Category Archives: Family Therapy

Mums from Mummy

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Since homecoming was last week, Friday was the culmination of the fun – it was spirit day so the kids wore their school colors.  Alas, it’s also the day that parents/guardians give their kids mums (or boyfriends give their girlfriend’s mums).  This year, I was under a very strict budget but wanted to once again give my daughter’s special mums.

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Youngest daughter wore this year’s and last year’s mum on her pant legs.

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Next Daughter wore hers part of the day as she said it got in the way most of the time.

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I made a special mum for our daughter, who is an alumni – so her mum is a bit different than the other girls’ mums.

btw – Last year, I gave the son-man a garter for his arm but he refused to wear it…hence I did not get him anything.  But, I did tell him that if he wanted a mum or something else next year, he was to let me know.

It’s a great way for the kids to show their school spirit – and a great time for this Mom to enjoy putting together something special for our daughters!

Homecoming…See You Next Week!

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This week is homecoming for our small public school.  All four of our kids will be participating, either as a volunteer or taking care of other responsibilities.  This quilt image below was made on 9.25.2010 and was donated to the (now non-existent) band for a trip to a band contest that they took first place in, in Houston!  Don’t get me started on the band issue – I will never stop!

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If you need me, you can find me somewhere near the school – helping my kids enjoy their homecoming 2013 (and missing Quilt Market for the first time in seven years)!

Bibliophiles Raising More Bibliophiles

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My husband has a PhD.  He has been a researcher and bibliophile for many, many years.  In fact, when the traveling salesmen were going door to door, his folks bought him and his sister a set of encyclopedias.  My MIL still has those books – and when we sometimes feel nostalgic, we get them out and have a big ole giggle at the pages where he underlined things, wrote in the margins, etc. all before the age of five.  At this stage in his life, his reading and research has a much more theological slant but he also enjoys reading how to live off the land and be sustainable.  Nonfiction reader, unless it’s a good J. Frank Dobie book he hasn’t read before – and we think he’s read all of those.

Then he met me.  I, too, have always been a bibliophile.  Except I prefer fiction and get a little anxious when I am reading the last book that I have in my iPad library- wondering all the while what the next book I will be buying and hopefully having enough money to buy more than one so I can read a book without worrying about what is next!  Reading is now, with this MS blessing in my life, one way for me to calm the dizziness down that I get most days.  It has become a necessary part of my MS life.

Enter a couple of bibliophiles who have four children.  These four kids are ours were each blessed with Nooks for Christmas last year by a very special angel on earth.  They read like there’s no tomorrow – every single one of them.  Every day.  Any way they can squeeze another five minutes of reading, they will try it out on us.  Hiding in their rooms before family prayers and bedtime – just in case we adults forget to call them for prayers so they can read more.  They still love to go to the library but if they have books on their Nooks, that will suit all of them just fine.

But, THIS one takes the (banana) cake!  When only one or two kids are home for supper, I allow them to read at the table with their meals.  They talk if they want to but at least with a book, they do not jam their mouths with food and then talk with food in their mouths.  LOL  Last night, only two daughters at the table.  I come to say grace with them and realize they both have books…except this middle daughter of ours has created her very own Nook holder:

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And I, obviously, don’t have to ask her if she wants fries with that because they are right there on her plate!

This Little Light of Mine…I’m Gonna Let it Shine!

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Earlier this year, when my (third) foster mother was wintering with us, we took a trip to that big box store (initials WM) to pick up some incidentals for my foster mother to have quilt projects to work on while she was staying with us.  On the end of one of the aisles was a huge display of Ott Light Sewing Caddy’s:

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The price on these was $10 – and I *knew* the quality and brand was outstanding, so I suggested my foster mother get for when she sits in the evenings and likes to do hand-work.  I *knew* that price could not be beat anywhere…and after asking about it to my quilty friends on Facebook, the wholesale cost alone was at least $30, if not $40 in some places.  After my foster mother snagged one up, we went back a few days later and I picked up two more.  I had no big intentions on who they would go to, only that the cost could not be beat anywhere.  If I had had unlimited funds, I would have bought a shopping cart full of them!  One of my quilty friends even went a step further and called her local big box store and he called ours and was told they were Christmas oversights and were selling them at that amazingly low price just to get them sold.

Well, one of them went to my mother-in-law as her Easter basket earlier this year – and she has it all set up next to the chair that she likes to do hand-work in later in the evenings…and she absolutely loves it.  My foster mother loved hers so much, she took it home with her!

That left me with one left.  It sat in the box for the longest of times because I just had not come across someone to gift it to.

Then, one evening, I was needing to put the binding on a quilt and could NOT seem to get enough light on the subject, regardless of where I sat in the living room.  Then the light bulb (pun intended) went off in my head that I had the answer right in my sewing room – all I had to do was unpack it and fill it up with what I needed to whip-stitch the binding on a quilt!

Hence, I gifted myself with the final Ott Light Sewing Caddy!

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And when my foster mother comes back, she can use mine and not have to travel with hers…but, leave it safe and full of all of her fun things until she returns to her summer home!

There’s No Crying in Quilting!

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ahem…ahem…I’ll be okay, just clearing my throat.  R I G H T.  There CAN be crying in quilting.  And, at least in my case, it’s usually because of nutty errors I’ve made and not something more unforgiving such as my sewing machine breaking down, I am on my last rotary cutter blade and have to literally cut apart my fabric with scissors, I ran out of thread and the nearest quilt shop that carries my thread is 45 minutes away, etc. etc.

This past Sunday, I was ready to hang it all up.  I had designed a lovely table runner and was going to use my signature sew-n-slash methods for making the blocks that would create the table runner.  I had already pulled out some fabric for this table runner so all that was left was to put a single block together and then, if it worked as I planned, I could create another seven blocks for the project.

My first snafu occurred when I sewed one color of strips incorrectly – so, the green was next to the purple but in my design, the WHITE was supposed to be next to the purple.  No worries, I quickly reexamined my blocks and decided I would rotate them - half with the green next to the purple and the other half with the white next to the purple.  It was all good, and would still look pretty.  And it did!  It all came together beautifully!

Snafu #2 happened when I sewed the second block – one of the strips of green was too short…I had sewn the strips in the wrong order.  I did a little ripping and figured I’d just sew an extension to that green strip and all would be good.  Unfortunately, I also did a little nipping and accidentally cut the white strip next to the green strip – no way was I going to make that square work now.  hrumph

Snafu #3 was when I realized I hadn’t pulled enough scraps out from my stash so I asked DD#2 to help me.  She did a great job and found more scraps that I could use, including one we made work.

I decided, instead of using my sew-n-slash method, I would use a foundation pieced method.  This meant I was able to lay out the strips, to be sure I sewed them all in the correct order but also that I had enough of the scraps to use.  Back to the drawing board…errr, stash baskets for my daughter!  And my snafu #4.

Ah yes, it couldn’t stop there now could it?  After a little break from it all, I went back and marked the strips onto the foundation piece.  Went to place the fabrics to measure for length and messed up the lines (needed 1/4″ more for each line) so ironed off the markings and re-measured.  Oh yes, I am sure you can see what’s coming!  Snafu #5 occurred when I started sewing the strips to the foundation and went to press them – I erased ALL of the other lines I’d drawn!  ARGH  (mental note:  if using a disappearing ink pen, be very, very careful!)

Once I redrew the lines, the sewing went pretty quickly – I was pleased with the ease of putting the blocks together.  Until Snafu #6 occurred where I once again didn’t gauge the length of a strip needed and ended up with a mess I was NOT going to fix.

I was done.

Turned off my machine and ironing board and left the whole mess for another day – when perhaps, I won’t cry anymore over my mistakes.