Grandma Lil

Grandma Lil had her 96th birthday this year.  She is an amazing woman.  She is tough. She survived the death of  2 children and 2 husbands, brothers and sisters.  She is soft and loves her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  She is harsh and critical; don't give her a present she has no use for....She is tight lipped and you can confide in her.  She is verbal. Sometimes it's not fun to hear what she has to say.  She has taken care of each of us in her very special way.  When the girls were little she had a child sized grocery cart that she let them use to "go shopping" in her pantry.  There were many times that those "shopping trips" were life savers because we were short on cash......"Grandma, the girls would say, "Mommy is out of this and needs some."   She has what we call the "Grandma Lil whisper!" You know that whisper. Everyone within 25 ft. hears it....and it's generally not something everyone within 25 feet should  hear!  She is generous. She has a biting tongue.  She had a cabinet we all loved.  It was filled with candy, gum, chips...everything you don't need, and you never left her house with out a trip to visit it. 

Grandma Lil now lives in a nursing home.  It kills me that she has to live there but she is in Ohio and I am in Texas. 

In December, just before her birthday, we visited.  She is the same grandma she has always been...just a bit older.  I need to repeat myself more often and sometimes just a bit louder but she is still the same.  The Grandma Lil whisper is even louder. The biting remarks a bit grumpier but her love and kindness still radiates.  She looks exactly the same as she always has!

This year at retreat I decided, at the last minute, to make Grandma Lil a birthday pillow.  I had none of the birthday  fabric I wanted to use.  No fusible, no fiberfill and nothing to use for a backing.    In other words, I was completely  prepared! Enter friends!!!! This one gave me fabric, that one fiberfill and another the backing.  Together we stitched together a little pillow filled with love.

She loved the pillow! She especially liked the fact that my friends helped to make it special.

Friends and family....it's what it's all about!

The Place with Eyes

     I made this long ago for my father.  Ice cream is in our family. Our entire lives, no matter the event, we went out for ice cream.  Lazy Sunday afternoon, my dad would say, "Hey Elaine, Let's go for a ride." Off we'd shoot to look at boring boats, cars, or other things kids "love."  However, after the boredom, we'd end up at one or another place for ice cream.  "Want to go out for ice cream?"  Or as we said in front of the dog, because she knew what it was or my little brother before he caught on....I-C-E Cream.  Buy a new car? Ice cream. Recital, Band concert? Ice cream.  

       After the girls were born, an ice cream shop opened  that put little candy eyes on the cones.  They loved to go to the "place with eyes with grandma and grandpa!" The ice cream tradition continued through their recitals and concerts.  Sometimes the place with eyes, sometimes not.  A number of years ago, as adults, they went to Ohio for a visit. Naturally grandpa had to take them to the place with eyes! 

When I bought my first sewing machine that "made letters," I made this little quilt for my dad.  It's interesting to see my attempt at binding and how I attached the one border the wrong way but, he happily hung it in his work room for years!  The outer edge has all of the reasons and places we went for ice cream.  Of course, the cones all have eyes!

It makes me sad that this little wall hanging lives at my house now but, in a way, also happy.  I know my dad enjoyed looking at it as much as I do now.

State of my backside

Oh how I wish my daughters and their spouses were slugs! Instead they are driven, determined young people.

I have be fiddle faddling around with the same 10 lbs for a year now. It is annoying and I've been looking for inspiration....ANYWHERE!! S0, we all made goals for the month of June. This was all my stupid idea. I said that I wanted to lose 10 lbs for the umpteenth time. Serena and Chris-A made goals too. Aviva and Chris-S didn't. Serena held to hers and about 10 days ago asked us how we were doing. WHOOPS! I had forgotten about it!!

After discussion, Chris-A and I made a deal for our goals....little did I know he planned on sticking to it!! LOL!! He is giving me a run for my money! But....if all goes well over the next two days, I will have attained my goal!! WHOOHOO! (don't get too excited as I had gained that 10 lbs).

For July it seems we all have goals, DH not included as he is healing! My goal is 4 days a week at the gym.....Chris-A dittoed my goal.....my muscles already hurt! Aviva has a gym goal, Serena and Chris-S have the same goal.

The way I see it the month of June goes to Serena for inspiring us...uhm and making us feel bad that we weren't working towards our goals. I am hoping that the month of July will go to me and that Chris-A will poop out with the gym! It's not easy for me to go toe to toe with him...he's almost half my age!

The unknowns here though are the rest of the family....they may just surprise us and be the winners! Any way you look at it we will (hopefully) all be winners by the end of July.

Family photos

In December we had family photos taken. We are just getting around to doing something with them. Thought I'd share here too. ( I can't find that I've already posted these....if I have, forgive my aged brain and bear with me!)

The entire crew....



DH and I. I LOVE this photo as getting DH to smile is like pulling teeth. This is as close as we've ever gotten!



DH can't do anything serious and he was squeezing the stuffing out of me! I do like how it made my waist look so small though!!!




Serena and her husband


Too bad they aren't in love huh?




Aviva and her (now) husband.



The photographer was awesome! She manages to catch moments. Doesn't this look like a Calvin Klein commercial?



Love this! The guys MUST appear tough and crusty!



DH loves his girls and they love him. This picture brought tears to my eyes.


If you are so bored out of your mind and have nothing better to do, we have 50 some odd shots from this photo shoot! Have at it!!!

Gifts

(why the gift post now when Hanukkah is looooong over? We are just exchanging gifts this weekend as this is the first we've been able to get together)



These are the items I made for my kids...the true gift is mine....the reason....

Last year I made these apples. They were the September gift of the month. I didn't think much of it but Chris2 said "Oh. can you make pears?" I never gave it another thought. Obviously he did. When Ms. Aviva took the apples out this fall he told her, "You know, I really do want your mom to make me pears." Chris2's gift.






A month or so ago, during a family dinner, Chris1 said, "Hey, I need you to make me one of those bowls like Serena's. I later asked my daughter if he serously wanted a bowl! Yup! Seems he wants one for his toiletries. I did something a bit different with this one. No fabric wrapping! Thread only. I like the way it turned out. I was testing different threads so that is why the bottom is different. It looked to "girly" for a guy. Chris1's gift.









Earlier this year our guild had an owl swap. Serena came over one day as I was furiously making owls. She ooohed and aaahhed and said she wanted a pillow. My friend made me a shirt with the owl on it and I wore it one day when Serena and I went out. She ooohed and aaahed and said she wanted a pillow. In October she spotted one of the owl blocks and reminded me that she "wanted one of them." I forgot that she wanted a pillow but made her this shirt. (naturally I remembered the pillow after I'd finished the shirt!) Serena's gift.




I had a gift for everyone else so I needed to come up with something for Aviva.....I decided to make her one of these loopy scarves. (I just used this link for a pic. I bought it from Joanns). It is stlylishly being modeled by my iron! Aviva's gift.




What is my gift in this? Well, all this sewing, crafting and patchkeying around is NOT in vain! They not only like but want the things I make. It make my heart sing that the boys asked for homemade items. Chris#1 is always asking when I'm going to feel like making pj pants again! Chris2 is excited that his kippot (Jewish, traditionally male. head covering) will be made from candy fabric.



I think my girls picked winners when they chose their mates!!

June and July doings

I've been away from home for the past 4 weeks. I am at "home" helping my sister. My brother in law has been fighting glioblastoma multiforme (if you scroll to the bottom you'll see the dismal prognosis.) for the past 11 years. For all intents and purposes, he beat it because when he was diagnosed 11 years ago, they gave him mere months to live. He has fought hard and received fabulous treatments. They really don't know what worked or why but obviously something did work. Now however, because the tumor is growing again, he is very much like a man with a traumatic brain injury. He is currently under hospice care.

This is a great picture of my BIL and niece taken the 2nd week I was here.

The past few weeks have been a true test of my mettle. I came here for many reasons. Obviously I came to help my sister, bro in law and niece, but I also came to help my 94 year old grandmother. She is at the point where living alone (in a two story home with laundry in the basement) is no longer a good option. We are trying to find the perfect place for her to live. My grandma is a feisty woman and it isn't easy merging her needs and desires! This task alone could drive a person to drink!

This is honestly the best picture I've seen of her in years!!! She actually smiled!

I came here for a another reason too. I've been too wrapped up in my own emotions and needs lately. I've been to self centered. Here, I've had no time here to worry about myself and and my self indulgent thoughts and behaviors. I don't have time to worry about piddly, unchangeable things. It is all about life, death and living with dignity. There is only time to do the necessities and certainly no time for self indulgence. It has been an emotionally and physically draining few weeks but ones that I wouldn't trade for anything.

I've had the intention to make baked potato bags for all of the volunteers that help my sister. I bought the fabric and borrowed the sewing machine the first week I was here. I still only have 4 made...uhm....two of those 4 are pressed correctly. I will get them finished this week before I leave. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a picture and blog about them. In the meantime....

The Flip Flop Quilt

I could have sworn that I'd already posted this quilt. (if you've already seen this, sorry. I just couldn't find it. Point me to the right spot so I can stop pulling out tufts of hair!) I would have been willing to bet on it! I searched and searched my blog to no avail. Thanks to Sandy I was able to add my webshots photos to the blog. Bloggers are the best!!!





This quilt was a total labor of love. It is also one that I entered into a quilt show a few years ago. Not such fabulous comments from the judges but that's ok. I really didn't enter it to be judged, just to be seen.

You have to read the label in order to understand the quilt. The label give both an explaination of the quilt and a legend to explain each block. I freemotion quilted it on my home machine. You can't really tell but I echo quilted the flip flops to look like they were in the sand. The blue fabric looks like bubbles. The fabric from the quilt came from my stash. Frugal. The flip flop trims were purchased. Very expensive!

It's been a while, but there is a reason

Oh how does one post such a thing? I have been in Ohio for the past two weeks. My brother lost his battle with melanoma. He was diagnosed on Thanksgiving last year. It has been a steady deterioration over the past 3 months. I was here visiting in July. I am so glad I came while he was still conscious. He leaves behind a wife and 12 year old son. The funeral is tomorrow.

I will be back to posting and quilting soon but really have nothing right now. Craig had a difficult time over the past month and the texting and phone calls were so prolific that I haven't had the presence of mind to quilt. I have missed the first two weeks of school so I have quite a bit waiting for me once I get home.

Dad's like toys too!

I bought DH something that is fun and useful....a hand held bug zapper! You put in AA batteries and go to town on the annoying flying critters that attack! DH was grilling and decided to put it to good use! When the bugs don't come to you....go to the bugs!! This thing really does work. He was just amusing himself while waiting for dinner to cook but all I could hear was zzzap, zzzzap, zzzzzap!

Success! AND dinner!

My new toy... AKA birthday present

DH took me shopping. After we bought my requested new toy, he told me "Happy Birthday. Unless I think of anything better between now and your birthday, this is your present." Amusing huh! Once the words Happy Birthday left his lips he put the thought right out of his head! LOL!! My actual BD isn't until next week but we seem to have been celebrating it for a couple of weeks now!

I love, love this camera (Olympus Stylus 7000). Perhaps I never knew what my other camera could do, but this one has so many functions that I'm having to learn how to use it. Perhaps it will lead me to posting more often!a>

These two pictures were taken about 1" away from the fabric.

This was about 2 " away

This one was just taken as close as I could get and still keep the picture in frame. I

I'm thinking there will be some incredible quilting photos coming soon.....

Another gift

Before I explain the photo, let me tell you something about my family. Without using real names, I'd like to explain the guys here. My husbands name is ABCDE. My sister's husbands name is also ABCDE. My brother's name is LMNOP and DH's brother is named LMNOP. My daughter, Mrs. S is married to PQRST (known as Mr. FancyPants) and my other daughter (Ms. A.) has been dating for a long time now,)a boy named , yes, you got it, PQRST! Now both of the boys, PQRST's names start with the letter C. Therefore, Ms. A's boyfriend will be known forevermore on my blog as C2. Add to the mix that Ms. A goes by her given name at home and for legal purposes but her Hebrew name everywhere else and I use the names interchangeably, you really need to concentrate on the conversation if you want to know which ABCDE, LMNOP or PQRST or daughter we are discussing! (For many years my friends thought I had three girls. Mrs. S, Ms. A by her given name and Ms. A by her Hebrew name!!!!)

Sometime this fall C2 and Ms. A came home. During the course of their visit I heard C2 say,
"What does it take to get a quilt around this family!" I cracked up because in my sewing room was his gift. I made this quilt in record time. Pieced and quilted in 3 weeks.

It is free motion quilted on the longarm. I used an allover patter and was amazed by how even I was able to get it. I used Brytes thread. The picture is a bit fuzzy

I am upset that I didn't get a betert picture. It sat there waiting for me to give it to him and get a picture and then I was sick and could have cared less! This was the best I could do. You'll have to believe me when I say the quilting is pretty cool.

Why I.........

I don't remember when it happened but I began doing things for the when "I'm no longer around." I don't plan on going anywhere soon but know how important memories, ect. are to loved ones. It is why I blog. I've wanted to start a journal for years. This is as close as I'll ever get. Oh, I must admit that I enjoy talking about, reading about and thinking about quilting but, life seeps in a post every now and then. I keep a file with a copy of all of my blog entries. Eventually, most of them need to be tossed but perhaps one or two will strike a chord with my girls and they will want to keep "my words." It's why I blog about my family or the holidays. It's nice that there are other people interested in "my words" now. As a matter of fact, I find it fastinating that "strangers" want to read what I write....maybe they just look at the pictures! However, mostly I do it for tomorrow. Well.....I do do it for today too but ultimately for tomorrow. (I think it's funny that my "in person friends" will read my posts and comment to me about them!!! It's very flattering. When my one friend leaves for the entire summer, she keeps up with me through my blog!)

It's the same reason why I seem obsessed with making things for the girls. Yes, my personality is one that becomes obsessed with something and then once that obsession is over, never revisits it again! My latest obsession is making things for my girls homes. Maybe it's because "How many Halloween, Valentine or Thanksgiving table runners can I own?" Maybe it's because there are so many items out there that I want to make and I only have so much space. Mostly I think it is because I want them to be surrounded by the love that went into creating those things. I hope that they will have so many hand made things from me over many, many years that they beg me to stop! But in the meantime, I'll keep blogging and sewing and hopefully piling memories on top of memories.

September.....

Is one of my 3 favorite months. (the others are March, Mrs. S's b'day and June, mine!) DH's birthday was the 22nd and Ms. A's is the 24th.
Random facts....
Ms. A was born on the 2nd day of Rosh Hashana. I thought it was soooooo cooool that they announced her birth during services.

We had the choice of birthdays for her....we chose to give her her own day that she didn't share with her dad.

We went for dinner at the Brown Derby the night before she was born.

I expected a redhead this time!

DH is the youngest of 3 brothers all 1 year or less apart....born to a mom who was not yet 20 and had been married 3 years....and is still married 52 years later

This picture will not be either of their favorites.....but I love it. We had gone to Ohio to visit family and had to be at the airport at some ung-dly hour like 5:30 a.m. After a hysterical night in the hotel room where we needed to go to the front desk to request that the porn be turned off the television, where we went to Denny's (lovely hotel food) for dinner, asked for a to-go cup and the guy thought we wanted a souviner, and a night of poor sleep, we made it to the airport.....with no coffee having been injested. Ms. A must have her a.m. coffee at that hour and was grumpy when we hit security and the ever friendly TSA employees. Now you'd think that they'd have been much nicer at that hour but they were barking up a storm. I was watching Ms. A getting more and more irritated (that irritation began at the ticket counter) & I actually could see her face changing. I looked at DH and said, "QUICK, go buy coffee!" (we'd made it through the security way ahead of her) As she finally exited the security area I slammed the coffee in her hand. She was grumbling and grousing and grumbling and grousing. We sat down and like magic, the caffeine took effect, she looked at me and said, "coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee!" and became her normal self. This photo is of her and DH ....she is in a much happier state AFTER the coffee . DH is pretending to be severe!!

These are repeat photos from Las Vegas!!!
Happy Birthday to my September crew!