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.

Grandma O'Quilts is a cry baby....

Found this on Pat Sloan's blogpost..Finally..
I saw it years ago...and wanted a copy for myself.

I love it sooooo much

Too bad I get car sick!!!


Two weeks and four days since my complete  hip replacement.
Oh, Lordy....Ouch...I cried to get up and I cried to walk.
I took Hydrocodone which made me cry some more.
I knew I was dying and that it had all been a mistake.
I slept downstairs in my recliner in the dark, imagining the worst.
And then....today...the sun peaked from behind the clouds and...
I saw the light!!!

When I would wake in the middle of the night, I did my Craftsy classes. When sewing for others...  sometimes I  just make the same kind of quilts.
The Craftsy class of  Sarah Fielke  is quite interesting.  New techniques that I will try...looking forward to it...with my new life!!!!
During the past few years, when classes go on sale..like...$15..I have bought about 10 classes. that I have never used. During this time, it was great to have them all ready to read.  
Some I read right through..prepping my brain for a new adventure..
If I have to be honest, most of the time I was in a very dark place of pain and grief.I have been tested for sure on my patience at least.

.I am not saying that I am perfect now, I have great discomfort walking...but no more screaming in pain..Wahoo...
I was finally able to host quilting last night.They turned all the hand warmers for the teachers for winter.I just have to fill them  now with rice.
December first, I like to give a holiday basket with these handwarmers.
School staff put them by the microwave to keep their hands warm at bus duty.
Thank you friends.

 And...they helped me thread the elastic through the potluck covers.

I bought this bobbin threader on Amazon.

Now the smaller grands can make bobbins for me when Evan is busy.

I know my heart will miss my daughter when she leaves on Sunday.

I am so grateful she came.

And, I am so grateful for all the comments and emails from you all, 

my blogging friends...encouraging me on.
I am so relieved!!!!

xoxo

ps If you sent me a comment or email that I did not respond to
please forgive me...brain was gone for awhile.

Suck it up Buttercup #2

Starting the holiday present thing...
Potluck bowl tute..
I have two patterns on freezer paper, a small size and a large..
I usually iron them on the top fabric and then pin other fabrics under.
Unless of course I am just making one, then I put fabric right sides together
with the Rip Stop so it is ready to sew.
After I cut these, I will get out the Halloween and Christmas and Hanukkah fabric.
Nice to have started, at least.

In keeping with my new regime...

I relaxed this weekend.

I sat outside.

I read books.

I slept.

It is called self-care.
I found these library books by Richard Paul Evans...probably books
everyone has heard of.  They are feel good books.
I started with The Walk about a man who had lost his wife.
I found them quite relaxing...so relaxing that I read three this weekend.
I discovered how to relieve the awful pain in my hip while waiting for surgery.
Do nothing...do not walk..do nothing.. OK...

 Monday was something else.
My son called at midnight last night asking me to take him to an
assessment at a treatment facility today..He said he would meet me at the bus stop near my house.
He was sleeping in the woods last night.
Immediate anxiety about the woods part...but it was nothing new..
Today, I did the necessary task and he was thrilled and grateful.
So was I...You never know.

I am so grateful for friends to have lunch with.
Lunch out is my salvation.
My new life...kids off, nap, lunch out, nap, kids home
Reading with kids, sewing.
Really I love this life...
No timeline...no "Shoulds"..

New attitude...Suck it up Buttercup!!!
My grands keep me going...
They are the best!!!

The New Deal and the Old Deal

Tonight, three of us got together at my house for Sheila's birthday.
Sometimes it is nice not to have to explain the inexplicable pain of loss.
The new deal for me was not to bake a cake, rather to buy cupcakes.

 I used one of my grandmother's cloths.  It rarely has been used because she put so much work into making it.  Both my mother and grandmother saved it.
Really, I will be darned if I will have it sold at an estate sale for $5 bucks.
I am loving it right now!!

 Gave Sheila one of my potluck bowl covers.
They are so pretty to use, transporting dishes to someone's house.
I bought a few plastic bowls at the dollar store to showcase them properly!!

Somehow, I got the energy last night to sew batting pieces together...all of course to be frugal.

I finished enough for 7 lap/child quilts.  The rest will be potholder inners.

During those crazy widow hours between 10 and midnight,
I decided that I was all alone in life with my itsy bitsy family,
 and no one to call in the middle of the night.
Poor me, last man standing!!

Then I remembered my friend, Hancock of Paducah...I paid them ahead of time..for some solace.

Muggs is back in town...TBTG
My Wednesday night group is having a Sit-and-Sew on Monday..
.Monday is my dear man's birthday, November 7th. 

 This will be the second annual Fintan Muldoon, Birthday-- Sew-in..Ha ha..

Wouldn't he get a kick out of that!!..lol...TBTG for my good friends who lift me up.

My only brother is in a New Jersey hospital with infectious cellulitis.
 He has been on an antibiotic IV drip.

Yesterday he was told that the antibiotics were doubled and he had to stay in the hospital until Monday to be re-evaluated.  He is homeless, so when he is discharged, he has no where to go but back to his van.

I hope he will still be able to work his two jobs, none of which pay enough for an apartment.

Like the rest of my family, my brother and his wife love to eat sweets. Today at the grocery store, there was a sweet special of Edy's ice cream.
Of course, I bought much more than the normal family needs..

.I told myself it was for my brother at Thanksgiving..I know he believes in sharing!!

My daughter is coming for the  holiday and she and her man are cooking.
I have strict instructions on the kind of organic turkey to get at Trader Joe's

Me thinks that the ice cream is organic too and gluten free and sugar free and fat free.

And  I just love a good story..

Christmas is coming...the 11 year old wants some Xbox thing that cost $350. 

 These are the lessons in resiliency....

Sorry, Darling...old grandma was raised on Canasta and we already have the cards and you already know how to play.  I am going to teach your friends...And we will do the Saturday night special..cards and popcorn..Grandma O'Quilts is on a fixed income.

 Every year, I make little presents to give to friends..etc..tissue holders, potholders...

This year nothing.  I have been sleeping..

I feel badly, but I cannot help it. 

 I will just give out Christmas hugs and maybe can do better next year.
XXOO

Hello July and the middle of summer...

I think that cheddar goes perfectly with my whine!!!
Don't you???

Did I tell you that the night before I came home from rehab..,

 I was so excited that I could not sleep a wink all night...

Just like a child the night before Christmas..!! 

 I found myself at 3 am, sitting up in bed ordering fabric on Craftsy and Fabric.com....

Oh, I know that I no longer like Fabric.com..but that night it did not matter at all..!!!!
I figured that a sale is a sale is a sale!!!!

TBTG for PayPal...as I had no purse in the nursing home!!!

As I read this article, Knee Replacement Recovery, I am glad I bought the fabric.
And, I just might want to get more whenever I feel like it, Durnit!
Because, once home, somehow, I felt I would be better...Oh, I am in spirit, but I had hoped for more.
Forever expecting more than I should...I did not like the three Ps!!!!!
(Pain, Physical Therapy, Patience)
I felt, at 2 weeks out, I had suffered enough...so fell into despair.
Then, she said that the main necessity was a dear husband.
Trying to figure out what kind of whine goes best with Hydrocodone!!!!!!!!!!

And so it goes...on and on..I am walking much better than the 6 years I have been disabled before...but Pain...ugh...I have decided that getting fabric that I do not need, but love so much...is healthier than adding even more pounds with M&M therapy!!!
Emily and Brian have taken the little ones to the pool and Evan has gone off for some fun with the neighbor boy...My goal for today beside popping pain meds and nodding off...is to cut out some fabric for the
Potluck bowl covers
These are so easy and fun to make.  So useful.  I use mine all the time and love to give them away...gotta get busy...whining is getting so yesterday!!!!
These are some of the fabrics I will use for the bowl covers..so lovely!!

As I cannot drive yet, Emily took me to a dinner at a friend's house on Thursday night.
Beating the clock to finish...her..now not in focus..grrr..potholder..
The fun part of making potholders..is the custom look..She loves cats, used to ride a motorcycle, is a school teacher...eg..school busses...

and....for some reason likes chipmunks..

Did I tell you how therapeutic blogging is???
xxoo

Teaching Mitzvah

Tuesday was national day of doing nice things for others...

eg Mitzvah. (good deeds or act of kindness)

Like we really needed a national day for this!!
The children brought Hannukah tissue holders to the J
Every summer they enjoy camp there.

They brought tissue holders to the Karate teachers. (tute on my blog)

My turn:  Mitzvah for myself..as I went to the Guild holiday party.

My contribution, potluck bowl covers...(tute link on my blog)
 Of course I do not have one tidy place in my entire house for a photo....so disorganized am I, grrr.

I bought a few bowls from the dollar store for cover display.
All wrapped it in a half yard of holiday fabric!!

I was so glad I went.  Saw so many friends and actually felt a bit human again.

Little Lynsey has an impulsive naughty mouth.  I ask her if she does this at school.
No..she says somberly, I would get on Rowdy Red and you would be called and I would be embarrassed.
It is IN me at school, she says, but I save it till I get home and feel safe.

Smart Lynsey...I think all my grands have AD/HD like their father..
Yesterday was visitation with their father.
Chrystal Meth does a job on an addict.
I was so anxious about it. I love him so and it is hard to watch him go down.
Kids were thrilled, noticing nothing askew.
We met at McDonald's playground for an hour or so.
I brought my sister, niece and Stephanie with me for support.
This takes a lot out of me emotionally, but it is the right thing to do.

To cheer us...work is starting on the Christmas present from Granddaddy and me.

A tree house...soooo much fun.

Getting ready

The root vegetables are getting ready for a mash!!

 The Eco Travel Bowl covers are getting ready to be presents...BTW...I use these all the time...they are just tossed in the drawer with the potholders, used in the fridge instead of plastic wrap, then tossed into the wash.

 I fussed around last night using a left over doily for Nancy's holiday potluck bowl cover...It turned out a bit on the funky side, but I gave it to her anyway.

 I got some nice buttons for the centers of some of these covers.  Once I had them home, I saw that they were marked "dry clean only"...They are wood....disappointing.

That was the day.  I have started my search for the perfect funky artificial tree for our new tradition...I will find my fun where I can...that is for sure:)