The Granny Diaries

My Quilted Brain

It is official!  The wrinkly lines in my brain must have been created with a walking foot.

No matter where I look I see a pattern that MUST be translated into fabric and thread (and buttons, and ric rac, and felt, and glitter...oh, sooo much glitter!).

Instead of just taking snaps of this precious grandgirlie, I make her hold up my quilts.

Sort of a royal Vanna to my quilty Sajak.

My sister does a better job but she refuses to wear the crown.

And she doesn't curl into my lap for story time.

Which is probably best.

Did I mention that the Modern Quilt ladies are working on an Ohio Star project?

The designs are piling up and if I ever need proof that my poor little noggin is filled with thread and batting, all I need to do is look closely at my doodles.

Because I clearly have quilting on my mind.

 

A New Year Begins

 
I am not a warm weather person. 

 

If I had a choice, the year would start in October.  I love the fall!

 

Cooler temps.  Earlier sunsets. Homemade soup.  Pumpkin Pie.

I have had a rocky year and have been letting it get to me.

Today, the first day of October, is going to to mark a new beginning.

 
I went to Erin Condren's wonderful shop and ordered this organizer/ calendar.  It is time I got my life in order after all these life changes. 

Ch ch ch changes.....

That is what this year is all about. 

 

I am going to grow my business.

 

I'm going to spend time with the people I love and who love me.

 

I am going to take time to relax and reconnect with the world.

I am going to eat right (green M&M's are healthy, right?), get some exercise, and get healthy, happy, and wise.

 

And while I am doing this I am going to make a few quilts. 

Happy New Year!

 

 

Were You Looking for Me?

 
It was a dreadful summer and a hectic fall and I am thrilled at the notion of being snowed in.  I was going to report on what I did on my summer vacation but flashbacks to fourth grade gave me hives.  Instead, I am going to hit the high spot first.

 
 
This precious little girl joined our family.  We waited and prayed for her even before we knew she was coming.  Meet Miss Grace, never to be called Gracie Lou(family joke).  I get to play with her tomorrow.  I've said it before but it bears repeating, this grandmother thing is the best gig ever.

Welcome to the Family, Grace!

 

Name That PhD Giveaway

Last Friday, an event occurred that had been years in the making.  My oldest son was officially hooded at The University of Cincinnati.  UC is a family institution - more of our degrees have come from this university than any other school. 

The proud papa could scarcely control his pride.  The SUV and I met in the now defunct Sander Hall at UC.  We watched as it was imploded several years later and gathered a chunk of the structure as a memento of our whirlwind courtship.  Some women have pressed flowers, I have concrete.  It symbolizes a tale that involves a ditsy roommate, the laundry room and a pair of overalls.  There have been more romantic tales, but as of Monday, we have been married for 36 years.

The ceremony was long because the first born graduated with a few of his closest friends.  The University bestowed degrees upon all the Master's and Doctoral candidates for the entire year.  They also recreated the 1970 class graduation which had been delayed due to certain events at another Ohio University. 

The SUV just wanted to get everything moving so he could congratulate the Doc.

Kathy, Emily, and I amused ourselves with the electronic scoreboard and our cameras.  We know how to behave at a ceremony of such gravitas.

These lovely ladies also have at least one degree from UC,  It really is a new family tradition.

So... without further ado...and in honor of being able to yell "Is there a doctor in the house?" and receiving an affirmative reply...I have a new game for all of us to play:

"Name That Phd"

This little zipper pouch will be awarded to the first player who correctly guesses the area of study in which our family Doctor was hooded.  The pouch will be packed with a few little surprises including a fat quarter.

Join the fun and name that doctorate in the comments before Saturday at midnight eastern time.  The winner will be announced on Monday morning.  If no one guesses the correct degree, a winner will be drawn at random.

Good Luck, and May the Force Be with You!

The Fabric of My Life

I love Quilt Market!

I have never been there, but I love it.  All the online shops clean house in anticipation of the new fabric lines and it feels like Christmas to me.  Just look at the lovelies that have arrived at my doorstep in the last two weeks!  Sale prices allow me to indulge in my new found passion for for apple green.  And spring green.  And acid green.  And bright green.  Yes, pink and aqua creep into the palette but I am still loving that green!

Remember Giveaway Day?  This amazing batch of scraps arrived from JCasa Handmade and I have been sorting through it since Memorial Day.

"Someone sent you scraps?" asked my poor SUV. (Slightly Used Husband)

"Yes."  I purred.  "Isn't this piece amazing?"

"I guess.  Are you going to keep all that?"  Poor deluded man, he believes one can have enough fabric.  The SUV seems to forget his ninety-seven antique woodworking planes in the basement.  I accept his addiction.  He is going to have to learn to deal with mine.

Jennifer had already joined a few of the charm pieces she sent.  They looked a bit familiar so I took them to my studio and sliced them in half and joined them all together.  That's when I recognized my little fabric pals.

The doll quilt on the bottom (upper right hand side) was made for me by my grandmother 50 years ago (That's right, I 'm vintage!). 

The doll quilt on top was made with the scraps from Jennifer. 

My quilt has been loved for half a century and is a bit faded. 

Maybe one of my granddaughters will still have her doll quilt when I am 100 and remark that it looks a bit lighter than she remembered when she shares it with her granddaughter. 

Who would be my great-great granddaughter. 

Wow, I hope they fix the oil leak in the Gulf by then.

I hope I have teeth.

Then I made a quilt and pillow from my own scrap bag for little Cora.  A girl after my own heart, she actually wakes up asking for her baby doll. 

Here's the palette for the nine-patch block swap for The Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild. We meet tomorrow night and I am excited to see what everyone else has created. 

I tried to talk them into apple green instead of yellow but apparently everyone does not share my passion for granny smith apple green.

This bit of fabric will be a Sis Boom  Patricia Tunic for me.  I haven't sewn anything for myself for years.  This also represents my very first Amy Butler purchase. 

Can you believe it? 

I was an Amy Butler Virgin! 

Hooray for Quilt Market!  I found this Bali Gate in pink from the Love Collection at less than $6/yard!

You have to love Quilt Market!

Happy Birthday, Bro!

 

This is my brother, David, with his lovely wife, Becky.  They were high school sweethearts.  Imagine that in this day and age!  This photo was borrowed from the wedding pics of his oldest son, also, David. 

I am the oldest and he is the second of six children. He looks and sounds so much like our father did when we were children that I have actually startled when he has entered a room. 

Today is his birthday.  I am not going to tell you how old he is because that would be snitching on Becky. 

I am going to tell you that he was born in Texas, and I remember frequently playing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" on our little phonograph. 

His favorite color was green. 

He loved Davy Crockett and we always watched "Lassie" on Sunday evenings when we were children.  That's back when the Campbell's Kids were the sponsors and Fess Parker played Davy Crockett.  We used to turn our jungle gym into a conestoga wagon and fight imaginary enemies along the wagon train's route.

Our swingset turned into a rocket ship and we tried to land on the Planet Tang.

We were quarantined for chicken pox or measles when we were little.  We each broke out in spots exactly 10 days apart from one another when there were five children in the family (You do the math!)

He was a great Little League player and I remember watching his games with a bit of envy.  No one believed that girls could play ball back then.  

He once rode a unicycle all the way to school.

He and my sister, Kathleen, were so close when they were little that they developed "Twin Speak."  They looked for Run Claw on Christmas Eve and hit the Big Boy for a wish whamich. 

He was a charming, shy, and sensitive child who grew up to be a charming, confident, sensitive man.

Today, he is father to four amazing young adults.  I wish I knew him better but, time, family circumstances, and distance have made that difficult.  Despite all that, I have known him longer than any other person on this earth and I love him very much.

Happy Birthday, David!

Memorial Day: Havelock David Nelson

 

This is the last family photograph of  the Nelson family.  The next day Major Havelock David Nelson, my  grandfather, shipped out for Clark Airfield in the Philippines.  The fate of my grandfather and his fellow soldiers has been well documented by others on the Bataan Death March. 

Oddly, there is more than one "official" version of Havey's death but, there is no disputing the impact of that moment on his family.  My grandmother, who lived to be 97 years old, never recovered from the loss of the love of her life.  This photograph, framed by brass filigree, sat on her dresser for all those years, forever freezing that moment's image of a family about to lose a beloved father, friend, and lover.

I heard stories about my grandfather while I grew up but I did not "meet" him until I was an adult and the internet allowed me to discover his story.  He was a Marine during WWI and joined the National Guard after marrying my grandmother.  An officer in the cavalry , he was deployed to Clark Air Field ahead of his own unit and served with a National Guard Unit from Maywood, IL.  His own unit never made it to the Philippines as the islands had already fallen to the Japanese.  I learned much of what I know from a website created at Proviso East High School for their Bataan Commemorative Project.  I invite you, this Memorial Day, to visit this amazing memorial to the life and times of their local WWII soldiers.

http://www.proviso.k12.il.us/Bataan/index.htm

If this link does not work, go to the main page of East Proviso HS and click on Student projects.  It is worth the effort to see what high school students and a committed teacher can accomplish.  None of these fallen soldiers will ever be forgotten. 

This Memorial Day I am thinking of my grandparents and of all the military families in the US right now.  There are more recent photos, just like this one, in homes across the country.  There are other little girls who might never see their father or mother; other husbands and wives staring bravely into cameras for what may be their last family photo.

I wish I could think of something to say to the families of all our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I can't, so I will just say "Thank you!"  Maybe, someday, a group of students will choose to honor these soldiers from their communities as a way to say, "I remember."

I Won!

This party's getting started!

I won an amazing reusable lunch set that will be perfect for the young man in the picture above.  I chose a dinosaur print and he will love it for packing snacks.  Dancing takes a lot out of a fella!

Penny from A Little of A Lot www.alittleofalot1.blogspot.com is making this.  Her six year old daughter decided that 600 was the lucky number and I am delighted that that was ME!  Go visit her family when you have a chance.

 
My second prize is either this luscious bunch of scraps or this equally awesome yarn.  I have been wanting to try dying yarn for some time now but I never seem to have time.  The girls need new mittens for next winter so I think I'll be able to get to this project by then.

 
It was a delight to win this from JCasaHandmade www.jchandmade.typepad.com because I have been checking in on Jennifer's blog for a while now.  I love that she, like me, loves knitting and sewing.

I truly won the jackpot, however, just by entering Giveaway Day.  I found amazing blogs from around the world and will need a week to sort out my thoughts about all the inspiring things that other women create and do.  I bookmarked all the sites on which I made an entry and have been checking back in over the past few days.  In addition, when I check the blogs of their winners, I find even MORE to mark as favorites.  It may take all summer, but I am going to check out all the tutorials, etsy shops, and book reviews.  Wish me luck!

My thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew  www.sewmamasew.com for coordinating this great cyber event.

 

If You Give a Child a Camera

 

 You get some amazing sights!  This is the Rotunda ceiling at The Museum Center.  Four little sets of eyes immediately gazed up in awe.  The adults didn't really notice.

 

But those four little sets of eyes took it all in. Lucy took pictures.

 Later, at Uncle Andrew's she showed Ethan how it's done...behind and in front of the lens.

 

Four Grand Weekend

The only photo of Miss Cora actually standing still. 

The pacifier must be the secret.

 Maggie was just as busy but the way to her heart is a fire truck. 

She says M&Ms are good, too. 

 I have no explanation. 

Lucy can always find her pose, even with a plastic eggplant.

Even Ethan was worn out by Saturday night.  

 
 Alex had a nice visit with SIL Emily. 

Even the Meerkat seemed to enjoy himself.

It was a great weekend!