Quilts and Tractors!

It has been a long time since I posted to my page. Life has been very busy. I have not posted to my blog since the passing of my mother but the time has come to get back to blogging and sharing the quilts we enjoyed so much. 
I am participating in a quilt show at the 25th Anniversary Allis-Chalmers Tractor event in Hutchinson, MN. It's called the "Orange Spectacular"!  For those of you that wonder about the name, it's because Allis-Chalmers tractors are painted orange. If you want more info, check out this link....

http://www.orangespectacular.com/

The event will be held at the McCleod County Fairgrounds and so tomorrow, I will head west and I will share my quilts and my program that I call "A Legacy of Stitches". I am really looking forward to it. Start time for my program is 1:30 p.m. Would be nice if it weren't so hot but I have everything organized and I'll be in a building with A/C so I'll be cool while I share my quilts. My dad would love this event that combines tractors and quilts!!
Sharing my quilts..ones that I have made, some that have been given to me, family ones that were handed down to me and many that were bought at farm auctions by my mom and dad, ......it's something that I really enjoy. I began sharing the stories and photos of all those quilts when I started blogging in May of 2008. It was a way of easing the pain of my dad's passing. You can see the photo of him with a quilt we called "the Puzzle Quilt" because it was a real puzzle to figure out it's construction. I'll have that quilt with me tomorrow. There will be over two dozen large quilts that I'll share and a dozen or so small quilts, pincushions and pretties. And, I have that pincushion doorprize to share and four free pattern hand-outs, plus copies of my "A Legacy of Stitches" poem (you can find it on my blog, too). It will be a good afternoon for quilters!

Now with all that said, I wanted to share that this will be one of the last times that I share my quilts. I have some health issues and I don't quite have the same stamina I used to have. I need to readjust my quilting plan. And so..........For the next several years, I'll continue to share my quilts every October in my home town of Lehigh and at the Lehigh Historical Society. My brother, Doug, is an awesome helper as is my cousin, Patty! And then, here in Henderson.........I'll be sharing a quilt or two every year in a class and perhaps in occasional displays at the Henderson Library. I have always loved my library and the Henderson Library is one of the best!!! I have booked the date of Saturday, November 5th for my first quilt class that will feature one of the vintage quilts in my collection. I am pretty sure that is Deer Hunting Season Opener but I call it Open Season on Quilting! I'll have that quilt with me tomorrow, too. I'll share more info soon on time, date and cost. In the meantime, who knows? maybe I'll see some of you tomorrow?!

This is the photo of my dad with the Triangle Puzzle Quilt that some of you may recall from my first blog post back in May of 2008. 

Here is the link to the post of my dad with the Puzzle Quilt!

http://alegacyofstitches.blogspot.com/2008/05/memorial-day-2008.html

With this new post, I hope to jump back into blogging again. However,  I am not sure that I will ever blog as much as I did in those years from 2008 to 2012.  It seems that the words of my last post are prophetic........"To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose........."  Here's to blogging again and the joy of quilting!

Sandi

Seasons of life.......

A little over a week ago, we got a call that my mother, Mary, was having some serious health issues. She has been in the Care Center since falling and breaking her hip almost three years ago. She did fine for awhile but these last few months she grew more and more frail. On Wednesday, February 3, 2016, she passed peacefully. Her season of life on earth ended and she has gone home. Some of her last words to me were "please take me home". One never knows.........did she mean take me home to the home we knew as children? or take me home, Lord? She was tired, lonely for my dad and her family that has gone before her. She is at peace and all is well. Her funeral will be later this week and we will celebrate her life. She lived 87 years and that is a gift.

I really will get back to blogging regularly one of these days.......there is a time for everything. Just not time right now. 

Catching up!

Christmas was just one month ago. Time flies too fast! We had a lovely Christmas celebration and I was going to post pictures the weekend after Christmas. However, on Christmas Eve I felt a sore throat coming on and by Christmas Day I knew I was getting a good cold. I barely remember the days between Christmas and New Year's Day. I started getting better but not really well. It has only been the last week that I finally feel that my head is clear and I no longer have a cough! And so, I decided it was time to pack up the Christmas decorations so I can make way for some sewing projects. Before I do that..........I'll share my mantra/words for the year because they are important to this post. I get so busy that sometimes I don't stop to just "be". I am going to be less busy this year and just "be" a whole lot more. So the words to guide me in that mission..........Revisit......Reflect.......Refresh! Yep, I am going to revisit a number of activities, projects and plans that I did last year and simply never had time to post about. I'm going to reflect on them..........maybe some plans or projects will never get finished......so then I'll have to hit my "refresh" button. LOL!  Anyway, this year is all about just "being". Yes, just "being". I need to relax and I started that plan at Christmas. I just didn't plan on getting sick right after Christmas. Anywho.........I set the relaxing mood at the dining room table with this scene.................

I have never bought real flowers for my Christmas table in all the years we have been married but this year I bought a small bouquet of red roses and they added such a lovely touch to the table that I am going to do this next year. My husband is not a "flower guy" so last summer I decided that I would buy flowers for the table every time I went to the grocery store. It's a small splurge but I decided that I'm worth it at my age. LOL!

Our Christmas Eve dinner has become sort of a tradition.......Steve cooks a great big ham and I make potato soup. It is my son-in-law Daryl's favorite! The soup was thick and yummy......we actually didn't need bowls.

And our dessert was fudge that I made and all these delicious cookies made by Katie and family at Collette's daycare. By evening's end over half the tray of cookies was gone!

Addison had fun handing out all the gifts...........

 everybody got something that made them smile. Here's the "Tool Man" at our house..........

 and son Devlin is smiling because he loves to play pool and that little ornament features an 8 ball. I always find such fun stuff at the local thrift shops!

 Jacob was happy with a movie that Devlin got him .......

 and Addison loved her Monster High doll from Devlin.

 and I got the giggles over this gift .............it's containers of Chips Ahoy cookies from son, Devlin. He and Steve know that I cannot pass up these cookies when I am at the grocery store. Addison took the photo and it's a little fuzzy but so funny.

Then there was this gift for me from Collette, Daryl, Jacob and Addison. I unwrapped the package to find this note.........

I could see it was fuzzy socks, just what I had asked for but then, tucked between the socks was .........

Mr. Hooper!!! And why did I get Mr. Hooper? Well, when Jacob was little he liked to play with the Sesame Street house and characters that Collette got for Christmas when she was five years old. One day, Kaiser, who was quite a naughty puppy, did a really naughty thing and he ate Mr. Hooper! I was so sad. So, Daryl got the idea to go on E-bay and look for a Mr. Hooper to replace the one that Kaiser thought was so tasty. Once again, I found myself laughing and it was just so fun. That Sesame Street set was a Christmas gift in 1974 and now, all these years later, it's complete once again. So, that's just a little glimpse into our Christmas.
Today, I packed away the last of the decorations and made notes of plans for next year, because after all........it's just 11 months til Christmas! Sewing projects are in my plans for Tuesday. I have so many unfinished projects that there is no shortage of stuff to do in my sewing room. ;-)
Stay warm, stay safe on those highways if you are out in this snowy, icy weather. And if you are in warmer corners of the world......stay cool!
Sandi