Grandma, Grandma, Grandma

Aoife, day 19 xo

Look what came in the mail today:  Grandma's very own copy of Aoife's birth feet prints.

 

Today, I got back my lab results from my physical last week.

Everything is in order:  no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no cholesterol issues, heart and lungs sound good...and blah blah blah. (for now)

Why then am I tired all the time.

Stress...OMG, and arthritis...Oh, well...we will carry on.

Especially since I seemed to have become exactly like my stressed out mother!!

I just finished the prep for drawstring bag number 8...the strings match the lining.

This is very interesting 2020, the year we will never forget!!!

Pandemic Art Quilts

Grandma showing off Aoife  again...!!!!

Aoife had her three week check up today...all is well.

Look at her daddy's big hands and her little feet.

Her daddy goes back to work tomorrow after his paternity leave.

Good day today, Zoomed the Melody Miller interview.

Zoomed Sit and chat with Charlotte MQG

Finished and snipped two baby quilts.

I visited with my girl and her girl.

She said today was her first day walking to the grocery store alone.

With the dog and the baby in the stroller.

Today was a great day!!

Made two masks...my son seems to think his friends want them...we will see.

Covid Good, Covid Bad

My 10 bowl covers are all done...so pleased!  Lined with Rip-stop, ready to be gifted.

Here they are in their new place...pix taken and noted in my phone in case I  forget where I put them.

My physical was Friday. I had been feeling down in the mouth and yucky.

Once home, I found Lynsey and her daddy playing canasta...My son asked for the doctor's verdict.

Without looking up from her cards, Lynsey said...."It's Covid Brain"....How do you know that Lynsey??

"Just looking at you", she said...in her wise 11 year old voice..OMG

Well....our Lynsey was right...My doctor said to get out of the  house with mask and hands washed and distancing,  If I stay home  isolated, I will die of something else..

So motivated today after my outing to my friend's driveway yesterday. that

I checked out another UFO..

Jeni Baker Drawstring bag tutorial 

Finding a box where some were cut out already, I finished all the cutting and did some sewing.

Even at my age, I am still quite silly.  I LOVE this turquoise and white polka dot.

I did not want to cut into it....I wanted to save it....save it for the trailer hitch on the hearse.???But, I got brave....I am making these bags partway ...so when I come back to them, it will be so easy and fulfilling to finish them up..I have eight ready in the box for another day. 

Very relaxing to do a project half way...no pressure at all to finish...

Now an update on my son's broken wrist.

He wants to be independent and not have  his mother  use him as an example of our lousy healthcare system on her blog.....Ok...I get it...He is 35.. He has now been gifted the co-pay for his visit.

However, he chooses to wait for his appointment to determine his sliding fee at the clinic...  He was told by that clinic, that if he chose to have his wrist repaired before this appointment in SEPTEMBER!!,They would consider it a PRE-EXISTING condition and not cover it at all.

Just sayin'

Ok...I am getting fired up again....For those of you (none of my friends, of course) who believe with all your heart that healthcare is not a human right, that you have to work for it....My son is working as usual, fixing friends and neighbor cars....and no they do not give him health insurance

When I took these pictures, he told me that it was a bit hard getting the alternator out of this car using only one arm, taking so much longer

Here we have this state of affairs at the O'Quilt's household while my boy has his broken wrist.Really, I do  not care.  Covid has given me clearer insight.into what is important and what is not.

Below...friends to the rescue...a salad all made and ready...Thank you Linda....sooo good.

And so it goes...Son off to Autozone again tonight for another part for this job.  I swear he likes auto stores, just like I love fabric stores.No pictures of dear Aoife today.. Sad, but true.

More grueling PT for me tomorrow.

Did I mention how I dislike this new blogger which will not let me single space.and changes color on me without my permission...distorts the formatting, etc...And, my pictures are so big.

School starts August 17. 

One grandchild in elementary school  One grandchild in middle school

 One grandchild in high school With material pick ups all on the same day for remote learning.

Thanks to both wonderful parents for helping out, working together as a team.

As we know, it takes a village

Bragging Rights and Gifts

 

Our Dylan above, age 10, filled 10 bobbins for me!!!!!  Thank you Dylan!!This afternoon I am going to a friend's house to sit and sew in the driveway under a tree.I will be putting elastic in these..while we visit.   https://allysonhill.typepad.com/photos/eco_lid/index.htmleco friendly potluck bowl covers.  Of course our party days are over without Mr. O'Quilts and with Covid.....I used to love to bring these on a potluck dish and leave them as a gift.N  We use bowl covers all the time.

 AOIFE showing off her dimples on day 15!!

Once again.... Aoife...just hanging out!!

Guess she is too young for her first sewing lesson.

I will be patient!!

A big thank you to all the folks who reach out to help us.

I am humbled to see it...humbled to receive..

A big shout out to Michelle Obama who was brave enough

to share with us that she, too, suffers from dysthymia due to these Covid and scary times.

That helps the rest of us feel not so out of whack...

Crazy and Crazier...but Really Lovely..

Aoife...Happy birthday ....2 weeks old today.!!

The new, under the old.

Below...Why is it more fun to mess around with the parts departmentthan it is to finishe off 35 unfinished projects.??I have done nothing today.  I cannot even figure out how to get rid of blue ink or  the underlining.Or yellow print.Or the double spacing  OMG   Guess it is too late..guess. I am unfocused...Below I have been making sponges...Now the family says that these with 3 layers of batting are too weak   I must use 4 layers even though it is harder to sew through.Honestly, this is my COVID life...blue with underlining!!!!!

Here we go...all uncentered ..but still delightful.....Our 14 day old Aoife...Loving to be held.Oh, I miss my computer help...my man, my daughter, my son in law...How in the world am I going to  help with remote learning???????  I do not know how to add a button short cut to my screen, nor add labels in the new format...Ok...no more thinking...only loving...We are lucky in the important things. xo I love this picture of Aoife xo

How it Goes...

Above is the midnight hour at my house...OOOoooo poor me..

.I did not have enough blocks

for this scrap quilt ...

Below, is the attitude adjustment:  

Short of fabric..????.Piece the fabric silly...!!  Make it happen!

Voila..You did it!!

Now what was the name of Pearl's cousin????

I saw baby Aoife and my daughter yesterday morning on Facetime..

All is so darling that I can barely stand it.

AND

15 year old Evan with his grandma who loves him so.....

Evan is into pineapples????? Beyond me.....

He is also taller than I am.....also, beyond me!!!

Here is my girl at her baby shower....

Random:

Physical therapy hurts...in case you did not know

Tomorrow again...noooooo!!

I just ordered a tether ball on Amazon Prime for $18

Our new Covid anger sport...Take it out on the ball!!!

Lovely 4 hour masked friend visit 6 feet apart on my screened-in porch...wonderful!!

And NOW...for the feature:  Aoife  13 days old.

All ready for bed.

At the end of the day....love is all there is!!

In the Middle of the Day

Zoe chose  to sleep on the sofa instead of her quilt covered dog bed on the floor.

Grandma has been sleeping all day...back again now...deep sleep.

There must be something wrong with both of us...unless it is just age.

Who sleeps 12 hours in a deep sleep, gets up for breakfast, does 20 min on exercise bike, etc, 

then goes back to bed...Only..Zoe and Grandma. .Zoe chased a squirrel or two before this  nap.

I love this site...Thank you Vickie!!!

How to Make an Ugly Quilt by Get It Done Quilts

Above the two masks I made with the Ruby Star fabric

Lost, random double four patches now sliced with blue chickens.

Below, it seems that is all I am getting out of Portland...Their first tomato crop.

Missing day 11 of dear Aoife...Two days in a row...

Tonight,  I cut charms from an old layer cake....getting them ready for snowballing the William Morris

Two found charm packs...A lavender one and Kaffe...

Me thinks I am dying of Covid stress...and I do not even have the disease!!!

The isolation, the grief, the despair...the news...

Ah, well...staycation over as the children come home tomorrow afternoon.

Then in two weeks...Remote learning.

I am holding on to the side of the boat so I do not drown..

I will be strong.  The family legacy of strong women...now depends on me!!

The Middle of the Night

Bag two out of five due for CMQG!!!

I am on a roll.

Just saying...My therapist retired...so now I am letting Ruby Star help me.

Therapy is $100 an hour: Ruby Star mask panel...$14

This is just the straight half.. ironing it and cutting it out brought me great joy.

I purchased new chrome sewing machine needles on Amazon.

A box with 100 needles.

I have lost them...along with my mind.

Just when I got myself into still another funk by trying to fix the world...on my porch appeared, 

William Morris Montagu Layer cake....a treat from my neighbor...

It is a metaphor for one moment at a time, or just around the corner...etc. Trust your higher power...etc

Stay in your own lane, You are not Fauci, etc. etc.

I might snowball it with muslin..Fun to think about.

My son  found mail in the car that I forgot to bring in.

One of them was a property tax bill....??What??

Why would I get a property tax bill in the middle of COVID and an economic downturn??

I do not like this at all !!

Maybe chocolate will help!!

Look...OMG...only available in Europe..made in Italy...How did I miss out on this one????

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Necchi-Quilting-Machine-Computerised-Alphabet/dp/B07BV5PJK9

OK  I know that five machines are enough!!

Saw this tonight on a Sewing With Something site...eyeglass case...How fun.!!

Now, as I go to bed with NO Aoife picture on day 10  

This grandmother made 3 masks from the Ruby Star to calm herself...

Bed time...

Tomorrow, God willing,. is another day xo

The Last Day of July

DONE...My first backpack for the CMQG outreach!!

DONE is a satisfying word!!

These backpacks are made from old jeans for strength.  We fell that a pre-school child who is homeless

might be moving around a lot.. This one has one large front pocket and a small cat pocket.

BIG Thanks to our Eve for cutting the fabric for us..

Here Goes Grandma Again....Day 9...Still exciting.

Aoife in her "I am home t-shirt"!!!!

Parents are trying for a nice birth announcement.

Aoife finds that terribly boring.

The parents keep trying...Now, Aoife questions their sanity.....Oh, my...

Ok...Grandma never gets her fill for the moment of dear Aoife....

Now I see her wearing her first bow...

I read that babies smile in the womb...It is not until 2.5 months that

the the smile means something other than reflex...still...I love it.

And little Aoife Rose...in her cute swaddle.. Rose in rose in rose.

Unfortunately for her mommy and daddy, this sleep only lasted a few minutes.

My other grandchildren are still at their mother's  house..

I am sure that once home, Lynsey will insist on her share of the pictures.

The boys do not care.!!

The Nothing but Happy Post

Our Aoife.....day 8

Such a love...

My daughter figured out her wrap thing...Now the baby can come to the sewing machine, go

for a walk and visit the garden...Emily does not just have to sit down..Sooo great!

Everything about the baby is amazing!!!  My daughter too.

No prejudice here...just the happy truth.

My morning starts happy with blueberries!!!

It is the season and Trader Joe's is on it!!!!

I love blueberries on my morning cerael.

https://charlottemodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

We had a great, wonderful....Zoom meeting tonight.

We continue on our December outreach for pre-school homeless children.

I have only made quilts...

You know, lazy for figuring out something new.

Like a backpack for the pre-schoolers to carry their things in.

Easy Peasy Drawstring bag by Caroline.... edited by Diane at dckdesigns.

This is my front pocket...A big thanks to Eve for doing  the cutting for us

My bag is almost finished...Just doing the drawstrings tomorrow.

Chatting with friends makes such a big difference in my happy!

So does sewing...so does accomplishment.

And, BTW....My physical therapy is working...

Baby steps make me happy.