The charming parts of my day

The gifts of today start with a nice gmail video chat with my wonderful daughter in Ireland...My heart sings.  Next, a restful brain on the deck before it rains.  Poor hubby and his tennis rained out, again.

Zoey thinking she is a person and grabs my screened in porch seat the minute I leave it..brings a smile to my face.

 

 Messing around with my new elephant prints making a charm bracelet quilt...now which color...do I like?

And of course listening to the Irish tenors on CD.

Baby flannel blankie

Look what I made in 30 minutes...Good Lord, I am having mood swings...Now I am thrilled...so cute.  Thank you Terri...for the great idea.  Remember in the fall, the "black Friday" sale at JoAnn's?  See last year's blog post.... Now, I am putting those flannels to good use.

Size matters.....

Now, I know it is not fair to compare a first edition magazine from 2012 with a first edition magazine from 1972.  But, in all honesty, the size of magazines has not changed in all those years, until now.  I was so eager to try this new magazine that I ordered it online from Fat Quarter Shop with my new Paypal fetish:).  The magazine on the left cost me $1.00.  The magazine on the right cost me $10.   Sort of like the ice cream boxes, a reduction in size.

 A reduction in size, but maybe not in substance.  I was eager to see...alas, I could not.  By the time I read to page 14, I was dizzy..This magazine is heavy on articles and not on pictures... so disappointed I was as I try to keep a grip here...Below...all basted...wonderful..on hold till I am able to quilt.

Yellow Bird top done

When you know it is right, you do not need to ask anyone else!!

 Looking all over for the right backing and upset that I did not have bigger pieces of what I liked when.........voila...

Yellow bird and Thursday

Look what my sister and Mary Pat did last night at quilting for me.  I am so spoiled!! and love it:)

 I am working on this still...trying out different last borders

 I think I may add a bit more of the blue to encompass the yellow bird corners.  Nothing like seeing things online to get a real feel for it.  Opinions are welcome.  And since I am also still experimenting with new blog layouts...opinions there are welcome too:)

I am just back from seeing my mother.  Yesterday I did feel like I turned a corner...6 weeks and 3 days etc. So when no one was looking today, I just got into the car and drove to see her.  It is only 15 min away.  I was symptom free till I got home, but I only stayed 30 min. and I came straight home.

My mother was still in bed at 11, eating her breakfast and chatting with her Hospice social worker..her favorite.  She was in great form.  She told me that there was a new resident who was also named Alice.  How dare that lady have Mom's name!!!  Oh, that is ok, said my mother, I just changed my own name immediately.  I will now be known by my last name of Burt.  But, she said that it was not working out so well.  Because when someone said.."Alice", she jumped and it was the other Alice.  And when they said "Burt" as she requested, my mother said that she forgot to respond at all.  She also said that she forgets that Daddy is dead and gets her feelings hurt that he doesn't come to visit her.  She does not understand why she forgets this when she really knows he has been dead 14 years but just forgets.  And so it goes..Still..so far a very grateful day.

Celebration

This should be a wordless post...but at my age, how can I change now??   The high...the cake...

 The low....the fall and hurt hand and rattled brain...

 The high...the mail carrier, who just must have known:)

Life is good, very good!

Flannel and the flop

I was having a great day today.  The roofer came and fixed our new roof flashing...he was appropriately sorry and nice.  I was able to do 15 min of work paperwork which I have not been able to do in 6+ weeks and I was humming along...maybe I have turned the corner??  So I decided to make a flannel baby blanket like Terri told me to...and I decided to make a cake to celebrate the outside possibility that I had turned a corner.  And then I fell...fell...oh, yes...not all the way down, but enough to bruise the palm of my left hand and rattle my bones and brain and put eggs and egg shells all over the kitchen walls and floor...(Thank you Zoey for the clean up  help).  So now a bit of Naproxen, an ice bag, more of that humility stuff and back to the chair to rest...oh, Lordy...

Blue bordered birds

Beth thinks that the quilt might need another border.  Because I am driven, I cannot wait till the morrow, I had to try this now...  What do you think?  Getting big enough for a baby quilt.......

So done...me and the top...!!

31 inch square??  Is this a dolly quilt or a baby quilt or what?  Oh, well, it made me happy.  I sewed one of the final borders on wrong too, but I do not care this time...it works ok enough..  I love working with orphan blocks and making do.  Sorry for the curse word..soap in my mouth:)

Bird Process

1.  My husband called the plumber.  We were losing water pressure and live down a hill at the end of a cul-de-sac in the woods.  The ground was squishy, we thought there was a broken pipe. $$$$$$$$$   The plumber came.  He said we had moles.  Nice.  $$$$$  Good news is that the water pressure regulator was rusted out.$$$$  Now it is repaired and we have awesome water pressure.$$$$  And, we still have moles.

2.  The concussion clinic called with my appointment.  They said October 3rd.  I cried, so then they said September 4th.

3.  On Mondays we get "pizza Monday" from Harris Teeter..two of them.  This is week 6 of "pizza Monday"...my husband is a patient man...better than I am.

4.  I found these four pinwheels in a box...a different box.  I cut a piece of one of my favorite bird fabrics and without measuring, just cut and sewed and had a good time to get myself together.  Quilting is the funnest:)

Damn...I put the thing together upside down...ok...now........chill Diane.....and I just saw it now...Lordy...

Mellow yellow is the resting color!

I am improving slightly.  I used to be able to be up and doing only one hour and now it is two.  I am up two hours and resting in my recliner with my eyes closed for 30 min.  During that time, my mind is going to what I really want to do next.  Tonight I was so thrilled to accomplish something that had been on my to do list for a few years.  Enter white IKEA bird fabric.

 And enter yellow dye from Hobby Lobby.  I did see this on another blog a few years ago and totally loved it...forgot where...so if it is you...let me know.  Of course this old lady had to use a magnifying glass to read the instructions.

 Stirring in an old pot in the laundry room utility sink....

 All washed and dried with no extra dye running....how cool is this!!!!!

The stash and the clean up

Moda Bake Shop is having a linking party for folks to share where they quilt...eg quilting room, studio, dining room table...etc.  So, I decided to do it.  I am number 7.  When I saw my room thru the eyes of the world, I decided to do some folding...hmmm  Folding makes a lot more room!!

While I folded, I found at least 4 new projects that I would love to start, including a red and white one patch....oooo, but I restrained myself...  gotta rest you know... One thing I have really perfected during my convalescence is Paypal...didn't use to know much how to use it.  Now this woman is a pro:)  It is all about motivation..When I am better I will do the Flickr thing.  My daughter set it up for me and I have not touched it in 3 years...I had rather sew...but now...I will learn...I will learn...

Lattice and the Siggy...

My part in the siggy is the lattice...It will be latticed one more time...Just postin...cuz..I do not want folks to think I am using my condition to be a slacker   :)

FYI  I have 15 four patches....11 inches each.

Ohio Star top done, etc...heavy on the etc..lol

The great satisfaction of a long time UFO top done:)  I am working on my addiction...I love my fabric.  I struggled to cut up my polka dots, to cut up my lovely orange flowers and even it was difficult to use the rest of my GW blue checkered shirt:)  I have it bad.  But, after my fall...I do it anyway.  I know the score now..for the moment at least..

Bridget has a wonderful blog about New Mexico...she does quilt too!!!  Today, she was all about the feeling of nature and being grateful to be alive.  The night sky and the meteors and stars that I have not seen since Girl Scout camp in Payson, Arizona or at my husband's family farm in Kinvara, Ireland.

Trying here to reproduce nature in my yard..and not capturing the feeling at all the way Bridget did.  How tall the pine trees...

Nature helps me feel grateful too and recently more so.  I was grateful that I did not break anything or die with my fall...but recently as I prepare for the upcoming Concussion Clinic, I see the questions...dizziness...check...fatigue...check...cannot read, watch TV...check..cannot drive..check...cognitive confusion....OMG....no check...can you imagine my husband having to hire a babysitter for me when he goes to Europe to visit his family...I still can think....oh, let me whine no more...I am soo grateful.

Then there is the continuity of life.  Here are more starter plants from our Gardenia.  Thank you Great Aunt Carl in Greenville, Alabama...the generation and love lives on..

Spots

Slowly and restfully I am starting on the sashing for my Ohio Star UFO..so fun to do with the blocks all done and the happy spots!

Mr. O'Quilts drove me to the doctor today.  The doc is referring me to a concussion clinic..hmmm

The Mr. also took me by to see my mother.  She was already in the bed for her afternoon nap.  Hair all done up with earrings on and her New Yorker.  She was in great shape mentally...the character that she is.  Her thoughts today were on her lunch where a banana was not cut properly, to her liking.  She was correcting us on the pronunciation of the word "gauche"  and those who are such and do not know how to slice a banana lengthwise as in a banana split.  She said that when the staff could not understand her, she cried.  But, she admitted that she only brought the tears to her eyes, she did not let them overflow.  That is because she was distracted by the flowers on the table that she thought would look much better in her room.  Life is something else...and for sure..my mother is something else.

Shopping the UFO pile

Being the low key me...I was looking thru piles for UFO's.  I did not have to look far to find these.

 Since they are a bit blah after my new acquisitions, maybe I will spice them up with this for lattice??

The fabric cure...treating the concussion...again

I am going back to Paris...not like Muggs...but in my dreams...Thx to Etsy store, BlijeOlifantje...today came these...a map of Paris:)

and, a 7 fat eight pack of Je vous en prie.....(You are Welcome in French) and some other words that I do not understand...help needed....

So, Muggs have a good time next week in Paris and I will have fun in Charlotte!!  Next comes a bit for my elephant collection:) 

 for my clothespin collection....ok, so I do not have a clothespin collection...hmmm  Gotta start somewhere...:)

 Here is a picture of my sister's big zigzag wedding quilt she is making for a friend...The white part has already been signed by friends of the couple.

 And, a problem for me and a question for you.  Below is the set of new pens that arrived from Amazon today.  The Pentel on the right are permanent fabric markers that I have been eager to try.  But, on the left are the Frixion that I thought I could erase with the iron.  It does not say that on the package, but on Amazon, they were listed as erasable  fabric markers...Help needed.  Are these the right ones, or should I return them..and for which pens...???

border process

The side borders are on.  I am thinking of leaving the top border without the cats...What do you think...?  I have to go to bed now because my brain is no longer working and needs to rest...Tomorrow brings clarity..I hope.....

Oh, Lookie....Hoodie cats give it charm..

The Art of Making Do

Once upon a time, before Mr.O'Quilts of the upstairs office, decided to go on a big austerity program to pay everything off...so he could retire......he would play championship tennis in Asheville.  It was always so much fun.  He would play tournaments, I would bring my sewing machine, sew, shop and swim.  One morning was way too early for anything to be open but the library.  There, I found and fell in love with this book.  When I got home, I ordered it used on Amazon.  I never tire of looking at it.

 In my now picture looking phase of reading, I saw that many of the old quilts had no borders at all.  I am wondering about this quilt top that I just finished.  I could add a simple small border, or I could just bind it with a funky binding.  I cannot concentrate on the quilting part of it right now...so it will not be finished any time soon,   Nice to be able to contemplate.  And nice to be able to piece at all and to sit on my awesome screened in porch during a rain, nod off and look at quilting book pictures.  I am applying the "Art of Making Do" to my own situation...