Finally Back Home

Here is a picture of my parents, my brothers and wives and Bruce and I taken at my niece's wedding while I was in Minnesota. From left to right: the youngest brother, Tom and his wife Linda; the oldest brother, Steve and his wife Ara (the parents of the bride); my mom and dad; the middle brother, Chuk and his wife Karlene and finally my husband Bruce and I.

I have returned home after my 2 weeks in Minnesota. My parents are moved into their new place and seem to be doing OK. I'm sure that moving from a 4-bedroom, split level ranch into 1,043 SF, 2-bedroom apartment is a drastic change. But I kept telling them to focus on the positives - no lawn work, no maintenance issues, heated covered parking, close to any shopping they could possibly want, etc.

Next big event is my son's wedding in 4 weeks. Tomorrow I will get to see him and get an update on how the plans are coming along and how many people have confirmed they are attending. I was thinking that we should do guest bags for the people coming from out-of-town for the wedding. Many of them have never been to New Hampshire so a little giftie would be a cool surprise to find in their hotel rooms.

To make this quilty, I took out the hand quilting I had started on my Ricky Tims Wall Hanging last summer. Since taking my hand quilting class I'm more confident that I could do a better job than I had been. I think I'm going to change the backing while I'm at it as well. Here is a picture of my class project from the hand quilting class. I absolutely fell in love with hand quilting. I don't know why I was ever afraid of doing it! Now I have the means to finish some of the UFOs I have laying around my studio instead of starting new ones and dream about finishing them with quilting and binding.

Help This Old Quilt

My mom found this old quilt among her Irish mother's items. This is the grandmother who taught me to quilt. I'm not sure how old it is. It is hand pieced and muslin was used for the foundation. I want to gently clean it and finish it.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?



Left and rights sides of quilt.



Back of quilt.


Thanks for your help.

Getting Ready for Vacation and Wedding Activities Start

I'm busy getting ready for vacation. This Friday morning I leave to visit my parents for a little over 2 weeks. This will be an emotional trip for me. My parents are moving out of the house they have lived in for nearly 50 years. Lots of memories and stuff to work through while I am there. The last day Bruce and I are there is the day they have rented the moving van. They are only moving about a mile away into some senior apartments.

I got my sewing table this past weekend. We picked it up Saturday morning, but we had to work in the office so I didn't get to open it and put it together until dinner time. I've been able to sneak a few moments of using it and so far I like it. I've been sewing on a bistro height table since I started quilting and it's really different using a regular size table. I put it perpendicular to the windows so I can work on 3 sides of it and there will be room for Tasha when she wants to come over and quilt with me.



The wedding activities for Geoffrey and Tasha started this past weekend. Tasha had her bridal shower. It was a Victorian Tea Gathering. All of us dressed up in pretty dresses and hats and had a grand time. Here is a picture of Tasha, her sister and some of her cousins. Tasha is sitting. Her sister is the one with the black boa.



I have reserved a city park for the groom's rehearsal dinner. We are going to have a BBQ and chili picnic with a small fireworks display afterwards. I won the fireworks at a charity auction and we are excited to add this fun touch to the weekend. We have also made the final payment on the honeymoon for the couple. They want to go to Disney World so that is where we are sending them.

It's time to head for work. Only 3 more days until vacation! Yay!!