I love October!

The weather is finally starting to get the way I like it…cool days and chilly nights. The leaves begin changing color (although not dramatically in our neck of the woods). And some of my favorite people were born in October. 

 We had a sleepover with Nam earlier in the month. Since he’s in school now, we can only do one night instead of two. So we just try to cram as much into the time we have as we can! 

 We went to Arkansas a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Dennis’ 70th birthday and Archer’s 1st birthday (a little early). We had planned to spend a night on the way with Stephen’s family, but they came down with a stomach bug that week. Thankfully, they recovered by the weekend, so they could still make the birthday celebrations. We made it to Arkansas Wednesday evening, in time to meet up with Rick and Amber for supper before church. Amber and I spent the next two days baking and getting ready for Archer’s party, while Dennis spent his time helping Logan work on his house. All our kids got in Saturday in time for lunch. We had already given Archer his present from us…a Little Tyke pickup…so the kids took turns pushing him around the driveway. They all greatly enjoyed themselves! Everyone else showed up around 2:00 for the festivities. Archer very much enjoyed his smash cake, as well as seeing all of his presents. He looked so big, sitting in his rocking chair and examining everything! He got a lot of very nice gifts! We enjoyed visiting with all of the family and friends that came to the party. It was a great turnout! We had to cut things a little short, so we could make it to the restaurant in time for our reservations for Dennis’ party. All of our kiddos, Warren and Linda, Charles and Belinda, Melissa and Jared’s family, and Ben and Laura’s family, as well as Ken and Kelli all went with us. We ate at Brown’s Catfish Buffet, where we were treated royally. It was a wonderful day! We really appreciate everyone who helped make it so special! 

 After church Sunday morning, we went to Charles and Belinda’s for a sumptuous lunch and then had to head home. We had originally planned to stop somewhere on the way to spend the night. Once we got on the road, we decided to drive all the way home. We were both ready for our own bed! We made it in by 9, so it was a good decision. 

 Dennis has gutted our bathroom and is working on chipping away the concrete to work on the plumbing. He found this cute little handheld jackhammer for less than $20 that has been a lifesaver! It uses a lot of compressed air to run, so he has to take frequent breaks for the air compressor to fill back up. (It also allows him a break from such grueling work!) I am really going to be excited to see our new shower going in! 

 I completed my vintage rag quilt and am now working on another one using the rest of the “blocks”. I also talked to my kiddos to see if they wanted me to do quilts for them. I have 4 more “on order”. I love the planning stage…picking out fabric and working out the design. I probably won’t start on them for another month or so (the actual cutting and sewing). I have a couple of small projects that I want to do first. I am so happy that I discovered this craft! I never enjoyed sewing when I was younger, but I love it now! 

We were very sorry to hear about the passing of Johnnie Trekell earlier this month. I know it was a blessing for her to finally have an end to her suffering, but she will be so greatly missed! Dennis and I were telling Nam about her (when we learned of her death), and he said, “She sounds like she was an amazing woman!” That pretty much says it all. 

 I hope you all are enjoying the change of the seasons and the anticipation of the upcoming holidays. I just love this time of year! 

 In honor of Johnnie: Pr 31:10-31 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands. She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night. She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, For all her household is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies sashes for the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her: "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all." Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates. (NKJV)

My current quilt project

I am working on a very special project right now. In my last post I mentioned that I had a quilt that my granny had started as a young woman. I had "misremembered" the details, so I went back to the original post that I did over 10 years ago, when my Aunt Coez had given me the quilt blocks. It was HER granny (my great-grandmother, Little Granny) who had started it and given it to her. Coez was about 15 when she got them, so that would have been in the 1940’s. She never finished the quilt, but she wanted someone in the family to finish it and treasure it. I promised her that I would do something with it.

the original blocks

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a quilter. I don’t have the skill or patience to do that kind of precision work. I also no longer have the eyesight to work on tiny little HAND-SEWN hexagon pieces. The material is also very old and some of it is quite fragile. But I finally figured out a way to use the blocks in a way that I am capable of managing.

Since the material is so old, I don’t want this quilt to be “used”. I only plan to use half of the blocks to make a lap-sized rag quilt to go across the foot of the bed in our smaller guest room. I was able to find enough material that I liked for the project from my stash. I’m alternating rose and tan fabric for the back and using white flannel for the middle (which isn’t seen except for the “ragging”). I removed all the old muslin and green cotton that was meant to be used to piece the blocks together. Then I appliqued the flower blocks to new muslin and used a decorative stitch to quilt the blocks.

appliqued, but not yet quilted

finished (quilted) block

I’ve got all the blocks appliqued and half of them quilted. I’ve sewn the quilted blocks together in two rows of five blocks each, which is half of the quilt.

front and back of what I've gotten done

halfway done (except for ragging)

I’m very excited to see how the finished project will look! I'll be sure to post a picture of it when I'm done. It will be special to me no matter what…knowing the finished quilt will be a collaborative effort of Little Granny and me that was about 80 years in the making!