Show and Tell Friday / Farewell

It's surprising how much memory is built around
things unnoticed at the time. ~ Barbara Kingsolver

Today is Show and Tell Friday, hosted by Kelli at There is No Place Like Home. She's a talented crafter and fabulous cook, and her blog always brings me joy when I visit. Check her out when you have a moment.

My Show and Tell Friday is for the birds! I've posted before about how much I enjoy bird watching and bird listening (is there such a term??) I also bring birds into my home.

Well, not real birds... at least, not while I have two cats!

I want to share with you a few things sitting on top of a cabinet in my dining room:

Everything here has special meaning to me. The metal apple planter was a gift from my best friend Jeanne. The little birds tucked into the ivy came from a plant given to me by coworkers when my Mom passed away ten years ago. The wooden cardinal came from a brief time I lived in Ohio, and had those beautiful birds outside my window every day. Even the cat, hidden in the ivy and watching the birds closely, was a gift from a former coworker at the Humane Society of Utah.

Let me show you a few of my favorite pieces...

This goose is designed by Jim Shore. Isn’t the detail exquisite? I discovered Shore's work long before I became a quilter, then had to laugh when I started into the craft. No wonder I was drawn to his work, since he incorporates quilt designs in many of his pieces! I have a large collection of his Santas and holiday angels, which I'll share in a future Show and Tell.

This little guy is pretty special. I love quail, for one thing. I don’t see them much in our yard here in southern CA (although I can hear them) but back home in Utah, they came every day. We had a covey we called Dan Quail and all the little quails! But this little carving is doubly special because of the letter Q. Many years ago, my dear friend Scott nicknamed me (now don’t laugh!) Queen Dottie, but in our email exchanges, I usually just go by Q. So this little quail has a double meaning.

This charming little birdhouse and nest was a gift from my middle stepdaughter Lizzie. Marjolein Bastin, who creates so many cute things for Hallmark, designed it. When you lift the lid of the bird house, the inscription inside reads: Like sweet moments in nature, Friendship fills life with special delights

Amen to that!

Finally, I had to show a cute wall hanging from my youngest stepdaughter. The kids all know how much I love birds, and Megan felt this little metal angel was perfect for me - and she's right: my heart IS for the birds!

* * * * *

This will be my last post for a few weeks. We fly to Alaska on Sunday and won't be back until mid-September. Yes, my fondest wish is to see lots of birds, especially puffins! Be safe and have fun this Labor Day holiday.

Until next time...

Thanks!

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell

where his influence stops. ~ Henry Brooks Adams

I had another tutoring session tonight with Mark (the last before a two week break for Alaska!) and all I can say is, "thanks!"

Thank you to all the teachers who had the patience to instruct me throughout the years. Trying to return the favor now by helping my adult student learn to be a better reader is a real challenge. I am so grateful to those who did their best to get all this information into my young brain. My old brain is finding it tough to bring all that deeply buried data into the light of day!

One aspect of this tutoring process that I'm really enjoying is the chance to put my personal spin on how I conduct our time together. For instance: if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know by now that I love quotes. So I open every tutoring session with a quote. Here's the one I used tonight:

I started this a few weeks ago, showing Mark an uplifting quote, then asking him what he thought it meant. Now that I've explained what paraphrasing is all about, I ask him to paraphrase the quote for me. Then we discuss whether the quote is literal or figurative. I'm finding quotes to be a great teaching tool, and I'm hoping some of their messages are getting through to my twenty-year-old incarcerated student.

As Mark has grown to trust me, I've learned that he is prison with a felony conviction for armed robbery. He'll be released in December, right before Christmas. The other night, he mentioned in the context of a passage we were studying that his first trip to juvenile hall happened when he was eleven years old. Eleven! I find it all so hard to imagine. I truly hope that he's ready to turn his life around and put all that behind him. I hope he's strong enough to do so.

Mark is working hard to learn to write essays, a skill he'll need to pass his GED. Right now, I've got him working on an essay comparing and contrasting the poetry of Langston Hughes with the lyrics of Tupac Shakur - Mark's favorite rap artist. Even stodgy old me has to admit that there are quite a number of similarities. I'm glad I thought to give him this assignment: he's finding it fun to do, and I like watching his face light up when he thinks of another topic sentence.

Tonight we discussed synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and homophones. Oy - my brain hurt by the time I left! But to help him work on increasing his vocabulary, I took in a little gift for him tonight:

He seemed genuinely touched by such a small thing, and I wondered if anyone had ever given him the gift of a book? I hope these help him come to believe in himself a bit more. He's such a bright young man who has made some monumentally stupid mistakes in his short life.

So, as the kids are heading back to school, I once again say thanks to all teachers. I can't imagine the many hours you put in, preparing lessons and staying late. I know you don't get paid anywhere near what your profession is worth. But I'm so grateful for all you do, for all my teachers did for me. I am a passionate reader and a decent writer, and I have a life-long love of learning. I'm hoping that I can pass along even a small piece of this to Mark.

Until next time...

Making a List, Checking it Twice...

When preparing to travel,

lay out all your clothes and all your money.

Then take half the clothes and twice the money.

~ Susan Heller

I mentioned a few posts back that I had planned to make a leaf block, using up the fabrics in my stash. I wanted to do something scrappy in Autumn colors, which I gravitate toward and so have lots of extra fabric pieces. Each block will be unique, but I'm using only my reds, browns, greens, etc. so the over-all look will say FALL. The lovely green fabric of the appliquéd stem will also make up the sashing around each block. As you can probably see, the stem is still pinned in place. This may be as far as I get on this piece before we leave for Alaska this weekend.

THIS WEEKEND.

EGAD!

We're in major countdown mode this week, which means making lists, starting to lay out items that we want to take along, etc. We'll be gone for two weeks, so there's a lot to take with us. We're flying into Anchorage, renting a car, and spending the full two weeks on the Kenai Peninsula. We'll take a marine wildlife day cruise on Prince William Sound, another day cruise through the Kenai Fjords National Park... we'll spend four days in Homer, visiting both museums and tide pools. Hubby will fish for halibut while I fish for quilt fabric! If we're not too late in the season, we'll see whales in Cook Inlet while we fish for salmon, outside the town of Kenai. We'll end our trip back at Anchorage.

I've always teased my husband about his analytical mind, but I have to admit that I'm very grateful right now for his way of thinking. He's an engineer and has a calm, orderly way of thinking through what needs to be done. I would likely get to Anchorage and realize I'd forgotten to pack the camera charger or all my underwear, or something! But we make a good team: he'll remember the maps, which will get us around; I'll remember the music for the car, which will make the journey pleasant.

And speaking of pleasant... see the house in the photo below, overlooking Katchemak Bay?

That's where we'll be staying for those four nights in Homer. Ahhhh... you can probably see why this trip is all I can think about these days!

Until next time...

A Surprise in the Mail!

How beautiful a day can be

When kindness touches it! ~ George Elliston

Look at the cute note cards I received in the mail this week from my sister-in-law Sue, who lives in Wisconsin. She says she thought of me as soon as she saw the quilt designs. Aren't they darling? They're embossed so you can feel the quilted pattern of each design. Thank you, Sue!

The cards above are the traditional double-wedding ring pattern (click on any photo for a closer view.) Both sets of cards have pretty matching envelopes.

This pack is based on quilted hexagons...

They look a little like a honeycomb, don't you think? Obviously the designer thought so, too because there is the cutest little embossed bee right in the center...

I have to admit to being partial to the hexagon cards, simply because of the fall colors. Plus it's a design I particularly like. Sue doesn’t know how timely her gift is: look at one of the projects I'm currently working on...

These are little hexagon flowers I've been creating for months now, made with cheery Mary Engelbreit fabrics. My photo doesn't do it justice: the colors are vibrant and bright. This project will travel with me to Alaska, since it's very portable and can be worked on in the car, in the cabin, or on a kayak.

Ok, maybe not a kayak - but you get my point!

* * * * *

Speaking of Alaska... this is our last weekend before our trip. We leave a week from this Sunday! Boy, that's hard to believe: where has this year gone? I made all the arrangements back in February and March, when August seemed so far away.

I'm actually considering trying kayaking while we're in Homer. Have any of you done it? I'm rather nervous at the idea because, you see - ahem - I don't swim. But I think it would be a great way to see wildlife and to have some beautiful, quiet time in nature. We're considering using an outfitter who would send a guide, and he/she could be in my kayak to keep me from drowning upright.

We have a lot to do this weekend, to get things ready around here so we can be gone for two weeks. We went through all the reservations last night, and our itinerary day-by-day so we could be sure everything is in place. I made a to-do list (which is very short, thank goodness) and Hubby made a packing reminder list, so we don't forget anything. Nine days and counting!

Have a great weekend!

Until next time...

The Future's So Bright...

If I could wish for my life to be perfect,
it would be tempting but I would have to decline,
for life would no longer teach me anything.

~ Allyson Jones

I gained 1/2 pound last night at weigh in, and I'm ok with that. I know I'm losing: my clothes feel so much looser. One lesson I learned from successfully losing weight once is that the scale is not always the best indicator of how I'm truly doing. It's simply feedback. As the leader of my private weight loss group always says, "The scale is evil and fickle!" Amen to that!

But we had an interesting discussion last night that's been running through my head today. This question was posed to each of us:

If you had to choose an object that represented your future,
what would it be?

It’s an interesting question, don't you think?

The very first thing that came to my mind, without even thinking, was the sun. Why? The sun represents my future because I believe my future is very bright.

I thought after the meeting that the others might have found my answer to be a bit egotistical. It isn’t at all. I don’t think I'm going to cure cancer, or win the lottery, or become the next superstar from American Idol.

But my future feels very bright to me because I'm finally - finally! - beginning to feel at peace with myself.

If you had asked me this question 18 months ago, I would have had a very different response. That was a hard time for me... I had gained back the weight I worked so hard to lose (I was fat!), I was turning 50 (I was old!), and I was finding that my life-long dream of being in business for myself really wasn’t going to work for me (I was a loser!) I felt that I’d let myself down in so many ways. My future felt very dark and unfulfilling.

I guess that’s where the image of the sun comes in. It’s shining once again, and illuminating the path ahead. It's taken me 18 months but I now know that I have many gifts that I can share without being thin, or young, or in business for myself. There is a great sense of peace that comes from knowing you’re not going to be the world’s greatest anything – you’re just going to be who you are, and that’s enough!

Because I’m the curious type, let me pose the same question to you (Leslie, if you’re reading this, I hope you’ll post your wonderful answer from last night!):

If you had to choose an object that represented your future,
what would it be – and why?

Until next time...

HYC / Light a Candle

There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

~ Edith Wharton

Tonight is weigh-in, and I'm not sure what results I'll see. It's been an up-and-down week as far as food is concerned. Most of it's been good: I've journaled, but not as carefully as in weeks past. So we'll see what happens tonight. Either way, the week is over as of this evening, and I can put it behind me and have a fresh start in the morning.

* * * * *

Do you like candles?

I'm kinda crazy about 'em. Maybe obsessive might be a better term! I find the flickering flame to be so soothing to my spirit. A lovely scent doesn't hurt, either.

Hubby and I spent time last summer in upper Wisconsin, at the lakeside cottage of his twin brother and his wife. They are very early risers, usually getting up before the sun did. Hubby and I, not so much (besides, we were on California time!) When we did finally crawl out of bed, we'd find a glowing candle burning on the kitchen counter each morning. I thought it was such a nice way to begin the day. So I started the same tradition in my home.


As I type this, an Autumn Gold Yankee Candle is glowing here on the computer desk. I wish blogs came with scratch-and-sniff, so you could smell it! It brings a feeling of Fall to the air.

I light this one when I'm sewing. It smells like fresh cut grass. And it's made with soy wax, which I understand is a better way to go than traditional wax. I don't know about that: I just know that it smells wonderful!

This one is in our bedroom. True Bliss - isn't that great name? Again, I wish you could smell the tangerine/vanilla combination. It's a little slice of heaven!

Now, lest you be thinking otherwise, I do NOT own stock in Yankee Candle Company! I just happen to like theirs best. But really, when you're looking for something to calm you down or perhaps to lift your mood, any candle will do. I think it's the act of lighting it, of taking a moment to do something special for yourself that makes it work. The lovely scent is just an added bonus.

What simple things do you do to feed your spirit and soothe your soul? I hope you'll share a thought or two. We can all use ideas on simple ways to care for ourselves.

Until next time...

Little Quilts

Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces,

joy and sorrow, stitched with love. ~ Unknown

Jeanne is my oldest and dearest friend. We met when we were 15 years old, and have been BFF's ever since. So when I took up quilting, the first project I actually finished was a gift for her. I wanted to do a little mini-quilt for a couple of reasons: I wanted to actually finish a project (I have lots of UFOs - unfinished objects!) But I also needed to mail it to her in Japan, so little was good.

Like me, Jeanne was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. But for the past 18 months, she's been living in the area of Fukui, where she teaches English as a second language. I knew there wasn't a lot of room in the small apartment she shares with her husband and teenaged son. So a mini-quilt fit the bill perfectly. She recently emailed me the photo above, to show me where it hangs. She tells me it greets her every morning. I'm glad!

Here's the back of her quilt, with the label I created (click on any of the quilt photos below for a closer view of the fabrics):

After I made that little quilt, I turned right around and made a second one for my sister. When I made the first mini, I followed the pattern exactly, using different fabrics for each area. When I did my sister's mini-quilt, I wanted a more unified look. The little heart in the middle is an addition I made, and it was my first attempt at appliqué. The whole quilt is 24 inches square:

Finally... several people have asked about the "grand prize" table runner I gave away for Scale Junkie's Summer Blog Party Contest. Here's a photo of the finished piece. No one can say it isn't bright!

Rebecca over at Ready Maid won the runner. But I'm wondering if any of you have heard from her recently? She hasn't posted anything in quite some time, and I haven't heard if my package arrived. I’m not so concerned about the latter, but I'm praying that everything is ok with her.

So, there you have it: a couple of quilt pieces I've created over the past year. I can certainly see that my quilting has come a long way from those beginning attempts, yet somehow they still hold a special place in my heart. I hope that one day, I can look back at the pieces I'm creating today and say that I've come even farther.

Hey, my weight-loss expression applies to quilting, too -- and actually, to every part of our lives, if you think about it:

Progress, not perfection!

Until next time...