I am posting on behalf of my mother. She hadn't posted for a while because she was battling cancer. It was a private battle shared only with her family and a small group of friends. On October 9,2011 she went to be with the Lord in her home surrounded by family.

Before mom passed away (during her chemo treatments) she was working on a Dresden plate quilt, she was able to finish it with the help of her friend Mary Lou. It was on her casket the day of her funeral and will remain a cherished quilt in our family.

We held a service and were able to line the walls of the reception hall with mom's quilts/afghans. I wrote who she made them for and described what life event was happening that she wanted to make it. It was such a privilege to honor her in this way.

I miss my mom everyday and looking through her blog reminds me of such fond memories with her. She accomplished so much as a mother, wife, grandma, quilter and woman of God. I know she loved sharing her projects here on the blog and I hope to pick up where she left. She taught me so much and I know my level of making hand made items is not nearly close to hers, but I'll share what I can. Sitting at the sewing machine, or just knotting thread to hand sew an item makes me feel so close to her. Like she's with me. I hope posting here will do the same, make me feel like she's with me.

A close friend posted this on her blog about my mom. http://cheesecurdsinfargo.blogspot.com/2011/10/life-death.html

Happy Tulips

I hung this lovely vintage tulip quilt by my bed to welcome spring. I bought it at a flea market because of the cheerful colors and wonderful quilting. It is quilted by hand in a perfect pattern that I am sure was created by the maker and fills the surface with fans and curves.

I also noticed that the quilter had an assortment of 30's solids and complimenting prints. The stems and leaves seem to be made from scraps of depression greens. I admire her work and thank her so much.

Stompin' cookies

Yesterday was baking day for Christmas cookies. My daughters are mixing a HUGE batch of 'stompin' cookies'.....thanks Mary Lou for the recipe. It is not made with a mixer so you build

muscles as you mix the dough. You drop spoonfuls onto the sheet and then STOMP them with a glass coated with color sugar......hence the name. Yummy

Christmas traditions

This big dolly lives in Hixson's Flower store in Lakewood Ohio. We come here to purchase our glass ornaments for the tree. Most are imported and handmade and all are lovely. We brought our children here each year as they were growing up and bought each a special ornament. Now they are bringing their children here....so the tradition goes on.

Blog update

I have been missing for the last few months but I am back. I had major surgery at the end of July and recovery has been slow. Feeling much better now and should be back to stitching soon.

During this time our family celebrated the adoption of two precious children. They have been with us for several years as fosters and now are officially ours. To mark this occasion I made this 'Family quilt'......for my daughter, son-in-law and the new additions. Luckily I pieced it last winter and machine quilted it over the summer. It was made to be used for years to come and not worry if it is spit, spilled or.....upon.

I took Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville pattern of Sister's Choice and enlarged it. It was fun to make.

Airing the tent

Pulled out the tent that has not been used in years and years in preparation for camping this coming weekend. The girls and I are taking the kids (ages 5, 4, and almost 2) camping at a state park, leaving the menfolk at home.

They will be in an air-conditioned RV and Grammie will be in private quarters......the tent. We are looking forward to the great outdoors with swimming, walking and playing but not the 90+ temps......Grandpa thinks I am nuts....lol.....wish me luck!

Goodbye Loyal Companion

Daisy has been our loyal companion since we rescued her from the pound ten years ago. She passed way last night after failing health for the past few years. We were so happy she lasted to enjoy this wonderful summer, her joy in life was laying in the cool grass or basking in a bit of sunshine. She spent her winters mostly in her bed next to the woodburner and only went out in the cold and snow when she had to, but summer was for outside.

Daisy was famous for her waggy tail and beagle nose. She would track a smell all around the yard and boy could she bay!

She only ate things that had walked the earth......no veggies for her! The only exception was Cookies.....boy did she love cookies!

She will join her best beagle friend Mrs. Peabody in the canine burial ground on our property. She will be missed......

Cactus blooms in Ohio

It nevers ceases to amaze me that this cacti grows, thrives and blooms in Ohio where the winters are frigid and long......mother nature is full of surprises and I love this one!

One flower Wednesday total

Three flowers this week....brings the total for the past month to 12....wow a dozen flowers!
Thanks to this group I have been moving along on this project...Thanks

Sure signs of summer

Both my daughters ride motorcycles and here is the youngest one's with pink pinstripes.....too cool and a bit girly

What fun T-ball is.....little ones have no clue what they are to do. Batter hit the ball perfectly and everyone is frozen, thinking "What do they want me to do now?"......lol.......batter runs (sometimes in the wrong direction) and everyone scrambles!

Honeysuckle blooming on the trellis........I love the smell and so do the bees

My pride and joy.....1978 Serro Scotty Sportsman....great condition and fun to camp in.

Looking forward to summer fun in the sun and some relaxing.

Spring beauties

Great year for peony bushes this year....huge blossoms and lush foilage. Usually about the time they bloom heavy spring rains beat them up. We have been having a summerlike spring here in Ohio so things are going great.....even the weeds lol.

Butterfly Quilt

This happy quilt was made for my mom's birthday years ago. I sorta made it up as I went along.

It is more 'liberated' than any of my other quilts. Fun to make and now that mom is gone I will bring it out for spring and think about her often.

Antique Hexagons

I have a collection of antique/old grandmother's flower garden blocks....I just love the old fabrics and all the different color combo's. The bottom one is one of my favorite..........she fussy cut it!

Did you notice that this group is done with a yellow center, then solid flower then floral outside.

Love the way it looks.....so happy!

The hexagons are 3/4 inch. finished and the work is all neat and handdone. The flowers come from different times I am sure.....30's, 40's and 50's. The fabric is a bit fragile on some and they are slightly different sizes since they were not made by the same person so I will not attempt to do anything with them.....except admire and LOVE them.

Wednesday .....again?

Here it is Wednesday again....boy did the week go fast! Only got two done this week due to all the work in the real garden. Had fun the other night looking at all the blogs of people doing One Flower Wednesday....gotta love hexagons.

Saturday Adventure

Saturday we went to Amish country here in Ohio. Visited Country Fabric in Shiloh and found these goodies. The strips are from a 'scrap bag' that Moda sells. It is marketed in a brown paper bag with a cello window so you can see the top fabric and how much.....turns out to be 25 strips 3.5 inches wide of mostly 'fig tree' quilt line....love it love it......only eleven dollars. I also found these yummy fabrics that will go with the butterscotch/muted green, blue and yellow fig tree prints that I am collecting for a quilt for ME....lol

Anne in Columbus from the Applique_Your_way yahoo list and I have been writing privately and I had told her about this quilt shop. She traveled the hour and a half with her friends from her 'quilt bee' group to check it out, so I planned to meet her. Nice to put a face to the name and share a quilt adventure ......thanks Anne.

One Flower Wednesday

My 'One flower Wednesday' turned into four flower Tuesday and Wednesday night!

I worked on these hexagons during 'Dancing with the Stars' and 'American Idol' TV shows each evening. Love how happy they look along with my new plants.

Another baby afghan done!

Finished this baby afghan last night for a baby boy. Love the brighter colors that baby clothes/items are these days.....'in my day' everything was all pastel. Trying to get the crochet projects done before the summer heat hits, then I will be back to all quilting.

One flower Wednesday

One flower turned into three flowers. Made these with 'Quiltpatis'.....so easy. Was lucky with the placement since I didn't 'fussy cut' them....glad those little boys and pup lined up! Love these thirties fabrics for a baby quilt, so happy looking.

Hexagon....Grandmother's flower garden

I have always loved hexagons. A long time ago I bought 'quilt patis' and made these flowers, then last winter I appliqued them to the blocks and found I don't have enough to make a baby quilt which was my first intention.

Just recently I saw several blogs where people are making 'one flower each wednesday' and now I want to join in the fun and complete this project.....so I will start tomorrow.

Learning to crochet "on the double"

I tried Tunisian crochet and was disappointed in the end product....it curled and was ruglike. While researching this I found crochet 'on the double' tutorial and tried it. I love it.

You use a long double ended hook or denise interchangeable needles sells hooks that connect to either end of a cable and they are wonderful. It is an easy process and comes out looking more like knitting than crochet. The afghan comes out puffy but warm and drapes nicely.

The fun thing is it looks different on each side. One project I am doing is a varigated pink yarn mixed with a pale yellow and on one side it looks pink and on the other looks yellow....fun!