Passions

Everyone has a passion, even if it’s only to avoid having one. At the moment, my huge passion is quilting. After moving to Rison and looking around (not very well, evidently) for a quilting guild or group, I finally found not one… but two!

Last week I joined one of them, and I plan to visit the other one at their next meeting. I’m happy.

What I’m learning very quickly since setting up my sewing machine this past week is that I am not a very good quilter. I do much better with hand-piecing. For some reason my machine piecing just doesn’t look that great lately. (Maybe I just have to get back into practice.) I’ve checked my seams for the appropriate size. I’ve read and re-read directions for certain blocks. I’ve said little prayers. And still my latest block does not work. The sizes of the pieces are off, even though I’ve read and re-read and checked and re-checked.

Oh, well, I’ll figure it out.

In the meantime, I’m going to post some pictures of past work and some still unfinished UFO’s. 

This first quilt is my first finished quilt, a log cabin quilt that I pieced while we lived in Wilson. It’s paper-pieced, and I paid $30 to have it machine quilted. Since I hadn’t provided any binding, the machine quilter simply hemmed the edges. I was going to bind it properly, but before I could do that, my son Billy came to visit and begged me to give it to him. Who can resist a child, even a grown child?

I’m in the process of hand-quilting the following baby quilt. I started it about 18 years ago when one of my daughters was pregnant. Now 15 grandchildren later, it still isn’t finished. And all of the grandchildren are too old for a baby quilt. Oh, well, I consider this a huge learning project.

The following two photos are of blocks are made about a year ago when I was smitten with the 30’s fabrics. They reside on my design board, since I can’t decide on a layout.

And the last photo is of my honeycomb quilt. It’s a works in progress, and if God is kind, I’ll live long enough to finish it. It’s hand-pieced with one-inch hexagon pieces. 

Thanks for indulging me this little bit of whimsey. I guess this is my way of saying I hope to finish these UFO’s, as well as complete some new projects this year. With the inspiration and encouragement of the quilting guild, I might make it.

Run, Run, Run

During this season of the year, all we seem to do is run, run, run. We pause only to grab some sleep and catch our breaths. I’m not a person who loves running. In fact, I seldom move faster than a sedate stroll.

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with our son and his new wife, and two step-sons, our daughter, and then on Saturday, our other daughter, and her family joined us. We ate and ate and played games and enjoyed the warm indoors. Between running the dishwasher and showers, I think we must have used twice the normal amount of water as for any other similar time period. What a clean bunch we were!

This is the first week of Advent, and with it, there are the beginnings of many seasonal obligations — and pleasures. Two potlucks today alone. You betcha, I’m utilizing my crock pot!  Tomorrow a meal out and a trip to see Christmas lights with a group from church. Thursday a much-needed trip to my beautician. My hair has reached that “nanner, nanner, nanner, you-can’t-control-me-any-more” stage. Saturday is our clergy family Christmas party. This will probably be the quietest week.

Oh, but come December 26th, and we’re off to the northeastern part of the state and our retirement home. This trip will be wild because we will be traveling in a pickup truck (NOT one of those trucks with a back seat), and we’ll have our animal carrier in the seat between Jim and me. Our two cats will be vying for space, and the older cat, Girlie, will probably win. She is huge. Poor little Max doesn’t have a chance. I’m sure we’ll be treated to a chorus of cat songs during that four hour drive.

Ah, but when we arrive, friends and parties await. On the agenda will be a trip to our favorite Mexican restaurant, a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s, and perhaps a day trip to the gambling boat on the Mississippi River (only about 40 minutes from Rector). We always enjoy getting away from our regular routine, and the house at Rector is just right for that. I grew up in that house, with my grandmother and step-grandfather. We call it our cottage because of its size: two tiny bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, kitchen, and added on laundry room. Oh, and did I mention the little mysteries that abound in that house? Like doors that open and close on their own. Lights that turn on by themselves. A knocking that we can never locate. Plugged in appliances and devices (the television) that unplug themselves. (Not turn themselves off and on, but UNplug from the wall.) Oh, yes, there are mysteries there in that little cottage on Valley Street where two of my step-grandfathers passed on to the world beyond this one. At least we think they did.  We’ll see how the new cat reacts to everything. A nice week away will be a treat.

Time to get busy.

Later, y’all.