Adventures in Quilting

I am pretty new to quilting and have only been doing it for a few months. I have been sewing for several years and really enjoy creating new things. This particular quilt was made using quilt blocks (the large horses on white) that my Momma had stitched before she passed away. This is the first quilt that I have ever hand quilted. I really had no idea what I was doing and in my ignorance I didn't know how hard it was going to be... which is a good thing because if I knew how tough it would be I would have been more reluctant to do it.

When I decide I want to hand quilt again I will make sure I have a thimble to protect my poor fingers... not sure when my fingers will forgive me. It feel good to complete a project that my Mom started.

Ten Years Ago

As I think back over the last ten years of my life I think of all the things that have changed some for the good and some for the not so good. So here is a quick list of how far I have come personally in the last 10 years.

Ten years ago I was a single parent with 2 young boys, working a full time job that I loved... I worked with people who had dementia. I got so attached to these people and their families members. I'm still in contact with the widow of one of a gentleman I took care of. I was trying to juggle single parenthood, a job, and some type of dating life.

Today I am happily married to my best friend. My 2 sons have reached adulthood and we have also adopted. We also have 2 beautiful grandbabies. I no longer work outside the home, one because I was injured on the job and two because I choose to stay at home. I must say my work day now is much longer and more involved than when I had an outside job

Ten years ago both of my parents were still alive albeit in poor health

Today both of my parents are gone. Dad passed away in 2001 and Mom in 2007. I miss their presence and really wish I could call them on the phone just to chat. I still feel them around me when I need comfort and see them in my siblings, children and grandchildren.

Ten years ago I really didn't like those "Mormons" I slammed the door in many of their faces. I made it a point to tell them everything that was wrong with their faith

Today I am a Mormon... talk about the world tilting on its axis. I love what our church stands for, I love how women are valued for the unique and special people they are, and I especially love how we are taught to love others. I have learned to respect another's faith and have found a deep well of love for others

Ten years ago I had no idea who I was.

Today I KNOW who I am. I am Michele, a daughter of God, wife to my amazing husband, mother to inspiring children and grandmother to some of the cutest darn kids on the planet.

I wonder what the next ten years has in store, but I must admit no matter what life throws my way. I will thrive because it is not in my nature to give up

Quilting

OK Its not perfect... But since it is my very first quilt I have made I'd say I did pretty darn good. My husband works for a hospital and I sew all of his uniforms. He really doesn't want to part with them even when they wear out... so I took a few of them and repurposed them to make this quilt

Quilting is a family tradition in my family and my sister is teaching me some of the tricks of the trade. I must say I can just feel the presence of my ancestors as I take on this new hobby

Our new castle

OK so we didn't move into a castle per say, but we did move to a new house. We are still in the same town, even in the same ward at church. This house has some definite advantages such as its bigger a lot bigger. The yard is huge.. lots of space for gardening. we have a wonderful deck overlooking the city and the best part of all... I now have a sewing room.... my dream come true.. no more setting up my sewing machine in the living room, but an actual space in which to sew and renew my soul.

So why did we move? Well in a way we were victims of the housing crisis. Our landlord was losing money on the house we were in and needed to sell it fast. Even though I hate moving with a passion I'm really happy we did. Our new house has such a different vibe to it... more peaceful.. more serene.

So life right now is pretty good except that we have lost one family member, our kitty cat Muffin she passed away in April... we sure to do miss her but we know she's enjoying the beautiful weather and all the kibble she can eat without gaining a pound at the Rainbow bridge. When our time comes to cross to the other side she will be there to meet us.

My view on the issue of child vaccinations

When I was a child in the early 70's there was a world wide effort to eradicate smallpox.. the effort to the best of my knowledge was successful. I remember going to school and all the of kids were lined up in the school gym so EVERYONE could be vaccinated. One of the main reasons why there is not a wide spread occurrance of diseases such as measles, mumps and other potentially deadly diseases is because most parents have immunized their children.

I find it very disturbing that some new parents have chosen not to immunize their children. They have their reasons such as the fear of autism is caused by the MMR vaccine( this belief has not been substantiated) Personally I would much rather have a child with autism than have a child contract one of the preventable diseases and DIE!!!!!!! How can my children live their lives to the fullest without making sure they are immune to these very preventable diseases.

I grew up in the country where we went barefoot during the summer and there was always some rusty nail hiding somewhere. More than likely one or more of my siblings or I would step on said nail... there was a very good chance we could have contracted Tetanus if not for the vaccine we recieved by our diligent parents. Not to mention how often to some children bite each other. According to many doctors the human mouth has far more germs that even the canine mouth... yes it is possible to contract Tetanus from a human bite.

In short every parent has the right to choose to immunize their children or not but I feel that unless the child has immune issues such as HIV/AIDS than not immunizing them is just plain foolish and not in the best interest of their children

Why I love January

In Washington, the land of perpetual rain, it seems like we have 2 seasons, the wet season(winter and spring) and the not so wet season(summer and fall). In the dark and wet days of January the highlight of this season is when the seed catalog arrives or is available online. This is the time I dream of bright spring days with the smell of blooming flowers on the breeze and warm summer days when the garden is in full gear producing lots of yummy treats for our table.

Since moving to our current home 2.5 years ago we have not had a garden. This is mainly because our back lawn is full of nothing but crab grass, weeds and lots of clay soil. Our plan is to tear up all the grass and have a load of garden soil delivered. We then plan on building raised beds for the garden. We would also love to have some raspberry vines and blueberry bushes. Hopefully I'll have room left for a rosebush or two. My greatest challege will be keeping the squirrels from digging up all the seeds I plant, I've already lost a few of the black tulip bulbs I planted.... the greedy little squirrels were not happy with the peanuts we left out for them and decided that my tulip bulbs would give them a nice variety in their diet. We can only hope that this is the year I will succeed in all my gardening plans.

And then you have teenagers

When my children were small I thought they would never grow up, time seemed to stretch on forever. Diapers and bottles were part of our everyday life. I was constantly tripping over toys and always cleaning up some mess. Then one morning I woke up and found that my sweet little boys had turned into something entirely different... I had TEENAGERS!!! It seemed like I always heard statements such as:"Mom you just don't get it" or "Mom but all the others guys stay out late, why can't I" and the much loved phrase "When I have kids I won't tell them what to do all the time" Their personalities seemed to morph into something so strange I wondered if aliens came and got my children and put others into to replace them.

Through all the trying times, many tears, and holding my breath my children have become something I never expected; they have become my friends. In each of them I see traits of my parents, my grandparents, siblings and yes even myself. When I'm having a bad day one of them will do something goofy just to make me smile. Each of them are developing compassion and gratitude which at times I wondered if they would ever think about someone besides themselves. In short my kids are amazing! Now that doesn't mean they never drive me crazy, they do that often. There are times I wonder "how did my parents ever survive raising me? Then I think "oh yeah when I was giving birth to them I must have pushed out some of my brains in the process" Going insane is the hard part... once you're there it's pure bliss.