Two days after Thanksgiving, one year ago...

mom left us to go home to her heavenly father.  I feel she's at peace - it's those of us left behind still searching, but there is no perfect peace here on earth, only in heaven can it be found.

March 5, 1931 - November 28, 2009

In memory, my husband and I joined my siblings, two SILs, two nieces, two great nieces in Boston for brunch  Saturday morning at an Irish restaurant/tavern.  It was bittersweet - my mom would have loved it as she loved all things Irish.  We all continue to miss her, of course, but it's great to be with each other and share some memories, tears and laughter. 

   And now, on a lighter note, my "Clothesline" quilt is finished!  I pinned the binding with lots of pins and machine sewed it, and I only had to make two little fixes at corners where it didn't catch.  The pattern is from Elizabeth Hartman of http://www.ohfransson.com and it was very easy to follow.  So here are some final pics:

Hopefully the recipient of this quilt can read the French - it's something about bouquets of flowers, which I thought was appropriate.  All the fabrics are vintage sheets or pillowcases except for the sashing which is Kona Robin's Egg, I'm pretty sure.  I've been working on this quilt for some time and purchased the fabric a while ago, so my memory is sort of dim.  

Well, thanks for tarrying with me a bit!  Enjoy the week!

  

All the way from a friend in India!

Shruti from India sent me this gorgeous curtain from India.  I'm participating in her Pay it Forward (and need to blog about it, too, so if anyone wants to play along with me, please let me know!)  The deal is the first three people to comment on this post agree to send homemade gifts to three people who comment on their facebook or blog.  Get it?  Pay it forward?  So without further ado, this is what Shruti sent me:

These are gorgeous silk panels

The ties for hanging on the curtain rod are also silk. 

 And she also sent another piece of beautiful linen type fabric from India, and a darling little doll, all wrapped up prettily in gold gauze!

Shruti outdid herself with these gifts - I love them!  I can't wait to hang my new curtain in my sewing room, but I need to make some changes. Currently I have a cornice in there so I need to put up a curtain rod.  In the meantime, I have it arranged so I can gaze at it from time to time.  Thanks so very much, Shruti!

baby and bad free motion quilting!

I've been immensely enjoying the wonderful privilege of helping out my daughter during the day with my grandson who is 12 days old.  She's trying to nurse and it's not going well, so if any of you are praying people, please lift up a prayer or two for them - suffice to say she's exhausted and disillusioned and...  I could go on and on but maybe some of you can relate.  Here's some pics of my darlings:

(They don't have a seat for him that sits on a table, but maybe a cousin has one they can borrow)

And here's my first attempt at free-motion quilting, and it's horrible and I wasn't going to show it 'cuz you guys are incredibly talented and I'm... well, anyway, I need a lesson which I will schedule with my sewing machine dealer, hopefully soon!

And this isn't the worst of it!  I know I should RIP it out, but I don't FEEL like it!  I'm doing cross-hatching on the printed squares, which is much easier.  Thanks for visiting my blog and reading about my woes!  I'm sure you all have your own problems, HUGE problems, and mine are so minor right now.  Okay, enough lamenting. Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Autumn table runner

I made this table runner for my sister a while ago all with scraps.  I think she likes it!

Love this picture!  

Grandbaby Ezra Raphael born, finally!

Our grandson was born last night, November 1, at 10:11 p.m., 7 lbs. 1 oz.  His name is Ezra Rafael (or Raphael, not sure on the spelling yet).  He's beee uuu ti ful!  I was able to hobble into the hospital on one crutch and hold him - so very precious!  He has ten fingers and ten toes, and a cute little nose!  We love him dearly already!  I hated to leave, but alas, mom and dad needed to rest.  I'm sure they'll be bombarded with visitors today and tonight.  They'll be bringing him home tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who sent your well wishes in regards to his birth, and thanks for all the kind words and prayers for my recovery from the hip replacement.  I am getting a little bit better every day.