Faith, Folklore, and Friends

  My students and I always talk about quilts other than the ones we are working on.  Last night, I showed them how to make a basic log cabin block.  After you learn the basics, you can make hundreds of different quilts by varying the colors and block placement. The one above is made from dark and light scraps.  The strips were 2" wide.  While it reads yellow and blue, if you look closely you can see many different colored fabrics.  Y'all know I can't bear to throw fabric away. These blocks have the red center square, or the 'chimney' in the cabin.  The strips started at 1 1/2" wide. This is one of the favorite quilts I have made, and it is hanging on the wall in my living room right now. We had a very productive night.  We finished the third quilt and will be starting a new one next week.  It is amazing how much faster it goes when a group comes together than when I am quilting by myself. This class is made possible by a gran...

  When I was a child, almost everyone in  our little community were farmers.  Most worked at public  jobs during the winter, but come spring, they were itching to get their crop in the fields.  There was little or no cash coming in  during the spring and summer.  Vegetable gardens provided most of the family's food, and we got by.  All of us looked forward to the harvest; a time to celebrate and get paid for the work we had done since winter.  We lived through not enough rain and too much rain; prices rising and falling; and too cool mornings and too hot afternoons.  It was a gamble, but it was good when it paid off. Harvest also represents a sadder time, because whether your harvest is a success or failure, the growing season is over.  No more chances to put seed in the ground; winter is waiting at the front door, coming in if you are ready or not. Whether your harvest is good or bad, it should be a reminder ...

"I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another." ~Thomas Jefferson  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galations 6:9

These photos are from the August, 2010, First Friday downtown.  Not last night. In North Alabama, we expect the cold weather to be out of here by the first of March.  Some years, it is.  Not this year. Every first Friday of the month, except January and February, the main streets downtown are closed to traffic and opened to musicians, vendors, and thousands of people.  My granddaughters love it and go every month.  It is a great venue for meeting people and having an ice cream cone and just strolling while listening to local music.  Last night, with temperatures in the low thirties and snow flurries, the crowd was very thin, according to my granddaughters.  They didn't stay long; it was just too cold.  I was snuggled on the couch with a heat wrap and a quilt and a good book. All of us are hoping that it will be toasty warm by the first Friday in April.  In North Alabama, you never can tell.

So, was February a good walking month for you?  For me---not so much. I am a very determined woman when I set goals.  So I managed to walk 28 miles (one for each day) with my knee hurting so bad that sometimes I cried while John Denver and Don Williams sang in my ears. I was finally able to get in to see the joint doctor on the 18th, and learned that I had a fracture in my knee. :(  He insisted that I stop doing any exercise until the knee is completely healed.  But it is early in the year, and I might still be able to reach my goal.  In the meantime, my knee still hurts, especially on the days I work. The doctor gave me a small but powerful lecture about blaming pain on the fact that we are not as young as we used to be.  Yes, the knee had been hurting for months, but I attributed the pain to climbing stairs and arthritis and running into things.  NOT!  The good news is that there is no arthritis or anything else wrong with the knee, so ...

When the cold winter days force me to stay inside, I try to get caught up on my sewing projects. My Sunday School group, the Austin/Barger class, has a Relay for Life team to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.  All the money raised is used locally to help cancer patients.  Silent auctions have been successful for us in the past.   These are my current Works-In-Progress, with a little help from my SIL Charlotte, the bear queen.  All these bears are made from t-shirts; three from the Relay for Life event last year, an Auburn and UNA t-shirt.  The bears will get a ribbon around their neck and maybe some more embellishment later.   Last Friday night, there was a Woodmont Women gathering for fun and fellowship.  To get a head start on the Relay for Life event scheduled for May, we had several items for a silent auction.  My donation was an Alabama bear and Auburn bear.  We raised almost a t...