I have actually sewn two whole rows together of my final choice of patterns for my crumb quilt.
Here is a picture of the quilt squares just stuck up on my flannel wall.
I really like it! I was surprised that I lost about five inches across when I sewed the pieces together.
I'll show it to you again when I get it all sewn together with the borders.
That will give me THREE quilts that need binding. I hope I get a binding urge pretty soon.
Thanks for all your comments on the turquoise/brown bindings. I think I may do a turquoise flange and brown binding. That should be real pretty on the bed.
And about the doggies: Sandy and Sasha
Remember the tossed-out puppies that came into our garage?
I brought home the 20 pound bag of puppy food and a large bag of treats. We fed the puppies twice as you can see in the picture above, and we left the treats for them. They never would come near us.
Well, the next two days it rained over two inches. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but both puppies have not been seen since I snapped the picture. We have looked and looked and called and called.
Jerry goes out several times a day to look in their hiding place.
We pray that someone else has taken them in, but.... We live in the dangerous woods and the coyotes have been active. There are bob cats and owls and snakes and heaven-only-knows what else. I sure hope they are okay somewhere. We have plenty of food if they show up again.
Gotta get. Time to check on Mom, and Jerry will be home from fishing soon.
I am so excited to have half-square triangles of my crumb 10" squares! I believe the Layer Cake was called "In The Navy" from MSQC.
NOW, I don't know the best way to arrange them. They are basically only TWO colors, but you can do so many arrangements with them.
Tell me what you think, and what arrangement you like. Love to see any other patterns you know about.
Here is Arrangement #1: (I didn't have many pieces yet.)
Following is Arrangement #2: (I think this is my favorite because of the stars it makes.)
Following is Arrangement #3: (I like this one but it doesn't have any stars.)
Some of you asked me to keep you posted on the puppies who were thrown out onto our land by some mean person. We feel they must have been VERY mean because these puppies are terrified of people. We are trying very hard to get them to come to us.
I put food out for them, and when we LEAVE, they rush to the food and gobble down every bit of it. We put food into this bowl twice tonight.
I think they have been mothered by a deer because they act like deer. Very timid and watchful and jumpy. They won't be still long enough for me to snap a good picture.
My husband found where they have been living. They crawl under that long piece of metal on top of the leaves. This area is behind Jerry's barn, so we never saw them until they came up to the house looking for food.
And below is one of our three cats. His name is boots -- for obvious reasons -- and he is our oldest and fattest cat.
He was hilarious watching us try to get the puppies to come to us. He could see everything from his high perch there. He and Barney (our second oldest cat) have not been happy ever since we brought Button home when he was a kitten. He was a tossed out baby also, but he ran into our building in town to hide. He was so tiny and so skinny.
Boots and Barney ignore Button and treat him like some kind of space alien; and now they see these puppies, and I think they are at their wit's end. LOL!
And THEN there is my husband!
A few nights ago when I first saw the puppies, I told him how cute they were and told him we had to take care of them. He said, "NO WAY!!!!" "LISTEN TO ME, JOY!" "WE HAVE YOUR MOM -- OUR 3 CATS -- AND 3 STRAY CATS!" "WE JUST CANNOT TAKE THESE DOGS IN!!!!"
Now that I'm old and I have lived with Jerry for 43 years, I know that he ALWAYS says "NO!" first. Later, he always says "Yes". So, I just waited.
This morning when I went into the kitchen to make my breakfast, Jerry was trying to come up with a name for the dogs who still had not come near us. Of course, I knew his heart was softening, but I didn't let on. He said, "I think I'll name the black dog "Bart". (A "B" name like the 3 cats.)
I told him the dogs were girls and he could not name one "Bart". He agreed.
I suggested "Betty". He said he didn't like that at all.
I told him I wanted to name the light colored one "Sandy", but he said that didn't start with a "B".
So then I left and went to work. I wasn't at work very long when Terry called and we decided to take advantage of the one sunshiny day this week and go do our grocery shopping. While I was at Sam's buying groceries, I got a phone call from Jerry.
GUESS what he wanted????????????????????
He asked me to buy dog food and treats for the puppies. He really is a big softy when it comes to puppies and kittens.
I don't know what will actually happen, but I will keep you posted.
We have named them Sandy and Sasha. IF they ever come to us, we will take them to a Vet and later get them spayed. We don't need any more unwanted puppies. I told Jerry that our names didn't start with "B", so surely we could name these dogs something else. He agreed.
And, HEY!
You gotta see what Jerry caught yesterday when he went fishing with a new friend who happens to be a Guide. I was so happy for Jerry to get to go in someone else's boat and just enjoy fishing. He put the fish back in the lake.
And one last thing!
My latest new pattern. I hope to make it up real soon. I will let you know all about it -- of course.
Here is my latest VLOG if you haven't seen it, and if you care to:
This is the third quilt I've made for Luke and he is not three months old yet.
The boy is going to have to have a yard sale when he is a teenager to get rid of all the quilts his great granny made him!
It is a darling pattern called Animal Whimsy. Here is a pic of it.
I quilted it simply with some animal sounds and some animal names. Wish I had thought of it sooner so I could have planned it out better. I got all confused when I couldn't figure out what sound a rabbit makes, and I wasn't sure what horses say either. I thought it was "neigh" but that looked funny, and "nay" looked like "hay".
I should have made the rooster because I could have put "cock-a-doodle-doo", but what does the hen say? Maybe "cluck-cluck" -- or isn't that the duck. No, the duck says "quack".
Or the pig. I could have put "oink".
Or the donkey. I could have put "hee haw".
Or the sheep. I could have put "baa baa".
Does anyone know what a goat says?
Anyway, Luke isn't going to care, and I bet in a few years he will know what sound ALL those animals make, and he can teach it to his Great Granny Joy.
But for now, here is the quilt I made for his portable crib. It matches absolutely NOTHING in the room it is in, but I don't care. I hope he drags it all over the place and wears it out.
Thank you all for your nice comments when you saw this quilt on my VLOG here:
I know other Bloggers and Vloggers feel the same way, because they say they do, about how much your kind comments brighten our days.
And thank you again so very much for those of you who send my Mom mail. She is always so excited that someone sent her something -- anything -- because it makes her feel remembered and cared about. She is to the point she can't understand what is written or why the card came, but she is always happy that something came to her in the mail, and we always make sure she reads the cards, or we read them to her.
My new baby Luke will arrive here on Friday. He already thinks his Great Grandma's face is a pink rectangle with a hole at the top. His Daddy just got used to it, and he and his siblings always posed and smiled and said, "I love my Grandma!" on command. (Instead of "cheese".) They were the light of my life when they were growing up.
Jerry and I did Valentine's today.
We had to go to Best Buy to buy a new monitor for one of our employees. While there, I wandered around a little and something caught my eye. Fortunately, I could use Valentine's Day for an excuse, and Jerry was his usual generous, sweet self, and told me I could have it.
I took a pic for you:
It is a lap desk that has a mouse pad and a place for my phone. I had to get a wireless mouse to go with it, of course. I am really enjoying it right now as Jerry lays beside me watching the Thunder play.
After that, we went to Red Lobster where I had a $32 lobster dinner. I told Jerry it was too expensive, and he said, "Get what you want!" So I did. Jerry had a $30 dinner with crab legs. So very good! Then we bought groceries until we were both worn out. It is always so good to be back home.
Be back soon my friends. God bless you and your valentine.
We are back in our Kingston home after a week at our Edmond home. It is SO GOOD to be back home. This is our REAL home. The other home is just because we have a business in Edmond and we got sick of staying in a hotel when we were there.
Only thing is, I really miss my sweet great grandson, Luke.
I have something to show you!
I spent most of yesterday and today on this, and it still needs a binding, BUT I want to show it to you anyway.
It is loosely hanging from the bar, so it isn't flat. You can see how nice it turned out though.
This quilt design is called Lucy's E2E (Edge to Edge) from My Creative Stitches. I paid $5 for it! WELL worth it. I really like it.
It is a Queen size quilt. It was a kit I purchased from Craftsy called Spring 2017 Quilt-Along Flower Basket Kit. I believe they are all sold out of it now.
As is true with most quilts, it is WAY PRETTIER in person.
I've got to square it up and put the binding on it. Give me a few days.
Jerry is watching the Super Bowl (yuk). I'd rather be quilting if I wasn't exhausted from finishing the baskets. Gotta work at our store tomorrow, but I'll try to get back soon for a new video.
Have you seen this one:
I have made SIX of those now. They are really wonderful. Gave one to Phylly. Made a tutorial for you, but it is such a mess, I couldn't get it edited to make sense. Too much time in between clips. Blame it on Luke. (-:
Besides, you can go to Youtube and watch Rhonda make it HERE
I thought I would make LOTS of videos and have plenty of time for blogging on my one week away from home vacation, but I have managed to stay busier than ever. It is my great grandson's fault, actually, as I have been watching him every afternoon.
Of course, you want to see pictures, so let me upload a few.... (Please pardon strange lighting and shadows.)
His name is Luke, and he smiles a lot.
Here is Luke helping Papa work just like his daddy used to do.
Here he is being totally adorable while I try to snap selfies of us.
And his Papa had him as much as I did. You just can't not snuggle with this precious bundle!
Papa has him again. Luke likes to sit up and watch the TV or the computer. Papa, of course, had the Thunder on. Luke seemed to like it.
And this is how I spend most of the time Luke is with us.
That is when I don't have to give him to his Papa.
Luke seems to be thinking, "LADY!, Could you PLEEEEEZE quit hugging me all the time!
So now you know why I have been missing.
I intended to show you how to make the notion holder, but then Luke came over. Maybe I'll get a chance to do it tomorrow.
Don't hold your breath though. Luke's Daddy may bring him back tomorrow and the next day, and this doll trumps notion holder every time. (-:
This is a WONDERFUL vacation for Jerry and me, and we are in our home.
I better go in the other room and act interested in the Thunder basketball game now.
It is 16 degrees outside, and that means bugs are dying, and we won't have 50 trillion of them crawling and flying around when Spring comes! YAY!
It is, however, sunny outside, and sunshine ALWAYS makes me happy.
And look what I found at Rhonda's place. I love this because I have been hurt by so many people, as I'm sure you have been to. People can be so heartless and cruel. Some hurt you without even realizing what they are doing. This -- in my case -- refers to those who have hurt me ON PURPOSE by their ugly words or actions. But even then, God says to bless them. God is so loving, and He knows that blessing them sets us free. He can then deal with the offenders Himself!
And I promised you back on December 18th that I would EVENTUALLY show you pictures from Mom's 90th birthday. Here they are.
Mom received nearly 40 cards from all of you. Actually, a card still comes every few days.
Mom read EVERY SINGLE ONE, and she was so touched that people that don't even know her would be so kind.
I helped her read the parts she couldn't make out.
We had all of Mom's favorite foods: Grapes, Potato Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwiches and Purple Punch.
Notice the only sandwich below. That is because Mom eats only ONE KIND of bread, and she only eats ONE HALF of a sandwich. She didn't touch the cupcakes, because they are "bad for you", but she had lots of ice cream.
I went to the bakery and gave the decorator lady a drawing of a violet to use so she would know what a violet looked like. She was a wonderful young lady, and she did EXACTLY what I asked her to do. God bless her!
And here I am with Mom. Terry, a professional photographer, took all the pictures that day. She is so good to me. WAIT until you see the quilt she just made for me!!!!!!! (A later blog.)
The picture below was SUPPOSED to be a family picture with Mom and her four kids. Sadly, I am the only one that was here although all were invited. I am so thrilled to have this picture thanks to Terry.
This is a sweet one that Terry took:
This is Mom opening a fun card from my friend and neighbor Kathleen. Mom was so happy all day long. Her birthday could not have been more special.
Here, Mom just opened the warm fleece top I made for her. It looks really nice on her, and she has worn it several times.
And here is Mother's most favorite preacher in the whole wide world. This is Pastor Leon. He visits her EVERY week, and he always wears a PURPLE shirt. What a sweetheart!
And this lady is Dorine. She is a nurse, and she has another full time job. She leaves our house at 3:00 and goes to her other job. Unbelievable! She comes four or five days every week to care for Mom because she loves Mom, and we all love her! She is like a part of this family now. Notice that she also wore purple for Mom's birthday. Mom is wearing an outfit I made for her, and it is her favorite. Hence she is not wearing purple. Mom will tell you many times a day that she is VERY BLESSED to have so much loving care here.
I've got THREE quilts in the works right now, and I'm stopping to make some fun notion holders, so I have to go!
Here is my latest video if you want to see what a "notion holder" is:
Go HERE for the excellent instructions at Rhonda's place, and don't tell my friends about this because they may be getting one!
It is about 8 PM on January 3rd, and my lightning fast mind just realized I haven't posted any pictures from my Mom's birthday yet. Terry brought me a CD of the ones she took, and I took several myself. The thing is, when your birthday is on December 18th, it is immediately overridden by Christmas preparations. Right after Mom's birthday was my granddaughter's birthday on the 20th and an employee was the day after that, and then it was suddenly Christmas Day!
I don't have any pictures in this laptop, so you will still have to wait awhile for birthday pics. I'll get around to it -- I promise. And, no, I can't put the CD in here because this laptop does not have a CD player.
Mother received over 30 cards from you very loving and kind internet friends of mine. She was so blessed by them and so was I. The people who were here for her little party were amazed at the cards she had received. She has them all in her room so she can look at them whenever she wants to.
I did make a VLOG for you about her birthday. If you haven't seen it, here it is:
Part of the following VLOG was made on Christmas morning, and Mom talks to you in it. I am showing you a cookie that was sent to Mom by Shari Marie. Purple butterflies! Mom loved them.
So what about those New Year's resolutions.
I don't really have any, other than the ones I have every day, all my life: Love God, love people and try to be the best ME I can be.
I thank all of you who took time to listen to me and talk back to me with your kind, helpful comments this past year. And thank you all SO VERY MUCH for being so kind to my Mother and giving me your helpful advice and tips from your own experiences with loved ones. I know I will cherish you all the more as her illness progresses. Nothing heals a hurting heart like loving friends who truly care and have been through what you are going through.
