Family Illness

I've been gone for awhile and will be for an indefinite period, helping my daughter and her family as she heals from multiple surgeries. Keep on sewing and quilting and making beautiful things. I love visiting your blogs and enjoying the lovely things you make, the stories you tell, the tutorials you share. Bright spots in each day.  Hoping to be back soon.

All is grace,

Sheri

Oregon Bound

Heading up to Oregon to be with my daughter and her family, as she recovers from surgery. 

It will be such a relief to be with her and to do everything in my power to make her, my SIL and grandies comfy and cared for.  

It will help me work out my anger toward this horrible disease that has caused so many hospitalizations, surgeries, pain, postponed celebrations, cancelled trips, related illnesses, disappointments.

Crohns Disease.

If you know anyone who has it, give them every ounce of compassion you have.

It will be good to be together.  

To "circle the wagons" and draw close.  

To gain strength and encouragement from each other.

To watch and bolster my girl's remarkable courage as she overcomes yet another onslaught this disease has made on her fragile body.  

Thanking God for His care, for answering prayers, for being blessed with awesome doctors and medical care.

We will make the time GOOD.  

When Husband and I return, I will have this waiting for me to finish:

This is (or will be) my quilt for the "String of Pearls" QAL

hosted by Christa Quilts.

Christa used the Pearl Bracelets fabric collection for her QAL.

I had 3 charm packs of Little Black Dress and decided to use that instead.

So, the name of my quilt is:

                                                  "No Pearls for my Little Black Dress".

Will take better photos when the quilt is done.

I'm sure we'll have some fun things to report from Oregon, and from the drive up there and back.

There are always good things around us, if we keep looking for them!

Moving Forward,

Gramma Sheri

Happy 4th of July, America!

Blessings to all on this special day!

Gramma Sheri

Arizona Grieves...

Hearts and lives are broken.

May God be with the families of these brave men, and give them comfort.

May we never forget their sacrifice.

God Bless them All.

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I'm Sure You've Heard...

Google Reader is biting the dust as of Monday, July 1st.

I'd be very pleased if you would like to continue following me via Bloglovin or email.

(Sign ups are on the right-hand column.)

If you would prefer another method please let me know and I will add it to my blog.

Thank you so much for reading my blog!

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri

And Now for Something Entirely Different...

Have had a few health challenges lately, so decided to kick the "poor me" mulligrubs...

by doing something different.  Something I haven't done for  awhile.

Something like...

THIS!

I like to make chainmaille pieces every so often.  

It's creative,

totally absorbing,

...and sometimes frustrating.

This is my very first Half Persian 3-in-1 weave.

And perhaps my last.  

I took a photo of the bracelet on my wrist, but my arm looked, well,

shriveled, dry, wrinkly, freckled, veiny and OLD.

It IS, but I don't want it to LOOK that way. 

I'm blaming it on the heat (109 tomorrow) and the humidity (5%).

Another off-quilting topic:

The BIG moon!

Taken with my iPhone, the picture is fuzzy and grainy.  And I like it.

Looks mysterious.  

So that's it.  

Back to quilting tomorrow.  Probably.

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri

Annie Art!

After lurking and entering several giveaways by Annie at freezeframe

I WON!

Not ONLY the postcard, but she made a special envelope to send it in, too!

It is so special, because the flower reminds me of a sunflower (my favorite flower, as it was my Dad's also).

And the bee?  Well, Annie didn't know this, but my maiden name is Wetherbee!  Mom and Dad had a special stamp made for their return address that had a bee on it.  Awesome!

Then, this:

Annie was giving away several postcards and asked those interested in receiving one to choose their favorite.  I chose this one for several reasons:  I LOVE coffee.  And birds.  And music (family is very musically-inclined).  And the color RED.  So it is perfect!

The LOVE letters are raised just a bit and the heart on the coffee cup is sparkly.  The card edges are BOUND and STITCHED!   The back is stamped with a Postcard image and Annie wrote a sweet message to me.  Also on the back Annie penned a title for the piece: "cuppa love". 

 The photo doesn't do justice to the actual card.  It's lovely!

Anyone reading this, I encourage you to visit Annie's blog and enjoy viewing the lovely things she designs, both paper and fabric art.  You will be inspired!

A view of both:

Thank you Annie!

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri 

Project #2 - String of Pearls QAL

These are the fabrics I've chosen to make my version of the String of Pearls quilt.  

Just feelin' like a toned-down quilt right now 

(though am tempted to make a brighter version next). 

The quilt-along uses Pearl Bracelets fabric for the block centers, and the center block is a 5 1/2" square. 

I am using charm squares of Little Black Dress fabric, so sewed part of a block to test the 

length of the strips before I cut a whole mess of them.  

The background fabric hasn't been cut yet.  I'm waiting until instructions are given

 to sew those strips so I know how the whole block is constructed.  

Then I will be sure to cut my strips to the size needed for my smaller blocks.

Am pretty sure what size to cut, but no need to chance it.

So...what to call MY version of the quilt?  String of Little Black Dresses?  NOT A String of Pearls?  :)

Pressin' on,

Gramma Sheri

    

And a One and a Two and...

Ok, maybe it's just one.  But it's a start.  Only 62 blocks to go! Yep, this is gonna be a BIG quilt.

 (Photographed on a cream-colored counter-top so looks a bit confusing plus the photo is off-center.  It will be lovely with other scrappy blocks around it and some nice sashing and corner stones and quilting and binding.  I hope.)

Actually, there's a bunch of chain-piecing going on, but it's not very exciting to see mounds of unpressed, sewn pieces.  

Tomorrow, I cut the pieces for my other QAL with Christa Quilts.  And then sew on this one some more.

Thursday I will take my hexies with me when I accompany hubby for his cataract surgery.  Would like to have a corner sewn together to see what the pattern I drew out on graph paper will look like.

It feels soooo good to be working on things I love to do!

Happy Days!

GrammaSheri

Working Hard then Hardly Working

May 18th was the last day of business for the quilt shop where I've worked part-time for the past 6 3/4 years. The owner retired: new grandbaby, the desire to travel and spend more time with family...all good reasons...and I'm happy for her.  And for me too, as soon as I get used to the change.

Up until that time there was a flurry of activity, with weekly sales, consolidating/moving inventory, soothing sad customers (and one another), and trying not to take home half the store myself.  Yep. I was pretty much a squirrel, distracted by the changes, the sales, and wanting to purchase as much as I could afford as "mementos" of the shop.  Fabric and thread as mementos?  Really?  I'm just a big silly.

Anyway, the shop is closed, all for good reasons, but still leaves a big hole in my heart. Don't know if I'll try to teach anywhere else and I'm not looking for another job right now anyway.  I'm retired!  For the second time.  There are mixed feelings:  relief, relaxation, anxiety, fear of turning into a blobby pile of mush.  

Loose ends. No structure. Squishy, like walking on a bog.  

So, after taking a couple of short trips with hubby and then recovering from a cold,  I spent the last 3 days starting a new project!

 My first scrap quilt!

Yes, it took me three days (not full days, mind you) to go through my scraps, iron them and cut them into hundreds and hundreds of pieces.  Scrap quilts may be frugal fabric-wise but certainly not time-wise...at least in the prep phase anyway.

I used up all of my 1 1/2" strips and made a huge dent in my 2" strips.  Then raided my red scraps for the squares and used up all of my Kona white.  Here's what I'm making:

Sorry about the picture...could NOT get my phone camera to stop orienting the picture sideways, and when I edited it and rotated it, it wound up looking squished.  Anyway, the quilt is called "Scrap-Tease" and I found it on a blog (can't remember where). Couldn't find the pattern for sale anywhere but was able to purchase one on EBay.  The pattern is by Bettie Hammock and contact info on the pattern says:

Stitch'n Kitt'n

129 Stonebriar Dr.

Sulphur Springs, TX 75482

Cataberry@bluebonnet.net

I'll post my progress as I go.  Am excited to DO something new!

Am starting another project also...a quilt along with Christa Quilts, called String of Pearls. The button is on my sidebar, and the QAL starts on the 5th.  It will be the first QAL for me.  Very pleased.  New things. Will show more of that in another post, as well as my first hexie project.  

Finding my way through this full-time retirement thing!  Any others in the same boat?  Tips and ideas always welcome!

Gramma Sheri

Spring Break

My Granddaughter spent her spring break with us this year and we had a sewing-good time.  She flew here from Oregon...first time flying alone...and we drove to Phoenix to pick her up so no plane changes.

I had purchased a sewing machine for her from a friend, a Pfaff Creative 2000, and we had a ball sewing and embroidering for 10 days.  Priceless!  She was a pro at using the machine (including embroidery!) by the time she left.  She is a computer-savvy 7th-grader, and the machine didn't intimidate her at all!

Here are some of the things we made together:

A pillowcase for herself.

 A pillowcase for her brother.

 An embroidered t-shirt. We bought the shirt and then had fun selecting the design and choosing the thread colors.  She was a PRO at changing threads after embroidering this design!

Here she is at her new machine:

Watching the magic happen.

She also embroidered three colorful canvas totes, one for herself and two for her best friends.  I forgot to get photos of those.

We worked together to finish a quilt top that she and her mom had started a few years ago:

She sewed all of the cat blocks (38) and I sewed the snail's trail blocks (10). And they fit together perfectly!

We blew up Peeps in the microwave:

We made Peepmobiles:

(Notice the crocheted egg cozies in the basket? They had to get in on the photo shoot. They were

made by Granddaughter's mom...my daughter. There are actually 4 cozies: chicken, duck, bunny and the lamb is too shy to be in the picture).

We went to the Desert Museum and saw all kinds of critters, like these:

...and snakes, spiders, scorpions too, but didn't stop long enough to take pics of those.

We also went swimming, sat in the hot tub to take the kinks out of our hunched-over-sewing-shoulders, and visited and giggled to our hearts' content! 

I taught her sewing things and she taught me Pinterest and iPhone stuff.  Bonus!

 I feel like I received an infusion of interest and energy, and my heart is FULL!

Happy Days,

Gramma Sheri

Look What the Mail Person Delivered!

See the contents of a nice, soft package that arrived today!

Isn't it beautiful?  A Tree of Hearts mug rug, all the way from Australia, from my blog friend Fiona! 

The photo makes it look pinkish but it is really deep rusty reds, sagey greens and ocean teals. Free-motion quilted so very nicely with FEATHERS (I cannot do those yet) and some little heart-shaped leaves.

So beautifully done and I love love love the stitched tree.  It is blooming quite nicely in its new Arizona home.

Thank you Fiona, for giving away some of your fine work, and I'm so glad Mr. Random chose me as one of the winners of your giveaway. 

Happy Days!

Gramma Sheri

Timeless Words

This wall hanging was made to hang in my LQS as a sample for awhile, 

but I'm looking forward to bringing it home.

(The photo makes it look wonky but it's not...promise.)

 Good words!

  

Good reminders to even those of us who are (somewhat) retired, that the most important

things we learned really WERE learned in kindergarten!

Taken from the book "Curiosities and Mischief" by Nancy Halvorsen,

this was fun to embellish with the yo-yo butterflies I made and some 

yo-yo hearts and lots of buttons.  

Next post will be about the zipper critters I've been making.  Fun!

Have a great week!

Gramma Sheri

It's Taken Me a Whole Year, But...

...HE'S FINISHED!

Last year I won a giveaway from Sandi at A Legacy of Stitches, on February 5th, 2012 to be exact.

See my post about it here.

Sandi had sent along all the makings for a fine snowman wall-hanging:  fabric, a pre-cut snowman in a nice fuzzy fabric and also the eyes, buttons, nose (2 choices!) and mouth all made by her from polymer clay. See her nice tutorial on making the snowman wall-hanging here and here.  Her tutorial on making the polymer clay snowman features is here.

She also sent a snowman-shaped dish filled with chocolate. 

It didn't take me a year to polish off the chocolate. :)

When I emailed Sandi to thank her for her giveaway I mentioned that I might make him into a Southwest Snowman.  So that's just what I did!

His boots and hatband are made from fabric that looks like rattlesnake skin.  His "rope" is jute twine.  My mom said that with the wild critters roamin' the desert he needed to be packin' a revolver.  So...I added some protection.  Looks like a proper cowboy.  (Now don't be haranguing me about guns and such. I respect your right to your opinion...on your blog. ;D )

He was fun to make and thanks again, Sandi for hosting that giveaway.  I'm glad I won!

Someday I might give him a name...

Happy Trails,

Gramma Sheri

So Glad You Dropped By!

Marlene from Stitchin By The Lake  has been hosting a weekly blog-land look-about and I was listed amongst this week's sites to visit.  Thank you Marlene!

If you haven't taken a look at Marlene's blog yet you are in for a treat!  She is a lovely, talented lady and unfailingly gracious to all who visit her site. 

 I check out her blog every day, and am especially glad I did so early today because...well...my last post was kinda cranky and I didn't want folks to visit and leave with the impression that I am a whiny curmudgeon. (I try to keep that part of my personality under wraps :) ).

Since I don't have a tutorial ready for you or even a new, finished project to show off, how about some cookies and coffee? (Guaranteed: no calories!)

Enjoy your look around my place, introduce yourself and, if you would like to invite me to drop by your place, I'd love to!

Pressing On,

Sheri

Nuisance Sewing

I am going on record here (if I haven't already):

I INTENSELY DISLIKE DOING ALTERATIONS OF ANY KIND, IN ANY MEDIA!

It mystifies me why folks feel like they're honoring me by dumping their belongings on me to repair/refurb...for free.  

I purposely do not do alterations for a living because I have no patience or interest in that line of work.  

There are many who do and they would be happy for the work and the money.

2013 is where I begin my "Just Say No To Alterations" campaign.

 Starting with myself!

I will not purchase skirts, pants, blouses or jackets that require hemming or tweaking in any way.

In fact, I'm seriously considering no longer making items for sale.  I've lost the fun of sewing and creating, and I want to get it back! 

OK...putting the soapbox away now.
(Edited to not sound so cranky) ;)

Pressing on,

Gramma Sheri

FORWARD

                                           My word for 2013: FORWARD

Because of this: 

"Failing? What feels likes losing is really gaining experience. Forward!

Falling apart? Fall into whatever. comes. next. Forward!

Fearful? Fear is always the first step of faith. Forward!

Whenever you are lost, forward is always the way Home.

And in a fallen world, I fall forward into a New Year, and I fall forward into Christ’s safe arms and it is safe to trust. He is safe to trust." - Ann Voskamp

Read about it here:
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2013/01/when-you-dont-want-a-new-year-but-a-new-you-camera-giveaway/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HolyExperience+%28Holy+Experience%29

 Pressing On...

Gramma Sheri