A Few Baby Boy Pics for the Weekend

Lego makes a great breakfast. Check my grip on my spoon, tho !~!

What's your dining pleasure ?~! The chef is in the House.

He's clapping cuz we're going outside.
I found a folded Sassy Ben in the pocket of his thrifted shirt !~!
I'm clapping about that...

Friday Morning Adventures

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

Learning New Techniques

The sewing field rings with ways to accomplish tasks related to the endeavor. I have read thousands of pages of blogs and books, articles and manuals, novels and instruction sheets and still I find new ways that women, usually altho men do quilt too, have devised of doing particular tasks.

Case in point: I am creating a quilt for a graduate who's on her way to Massachusetts for college in the fall and I want to send her off with a nice piece that she wont be ashamed to have on her bed or chair in her dorm room and later she can take with her to her new home. I decided what I would do-many blocks, various sizes, with "made fabric" wherein one sews together scraps until a piece of "fabric" the correct size is attained. So I have been making those blocks for a couple weeks now and then since they vary in size by and inch or so in any direction and wouldn't look good all pushed up against one another I decided to float them on pale blue heavyweight linen. So then the next problem was the raw edges and how to deal with them. Several solutions came and went in my mind: turning the edges under and sewing them down; leaving them raw and fringing them; encasing them in bias binding tape and then sewing them down to the linen background. None of these really seemed to be right. Then today, as I am perusing how others label their creations I came up on a paragraph by a woman named Penny from June of 2012 with the ideal solution for my problem:

     "Rather than try and turn under a quarter inch before hand stitching the label in place, I face the label with some stabilizer. Stitch the stabilizer to the front of the label using a quarter inch seam all the way around with your machine. Then slash the stabilizer and flip it to the back of the label encasing all of your seams. As the stabilizer is now on the back of the label, there is no need to stitch up the slash where you turned it inside out. Stabilizer is so lightweight that it adds very little bulk and can be attached to your quilt by hand stitches or machine. I usually machine stitch labels on quilts that will be frequently washed."

The two bolts of 36 inch wide muslin under my workbench suddenly became the Cloth of the Hour as I realized that this could work for my current quilt dilemma. So I cut muslin in the correct size, stitched it all around and neatly sliced it in the back. I turned the pieces right side out and ironed them crisp. Delightful solution !~! Thank you, mysterious Penny, whose name was not clickable so I couldn't follow you to your profile. If you read this and see yourself please comment and tell me so I can properly thank you for this ever so smart solution to the Label discussion and also to fixing my dilemma with the quilt applique. 

The square before I sewed the muslin onto it.

The Cat helping show you the finished blocks with muslin sewn on
and blocks turned right side out.

"I will watch over them while you sleep tonight, Mama."

New Pillow-All From Stash

My first try at cornerstones.
Without instructions !~!

Envelope back out of thin-wale corduroy in navy and gray.
Stuffed toys are for size comparison.
and cuz I've never outgrown my need for soft toys...

Finished at 22 inches square (56 cm)

And back to Frankie's blankie !~!

Linking up with Quilt Story and FreeMotion by the River's Linky Tuesday.

Happy Cat-urday from the SF Bay Area...

...where OUR weather finally found its way home and we have stopped perspiring, brought out the sweaters and tucked the window a/c unit back into the closet for a few more months, I hope.

Now, if CatCAt moves, Ormond can go for a ride on his Reflex.

Dad's Obituary

Below is the obituary I submitted to the Tahlequah OK Daily Press about my father's recent death.

Russell John Halliger June 11, 1934 - May 12, 2014

Russ Halliger, 79, died May 12, 2014 in Park Hill OK.

Russ was born the oldest of nine children to John and Fay (Blatzheim) Halliger in Minnesota where he spent his childhood. He met and married Betty Tiffany in 1954. After some early moving around, the growing family settled in Spring City PA, just outside Valley Forge. The couple raised four children (Mike, Lynda, Teri, Tony)  on a half acre of yard that backed up to State property where the woods, creek and fields provided space and experiences city life could not have. Russ was a Multi-talented man who had a number of jobs including but not limited to snowplow driver, plant manager, Valley Maid potato chip route driver, tree service owner/operator, gas station/mini mart owner operator, U Haul dealership franchisee, laundromat owner… 

He took his family camping on the Jersey shore and showed them the early days of Atlantic City and Wildwood in the 60s. Each winter, he would load the family station wagon and drive the 24 hours to SE Minnesota to spend the holidays with his family; there were no Interstate highways on that route then.

In 1972, he moved his family to SE Florida. The kids were teenagers then and he saw retirement staring him in the face; so they adopted Cathi instead !~! The lifestyle afforded by the Tropics suited him well. He loved the water, swimming, fishing, scuba-diving, humidity, heat, girls in bikinis, boat drinks, Jimmy Buffett. Unfortunately, Betty struggled with the humidity so they moved west to help his parents with his sister Denise who had Muscular Dystrophy and used a wheelchair for mobility. Betty filled that need for many years in Dallas Oregon where the family owned numerous small businesses.

Russ’s health took a turn for the worse in Aug 1987 when he suffered a stroke and had to retire from the Mini-Mart, U-Haul, laundromat he and Betty owned in Dallas. He never drove after that and became a familiar sight around town on his bicycle. Some years later they relocated to the desert in AZ but that was difficult for Betty who suffered in the heat. When it became apparent that Russ and Betty were aging and would need help, they moved near Tony and Jodell's family in Park Hill OK where they shared T & J's land for the last decade of their lives.

He is survived by three of his five children, Mike (Cindy) of Leicester NC, Lynda Otvos (Ormond) of SF Bay Area, and Cathi McDonnell (Adam) of Park Hill OK, and their families as well as the families of Teri and Tony. He has thirteen grandkids and numerous great-grandchildren.

Russ was predeceased by his wife Betty, daughter Teri Ann Tarleton, son Tony Halliger, and granddaughter Dana Halliger.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to each individual’s favorite charity. Russ donated his body to science—perhaps some significant research will be advanced by his last selfless gesture.

###

Newest Throw: In Memory of Dad

Needing something to keep me busy during this last week, I threw together a small blanket with some of my favorite fabrics. Completed last night, I'm considering naming it In Memory of My Dad, we'll see. Iris, my daughter, chose the backing out of the choices I had available and I think she chose the perfect one. I wrote his obituary during this last week.

Batted with Bamboo/Cotton, I simply pulled the backing around to the front and machine-stitched it down. I will do some tying today to keep the layers together, but for the most part-it's finished.
Labeling it will be important so I'll do something special.

Thanks for all your sweet messages; I hope this is the last death of a loved one for a bit, no ?~! I could use a break. Summer's coming and the Baby will spend most of his time with his mama, so perhaps there will be a sewing marathon in my near future. I have plenty of supplies !~!

Happy Thursday. I'll link up to some Parties when I return from early morning work commitment.

Linking up with TGIFF and Needle and Thread Thursday and Tami's Amis.

Good-bye, Dad

Saying it One More Time

Russell John Halliger

1934-2014

We're Having a Heat Wave

A Tropical Heat Wave

The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate through the Baby and is Still Hungry.

Monday Morning Coming Down

Hard to believe it's been a year and a half since he came into being. He walks and runs and talks and has opinions and wants, not just needs anymore.

All That's Left is the Detail Work !~!

It's so pretty, I love the juxtaposition of the pastels and the Bolds. The stars on the royal blue background is one of my favorite fabrics and at one point was in the final five for the backing here. When I cut in to my last half yard I hie myself to JoAnn's and grab a couple or three more yards for my stash.

The idea that Madison will be wrapped in its love over the coming years thrills me. We have lived far from one another since long before she was born and I miss her milestones. Perhaps this will help keep me close to her in a very real and tangible way.

This marks my first really well measured and precise quilt thus far. The easy piecing angles made this possible. Perhaps maturity too.

The choices for stitches on my basic Singer are slim. This is a zig zag where every third stitch is larger than the two that precede it; a little different than the simple zig zag we're all intimately familiar with. The gold hand-tying is also visible in both pictures.

I'm very satisfied with it so far. Now comes the fun of embroidering/quilting the squares in the middle. I went thru my fancy thread/yarn and pulled what I think I will use.

Tuesday Morning...

Working on two new pieces as I contemplate quilting Purple Blocks. I tied PB over the weekend in a symmetrical pattern with gold thread to match the sky components in one of the fabrics. Able to unpin and square off, it now hangs in my closet doorway--Ormond's asleep in there or I'd take a picture and show you. This picture was taken before I tied it but look instead at the gold that I matched for the tying. Apologies for focus...

Instead...

Here are some of the choices to stitch individually the blocks for which the quilt is named. These were STASH also !~! Am I going to be able to complete this piece for Granddaughter without shopping for anything ?~! These threads are Silk & Merino Wool and absolutely luscious to touch. And the colors are superb...

CAT-urday So Soon !~!

Where do the weeks go ?~!

No way to know where time goes when one sleeps it all away. Must say she has good taste in pillows-Toby's Choice. It's an eight foot couch with nothing except that one throw on it. That's where she plants her fuzzy self. Silly girl. She's turning into an outside cat. Loves the sunshine, the bushes that hide her, meeting us as we arrive home in the car, entwining herself about our ankles as we walk... What's not to love ?~!

Have a good week.

Finish it Up Friday--Charlie's OmaLynda Quilt

Another finish in time to play with Amanda Jean and her inimitable "Finish It Up Fridays" where scads and loads and piles of the most delectable links on the InnerWebs are brought for our pleasure. An entire buffet of glorious handicrafts and the craftsmanship is fun to see. Stop by a few of the linkers and maybe you'll meet your next favorite blog !~!

The Picture Essay of "OmaLynda"

The fabric brought by Charlie's Oma from Holland last summer.
Building a quilt for her granddaughter came to me in the wee hours of the morning.

The flimsy glows in the sunshine.

The finished quilt showing how I bound it.
Top and bottom edges I turned the front over onto the back and blanket stitched it down by hand.
The long sides I machine-stitched with a multi-stitch zigzag in variegated purple thread.

Label-my husband named the quilt for the two of us who made it.
Oma and Lynda so the quilt's name is OmaLynda.

Charlie's OmaLynda on the left and Scout's Aqua Balloons-tagged and ready for delivery.

Linking up with "Make It and Love It". Check out her fabulous Linky Party.

Tool User Develops Skills

Few activities in life compare with teaching Littles about the world. My heart is so deeply involved with Littles that trying to tease apart my income stream from my love of them proves problematic. So now I do what I love and my sleep is sweet and pure. I rest without dreams and even my hips are behaving themselves, altho I may have just jinxed that !~!

 Burp's at the age where he wants and needs to do most everything we do: dishes, raking, keeping the dirt on the floor under control. Few activities escape his notice and for the first time yesterday, he grabbed my  hand and led me to the kitchen to show me what he was doing without any vocalizing at all. He's not "led me" anywhere before this and it was a great moment in his development.

Could he be cuter ?~! I fail to see how.