OMG...Get a Grip.....all about Aoife and Potholders! Now more!!

Inspite of the thunder storms, today, I took myself to the Modern Quilt Guild sit and sew.  It was at the library around the  corner from me.  I was going to stay home, but......So glad I went.  Look at the new friend I met....Jenny.  She has been making these awesome EPPs with Liberty of London fabric.  A talented, new to quilting quilter, young and pretty.and creative.....Just  what our guild needs.

Aoife on a sunny day in Portland....allowing her dog Rosie to sit with her.

Sad to say, there has started a sibling rivalry between the two of them, as Rosie eats Aoife's snacks and Aoife has learned the word MINE!!!

Once home, I did not sew what is on the design wall...NOPE!

Instead, I spread three or four UFOs all over tables in the sewing area, making quite a mess.

The scraps below are now headed for a baby  doll quilt.  Made from my reproduction fabric scraps.

The little center piece was cut from an unusual fabric in the reproductive lot.

On a potholder roll here...messing with color and value...my favorite things.

My daughter takes great pictures..Just one of her many talents. A sunny day in Portland and a rainy day in Charlotte.

Who stays up late to work on color and design in a potholder????  Me!!

I was up at 4 am worrying about my other grands.  Sigh.  I thought I had given up the worry thing.

Trying to think of a way to support my great DIL, that is within my energy level...

Today  I had the entire day off.  Lately I hate to have anything scheduled....I just want to rest.

I have not seen my son in 10 months.

MQG is having a summer sew in for kids in the library . I might make some sewing pouches for the kids, Maybe.

I just love sewing in our beautiful new library with glass walls.

Tomorrow, I am an invited tag-a-long to Gastonia.

Everyone is making me go out and about.

Very nice to have friends. xo

It is said, that when one is too much  in their head, they are in a very bad neighborhood.

 

Things to Love

My gifted Foxglove: (year three) and Coral  Honeysuckle ((year two)

Aoife in the woods in Portland, Oregon:

My awesome quilting lamp with character:

Betty's shoes:  She lives down the hall from me.  Needed new Velcro for her straps....She certainly knew where to go!!!!

While her mother visited Grandma, here, Aoife climbed out of her bed. for the first time ever.

Here she is showing off her big girl bed!!

Aoife outside, her daddy's clone!!!

 Mary in Maryland, thank you for your comment. Send me your email , if you  want, so I can thank you properly.  You are right...no tatoos for this old lady!!

Stuff and More Stuff

Enjoying stunning orange tulips from Trader Joe's...$6 a bunch...Divine.. 

My daughter's visit was awesome.  Just what I needed.

We ate dinner here:  She likes Sushi, I like tempura.

Joy in my heart that my daughter turned into a sewing freak.

She made this bag for herself....Hoping she will make one for her mother!!!!

There is nothing more  relaxing than making a potholder.

In my apartment complex, these are out the door to friends and workers in no time at all. I have a  basket hanging by my front door, full of potholders.

Mrs. O'Quilts;  The potholder queen.

PT tomorrow...so exhausting, but worth it.

A few sewing friends.

Many  naps.Floor meeting, just like in a college dorm!!

My DIL and her  new husband have been married 6 years now.

They are busy raising 5 children, 3 cats and two dogs. They are making it all work by running their own business.

Yesterday, my kids beloved step father was diagnosed with a potentially serious disease.

He is 35.  I remember that worry is a rocking chair; It goes back and forth and it goes nowhere.

They celebrated their anniversary with matching  tatoos....remembering that they were married on Earth Day!!

Just sayin'  PS  I do not even have one tatoo!!!

Maybe I should get with the program??????

Relaxing Sewing

 Not exactly art, but a fun, funky potholder for the house computer guy who came to my rescue  the other day.  Click on the fabric to see it.  Linda and I had a hilarious day going through one of my scrap boxes.   I found this computer scrap there. I do know that  using Marcia Derse on a potholder seems a waste...but it was so joyful!

This is a scrap potholder too...Again, Marcia Derse....an orphan block.

My daughter comes on Friday to sew with me.  Absolute joy.  She is only staying two days, but it will be a wonderful two days.

I am sooo very lucky.

My grandchildren are doing poorly in their new school.  They miss the familiar feeling and friends of the old school..I feel a bit guilty, but...transition is part of life...hopefully making us all stronger.

And so it  goes...

My New Friend, Betty

Yesterday I walked to visit my new friend, Betty...It is a long walk to her building, then to the top floor.  She had come to visit  me twice and she is 93.  I am 75 and I  huffed and puffed to her stunning apartment.  So high in the trees, on her sun porch came many birds and tons of humming birds.  It was almost like a bird sanctuary.  And her three bedroom apartment, like a gallery.  Indeed she is an fabric artist...classical.  I am a folk fabric artist.

Above is a fabric basket she made, shown in her sunroom...the very same windows that host the bird feeders.  Note the lovely orchids in the background.

With her embroidery machine, she made this masterpiece!!

The picture does no justice to the glory of it all...It is assembled in the "quilt -as -you -go" method.

This is the back of the quilt.  I have never seen anything like it. Click to enlarge.

Betty is the friend who made the lovely quilted jacket already shown on this blog.

Below, a parting gift from  Betty...her machine and IKEA towels make these:

My DIL sent this to me.  It was taken a few years  back..Now, they are 13, 14, and 17.

Even though I am now too old to raise them, I do miss them so.!!

Old me looking exactly like my grandmother at this age.

Back to my sewing:

Blocks on the design wall...ready to sew tomorrow.

My wonderful daughter sent me my favorite chocolate, Tony's milk chocolate with nuts...in egg form:

An unusual basket I found today in our thrift store for $5.

My heart is full.

My heart is full even though tonight  I was so very crabby.  I decided that no one cared about old grandma.. Whatever.  Gotta do a talk on that...self-pity...and over nothing at all.

Finally after ranting, a glass of red wine and pink jelly beans...I was done....and back in perspective.

God help us all. 

 

To My Dear Husband

 You  have been gone 8 years today...Finally, I am getting a grip and starting to live the life you told me about, when you were leaving.  Letting go of  yesterday to make a different today, is a tough haul.  But,  you told me to just go sew, and I am doing that.

You were the string to my  kite.  Surprisingly, you still are..I am grateful.  You told me that I was too old to raise children, but I did it anyway.  God and you....gave me the strength.

Here is my new garden.  Friends and family help me tend it.

I am celebrating survival by messing around with my Marcia Derse fabric..

You remember that times when I was sad and blue.....you told me to just buy fabric...(Ha Ha Ha) Just kidding.....Today it came..a blessing from you....My fabric collecting heart beats quickly.

My Charlotte family remembered today with prayers that touched my heart....

The rest of the world's strangers,  kept going without missing a beat!! An odd life.

You live inside me now.  Last night I went to a lecture here.  I  so wanted to share  ideas with  you.

The housekeeper from the Congo told me awhile back that my job was to be joyful and grateful and that God took care of the rest.  Everytime I see her, I smile.

I never dreamed that I would ever feel again that we walk together....It took 8 years. Now you, in peace are with me again.

Once again, I publish my journal, for all the world to see.  I feel loved.

ps.  Someone put  my machine in my car trunk  so I will be ready for Sit and Sew tomorrow.  My lunch is packed, my sewing ready.  So excited, post Covid to see everyone again...xoxoxo

From the Garden Gate

 Withou the help of my  friends yesterday, I would never have come this far:

Three years in the making, my Meadowland top is finished.

After purchasing a blackish backing, the vote amongst folks today was that it would shadow through the batting to the top of the quilt.  Now I am on to sale sites looking for wide fabric backing on sale.

My North Carolina family....at the beach for spring break.

A forgotten draft.

My Favorite Things: Quilting and Grandchildren

My neighbor here is nuts about rubber ducks.  She has them in her garden and on her porch.  She even has masks on some of them.  Her birthday is next week.  Here is her  birthday potholder.  Fabric from Heather, from Marie and from  Singapore!!!

Sharing my orange fabric organization...finally!

The two and a half year old beauty queen in Portland on Easter.

All the others at the beach with their mother.  Good thing she did not listen to me and stay home because it was too much for a mother to take 6 kids to the beach....

Like I said before, she is 38 and I am 75.

Now if I were an old grandmother...I might say OMG

Now, I am an old grandmother and  I say OMG

Adolescence almost over here as Evan turns 18 in June and his best friend Jake is already 19

OMG!!

A marvelous day  today.  My second quilting group at my new place.  It was quilting show and tell without a quilt. EG: purses, bags, clever items, wheelchair seating covers...I loved it and met new friends.

I took my six min walk  on the cane tonight, chanting  "Diane be a big girl, be a big girl"..so I was.

My computer keyboard was such a messy disaster.  My new one came today.  Security agreed to come over and hook it up.  He is so nice, but God help me he is already  married with a one year old and he is only 21. I told him to choose a potholder.  He was so happy, he said he lives with his grandma and she would love the potholder...connection...that;s what it is all about...human connection.

I have finished rebinding the suede purse I made from my husband's jacket.  
There was a nasty spot on it.  In my group this morning, a member told me to dab Blue Dawn on it and let it set.  I did and it all came out.  I am thrilled.

Tomorrow a plant friend I have known forever is coming for lunch...so looking forward to it.

And, new pix are posted where the quilts were hanging last month...There is an event, "Meet the Artist"  with wine and cheese in tomorrow's late afternoon.   I loved it when it happened in March for the quilters.  The month of April brings paintings that are stunning...All the work is by folks who live here.

I am kind of getting to like having "good days" .  That is why I share it here...to document for myself that indeed it is possible.

Easter Eve

Aoife, my youngest grandchild, enjoys Easter, seriously!!!

The glory of it all!!

I so love tulips at Easter!

Tonight's craving for egg salad lead me to this apparatus passed down from Grandma to me.

It's worn green wooden handle still does its job well

The bags of jelly beans that my sister brought me are now hidden all over my apartment.  Some sugar desperate day, I will find one and remember my sister with kindness.

Tonight I took my cane and walked the 6 minutes expected of me.  I did not like it, but I did feel stronger after.

From Portland Marketplace came this playhouse for Aoife for $25.  Her daddy cleaned it up and assembled it today.  Inside all the walls were hornet nests...OMG  He drove it home in his van that  way..

WASPS AND WOODEN PLAY HOUSES

Happy Easter, Aoife!

Monday, the quilt group here is having a show and tell of fabric items made, but not quilts.

I am taking these.  The little bowl where I keep the machine feet I currently am using, was cut from my man's sports jacket. and, of course the purse was made from his washable suede coat...A friend at the meeting told me that if I spot the stains with Blue Dawn, they will come out...So my husband wore this jacket for 20 years and the purse is 7 years old.  ALL the stains came out especially the awful one...Thank you so much Miriam.. !!!  She was my first friend at my new complex.

I feel peace.  I am so grateful for friends online and in person who have held me up during troubled times.  An infusion of gratitude like the season.