My birthday

Last year it was very hard, Matthew never forgot, always called from wherever he was & I knew there would be no birthday phone call from him. This year, I have had another 12 months to live with this awful reality so I was better prepared for it. No less sad, but better able to cope.

Our "boys" & family all came for pizza & sushi Sunday to celebrate my birthday when everyone could be together. I have a beautiful new photo of Matt aged 3 [wearing Daddy's flight helmet circa 1971] in a wonderful frame with the scripture from Ecclesiastes, "To everything there is a season...." JW & Madeleine gave me that & of course I cried. Lucas & family have ordered an engraved cross for our memorial garden, which BTW, was a flood plain after all the rain because Walt has dug it out to put the pavers in.

Andrew & Lana gave me a gift cert. for a new camera, since mine went in the trash a week or so ago! Programmed obsolescence!

Today J took me to Tommy Bahamas for a lovely lunch, then a little retail therapy where we found some real bargains at J.Jill & Ann Taylor Loft. That's always good to cheer up a woman a bit, new clothes & at 70% off no less! And I had a gift certificate from JW & Mems from Christmas so it was even nicer! I wore two of my finds tonight to the sushi bar.

Kierland Commons was awash in police & other security because the Superbowl Teams are in town & staying at the resort there.

Then I went to the Pfaff store/QS-took my CC mystery quilt & picked up stop border & border fabric, also on sale & some light toned batiks [50% off] for the Bargello Bowl Sunday.

I'll get pics & post tomorrow. Maybe I'll even get a new camera so I can take pics whenever I need to!

I did stay up last night to finish setting the blocks on my mystery quilt-still have to press it, now won't that be fun all those little blocks! The ladies at the QS loved the quilt, couldn't believe I had that many fabrics in my scrap collection, if only they knew,LOL. They weren't keen to replicate the pattern though, too many postage- stamp sized pieces they said.

Australia Day

When I first came to live in USA, I used to hang my big Aussie parade flag out front on January 26th, but I haven't done that in a long time. I have two good friends whose birthdays are today, & mine & two other friends will be Tuesday.

I got my mystery quilt laid out on the guest bed & Khris looked at the pic. & pointed out that I had an hour glass block turned around in one of the Ohio stars so I have just a little ripping to do!

I was hoping that some eagle eyed quilter would find any anomolies & someone did. I would have been irritated if I had already sewn the blocks together, though the Amish always put a mistake in their quilts because only God is perfect- I can always use that as an excuse for my errors!

Yesterday I finished up the second of two baby quilts & sewed the binding on the sudoku, just have to do the hand sewing & that will be the third UFO for 2008. Next I really want to quilt my oldest UFO, a KS Lover's Knot from 1986! I think I have finally decided how to quilt it & I'm planning on using the technique from Kim Stotsenberg's book "Just Leaf It".

Well, I did begin sewing the rows of blocks in the Mystery quilt , I think I have almost a third together & it's exciting to see it come together. I'm so very pleased that all my scrappiness looks as well as it does.

I had to stop to go to the movies with DH-I wouldn't recommend "Untraceable"-much too suspenseful, violent & graphic for me ,very scary, so much so that I kept leaving my seat to hang out in the lobby! Walt kept dozing off, at least for the first half. Wish I could have, LOL.

Progress.....

I have two baby quilts made this week, the girl's labeled & bound the boy's ready to bind. They are for two new babies at our church. I have decided that I make so many I will call this my "baby quilt ministry!"

My Sudoku is on the table ready to bind & my mystery is..... well, one corner is still laid out on the table getting scrunched every time I need the space for something else! I don't have room for the entire quilt & the pieces won't stay on the design board without pinning so perhaps I'll just do one row at a time? Seems I read where one of the mystery quilters was going to do that.

Today I went to the Phoenix needlework & craft show with Sue & her mum Joan[who is visiting from Australia] At lunch I broke one of my front teeth, tragedy, really, I can't face the world like a snaggle toothed hag, so had to get it temporarily bonded until a permanent solution can be constructed, oh dear, more dental work! I had a little meltdown in the dentist chair, seems that Matthew's death has left me prone to weep at difficult times where once that would not have been so.

Today began with an almost sleepless night so perhaps I should be thankful that the worst that has happened is that I lost half a tooth? Is that a half full glass, I wonder............

I am meeting more & more delightful quilter's through Stashbusters & Bonnie's mystery-perhaps because Bonnie is such a dear she only attracts lovely people.

I want to join the quilter's blog ring but I'll need to ask how-I'm sure that we were told but I'm not always good at retaining information until I need it!

I was looking at my friend K's blog where she had a pic. of her daughter with her first quilting project & thinking about how I taught DGS Daniel to sew, first by hand & then on my 1940's Singer featherweight. He wants to make another quilt but his attention span isn't wonderful & after all he is a nearly 13 yr.old boy & needs activity!

It's 17th. again.

Every month, there is 17th. & 18th. No escaping them is there? My clock is split between Australia & USA, ONLY 17 hours difference LOL !It is 18th. now in Aus., 6 years since my godson & nephew Todd lost his life in a single vehicle accident. it has been heavy on my heart all month, in truth I never forget it. One year and 6 months since we knew our beloved son Matthew had left this earth too. Personally, I think that is more than our share of tragedy, but that's JMHO.

To the rest of the world we are "OK". I do all the expected things, buy the necessary, make meals, take a shower get my hair done-I look "OK" right? Wrong, inside I am bleeding, always the broken heart. Behaving "OK" for the rest of the world sometimes gets to be too much & then I have one of my"meltdowns", tonight was such a night.

Tomorrow I'll try to return to whatever the world expects of me but for tonight I am the broken hearted mother, weeping, inconsolable.

Help from an Aussie!

My online quilting friend "K" walked me through a tutorial via "instant messenger" yesterday! I learned a lot & printed off a copy of her instructions so I have a reference. Whew, that was a lot of info. & for web savvy people that's no big deal I know.

I met "K" online along with hundreds of others, because of a group which formed around the construction of a "mystery quilt", a group that grew to over a thousand in a couple of weeks. These quilters are from all over the world, from Australia, N.America, S. America, UK, Europe & Africa! I find it quite astounding, the number & locations of the members that could only have come about because of the internet.

We are currently on step # 6 of this mystery & on Thursday of this week the 7th, & final step will be revealed.

Joining this group is one of the steps I have taken to keep myself constantly occupied & productively so. During this dreadful journey of grieving I have discovered much about myself that I did not know before- one of those facts is that I need to be productive & I am focused on finding ways to do that. It makes sense to me to explore an area of great interest & familiarity & that happens to be quilting.

Next post I hope to be able to picture my progress with this mystery quilt & perhaps whatever else I am currently creating.

Another day............

Well, I must confess I haven't learned much more about blogging in spite of the fact that I have searched the "help" sites, I still can't seem to find the "how to's" of what I want to do!

Guess I'll have to ask real live person for assistance. I feel like a reall blogger dummy.

Finding my way........

I am trying to increase my knowledge of this blogging thing! Wandering around, learning a little here & there, it's slow going!

In the beginning...............

Everyone[well many of my acquaintances & most of my online quilting buddies] seems to have a blog, it's the "in" thing & if you don't blog, well, then you are definitely not "in". Now I am probably showing my age by the use of the vernacular but I can't think of the current buzz word. No doubt I have just confirmed the above. Okay, I remember-it's "sweet"!I thought this would be a way to record my sewing/quilting progress - I am newly committed to sew up some of the STABLE [{fabric} Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy] that I have neatly grouped on shelves in my studio by color & theme. This continues to increase in size & number as recently as today. I guess you could say that I am an unashamed & unrepentant collector of beautiful fabrics. I can easily get lost in a quilt shop as the colors & textures swirl around me & I am oblivious to the passing of time.

I thought that I might also use the blog as a journaling tool- I have since childhood had a love affair with words, & find it necessary to use multiples of said words to express my thoughts & emotions.

Anyone who knows me would no doubt say that I wear my heart on my sleeve-what you see is pretty much what you get, I have a difficult time pretending to be what I am really not.

This has become even more evident the past months-nearly 18 of them, since our beloved son Matthew died .
I plan to post pictures, of my quilting, perhaps my family, the beautiful Colorado mountains where we have a summer retreat home
&
other [to me] interesting subjects.

DH and our four handsome sons.