Calming my Soul with Needle and Thread

Aoife is in kindergarten, age 5 and a half.  She has decided on  sewing, like her mother and grandmother.  Using the family transport machine and sewing away, loving every minute of it..  She told her mother to stop showing her how because she knows what she is doing as she asked her mother not to touch her scissors, etc... and to keep her distance.OMG

Aoife showing off her first quilt top  check this out!!!  Click on the link.

Doing it all herself, Aoife refused to let her mother near her as she worked....Jeeze  5 or 15???

A few potholder tops from scraps.  Below using my daughter's scraps...These are her colors, not mine..

Calming my soul with sewing and fabric, as usual..

My garden's first daffodils...

A potholder gift for a new friend.   Loving Spoonflower...

Beautiful spring day in Charlotte.  In the sun, having lunch, playing cards, in the sun again, reading and visiting.  What could be better than that...Oh, yes...a resident here gave me her old sewing machine with table...a gift for Lynsey's friend...Love...and generosity. 

The world rages around me...I have peace in my sewing room.

A Windy February Day in Charlotte

Happy Birthday, Dear Dylan....Wow...16 years old...my love.... 

Another boro box...crazy fabric, for Lynsey's 17th birthday last week!!

The Christmas Amaryllis keeps on giving...along with Linda Swanecamp's lovely Valentine card.

Creative sponge making...squishing netting from avocados and oranges...onto fusible fleece.  Then I just wiggle stitched over and over until the netting lay flat...Perfect recycled sponges for my kitchen

Peter, down the hall had a birthday...His present...a jar opener...easy and fun.

My friend upstairs lost her husband to cancer 6 months ago.  She had gifted me his silk pocket scarves from his  suits.  I made a tissue holder for her..pulling the tissue.

My wonderful beautiful daughter came to visit for a few days. from the west coast.  Gone now, she lovingly left packets of her homemade tortellini soup in my freezer...sigh...We had a wonderful visit.

Now Grandma O'Quilts is happy and peaceful..Lucky, lucky me..

I also voted today...so proud of myself for doing what is right.

Enjoying my Passions

 Aoife...kindergarten Valentine party....love..

Family Valentine

Small bowl covers...perfect for leftovers.

The very best part of quilting...sharing scraps!!

What I am doing on a cold and rainy day:  Making rope bowls for presents:

Making a boro box for a long left out birthday in November..not my best work, but made with love.

This Amaryllis was gifted to me in December...It showed a lovey 4 blossom display for a week or two...Now, look....four more blooms....and I see on the edge another growth coming.  I put it in our hallway for Valentine's Day.

More rope bowls for gifting...I love that I found colored rope online...Utube the directions.  I only use batik for the accents as I do not have to worry about a wrong side of the fabric.

This time I added labels to the bottom of the bowls...Very fun!!

My daughter would like us all to read this!!!!!

The Startling intelligence of the common chicken

Wonder if  the artlicle means that Bok-Bok will soon be sewing??

Grandma O'Quilts Still Lives On

Did I ever mention that age is upon me??

Here is the potholder I made for my physical therapist...He was born in England, but has been here since high school...On the back in small letters is: "for the meanist nice guy ever".  You will understand this if  you have ever been to PT

Below, I am sharing my collection of compression socks...Crazy Compression socks out of  Hickory, NC.  I cannot tell you how much wearing them all day helps me sleep more peacefully with fewer trips up at night. I love Crazy...I have Halloween ones and Christmas, etc.

We have a lovely lady here whose joint replacement went wrong.. She is now in a wheelchair with a pillow behind her back.  I ordered a small pillow online and covered it with pretty fabric.  She  loved it..So glad....

And these great tags from a place in Malta..

random potholders:

Thank you Janet!

I have a basket of treats for gifts that I have made ahead of time.  These below are small potluck bowl covers.  Pretty on the outside, Rip Stop on the inside. (Utube has many tutes)   Perfect to cover small leftovers especially at my retirement community

Relaxing here, ironing on scraps to fusible fleece.  After quilting I will run it through my Accuquilt...a bird??  a cat??

The winner is so far, 7 inches of snow in Charlotte, North Carolina...An amazing day to relax in front of the fake fire watching the snow.  Even now, it is still snowing!!

Nice to be warm and safe and alive xo...

And, of course sewing.

Progress not Perfection

 Time is so quickly disappearing...Sew nothing new..... Cold weather in the Carolinas...I am safe and cozy in my complex.

Our five year old, again, sick in bed. The chicken quilt I made her for comfort, evidently is not enough.  She needs the chicken too!!

Amaryllis--A New Year gift from a friend...lights up my days.

When inspiration leaves.. Accuquilter to the rescue...cutting 3.5 x 3x6 blocks to add to the already cut 3.5 x 3.5 I found in a random drawer..

Making more sponges from recycled avocado and orange bags...Silly me sewed them all wrong..

The angel of hope in  tough times.  Two be-jeweled bracelets now used to surround battery operated votive lights:

Trying to find sewing strength...Life seems so out of reach today..

A friend died here yesterday...so awful.

We started a new sewing group here on Monday mornings...a great thing.

I am able to walk more, pain free...another great thing.

I like to make gifts to share with friends who are struggling...I am  way behind on potholders, tissue holders, bowl covers and key fobs.. I keep getting involved in a book to forget  the world's sadness. Guess that is  why I have no sewing to show.. Also the following reasons:

Scrap sorting!!!!  OMG

Stitch, the cat, in Portland role modeling for me the act of relaxing...I got it!!!

In our art room, shines my purple Railroad Track piece from forever ago.

Forever blogging, just a bit slower now xo

Goodbye Yesteryear....

At our apartment complex there is a thrift store...This $1 plaid dish towel was too high to reach.A friend helped me take it down.  I made it into a simple string bag and left it on her door knob from Secret Santa...So much fun.

I am finally finished making these chapstick holders...Alas, I cannot find the bag of chapsticks...This has been such a frustrating project....I will never make them again...First of  all turning them was almost impossible...Many a bad word said in my sewing room.  Then I had to restitch a few of them as they were not tight enough to hold the chapstick.  Anyway, I have 20 done to share with folks to make them happy...and Done is Done..  There are many tutes on U-tube for this.

My neighbor just turned 85.  In the middle of my midnight sewing spree, I made this for him...an insulated can holder..Sew very easy made quickly and nicely.  He is a handiman and has helped me so much.

More potholders...my favorite design item. They are very graciously accepted....A wonderful gift, because they are potholders.  If  you do not like the colors, in the drawer they go.

The one below was for the lady upstairs who always brings my mail down when it is addressed to her room instead of mine.  I found stamp fabric for the center and the backing.

This one is for a kind and talented sewist who has Parkinsons. (also a dog)

Both were fun to make.

Above this nice picture of Aoife from last year...love.

Now, in the  New Year, there is the flu everywhere.  The hospitals are closing for visitors.  Those old masks are coming out.  I think I will use the pretty fabric ones I made.  I  know that the mask business people will be worried about their bottom line if we do this, but I do not care.  I have some with a slot for filters and I even have some filters left. 

Our place also has the flu..It seems to go on for days...Ugh!!

The new holiday lights I bought this  year are draped over my sewing area by the window.  They have a remote that changes them to red and white for Valentines day and green and white for St. Paddys day.  I think I will keep them up to cheer my grey winter days.

Since I am posting now on the New Year....I hope it will set a precedent for more blogging and more sewing for 2026. xo

Quirky and Fun

Five  year old Aoife visits Santa.  She asked him for a baby racoon. 

 My daughter in Portland shows off, for Christmas, part of her pet family....yes!! This is the kitchen table... Rosie, the Australian shepherd mix by the tree, our dear cat, Stitch and of course Bak-Bak...Aoife's favorite hen.

Above my grandmother's antique candelabra from about 80 years ago...

Those tiny lights that get so hot. It has been rewired.  Great memories. 

Now my family here....My dear grands... and my DIL. I love them so.

Above cool solar outside Christmas lights.

Below the birthday present my daughter made for me.

Guess what kind of basket this is??

My girl has gone poultry crazy!!

Swedish stickers from Linda

My lovely stain glass necklace made by Betty, with love

I do not own a hat...Sherry made one for my birthday...so lovely...

The energy for blogging is diminishing...Actually all my energy is lessening...darn....

This is the first year since moving that I have decorated my apartment for Christmas..

My quilting is down to making things for others...Very gratifying.

Still waiting for my sleep study appointment.

I certainly  hope there may be more kindness in our world this season.

Christmas means hope to me.🙏🙏🙏.