The Holiday Blues

AH, the holiday season has once again reared its ugly yet beautiful head. This time of year is a difficult time for me because it's a season that my mom loved so very much. You see, my mom has been gone for 14 Holiday Seasons. She died of ovarian cancer in May, '92. And ya know, I still miss mom, but especially at the holidays.

What do I miss about mom? LOTS!

• Like the smell of her after she took a bath and lathered herself in Estee Lauder's White Linen lotion.
• Or seeing her on the couch, glasses on, totally engulfed in a book.
• Shopping! Shopping! Shopping! Mom LOVED to shop!
• Our vacation to London that mom took me on. It was the BEST vacation because we had each other's undivided attention and there was no one else to worry about. I am so thankful for that because a year after that trip she died.
• Her calling me "darlin" whenever I'd call
• Our long talks about everything and nothing on the phone!
• Spur of the moments trip I would make to see her "just because".
• She was such a kind and loving person.
• I miss mom's great cooking! SHE loved to cook and she had a GAZILLION cookbooks! That's no joke! There was a closet at the end of a hallway and it was JUST cookbooks! And at the other end of the hallway...another closet...and YEP, you guessed it...COOKBOOKS!
• OH, that reminds me...mom used to read the phone book! LOL...this really brings a smile to my face! I'd come home from school and there she was on the couch with the phone book. I'd say, "Mom, what are you doing?" She'd say, "Hi Darlin! I'm reading the phone book!" I'd say, "WHY?" She'd say, "Oh, I wondered if so-n-so still lived in their house. Then I thought of so-n-so and had to check on them too!" This went on for a long time sometimes! The phonebook...who would've thunk someone would actually READ it except to find a phone number!
• I remember mom telling me after my tennis matches that she was SO nervous. I would just laugh and think...HUH? How can you be nervous when you aren't even playing? But now that I have kids who play soccer...I GET IT! I just wish mom were here to tell that to now!
• I miss her being a grandma to my kids. They have missed out on such a great person for a grandma...but they hear stories about her all the time! So, they "know" her!
• I miss seeing my dad pat mom on the rear and kiss her 3 times when he came into the house and left the house. It's hard to see dad grow old alone.
• I miss mom at the holidays. The site of her in the kitchen, apron on, always bustling around to get the meal put together and wanting to be sure we were all happy.

That's what makes the holidays a blue time for me, yet I love them too. I'm sure there's more about mom that I miss...but for now...that's what came to my head!

Wine Consultant Quilt...it was a HIT!!!

Here are pics of the quilt I gave my DH's and my wine consultant! Lori LOVED it and couldn't wait to show her DH and lots of other people! I think she loved the label as much as she did the quilt! The company is PRP...notice the label!!! This is why I LOVE to quilt!!!

A Busy Day

WOW...today sure was busy! It was a great day though! I started out my day by going to jazzercise. Then there was laundry, cleaning the kitchen 3x, making 2 homemade pizzas for dinner, and working on a comfort quilt! It was SO much fun to sit down and quilt without a care in the world!!!

This quilt top is a culmination of blocks from CA to PA!! 9 different quilters participated in this. I have the top together except for the borders. I want to try to jazz it up a bit with the border. So that will be another day's project!

The comfort quilt is for parents of an 11yo girl who died of cancer on 11/1 of this year. This same group of quilters made comfort quilts for the girl and her sister, who donated marrow to her sister, at the time of the bone marrow transplant. We felt that the parents, in their time of grief needed a comfort quilt for them to snuggle under.

I have the binding to work on for the wine consultant's quilt. She will receive that tomorrow! Sure hope she likes it! ;)

OK...time to bake the pizzas so we can eat!

Wine Consultant Quilt

This quilt just came off the longarm! Now to trim/label/bind it! I made this as a gift for our wine consultant. My DH and I belong to a wine club that the wines are not available retail! Sheesh...you guys must think we're drunks! LOL...but we're not! We just enjoy a good beer and a nice glass of wine! Anywho, our wine consultant will get her Christmas gift this Sunday! I am excited to present it to her! I just KNOW she'll love it and be so surprised!

You know, your family members expect a quilt...but people like our wine consultant...well heck, she doesn't even know that I quilt! Those are the fun gifts to give!!!

Tshirt Quilt

This quilt was made for my DH and myself. We are members of the Old Chicago World Beer Tour and several times/year Old Chicago has mini themed beer tours. For example, right now it's the Holiday Tour and the beers are seasonal to winter/holiday beers. It's a lot of fun and when we complete our mini tour, usually about 10-12 beers, we get a cool tshirt. We have a TON of these so my DH and myself thought a tshirt quilt was in order! I just LOVE making tshirt quilts!