Just Keepin N Touch: March 2018

Quilts!

This quilt that I finished in December 2018 was given to Coleman as a comfort quilt in the nursing home.

Hazel added the gray and black borders after Mom showed interest in getting it for him.

I finished sewing the binding on this one on Aug. 8. It's 48 x 58 inches - throw size. Again, Hazel had scraps she wanted used up so she gave me the squares all cut out to put together. I worked on it about 17 hours, and had some help from Hazel sandwiching it to speed it along before we leave for a couple of months so it can be in her Sept. 9 quilt sale. Randy calls it psychedelic.

I finished this throw size quilt on June 13, 2018 (43 x 51 inches). It will be given as a comfort quilt. She had lots of scraps with hearts she wanted used up that she cut up and gave me to make into a throw.

I finished sewing the binding on this quilt yesterday morning - my first pinwheel quilt. I made it for Sonshine Quilting Ministry with Hazel's coaching. The back is the same as the outer border - it's all from batik fabrics. It measures 64 x 71 - almost 6 ft. long. I've been quilting with her for 3 1/2 years, one afternoon a week, so it takes me quite awhile to finish a quilt, especially when we're out of town so much nowadays. It's the ninth quilt I've made, plus the t-shirt quilt I made for Ryan a year ago. I enjoy it a lot so am thankful she tolerates my schedule. This quilt will be given to somebody in the CCC as a comfort quilt more than likely.

This is the first quilt I made - it was throw size, and was given to a guy who was in Ruthie's class at MVA. He died tragically shortly after it was given to him.

This was also given as a comfort quilt. She gave me the pile of squares to arrange, following the pattern for the cross.

This was given to a baby dedicated at CCC. The squares are just laid out on the flannel board here. I didn't get a picture of the top once it was finished unfortunately. The back of the finished quilt is above.

She gave me a kit with the fabric in it and directions to follow for this one. It's one of my favorites that I've made. I think it sold in one of her fall yard quilt sales.

This one I liked better before the rust border was sewn on. I would have preferred a different color, in a couple of narrower borders. It was given to a former student of mine (Delaney Miller) whose brother passed away last fall.

This was fun to arrange and then put together. She gave me squares to cut into strips - this pattern is called fence post?

This was a quickie she had me make to use up scraps. I loved the bright colors. It's a child-size quilt.

This is another one of my favorites, zig-a-zag or some such name. It was given to Milton as a comfort quilt so I get to see it now and then.

Now I'm working at home on a t-shirt quilt for Randy, using up a lot of school-related t-shirts from his 41 years of teaching. When you sponsor a class these days, you get a different t-shirt each year. Don't worry, he still has drawers of wearable t-shirts I didn't cut up. I'll be putting red and black plaid flannel on the back and black flannel strips between all the t-shirts with red binding around the black border. In this picture, I had finished pressing the fusible pellon onto all 30 squares and laid them out on the king-size guest room bed once we decided how we wanted them arranged.

Ryan's t-shirt quilt that he got for Christmas 2016. It's made from shirts of schools he attended and taught at and favorite teams.

Linda Comes to Visit when Tim is in Town

We got out my old Seven Seas game to play with Linda when she was here March 7 - 11. She had planned to visit on her way to FL, but then her hosts in FL went back early to ON due to a medical emergency, so she came JUST to see us! Turns out she went on to Lincoln to see her son and his family for a week before going back home. Good move!

Tim and Karen were in town Sun. and Mon. to present seminars at a couple of churches. Linda had heard him before so was happy to be here to go with us to visit with them at their motel before the Sun. night seminar we attended. He's my first cousin who lives in Idaho, but is only home on the rare occasion. He's an evangelist teaching about Islam and Christianity in Bible prophecy, specifically he talks about Daniel 11:2 - 12:4 and who the king of the north (the Papacy) and king of the south (Islam) are in prophecy (Daniel 11:40)

March 12-22 in Plymouth with visit from the Grands. . .

The trip to MI on Mon., March 12, was very snowy in northern TN and KY!

Randy and his Dad helped fix some plumbing problems at Anne's house. She's so thankful to have a sink and vanity and tub with plumbing in her main floor bathroom now. It was a challenging job - but Dad was a good teacher, telling Randy how to "sweat joints." Randy also replaced her garbage disposal and repaired a leak in her furnace. What a handy guy to have around!

Getting water to the tub

They did a lot of running up and down to the basement where the pipes were - and trying to squeeze into some very tight quarters. Jake was the only one who could do the job at one point.

Randy was stumped at one point when a galvanized pipe twisted off and left threads in the cast iron. Terry suggested using a "rubber boot" with a reducer with a trap/drain, and it worked with no leaks.

Getting water to the sink in the new vanity

Thurs. night Anne took us to usher with her at the Fisher Theater in downtown Detroit. We got to enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" production.

Riding Sandy at Meijer; it's still just a penny a ride!

We bowled with Dad's league the last Tues. we were there after the plumbing job was complete!

We enjoyed seeing Ryan and his family on the weekend. Hines Park on Sabbath afternoon was lots of fun, having Pooh stick races in the creek and climbing on a big rope jungle gym.

At the motel pool where they stayed in Plymouth

Thanks for coming to see us during your spring break!

They're wearing their "new" clothes I got for them at the local thrift stores. Motown Thrift on Middlebelt has become a favorite stop when in town.

I got some new Corelle dishes there that Grandpa bought for us - the Hometown pattern. They were made in 1998-2000 so we may not find many around the thrift stores. I do hope to find one more plate sometime. Something to look for at yard sales this summer! I've already looked at the Samaritan Center and two Goodwill stores around here.

Showing his plumbing pictures to Colleen and Ryan

You can see the stock quotes on the TV behind us that run all the time at Grandpa's house. It was bad news for Facebook. . .

He's lookin' a little sleepy

Claire was reading her journal entries to me from her diary that I gave her.

at Hines Park with the kids

The jungle gym was very intriguing for young and old!

Claire loved climbing around and went right to the top on it.

The shuttle Ryan drove kids home in for spring break worked to get us all to the park and to the thrift store shopping, etc.

On our way home we stayed overnight in Pigeon Forge and went to Dollywood's Festival of Nations on Friday. The Siberian show was the best (pictured above) - the rest were a little lack luster this year we thought, especially South Africa's line of 13 guys who chanted very repetitively and once in a while kicked a leg up over their head. What a drag! S. America's show was a little strange too, but you can be thankful we didn't take any pictures there.

Ruthie and Milton met us at Dollywood, which made it more fun.

Five Days with our Grandkids!

We went to Virginia on Thurs, March 1, with Ruthie n Milt, who were going up to see Mom. Randy took his tools to repair their hot water heater and had ordered an element that was there waiting on him. It was no easy task since calcium had "cemented" the element in place. But the job was finally completed Sunday. The pictures below aren't in order but for the moment, it will have to suffice. We enjoyed chilly but sunny weather during our five days there.