Proud Mother

One of my friends said yesterday that she woke up to a misty morning outside and that it reminded her of her daughter named Misti and then she got misty. I wrote back to her that, We as Mothers get misty one minute thinking of our children then in another minute we are proud of them and full of happiness, Or at least that was the gist. I don't have the memory I used to. Here is my proud mother moment, it happened Friday. My son Brian graduated from the SC Department of Corrections Academy.

He and his little girls came over yesterday and we took this picture, Avory is 21 months now, her big sister turned 3 last Sunday. Avory got on the bike without help.

Lily was having fun in the Tupperware cabinet a few weeks ago. She sure was having fun. These girls are the sunshine of my life and I am so proud of the way Brian and Mandy are rearing them.

Another Finshed Top.

Today I finished the top Works in Yellow and Blue. Here is a pic. Someone on one of the quilt sites I follow asked the question last week. Do you have to have a cat to blog about quilts, or something like that. I did not have the wrinkles out of this one until Garfunkle was on it.

I don't think that I have posted a pic of the finished pattern Orange Crush by Bonnie K. Hunter of Quiltville.com. Mine I call Strawberry Limeaide. here it is. My neighborhood friend and quilting buddy decided the last border choice for me. I was so completely tired of working on it that I just threw the fabrics to her and said pick. I like it but I some how think that the lime or pink on the outside would have been better although I am going to bind it in the pink, lime and aqua strips, So that will liven up the outside.

My wonderful kids gave me this for Mother's day. To the left. It is so pretty and now I don't have my wine on my kitchen counter anymore. I had fun buying extra wine just to put in it. The wine glasses in it are my everyday ones from Kmart, I think. I didn't put my crystal in it cause I was nervous that the grandbabies might sneek in there and play with them. I keep the door closed but you just never know.

Time now for me to go to bed. Hug someone you love, Good night.

Here are the two cuties that have their Nana totally wrapped around their little fingers. I just got home from sitting with them so their Dad could go have some male bonding time with his best friend. They were asleep the whole time so I had a chunk of time to myself. I don't get that often. I took my computer to rearrange all my picture folders and my hand quilting. This is last years picture. They are now soon to be 3 and 20 months.

This past Monday I started walking on our treadmill again. I told myself I was going to walk every day. Well, on Wednesday I broke the $*%# belt. So now it is going to cost me $200.00 to get a new one. My son came over and helped his dad take it apart and look up the price on the net. He didn't want to order until he could talk to the shop so he will do that Monday for me. That treadmill has been a good one and I can't see getting rid of it. Another one to replace it would be 3 or 4 times the cost to put a new belt on it. My husband uses it at least 3 times a week. He is diabetic. My hat goes off to him. He is great with his diet and his exercise. The hardest part for me and exercise is just getting started. I would rather take all my free time and quilt, read or plan new quilts. I know I have to start the exercise again or I won't live long enough to make all the quilts I want.

Hug someone you love,
Charlotte

When am I ever going to learn?

When? That is my question to myself. I joined Twitter, and Facebook this last week. I haven't made time to keep my blog up to date in months. Do I really think that I will be any better at twittering or facebooking. Twitter and Facebook are a little faster to jot a note off to someone. My blog is mostly for myself. Yet I know there are people who will stumble upon it so I can't just use it like a diary. My older sister will look at my blog but I have no hopes of her joining Facebook.

I have finished the pieced part of the Orange crush borders, In my case it has to be called Strawberry lime. I would have gotten them sewn on today but I baby sat my two cute grand girls. Almost 3 and 19 months old. I love them dearly but they sure wear this 52 yo out. Maybe I can get the borders on tomorrow. I think I'll go cut the strips that make the pieced section match the center. If I have my math right I have to cut them 1.5 inches. That small of a border scares me. Some times you just have to trust and jump.

Did you notice the boo boo in the blue and yellow. It is now turned right. I should have a picture soon of the completed center. It is done I just have to get the right light to snap a pic. I have to go shopping ( Oh Darn ) for the right blue for the border. I am toying with some applique ideas. I don't think a pieced border would add to it.

Hug someone you love and goodnight.

working in yellow and blue

Here is a little something I have been working on in my so little spare time. I just got some of my photos up loaded after a really long break. I started putting the blocks together at Bonnie's July 4th weekend of 2008. I have finished my Orange Crush to the stage of needing borders. I have the Tobacco Road also to the step of needing it's Borders. The Crush has all the parts ready to sew together. I am still pulling and cutting lights for the flying geese on Tobacco Road. During the time I was catching up on Old Tobacco Road, after I had put it down for way too long,

I was recovering from hand surgery. My Local sewing buddy and wonderful friend, finished cutting all the bricks for me to put it together. I couldn't use the rotary cutter for a few weeks before surgery due to the pain it caused and I couldn't raise the presser foot with my hand for about a month before I had the surgery so I had put my knee lift on my machine. I was able to sew the day after surgery while my hand was in a half cast. I bought a Janome 6600 August 29 last summer.

Time to say Goodnight, Blogging Friends.

Turkey Day is over

Good morning to all, We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, with all the trimmings and a Little hand quilting thrown in too. It doesn't get better than that.

Forgive me for not posting in such a long time. Life just seemed to swallow up all my extra time. Grand baby's Birthday party. Then a Cancer scare with my grand children's mother, All came out wonderful. No other cancer, the surgery got it all. My daughter and I took turns caring for the grandchildren ages 27 months and 1 year. Then son cut a finger at work requiring stitches and not using it to lift. Two babies to take care of. That healed nice and he has all the feeling and function back. Then he broke 2 bones in his right hand and was casted. There again 2 babies to help take care of. A few health issues with me. All will be ok. I did have two weekends of personal time. The first one was in October, The Dear Jane South East retreat held in GA. Bonnie was there. We had a wonderful, productive weekend. The following weekend I was in Ashville for the Southeastern Area Fiber Fair. I bought some yummy purple super wash wool and started spinning it that very night. It will be a short scarf when I finish the spinning, plying and knitting. Don't hold your breath until I am done. We went to Tampa Florida for a week to visit my older sister got back home and had new floors done in our house. Needless to say with all that and probably more that I have forgotten I have not been in my sewing room much. I have just mended a few pairs of scrub pants.

I hosted Thanksgiving at my home yesterday. My Daughter, Kimberly, her Boyfriend, Jason, his Parents, Bonnie and Dave, and me and my husband. My son his girlfriend and the grand babies were in New York with her side of the family. They will be with me for Christmas.

Bonnie made her family's favorite yams and boy are they good. During the down times we sat and hand quilted. She and I were both good, we didn't stuff ourselves silly. Dave and Kimberly ran in the 8K turkey trot race yesterday. It was pretty cold around 40 that early in the morning. I think it started at 9. Bonnie and I are going to work toward the 3k walk next year. We didn't know they had one. I can't run.

Bonnie brought back our yellow, blue, neutral Carolina Crossroads. I have to do the binding and then we will give it to our children for their house warming quilt. I think it is great that they are getting a quilt that was designed by Bonnie, Jason's mother and sewn by me, Kim's mother and quilted by Bonnie. We will both put pictures up when the binding is done. I plan to get the sewing machine part done this weekend and the hand stitching started. Since I cleaned all week and yesterday I won't have much to do in the house this weekend. I can have my own private little retreat.

I still have to put the boarders on my Orange crush and finish step 2 of Tobacco Road.

The Office is shaping up

This is the back wall of my office.

The office is shaping up. It is getting a feel of what I am about. My director told me today that it looked like home. That was a big compliment. I get a lot of work done every day because I love being in my office. He even said I could hang a larger quilt on one of the hall walls. I told him it would be sometime before I would have one that big to hang. I pointed out that there is an old rod that one of the window shade type maps go on, that is without it's map. I guess they don't plan on having it repaired. The rod is still there and I have been eyeing it for a larger quilt. Maybe a memorial quilt for the Hospice patients. Just a thought.

I put the stained glass hearts up and I took a picture. Several visitors have asked me where I got the pattern. The outline of the heart and the breaks in the heart came from a book by Better Homes and Gardens it is called Grandma's Best Full Size Quilt Blocks published in 2002. Page 117. The block was supposed to be a tile block from 1890 -1920 time period of quilting. I felt that I wouldn't be able to get the space between the pieces even so the idea of using black bias as lead and make it stain glass looking came to mind. I used mostly batiks but there are some blenders and funky dyed stuff in there too. I really love it. I don't like the way the binding was after washing. I don't know if it wasn't square or even prior to washing but it is a little wonky. I will one day take the top binding off even it up again and rebind. I did everything the hard way on those blocks. I made the bias. Hand appliqued it in place. The next one I make I am going to use the already made stuff from the fabric store and sew it down on the machine with my double needle. I used a medium loft poly bat that I got from Bonnie that was given to her to use in charity quilts. I quilted on each side of the lead using my zipper foot or foot # 4 on my Bernina. I wanted the hearts to pop. They really do. I have had several co-workers to offer to buy it from me.

The plant in the office was a birthday present from my daughter, Kimberly. The florist didn't put a stick in it to tell me what it is. They just told her to tell me to water it once a week well and it liked indoor or low light well enough. If anyone knows what it is please let me know. The picture was a gift from a grandmother of one of the babies I took care of when I worked in the NICU. It is a print of one of her earlier water colors I think it is dated 76.She signed it Especially for Charlotte, under her signature. Her name is Elizabeth Carter. This print reminds me of my children when they were that age. I used to have it hanging in my den. I had the walls painted and just never got it put back up. So now I am enjoying it once again.

Charlotte