Win Some, Lose Some.

I'm sewing the binding on my Mom's bird quilt.

She was really excited to see it and came over to check it out.

She loves it, and thinks it is just wonderful. 

Great stuff!

I received this beautiful Amaryllis for Christmas, and like all pink Amaryllis's, it was very slow to open, but it had two stalks and twelve blooms. And like other pink ones, it was VERY tall. I have a special stake to hold it upright.

However, gravity rules.

Mom's Bird Quilt, Quilted

 

I picked up my Mom's bird quilt from Janet-Lee. Here is a closeup shot of the quilting. 

Here's another picture. I really love the quilting.

I've added the binding to the quilt, and will be finishing it over the next few days.

My mother is going to be very happy with this.

If you want to make your own birds, you can get my tutorial here.

Assembling Mom's Bird Quilt

 

Assembling the bird quilt, because the birds aren't aligned in neat rows and columns, is really fussy.

I have a plan I work out and try to follow it as best I can, but sometimes I make changes when I think of something better or easier to sew together.

It's important to keeps things straight and square and my laser level helps me make that happen.

Things change, and I have to adapt.

So here is the finished flimsy. It's about 60" x 78".

My Mom will love it. I have the backing ready so the quilt is ready to be quilted.

Another Bird

I've made another bird for my mother's bird quilt. I had had a pile of blacks with bright colors on my worktable and told myself I had to make a bird from the fabrics that were on the table.

You too can make birds. Get my tutorial here, at my Etsy shop, to get started.
 

Mom Update

 

This photo of Mom was taken in 2017 on our trip to Colorado. It’s one of my favorites pictures of her.

Hi Gang,

First of all, my Mom is good! She just celebrated her 92nd birthday, and she came to my house yesterday to check out the new floors.

She’s good. But she’s 92, and has a host of serious medical issues, which I will not divulge. The doctors would like her in the hospital so they can monitor her closely but she’s having none of it. The hospital is crowded, noisy and, as far as she is concerned, stifling. Stuck in one bed, with often noisy neighbors… she would rather be home.

And who can blame her? The docs are trying to find just the right balance. She would rather be home, where she can live her life in comfort with loved ones nearby. She gets to sleep in her own bed, eat her own food (or M’s) and do what she pleases when she pleases. She says if she feels bad, she can call an ambulance.

I can’t say as I blame her. Her mother spent the last five years of her life in bed, in pain, and in a nursing home. My Mom would rather LIVE the time she has left. She’s happy with M, and she has a reason to get up in the morning. That’s pretty good at her age.

I talk to her almost daily, and see her often. She’s only five miles away. I am well aware of how lucky I am that I have had her this long. Every day is a gift, and every day is OK. I’ve long since made my peace with it. I’m gonna miss her like crazy when she goes, but I’m not going to fret over whatever time she has left.

She could surprise us all. 

Mama Bird & Update

Some of you asked what kind of bird I would make for my Mother. She has always loved yellow, so this bird, with its spiffy red legs is totally appropriate.

My Mom also loves sunflowers so this bird would also be good, but I like the top one better.

She's back in the hospital again, and none too pleased about it.

I am really glad I decided to extend the flooring project to the dining room and the short hallway to the guest bathroom and the office. It looks so nice and will be so much easier to clean.

I have been putting as much of my house back to rights as I can, and that included rehanging my quilts. They look the same, but before I had the rods resting on push pins I stuck into the wall. They stayed just fine until someone or something (like a strong gust of wind) knocked them down, This, of course, was hardly ideal.

So I took a drive to the big orange hardware store and got some curtain rods and installed the brackets. Now the quilts hang just fine, and won't come tumbling down even if something pulls at them.

Incidentally, I'm letting my hair grow. This is me now. I'm not sure how long I'll let it grow, and I don't know how long I want it to get, but it's a work in progress. I am not sure I recognize myself in the mirror, but part of that is how much silver I have, I know I should probably change my profile picture, but I have to get used to this first!

Thinking Pink

 

July is my birth month, and I have decided that pink is my favorite color, so in July I put my pink quilt, Tickled Pink, on my dining room table. Long time readers know I switch out the quilts on my table every month.

In keeping with the pink July theme, I have put the Pink Panther quilt on the back of the couch, and put the pink pillows out.

I'll be retiring at the end of the summer, so this past weekend, I have been "practicing." Practicing what? 

Doing nothing; with no plan for the day.

Now I was lucky, the house was clean, the bills have been paid, the car is gassed up, and the laundry was done. So I slept late, woke up and decided to work on a crossword puzzle. Then I washed the last window that needed washing and cleaned the mini blind for that window.

I have two tasks to do before I do retire. One is to get a printer that will work wirelessly with my Mac and the other is to replace my cell phone. I'd done my research for the printer, and that is now on order. I'll be returning the work at home setup to the office in the next couple of weeks.

My company has been paying for my cell phone for over 20 years. I can have the number, so that won't change, and because my device is so old, I can keep that too, but I do need to get a new plan. Fortunately I have access to the invoices so I know exactly how much data I use. So one of my goals for the next week or so is to shop for a plan. I have a couple of options, so getting that done will happen in the next few weeks as well.

I offered to cook a meal for my Mom and told her I'd go to her house to cook it, or she could come to my place. I was not at all surprised when she decided to come over. I took this picture after we had a dinner of Korean Short Rib Tacos and homemade frozen yogurt ice cream sandwiches.

A good time was had by all.

Peonies & This & That

 

Here is the final layout (minus one row) of the Peonies Quilt. As you can see, Cherie, I have arranged a few blocks into diamonds, and there are now 4 light green flowers.

The new refrigerator is terrific except for one thing. Maybe you can tell what it is. The front is NOT magnetic. EEEEEK!!! The sides are magnetic, but that's an awful lot of naked stainless steel. I'm going to have figure out what I want to see, and tape it to the front.

Inside it's almost the same layout as the older one, but it seems like I have more space. It was 101F when this was delivered so emptying one fridge, and filling the new one were exercises in FAST. That means I just threw everything in, and I have to do a bit of rearranging.

I went to see the movie THELMA, and I thought it was great. There is so much of it that is outlandish, but a lot of it is so true. 

My friend Pam and I went out to eat before the movie and got out so early we went to the local Barnes & Noble. I bought a jigsaw puzzle. This was a rug pattern designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It wasn't a big puzzle, and I got into it. It was appealing because it had some special pieces...

Some of the pieces were quite large. I have put them above the puzzle so you can see. You would think that these large pieces would have made the puzzle easier, but actually it made it quite a bit trickier. I enjoyed it.

My Mom was admitted to the hospital last week. She was diagnosed with AFIB, and they decided to do a cardioversion, which is restarting her heart. Yes, you read that correctly. It is normally a pretty straightforward process, but do remember my Mom is a month short of 91. The procedure was successful, they kept her an extra day. She's home now, but she's really tired. So, keep her in your thoughts, please. The doctor gave her an excellent prognosis, but the older we get the longer it takes us all to bounce back.

What I did on Sunday...

 

I got the binding added to the Pink Panther quilt. Now I can pin it to the front and hand sew it down. Good thing, because the quilting on the quilt for P is done and I'll be picking it up later this week. I want to finish the Pink Panther before that happens.

My Mom and her beau came over for dinner on Sunday. After dinner I showed her the quilts I was working on. She loves all my quilts, but she was particularly taken with Allegretto (the yellow and green one on the left). "Oooo! Can I have it?" Um, no. "Are you sure?" Yup, no, this one is staying with me. 

My Mom got creative, "But Lynne, how many quilts do you need? You already have so many." She said this with a broad grin. She knew perfectly well I have used that line on her before,  because she loves ALL my quilts, and basically wants each and every one of them.

"Can I BORROW it" she asked again? 

No.

"Can I RENT it? I'll give you money for it," she laughed.

Um, no.

Across the room, her beau, M, was laughing. This isn't the first time my Mom has tried to convince me by hook or by crook, to give her a quilt. He was enjoying the exchange.

Now before you get all judgy and tell me what I should or should not do, that my mother is old enough to get whatever she wants because after all, she's 88 and I'm not going to have her forever... remember that this is a game between my Mom and I. We both know that whenever she sees a new quilt of mine, she's going to ask for it. And we both know I'm going to say no. 

"You know Lynne, it would go so well with my Yellow Ribbons quilt and M's Jealousy quilt."

I rolled my eyes.

My Mom laughed.

 Yeah, we had a great visit.