Rag Quilts 101

How many of you have heard about rag quilts?? It's the latest thing in quilting these days. My niece in Minnesota told me how to do it and also sent pictures. I lost the pictures when my computer died on me a while back, but have a link here with instructions and pictures as well. How to Make a Rag Quilt .

Rag quilting is a fast way to get a quilt made as it's all done by machine. You could do some top stitching by hand if you wanted to, and just sew the squares together by machine for long wear ability. I would be inclined to do that, as the hand sewing is much of the fun of quilting. This is an easy way to use up remnants too, by the way.

So, decide what size you want your quilt to be, get your fabric together, (again, scraps would be great as long as they aren't small pieces) You could, of course, choose a color scheme that matches the room that your quilt will live in. School colors for the kids, football colors for the man of the house etc. You are limited only by your imagination on this one.

Again, I'd love it if you would show and tell so my other readers and I can all enjoy your projects. Email me a picture of your quilt in any stage of completion. I'd love to see it and would share it with everyone else. =)

Until next time,

Mary

Hardanger 101

I'm from Minnesota where the art of Hardanger is a favorite of everyone. In Minnesota, if you don't do Hardanger yourself, you wish you could. The finished product, as you can see, makes even the smallest piece a treasure to hand down to generations to come.

This particular piece was made for me by a dear friend who lives in Minnesota. She and I grew up together and she, like this piece of hardanger that she made for me, is a cherished treasure.

A couple of years ago I took up Hardanger too, and found that it isn't hard to do, though, it takes a great deal of patience and practice.
The piece I have pictured here is very advanced, and I would highly recommend that as a beginnner, you choose something small and simple for your first project. http://www.needlework-tips-and-techniques.com/hardanger-needlework.html
The above link has great beginner's projects, easy instructions, as well as a list of everything you need to get you started. What a great site!!

Some words of advice, you need good light for this needlework. A chair by a window would be perfect. The pattern in lesson one calls for 22 thread count. If you can't see the stitches easily on that fabric, go to an even looser woven fabric. Make it easy on yourself and your eyes. The object of any craft is to be able to enjoy doing it. Consider getting a crafters magnifying glass if your eyes are easily strained, as mine are.

I'm as close as your computer, so email me at mary1440@gmail.com if you have any questions. I'd love to see your work, so consider taking a digital picture of what you make and send it to me.

Happy stitching,

Mary

"I love someone with Autism"

"I love someone with Autism" and his name is Stevie Jr. age 9. He is our our grandson, our son Steve's son.

I consider Stevie as a special angel and a special gift to us from God. Last summer Stevie's dad brought him here to Grandpa and Grandma's for a visit. What a wonderful week of discovering new things about our special angel.

Our little Stevie is so very special. Though they say that these special ones don't "connect" we can go a year between visits with him and his dad, but the moment he sees us he is ready for a hug. He remembers us!! That amazes me every time. I expect him to have to get to know us all over again, but I've learned that that isn't so. It's as if we've never been apart and he picks right up where we left off.
Being a grandma I want to hug our little Stevie and my advances are usually met with flailing arms and a resounding "Bye byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" which means, "Get lost, Grammy. I'm busy right now". He makes me smile. I know that when he's ready he'll let me get my hugs in.

Anyway, now you have met my special little angel. We're going to go see him and his dad this summer and they're coming here again for Christmas this year. I can't wait to see the new things Stevie is doing and the increases in his vocabulary and so on. More than anything, I hope that the day will come when he'll be able to express what it's like to live with this terrible disorder. When we understand more about it, we'll better know how to be there for him and to make life a little easier. For now, we depend on the love in our hearts for him and his for us. Love is a powerful tool and this little special one is surrounded by a lot of love.

If you would like to know more about Autism or if you two have a special Autistic angel in your life, there is a great site with the latest in research for this disorder. It's http://autism.com/
I would love to hear from you if too so email me at mary1440@gmail.com.

Until next time,

Mary

This Easter and always..........

Today is Good Friday according to our religious calender. I wish that the days that we recognize as the days of Christ's birth, death, Resurrection were all actually on THE DAY that the event took place. However, the important thing is that we set time aside to remember the special days in the life of Christ.

As I think of Christ's death on the cross my mind jumps to the movie depicting His death, "The Passion". I didn't see that movie. There was a great amount of stir about it in our church and we all were urged to go see it, to support it and so on. Many came to believe in Christ through that movie and that in itself was reason enough to support it.

I would have bought tickets to see the movie, as a way of supporting it, however, but I couldn't go see it. Why, you may ask. I have shared in my other blog, my sister's death from colon cancer and how it broke my heart. It still does after all of these years. While she was sick and dying not a one of us felt it necessary to photograph her or to take home movies of this event to record it for history's sake. It was being indelibly etched onto our hearts, minds, and brains as it occurred. We knew that these mental images would live as long as we did. For this same reason, I didn't feel I needed to go see my Christ being beaten, hung on a cross, tortured, laughed at, ridiculed, having a crown of thorns driven into his scalp. These pictures are indelibly etched into my heart and as long as I live they will remain as well.

So, this Easter season as I remember what it is that we are remembering, I am filled with thanksgiving for the gift that Christ's life and death gave us, and continues to give us. A promise that there is more than this life here on earth. That this is just a school, a training ground for greater things to come.

Because of this knowledge, I have within me a peace that is everlasting. No matter what this life may bring my way. No matter how badly I may be whipped by wind, or shaken by storms, I will remain steadfast and firmly planted on the rock of my salvation, Christ Jesus.

I dedicate this posting to Him and to all of you who chose to read it. May your life be blessed, today, this Easter, and always, through Christ Jesus. Amen

Till next time,

Mary

A Window Treatment to Share

Above you see my kitchen window treatment. I wanted to share this simple way of dressing up a window. I found a remnant of fabric that was perfect for my room. There wasn't a lot of it so I lined the triangles. If you aren't a sewer, you could easily just fold over a hem and apply any kind of fabric glue or even hot glue would work. I attached them to a board so they would stay in place and my husband put it up for me. I could have done it, though. A quick, easy and inexpensive way to decorate your windows.

The birdhouses I purchased unfinished at our local hobby store, and painted them in the colors I wanted to use. I'm my worse critic, so I found that if I would paint a few, then put them aside for a few days and come back to judge whether or not they were "hanging worthy" worked out great. The ones I didn't like originally looked great after some time away. You may want to try that too. Live with your projects a while before you decide whether they work or not.

I hope this inspires you to try something like this yourself.

Until next time,

Mary

HGTV: A Great site for Easte Crafts

http://blogs.hgtv.com/hgtv/crafts/archives/2008/03/easter_craftine.html

This is a great site for some cute and fun Easter crafts. I really like the look of the eggs that are decorated and put together to make a centerpiece for the table. I think that could be expanded on using other items for non-Easter projects. I love the tulle and the dried flowers. A great idea. isn't that lamb cute too??

HGTV is a wonderful resource for year round crafts. Do check out this site.

Until next time,

Mary

This new direction

I am really excited about the new direction that I have chosen to take with this blog. I love to do crafts, I love to decorate my house and try new things. I always have knitting, crocheting, decorating and crafting projects in progress, in mind, or in search of.

I hope you'll join me here and share your projects as well. Email me @ mary1440@gmail.com if you have a picture or an idea you want to post here and I will make sure it is published on this site.

Stay tuned for some ideas and new projects I'm working on.

Till next time,

Mary

Mr Fab is more than Fabulous!!

http://pointless-drivel.com/directives/?page_id=2

I found another really special blog today as I was surfing around. Actually, I had visited it once before, but didn't read enough to get a good grasp of just how funny this young man is. (I'm guessing a young man. Do any of us really know who one another are on here??? I MEAN!! Really????) Anyway, he is so funny and you owe it to yourself to go read some of his posts.

So, click on this link and read the "about me" page for Mr Fab. What a funny guy and a site you might want to bookmark to go back to when you need a reason to smile. He is a HOOT!!!!

Mr. Fab, I can't say enough about you here. Just all go read his blog. My words can't do him justice.
Until next time,

Mary

A wonderful crafting site

I was surfing away visiting some of the sites on the "I Follow" list and came across this great site and decided to share it with you all. It has every kind of craft you can think of. Knit, cross stitch, crochet, quilt, just to name a few. She even has craft ideas for those of us who are either blocked or are "craftily challenged". You may want to check out this great site. There are even RECIPES. I can't think of a thing that I could want to have on a site built for crafty people that isn't there. Do check it out. Leave a comment to. She'll appreciate that.
http://craftblog.stitchingthenightaway.com/

Until next time,

Mary

Don't forget.............DST

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight when you go to bed. Isn't it going to be fun being tired for the next week or so while we adjust?? I don't get to blog on this topic again because I've already allowed myself one rant about this already this season.You can be sure I'll be here ready to rant on again come Fall ahead time.

Until then......or sooner,

Mary

"Bookends of a Different Kind" or "She's a WHAT?"

I want to introduce you to our two furry children, Angel on the left, Precious in the middle. The picture on the right shows the two snuggled up so closely you can't tell where one kitty ends and the other begins. They are sisters, with the same parents, but from two different litters.

We decided right off to have both kitties spayed. I knew if ever we'd have baby kitties I wouldn't want to part with any of the litter and would soon become that strange lady down the street with all of the cats. You know the kind. =)

So, off when Precious to be spayed. Later in the morning I got a call from the vet's office. The conversation went something like this.

Vet's office: "Mrs More, we have Precious on the table here"
Me: "Yes??"
Vets: "Well, Precious, it appears, is a boy"
Me: "WHAT??" "That can't be"
Vets: "Well, we were ready to do the spaying and couldn't find a uterus, so decided we'd better find a penis and sure enough, under all of that fur, there it was".
Me: "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it. But she doesn't have..........."
Vets: "Dr Beck found her testicles up in her pelvis, there is no scrotal sac so the mistake is an easy one to make".
Me: "Well okay......thanks..........bye"

After I got off of the phone I had to call friends and family who also found this to be a very humorous situation. Our daughter Wendi and I had had many a discussion over possibility of "gender confusion" in Precious as she was way TOO fond of one of Wendi's female cats and had tried to express her affection in ways inappropriate for a lady of Precious' stature in life etc. We had decided that she was perhaps "Gay" but we decided to accept this about her and love her in spite of the fact that her life choices weren't recognized by our church. =)

After finding that Precious was a boy, we had many suggestions as to what we could change "her" name to, but we decided to just not do anything at all. We'd continue to consider Precious a girl. After all, she'd been raises as a girl, and we were not about to cause her the emotional trauma of finding out she now had to be a boy, and do boy things. No!! I wouldn't have it. We would let "sleeping cats lie" so to speak.

So, our little furry girl stayed our little furry girl. Even her sister Angel doesn't know and we intend to keep it that way. When we discuss this situation it's with hushed voices and only if our kitties are out of the room or asleep. I'm sure you all understand this. (sign, hand to forehead etc)

Stay tuned for more on Precious and Angel,

Mary

Back on My Soapbox Again, A Political Commentary

Would you believe this is in defense of Hillary Clinton? Yup, this is Mary, defending Hillary Clinton. Believe it or not! I sense that my father is turning over in his grave with shame, and my husband, well, we don't know what he's going to do if he reads this. We may discuss this over coffee tomorrow. =)

Let me say quickly that I am not a Clinton fan. I'm not a fan of Bills nor am I a fan of Hillary's. I think water seeks it's own level when it comes to human beings, and so that pretty well sums up why I am not a fan of theirs.

That said, I have to voice my outrage at all of the mass emails I have received bashing Hillary. The thing that bothers me the most is when those emails attack her femininity, her looks, her teeth, her body and on and on and on. Why does this have to be?? What does any of that have to do with Hillary Clinton's politics? Politics aside, why would any of us take it upon ourselves to comment negativly on how another person looks in the first place? Who among us has anything good about us that we can say we're responsible for? We can go to plastic surgeons, have this nipped and that tucked, but under all of those stitches, who we are and what we look like is still there. Some of us are created with incredible beauty and talent. Some of us have all that and more. Some have talent, but aren't really nice to look at. The point is, we are born with the faces and bodies we have. We don't get to chose them and have no say in them. If we are lucky enough to not be ugly, it's certainly no feather in our own cap and nothing that we should be proud of. By that same token, if someone isn't born looking the way this crazed society of ours considers beautiful or handsome, we didn't chose that either. We can't take the credit for any beauty we have and we can't take the blame for it if we aren't "beautiful. We shouldn't feel that we are less than great because of physical flaws etc. either.

This said, how dare anyone make a cartoon of Hillary in a men's restroom using a urinal?? Because she is brave enough and strong enough to confront a male dominated arena such as politics doesn't make her a man or mannish or a lesbian. It makes her a brave and strong woman who is womanhood at its very best. If I could get past her politics I would vote for her and fight for her, but I can't. I don't like a lot of what she stands for and I don't trust her. I will, however, defend her right to fight in this battle as a woman and to win or lose as a woman.

To those who keep sending around those lewd, obnoxious put downs of her womanhood, shame on you. SHAME ON YOU!!

I am so very proud to be a woman, a woman who is strong and who has opionions that I'm not afraid to express. I will never walk behind a man, but will always walk by his side, supporting him, sharing his dreams and sharing mine with him. We will be equals, two souls walking down the same path in life pointed in the direction of the same goals. This is what a woman is and what she is created to be.

Until next time,

Mary

"Sons" by Pearl S Buck Commentary

"Sons" is the second book in the "House of Earth" trilogy, the last being "A House Divided".
In "The Good Earth" Ms Buck introduces us to the primary figure in this series, Wang Lung. Thought he dies early in "Sons", he is still the foundation of all of these books. Traditions and customs, respect of others and standing in the community are very important to this people in China during the 1800's. The customs are observed and carried on throughout the generations. In The Good Earth, these traditions are strong not only in the House of Wang, but in all of the people. It is the foundation of their country, and their people and has been since the time before Christ.

As I continue to read this trilogy, my respect for Ms Buck as a writer grows with each book. With seemingly little effort she takes us through the custom driven generation of Wang Lung into the loosening up somewhat in the lives of the second generation. She shows it in the way she uses the words that are spoken. It's a subtle change and something that would be hard to put a finger on, but before you know it you are aware that time has passed in more ways than just the aging of the characters.

"Sons" recounts the lives of the three sons of Wang Lung, known in the earlier book as "Wang the eldest", "Wang the second" and "Wang the youngest". Wang Lung's sons, to him, aren't individuals with hopes and dreams of their own, but are sons whose purpose in life is to continue building what he has begun with future generations as the focus. All is for his sons and his son's sons and so forth. Ancestors and generations to come are important and honored. In contrast, not honored or considered valuable are girl children or women. When Wang's wife, O'lan would have given birth to a new baby, Wang would go in to see her and she would announce that it was a son, or, "It is only a slave. Not important", which meant, it was a female. Girls were looked upon as a liability, someone to clothe and feed only to have them leave the family to bear sons and to build generations for some other family. During times of floods or drought and famine, cannibalism wasn't unheard of nor to see female children disappear not uncommon. When all other life forms were eaten, the female children and the sickly were often devoured. This isn't something that Wang Lung or his family resorted to, however.

As the book progresses and the sons of Wang grow into men with families of their own, Ms Buck develops the two elder son's characters, but not the wives in particular. The children aren't focused on either. Eventually she picks up the person of the youngest Wang son and he is then her focus and the one that she develops more fully than any of the others in the book, in my estimation. Wang the youngest becomes "Wang the Tiger" who is a man of war whose ambition is to become a great lord of war who will rule over larger and larger areas. She picks up his character as he is ready to leave the war lord he has been serving under. This war lord has been losing his hold on the men under him, so Wang the Tiger takes this opportunity to gather these men to himself and invite them to join him onto bigger and greater things. And so he begins his journey toward the greatness as a war lord that he aspires.

This character, Wang the Tiger is very complex. I have tried on several occasions here to review this book and to tell you a bit about all of the characters to no avail. I am unable to draw you a word picture of this man and the China that is to come by the end of this book so I leave that to you to find out for yourself.

The end of "Sons" leave us on the edge of a river of no return. On one side are the customs and traditions carried on for generations (since the 6Th century BC) ready to leap into life that holds nothing but promise and exciting good things for this new younger generation. They are ready to cast off the ways of the ancient ones to establish a new, exciting life. One being promised to them which is more fair to the common man. (See the Boxer Rebellion)

I have begun the third book of this trilogy, "A House Divided". I strongly recommend that you get these three books or the trilogy. You too will become a Pearl S Buck fan and find yourself ending one of her books and looking for another to begin. She's a tremendously talented writer and the Chinese culture she writes about is a fascinating one.

Till next time,

Mary