or proof read this last post. I didn't sign it either. Old age is creeping in, not much I can do about that! I will say, as I write I'm thinking of all of you that mean the most to me:
Michael
Mike, Josh, Ben, Dan, Jen
Meg, Jenn, Gayla, Michelle, Mark
Bryson, Ashley, Anna, Nora, Jonny, Jessie, Adia, Riley
Counting my blessings,
Love,
Dianne, Mom, Grams
I can't believe it is almost the end of 2022. It all just feels long. Always a threat of COVID and someone that wants you to worry about it. I'm not much for worrying; it drains me. But there has always been someone to tell me that I should be worried. "Worried" keeps me in. I don't want to be worried. Even now there is someone telling me that COVID is out and about and groups are catching it.
COVID changed the things I was doing. In the beginning I chose to do things differently. I chose to put aside my quilting a little concerned that I might just get bored with it. I want to settle my Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) choices and prepare for my final days. That got done and it was an incredible journey. I'm so glad I did that. It took almost a year to complete, but I wasn't going anywhere any way.
Come 2022 I needed to find something to do. The obvious answer was Quilting, but I just wasn't drawn back to it. I eventually picked up embroidery. My first piece was a pincushion; I've always enjoyed making pin cushions. I chose a pattern that caught my eye. What would we do if we couldn't search the internet! I chose to use a neutral linen and black embroidery floss. This is a Kathy Schmitz pattern from her website; you can search for her online. My pin cushi0n is sitting on Rachel, my 1924 Singer Red Eye. This is a working treadle machine. I learned to sew on an electrified machine just like this back in the 1960s. I was 14 years old. I had been hand stitching for 9 years along with knitting.
My eye also catch Sue Spargo Embroidery and enjoyed that as well. This is one of her patterns that I altered a little, then made it into a pin cushion also. It was a Christmas gift I gave a friend. You can also find Sue Spargo on line.
Sue Spargo pattern.
My next show and tell took almost 30 years to complete. I purchased this pattern in 1985-86. I completed half of the counted cross stitch back then. I put it away carefully back then and pulled it out about 8 years ago so that I would remember that I needed to finish it. I really enjoyed finishing it off. I haven't worked on a counted cross stitch in years.
look up
This is what I'm working on presently. It's a block of the month project that I found in the back of a quilting magazine from a couple of years ago. e years. The robin was the first that I did and the is the second bird I received was . This Bom has 36 different birds over 3 years of which I have completed 8 birds. I started in the spring about a year ago with the goal of 20 birds to make a quilt 72" x 72" or just abit under. My quilt frame is only 8'. As I work I will decide whether or not to make it bigger. I chose to do all of the piecing by hand rather than by machine. It is so relaxing to work on it. I expect I will finish of the quilt top with the machine though.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Joan Ford's Hummingbird-Highway.com
I first saw this quilt in a Better Homes and Gardens quilt publication in 1985; I no long own that book so I cant give you information about it, but it was red work with green sashing, tied with no hand quilting. I can't remember when I started working on it, but it was years later. I had the little top finished for years. My grandson's and his girl friend decided to get a cat, that was when I knew what I would finally do with it. I put it on my frame and the quilt was complete in 2 weeks! She received it for Christmas 2022.
