Monday, April 26, 2010

Working on my Sinatra...

Im going to New York City!!!!! June 11th thru the 13th, I will be tooling around the big apple taking in all the sights with some of my girl friends. I am beyond excited.
I have always wanted to go to NYC. I have no clue what all we are going to do, and I know that 3 days is no where near enough to see everything there is to see, but it is a start.
If anyone has any suggestions on things to do, shoot them my way. And if anyone wants to meet for dinner one evening, let me know as well! We are staying in Jersey to save some cash, but plan on spending almost all of our time in the city.
I do want to get a velour sweatsuit in some God-awful color, paint myself orange, and tease my hair to the sky-but don't want to get my ass kicked when no Jersey accent comes out of my mouth and I am found to be mocking the enigma that is a Jersey girl. It would be fun though, right?
Anyways. Excited. Excited. Excited!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Great Grandma's Treasures

Hand pieced "dresden plate" pattern
One of my favorites. Hand pieced Double wedding ring pattern. It is so bright and cheery. It is one that I hope to get when she passes, but it may already be claimed.
"Sunbonnett Sue" pattern. Of course hand pieced.

A close up of the pattern

Grandma created this beauty when my great grandpa was sick. She took two sheets she had and pinned them to her bed and free hand-stitched this shell pattern. Using no pattern to go off of. This is an incredible feet! No puckers or anything. It is amazing.


Close up of the detail in the stitching. her stitches are small and consistant.

A strip stitch quilt. This was made from scraps from a local seamstress. All the pieces are hand stitched together and go in an alternating pattern.

Another strip quilt made with scraps. This time in a block pattern.

This is the quilt that I claimed. It was made with material from a local penny store with just white and peach blocks. Grandma thought it was too plain so she hand embroidered the star pattern. It is beautiful. She wanted to know why I wanted this one, because she thinks it is plain. I told her it was because not only did it show her piecing and quiliting abilities, but it showed her embroidery abilities as well-that it wasn't plain, because when you looked up close you could see the hours of work that went into it. It is my absolute favorite!

This is a memory quilt in a block pattern made with material from pieces of clothing from her children. the green in material from an old dress of hers. She was able to tell which material went with which child.

This is an afghan that great grandma made for her mother while she was sick. Great-great grandma would use it daily and wouldn't let any one else touch it because she was afraid it would get damaged. It is bright and cheery and made with left over yarn. It was given back to great grandma after her mother passed.










"Alabama the Beautiful"

Alabama the beautiful.
That is where I was all last week. Visiting my great grandma and being the awesome granddaughter that I am-driving for my grandparents.
It was a nice trip. The drive down was easy. No traffic, quick drive time.
My great grandma practically ran (well, her best attempt at running) to give me a hug when we got there. It had been 5 years since the last time I had seen her and 17 years since I had been in Alabama.
It was a long week of a lot of nothing. Which was nice for a change. I spent a lot of time sitting on the back porch, then the front porch, then eating breakfast with grandma and talking. I took lots of walks and did a lot of reading.
One day I took the time to plant flowers in all of grandma's planters and into her landscaping. She was so excited. I also helped her to make homemade apple cobbler and buscuits one evening. Hoping I got the recipe right in my head. She doesn't measure anything, just knows how much to use.
We went for daily walks together. Short walks, usually no longer than 500 yards, but nice time together none-the-less.
She was so thankful to have someone to listen to her and talk to her and seem truly interested in what she had to say. I cherished every word that came across her lips. I loved spending time with her and wish I had more time with her.
The last night that I was there, grandma came into the bedroom I was staying in and asked if I wanted to see her quilts. They are amazing. I got to hear the story behind each one and got to pick the one that I will get when she passes. I took the time to shake them all out and refold them. She was so thankful for that. She doesn't have the strength anymore to lift the heavy fabrics to fold them nicely. They were all stacked cleanly and "just like she used to do them" when I was done with them.
When we left Saturday morning, I couldn't help but cry. Grandma was crying as well. She just kept saying that she wished I could stay with her. I can't help to wonder if it will be the last time I see her. I hope not.
She is an amazing woman who has lead an amazing life.
She is a fiesty 91 year old