“There was fog after yesterday’s rain.”
OMGosh! Y’all…I got all the rows pieced together yesterday and half the borders cut! I would have continued to work on it, but bending over the pool table to work for any length of time hurts my back. I’ll have it finished on Monday and take it to the quilt shop to get it quilted. It should be ready in time for the wedding. I told Mr. FixIt that I’m NEVER going to make such a complicated pattern again. And…folks may have to get by with quilted wall hangings from now on!
My grandma made very few quilts that were actually quilted. I remember as a very young child, there was a quilt on her old quilting frame that she rolled up at night and stuck in the corner of the dining room. Then when the neighbor ladies came, she propped the frame up on the backs of dining room chairs. They sat around the quilt and everyone had a hand at quilting it. Grandma even let me take a few stitches. I was thrilled and I’m sure that’s where I got the quilting bug.
My mom always had McCall’s Needlework & Crafts Magazines around the house. I don’t know where she got them because we didn’t have extra money for such things, so I’m sure someone gave them to her. I loved that magazine so much! There was always a little craft for kids to do and I looked forward to each new issue so I could make something special. Mom was an excellent seamstress but I don’t recall her making quilts. She sewed clothes. And she was fastidious with it, believe me. When I learned to sew, she supervised with an iron fist! I’ve ripped out so many seams it would make your head spin. She always made me BASTE my seams by hand before I sewed them. Drove me batty!
When Mom died and I came home to get her affairs in order, I found many items that were only half finished. Now that I look back, I should have kept and finished them, but there was so much to do, it was too overwhelming. So I let them go to the church thrift store. I’m sure someone was happy to have them.
My Grandmother Roush was the quilter in the family. She pieced quilts and gave them to family members. At some point, I had a quilt she made and hand tied. It was made out of terrible polyester knit fabrics from the ‘60s…in shades of green and orange. I kept it and used it for years but somewhere along the way, it wasn’t around anymore. She did give me a quilt top she pieced from very light fabrics…white, yellow, and green. I knew nothing about quilting, so I put it away for the day when I might learn. When it was time to quilt it, I took it out of the box it was in, unwrapped the tissue paper, and somehow something had leaked into the box and the top was ruined beyond repair.
When Daughter #2 was little, I took classes at the local community college and learned how to quilt. Several of the other doctor’s wives got together and worked on crafts when our babies were little. I knew the basics from watching my grandmothers, so I watched my friends intently and before you knew it, I was making quilted wall hangings. It grew from there, but now I’m at a point where the tedious work is just more than I want to put into things. I’ll still make simple block quilts but nothing like this latest project!
Mr. FixIt went to town again yesterday to help his friend put up the storm door they bought the day before. I stayed home and worked on the quilt and my shop. We had another thunderstorm in the afternoon which was lovely. We’ve needed rain here. There have been several fires already this spring. I never thought of West Virginia as being prone to wildfires. I don’t remember them when I was growing up. But global warming has changed everything and the weather is completely different now.
As soon as this quilt is finished, we need to do a whirlwind job cleaning this house so we’re ready for my cousin’s visit in a couple of weeks. Then it’s packing time and we’ll head for the beach! I’ve been eyeing the weather in North Carolina and it’s not looking terrific. However, we’ve been there many times when they predicted cold, wet weather and it turned out gorgeous. That’s what I’m praying for!
I hope you have a beautiful and blessed Sunday!
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“Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.”
John 12:28-29 NIV
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“Be Still and Know That I Am God”
