What I've learned Lately.

1. Things are just things.
My sister was here for a mere 48 hours. In that time I helped her unpack, cried, laughed, stressed, and cared for her.

2. Love isn't always enough.
That wasn't enough to keep her here.

3. Children know things, somehow they see things we can't.
The entire time my sister was here, my daughter ran around the house crying that my sister would leave. Refusing to even nap in fear that her aunt would not be here when she awoke.

4. While all ages that our children go through are scary, having a child turn into themselves when trying to cope is more painful than your own pain. My own shock, pain, anger, sadness and other feelings I can't even put a word to, over my sister leaving my home without telling me, is nothing compared to the anguish I feel that my daughter's tears are gone now, and I don't know what that means.

5. Having a hot temper in a child can be a good thing. My daughter is quick to anger but also quick to forgive. I now know that it's good for her to express herself in these ways. Her anger is a visible sign that I can see, feel, and relate to. Inward feelings that lack expression are much harder to do anything about.

Sunny

Forgive me all, for not telling you sooner. Sunny is safely home. The evening his disappeared I combed our property more times than I can count. Yet it was the 3 am awaking that lead me to him.

I awoke and looked out the window. Without glasses or contacts, I was certain the cat I was seeing over the road was my precious Sunny. Hastily I put on my shoes and rushed outside. It turns out that was not my dear boy. As that cat ran as soon as it saw me coming.

I called for him, and it wasn't long before I cried openly on my back porch at 3 am. He is my dear precious boy whom I love very deeply, more and more everyday it seems.

That is how my husband found me 15 minutes or so later. Not knowing how to make things better for me he headed inside for a flashlight. I stayed outside and called for Sunny.

Then I heard it. One single jingle of his collar. I moved toward the sound hardly daring to hope. Just as I slowed down I heard that single sound again. This happened three times before I spotted Sunny at the edge of the road. Scooping him up I told him over and over how much I love him. I don't care how much he understood, I had to say it.

He cries now. In that odd low Maine Coon voice of his. Up to 12 times a day crying for no reason that we could fathom. He's down to only a couple of times a day now, but it still tears my heart a bit each time.

We are much more careful about the doors now and I suggest you do the same. Keeping your dear furred babies safe and sound.

Done

The Purple Carpenter's Square quilt is all one. I finished it up this afternoon. I'm planning on leaving the quilt turned on point on top of the bed, and will be dying the curtains to match tomorrow. Currently they are a funky pink, having been formerly Sage that was bleached in the Florida sun. Sunny our Maine Coon Cat snuck out of the house while we were preparing the front bedroom for my sister, where she will stay for a little while once she's discharged from the hospital. Can you tell, I'm a bit of a mess? At least making the binding for the quilt and putting it on gave me some distraction.

We have combed the entire neighborhood for my dear boy. We think he might be under the house but there is no seeing under there and there is an awful thunderstorm is brewing. I fear he'll end up spending the night outside. Hopefully he will be okay and we will find him soon.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend.

Happy to Sew

I couldn't resist, I know you've seen photos of Jessica at the sewing machine before, but she's still at it. No sewing yet, luckily.

They can pin baste can you?

These are my girls. Kitty is the Calico and Tiny is Grey and Peach, they are both rescues, but that's a story for another day. While I would prefer they keep their critiques and their paws to the side, they couldn't resist this super soft quilt. I've been out of basting spray for a little while now, and while I'd love to have more... Shoot, I'd love a bottomless bank for my quilty desires.

I went ahead and took the plunge as you can see I've pin basted the purple Carpenter's Wheel Quilt, I'm in the process of machine quilting it at the 55" square size. Since I first started the Carpenter's Wheel I knew I wanted to quilt it along the parallelograms, so that's what I'm doing. This means more work turning the quilt in the machine, but that's okay. So far I have the center quilted and some work done further out from the center. My brain thinks it would have been easier to simply hand quilt it, but with the machine embroidery on the back... I just can't imagine trying to get the needle through it, and of course it helps that past experience has taught me machine quilting doesn't show much over top of an embroidered piece.

Row Robin May Addition

Here is the addition to Lori's Row Robin. This top is certainly my favorite that has come through here. I sincerely hope she likes it as much as I do.

I did wonder for a little while how in the world to take the photo, as this one has grown quite large, it's 72"X84" with one row to go, but just as I did with the King Quilt last Christmas the couch turned out to be the best help.

I will be writing about the pros and cons of hosting a Swap like this when it's all over so look for that sometime in July.

We use Touch Points

When I first learned addition and subtraction years ago, the teacher I had at the time taught the entire class touch points. Without a second thought when Jessica seemed to be having trouble with her numbers I went right ahead and introduced her to touch points. Somewhere in the mama's guilt I even felt a little bad about it. Like some unknown teacher would come out of the woodwork and start wailing on me for teaching Jessica touch points so early. What was best for Jessica at the time just seemed like the exact right thing to do at the time.

We're solidly acquainted with 1 through 3 now and on the way to knowing 4 and 5. It's so nice that when she looks at a number and doesn't recognize it, I can say "count it out", and she's raring to go again.

I've been thinking about the purple quilt Perhaps I should just turn it into a full size for Jessica's bed. How's that for a switch?

Half way

I just realized I am halfway to having all the blocks I'll need for the Row Robin this month. Somehow I had it in my head that I needed 7 blocks, but that's not until next month. Here is my most recent addition. It's called Prickly Pear and is a 14" block. Of course if you're looking for this pattern look no further than Quilter's Cache.

I had a couple of photos printed from when we were at Disney in September, and added them to Jessica's autograph book. If I'd been thinking I would have made sure to print a photo so every autograph would have one, but I was printing them out for something else. After all this time of having only baby Jessica with the characters she's so excited for the changes. She keeps looking at it over and over again. The blissful joys of being 3.

I have two confirmed RSVP's for Mum's the Word and one "I'll be there", with those three it will be a party even if no one shows up. One guest even complimented me on the invitations.

The Nitty Gritty

Yesterday was sweltering. It was so nasty sticky hot. That being said, allow me to continue. That means it's not a good day to try and glitter something. But I'm one of those people that when I put my mind to doing something... Not to mention it's Florida and when it it ever going to "not be hot"? I think I would like to add a second layer of the white to make the snow on the rooftops pop a bit more. This stuff is amazingly flexible. You look at it and think wow that must be crusted on, right? Nope I keep poking it because it blows my mind too. When I'm certain I'm done there is a heat set process in the oven and I will type up my final review then.

That glittered Winter Wonderland land theme is for Lori's quilt top, which I have for the Row Robin this month. I also made the scarf you see below. When I looked all that beautiful quilt I thought, everything is here, the snow cap, the mittens, the ice skates, but no scarf. I googled Applique Quilt Block Scarf and all other combinations, but didn't find what I was looking for, so I did a sketch which turned out fine, so I free form-drew right onto the fabric. Two layers of flannel later... The dark purple creases are hand stitched - when I couldn't make the sewing machine behave I just did what Serena would do. The tassels are a technique called couching, which Shelly told me she thought I'd like doing the last time I did detail work. Couching is where you take a thick (thicker than your thread) thread, embroidery floss, yarn, or cording, and you zigzag stitch with the machine right over the cord. In my case I used embroidery floss at full hank thickness. Honestly I think it looks nearly as cool on the underside of the piece as the top and will be keeping it in mind for future projects. I have sent out all but one of the invitations for the Mum's the Word Party and the end of the month. I'm holding back on the last one just so my co-hostess can see what they looked like before I mailed them all away.

It should be a great time, we're planning on having Tacos and Sangria's complete with Corn Chips and a variation on my friend Heather's Cheese Dip Sauce. Mom and I can't eat peppers (I know how awful is that?!?!) so I do things a little differently. For those of you who started reading in the middle of this party planning we're also going to be painting Ceramics, the proprietor is wonderful to work with, and I'll be giving her a huge shout out after the party.

Today is the day a huge 24" X 24" X 24", yes 8 cubic feet of baby stuff is supposed to arrive to Mary, a friend I had send two boxes of Jessica's baby things prior. I didn't mail it sooner because there has been so much sadness around my house over the past couple of months I didn't feel up to hauling what turned out to be 55 pounds of baby things off to mail. I told her it was on the way a couple of days ago and so far haven't heard anything, I hope no news is fine news.

Sometimes computer loves to share photos with you, and sometimes it's selfish, after all it had friends who knew dinosaurs, and how many pc's can say that? The past couple of days that was the rut mine was in. So I hope you enjoyed all the photos today. I'll leave you with a photo of second side of the purple quilt (yes I'm quilting them together in one quilt). The lighting did stupid things, and the fabric calculator lied so I ended up changing things which lost the ribbon look a bit, okay completely. As always anything you'd like to see closer up go ahead and click on it to see the nitty gritty details.
Jessica woke up shortly before I was finished with the wonderland village, so she did a bit of glittering on her own.

motivated?

Today was one of those days when everything feels, just bleck. It's hard to stay motivated. It's interesting to me that I feel this way, because I did an hour worth work of embroidery, and followed that up by wrapping up the ribbon border on the purple butterfly top. It currently matches the Purple Carpenter's Wheel in size, so if I can get my hands on a bit of batting I'll go ahead and quilt them together.

The camera keeps telling me the quilt top is blue, so I'll try for a photo again tomorrow when the light is better.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I being the crazy person I am have requested coffee and chocolate covered doughnuts. Hey once a year never hurt anyone, right?

Whatever your "dream day" (even if it means you cleaned like mad - as both my mother and I did, today, so the house can be clean tomorrow.) I hope butterfly kisses, and smears of who knows what, find you covered in happiness tomorrow. Love to all of those whom have lost maternal figures, may your heart once again be filled with love on this special day.

Lights Camera GLITTER!

The day did a funny sort of flip flop on me. I started out at the big red Bulls eye store (since their return policy sucks I only buy personal and paper goods there, aka stuff I know I wont need to return). Ahhh but later my sister and I would cruise off to Dunedin, a cute little town complete with perfect green grass, friendly people, and most important small town charm.

What else do they have? Well they have Raspberries, a Platinum Vera Bradley Store, which is how I convinced my sister to take me... As well as Rainbow's End, a huge quilt store that touts itself as being the biggest fabric store in all of Florida, and I believe them.

I was destined for the, yep you guessed it, Glitter! Come on now, you had to know that I really wanted to find the $30 so I can glitter up Lori's Row Robin this month. You can see from the photo what I bought. Pee Wee Glitter LB Colors I, Sea Shell 100, a pristine white which will be my snow, the special fabric glue. The woman who presides over the cash register there is so knowledgeable, just like I remember, and was more than happy to show me how to paint with the glue, and which techniques I should use to get the look I want. For now I'm waiting to get my hands on the three paint brushes she suggested, but as soon as I do not only will you see what I've been planning, but I will also right a review. Oh and this pile is so small not only am I glad I went to the store to buy it because of the wisdom I gained that way, but also because it can be disappointing to receive a much awaited box, that doesn't weight more than 5 oz or so.

Special Girl

I noticed this little Cardinal three days ago. You see she sits a little funny, and I was concerned for her. DH looked and her and pronounced her "fine", but then upon looking closer he told me. She has only one leg, that's why she flutters more and sits funny, but she can fly just fine. Of course we don't know what happened to her, she wasn't bleeding and there are no signs on her feathers of trauma, so it either happened a while ago, or it's a birth defect. Yesterday she brought me a surprise. Her boy. Yes this sweet little bird has a helper male bird, we watched while he courted her a bit. She is the one on the left in this photo. Today the pair were back again, and I couldn't resist sharing them with you.
The center of the second side of the Carpenter's wheel Quilt is coming along fine. Though now I've begun to wonder - if perhaps I should make them two (It's so obvious I know exactly where these quilts are going, hu?). I'd like to try and sell some things on etsy, so single sided would keep the cost down. This as you know is Sunny, he loves to be outside, regardless of what it looks like in this photo he has a good time out there. Yesterday he snuck out, and none of us knew it. Rob found him and returned him to me, panting and clearly overheated, from stress, heat, or having to run from something we don't know. Luckily we were able to get him cooled off and he's no worse for wear.

After Much thought...

I have decided the Purple Carpenter's Wheel will be a dual sized quilt. Yes another one. The center I'm currently embroidering with a basket of flowers and butterflies flying off each corner of the quilt. This plan allows me to keep the ribbon border for the back of the quilt. I'll show it off later, when it's more than one thread color done.

I'm planning a bit of a surprise for the family tonight. Dinner outside! Jessica has never eaten outside before, but what with me having the oven on to cook dinner, it's way to hot in here.

I ordered the invitations for the Mum's the Word thing so hopefull those will arrive quickly for out party is planned for the end of this month!

Not Sure...

I've been thinking about options for the last border for the Purple Carpenter's Wheel Quilt. I came up with this one, but I'm just not certain. These two borders would bump the size to 70" and I ask you, who wants a 70" square quilt? At the current 55" square I can think of lots of things to do with it, but at 70" it feels like it will need something more to bump it to a full sized quilt or perhaps thrown on the couch.

This ribbon border means making 15 blocks per side plus the cornerstones, and that seems like a whole bunch of work. Perhaps it wont seem so bad in the am.

Row Robin for May

Lori's Row is here for the row Robin. When I first saw her row I really wanted to make a snow covered town and glitter paint it. Of course I've never done glitter on fabric, so the cost is a bit more than I'd like, so we'll see over the next couple of days if I can come up with something different to do.

I was outside with DH and Jessica long enough today that I picked up a tiny sunburn on my shoulders. Lucky for me if anyone burns in this house it's me. This is my passion vine plant. Mine is not "self fertile" and therefore it wont set passion fruit. The pretty purple flowers only last a day, but based on the number of buds I should have flowers everyday until late summer.

Pieced

The Carpenter's Wheel is all pieced, thank goodness. I did this one a little different than others I've seen. If you look at the corners of the quilt you'll see it's a corner of the center star instead of the normal circle outward flow. For me it feels like an exploding Carpenter's Wheel. I've added the border, which brings the size to 55" square. I'm going to add at least another ring of purple around the outer edge, but I'm not sure how I want to do the corners on those.

I thought I wanted it to look like the border of purple was jutting down into the white, but now that I look at it, I think it might be cool to turn those corners into trapezoids like the rest of the shapes within the quilt.

For the back this will will have flannel (and thereby stay put on a bed). The flannel DH found for me is a blender that looks like you took every single purple in the quilt and mixed it together. Kinda neat. Of course there will be photos of that later.

How often are you hearing the ice cream man around your neighborhood? Right now I can hear him. I think it's the 3rd or 4th time today, and I was gone for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I was a suburb kid that moved to rural Arkansas so I went from having an ice cream man in the summers, to not having one ever. I missed that in my childhood, and I was certain as an adult I'd be the parent running to meet the ice cream man every time his music played.

Guess what? I'm not that mom. It's still early in the summer and I hear that all the time. Makes me a little twitchy. Sometimes he'll go around even AFTER I've put Jessica to bed! Maybe I've read to many bad "stories" about "ice cream men". While I enjoy a treat as much as the next person I can send DH to the "corner store" where he will spend less and be back faster because he doesn't have to wait in line, not to mention "safer". Isn't that awful? At least I'm still supporting the "little guy" as my "corner store" is owned by locals that live right around here.

The Bewitching Hour

What does that mean to you? My mom always used to call the bewitching hour the time right before bed when all small children act crazy, and you know it's time to put them to bed. For me the Bewitching Hour occurs when I've been working on a quilt for a while and I'm starting to get tired. A part of me (the sleepy part) would really like to stop and leave everything for later, but I know as I look around that if I do all the pieces I worked so hard to line up will be run through and in a huge disarray by morning. I know some quilters are lucky and can shut the door on those carefully aligned pieces. But here with three cats, and a toddler who more often than not wakes up before me...

So I sewed together all my little pieces (and left the rest for later). Good night.