Sunday, May 30, 2010

I have been away, but now I am back

I have been feeling low for several weeks now with no desire to blog. My dear friend passed away on Mother's day. I have been unable get myself together and find a subject anyone would be interested in. I began to think I had stopped caring about this. However yesterday I came across these pictures while looking for something else. The one above is not very good but if you look closely you will see that there is a quilt waiting to be born. The owner is my precious granddaughter, Elizabeth Evelyn, also known as Libby and more recently as Lizzi. She is twelve now and somewhere in her threes or fours we decided to create a quilt together. We spent an hour or so in the quilt shop where she chose these fabrics. Her mother, ( my daughter was pretty concerned about her choices and suggested that I influence those choices. No way, Libby's quilt, not mine and not her mother's. In any case, I cut those fat quarters into three and a half inch squares. Libby played with them for a couple of days and arranged and rearranged until her baby dolls approved and then we were good to go.

The next morning I stitched the squares together under her watchful eyes. Sometimes there were four or five of the same fabrics in a row, but she was liking it a lot so who was I to question her art?

Wrong order, but since I have not blogged for awhile, I will simply point out that we tied the quilt. Libby was such a good helper! I tied and she held the perle' cotton strands so they could be trimmed.
We did some basting under the eye of LC most of the morning. Libby told me that her dog was always around when humans were at the kitchen table. Apparently the puppy was simply being opportunistic. Libby was quick to warn me that if we dropped any fabric, LC would be right there to scoop it up!

More basting!

Finished. She was so proud. These were her fabric choices, her layout, her first sewing project and she was a pretty exacting fore woman.

Now, how sweet is that? Libby is twelve now and while this is the broody time, we still bake together, and sew together. Don't tell her that I told you that she still treasures the little pink crocheted blanket barely visible in the photo. She is way too hip for that now. We will soon be making sundresses for Miss Lucy. I hope that whether you are a mom or grand mom like me, that you can find the time to do creative things with the children in your life. This memory helps me to feel better and I hope you are pleased to share it with me

7 comments:

Barb said...

I am so glad that you are back. Time does have a way of reaching us and sifting all that we have been through and helping us to make sense or some sense of what transpires. We may never know the reason why, but hopefully we can reach a resolve. I love your blog and I absolutely will treasure these memories you have shared here today--they are precious. Take care, you are in my thoughts.

Jenny Packard said...

Children have a way of making wonderful moments and memories! Thanks for sharing your memories and pictures. You may or may not remember me, Nadine, but I have been following your wonderful blog for a couple of months. I enjoy it.

Margaret said...

Nadine, I love your Libby story. She is such a pretty girl! I'm sorry to hear of your friend's passing.

Thanks for leaving a message on my blog. I left you a response there.
Margaret

Sharon Stroud said...

Hi, Nadine. It is good to see you posting again. It is harder than people realize to put on a happy face in every post, so sometimes there are gaps between posts--time to work out whatever is bothering us so that we can be uplifing again. I enjoy your blog very much and check for updates every day. Please do something wonderful for yourself today. Thinking of you, Sharon

Karen Burns said...

So glad you are back. Being back does not erase the loss, but, still, we do go on. My goodness how Libby has grown. Great memories for you both.

Kathy said...

Your post was heart warming. Aren't grandkids grand! Libby will be sharing this story some day on her own blog. I can't wait to see you and the whole family. I am counting the days.

Purple Pam said...

I am so sorry for the loss of your dear friend. Thank you for sharing the darling story of Libby's first quilt. The pictures are so sweet. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first grandbaby. Mom is in the hospital as I write this working for her baby's birth.