Family Christmas

Life …

Our family was finally all … all 18 of us … all together for an evening meal.

We invited Scott and Fred to join us.

“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” with Gina at the piano.

“If only he wouldn’t cry when I hold him.”

These pecans will make good cinnamon rolls and party mix.

Rummikub is fast becoming a favorite game.

I miss the singing and guitar playing that Dustin created.

Amy and Ashton hang out with Dustin and Gina.

Now that Georgi is 4 she gets to go to Sunday School and has graduated from a child’s car seat to a booster seat.

During that cold snap not too long ago when our water pipes busted, there really was ice on the pond thick enough to hold a few small rocks, but nothing more.

… as a Quilter

While Gina was paging through one of my quilt magazines she found a small modern quilt that inspired her to try to make it. I quickly encouraged her to pick some fabric, cut off the amount she needed,  and find backing and batting, before her enthusiasm waned.

I decided that each of the children could pick something from our “stuff” instead of us buying Christmas gifts for each of them. Gina chose my quilt “Rice Paddies and Cranberry Bogs.” She thought she could use it in decorating their house.

Work in Progress and Our Family

My design wall is full! I have a lot of projects that need finishing! And then too I have a few that are ready to go on exhibit and I just got back some of my work from another exhibit and decided to pin them up also for the time being.

 

A few years back I was influences by my sister Polly the Patchworker at a quilt show to purchase some embroidery blocks from Africa. In so doing we would be helping out disadvantaged rural African women. You can read about the Tambani project here. I pulled out my blocks and sashed them and sewed them together to be hand quilted later. I am needing some hand work for a road trip we plan to take West this summer.

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We used to be two … and now we are 17!

Family, Claire Bleu Quilts, Gina’s Quilt

Talya and Clyde

When a stray cat showed up at our house, Gabriel befriended it and named it Homey. Later when Homey came around she was much thinner. So Gabriel searched and found where she had her kittens. And when he kept watching he was sure one of them was a possum latching on to  her belly.

Then he became the possums friend too and made a nice box and home for the mother cat and her little ones. Unfortunately Homey moved her litter and somehow, Pogo the possum didn’t make it. I like it when boys are kind to animals. It tells me something about their character!

Gabriel’s sister Claire Bleu came to visit one weekend.

She brought along her “en plien air” quilting picture that she had started a few weeks back, and wanted to finish it.

I was amazed at all the different colors of thread she pulled out to stitch onto the fused fabric pieces.

I encouraged her to make a small sample piece to practice on and get the thread tension correct. When I saw what she made, I thought it was way too nice to use for practice.

And then later she made a second one to go with the first one. She left these 2 pieces here for me to quilt and finish.

Here’s her finished “Graber Farms” quilt. She is planning to add a green border and fold it around a stretcher board.

And it really does resemble our farm! Great job!

Cousins with Ashton and Gina

Gina and Tina

Gina finished her quilt and I quilted it but didn’t get the binding on before they left.

She made a huge gigantic block for the back.

I could tell she was right pleased with herself and amazed her mom and friends!

Gina Makes a Quilt, Hangar Talk, and Guests

Gina obliged me by making a fresh modern quilt.

It was fun watching and helping her make her first quilt.

And she had fun doing it.

Gabriel, getting ready to cover the horizontal stabilizer of his ultra light Leagle Eagle.

He had lots of help.

Amy & Ashton served cold drinks for all.

It was a fun evening in the hangar for these siblings, cousins, and friends.

Dustin & Gina. We were so glad they could come from Penn Yan to be with us for almost a week.

Gluing, clamping, rolling, and ironing.

Talya had her first birthday.

We stretched out the table good and long for our pizza supper and fed 28. A few of the little ones sat at their own small table in the kitchen.

It’s good I made 4 pizzas. We only had a little left over.

Katie Jo and Ashton try their best to comfort Tina.

Guests other than our family were: Darren & Becky and Corina …

… Jeff & Sherri, Chloe, Skylar, & Campbell …

… and Jason & Karla, Katie Jo and Lia.

So … which floats in water, a regular Pepsi or a diet Pepsi? And what are the implications?

And like I said before, it was so good to have Dustin and Gina home for a while.

Emily’s Art, Family Life

I talked my sister Emily into making a small art quilt. She took a picture of their farm truck’s license plate and created this piece “painting” it with thread. I wish you could see it up close. She did a marvelous job!

I love Georgi’s pose and Kirby’s gentle smile.

It was hard to get a smile from these two cousins.

I know Ashton is enjoying this ride with Uncle Quinten.

And I know this is a pretty sunset, but somehow my heart was all fluttery and scared.

Cousins, Gabriel and Dustin

Practicing songs for a Sunday evening program.

My cousin Ruthie’s son Kevin came for a visit.

Me and my girls had a day out thrifting and fabric shopping. We stopped at …

… a coffee shop for a treat.

Since Amy couldn’t be with us, the next day we had lunch with her at Mi Ranchitos.