halooooo!!!!

Long time since my last post, no excuse to offer. I've been dreaming up posts but now that I'm here, can't seem to remember even one of them!

But I've been quilting up a storm:

Antique Dresden Plate

The "plates" were the gift of a friend who found them at an estate sale. I rescued the plates and their muslin backing, finished them, and made setting blocks, all by hand. The quilt is reversible, pretty snazzy, yes? This was several years in the making, and I'm so proud of it.

"Windmills and Flying Geese"

Found a "kit" at a local quilt shop with twelve fat-eighths and directions for two quilts. Even after I added all the white fabrics from my stash, there was never going to be TWO quilts in this project. So I made it up as I went along, determined to use every last thread of those "kit" fabrics. Here's what came of it, a small lap quilt -- or maybe a large crib quilt

"Happy Hearts at Home" -- a tablecloth I'd planned to have done for Valentine's Day. What with life happening while I was making other plans, I finally finished it in September. So much fun embellishing it with lacy stitches from my little Brother BC1000 -- one of my all-time great buying decisions!

AND -- ta-da!!! -- The Drunkard's Path tablecloth! Finished at last, and I'm so happy to be using it. This was on the frame when DS The Elder came to live with me for a while. There wasn't enough room then, so down came the frame and the quilt went into my UFO pile. Machine pieced, hand quilted and hand embroidered. The teacup and saucer are from a cafe in Oslo, bought one dreary, cold, night of hectic last-minute Christmas shopping. I'm sure Dear Son the Younger was terribly embarrassed that I hornswoggled our waitperson into selling it to me. But I was so glad to sit down and the coffee there was so perfect, I just had to have a keepsake! (Notice the little wall hanging? It's called "Love of Two Sisters" and was made for me by my baby sis in Oklahoma, representing our closeness, and featuring beads and buttons inherited from our mother. Very precious to me...)

Well, enough for now, and let's hope I'm back again a lot sooner than in the past. Hugs to all...

EEWWWW!!!

Hello again, m'dears! Remember the evaporative cooler bailing on me, day before yesterday? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler By the time I found out the water pump had failed, the hardware stores were closed. So...Miss Dog and I made it through the night with lots of fans and a the small window air conditioner in the study. I will admit it was nice to have cold dry air drifting from study to bedroom -- made me wish briefly for full-house air conditioning. But this house is so poorly insulated a major retrofitting -- better insulation in walls and roof, low-E windows, etc -- before air conditioning would be a smart choice. Methinks an inhouse dehumidifier would be smarter, since it's only necessary during monsoon season.

Anyway, I said "OK God, do Your thing" as I was drifting off to sleep. And woke up remembering there was a gently used pump in the storeroom "just in case." (Prayer, no matter how casual, really does change things.) And the pump was plug-in not wire-in. I don't mind simple electrical things, like lamp repair, and this wouldn't have been a lot harder. Dreading worse than doing, of course. So imagine my delight when all I had to do was unplug the old and plug in the "new"! It was before sunrise, with a light breeze blowing in this morning's storm -- what better time to be up on the roof? Installation was so easy I decided to stay up there for a bit of scraping and cleaning. Tucson has very hard water, and my neighborhood is on the second-hardest well in town. Plugged the roof connection, turned on the cooler, and SHAZAM! -- cool air in my house, hooray! It was so cool last night, when that storm broke in the wee hours, that Miss Dog and I woke up cuddled tight together. Here's a picture of the offending pump. The round black circle in the middle is the kitchen sink drain. All that black stuff on the pump base and its protective screening is moldy hard water deposit. No wonder it failed! And no wonder my sinuses don't hurt anymore!!

Ok that's it for a bit -- gotta go hang my freshly laundered window quilts. Yes, I use them even in the summer, as they block afternoon sun on the west side of the house, and help keep outdoor heat from radiating in during the night!

Then it's sorting mail, paying bills, more decluttering and cleaning in my bedroom and bath, and maybe even some quilting time!

Wow -- how time flies!

Well, my sis Patti and her hubby Russ arrived safely, a good time had by all, including five dogs. Here's Patti giving good-dog treats. From left, Heidi the miniature Italian Greyhound, then Trixie the Jack Russell "terrorist", and on the right my big dear Malinois, Tabitha. You can just see the ear of one of the two other dogs, peeking out from under the quilt frame.

Dear Son the Elder (Chaz) had been living with me while recovering physically, emotionally, and financially from a very nasty divorce. The four of us spent many happy evenings chatting, laughing, arguing politics, and telling jokes. Then they went to their RV and Chaz and me to our rooms, retiring for the night. Such fun entertaining guests who bring their own bedroom. Makes me think of a turtle, his home is always with him.

Chaz started training as a Patient Care Technician, his first step toward the nursing career he's always wanted, but deferred while raising his family. Now they're all grown, and his youngest, Connie, will be starting nursing school with him, next month. Here he is all decked out in his trainee scrubs, clowning around for the camera. His kids call him "Doctor Danger"

I quick made a quilt for Granddaughter #1, Beth, to keep her warm while she's attending business classes at New York University -- full scholarship, too! Here she is -- gorgeous isn't she? There's a wonderful tutorial by Mary Johnson, on making these string quilts and so many more. http://maryquilts.com/ Mary does a lot of donation work, check out her blog to see some examples http://maryquilts.blogspot.com/

Patti and I indulged ourselves with Carole, my best friend and fellow quilter. Carole's been working on a Chinese Coin quilt, her first large project. She would soon become a "Pod Person" with her household packed into a pod unit, living in an apartment, while her entire house was gutted and rehabilitated -- mold and asbestos abatement. Here's the three of us, from the left: Carole, me, Pattie, sisters to the bone. Patti and Russ had to eventually return home, way too soon if you ask me.

Dear Son the Younger (Dave) and his Lady Love (Margrethe) were due just three weeks after Patti and Russ left. Don't ask me what I was thinking when I decided to re-do my kitchen for their visit. I must have been out of my mind!!! The cabinets were original, pine-ish looking shellac over who-knows-what kind of plywood. Chaz painted the walls a lovely very pale coral -- the color of the light just before sunrise here in the desert). Left the cabinets to me. Well.... I got the doors off, most of them stripped, a handful of them refinished. Between steps I painted the cabinet interiors and frames to match the walls. My vision was a soft oak color doors against the pale, pale coral. Do I need to tell you how I ran out of energy and suspended work until "later"? And I've gotten not a step further -- it will have to wait for cooler, much less humid weather. They landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor, a 2-hour drive from my doorstep. Oh it was so good to see them both again! They had a long but otherwise uneventful flight and were definitely ready for hot food, cold wine, and bed. We spent lots of family time -- including a host of "came to" family members, ate lots of Mexican food, talked and laughed and listened to music, went shopping, visited Colossal Cave and, best of all, spent a couple of days at Grand Canyon. Margrethe has a photographer's eye, took so many beautiful pictures. Here we are at the Canyon (no photograph can do it justice, you have to see it up close and personal to feel the majesty and sweep -- one of the Seven Wonders of the World!

They went hiking just the two of them in Romero Canyon, just north of Tucson. Both were so taken by the desert just bursting into bloom, they decided to make a Log Cabin Quilt in honor of the day. First they raided my stash for appropriate colors, textures, and prints. Then we went shopping to round out the collection. Well kids -- I'm exhausted and headed for a nap. Jet lag is still messing with me, though not for much longer. Didn't sleep well last night, the evaporative cooler bailed on me. I turned on the window A/C in the study, closed doors and hung quilts to close off unneeded rooms, adjusted ceiling fans, and slept but not soundly. More on that later. And I promise to continue this saga next post.

Ruth

Waaah!!

Doggone! Beloved Little Sister and her Handsome Hubby are stuck in Deming NM, resting overnight in a Walmart parking lot. I gather it's been a gruelling two days -- keep them in Your hands, Father!

OK so I'm really disappointed but it's better they use their heads and keep safe. At our ages endurance tests are entirely optional!

You should see my house! I could eat off the floor, it's that gorgeous! And I caught myself again, dreading rather than doing! Cleaning the back yard to make ready for a total of five dogs wasn't something I looked forward to, and yet it took almost no time at all and gave me a great deal of satisfaction! Live and learn, eh?

Since everything's ready, including chicken breasts steamed with mesquite flavoring, fresh homemade bread, and homemade blackberry wine, I'll drag the quilt frame in front of the tv and watch a movie while I catch up on the hand-quilting project you see here.

This quilt has been an adventure from the beginning. I'd been dreading (that word again!) tackling curved seams, and feeling especially foolish about it since Beloved Little Sister's very first quilt ever was a king-sized Drunkard's Path. It's stunning and she enjoyed doing it!!! Hand-piecing those curved seams looked like a respectable compromise. NOT! After maybe three blocks I knew hand-piecing curved seams was waaay out of my area! Back to the sewing machine -- where to my surprise it went very well. Not easy, but not the nightmare I'd anticipated.

But there were all these little quarter-circles left over and it seemed a shame to waste them. Using Pepper Cory's book I drafted a suitable template for the companion "L" shapes and made a border around the first blocks. Of course now there's a pile of even more, even smaller quarter circles, currently waiting in the scrap bin for inspiration.

And of course I couldn't leave well enough alone --"what if I made another border of really big drunkard's path blocks? Yeah!" Whence came the second border. Then it was a matter of adding borders until it was big enough for my table, and here you see the result.

I really love the colors -- several shades of deep red-to-cranberry with cream prints for background -- and look forward to seeing it on my table. Quilted tablecloths somehow make an ordinary meal seem sumptuous and extra satisfying.

For a quilter, open time means "Pick up a needle and go for it!" so that's what I'm going to do. More later....

Dreading vs Doing

Today's the day my beloved little sister arrives! I can hardly wait. If my Jeep wasn't disgracefully dirty I'd be sitting on the porch like a little kid instead of heading for the carwash! Last night I put off shampooing the living room carpet until nearly bedtime, finding a seemingly endless supply of distractions disguised as "must-do" tasks. When I finally gave in and hauled out the shampooer, the dreaded job was done and over in less than thirty minutes! I'm talking set up the shampooer, do the work, disassemble and clean the shampooer, and set it all on the porch to drip dry overnight! The dreading was WAY worse than the doing! Idling over coffee this morning I thought "...now why was I such a dingbat about this....?" Turned out my carpet shampooing experiences -- truly ordeals! -- had not kept pace with modern cleaning equipment. Wonder where else in my life the dreading is worse than the doing? And how much energy is being wasted? More later....

getting ready for a visit

Well, today's a really big day! The weather's clear enough between here and Oklahoma that my dear little sis and her hubby could head in my direction early this morning. They'll arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon, back their recreational vehicle next to my house, and out they'll come all smiles, each holding two dogs. I've informed Miss Dog she's about to entertain guests, but so far she's ignored me. She's been lonely since our sweet old border collie succumbed to lymphoma. The Buddster -- what a guy! How much you want to bet she's totally blissed out by suppertime tomorrow night?

Meanwhile it's clean-clean-clean! Not much of a housekeeper, but a champion procrastinator, I've left it all until I knew for sure they'd started their trip. Just how much did I think I could get done in two days?!?! Actually 1.5 -- sigh! So it's back to work for me. More later...

Today is the day.....

Today is the day that the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it!

A good "mantra" for any day, but for today, especially appropriate. My elder son was here for dinner last night, slept on my couch, and started coffee this morning. Ahh, the fragrance of good coffee! He took off for a 5-mile walk -- way past my current ablitites! -- and invited me and Miss Dog to meet him at about mile #4 so we could walk the rest of the way together. Miss Dog -- who normally is the last out of bed -- adores him, trotted happily by his side -- readiliy responding to his touch commands! She's quite beautiful and he ain't too shabby either -- they made a lovely pair.

Back home -- with cramps, should have warmed up first! -- I had more coffee while esteemed older son connected with his FaceBook "harem" and then we shared a lovely phone visit with esteemed younger son, currently living in Norway. I thank God for both these wonderful young men, and their sister -- my first born, my only daughter -- as well.

Growing up was hard on all of us, me being newly divorced and all, and there were times I despaired of ever having a "real family" again. Time taught me that "real" is not defined by an ever-changing cultural "norm" but by love, respect, and experience. Measuring by this yardstick, it's more true than ever that "friends are family that you choose." And the inverse is true as well: you can choose to be friends with your family!

So today, I'm thankful for the day itself, for the love of family and friends, for sunshine, for hot fragrant coffee, for Miss Dog's devotion, and for the astonishing priviledge of being alive!

That's how I feel about quilts, especially scrap quilts made from "found" fabrics. What might look like a pile of rags could become a thing of beauty and utility, you just never know until you take a chance. When I see a cactus covered with thorns AND blooms, I'm reminded of God's surprises -- beauty in unexpected places....