Two small finishes

I stitched these well over a year ago but finally got around to finishing them today. I decided that these two lent themselves to pillows rather than frames. I had the apple fabric (4 yards of it ~ who knows what I bought it for) and thought it worked perfectly with the schoolhouse. The fall prints are leftovers from a quilt done a few years ago.

September with the apple fabric

I couldn't decide which fall fabric to use, so chose four coordinating pieces

I think I only have November, December and January left to stitch. There's hope! This has been an ongoing project for probably five years...

Mary, Mary quite contrary

How does your garden grow?  I remember mom saying that to me whenever I was sulky or ornery. It was either that or "There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good, but when she was bad she was horrid!"  Now, I wonder if this means that I was quite contrary and horrid or that my mom just liked to quote poetry. I'm voting for the latter!

Nevertheless, my garden is growing quite nicely! Or rather, my gardens are growing quite nicely, both inside and outside.

I'm still trying to decide if I like the green polka-dot as the pathway fabric. I'm thinking I might also try a darker tone or tone or plain green and see which I prefer.

The black-eyed susans are in full bloom. They remind me of childhood since mom always had a patch of them growing wild in the backyard.

The hibiscus are beautiful this year too. It's surprising to me that this tropical appearing flower (with blooms 10-12" wide) flourish in our desert air.

I have made some beautiful quilts

This is not one of them!

The colors are awful, the seams don't match, the fabric puckers, and yet this quilt brings back floods of memories.

Last week I decided it was time to finish one of mom's projects. Mom has been gone over a year now and it's still hard. This, however, was a wonderful healing experience.  Mom fully embodied the motto "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."  At least 90% of the fabrics in this quilt are leftover pieces from my childhood/teen years clothing and the rest are from aprons she made, a few of her "muus" and other projects. I can't believe the memories that surfaced as I looked at these blocks.

I had the best dressed Barbie in town thanks to Mom. Barbie and I often had matching dresses. My favorite was the one made from Mary Poppins fabric. It looks like Barbie's dress could use a washing!

The brown and beige fabrics are pieces from the quilt mom made for my wedding 30 years ago. After the well loved quilt became thin and threadbare it was relegated to a car quilt to be used for picnics and such. Unfortunately, it was in the trunk of my son's car when the car caught on fire. The quilt suffered extensive smoke and water damage and couldn't be saved. How fun to be able to look at this block and remember making that quilt. I remember it being set up in our living room and the neighbors coming over to help quilt it. My hubby to be even quilted a section in it!

When I saw fabric from clothing I had made over the years I could remember the pattern I used, the trims, etc. I guess there's more of a sense of ownership when you've chosen the fabric, cut the fabric and sewn the fabric together. I certainly don't remember details about the few purchased pieces of clothing I had. The red piece in the center reminded me of the day my older brother (16 or 17 at the time) walked into my room when I was wearing the dress (square neck, long sleeves with cuffs and white eyelet trim!) and told me I looked really nice in it. Wow! That dress was worn often after that. It's funny that I didn't remember that experience until I saw the fabric again.

And oh, the lovely smocks I made in junior high school. Of course, back in the 70s, smocks were considered fashionable. I think I often chose the loudest and wildest prints.

Long before "crumb" blocks were popular, Mom knew how to use every available scrap of fabric.

In true frugal fashion, even the back is pieced with bits of flannel. Here is a piece from one of my nightgowns as well as a piece from one of the boy's pajamas.

It may not an award winning beauty but it's warm and practical and well loved. It will go camping with us in the future and will add lots of color to the cabin!