I Wish You Enough

I recieved this today in an email from my friend Gloria. Yes, this proves it, she is still my friend even though I posted about her mishap with her little iron! (Thanks Gloria!) When I read this today it brought a tear to my eye. This is not quilt related, but life related.


I Wish You Enough

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, "I love you and I wish you enough".

The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough.. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom".

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?".

"Yes, I have," I replied. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?".

"I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral," she said.

"When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means? ".

She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone". She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled! even more. "When we said , 'I wish you enough', we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them". Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear..
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

She then began to cry and walked away.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them.
TAKE TIME TO LIVE.....

To all my friends and loved ones,
I WISH YOU ENOUGH

I don't know who the author of this story is, or if it is even true. The sentiment is true, however, and I do "Wish You Enough"!

My Applique Flowers

I am ready to machine quilt my first original applique piece. I couldn't find the right pattern to teach hand applique with, so I designed my own. I have been wanting to do something with browns and double pink reproductions, and this fits the bill - for now. I had my browns and pink fabrics pulled from the stash and waiting for the right project. While I still want to make a bigger brown and pink quilt, this project just seemed to require those colors too. Now, off to get the quilting started!

I've Been Tagged

I've been taggged!Jessica tagged me the other day. I am to list six inconsequential things. Here it goes:

The Rules:

Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

The Tag:
1. I have a fabric obsession. Reproduction (fabrics that are remakes of antique fabrics) fabrics really call my name. I have met few repro's that I haven't liked.
2. I tend to leave my kitchen cabinet doors open. I don't know why, I just do. I think it is genetic. My Mother does the same thing. I am looking in the kitchen right now and I see two cabinets ajar and one open. Hmmmmm
3. I talk to my plants. I let them know when I think their blooms are pretty. If the plant isn't doing as well as I think it should I let it know that too.
4. The past two summers I have had pet spiders outside my door. They were the large kind that spins beautiful round webs. I think they were Cross Orb Spiders. Anyway, I gave them names and talked to them too. My favorite one was named Cleo. I talked to her every time I went in and out of the back door. I told her she was welcome to stay by my backdoor as long as she wanted (she was great at catching bugs), but that if she came in my house she wouldn't be long for this world.
5. I have been told that I say goofy things. I don't always think they are goofy, but my friend Char says they are. I "scoop the snow" instead of shovel it. When I am irritated by something I say "I don't give a rip." instead of "I don't care." Or, if I am mad at someone/something I say "Man that ripped me!" Just lately I called some upper management people "muckity mucks" As in, "I had dinner with the muckity mucks." It made sense to me! Char, and her children say they have never heard this name used before. Have you?
6. Many people have been known to talk in their sleep. Yes, I do that too, but I have been told by two different people that I sang in my sleep. I sang one line and that was it. Goofy huh?

So, that is my six non-important things/habits/quirks about myself. I know I am to tag 6 other bloggers, but many of the ones that I would tag have already been tagged. If you enjoyed reading my six non-important things and would like to post yours, consider yourself tagged!

As you can see, I have not blogged for a while. I hadn't realized I had missed so many days until Jessica left a comment and asked where I was. I guess I have been keeping myself busy. I have been quilting up a storm on "The Monster". I would post a photo of it, but aside from more cross hatching added there wouldn't be anything else to see. I have also been working on a hand applique project. I am going to teach a class on hand applique but I couldn't find a pattern or book that I wanted to teach the class with. I have ended up designing my own small wall hanging and I will post a photo of it soon - promise!

Wordless Wednesday - Almost

This is my friend Gloria

This is what happens when a hot iron is placed on a plastic table by mistake.

Poor Gloria

This happened at the place where we went for the quilting get-a-way. When Gloria told the owner what happened to his table he replied, "Wow, that iron was hot!" He wasn't upset by it and we got a laugh out of it - all of us except Gloria!

More of the Fun

This is what I bought on the trips to several quilt shops on our fun get-a-way. The first quilt shop we went to had all of their Christmas fabrics 50% off. Christmas fabric had been the farthest thought from my mind...but I found some that called my name! *G* Some of the fabric does not scream "I am a Christmas fabric" so I will be able to use that in any project I so desire. I found some wonderful reproduction fabrics, especially backgrounds which can be very hard to find. A couple of patterns caught my eye and I bought a yard stick sized ruler that I have already pressed into service. The ruler has come in handy marking cross hatching lines on "The Monster In The Living room" Yes, I have been working on The Monster! I have also been working on the mystery quilt Carolina Crossroads. Wow, are there are lot of seams that have to be matched when sewing the blocks together. I think it will be so worth it in the end though!

What Fun!

I am home from my quilting-get-away and WOW did we have fun! We quilted and laughed, ate and laughed, and quilted and laughed some more. I worked very hard on Bonnie Hunter's Mystery quilt Carolina Crossroads.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had hubby print off clue #6 and put it in an envelope. I had thought that the mystery was over at clue #6, so my reward after finishing the units was to rip open the envelope to see what the quilt was going to look like. I eagerly opened up the envelope only to find that yes, I would see how some of the units were going to be put together, but the mystery wasn't over until clue #7 was given. Ugh! Here I had such high hopes of finishing the quilt top at the get-a-way. That wasn't going to happen!

I decided to make one of the blocks and then move on to another project that I had taken to work on. I really like how the mystery quilt is turning out. It is based on a Ohio Star block. I will sharing more about my quilting get-a-way soon! Now on to finish up step #6 so I can look at the next and final clue!

I Gave In

Well, I gave into temptation. My favorite quilting web site is Quiltville.com Bonnie Hunter is just tops in my book as far as quilt designs are concerned. She has inspired me in many ways. She has recently posted a mystery quilt called Carolina Crossroads and invited other quilters to sew along. For my non-quilting friends a mystery quilt is when directions for making a certain quilt is just given a piece at a time, you don't know what the quilt will end up looking like until the very last clue is given. I have never made a mystery quilt before. I read many a post on other quilting blogs about this project. I kept telling myself, "Self, you have enough projects going right now! You don't need to start another one until you finish some UFO's !" My self talk worked for quite a while - but yesterday I gave in. I may have started late, but I have started. I have cut all of the necessary fabrics. From what I understand there are 6 clues in all. The sixth clue was posted yesterday. I have printed off clues one through five. I have asked hubby to print off the last one and put it in an envelope. I am leaving on Monday for a quilting-get-away and my plan is to work on this quilt. I will not look at the final clue until all of the units are made. My fingers are crossed that I won't stumble across a fellow quilter's blog that has posted their finished quilt top before I can finish mine. I don't know if that is possible, but I will try!

Fun With Crumbs

I had some fun with the crumb blocks that I made in October. I wanted to make a mat to place under my sewing machine when I am sewing away from home. The main purpose of this mat would be to help me corral my scissors and other sewing notions (in the front pockets) when sewing away from home. At first I thought about just sewing some squares together. I have a container with leftover squares from previous projects that would have worked great. I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this project, but I wanted to end up with something nice. Then I thought about the crumb blocks that I had made with 30's reproduction fabrics. Yes! That seemed to be the answer! Since my time was short I wanted to speed along the binding process too. I usually hand sew the binding down to the back of the quilt, but this time I decided to try doing it all on the machine. I saved myself a lot of time which made me very happy. I have been wanting to try that technique for a while, I just never seemed to have the right project for it. I like the way it turned out!

You Make My Day & Tackle It Tuesday

Lea has given me this "You Make My Day Award". Thank you so much Lea! You make me smile! I am to give this award to others whose blog brings me happiness and inspiration and makes me feel happy about Blogland. I read many blogs that brings me happiness and inspiration. Here are a few of them: Charlene, Jessica, Joni, Bren, Linda, Tanya, Rose & Quilting Mama. I had a hard time picking just a few of my blogging friends who I visit quite often! I stopped the listing at an even #8. They have to be able to give out the award too *VBG*



Yes! My Tackle It Tuesday project is finished! I had posted about my closet originally here.I can now say I have gone through every box and have the wanted items now in storage there. Yeah! I also plan on storing my Scrapbooking/card making/rubber stamping supplies here also - eventually. *VBG* The "Monster" is also back in the living room! I thought I would get to work on it last night, but that didn't happen. You see, I picked out a Christmas present from my dear hubby the other day. It is a laptop computer. While this makes me very happy, there is also a steep learning curve with this little machine. Just getting it to allow me to get on the Internet has been a lot of fun - if you get my meaning! Now if I could type without hitting the wrong keys - this keyboard is a learning experience in itself! The Monster is calling my name.......

Another Block Ready

Well, I had a busy but fun day today. I taught a Machine Quilting Class and a BB Bag Class today at a LQS today. I really enjoy teaching. One of my students, Jean, told me that she reads my blog. Hi Jean!

Tonight I fused down another block for my Christmas quilt. The tree is made up of 1 1/2" strips of fabric sewn together. This means I have 5 ready for applique and 6 more to go. Yeah! I'm getting there slowly but surely!

I plan on putting the "Monster" back in the living room again soon. I have to admit I have not missed it hanging around my living room this past month, but I would like to get it out of the frame! If you are a new reader of my blog and are wondering what in the world I am talking about you can read one of my past posts about it here. I put my Christmas decorations away earlier then usual so that I could be ready to bring the "Monster" back out of hiding. Maybe tomorrow?

Santa Blocks

Brrrrrrr with windchill factored in it is a chilly 9 degrees outside today! As I am mentioned in an earlier post, I will be on a quilting get-a-way with some of my friends soon so I have been busy getting projects I want to take together. We will all be working on UFO's, so maybe I can get some of my projects finished or at least get them to the flimsy stage. One of the UFO's is a BOM (Block Of The Month) Christmas quilt. I have been working on getting the blocks ready for machine applique. My friend Phyllis gave me grief today about these blocks. She said I was jumping ahead. Sorry! I have fabrics that I think I might want to use in the quilt pulled and stacked up. I am just tired of having the fabrics in my way. I want to pull the fabrics for the blocks, fuse the shapes down, and get them ready for machine applique. I want to get those stacks of fabrics out of my way. I am pulling the fabrics from my stash so that makes me feel good. Yes, I have bought some fabrics especially for this quilt, but the majority of fabrics has come out of the stash. Yeah! Phyllis is just going to have to get over it I guess. *G* I plan on getting a few more blocks ready before we leave!

New Year's Eve Walk

Last night It was snowing, snowing hard and heavy. It was the beautiful type of snow that is fluffy and sticks to every twig. It had been a long time since I had taken a walk in the snow. Years ago Hubby and I would grab our coats an out we would go. The snow seemed to be calling my name. So, Hubby and I bundled up and out we went. The snow crunched beneath our feet. I love snow. I love the look of it, the sound of it, and the feel of it. Hubby isn't as fond of it. He says if I had to shovel it I wouldn't like it very much either! He may be right. *G* I thought I would share a few photos of our walk last night. I think it is funny that in the photos it looks like there are big snowballs flying through the air. There wasn't, it was just snowing so hard that is what the camera lens saw.

As far as quilting is concerned, I have been trying to organize my UFO's. I will soon be going on a quilting get-a-way with some of my friends. We will be using the get-a-way as a time to get some of our UFO's finished, or at least further along the quilting process. Photos to come!