Life and Me

Yesterday was a two sided day.  After physical therapy, I  met Lynsey at the Rea Road library for tutoring...TBTG a friend of mine found the perfect tutor...after at least 20 tries..wasting valuable time...Algebra is hard stuff.  Lynsey had been struggling for quite awhile.  I was delighted to have been there to meet her tutor to be sure it went well.  Paying, I felt that it was  worth a million dollars.  Just wish we had found her sooner..Lynsey is only 15.  She cannot find her own tutor for homeschooling .Algebra is a struggle for some of  us. 

 Look at the lovely view at my window seat at the library where I read 12 quilting books while I waited.

Today rain...we need it so. And, a finish.  Of course threads still have to be snipped (I hate that part!!)

But, I am calling it a finish....baby or wheelchair size.

Lately, my PayPal finger has been itching to exercise.  On Jaipur Carts out of India on Etsy, came 4 Kantha cloth quilts.

Thanks to my online chat with friend, Sujata Shah....I have washed these...cold water, delicate cycle...and into the dryer..

I needed her suggestion on  how to launder these.

They came out grand...Now what will I  make out of it????

This orange one seems to be all Rayon...All the stitching looks hand done, but I know that cannot be true...Wish I had the machine that makes it look hand sewn.

The second one:washed and dried,  the red Kantha seems to be all cotton...Very strange to me...but interesting...What should I make with this one??

The purple Kantha is also rayon.  Both orange and purple are crib size, The cotton one above is twin.

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The afternoon was awful..It made me cry that folks can be so hateful.....

However, I did cheer myself with a treat from Trader Joe's

The roses are stunning...and so are the Dianthus...I just bought both!!!

Of course their wine is great too.  A little wine, a few flowers, talking to my sister and a few friends...and voila...

Accepting that life has many avenues...Some good and some not so good...

Fabric, friends, food, fun. flowers...wow...lucky me.

 

A Few Days of Special Memories

My Lynsey came to visit for a few days...A stressful time as she struggles to complete her Algebra for 9th grade.  100 missing lessons are due by Friday...That girl worked and worked, but very few here understand that kind of math...certainly not  me.  Tomorrow she goes home to finish it with Zoom tutoring from her grown up cousins.

Lynsey is desperate for clothes for school....Enough is so not enough for age 15. She did some fabric organizing for me that I cannot do.myself.

So very worth it for both of us.  Here she is folding and moving fabric for her grandma.

In her mind  is the $$$$ for clothes.  In my mind is a newly organized room.

The neat box side partially done:

The folded fabric side...so helpful.  My friends decided this should be done so I would not fall...It has come to this....

Grateful for friends who care!!

Happy with her work:  making dinner, emptying the trash...making cookies, picking up things from the floor..etc..

She is enjoying her pad.  The blow up mattress from under my bed....Everyone has the procedure down pat...Blow up the mattress, pillows, coke, chips, studying, Tiktok...etc...Here she is at 15 hanging out at grandma's apartment:

So cozy.

Lovely Zoom with Good Vibes..today  Nice visit with my sister...nice lunch with friends....lovely reading on my patio.....

While zooming, I made this coaster...I hate the ending.  However, these are examples for the rope bowl class I will teach next month...Might as well show the mistake to learn by.

This bowl came out better....Batik is the best fabric to use for bowls..IMHO...no fraying.

My sister took Lynsey for math study today.  She also took her to the new Walmart for things we "absolutely" needed for her visits with me. I gave her my credit card...Next thing I know, she is relaxing with a huge $10 glass jar of pickles....Somehow, I do not remember that being on our list...Oh, well.

Tonight I finally decided to watch a 9 pm program...Alas, my special A103, or whatever station had no connection.  Called my Dylan.  He had Lynsey try a million different things...Even cable had no service...Oh, well....This is what happens when my genius friend goes out of town for fun in her own life.  By the  time we tried everything, the program was over...and I was so over watching TV!!!

My grandgirl likes the house temperature so cold.  When I  took out this "block in the box" quilt, I thought of our busy, missing Heather...

She quilted it for me.a number of years back...xoxox

Warm and fun memories..

Grandma O'Quilts is so Very Grateful

 Me thinks that my arthritis is getting worse and my physical health is declining..

Today, I was so cheered by friends.  Linda and Sherry orgainized my space, found my lost objects, fixed the so far unfixable, made me laugh and spoke quilting speak with me..They helped me choose joy today.  I am forever grateful.

Below is my latest experiment in rope composition...a trivet.  My in-house quilting group wants me to teach a rope bowl class.  I am starting to make some examples....

The in-house quilting group is doing a donation of flannel burp cloths to the local shelter..

That day, I sat by the trash can...Each time a member came with fabric to discard...I intervened....What are you throwing away????

Taking the usable scraps, I made this jelly roll quilt for a donation...  Fun and funky.  I cannot wait to share in the next meeting this example of what a person can do with scraps.

Unfortunately my ego got in the way while quilting this quilt.  My Janome Little Red does not have the functions that my Janome 8900 has.. Without putting the pressure foot down all the way, I was able to get a lovely wiggle stitch.  So proud of self, until I was told that without the pressure foot being all the way donw, the quilting would not take; all the stitches were too loose to stay...Just UGH..

Finally, stubborn me let Sherry remove said stitches...and I redid it tonight on my bigger machine.  Almost finished, this cuddle quilt is soft and funky and cuddly.

A tiny nap after my friends left, then out on my patio reading Anne Lamott's latest book.

It was warm and breezy outside.  The book was comforting and I felt a glow of friendship which sustained me.

Gratitude and joy...peace and comfort...Lucky , lucky me.

A nice chat with my late night friend was all I needed to end my day in peace.

It is a Generational Thing

Happy Fathers Day...As I am so grateful for the fathers who raise other peoples children with love.

Here is my oldest grandson, Evan...He will be 19 in 12 days.  He dropped out of high school at 16; He learned a trade in construction from his step-father; He has accumulated in his savings...money....Last year, he bought himself a tiny house and plugged it into the back yard for his own independence and freedom..  A few days ago, he bought himself...with his own earnings, his first car....

Sooo very proud of Evan.

Dear Aunt Carl....of Greenville Alabama...my daddy's sister.  You live forever with me.  Even though  you died 10  years ago, I will never forget the rootiing you gave me from a jar in your window....a Gardenia rooting....Thirty years later, this one little rooting has provided huge trees in our back yard...10 ft by 10 ft, the original one....It also has  provided numerous gifts to friends....As you told me, use distilled water as now-a-days...water has so many unfriendly chemicals.

This is my last rooting...At four ft tall, it stands in a pot on my patio....

I will always remember you with love. xo

A lovely day today.  Starting with an energetic and relaxing  swim in our awesome pool, lunch here with a friend, reading on the patio, Anne Lamont's newest book..

Now finishing up some sewing....eg another bag for the card club to hold 4 decks of cards for "Hand and Foot"

Basting a scrap quilt for the homeless center,  arranging things in my sewing room so I will not fall...sigh...

The only  thing crazy and irritating is Bloglovin....I have been blogging there for years...maybe 14 years.  Now when I try to access the blogs I have been following I am supposed to sign in and get a  password....

I am not going to do that...

I do not feel like I have options as I have no left brain and am computer weak..

I still like blogging and following my friends...do not feel like giving it up yet....

Sigh

Sigh....still, it was a good day  

 

Gratitude

 A lovely quilty day today.   Grateful today for honest friends who are free to share their angst as well as their joy.

Sharing quilty  things with quilty people...there is nothing better!!

Cassandra from https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/ has this chicken pattern...It is a bit task heavy as there is tracing and ironing and cutting and stitching; however, I think it is quite cute.  I found these tonight only because my Lynsey straightened my apartment before she went home..

My family in Portland is excited to be getting chickens...I think Portland allows 4 or  5 chickens...We will see.

Stay tuned....

Tonight while Podcasting, I sewed together half of these blocks...Still think they are a bit busy...but I am carrying on..

I am so invigorated by friendships and quilty talks....Thank you Kathy for sharing your thoughts on sleep deprivation

In  July. I will have a sleep study...as well as more skin cancer removal...That's OK...If sleep will help, I can find hope again.

Missing Marie and Sherry as they travel...Grateful for friends,,playing,cards, my awesome apartment...;My dear granddaughter and all her skills, and hugs from  my smart and kind DIL

 Lynsey spent 3 days with me...working on finals for her home schooling...Then she will be a 10th grader...Wow...

On a podcast tonight, I heard"  Get out of your head and into your hands..".

Makers are so much more relaxed!!!

Truth!

Looking for the Light

Yesterday at 
CMQG, I had the pleasure of being surrounded by amazing talent.

Due to the sharing and chatting and laughing and sewing, I managed to finish piecing all these blocks

Just adjusting the value and I will whip them together... It is close to the time I will be chatting  with my great longarmer, Mary Jerz.

My Lynsey is visiting....It was to be one night, but she needs to finish a million home schooling lessons in a few weeks in order to graduate to the next level...10th grade.  So much stress for her...probably quieter for her to study with her grandma.

and of course, laugh and gossip and share and help Grandma...

She is a lovely girl...lucky me..

Meantime, on the other side of the country, my family is vacationing in the  Redwoods and at a beach in Oregon.

Below:  Secret Beach

Amazing fun.

Now I am thinking twice about my Marcia Derse quilt.  It looks so busy.  So I will  not mess with the balance any more.  I will just stitch it together with a small plain border to set it and send it off...Things are usually better once I get away from them for awhile....Finishes make a difference,  with quilting and binding and distance.

I am also feeling my age, so want to use some of all my collections....sigh...Maybe Kaffe next or Denyse Schmidt

Or finish one of my many UFOs.

Well, that light I am looking for is bed, I think...Tomorrow another nice day: In house quilting group, dinner with friends and Lynsey,

Sewing and fabric touching...

PS  Is June a good time for a New Year's resolution????

I am out of control with chocolate and fabric sales...OMG

I need nothing..but fabric calls...even from India..

 

Grandma O'Quilts is So Joyful

 OMG  Joy is a new set of IKEA shelves in my bedroom.  More joy is my friend Sherry to assemble them.

Old bureaus from my growing up years...My mother's bedroom 65 years ago..rickety but still usable.

I need so much  help moving things around.  Using my walker due to pains in my adductor  muscles and in my feet.  Age is so upon me.

So hard to transfer fabric and baskets from one place to another.

I am so overwhelmed with fabrics and fabric bits and pieces and scraps...yet every little bit is precious.

I just cannot let go....

Indeed, I have ordered a trailer hitch for the hearse...

Going to the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild Sit and Sew tomorrow.

And, Sunday, Lynsey is coming around to visit and help.

Joy all around.

Lucky Grandma O'Quilts!!

Outdated Grandma O'Quilts

First up....Aoife and Rosie on their way to California from Oregon to camp at the Redwood National Park.

Grandma's zippy coin purses done 

Card pouches...I am playing "Hand and Foot" with the other old ladies here...It is so disorganized...Voila, I have made laminate pouches and added 4 new card decks each, to donate...Trying to keep things together....Trying anyway.

Tonight was Dylan's 8th grade graduation....I cannot believe high school will be next.  All  summer he will be working with his step father and older brother learning the family construction business.

Dylan and his mother.. Wow...Look who got taller!!!

Outdated Grandma did not quilte anticipated this look for a graduation ceremony...Still, the family went, and I saw it on U-tube.

Dearest Sherry took me on a fun outing today to IKEA.  I bought two new bookshelves for my fabric..Can you bellieve in less than two  hours, she had them taken from the  car, assembled and attached to the wall...How can I be so very lucky to have a friend like Sherry!!!!

Tomorrow she promised to come for lunch and attach the second bookcase.  I need a lot of organizational help.

Tomorrow, PT, lunch, cards and more.

Today, I consider myself to be one blessed grandma.

Muldoon family reunion in Kinvara, Ireland...Brendan stayed in Tampa...My dear man would have loved this.

My Fintan is too soon gone, but never forgotten.

Sunday and Such

Joe is one of the chefs here...He makes me Cuban sandwiches even when they are not on the menu.  He is sooo nice

So...voila...a potholder made just for him...Will deliver it tomorrow!!

The back of Joe's potholder:

A zippy purse...I have not made one of these in years...

Patriotic ones.

This tutorial is thanks to :https://emptynesters3.blogspot.com/2012/08/coin-purse-tutorial.html

Picture of Aoife and her daddy a few days ago.  Unfortunately the girl is sick...again...pre-school stuff.

Aoife will be 4 in 7 weeks...OMG!!

All my grandchildren have slept under this "Brown Bear" quilt.

I seem to have anxiety about my son's absence from our  lives...Some days it overwhelms me.

Today I dealt with it by a great exercise in our stunning pool, eating lunch with new friends and sewing!!!

I am thrilled to be back making something other than potholders.  I always put a shiny penny in these zippy coin purses...for good luck.

Will finish a few more tomorrow.

A present from Sherry!!  I love having one of her mug savers...

Experiment gone poorly, but OK .I am so glad I did this tonight.  I am supposed to give a small presentation on making rope bowls...Tonight, somehow, the rope curved up without my help.  I was making a trivet, but ended up with a little 4.5 inch rope bowl...Oh, well..It is a bit  crude, still usable. I have to U-tube it to see what went wrong.

Another lovely day in Charlotte to sit outside and read...Reading another of Hazel Gaynor's historical novels.   This one is about the internment of American and British children during WW2....As Japan declared war on 
China too.. My school history  has been mostly about the European side of that war....How did I not know these things till  now???

Tuesday I am going to Mohs surgery for some skin cancer on my face....The result of living in Miami 20 years and being raised in Phoenix, Arizona!!  Grateful to have a good book to read while I wait on results.

Thank God for a sister to take me.