Samplers

There are SO MANY important elements to the Art of Homemaking Exhibit

Sprinkled throughout the Art of Homemaking exhibit will be my numerous embroidered cross-stitch samplers.

EVEN I was surprised how many of these I owned...Holy Cow...

For many years, they hung on my hallway wall...

I am always attracted to words of wisdom...

Mary and I used this one as inspiration for our Seven Days A Week Embroidery CD...

OF COURSE.!

A Stitch In Time

Everyone is queer but Thee and Me and sometimes I wonder about Thee...

The best thing about the Samplers is that they don't have to be ironed...

Get to work,Rhonda!

APRONS, APRONS, APRONS. This is a picture of some of my favorite people -- wearing one of my favorite things. My sister Ronda, my friend Rhonda, and my dear friend Phyllis. We were taking part in a Schmetz Sewing Machine needle focus group. And I shared a "sewing story" where the aprons came into play. Gingham aprons were the first thing I started collecting...




This year, Rhonda will be coming to my house for Thanksgiving -- and then I'M PUTTING HER TO WORK. She will help me hang the Art of Homemaking exhibit at the Bettendorf Library.

Gingham aprons were the first thing I started collecting...

Two weeks ago, we had a "sewing day"at the Library -- and I quickly made a sign...

And I just happened to have this beautiful piece of embroidery -- "Where Ever You May Roam,There Is No Place Like Home",

LP recently bought a NEW Featherweight -- so she brought all the supplies we needed to REFRESH OUR CARRYING CASE.

My #3 Featherweight, Sister Sally Donovan, was overdue for a Spa Day...

Sandy was working on some Christmas blocks.

I brought a HUGE ASSORTMENT of aprons -- thinking everybody could pick out five or six...

But, as it happened -- since the showcases were empty -- I decided to iron a few aprons and display them as kind of a "tease" for the upcoming Exhibit.

LP chose a Christmas Apron theme for her display case.

Sandy decided to hang an assortment of Gingham Aprons with Chicken Scratch embroidery.

Before we left the library -- we had filled four display cases with some pretty spectacular aprons!!

Chris (from the library) opened one of the main cases so I could display my Featherweight...

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THIS EXHIBIT IS GONNA be SPECTACULAR....
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Happy Thaksgiving!!

Although some things never change -- Thanksgiving is not one of those things. A family is alive...which means it is always growing -- or shrinking. People come, people go (depending on the people, either one of those things could be the good news or the bad news).

Every family has their happy times. Birthday parties, graduations, good test scores, promotions, beautiful weddings, new babies.

Then there are the not-so-happy occasions. Kids move away. Couples get divorced and the dining room furniture is hauled off to the Goodwill. People die, they get sick, lose their jobs, or maybe their house burns down...

Every one of those things -- good or bad -- has one thing in common.

Change...

If you were having the perfect Thanksgiving....you probably would NOT be reading this blog today...So, I am going to assume that something about this day isn't going right.

You are not alone...Trust me...

If your day sucked -- if you feel lonely -- or somebody hurt your feelings -- or disappointed you...or you are dealing with a loss....well -- it's a very long line you're standing in...

Thanksgiving has become a holiday full of pressure. Norman Rockwell painted a fictional picture that no family could live up to.  The people you THINK are having a better day than you are probably bored out of their minds, feeling jealous or resentful of their annoying siblings, pissed off at their ungrateful children, and have spent the entire day biting their tongues...

Chances are good they are telling you the heavily-edited Norman Rockwell-version of their day....because it's easier to pretend everything was perfect....

The good news is -- IT'S JUST ONE DAY!!

If today REALLY sucked -- my advice is to write it all down. Just for yourself. It is so interesting to read these journal entries AFTER the fact. It's how I learn. Every single time. If you write it down honestly -- then go back and read it next year, maybe you can PREVENT having another meltdown, crappy Thanksgiving.

But that almost always means you must embrace...that's right...let's say it together....

CHANGE!!!

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Me,Lilly and Music Education

About Lilly and the music.

Every Saturday it's the same thing...she controls the radio and I get schooled. This world has clearly passed me by...and I'm sure that's normal.

Each generation LOVES their own music -- but has very little interest in what came before.  Or, in my current situation -- what comes AFTER...

Lilly not only knows the lyrics and the artists -- but she has such OPINIONS about everything...

So -- a song came on the radio and I kinda liked it.

Lilly started to change the channel.  I said, "don't you like this song?"

She said, "Not especially...it just never gets going."

Me:   "what do you mean?""

Lilly: "You expect her to pop off after the drop, but.she just stays in the same tone all the way through..."

So, now, I'm interested..."who is singing?"

Lilly: Selena Gomez (I could almost hear the eye-roll)....

Me:  What's wrong with Selena Gomez?

Lilly:  Well, for one thing -- the song is about her breaking up with Justin Bieber. You do know she's written at least five songs about him, right? I mean -- GET OVER IT already...

Now, as Lilly and I are having this conversation -- the song is playing in the background....suddenly, she turned up the volume and said, "and listen to this, Grandma..."

The lyrics were:  I needed to hate you to love me...

Lilly turned off the radio and said, (derisively) -- Have you ever heard her do an interview? I'm pretty sure in the history of the world, nobody ever loved herself more than Selena Gomez does...

GREAT Memories

Getting Aunt Rozella's Silver was as turning point in my life.

For one thing -- I will never forget the day I discovered she actually OWNED real silver.

There it was -- this wooden box chock full of elegant, expensive, quality SILVER.

Using one of those "money then vs. now" calculators on the internet -- $2200 in 1953 is equivalent to $21.645.00 in today's world.

HOW PRECIOUS THIS Spring Glory Silver must have been to her??

Yet -- she NEVER used it. We didn't even know she had it. All those years -- hiding under the bed -- waiting for what? A special occasion? Would she have used it if Elvis came for dinner?

I had this overwhelming feeling of sadness. Because that silver, which Aunt Rozella owned for over 40 years -- was so important to her -- yet, in all that time -- there isn't a single happy memory attached to it...

From the moment I bought it -- my plan was to have LOTS OF GREAT MEMORIES...