Fanciful Quilts

Today is Tuesday ... the 10th of July 2018.  We moved into this beautiful house several weeks ago...and we're still "moving in".   Moving in had its challenges.  Riley's mom passed away early on the 2nd of July.  We had driven up to Wellington on the 1st of July after church service, arriving around 4pm.  She passed away very early in the am on the 2nd of July.  Funeral took place on the 6th of July.  She is in heaven with dad and all those who have passed from this earth before her.  That was (and is) a huge comfort - knowing she is in a much better place.   To continue..... You would think that moving from "small" renovated office space (about 1800 square feet) to a 2112 square foot house would be a snap.  After all, how much stuff could two people accumulate in 6 years living in a 1800 square foot space? Lots. Dear God, we are hoarders.  Pure and simple.   How I wish I could find a photo of...

Good heavens...it's been quite awhile since I've updated this journey...and now, finally located the user ID and password, I find the whole setup of the blog has changed.   This should be one interesting blog. Quilting life has slowed down a bit for numerous reasons.  Mainly, life and discovering the joys of my Kindle Fire.  Doesn't take much, does it?  However, I have made a few blocks for online yahoo group lottery - am now undertaking sets of blocks for a swap - and do a whole lot of fabric fondling in the meantime.  The interest hasn't died....just seems to be taking a nap.  I do know that once I sit down in front of my laptop, hours can whiz by.  Not productive....nor note worthy when I would write up daily posts to several yahoo groups.   When the daily posts were met with zero response, it's time to take stock and - well, spend time instead doing something more constructive.  My kitchen looks pretty spiffy now....and la...

Today marks the end of our trip to Shreveport, Louisiana. We fly out tomorrow and will soon settle in to a routine in Dayton late at night. It's been a roller coaster ride, coming back. Some disappointments- the greasy spoon where we ate on most Saturdays is no more - the Polynesian restaurant where Riley worked as a waiter is now a Mexican restaurant - and now there are cloverleaf interchanges along I-20. Some delights - the first house we lived in is still standing - the first "real" home we had, a garage apartment, is still standing - and has been improved tremendously with siding - Pancho's Mexican restaurant is still Pancho's and Marshall Texas courthouse is still standing. The biggest delight was driving to Marshall .... finding the courthouse .... and then actually seeing our names in "the book". A s soon as we went through the metal detector, we made our way to the records department. We asked a young lady if it was possible for her to look up...

Today, dear husband Riley will be discharged from the hospital after having a bilateral knee replacement. The now-bionic man decided to have both knees replaced. Surgery took place on the 13th of May and today is the 22nd of May. A miracle, indeed, to be discharged this early. One of the items on the to-do list was to drive to the medical supply place and pick up a few items to make life easier. As I packed the shower bench and apparatus that fits over the toilet (is there a real word for that contraption???), I realized that we are no longer in the spring season of our lives. Just fact, nothing more. We have lots of adventures to still look forward to....including the vacation we didn't take in February of this year when Riley came home from Iraq earlier than expected. Oh yes, dear husband - it's in writing now so the vacation was merely postponed (smile). I so look forward to having him home once again. Never knew hospital visits could be tiring - though not so tiring as to t...

Today at 6pm, I will be hugging my beloved once again before he flies back to Iraq. This time - it's a little harder to say 'see you soon' than it was in July when he was home. Perhaps because his dad isn't with us any longer - or perhaps because we just enjoyed being together so much. We saw a touching movie "Fireproof" yesterday. This is a movie that every married couple should see - or anyone thinking of getting married. Yes, it's a faith-based movie and it carries a beautiful message of what marriage is meant to be. This movie gave me pause to think about love. Love transcends all - and if there's always love in thought, word & deed, how could we not succeed ? No one said it would ever be easy. You'll always face someone or something that demands more love than you think you could ever give....but if it's there, deeply cemented within, the more you give - the more you'll be filled with it. I see now that my beloved husband has a lov...

Another quilt finished. Of all the quilts I've made, this had to be the most challenging. The young man likes dogs, horses and baseball. Good Heavens....how does one combine all these into one quilt... Now that I look back, I know an easiest was to back the quilt with baseball fabric. Ha - too obvious to overlook! T he horse panel - no problem. Simply frame it. A little on the skimpy side. Then I added the dogs - having to fussy cut each dog, using a modified Amish block. A little on the difficult side - lost a few noses a couple of times. Completed those..and that left baseball. Hmmmm...okay, only thing left was to add strips of the fabric...and thus born.... Caleb's Quilt.... Definitely a sew-as -I go quilt. Amazing how everything just fit together. And of course - the pocket prayer quilt to go with it...... When making this quilt, I thought of God's plan for each of us. Putting this quilt together made me realize how everyday we do the little things that keep adding ...

Many obstacles always seem to pop up when one is trying to complete a project. Some of those obstacles are outside our control - others, we create ourselves. Sometimes they're not obstacles - they're just LIFE. LIFE happened when I found out Riley's father was back in the hospital. He had been admitted earlier for pneumonia . I'm not sure why it turned out not to be pneumonia - but he's in a lot of pain for multiple fractures in his back. Years of medication has made his bones very fragile. He had bent over to pick up a flower pot in the garage - and that's all it took for the bones to fracture. For a man of 83, he has great fortitude. He voiced only one concern when told he needed to go back to the hospital - please take care of Mom. No woman could ever ask for more than that. I took a break from quilting, drove to Columbus (a 90 minute drive) and spent the night with our daughter & family. The next morning, we drove on to Wellington (a 90 minute plus driv...

Yesterday afternoon I babysat our grandson for a couple of hours. This was a good thing. Even though I'm family, faith & trust was placed in me that all would be well while the parents took time for themselves to enjoy a movie. I learned four truths while looking after this wonderful young man of 2 years plus. First, we all start out with an incredible energy level. Sadly, we seem to lose this energy level as time goes on. I know the body isn't capable of doing things when it's 80 years old as it did when it was 15 years old ... but I believe now that we let the world dictate what's proper and what's not. Two year old kids can constantly revolve their bodies in circles for a couple of minutes and laugh when they fall down. Thirty year old people wouldn't even think of spinning in circles. Okay, maybe alone but not in public. I taught grandson the penquin walk which he picked up immediately. Mom was cool - she mimicked son immediately. Dad - well, ...