sLoPpy hApPY quiLt

It's still in my sewing room. The small quilt made for my daughter by my mother's dear friend. My mother's dear friend shall be known as Bea. Dear Bea. She was and is a powerhouse. In her 80s now, she gets more done in a day, month, year, decade than many half her age. How does she do it?

My mother used to ponder that question because, as one Bea was running circles around, it made her reflect on her own abilities. Usually, she determined that she just wasn't as capable as Bea. Then one day the light went on. Mother figured it out and shared it with me. "Bea is slap happy. She does everything quickly and without a lot of prep work, without a lot of thought, and without a lot of finesse." (My poor mom had no idea how closely she had described me as well.)

Mother, on the other hand, was careful in everything she did. If she made a quilt, it was nearly perfection. All points met and it was square. Mother made three quilts in her lifetime. Bea, on the other hand, has made hundreds of sloppy, happy quilts.

If my mom refinished a piece of furniture, it was impeccably done. When Bea refinished furniture, we could always find a bit of paint remaining from a former job. This especially blew my mother's mind. She would smile and beam and say, "Well done!" On the inside though, she was very concerned about the bit of paint.

Making wreaths was another task both women did for extra cash at Christmastime. When someone bought a wreath from my mother, it was an excellent value. Buying a wreath from Bea however, might mean that it wouldn't make it to the car. Still, Bea made a lot more money than my mother simply because she made more wreaths.

~red, white, blue, and wonky~

Back to the baby quilt in my sewing room — it has served its time and could have justifiably been sent it to the landfill. (For some reason, my daughter turned it down.)  However, Molly and Fioré like it and use it to cuddle with. The backing was torn and ragged so I purchased some matching material to make a new back. The quilt is made of red, white, and blue fabrics very popular around the bicentennial of the nation. Many of the pieces do not line up and there are puckers between the gingham lightweight fabric and the more substantial other fabrics. It is so far out of square that it is ridiculous. Oh it really is a happy, sloppy quilt.

~pondering a backing~

Here's wishing you a happy, perhaps sloppy, day!

Getting Something Done

   

So I tied my apron around my expanding waistline and got busy tidying my wee home and doing a little decorating yesterday afternoon. Since I had been feeling listless and unproductive, I asked myself what the problem might be. Turns out the problem was that I needed a change. I was tired of looking at summer flowers and lots of things lined up on the windowsill. I wanted to see some autumn color, and I didn't have spare funds to do a whole lot that was new. I will not be purchasing the $10 brown ceramic pumpkin at TJ Maxx that I saw on Sunday. Still I had old silk leaves. I could do something. (Oh the embroidery is from Tip Nut.)

musik

(ad warning)

 ~the windowsill cleared a bit~

~the lamp with leaves added on the inside~

~same old doily wreath with leaves~

~a stepped back view~

 ~the platter corner~

 ~a fresh bouquet of zinnias~

That garage siding is going to get a facelift coming soon. Maybe work will begin today. John is waiting for material to arrive, but he has enough to get started. I remain hopeful.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful Thursday!

                        

If We Walk in the Light

Gloomy, gloomy here today as the remnants of Isaac pass by. Torrential downpours in the night and a wall of tropic air made for nasty sleeping weather. At three, I finally woke up enough to turn on the AC hoping to fall back to sleep in comfort. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It is a good thing that I am not opposed to naps.

I had no plans for posting today when I realized that I had slipped into that dangerous no blogger's land of not particularly caring if I ever posted again, that tipping point where it could go either way. We talk about this from time to time, you and I. There is surely coming a day when I will have absolutely said all that there is to say. So I took my little break from blogging and commenting. I couldn't take a break from reading, though. You're much too interesting.

It doesn't feel nor look much like autumn yet so I have not given myself over to pumpkins nor mums nor cornstalks. My dining table continues to feature lots of tomatoes, which we love to see, but which do not have much flavor. For flavor, I am frequenting farmhouse stands to buy Early Girls or anything that looks as if it would be worthy of eating over the kitchen sink.

***

One recent project involved tracing a portion of scripture onto that too white lampshade. I printed off my choice, tore the paper in a random way, and taped it to the underside of the shade. I rather liked it that way and can see that if I had stayed with that method, I could switch expressions to fit any occasion: Give Thanks, Merry Christmas or Happy Birthday.

Instead, I went ahead and traced it with a permanent Sharpie to the outside. I don't think it's finished.

I need to retrace and thicken the lines a titch. Perhaps I'll add more phrases. What would you do?