When the going gets tough. . .

the tough get sewing. It's been a really busy week getting my mom moved to a different apartment in the assisted living facility where she lives. We needed to brighten up the new room, so I made her a bedspread. I'm going to make her a wall hanging from the same fabrics.

I was very fortunate to have all these fabrics in my stash at home, and I even had some soft pink flannel to use for the back. A lot of love went into this, and she told me it will feel like I am hugging her goodnight when she uses it.

Life happens

Quick! Go visit to Jackie at www.cvquiltworks.blogspot.com. You just have time to enter her amazing birthday giveaway before the deadline on June 30. She is giving away four prizes plus a secret prize, so that makes 5 chances to win! There were 329 comments already when I dropped by, but you can't win if you don't try, and a girl can never have too much fabric or too many books. (My family might not agree with that one, as they look around for a place to store their own things and find it's already full of fabric.)



I was just sitting down to add this post Tuesday evening when I got a phone call that changed the rest of my week pretty dramatically. I won't go into detail now, but my mom is having a tough time, and needs a lot more care than she did. I have the week off from work next week, so will spend part of each day with her.

Remember the I Spy quilt that I mentioned a while ago? I changed my plan, and decided to add colorful borders to each square instead of using a single colored sashing. I haven't made much progress yet.


The morning glories are noticeably bigger now than they were just three days ago. We have several of these pots around the yard, hoping to save some from the hungry groundhogs who LOVE the tender little leaves.

Our pumpkin patch. :>}

We were astonished to see these mushrooms growing in the backyard.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Support our libraries!

Our libraries here in Ohio are threatened with a 50% budget cut, in addition to the cuts already experienced from decreased tax revenues. We need to take action! Please contact Governor Strickland and ask him to reconsider this serious move.

www.governor.Ohio.gov

You can also email Senator Steve Buehrer at SD01@senate.state.oh.us

My mother is suffering from some age related dementia, and one of the few things she can still enjoy is being read aloud to. She is a retired librarian, and books have always been very important to our family. I hope they are important to you, too, and you will contact our government officials, asking them not to cut library services.

Ice Cream Cake tutorial

For Father's Day tomorrow, we are having ice cream cake. It's a fun and easy dessert to make, and everybody loves it. You start with your favorite sandwich cookies - we like the ones with chocolate in the middle.

Make them into crumbs with the help of a rolling pin, and spread them in the bottom of a cake pan.

I forgot to post that picture, but the crumbs are underneath the ice cream you see here. Let the ice cream soften a bit while you are crushing the cookies, then spread it on top of the layer of cookie crumbs. I used the whole box of ice cream for this layer.

Add another layer of crumbs, then another layer of ice cream, also using the whole box of ice cream.

Top it off with more crumbs, and your cake is finished!

It's delicious! And now you can see why it took me seven years to lose 49 pounds. I treat myself to ice cream cake from time to time.

Shhh. A Father's Day pillow for Larry's dad. He was in the Air Force during World War II, so I made him an Air Force pillow. I was delighted to find this fabric for him.

I've been eager to try making quilted postcards, so I began with a Father's Day card for my sweet Larry. We love watching sunsets together. It was so much fun that I'm sure I will be making more quilted cards.

I love Goodwill!

I have lost 49 pounds in the last seven years, and thus needed to get all new clothes. Goodwill is a wonderful place to shop! This charming ensemble is one of a few I was lucky enough to find at my favorite boutique "GW". The three pieces you see her came to $7.50. Nice! I have one more pound to lose, and then I have to keep it off. I know from experience that that is even harder than losing it. I am sorry to tell you that I have lost weight before, and then gained it back (and then some). I remember what I did wrong, and I hope it won't happen again. I said, "Oh, good, I'm finished with my diet." and then went back to bad habits like macaroni and cheese for breakfast. AAK!

Taking seven years to do it made me make some lifestyle changes that have become permanent, but I have to be ever vigilant. Graham crackers and peanut butter are my new favorite dessert. Mmmm.

Look! An engraved road decoration that talks about sewing. Oh, it doesn't? Well, I like it anyway.

Function or fashion?

This parade of shoes shows the ones I like the best. Not a high heel among them. As you can see I am a firm believer in function before fashion.

On the left are the ones that used to be work shoes, but are now play shoes. The ones on the right are work shoes. I feel very lucky to work in a place where we are required to wear comfortable shoes. What could be more sensible?

My dress up shoes! I love them.

Wait just a minute while I get out my soapbox. Ah there, all in place for my short tirade. A woman in her mid 40's brought her daughter for an appointment at the doctors' office where I work. She had on shorts and a tank top and sandals with four inch wedge heels. If she finds that comfortable, more power to her. I mentioned after she left that I could never wear such shoes - too uncomfortable, not to mention dangerous. One of my co-workers said, "She's single. She has to look good." Whoa! What kind of a remark is that? It bothered me a lot, and though I generally keep my opinions to myself and stay out of arguments at work, I just had to speak up.

In the first place, we should always dress appropriately for the occasion, but also for our own comfort and satisfaction with our appearance. The implication that we don't have to look nice for the one we love the most bothered me, although perhaps she meant that our husbands will love us anyway, even if we don't wear 4 inch heels. I'm quite certain that part of the reason Larry loves me is my personality which doesn't allow me to wear uncomfortable or dangerous shoes!

Are you tired of the subject yet? Feel free to move along, because I'm not finished. AAK! The idea that a single woman "has to look good" just burned my toast. Here she is, a busy working single mom, and she just has to be happy with herself. She doesn't have to wear 4 inch wedge heels to impress anyone.

The funny part of this, of course, is that the woman in question wasn't part of the conversation. She was teetering out to the parking lot when the subject came up. I hope she doesn't feel like she HAS to wear those shoes because she's single. What a concept!

Time for fun!

Remember the lighthouse button?

It's time to update the bulletin board in the waiting room at work. The spring wall hangings will come down so I can replace them with something more summery. I was trying for a sunrise effect here. June is my favorite month! I love the long long hours of daylight. It's getting light before 5:30 a.m., and stays light until nearly 9:30 p.m. It really doesn't get better than this.

I'm very happy to tell you that I finished the six cushion covers. She only brought me one cushion, which is why they look so flat here.

I also finished the six placemats. Only four fit on our table. Whew! Now I have time for fun sewing, and I hope I will remember to say "no" the next time someone presents me with such a time consuming project. This took chunks out of three weekends - way too much of my "free" time.

I hope you have a great week, and I'm sorry the weekend went by so quickly. In fact, I'm sorry June is going by so quickly - somehow we've used up a whole week already. Gotta love June!

Dinner Bell

When my dad retired in 1978 his friends at DuPont gave him a dinner bell. He and my mom sold the home where we grew up and bought a small farm for their retirement years. They hung the dinner bell outside by the back door where it hung for 29 years. After my dad died two years ago, and the house was sold, my brother and sisters said I could have Dad's bell. At first I thought we'd hang it outside the way Dad did, but I like it inside even better.

It has a horseshoe mounting bracket, and Dad's name is engraved on the bell. Hanging outside for 29 years in all kinds of weather didn't seem to hurt it.

Now when I want to call the family for dinner all I have to do is pull the ribbon. The clapper is in the shape of a music note and makes a lovely (and loud!) chiming sound. It took me two years to decide what to do with Dad's bell, but we finally hung it up in time for his birthday next week. Happy Birthday, Dad! We miss you.