Memorial Day

My Father passed away January 25th of this year.
Today I went, with my Mother and sister Lucy's family,
to the little cemetery where he was buried.

My nieces and I had gathered flowers from around Mom's home.

We made 2 lovely, mostly wild flower, bouquets.

We placed one on Dad's grave and the

other one my Brother-in-Law's Mother's grave.

It was a good day for remembering.
We had a lovely visit.

Summer's Here

Summer's here
I'm for that
Got my rubber sandals,
Got my Straw Hat.
It's my favorite time of the year
and I'm glad that it's here.


Just a little song by James Taylor that has been going through my head that last few days.
Well here is my summer SASSY APRON for someone special. But I won't say who.

My sister told me that this was an apron that my Mother's Mother would always make for the Church bazaars when my mother was frowing up. Well I am alwasy up for a chaneges when it comes to sewing so I came up with a pattern using my quilting tools. It was time consuming and I know of alot of ways to make it faster now that I have finished it. But that is for next time.

Clsoe up of the waist band. The one rule for summer was that you must..."The apron has to have some sort of embellishment this time like Ric-rack, fancy trims, decorative stitching, BUT must be washable so NO GLUE.) " Well I used NO GLUE!!! I sewed every thing.

Here is the close up of the hem detail.

I did end up making it revesable. I was just going to line it but if you go to the work of linning it you might as well make it pretty and sassy on both sides.

Fabric Swap

Tracey at Itching 2 B Stitching is hosting a fabric scrap swap. If she can get enough people to sign up you could get 2 partners. It is open until May 20th. To sign up you need to go over to her blog and get the information and email her. It sounds like a lot of fun. This is a great way to clear out some of your old bits and get someone else's little treasures. You know that one gal's scraps are another gal's treasures.

Happy Mother's Day

Lenore Wood Bennion

Today is that day that we honor those women who raised us, who gave us of their time and love. I know that I gave my mother fits growing up.

She didn't deserve it.

One of my daughters gave my a little pin that she made when expecting her first child.It was like a little book that folded out and said,

"A woman can only understand her mother once she has become one."

The older I get the more I realize what my mother did for me. I don't believe that you have to actually give birth and raise children to be a loving woman who mothers others. I have known so many women who have never had the opportunity to be mothers who have had such an influence on me and my children. But now that I am facing the dreaded empty nest I look back on my life and am so very grateful to my mother for all that she has taught me.

I just want to thank her.

Because she took the time to teach me to sew when I was 12 years old, (And boy did that take patience!) I was able to sew wedding dresses and prom dresses for my daughters. Mother would make me sew PJ's for my little brothers. She said it didn't matter what they looked like but I needed the practice. She taught me to sew French seams and flat-feld seams. When I was only in Ninth grade she bought me the fabric to make my own coat and helped me make bound button holes. There wasn’t anything I wasn’t confident enough to sew. Because of this I was able to sew anything for my children. At one point I was making every thing they worn except their shoes and socks. …Thanks Mom!

I don't remember how old I was when Mother taught me to cook. I do know that I was baking cookies by the time I was 10 because I cut my finger on a Crisco can lid. I remember Mom teaching me about tsp. tbl. and c., and how to measure Crisco in the liquid measuring cup using water displacement. When I was about 13 Mom handed me the recipe for whole wheat bread and asked me to make it. There was a list of ingredients and no instructions. It is a good thing I had watched Mom enough to know how to knead the bread. It turned out well and I have been baking bread ever since. In fact when my brother Joe the Potter was teaching me to make pots and was showing me how to knead the clay he was quite impressed how quickly I picked up his new technique. It wasn’t until the next time I was making bread that I realized that I had mastered that technique when I was 13.

Thanks Mom for taking the time to teach me to cook. I have fed my family for years now.

My mother raised a large family. There are 12 of us living children. Here we are before the last 2 were born. I just love this picture of us. That is me with wiggly Sam on my lap on the front row. Happy Days.

Here we all are right after my Father's funeral. What a crown of jewels.

Mother went back to school when I was in Jr. High. It took her several years of summer school and night classes but she graduated from collage in August of 1974. I was so proud of my mother for that. She became a kindergarten teacher after me parents moved to rural Missouri. She taught in the public schools until she was 72.

She was well loved but her teaching influence started way before that. I remember Mom reading to us every night when I was growing up. We didn't have a TV in the home for most of my life and this was a great way to keep us quiet for a while. But because of this we are all avid readers. We have had many family discussions on books we have read all the way from Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings. The interesting thing is that Mom rarely read a novel for herself. She said that she felt that her time was too precious so she needed to use it wisely. Mom always read the news paper, Church magazines, Educational journals and all of the National Geographic(not just the pictures).
Thanks Mom for reading to me.

Because my Mother made parenting look so easy and installed in her children the importance of family she now has close to 1oo descendants. Every year she makes a handmade Christmas ornament for her grand children and great grand children.

Octophrost from Christmas 2007
99 Opctopi. You can read about it here and here.

I now am contunuing the tradition with my own grand children.Here is a wonderful 4 generation picture with me, Mom, Madi, and Rachel.

Thanks again Mom for being such a good example to me.

The Wedding

Well the wedding has come and gone and I think I will live. After the wedding reception was over and we were cleaning up I was talking with some one. (I talked with so many people that day) I realized that we weren’t done until we got home unpacked and put every thing away. So well I almost have every thing put away. So I wanted to share a few pictures. My daughter Josie took the pictures.

Emily and Cousin Katie (Her Maid of Honor)

The Bride, Emily

A Close up of the wedding dress.

The Newly Wed Couple
Emily and Lance

Men in Black

Lane and Braxton, the Best Man

The Father and the Bride

The Mother and the Bride

The Grooms Family

The Brides Family

The Cake.

Spring Quilt's

Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail

I started this spring quilt in March but then I had to concentrate on my daughter's wedding so I had to put off finishing it till the last minute. But I did get it in the Mail on May 1st. So I just squeaked under the wire.

I did have several people ask me what it was. It is 3 bunnies: Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. They have been over to see Mr. McGregor’s Garden. And here is the finished quilt.

If you look carefully you can see the carrots growing in Mr. McGregor's Garden

Close up of the bunnies.

And the cute little faces.

All the way from Luxemburg

I got this wonderful little quilt from Liliane at addicted
It is absolutely beautiful. I just love it.

What a happy day to open a package all the way from Luxemburg

Her workmanship is just great. I love the colors. I have always wanted to do a log cabin quilt so of course I just love this one.

OH Happy day!!!