Silly Groups of Four

4 Things I like to eat - Spinach Salad, French Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, In N' Out Burgers

4 Things I like to smell - lavender, fresh baked bread, raspberries, lemons

4 Countries I have traveled to - England, Germany, Italy, France

4 Countries I would like to travel to - Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia

4 Colors I like - red, blue, yellow, green

4 Things I like to drink - water, lemonade, chocolate milk, margaritas

4 Things I can count on - God, my friends, my family, the weather changing

4 Things that bless my day - sunshine, a call from a friend, my DGDs, my husband saying "Did I tell you I love you today?"

Adventures In The Snow

Ahh March! Daffodils blooming and Jon's birthday approaching. A celebration is in order so we went to the SNOW! Yes. The snow in South Lake Tahoe is still there in March. We enjoyed the gracious gift of time in our friends cabin. It was a great place to get away, introduce the DGDs to the snow and enjoy being a family.

The cabin was near Heavenly Ski area but we weren't there for the skiing this trip.

Instead we just played in the snow............................built snowmen...................

......sledded down hills......


......ate birthday cake......

....caught snowflakes on our tongues...

...played Wii, while DGDs rested...

Had an all around great time!

Blessings and Bali's

Many are the blessings that one receives from friends. So many friends called, wrote, and e-mailed me this past week. Though it's been a difficult week as memories of hard times surfaced, I know in my heart that Stephen is in a better place and he is free from debilitating pain. I think that his birthday is always going to be the hardest for me.

As for this one year anniversary of Stephen's heaven date, we just had an easy day. I went to Bible study in the morning and that began the blessings of the day. Afterwards, the sun came out for awhile which was a definite answer to prayer. Jim and I went out to lunch and talked some about our feelings and about Stephen. Then I went for a massage and a manicure. The day was topped off with DGD blessings. Both of them spent the night.......a first for us all. Nothing like a little DGD sunshine to bless your day.

On to the Bali's. I'm currently working on a class project from the Road to California show. It's called Strip Therapy and I'm using a set of Hoffman Bali Pops......2 1/2" X 40" strips. It is going to be gorgeous when it's finished but right now all I am thinking is that it is alot of work.

The beginning......sew lots and lots of strip sets.

Then it's time to use the special triangle cutter. This goes on forever and ever.

The triangles get sewn together into squares.

Eventually there will be 42 beautiful squares. Right now there are 9. 33 to go. More forever sewing.

And here is the little machine that will do all the work....my Featherweight named "Jean".

Diary of a Traveling Challenge

One of the best things aout quilting is all the quilting friends you make along the way. I've had the great fortune to be a part of mini groups and large quilds. My group in MD, the Loose Ends, refuse to let me go even though I now live in CA. That's okay. Our motto seems to be "once a Loosie, always a Loosie". I like it that way.



Our little group has shared in many challenges along the way. We are currently doing a row by row challenge. In case I wondered if I was still a part of the group...........no problem. They are mailing me my project row to work on every two months and I mail on my project row to the next recepient. So far it is working.

And now for a little picture diary of my second round of the "Loosie Row Challenge". My job was to add a third row to the piece that was sent to me.



This is how it arrived. Yikes! Fabric, fabric, everywhere. Kaffe Fasset fabric. What am I going to do with Kaffe Fasset fabric????


HHHMMmmmmm............Maybe this idea from a magazine will work. But I will NOT do curved piecing. No sir. Not me. I will figure out a way to do applique.


My new mantra has become......It's okay to mix large colorful prints. It's okay to mix large colorful prints. The quilt police will not arrest me for mixing large colorful prints.


Well look at that. They are very colorful and pretty. The fabrics and overall feel of the quilt is still not my style. But it is fun to stretch and work outside my comfort zone.









We need some spacers to make it work. Probably should have tried to make five leaf shapes instead of four. Odd numbers usually work better. Oh well. I think this looks okay.


And there you have it. The diary of a challenge. It is now boxed up with all it's books, scraps, pictures on a thumb drive, and fabrics. Have fun JoAnna! As for me............well...........my next one will arrive in March. Yikes! Time to stretch again.

Just when you think life might have settled down, it jumps right up and slaps you in the face. I've known February would be a difficult month but I sure couldn't have predicted what has happened so far....and it is only February 13th!

The saddest and most heart-wrenching thing to have happened is the death of the son of our dear friends, Rob and Mary Bentley. Mary (along with Sandy and Barbara) is one of the "other mothers" in the life of my children. We had just seen each other in September to laugh, cry and pray for our children. She was a special blessing to Stephen in his last months. He treasured the books, notes, and cards that she sent. My mind reels and can hardly comprehend that these treasured friends should suffer a loss so similar to my own. I pray for them daily.

Just as we were trying to pick our selves back up after the above news, we got a call from our daughter-in-law, Lissa. Violet was being admitted to Children's Hospital for emergency surgery for a twisted ovary. She ended up having to have the ovary removed. She is only three years old. Again our minds reel with trying to comprehend the events of life.


But the month has held joy also. Makayla celebrated her fifth birthday with all the hoopla that a 5-year old requires. Auntie Cheryl came from Los Angeles with bundles of gifts and decorations to make sure she had a special day.





Mostly, February brings memories of the precious moments spent with Stephen last year. I find myself thinking about him alot. I smile. I laugh. I cry. A whole year has gone by. How can that be? The journey has ebbed and flowed. God has been faithful.

Reflections and Thoughts for This Day

Today the weather was sunny. I feel peaceful right now. The happiest I felt today was during my Bible study with the woman's group. A blessing in my life is my new friend, Mary Theresa. It is 9:49 p.m. in northern California where I am. I accomplished two of the borders on Makayla's quilt. Tomorrow I will go to the dentist in the afternoon. I am especially praying for Haiti and Barbara. I can hear the T.V. on in the family room. This morning I walked to Bible Study. A neck scarf is great for keeping you warm. I don't want to forget to make a square for Sue's quilt. This is a picture from a recent trip to Sea Ranch along the northern CA coast.

Back to Blogging

Here it is January 2010. My last date to write in this space was in April, two months after Stephen's Heaven date. So much has changed and happened in my life since then. I'm going to try a little catching up summary.

Timing seems to be everything. There is a season for all things to happen. By May 7, 2009 we were the proud owners of a house in Alameda, CA. If only one could just snap fingers and have everything in place. Instead, there were trips to MD to pack, organize, sort, and throw-away. Then there was the dealing with a water leak in MD, the finding of a listing agent, the packers and the moving van, the staging and the final good-bye and flight to CA.

The new house sure looks different from the one in MD. One story, shingles, less square feet and perfect location near walks and views of SF Bay. Most of all, it's close to the darling oldest son and his family with the two DGDs. Are we settled in? Well...........we are certainly able to function and even entertain for a holiday (Thanksgiving) but the garage still has many many boxes to be dealt with someday. I can fix a meal, pour a glass of wine, sew and watch a little T.V. Life seems to be resetting its normal.

I've joined Amador Valley Quilt Guild as an outlet for my creative quilting urges. The meetings are enjoyable and I am impressed by the amount of charity quilts they make each month. I need to get sewing and join in. I've also found a small group of quilters that meets at the senior center on Friday afternoons. It's great because they have big tables for cutting laying out designs. I had to give up my own project space in moving here. Now I share sewing with the guest room. It's becoming more and more doable. The goal is to design and install built-in cabinets.

The move here to Alameda has been a good thing for us and for our family. We see each other often, we reflect and remember Stephen and we all value the love we have for one another. The journey is continuous, changing and different each day but never ending. I take each day one at a time and seek and receive happiness in all that I can.