The Dreaded Whirigigs

I'm one of a little group of women acting as guinea pigs for a friend who is going to teach a certain class. We're her instruction testers and chief hecklers. (She loves us all and we all love her; therefore, we heckle.)

There are nine applique blocks in this little project. We're on block seven now. It's a lot of fun...really. But, Block #2 had these whirligig things. I got them all prepped which was a feat in itself.It involved two bobby pins and a lot of magic sizing and heat. Then they had to be sewn down. I started on the first one.

I appliqued the inside curve all the way to the middle and went...

EEEEEEEERRRRRRRRTTT!!!! (That's me...putting on the brakes.)

I do not want to deal with tucking these little ends and sewing these little suckers down.

I don't.

I won't.

I didn't.

This block has sat there for 5 months.

Waiting patiently.

Wondering why it was being passed over while blocks 3, 4, 5 and even 6 were all finished.

And it sat there...

because I feared the whirligig.

So, finally, Sunday night, I took that dread Block #2 out. I needed some handwork to take on the road with me for the day. Block #7 was still in pieces and not travel-worthy.

Yeah, I thought about breaking out another applique project - believe me, I have plenty - but decided I have to make a stand.

I asked myself: "Are you a quilter or a mouse? Are you going to let a little 1/8 inch bias get the better of you?"

No, I said.

I will beat this whirligig.

And I did.

All five of them. And they weren't bad at all..really...they weren't.

So, they are all done and I've moved on to the easier things in the block...like all those leaves.

And I apologized to Block #2 for skipping over it for all those months.

(And yes, I'm a little concerned that I'm not only talking to myself and answering myself but I'm talking to my blocks like they have feelings. Time for a vacation? Oh yes, I think so too.)

The Big Girls' Club

For years, I have given my mother grief about her eyesight. We would be out shopping and my job was to follow her around, reading price tags and labels because she couldn't see the fine print. I thought she was too vain to get glasses.

I understand now that it was just easier to hand things to me to read instead of constantly putting on and taking off reading glasses.

Why do I understand this now?

Because last a couple of weeks ago at my best friend's house, I was cursing this stupid little defective needle. I couldn't even get it on the needle threader much less get the stupid defective thing threaded. Surely the eye of the needle was messed up. For goodness sake, I have never had this trouble before. The whole pack is defective. They just don't make needles the way they used to..dagnabit!

And then Laura handed me her reading glasses...with this knowing look of the sage older friend who's been there in the Land of Denial.

Oh

My

Gosh!

Would you look at that...

I can see my hand in front of my face again.

So, I went out and bought my very own reading glasses this week. I even bought a very cool chain to hang them around my neck so I can find them. (What makes the chain even cooler is I found out after I bought it that a friend from church made it.)

I feel like I've joined a club. You know, the cool, older girl's club. The girl's with secrets. The ones that give you that look...you know the look. The one tossed over the rim of the glasses that says "Don't mess with me, kid. You don't know enough to take on this old girl. I will chew you up and spit you out like a bad seed."

I love that look.

My mom's been giving it to me over her reading glasses for years....which is why I've never minded following her around reading price tags and labels. I KNOW who I'm dealing with there.

And my best friend who handed me her glasses?

Well, she has that look down.

I'm tellin' ya.... it's a club...a big girl's club.

And I'm in it.

Finally.

And proudly.

Road Trip to Mary Jo's

Can you think of a better way to end a stressful week than piling in the car with three friends heading to Mary Jo's?

I can't.

Carrie Made Me Do It

Here I am, minding my own business, reading over my blogs and Carrie has to tell me about a signature block swap that Melissa is doing.

I'm a sucker for a signature quilt.

Just ask LauraQuilts. She'll tell you.

I just had so much fun with the Miss Mellie block swap that Nancy Near Philadelphia is doing, I just couldn't help myself.

Plus it's Civil War Reproduction fabrics.

Be still my heart.

I was just wandering through blogland (because heaven forbid I go to bed at a decent hour) and ran across A Quilter Awakens. Go to her blog and watch the youtube video of the engineers introduction to cats. I am not blog savvy enough to post the video here...which is ironic since I am a professional engineer (frightening, huh). Anyway, that video is the funniest thing I have ever seen. As an engineer who has spent most of my life surrounded by guys just like these two, I was laughing so hard my sides hurt.

Coping

We all cope with loss in different ways.

Some cry.

Some laugh.

Some scream.

Some pray.

Some curse.

Some are silent.

Some get drunk.

Some eat.

Some need a hug.

Some hold their family close.

Some lean on their friends.

At some time in the past week, I have done all of the above (except drink...not an option for me anymore).

But most of all,

I quilt.

I decided while sitting in hospice with the family, that I would put together a memorial quilt for our family. With the passing of Grandmaw (yep, we're from the South), our extended family gathered together again for the first time in decades. It is the bittersweet side effect of death, this gathering of the clan. So, while we were all sitting there, I drew this tree.

I'm having each member that can sign a leaf and I'll complete the ones for those that can't. On the ground below the tree will be leaves representing those that have gone before. Those on the tree are those who remain. There will be blank leaves for those we have forgotten and for those not yet with us. I hope it will be a tribute to my grandparents and the lives they have created and touched.

The family seemed to like the idea. And, when it is finished, it we will have a reunion of the clan again, this time as a celebration of life more than a passing.

Another way I cope - I shop. Here's Shelby helping pick out the fabric for the tree. she's a lot of help as you can see.

Clara

It's been a long week.

We got THAT call late Sunday night that Grandma was in the hospital and not doing well.

We've been expecting it for a very long time.

Alzheimer's had finally decided to take away a vital signal, one that she needed to live, not just to exist. It's been taking away the signals for existing for 10 years...you know the ones that tell her who she is, who we are, where she is, when she is.

It's been a week of sitting in the hospice room with the rest of the family, watching her slowly cross over. It's been a week long family reunion, of seeing cousins I haven't seen in 20 years, of meeting their grown children and reminiscing about the days when we grew up together on Sundays at Grandma's house.

On my way back to the hospital on Thursday, I got THAT call.

She's gone.

I pull off the highway and sit and think for a few minutes. Then I went on to be with my family.

Yes, I'm sad. But, I am also happy for her. Right now, she is with God and her family that passed before her.

She knows who she is.

She knows where she is.

She's probably fixing a big pot of chicken and dumplings for Grandpaw right now.

About Clara...

Shelby Tricks

It's summertime.

Everyone loves a little corn on the cob!