Then and Now

THEN: Tired Mommy with first baby in cozy red recliner rocker with feline friend!



NOW: Tired Nana with first grandchild in a different but still red cozy recliner rocker with another feline friend!

THEN: Proud parents of first child, happy and excited, young and energetic!

NOW: Proud grandparents, happy and excited, not so young and not so energetic!

Studio Time

I read an article in the September issue of American Quilter called Double Fun by Linda Hungerford. It was about Sandi Cummings double-cut circles technique for contemporary design. I don’t do much of this kind of work so decided it would be a fun way to spend my Saturday. I do love learning new things! I grabbed my bin of batiks and set to work.

First you have to cut two rectangles the same size. I cut mine 9.5x11.5 inches. Then you cut 4 strips of various widths. You cut the rectangles horizontally then sew in a strip. Then cut again vertically and sew in a different strip. You end up with two new rectangles that look like this:

Then you appliqué on a circle. Making sure each circle is in the exact same spot of each rectangle. I decided to just fuse the circles on as I knew I would use one of these blocks as a small art quilt for my wall. Big mistake! It’s pretty hard to piece with fusible web. Oh well…I did say I love learning. This is what they look like with the circles:

Next you lay the rectangles on top of each other and make two cuts vertically with gentle curves.
Then alternate the middle pieces to form two new rectangles, like this:

Sew those. Then cut again horizontally and alternate middle pieces again. Like this:

Sew those and voila! Two blocks with a contemporary look:

It’s not something I would do regularly but I enjoyed the process. I think I’ll use the flower one for my art quilt. Wait...maybe the pink one. :)

Feet Friday

I decided my feet needed a new look for fall. So off to the mall with Tink I went. If I were a seasoned blogger…and if I were a decent photographer…and if I weren’t so single minded when I’m shopping…if I even liked shopping…then you would find an interesting and funny post about shoe shopping complete with great photos! But alas, that’s not the case. Just a few boring pics of the last two pairs I tried on and the one I chose. Oh well…no fun blog but a great pair of clogs!

Faces

Bowling Memories

One of my fondest memories is going bowling with my family. My parents bowled league and my brother and I often went along. Oh the glories of having free run in a bowling alley when you’re a youngun’. I loved the sound of the ball hitting the pins, of adults laughing, teasing and hollering! Some times my brother and I got to bowl. I loved duck pin bowling the best. Little ball….little pins….perfect for kids.

Just walking into an alley…the sights, sounds and smells….bring me back to being a little girl with freedom.

Bowling is still a favorite past time of mine. My body doesn’t cooperate like it used to…12 pound ball that feels like 50…careful of throwing the old back out…joints that start aching…..blah, blah, blah…but I manage to always make a score over a hundred…though just barely.

(I'm Gerty...hee, hee)

Now that we have grand kids I can always sit out a game...letting the old body rest...while watching them bowl and remember being young myself. Making even more bowling memories.

Thank you, Picnik.com

I discovered this great web site for playing with photo's...and it's free! Go check it out. I was able to crop this photo, round the corners and add a caption so fast. It's so simple to use. Gotta go back and play some more. :) Like I need more things on this computer to play with.

Yaya's

10 years ago a group of 5 women started meeting once a month to quilt, eat, laugh and get to know each other better. That was the beginning of an incredible gift of friendship. Today only 4 of us remain (one made changes in her life that didn’t include the rest of us) and I am ever so thankful for each one and the richness they bring to me. I am a better woman for knowing each one. I have learned to laugh more, to love more, to cry more, to understand more, to accept more, to fight for more, to be more creative, to forgive more, to risk more…basically to live larger.

We all read “The Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood” by Rebecca Wells back in 1999. It was sometime afterwards that we started calling ourselves Yaya’s. One of my favorite quotes from Rebecca sums up the beauty of this friendship:

“A Yaya is perfectly imperfect and their biggest secret is their sense of humor. A Yaya is also a little big mischievous and a very supportive friend. They’ve quit holding in their stomachs and realized that life itself is a big banquet. They know you can be happy while going through the sufferings that are an inseparable part of life.
It takes a really conscious decision to make friendship a priority. You have to say, “this is important to me. I’m going to give it time and love.””

May the Lord grant us Yaya’s many years to continue to live and love more.

Here we are:

Feet Friday

Dirt on little ones feet = a fun day!

That's all I'm saying. :)

Bag Lady Swap

I recently participated in a quilt swap that was so much fun! We each filled a gallon sized Ziploc bag with as much fabric as we could put in it and still be able to zip it closed. Then we sent our bag of fabrics to the person we were assigned. As the recipient we could make whatever we wanted out of the fabric in the bag…adding up to 2 yards of our own fabric.

These are the fabrics that came in the bag I received:



This is my trusty helper, Finnian. He has to lounge about during any sewing session. Even with many swipes of the lint roller, I think my fellow swappers end up with a few cat hairs!
(The quilt on the design wall behind my machine is a round robin I am making for myself. Once its closer to being done, I'll write about it).




Below is the quilt top I made. I love making scrappy quilts…the more fabric the better, right? So I chose a Judy Martin pattern from her book "Knockout Blocks and Sampler Quilts". I took fabrics from my stash (the 2 yards I could add) to make it scrappier.
Turned out lovely and my fellow “Bag Lady” loved it too!

I didn’t take a picture of the fabrics I sent but it was a bag of fat quarters mostly from Piece O’Cake designs. I received back a beautiful bargello quilt. It’s happy and fun and wonderfully scrappy…just like the fabrics I sent! I was thrilled with the results.

I hope we can do this swap again someday soon. Its been one of my favorites.

Little Jewels

Grandmother's Prayer

Oh Lord, I do not ask for much,

Eternal beauty, or youth, or such.

Just give me a little hand to hold,

And I'll forget that I'm growing old.

I do not ask for cloudless skies,

A life that's free from tears and sighs.

Just give me a little face to kiss,

And anxious moments will turn to bliss.

For what is there, really, that means so much

As little hands that reach and touch,

As little eyes that search and see

Only the best in fragile me?

So let me grow more loving and wise

By looking at life through their wide eyes.

For through these little ones, you have given

This grateful grandmother a glimpse of Heaven.
~ Author: Barbara Burrows

My two Jewels...getting too big for Nana to hold at the same time....but we try! :)

First Jewel having his first apple of the season from Grandpa's trees.

Second and newest Jewel who is getting so big! Look at those big eyes. Adorable.

I had the perfect weekend.

Feet Friday

Notice the feet on the tub. This is my image for Feet Friday cuz a hot bath is what I need after moving furniture and hauling boxes around and trying to make decisions today! :)

We bought a new king-size bed frame that will be delivered on Monday. The grandsons are coming over tonight (they'll bring their parents) so I needed to get our queen bed into the guest room as I won't have time or energy after they leave on Sunday night.....Nana plays too hard. I put the Aero bed in our room...its easy to take out Monday morning. I've never had a whole bed frame (headboard/footboard) before...feels so grown up. I'm excited!

Funvention

I spent last weekend with 350 other women at the Red Hat Funvention in Portland. I love Red Hatters. I love the whole intent of Red Hatting.
Tink and I are not old enough for being “official” Red Hatters – thus the pink hats -- no red hats to wear till we are 50. Why join early you ask? Because I am living the closing lines of the poem by Jenny Joseph called “Warning: When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple”. (The Red Hat Society got its inspiration from this poem). It goes like this: But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised when suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
I say amen to that!

This is my Vice Queen Maxine and Queen Mum Nedra. Aren't they cute? Can you tell what their necklaces & earrings are made out of? Look carefully. :)

Tink and I arrived safely and begin our fun!

Silly Tink. Silly is also part of the Red Hat fun. This is the night of the "Sock Hop". Elvis showed up but Elvis kinda sucked. The dancing was fun, though.

It's a small world. I run into my step moms Queen Mum. We are all gussied up for the Gala Event.

Such cleverness in creativity is abundant at this event. Tink and I felt very plain. Can you guess what this clever gal made her hat out of? Besides the feathers and flower?

Feet Friday

My bff Tink has a “feet in pictures” appreciation. I adore my friend so I decided to embrace her love of feet and took a few pics of my feet when they were on vacation this summer and emailed them to her. It was strangely fun.
It also gave me an idea………I shall steal/share her idea and declare “Feet Friday”! So this Friday I give you Tink and my feet in the car on the way to Oregon for Funvention (more on that later).

What kind of flower are you?

Ever play the game where a question is asked like "what kind of animal are you and why"? Its been a favorite for us Yaya's (my close group of girlfriends...more on them in a later post). One time the question was "what kind of flower are you"? My answer is always a DAISY. They speak to me of simplicity, not vain, of being everyday, humble, hardy (not needing fussy care). I'd like to think I have those qualities. Maybe not always but mostly. That's why I named this blog Daisy Days. My days are simple and everyday/ordinary. I like that too!

I googled flower symbolism so I could see what daisies stood for in history. Here's a few of what I found: beauty, simplicity, patience, loyal love (I like that one), goodness, innocence and gentleness.

Gosh, I like daisies even more now.

Round Robin

I got my Migrating Round Robin back yesterday. I created the center chickadee block and 5 different ladies from my internet guild (WASIQ) added borders to it. Lovely, huh? Not sure what I’m gonna do with it since it’s too small for snuggling but doesn’t speak to me about becoming larger. Probably use it as a holiday decoration. Thank you Holly, Sue, Sarah, Kathy and Mary.

Finally

"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing."
- Eva Young

This first post is for R (also known as Tink), Y, M, Jenn & Faith. You gals have listened the longest to me ramble on and on and on and on......about this silly blog. I really want two of you (we won't name names, Y & M, will we?) to join in also but until I join in, I can't very well be a good nag! :) Procrastination days are over.
I love you all and look forward to sharing life via my very first blog.