(Backup) My Aunt Ruby

I will miss you Aunt Ruby.

Aunt Ruby & my mom have been the 2 biggest influencers of stitching, sewing, creating in my life.  It was Mom & Aunt Ruby who taught me how to cross stitch. I was underfoot, getting into trouble & I’m sure driving everyone crazy. They sat me down, drafted some cross stitch patterns & taught me how to cross stitch. My love of hand work began. 

Aunt Ruby didn’t buy fabric by the yard she bought it buy the bolt. (I come by it honestly. I think its in the DNA).This is favorite Aunt Ruby pic of mine. This is just one wall of her sewing room. Her sewing table has piles of fabric or projects on it, she’s in her comfy robe & ready to sew!

Aunt Ruby came out to visit in April of 2015. While she was here she came to one of my presentations. It was thrill for me to have her there. Afterwards we went to Culver’s for ice cream. 

Before we left mom was getting some ice cream to take home to dad & Aunt Ruby & I were chatting. I looked down & there was inspiration!!


My inspiration for my pattern “Prairie Stones”! This picture is at the back of everyone of my “Prairie Stones” patterns. Those are Aunt Rubys feet in top corner. 

Mom, Dad & I went to Washington to visit her in October of 2016. What a wonderful time making wonderful memories. We spent a few days sewing with Aunt Ruby in her “Sewing Sanctuary”.

Aunt Ruby went home to be with Jesus last night. My image of her entering heaven is she’s greeted by Jesus her mom & dad. Jesus taking her to her sewing sanctuary & she’s having a ball sewing. 

I will forever be great full for her presence in my life. 

More later on,

Vicky

My Dads moms

Grandma Martha (my dads birth mom) ,

Was an incredible seamstress. She could look at a dress & recreate it with out a pattern. There’s a letter that my Aunt Ruby has that Grandma Martha wrote to her mom saying “ there was a sale on fabric at the dry goods store so I brought some home with me”. That cracks me up. Now I now that my fabric addiction is hereditary. 😊 She passed away when my dad was 7.  

Grandpa married Grandma Margaret  a few years later& they were married for over 50 years.  This past February I was out in Idaho visiting family & Grandna Margaret asked me if I would like to have Grandma Martha’s sewing machine. I was gobsmacked. ABSOLUTELY I would want it!!! I was amazed, proud & thankful that she had kept it all of these years & that she gave it to me. Now how was I going to get it home?  Problem easily solved. My parents went out to Idaho for my nephews graduation & they brought it back for me. I took her to get a spa treatment & now she just purrs!

I just finished putting a piano key border on a quilt with this machine. Every time I use this sewing machine I will think of both of my Grandmas!

Me & Grandma Margaret. 

I hope y’all have a great day! More later on,

Vicky

Handwork, scraps & smokin some chicken

It has been busy around here & I’ve just not made the time to sit down & write. Well today I’m just going to put lunch on hold & type a few words. I’ve been busy working on my hand work projects for a new program that I’m putting together. It’s slow, ya know because its hand work. I’m trying not to get stressed over it &  I am trying to enjoy the process.  With my dear husband working from home now I have to be more intentional with how I can get my sewing time in. Yesterday my plan was to smoke some chickens for supper & hopefully have enough for supper & a few lunches. I got my fire & smoke going & all was well. The chickens were coming along pretty good but I realized that I had way to many coals after they were done. So at about 6pm last night I put more chicken in the smoker because I didn’t want to waste all of those good coals. 

So after we had supper & I had somewhat cleaned up the kitchen (why clean it up all the way when there’s more chicken that’s got to come in) I sat down with my latest big stitch hand quilting project & started in. I made pretty good head way last night because I was still stitching at midnight. I brought in the chicken at 9pm because the coals just weren’t puttin out the heat anymore, so I put the chicken in the oven to finish cooking (at a low temp). They finally reached temp at 11pm. Well you can’t take them straight from the oven & then into the fridge. So while they cooled I kept stitching.  I”m going to have to get a lot more thread. 2 rounds around the outside pink triangles & the echo work on the bottom has used up almost 1 spool of thread. 

I had a sew day with my good friend Kathy G last Thursday & was indecisive on what project I needed to work on. So I think I took 5. Oh mercy,

I pushed my 1,000 pyramids quilt that had been my Leader/Ender project (it seems like it’s been an L/E forever) to th of the first in line. Low & behold I got it done!!! Woo hoo! All of the triangles are scraps. The black & the the border fabric are purchased yardage. It is HUGE!!! 91”x110”  I know  I shouldn’t be surprised anymore but sometimes I still amazed at my predilection to anything big. 

I’ve also had a huge finish in the embroidery catergory. I finished all 8 panels of the purple poises & now I’m working on the piecing part of that project. 

The 8 panels are going where the 8 squares are in a broken star quilt pattern.  As I get more of the piecing done I will do my best to post progress pics. 

This past Sunday I finished the brown round on my eternal hexie project. Next up is a round of black! This project is definitely teaching me patience. Lord knows this isn’t moving all that fast. I started it last April in celebration of my 40th birthday. Well I’m going to be turning 41 here in a few months. Maybe it’ll be done in time for my 50th birthday celebration. LOL!

I do hope that y’all are having a great day. I’d better close this post, get some lunch & then I’m off on a parts run for DH. More later on,

Vicky