Lilly, Memphis and the Featherweights

Last year, I discovered the Singer Featherweight. Like millions of women before me -- I fell in love. The more I learned about the Featherweight, the more I wanted one. My enthusiasm was helpful in convincing Rhonda Pierce to devote an entire issue of the Schmetz digital magazine, Inspired To Sew (click on the link below) to the Fabulous Featherweight!!

Thanks to Ritaluck -- one month later, I found my own Featherweight at an estate sale ($150). I gave it to Lilly for Christmas last year. She was kind of under-whelmed. But I hoped it would be a gift she'd grow into....and one that could still be part of her life when she's my age.

This is my Featherweight...

This is my sister Ronda, who is giving me a Master Class on ragged edge flannel quilts.

Ronda WANTED A FEATHERWEIGHT. She does more sewing than anybody I know..(and I know some serious sewing types, people.) But Ronda sews every single day...for hours....she is obsessed and addicted to flannel, ragged edge blankets. WHICH REQUIRES A TON OF STRAIGHT STITCHING.

She wanted a Singer Featherweight...and as soon as her wish was clear to me, RITALUCK dropped a 1956 Model, in perfect condition -- with the book and extra bobbins. SHE WAS SO EXCITED..($250).

The week between Christmas and New Year's -- Ronda and I always do a day with our girls.

My Lilly and Ronda's Memphis...

Last year, they each made their own ragged edge flannel blankets.

Lilly picked out all the fabrics, but I did most of the sewing.

THIS YEAR, the big difference was we wanted the girls to do most of the actual sewing...

Ronda is giving the girls a tutorial. Their warm-up project was a little flannel bag...

This day was so special....but the project we picked just about whipped us. It seemed so simple in the beginning....ugh.  I could pretend it all went perfectly...but, then again -- THAT WOULD BE WRONG...

Next week, you'll see how it all turned out!!

My Perfect Christmas Gift

So, yes, Laura was right. There is MORE to the story...I was having the perfect pre-Christmas ramp-up. Making Warren's little t-shirt memory quilt was a complete joy for me...

Although, there is always a danger that your gift will not be received as you hope....I was well aware of that.  His Christmas Choo Choo vest was a complete flop...

When Emily helped him open the big box, Warren got a huge smile and said, "My B...My B..."  he dove in -- right for the well-worn turtle print...

Then, he sat back -- and took a closer look...humm.....

At this point, he threw himself down on his favorite little patch of flannel and started to cry..."B OUT...B OUT...B OUT..."

I felt so bad for kidnapping his turtle....John had to distract him with his 1951 American Flyer...

And I told him he could sleep in Frankie's new dog bed...

But there were MANY SUCCESSES during the 2015 Christmas Season...my special dress was quite a hit...and this activity, in particular, was pretty special....

My intention is to blog about Christmas for a whole week...

Warren's Ragged Edge Blanket

If you have ever red this blog, you know how much Warren loves his "B's".  When he was a baby, the receiving blankets my sister Ronda made for him (single layer, full 45" square) became his favorite comfort item and wherever he went, he would be fine if he just had one of these....

My favorite picture of Warren...and one of his treasured, original "b's"

I have also blogged about the fact that last year, when we realized his original blankets were wearing very thin, I decided to make him MANY MORE B'S. However, he didn't want anything to do with the new flannel blankets...so I started shopping at thrift stores...and he soon had a huge stash of his favorite thing -- used flannel blankets...

He really likes to have five or six of them with him at all times...

I decided it would be a wonderful idea to make a ragged edge quilt for Warren for Christmas. USING SOME OF HIS FAVORITE FLANNEL BLANKETS. Right??

I combined pieces from some of his favorite b's, some new flannel squares, and some t-shirts.

After cutting a lot of 10" squares...I laid out the quilt. (this is good exercise!)

One of his Dad's Army t-shirts...

The Navy for Grandpa, the Cubs for Uncle Ross.

For me, this year, Warren's ragged edge quilt was THE gift I was most excited about...I'd had so much fun making it for him, I was so anxious for him to see it, and love it...

What could go wrong, eh??

Ross, Mary and Baxter, Minnesota

Yesterday, I got up at 4:00 AM so I could take Mary to the Moline airport.  Even with the bad weather out East, she never got a ding from Delta about a problem with her flight -- so I just threw her out on the sidewalk and went home (and BACK TO BED).

I did not realize until 6:00 last night that HER PLANE NEVER TOOK OFF....ugh...that Mary!!

Despite her long trip home...2016 will go down as a WONDERFUL TIME...and every minute of every day was jam packed.

Ross and John cooked, set the table (with real napkins, even)...Ross and Mary go WAY BACK....She was at his 16th birthday party -- when we gave him a car (it was also born in 1977). 

During this recent visit, on Saturday night, Ross, Mary, Lilly and I played a rousing game of Bananagrams (for over an hour, Linda P!).

I'll download the pictures in the next day or so -- and THERE WILL BE NEW BLOG POSTS.

But, for today -- here's a  2010 post, about the one time I visited BOTH OF THEM in Minnesota.

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Here are the two pictures I have of me and Ross during my visit to Baxter, Minnesota...here we are, visiting his friends...(there's a brand new baby in that house!)

I only stayed one night -- the next morning, we went out for breakfast...you can clearly see how delighted he was when I asked the waitress to take this picture...

Then, I got in my little rental car and DROVE FOR 3 1/2 hours to Mary Mulari's house. Minnesota is lovely. Lots of trees and lakes. The whole morning looked like this....mile after mile of trees...no houses, no farms, no animals. NO OTHER CARS, NO GAS STATIONS, NO BATHROOMS...(83 miles with NOT A SINGLE BATHROOM...really??)

So -- please try to imagine how shocked I was when this sign popped up for no apparent reason....


WHA??? It made no sense. Driving 60 mph, I thought I dreamed it....so I hit the brakes and DID A U-TURN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. I drove back to take this picture. Otherwise, there was no way you would believe me.

WHAT IS THIS SIGN ABOUT?? AND WHY IS IT HERE??

Anybody have a clue??...I just cannot figure it out...

In the middle of a thousand miles of forests and lakes...a yellow road sign with a black cow??

Is it a "cow wanted" poster??

Like -- "Have you seen one of these?"

Maybe -- "Hey Wisconsin -- can you spare a cow?"

You've gotta love a highway department with a sense of humor...

Mary's visit

HEY -- MARY MULARI IS COMING TO TOWN..!! So, of course, you know I'll be too busy laughing and having a good time and helping Mary catch up with all my people...there's going to be a belated birthday dinner, and some thrift store shopping, Mary's working on a new television topic with Nancy, and -- well -- WE ARE EXCITED...

So, I may be hitting the pause key on the blog for a few days...but I'll have lots to write about AFTER the visit, eh??

Mary's 2011 Visit

During Mary's recent visit -- we had a LOT OF GROUND to cover. There were people to see, places to go, thrift shops to scour, patterns to make, designs to review...IT IS EXHAUSTING...

We are an excellent team -- and we've been doing this for a long time now. One of our lesser known talents is that we offer free babysitting. Well, actually, the only other time we babysat was for Mary's niece Sarah -- who lives in Norway. After our night of babysitting with Elias and Stella -- nine months later, they welcomed a new baby sister...and I thought they should name her "Marita"...but they did not. But, hey -- they DID name her Maia...(spelling in question)...


So -- picture this. Mary is visiting Iowa. It's Emily's birthday. I offered to go to their house and babysit so Elliott could take Emily out for dinner. (Their FIRST night out since Warren was born on January 1.) Lillian is delighted. Pictured here -- playing Bingo -- after a rousing game of Chutes and Ladders.

Warren is a very happy, content baby...and of course, we have the vigilant Sophie who is like a third member of the babysitting team...

But -- hey -- two kids REQUIRES at least two babysitters. There was a lot to do. Supper, bath, games...YIKES....


At one point, Mary was in the living room with Warren and I was in the bathroom, getting the bath tub ready for Lilly (finding the bubble stuff, toys, towels, pajamas, etc.)

Lilly pulled her shirt over her head, and said, "I'm going to run out there naked because I think Mary will enjoy it."

Before I could say a word -- she ran out of the bathroom SQUEALING with all her might. Warren was startled...and I don't think Mary enjoyed it as much as Lillian hoped...

Hey -- we are GREAT babysitters. And I will let you know what happens nine months from now...

Mary's 2010 December Visit

From 2010:

Today, Mary is coming for her annual December visit. So the other day, Carrie helped me do the after-Thanksgiving-cleaning...and we started to break out "Mugs and Rugs"-- my own speed version of Christmas decorating.




At some point during her visit -- we'll have to get a tour of the Blackhawk Hotel. The remodel wasn't QUITE done last year when Mary visited...

I'll pick Mary up at the Moline airport. Mary often needs one more flight to maintain HER GOLD STATUS with the airline...
Last year -- we had to go directly from the airport TO THE LOCAL KINKO'S because I had to fax my final changes for the 2011 registration brochure for the Sewing Expo...

AND Mary was also on a deadline -- so she was using another Kinko's work station...

Carrie helped me get the guest room ready for Mary. Line-dried sheets, of course...and a special appliqued winter bed quilt...

This year, Mary is doing seminars on Friday in Muscatine for Neal's Sewing. So maybe we'll see you there!

Or -- at the book club breakfast....or the Rita's Sew Fun Reunion luncheon.....or at the local Goodwill store or Salvation Army Thrift shop....then, too, there's a Christmas tour of the John Deere mansion....the Blackhawk Hotel is going to be ALL DECKED OUT for it's first Christmas after the extensive $42 million remodel...

NO END TO THE FUN, PEOPLE...!!

Former Guest Room

I decided that instead of taking a Blog Break, I should post previous "Mary is coming to town" blog posts.  This way, you will have a little sense of what's happening here in Iowa.  I got quite a kick out of reading these myself:

From 2009:

MANY of you are dealing with Christmas visitors. Whenever I get company -- my favorite part is making up their beds. I especially love to hang their sheets out on the line so they smell fresh and wonderful. And, of course, I dig out my best embroidered pillowcases. During Mary's recent visit, I washed my most elaborate embroidered top sheet...


The quilt on the bed is a winter scene, complete with ice-skating. But, of course, the really big story in our guest room is the paint job on the walls...


This paint job happened years ago, after Ross moved out of the house. I invited my sisters & cousins to my house for a paint party and the room got a complete REDO. We were experimenting -- there may have been Margueritas involved...

I wasn't content with every wall being a different color (like my living room). Why not paint free-form lightening bolts and use two or three different colors of paint?? This is the door...

And this is the opposite wall -- where I sit to do my jigsaw puzzles. Notice the yellow ceiling...which comes down onto the wall. Mostly because we were all laughing too hard to deal with a fussy straight line...

This is Mary's last night -- packing up two GIGANTIC suitcases full of Ya Ya treasure...we had to get up at 4:00 AM to get her to the airport.

I told her we couldn't have coffee for the trip to the airport -- because the caffeine would interfere with my master plan. Which was to drive her there (45 min.) drop her off, drive home, get back in bed and pretend it never happened...

Mary's Winter Visit!!

Mary Mulair is coming TOMORROW for her annual winter visit...and since I didn't even officially have CHRISTMAS packed away -- I've been pretty busy this week.

Carrie is coming this morning to do the second part of her "double" -- and Warren is spending the night (every Wednesday)....

We have a very action-packed visit planned!! So don't worry -- AND YOU MAY NOT HEAR FROM ME UNTIL NEXT MONDAY. 

It's just a case of being too busy LIVING a life to actually BLOG about it. Here's a post about LAST YEAR's MM winter visit...

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 I like to think Mary comes here every year because of the high level of entertainment Iowa has to offer...(yes, that is sarcasm)...

The week before her visit -- the TMBC previewed an event at the German American Heritage Center.

We were just a threesome that day...Lin. P. was being a snowbird in Texas.. (pussy).

The  German American Museum in Davenport, Iowa is a WONDERFUL little museum...

This was the mini-quilt exhibit we were previewing.

AND OF COURSE I had a lot of cleaning and organizing to do at the house. Which is why IT IS SO GOOD to have guests every now and then. It forces you to TAKE A LOOK AROUND your house with new eyes.

Carrie started cleaning for me when she was 14 years old. YIKES. She reminded me the other day of the very first time Mary Mulari was coming to be a guest in my home. We were cleaning like crazy...time was running out....Carrie asked me what she should do with a big box of books? I said, "put it in the basement"....a bag of seasonal clothes?..."put it in the basement"...a rogue backpack?..."put it in the basement". After a long day of this, Carrie asked, "what happens if Mary Mulari tries to go down to the basement?"

Without any hesitation, I said, "if she opens the basement door, I'll have to push her down and start the house on fire..."

Of course, a lot has changed since that first visit. And there isn't any part of my house Mary isn't welcome to see. And maybe that's the true measure of friendship, eh? True friends can go to my basement...because I know I won't be judged.

But -- hey -- who are we kidding?? Carrie had to come do a "double" to help me get ready for Mary's visit.

Lilly's room had to be de-Princessed. And these sheets were out on the line for two days. GOD THEY SMELLED GREAT...

There were several welcome gifts waiting for her...

I always enjoy my little part of the world here in Princeton, Iowa. But there is something extra special about being able to share it with a dear friend.

ESPECIALLY when you have a cleaning lady!!