little hats, big hearts

i first saw a call for itty bitty red baby caps on FB with the women of the ELCA group.  in their post, was a link to the american heart association and their call for volunteers.  well, i am now officially one of those volunteers!

during lunch, i started my first cap made with a very soft blend yarn.  originally last week, i had three skeins of red cotton in my basket, thinking about how hot it is in the houston area.  but then, i thought about how they are looking for the caps for the month of february, so the blend would be fine to use, plus it's softer on the skin.

will you join in raising awareness for congenital heart disease and knit or crochet a hat or two?  you can find your nearest office on the website in my link above.

a late quilt fest posting

now that my best friend has moved back to town, i get to go hang out with her at the quilt festival.  we haven't been there together in 7 years!!  she wasn't sure she'd make it, but her hubby told me i had to kidnap her and take her.

so we got there early as usual, found fabulous parking next to the GRB and when we came up the stairwell into the park, we were instantly distracted by a really nice art fair.

westychic purchased a ring at this vendor.  we both got earrings and a handmade glass bead vendor and i got earrings at a silversmith.  we almost blew our fabric budget... could have if we didn't say no a bunch of times.

i barely took any photos this year.  i forgot my regular camera at home and just didn't feel in the mood to snap pictures of everything for some reason.  but we managed to get a cow selfie at the stitchin' heaven quilt shop booth.

mostly, we were on the hunt for fabrics to replace everything westychic lost in the harvey floods.  she knew of 180 yards worth and didn't calculate up the smaller pieces.  i gave her a variety of fabrics from my stash (some of which she helped pick over the years) and some patterns/magazines to get her started.  she picked up some fabulous patterns - a kaffe fasset, a sasquatch pattern from elizabeth hartman and something else i can't think of.  then we searched for the fabrics she wanted to use for each pattern she purchased and not much more than that.  we searched for more coordinating fabrics for a bundle westychic put together for the two of us to create a collaborative quilting project.  not sure what yet we're going to make with it, but i'm looking forward to starting.

my 15 yo redhead is obsessed with llamas as of late.  it started with his first "llama-esque" haircut early this year, as noted by one of our friends.  since then, it has run rampant.  i found this elizabeth hartman pattern and sent a photo to him jokingly, asking if he needed a new quilt.  he wrote "YES!"  and then later when he was home, that was the first thing he wanted to know if i got.. the llama pattern...

it has two quilt sizes and a pillow option.  one llama, two llamas or a llama close up.  :)  oh fransson was one of my earliest quilt blogs to read when i started really getting into quilting.  i'm thrilled to see her super fun patterns.

this quilt:

"cum et iris" by sandra ruano navarro

the spiral and how it joins is A-mazing.  i have no idea how she did it, but i'm in awe. 

and then there was danny amazonas.  holy cow.  that's him in the photo talking about his work.  

i can't begin to think of how he did this.  but the realism created from these oddball pieces/scraps of bright fabrics is unbelievable and beyond what i could have imagined.

all in all, a decent show.  seemed there were a few extra junk booths, which we skipped over.  and the show itself didn't allow as much photography as i wanted in the places i wanted to take photos.  the red xx project was eerie and made quite the statement.  the super traditional quilt portions didn't draw us in to look this year though.

a few october happenings

i'm a wee bit late... but a few highlights for the end of october.

my son officially passed his Star rank board of review and was awarded it at our troop court of honor.

a happy  mama and a troop tradition:  the mom's kiss

and for some reason, the cats hated the newest halloween costume.  can't figure out why... 

it's a wee bit big on her.  she tried to climb away.

but it fit the big boy hurricane harvey refugee perfectly!  i did not attempt to put the chicken feet on him.

his daddy was visiting and sent a different photo to westychic (mommy).  she didn't think it was nearly as funny as we did.

back to work on my happy pill

well... the #goarmy quilt has made it to it's new home this past weekend and i can resume work on other things.  my friend had intended on getting photos when she gave the quilt to its owner, but forgot her phone in her car.  but i am assured that tears of surprise and joy followed.

so on my drafting table is fabric (still) instead of paper to use my pencils with.  that's ok.  i get to work on my happy pill quilt again to eventually make its way to my bed.  

the little pile on the front right are stitched, but not trimmed.  and i'm getting much closer to finishing the quarter circle block stitching.  probably about another 30 to pin, plus the pile of at least that to sew.

we had a cool front come through yesterday morning.  it came through with a fierce vengeance and nearly sounded like a tornado.  i did hear that there were quite a few mesocyclones in my area, which could explain the force.  by the end of the day, the three of us went for a walk (i walked and they ran actually).  i couldn't help but take a photo near the elementary school playground of the sunset and the crescent moon in front of me.

happy monday to you all and i hope you get some gorgeous weather to work on your projects this week as well.

a little #goarmy and a little light

it's nearly finished!  after some delay and some working on dreaded curtains...

i decided to go with an overall swirl quilting in variagated blue thread.  it blends in beautifully on the mottled blue backing and it gave me a chance to test out the new machine.

i love the swirls on the red.  

although, i don't have any idea why, but the bobbin thread seemed to catch itself periodically.  the thread seems to double back on itself and then i can't move the quilt anywhere until i cut the threads on the backside.  i tried slower.  i tried faster.  didn't seem to matter which i did.  i dropped in a new bobbin.  same...  it's a brand new (and fairly pricey) machine, so why does it do it?  suggestions anyone?

hubby and i were walking around our local hardware stores, trying to find a new ceiling fan for the living room.  he wants bigger.  much bigger.  i just want something updated that looks better.  at the second store, i decided to browse lights for the kitchen, but he points out the above beauty.  i thought he was joking because it had color and character.  but no, he wanted them for the entry and the hall.

two lights and a new 60" ceiling fan in the cart later... he was put to work.  i love how it looks next to the teal walls of the living room and entry.  and it dresses up the hallway nicely.  good job D!

now it's time to finish the curtains.  i have the bottom hem and am cutting out the weighted cording his friend wants put back in the new curtains.  except hubby only brought me one of the two curtain bottom sections.  so i can't quite finish them yet.  i really do not like making these things.

post harvey happenings

at week 2 and week 3 post-hurricane harvey... there is a sense of "normal" happening, but that normal is nothing like before.  we are still broken, we are still running on high anxiety, we are still trying to repair/replace our lives.  our stores, our employment, our friends and family have all suffered in one way or another - even those of us who were fortunate enough to not have the devastation at our own home.

very early saturday morning on sept 9th, the gulf coast synod for ELCA gathered in 5 church locations around the greater houston area to set out and help in the community.  my church was one of those.  everything from mucking, demolishing and taking supplies out where needed.  i was one who got up to help make several hundred breakfast tacos to feel the volunteers.  my son helped cook and then helped muck a nearby lutheran church who flooded.

we had gatorade, tacos, water, fruit and all the essential protective gear.

people came from all over.  memorial lutheran was a friend's church when we were growing up and i visited from time to time.  then the lady on the left was from joplin, missouri.  people came from nebraska and wisconsin to assist.

we had others from galveston and other nearby churches by us.

this is what we do.  we gather together and help people we don't know.  we feed them.  we clothe them.  we try to give them peace.

another week goes by and i'm able to give my best friend a little something to help her get back to a normal.  she lost her entire fabric stash, all patterns - quilt and clothing, all tools except her machines, which were salvaged while water was still 2 feet in her home.  

we showed up for dinner on the back patio, which was now empty of all the belongings and furniture i help muck out two weeks earlier.

but this is what you see everywhere you turn.  entire homes on a lawn.  entire neighborhoods void of regular happenings.

you can't help but cry driving around while you see what survived and what did not.  i know florida and the islands are going through this as well after irma.  i pray for those communities who have for the first time in centuries have no people living there.  i pray for the atlantic to calm down soon, but i see storm after storm gather strength and speed and it's hard to have hope until it fizzles out somewhere else.

for the first time since the rain of harvey stopped 2 1/2 weeks ago, it rained lightly this morning.  and i know there are people fearing what it brings, even though it was not much.

my week with harvey

the past 7 days were spent dealing with or after harvey.  there is much more to come and i am extremely grateful it wasn't worse for my family itself.  it was so widespread in our part of texas - my parents took on water, but got it under control and am now ripping out sheetrock.  my brother has roof damage and leaks.  too many friends are now putting their whole life on a street curb as they clear out 2-6 ft of water from inside their houses.

friday, aug 25...day 1 in the morning

saturday, aug 26... day 2 while we could still get our a little

day 2... the water had pushed rip rap to the other side of the road and broke barriers

day 2.... as harvey moves from rockport to houston, we got slammed by the dirty rainbands.

sunday, aug 26th...day 3.  sh*t is getting real.  just past midnight and water is ankle deep halfway up the drive

day 3.... 3:30am and the water rose to about 5 ft from my front door.  i'm told by others it rose more after i went in. it came within an inch from my back door.

day 3...this is what the exit for my house looked like at the freeway.  this is a 6 lane freeway with 2 land feeder roads in both directions.

day 3.... the neighborhoods are getting water rescued by boat.  my friend is in the one next door.

monday, aug 28... day 4.  we took in friends and their 3 cats the night before after they were rescued.  on this day, my husband, friend and their youngest son kayaked in to the house to remove floating carpet and the kickplates from the cabinets.  water was still 2 feet inside.

day 4.... this only shows major roads flooded, and some got worse as creeks and bayous rose.  i was sitting in an island and couldn't go anywhere

tuesday, aug 29... day 5.  started out that my husband and friend's husband walked to the house to float tubs out of valuables.  later, my ex brough his boat over to take them in and get more.

day 5... my son, loading up wet and dryish belongings to his dad's boat.  a complete stranger with a truck met them closer to the main road and brought two truckloads to my house.

day 5.... most of the salvagable contents of their house in my garage.

wednesday, aug 30...day 6.  the sun has come out as the storm shifted to beaumont.  i have friends there too.  but i got to go to work for a few hours.  this is usually a much smaller "lake" and you can see the tree tops sticking out.

day 6... where the water level still was at my friend's house.  she does not live along waterfront property.

day 6... another evacuee rescued.

day 6... her words:  "cheeseburgers....a moment of bliss in the midst of disaster.

day 6.... i helped them move back into their house last year in june after a few years stationed somewhere else.  now i helped move everything out.  wet.

day 6...amazingly, the wood floors didn't even buckle.  but they will.

my heart is broken for the people i know and the people i do not know.  i was lucky but panicked that i would not be.  we worked hard to save the house when water was about to rush in, but some could not do the same.  we will rebuild and we will persevere.