Tornados

Just in case anyone is wondering....we made it through the Oklahoma storms just fine last night.  Just fine....IF you think 5 of us crammed into an under the stairs closet is fun.  But seriously, we're so thankful that it wasn't too bad and that we had no damage.

My middle child and her husband come over every Tuesday night to watch Biggest Loser with us.  Last night was the FINALE and also was Andrea's (middle child) 29th birthday.  Biggest Loser never came on because of all the weather warnings.  Not only that KJRH is NOT going to replay it.  They put it on their digital channel and on a different Cox cable channel but that doesn't do any of us Sattelite Dish people any good.  So we're mad at them.  We'll have to wait and watch it on our computer later.  So don't tell us who won.

Anyway, with them here and Aaron and Tim and me we were quite a spectacle in that closet.  One report said we had 80-90 mph straight line winds.  It came out of the south and was pounding our front door which sits back a ways under the porch.  It hardly ever gets wet.  When we "came out of the closet", Aaron walked into my sewing room and announced that it smelled like a wet dog in there.  And he was right.  The rain had beaten so hard that it came through the window seams.  Not much got wet so it was easy to clean up.  Then we discovered that the same thing happened in the garage.  It came through the seams of the garage door and Tim's car was very wet.

I don't know how our trees survived, but they did.  And most of the flowers looked pretty good, too.
This morning Tim told me that right before he got in the closet he could feel the house "pulsing".  I'm glad he kept that to himself last night.

I'm wondering if the quilt shops that I visited in Joplin 10 days ago survived.  The entire city is so sad.  Let's all keep them in our prayers.  They have a long ways to recovery.

Giveaway

AbbeyLane is having a giveaway.  Go check it out:   http://www.abbeylanequilts.blogspot.com/

Another bag

I've probably made close to a million of these now (well maybe that's a bit of an exageration).  But they're so much fun to make and take very little time.  Almost forgot to take a picture of this one, so here it is in my car right before I went into the post office to mail it to Tim's step mom.  And she loved it. 

A new quilt enthusiast

One of my talented children has caught the quilting blog.  She's always been a bit interested.  We started her first quilt when she was in 3rd grade and I was home schooling her.  I thought it was a good idea to teach her how to hand piece.  Unfortunately, neither of us had the patience to follow through with the hand work, but we DID finish the quilt 3 or 4 years later.  She's used a sewing machine a bit off and on since then.

I guess when I first knew she had the "BUG" was when I noticed she started hiding her fabric stash at my house (as if I had any extra room for someone else's stash).  And she wasn't really hiding it from anyone, it's just that she didn't have a place to put it in her tiny house. It seems her yarn stash takes up the stashing room around there.  That and 3 boys, a husband and "some" cats and other various and sundry pets, etc.

So here she is, caught by the bug, sewing at my house. 

Here's Calista doing a bit of machine applique.




 

The finished quilt top.  And she did it mostly by herself.  Note the look of pride.




The center is a panel called "Cherish Nature" and the rest is machine appliqued (blanket stitch).  She delivered it to her favorite quilter this week, so stay tuned for the finished product in weeks to come.

And just in case you might think I have only one talented daughter....go here amurphyphoto.com/blog
to see the work of my MIDDLE child.

Road Trip

I just got back (last night) from a trip to Missouri to see my youngest neice graduate from high school.  Since she was the last of my mom's grandchildren to accomplish this goal, I felt it would be proper for me to be there (besides, I WANTED to be there).  My mom was the first in her family to graduate from high school.

Dear husband was unable to make the trip with me so I roped Leslie into the idea.  It didn't take much to convince her since I promised a stop or two at a quilt shop.

The (normally) 6.5 hour trip stretched into about 10 hours and the couple of quilt shops turned into ---well, let's just say more than 2.

We've been to several of the shops along the beaten path--especially between Tulsa and Springfield, MO, so we decided to visit just the ones we hadn't seen before.   Here we are at Bittersweet Quilts south of Joplin, MO.  Very nice shop.

This one is in the heart of Joplin.  We enjoyed it, but the name DIDNOT fit the shop!  haha

This one is located in Lebanon, MO.  The ladies there were so friendly to us.

We basically shopped our way up Interstate 44.

This one is in Rolla, MO and is a yarn/fabric store. 

We arrived at my sister Greta's house Thursday evening.  I made Lora Beth a quilt (of course) for a graduation present.  Here's the label.  I also gave her my mom's senior class ring and she wore it to graduation.

Here's Lora Beth unfolding the quilt.  That's her boyfriend Adam with her.

And here it is....her not so PINK quilt.  I had started a quilt for her and when my sister was here in December I showed it to her.  It was mostly pink.  Turns out Lora Beth hates pink so my plans had to change.
I found this pattern in a magazine and decided to try my hand at 60 degree diamonds.  It was lots of fun to make and I'm very pleased with the outcome.  As was Lora Beth.

The next day Leslie and I took Lora Beth into town (they live out in the country) to buy a dress for graduation.  And shoes...very tall shoes....very tall shoes.  Okay.

 Very tall shoes.  Then that night was graduation.  It took place at my old alma mater--only in the new gym.  Sure brought back memories.  Wait, I don't think I remember much about it because it's been so long ago.  Lora Beth's mom was 5 months old and screamed through the entire ceremony so my mom had to sit out in the hall with her.  I behaved much nicer at Lora Beth's graduation than Greta did at mine.   I saw 2 classmates that I graduated with.  It was a lovely ceremony and we were all so proud of Lora Beth.







Afterwards, we drove back into town for an "after graduation dinner".  Here's Lora Beth with Adam.  Thanks Greta and Joe for dinner.

The next morning Leslie and I let Greta sleep in and we went to the cemetery to see my mom's gravestone.  It had been installed since I was there a year ago.   It was an emotional time for me.  We also visited Tim's mom's grave, but it was raining so hard I forgot to take a picture.  Notice the litle quilting lady on the lower right. 

We left the cemetery and forced Dolly to open her shop for us.  haha.  We didn't notice she wasn't open until we had opened the door and found her standing there cutting fabric.  She was very nice about opening up and we may have purchased some fabric from her.

Another trip to town to see my husband's step-dad and brother and to ...eat some ice cream.

We left early on Sunday and stopped in Springfield to see Tim's dad and step mom.  She has lovely flower beds.

Every where we looked in Missouri the peonies, roses and irises were blooming.

Linda also has a talent for cooking.  Baking to be exact--coconut cake to be specific.

 I'm exhausted from the trip.  But so glad I went.

The Little Lighthouse Quilt and Garden Party

On April 30 a bunch of us attended The Little Lighthouse Garden Party.  It's an annual event to raise money for the school which is for children with disabilities.  It's a wonderful place and the event is always so touching.  We always go away from it teary eyed.  The kids learn so much that they can't get anywhere else in the Tulsa area. We first learned about it when our own little grandson Timothy was diagnosed as blind when he was an infant.  WELL...miracles later...Timothy sees well enough now to attend a regular school.  And I just want to jump up and down and try to help the others who can't see, walk, comprehend, etc.

Anyway, this is my 5th year to make a quilt for the silent auction.  Calista helped me this year and last year.  The first one was a group effort with my stitch group.

Here's the quilt.  And it was bought by good friend Crystal Grantham.  Here she is with her lovely daughters, Katherine and Julia.

Did I mention that this is a fancy affair with hats and dresses?

Here's the group that sat at my table, thanks to the generosity of my husband.  Included are his secretary Melissa , his former secretary Annette  and another lady from his work, Jessica; my two daughers, Calista and Andrea; my bff Leslie;
and Crystal, Katherine and Julia.  We had a wonderful brunch and a great time.  Lots of money was raised for The Little Lighthouse.  Notice some of us have stuffed animals.  Another part of the fund raiser.

While my hat is not as elaborate as Leslie's and Calista's I DO have my grandmother's brooch pinned in it!

Calista won the prize (potted plant) for the most creative hat.  She crocheted all the roses.  I was impressed since there were hundreds and hundreds of people there.

 I must end with the best part of the party.  Someone had donated a play house for the live auction.  It was huge. Something you would put in your back yard for your granddaughters (if you had any--I'm just sayin')  Tall enough for adults to stand up in.  It was pink with gingerbread decorations and copper on the roof.  It was no ordinary play house.  The value was placed at $10,000 and the crowd went wild when it was sold for $30,000!  I've never seen anything like it....until....a few minutes later it was announced that the person holding the winning bid had donated the house back to The Little Lighthouse for the kids!!!!  Then the crowd really went wild!  Imagine...in these tough economic times....there are still people out there doing great things for those who are disadvantaged!  What a blessing!

Happy Mother's Day to All

This is my second Mother's Day without my mom and without Tim's mom.  It's hard.  But thankfully, we have wonderful kids who helped make my Mother's Day great.  They were all here (in addition to Leslie and David) for lunch.  The boys grilled hamburgers, chicken and shrimp and Calista made a most delicious caramel filled gigantic brownie. 

And then....they gave me a present:

The present--in a pretty box.

The present...out of the pretty box.  The beads on this bracelet are my kids' birth stones, plus a few extras.  They'll be able to add on to it so I'll eventually have the grandkids' stones and the sons-in-laws, too.  Maybe more grandkids someday, also.

And here's the most special gift--my wonderful kids and husband.

Now on to other things:  Leslie had two birthday parties--one at the Cotton Patch where we both work and one at my house with our stitch group.  So naturally, I had to make her 2 cards.  Here's the first one with the envelope.

The inside of the first one.



And the second one.



I finished another border for the hand applique project I've been working on.
Unfortunately, it seems that I've developed Tennis Elbow--at least that's what I'm hoping it is.
My doctor also tested me for Rheumatoid Arthritis since my mom had it and Lupus since my sister has it.
Hopefully, it will just be Tennis Elbow and I can lay off some of my sewing and get it well ( and I can take drugs, too--I'd rather do that than stop sewing)  But I have slacked off some, so this project may not get finished as quickly as I had hoped. 

Happy Birthday

Today is my BFF's birthday.  I'm posting this under Family and Friends, because she really is not only my friend, but like my sister.  Everywhere we go together, people ask us if we're sisters.  We've even been asked if we're twins. ( maybe it's because we shop together, like the same clothes and many times show up wearing the same outfits).

We've been through a lot together.  I could tell you stories.  But I won't.  Let's just say that we've laughed a lot of laughs and cried a lot of tears.

So in honor of Leslie today on May 2, 2011 when the world is celebrating the death of a very evil man, I'd like to celebrate the birth of a very loving, caring, gentle, wonderful friend.  Leslie Lind Hale.

I WON!

I won a major award!  Go see!  http://www.freespiritfabric.blogspot.com/