a budding quilter

I think I mentioned to you that my 8 yr old grandson has decided that he's old enough to sew on my machine by himself (I do insist that I am in the room with him).  This weekend, he wanted to play with my charm squares and sewed up this cute little piece.  He is finally starting to sew right sides together!



We had my daughter's 3 kids for the weekend and my son came over as well so we had all 4 grandkids.  I went and picked up my mom from the board and care home so she'd have a chance to spend some time with the kids before I move her up to Bend in a week. Here she is with the kids.


I did a little sewing while my grandson was sewing and whipped up another bag.  It was a friend's birthday recently and I'm going to give her this Hawaiian bag!  I hope she likes it!

Small projects are good for the soul

Thanks for so many comments and outpouring of support.  The handling of elderly parents is such a common problem that is rarely talked about in public, I think...

I did decide I wanted to do something last week so I whipped up a small bag using some adorable fabric I found in my stash... Bad Hair Day ( is my daily problem... curly, frizzy...) is a great fabric to play around with!





And for the lining I used some Quilt Diva fabric!


I use these types of bags for everything.  This one came in handy to carry around papers relating to my mom this week.  FYI: it's a pattern by Penny Sturges (Quilts Illustrated) called Charm Party Tote.  It's small, which is great. 11x14x4~  I didn't bother with pockets and used pre-made straps!

I'm going to make one for a friend's birthday using Hawaiian fabrics!

Hope you have a great weekend.  We have our grandkids over for the weekend, and we will enjoy some unusually warm weather.  I'm going to pick my mom up from the board and care home and bring her over so she can see the kids before she moves up to Bend.  My daughter told me that my mom called her today, becoming very emotional talking about Rachel's kids and how much my mom has enjoyed watching them grow up... Have to look on the positive side... my mom will see everyone up in Sunriver this summer!

Finally---

I've been completely consumed with trying to find a suitable location to move my 90 yr old mom once she is ready to leave the Board and Care home.  We learned a few weeks ago that she is not able to go home and live by herself anymore, due to her dementia and confusion as well as her instability.  

I'm happy to report that we are moving her to a lovely Assisted Living facility in Bend Oregon in two weeks.  WHEW.  I won't go into the details of the call I got from Adult Protective Services following up on someone's complaint about my moving my mom up to Oregon...an organization that investigates abuse and neglect.  @#$@#$$#

Still hasn't helped my energy level.  But I have done a little sewing...Been trying to keep up on the baskets project being organized by Bea and Cecile in France.












This is a basket quilt I made about 15 yrs ago in an Asilomar class with Alex Anderson.  It is one of my favorites!  I have always loved basket blocks so I'm enjoying this project from France!



I'm hoping that February will afford me more energy and strength to sew more and post more often.  Thanks to those who asked about me during my long silence. ;-))

Hourglass blocks and more!

In an effort to be a better blogger (and quilter!) I'm posting my progress for you to look at of my green border on the hourglass quilt I'm working on.  In case you don't know, this was a leader/ender project that Bonnie Hunter posted a few years ago.  Ok, so I'm a few years behind... What else is new!! ;-)

I'm happy to say that it's too large for my design wall so it's now on the floor!  I've been using both the accuquilt and my companion ruler.  I find that when I cut them individually, there is a little more wiggle room;  the accuquilt dies cut them very exact, which doesn't allow for much extra.  Some of them were too small. ;-((



After the green, there's a row of neutrals and then I'm doing purples!! They are all brights.  Kind of fun!!

Hope you're having a great (and warm) weekend!

Baskets done~

Look at me. I'm on a roll.  Three posts in 3 days!  We'll see how long that lasts!!  We don't have the grandkids this coming weekend so I'm hoping I'll get some sewing done... and maybe even a little clean up of the sewing disaster room! More hourglass blocks are in the forecast too... I'm hoping to get it done soon!

I am going to do Cécile's basket sew a long this year.  Last year I did their log cabin one and had a blast.  It's great because the only rule is that you have to make a certain number.  I like that freedom.  I'm going to do mine in different sizes and then play with putting them together.  I like that I can make one in a short time and call it DONE!!

I started with 5" ones;  I have a great little pattern for a 10" block so I'm thinking 4 of the little guys next to a big one!  Or maybe sashing in between?  Years ago I made one of my all-time favorite quilts which is a basket sampler after a week long class I took at Asilomar with Alex Anderson.  I have it hanging in our cabin in Oregon.  I'll take a picture next time I'm up there (in two weeks).  It is a great quilt, if I do say so myself.






Hope you are all staying safe and warm. Looks really cold and snowy in the East.  We finally got some rain in California!

I'm a STAR... well , not really

For those of you following along with the ModaBlockheads quilt, today's quilt is about ME!! It's a barrister's block.  Get the pattern here.  I've done about maybe 3 or 4 of the blocks but I've been collecting them and intend to make it!

And I'm also going to do the basket quilt with Cécile.  I think that Béa will not be joining in but her name is part of the title!!   I love basket blocks so I'm going to make a couple today!

Thank you for those who commented on my new assistant, Ryan's, sewing!

Hope you're having a great first week of January!!!

A new quilter !!

Happy New Year!  We spent a week up at our cabin in Oregon and just about the only sewing I did was to get the adorable table runner done.  Remember I bought the fabric kit from the LQS before I left?  I did get this done and actually tried the free-motion quilting on the Juki.  I was quite pleased with how nicely the machine handled.  hmmm.. Now to do that more often!  Aren't these fabrics adorable!!


I also worked on my scrappy hourglass quilt.  I got another round done and was very pleased with it.  It's a lot of fun but definitely takes a long time to go all the way around!  My blocks finish at 3".  My next round is bright green!




I also gifted a quilt to a friend who lives near us in Oregon.  She and her husband had never received a quilt before so they were delighted. She is obviously NOT a quilter! vbg  This was a quilt I made several years ago but hadn't been using.  it is a very simple quilt to make and went together pretty quickly.  It's great to gift something like that to someone who will appreciate it!



I wanted to show you just the little bit of snow we had in Sunriver.  Here is a picture of our front yard and Mt. Bachelor.  The snow was gone by the time we left on Friday to head back to California. So different than last year!  I will admit that I slipped on the ice our first night (taking Max out) and landed right on my arse.  OUCH.





My grandkids came for the weekend and I decided that little Emma needed a bag to transport her toys.  She has a collection of plastic animals that she brings back and forth (you don't want to hear about the time that I left the bag at her house!!).  This time my daughter packed them in a brown grocery bag.  That just won't do.  So I went through my stash and found this adorable castle fabric I bought some years ago.  Ok, I did go and buy some go-withs.  What was so great was that all 3 kids wanted in on the sewing.  I propped the foot pedal onto a little stool and set them one by one in a chair next to me to press the foot pedal as well as the scissor button.  Gotta love my Juki


My 8 yr old grandson decided he really wanted to do more so I figured he was old enough to have a go in front of the machine.  He had a ball!  You may notice he's wearing necklaces and bracelets.  What can I say?  He likes to wear my jewelry when he comes over and I see no reason to dissuade him.  Know what I mean?  At least he feels free at our house to do what he wants to do.  He also loves to cook!  That might explain why the kids hate leaving our house!


Here are the sides of the bag;  I even sewed Emma's name in one spot, which turned out to be at the bottom... oops.




Thanks to everyone who sent me such sweet comments about my mom. She turns 90 tomorrow and is itching to get back to her own home.  I'm making sure she's strong enough so she is staying in the board and care home at least until the end of January.  From then on, I don't know what will happen. She has an appointment at the memory care facility next week;  and a social worker is meeting me this week to evaluate her home for changes to make it safer.  I will be trying to arrange for caregivers to come and help her;  it remains to be seen how many hours she'll need help.

Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope you enjoyed a joyous holiday season and are welcoming the new year with open arms.  I never make resolutions; I just always try to be a better person and do better!  I wish you all good things and especially health and happiness!