Catching Up...Again

I am just not a great blogger any more.To be honest, life has pretty much sucked the last couple of years, and I have put myself in a hole. I am slowly climbing out and plan to live life again. Many changes in our household. The grandkids are growing so fast I can hardly keep up! TJ is going into 3rd grade and his baseball team won the World Series of his league this summer. He is an awesome kid who is completely in love with his father! Emerson is a doll!! I love having a granddaughter! She just last week started cheerleading classes and even though she was concerned because she "can't spell", she had a blast and  I know she is going to be spelling out G-O T-E-A-M very soon. 

My oldest, Bud, is back home. He is working toward moving closer to his children. I think it is a good choice. He plays softball on a couple of different teams and his friend Joe (in the pic on the far right) has become an honorary son to us. Zach made the honor roll and received a trophy for Best Sportsmanship. He started Mixed Martial Arts classes and is loving ever second of it! He broke a board on his first try!! Kyle is having a great summer, and both  boys are happy that their big brother is around more. Charlotte had a rough couple of years, and after a hospitalization, she is now living with an extended family member in the next county. She has some severe trauma to overcome and after 13 years of giving her every ounce of what I had to give, I have been told by professionals, it could never be enough. She needs residential treatment. Please pray she is able to get it. I talk to her a few times a week, and we are all trying to heal and create an alternative to what we thought life would be. 

Sweetheart and I celebrated 34 years of marriage at the beginning of this month. It  has been a very rough couple of years for our entire family, and we are hoping, and praying that the future holds some peace and happiness in it for us. I believe it does. :)

On the quilting front, I finished the 3rd baby quilt. It is bright and cheerful, and baby Mason will have years of warmth from it.

At my church we select Secret Sisters once a year. Throughout the year we buy little gifts and send cards on special occasions. The big reveal is early November and I decided to make a quilt for the lady I have this year. This is the top.....all scrap and measures approx. 62x74

It is in the hoop now and I am loving quilting on it! A fun one for sure!

Baby quilt number 4 is being pieced and has this little lady in it......

It should be a fun quilt to make also, and baby Harmonie and her mommy can cuddle in it together this coming winter.

The girls are both well. Cammy still thinks she is a kitten and Sass gets more lovable every day. 

Life has started to calm here in the last 2 months, so I am just going to breath and trust God that His plan is still in motion. I am hoping to get back here more often. Thanks for stopping in!!! 

Fluff, Not Fat.....

I see my girls as fluffy.....my older son moos at Sassy when he sees her. I'm not amused. I think they are not at all fat, especially Sassy, who is long haired. 

Both kitties are well fed, but not "fat", so I was more than surprised when I read the vet's report on Cammy. It said, "Overweight Female, with healthy coat and tarter free teeth.....

 I am hearing that little girl's voice on Full House...."How Rude!!!"  Cammy agrees!

I have been quilting up a storm on the baby 9 patch. 

I set a goal of a minimum of 2 blocks a day, but am trying to do more like 4.....

Once I reach my goal, I can work on some of my own projects.

I actually finished the quilting on this little, Simply Charming, 9 patch, but still need to bind it. I'll do that tomorrow. I am starting the blocks for my Secret Sister quilt tomorrow too, so more machine work. 

And since, I don't want my own medical record to match Chamomile's, I have been eating a lot of salads, and I found these toppings that really make them wonderful!!!

I cut up some Gala apple too, and it tasted so good! I think I will try the Honey Almonds next time! 

Have a blessed Lord's Day!!!

Only God Is Perfect

 We all want our quilts to be as close to perfect as we can get them, but we also know that SOMEthing is going to go a bit wonky somewhere in the process. Usually it is in the piecing. An intersection may be a tad off, a point gets buried in the seam allowance, a pucker shows up out of no where. Well if you get through the piecing perfectly, the quilting is sure to get you....there will be some missed stitches along the way, a toe hanger may even show up, and you may go off course because you are watching television while you are quilting and they are announcing the Biggest Loser as you are stitching away! If by chance, a miracle happens and your quilting is perfect, the binding will destroy any chance of that perfect quilt. Mitered corners?? Really...and FOUR of them at that. You may get 1 or 2 perfect, but certainly not ALL 4!!! Well I did it!!!!! I made the perfect quilt. My piecing was flawless, my quilting could have won a blue ribbon and ALL 4 corners are beautifully mitered!!!!! 

It was PERFECT! I felt my chest puff out in pride and I knew I had attained something special, and in TWO weeks time...a new record for me!! Perfection felt AMAZING!!!! I am ALL THAT and a bag of scraps!!!! 

And then it happened!!! I spotted a flaw in the fabric. It was a tiny little flaw, but a FLAW....a perfect quilt has NO flaws. And this was not a flaw that could be left to itself....it would not hide. In fact, the trip through the washer and dryer would turn that tiny flaw into a full fledged hole!! What did I do??? I SOBBED! *picture Scarlet O'Hara throwing herself on her bed, wailing!* As I wept and mourned the perfect quilt, and wondered how I could possibly make another one in 2 days, I heard my Jesus' voice speak ever so softly to me. "Only I am perfect."  Oh. I was stunned. Of course I knew this....it is the "Quilter's Rule"...Only God is Perfect. I grabbed the quilt, ran to Joann's to get identically matched thread, and some fray check. I whip stitched that flaw, which OF COURSE made it look MUCH worse, and drop some fray check on there. I repented of my pride and puffed-upped-ness (yes, I may have made up that word) and threw that flawed quilt in the washer.....it came out of the dryer beautiful. I could find the flaw right away, but my kids couldn't....Charlotte found it after 10 minutes and the boys never did find it. It is there....a blob smaller than a pea, but larger than a pin head. 

And like this quilt, we are all flawed....none are perfect....Only God.  I think this is my favorite quilt. I believe baby Lincoln will love it and he may even find that flaw and rub it as he falls asleep....it may comfort him. I know it comforts me that it is there! 

Here is a peek at the back.....

I have moved on to the next baby quilt.... colors that make me happy.

And a pattern that makes me smile.

And I can guarantee you it will NOT be perfect!!!!!

The Best of my Life.....Quilting and Grandkids

I can not believe it has been 5 months since my last post. I wondered if I shouldn't just close down the blog, but I remembered it's main purpose.....for them.....

 

So what has been happening? TJ turned 8 last week. I had them for Spring break. 

He is growing so fast and I miss that baby boy. This trip he decided he did not need his morning hugs any more...he was 8 now, ya know! I had a heart to heart and convinced him those morning hugs would always be needed! Emerson is growing too!!

She is such a sweet girl, but a bit of a drama queen at times....

She was left out when the boys went down the street...she is still too little to go in the road. I let her come "quilt" with me and she got happy again. Speaking of quilting....she got her quilt!!!

She was thrilled with it. I was happy with it too. I have gotten a lot of quilting done over the winter months. I finished that baby quilt from the last post I made.

The texture was wonderful.

I also made 3 tied quilts for my 3 cousins. Their dad died several years ago and I made quilts using his flannel shirts. Robby and Meghan were very surprised to see them (Sarah was not there, but she got hers too).

I made several minis and a table runner...all gifts.

All hand quilted. Earlier tonight, I took the last quilting stitches in my latest project, a baby quilt for a shower on Saturday.

I will bind it tomorrow and have set a record for myself. I quilted this 50x50 quilt by hand in two weeks. It usually takes me 6....I will say I enjoy it more when I can take my time! 

My next project is going to be a scrap quilt....oh and 2 more baby quilts. There is a baby boom at my church!!! All the scraps are chosen and ready to cut.

I can't have a post without sharing the girls....Sassy is still queen of the castle.

Cammy has all the attitude!! She was being told to MOVE off of that quilt.....see the ears? She was giving me what Winona calls the "stink eye"!

I promise to come back SOON, and catch you up on my kids. Leave a comment and let me know you are still out there!!! ;)