Happy Cold and Sunny Saturday

Sometimes it is just hard to navigate life..one day you have it all together, the next day disenchants.

Cousin Ann,  you are so the best.  My package came today bringing such great cheer.

As I grazed the site looking for bargains, I found things I loved at full price.

I am a great believer in the Marshalls logo:..(".Never, never, ever pay full price!")

But, this time, I just went for the joy!!

I have always wanted one of these bracelets...Lynsey said it was a bit funky. 

I said,  just like your grandma!!

A marvelous 10 inch square package of "Linen Texture" by

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts

Blue and white  yardage.

More funky fabric....

An adorable necklace that is so me.....

The thing about buying the jewelry for myself is that it shows hope.

For so long, I have felt, like the rest of the world...down and out, hopeless, overwhelmed.

Now, the election is over, I had my first Covid shot, Evan is doing well with his mother, Lynsey has excellent grades and Dylan has an marvelous teacher. I see a glimmer...joy...

I might even start brushing my hair again...(JJ) as in just joking!!!!

Daddy's girl here made her daddy a birthday cake!

First she made peanut butter cookies, then took Christmas truffles and frosting...

That girl...I have not had to do a thing today....and it is not my birthday.

Happy 36th birthday Eamon!!!

   Lynsey made her daddy French toast for breakfast while I was sleeping. He has a terrible, terrible tooth ache, so he has to eat soft.  His dental appointment is not until February 9, because of Covid. He has this aversion to the dentist, so he let it go too far. It is hard to see someone you  love in so much pain.

Mostly Good Stuff

Checking out A Quilted Passion, I found fun links to persue...

Lori Holt's Criss Cross Star

Japanese Cross

I may...just may take out my Accuquilt machine and cut some blocks..

My son turns 36 tomorrow.  Happy Birthday Eamon!!

Here, his mother surprises him with presents from Amazon.

A thrifty and practical birthday is a good birthday.  He is OCD.  I love  it!!!

He likes to clean and organize...wahoo.

The kids were so excited when I told them the birthday presents had arrived.  They ripped open the boxes and looked at me in disgust.  I had a great laugh...well deserved!!!

Next up:

Aoife had her 6 month check up today.

Three shots..Ouch!!

 About 25 years ago, I bought holiday sheets for my children's beds.  Seeing my darlings sleeping under snowmen sheets was enamoring. 

No one around here is interested in that now...and I no longer have the energy.

I took a flat sheet, ripped it in half, and sewed the halves into bags for Christmas wreath storage.

I do not want to hear from my son next year that he cannot find the wreaths...!!!

Of course, since we like laughing  ..Hi Bernie!!

(this is a funny....not a political statement)

Fuzzy but wonderful...The first Bluebird I have seen this year.

Why??? Linda came over in her mask and cleaned out my man's Bluebird houses.
So grateful!!

I am cleaning my sewing room.  Again...and again..and again....

I hope this site is legit....I was sooooo tempted by the very low prices.  They say, if it is too good to be true...it isn't good.  But, I took a chance because I LOVE African fabrics.  Stay tuned.

https://fabricsonsale.com/?fbclid=IwAR24CzH5HNcnyuqRtk8p6CPXkQFuPFHTBuwaAaEWBn5p9OYDoe8G7y5li5U

Joy to the World.

Today, the sun shone down on me.  With a tip, I was able to receive my first Covid vaccine shot.

Evidently, near the end of the day, there are sometimes shots left.  Rather than throw them away, they are available to walk-ins.  A brave friend and I took the risk and won...Wahoo.

Beneath my room's rubble of fabric paradise , emerged this;  Funky Jelly Roll top.

Made from loose and sparkly fabric from..... heaven knows where.

Below, sewing lessons resume...six months, checking out the measuring tape.

COVID attacks Charlotte, North Carolina

We are told to stay  home.  The children still have remote learning.  The library has reduced its hours. The senior center is closed...again...

At certain times, I drive my books to the front of the library.  I call the library.  A masked lady comes out with a box. We exchange books.  We, old and tired folks, are told to reconsider the grocery store.

So!!  Amazon Prime delivery, here we come. This is Amazon fresh with rotisserie chicken, carrots, leeks, etc.  The children were so excited to look through the bags and put away the food.

Tonight we were able to have chili.

In her walker, Aoife smiles. Sometimes, Rosie the dog, brings her own toys to play along side of the baby.

My life now consists of an 11 year old girl insisting that my sewing room is hers and the family's  and so is my computer.  She said, I should not be selfish.

It consists of Tik Tok episodes...as in:

"How to Piss of Your Boss", and, "What Teenagers Know that Parents Do Not!"  (and for sure,  Grandmothers will certainly not know.)

                              I am busy being entertained with O'Quilt family preteens, dancing and lip syncing to to their own generational music.  And recording it....For awhile, I got away with the fact that Granddaddy loved classical music...They loved Granddaddy, but listening to his music did not last..

Add to all that is: sixth grade science and social studies. and, getting texts from Dylan's teacher that somehow, he missed his entire math class.  With one hand on the computer games and one on his school Chrome book, Dylan smiles the sweetest smile as he tells me that he does not know what she is talking about.

Yet, today, the magic happened.   I was able to get my first Covid vaccine shot.

I am oh, so grateful..xxoooxoo

Ups and Downs and all Arounds

Finally, a finish!!!  '

This finish is thanks to Good Vibe Sit and Sew and CQG Sit and Sew.

Zoom  Zoom Zoom

It was nice enough today to snip the threads outside.

This backing was bought at JoAnn's fabric, about 15 years ago. On the way to Pittsburgh to visit Emily at  Carnegie Mellon....DH always planned fabric stops, or antique stops along the way..

For me, it is like this fabric was waiting around to back this quilt.!!!

Here we go....evidently Portland is cold enough for a sort of "snow suit" without the snow.

(Grandma was wrong....again...This is not a snow suit. It is made with denim.)

And our girl no longer needs the car seat in order to take a ride in the carriage. 

As my Covid moods go up and down and crazy...

My son knows how to calm his mother....

"Max Daddy Hot Chocolate"....with chocolate chips...

I could not say "No"..

The very late December birthday present for my sister.

She works in a hospital on weekends so we do not see each other. (Covid)

She can see it here till I can drop it off at her  house.

Her favorite color...and it is two sided.

Sew She Can Is my very very favorite free tutorial site.

This is the  "10 inch fabric basket".

This is a three day weekend.  Kids staying up too late.

My son said...."I got this Mom"!!  Of course, that meant

kids cooking at midnight.

Dylan made brownies

Lynsey made crepes which turned out to be pancakes..

At one am....we went to bed.  Lynsey slept with me..I got slapped in the head a number of times as she sleeps like a wild animal.  Evidently Dylan does too...as my son reported being kicked around...

Kids are tough, but so worth it.

My son has now taken his children to a hill, to roll down and enjoy, just like he used to do as a kid.....

The very best saved for last:

Aoife and her daddy auditioning for the theater..

The Balancing Act.

Sooo adorable..

Spanning the Years

Aoife does not like eating sweet potatoes from a spoon, when she could snuggle up to her mother and nurse.....Six  months old....Poor Aoife  seeing life as it really is.

Organization under my cutting mat...a miracle...only possible because of those weeks Linda spent with me on the Covid free porch arranging sizes of fabric scraps.. Wahooo

In looking around, I found WIP (work in progress) from the very first quilt class I ever took.

1974  Miami, Florida, given by Georgia Bonsteel... Quilt as You Go.

My fabric choices were not the best quality, I did not quite get the technique, and the applique was all done by hand.  I worked on this quilt forever.  Because it was in pieces, I was able to take it on airplane trips with me.  47 years ago...a serious UFO (unfinished object)  The funniest thing about the project is that the colorway is right in style now!!!  Off it goes to my daughter.  Hopefully she can make sense of some of it.

With all the stress...yup!!!  Stress around here!  There is not much sewing.

I took to looking at a few U-tube videos...

These folks brighten my day and lift my heart:

 Mary Fons

Karen Brown Just Get it Done Quilts

Thanks to the saint, Mary Pat, I was able to go online and secure a spot for my Covid Vaccine. March 7 and March 28 ...I would like it today, but...grateful I have the appt at at all..

Another dear kind heart, gave us a gift certificate to Honey Baked Ham for Christmas. We are using that today. yum! Smells like the holidays.

A third kind heart gave me a gift certificate to Missouri Star.  Talk about lifting the blues into rainbow.. I am one lucky person.  I have had fun for days on that site, just looking..

Since we, in Charlotte, NC are being asked to  re-think going to the grocery store.  Last night Lynsey and I used Amazon Prime Fresh.. Arriving tonight between 7 and 9...free.  If I had wanted it earlier, it would have been a $5 delivery fee..

The beauty of a wonderful stash is that the perfect backing just appears.

The color does not look right in this picture, but, it is...

Lucky me....The library had a book by one of my favorite authors.

Already I am half-way through...sigh...I love her books because there is still a part of my heart that stayed in Miami.

The latest restrictions have narrowed our library hours.

Please God, let us have peace in 2021

The Zombie Apocalypse, and More

Look at what came in the mail yesterday!!  Linda Swanekamp's hand painted Christmas tree card.

I am one lucky duck..A big Thank You Linda!!!

Sixteen patch top is finished...a quick one with lots of fun playing with value.

It kind of reminds me of the sea and living in Miami,

This quilt is more low key than I usually make.

Grateful that I have a fabric collection of  years.

Under supervision of Emily, Rosie and Aoife share a teether..

In less than two weeks, this little missy will be 6 months old

Here she is awaiting her sweet potato--smooshed into breast milk

The story:  This "living room" used to be my office for my business.

When ALS came barreling into our lives, I had to  close my business and make this room into a hospital room, hospital bed and all.  Once my man died. I hated this room,  To make it more bearable,, it became sewing room number 2.  A few years later, my son found recovery and moved it.  He wanted to sleep in this room on the sofa.  Ok...We divided the room for him.  Now, Dylan does his homework in this part of the room....Dylan asked for LED lights for Christmas.

While I was napping......Dylan and his daddy got to work.

 This is just a small part of the show, he and his dad put up....Speechless!!!

The other night I slept so hard and so long, that at 12:30, the family came in to see if I was still alive..

Immediately it all began.  Lynsey opened my blind too hard and it crashed to the floor.

The theatrical one then had to demonstrate my fall the other night...OMG  She even found the Lego to show her father exactly how it happened. She was hysterical.

I had not even risen from my comfy bed yet...when the drama  started.

I have so turned into my mother.  She worked at the OSI at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.  It was emotionally tough for her...as some of us have been born with a very thin skin.  We would all be waiting for her when she got home...Mother...Mother, we blathered on...  After a quick hug, she announced that she needed respite.

She locked herself into her bedroom with the newspaper and Madam Butterfly opera blaring.  She was in there forever...OK...She set the timer for thirty minutes.....

All of us grew up hating opera.

Here, there is just nowhere to hide in a loud and busy household.

My son and the children, dressed in their Christmas long underwear and gloves, etc took the dog and the picnic, way into the woods to build a fort.  According to Lynsey, they are preparing and practicing for the Zombie Apocalypse.

The sun shines here with Carolina blue skies belying the very cold day. The front driveway is littered with ice prevention pebbles for the snow that never came.

I am indeed grateful for Zombies, as peace is upon this household, just for the minute... 

Installment two...Today is the second day,. the family and dog went to their fort....by the time the Zombies show, the O'Quilts' family will be all set for survival

Tonight, big bad Grandma,  requested that the children fold the family laundry. OMG one would think I had asked them to be tortured....I am punishing them for their snotty retorts by making for dinner , my mother's prize winning meatloaf. They think that they hate meatloaf.

Our family has been in chaos for 7 some years, We choose to be happy.

Life is still good. 

Scrap Frenzy

The truth is that value does the work, but color gets the credit.

Tonight I am calming my soul by messing around with scraps

The ever present, ever fun 16 patch.  The green one below is a scrap from a quilt my girl made for her MIL.  The red and white below is a scrap block with my husband's shirts.

When we first moved to Charlotte, I met Mary Jo and her store.

That woman knew every fabric and where you could get it.

She was dyslexic with a shrewd mind for business and a great memory for fabric.

I was in love...well worth the drive to Gastonia for any fabric you could possibly want.

We would be chatting, she would grab my hand and say lets pray.  It was for me, 15 years of glory.

 Mary Jo got dementia. She died...the store struggled and closed. 

 The store was the woman!!  And the woman was the store.

 My friends and I discovered Foust in Kings Mountain.  For a few years they  had huge scrap bins...I mean huge.  I would take my blue grabber, and grab those scraps way into the middle of the bins.

 It was soooo much fun.

We would go as a group and out to eat after...!

I found a bag of those scraps today.  Decided to cut the white ones into 4 inch strips for a 16 patch.

Do they go together???  Does it matter...if the value is on target?

(the green flower below is from a dress at Goodwill)

Tonight I am scrapping ..

Last night at 4 am, I fell...flat on my face.

Why??? I stepped on a Lego on the way to get the cat off my roll of wool batting.

Stitch loves to eat plastic.  

Where did the Lego come from???  Who knows...I do not live alone.

As it happened Lynsey...Sally my salamander had crept into my bed.

She was up in a second to help her grandmother up.

I broke nothing because I am quite the substantial woman...just sore today.

The children had been put to bed last night at 9:30 because there is remote schooling.

At midnight, they were still messing around, really messing around. Then they wanted to sleep with an adult...OMG.  There are consequences. 

This morning, I laid them out.

I hate to make salad...so I told Lynsey to make salad for me ....She got carried away and made both a tossed salad and a mozzarella and tomato salad.  (hardly a punishment for the cook) Dylan had to wash some walls....You do not want to see a picture of that!!

Once a week I get company...fabric lover's company.  We sit with heaters and masks and scarves and long underwear on my screened in porch.  This week we organized and folded my Batiks..

I am sure  you can recognize my friend!!!!

And so it goes...2021 Frenzy here and frenzy there....

We will survive..

We might even flourish!!

Some Things are Pretty Nice

Lynsey, Stitch and Grandma playing Canasta for New Years!!

Aoife, 5 months, trying out her high chair.

Her mommy sad she is growing so fast...slow down life...slow down!!

Even at her advanced age, Grandma suffers from fabric hoarding.

I finished this scrap quilt top tonight.  I found the perfect backing but I could not use it, because I love it.  Dear me, I used the second choice...sigh...

It is for outreach. Improv is my favorite way to sew.

Tonight I discovered a good friend sick with Covid..two weeks already.

She still is exhausted and struggles to eat.  She said it is the worst disease she has ever had.

OMG...I am postponing my January cataract surgery.  Maybe April will be OK

I am tempted to buy fabric on the Hancock of Paducah holiday sale, the fabric is in the cart, I just did not  push buy.....It is better that way...as I look at it, it is not as fun as it was with impulsivity.

Tomorrow quarter three school pick up starts....I wonder what happened to quarter one and quarter  two.

In person school is supposed to start January 19. 2021.  Stay tuned. Our Covid numbers are hitting the sky.

A lovely purple bat scrap from a friend in Oregon!!

Love. just love....

Maybe I will read before bed.  It is only midnight.

The quote to live by, from Wanda

"Enter every day with a feeling of newness and expectation.

Exit every night with thanks for all you have."

Thank you Wanda...right on....!!

Don't Worry, Bob Marley 

Happy New Year....Please, God Willing....xo

Happy New Year

This is the first year I have ever spent alone with my son on New Year's Eve

It is very special and wonderful.  I have such gratitude!!

We also did our first selfie on the porch after he threw out a few fireworks.

There is fog and rain in Charlotte now,  Look how lovely the lights look.

Oregon has stellar wineries... In the mail, for my birthday came champagne for New Year's.

Talk about special, toasting the New Year with a gift from my daughter in Galway crystal This was a surprise from my man back in the day on his return from visiting his homeland.

Today has been a great day....all day...pinching myself to be sure..!!

I sewed.  Using up some scraps.from 3 projects ago...Square in a square.

With motivation from friends....I organized.

I know...I, me...Grandma O'Quilts...organizational impaired.

Organized!!!  Making parts for the "parts department" !!  Thank you Gwen and Freddie!!!!

Last week, Lynsey finished part one of her autobiography...

She sent it to three of her teachers for editing, Aunt Emily did the cover, Lynsey wrote her feelings all herself.  She was elated and felt empowered afterwards. All I did was let her use my computer in my sewing room.!! I am so proud of her.  Aunt Charmaine made copies...First Lynsey wants to be a teacher, then a baker, then a writer, now an actress!! 

For Lynsey, her booklet was an exercise in accepting herself and her history as it is.

She is rightfully very proud of herself.

A New Year post is not a post without Aoife...Aoife and her guard dog, Rosie!!!

It is now almost one am...2021.  Thank God!!

I feel relieved, elated.  I  know life is still hard. Somehow, I feel there just may be hope this year.

Having hope is an outstanding feeling... xo

!