Sunday Samplings

I was on my way to church this morning when I remember a conversation with Mom yesterday about how much she missed going to her church. I told her she had church there where she lives, but she said it was not the same. I felt really bad for her. So this morning before I arrived at my church, I suddenly thought, "Why not go get Mom and go with her to the church where we all used to attend?" I quickly called Colleen and asked if she was on her way, and she was. I attend Sunday School while she goes to the early service. She liked my idea, and called SR to see if they could get her ready to go by 9:30. She called back saying they could. Colleen just turned around to go make sure when they got her ready, she would have on something nice. I told her I would meet her there. Mom can get into her low car easier than my van, but Colleen has no room for the wheelchair, so I picked up the wheelchair. Mom was so surprise and so tickled to get to go. Colleen had promised to take her out this afternnon, but Mom never dreamed she would get to leave so early.

We got to the church, and everyone was sooooo glad to see her. She (and we) got so many wonderful hugs. It was great seeing old friends again.

We were then going to take her to lunch. She couldn't decide where she wanted to go, and Colleen said she had to go home first and feed her (diabetic) dog. So rather than stand there in the (high-pollen) air, I told them to go on, and I would bow out of lunch this time. I really needed to just get home and stick my nose only in the house. Since getting that shot yesterday, I feel better, and I don't want to push it when the pollen count report for today is 11.5!!

At least the views from inside my house are nice. Here is another Japanese maple that I see from my kitchen.

Here is another rose bush. This one I see from my kitchen window. It is literaly exploding with buds and flowers.

Talked with Guy when I got home from church. He is trying to find a church in Greenville, SC, and he told me about the one he attended today. It is so hard to go and not compare everyone of them to our church here (which we dearly love). He thought this one today seemed to be the best out of the 3 he has tried.

I guess that's all for now. I really need to go review my notes for tomorrow's lecture, but I'd rather go sew on a quilt. Which one do you think will win??

My Little Trip Out Today

Friday night I had gone to the grocery store to get all my groceries with the thought that I was not going to leave the house all weekend except to go to church on Sunday. I was not going to breathe that pollen that the pollen report said would be 11.3. Now that is high!! Most years it will never get over 10, but this year has seen many days over 11. Makes my eyes water just to think about it. But then I got invited to a pizza lunch my sister, Colleen, planned with Mom in the lobby of Mom’s skilled care facility. Colleen’s birthday was this last week, and she had not really had time to celebrate it. So how could I pass that up?! We all had a great time. Mom enjoyed it so much. Colleen took Mom outside so she could smell the roses growing. She always loved all kinds of flowers. I passed up that little session, and headed to the car with a tissue over my nose. I know I look stupid walking around outside that way, but I don’t really care!

Anyway, I found several pieces of fabric. Uhhh….several is not exactly the number, but won’t say exactly how many that was. They were all 30% off, and one piece was 50% off. I really pitied the poor people behind me in this loooong line at the cutting table. I could almost hear the groans as I pulled out yet another bolt from my over-flowing cart. Most of the time they only had one person cutting. What’s up with that??? Maybe I need to apply for a part time job when I retire. Hmmmm….well not right away. This quilt I want to make just had so many different pieces of fabric, so I couldn’t help it. I only needed a half-yard of all but 3, and it was a yard of those 3. Actually, what I really needed was mostly a bunch of fat quarters, but they didn’t have those, so I had to buy a half yard in order to get the size of the piece the pattern called for. So I actually had to buy twice as much as I really needed. Ahhh…. but can you ever really have too much fabric???? Well, don’t answer that!! :) I’ll just add a bit to my stash.

Well, anyway, my fabric is all washed, dried, ironed, and neatly folded.Here are all the fabrics for the quilt/wallhanging called Fanciful Flowers. It is in the April issue of "Quilter's World" seen below.

These are enough fabrics to make Jeannine 4 bag shells and straps. I'll post those when I get them together. And then I'll post pictures of the bags she she adds her applique and embellishments.

It's a Beautiful Spring in Alabama

The sun was shining so beautifully this morning, and the warmth was calling me outside - for a few minutes at least - more on that in a minute. In the corner of our backyard is this gorgeous Japanese maple tree - one of a collection that my husband has nurtured over the years. I don't know the technical names of all the varieties he has.

Here is a smaller one with darker leaves, but just a beautiful. It really does have a beautiful shape, but the wind was blowing a bit making it look like the top is out of the left side, but it's really not.

This rose bush is loaded with pale pink roses, and it wants to take over our back fence, at least the south half of it. The stalk of this bush at the base looks more like a tree!

Here are the first two blooms on my red rose bush. This bush was planted at the same time as the pink one above, but it never has reached anywhere near the size of the pink one. Probably just a different variety.

Here are out little clematis purple beauties, and they are just blooming their little hearts out.

Here are some little potted babies that Guy is hoping I can keep alive while he is working away from home right now. I hope I can, too! I just love the lacey leaves of the biggest one.

Now, if I could spend some time out there in this nearly perfect temperature we are having, but alas, my allergies are keeping me a prisoner in my house. I'll probably pay for being out those few minutes snapping the pictures. I don't understand how all that beauty can make someone so miserable. ARGH! The South is gorgeous in the spring (and fall, too), but all this pollen sure makes a body (and soul) miserable!

I've battle a sore throat for a week now, so this afternoon I gave up and made my annual trek to the doc-in-the-box. Got a Z-pac, nasal spray (different from what I had been using), and a cortisone shot. I surely do hope that shot gets me over the hump with my eyes. I would be SO SO thankful if I could escape the occular rosacea this year!!!! He told me to use Claritin instead of Allegra since it was quite a drying.

Oh, my dryer has stopped so now I need to go iron several pieces of fabric. I'll have pictures of all that in the next post.

It's FRIDAY!!!

I LUV, LUV, LUV Fridays!!!! How I love Fridays!.....Oh, did I tell you how much I love Fridays? Well, after noon, that is. From 6-12, I'm in the hospital with my students, but come noon, let the weekend begin!!! Woo Hoo!! Being in the hospital with my nursing students on Thursdays and Fridays is all I've known for so many years. Now, next week will be the last week that will happen. I can hardly believe that after more than 37 years of teaching nursing, I'm retiring. It is just a bit scary. I find myself so often thinking about how am I going to pass this paton on to the next one? Will she get all the information I need to give her before I leave? Will she carry on as I've done it for so long? What changes will occur? Then I think, "Sheryl! What do you care?! You'll be outta there!" But it is really hard to give up - even as much as I'm looking forward to the time off.

I'm making my bucket list, but for the first few days, I'm going to do absolutely NOTHING - or whatever I WANT to do. Then I will travel to North Carolina to be with my husband who is a contract project engineer, currently working for a company there in Greenville/Spartanburg. This time I'll be able to stay for as long as I want. The nice part of that is that my daughter, husband, and two granddaughters live there! Isn't that nice?!! I'll be able to help her get some of her bags put together. When I have a chance I help by sewing the bag part, and then she puts on all the little creative touches that only she can do.

Some of my latest creations

Here are some the more recent things I've been working on. I saw this on the front of a magazine and knew I just had to make it. I'm usually a little more on the conservative order in my quilts, but just loved the brilliance of this one. It's the first time I've used rick-rack in a quilt. And I seldom use black and white fabrics.

I've eyed this little ditty for some time and finally dug into my stash for the colors. Still working in the zig-zag around the applique, and then after quilting, it will adorn my fireplace.

My daughter, Jeannine, has found her niche in the craft/sewing world making children's bags. She made some for each of her girls, and when her friends saw them, they all wanted one. She has an etsy site (http://www.etsy.com/shop/cnjsonnier), but can't get caught up, much less get ahead to list them there. They are all her original design, and each one is unique and designed for the person in mind. I love the creativity she has when it comes to adding the appique embellishments. Here are a few examples of her bags.

This little bag has a quilt block on the front that is left over from a fairy quilt Jeannine made Sofia.

I'm Back

I wasn't sure this thing was still available. But I guess it is. Here are some of my latest creations.


This is a little wallhanging that covers up the window of my office door. It is from a book that has serveral seasonal banners like this one. I plan to try to keep up with the seasons and create the next one to hang. This one wouldn't be too appropriate when spring starts to approach - if it ever DOES! Friday they cancelled school because of the snow, and they are predicting more tonight. So I may get another day at home. That would be a blessing. More time to quilt!


This is one of my favorite creations. I made this for my daughter in 2000 and it hung in her homes in Bozeman, MT. She moved last year to Greenville, SC, and with the change in her decor, she has loaned it back to me for awhile. I'm tickled to have it. I had always planned to make another one for me, but I'm just enjoying hers right now. It hangs in the lunch area of the nursing office suite where I teach.

This N That

Hmmm....haven't been doing a very good job keeping up, have I? Oh well, I'll just keep trying. Don't want to give this up entirely.

There was some excitement in our ordinarily quiet neighborhood the other night. Guy said he thought he heard a crash or a booming sound. Shortly, a fire truck zoomed by followed by 3 police cars. My curiosity got the best of me. I put my coat on, grabbed my cell phone, and took off on foot up our street to the north. I called my sister because I needed to talk to her about something anyway. I told her what I was doing. I didn't know what was up - whether there was a wreck or even possibly a shooting. I was probably nuts out there in the dark, not knowing what was happening. The emergency vehicles seemed to be just over the hill, so I couldn't see anything except the reflection of the lights. As I neared the top of the hill, I could see that all the commotion was around a house on the left side of the street just beyond an empty lot. Several seemed to be out with flashlights shining around on the ground. Oh, no, I thought, "Oh great! They are probably looking for shell casings!" So I turned around and headed back home. I saw a lady across the street that seemed to be coming back from near the site. I asked her if she knew what was going on, and she didn't. I saw a car backing down the street from the site. By the time I got to the house on the corner where the car turned in, no one was outside. So I went on home. But once again curiosity got the best of me. I went out again. This time there was someone outside the corner house, and I went over to talk to him. He said there had been a car wreck. A teenage girl lost control of her car at the top of the hill. She took out a mailbox on the left side of the street, traveled across the empty lot, and took out 3 cars parked in the driveway of the home next to the empty lot! He said the night before he had been out in his backyard grilling when he saw this same girl run the stop sign at his corner, going about 60 mph. He watched as she came back by, and he went out to stop her. He told her she needed to slow down - he had small children that were often outside. She told him to buzz off in words he couldn't repeat. The next morning as I left for work, I drove by the house. I saw three very late-model vehicles in the drive. One was turned around backwards with the left rear fender completely smashed in; one had damage to the right rear fender, and I couldn't see what the other side looked like. Then there was a pickup that was about one-third of the way into the garage - only the garage door was down!! It was not a pretty sight!

Today it actually sleeted for about an hour. At 5:30 pm. the thermometer outside says 46 degrees, but it feels more like 26. Enough of winter, already!! I'm ready for summer - have been since December.