Surprise In My Mailbox!

The mailman usually delivers only bills and catalogs to our house but this week he left a 'squishy' envelope!  Look at the lovely quilt block my Granddaughter Anna Grace sent to me.  She did such a lovely job of matching all seam lines - click on the picture and you can see for yourself!  Oh - Anna Grace turned 10 on the 6th of this month!  I made a mistake by taking the picture on the back of a small quilt and it's too red!  ( I don't remember how to edit pictures anymore - lost my favorite software when computer crashed.)  I plan to do something special with this block - anyone have any suggestions?

The cold temperatures have kept us close to home.  I did brave the elements and met Mark for lunch on Thursday and did a few errands while I was out.  I check Facebook to see what is happening with the rest of the family. 

Because we were housebound I had the sewing machine humming away every morning for a couple of hours!  (I could have done some cleaning but decided sewing was more important!)  In the photo below you'll see the center of the quilt.  Today I hope to trim off the points from the edges, then add a 2" border, make 122 Flying Geese blocks and add them and the grand finale will be another 2" border.  I sure would like to get it finished this week but we'll see how it works out!  The fabrics for this quilt were in a kit, I did have to do the cutting myself!  Pattern is Brick Wall of Wabash County by Sew Unique Creations.  I did go into my stash and get a few reds, a green, a gold and navy.  Felt it needed a bit more spark!

   And a close up below.

I made a pot of chicken noodle soup yesterday and we'll have leftovers today so I can sit and stitch again! 

Thanks for stopping by.  Till next week, take care and stay warm. 

The Angels Came - - - Little Quilt

Yes, yesterday the angels came and took a wonderful man with them.  My brother-in-law Lavern passed away after a long struggle with a rare type of cancer.  The photo below is Lavern and my sister Amy seated, and three of their four children.  Anna Grace, one of my granddaughters attends a parochial school, she asked for prayers for "Uncle Squeeker" every day.  I spoke with her Friday night and she told me she was to play her first soccer game of the season on Saturday morning - I said "score a goal for Uncle Squeeker". . . she called me at noon on Saturday and said she scored a goal for him!  It was a rough job, but she got it done.  Bless her little heart.  Amazing how she became attached to him through her mother - we calculated Anna had seen him only once when she was about two years old.  Prayers and hugs to Amy and the family.

We're doing alright for people our age - mobility is a bit of a problem.  Hate getting so slow when there is so much to do and so many places to go!  We've stayed close to home - a lot of unpredictable weather.  Rain is predicted today and hopefully it will wash away the dirty snow and slush! 

Nate stopped in one morning - well, actually I had to call him.  Chet fell trying to get out of his recliner and I just couldn't get him up by myself.  Fortunately Nate was close by and rescued his father!  No, Chet didn't get hurt but I think he was a bit stiff for a day or two. 

Nate is a member of the ABATE group (yeah, the motorcycle gang) and they had a fund raiser for Haiti.  Members were posted at busy intersections and streets in town and they collected about $1500.00. The weather was horrible but they stuck it out.  The group is working with a church in Elwood, IN.  The church has missionaries in Haiti.  Good for them! 

The other kids checked in and all is well with them.  Mitch said they went to their lake home in northern Michigan and there wasn't enough snow there to take out the snowmobiles! 

From my sewing corner:  I wanted to sew something but not a big project so I made this Bear's Paw quilt; it measures about 20" square. The pattern is from Prairie Children and Their Quilts by Kathy Tracey.  I even hand quilted the piece!  Haven't hand quilted in ages so the stitches are a tad bigger - but then I tell myself, it's suppose to look like a child made it - and I am almost in my second childhood so I consider it a precious piece!  (How's that for an explanation?)

 Thanks for stopping by and have a good week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Did you all get a box of candy and a mushy card from your spouse and kids?  I bought a package of York Peppermint Patties and that's my treat!

More snow this past week and more predicted for late tonight!  Ah - I'm not a big fan of Spring, but it would be a welcome site.  Schools have had so many 'snow days' they will be in classes till mid June!  Of course they are giving up days between now and the end of the school year!  I ventured out to the mailbox each day, on Monday I bit the bullet and picked up a friend and we went to quilt guild. Friday I needed to go get refills of my meds and picked up a few groceries!  The main streets were fairly cleared of snow but the side streets were snow packed and slippery.  Stuck close to home and it looks like it will be the same next week.

Quilt Guild was a bit different this month.  Each of us brought in a project we didn't know how to handle - each person had individual attention and hopefully their problem was solved, or at least had several suggestions as to how it could be handled.  I took in a stack of 6" Churn Dash blocks, left over from a project I did for a friend many years ago - based on an antique quilt.  I made the quilt top for her and she had it quilted by a group of "church ladies" in Muncie, IN.  I put the blocks together using a different layout and now am debating adding borders or not.  Photo below.  (oops - forgot to rotate it).

  Close up of blocks.  Just a side story - when friend took her quilt top to the church ladies, she visited with them for a while.  She asked how many ladies came to quilt.  The answer was:  Oh, whoever can come, comes.  Sometimes someone is sick, sometimes they are visiting family, and sometimes they just die and don't come anymore! 

And that's life - right?  Have a good week and stay warm and well.

Snow - Bricks & Stepping Stones - Green Strip Swap

Winter paid us another visit!  Snow started Friday around noon and it just kept coming and coming.  Today we have sunshine and the temps are in the teens. More snow is predicted to be coming our way Monday night!  I spent Friday out at Mark's house, keeping an eye on Tia who is having some health issues.  The snow came down heavily and I had to brush about 5" off my car - even had to use the rear window defroster!  The drive usually takes 20 to 25 minutes but it took me 6 minutes less than an hour to get home.  I rolled through every stop sign for fear I'd not be able to move again, if I stopped! There was a lot of traffic on the road so if I'd have gone into the ditch I'd have been rescued fairly soon.  My speed was 20 MPH unless I was going down a hill and it went up to 30 MPH.  It was a frightening drive back to town.  I packed an extra outfit if I was stranded overnight. 

Ah yes - Super Bowl Sunday!  Chet can't wait for the time to pass!  A friend and I had planned to go to a nearby quilt shop and take advantage of the sales but the shop owner postponed the sale because of the snow.  I will be content to keep sewing. . more on that later in the post.

Yesterday Anna Grace celebrated her 10th birthday.  We called last evening and she was so bubbly!  She assured Grandpa Chet she'd be rooting for the Colts today!  Unfortunately her mother is a Saints fan.

I also packed up my trusty little Featherweight Sewing machine (made in 1946) and took along the Green Swap Strips project.  I managed to sew 116 four patch blocks to 116 rectangles.  That machine is a real gem and makes perfect 1/4" seams! 

Pictured below shows half of the quilt, without it's borders - hope to add them today.  The borders will be a 2" wide light cream and then a 3" brown - using the fabrics that are in the four patch blocks.

A close up look - Bricks and Stepping Stones - pattern is from Quiltville.com  This a generous lap robe size so will have it quilted by my longarm quilter gal.

Next photo is a 24" square quilt, mainly plaid fabrics.  It is ready to be quilted, too.  I'm sure it has a name but I don't know what it is! This began as another project and It was just not to my liking so I started taking the blocks apart and came up with this! 

That's it for today - am going to make a pot of chili and Minnesota Hotdish!  (Or goulash as people sometimes call it!)

Thanks for stopping by, have a good week.