Napkins Abound

I know this blog has sort of derailed of late from quilting but I have finally gotten into my sewing room.  Yay!  I am going to a quilting retreat this weekend with the AAMQG so I am gathering up projects to work on and organizing.  

I just did a destash on Instagram under the #thegreatfabricdestash if anyone is interested. 

 I am mamaspark59 on IG.

I have a friend that I work with that is wanting to make 200 napkins

 for her daughter's wedding reception in October.  

Being the good friend that I am, I volunteered to help.  

YIKES! 

 The pattern is by Ann Marie and can be found here.  

It is very well written and has been fun to make.  

My friend wanted us to use Kaffe fabric.  

Here are my first patchwork pieces.

My friend, Judith, gave me the linen and the backing to make the napkins.  

I have the first 10 all cut out and one is completely finished.  

You can see (a not very good photo) right here.

The edge is rolled over and top stitched.  

That was the most challenging part!  

I found using a little Elmer's washable glue and my iron helped.  First I folded over one time and pressed.  

For the final fold over I used a fine line of glue, folded the edge over and

 positioned the corner miter, then pressed. 

 This dries the glue and holds everything in place.  

If you are  not happy with the placement of the edge or miter just tug it apart, 

put on a little more glue, reposition and press.  

The glue washes out when you are finished and you have NO pins to mess with.  

I pinned the front to the back before I began on the edge and had no trouble. 

 Then I top stitched all the way around.

I think Robin (the other friend helper) and I are each going to be making 50 

(OMG what was I thinking, LOL)

Ann Marie did a fabulous job writing this pattern.

I think you all need to go here and pick up a copy right now!!!

(picture from Ann Marie's website)

If you do, then tell her you found her from me!

Happy sewing!

~XOP~

Tribute to Gizmo

If you follow my blog you will probably know all about Gizmo  

Remember Gizmo, the house peacock?  No?  

Well here are some photos of him to refresh your memory.

My daughter raised him from the time he was 6 days old.  They shared a special bond.

Gizmo got very ill last week. 

 He stopped eating and drinking and was very lethargic.  

Shelby took him to the vet on Friday and got some antibiotics.  

On the way home, she was stopped at a light in her car and the person behind her did not stop 

and she was rear ended.  

She is fine and so was Gizmo, but the car?  Not so much. 

 Then on Saturday while we were away, I received the text I did not want.  

Gizmo passed away.  

My daughter is just distraught!  

So yesterday we drove to Michigan State to have a necropsy done 

so we can know what Gizzy died from.  

It was very hard for her to say good bye and leave him there and I am so proud of her for doing it. 

 I know when she has time to grieve she will want to imprint another peacock so she needs to know if there is something at her house that caused his death.  

She is thinking a protozoan infection but hopefully we will know something soon.  

This is how I will remember him the best!

RIP Gizmo. 

 You were one loved and spoiled birdie!  

We will all miss you but I know you are now with Osiris and my dad keeping God amused! 

Shelby has a very loving tribute she wrote about Gizmo and you can read it here.

A good friend of hers (cataclysmess) painted this for her.

Love you Gizmo!

~XOP~

Fiesta!

I don't have a single quilty thing to share (unless buying a new sewing machine foot counts). 

 I have been super absorbed in getting my father's things in order.  

WHEW!  What a LOT of work!

My best advice to you about making things easier when you get older is ORGANIZATION!!! 

 Put all your important papers together.  

Write down your login information and passwords in a book 

so your family will know what to do with all of them.  

If there are investments, try to get them into one or two places not a million 

(like my dad apparently thought was a great idea). 

 Let me tell you it is NOT a great idea and a huge amount of work to track down 

what exists and what does not exist anymore.  

Make a will and a trust and have that ready.  

You can do that now, even if you aren't older!   

OK PSA is now over we will resume our normal content!

While I was at the hotel last week waiting to get ready for the visitation, a good friend called me.  

She was at the tent sale for the Homer Laughlin company (they make Fiestaware).  

She knew I had been looking for the dancing lady cookie jar.  

I love that Seniorita!  

She is an expensive date though!!!  

My friend found one for 1/3 the original cost and wanted to know if I wanted her.  

Well hell yes I wanted her!!!  

So now she has a place of honor on my Fiesta cabinet!

I took the pics in the dark, so the color is not true.  

She is Scarlet not orange and she is beautiful!

Sometimes it's the little things that make our days.

Thanks for thinking of me, Anne!

~XOP~

I'm Doing OK

I just wanted to let you all know that after the visitation and Funeral this weekend that I am ok.  

The visitation was lovely.  

We had photos of my dad out and I draped the quilt I made him over the casket, placed his baritone sax, snowmobile model and a photo of the band he played in on top of it.

They hung his Army Air Corp jacket by his military photo and the flag and flower arrangements.

It was good to see so many people that I had not seen in a long time.  

To catch up with relatives and friends.  

To share stories about my dad in the different parts of his life.  

My middle daughter stood up at the funeral and gave an amazing tribute to my dad.

 One of the things she said was that she would not be the person she is today without having had my dad in her life.  

sniff, sniff.   

I was told I was not to cry or she would not be able to hold it together.  

I welled up but held it together.  

My dear friend played the flute 

(and had an amazing story to tell me about how my dad chose the music he wanted,

 but that's a story for another time)

Several friends of my dad's told stories about him.  

He sure did touch a lot of people.  

The honor guard was there with a military gun send off. followed by Taps. 

 I was doing fine until they played Taps, then the waterworks opened up.  

I managed to collect myself and was only fighting back tears as they presented me with the flag 

and the shell casings from the tribute.  

I barely remember the lunch and all too soon we were heading to the cemetery.  

It was an absolutely gorgeous day!  

HIs body was committed to the Earth and the funeral director broke out the Sharpies!  

We all  wrote one last goodbye to him on his casket.  

Something we wanted him to know or remember from each of us.

It was a long couple of days and yet it flew by.  

I will always miss my dad but know he is watching over me and my family.  

I am still feeling a little lost (not sure how else to describe it).

Everyone tells me this will pass.

I feel blessed that God chose him for my dad!

I realize that my blog has been not so quilty of late and hope you will all hang in there with me. 

 I have a few new things in the works and hope to be able to do some sharing soon!

~XOP~

My Dad

In case you have been wondering where I have been I have had a jam packed schedule with my dad.  I didn't say much but he went into the hospital on Friday of Memorial weekend and was discharged on Tuesday.  He went in with a UTI and was released infection free, but mentally, much diminished.  It was at that time I decided that I needed to call in Hospice.  I did not want him going into the hospital again if he got another UTI, which he seemed to be getting more and more frequently.  I went to see him every day after I got home from NC.  On Sunday I needed him to sign some papers for me.  He was no longer talking and was not certain what I needed him to do. His breathing was labored.  I knew this was the beginning of the end.  On Monday he was in bed and did not wake up for my visit.  Tuesday I went with my hubby to GR to plan his funeral, as I was certain he was not going to make it through the week.  What an experience it is to do that!  On Tuesday my daughter brought her cat over to see my dad and even though he did not wake up, when she put his hand on Lenore, my dad started petting her.  I can hear him saying "Hi kitty kitty" in his head as he did that.  He loved cats, just like me.

I went over alone on Wednesday and spent a few hours just holding his hands and stroking his head and talking to him.  I told him that if he was ready it was OK for him to go.  I promised I would take care of my sisters (both handicapped) and that we would all be alright.  I told him that he should go play gold with his dad and Jamie, that he should not hang out here even though I would miss him like crazy!  It was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do and also the best thing I have ever done.  My last gift to my dad that gave me so much in my own life.

My dad passed away, peacefully in his sleep on Thursday night.  I just missed being there.  I had an appointment that I needed to keep and afterward had this urgent sense that I needed to get to my dad's place.  I think that must have been as he was leaving.

RIP dad, I love you and will miss you more than you can know.  I know you are happy, golfing, snowmobiling and talking God's ears OFF!!

I love you dad!
We will not mourn your loss we will celebrate your life!

Helping Out A Friend

My friend Kelly has come up with a couple more fantastic patterns 

and I got to play with them this weekend.  

They are for "skinny" geese in a ring.  

I tested the 6 1/2" and the 2 1/2" patterns.  

I only had time to do a quarter of the pattern but I am loving them so far.  

This is so teeny tiny!

Easier to see them in relation to each other.

This was the only bit of sewing I was able to eek out this weekend!  

I did discover an interesting "tip" while paper piecing the larger one. 

 I always seem to struggle with knowing where to line up the "next" piece to add, 

especially if I can't see through when I hold it up to the light.  

I finally figured out something that was extremely helpful for me and 

thought I would pass this tip along to you.

In this photo you see that A16 is the next piece I need to add so I put a pin on the sewing line.  

When you flip it over you can see where the pin line is and extend your piece 1/4" past that.  

Then flip back to the front and use the same pin to pin your piece in place right on the sewing line. 

When I flipped back to the back I could open up the violet piece and make sure it covers everything like it should, then turn back to the front and sew it!  

This saved me soooooo much ripping time!

I didn't need to do this with the small one as the pieces are so much smaller and easier to work with and make sure everything is covered, but for the larger one this was GREAT!

I hope you get a chance to purchase her pattern and make some for yourself!

~XOP~

My First In Print Quilt Pattern

That's right.  I now have an actual printed pattern for my Daisy Fields quilt. 

 It is available at Pink Castle Fabrics, right here.
You may also get the pdf version in my ETSY shop here.

You can find the Color Inspirations Club fabric bundles at Pink Castle too.  

Daisy Field is the March quilt for the club.

The pattern for the January quilt is not out yet but will be soon.  

Both of the quilts I made went to Spring Quilt Market this year.  T

hey were hung in the RJR fabric booth.  

Some other very nice folks took pictures of the quilts for me there.

This was the Color Inspirations Club display at the RJR booth.

Notice my pattern on the board in the lower right?

My quilt is second one down on the ladder too.

This one was hung in the booth.  Looks pretty good there!

Kathy from Thread Bear Quilting did the quilting on both quilts.

She did an outstanding job!!

This should be out in pattern form soon!  It is the January quilt for the club.

It is pretty exciting to see your work in print.  

If you make a quilt using one of my patterns please post to Instagram and tag me

mamaspark59

and or

post in my Flickr group which you can find here.

Have a great Monday!

~XOP~