things have become around here.

When we sat in the room waiting for the doctor, I saw Lynsey's toe stick out of her shoe, Dylan's soles were off and there was cat hair all over his hoodie.  My clothes also had cat hair...

OMG what a trip out of the isolation house will do!!! 

 Kids doing school in their jammies: grandma covered with threads.  We will be entering the world soon, again...the O'Quilts family must get a grip.

Lynsey has not been in a schoolroom for one year.