Heart Day

Taken at Santa Monica Beach 1946

                           Today is the 75th Wedding Anniversary of by parents;  Bill and Colleen

It was always a special day at our house because we all got to celebrate.  My dad would buy those little heart shaped boxes that have chocolates in them.  Then he would take out the chocolates and fill them with M&Ms, take them secretly outside and place them on the porch, ring the doorbell, and run.  You remember kicking Valentines?  Anyway, we would run to the door, find our heart, and the fact that Dad was coming in the backdoor at the same time never clicked.  

Hope your day is nice and that you'll be able to hug the one's you love.

Robin

I had a friend that called this "Single Awareness Day".  But I think it's for everybody because we all love someone.

Antique quilts, suppositions, and Maxfield Parrish

 I am still going through papers and pictures I have inherited.  Look what I found today.

I found an inventory of household goods that had to be sold to pay off debts from my great great grandfather  Daniel N. Davidson 1821-1893.  He lived in Hendricks County Indiana.

In the picture above, about 1/2 way down you can see 12 quilts listed  with 10 Comforts above and 9 sheets below.  (a goodly amount of bedding)  Also, if you look across the page, the quilts are valued at $4.00 and sold at $2.00.  GASP!

This was back in a time when only men owned property and so it seems that my poor great great grandmother had all her household goods sold out from under her.   The list also included a cook stove, lamps, bedsteads, a sewing machine, clocks, tables, and a rocker. (Lots of other things. . . . )

(Just realized my great great grandmother died two years earlier.  Makes me feel a lot better than she didn't have to loose all her possessions.)

In this picture of the list is 1 organ.  It wasn't sold.  I'm not sure why it wasn't sold but it makes me wonder if there were other things that were not sold or not on this list.  I don't know how heavy-handed those making the decisions were about what she could keep or what needed to be sold.  It could just be that nobody wanted it as it was valued at $10.00

Anyway, I have inherited that organ and it is pictured below.

Oh, I just noticed there is a small "x" penciled in next to the word organ.  As I looked down the list there is a small  "x" next to Comforts and next to the Quilts and at the very bottom of the list next to the Gold Watch.  Hmmmmm?

I do have an old Indigo and white feathered star quilt that I have wondered if this great great grandmother made it.  I think it would have been made during her lifetime.  

Elizabeth Dent Davidson 1830-1891

There are so many things to learn from old papers and photos but usually they create more questions as well as answering the original ones.

I

Today we had a morning sky right out of a Maxfield Parrish painting.  Quite lovely~

Robin

Closer to being done and aching joints

 I've been working on the Comfort & Joy quilt since November.  I finished the inner part today.

It's smaller than I was expecting at 47 1/2" X 62".

It needs a border and the one on the pattern has more applique.  Between hand sewing in long stretches and the side-effects of my Covid shot,  my hands are really sore.  Well. . . . all my joints are sore.  So this little quilt isn't going to get an appliqued border.  

One idea is to sew three borders on it.  First a stop border, then a border of 2 1/2" assorted squares of the fabrics used in the middle, and then a larger border of the same fabric as the stop border.  I was hoping to use up my box of Christmas scraps from my mother's 90's stash but you know how that goes!  I think I have more than I had when I started - ha!

I don't have any pieces of fabric that are large enough for the border so I'll have to do some shopping.  I was going to go find some today but I've got a fever so I figured I better stay away from others.

I had Covid in June.  I've heard those that have had Covid 19 have a more difficult time with side effects from the vaccine. My son, who is a teacher, says the teachers that he works with, that had Covid, are having a harder time.  Not good news but it helps to know what to expect, I guess.

Robin 

Slowly but surely. . .

 

It's been quite a month, hasn't it?  I have spent my time studying the 'Good Word', hiding in my basement quilting, sorting out family pictures, and reading Jan Karon.  We had our first real snow this weekend.  Maybe things are getting back to normal (with a mask on).

Robin

Christmas Star

 I finished my little Christmas Star mini quilt.

If you want to read the rest of the story look in the "Once in multiple lifetimes" post at right.

It measures 13 1/4" X 14 3/4" and was really fun to make.

Robin

Moving toward next year

I finished this quilt before Christmas.  I know it doesn't look like a Christmas quilt but I consider it one because my inspiration was this Christmas/Santa puzzle we do every year at Christmas

I set the blocks differently because they are 'Rising Sun' blocks and it seemed like they should be rising from the East.  Also, the quilt was quite dull without the sashing.  But, nevertheless, it is finished.

I call it my "Fear Not Little Flock" quilt because of all the sheep fabric from 2002.

I added the quote at the lower left hand corner of the border.  I've learned something about adding words at the bottom of a quilt.  The words often get tucked under the mattress and isn't even seen.  I'm going to keep that in mind next time.

I brought the border up on top on the bed in the above picture so it could be photographed.

I put the "Block in the Spotlight" quilt on the frames over a week ago but didn't have a chance to start quilting it until this morning.

I started on the spool block and only got three completed with 2 partials in the time I sat at the frames.  It's going to be slow going but I want to finish this quilt before another year passes. 

I want to do a small cable in the borders but I don't have anything that will mark the blue adequately.  So I think I'm going to try a technique I used when I made the Welsh Quilt (on the ironing board below).  I marked and quilted it from the back.  I'm going to quilt all of the quilt but the two borders and then quilt them last.

I'm making progress on the Comfort and Joy quilt.  I want to have this one finished by next Christmas so I can gift it to one of my daughters.

It is so fun to work on.  And I like that I can do a little applique and then do a little piecing depending on my mood.  I made a flying geese strip this morning and sewed it on the left side of the cabin (not in the picture).  A little bit at a time, it's all progress.

I had all kinds of energy last week (something I'm not normally known for) and I gave my sewing room a deep clean.  I found all these spools I've been saving to see how much thread I use in a year.  There are 12 empty spools and I also used at least 16 balls of pearl cotton.  This was my year for big stitch.

Here is my little sewing space with the bolts of yardage for backing under the sewing table.  I have my light box on top because I use it for applique (all the time).  And, I take the light box down when I'm  cutting things out.

This is the space just to the right of my sewing table.  I have to have my iron and ironing board close by.

 And this is the closet behind me as I was standing to take the picture above.  The room is quite small but it's my own space and I don't have to clean things up after every sewing session.  I can just close the door and walk away.  I also don't have the grandkids going through things and changing the settings on the sewing machine.  They see the closed door and don't investigate.  Good kids!

I have fabric etc. in another closet downstairs.  I'm hoping to someday get it so everything will fit in this room.  

My quilting goal this year is to concentrate on one thing at a time till it's finished.  I love to make the tops (that's the most fun) but I'm not as fast with the quilting because of time and sore fingers.  I think that's one reason I quilted 6 quilts with 'Big Stitch' last year.  I can do more in a shorter period of time.

I'm set for the new year.

Robin

Birth of the Christ Child

 

[The] "same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well."                                                                                                                                                                         Neal A. Maxwell

I am grateful to celebrate the birth of my Savior this time of year and I am grateful for those of you who have shared your warmth with me.

Robin