The Full Quilting Life.

Bye Bye June....
Tonight I have good news....
I found Evan's birthday mint Oreos...
He has gone off to his cousins for the weekend..
I do not know when exactly I turned into my mother...
but, deed is done...tomorrow..off to buy him more..

 Dylan is 7 and sweet as sweet can be.  I was to mend Teddy here..tonight.
As for the bow...well I just had to know that it is a boy teddy...hmmm.
Hope this is OK...

 Put the binding on this gift quilt...It was too much for my shoulder.
Four months out of six to heal...I thought I could do at least the binding..
Jeeze...so now I certainly cannot quilt for two more months.  What to do???
For my soon to be replaced right hip..I am on, altogether... ...
 Naproxen twice a day,
 Tylenol Arthritis twice a day
 and Tramadol twice a day
,two glasses of red wine, once a day.
Hip still hurts.
I think that is why I did not feel the pull on my shoulder.
Oh, well....I can still piece..!!  TBTG

 .

Wednesday the two littles were thrilled beyond belief to have thought of 12 candles
on the breakfast muffins..TBTG they waited for the matches..

This 12 year old has had so many birthday parties...
It does not show...but secretly he was pleased that his siblings thought of him.

CMQG this week showed t-shirt rope...interesting..

This top is done...full of big mistakes...but...I decided that no one would complain if I gave it anyway as a present...

Just love this perfect backing

More estate fabric Wednesday night...guess who was still up.???
Guess who got into the grab.??..
Guess who has decided on a stash of their own??

A holiday weekend alone...
This is no way to get my brave on....
Why do I do this to myself???
Give Me Your Hand
Time to Say Goodbye

Old Flames

A Picture is worth a word or two???

A coffee shop in Krakow...LOVE

So needing this one ....


My favorite sayings:
1.  If a door doesn't open, it is not your door..
2.  Humility, like the darkness, reveals the  heavenly lights...Thoreau
3.  It is good to remember, with one trifling example, that the whole world is made up of others.

Mrs. O'Quilts Celebrates

Color is the answer to most things...OK, Chocolate too..
Latest process on the design wall.

 Evan decided that he needed a lap quilt in order to better
enjoy his computer games...so...he cut a piece of my batting...OMG
Today, I found the extra blocks from Granddaddy's shirts.
Perfect to make a cuddle quilt for his oldest grandson.
I will batt it with wool for super cozy.

My girl camping in Washington state near Oregon.

June 24 was my grandmother's birthday.

She would have been 121 this year.....born 1897 died 1997 sigh..

Family folk lore tells it that she was really born the next day...but that was  Mid-Summer's Day..and she did not want to compete.

She wanted a day to herself.

Since there were no records to speak of then.....Who knows??
I certainly wish she was here to gossip and laugh with.
She made a much better matriarch than I do.

Heroin, the leading cause of deaths in Americans under 50
Son, I love you so.
  You were in great shape at Evan's 12th birthday party.
My heart....

Do not worry about Grandma O'Quilts and family
The Karate Black Belts in my family are ready for sparring at any time.
So proud.!!

Grandma O'Quilts is getting better every day
How could I not with so much to be grateful for.
xo

Just because
Leaving on a Jet Plane

Stitch ....In Hindsight

Wordless....Stitch..just wordless...

Top done and in my advanced age...one of my favorite

Katie Jump Rope fabrics used for the backing, instead of hoarded!!! 

The visit with my girl was totally awesome.

Such a lift for me..

She put all the quilts left..on the spare bed..

I can see that I just had better be gifting..soon.

 We ate out all the time.

Here the bread at our favorite restaurant..Lebanese...Kabab-je

The bread was so awesome, that we both took phone photos of it.

 I really hate making these divided four patch blocks.

I decided to mix them with easier blocks to see how it goes.

The fake oriental writing came from Hancock's fabrics in Phoenix.

My father died on May 20, 1997

My mother gave each of her daughters $200 to go to the fabric stores for 

psychic relief as we broke from the hospital routine

I bought that grey fabric then...wow..

Going to just see how this goes..

 I sent Lynsey and her great cousin Alexis upstairs to pin a doll

clothes pattern onto fabric.

Ha ha...They stabbed the pins into the fabric.

Lynsey was furious that all her 8 year old work was in vain.

She accused her darling grandmother of not giving proper instructions.

 In case you think that all I do is rant....I made binding tonight.

Had a nice rainy lunch with Sherry today.  She taught me how to talk out loud to myself.

I am to say...."Diane!!!  You can do this!!! " And other random positive things.

I have tried it already..

Thank you Sherry.

Art...it is all about Art...Saving the Day

Working on this piece with color and fabric..

Peace for me...sewing along.

Textile art...saving my day.

 My girl refuses her picture...But I so wanted to show you how beautiful she is.

See...I am jealous..She is 34..full of energy and music and love.

I am an Emily wannabee.

Last year for Christmas I asked God to make me a bit younger..but, oh, no

he couldn't be bothered...sigh.

I am struggling with my lack of beauty and my lack of energy and my chunky thighs....already

worrying about my  upcoming birthday in December.

Just  like me..getting that worry on..early..

See grief still visits me.

My love is gone..

There are folks who have decided that Mrs. O'Quilts needs mental health intervention.

Really...Do they walk in my shoes???

My darlings are at the beach with their aunt.

My girl is here..is that not better than Prozac?????

If I were African...or Mediterranean... or ...Latin...would I need Prozac???

No, it is because I am an American WASP that I need to shut it up and stuff my grief.

Wahoo...am I now out there...not new for me.

The wind beneath my wings is gone.

My love affair of 34 years is so over...

Do I not have a right to be bereft....even though it is 

2 years and 2 months exactly today???
Let me tell you grief is normal..and there is no timeline..

My Stephanie, our nanny, lost her son to a gang 25 years ago..He was shot point blank at age 15.

Does she still have a right to spend a weekend in bed crying if she wants.

I need my mother, my husband and my grandmother..all clear minded till the end.
I miss them so.

I am so not ready to be the family matriarch...Oh, well....here it is...
My son is now homeless again shooting Heroin.

And, every night I wonder...is this going to be the night that the police come to tell me that my dear son has overdosed..

If this is not your life.....please.....

I finished the CEU's for my license today at Dilworth Chemical Dependency Center.

The speaker was awesome.

He said that the number one cause of death of youth now is not auto accidents, or guns.

It is overdoses.

People mean well.

Let me tell you what I need.

A hug and a whisper...that I will be OK.

Oh, Dear...Dear me...Mrs. O'Quilts is ranting today.

Today, my girl is all I need...I am so grateful.

A cuddle with my girl, some vino tinto and a few laughs.

xoxoxo

Mamacita Turns 100 . We Love her so...

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.

100 years old, Dear Margaret...

16 years or so in our quilting group...

We love you so.

Your sense of humor, your wisdom..your love

 Cheers...with champagne

 Apron made with love from her daughter Muggs.

 

 Proud daughters Muggs and MaryPat

 I cannot sleep now after such an exciting evening.

Gotta sew for a bit...to calm down.

Working on a border or two..

OMG it is way past midnight.

Seven hours more and my staycation will start with my girl.

Now, I really cannot sleep.

 Way too excited. She is coming from Portland on an all- nighter.

I think that my Republican friends were mad at me for deciding to unfriend them during the election.

It was maybe a bit extreme...I was under huge stressors here...and I needed so much my serenity.

Sorry to offend..it did not mean I did not  love you...I do.

I was just trying to get a grip here..

Please forgive.

Vim and Vinegar

Messing around with blocks...maybe a baby quilt?

 At my second quilter estate sale. (it is sadly, an age thing....)  .I got this..
.Thank you Eithne..
My second Little Blue...my favorite travel machine.
 (Kenmore 3/4 machine) not made anymore.
"NO" is just  not a quilty kind of word.
This one looks like it has not even been used.

 Online at Walmart...another perfect carrying case...
Now I have two..at $17,99 for each machine... I could not go wrong.
I love my stuff!

 It has so  many pockets for a travelling quilter....love
15 inches wide is perfect for this machine.

Rules on having fun...gather together 10 quilters who have been together for 16 years on a Wednesday night...Throw scraps from the estate sale on the table.
Grab and share and laugh and collect.

She came again to visit....  

Poor Pitiful Pearl

I try to be patient with her because I  know that what a grieving person needs most ...is good people to listen without judgement and without advice...a safe place to talk.

So, I have always kindly listened....Pearl has a dead husband, a dead mother, a kid who is a  junkie...back out on the streets...Pearl hurts and she has no friends..  The friends she does have do not love her...She is even crazy about Oreos, just like me.

This time was different!!!!

For today is the very last day of my asthma STEROID treatment.

I still have enough of my vim and vinegar left from them....so so so....

I took a step back, using my new bionic arm, I slapped that visitor into kingdom come...

She does not even know what hit her.  She sees stars.

I stood up, pridefully brushed myself off and planned a happy vacation for myself.

Actually a stay-cation..I have a four day weekend coming  up with no children..

Since my joints will  not let me travel far, I am bringing far to me!!

MY GIRL is coming to visit.  We split the air fare...

Just Mommy and Me...I cannot wait.

What a life....with joy coming from Portland.

Did I ever tell you how much I love Ann Lamott??
Ann Lamott 12 Things I Learned in Life, etc on TED
Some of my favorite quotes here...

More love here on the last day of school...
More love than I ever could  have imagined.
Rising third grader!

Rising second grader planting for Grandma...work ethic just like his daddy.

And the rising 7th grader??  Off to a sleepover with his friends.!
As it should be.
House all ready for my widow group 1/2 way to December party.
Just in case I do not make it that far...lol
Here...celebrating friendship...from Norie...
My favorite flowers.

Thank you
And thank you to Angie..for so much priceless help with my sad and nasty grief.
...xoxo

Wear Lipstick

Found some half made blocks...so fun to play around with... blocks...., I mean..
And...with color..

 The best reason for a stash...found this adorable backing...

Called "Colors of the Wind" George Mendoza.
I must have got it online with a huge discount, since there was 4 yards of it.
Perfect for the backing of yesterdays finished quilt top .
And, I had it on hand...

School is coming to a close....Three more days..
Pajama days, game days, nothing but fun for the last few days.
The big chill around here...everyone is just hanging out.
I am trying not to whine so much on this blog..
I just never knew how the loss of Mr. O'Quilts would
fracture the foundation of my very being.
If sad.....
My mother said:
Do something kind for someone else.
My man said:
Just go sew.
My mother said:
Wear lipstick!!!!!!!!
xoxox

ps  Guess what??
  I can use my new shoulder to place fabric all the way up high on my design wall..with no pain...
Wahoo...

First the Bee Sting, then the Honey

Welcome to our home:

A rough two weeks of stress has landed me in the hot seat of an acute bout of asthmatic bronchitis.

Busying myself in the business of others, not staying in the day, not practicing self-care and not listening to the wisdom of my dear man...when he said, "just go sew".....
Our wedding anniversary and the month of May...not Merry...

Add steroids and... Mrs. O'Quilts fell right off the mountain.

Lucky for me, I landed on a ledge, sustaining just a crack.

Whew...that crack has been repaired and I am better than ever before.

Who, may I ask, likes to learn the hard way???

That's enough....I am better today...!! Look what I finished..
Still cannot quilt until middle July...but so happy to have a finished top..
HSTs from a layer cake.

 I thought this last potholder Evan made for his 6th grade PE teacher was adorable.
Evan did all the sewing on his potholders.  I chose the fabric and as time ran out, I did the bindings..
They are all done.

 backing.

Lynsey and Dylan finished off their school counselor potholders..

 

And look who is all ready for field day in 2nd grade??

The light is shining...the evening ending well.
I am better...So happy.
Thanks to all of you who missed me.
xxoo

Quilting, Therapy, Friendship

This post really should be read backwards...first the wave of grief...now recuperation...
Evan  loves every single one of his teachers in 6th grade...of course he did get a bit lazy this past semester and his grades reflect it...However, thank you is important in the O'Quilts abode...thus:
He made these potholders to order for each teacher.
We looked at their websites and found their favorite teams, etc.
Time is of an essence with two weeks left, so I told him I would bind them for him

 My friends went to the beach.

Their present to me:

And I have not even known them that long!!!!

I am reading, A Widow's Memoir,  by Joyce Carol Oates. 

 I love it.  I hate it.  I cannot wait for the book to finish.  I cannot leave the book unread.

I should be reading fluff...My mood is reflecting Widow book number 14 for me and

the month of May being, ALS support month.

I am sleeping and sleeping..

Then I sit outside under the tree reading and nodding off.

My favorite place to read and obsess about my mortality

is at the top of the wheelchair ramp that friends built for my man.

Somehow it is comforting...with its view of our entire back yard.

Like JCO says, spring has come without him....again.

 As I let my mind go to where it should not, my dear brother calls me.

He worries about me and I worry about him.

He told me...as often he does, that I should think of being happy, since in his eyes, I have so much.

He then said that in Miami, they had, for 10 years a washing machine that my mother shipped from Arizona when she moved to Charlotte.  Raymond asked for this old washing machine when Mom moved to Assisted Living.  They put it into an old wagon hitched to their van..It went from Charlotte to their kitchen in the apartment in Miami Beach, They plugged it into an outside outlet, out the two story window and enjoyed a washing machine of their own for ten years. Running down the stairs to plug it in whenever they needed to wash.

Now, he said, they must bring their clothes from their van to the laundromat.  

He figured that I did not have to do that.

He also figured that in spite of his BA degree and working two jobs between them, they still cannot afford an apartment in the New Jersey area.  So they live in their van.

He remembered that I had a big paid off house.

Although the rage of grief calls no logic and no control.

I told  him that I so needed and appreciated his phone call  xxoo

This weekend is quicksand.

Then, comes my friend Norie...with the link to the  sewing machine on the tractor!!!
Sewing machine on the tractor
Much needed fun...Thank you Norie.

The waves of the ocean come in and go out...a wave crashes, knocking me down.
It is such a pity that Mr. O'Quilts living in my heart just has to be enough. 

ALS

I am in such despair during the month of May

How do I cope??
In crazy ways..

Help needed:
Last night I ate the rest of the children's Oreo mint cookies.
I asked Aunt Brandy to buy them more ...sending money.
Cuz...if I do...guess what will happen....??
I have so turned into my mother.

Help needed:

I had a picture  of a woman quilting on a tractor.

I had a picture of a woman quilting with her tiny machine on the glove compartment

cover of a car.  I want to re-post these but cannot find them...Will you send them to me

if  you find them?  thx

Friends...thank  you for hanging with me..
Joyce Carol Oates....reflecting on the passing of her husband.
The only thing that you can expect of yourself during the first year of grief.
Is to be able to say that you lived....you are still alive.
Amen.