Grandma's Quilted Stocking

Ruth 1:16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

I thought I would post a picture or two about where I was exactly this time a year ago. I was sitting with my mother-in-law...my precious Naomi...in ICU.  I wanted so badly to curl up in bed with her and love on her, but didn't want to get in trouble with the nurses.  If I had known she was going to die, I would have done it. I miss her tender, delicate manicured hands when she held my hand in return.

Allyson (who was 18 at the time)  made a scrappy stocking using up some of my Christmas scraps to hang in grandma's room.  There were pictures of all the grandchildren and great grandchildren hanging on the wall in front of her so when she woke up she could see her family.  Ally hung her stocking there too.

Grandma woke up and pointed at the wall. We all pointed to different pictures trying to understand which grandchild she wanted. She couldn't speak. Lastly we pointed to the stocking and that's what she wanted. Being a hand piecer and a hand quilter forever, we should have guessed the stocking first. LOL She wanted to hold it.

She snuggled with it like a child does a stuffed animal or a treasured blanky all night. It was in her bed when we got there the next morning. 20 minutes later, God called her home. I'm so glad my daughter had thought to make something so last minute and silly for Grandma's Christmas ICU room. Turned out not to be so silly after all.





This is one of my favorite pictures. It's sad I guess, but I love it. I sat and crocheted for 12 hours, watching her chest go up and down all day, thinking her little body suuuuuure was fighting hard and thinking, this doesn't look so good, BUT she's gonna make it, I just know!!!! I watched her heart beat on that monitor all day long, until family came in and told me it was time to leave.

I love this picture because I see her heart beating on the monitor. She was alive, God love her. It was a beautiful day I spent in silence with her and my God. I'll forever be grateful He let her live long enough for us to get there and be with her one last 24 hour day.

*********************************************************************************   Choose Joy

Colored Pencil Wraps

I saw this on Pink Chalk Studio a long, long time ago and now you can find the pattern in Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, which I've really enjoyed and recommend to others.

My nephew Hay Hay is getting one and maybe some other children if I'm in the mood to finish them. :) My things to do list is long and time is getting short.

My tip for this pencil roll is to use the walking foot as is suggested. I can't find mine since we moved and I thought I could get by without it. I did, but it doesn't look near as pretty. Hoooo Boy! Hayden won't care, in the end. :)

 

Robin's Egg Blue Kitchen

We're not quite finished with the decorating but here is a late evening snap shot of the eating area. We were exhausted after painting all day but I was so excited over how it turned out, I had to take a picture before bed. It's a spa blue paint from Home Depot.

When I first began with the cut in work, I thought, "oh no...what have I done???...I hate it!"....wishing I had gone yellow or something else for the kitchen. Robin's Egg Blue is my favorite color (it's already in the master bedroom). It works almost as a neutral, as everything seems to go with it, especially browns, yellows and reds...especially reds! Yummy! In this picture, it goes nice with the greens I set out for Christmas.

It turned out so pretty and it's sweet during the day when the sunlight hits it, giving it a peaceful, cozy glow.

I love allowing my inner rebellious child write on the walls of my house. I wrote a quick blessing behind the fridge. Now I have to go and hunt down more secret places to write more messages. LOL It's so much fun.

Vintage Stitchery in the Hall Gallery

I collect stitchery. I have a mixture of things I've done and what I find in thrift stores. Usually I have them spread all over the house, but this time I hung them up as friends.

I'm working on unpacking and decorating before my perfect sister gets here. She thinks I have too much junk and I think her style is cold and boring. LOL We used to share a room. She used to be dirty and I was the neat freak. Now guess who is the neat freak?

Awwwwwww....sweet memories of sitting with my grandma while stitching this one up. I spent the night with her on Friday nights and she would always teach me something domestic. This was my first cross stitch. I had already crocheted my sister a sweater by this time. I started it when I was 6 and finished when I was 7. If you look closely, you can see where the 6 was erased and the 7 replaced it. This picture makes me a little sad too, because I see I'm a Craig by now and no longer a Woodruff, meaning my step dad had adopted us and my Daddy was no longer allowed to see us. Long story for another day...or maybe never. I don't like to think about it.





This one was in my mother-in-laws house forever. It's a P for our last name. Since my husband is the only son, guess who got all the "P" stuff. LOL I love it. I think it's the only needlepoint I have.


This was on my mother-in-law's dishwasher forever too. The kids grew up with it there and always wanted to turn it back and forth telling us if the dishes were dirty or clean. They asked for it when going through her things, and they got it. I thought it was so sweet...of all the many beautiful things they could have asked for (and they did get some cool stuff) this was the sweetest request. I think if you give a child a choice over gold or memories, they usually pick the memory. My kids didn't ask for anything valuable...just stuff that reminded them of Grandma.

Blue and Yellow Lusterware

I have an old corner hutch covered in white peeling paint that I cherish. White makes every color of dish in my china hutch pop out, so we can enjoy it. I change it out at the beginnning of each season.

I'm in the process on unpacking my green depression glass. I think I'll go green and white here this December and leave the ruby glass for February.

This was my mother-in-law's lusterware, which the kids and I have always loved. We lived around the corner from her for years and we would go over for morning or afternoon tea. The tea cups are petal thin.  Maybe it's my imagination or the love we shared during our tea parties with the kids, but I never had such a wonderful cup of tea in my life.

Where the Wild Things Are Baby Quilt

My daughter's close friend from childhood is having her first baby.

So she kept her baby who is coming into our world in January. We're all so excited.

She wanted to do a "Where the Wild Things Are" theme for the baby (she adds, BEFORE the movie made it popular again!!). I am making her a baby quilt of course. All babies should be celebrated and cuddled in hand made quilts, don't you think?

I couldn't find WTWTA fabric. I decided to go "rogue" and do my own thing, which is what I prefer anyway. I pulled my WTWTA book out and then pulled colors and textures of fabric to match the art work. It was a brilliant idea because I love it so much more than if I had found themed fabric. Plus this way, the quilt is less easily outgrown. He can love it for years instead of just 5 or 6. Know what I mean?

Another nice thing about doing a more traditional baby quilt is a mother can use it as a wall hanging or a furniture cover/table runner later, instead of packing it away with other baby things.

Here are some pictures of the fabric. I have finished the quilt top and I'm now hand quilting it like a maniac, as fast as I can. I quilted 12 hours yesterday. Ouch. My fingers are super sore.

Sore and calloused fingers remind me of my mother-in-law. She hand quilted everyone in the family a quilt. Calloused fingers means "love" to me. I sure do miss her.

Anyway, I'll post a picture very soon of the finished quilt as it has to be finished by tonight. Wish me luck.

Wow. After viewing my post, the pictures just don't to it justice. Wait until you see the REAL thing. It's gorgeous. I need to stop making quilts I love, because they are too hard to give away.





Pooh the narcissist cat, approves. He's my biggest fan

Attempted Murder of a Betta Fish

Allyson brought her Betta fish home to be "fish sat" during Thanksgiving.

At 4:00 AM this morning I heard a horrible, "home shattering" crash. My first thought was someone came to kill us! Eeek! Upon further investigation, I find the Betta and his bowl spilled all over the living room carpet, along with a large bowl filled with acorns (a very large bowl).

I've got wet carpet, fish bowl rocks, acorns every where....where's the fish? I FOUND HIM. He was dying.  I hurried to put him back into some water as fast as I could, carefully studying his color so I could run to Wal Mart and buy another fish just like him .

After mouth to mouth and a few tapping's on his chest, he started swimming again. Thank you Lord. Then I had to clean up all the mess. It was every where.

The violent perpetrator of this crime was non other than...you guessed is....Pooh, the narcissistic hungry, spiteful cat....also known by his alias...Moo Moo or Poopee...which ever one fits the circumstances of the time.

He has been banished to solitary confinement, until the Judge wakes up and sees the wet carpet in our brand new house. I have a feeling the Judge will sentence him to death. I'll have to be the best defense attorney to ever live, and try and save his life. Our plea will be entered as "Not Guilty by reason of Curiosity" and hope curiosity won't kill the cat this time.

The fish has been placed in a witness protection program and is safe from further harm (keeping fingers crossed).

Pooh's mug shot   He's a complete sociopath, totally at peace with the world, as he sleeps with his mouth open here, probably waiting for a bird to fly in. He is an evil kitty today.

2nd Degree Hot Wax Burn

My poor baby. My heart broke in a million pieces Wednesday helping my daughter while she was in agony. She was melting wax for eye brows, per instructions, in the microwave.

She saw it bubble up like a volcano then it shot out like a fountain in Yellowstone right at her face. It covered parts of her face, her neck, right hand and even got up inside her nose. 

I just keep praising God it didn't get in her eye.

In a panic, we tried to get the wax off her face. DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER do that if this happens to you. Just leave it there, and the burn creams you use will soften the concrete super glue like wax in time.  We did not know this until the emergency room people told us. 

 

If this happens to you,

 DO NOT PEEL THE WAX OFF.  LEAVE IT AND TREAT THE BURNS

per Doctors instructions.

 

Good God, we peeled the skin off in the process, only making things worse. It was the most heart wrenching, disgusting thing I ever witnessed with one of my children. We took her to the emergecy room and they treated the burns and gave her some meds.

Look how pitiful she looks the first night. Doesn't she break your heart? I'm sick over it. She cried for hours and got tears in her burn. I finally got her to lay down, so the tears would run down the other way. *sniff*

Yesterday morning, her hand looked some better. Her face looked worse. Her nose was swollen and the burn was all crusty. I thought I was going to be sick, so Daddy had to come in and save the day. I can't handle pain or blood with one of my kids. My insides freak out and I feel faint.

Here is her courageous self-portrait, attempting to be brave and hopeful of no scarring. Her burn is in the shape of India or Africa...we can't decide. So if she scars, she'll at least have a cool looking shape on her face. *sigh*

Kerr View Farms Ice Cream

Who would think a piece of card board could make a silly woman so happy?

I bought this for .25 cents at a garage sale off Goat Creek Rd., Ingram/Kerrville, Texas. It's the road my grandparents lived off of for decades and decades. I was so excited to find this little treasure. It's been in my kitchen for years and it makes me happy every time I see it. I smile real big and remember "HOME". I get homesick for Kerrville, Ingram, Mt. Home, and especially Hunt, and ok, let's not forget Fredericksburg and Llano and Leakey and Inks Lake and the Guadalupe River in general.....and...and...and...yeah, I just wanna go home. 

Meriwether Lewis Quote

"I had in all human probability existed about half the period which I am to remain in this Sublunary world ... I had as yet done but little, very little, indeed, to further the happiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence, and now sorely feel the want of that information which those hours would have given me had they been judiciously expended ... I resolved in future, to redouble my exertions ... to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself."

- Meriwether Lewis, August 18, 1805, on occasion of his 31st birthday

Poor Meriwether. What a beautiful name he had. 

Bless his heart. 

Perkiomen Daydreams Begins

This glorious quilt is only for the truly manic, obsessed, tenacious, has nothing better to do than sew 1 1/2" squares together....person. Do not attempt this at home unless you are sincerely committed. Of course you could always make this as a mini-quilt and save yourself a lot of work, but would I choose that? Noooooooo...I always commit to the biggest quilt possible...jump in with both feet...and finally finish it 10 years later. I think having a giant for a husband is only one reason why I have a tendency to think "BIG" as far as quilts go.

Behold...the beautiful Perkiomen Daydreams from Bonnie Hunter's book Scraps and Shirtails.

These pictures are just layout play.





 

Peach Peel Jelly

Basically you just get a bunch of peaches, wash them very, very well, and peel them. Make sure you don't include anything yucky, like bruises or worms. Throw all that away. :) Do whatever you were going to do with the peaches: freeze, can, jelly, jam, pie, cobbler, ice cream, butter, muffins, cake, peaches and whipped cream, peaches and cream with a little sprinkle of sugar, or my personal favorite; peaches and cottage cheese. It's my favorite afternoon snack.

Save your peach peel for later use. I would add a little lemon juice to keep from browning. I put mine in a zip lock bag this time and put them in the freezer, as my family had just arrived and I didn’t have time to make jelly now. However, normally, I would really recommend you make it the same day if time allows.

There is a tremendous rewarding feeling you will get when you make something so incredibly delicious for your family out of compost fillings. LOL




When it’s time to make your jelly, you put the peelings in your pot. Cover with water. My mother-in-law said we cooked ours for about 30 minutes. I have an old fashioned fruit sieve I use, but if you don’t have one, you could just strain the peelings out or use cheese cloth.

Take your juice and follow the Sure-Jell peach jelly recipe. I also found several recipes last night which gave (better than I could) directions for what we do, except they also used the pits. I hadn’t thought of that. I believe (don’t quote me or I’ll deny it) there is natural pectin in the pit and peel, by the way. I'm not sure about that, but for some reason, that's what I'm remembering.

The lovely thing about peach peel jelly is you’ll get a glorious, beautiful hot pink, peachy, rose colored red jelly. I can’t really describe the color, but it’s so pretty. I wish OPI would make a nail polish named "Peach Peel Jelly" so I could put it on my toes.




I asked my mother-in-law what gave her the idea to start doing this and she said she was stingy and didn’t want to throw anything away. I thought that was funny. They say a man marries his mother. My mother-in-law and I are two peas in a pod. She’s one of my closest friends because we have so much in common. I hate watching her grow older. I don’t know how I’m going to live without her.

OK, back to jelly. You can’t really mess it up. It’s got so much sugar in it, it still tastes delicious even if it doesn’t jell perfectly.

I enjoy canning peaches because there is so much you can do with them. Have you tried pickled peaches? Goodness gracious they are my favorite!!!! Grandma used to make spiced peaches too. Oh wow, what I wouldn't give for a jar of grandma's spiced peaches right now. Gosh, I miss her food!!!!

One time I had a little peach and a little raspberry both left, so I made peach melba jam. Just throw whatever you’ve got fruity in your freezer, especially any type of berry, into your peach jam and experiment. I have NEVER been disappointed. I have also made peach/blueberry jam, peach/pear, peach/strawberry, peach/plum. You get the idea.




Now that I think about it, jams and jellies are one of my favorite foods. I love going down the jelly aisle at the store and getting something new. At any given time, we probably have at least 5 jars of opened jams in our fridge.

One more thing about jams or jellies which I highly esteem is they are always delightful as gifts. Every summer back in Texas (not so much now) my mother-in-law and I would can dozens and dozens and dozens of jams and jellies. Whenever you needed and instant gratitude gift, say for example, the mailman did an especially nice favor for you that day, you could run in and grab a jar of jelly to hand him. Or if someone just moved into your neighborhood, you can take them a jar of your peach melba jam and make an instant BFF. I always passed out tons of jams at church around Christmas time too. You want to tell someone you love them and give them a little something, but you don't have the kind of budget which allows you to tell EVERYONE you love them. Jelly makes everyone happy.

Can you tell gifts are my love language? LOL




Here are peach peel and pit jelly recipes you can experiment with. Just play it by ear. Like I said, you can't really mess it up. If it comes out too thin, pour it on pancakes. :)

Recipe 1

Recipe 2

Recipe 3

Puffs to Go Tissue Holder

With no interruptions, each took me about 30 minutes to make.

You can get the pattern from Bella Dia Her Tissue Holder pattern tutorial is here. I really appreciate excellent, idot proof tutorials.

She has a nice crafty blog too.