Four weeks in..

 Max after his bath. 

 A few of the masks I have made. 

I bought a bolt of sew-in stabilizer many years ago for a specific quilt project that has not materialized, so am using it as a lining inside the masks, making them three layers. Using fabric to make bias tape for the ties. That is my oldest Hunter trying his on.

 I set up a sewing area at home. I usually do all of my sewing at my longarm studio, "The Hive". It overlooks the front yard. Getting some piecing done, just not the same as having all of my tools at hand. Kind of like a perpetual retreat, lol. 

 I purchased this kit over 5 years ago at Chattanooga Quilts. I didn't have a reference photo for it. The pattern is from a book of Christmas quilts and this fabric is spring/dandelions. So after I thought I had cut one of the fabrics incorrectly, I messaged the shop for a photo. They amazingly were able to locate a photo which is pretty impressive since it was sooo long ago and they weren't in the shop at the time. Great customer service, really recommend stopping by if you are ever near by! Link here: Chattanooga Quilts website or Chattanooga Quilts Facebook page. Four blocks done, five to go. It took me several redo's to get these right. 

Above left is my empty design wall at the Hive. The quilt on the right has been in the works for many years and occupying the design wall for months on end. It is Jen Kingwell's Long Time Gone. I finally got the parts put together and added the outer border. I am thinking of doing another pieced border also. Stay tuned. This is one of my UFO projects for this year, making progress.

 I have been spending more time at home with my 17 yo, so not too much being accomplished at the studio. I did start quilting this sweet 42 in quilt for my great niece Aubrey Elizabeth. She is a month old already!

quilt back

This is Karen M.'s Splendid Sampler, about 76 in sq. It is absolutely wonderfully made and has so much going on. She opted for a simple curlicue pattern called Denali in white thread.

We haven't gotten take out this week at all I am proud to say. Here is a sampling of our food situation this week. 

Quinoa salad (from Daniel Plan Cookbook, that's the picture above my plate). Nice to have something a little lighter. We have been eating a lot of heavy comfort food. 

 I discovered baking my bacon several years ago. It is amazing. about 20 mins at 375 degrees and it comes out crispy and melt in your mouth yummy. Easter Sunday breakfast was waffles with peanut butter and bacon. Completely reminded me of my dad!

What's more comforting than good ol' meat and potatoes. This is a meat pie, basically a meatloaf w/o ketchup with your favorite mashed potatoes on top (mine are garlic and sour cream laced) and then melted cheese. For me a side of corn makes it perfect. 

Homemade pizza using Martha White crust. I like sausage and mushrooms on mine. 

Flamingo a Friend website

This weekend was my Huntsville bestie's 60th birthday. This is the girl wearing her 59 turning 60 shirt for the past six months, so not being able to celebrate was not really an option here. I made her favorite apple cake (and kept back a couple of slices since I couldn't eat it with her), had her yard flocked with Flamingos, and helped her hubby arrange a drive by birthday parade. See more on her FB page here: Pam Anders FB page. She was quite surprised and thrilled. 

Max chillin' at the Hive. He goes just about everywhere with me these days since we humans can't really go in anywhere there is no risk of having to leave him in the car. Luckily, he didn't go with us to run a quick errand, as it would not have ended well for him.

 This is old blue. We bought her new in 2008, she is a Honda Pilot and had over 185,000 miles logged. All three of my boys learned to drive in her. She met her demise after colliding with a Toyota 4Runner on Monday. My almost 18 yo son was driving, it was his first accident and he has never had a ticket. I am thankful nobody was injured and that little Maxoroni didn't go with us, also that I was with him. It was my first experience with air bags and it all happened so fast. I was looking the other way so did not see it coming and the next thing is an awful smell, smoke, and disorientation. Chandler's wrist is swollen today but he feels it is not broken and I do not have any desire to visit any sort of medical facility if it can be helped (Coronavirus and all). He is keeping it iced and wrapped for now. I am a little sore through my shoulders, feels like I did yard work (which clearly did not happen this week). It could have been much worse if the other car had hit ours any further back, I believe we were protected. 

 The yard of my rental house does not have much grass, a lot of ground cover type plants (aka weeds). These cute little berries are growing right now, along with clover and other unidentified plants. No wonder the birds love my yard! They are in the front and back. 

The last 100 years

Grandma's Birthday Cake

Well, life has been crazy. Children behaving badly and we will leave it at that for now. Things have settled down for the moment, so I am back in blog-land.

Aunt Barbara and Grandma during the reading of the proclamation of
Dorothy Martin Day in Plantation, Florida

The big event of the past week is that I got to go to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to celebrate my Grandma Dorothy's 100th birthday. It was a wonderful time reconnecting with family I haven't seen in 25 years and some whose names I have heard my whole life but never met before. At 100 years old grandma is doing pretty good.  She lives in a nursing home but is not able to get around on her own. She looked pretty in a white suit with a beautiful orchid corsage. For more than two hours she reveled in the love and adoration of more than 50 people. Those in attendance included two of her children, step-children, three granddaughters and one of her great grandchildren (my Hunter). There were many friends and neighbors that also came to honor her. Many of us traveled from out of state. It was a great time for her and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

When you have lived for 100 years you will get a note from the President of the United States and the first lady. That was a joy for grandma. The envelope got water on it and causing the ink to smudge, which only proved that the envelope was hand addressed in the most perfect calligraphy. In this day and age one would assume it was done on a computer, it was that perfect, but it was not. That makes it all the more special.

Me and dad, Jim McKenna

I have been thinking about all of the changes grandma has seen in her 100 years walking this earth. I googled it, of course. All of the famous people born the same year are no longer living, but included Richard Nixon, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Gerald Ford, Rosa Parks, Jimmy Hoffa, and Vince Lombardi. An interesting list. That was the year the Ford Company introduced the assembly line, the US government imposed the Income Tax, it was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the first crossword puzzle was published and Camel introduced the first packaged cigarettes. Just think about the things that have changed since then. Two world wars, super high definition flat screen televisions in every nook and cranny of society, cell phones with internet access, the internet, commercial air travel just to name a few. I also ponder the things that have not really changed that much. The stuff we use has changed, but the character of people has not really changed.

The girl cousins, Betty, Melissa, Mykie, Holly, Shebby
with Grandma. (She wanted to wear the hat)

Grandma has touched a lot of lives in her time here. I realized by spending time with my two girl cousins how different all three of our relationships are with her. She has shared a part of herself with each and every person in a different way. Mykie is her oldest grandchild and is about 12 years older than me. She grew up in Ohio, the daughter of the oldest daughter, my aunt Dawn. I am the youngest grandchild of grandma's youngest child. Holly is the middle child of the middle child, my aunt Barbara. Isn't that interesting? (There are also 5 grandsons that were not present.) As the oldest Mykie had a special connection with grandma, she even wanted to live with grandma when she was a teenager. I think she shared poems with Holly. I learned practical things from grandma, how to layer garbage bags to make it easier at trash time, to put a lid face up so germs don't get inside, and the use of homeopathic remedies instead of running to the doctor for every ailment, to name a few. Grandma also taught me to keep a Prayer Journal. I have not done such a good job the past few years of keeping it up, but am motivated to do so again. It is a great way to keep a record of who you have prayed for and when the prayers are answered.

Hunter collecting shells at John Lloyd Park beach

Hunter visits with Aunt Sharon and cousin Robby

Before leaving Sunday we were able to make a quick trip to the beach to collect some shells. We also got to visit with my sister in law and nephew for a short time before leaving. We just didn't have enough time.

How old is the oldest person you know and how have you been influenced by them?