Pin It Wednesday

Marley came by earlier for Trick or Treating.  Our town moved the festivities to tonight because it's supposed to be storming tomorrow night.  Of course that put me in an All Hallow's Eve kind of spirit, although I am not watching any scary movies.  Not even some of the not-so-scary old movies.  I can't handle them.  They are too creepy and I lie awake at night fretting.

So instead of watching a scary movie while waiting for trick or treaters, I chose to appreciate a few "scary" quilts and decorations and share them with my not-so-scary friends.

Happy Halloween,

Mary

Flowers and Apologies

First, my apologies for not posting in a few days.  I suffer from depression and it has gotten really bad in the last few months.  Some days are horrible.  I'm on a new medicine that may be helping but it's difficult to tell.  And while this isn't an excuse for not writing, it's all I have.

I spent part of the weekend putting some flowers together for the family graves for All Saints' Day.  Cleaning the graves and putting new flowers on them is a tradition here in the deep South, especially among Catholic families.  This weekend congregations everywhere will pray for the souls and bless the graves.  

Rich and I first went to Moreauville to visit my grandmother and grandfather's graves.  We forgot to bring a broom, so we stopped at the dollar store on the way.  In no time we had swept the dust, grass, and cobwebs off the grave and gravestone.  I arranged the flowers and snapped a few pictures so my sisters and other family members can see how pretty the flowers are.

 


The next grave is my great-grandparents' and great-uncle's grave.  Yes, all three in the same plot.  The concrete is barely above ground, so it gets very dirty in the course of a year and requires lots of scrubbing.  He has a Woodmen of the World vase on his grave, so I didn't need to buy a vase.  

We also went to visit my parents' grave.  Cleaning that one is easy since it's still new.  Rich took the reins on this one while I arranged the flowers in mom's sewing basket vase.  Dad bought the vase before his death, so it's really special to us.  

And that was the big part of my weekend, except for the many papers I graded, but there's nothing interesting about that boring chore.  How did you spend your weekend?

Deep into Hot Pink

A customer recently contacted me to make her a queen sized quilt like this one.

Although these two are not the same quilt, they are alike in many ways: same fabrics, same sized blocks, almost the same setting, etc.  I made the first one (with an around the world setting) and used the left over fabrics to make the second (which has a random setting).  Erica wants a quilt with a random setting and lots of this hot pink.  In fact, she shopped online and sent me the links for the fabrics that she likes.

I did the rest and tonight we have several yards of yummy hot pinks in a variety of patterns and values.  This will be a fun, lively quilt, don't you think?

I'd love to get started on it, but first I have a few projects in the works that must be finished.  But whose to say I can't pet these for a while when there's a minute to spare?  That's why they are sitting on my table right now, waiting for a little "how are you" and an "you are so pretty."

Happy Quilting,
Mary

Pin It Wednesday is the Big 40!

And to celebrate, let's look at old stuff turned new again!  Reclaimed, recycled, revamped, renewed, reborn, re-somethin'.  I won't even do the upcycle thing; instead I'll just get to the pretties.

Okay, doesn't this prove that 40 is a great number?  I wonder how many of these doors, windows, shutters and so on are over 40 years and how many more they have in their new jobs.  Like most 40-somethings they are filled with stories and have something to teach all of us about what is really important in life.  Here's to those of us who already know.

Happy crafting,

Mary

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: TEAL

I've been working in teal and white today.  Well, between bouts of stomach ache.  This miserable bug will not go away.  This morning I even tried using Facebook to give it away.  My post reads 
"FREE to good home: stomach bug. Comes complete with all necessary equipment: bedside pan, cold compresses, two day supply of Alka-Seltzer and Pepto. Doctor's excuse available on request for small fee. Must take ownership immediately. Contact Mary."

No, it didn't work, although I did get quite a few comments--all no's! Can you believe it?

Working in teal did, however, give me the idea that it would be interesting to see what Pinterest has in teal quilts and fun.    

         

Happy Quilting,

Mary