Auction items

This Friday night our church is having an auction/dinner/talent night. Proceeds will go to put a new roof on the building or to get new chairs that don't make rude noises when you shift your weight on them...

I made this little quilted table mat for the auction. It's completely machine made but the quilting in the middle looks hand done thanks to my new sewing machine.

Once again, my pictures are all out of order. I don't know what causes this. When I download them they are in the order that I want them. Then suddenly they get all out of order. Who can tell me what to do about that? Also, some of the pictures flip on their sides like the one of the inside of this purse! Help!!!

Here's the outside of the purse (also will be auctioned).

Close up of the quilting on the table mat.

And, at last, the full picture of the table mat.

The snow has come and gone. I don't think I've ever seen anything pile up so fast, then disappear so fast. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day and all the snow is melted off. All the redbuds look like they have had a shower. Tim and I took a walk in the neighborhood this afternoon. Pansies and tulips looked better than they did before the snow. My "creepy flox" even looks good after it's overnight blanket. And you'll be glad to know that Ted is back to normal. When we left for church this morning he was wearing a little "beanie" of snow on his head. Now it's all gone, he looks freshly washed and his eyes are back to glowing tonight. Ahhh.... I love spring!

Meet TED. Ted is our yard ornament. Tim and Aaron bought him last fall despite my misgivings. He guards our front flower bed. Ted does not do well when "the wind comes sweeping down the plains" . It causes him to fall over and bump his head. I renamed the creeping flox because of Ted. It has become the CREEPY Flox. Isn't the creepy flox beautiful this year? Or at least IT WAS beautiful until today.

Ted doesn't like the snow. Neither does the creepy flox.

Ted was left with a snowcap by the end of the day. I think it looks rather suave and debonaire on him.
Did I mention that Ted has a solar panel in the top of his head? At night his eyes glow orange. CREEPY!!!

Pilates

This is Tim...

This is Calista...
This is Tim being tortured by Calista...

We are both taking Pilates classes from our lovely daughter, Calista. She's a really good trainer and it really has helped us old folks get more flexible. You can see why.

quilts

June N. from my stitch group made this striking quilt and Donna T. quilted it. They both did a wonderful job. I think it cheered June to see it finished. She was in a very serious car accident in Novemeber and almost lost her foot. She is still undergoing treatment and will have to undergo at least one more surgery. Get well soon, June and keep those beautiful quilts coming!

More sewing projects

I made this little pillow on my new sewing machine. I'm taking classes at the store where I bought it. This project focused on "pin-tucks" and "piping". The fabric is a batik with sea turtles on it. I bought it in Hawaii at Kapaii Stitchery--the only place in the world this fabric can be found. The buttons on the four corners of the light fabric are made of tortoise shells which I also bought in Hawaii. (Center button from Wal-Mart--ha)

X Block Class

Remember the x-block class I taught? I posted student pictures back in November.
I recently taught the class again. Here are some of the results:

Monday night I'll be teaching "English Paper Piecing" at the Cotton Patch. There is still room in the class if anyone is interested. It starts at 6 p.m. and will run until about 9.

Antique Quilt

My friend Donna R. found this lovely old quilt in an antique shop somewhere near Atlanta. Isn't it beautiful? It's hand quilted and in really good shape. The fabrics look like they are from the 1930's. Here's a close-up.

Crazy Quilt

I saw these three cool little quilts in an elevator lobby in Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis recently. They were framed (under glass) and were made of neckties. The stitching was done by machine. Each little quilt was not more than 20 inches square so the strips of neckties were VERY small.

Lora Beth's quilt

More pictures of Lora Beth's quilt including a close up of the label. Always remember to label your quilts for future generations!

I'm back....again

We're back from Missouri...again (3rd time since Dec. 26). Tim's mom is doing a little better. We accompanied her to her doctor's appointment in St. Louis yesterday and got home late last night. We helped MY mom celebrate her 75th birthday while we were there. I'm a zombie today so I'm reaching back into my files of pictures to include a little "cheery" something here...
I made this little quilt for Calista for her birthday a couple of years ago. (Doesn't Gabe look young?)
The flamingos' bodies are actually Gabe's handprints. The legs are made of grosgrain ribbon. The faces are painted and "sunglasses" buttons make the eyes. I tried to include Timothy's handprints, too but he was only 2 at the time and it freaked him out when I tried to put his hand in the paint. Oh welll! Gabe and I had a good time and I think Calista was pleased with the results.

Birthday Girl

Yet another birthday...My niece, Lora Beth celebrated her 16th birthday! My mom, Marvie, embroidered the blocks for this quilt years ago when Lora Beth was "just a kid". I finally got around to putting them together in time for her 16th. She seems to like it. What do you think? By the way, my freind Loretta Rogers (Tulsa, OK) quilted it. She did a fine job.

More on Timothy

It might seem strange that I'm posting pictures of quilts under the title of "More on Timothy". Here's the story for those of you who don't know. Our darling little grandson, Timothy was blind. At about 10 weeks old our daughter (along with others of us) suspected that there was something terribly wrong. He was not making any eye contact or interacting in any way. The doctors diagnosed him as totally blind and didn't give us any hope that there was anything that could be done to help him. We all were shocked and saddened yet ready to do our part to help Timothy lead as normal a life as possible. The doctors recommended that Calista and Chris get him on the waiting list for The Little Lighthouse (http://www.littlelighthouse.org/) which is a Christian developmental center for special needs children started by a lady here in Tulsa whose daughter was sight impaired. It is an organization which is funded entirely by faith without any government or United Way funding. I've toured the facilities and am very impressed with the work that goes on there.

That year (and previous years) my stitch group had been working on a quilt that we had planned to donate to a worthy organization. Because of Timothy's disability, we decided to donate it to The Little Lighthouse. Every year they have a " Garden Party" as one of their main fundraisers. I'ts a fancy brunch at a fancy location with fancy food and a really cool silent auction. My stitch group finally completed the quilt (entirely hand appliqued and hand quilted) and it sold at the 2007 Garden Party. Pictured are a close up of one block and Leslie and me wearing our hats (not required but it sure is a lot of fun to wear a hat--they can be rented there if you don't own one). (sorry about the order of the pictures) For last year's Garden Party, I made and donated this quilt. I'm pictured with the lady who had the winnnig bid. She bought it for her new god-child.

Anyway, to finish the story, God has worked a miracle with Timothy. He still has some problems with his eye-sight, but he is not blind. The doctors think he will never be able to drive, but they also thought he would never be able to walk without a cane, see colors, look at books, learn his alphabet (at a really early age). He has astounded the doctors and has blessed everyone who has contact with him. He is a fairly normal 4 year old (as normal as the grandchild of Tim Marler could be! ha ha) We thank God for the healing work in his life. The doctors recommended that he NOT go to Little Lighthouse for school, so his name was taken off the list to make room for another child.

I can't stop supporting the school. I'm so thankful that it's there for kids who need it. This year I'll be donating another quilt for the auction. My lovely daughters will also be donating photography packages (www.amurphyphoto.com) and pilates instruction packages. Is there anyone else out there who would like to help this worthy cause?

The Garden Party this year will be held at the Renaissance Hotel on May 2. You can contact the Little Ligthouse and attend one of their free luncheons to tour the school yourself and see what a great place it is. Thank you for reading and considering.