October is Zooming Along

 Aoife, October in Portland, 15 months old.

Pencil bag number two for teachers.  Honestly, I  must be declining.

I made  huge errors here too...with the zipper and the zipper corners...UGH.

And, I thought I was following a pattern....but then I too, thought I knew it all.

Tomorrow I insist will be bag number three...gotta do a bit more research.

What happened to my wonderful memory????????

Aoife's mommy worked hard to make her Halloween costume.  Sigh, Aoife no like!!!

I remember the kids' sister Ava doing the same thing with the princess costume she had picked out.

Once it was taken off, she said to the adult...You wear it!!!!!

Darn shame we cannot control  other people, even at this age.

This year, the holidays are giving me a stomach ache.  My son has cooked the Thanksgiving dinner for the past two years.  Before that, my husband cooked it...I know my sister and niece are coming to join me.  Being alone now, We will have to think of something different.  Then Christmas...Thank God Aoife is coming with her parents, the chef and the sous chef....I will relax.

Thank God all the people coming will have had their shots.

Stitch killed a beautiful Cardinal and brought the headless body home to us, Dylan took care of the mess and would not speak to Stitch all day.  Lynsey freaked out because she said her mother had told her that her now deceased other grandmother would come back as a Cardinal..

The neighbor boy cleaned our fish tank...Grateful.

I have house cleaning help.  In spite of the budget, I asked them to come back next Friday too...It is such a relief.  Things move so slowly in getting my house back together, never mind my heart.

Today, I stayed in the moment and appreciated the beautiful fall leaves.

I took a walk in Tuesday Morning.  Pushing a cart made it easier..Things have changed.  The store was a fraction of what it used to be....very few of the lovely candies and cookies.  In the same shopping center, I noticed empty stores, no more Pier One, no more Sports Collectibles, no more Stein Mart.  We checked out several restaurants Friday, all closed for lunch, only open for dinner.. It is a new day in this world of ours.  So grateful  for my blogging friends and my in person friends and for Zoom. 

Turn that Frown Upside Down

 

I remember when my mother was stupid.  Somehow, she smartened up!!!  She taught us that when life gets rocky, do something nice for someone else.

Tonight I finished the first pencil pouch for a teacher. It is a lovely laminate.

One would have thought that I was a beginner in sewing for all the mistakes I made.

Honestly, at first I thought I just cannot give this to anyone.  However, now, me thinks that no one will mind the errors.  It is filled with 25 pencils....a little tassle on the zipper.

Our school is a wealthy school.  I was aghast to hear that already teachers needed pencils.

Will order another box from Amazon.  I hope that 25 in each pouch is enough.

Between the two children, there are 10 teachers.  Usually in middle school, gifts are usually just given to the favorite teacher, or the one who goes the second mile.  But, this is an unusual time.  All the teachers are so good and kind and giving.

I am going to put a note on each bag.." Thank  you for being a teacher!!"

Then, of course there are the wonderful counselors...hmmm

This is my accomplishment of the day.  Although after a lovely lunch, it was amazing to come home to a clean house.  Of course an old lady nap, a movie and some sewing...the bag.

Tomorrow another day, if we are lucky xo

From Coast to Coast

From Aoife's porch in Portland..

She and her daddy carve the pumpkins

To east coast,  Boo in Charlotte!

Boo and I enjoying the sun, a book and Mary Park's vintage quilt.

I bought a Dirt Devil to use in case I ever get my carpets down on my new floor. Meantime, Dylan is here, putting together the machine.  I said, "Dylan, Don't you want to look at the directions?"  Without batting an eye, 11 year old Dylan said, "Grandma, men do not need directions!!!!!"  OMG

Lynsey enjoying the Halloween fabric.  I am so far behind, guess nothing Halloween will be done this  year...sigh..  Nice sturdy table!!!!

Thanks to Carol's suggestion, I am reading this:  Jacqueline Winspear, her autobiography.

I just love  her Maisie Dobbs books.  I have read them all.!

Pondering chickens instead of working toward what I need to be doing.

I am soooo unfocused.  There are things I should be making for the holidays.

But I do not do that.  I should be quilting the quilt tops I have already made.....

Instead, I want to play with fabric or stare out the window or sleep.

Today, my visiting friend, told me that all school staff is generally suffering so much stress.

They are short staffed, there is a Covid scare since the children are not  yet vaccinated, etc and there is pressure to get the children back on track from missing so much learning last year.  Also only a third of former substitutes are available to work.

Then, I decided,  my focus should really be on teacher presents with a card:   "Thank you for your service.  Thank you for being a teacher. " I cut out 5 laminated pencil pouches tonight.  I read that there was already a shortage of pencils at our middle school.  

I really do not know who this new person is in my body.  She  is old, unfocused, exhausted and quite needy, and, of course plum full of chocolate... UGH...Not sure she is my favorite version of myself.

Our school system just voted on a 4 day time off.  This Sat and Sunday and Monday and Tuesday.  No one asked me!!!  No one at all.

I also forget when I stopped loving Halloween...

At least I got a blogpost up now....a step in the right direction.,

Self care will be lunch out tomorrow while I have a cleaning lady clean my house...Wahoo!!!

 

Keep on Swimming

Tonight I finished a goal:  the center portion of this African fabric fish quilt, all sewn.

I am naming it, "Keep on Swimming"s.  Because that is what I am encouraged to do by my dear guru brilliant friend, Sherry. 

Kids come home tomorrow.  I have a doctor's appt tomorrow am, again..YUP, again, for her to tell me why I am so tired all the time.  Sigh...Oh, well...I do love my doctor.

She will not say:  because it is Covid, nor because you will be 74 in 7 weeks and are raising grandchildren; she will not say because you are grieving so much, nor because you are neurotic as hell...nope, she will not even mention my extra Covid weight.  And when I read the doctor's notes online later....I will see a series of notes on different dates, year after year....... that all say the same thing:  STRESS...

xoxo

 

Sew Happy Sewing Stuff...and Family, Of course.

Lynsey lost her phone this past week for two days and nights. She lost it for unspeakable verbal crimes against her grandmother.  She said that since she now had nothing to do without a phone, she might as well sew...hmmmm

She found a Halloween collection I had gifted myself during a low time.  She was thrilled that they all matched.  This Halloween mug rug, made in Lynsey's own style, now graces our coffee table with a pumpkin on top.

It seems that when I am so beside myself, I can hardly stand it, a surprise comes.

Last night I was gifted a lovely Tula Pink plastic zippy  bag...I love it!!

I bought some new dishtowels online because ours were totally disgusting.

New rule in my house...If you want to clean up some slop...We now have a rag bag in the laundry room!!

Someone already out for a walk on a cold and rainy Portland day!!

Fifteen months old...amazing!

Middle school darlings playing war amongst the flowers...As seen through my sewing room window.

Orange stars all taking shape.

Dylan watching some U-tube fishing channel out of Alaska.

At first I felt sad that his daddy does not do these things with him.

Then I said...TBTG for U-tube and smart Dylan can do whatever he wants when he grows up!!

Lynsey's sewing set up...Notes and fabric for her next project...My heart!!!

Had a visit with Jackie the other day.  I gifted her a plastic bag holder.

Thank you AMH

I must have someone who cares about me.

These African gems showed up this afternoon...

Now, all washed and ready to use.

Me thinks I am now getting carried away with blogging after last night's trauma.

So grateful to be able to show my stories again.

 

Getting That Joy Back----All About Our Aoife

The family in Portland...all ready for the cold rain.

The fall leaves and our girl.

Daddys have the best ideas for fun...sliding times on the car windshield.

Ghost jammies.

Aoife and Rosie enjoying themselves.

 A big thanks to Nancy for sticking with me last night to help with the computer mess.  A big love to my daughter who just fixed it now in like 3 minutes....I was so frustrated....even trying to call my computer expert, my husband, back  from the dead.  The fix???? Entering the new password into mail on my settings...Really????  It was an SMPT error...I never heard of that, never mind give it a password.  Emily walked me thru it in 3 minutes....joy....whew... Love you girl!!!!

A New Day

The  O'Quilts family survives.  We are OK, well kind of...

No pictures as my phone has evidently stopped sending them to the computer. Our Alexa's do not work to wake us up in the morning.  Something is wrong with the modem which I have already reset.  A phone call from school that Dylan threw clay at a fellow student and it hit the art  teacher instead.

Middle school mouth is exhausting me. I think I have been sleeping for a week.  That is it...nothing big, just  too many small  things all built up.  Hoping someday that a computer genius will show up and fix my unfixables.. Handyman is a month behind in his work.  
Enough  already.  It is a new  day.

My antique quilting gift to Katy 

I owned this quilt top for about 30 or 40 years. I sent it to  Katy because she is  young and strong and loves antique quilts just  like I do.  The batting for this quilt was an even older "Birds in the Air".   I picked out the ties and sold that.  I kept this so long as I always planned to fix it some day.....now Katy can, or at least admire the fabrics...So very happy to see it posted.

India's first Quilt Magazine

Storied Quilts

My Saving Grace

 Next step in African Fish, lattice.

Same quilt top in mono to show the value.

Thank you I-phone for  your photo tricks.

Thank you Grandma for teaching me to sew.

Thank you Fabric Wholesale Direct

for  your fabulous fabric and prices that keep a smile of  hope on my face.

Everytime I check in with you, there is something new.

Fabric on Sale  is confused by me with Fabric Wholesale Direct.

On the Fabric on Sale site, I found the fabric for $3.99.

The Work of the Day

Josh Groban: "When you Walk Through the Storm" 

Starting the Season, with Halloween

Last night, I felt I had no friends...I think it is a nighttime thing.

Today, Linda and Gary came over and put up some of my quilts.

So wonderful to be getting my rooms back with that homey look!!

I am grateful!!!

Here is, "A-mazing Cats", a third place winner from a few years back.

A fuzzy picture of an old Halloween quilt.

In the hallway, we, once again, have the scary stuff!!, or not!!

I am posting these to show the new hanging methods.

The smaller quilts are using those little screw in hangers, so quilts can be changed out.

The larger quilt is hanging on bicycle  hooks holding a large wooden rod from the hardware store.

Curtain clips from Amazon hold the quilt on so it can be changed out.

I am thrilled...Gary and Linda be just so wonderful!!

Another friend!!!!  On my porch today, I found  these hand embroidered pillowcases.

A big thank you Pat!!!  They are beautiful xo

Halloween  used to be my favorite holiday until 8 and a half years ago.

My dear man was diagnosed then with ALS,   He died 6 and a half years ago.

Only now, thanks to friends am I able to celebrate halloween again, with joy.

Sherry has been a God send.  Linda and Gary...saints....So Sheila and Pat and the comfort of Margaret...Carol and Heather and Anne....on it goes. 

It is that damn Pearl, in the middle of the night that twists my thinking..

I made the above from panels, again, years ago.

All this out already and we still have 3 weeks to go.

Friends are  an infusion when  your platelets are low...

Online blogging friends too...lifting me up.

Lifting me up while asking nothing from me.

This 4 patch design was adapted from a Missouri Star tute.

This is it's backing.

Tomorrow CMQG sit and sew in the park

and kids will be home.  They  will be made to do their homework at mean grandma's house.

They report internet not working so well from Mommy's house in the country.

That is  OK, They have a wonderful school and a marvelous support system.

Night xoxo, from the O'Quilt witch. xo