From a Child’s Mouth

So yesterday I spent most of the day with my grandchildren at my daughter’s house. While I was there my five year old grandson wanted me to put a certain program on their TV. Now they have at least three controls that operate their equipment and each is different and none of them worked the same as the controls I use at home. And although I am up in years I have a lot of background in computers and such, so it's not my lack of ability to understand but I just never paid too much attention when his mother explained their different controls and what each one was used for.

So I wasn’t having much success in filling his request and he was getting impatient and I was getting frustrated. So in frustration I just said “I don’t understand how these work, you’ll just have to wait until your mother can help us”.

 So from there this is the conversation between the two of us:

Him: Well why not? You’re an adult you should know everything.

Me: Yes I am an adult and I know more than a child but I don’t know everything.

Him: Oh, like I know more than Samantha (his two year old sister).

Me: That’s right.

Him: And Samantha knows more than baby Dean (Dean is a 4 month old baby who my daughter and her husband have welcomed into their home with his mother while she gets her world in order).

Me: Yes exactly.

Him: Except God, He knows everything!

Me: Yes that’s right!

Him: Cause he made everything.

So we have a problem that needed a better solution than the one I gave him. He didn’t tell me to pray about it, he didn’t tell me how ignorant I was, or how bad I was. He didn’t call me names or start saying ugly words to me. What he said was:

“Maybe you should move in with us and learn how to use them.”

In other words maybe you should do something that would solve the problem or at least try to help solve the problem.

I don’t know if anyone will understand why I posted this or not but I hope at least a few get it.

And no I’m not moving in with them to solve this problem. What I did do: I waited until his mother arrived and asked her to tell me again how to use the controls to get to his programs. And this time I paid attention. I listened. I let her explanation sink in. And this time I think I got it!

Rose 

WWW Where Do I Start?

Should I just do a recap of what I’ve been up to since October 15, 2014? What? October 2014! Ok so I’ve posted some things in my FIF posts so I won’t bore you with those again but I have done some things during the holiday season that I will share with you.

First I worked at getting the bookmark for our 2015 quilt guild meetings designed and printed. I’m happy with the results. 

Me taking photos

I also took photos of the donation quilt that will be for the guild’s 2015 season. I needed photos for the postcard I create for the quilt guild’s annual festival of quilts show. When I get those I will post a picture of the front and back.

Besides working on those I crocheted 20 drink cozies for the “Meet Samantha” party. I thought I took a photo of them being used but I can’t find it so I will have to do with this shot.

Pink, Grey, White Drink Cozies

This was in addition to the 24 mini crochet dresses I showed in an earlier post. And then I put together some bunting/pennants/banners things for the party. These will be used to decorate Samantha’s room.

Flags getting ready to string together

 Oh that reminds me I made a cloud and hearts mobile for her room too (well that’s not completely finished but close!). And again, no photo.

In addition to all of that I managed to get the final blocks for the 2014 block exchange at our guild finished.

Christmas block

Civil War Reproduction Block

 Then my son asked me to make some finger-less gloves for the homeless they planned to feed on Christmas day. Well he asked for knitted ones like I had made as a gift for him last year but when I started I discovered it would take too long (this was a last minute request). Plus my right hand is not taking too great of a liking to my marathon knitting or crocheting. In the meantime my son and friends felt led to do a much larger scale meal for a low income housing unit. So he really needed more than 10. I got the bright idea to use fleece and so I made 40 sets of fingerless gloves for him to give away.

Some of the fleece finger-less gloves

 And let’s not forget there is the doll I’ve been working on. I have another one of those ready to embroidery the face and I’ve been playing with hair on the original one.

One other thing I started was some fabric microwave bowls. The test ones are okay but when I washed them they didn’t look as great as they did when they were first sewn. I’m still experimenting with the size for these. I did make one that is great to hold my small bowl of ice cream so I don’t freeze my fingers off. So they are good for other things than just the microwave. I’ll share more about those on another day.

Reindeer hats being worked on

Oh yes and I made some of these hats but I will share more about those on one of my Monday tips post.

Okay that’s enough I think to show I really have been working.

Happy Stitching (on Wednesday and every other day)!

Rose

FIF and Catch-up

Stitched and waiting for inspiration

I did finish the stitching on this as hoped but I was sitting in the hospital that weekend with my husband (he’s ok) so I didn’t get it soaked in water until later. But it did work and it has been dried and then damp stretched. Great! Now the embroidery is on my design wall waiting for inspiration. I’m thinking I may want to fill in some of the areas with free-form stitching. I’m also considering making it the center of a quilt that will feature my scribbling stitching.

Speaking of scribbling, my use of scribbles for embroidery is somewhat humorous and not very “artsy” to me. I started scribbling as “art” work when I was a child. I picked it up again when I reached 60+ (is that called becoming like a child again?). Then this last time I was at the local hospital I walked a corridor and glanced at the art work on the wall. To my surprise I saw scribbles incorporated in collages. Suddenly I don’t feel silly using scribbles as a basis for my embroidery work anymore.

Hospital Collage Art Work using Scribbles

Now for some catching up, I’ve been busy making things for my new granddaughter Samantha! First while I was still at the hospital I started making a cupcake hat for her (she hadn’t arrived yet). 

Crochet Cupcake Hats

I started using a pattern I found on Repeat After Me and used it as a guide for the top part. For the bottom (the brown section) I decided to do my own style using a crochet ribbing stitch. And I eliminated the earflaps also. If I make another one I think I will make some more modifications. I finished three tops while at the hospital (since that was all I had with me to work with). Later the bottom was added to one. 

Then after she was born I made a receiving blanket using a method a quilting friend had shown me (I also watched a Youtube video  by Missouri Quilt Company that my friend recommended. Actually I watched it several times and the only thing I can say is the video says it will only take about 10 minutes and my feeling is that may be true after you have made a dozen or so. 

Cupcake Receiving Blanket

So since the fabric was cupcakes and I had already made the cupcake hat of course I had to continue the theme.

Cupcake Sleeping Beauty

Yes that is my sweet Miss Samantha!

And then I moved onto roses.

And then she needed some mittens to keep from scratching her face.

And of course a sweet little yoyo and button band for her head can next.

Some sweet stitching for Samantha

Plenty more ideas of things to make but for my finish it Friday I think I will try and complete the other two or three cupcake hats I started while sitting in the hospital.

Happy Catching Up and Finishing Friday!

Rose

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Rose 

Well hello there! That’s me back in 1956. Age 10. Occasion – the first dress I made by myself. It won the district Singer Sewing contest and went to regional. We couldn’t afford the trip to regional so I had to have a photo of me wearing the dress accompany it to St. Paul/Minneapolis.

My mother who was an excellent seamstress decided it would be better to have someone else start me on my sewing journey. I made little fashion doll (fore-runner to the Barbies of today) clothes on my working toy sewing machine but now I was going to learn to use a real honest to goodness sewing machine. So she enrolled me at the local Singer Sewing center. I was allowed to pick out my fabric and my pattern. It was not the easiest pattern but my mother never discouraged me she just let me forge ahead. Typical of my mother really, she decided to learn to knit in her 70’s and when she picked out the pattern she wanted to do her senior center instructor tried to discourage her. But she was determined and she succeeded much to the instructor’s amazement! That’s just the way she rolled.

So off I went to the class. The ladies teaching were knowledgeable but when I started to cut out the pieces they decided to have a gossip feast in the corner of the room. Well when they finally checked on me they were horrified to see I was cutting off the hem. I was following the fold line rather than the bottom, an honest mistake for a 10 year old I think. Well there wasn’t enough room to scoot the piece over so they just had me use a bias binding to turn the hem up. They had a bit of explaining to do when it came to the judging part. But at least they owned up to it!

Sleeve detail with trim and covered button

I still have the dress, and I am always amazed at the detail in it, from covered buttons on the sleeves, to handmade binding trim around the sleeve and the sleeve tabs, to turned under seam edges (we didn’t have sergers back then!), it looks like a lot of work.

Seam edge turned under and sewn

Even the gathering was protected from raveling 

Sweet little button detail echoing the fabric design

I still have the handwritten critique that I received and the prize which was a zippered case with three Singer scissors. The case is a bit ratty and I’m not sure I have all three scissors but it’s still a treasure to me.

What prompted this trip down memory lane?

Well I was watching Karen in one of her Simply Stitch videos and she had made a printed copy of some of her fabric work and was incorporating it in her paperwork cutouts. I had my little pin pricked fashion illustration dress in mind and the light bulb went on. I could do something like that with my first dress and so now I have another idea to work on to put in my ledger. Oh the ideas just keep coming!

Close Up of the Fabric

Be back soon!

Happy stitching

Rose 

What Happened?

Wow it’s March already! Well we’ve been sick at our household. Not much fun. But I thought I’d better pop in here and let you know I have accomplished some work.

For Christmas I made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend. Oops forgot to take a picture She also received a scarf. The gloves were crochet, the scarf was knitted. Both techniques I haven’t done for a while so it was fun picking up the hook and needles again, especially the needles.

Another Christmas present was a pair of extra-long fingerless gloves for my daughter. I crocheted that too! Again I didn’t take a picture. Plus they came out too small for her so I have to redo. She did get a boot cuff that fit. Oh and also a knitted cowl. I’ve made a few more of those. My daughter said hers also came in handy when she was sick she used it to keep her chest warm.

I also made a hat for my grandson and a crayon roll up. 

Crayon Rollup

He also got a dapper outfit (well a onsie) from his tutu.

Polka Dots and Stripes

I’ve been testing out a new embroidery project, scribbles and such in pendants. I’ll be posting photos soon and also have a new tip to share (maybe tomorrow).

Tiny Violets

And I’ve started working on another Crazy Quilt for the CQ2013 Journal Project. I’ve constructed all of the blocks first, all 12 of them. Now to get the first three embroidered and embellished before the end of March. I’m using my “Oh look, she colored everything yellow” project for this so all my blocks are black, yellow, and white. I’m liking it so far. I think I will practice a different family of stitches on each block as I need practice in that area.

Finally I’m still trying to sort and organize my “stuff”.

Happy Stitching!

Rose

Bye 2012. Welcome 2013!

Reflecting on 2012 it was a year full of pleasures, thankfulness, and love. Oh sure it had some bumps and disappointments and mistakes (my life seems to have a lot of these) but all in all I’d have to say it was a very good year for me.

Some of the pleasures:

Jaden

I loved having my grandson Jaden in my life on an almost daily basis.

Watching him grow, and change is delightful. Seeing the looks of joy, fun, amusement and wonder; hearing his unique laugh; seeing how much fun he can get out of the simplest of things; all bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart.

Mama Marilynn

 Watching my daughter get a deeper meaning of what being a mother is brings back memories of when I first became one. Her writings still enthrall me and I encourage you to visit her blog: Little Girl Dancing and read for yourself. They are simple writings that touch the heart and tug at heartstrings. If you have time leave some comments as all bloggers get encouraged by hearing when something they wrote touched someone else. And even though she has a full schedule with work, husband, child and friends she still finds time to do a lot for her parents. When she cooks she always makes extra and then delivers them to us. I told my husband he has his own personal meals on wheels!

Shayne

 I have to mention Shayne, my son-in-law, too because he always comes to the rescue when it comes to the house or car. I don’t tell him often enough but we sure do appreciate his being a part of our family. His mom and dad have become great friends too!

Samuel Kainoa

 And no I can’t overlook my son. His growth in so many of life’s areas has been amazing. He has always had it in his heart to help those less fortunate than himself. Now he does it on a much larger scale, feeding the homeless, encouraging the youth, freely giving of his time and energy, visiting and distributing shoes to orphans in Uganda, working with the people of Guatemala.

What joy my heart feels when I think on these things!

I’m thankful for all of this and for Facebook which allows me to be in touch with family and friends, both near and far, some who have always been in my life and some whom I’ve just recently reconnected with. It’s fun seeing your children and grandchildren, where you’ve been and where you’re at in life. 

I’m thankful for my quilt guild in Arlington and my former one in Hawaii, for the online stitchers, teachers, quilters, and crafters who share so willingly.

I’m thankful for Creekwood Church in Mansfield and the teaching of pastor Stephen Nutt. We are so fortunate to be able to attend the church of our choice and openly worship our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ!

So now I bid 2012 farewell.

Welcome 2013! I have plans for you but don’t worry I had plans for 2012 too. Some worked out, some didn’t. I expect the same to be true with 2013 but I’m looking forward to getting started.

Happy New Year everyone and

Happy stitching!

Rose