E-Reader Cover for an Artist

Since you know that I write an article for the Quilters Quarterly magazine as I told you here, I thought I'd show you one of the past projects I did using one of the products that I tested.

Our granddaughter is an artist.  She is in high school, but she is truly talented.  Her drawings are amazing.  As with many artists she also likes to read.  Being a typical teen, an e-reader is easier to carry around than a book.  She had received one for her birthday, so I decided to make a cover for her using an artist theme.

 

The finished product closes with Velcro.  The narrow silver between the artists names is fusible ribbon. I like the way it separates the black from the bright colors.

 

 

When completely flat, you can see all of the artists names.  The black rectangle at the top is one half of the hook and loop tape. (Velcro) The other half is on the lining.

 

 

The lining is bright and happy, also.

 

 

It was fun adding "our" artist with those who have been famous for many years.

 

Our artist will be famous someday as well.

 

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

 

xoxoXOXOxoxo

 

Lois

 

 

 

A Note to My Children

Hey kids!

 

 

Yeah, you guys!  Only you are all grown up now!

 

Just wanted to tell you how much I have loved being your mom!

 

You were funny, quirky, sometimes scheming, mostly obedient and most of all fun to be around most of the time.

 

I wanted to do everything to make your lives better, more fun and to protect you from all evil.

 

Sometimes I did a good job, some times -- not so much.

 

I am proud you have all chosen to be Christians.  I was proud of your choices most of the time. 

 

 

I likes most of your friends -- some better than others.  I didn't even object to most of your clothing choices -- except when those choices came from my closet and you forgot to return them.

 

There were advantages to you being so close in age -- you were going through the same stages at the same time. And, there were never more than two of you in diapers at the same time. WHEW!

 

There were disadvantages to you being so close in age -- you were going through the same stages at the same time.  You all wanted to use the car the same day and I was odd man out with no car!

 

 

There were times you disappointed me.  There were times I disappointed you.

 

I should have said "no" sometimes and didn't.  But, sometimes being a good mom also meant being the "bad guy" especially when your dad was out of town and there was just me.  I never liked that part -- the disciplining part, especially when it was hard to keep from laughing at what you did, but you needed to know it could be dangerous. And, yes, I did know you piled the mattresses at the bottom of the stairs so you could jump on them.  Not such a good idea, but none of you broke your necks, so I guess you had fun doing it.

 

I love you guys more than you can know.  Well, maybe you can since you all have kids of your own now.  I laugh when I hear my words coming out of your mouth when you are talking to your kids.

 

Well, just wanted you to know that for me, Mother's Day is a day to say "Thank you for making me a mom!"  I have loved the journey.

 

And to the grand kids, I want to say, "You are Perfect just the way you are no matter what your parents tell you!" 

 

Love you all!

 

xoxoXOXOxoxo

 

Lois a.k.a. Mom

 



Plans vs. Reality!

This past holiday weekend, the plan was for me to stay with two of my darling grandchildren while their mom, our daughter, Mindy, took their two sisters to Camp Surf in CA on a Girl Scout outing.  The trip had been months in the planning and all went well until Thursday evening when Mindy's body decided to try to pass a 7 mil kidney stone.

L on the left was to go on the trip.  Her goal in life, having just turned 10, is to become a professional surfer.  How she will accomplish this while living in the desert is beyond me!  H, on the right was to stay with me along with her brother C2 shown below.

C2 and L just celebrated their birthdays last week. They were born 3 years and 5 days apart so usually share a family birthday party.

A1 was going on the trip as well, but she avoided the camera at the birthday party!

The plan was for me to arrive in time for dinner with Mindy's husband, Mike, and C2 and H.  An early morning phone call from Mike changed that to, "How soon can you get here we are on our way to ER."

By the time I got there, a two hour drive, plus I was not ready to leave when we received the s.o.s. call, surgery had been scheduled and a replacement G.S. leader with CPR training had been found for Mindy.  The girls left several hours later than planned, but there were no disappointed girls except for A1 and L who had thought their mom would be going, too.

The surgery went well and by midnight Mindy was in her own bed with lots of pain meds!

Since things had not gone as planned, at least one of the outings I had planned for the kids got to be shared with Mindy.  Mike was working the weekend so he got left out -- sorry, Mike!

Culver's concretes were a hit with H and C2.

C2 took a photo of a pale, but smiling Mindy and me.  Perhaps a lesson on composition is in order.  The straw does not enhance the photo too much even if it does match my shirt.

The girls enjoyed Camp Surf and L even "caught a wave and rode it in".  A1 is convinced that the sunburn she got will give her skin cancer, but they loved the experience.  Even though Mindy was disappointed as well as in pain, she said the good part was she got to spend some time with her mom.  The next time, though, she wants me to bring my sewing machine and make curtains for the great room.  If I had known in advance that their Internet was out, I would have taken the sewing machine this trip instead of the computer!

Plans don't always work out as we plan, but good times can be had in spite of the change!

Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend.  Thank you to all of our veterans!

Blessings,

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

More About Mom

Mom crocheted, quilted and sewed.  She was a top notch cook as well and she helped Dad with the farming during the growing and harvesting seasons.  She also was a gardener and grew both vegetables and flowers. She was tireless it seemed.

One of the quilts that Mom quilted and gave to me had been pieced by my grandmother from scraps that Mom had given her.  I recognize some of the fabrics as having been used for dresses for Mom, my sister and me.  It is a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt which is fitting since Grandma and Mom both worked on it.  I don't know if Grandma made any other quilts, but this one is special to me.  It has been used and our younger daughter slept under it many years. Unfortunately, she also suffered nose bleeds and the damage was not always discovered early enough to get the stain out.  A busy quilt hides many sins! 

Mom also crocheted the lace bedspread draped over the end of the day bed.

Usually another quilt is on this bed as it has been the grand kid guest room and this one is too delicate for use.  I found a spot that I need to mend on one end when I put it on the bed.

Here is a closer view of those 50's & 60's fabrics and a closer look at the wonderful pink roses that are in the bedspread.

The dust ruffle is recycled from one that was on our older daughter's bed.  Day beds need one long side and two short sides -- just the opposite of regular beds.  The fabric is sort of like a dotted Swiss, but not exactly.  It needed the deep hem as it is quite sheer.

The teddy bear on this little night stand was given to me by my friend, Diane, when my mother died.  She thought I might want something to hug -- she was right!  The teddy bear is made from a quilt beyond repair -- a cutter quilt, beyond use on a bed, but not beyond use!

Don't you love the little Lucille Ball head vase?  These are from the same era as the quilt fabrics in the hexagon quilt.

I have decided to make use of this room as an office since the grand kids don't use it all that much anymore.  It will give me more room in my studio since I won't have to have the computer on the same L-shaped desk that I use for the sewing machine.  It will be much better when I'm quilting on a large quilt to have the extra surface.  I'll show you more of the room as the changes from child's guest room to a feminine office take place.

Friends, I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

You never get over being a child 'long as you have a mother to go to.

--Sarah Orne Jewett

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

Beads of Courage!

Sunday evening we had the opportunity to go see two of our grandchildren perform in a Gloree Musical.  Gloree is a first through fifth grade choir at Pantano Christian Church in Tucson, AZ.

We go the back way and there is a whole lot of this!

And a few of these.

Too bad there isn't a tunnel where that trail is!

But there is no way except to go around to get to the East side of Tucson!

The reward finally comes when we see these kids performing for a cause.  Beads of Courage is an organization that provides comfort to kids with cancer through beads.  You really need to read all about this organization here.  It was started at Phoenix Children's Hospital by a nurse and is now in hospitals all over the country!

The sweet girl in the white shirt with a scarf around her pony tail is granddaughter H.

She's kind of cute, huh?  Of course, I may be a tad bit prejudiced.

Granddaughter L was a bit harder to see.  She's the one in the white shirt with the black tank top under it -- standing in back of taller kids! She's kind of cute too!

Ah, there is a better look at her.  The lady in front of me kept moving her head so I had a really hard time focusing on L.

There's a shot of the banner for Beads of Courage.

There were other cute kids, too.  What do you think, future rock star?

These kids really get into their rolls or is it rock and rolls?  The music was from the 50"s, 60"s, 70's and 80's -- something for everyone!

Can you do that with your arms?  Note the cute pink tutu.

Also a little bit of hair on the lower left - she moved her head!

Maybe the scarf would make a better babushka!

But, these kids!  These fantastic kids raised over $4,000 for Beads of Courage!  Isn't that something!

All I can say is WOW to the performance and the fundraising!

Oh, sorry about the head in the last photo -- I told you she kept moving her head!

Hope you enjoyed this little departure to see some kids doing something worthwhile.  We hear too much about the "bad" kids, here's a bunch of good ones!

xoXOXOxo

Lois

Birthday Flowers

Today is my birthday, but I'm at work. 

The bookkeeper brought me this miniature rose plant and a wonderful delicious lemon cake!  Isn't she sweet?

Tonight we'll go out to dinner.  Yum!

What do you do to celebrate?  My mom used to bake me a cherry pie.

This is really George Washington's birthday too.

Hope you are having a great day. 

Until next time,

Lois

Antique Des Moines Star Quilt

Hello friends!

I really am trying to be better at sharing before a week has past.  Today I'm sharing this antique quilt.  Actually, just the top is antique.  My dad found the quilt top or maybe even just the blocks at a farm auction.  My dad LOVED to go to auctions.  And you know what?  I loved it when I could go with him.

My mother quilted the top in the 80's and gave it to me.

It was used on our daughter's bed and she really loved it.  It did look wonderful on her four poster bed. 

Maybe she loved it a bit too much!

One day, I noticed that the blocks that were made with black fabrics looked like this.

The blue blocks did not disintegrate as badly.

I must have been hurrying too much as this photo is really blurry.

I would re take the photos except, this quilt was given to her for Christmas.

She was supposed to get this one and the duplicate that I am making for her.

I've been working on the "clone" of this quilt for many years   a while now.

The "clone" kept being put on the back burner so to speak.

My mother died the year I started it and I spent a lot of time in another state.  I was working on this quilt while my mother was in surgery to, hopefully, rid her of the cancer that was attacking her.  Even the "clone" has history.

Last night I finally took the last quilting stitch in the "clone"  It still has to be squared and the binding put on so there aren't any photos of it yet.  There will be another post on it.

It took some research to find out the name of the pattern used.  It's fitting that it is called Des Moines Star as our kids consider Iowa "home" as we lived there many of their growing up years. Another name I found was Lily, but Des Moines Star seems more fitting for an Iowa girl's quilt.

The block wasn't made quite right in the antique quilt, so I duplicated the error so the clone would actually look almost like the antique.

From a distance you don't see the flaws.

Do you mind the flaws in quilts?  I don't in antique ones -- the ones I make, well, that's a different story.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this quilt.  Soon I'll reveal the "clone" now that it is finally quilted.

Stay warm, my friends!

xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lois

.

Happy Birthday, Sister!

Hello Friends!

Today, Saturday, Dec. 3, is my sister, Janice's birthday.  She's older than me -- sorry couldn't resist saying that, but she is.  She was a Senior in High School when I was a Freshman.  This is a good thing, I think.  She cleared the way for me, but this post is about her, not me.

She was a CUTE baby.  See?

We do not look alike.  Not at all!  She and my brother look like my Dad's side of the family.  Me?  Just put my mother's face on my body and that's us!  I took after Mom's side of the family except for height - mom was short!  Janice is taller than me, but we are both tall.  We both like to sew, though!  In that way we are alike and like our Mom!

Isn't this a sweet picture?  Look at that sweet face!  Just look at that crocheted dress!  Not so sure about the socks, though -- maybe a little too Pippi Longstockings!  Mom made the dress.  I have one just like it that she made for my girls.  Hmm, I'm thinking it should be displayed -- it is cute!

Those photographers sure loved those piano benches for portraits didn't they?  Now look at the mischief on that cute face.  You can just see that she's thinking of something to do that is more fun than sitting still!



Here is Janice holding our Cocker Spaniel.  I think her name was Lassie.  Janice will tell me if I'm wrong.  That's what big sisters are for, right?  I think I wanted out of there!  Maybe it has to do with the chicken in the background.  Did I tell you about Janice and the rooster?  Hmmm, she didn't think it was funny that the rooster chased her up on the roof of the chicken house, but mom and I did!  I've always wanted to do a quilt with a little girl on a roof with a BIG rooster lurking nearby.

Here we are again.  We look like stair steps.  The middle "step" is our cousin Louise.  (Hi, Louise!)  She's cute, too!  We are all squinting at the sun.  This must have been taken at a family reunion.  We used to have those.  We should again -- it's been years since the cousins have been together!  The three of us are almost the youngest of the cousins.  We only have one younger than us. We all have brothers that are older.

Eventually we all went to school.  I think this is a school photo.  I still see mischief on her face, don't you?

She's a good sister.  I miss seeing her.  We have fun together!  She's made me pillows, pillow cases, crocheted a pineapple doily for me and shared books with me.  The candle holders on my dining table this time of year were gifts from her.  They were purchased in an antique store because I told her I'd rather have things like that than something brand new  She listened to me -- she's like that.  We share that interest.  She likes antiques, too.

So, here I am wishing my sister a wonderful birthday!  Hope it's the best yet!  Love ya, sis!

Tell me your sister stories -- I'd love to hear about what you share with your sister, too.

Now I have to go work some more on Christmas stuff!

Lois

Grandparent's Day

This is one of those "good things" posts. 

Last Friday I took the day off to attend Grandparent's Day for two of my grandchildren who live in Tucson.  It's a two hour trek and the school had set the hours for grandparents to visit at 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM.

Since I get up at 4:00 AM everyday, that wasn't a problem. 

These are a problem.  It would take just over an hour to get there if it weren't for these!  "These" are the Catalina Mountains.  To get to the East side of Tucson, you have to drive around these if you are driving from my house!  It takes an hour to do that!

Don't look at the chipped, dirty windshield.  And, yes, I know taking a picture while driving isn't the best idea.  The first two were blurry.  There wasn't anyone else in the car to take a picture, so I did the best I could.

This was the reward!

The precious girl in pink is our granddaughter "H".  She used to call me "Yamma Yo", but now that she's a first grader, I'm Grandma Lo.  Note the waving hands.  They were performing the songs they will sing at the Naturalization Ceremony in a few weeks.  They were all precious!

This is Mary with "H".  We share her.  She is the other Grandmother.  She is precious, too!

We got to go see granddaughter "L", but they were taking a math test so no pictures performing.  I should have taken pictures of her art work and her, but they were in class.  When you are older, I guess you don't "perform" for the grandparents.  But her art was a self portrait and a description of herself.  She is Lovable, Energetic, Artistic and Happy.  I say she is also Awesome.  She has new glasses and they look so cute on her!  They are blue!  She's a girl after my own heart!

After the program was over, we went to Starbucks.  YES!  I was ready for a cup of java!  Mary had an appointment, so daughter Mindy and I picked up her husband, my son-in-law and Mary's son so we could hang out for the day.  His "weekend" right now is Thursday and Friday.

We shopped for bread first.  Then we headed to the fabric store.  I got some ticking fabric and some Osnaburg.  Then we went here!





Woo Hoo!  Culver's has come to Arizona!  That is a pumpkin concrete and it was excellent!  Oh, yeah, we ate some hamburgers or something, but who cares, right?  This was the treat!

Here are the people who treated me!

They are precious, too!  They know the best places to go.  After lunch we headed to Barnes and Noble!  What a special day -- I felt like a kid out of school.  Well, since I skipped work to go have fun, I guess I was -- sort of.  Well, not the kid so much, but it was sure fun!

Alas before I got to see granddaughter "A" who had swim practice after school and grandson "C2" (We have two "C" grandsons.) who had a Jr. high football game scheduled a storm started coming in.  The Monsoon season in Arizona is not to be taken lightly!

It was time to head back home before I got caught in a Haboob (dust storm) or in the heavy rains we sometimes get with them.

It was a very good day!

Next time we'll be back to quilts.  I think we'll walk with the elephants next.

Until then, take care!

Lois