A Legacy

I read a poem today that perfectly states a lot of my thoughts and feelings about quilts and quilting. It reminded me of all the quilts on my quilting journey. My "About Me" tab tells about how I became a quilter.

After I had done a few quilts, I learned of the existence of this quilt. My grandparents gave this to me because they knew that I would value it as it deserved.

I have always wondered what her life was like as she made it. Because of that question in my mind, I journaled in a notebook about my first quilts and included pictures. Perhaps over the next few weeks I can share the highlights of those quilts. I'll also look up my great great grandmother's name and add it here later.

1886 Crazy quilt made by my great great grandmother

 This picture is actually sideways.The bottom of the picture is the left side of the quilt. The left side of the picture is where the pillows would go on the bed.

The 3 rings have F,L,T. I believe my grandmother told me it was a religious organization for women. It stands for Faith, Love and Truth. (I think.)

'85

Below the bird and to the left, in gold thread, it says '85. She began quilting this in 1885.

JW

I have no idea what JW stands for. No one in our family has these initials. Perhaps she had a crush on JW?

21

She finished the quilt when she was 21 years old.

swan

I have looked at this quilt for many years and never noticed the letter A here, until tonight.

1886

 You can barely see, in cream thread, along the left edge, 1886 is embroidered. This is the year she finished the quilt. It amazes me that she did all this hand work in one or two years!

Alice

This name looks machine stitched. My Grandmother's name was Mary Alice. I assume this was added at a later date to cover a hole or thin spot. Now, sadly, there are many threadbare spots where there once was a brownish looking silk.

What if...

Each day that passes, I feel Jr. more strongly. I haven't felt him jab me in the ribs yet. I have felt him shift and sit on my bladder though and suddenly I don't know if I am going to make it to the restroom on time! If I have my hand on my belly when he moves I can see him push my hand out. It is so cool, yet so weird and alien to me. Every day it becomes more and more real; Jesse and I are going to be parents! UGH! I feel old.

If you know me, you know that I like to plan and I am a worrier. (Thanks Nana for the worrying gene!) During the week I feel ok. I go to work. I teach the best I can. I go home. Think about how to solve work problems or just veg in front of the TV, too tired to think of anything. Then Saturday comes. There is so much to do before Jr. comes to get ready for him and projects I want to get done, knowing I won't have much time after he comes. So on Saturdays we do what we can to get ready for Jr. like buy paint for the nursery. (no VOC! yea!) I also do a lot of sating my appetite for things like crepes, that I don't have time for during the week. But worst of all...I have time to think. I hate it when I have time to think.
What if I am put on bed-rest before school is out?
What if we are not ready?
What if something goes wrong during delivery day?
What if my RLS symptoms don't go back to a tolerable level after Jr comes?
Which I wonder if this is the cause of my anxiousness today, RLS? My legs feel crawly and I feel anxious beyond my normal worrying. I wonder what the neurologist will say about that when I see him in a couple weeks to be officially diagnosed. Probably that I am a nut case, and I need to see a different kind of head doctor! : )

Anyhow, I know I need to quit worrying and listen to my own advise. My students at the beginning of the year, usually try to get me off topic by asking "What if" questions.
Now they were not questions like, "What if I arranged the sentence thusly?" (Creative, exploring What ifs are things to celebrate in my room!)

No, they were questions like, "What if there was a fire and our homework burned up? Would we still get a 0?" "What if we leave the last 3 lines of the page blank? Is that enough?" (Testing limits) If I let them, they would ask them till the cows come home! So a few years ago, I made a rule, "No what if questions." The kids know it so well that I don't even have to say the rule anymore. Because I teach ESL, sometimes I have some of the same kids 2 years in a row. So the ones that had me the previous year will tell the student that asked the what if question. "NO WHAT IF QUESTIONS! She doesn't like them." They try to rephrase the question without the words what if but I just say that it is a what if question in disguise. It sounds very un-teacher-ish of me to limit a question, but those types of what if questions don't serve much purpose. So...I need to take my own advise..."NO WHAT IF QUESTIONS!"

To bad it is easier said than done.

Just Like Heaven

Just like Heaven by Patrick McDonnell

Mooch the cat wakes up from a nap in a heavenly place. It is about noticing the world around you, thinking about how you react to those around you. All in all a very sweet, thought provoking book.

Seer of Shadows

Seer of Shadows by Avi


***** Of course this was a great book; look at the author. Setting 1872 NYC. An apprentice photographer, Horace, is finally allowed to take a picture with the camera. The problem is when it is developed, a ghost shows up in the photo. The ghost is angry.

The only problem I had with the story is in the last chapter I was unsure of what happened to one of the characters. I went back and reread that chapter 3 times to figure it out.

Ruined

Ruined: A Ghost Story by Paula Morris


**** This story is about a girl who had to move from New York to New Orleans to live with her creepy fortune teller aunt. The new school she is going to, is full of rich snobby kids so it is hard for her to make friends. Then she meets Lisette, a ghost. She learns there is more to her own past than she knew.

The author did a great job building suspense. I couldn't put the book down during the last 100 pages!

The Hunger Games Series

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins

  ***** It is high action, high suspense. It is about the US after it is taken over by a very controlling government. The government holds a lottery to choose 2 children from each region. The children are put into an elaborate arena and made to fight each other til only one remains.

For this reason there is some controversy. Some parents object to their children reading about children killing children. I however, believe children today see far more violence on TV. The main character, Katniss, struggles with the dilemma, kill or be killed.

Teeth, Tails, & Tentacles

I bought this book for "Jr".

Teeth, Tails, & Tentacles by Christopher Wormell

**** This is a neat counting book. It takes you up to 20. It is not your basic 1 dog, 2 cats, 3 birds...etc. An example from this book is 13 caterpillar segments. Great vocabulary!

Paint

Well, I think we finally got the paint color right for the nursery room. We are going to paint the room in the more brownish color on the left. It is hard to tell the true color in this picture. Think Classic Pooh Gold.  (the one on the right looks like bright sunshine yellow)
Now all I need is someone to do the painting!  : ) "Oh Honey..."

Next on to do list : gather and get addresses of friends to my Mom and Sister who are planning a baby shower for us.

Wiggle Worm!

I have been feeling "Jr" moving a lot now. It used to be only when I lay down, very still and concentrate. Now anytime I am still I can usually feel little flutterings. They get stronger and stronger by the day. I haven't felt too many kicks yet. Sometimes now, even when I am not paying attention I feel strong movements though.  It is so comforting to feel him and be constantly reassured that he is doing ok. 

A pregnant friend of mine swears that she is going to give birth to the next karate kid. She is about a month ahead of me.I know in another month or so I will be writing about how he keeps kicking me in the ribs and such. Until then I will enjoy the gentle flutters. 


Last night I guess I had eaten something sugary because he was moving quite a bit. I put Jesse's hand on my belly in case Jr decided to make a strong movement. Sure enough he did! He gave several hard flutters. 
Jesse said with amazement, "He is moving a lot!" 
"Yeees, he does!" I replied. He is very active, like his daddy!

T- Shirt Quit Squares

I have most of the squares cut out for my friend's Sorority T-shirt quilt! Yea!
I have decided that there should be more regulations on T-shirt companies. They must center their designs to within 1/4" so they don't drive quilter's crazy!! It took some calculating and some compromising but it worked out.
Now to cut the small logo parts of the shirt. This should be interesting. I think when this project is done, it is going to look really cool!

So you might be wondering, didn't you work today. No, we had another snow day. I am so ready for spring!

Baby update
I was able to make it to my dr. appointment today though. Baby is doing fine. Heartbeat was 150. I feel Jr.'s swimming swoosh movement daily now. That is comforting. Praise God!
I have only felt him kick 2 times so far. That is fine by me. I do not look forward to when he is kicking me in the ribs. Doc was warning me that would come soon enough.
Being half way through my pregnancy, I am thinking more and more of delivery day with dread. I held my sister's hand last year when she was in labor until about 10 min before the birth, without an epidural. She waited over an hour for one and it never came. I fear pain. I know everyone will say it will pass quickly and I will forget all about the pain but I still fear it.

Anyhow, I will be so glad when he is finally here.

Finally

Finally my blog "quilter-reader" represents fully what I intended it to be. I learned how to add stand alone pages to my blog. There is now a tab for my Young Adult Book reviews. Check it out!

Snow Day 4

Cabin Fever is setting in now. How do people up north do this all the time?
Today we got actual snow, not just ice. So of course I have pictures to share! Last year you saw, Isis and Emma. For the most part those 2 stayed inside as much as possible. We have a new dog that we rescued in July. She is a white German Shepherd named Freyja.

 Freyja spent most of the day outside, guarding our fence perimeter. She also spent a great deal of time rooting in the snow like a pig. In the picture below, you can see the snow on her nose from doing just that. You can also see a pink towel behind her. It was an old towel we kept by the back door to wipe mud off the feet. (Weather of any kind does not seem to bother Freyja in the least.) Well one day Freyja decided that the towel would be her favorite blanky. She drags the towel in the doggie door and out the doggie door, just like a child with a favorite blanky. Sadly, now the towel has frozen solid and shattered into a million pieces, all over the yard.

After watching Freyja frolic in the snow for awhile, we made puzzle bread (or Monkey bread). We added a twist though, apples. ...to make it healthier you know...

It was yummy!
Then a nap was in order.
We also did laundry.  : (














Finally I finished binding my signature quilt. I had my students from my former school sign it before I left. The white spots you see on the block closeups are where I erased the student's names.

Emma and Freyja helped me as always!

"Party like a Rockstar"

"I will miss you" and "I am Indian"

My students are proud of their ethnicity, as they should be. I will now take the quilt to school and let the kids use it during reading time or wrap up in it when the A/C is set on 60'. (I don't have thermostat control, or it would be 75' year round)

All in all a pretty good day. 

Snow Day 3

School has been canceled for a 3rd day! We haven't had that happen here in DFW in almost 25 years! Many of my friends have experienced the rolling black outs today. We have been lucky so far.

Today I have nothing to complain about. What weighs on my mind today is my fellow quilters in Australia. They were hit with Cyclone Yasi today. Queensland had already been suffering from floods. Now, a Category 5 sized cyclone. CNN reports 155mph sustained winds.
This picture was posted on http://izzhy.blogspot.com/2011/02/australia-cyclone.html

I pray, and I hope you will too, that God has put his protective arms around those people and that he helps them though the coming days, weeks, and months.

If anyone wants to help quilters in Australia, here is a link that tells you how. This was for Flood victims in that same area originally, now I am sure there will be even more that need it.
http://www.gumtree-designers.com/2011/01/we-need-your-help.html
It may seem silly, in the wake of a cyclone, but quilting is therapy. It helps calm a person. I am sure they need more than just quilt supplies also but I don't have info on that yet. 

Snow Day 2011

Yea! A snow day in TX! This past weekend it was 72 degrees, and today the high was 30 something at 1am I think. Crazy TX weather for you.
Thankfully, I got interfacing for a T-Shirt quilt, that I am making for a friend, just in case we had a free day. So that is all ironed on now. I made the first cut on each shirt. Now I am debating on waiting to cut the other 3 sides now with a straight ruler and hoping they come out square or waiting till I can buy a 14" ruler.
While I decide, I can work on another project. Which one shall I work on?
Hand quilt more of my Asian style quilt.
Bind my classroom signature quit.
Bind antique looking quilt.
Bind cheater cloth Easter quilt.
Bind the quilt in my library room.
Assemble Pooh cheater cloth quilt.
Decide to hand quilt or machine quilt Pooh quilt.
Cut out pieces for Jr's star quilt.
Pay bills.
Nap.
?????
Definitely not bills. I think nap wins for now. Then perhaps I'll bind the classroom quilt and mark it off as done.
Given my list, one would think that I don't really care for binding quilts. ...and they would be right.