Keep Holding On

The other day while I was running I saw this tree literally hanging on to the bank of the river.

Isn’t that amazing how this tree is just perched there at the side of the river? I’ve never seen the root system of a tree exposed like that. I’m sure with each passing year more and more earth gets washed away under it. I have no idea how long this tree has been “holding on” like that. Hmm…so many metaphors come to mind.

It reminds me to never give up, just keep “holding on”.

What does it remind you of? Leave me a comment and let me know what you come up with.

Ready for the Finishing Kit

Now that all the blocks for the 2011 Amish Shop Hop quilt are completed it’s time to start on the finishing kit.

I keep completed blocks for each project in unused pizza boxes.

Everything is cut out and ready to go. It took awhile. I had a slight problem cutting out the large setting triangles.

I didn’t have a ruler long enough. So I carefully and accurately used 2 rulers and the grid on my cutting mat to cut out these triangles. I won’t know how accurately I cut them until I piece them into the quilt. I’ll keep you updated.

I keep a tally to make sure that I’ve cut out the correct number of strips and squares. Now it’s time to start piecing.

Can you guess what this is?

You might be thinking, “uh, a dog?”. You’d be partly correct. It is a dog, a 6 month old puppy to be exact. But the truly correct answer is…a very tired puppy. You see this doesn’t happen very often. Daisy is usually on the go most of the time exploring and taking in all she can of the world around her. But this day Daisy really got her exercise and she was tuckered out. I was able to take successive pictures with nothing more from Daisy than a slight opening of her eyes.

Snoozing, she is.

Notice the quilt on the couch. It’s one of my favorite quilts to snuggle under…just thought you’d wanna know.

“Hey, you taking pictures of me?”…back to snoozing.

I was even able to get a close-up. Ah, nice quiet evening. Good-night, Daisy. Happy puppy dreams.

2011 Amish Quilt Shop Hop Blocks, Part 3

Here are the rest of the blocks. Notice that all the blocks have border strips. This will be such a help when I square them up to 12 1/2″. I won’t have to worry about cutting off any points when I trim them.

So, the blocks are all done. Now it’s time to start on the finishing kit. I can’t wait, I love putting the quilt blocks together and see how the quilt is going to look. It’s always better than the picture on the pattern or the picture I had in my mind.

Here is the finishing kit.

It came with a Flying Geese Ruler…a new tool! Love it!

2011 Amish Quilt Shop Hop Blocks, part 2

Here are a few more of the Amish Quilt Shop Hop Blocks.

There are 13 blocks needed to make the finishing kit that I purchased. Only 10 quilt shops participated that year. In the finishing kit, which I purchased from Mercantile on Main LLC, are 3 more blocks kits for a total of 13 blocks.

2011 Amish Quilt Shop Hop Quilt Blocks

Now that my Spring wall-hanging is completed I’m going to get back to the 2011 Amish Shop Hop quilt. I purchased the block kits and the finishing kit 2 years ago during the shop hop. Here are a few of the finished blocks.

I really like these fabrics and I love how the blocks are turning out. The fabric line is Papillon by Red Rooster Fabrics.

Cap City 1/2 Marathon Recap

My daughter and I had the privilege to be volunteers for this year’s Cap City 1/2 Marathon.

Our first job was to unwrap and hang 14,000 medals. Whew! Thankfully there were several people also helping with this task. They were beautiful medals.

Then our job was to hand out oranges to the finishers. It was a cold morning. Great weather for running, but not the most comfortable for standing.

Here is the finish line. The medics were waiting and ready.

It was fun, it was exciting. I was glad to be able to volunteer, but I really hope to run the 1/2 marathon next year.

Daisy Days

I want to introduce you to our new puppy. Her name is Daisy and she is an English Shepherd.

We brought her home just a few days before Christmas. This picture was taken the day we brought her home.

Is that just the epitome of cuteness?!!!

She’s now 6 months old.

Daisy is a beautiful girl with allot of personality…I mean allot!!! of personality. She’s really sweet-as-a-daisy.

Spring is Done

My Spring wall-hanging is done!

This little wall-hanging took much longer than expected. But it is done and it’s still spring!

I chose a longer sewing needle then I usually do to sew the binding onto the back.

The longer needle made such a difference. Sometimes it’s the simplest change.

Yea! I finally have a new spring wall-hanging on the wall.

 

Through the Door

Through the front door of my home I look across the road to the house where I grew up. It now sits empty, waiting for the next family to call it home.

It’s been almost 3 years since we said our final goodbyes to our parents. My brother, sister and I have had a hard time deciding what should come of the house that our father built and our mother made into a home.

I see the barn that I played in on hot summer days. The long, country driveway that I walked so many times to catch the school bus. I’m reminded of the rainy mornings that I walked that driveway. The cold snowy mornings with the biting wind nipping at my cheeks.

One particular morning stands out to me. I was about 8 years old. I stood waiting for the school bus, looking at the house across the road, which I now own. The man that lived there just let his dog out through that front door. I’m not afraid of dogs, we’ve had dogs all my life. But this dog…he was big! And not very attractive. He was an Irish Wolfhound and a very friendly one, too.

He galloped, yes, he galloped across the road to see me. In his excitement he was practically dancing around me, very clumsily, but gentle at the same time. His hair was wiry and grey. He had long eyebrows. I didn’t know dogs had eyebrows, but this dog did.

Then I heard it…my school bus was coming up the road. Oh, no! I didn’t want the kids on the bus to see me with this dog. I was one of the first kids picked up in the morning. There couldn’t be more than 5 kids on the bus and what was the big deal if the kids saw the dog with me? I honestly have no idea. Perhaps I didn’t want the attention. I guess it was an 8 year old kid thing, but yes I was embarrassed.

For days after that incident I stood at the end of that driveway hoping and praying that dog wouldn’t come out of the front door of that house.

And now 40 years later here I stand at that front door with my 2 dogs by my side. No, they are not Irish Wolfhounds. And no, there’s no little girl standing at the driveway, at least not right now. Maybe someday there will be again. She need not worry. I won’t let my dogs out until she’s on the bus.