Quilting as Solace

"Auntie Sam"

"Both Sides Now"

Backing

These are two quilts I am putting in the Charlotte show in March.

Just gotta do the binding.  I do not care about the quilt police.   I am  putting on the bindings by machine.,

I will prepare the 3rd one tomorrow.

I do not know what I would have done without my longarmer, Mary Jerz!!

Below, Aoife checks out Mt. Hood with her daddy.

Grandma here, is still working on accepting life on life's terms..

I was going to stop OT, but she gave me a week off, so now I guess I will keep on plodding along.

Meantime the pool gives me solace xo

SewBlest

 Big thanks to Pat for sending me this license plate.....SewBlest!

Part of my quilting history, EPP that I sat and worked on in the 22 months I waited in the ALS clinic with my husband.  At the end of the time, I made these into coasters, backed with felt, for friends who gave me such great support during that terrible time.

My grandmother taught me to sew at 13.  My mother refused to buy me clothes, but agreed to buy me fabric all throughout high school.  First year of college, I started handpiecing quilting blocks as I waited in line for things...eg, the bookstore, lunch,.... I taught myself to quilt using these Foxfire books. I graduated college in 1969

Evan...OMG....18 in June...Where does the time go????  Now working construction in his step-father's business.

My December birthday Amaryllis...Now has 6 blooms with two more stalks rising.

My neighbor helped me on the rainy, rainy day.  Wed, I had to go to the doctor for a scan.

I did not have to wobble to my car as my neighbor did it for me....sooo nice!

She owns a sailboat, is a musician and gave me a piece of fabric for her curtain.

I used all of those for her potholder and pinned it on her door with a magnet for a surprise thank  you.

My Oregon family is snow walking??  in Bend, Oregon, this weekend.

Poor Aoife....and in the warming hut!!

Just delivered today, 3 of my quilts quilted by Mary Jerz.

Soooo exdcited.  Will work on binding tomorrow...and post them...

Good night xo

Grandma Rambles

 Today is the 38th birthday of my only son;  my charming, kind, intelligent and handsome son.  I had  thought I had no contact information for him; alas tonight I found his friend's new email....  When it was a sad day,  I unloaded the dish washer...What else could I do.?  Glad to hear he was working on a car, mechanic he is.

My new glasses will not come until Wednesday. I ordered readers online, 3 pairs for $9.99.

Tonight's energy came from my lovely long morning nap and from finding my son to say Happy Birthday.  I have now recovered one more of my mother's old wheelchair pads...

The grands came to visit this weekend.. It was totally relaxing and enjoyable.  We all did our own thing. As you can see, Dylan has his own set up.  He brought his brother's lap top adding that to a TV he keeps under my bed.  He would not even get off his game when his step dad came to pick him up!!! OMG, talk about addictive!!

Here:  showing the flower progression by the Angel of Hope.

Last week when I fell, I was desperately lusting after a white cake with white gooey frosting.  Look what my great DIL brought  me when she brought the kids.  She knows what to get.  When I asked her once what her favorite dinner was, she said cake.

Here is my recommentded motion detector magnetic snap on lights to keep the old lady from falling.

Amazon to the rescue....again!!

I have been waiting for a picture of Lynsey to come up....too late, slow internet...going to bed now. xo

A Finish

Finally, Samson's baby quilt is finished.  The threads are even cut.  We have an awesome art room here for that kind of work and for basting too.

Orphan block potholders:

Sherry's table runner:

There is nothing I like better than sewing with friends.

I do not seem to have great pictures...Maybe I  need a new phone/camera???

Yesterday started off as a nasty, sad day, as my son was hospitalized, then walked out AMA with no notice.  However, thanks to Sherry's visit, it turned out great!!!  We sewed, we laughed, she fixed some things for me.....really, genius fixes..It is so on my gratitude list to have such a smart and caring  friend.

Today was destined to be a great day too, alas, at 6 am I fell.  It was all my fault, getting up in the dark with no light, nor cane...I tripped on a wheel and fell flat on my face.  My glasses broke and cut into my cheek.  Good thing that my movie star days are over.  Tomorrow I should be  quite adorable.!! (cut and puffy face, etc) Gratitude to live in a complex like this where paramedics are right at the security gate,  I pushed a button on my wrist and two cuties arrived in minutes to get me up, brush me off and treat my boo-boos.

Tomorrow I will get a big lecture from my OT on how the elderly with falling histories should not walk in the dark...Guess I will not be exercising for awhile. For sure this calls for junk food....sigh...Wondering if I can order white cake with sugary white icing by phone???  Lynsey is coming  this weekend, maybe she will make me something to ease my pain.

My long time hairdresser came to my patio today to cut my hair....I am sooooo glad.

Sometimes it is mighty hard to ride that rollercoaster called life!!

 

The Midnight Hour

 

My daughter gave me this Amaryllis for my birthday.

It came from Trader Joe's ....my favorite plant...no need to water it.

Today a bud  broke through.

The mug rug it sits on is so special...from my husband's shirts ox

Today's happy report:  

1. I went to a support group I had not been to before

2.  I walked 30 minutes (with the walker)

3.  I did 30 sit and stands with a 5 pound kettle bell (bright pink)!

4.  I rode the exercise bike 30 min on  number 6.

5.  I led a zoom support group meeting with 120 people from around  the world.

6.  I finished Samson's quilt...all but the binding.

7.  I took 3 short  naps....just like Einstein used to do.

It is midnight 30.  I would like to sew until 3, but then I would not get up till noon and would miss my OT...not good.  xxoo

Eye Candy, Thought Provoking and Me

 

Samson's baby quilt...This is the back.  All this was done tonight...So pleased.  Tomorrow the binding will call.  Samson was born October 5, 2022

Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment

Maxine Bedat (Author)

Description

Longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award

A groundbreaking chronicle of the birth--and death--of a pair of jeans, that exposes the fractures in our global supply chains, and our relationships to each other, ourselves, and the planet

Take a look at your favorite pair of jeans. Maybe you bought them on Amazon or the Gap; maybe the tag says Made in Bangladesh or Made in Sri Lanka. But do you know where they really came from, how many thousands of miles they crossed, or the number of hands who picked, spun, wove, dyed, packaged, shipped, and sold them to get to you? The fashion industry operates with radical opacity, and it's only getting worse to disguise countless environmental and labor abuses. It epitomizes the ravages inherent in the global economy, and all in the name of ensuring that we keep buying more while thinking less about its real cost.

In Unraveled, entrepreneur, researcher, and advocate Maxine Bédat follows the life of an American icon--a pair of jeans--to reveal what really happens to give us our clothes. We visit a Texas cotton farm figuring out how to thrive without relying on fertilizers that poison the earth. Inside dyeing and weaving factories in China, where chemicals that are banned in the West slosh on factory floors and drain into waterways used to irrigate local family farms. Sewing floors in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are crammed with women working for illegally low wages to produce garments as efficiently as machines. Back in America, our jeans get stowed, picked, and shipped out by Amazon warehouse workers pressed to be as quick as the robots primed to replace them. Finally, those jeans we had to have get sent to landfills--or, if they've been donated, shipped back around the world to Africa, where they're sold for pennies in secondhand markets or buried and burned in mountains of garbage.

A sprawling, deeply researched, and provocative tour-de-force, Unraveled is not just the story of a pair of pants, but also the story of our global economy and our role in it. Told with piercing insight and unprecedented reporting, Unraveled challenges us to use our relationship with our jeans--and all that we wear--to reclaim our central role as citizens to refashion a society in which all people can thrive and preserve the planet for generations to come.

The Secret Life of Secondhand Clothes A note and podcast from Haptic and Hue

Maybe I have whined before: Here it is again:  The physical therapist here has put me on a walker instead of a cane.  I just cannot believe it.  I try and try to find a way out of this embarrassment. Up to now, I see no hope.  This passed summer, I fell 4 times in my home.  Here at my new place, I have fallen 4 more times...All accidents of not paying attention...Really???? I guess no one wants to take a chance on giving me permission for a cane.  I have bounced all 8 times due to my considerable girth...I am not sure I want to challange  that and really break a bone...Sigh... And all I really want to do is rollerskate or body surf the Pacific Ocean.

Excitement today as I handed 3 quilts over to; Mary Jerz for machine quilting.  I had some money left from selling my house.  I am not going to Paris...already been there.  I am not buying clothes....my beauty queen days are over.  I am not buying shoes....crocs will last forever....But I do love fabric and quilts.  I heard a quote from a friend of a friend that 80 percent of quilts made  here  stay tops only..  But Mrs. O'Quilts here...old as she is....is not going to let arthritis nor age allow that to happen here.  I never really used a long-armer...Today, off  to my friend Mary Jerz went my treasures for long-arming!!!!

seamlessexpressions@gmail.com I am grateful for Mary.

Tonight....again...I am trying to figure out what has happened to me.....Is it turning 75???  Is it all the stress and loss I have been under for the passed 9 years?? Is it Covid I had in early December??? My son's illness and his disappearance???  I do not know...but I will carry on best I can.  I am so thrilled I am here in my new place, 5 min to the swimming pool and one second to my little patio and garden..Grateful!!!  Also way happy my friends come and visit.

My mentors in the pool are a husband and wife....ages 88 and 94...OMG...She is giving me water exercise ideas to help me with my balance.  Her birthday is at the end of this month.  I am going to surprise her with a swimming potholder clipped on her front door.  All the doors here are metal...Nice!!

The Joyful Beating of my Heart

The week before  New Years brought about marvelous sales.    You know that the art of quilting and fabric collecting are two different passions..  Cheering my day at E-Quilter, perusing the fabric sales and delighting my heart today as my fabric  selections arrived}

Kaffe

 :

Fabric collection bits...sigh...Swimming

Black and white Santas:

To add to my  Hannukah collection:

Frieda faces:

Camping for Christmas:

Red and Green batik bikes:

Hens and olives:

Vintage snowmen....

Home from a lovely widow;s goup lunch of 13; I found a wonderful package by my door.:  My heart beat quickly as excitement took over. I am way so happy

today...as I feel the joy of fabric shopping....especially fabric sale shopping

Fabric sells for about $12 a yard now.  My online sales were aout $5 to  $7 a  yard with 20% off.

I am washing them  now, folding and petting....sigh!!

Holiday gifting from my dear man....How very  kind  xoxo

My heart and soul like this so much better than almost any thing else....now to get friends over to quilt with me.

Lovin' the Process

Fabric helps soo much with my attitude adjustment. There is a man across my aisle who feeds my jealousy.  He can walk, he can run up and down the stairs, he sings in the choir....

He is 92..I am 75..on a freaking walker.  I can do none of the above.

When I complained to him my jealousy and difficulty with the aging process, he said, too bad.  OMG, thus I need the attitude adjustment.  Three Little Birds, Bob Marley

After OT and lunch, I grabbed this to finish.  The wiggle stitch is so much faster, plus the African fabric below has natural lines to follow.

The one below is like 20  years old.  I see it has velcro on it for my mother's wheelchair cushion.

This one is also from my mother

I had made one with Blah, Blah on it...totally worn out...she loved it.

Tonight, during my Zooms, I am going to do the applique for Samson's quilt...Gotta get that sent off.  The baby is already 4 months old.

I am going to strip the leftover African fabric for more potholders. There was a birthday here today, I clipped a  potholder on her door...anonymously....totally fun.

Holy Mother

I Will Always Love You

When I Go

A Better Man

The Rose

The Buzz of the Dragon ( a reposting of my life) on my blog.

And so it goes...My missing son wears on me...oxox

A Newish Day

 My apartment is quite small.  One bedroom and a living space with no  sofa and no dining room table, etc.  I have four rolling chairs for the different machines and the computer.  I have two standing sewing machines and both walls of the main room are lined with bookshelves, stuffed with fabric.  There are marvelous windows by the machines and wonderful lighting. I have designed my rooms with eccentricity to reflect my personality.  When friends come to visit I need a bit more flexible seating.  I bought 4 folding chairs online. They came today.  Each chair was heavily discounted because it was orange.  Wahoo!!!!!! Two are by the fridge and two more are in my "cage", a storage unit that comes with my room.

Lynsey leaving our sleepover....My dear girl is a teenager...can you tell???

Re-purposing:  These are waterproof chair pads.  When my grandchildren were young and my mother was old with Parkinson's. we had some chair wetting, bed wetting, food spilling, animal hair, etc.

At Walmart I purchased a double/ or  twin mattress protector.( a felted  kind)  I cut into fourths for wheelchair pads, bed pads, spill pads, etc.  The  other day, I found a few left.  I was going to dump them, but hesitated...Instead, I have covered them.  I am working on this one tonight.  I see that  the plain white pad  has a kid's name scribbled on it.....It is that  old.

You can see the pad part here:

Using 504 spray basting, I basted and ironed one side to the felted pad, then trimmed the edges. Took the next side to our laundry room and spray basted and ironed the other side. Later, I will quilt this pad in pencil lines and self bind it.  They easily go into both wash and dryer....They are good for everything...water proof and pretty; recycled and useful.

Reasons for todays blues:

Post Covid fatigue and dizziness,

My physical therapist said I have to stay on the walker instead of the cane...ruining my youthful illusions, and my very sick son  has been out of contact for months....but....self-care says:

It helps banish the blues to recycle and make something pretty.

It feels good to go into our warm swimming pool.

I have survived so far, why doubt it now??

Cool Grandma and Way Cooler Lynsey

 My vintage red and white  potholder collection.

Lynsey spent the night with Grandma. taking our selfie before  her mother picked her up for home.

She set up the blow up mattress, She put it away before she left.  She cleaned out my fridge without being asked. Saturday, she played nasty worded rap songs and sang along.  Today, she  played nice relaxing popular songs.  Alexa is her friend.  We got up early for the awesome Matthews Glen breakfast.  Due to  the early bit, the old lady and her Covid stuff needed a nap.  Lynsey had fun things to do on the computer and her  phone...Lovely just to hang out with each other. Lynsey is a great cook.  Chef  Lloyd gave us tips on cooking and eating.  He went to cooking school  right here in Charlotte--Johnson and Wales.

See Lynsey's fake  nose ring...She insists she can get a real one at 14. I am going to join her with a fake one...Ha!!  Trying hard to still be cool at 75.

That Covid...UGH!!

Damn Covid!!! 

Friday was an OT day. I was so happy to catch up with my OT and have my heat and shoulder nerves rubbed.  She stopped me.  She repeated  her O2 testing, and pulse, etc.  She said I was weaker due to Covid.  I was released as no longer contagious on December 9th.... almost a month ago. Dizziness returned, lightheadedness returned...UGH.  My day was so ruined from lingering  effects of Covid and Covid  fatigue.  I was shocked by my reaction once I started doing a few minor exercises...shocked.  Even a bit of shortness of breathe...Jeeze Louize!

Well, OK..day not ruined., just marred a bit..Friends and I basted Christine's quilt.  We drove to AAA sewing where my machine was cleaned and ready to go home. We laughed and chatted just like old times.However, I am now supposed to rest....again..

.Here we are in Matthew's Glen's new art room.  So wonderful to be back in the sewing way with friends.

EJ's special holiday gift:

Mac Barnes  A  brilliant Quilter/Textile Artist had his aunts, uncles and cousins draw a flower on a sweatshirt for his grandmother for Christmas.  She lives down the hall from me.. On the sleeves are the words, "Every Grandma needs a flower garden of her own."

He put these flower designs into his Cricut machine.  He cut out the designs and then applied them to a sweat shirt. It is really lovely.

Cousin Ann gave me another star year with The Quilt Show.  During Challenging times, watching some of these quilting shows is very relaxing.  I love going into the homes virtually of famous quilters.

Lynsey is spending the night with me....She is so much fun.....However, the songs she played for me and the school friend stories....OMG...such a generational gap.  I am taking responsibility for this gap...as I am 75 and she is  almost 14.  We  had a great dinner here with my sister.  They helped me put away all my holiday items.  In 6 weeks Lynsey will be 14. Time is flying for sure..I am grateful she still loves her grandma!!

Glad my girl now lives with her young mother.as she explores the complexities of boys and life.

Lynsey's  nails, not Grandma's!!!!

On the subject of organizational skills.  I have none.

Trying though. In a see-through box I have put all my tissue gifts.

They are perfect small give-a-ways for folks who are so kind.

Lynsey will go back home tomorrow with her mother, for school and her family.

We are having a lovely visit..and I am a grandmother and not a mother any more.

It has only been 6 months...seems like a lifetime since caring for myself.

Life is good. xo