Here it is mid May.....

almost 11 weeks after my fall breaking my arm and surgery and I still can't sew.  How depressing is that?!!!

 

So, got together with my daughters and future daughter in law  today.

 

 

My youngest who is expecting her first baby in October, me, my future daughter-in-law and my oldest daughter and we did this.....

 

 

 

Pickled asparagus. 

 

Yum....can't wait for the two week wait for it to get really good and then we can start eating it. 

 

Now for the quilting.....well, I have tried and tried, but the physical therapist is working on the range of motion right now for my wrist and that is showing some improvements, but the fine motor skills are taking a little longer.  I tried working with the rotary cutter the other day and my hand cramped up so bad, that I had to give it up.  I sure need to get something going soon as I will be going on a retreat mid June.  Maybe I will be going  without any projects and just going for the fun of  being with friends.  That really won't make me happy though. 

 

So...for now, no quilting taking place here.  I keep going into my sewing room and looking and touching and wishing and hoping, but for now I have been doing a lot of reading.

 

Here is a list of some of the books I have read recently.

 

Gone Girl

Hostile Witness

Da Vinci Code

The Secret Keeper

When the Bough Breaks

Forgotten Garden

Lovely Bones

The Shack

 

Loved them all even though they are very different from one another.

 

Right now I am reading...

 

The Bet

 

 A friend said it was funny and after the last one I read "Gone Girl", I needed something a little lighter. 

 

So....for now.... I am doing my exercises and trying to strengthen my hand so that I can get back to what I really love to do.....

 

QUILTING!!!

 



I'm back.....

Was gone on vacation for eleven days.  

You would  find me behind the camera with  my feet up (see them at the bottom of the picture?) gazing out at the beautiful sky, beautiful lake and my grandsons enjoying fishing and playing in the water most of the time.

We took a couple side trips to the dunes (MI)

In the forests for hikes.

In keeping with the quilting theme....I did make it to a quilt shop in Reed City, MI and picked up a few pieces of fabric.

The first three are for my Gathering Baskets that I have been collecting for quite some time now.  The orange-y dots were  for "just because I love them and the lighter fabric I thought would be a great backing for a baby quilt.  

When the whole family was gone and I was on my own for a day, my girlfriend and I ran into Cadillac, MI to see an art exhibit that was spread out all  over town.  

This was a traveling bronze sculpture exhibit by I. Seward Johnson.  It was fun running all over town looking for them.  

This guy was in the park.

Taking pictures

At the Dairy Queen

Ladies in the park

Painter

At the library

Cleaning up the park

Street musician

Painter

Outside the local Newspaper

Do not litter

I decided to join the ladies at the park  ;D

Anyways, it was a very enjoyable exhibit.

Been home for four days and back to work to a new computer system, so this week has been hectic. 

I have started a knitting project, but I have ripped it out three times.  Right now I am trying to straighten out the mess of yarn that I just unraveled, so no pictures of this project yet.  I refuse to give up on this one, so  eventually I will show you some progress....not the unraveled mess that I have right now.  

Hopefully, too, I can get back to my quilting this weekend.  I am anxious to get back to my quilting rhythm that I had before vacation.  

So, be patient, I will have some things to share soon.  

I survived the Titanic and became a seamstress....

You're thinking...what? has she lost her mind!?!

Well it is a little stretch of the imagination, but today my family and I went to the Titanic Exhibition at the Henry Ford Museum ... http://www.thehenryford.org/events/titanic.aspx

Upon entering, we were handed a boarding pass of a real person who was on the Titanic and you wouldn't know until the end  of the tour whether you survived or not.  

Well, I was Emily Goldsmith and I did survive and ended up settling in Detroit (I live in the suburbs of Detroit) and I would become a seamstress (which I guess you could call me that especially since I just finished making my youngest daughter her kitchen valance)

Here's a shot of the valance with a peek at the hemmed lining.  It's a simple valance, but I designed it with a hemmed lining and it is going to gather onto her rod.....hopefully.  The bad thing about this particular job was that she bought fabric that was outdoor fabric and it was like working with cardboard.  So, I am hoping it fits, but I am telling her no more outdoor fabric or I am not doing it. 

Anyways, I just thought it was so apropos with the  coincidences of Emily Goldsmith and me.  

If this exhibit comes to your area, I would highly suggest it.  It was really good and to see some of the artifacts just made it seem so real and tangible.  

Ok...back to my quilting, yeah!  

Vacation......Family......Sewing

The featherweight was packed with several bobbins filled; pattern pieces were traced and cut out; all the fabric was packed with all the intentions in the world to get several more of the Hearts and Hands blocks  made up, but with the comings and goings of family members to the cabin we had rented from Friday the 6th through Sunday the 15th, hmmmm....how much do you think I got done?  Above is the view from my lounge chair where I did read my fifth Elm Creek Quilts book.....so peaceful.

Here's our family vacation schedule:

Friday.....husband, son, youngest daughter and future son-in-law

Saturday..... husband, son, future son-in-law and me (daughter met up with girlfriends for a girlfriend weekend and I came today as I stayed home to attend grandson's birthday party)

Sunday.....husband, son, youngest daughter (back early), future son-in-law and me

Monday....husband, son, and me (my girlfriend took me shopping for the day)

Tuesday....husband,  oldest daughter and grandsons (1, 3 and 6) and me

Wednesday.... oldest daughter, grandsons and me (we went shopping for the day and husband went home to take care of his father and some business)

Thursday.....husband came back with son-in-law, daughter, grandsons and me

Friday.....husband, son-in-law, daughter, grandsons and me

Saturday....husband, son-in-law, daughter, grandsons and me

Sunday.....was going to leave today, but we left last night instead.

Confused yet? There were a lot of comings and going, but for some crazy reason, that was the  only way I knew what day it was ....just knowing who was coming when. 

So......    vacation + family = no sewing

I did get to visit two new (to me) quilt shops.  Crossroads Quilt Shop (  http://www.crossroadsquiltshop.com/) in Reed City, MI  and  JulieAnn's Quilting ( http://www.julieannquilting.com/) in Cadillac, MI.  Spent a "little" at the first and none at the second.  Hmmm..can't show  what I bought as they will probably be Christmas gifts.

All-in-all a pretty good time. 

Now to get back to sewing.

1 out of 4....

Yeah!  The first border is finished and attached to the top of the quilt.  Three more to go.

I only had to remove one of the scallops totally, and loosen up just a couple of the tips to squeeze them into their allotted space and then add the two outside scallops. 

Now if the next three borders go this well, I will have this top done in no time at all.

I am just posting a couple close-ups.  Can you tell I am excited?

Also, today I went to the Eastern Market with my daughter and her family.  I just had to take a picture of this sign because I loved the "No Grumpy People" rule.  Wish I could have gotten the kids to stand still long enough to get a good picture. 

We picked up nearly 30 lbs of asparagus today, so we will be canning that tomorrow morning and making spicy hot asparagus.  Gotta do that first before I can get to the next border.  Can't wait. 

Happy Halloween.....

From Woody....

Buzzlightyear

and a very tired Kermit the Frog.

This is what life is all about.....

My third grandson, Cole, was born today and he is a beautiful gift.

His brothers were in awe of him.

Mom and Dad are extremely happy; and Cole is fortunate enough to have two sets of grandparents, four great grandmas, two great grandpas and a step great grandpa. Life just isn't better than this.

This is Happy Easter.....

I have the boys today and they will be spending the night as their mom and dad are going to the Tiger baseball game today. They've had their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, played outside, played in the basement (the best time for them!!! as there is apparently a lot of interesting things down there for them to see and do), we went shopping and they got bubbles which they did after pizza tonight and the big finale was coloring Easter eggs for tomorrow.

For some reason, they felt "blowing" on the eggs was going to help in the coloring process.

Now they are all tucked into bed and Mimi is hoping she gets some sleep in between being bumped and kicked and listening to them breathe or snore or whatever will keep me awake, because we have a very early morning church service to get up and ready for. Then the whole family is getting together for a wonderful brunch.

Hopefully you will all get to enjoy your families tomorrow. Happy Easter.

Look at what I won!!!!

On the Minick and Simpson blog(http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/), they were hosting a giveaway if you had a story about airport security or one of your favorite treasures, so I wrote a little blurb about one trip I took coming back from a quilt retreat with a group of online quilters. For this retreat a couple of the gals' husbands made wood products as door prizes and I was the winner of a toy horse.

Well, I am not a good flyer and I find going through security quite nerve wracking as you are putting your stuff in baskets, purse in one, cameras, anything that you are carrying on, taking off your shoes, trying to rush and get this all done and get through in a short period of time. Well, I had put the horse through first and proceeded to take care of everything else when one of the security people came up to me and asks me a question and in my panic thinking I have done something wrong or look guilty or like I am a blue-eyed, blonde terrorist or something like that, I look doe-eyed at her and say "what?" and she repeats it again and I am sensing all my things are going through security before I am; and I am starting to worry about my purse....she repeats it and she is asking me if I had checked a horse. I said "yes" and looked down the line to see that the guy ahead of me is wrapping the straps of his bag around my horse. I grabbed my horse, all my belongings and take off in a huff for my flight. If she hadn't been paying attention, I would have gone home without my horse and my little grandson would not have gotten his present.

Anyways, this little blurb won me a pre-cut Moda fabric, a surprise off their prize table and a pattern from them.....AND this is what came in the mail today! What fun!!! It's a charm packet from Moda called Harmony; Minick and Simpson's pattern called Brrrr Park and a pie bird. I love them all!!! If you would like to see all the other stories submitted for this giveaway you can check their blog and look at their March 24 submission.

I feel so lucky lately!!!!

Happy Birthday to me.....

Yes, it is my birthday and my dear husband surprised me with a little cake to celebrate with my family and grandsons.






This weekend was supposed to be a girl's weekend for quilting back out at the farm with my mini group and one of the gals' sister-in-law who makes jewelry, but it turned into a crazy weekend.

I have mentioned in the past that my life has been very hectic, but haven't said why. What's happening is that I am taking care of my first mother-in-law who was just put in assisted living in January because of a fall and subsequent concussion which seemed to progress her dementia, and the fact that my husband takes care of his father who has suffered a stroke and now I have my mom in the hospital with congestive heart failure and we are looking at her getting an ICD tomorrow and worrying about my dad who is worrying about her AND recently moving the two of them in an apartment, and the fact that this weekend was my husband's birthday and mine.


So, this is how I spent my weekend which I had hoped would be a quilting get away. On Friday morning we had a meeting at the hospital to meet my mom's electrophysiologist for a family meeting and then I took off for the farm to sew, but left late that night so that the two of us, the kids and the grandkids could go to the Detroit Autorama early on Saturday and from there to visit my mom in the hospital and then back to the farm to sew until late that night. Got up early Sunday to get home and go to a wedding shower for my nephew. Like I said ....life has been crazy for a couple months and I sure would like it to settle down. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day or enough days in a week.

Anyways, here is a picture of my two grandsons standing next to a car with "dummy" legs sticking out from underneath a car at the Autorama. They just love cars ....just like their papa (grandpa).





But I have to show you what we accomplished this weekend at our sewing marathon. I finished the Strawberries and Lemondae quilt. Just need to buy some batting and it is ready for the quilter. I even made the binding for this quilt.





I pieced some batting for the black and white baby quilt and worked on some more applique for the Crows in the Corner.

Sharon finished her flower basket quilt and put together a beautiful table topper.

Alyson, Sharon's sister-in-law, made several pieces of jewelry and she just loved the idea of having so much free time to get to work on her hobby.

Nancy made several blocks for a new red and yellow quilt. It is sashed with white. Doesn't she have the best taste in fabrics? Love this one Nancy!

Thank heaven for friends and some free time to get me out of the house to do something I love....quilting and being with my friends. Hopefully, life will settle down soon and I will have a whole lot more to share with you .

Anyways! Happy Birthday to me!!!

Busy day today.....

Got up early to put together a couple batches of cookie dough as my boys were coming over to bake cookies with their Mimi. We were supposed to do this during the Christmas holidays, but a family emergency kind of steered us in another direction, so today was the day.

Baking cookies with a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 1/4 year old is a bit much to handle alone, so their mom (my oldest dear daughter) and my youngest dear daughter came along to help out. I rolled and the boys cut out and decorated. I am sure I will be finding colored sugar in the oddest places for a few days to come.

I did manage to get the borders sewn on my Crows in the Corner...two yesterday; and today....one before the boys showed up and one this evening. Now comes the applique in two corners of the border.



Also, cut out binding for the black and white baby quilt that I put together at my last retreat. This is a picture showing the cute backing, a portion of the quilt and what I think is going to be a great bindings (stripes).