Mom's Last Quilt

My mom didn't start quilting until she was about 67 years old. She's been a seamstress for as long as she can remember. An excellent one, to be sure. She made my wedding dress, and my two sisters' wedding dresses as well. We all learned to sew from her, and she was an exacting teacher. We really learned how to do things right from her.

I started quilting over 20 years ago, but my mom never really even considered quilting until my parents moved to the Seattle area.  I told my mom I thought she'd really like quilting, and she decided to give it a try. She took to it like a duck to water, and was always meticulous in her work.

Mom never quite caught the concept of quilting just for quilting's sake, or the fact that you can never have enough quilts. She always wanted to have a reason for making a quilt. Several years ago I suggested she start making quilts for each of her grandchildren as wedding gifts--but begin making them immediately, as she might not still be sewing by the time the youngest got married. She did do that, and it's a good thing, because with her Alzheimer's she is no longer able to quilt. And three of her nine grandchildren are still not married.

For Christmas of 2010 Mom decided to make a quilt for each of her children. She finished three of the four quilts. She was still working on the fourth quilt (for my sister Cheryl) when they moved here to their assisted living place in January of 2011. She had most of the blocks made, and all the fabric for the quilt, but she was just no longer able to quilt. I told Cheryl I would finish the quilt for her. Two years later I finally finished the top. I actually didn't even start to finish it until a couple of weeks ago, so it's just been sitting in my sewing room this whole time. So embarrassing.

I had to resew a few parts of some of the blocks where Mom had turned things the wrong way, and I finished the few blocks that were only partially made. It was very interesting to look at those blocks. Mom had sewn over some seams several times, and ripped out other seams a few times--signs that she was no longer able to do the same work she used to be able to do. But in the end it all came together beautifully. I finished it on Saturday and ran it straight over to the quilter who's done a few of my quilts that I haven't quilted myself, and she's also done a few of my mom's quilts. She'll do a beautiful job.

Merry Christmas Cheryl! (only a couple of years late...)

The starting components

The finished top

The quilt is called Ocean Breeze, from The Quilter magazine, July 2007
It measures 72 inches by 86 inches.

My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

I really liked this book. I got right into it and didn't want to put it down.  It is the story of Mary Sutter, a midwife from Albany, New York who goes to the Civil War front in hopes of becoming a surgeon.

The story is well told, and I thought the characters were well portrayed. I'm glad it was chosen for our book group, because I don't know if I would have discovered it otherwise (the beauty of being in a book group).

It's so fun to be getting some good reading in!

Happy Anniversary and Happy Valentines Day

Today is our 33rd wedding anniversary. I'm going to indulge myself and post a few pictures from over the years. And a couple from last year.

We started dating in 1975, got married in 1980, and we're still happiest in each other's company now in 2013. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

 

1975

1978

Our wedding day. February 14, 1980

1983

1991

mid 1990's

1997

2006

2007

2012

Our whole family, 2012

Ray and Diane and the grands. (AKA the circus)

2012

Sweethearts forever. What more could a girl want?

Sisters 2013

The first weekend in February we had our annual Sisters weekend where I get together with all of my sisters-in-law (who feel like sisters, but for the sake of clarification are labeled otherwise here) and my mother-in-law (see parenthetical comment preceding this one). For those who don't know, no children (except nursing babies) and no husbands are allowed. We've been gathering like this since 1991. I love it. 

Traditionally we begin on Thursday evening, and go until Monday morning. We usually get together on the second full weekend in March, but since I will be gone then, everyone accommodated me and we met earlier this year. 

This year we straggled in, some of us on Thursday evening,and the rest of us on Friday. We all brought projects of some sort to work on. We rearranged the family room so we could all be together and working and talking at the same time. The original Linford sisters and Mom worked on a quilt that they began last year. I brought a few quilting things to work on. Sally worked on her book, and Jennifer did various planning and organizing things. The best part is just being together.

Back row: Diane, Ann, Amy, Sally,Jennifer
Front row: Orva, Joanne (Mom), Elna

Another tradition is that we bring gifts for each other. Amy started it all the first year by giving us each a hostess gift. It blossomed from there, and now we bring a gifts for the whole group (usually the same gift for everyone with perhaps a variation in color).  We call them our party favors. Here are the gifts for this year:

Top left: Jennifer's gift basket held note cards, twine, a flashlight, and Burt's Bees lip balm.
Top right: From Amy a Tweezerman Callus Scraper and extra blades
Bottom left: Elna gave us each a blender bottle
Bottom right: Orva's favor was a Contigo water bottle.

Top left: Sally gave us a homemade lotion bar.
Top right: Mom gave us this year's Women's Conference bag from BYU and a panda hat from China.
Bottom left: Ann gave us each a My-grastic. It is a roll-on headache help.
Bottom right: the bags I made for everyone. This is Mom's

We always try to get a nice picture taken, usually on Sunday in our church clothes. Then we take at least one picture where we hold our party favors:

 And sometimes a silly picture too:

A little background on this quilt. This is the quilt the Linford sisters put together. Actually they made five of these quilts, one for each of them pictured holding this quilt. The colored fabrics in these quilts all came from dresses our daughters have worn over the years. Dresses from the Cary company in the San Francisco area. There are lots of fun memories tied up in these quilts.  

Ann, Mom, Elna, Orva, Amy

 Finally, here is my little work station. I forgot to take a picture until I was already to take it down, and it was night time. You can see my little TV tray ironing board in the back right corner. I could just swivel my chair and press. I worked on my Bounce quilt--pattern by Carrie Nelson. (I won the pattern and fabric on a blog giveaway by Thelma of Cupcakes and Daisies.) One of these days I'll finish the quilt. Meanwhile, it's coming along in between a few other, more time sensative, projects.

What a great weekend!

Dreamspinner by Lynn Kurland

It has been fun to read some books from the lighter side of life. This is Lynn's latest fantasy novel, the first in a new part of the Nine Kingdoms series.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than her last one, which was the first of hers to disappoint me--but I hate having to wait for the next book in the series. A year is a long time to wait!

Meanwhile I'll dig in and start on the pile of books by the side of my bed. It will help the year go faster.

Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy

Sixth in the White House Chef Mystery series, this book was delightfully light and fun. I dove right in and hardly took time to come up for air.

Just what I needed.

Epic Finish for January

This was my big project for the month. We had our Sisters Weekend (more on that coming up), and I decided to make bags for my gifts for everyone. These are from the pattern Zippy Strippy Bags by Terry Atkinson. I modified the pattern and put each person's initial on the bag, then did some fill-in quilting on the entire bag. Please don't look too closely. The bags measure about seven and a half inches tall and about nine inches wide. I made two more bags: one for me, which wasn't done when I took these pictures, and one for another sister-in-law who couldn't come. I mailed hers off to her.

January 2013 Report

This will be brief, as I spent half the month in bed, or wishing I were in bed because I was feeling so poorly. The other half I was recuperating and travelling to Seattle (the highlight of the month).

1. First Things First: When I was up and around, I did well with this.

2. Photo Labeling/Scanning: None. However, while in bed, I did watch some more online helps with the program I'll be using. Look for that to change in February.

3. Household Organization: I chose the kitchen for January, cleaned and organized my pantry (which I've wanted to do for months), wiped down one set of cabinets, and that's it. Much better than nothing, but not as much as I'd hoped for.

4. Project List: Success! My goal was to edit my mom's autobiography, and I finished that. Now it's off to my sister-in-law to do a final edit and formatting.

Not bad for a month that certainly did not play out as I expected.