Those High School Girls

Meet Connie, Linda, and Karen. Just the other day we were high school girls. Now we are grandmas (some of us)! Hard to believe how fast time flies! I was pals with these three nice women in high school, along with Becky, who is absent. Becky died in a car crash a few years ago. We realized then that we had let too much time pass and that we needed to reunite. The first time we got back together, it had been 30-some years since we'd all seen each other! We sat there, missing Becky, but giggling about how funny it was to see us all with our same familiar faces, slightly altered.

Since then we try to get together once or twice a year. I am so grateful that we have re-connected. It's nice to know them as adults. I can still learn from them! And just to have some pals who can laugh with me about being this age... it sure is nice. Some of my other friends are younger than I am. I love them dearly, but there is something comforting about having friends all my same age. It just slays me that these three and I will soon all be eligible for senior citizen discounts, Elder Hostel travels, retirement, being grandmas.

Here's a fun perk: Karen and I have both turned into quilters! We have exchanged a few fabric postcards. Here is a display at a local quilt shop. She asked customers to send in postcards, and in exchange we got one from the shop owner. This is the display of what came in. I think I showed you mine earlier (if I remember correctly, without checking back).. can you find it in this display?

Under the Weather

I haven't posted lately for a couple of reasons: 1) I was just feeling blah about everything. Maybe it was the "end of winter blues." Is there such a thing? Maybe it was the gray days, the gray snow... who knows? I was in a slump. 2) I got sick! Yeeccchhh! I'm not sure if it was flu or food poisoning. Whatever it was, it wasn't fun. It lasted through today, and thank goodness, I am feeling good enough now to return to real life tomorrow. What a blessing good health is!!! I'm going to try not to take it for granted in the future.

I did manage to make this tote bag. The block actually was made by Ann D. So all I did was the bag. (Does that make her a Block Head and me a Bag Lady?) It'll go to a silent auction for a women's transitional housing project. I followed a pattern (sort of) but wish I had altered it. The handles are too short, in my opinion. But the bag is long, so longer handles would make it drag on the floor, unless you're tall like me. The pattern wasn't quilted, but I added batting and quilted it. I love quilted bags! If I do another one, I'll alter the proportions. I'm thinking of getting a couple pretty buttons and sew them on where the handles are attached. Don't you think that would look nice?

Oh, today is so pretty! The sun is shining, and our high temp was 81. Nice day to stay home and recover from blecchhhy sickness. I sat on the deck reading for a while. The sun felt so great.

Now I'm back from the blahs, my yucks are gone, I feel great, I want to sew, and after 4 more work days, I'll be on spring break so I CAN sew. Yippeeee!

Shopping for Fabric

Today I got to do a bunch of fabric shopping for other people! I bought 21 yards of fabric to be put into sewing kits for women around the world. I had a blast! The fabric was on sale, the notions such as thread and buttons were 50% off, and I got 5% off my entire purchase. I was able to buy lots more than I had expected! What fun! These chunks plus some others already purchased will go into sewing kits for 13 women somewhere in the world. The idea is that they can learn to sew some garments for themselves or their family, and perhaps learn an income-producing skill.

After the shopping trip, I put together these two tops that are made from Lotto blocks at Sunshine list. These will be going to children somewhere in the world, also. Aren't they bright and cheery? I don't know yet whether I will quilt these or someone else. It's probably my turn to do some of my own tops. I farm them out a little too often, I think. I just think others are so much better at machine quilting than I am -- however, when I do my own machine quilting I always feel so proud and enjoy the process, plus I get the joy of seeing the finished product. So I will try!

Colors are a little off in this first picture. Those purples really are red, not so purpley.

It was beautiful and sunny today. Slowly but surely our giant snow piles are melting. Hooray!

Fascinated by our Snow

You would think we had never seen snow before. It's all the talk around here. We did get two huge storms in one week, so in a blink of an eye we went from drought to doing OK. It just strikes me funny that it's such a big deal to us -- this is Minnesota! We are supposedly used to this stuff. But when it comes in huge amounts, it takes over one's life for a while. It requires a lot of work to dig out, shovel, clean up, and figure out how to get around. Makes for interesting pictures and news stories.

My mail box hasn't been nearly buried like this in many years. I actually like to see this much snow all over. It's so beautiful.

This snowy bush is in my front yard.

Today I shoveled a bit, until my back hurt too much. Then I walked a bit through my neighborhood and took pictures, until my camera battery died. I also did some sewing today.. made some blocks for a Lotto I'm in. I didn't feel particularly inspired and am not thrilled with my blocks, but I guess they'll do. I made the cute snowman to give the Lotto "owner."

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Winter Wallop!

We're getting another big storm! Can you even see that guy on the sidewalk? School is closed tomorrow, so I'm enjoying a long weekend, warm and snug in my house. I'll get another shoveling-aerobic workout in the next couple of days. When I'm not shoveling, I will do some sewing. Yippee!