Hugs and Love

Today was Katie's Birthday she is my youngest grand-daughter, Katie turned seven and has lost her first tooth. She felt so grown up riding her new bike, however her older sister Kayla was terribly distressed watching her receive all the attention. She so wanted to play with sisters new toys but little sister said no, Kayla is only two years older so the new Barbie with hot tub and and all the extras were very tempting. I reminded her of all the gifts she had received on her birthday but to no avail. She slipped back into a spot where she could observe her sister and every time Katie put her gifts aside to play with the cousins, she would silently move on the new toys and fall into a state of fascination; then little sister would return and push her away. This went on all afternoon I felt so sorry for her pain, she just could not enjoy her sister's joy at being seven. Her green eyed monster was very visible. Watching young children interact has always been one of my favorite things to do, the emotional turmoil they go through establishing their territory, their place in their little society is so fragile. Little hearts are broken, as their emotions surface and tempers flair and jealouslies rise. Then Mom calls them in to have cake and ice cream and all is forgotten in a second, they sit around the table laughing and talking. It is amazing and wonderful. These trials and tribulations have gone on for centuries and most grow up finding a balancing between the silly and important things, most grow wiser and find that it was not that bad after all. Unfortunately not all children are raised in happy secure homes. Brothers and sisters either become best of friends or they become strangers never allowing understanding and love come between them...
Jealiously can gripe the heart and never goes away if one haven't expierenced love and learned how to be understanding...
Raising my three children was nothing short of total cayous at times I thought I would go crazy, as I look back I realize I loved every minute of it. They had their problems finding their way, as all of us did; but they love each other they are truly best friends.
Now I have problem, I find I am jealous when they plan a sibling week-end and I am not invited. It was hard knowing they were all laughing and having a great time together and I wasn't there. So all in all I guess a little jealousy creeps into all our lives no matter how old we are. My children learned to love each other and isn't that what we as parents strive to achive.
A childs broken heart heals when they are loved and they learn to accept disappointment, I guess this is all about family love; my parents loved me and taught me how to love, and their parents taught them; the circle of love will not be broken as long as we love each other...Hugs and love heal our wounds and a little cake and ice cream helps.

Whirl Wind week end is history

What a lovely time I had, first there was Artist Open Studio Tour this was my first year and it turned out to be such fun. My Husband Jerry and our three daughters all pitched in and helped to make it a great memory. So many nice people came to visit "my studio" well actually it is just my sewing room but they all seemed to really enjoy the tour and it was wonderful having so many people validate my eclectic quilting skills what a bust to ones ego. I had a great time showing off my work and meeting so many nice people, having our girls there was just the frosting on the cake.
Then Saturday night they auctioned off the Herons at a Gala dinner even thou I was so tired from the Open Studio Tour we closed the tour at 5:00 and dashed to the auction by 5:30 it was so exciting watching the Heron go on the block, even with the economy down they made over 30k on the auction, my Heron went for $1300.00 which was good there were a few that went over, one went for $3200. it was such a good cause, it would have been great to have them all go that high but alas you takes what comes your way and everyone had a great time. They had a live band and dancing but I was far too tired to shake a leg I was lucky I had Jerry to drag me home by 1:30am to rise again to another day of Open studio and special time with the girls. So all the preparations and work of planning the week-end, it is now over and life will go back to normal, the truth be known I am so ready for some quiet down time. Naps sound so appealing I am going to set my sights to mastering the afternoon nap with my love, that just plane sounds wonderful at this time in my life so for now Be Happy

Seasons change

The flowers are blooming out and it will not be long and we will be looking at the fall leaves instead, but while they are here I am going to enjoy them. September always brings the beautiful sunsets oh how I love to look out our windows and watch the sun set in a golden sky I feel this is the best time of year the air is cool and crisp and the sun throws long shadows across our little bit of heaven. I love this time of year, my mind wanders to baking, apple pies, bread and pot roast I find I want to clean the windows to let more sunshine in and cleaning the light fixtures the glass on them seems so necessary there is nothing like a shiny chandlier catching the fall beams of light as they dance across the room. Our house faces the southwest and we get the evenning sun so nice on those long winter afternoons, there is a stand of trees growing just south of the house and they will eventually block the winter sunsets but for now they are in their splender and I will work on getting my love to trim those trees before they get too large. This week he was on the barn roof nailing down the roof flashing at the ridge of the roof oh my I was so worried about him up there he was doing fine, but his feet were tangeling up in the rope he had strung from the otherside of the barn to where he was working,. I know he used to climb telephone poles but we are older and dancing around on the barn roof is not where he should be.

I have to admit he looked really good in his jeans with that tool belt on way up there so high working like the old days, he was mighty handsome to this old girls eyes, I love that man and I felt a lot better when he was finally on the ground. So goes the exciting life we live here on our little bit of heaven. The barn roof is fixed and we settle in for long evenings by the fire, winter is coming on fast ans summer seems to have rushed by without us...

Oops I lost half of my blog info here is an update

First of all I lost my Heron picture so I had to retrieve him and the info lost, please click on him and see the larger version he is so beutiful. He will be auctioned off this coming Saturday night Sept 18th at the Gala auction to benefit art in the schools. I hope he makes a bundle for the kids, I am so proud to be part of this worthy project, the goal entails putting together teams of artist who will go into the schools to teach art, the understanding and appreciation as well as doing hands on projects with the kids. The goal is to help young people find their creative spirits, to give them hands on experience in various mediums and to help them understand color and what it means to create art.

I call my Heron "Gig Harbor's Peacock" because he is made with recycled glitzy fabrics from my stash of wonderful vintage clothes the fabrics and colors are from days gone bye when ladies dressed for all special occasions to the "T' so to speak. He is all ready to find a new home where he can be displayed and enjoyed for years to come. I promised Jerry I would not bid on him, I have been known to bid on my creations, I can not help it there are just those special ones I can not let go of, but not this time a promise is a promise and I will keep this one, it will be hard but I will do it. So wish us luck and that he finds a wonderful new home. where he will be loved for years to come.

Getting the blog ready for open studio just practicing, trying to get some pictures but having trouble so this is trial and error

Numbers -- This is for Larkin

I feel number one is the most relevant, I’ll explain, you see when your not number one to yourself you are not whole and can not truly be creative from your soul. Until you know yourself and accept who you are, you are bending with whatever wind comes your way. Accept where you are now and find comfort within. By being number one to self, you can find peace and be comfortable alone. If one has not found that singular self there will always be someone or something that rules you. Sadly for so many they give their all but never seem to hit the mark, they give, and give and only find frustration in the gesture, no real joy or satisfaction. Once you are aware, so to speak about who you are and are truly happy in your own skin you find a peace that allows you to be effective in everything you do. . Yes, we have the power to change but many are incapable because of destructive self-criticisms that warp their center. We all wish for different circumstances in life, we all have had heart break and at times felt shame, loneliness or despair, those who understand these incidences were just happenings, “not who they are” those are the “ # one’s” they understand they are not the crisis and are free and move on. They take the bumps and move on with an inner knowledge there is something better ahead.
Therefore, number one is most important number to self...

I am not forgetting God he of course is the true number one but he is so far beyond the simple explanation I will not go there.

APWQ Synposium in Olympia

WARNING do not stop by "Shipwreck Beads" before going anywhere, it could be a costly mistake, and never go back on the return trip OMG I now have a really big collection of beads.

Now a great big wow for the APWQ Symposium. Four days on the Olympic College campus in Olympia, days full of quilting and wonderful camaraderie with a great bunch of ladies we had so much fun. We also had great teachers I learned so much, many new techniques and tricks of our trade it was worth every penny. I came home and found it hard to stay in the room with my wonderful husband all because I wanted to be in my studio working on my new skills, fortunately he is a very loving man and understands my compulsion to quilt and create something beautiful. he is a wonder and very patient with his addicted wife. He truly understands me and is always scratching his head in confusion about what I might do next.
What will I do next? After taking three classes I now have three new projects to work on and I want to finish all of them "now" if you know me very well you know I am a bit compulsive so deciding which to do first is hard I really want to get them all finished so I can look at them, touch them and wonder at how they turned out. That is a big part of my quilting experience just looking at my finished piece, maybe mentally even picking it apart using each new piece as a tool to enhance my learning curve to do better work. Taking a quilting holiday is the ticket if you are a quilt-a-holic like I am. Quilts are my passion (aside from Jerry of course) and I am a walking testimonial to my addition and it is so much fun, I am really a happy camper so to speak, I love my life, my family, my friends and my quilts the cats fit in there somewhere. If you ever have a chance to go on retreat or symposium do it, do it for yourself do it for your family you will not be sorry. Thank you. To all the wonderful volunteers who made the trip a success. Oh did I say Jody went with me she is a slave driver, she got me to class every time on time and was always waiting to make sure I was going where I was supposed to. She also drove right to Shipwreck Beads twice, it is all her fault I am now the proud owner of so many beads. Love you Jody you are the best traveling companion a quilter could have.