The Quilting Bee

Eleven ladies turned out to the quilting bee last Thursday. We actually got a lot done, even though there was plenty of visiting around the quilt frame. The most enjoyable part for me was the fellowship with other Christians. I am blessed to be able to listen to the women sharing about life: their children; homeschooling, discipline, the fun times and the challenging. The gardening talk was great, too. Isn't amazing how each of us has plans to do better next year? Winter is such a wonderful time for reflection and refueling! My Mama (far right) drove all the way from Lancaster County, PA (4 hour drive) to spend the day with us! The unsurpassed love and dedication of a mother! My sister-in-law Jessica is in the middle-she has found quilting to be a new and enjoyable hobby. My friend and neighbor Shelia is having her first quilting experience-and doing quite well!

I work at threading a needle while Lora,a friend from church,works steadily away on her corner of the quilt. I feel so blessed that my friends from church are willing to learn a new trade just to support the younger women in their pursuits! Little Miss Retta rests in her mother's arm while she focuses on stitching. Erin informed us that the nicest way to describe quilting is boring-loading hay or working on a roof with her husband would be a relief if it meant getting her away from the quilt frame. Amazing that we're sisters, huh? And I guess we can all figure out which of us was Papa's helper, and which preferred to wash dishes for Ma! I'm sorry Erin doesn't enjoy quilting-I thought her work was excellent!

Lydia, a long-time neighbor and friend of the family was our only "true quilter" She worked circles around the rest of us. Literally. When she finished all she could reach from one end, she switched sides and continued on. Linda and Sue, are friends from church. Linda has quilted before and was able to identify my cheap needles-she's right-they were not the right size to get "rocking action". I really need to make a trip to Penn Yan to a quilt shop and get: a thimble that fits my thumb and index finger, a pair of pliers and some decent quilting needles that allow for "rocking action" and don't snap! We broke at least six needles between us all last Thursday! Sue has been to both of our quilting's this year with her sister Lora, and even though they haven't been able to get several stitches on their needle at once, their seams are beautiful!

We weren't able to finish the quilt in one day, so Lydia and Fannie, her daughter-in-law (and friend of mine) spent the afternoon with me yesterday. They are both good quilters, so the three of us got quite a bit done, and Lydia thinks we could have finished it if I hadn't distracted us with looking at pictures on the computer! Fannie's children were little bookworms all afternoon and my doggie Trixie really enjoyed their company!

Fanny

Lydia

Just a little visiting!

I will post a picture of the quilt when it's all done and out of the frame. It may be a week or two, as I need to finish quilting and put the binding on.

Thank-you to everyone that came, I know several of you missed the photo shoot-I appreciate all the work everyone put into the day. What a labor of love!

Garden Dreams

I woke up this morning dreaming about my 2010 vegetable garden. I dream every year that this will be the year that my garden will be beautiful and productive, and every year ends with my garden in weedy shambles. Last year was different in that it started out beautiful and stayed reasonably beautiful until early August. That's when mildew and late blight hit. July 2009
Last year I think my garden would have ended the season better than any garden of mine in the past, if everything depended on my power, but as the verse in Matthew 5:45b says; "For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust", and the rain fell, the temperature stayed cool and moist most of the summer. I learned an important lesson. I set out last year to prove that I could do something successfully after a couple of difficult years were it felt that everything I turned my hand to fell apart and disappeared. Determination counts very little with our Lord. He asks us to rely on Him, and gain our strength and success through our dependence on Him and His attributes.

The most three important components of gardening are: soil, water and sunlight and these elements are free, provided by God. We have some control over these elements, but when it comes down to success or failure, we can't help but acknowledge that our garden crop is in His sovereign control.

If I look at last year in perspective, it was not a waste of effort. I learned alot about companion planting and gardening friends and foes. Below is a June photo of a lettuce blend and pansies which can be harvested together for a salad. Remember to snip them off and not pull them so they can regrow.

The onion greens, celery and calendulas (which self-sowed from the year before) can all be snipped off and added to a garden salad. This trio did well together, taking up space so weeds could not grow as fast (please note my garden has weeds mixed in, they grow faster than I can pull!)

Left to right: I had over 200 sunflowers that self sowed from the year before. The sad news is, they succumbed to mildew in late August due to lack of sunshine and access moisture. My beans are planted in a double row. I WILL NEVER do it again! They died from mildew. I think the would have been productive if they had more room for airflow. The broccoli and petunias did very well together, although next year I'm going to plant the petunias further away from the broccoli foliage so they both have more room to grow. The potatoes in the background grew magnificently. We planted them early enough that they were done growing by the time the late blight hit, so the potato crop was not effected by the fungus. Below is a photo of a bumper crop of red potatoes. this photo was taken mid-July.

I will keep adding to the 2010 garden plan, so stay tuned!

Ice Skating Sledding with Prince

Wednesday was an awesome day. My friend Wren & children took me with them to Corning to ice skate. Prior to this year, the last time I skated was in grade school. This trip was my fourth time and it was the first time I didn't do a nose dive, belly flop or just crash to my knees (Ouch. the last time I did that number, I smacked my camera lens on the unforgiving ice. The broken camera hurt worse than the bruises on my knees!).

I believe I have reached my former agility level, I wasn't exactly the best on ice even in fifth grade, so from here it's real progress. I've got a long way to go, I can tell by looking; those little kids really rip up the ice! Wren's really good, too, but like she says, being brought up in Michigan is like being born with skates on your feet!

When we got home from skating, Kelvin had Prince out, so he helped hook him up to our new red horse-drawn sled, and I took Wren and her brood for a very cold and windy sled ride. Each of the kids took turns at the reins. It was an awesome experience watching the studied delight each one had for the privilege of driving the horse. When Wren had her turn at the reins, she marvelled at how alive the reins felt. Even though the driver is 10 feet behind the horse, each movement of Prince's mouth and head can be felt through the reins. Somehow, it gives such a heightened awareness it the entire riding/driving experience.

By the time we got back, everyone was thoroughly chilled. We even had a few tears from an anonymous little fellow! I was glad to get back to the house, too. Windchill is the worse kind of cold!

Jessica's Quilt

This past week I've been working on my sister-in-law Jessica's quilt. The pattern is called Garden Trellis from the Jelly Roll Quilts book by Pam & Nicky Lintott. Jell Rolls are just a fancy way of selling material already cut into 2 1/2 inch strips across the width of the fabric (45inches). I didn't spend the money on the pre-cut rolls, I bought a half yard of each material and ripped then into 2 1/2 " strips. Ripping fabric instead of cutting it is much faster and actually more accurate, because the material tears along it's weave.

Next, I selected a light and a dark strip, right sides together, and sewed the length of it. After all 104 strips were sewn into 56 strips, the two strip units are sewn to another two strip unit, right sides together and light-to-dark. Sew both sides to form a tube.

Using a rotary cutter, mat, and a 45degree angle, cut all the strips into blocks. This is a bit more coplicated than it sounds. The instructions tell you to use a Omnigrid 98L, line up center seam to the 3 1/2in line, and the bottom seam to the 7 1/2in line. It works very well with this tool. I am think I'm daft in certain areas. I couldn't figure out how I could use a rotary cutting square, so made a trip to my local quilt shop and they sold theirs because they hadn't needed it since they got it! So if you are of average intelliegence (count me out!) you can use the rotary cutting square, position the 0 on top and place a piece of tape from left 6 1/2in marking to right 6 1/2in marking. This is your guide along the bottom of the tube.

When this step is done, you will have 224 small squares. Put for squares together to make 56 large blocks. The small squares should be placed with lights/darks on opposite corners. This is the fun part and Jessica and the children helped on Saturday!

The honor of being an aunt is a role that I eagerly accept. Most of the time. And that is the beauty of part-time mothering(otherwise known as aunting). You real mothers know that there is no such thing as part-time mothering. Unless you're an aunt. Aunts are given the privilege of assuming the responsibilities of care for the young brood for a prescribed amount of time, and when it is fulfulled aunt is back to carefree mode. Unless she chooses to worry about her charges.
You see, I am an aunt with a degree in Nursing. Which means I concern myself with Stages of Development; Erikson, Freud, and Maslow, not to mention physical milestones such as growth, motor skills and coordination. If I had a dollar for every concern I've had for these darling (normal) children, we'd be putting that addition on the house!
I remember the first concern I had. Diana (the oldest of the bunch) was a baby. She did not like to be held. By anyone. She would put herself down a night. She didn't appreciate the fact that she had nine-count, nine grandmothers and great-grandmothers waiting to give her some lovin'. Her sister Louisa came along a scant two years later and proved to be the true love-bug, but by then there were only six grandmothers waiting in line. Louisa gave Aunt Jessie some concern, too. Her head was horribly misshapen. She had a dreadful flat side from always turning her head the same direction whether she was in her car seat, bed or on the floor. I got on her mommy's nerves by suggesting that Louisa do more tummy-time. The trouble was Louisa hated laying on her tummy and thought that if provoked to cry, the only solution was to be held!
Miss Joanna gave Aunt Jessie three worries. She didn't walk, grow hair or talk for the longest time. She was two and a half before Aunt Jessie was satisfied that she was on the road to normalcy. That was before her older sister Sarah exhibited her advanced motor skills by giving Joanna a very close, boyish hair cut. We adult women felt like standing in a circle to cry and pray over her, interceding that the beautiful, brown hair be restored to our petite lady's head. But we didn't. We wiped our tears and Aunt Jessie moved on to the next developmental challenge.
Sarah was three and still in diapers. Then Sarah was three and a half and still in diapers. She knew all about what the bathroom was for, but for her the privacy of her room and her pants was sufficient. She was a very precise child, however, and promptly let her Mama know when it was necessary for a change. You know, I've given up on worrying about that problem. I think she is determined that as long as people keep pleading, suggesting and forcing her in the direction of the bathroom, it is not going to happen. Sarah will have to let Aunt Jessie know when she makes the graduation. I've put the matter out of my mind. (As only an aunt can!)
Cannon amazed us all with how quickly he learned to crawl, then walk, and now run. And he chatters away at an impressive speed the dilemma is, no one can understand a word of it! It's like the child was birthed in a foreign country. The syllables are there, but there is no comprehension among the peoples. Cannon does not seem to understand that his conversation is incomprehensible. In fact, if he is trying to tell you something and you are not responding correctly, he will crawl up on your lap, take your face between his hands and direct your attention accordingly!He is obviously an intelligent child, and I have a feeling one day soon he will be talking in full paragraphs for the world to hear and understand!
Retta was so petite Aunt Jessie worried that she was malnourished. However, her mommy can tell you, she puts away more food than Diana and Louisa together some days. And Retta's particular trick is to wake her mother at two in the morning asking for "milk and cheese, please" which usually gets results.
As time passes and I have more practise at the auntie role, I find myself spending less time worrying about my nieces and nephews development. Baby Alyssa's flat head was easier to except than Louisa's. And when Carlton wasn't walking at 14 months, I assured myself that Joanna's doing fine and she didn't walk for a long time.
I never tire of being Aunt Jessie. No one else (except maybe grandmas) has the privilege of enjoying the fun times, receiving the hugs and kisses, and exciting little stories without the responsibilities of motherhood. Yup. I love part-time mothering!

In photo from left to right:
Standing in back row: Diana and Sarah
Middle row: Uncle Kelvin holding Retta, Louisa, Aunt Jessie holding Alyssa, Joanna
Bottom: Cannon and Carlton

I am a Christian farm girl, married to Kelvin. We have an organic farm which produces field crops and maple syrup. We have a large garden, a cow we milk by hand, four horses, a handful of chickens, barn cats and a beautiful dog named Trixie Anne. I enjoy sewing, quilting, photography, and being the best Aunt-in-the-whole-world to our eight nieces and nephews. I struggle with keeping the house clean, doing firewood and washing dishes, tasks I wish I had a cloned "Jessie slave" to perform! I also struggle with serving the Lord with a pure and trusting heart in the midst of sorrow. We have lost two sons, Gabriel and Emanuel at birth. Gabriel was born on February 1, 2008 with Bilateral Renal Agenesis, a condition in which the baby’s kidneys, lungs and urinary tract do not develop. No infant has ever survived Potter's Syndrome (or Bilateral Renal Agenesis) and it is not a genetic disorder in most cases. A couple months after Gabriel was born, we found ourselves expecting again! The news came as a shock to us, but we were so happy yet scared at the same time. I went for my 18 week ultrasound, and there was no heartbeat. The doctors had no real answers, and our baby Emanuel was gone to be with Jesus.
My life change dramatically. I was not able to continue working as a labor nurse at our local hospital. The emotional toll was too significant. Now I work at the same hospital on the medical/surgical floor as a per diem nurse. We are still praying for more children, and I live daily depending on God's grace, mercy and strength.
The goal of this blog is to show myself and others that life is purposeful and full of good things from the Lord; He has a beautiful plan for me and he loves the real me!