Pin It Weekly #320

Happy Weekly! I hope you are enjoying your week. We are set to vacay in Galveston soon. It's a family (the whole family) vacation. So I thought I'd look at some art that would help me get into the mood of beach, sun and water. These are from my board abstract art paint oil pastel prints

These are pins from a quick search on Galveston Island.  

Have you been to Galveston? It's a lovely island that packs lots of fun in a little space. Many of those places are within walking distance from our hotel. Of course, because it's sitting on the Gulf, I'm looking forward to seafood--shrimp, crab, oysters. YUM! What is your favorite thing to do at the beach?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: S A N D

Richard and I spent the last four days camping with some of my sisters and our children and grandchildren. It's become an annual thing (read about the 2015 trip here) so that we get to catch up with the nieces and nephews that we rarely get to see anymore. 

Town of Woodworth photo

Everyone is living their own lives in different parts of the state and, yes, even the country. Jobs and children's activities make traveling difficult. 

And let's be honest, now that our parents are deceased, we aren't making any big efforts. People make an effort to visit parents, especially elderly or sickly ones, so it was much easier to run into each other. 

This weekend, however, we made a big effort. I say big because camping in this Louisiana heat is something of a chore. Thankfully, one family had a boat, so the children could go boating, tubing, and swimming.  There are always fans and air conditioners to retreat to when the sweltering heat is just too much.  Let's not forget the iced tea!

We share campers and take turns cooking, so that means everyone gets a share of the mess and the extra heat that cooking brings. We ate well: roast pork, fried chicken, boudin, dressing, salads, breads, cookies, pies, even spaghetti. (Richard and I made spaghetti for about 40 people--the problem: only 18 were there for lunch!)

We have now returned home, cleaned up the camper, returned all the pots and pans, the clothing, and the many other odds and ends to their respective places, and taken cool showers. As mom used to say, "Ahhh."

Though I did not go swimming or boating, I swept away great piles of sand. So I thought I'd let that sand be inspiration for today's post.

Happy Quilting,

Beach Fun

with the grands!  This is the older group of grands.  We are all on the way to Disney World.  Well, by the time you see this post, we'll be returning from DW, but you get the idea.

We had a 14 hour drive to Orlando.  Do it in a day? 
Is it even possible?    
Smart? Oh, heck no!

So we broke the drive into two days of about 10 hours each.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  14 hours effectively cut into 20 hours.  

The plan, you understand, was to take our time.  Not rushing.  No speeding.  Not one thing said for having to take a "pee break."

Good thing, too, since it's necessary to do so every 45 minutes or so. 
The human bladder can hold as much as 20 ounces.  A half human can hold half that much.  Unless it's a half human who happens to have an eight ounce bladder.   But, this half human always has a 20 ounce drink in her hand.  Do the math.

We named her Jolie, which is French for "pretty."  And she is, of course.  She's got no problem telling you so.  And because she's cute, and funny, and fast on the response, and the baby of the family, she gets away with murder.  

Really, she does!  She has skinny arms and legs.  So if she has a mind to, she can take you out.  One little knee in the kidneys, and you're seeing a specialist to repair the pin hole.  A poke in the eye--you're blind.  She made her big brother cry not so long ago.  Look at the man...he's big.  Lane could snap her like a twig.  He wouldn't dare!

He spoils her almost as much as her mom, who it turns out is a great spoiler of children.  She's ruined Jolie.  Our son Will isn't quite as bad: sometimes he's worse.  He spoils both momma and Jolie!

He refuses to get it: children have to want something.  Not just say they want....REALLY want it. That's what we did with him.  By the time he found Stacey, he wanted to be married and on his own so badly that now some 13 or so years later, he STILL wants their life.  See, our theory works.  But no, he can't see it.

So Rich and I will just contend ourselves with the bigger kids: that bear of a boy and two more girls.  They aren't spoiled.  We managed to save them.  The only grandson in our family knows how to take care of his sisters.  And these two right here, well, let's just say they are not spoiled one little bit!  

That's Alayna with the thumbs up sign and the book.  No, not spoiled at all.  And the 14 year old literally rolling around in the sand?  Well, that would be Dusti.  I'm actually writing this post while babysitting her.  

One hour at Disney and she was sick.  So, we came back to let her rest and recoup.  We seem to have picked up a germ somewhere.  Oh, but she's not a bit spoiled either.

Lane, Jolie, Dusti, and Alayna

They enjoyed our afternoon on Ft. Walton beach, and though we carted a half ton of very fine white sand all the way to Orlando, I had a great time laughing at their antics. 

Really, now.  Who rolls in the sand?  They aren't sand fleas, are they?  They did find a small white sand crab, and like country kids are wont to do, they captured it.  Poor heart, he tried so hard to get away.  Maybe they were trying to imitate the poor little guy.  He was adept at running away and sinking into the sand.  Just disappearing, down into the sand so fast that he disappeared while we watched.    

I have only one question: how it it that the one person who did not play in the sand, did not make sand castles, didn't bury or get buried, didn't even roll down the hill (well, not intentionally, anyway) why is she the one who ends up with the most sand in her clothing?

The real meaning of "blue Monday"

has more to do with the color blue than the feeling of blue.  By that I mean that today's blue is the color of the sky and sea.  The quilt top that I finished today has been hanging on the design wall for months, no kidding.  It's looked just like this except when I needed the design wall and moved it to a basket.


I'd used the design wall, then stick the poor quilt parts back on.  Every time I did, I moved them around so I could look at the different settings, but nothing really spoke to me, so I'd put everything back in the original order.  


I'd almost given up when Angie came for a visit and saw the pieces and complimented it.  She really liked the center medallion fleur de lis.  That reminded me of a couple of other compliments that I've gotten, one from my sister Laura who visited in the summer.  Yep, it's been that long.  


Okay, so it was time to get moving on this baby before it ended up in a shelved basket.  Quilts in shelved baskets get forgotten, or worse.

On Friday I decided that the pieces knew their setting, so I sewed them to the center.

I need a few more pieces and worked on those on Saturday.  I even made a few pieces that didn't get used!  Would you understand if I said I just didn't know what this quilt was thinking?  That's what it felt like.  I'd make a section and put it on the wall, but the quilt would say no.  Off they came.  Tossed to the side.  And on it went.

Today, I decided to stop that business.  It wasn't working anyway.   The whole "Sand and Sun" collection is centered around this fabric with the circle shapes, so I wrapped up the center with a wide border of this fabric.  

Dad's home!

Guess what?  I LOVE IT!  I was beginning to take pictures when the phone rang and I had to rush to a grandchild.  Stacey  and Will 's children do not handle needles...at all.  Dusti has bronchitis and got a shot, then passed out and knocked her head on something.  Stacey doesn't handle one drop of blood but she managed to stop throwing up long enough to call me. 

Jolie's attempt to cheer up
Dusti, who refused a picture.

Thus my trip to the ER.  Everyone is okay, Dusti has a concussion and Stacey an upset stomach, but Will managed to get home tonight to tend to his family.  That means that I may be able to load this quilt top tomorrow and begin stitching it.  I hope so....I'm really anxious to see it finished.