WHY I HAVE ONLY ONE BFF!

BFF...Best Friend Forever...

I have many friends but I only have ONE... BFF!

Meet, Shirley (Bolton) Haller.
We became friends in 1960, thats 60 Years ago!
That's forever ago!
I was 3rd grade, she was 4th grade.
I was 9, She was 10. 

We were also neighbors, growing up in the country.

We were inseparable.
Now I live in Ohio, Shirley lives in Indiana.

I write this post with worry in my heart.

My BFF has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

She lives 300 miles away.

She has cancer and I can't get to her.

I can't hug her...even if I was standing near her.
There a virus to worry about and with chemo treatments
her system is compromised.

I would drive 6 hours in a heart beat,
 in a snow storm, at night with a broken leg...
IF I could go and not jeopardize her health.

When she called with the news, I knew
 by the sound of her voice,
 something was terribly wrong.

Once I hung up, I cried, screamed, and prayed and
finally pulled myself together.

I got a quilt from The Stitching Sisters.

A charity group, here in Columbus, who make and give

lapquilts to cancer patients going thru treatments.

I have volunteered with this group for many years.

I sent it to her immediately...

 

But lets look at some fun things that are Shirley Haller.

This is Shirley and Dave Haller
as they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary
Dec 6, 2019
I was her bridesmaid...50 years ago.
She was mine...20 years ago!

Shirley was a hairdresser for 48 years.
She had her own shop and retired just a couple years ago.
This was a photo I took of her in an antique mall,
Under and old hair curling system.



We both love Christmas!
There was always a fight over who would get to buy a
vintage tree topper we would both find at an antique store.



Shirley loves to bake and has a huge assortment
of rolling pins.  Lots of great baked items have come from these and 
her husband is the most well behaved man I know!



Last Fall on a visit to Ohio...
she wore her Indiana Hooiser attire.
I still let her party with the Scarlet and Gray fans.

THIS may be my favorite picture of us having the time
of our lives at Country Living Fair, 2019
I was so very happy I could make this happen for her.
It was the highlight of the year!

I sent this little gift to her several years ago.
I know she reads it everyday when she
wakes and sits in a special chair,
 saying her special prayers.

We both love to quilt

In 2011 I made this quilt and sent it to her.

I labeled it.

"A Friend is a Present You Give Yourself"

And now that you know a bit about our very long friendship...

maybe you can say a little prayer for her (and for me)

as she kicks cancer to the curb.

Shirley is strong!

Shirley is a warrior!
Shirley IS my BFF!

QUARANTINE KNITTING

2020 has been a real downer!

COVID19 aka RONA has reared her very ugly head

resulting in a pandemic and quarantines all over the world.

I am thankful I know how to knit!

I began this lovely shawl while wintering in 

Fort Myers Florida.

The pattern is Dawn to Dusk shawl.

500 yards of a beautiful gradient yarn 

moves from a light blue

to a charcoal gray.

When I returned home in April, I finished it and
 began a new scarf

Letters From Russia.

It is based on a pattern by 4 generations of knitters who each
have a section of the pattern dedicated to them.
Grandmother, Mother, Daughter 1 and Daughter 2,
who lived in Russia.  I used a DK knit from my yarn stash.

Cascade, Ulta Pima Cotton in a periwinkle blue color.

Now it's July, 2020 and RONA is still a bitch.

IMHO States reopened businesses, way to soon.

Opening bars and restaurants a HUGE mistake!

People refuse to wear masks! WTH?

The numbers are rising again.

I will be safe as I can, wear my mask,

 be considerate and continue to be part of the solution,

 rather than part of the problem.

I have started a new shawl with 520 yards of

a beautiful yarn called Cherry Garcia.

It's a fingering weight and is gonna be perfect

with Ohio State scarlet and gray color.

Let's hope college football happens this year.

I can and have given up a lot because of RONA...

but NO Buckeye Football will probably break me.

What have you been doing to get thru 

 this "hunkering down" time?

BEE HAPPY!

I bought a set of cardmaking supplies that make me

BEE very happy!

Stampin Up - Honey Bee Stamps and Dies

and the Designer Series Paper.

I can NEVER make "just one card"

and how boring is a plain envelope?

The die for the Honey Comb

is one of my favorites.

Check out the BEE hive turned into a flower pot!

A little bling of black sequins

spice up this BEE hive.

The BEE on this one is a double layer die cut.

Yellow over Black BEEs

A simple vertical design

I love the designer series papers for this set.

BEE hive and some flower stamps

Honey Comb die overlay and a cute die cut BEE

More honey combs and BEE designs

over the designer paper.

SEWCIAL DISTANCE SEWING - PLAID-ISH

I had just returned from Florida in April

 and Ohio was on a "safer at home" order.

Kim Hensley suggested, since we can't get

together and sew...let's "sewcial distance" and together
make a quilt!

I had seen this free pattern by Erica at Kitchen Table Quilting

called Plaid-ish....we both loved it and the fun began.

This picture is Erica's Plaid-ish quilt.

We setup a schedule and checked each other at the

end of the week for our goal.

It was "scrappy" and we BOTH have lots of scraps.

We needed 3 color values...

Medium...Low Volume...Dark

These are the Low Volume Blocks

Medium Value (or Brights) Blocks

Dark Value Blocks

The process went pretty fast...considering

there were 567 pieces and 37 Blocks

This is Kim's finished Plaid-ish Quilt.

Longarmer, Quilting by David

Kim used a solid Anna Marie Horner print for the back.

This is my Plaid-ish Quilt

I used fabrics from my stash for the back.



My Longarmer, Coleen Rains, quilted it with

a Celtic Sea design.

The Plaid-ish quilts finish at 64" x 82" of awesomeness!

If you would like the FREE pattern, click here!

It's a great stash buster and a 'genius' idea!

PS I am now on Erica's Pattern Tester List!

DRAGGING BAGS AROUND!

I have a lot of bags ready to sew.
My feet hurt from dragging them around
instead of sewing them.

I pulled the fabrics over a year ago.
I cut them out, cut and ironed on interfacing or batting.
Made drawstrings or matched zippers.

And yet..2 months later, they are NOT finished.
Maybe they will be my "Christmas in July" 
sewing projects! 

The Gnomes and Fa-la-la-la-lamas
are on the table!

G N O M E S
Perfect Pouch - Zipper Pouch

G N O M E S

Wide Open Zipper Pouch

L L A M A S

Jeni Baker's Draw String Pouch

L L A M A S

Jeni Baker's Drawstring Bag

L L A M A S

Jeni Baker's Drawstring Bag

L L A M A S

Wide Open Zippy Pouch

L L A M A S

Reversible Box Tote Bag

L A M B S

Wide Open Zipper Pouch

Mom's Embroidered Dresser Scarves

Zipper Pouch (for me)

Do you sew Christmas in July projects?

Start planning now!