Weaving In

I guess I could have titled this post "Tying Up Loose Ends," but I'm a knitter...and we don't tie them up, we weave them in.

Thread No. 1:

I was showing off my beautiful lap quilt that Missy M made me for my birthday when I realized I'd never shared a picture of it with you. Shame on me! Let me correct that oversight posthaste:

The front...

...and the reverse...

Beautiful! Missy M has such an amazing eye for color, although the pictures (taken with my iPad, using just the light from the ceiling fixture) don't do justice to the richness of the fabrics. Or the piecing. Or the stitching, for that matter. You'll have to trust me on how gorgeous this priceless gift is. Notice that she has finally started signing her works of art by placing a label on the reverse (upper left of the second picture). A teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy label...but a label nonetheless. Thank you, my dear!

And although I get into trouble about it, I have chosen to display my quilt(s) she has made rather than put them into general use just yet. "Use them Mother (note the use of my "proper name"...;-)...that's what they are made for." I can't help it...I want to "keep them nice" for a while. Meaning: no dog drool, no dog hair. So, this one is currently draped over the ladder back chair at my place at the dining room table...and I smile every single time I see it.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love and cherish all my quilts...and their stories. There's the Wedding Ring quilt that Momma gave us for a wedding present. Used it on our bed for a while, but it's now hanging on a wall quilt rack over our bed. Love it too much to subject it to daily doggie abuse.

There's the Dresden Plate quilt in blues...pieced by Cousin A from Dickson (remember? the one who just celebrated her 105th birthday?!) and quilted by the Pickerington (OH) Senior Center Quilting club. That one has matching pillow tops, too. It's displayed on a standing quilt rack, which was made by my Uncle Howard...keeping it "all in the family."

Then there's the Sunflower Quilt, purchased one breathtakingly beautiful Fall weekend in the Ozarks, at a craft fair on the Arkansas property where Momma and Aunt Bonnie took week-long classes...one in watercolors, the other in weaving...over several summers. We bought it from a lady, who was among dozens of quilt vendors that day. We included the quilter's card in the box we wrapped up for Momma's Christmas that year, intending to give her a lasting memory of her Arkansas adventure...and imagine all of our faces when Momma said "why, that's the same lady that made your Wedding Ring Quilt!" 

It's hanging in the den, along with a cotton boll quilt (made by one of Momma's former coworkers in the Covington Welfare office) and with my most-treasured quilt...which is actually just a piece of a quilt, artfully arranged to appear to be whole and folded. That one may be faded and torn and ragged, but it is a family heirloom: made by Ner, my (step) great-grandmother for Momma's 16th birthday (so, in the depths of the Depression), using pieces of fabrics saved from many of Momma's little girl dresses, which had been sewn by my grandmother...who died when Momma was just 5. It has been a bed quilt, a sofa cover, a picnic blanket, and a beach spread. It survived two house fires and too many moves to count...and it means the world to me.

And now, I have others in that treasured class: the first quilt Missy M made for us, which is in the guest bedroom; the first (and last!) king-size quilt she made, now displayed on a wall rack in the dining room; the quilted Christmas Tree skirt that comes out during the holidays; and the lap quilts she's made for Mr. T and me. All priceless. Priceless.

Thread No. 2:

Before I forget (yet again), this post might be a good place to share a couple of the photos (other than the 50 or so shots of the sunrise) we snapped at Oak Hollow Lake on the morning of my birthday...using the "reverse camera" feature on my phone. Both are a bit shaky, so don't expect too much...they will just give you a good idea of what 60 looks like at dawn. 

The first one I should have asked Mr. T to take, since his arm is longer than mine...and length helps to widen the shot. I was stretched to my limit, you might say, so steadiness was sacrificed.

The second one is just me...no makeup, barely awake, but happy all the same. You can judge for yourself how well I'm coping with the residual effects of Bell's Palsy, a little over a year later: still some slackness in the muscle around the corner of my mouth, some tension in the muscle around my left eye...so neither cooperate fully when my brain sends the signal to "Smile!"...but still able to smile, which I could not do this time last year. 

Three cheers for loose threads, quilt memories, and the difference a year can make!