I Sing Because I'm Happy...

I sing because I'm free....

            His eye is on the sparrow, so I know He watches me!

Portion of my dining room

It's amazing where life can take us and how things fall into place.  Hubby and I listed our home for sale and had two offers within 24 hours of listing.  God is so good.  We moved into our new home last month and life is so sweet again.

Will's family
Will, Ashley, Brinley, Avery, Chandler
 

Even though we moved three hours away from our son's family, we are able to keep in touch.  They came for a quick visit during Easter break and I was able to get lots of sweet loving.  (and lots of laughs!) 

Annabelle is ONE
 

 This little sweetie turned one year old last month!  (she lives 12 hours from me!)  The princess props crack me up, because she is all tomboy so far!  She has started to love on her baby doll a little these days, but she loves to climb and she loves her animals.... Lucy (dog) and Roscoe (cat) and an old neighborhood dog, that has started sleeping on their back porch.  She definitely has her mommy's love of animals!

 

Hubby shot his first turkey, ever, last week.  Hubby is a retired game warden and had never been turkey hunting before.  He is enjoying being back home near his uncle, who is an avid outdoorsman.  I cooked the turkey breast and it was delicious.  I was able to put two more packages in the freezer for later.  I have never seen as many wild turkeys as I have seen since we've moved back home.

Penny's goat











I live near one of my best friends now and she invited me to a paint party.  I had the most fun and as you can see, I painted a goat for my daddy.  I told him to hang it in his 'man cave' and that is where he now resides.  I would definitely do this again.... just what I need, another hobby!

 

Letters from Mama







As I was unpacking boxes, I ran across these letters from my mama.  We moved away from "home" back in 1997.  These are letters she wrote to me in 97-98, before she bought herself a computer.  In the letters, she is trying to decide if she wants a computer or not, and I had been convincing her that she needed to buy one so that we could email, and not have to wait on 'snail mail.'  I'm so glad she didn't have a computer that year, or I would not have these treasures from her now.  I sat down and read them all before I went to bed one night.  I giggled a lot, cried a little, and thoroughly enjoyed my 'visit' with Mama through her letters.  I don't have ANY of our emails, but I do have a lot of messages from Facebook.  Letters are precious.  And the sticky note is one that was inside one of my letters... I love her handwriting.

 

 









And another reason I'm so happy, is that not only did we move back 'home', but I am HOME again! I had left my full time job for a little part time job, but hubby and I decided it just isn't necessary.  So I am truly HOME again.  I love Monday mornings.... my slow time, to blog, to clean up from the weekend, to do things on MY schedule.  I am so truly thankful and feel that God has blessed me tremendously.  Not only do I have a new home, but I can now enjoy being home.  There is still so much unpacking to do, but I am looking forward to getting into my new sewing room soon.  I have  one baby quilt to make that is long over due... Sweet little Rae is 10 months old now.  We have another sweet girl on the way (my niece, Holly's), so she will need a quilt very soon.   I am so excited to know that I will get to it soon!  More pic's of the sewing room next post!









Ma's Quilt

Sometime back in the 1990's, my grandmother, Marjorie, mentioned to my mom, that she believed she could make a quilt, if someone would pre- cut the pieces out for her.

I was so excited to know this, because it was a perfect Christmas gift for the lady I never knew what gift to buy for Christmas.  I cut out, with scissors, every strip  using a template from Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting book... my very first quilting book.  I pencil drew a design of the block on an index card, so she would know how to sew the blocks.

I never heard another word about the quilt.  ( my grandma and I were not very close).  But after she died, my mom found the box tucked away somewhere.... inside were all the pieces , with approx. half of the blocks sewn together!!!  Mama gave the box to me and I knew I had to finish the quilt.

I laughed at myself while sewing the blocks together, as I figured out why she probably didn't finish the quilt.  The strips were cut so WONKY; some longer than others, some fatter than others.  I had to trim blocks.... trim....and then trim again!  She probably was so frustrated, she had no desire to complete it.

I added the hexie flowers, leftover from another project that I had made back in the 1990's, just to give the quilt a little more 'something'.   Here's part of the pieced backing.  I quilted it along the seams of the strips on the front side, hoping to  make the quilt more durable.   (yep, I have a few wrinkles on the back)

 



 

The fabric had several yellowish stains on it and it smelled kind of funny.  I wouldn't wash it until it was all sewn together, as I didn't know what might happen to the fabric.  I used Spray and Wash on the stains, washed it on gentle cycle, and it came out beautifully... and smells so good. 

I had planned to gift this to my mom for Mother's Day last year, but had not finished it on time.  She did see the completed quilt without its binding, as I took it to her house on Mother's Day for her to see.  Sadly, she passed away in July, and never received the quilt.

Today I will be delivering the quilt to her sister, my Aunt Carol, who was my mama's best friend forever!  They talked EVERY day on the phone and I'm sure my aunt misses her terribly.  I hope she will enjoy having her mom, Marjorie's, completed quilt.... and somehow feel a connection to my mom and Marjorie "Ma", through this quilt.  It was truly stitched with lots of love from my heart.  <3 p="">