A few sentimental things

In my bedroom, on the small portion of angled wall next to the bathroom door, hangs a sampler that is very, very precious to me.  My Nana hand stitched this sampler and it hung over the cribs of all of her babies.  My Aunt Edith, my Dad, and my Uncle Phil all slept under this prayer.  Nana died when I was 10 months old, so I never really knew her.

I was in High School when my Aunt located the sampler and sent it to me because I was the last child in the family to bear the family's last name.  I always loved this piece of hand work.

Above the sampler hangs a dessert plate with roses on it.  While I am sure it is rather unconventional to hang plates beside and above the doorway to the master bath, I don't care because I love them.  There are a set of six in total.  Five are above the doorway and the sixth sits above my prized sampler.

The plates are from my late great-Aunt Mackey.  Her given name was Effie Maxine.  We have always laughed that the Maxine cartoon character was really about her.  She was a hoot!  And she definitely spoke what was on her mind!

They are made of china with a distinctive rose pattern that I have learned was very popular in the late 30s and 40s.  The design seems to be on some sort of decal or maybe the paint is bubbling up a bit.  Either way, they are a bit cloudy in places and not fit to eat on, but a wonderful reminder of my Aunt that I visited with and spent time with into my adulthood.

Neither of these items would be worth anything much financially in the big scheme of things, but they are precious to me.  They were gifts full of meaning that I have used to decorate my home.  My children are growing up around these items and they are learning about connections and family history.  It's a good thing.

Hmmm. Ideas....

Okay, I am looking for a really good idea for a gift for our wonderful math tutor.  She is a retired special education teacher who has taught kids with learning disabilities and autism her entire career.  She has been such a blessing in our lives.  DS14 (my Aspie) has really grown so much while working with her.

When she started working with us in May of this year, my kiddo was doing marginal 1st grade math.  He is now doing basic algebra and geometry.  She has to present it in ways that make sense to him (which I just don't know how to do) and he is thriving!  She is definitely an answer to prayer.

I'd love to make her something to show appreciation.  I am trying to be mindful of both time and money.  I am not sure when the sewing machine will be arriving.

In a perfect world, a lap quilt would be in order, but I am not sure I will have time to get that completed this time around.  I was thinking of potholders (can't everyone use potholders?) or a candle mat, maybe with one of the new, battery operated candles (love those because of my cats.  The tutor has a cat also).  Hmmm.

I got this photo from a wonderful tutorial at http://33shadesofgreen.blogspot.com/2010/02/amy-butler-quilted-potholder.html.

Any ideas that you would be willing to share?  Please?????

Woo Hoo! Victory!

My log cabin quilt (Christmas gift for someone special) made it out of the laundry intact.  Whew!

I am quite relieved!  

575 Posts and a new finish!

It's hard to believe that this is my 575th post!  When I started this blog, I wasn't sure if I would have much to say or whether anyone would want to read it.  Looks like I have kept on writing and a few folks continue to read, so it's a good thing!  It's been a good outlet for me and a way to connect with others with similar interests.  So, for you who read this blog, thank you!

I have been kind of restless today, possibly because I am trying to decide what I want to do, gift wise, while waiting on my sewing machine to arrive.  I guess it has made me a tad more productive.  I managed to get the binding on a quilt that I had quilted as a QAYG and had been waiting for the binding to go on.  I had used a friend's machine to do the seaming and was folding it to the back and stitching it down.  Right as I got to the final foot or so on the last side, my kitty, Natasha, decided that the quilt looked good enough for her and she just hopped on up!

Yep, my quilts are kitty approved!  Now I just have to get brave enough to wash it and pray that it stays together (unlike the shirting quilt).  Wish me luck!

I don't think I have ever shared this....

As I anxiously await the arrival of the new sewing machine, I thought I might share a quilt that I am really fond of.  It is my one and only antique quilt.  Back in the late, gulp, 1980s (when I was 2--LOL!), hubby and I saw this quilt in a yard sale.  They were using it to pack up items to cushion them for transport.  I was a very, very new quilter and I knew that it was pretty and old.

That pretty much sums up my quilting knowledge.  The edges were tattered and some of the patches of a black fabric had worn down to show mostly foundation muslin.  Some brown is very worn also.  The batting was just clumps of cotton pressed flat and sewn through.  The back was made up of feed sacks that came from a flour mill about 40 miles from here.  You can just make out the printing on only one of the sacks.

It was a mess.  It really should have been a cutter quilt, but I was young, stupid, and fell in love with that faint printing on the feed sack.  The owner thought I was crazy but sold it to me anyway--cheap!

My mom helped me to put a turkey red border around the edge to protect it (yes, I know, a restoration no-no) and it has hung in my home ever since.  For a while it was folded over a hanging rail in my bedroom.  In another house, it hung in the entryway.  Currently, it hangs from spring clips on a display wire behind my couch in the living room.  It's beautiful.

It is made up of shirting fabrics and is quilting in an unmarked Baptist fans pattern.  At least I hope that the ladies didn't mark this out, otherwise those Baptist gals had been drinking rather heavily!  LOL!

I didn't really pay too much attention to the details of this quilt; I just knew that I liked it.  But, it does explain why I seem to be fascinated with quilts made from shirting fabrics and the Baptist fan quilt pattern.  It's just kind of familiar to me after all the years of living with my quilt.

The tree is up!

 The boys took a much larger part in getting the tree up this year.  They stuck with the process for the entire time and worked along side us instead of playing or leaving the room while we parents did the work.  Even better, they decorated the entire tree and not just strips at their personal eye levels.  We didn't have to go back and move ornaments around after the fact.  We listened to Christmas music and talked, reminiscing about ornaments that were sentimental.  I really enjoyed it.

That evening, I had completed decorating the mantle and hanging the Christmas quilts up.  We lit the candles and dimmed the lights.  It was warm and beautiful and full of all of the Christmas-y magic.  We were together.  It's all that matters.

Blessings!

This year has been a financial struggle for us.  It has been a necessary one as I have left my full time teaching gig in order to homeschool my boys (an unpaid, full time teaching gig).  But, for all of struggles, I have loved being with my boys more and helping them to learn.  In many ways, life has improved.

I started my home business and it is growing.  It is slowly growing and getting stronger by the day.  I have no doubt that it will eventually be able to replace my earlier income.

But, I have to admit horrendous frustration when my sewing machine died.  I inherited a couple of older ones that died soon after also.  Hubby is great at being able to do minor maintenance on them and he kept me going for months longer than I should have been able to go.  But, he can only do so much!

I depend on my sewing machine to do some repairs, make things for around the home, make great gifts without spending loads of cash, quilting, and just general therapy for me.  I love to make things.  It makes me happy.  It saves me money and I enjoy it!

When the shirting baby quilt fell apart because of faulty stitching, I knew that my machine sewing days were nearing a close.  My mom and a friend allowed me to finish up a Christmas gift on their machines, but I had to re-think oodles of gifts because I couldn't do the sewing projects that I had planned.

But, Black Friday came and my hubby blessed me tremendously.  I had an online coupon to a site and they put a sewing machine on deep markdown.  It isn't fancy and it wasn't a pricey machine to begin with, but it will serve my needs well.  We were able to pick it up for less than 50% of the original price with free shipping, the coupon, and the sale in progress.  It's not my dream machine and I will continue to save a little here and there to eventually get that one, but it is a Consumer Reports Best Buy rated machine.

I am SO grateful for my hubby and this blessing in my life.  I can't wait for it to arrive.  I am going to take amazing care of this little baby!   And yes, the photo above is of the machine that I am getting.  Nothing to brag about, perhaps, but it means the world to my little, creative heart!